#hooo boy we’re finally here it’s been a while coming

[blushinggray]

change of plans: part 5

still going with this fuckboi!sero au

sero hanta x fem!reader

part 5/? (part 4 | part 1)

Whatever happens at this party tonight... Maybe it's been a while coming...

nsfw // cw: flirting, teasing, semi-public sex, rooftop sex, sex with feelings?, a little fluff

—

"No way." Sero stares at you in awe when you make your way into Kaminari and Kirishima's shared apartment, "A Cellophane hoodie?! Where the heck did you get that??"

You glance down at your hoodie, that is indeed designed with Cellophane's hero costume in mind, before answering, "There was a pop-up store somewhere last year. I was actually gonna get the Dynamight one, but they sold out, so I just chose this one because it had the next best color scheme."

You wanted a hoodie that could still be subtle or blend in with the normies, and you could never go wrong with black. This Cellophane hoodie is only about half black, the rest being white and orange, but you're lucky that the design still looks pretty good on its own.

Sero, however, turns out to be a huge Cellophane fan, and he’s quite smitten with the sight of you in merch of his favorite character in the Heroes Rising universe. He won’t stop pulling you back into conversation with him, and you can’t even refuse because he sounds genuinely excited about the topic, and you kind of like seeing this side of Sero. Of all the reasons for him to stay glued to your side though, you didn't expect this to be the one...

Plus, you can’t say that all the attention isn’t kind of nice after several weeks of inconsistent contact. You’re sorry to say that you’d rather have it than not have it at this point, but it’s something you’ve come to terms with in the past several days.

"Can I take some pictures of you in the hoodie?" He asks at some point, long after the new episode has finished airing and everyone s broke out in discussion. Everyone in the apartment is just chilling now.

Despite how you had been trying to catch up with Ashido and some of the others, they kept trying to subtly nudge you away from their conversation and towards Sero instead… You can only guess why they’re still trying so hard to get you together with their friend when he’s such a player.

"What? Why?" You say, polishing off your second drink for the evening. You're really trying to pace yourself this time.

"It looks good on you." He says without hesitation, "Why wouldn’t I wanna capture something beautiful?"

You roll your eyes with a groan, "Why don't I just give you the hoodie and you can let someone else model for you then? Anyone will do as long as they're beautiful, right?"

As much as you try not to let the bitterness escape your voice, it slips out on its own when you imagine him actually rubbing shoulders with some other pretty girl who might look cuter in a Cellophane hoodie than you. It makes you angry, but it also makes your heart ache. You’re already wondering why you felt the urge to suggest such a thing in the first place.

His grin suddenly grows a little wider, looking way too amused to mean anything good. He’s already confirming your suspicions when he leans down to bring his mouth closer to your ear, “If only there was anyone else as beautiful as you around here.”

Your ears start burning as you feel his breath fan against it. You want, more than anything, to brush him off with your usual eye roll or to push him away for using such a line on you. But whether it’s because of his proximity, or his scent, or his voice, or a combination of all of it, you feel hot.

"I'm surprised your teeth haven't rotted with all the sugar you keep in your mouth..." You end up saying before walking to another part of the apartment to get another drink.

"Aw, you calling me sweet?" Sero chuckles as he tails you right into the kitchen, where you mix yourself another drink with the small setup on the counter.

You don't bother to answer this time as you pour in a larger ratio of orange juice with your vodka, but you still feel Sero's presence behind you. And then around you when he places both his hands on the counter on either side of you, framing you in his arms. Your breath hitches a little when his voice appears by your ear again, and he murmurs, "Come on, just one photo. I know a good subject when I see it. Please?"

He completely surrounds you, yet he isn't touching you anywhere. Every part of him comes close, but hovers just shy of brushing against you. Even his lips that feel like they're close enough to ghost your ears are still several hairs away. It's driving you crazy.

If he's going to come this close to you, you'd rather he just touch you already. The teasing is far, far worse.

You stare down at your drink for a few critical seconds, running through your options. You've learned that even if you keep up this game of hide and seek with him, he could easily lose interest once you're out of sight. Yet, when you are right in front of him, you seem to become his top priority.

Normally, you would write him off as a tool and disregard his typical playboy behavior, but the fact of the matter is that you have been losing your sanity over this guy. As loud as your intuition is, your body and your feelings still want him. They still think of him even when he's away. And you won't be rid of him until you do something different.

Maybe this is your chance. Surely, there'll be no harm so long as you're careful, right?

Careful...

Right.

Well, here goes nothing.

You take a sip of your vodka orange, which tastes just like that kiss he gave you the last time you were caught up in the kitchen together. And you pray for it give you a little extra courage as you turn around in the cage his arms have created for you and look up at him, "So what do I get in return for being your pretty little subject?"

The small smile he had on suddenly drops in surprise, and he blinks at you for a moment before full on smirking instead. Leaning forward, he completely erases the remaining space between you until your foreheads and noses are touching.

"Oh, I've already got plenty of things in mind..." He says, moving his hands from the counter to rest on your hips, "All you gotta do is pick one."

His lips finally make contact with yours, and you're actually kind of grateful to not have to think of a witty comeback while your brain is fried up with Sero thoughts.

You tug at his shirt by his shoulders, just for something to hold onto to keep yourself grounded. Which gets harder and harder to do by the second as Sero's hands travel around your body, exploring your curves and dips and squeezing whenever he finds a spot he likes. Which ends up being a spot you like and gets a small moan out of you each time.

You have to be the one to pull away and say something, because every time he pulls away first, it's only to stare at you with his hooded eyes for a moment before he just dives back in from another angle. Which you really don't mind, actually, but you'd rather not be in the kitchen by the time this escalates into something else.

Bringing your hand up to his face to push him away slightly, you stare at that mouth that's been turning your brain upside down as you catch your breath. You feel him try to push forward again, but you hold steady for now. And brush your thumb along his bottom lip, stopping just shy of the thin black ring hooked in by his left canine. “What happened to letting this heal?”

A small grin stretches beneath your fingers before he catches your hand in his and leaves a peck on your thumb, then tilts his head to kiss your palm too, “You’re worth all of the consequences.”

Then, as if to prove it, he places your hand on his neck so he can bring you into another kiss. Your mouths rock against each other’s like waves, pushing and pulling, yet still riding a natural momentum. As each second passes by, you only feel Sero’s body twist closer with yours, tangling your limbs, putting your hands everywhere, just kissing until you become dizzy.

It feels so good, just letting him kiss you like this. Letting yourself have this moment, this experience that you’ve been so desperately craving. Consequences be damned. Maybe he’s worth all of them, too.

You pull away — not without difficulty — to say, “Take me to the roof."

Sero smirks again and leans in to give you another short kiss before saying, "I can do that."

Then you're being led by the hand out of the kitchen and towards the door, your drink long forgotten. Sero leads you out of the apartment towards the stairway at the end of the hall, where you walk up two flights until you reach the doorway for the rooftop of the building.

You've been up here once before, when Kaminari and Kirishima hosted a picnic. So you know that this is the tallest building on this block, and no one will likely see you up here from a window or anything.

Thank god, because once Sero swings around and pulls you towards him like a dance partner, you have a feeling that something indecent is about to go down. And when he wraps his arms around your thighs to lift you up and press your back against the wall of the roof’s ledge, that feeling becomes all but a guarantee.

He's already picked up on where he left off in the kitchen as if there was no interruption in the first place. His kiss is deep, thorough, almost soul-sucking, and you can only reciprocate. Now that you’re hoisted up in his arms, you have no choice but to be as close to him as possible, your legs hugging his waist and your arms around his neck.

You can already tell how much he's packing, even through all of the layers between you. And oh, is that gonna be record breaker for you. You haven't even seen it, but you can already tell he's bigger than anyone you've slept with before. Even dry humping him already feels like riding a mountain.

"Ughhhh..." he moans into your mouth as your hips roll into his.

His hands squeeze at your thighs in reaction, close enough to the meat of your ass and the apex of your legs that it stretches your folds apart just the slightest. And the slight spread makes the friction that much better; good enough to make you bow your head back with a moan of your own as you try to press your hips even harder into that monstrous bulge.

Though you've pulled away from his lips to start panting and moaning softly, Sero keeps his mouth on you by latching onto your outstretched neck. He leaves kisses and nips and sucks all over your exposed skin, pleasuring you on two fronts. The soft, wetness from his mouth on your neck clouds your head with sweet affection while the muted heat and pressure from your grinding hips builds an increasingly dire need within your gut. You don't know which one you want more of, but you are more than thankful for both.

Until the need in your gut starts to build. It builds and builds and the muscles in your abs and legs clench as they chase after a high that's blocked beneath a wall of fabrics. The heat in your core emerges as a priority, and you no longer remembering anything that was supposed to hold you back from dousing it with Sero's body.

"Sero..." You say between gasps, and he comes back up to kiss you on the mouth again instead of answering verbally. So you continue, "Put me down."

His eyes fly open, suddenly filled with something that looks like worry, or confusion, probably wondering if you're just going to stop and run away like you usually do. But whatever's going on in his head, he still follows through with your request and sets you back on the ground.

You put all his concerns to rest though, when you reach down to undo your jeans and pull them down to bunch around your lower thighs. Then you take his hand and bring it to the surface of your adequately soaked panties, looking up into his eyes as you say, "Feel me."

"Fuck, that's all I wanna do..." He groans, his fingers already moving to dip and slide into your slit through your panties, wedging them inside of you.

He just rubs a finger back and forth against your clothed slit for a bit before leaning down to kiss you again. Once he's got your mouth latched onto his, he pulls the crotch of your underwear to the side to dip his fingers inside of you. It's an easy and painless slide in, thanks to how wet you are, but your walls immediately contract against his fingers the deeper he sinks in.

You must be worked up from how sensitive you are, and you can't even moan out loud because Sero's got your mouth captive. He's relentless, unable to let you breathe for more than a second and occasionally bumping his lip piercing against your teeth.

He fingers you for a good minute or so, adding them up until he's got four stretching you out while his thumb plays with your clit. And his fingers are long, they reach so much deeper inside of you than you can, and when they stroke against your upper wall, it makes your hips jerk forward.

"Agh! Sero..." You gasp, finally unlatching from his mouth to rest your head back against the top of the roof's ledge.

His sigh is reverent as he brushes against that sensitive pleasure spot again, watching you writhe in his hands with intense concentration, "Fuck yes."

"Ah! Ah! Mngh... Agh! I'm gonna..." You keep crying out, no longer in control of your own voice. You're at the mercy of his longer, dexterous fingers that just play at your inner weak spots like piano keys. Raising your hands to rest on his shoulders, you meet his eyes when you say, "Gonna come soon..."

He lets out a groan as his hand that's not working your insides comes up to wrap around the back of your neck and pull you into another kiss. You're starting to realize that this guy is just really into kissing... which you are not complaining about. He sure knows his way around once he's got his tongue inside you. Sometimes he teases you with little nudges and licks, and others he straight up wrestles you until drool starts to spill out.

You don't fare long against him though, because once the double onslaught from your g-spot and your clit builds up enough to tip you over, you're just moaning into his mouth powerlessly. Your hips are bucking against his hand, dragging out the friction and pleasure, and your fingers pull desperately at Sero's shirt, wrinkling and stretching to the point of snapping a few threads.

His fingers don't stop moving inside you, even as the pulsing slows down and eventually stops. He's still stretching you while you're high on the pleasure, probably to make it easier on you when you have to stretch for something else later...

Just the thought of it has you gulping in anticipation. Is it going to make you come as hard as this? Is he going to be soft like his kisses? Or thorough like his fingers? Or rough like his hands? The more you think about it, the more your heart and walls flutter.

Eventually, Sero pulls his fingers out, and as expected, they're coated to the knuckle. And he holds them up in front of him to just stare at the glistening wetness with hazy, almost disbelieving eyes. After letting out a shaky sigh, he brings his hand to his mouth to lick at each and every one of his fingers before sucking them all clean. While staring right into your eyes.

Good god, your pussy is trembling. The fingering and sex is one thing, but the goddamn intensity of Sero fucking Hanta is what's going to be your demise. You're sure of it. The way he just looks at you like you are going to be the best thing that's gonna happen to him, and vice versa, sends a thrill through your body that you know is dangerous.

Leaning in slowly, Sero speaks into your ear, "Let me get a taste of you. From the source."

And as if to punctuate the request, his hand is already back between your legs, tickling at your sensitive lips.

"Haven't you already put your lip through enough?" You chuckle, thinking about how swollen his lips look.

"Like I said," he brings his hand up to the hem of your panties and pulls them down from your waist to rest atop your bunched-up jeans. And he pulls back to show you his devilishly handsome smirk, "You're worth all the consequences."

You hum in approval as he strokes your naked hips with his fingertips, but you stop him with a hand on his chest before he can start getting to his knees.

"But I want something else." You say, dragging your hand down his incredibly long torso until you can hook your fingertips into the waistband of his track pants. Looking up at him with an innocent expression, you continue, "Didn't you say I could choose?"

"Suppose I did." He chuckles, pressing harder against you to rub his clothed bulge against your now naked pussy. "So if that's what you want—"

He guides your hands to pull his pants and boxers down together, maintaining eye contact with you until he brings one of your hands to touch that hot, hefty monster between his legs. Oh god, you're only touching it but you can feel the weight of it, the... the prowess of it.

"—then I guess I have no choice."

Once you look down, you can't hold in your gasp. Because you were right; he is way bigger than anyone you've slept with before. Long, thick, girthy, well kept, and leaking at the tip. God, it almost scares you, but at the same time, now that you've seen it and touched it, you have to have it inside of you.

You wait patiently as Sero wraps a condom around his horse cock, practically salivating as you watch him cover and jerk himself for you. You have half a mind to get your own mouth around him, just to see if you can take it. But you know that even if your mouth can take it, your pussy can't hold out for much longer now that it's aware of this thing. You're already pulsing again in anticipation.

Sero takes your gaze away from his dick by lifting your chin up to look at him again. And predictably, he brings you in for another kiss, getting you worked up again.

But even his magical mouth isn't enough to distract you from the way that warm shaft makes contact with your skin. His hand maneuvers his cock to rub against your clit several times, drawing circles around it and nudging at it for a bit. It's such a good tease, and it only makes you wetter.

Your breath hitches when he starts sliding past your clit, but then he just pulls it right back. And he does it again, just sliding in against the top of your slit before pulling right back to flick at your clit.

"Ugh... Sero..." You moan. It feels good, it does, but it's not enough. In fact, with how little it gives you, it starts to become torturous as he continues to tease you.

"Yeah, baby?" He says, making your heart jump at the little nickname. It's not like he hasn't called you some cute term of affection before, but with how high strung you are right now, the effect hits so much harder.

And the tension only grows tighter in your body as Sero slides all the way in past your thighs, but only rests against the length of your slit instead of going inside. You're practically dripping now, coating both his dick and your upper thighs and making it oh-so easy for him to keep gliding against your skin.

"Sero, please..." You whine, clutching at his shoulders as you bear the torture of his teasing.

"Shhh..." He shushes you, speaking by your ear. Then he puts his hands on either side of your outer thighs, pressing them together, "Squeeze your legs together, mami. Tight."

You do as he asks, face burning at yet another nickname. Your thighs are pressed tightly together, closing up that small triangle at the apex of your legs and trapping Sero's cock between them.

"Mmm, yeah. That's good." He groans, sliding against your slit and thighs once more, though with more friction than last time, "You already feel so good, [Name]."

His words should not turn you on this much when he's the one getting the most pleasure out of this. They're just words, and he's using you as a flesh doll to just fuck himself continuously through your thighs. He uses his tight grip on your thighs to drag your hips forward and back to ride across the length of his thick, hot shaft, as if it isn’t three times harder to do than just moving his own hips. While his cock does spread your lips with every slide across your slit, it doesn't reach the spots you want him to touch. To fill up.

As much as it frustrates you, it also makes you so hot. His praise in your ear, his cock in your thighs, his hands keeping you squeezed up tight for him... He's using you in the most agonizing way, and yet, you can't help but shiver every time he drags against your flesh. Can't help but groan at the powerful grip his hands have on your thighs. Hands that you know are capable of holding you up for an entire makeout session without tiring.

It's all so good, yet not enough. And he continues the slow torture until your pride completely evaporates from your body, leaving your mouth to run unfiltered and unashamed, "Sero, please. Please, please... If you don't put it in soon, I— I won't... I can't hold out much longer..."

"Is that right, mami?" He smirks, tongue peeking out in pure satisfaction as he tilts your chin up to look at him once more, "You sure this isn't enough for you? I don't wanna scare you off again."

"Please..." You beg, "Just put it inside me. That's all I want."

"All you want, huh?" He ponders, giving you a small peck before finally, finally readjusting his angle to push in towards your opening. "Can't say I don't like the sound of that."

Your body is eager and already begging for it, prompting your mouth to run off again, "Sero, it's all I can think about. You have no idea how bad I want you. Please, just do it. Before I fucking pass out."

Sero shudders against you, which you don't really know how to read into, but you also don't care before he's finally moving inside of you. Thank god.

The stretch is more of a relief than it is a pain at this point, after having been so worked up on anticipation. The moment he's planted in to the hilt, your walls cling to him, tight and possessive. Like you can't risk letting him leave.

"Good fucking god..." Sero groans into the sky, having bent his head back. He calls out your name as if you're up there instead of down here, waiting for him to start moving.

It seems like he’s just trying to prolong this feeling of being inside you for the first time, since his hands keep your hips still whenever you try to move. But you can’t let him enjoy himself all on his own, that’s not what you’re here for.

"Sero," You call out to him, reaching up to kiss and nip at his neck — a first for you, "If you don't pound my pussy in within the next minute, I can still leave."

That seems to do the trick, because his grip on your hips suddenly feels strong enough to break your bones. In a way, you like it, but you're also surprised that he has such a strong reaction to something you were half joking about.

"Oh, you are not leaving until you're fucking ruined, beautiful." Sero says with a proud smirk, pulling his cock out of you to turn you around. He presses you against the ledge and pulls your ass out so he can sink right back inside of you, "You're gonna be thinking about me long after tonight is over."

Somehow, that strikes a chord in you. If only he knew just how much you feared that very outcome. Yet, despite that fear, you're still here tonight, with your ass out and your body trembling. Your relentless desire far outweighs your fear at this point, and right now, you hope to god that he makes good on his word.

With your legs still trapped in your jeans, you can only spread your legs apart so wide, but Sero seems to like it anyway. Even though he's behind you now, he's still relentless with the kissing, turning your head around to shallowly make out with you while he starts moving his hips gently. When your neck can't take the strain any longer and you pull away for air, he still plants kisses along your jaw and ears and neck.

You enjoy the affection, but you're much more concerned with what's happening between your hips. Maybe he's being gentle so that you can get accustomed to his size first, but you would be much happier if he just sped things up. Your pussy is shaking for it.

But even when you try to push your ass back to get more friction, Sero only shushes you and stills your hips with his strong hands again, "No need to rush, beautiful. I'm gonna enjoy every second of this."

"Mmph!" You bite your lip when you feel his hands dip underneath your hoodie and shirt to squeeze at your breasts. He kneads slowly at them and lets out a content sigh, like you both aren't still on top of someone's roof with your pants halfway down your legs. You aren't in a rush, but this is hardly the time or place to be taking his sweet time!

And quite honestly, you don't really need all of that slow-loving pampering either. Not from him. Not if it's just gonna go to your head and leave you in pieces over it later.

"You don't have to treat me so nicely, you know." You say, turning your head to look back at him, where you see him smirking still.

His hands on your chest get harsher, and he traps your nipples between his fingers to squeeze and pull at them while still playing with your breasts.

"Are you saying that because you think I don't want to treat you well, or because you want me to be mean to you?" He smiles into your ear, giving it a small nip.

You make a whiny noise of surprise when he pulls a little harder at your nipples, the shock of pleasure also sending the walls of your pussy fluttering like wings. And you find yourself relieved to have something to clench around.

Sero feels it too, and he lets out a strained groan as his own hips reflexively buck up into you. Which, in turn, creates a domino effect as it sends pleasure right back into you, his cock hitting you deep and making you squeeze him again, and subsequently urges him to thrust into you again to get more of that tightness around his length.

"Mmh, yes. Sero, more of that." You whine, clutching onto the ledge as you shake your ass against his hips.

"Fuck mami, look at you go.” He chuckles with a playful smack to your ass. “Alright, since that’s what you want.”

His hands find a good, tight grip on your waist and he pulls all the way out, until only the tip is left inside you. Your entire body braces for what’s sure to be the harsh impact you’ve been waiting for, yet somehow, it’s not enough to prepare you for just how deeply he drills into you.

“AH!” You scream, slamming your face into your arms that rest stop the roof’s ledge.

Oh my god.

Oh my god.

“Ah! Ah! Nyagh! Nnh—!”

You can’t stop your voice from coming out. Each and every impact is just that powerful. You’re fairly sure that your insides aren’t as long as his cock is, and yet, he slams his hips right up against your ass every time. He fills up parts of you that you haven’t even touched yourself, drawing out sounds and reactions from you that you’ve never made before with anyone else.

“God, you feel fucking amazing, [Name].” Sero grunts as he thrusts at a fast, but thorough pace, making sure that he goes all the way in each time. “Your pussy's fucking magical. So wet and tight. Ahh god...”

You know he’s exaggerating but you can’t help but love the praise nonetheless. In fact, it makes you clench tighter around him whenever you can catch him upon impact, making the drag out all the more torturous for him so that all he’ll want is to come right back inside.

"Mm... fuck me faster and see if it gets any better." You challenge him, but it seems that he doesn't need the bait.

"You read my mind, beautiful." He rewards(?) you with a loud spank, making your body jolt with a scream before he locks his hands around your hips to start pounding you. Like, really pounding.

You don't know how he does it, but within seconds he's pinpointed your most sensitive spot and he's jackhammering at it like mad, until your own voice is vibrating from all the thrusts interrupting your yelling.

"Aa-a-ah-gh-h-hhh—! Fuck, Sero!" You gasp out, barely able to hold yourself up against the ledge anymore. Thank god he wraps his arms around your waist and chest to hold you up against him while he fucks manically into you from behind.

Even as your body naturally arches away in pleasure, Sero keeps you held tight as possible to him, and he still manages to get his lips on your neck as his hips are pumping lightning into your body.

"Agh, yes!" You sigh out as you feel your peak approaching, reaching one hand up to clutch his forearm around your chest and the other up behind you to grip at his hair, "Yes! Oh... my god. Ahn...!"

It doesn't take much more to make you come. Even if he didn't grope at your breast and nipple, or reach down to rub at your clit, or whisper, "Come while I'm inside you, mami. I wanna feel you come around me. Please." you would have finished anyway. But since he did do all of those things, you came so much harder than you even imagined.

You swear your eyes are shaking within your trembling body as you come while shackled in Sero's arms. The fact that he's keeping you locked against him while you lose control of your body gives you an entirely different high that mixes a dangerous cocktail with the high from your orgasm. And when he moans into your ear as he comes just after you, hips pushing into you in long pauses to extend his orgasm, your heart flutters in tandem with your walls around his cock, whimpering in helpless pleasure.

"Sero..."

Oh, this is bad. So, so very bad.

"Yeah, baby?" He kisses your neck before nuzzling his face into it.

One more time, you're internally screaming. Let's do it one more time.

You're addicted. You already know it. You've finally had a real hit and now you already want more. It's over for you.

Already, your hips are fishing for more as you wiggle them back against him and squeeze around him like he still has more to give you. Sero chuckles as he fondly squeezes at your ass cheek and leaves another kiss on your neck before pulling out, which you almost cry over.

Though you soon realize it's so he can remove and tie up the condom. And in the few seconds it takes for him to get it sealed up, it gives you some time to cool off and come to your senses. Now that you're not pressed up tight onto Sero's body and rubbing your sweat and fluids together, you can finally think a bit again.

You turn around to lean your back against the roof's ledge again, still wobbly from your orgasms and much less stable on your feet now that Sero has let you go. Realizing that he must have been holding up a good portion of your weight as he fucked you the whole time suddenly sends a small shiver to your core again, making you wonder just how strong he really is...

Your few seconds of reflection are soon taken up again, however, when Sero returns to take up your personal space once more. And like that, he cups your face in his hands to bring you in for another long, sweet kiss.

Ugh, why does he keep doing this? All these tender kisses paired with the lingering high from your orgasms make you feel like you're floating. Does he make everyone fall for him this easily? And now that you've lived through it, can you even blame them?

When he finally pulls away, you see that he looks just as dazed as you feel, at least. You can feel his thumbs caress across the surface of your cheeks as he smiles humorously down at you, "T’as d’beaux yeux, tu sais."

And just like that, the haze is lifted. You're so caught off guard by hearing the French words come from Sero's mouth that it takes you a moment to realize what he even said.

You have beautiful eyes, you know.

You stare up at him, blinking for a few breaths before you feel the muscles in your face already contorting upward. You try to press your lips together in a natural urge to fight it off, but seconds later, you still burst out laughing anyway.

Not a short, simple chuckle either. You're thoroughly losing your already short breath and you have to hang onto his shoulders as you laugh into his chest. And Sero actually looks a little stunned. Whether it's because he's confused or embarrassed by your reaction, you can't tell.

"Where did you learn that from?" You laugh when you finally calm down, taking your hands back.

Though his pronunciation was good, it's clearly just a phrase he learned on whim. And his performance was actually quite reminiscent of that classic, romantic scene from the film that famous line came from. Which is what made the entire thing so much more theatric and hilarious.

"Yaomomo taught it to me. I thought it'd be cute." He smiles, "Though now I kinda wish I knew how to say, 'you have a beautiful laugh' too."

Your own smile drops in surprise, yet again getting caught off guard by this guy's soft eyes and sincere-sounding voice. But you quickly try to brush it off with a scoff and shake of your head.

Who the heck is this guy? Making you come, laugh, and blush all within the same handful of minutes. All while you've both still got your pants bundled around your knees. It's all so ridiculous, yet so welcoming. You have no idea what to do about it.

But you suppose this relatively pleasant break in the mood is a blessing in disguise, because now that you've actually cooled your head and body a bit more, you can see that it's probably not a good idea to do anything more while you're up here. The rooftop of someone else's apartment building is hardly the place for marathon sex.

So after pushing him off of you, you take a deep breath and say, "Let's head back in."

You pull up your (still very wet) panties and jeans, trying to put yourself together as best as you can without a mirror around. Sero follows your lead and tucks himself back into his track pants beside you.

Once you're ready, you're about to start heading back towards the door that leads back to the staircase, but Sero stops you with a hand around your wrist, "Hold on."

"W-What?" You ask nervously. What else could you possibly do up here now that you've both put your clothes back on?

"Just one more thing." He says, pulling you back towards him and then backing you into… another side of the ledge with his hands on your arms.

He gives you a quick, but soft kiss before letting you go and backing up, leaving you a little dazed since you're still kind of fading out of all the sex fumes. You don't even realize what he's doing until his phone is pointed at you and the camera shutter clicks.

And then you're blushing, suddenly very aware of what you must look like in that photo. Kissed up, head nowhere on Earth, and probably like a love-drunk idiot. Immediately you're throwing your sleeve-covered hands up to hide from his camera, suddenly shy even though you had his dick inside of you not long ago.

"Oh my god, stooop..." you whine lamely, but still peeking indignantly at him anyway. Why does he have to always catch you off guard like that?

"There. Beautiful, just like I thought." He smiles, looking happily down at his phone at what you assume must be the photos he just snapped of you...

"Sero, delete that..."

"No way. We already agreed to this trade deal." He smiles cheekily, pocketing his phone before he walks up to you again and plants his hands on the ledge on either side of you. Just like he did to you in the kitchen. Then he leans in close to say quietly, "I gave you what you wanted, didn't I?"

You swallow quietly.

Well... you suppose that's true. You did say — in the heat of the moment — that that was all you wanted... But you thought the photo of you in the Cellophane hoodie was all just a pretense for what you just did. To think he still wanted it even afterwards...

"I... wasn't ready. Just take another one." You pout.

"No." He says, leaning just far back enough for you to see that stupid, cheeky smile still on his face, "I like it when you're candid. An honest subject always makes a photo better."

The way he looks at you has your heart rate picking up again. It's like he's studying you while deeply admiring you, and also like he wants to kiss you again. Which, you can already tell, is the last thing you need, judging by the way his teeth scrape at his bottom lip and pull gently at the black ring attached to it.

You've already stirred up enough confusion between your heart and brain and body tonight. This is as far as it goes for now.

"Whatever. Fine." you scoff, pushing him away to start towards the door again, "You got what you wanted then, right? Let's get going."

"Vamos." He agrees, letting you lead the way, but sticking close to your side the entire way back.

—

tbc

“You have beautiful eyes, you know”

//

part 6

[pianostarinwonderland]

Chapter 7 Update Thoughts

There’s a lot to say really 😅 but I guess right now, as someone who’s seen a lot of the big theories, I’m so happy to see those that are coming true while at the same time seeing new things that Twst is introducing

Spoilers underneath the cut! I may update this post as I hear more tls, so look forward to more things about this chapter that will appear 👀 just a note that I'm getting pretty much everything I know from Discord and Twitter lmao

So this update focuses on 4 characters: Idia, Yuu + Grim, Ortho, and Silver

So contrary to popular belief, Malleus’ spell did in fact reach Ignihyde and now Idia’s asleep

I find it neat that when Idia’s phone vibrates, ours does too. Love the immersion

SO IDIA DREAM WILD AS FUCK BECAUSE ORTHO’S ALIVE 😭😭😭😭 AND HE’S IN ROYAL SWORD ACADEMY broooooo Ortho’s teenage voice hurts my heart,,,,,, the things that could have been,,,

They just talk about,, from the very little context that I could get, it’s about the first day, like how oh Idia’s the dorm leader of Ignihyde and such

Then after that, Idia chats with Muscle Red

AND THEN IDIA GOES OUTSIDE??? IN HIS ROBES???? Holy shit you gotta like sit down and think here. So this is the first day, so entrance ceremony, right? In the robe stories of Idia and Ortho, Idia would only be going out because Ortho pushed him to, but eventually Idia ended up just being in his room and brought his tablet 😭 but here he’s going outside on his own volition,,,, the mans is happier wtf

Speaking of robe stories ! They actually kinda follow Robe Idia’s story in that Idia encounters Malleus! AND THEY TALK ABOUT GAOGAO DRAGON BECAUSE MALLEUS’ TAMAGOCHI WENT OFF 😭😭😭 it’s the way they bonded with that small thing

Just realized as I’m typing this, Malleus is actually in his robes 👀 so here, he’s actually prepared for the entrance ceremony vs in the real story, where he didn’t know about it.

At some point in the conversation, Idia's like "I've seen this somewhere before" and Malleus is like "something wrong Shroud?"

Then Lilia actually arrives and finds Malleus and calls both dorm leaders to the ceremony

And hooo boy this part really got me because it’s the prologue 😭😭😭 Riddle, Leona, and Azul were talking and introducing themselves and GODDDD I GOT CHILLS JUST HAVING THIS PART OF THE PROLOGUE AGAIN

Malleus actually introduces himself! And as expected everyone’s pretty nervous and all that

The entrance ceremony went without a hitch and Idia’s back in his room where he’s talking with Ortho. Ortho mentions his roommates and that’s all I could figure out

Throughout the entire dream, Idia’s like something feels wrong………. Eh, it’s nothing

Then shift to Yuu and Grim!

AND THEY ARE IN MICKEY’S ROOM FROM THRU THE MIRROR

Ok so Yuu remembers what happened, and I find it interesting that there’s no voice when they’re remembering Malleus going berserk and shit.

Anyway, they wake Grim up and they’re just admiring the room all like yo is this Ramshackle??? But also no, it isn’t Ramshackle……

And then they see some of the objects coming alive like the ottoman and the trump cards and that was so cool

AND you know that by seeing that room in Yuu’s dream,!you would figure out that we’re about to see someone important B)

IT’S HIM IT’S THE RAT IN THE FLESH !!!! 🫵🫵🫵🫵

Yuu and Mickey did a high five 🥹🥹🥹🥹 it’s so cute oml, and Grim finally got to see Mickey in the flesh.

They do talk and Mickey tells them that he could only reach this room when he's asleep but eventually Yuu and Grim tell Mickey about their predicament

But then something rings and Mickey fades away 😭

And THEN the dream starts to collapse on them. And well actually what I mean by that is that a gloop of ink drops onto them

GRIM 😭😭 HE TRIED TO FIGHT IT WITH ALL HIS POWER but he was getting tired and everything seemed hopeless

UNTIL SILVER COMES IN

yooo ngl when Silver shouted “KANTOKUSEI” my heart went boom 😳😳😳😳 I loved the way he came in and saved us

AND AND THE N TANND AND THEN AND THEN AND THEN

SILVER UM SILVER UM SILVER UM

It’s called Meet in a Dream. The kanji literally says ‘let’s see the same dream’ which is whoa. Silver explains what his UM does but it’s explained much later and I want to get through this chronologically so this part gets cut off and we switch to Ortho’s <3

Ortho ends up in the cyberspace and he was able to log his memories to a backup file. So yea he’s pretty alarmed and then he goes to check up on Idia

Idia is asleep and Ortho tries to wake him up but fails to. He goes around Ignihyde to see if anyone’s awake but then nope everyone’s also asleep

Ortho sees Main Street and pretty much the entire Sage Island and well shit ! Everything’s covered up in thorns!

So Ortho is like what do I do and then he sees Idia’s tablet and it says 21:18, which is the time that he also saw when he was in the cyberspace. And he's like oh shit time stopped

Anyway meanwhile in Styx, everyone’s noticing the energy field surrounding Sage Island. And we get to see the Shroud parents!

why they out here looking like power rangers

damn, Ortho really takes after them

So anyway Ortho eventually arrives and then explains to them about the situation with Malleus, and everyone's like damn

Shroud parents will contact Briar Valley for info on how to stop Malleus, and then meanwhile they created the Cerberus gear for Ortho so that he could enter the energy field

what's funny is that they actually had to go through Idia's computer HKSDFJHHDSKFS to be able to make the gear, they needed some of the files that Idia has for Ortho so that they could even make the gear in the first place. Mama Shroud was like "pls don't tell your brother" and Ortho's like "oh my god how did you get past my brother's ultra mega tight security" well it's ok, mama shroud didn't check Idia's hidden encrypted folder...........

Can I just say, I absolutely love Mama Shroud’s voice LIKE!!! She is so cute, AND SHE CALLS IDIA AND ORTHO IDI-KUN AND ORU-KUN UEUEUEUUEUE SO CUUUUUTE

ANYWAY CERBERUS ORTHO IN THE FLESH !!!

And then it switches back to Yuu, Grim, and Silver B)) so they end up in a really dreamy sky at first...... and then they start falling.

idk about you but it lowkey reminded me of The Incredibles where Dash, Violet, and their mom fell from the airplane. Probably because the sky colors are similar

But also man, that sunset really such a pretty color

anyway, they end up in Diasomnia, and Silver tells them that it's Diasomnia dorm in a dream

He explains to them how Meet in a Dream works: basically he can enter someone's dream, but he can't choose whose dream he enters. He won't know till he sees this glowing blue bird around a person and only he can see it. He also can only enter the dreams of people he has some sort of bond with. So it weirds him out that he saw Mickey at one point when he doesn't know him. Also, he can only use it when he’s at least aware that he’s dreaming, which makes sense.

He also explains to them that that inky darkness they encountered?? It might still be lurking around and he's encountered it before apparently. It pulls you into a deeper sleep

well shit.

Silver says that they need to get to Lilia’s dream to find a way to stop Malleus, but yea because he can’t choose which dream to enter to, it’s not gonna be the easiest

Then they encounter Sebek, and Silver sees that blue bird and oh it's Sebek's dream!

Sebek's like HEY IT'S A HAPPY DAY MALLEUS AND LILIA ARE HAVING A CELEBRATION TO GO OUT TO THEIR INTERNSHIP IN THEIR FOURTH YEAR

But yeah when they're there, SILVER FUCKING SNAPS. because Lilia was saying "after the internships are done, we can settle back into our cottage and be together forever". And Silver's like the real Lilia wouldn't live long enough

Malleus gets really fucking pissed, and he's like how dare you're awake and you ruined this happy dream. And his OB form shows up, and oh shit! Time to battle him again!

Lookie lookie we see his phantom! It really is Maleficent’s dragon form!

Andddddd that HP is horrible again, we’re meant to lose again

So anyway Malleus was gonna send them all to a really deep sleep when Silver's amulet that Lilia gave him earlier on starts glowing an aurora colored light, and then Silver's able to use Meet in a Dream, and then bam they end up in a forest that is exactly like the forest from Sleeping Beauty !!!

And then suddenly oh shit a bunch of soldiers come in and their garb looks like Maleficent’s minions from the movie

Sebek can understand them!

And then ..!!!

Guys it’s general Lilia.

See that long hair??? It’s r e d

They really said no face reveal Lilia yet 😭 just that hint of hair which is honestly more than enough

As if it’s not anymore obvious, the blue bird shines on Lilia, and so yeah this Is Lilia’s dream.

And Twst is so funny that they ended it right there 💀 we’re really gonna have to wait for the Lilia lore.

This was such a yummy update 😩 as someone who’s been here a while, seeing so many big theories that came true and so many things that threw off fans fills my heart with so much joy 😭😭😭 this was so good. I actually can’t wait for more

[dendrite-blues]

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki. 

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself. 

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back. 

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others. 

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him. 

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief. 

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves? 

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again. 

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities? 

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief. 

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!) 

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention. 

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

[mmvalentine]

The Pianist pt 4 | Jurdan

Modern AU. Part 1 part 2 part 3 part 5

Jude woke up with a bad taste in her mouth and cotton wool in her brain. She groaned, groped around on the night stand for her phone and had to look at the screen through one eye because the light hurt her.

Does Cardan wake up like this every day? Jude wondered. And if so, how was he not dead?

Cardan. Shit.

Jude had a vague memory of kissing Cardan at Locke's party, but she was not entirely sure that she hadn't dreamt it. Fuck it. Cardan had been with so many girls she very much doubted one drunk kiss at a party would even register for him. Jude refused to be embarrassed.

In fact she was pretty sure that what she was actually feeling was annoyance, since he a) had managed to get under her skin even though she absolutely didn’t want him there and hadn’t invited him and b) was now striking up some exercises on the piano that sounded like he was playing them on the inside of her skull. Since when did Cardan start anything before lunch?

Jude tried to roll over and go back to sleep. Luckily for her, this was her one day a week off from all three of her jobs. Unluckily for her, Cardan was only just getting started.

Twenty minutes later, there was a pause. Jude sighed her relief as the infernal exercises finally stopped- only for a furious Baroque piece to begin. “No no no no,” Jude yelled. She flung back her covers, still dressed in the black dress from the night before, with bed hair and yesterday’s makeup, and stalked out the door barefoot.

Through the fire door, up one flight of steps, and down the hall to Cardan’s flat. She hammered her fist on his front door.

"Cardan!" she barked. "Cardan you insufferable ass!"

The piano stopped, and before he could get to her she yanked the door handle. It was unlocked, and Jude opened the door to a very surprised Cardan who was himself just reaching for the knob.

"Jude?"

"Yes Jude, hello it’s me your downstairs fucking neighbour who cannot sleep through this racket!"

Cardan just stood and stared at her. Some quiet part of Jude’s mind was sure she looked like a madwoman, but the louder part ignored it and continued the tirade.

"I mean for fuck’s sake Cardan what do you have against sleep?" She flung the words at him. “You keep me up all through the night because you refuse to operate during daylight hours like a normal person, and then the one time I want to sleep in, the one time- Cardan do you know I never ever ever sleep in? And then this one time I think maybe I’ll just relax a little, here you are like you’ve got some kind of personal vendetta against me getting a full eight hours!"

She paused to draw breath, and still Cardan just stood there. It was infuriating.

"Well?" She demanded.

And then Cardan put both his hands around her face, and pulled her mouth to his.

The heat was instant. Jude burned up under it in for a second, then realised what was happening and cut the kiss off.

But Cardan was having none of that. He pulled her right back to him, and Jude did not have enough willpower to break away a second time. The shocking fever of it wiped out all logical thought and the next thing she knew she was folding her arms around his neck. Cardan wrapped his own around her waist, stooping a little to reach her and then pulling her up against his body. He took a step back and Jude let him lead her into his apartment, the door closing softly behind them.

Cardan moved his mouth against hers and when his tongue lashed out she was only too eager to meet it. She scraped her nails against his neck as his hands slid into the tangle of her hair.

Jude took another step forward, and Cardan backed into a lamp. It toppled over noisily, but he didn’t let her stop the kiss. Just moved them to the side, where Jude’s back hit a shelf and two books fell out. Cardan didn‘t seem to care at all. Pushed her further into the wall while his teeth found her bottom lip, and knocked a frame down as his hand hit the plaster behind her.

Jude tugged him closer at the waist, and returned every one of his kisses. She might have kept kissing him all day, he tasted so good, but then in between one breath and the next he whispered her name, and she realised.

She was making out with Cardan.

Jude shoved him away, hard, and stormed out the door without a word.

////

Cardan didn't see Jude for a week after that.

It was strange, they had been in each other's proximity for a long time now and not had a lot to do with each other but now, somehow, he was quite sure she was avoiding him.

He didn't know quite what to feel about that kiss.

In his defence, she had started it. That night of Locke's party- no, before that. The night she started singing him to sleep through the air vents. She had floated into his life through his ears and now her absence chafed like a burr in his shoe. Of course, in the past days there was no singing. Not even when Cardan lay there for an hour, waiting to hear her voice.

Locke had seen her.

In spite of the mess that had been that party, and the morning after, it seemed that Jude had taken on Cardan's advice and agreed to meet with Locke for the play.

And according to Locke, things were going very well. He raved about Jude's voice, which irritated Cardan to no end. He had put his ear to the carpet just to hear her, and now he had to share her with Locke? Prick.

Locke, as always, had an easy time of assembling the rest of his cast. Cardan did not think him a bad writer, but he did suspect the queues for his casting call had more to do with who his father was than with his skills as a playwright.

He had been auditioning for a couple of weeks now, and with Jude in place, he was ready to call his first cast meeting. Cardan, Nicasia and Valerian were expected to attend too- Nicasia and Valerian never missed a chance to be on stage, and Cardan was invited for his "musical ear."

So there they all were, on a Friday evening, in the old theatre Locke's dad let him use. Waiting for the last few people to arrive. When Jude walked through the door she nodded to Locke, but avoided Cardan's gaze.

Fine, he thought. If she didn't want to talk to him, he certainly wasn't going to force her. He thought of the rant she had loosed on him that morning last week, and figured it was probably better this way.

Finally, Locke called them all to attention, and Cardan sat in the back row with Nicasia and Valerian as Locke addressed them all from the stage. Cardan put his feet up on the chair in front of him, and let Nicasia doze on his shoulder while Valerian picked things out of the soles of his boots with a pocket knife.

"So without further ado,' Locke was saying, may I present to you our stunning leading lady, Taryn."

Cardan looked up. The small group were politely clapping as a tall, thin woman stood and nodded at them all. She was all blonde hair and heroin chic, just Locke's type. But what about-

"And of course our vocalist, discovered by yours truly and pulled from the bowels of the subway tunnels, Jude!"

The group applauded mildly again, but Jude did not stand up. Locke continued. "Jude is going to provide the singing voice for Taryn, although I haven't decided whether we're going to pre-record or get her to sing live backstage."

What?

"What?" Jude demanded. The cast went quiet. "You want me to sing for Taryn?"

"Yes, of course," Locke said. "You've got a lovely voice, Jude, but Tarym looks more the part, don't you think?"

"Well you didn't fucking tell me that when I agreed to do this, Locke."

"Jude," Locke held up his hands. "Please stay calm. I'm sorry if you misunderstood."

"If I misunderstood? You lied to me. Why in the hell would I want to stand around behind a curtain so that someone prettier than me can get the credit?"

"Aw come on, Jude. It's not like that. This is a very common practice in show business," Locke insisted.

Now that the drama was amping up, Nicasia and Valerian were suddenly paying attention.

"Yeah come on, Jude," Valerian called down. "It's a compliment, you have a great face for recording!"

"Darling, these are all Juilliard trained performers," Nicasia added. "You didn't actually think you were going to be on stage did you?"

"I didn't ask to be here," Jude said, picking up her bag. "Fuck this, and fuck you guys slowly with a fork."

She strode out the door, right past their row.

"Jude, wait," Cardan said, scrambling out of his seat.

"You stay the hell away from me," Jude hissed, then the door slammed behind her and Nicasia burst into hysterical laughter. Cardan looked back down toward Locke, who was shaking his head tragically.

"This is why you never hire amateurs," he said sadly, and in that moment, Cardan hated them all.

****

Hooo boy okay a lot happened in this chapter! We are in a two week lockdown after a COVID break out so I guess you get lots of writing this weekend. Someone please hug them for meee

JURDAN MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @asteria-of-mars @swankii-art-teacher @loosingdreams @feysand-loml @cityofbookish @story-scribbler

[pip-n-flinx]

Castlevania Spoilers Ahead

its tagged, its below a cut, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

So I may be one of 3 people in the whole world who hates the final season of netflix’s Castlevania adaptation. I know I know, you’re going to have a pogrom. I heard about it in the market square this morning. But see, here’s the thing. What makes me angry is that there is so much to love about this show and I really don’t feel like it stuck the landing.

I’ll probably make a series of these posts, but I wanted to address the narrative things that were set up beautifully, only to stumble and fall on their faces in the finale.

Today, we’re talking about Hector, Lenore, and briefly about the rest of Styria’s council.

Hector and Lenore are by far the most interesting characters to me in the whole series. Let’s start with how Hector is written in S2 and S3 of the show, because it provides a ton of context for where I really want to take this conversation. Hector is a brilliant man, whose views are all about natural structure and conservation. Think of him as the shows Department of Natural Resources. He likens vampires first to wolves, then to cats. He seems to see humanity as an ecological problem, believing they need to be culled. He dehumanizes everyone, human and vampire alike, throughout the course of S2. You could argue this makes him naive or ignorant, but there are plenty of brilliant people out there who see the world through lenses far more baffling than Hector. He doesn’t believe he was treated as a human, believing himself (probably rightly) an outcast. He hasn’t had much time to observe a functioning society, but he has had plenty of time to study the natural world that borders human civilization. It seems entirely in keeping with his characterization to frame people as animals in his quest to understand them.’

Cut to S3 and suddenly the tables have been turned. Lenore’s use of ‘good boy’ and ‘walkies’ can be seen as overtly sexual but its also very obviously Hector’s comeuppance. After a season of likening the Vampires to animals, he himself is characterized as a puppy. Lenore also introduces him to vampire philosophy and more broadly speaking culture. She may be treating him like a dog, but its one of the first times adult Hector gets to observe a society, not just a foodchain. Despite being a well learned magician, he has much to learn about diplomacy and etiquette.

And this is the meat of it. Hector and Lenore are the perfect inversion of Lisa and Dracula. This is why they are the most interesting people in the series. Lisa searches for Vlad Tepes in the hopes he might teach her. Hector is dragged to Lenore’s castle and kept in chains. Vlad greets Lisa with suspicion, but is won over by her bravery and determination. Lenore, on the other hand, greets Hector with gifts before beating him - cowing him for his bravado. Vlad teaches a human woman how to heal humans, Lenore teaches Hector about the sciences, but mostly about how commerce and luxury items are traded. Lenore takes Hector as a boy-toy, a dalliance, or gigolo. Vlad takes Lisa as his wife, and fathers a child by her. Lenore keeps Hector caged, while Lisa insists Dracula travel the world. Lisa dies a horrible death at the hands of the Church, where Isaac spares Lenore at Hector’s insistence. Dracula schemes to kill all the humans, while Styria’s scheme is to bleed the humans as livestock. And at the end, Vlad and Lisa return from the grave and inexplicably decide not to tell Alucard. Lenore walks into the sunlight, into a new dawn and dies leaving me heartbroken beyond repair. The perfect inversion of story-line/arc. But it didn’t have to end this way!

So here’s the crux of what bothers me about Lenore/Hector vs Lisa/Dracula. Setting aside the mechanism behind Lisa and Vlad returning (hooo-boy that will be the next post I think....) you wouldn’t need to kill Lenore at the end if you didn’t inexplicably bring Lisa and Drac back to life! But why shouldn’t we kill Lenore? Surely the writers didn’t just bring Dracula back on a whim, so to complete the inversion Lenore was always intended to die, no? This is what I have a problem with. You take one of the strong female characters, one who critiqued two of the big-bad-villains of the series in a meaningful way. She articulates for the audience why Dracula’s plan was evil. Then explains for us why Carmilla has gone too far. This is the womanyou kill off? You kill off a character with wit, with self-awareness. You kill off a character who for all her flaws is known for showing kindness, whose very introduction involves making a splint for a spider! An act so ludicrous and caring that her friends ridicule her for it. You take this woman, whose goal is to secure a future for herself and the women she has come to cherish. You write this brilliant character, a hypocrite just human enough to be our lens into the show and who despite her own machinations has one of the clearest concepts of morality in the whole show, and you kill her off because Dracula must live? This is Castlevania for godssake, isn’t the whole point that Dracula dies? She could have been the greatest anti-villain I’ve ever seen, and she chooses suicide before her lover’s eyes? I’ll give you its a gut punch, but it’s one I could definitely have done without.

Because Lenore condemns thirst that harms the greater community. She understands the value of diplomacy, of stability, of peace. She’s hedonistic, but less hedonistic than Carmilla. She shows a great deal of strength in S3, but she shows a strength of character in S4. And then she dies, because Dracula must live. Honestly, she is my Alucard/Anti-Dracula for the series. Adrian Tepes be damned. Lenore had no humanity left in the most literal sense, but she is the narrative foil to Dracula in a way the real Alucard could never be. She even had a reason not to turn her lover, which Dracula cannot say.

So I am salty. And perhaps more than any other reason, I am salty because at the very last moment, they chose to save Dracula over Lenore.

[swiss-army-fangirl]

have y’all ever watched ‘unraveled’ by brian david gilbert on youtube? that was how i felt writing this. and i don’t even have a master’s degree in creative writing, i’m an engineering major with nothing else to do.

anyways, i present: ‘vessels’, unraveled 

the order. the Beginning. We’re set up with a futuristic, cinematic vibe right away. Buckle up idiots.

satellite. The introduction of our hero and their beloved, blessed with a connection that transcends distance, obstacles, etc. Also the introduction of the interdependence between the hero and their partner. The hero is dependent on the partner for guidance, but at the same time, the partner is referred to as the hero’s satellite, with the hero’s gravity (down-to-earthness?) keeping them tethered. The first mention of a darkness within the hero, but this darkness is clearly kept in check by his connection with his partner. This is a love song, the only balanced love song on the album, honestly.

frequency. The aforementioned connection in Satellite has been corrupted. There’s a disconnect between the two of them, and initially the hero believes he’s imagining it, but over the course of the song, he realizes it’s real, his partner has been severed their connection, and he feels raw, angry, scared, and most of all: betrayed. He’s never been alone before. He wasn’t meant to be alone. He doesn’t want to be alone.

DIE FOR YOU. This song is the death of me, personally. Fuck. Anyways, this is our hero coming to terms with his partner’s disappearance, in his own way. He acknowledges that they’re gone from his side now, but that he will not stop until they can be reunited again. In a ‘story’ scenario, I’d imagine this as the hero seeing that their partner has Turned, but the hero believes redemption is possible for them, or rather, that losing them is not an option. The hero will be there, waiting for their partner with open arms, no matter what happens between them, even if it means the death of them and what they stand for. Because death is preferable to separation.

Ricochet. A reflection of how the two of them ended up here, the first time we realize that maybe, their separation was fate. There were indications that the partner was bold, sometimes too bold for our hero to follow, but it never occurred that this would be their undoing. And that realization hurts, hurts him to his core. His beloved is beyond his reach, the gap between them self-imposed, but indomitable. We get the sense that this is a blow he will not be able to recover from. STORY MOMENT: the hero realizes that redemption is not possible for their partner, and it is completely, and utterly devastating. The person that was once there is gone, closed off, replaced by something that feels nothing for him.

starlight. Some insight into the bond between our hero and his partner. I’m choosing to interpret this song as from the point of view of them both: a plead from the hero, and maybe a moment of lucidity from the partner wishing he would just let them go, that they can be reunited, but they have to be separated now. The chorus and bridge are imbued with this sense of longing and dogged determination we saw in DIE FOR YOU, but the first verse is so reminiscent of someone consoling another as they slip away (‘the void is calling’/’it’s okay, I promise’). You know those moments in like every fanfiction where someone is possessed and then they break the possession for just a moment to say ‘I love you’ or something? This is that but a song.

into the unknown. HOOO BOY: this is the beginning of the end for our boy. This song is notably more aggressive that any of the above. This is our hero taking matters into his own hands, embracing his loneliness, his anger, all of those negative emotions he’s initially been pushing aside, and things are starting to get dicey. He’s walking the edge of a razor. Whatever it takes, he remembers. Whatever it takes.

gravity of you. Remember that razor’s edge from earlier? We’re about to go over. The loss has turned into an obsession, their love gotten twisted and darkened into something that is fundamentally changing them. The connection we thought was lost in Satellite is back, and this time, it’s Worse. There is a lot of imagery of a craft being pulled into a black hole; a toss-up between being reunited with his partner but to lose himself, or to live a life without them and in effect, lose himself anyways.

back to the earth. the alternate title for this song is ‘consequences’ because holy shit. We’ve gone over the edge, all logic is out the fucking window, we are committed and honestly, this would be the moment of wondering if the wrong decision has been made, because it feels wrong, so painfully wrong, but the question of ‘is this death or rebirth?’ makes one wonder if maybe, there could be a positive ending to this, that this pain might be worth it in the end.

last to fall. More exploration of falling, of going rogue, being the right choice. While Gravity of You had us worried (rightfully so), it’s clear that our hero’s intentions are pure at heart: he won’t abandon his partner, he won’t ignore that their connection is still strong (even if it’s distorted or corrupted), that he’ll put himself through hell for the chance that they’ll be by his side again.

bringing it down. In a story, this would be the moment our hero and their other half are reunited, but God at what cost. It’s finally sinking in that their partner is not the same, they’re something worse. And the worst part? He still cannot bear the thought of leaving them, even though the relationship that was once mutual is starting to become parasitic. The world is falling apart around them. We are nearing a life or death situation, saving yourself, or becoming unrecognizable alongside someone who was once the world to you.

unbecoming. Consequences 2.0. The decision above has been made unknowingly: the hero is being undone by all that he’s put at risk, and when he hopes, desperately, that his partner will be there when he needs them the most, they shun him. They laugh, ask how he could have been so trusting, so stupid? And now, our hero has no choices left. His partner’s knowing betrayal is the final nail in the coffin.

monster. Manipulation is the name of the game. Now that the trust, the love, is gone, all that’s left is a slew of negative emotions that are perfect for becoming an unrecognizable husk of who you once were. I talked about this song earlier, but the first verse being a railing against the partner for abandoning them as a catalyst for their corruption versus the second verse being a series of ‘I’ statements in which our hero realizes that this darkness was always within him, but never acknowledged? I’m just a slut for heroes becoming villains. The opposite of a redemption arc. The hero and his partner are truly together again, in horrible, distrustful love.

telepathic. Dustin fucking knocked it out of the park with this track and I wish we talked about it more. There are several moments of realizing that this love was cursed, but in this moment of clarity, our ‘hero’ realizes how his dependence truly was his undoing. Even before their Fall, his partner was always two steps ahead of him. There’s also a fun role reversal here: moons are referred to as natural satellites. In Satellite, our hero refers to his partner as his satellite, but now, he refers to them as the Sun, and to himself as a moon. There’s been a swap in power, I would even argue a subjugation, after this unraveling. I don’t know what conclusion to draw from that I just think it’s crazy.

everglow. This is still a song of admiration, even monsters have their moments of reprieve. Our hero is still so, so in love. It leads one to wonder if the love is reciprocated, because this song makes it feel one-sided, like we’re still the territory of ‘obsession’. Even after all that has happened, he’s willing to give everything he has to them, even if ‘everything’ is actually nothing at all. I also think it is fucking wild how this song goes from this really heavy vibe, to a final orchestral piece that makes one imagine end credits rolling. Wow.

[generallypo]

“I heard your voice, so I came... Aoba-san.”

Hooo-boy, if that doesn’t get me emotional every single time. Call it my bias for eccentric bundles of sunshine and softness, or my crippling weakness for the secretly-handsome-and-devastatingly-earnest type, but you can’t change my mind: Clear is, hands down, DMMD’s best love interest. Character development-wise, thematically, romantically, he nails every trial thrown at him, gets his man,  and proceeds to break your heart in the tenderest, sincerest way possible. I am hopping with Huge Fan Energy, so this post is gonna be unapologetically long and self-indulgent and grossly enthusiastic. Yeeeee.

———— 

Look, DMMD meta analysis has been done to death, I get it. This game is old. But I think it stands as testament to its excellent production that it’s still a game worth revisiting years later — especially during these times when social contact is so hard pressed to come by and we all rabidly devour digital media like a horde of screeching feral gremlins. (Have you seen Netflix’s stock value now? The exploding MMO server populations? Astonishing.) It’s pure, simple human nature to want to connect, to cling to members of our network out of biological imperative and our psychological dependency on each other. As cold and primitive at that sounds, social contact also fulfills us on a higher level: the community is always stronger than the individual; genuine trust begets a mutually supportive relationship of exchange and evolution. People learn from each other, and grow into stronger, wiser, better versions of themselves.

Yeah, I’m being deliberately obtuse about this. Of course I’m talking about Clear. Clear, who is a robot. Clear, who is nearly childlike in his insatiable curiosity regarding the human condition.

And it’s a classic literary tactic, using non-human entities to question the intangible constructs of a concept like ‘humanity’ — think Frankenstein, or Tokyo Ghoul, or Detroit: Become Human, among so, so many works in various media — all tackling that question from countless angles, all with varying measures of success. What does it mean to be human? To be good? Who are we, and where do we stand in the grand scheme of things? Is there even a scheme to follow? … Wait, what?

Jokes aside, there are so many ways that the whole approaching-human-yet-not-quite-there schtick can be abused into edgy, joyless existential griping. Nothing wrong with that if it’s what you’re looking for, except that we’re talking about a boys’ love game here. But DMMD neatly, sweetly side steps that particular wrinkle, giving us a wonderfully grounded character to work with as a result. 

Character Design — a see-through secret

Let’s start small: Clear’s design and premise. Unlike so many other lost, clueless robo-lambs across media, Clear does have a small guiding presence early on in his life. It takes the form of his grandfather, who teaches Clear about the world while also sheltering him from his origins. It means he learns enough to blend sufficiently into society; it also means that Clear has even more questions that sprout from his limited understanding of the world.

Told that he must never remove his mask lest he expose his identity as a non-human, Clear’s perpetual fear of rejection for what he is drives much of his eccentricity and challenges him throughout much of his route. As for the player, the mystery of what lies underneath his mask is a carrot that the writers get to dangle until the peak moment of emotional payoff. Even if it’s not hard to guess that there’s probably a hottie of legendary proportions stuck under there, there’s still significance in waiting for that good moment to happen. And when it does, it feels great.

His upbringing contextualizes and affirms his odd choice of fashion: deliberately generic, bashfully covered from the public eye, and colored nearly in pure white - the quintessential signal of a blank slate, of innocence. Contrasted with the rest of DMMD’s flashy, colorful crew, Clear is probably the most difficult to read on a superficial scale, not falling into the fiery, bare-chest sex appeal of a womanizer, or the techno-nerd rebel aesthetic that Noiz somehow rocks. Goofy weirdo? Possibly a serial killer? Honestly, both seem plausible at the start.

And that’s the funny thing, because as damn hard as he tries to physically cover himself up from society, Clear is irrepressibly true to his name: transparent to a fault. He’s a walking, talking contradiction, and it’s not hard to realize that this mysterious, masked stranger… is really just an open book. By far the most effusive and straightforward of the entire cast, his actions are wildly unconventional and sometimes wholly inexplicable. But given time to explain himself, he is always, always sincere in his intentions — and unlike the rest of the love interests, naturally inclined to offer bits of himself to Aoba. It doesn’t take the entire character arc to figure out his big, bad secret — our main character gets an inkling about halfway through his route — and what’s even better is that he embraces it, understanding that his abilities also allow him to protect what he cherishes: Aoba. 

So what if he doesn’t fit into an easily recognizable box of daydream boyfriend material? He’s contradictory, and contradiction is interesting. Dons a gas mask, but isn’t an edgelord. Blandly dressed, but ridiculously charming. Unreadable and modestly intimidating — until he opens his mouth. Even without the benefit of traversing his route, there’s already so much good stuff to work with, and sure as hell, you’re kept guessing all the way to the end.

Character Development — from reckless devotion into complaisant subservience, complaisant subservience into mutual understanding. And then, of course: free will, and true love. 

At its core, DMMD is about a dude with magic mind-melding powers and his merry band of attractive men with — surprise! — crippling emotional baggage. Each route follows the same pattern, simply remixing the individual character interactions and the pace of the program: Aoba finds himself isolated with the love interest, faces various communication issues varying on the scale of frustrating to downright dangerous, wanders into a sketchy section of Platinum Jail, bonds with the love interest over shared duress, breaks into the Oval Tower, faces mental assault by the big bad — and finally, finally, destroys those internal demons plaguing the love interest, releasing the couple onto the path of a real heart-to-heart conversation. And then, you know, the lovey-dovey stuff. 

Here’s the thing: as far as romantic progression goes, it’s really not a bad structure. There’s room to bump heads, but also to bond. The Scrap scene is a thematically cohesive and clever way to squeeze in the full breadth of character backstory while simultaneously advancing the plot. In this part, Aoba must become the hero to each of his love interests and save them from themselves. Having become privy to each other’s deepest thoughts and reaching a mutual understanding of each other, their feelings afterwards slide much more naturally into romantic territory. They break free of Oval Tower, make their way home, and have hot, emotionally fulfilling sex or otherwise some variation on the last few steps. The end. 

That is, except for Clear. 

Clear’s route is refreshing in that he needs none of these things — the climax of his emotional arc actually comes a little after the halfway point of his route. When Clear’s true origins are revealed, he comes entirely clean to Aoba, fighting against his fear of rejection but also trusting that Aoba will listen. It’s a quiet, vulnerable moment, rather than the action-packed tension we normally experience during a Scrap scene. 

That doesn’t mean it’s prematurely written in — it simply means that he reaches his potential faster than the other characters. Because of that, he’s free to pursue the next level of his route’s development much, much sooner in the timeline: he overcomes his fears of his appearance, he confesses his love to Aoba, he leaves the confines of a largely dubious master-servant relationship and allows himself to be Aoba’s equal. Clear’s sprite art mirrors his emotional transformation all the way through, exposing him to the literal bone — and Aoba’s affection for him doesn’t change a single bit. Beautiful.

The whammy of incredible moments doesn’t just stop there, though. I don’t exactly recall the order the routes DMMD is ideally meant to be played in, but I believe Clear’s is meant to be last. And if you do, I can guarantee that it becomes a hugely delightful gameplay experience — in order to achieve his good ending, you must do absolutely nothing with Scrap. It doesn’t just subvert our player expectations of proactively clicking and interacting with our love interests; it grabs the story by its thematic reins and yanks it all back to the forefront of our scene. 

In every route besides Clear’s, Scrap is a tool used to insert Aoba’s influence into and interfere with his target’s mind. Using his powers of destruction, Aoba is able to prune whatever maligned thoughts are harming his target; in any conventional situation, using Scrap is the right choice. 

But one of the central problems in Clear’s route is his conflict between the impulses of his conditioning and his desire to live freely as a human would. Breaking free of Toue’s programming is what initially made him unique; growing beyond the rules imposed by his grandfather is what makes him human. In the final conflict scene, Clear’s decision to destroy his key-lock is an action of true autonomy, made with perfect understanding of the consequences and a sincere, selflessly selfish desire to protect someone he loves. In order to receive his good end, you have to respect his decision. It doesn’t matter which option you pick — by using Scrap, Aoba turns his back on every positive choice he made with Clear and attempts to exert his authority over him. This is Aoba becoming Toue; this is Aoba trying to reinstate himself as ‘Master’ right as he approved Clear as his equal. That’s blatant hypocrisy, and it doesn’t matter if Aoba is trying to do it for Clear’s ‘own good’ — that’s not Aoba’s call to make. If you truly wish to respect Clear’s free will, you will stand by. This is the truth of the moment: Clear has no emotional blockages that Aoba needs to fix. Believe in him, just as he believed in you.

The path to his heart is, and always has been, clear. Scrap was never needed from the start.

While Aoba might be the main character, Clear is undeniably a hero in his own route just as much. Tirelessly earnest and always curious, he leaps headlong into the unknown and emerges with his newfound enlightenment. He’s unafraid of weathering trials, even to the point of accepting death, and returns anew from oblivion to a sweet, cathartic ending. That’s about as textbook hero’s journey as it gets — if that doesn’t make him unquestionably, certifiably, unconditionally human, then I will scream.

And only finally… there is the free end. The final CG is like a throwback to our first impression of him: indistinct, purposefully obscured from proper view. But this time, we know better — and so does Aoba. Looks were never what mattered in Clear’s route. If you were patient, and you were open-minded, and you listened… well, what we realize now is that Clear was doing the exact same thing for you, too.

From a carefree, aimless robot-man with only the gimmick of “eccentric ditz” to carry him forward, we get a supremely more interesting character by the end: a man who has graduated from the well-intentioned but claustrophobic conditioning of his childhood; a weapon who has defied the imperatives placed on him by his creator’s programming; a wanderer who has, through unconditional patience and empathy, discovered love, and striven to become a better person for it. Who was it that ever doubted Clear’s character? He’s the goddamn goodest boy that ever wanted to be a real boy. Of course Clear is human. And in fact, he does it better than every single one of the actually human love interests. You can’t change my mind.

The Romance — kindness is really fucking attractive, okay.

Like I’ve said earlier, I have my Big Fan Blinds stuck on pretty tight. I might be conjuring sparks from thin air. But I think every choice was a deliberate creative decision on the writers’ part, and they deserve all the kudos for it — I’m just the lucky player who gets to enjoy it. But aside from Noiz (who I also think is a perfect darling as well — I could go on and on about him), Clear’s route is a model example for consent and healthy relationships in VN storytelling. This is reciprocated on both sides: never does Aoba infringe on Clear’s boundaries, and neither does Clear. They’re sensitive to each other’s needs and concerns; they ask for permission and stop when it isn’t granted (and when it is, boy do they get frisky — I’m not complaining!) I don’t need to say much more, because I think that consent is both fantastic and yes, incredibly hot (the scene in DMMD is tons more sad, go play Re:connect!). Good writing shows off the massive erotic potential enthusiastic consent puts into intimacy, and Aoba’s and Clear’s relationship is honestly a dream playground. The point is, I think Aoba and Clear genuinely do find equal balance in their relationship by the end of his route (and certainly through Re:connect). If you follow through Re:connect’s storyline, there’s even more thematic richness that comes through in the form of Clear’s greatest asset: communication. The couple get to discuss the long-term implications of them being together; they both offer concerns, points, and assurances to the other, and it’s just a soft, honest moment not so unlike the worries of a real relationship. Hearing is kind of Clear’s motif sense, but it’s really great to see that Aoba also subtly picks it up, really flexes his own communication skills to better engage with Clear. 

Point is, Clear’s route spoke to me on a lot of little levels. Design-wise, he’s already got a ton going for him, and his story builds upon it rather than against it, enriching his development and grounding him a little more solidly in the DMMD universe (and in my heart). His route, aside from being emotionally ruinous, carries a pretty solid chunk of world-building (only beaten out by Mink’s and Ren’s, probably), and the romance feels organic, healthy, and realistic. He’s not the only one with an excellent route, but he’s my favorite. If you read through all of this, you’re a real trooper and I’m extremely impressed. Thanks for tuning in. Peace.

[crackimagines]

The Black Eagles meets persona users. What happens?

Hooo boy, this has been on the backburner for a while, huh? 

Sorry to keep ya waiting! Thanks for your patience,  dtgvxg! I hope you enjoy!

—-

For those Unaware of Persona 4, or the series in general 

A Persona is a physical manifestation of a Persona User’s personality, referred to as a “mask” for an individual to use to face hardship. They use them to fight Shadows, which are born from humans, and carry with them human emotions, which are mostly negative.

The Investigation Team:  A team of Persona Users who are tracking down a serial killer in their hometown, Inaba, who is also a Persona User.

RIGHT TO LEFT, TOP:

Yu Narukami - The leader of the Investigation Team. He is known for being quite but polite, but for also for doing some really weird and whacky shit

Yosuke Hanamura - Best friend of Yu, can be a wiseass and is at the butt of most of the jokes in the team, but he cares deeply for his teammates and would never betray their loyalty.

RIGHT TO LEFT, BOTTOM:

Yukiko Amagi - At first very introverted, but once the team got to know her, she is a very strange person, from enjoying horror in actual horror environments, and laughing at the weirdest things. 

Chie Satonaka -  She has a bright and upbeat personality, often trying to cheer up the group by joking about the case. She can be somewhat short tempered, especially with Yosuke, and is slow to back down from a challenge.

Alright, we dicked about for long enough about info, LETS BEGIN!

Black Eagles meet the Investigation Team the main 4 anyway (Persona 4)

—-

THUD!

(Yosuke) “Ugh, I think I cracked my ass…!”

(Chie) “Shut up, no one wants to hear about that!”

(Yukiko) “Um…where are we?”

Everyone took a look around, not recognizing their environment.

(Yu) "One second we were in the midnight channel and…Wait, where’s Teddie?”

(Chie) “Huh? Oh crap, he isn’t here! How are we going to get out?!”

(Yosuke) “I…I think we’re in the real world? This wind feels too real to be the midnight channel. And I don’t think I can sense any shadows nearby.”

Yukiko crushed a tarot card, and summoned her Persona, and everyone else checked to do the same.

(Yu) “We can still summon our personas but…”

Yu took off the glasses he used for the Midnight channel. Ordinarily, the Midnight Channel was extremely foggy, and the glasses helped ward off the fog so they could see clearly. But in this strange world, they didn’t need it.

(Yosuke) “Huh, our glasses don’t seem to be doing anything. What the hell’s going on?”

(Chie) “Oh hey, I think I see something!”

They all turned around and saw a massive monster approaching.

(Yukiko) “I-Is it wishful thinking to say it’s friendly…?!”

GRAAAAAAAAAH!

(Yosuke) “VERY!”

(Yu) “Tch, looks like we don’t have a choice! Get ready for battle!

Yu pulled out a katana, Yosuke drew his dual kunais, Yukiko unsheathed her fan, and Chie got into a martial art stance.

(Edelgard) “Professor! The demonic beasts have suddenly changed course away from us!”

(Byleth) “What? But why would they…?”

(Ferdinand) “H-Hey! There’s a group of kids they’re going after, I think they’re students!”

(Byleth) “CLASS, PREPARE TO INTERCEPT, WE NEED TO RESCUE THEM!”

(Hubert) “Hold it, those students appear to-”

“PERSONA!”

Summoned from seemingly out of nowhere, four spirits suddenly appeared the students, shocking the Black Eagles class and the monsters.

(Yu) “IZANAGI!”

The spirit behind Yu flew out ahead of him, and sliced at the monster’s head with its giant blade, making it stagger back in pain.

(Caspar) “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”

(Yukiko) “Come, KONOHANA SAKUYA!”

The petals on the spirit’s arm spread out, unleashing a blazing hell onto the demonic beast, melting it and instantly killing the beast.

Two more took its place, charging straight at them.

(Chie) “TOMOE!”

Her spirit kicked one of the beasts away, and used the pole-blade to fight it off, dodging the bites from the beast.

The other one made a mad dash for the students, everyone jumping out the way as it hopped into the air and chomped the air, attempting to eat them.

(Yosuke) “JIRAIYA!”

The spirit spun around in the air, summoning a mini-tornado and completely enveloping and shredding the demonic beast, after a few moments, it fell dead onto the floor.

Tomoe finally hit the beast it was fighting down, making it stunned.

(Yu) “Alright, TIME FOR AN ALL OUT ATTACK!”

(Yosuke) “GOT IT! LET’S GO!”

They all charged alongside their spirits, attacking from 8 different directions on the beast while it was on the floor, hopping back at the same time, it exploded into black matter, making it vanish.

Black Eagles Reactions:

(Edelgard) “W-What was that?! I’ve never seen such power used before!”

(Hubert) “Stay back, Lady Edelgard! They could be hostile to us!”

(Bernadetta) “A-Are they using ghosts or something to fight people?!”

(Linhardt) “How…How fascinating! I must study them as soon as possible!”

(Dorothea) “Wow, that was a spectacular performance, but terrifying!”

(Caspar) “What even was that?! CAN I DO THAT?!”

(Ferdinand) “Calm yourself, Caspar! That could be some dark form of black magic!”

(Petra) “Words in your language could not describe the amazing happening!”

(Byleth) “Come on, we’re not out of the woods yet, we need to get them out of here and into safety!”

Byleth and the Black Eagles class moved towards them, and they seemed to be at ease.

(Yu) “Oh, actual people!”

(Byleth) “We came to save you since you were in trouble but…It seems you got the situation handled.”

(Yosuke) “Oh thank god!…Wait, they’re not Japanese?”

(Yukiko) “Are we in Europe?”

(Edelgard) “Your…rup? I’ve never heard of that country before. You’re in Fodland, in the territories of the Adrestian Empire.”

The four looked at each other. None of them had a single clue of what any of that meant.

(Yukiko) “Why is everyone dressed so weirdly?”

(Chie) “Y-Yukiko! Don’t say that, that’s rude!”

(Caspar) “Speak for yourself, your clothes are unlike anything I’ve ever seen!”

(Ferdinand) “And now, YOU’RE being rude…”

(Byleth) “Well, your powers are unlike we’ve ever seen. Are you mages?”

(Yu) “Um no. It’s not magic. Those were Personas…Wait, were those shadows?”

(Hubert) “I can see where this conversation is going, so I will cut it briefly. It seems that you are not from our world, am I correct?”

(Dorothea) “Not from our world?”

(Bernadetta) “W-What other explanations could there be?! Their weapons and the way they fight, their…Personas…?”

(Linhardt) “Personas, yes…What are they?”

(Yukiko) “Well they’re…uh…It’s actually kinda hard to explain…”

(Byleth) “I see. Well, we should talk somewhere safer that ISN’T crawling with monsters. We need to head back to the Monastery before nightfall.”

Yu looked at his team, waiting for a response.

(Yosuke) “Unless we got any ideas, I think we better.”

(Chie) “Man, this is so weird? What’s going on?!”

(Yukiko) “Let’s get going, shall we?”

(Yu) “It’s decided then. We’ll follow you, mister…?”

(Byleth) “Byleth. And you are?”

(Yu) “Yu. That’s Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko.”

Everyone nodded, and began conversing with the four as they headed back.

The team had no idea what they were in store for.

[utterlynotperfect]

Anne With An E Season Finale: Thoughts

Warning: here there be spoilers. Also, long.

Just adding that gif because it is sheer poetry.

Winnifred Rose

I felt absolutely awful for her. Obviously Shirbert was endgame but Winnifred has never been shown to be anything but lovely and clever and supportive (and also funny!), and she absolutely did not deserve that.

I’m actually glad that Moira and co didn’t let Gilbert off the hook re: his entanglement with Winnie. He did lead her on, he did give her every reason to think he was going to propose. I’ve read some (perfectly lovely) fanfics where Winnie turns out to be a closeted lesbian and/or she’s the one who tells Gilbert to pursue Anne- while the lesbian angle would have been interesting (although only if they were going to keep Winnie’s character around), Gilbert deserved to be confronted with the knowledge that in his ignorance and haste, he ended up hurting someone who’d done nothing to deserve it. Winnie’s grief and humiliation are so very real issues that a woman of that time would have had to deal with, especially after having been so publicly courted by a suitor- her family was ready to pay for his education, for god’s sake! 

I’m not thrilled that Anne’s knowledge of Gilbert’s un-engaged status came from Winnie- it should’ve come from him. But that was clearly a ‘parallels’ writing choice, and we got to see Amybeth in that stunning disheveled hairstyle, so I won’t complain too much.

 Diana at Queen’s

I thoroughly enjoyed her parents’ rant- very typical of the time and the characters- but Diana’s passionate eloquence seems to desert her when faced with standing up for herself. She made the beginnings of a case for her higher education- I think it was in the first episode?- but her recent coping/argument strategy seems to be getting angry and running away to cry. It’s not really the kind of development I saw coming for her. 

Dalila’s had some wonderful breakout moments this season- the argument with Anne being the highlight- and I’d have liked to see her take everything she’s learned from Anne, Aunt Jo, Cole, and even her mis-handling of Jerry’s feelings, in order to argue as eloquently for herself as she does for Anne. 

I also really wanted her to flat-out tell her parents that she’ll ask Aunt Jo to pay for it if they won’t. And Aunt Jo backing her up because of course she would. 

Post-Marilla and Mrs Barry’s ‘let them go’ talk, I’d have liked to see the Barrys come around, rather than just have Diana just show up at the boarding house with her dad as jocular as ever. I mean, like ten minutes ago, he was yelling that he wouldn’t let her go to college! Not a great choice there by the writers. 

Elijah

It felt a little out of the blue, to be honest, but with so many storylines and such a large cast, that’s to be expected. I really liked the way this one was handled, though, especially the way Gilbert mostly stayed out of it. And that line from Hazel was beautiful. Isn’t Anne’s entire world about the importance of change, and learning?

Couldn’t find that adorable moment where Delly smiles at Elijah, but this is just as good <3 Cutest baby to ever grace our screens.

Matthew and Anne

Hooo boy was this a doozy. I have to say I didn’t see this coming, but I guess we’re way overdue for a Matthew screw-up vis-a-vis Anne’s feelings- Marilla’s had ‘learning moments’ enough! 

I literally cried. RH Thompson is just the most perfect Matthew, and he just bleeds love for Anne in every shot. His attempts to be ‘practical’ so as not to give Anne reasons to miss them are so ham-handed, only a sixteen year old girl with serious abandonment issues and a penchant for drama could misunderstand. And she did! The look on her face when she said ‘So you’ll be getting a boy after all’ is everything awful in the world.

As with every Anne/Matthew emotional scene, their make-up was perfect. Honestly, every man should take lessons on how to apologise from Matthew Cuthbert, First ‘I think you’ve heard enough from men on this topic’, and now a proper apology? Perfect man. 

Diana Takes No Prisoners, Mr Blythe

The fury of the kindred spirit! Gilbert Blythe had nowhere to hide (or look, or a chance to get a word in edgewise) as Diana Barry gave him the Rant that every one of us has wanted to all season! 

Look at the way her face twists. Rewatch, and luxuriate in the way she tears into this clown who has hurt her best friend. I s2g most people might want a Gilbert but I want a Diana. Further proof that you don’t need a horse, a sword, or even goddamn pants to be a knight. 

I’m not even going to talk about the ‘note’ reveal. For me, that wasn’t the point. 

Lineage

I did wonder what had become of Anne’s quest to know more about her beginnings and her parents- I really hoped it hadn’t just gotten ‘fridged’ amid all the other storylines- and now i see why they’d left it alone. It belongs in this episode- this is the one about the future and family. Be it Elijah’s resolution, or ‘spread our wings and soar’, Diana’s choices for her future, Matthew/Anne/Marilla’s love, and the choice to have her found family with her as she opened the letter (which I adored), family and the future are the two overarching themes of this episode, so Anne’s quest belongs here.

Mrs Thomas was hilarious, particularly because of Marilla’s reactions to her. The reference to ‘Katie’ led them to the book! One of the saddest manifestations of Anne’s orphanhood, leading them to her birth family. Beautiful parallel there. 

My mother was a teacher. Juniper. Red hair. I don’t have anything to say. All of that was... sublime. Especially Anne discovering all these things with Matthew and Marilla on either side. So, so, so worth every tear. 

All in all, the most heartwarming resolution to the overarching ‘family’ theme. 

And now...

.

.

. 

SHIRBERT!!!!!

We got the kiss! Oh no, two! Wait, three! Oh man, I don’t normally analyse onscreen kisses, but this one. Gilbert kisses like a boy who knows, he kisses her like he’s saying the word finally. He kisses her like every moment since they met has been leading up to this one, even if at the time, he thought it was leading away. And Anne kisses him like can’t I just... kiss him, like when someone loves you, you’ll be kissed. Like finally. 

Started from the bottom...

Now we here

I can’t believe I waited for this, I prepared, I steeled myself...

And I wasn’t ready!!

So, in conclusion:

It was a really good episode, could’ve been great if Diana’s Anne-centric backbone had extended to herself. Shirbert is real, Amybeth can really rock the 1900s fashions, Moira handled the ‘family’ theme exactly as well as we’ve come to expect her to, and now we understand, viscerally, how these two had seven kids. 

Seriously, with a first kiss like that, we get it. 

I hoped we get a season 4- Ka’kwet’s storyline needs to be properly wrapped up (hasn’t it been two weeks), I want to see Josie Pye and Prissy Andrews’ friendship blossom over beaux and business studies, I want Jane to grow the hell up, I want to know which Paul Tillie’s going to choose, I want to see Ruby and Moody- the loveable idiots. I want Cole to get a boyfriend, to see Delly grow up black in a white village.... I want Anne and Gilbert to navigate the pitfalls of being childhood sweethearts as well as ambitious, clever people (especially an ambitious, clever woman of the time). I want them to have everything (including those seven kids. Lol).

What do you think, kindred spirits?

[rmg91]

The Woes and Antics of Living Together-21

Edit: I've decided to spam you all with the last three chapters! Enjoy and I'll see you all at the end!

21 chapters, wow, just wow, I'm just...kind of in awe of myself cause I actually did something this long. Anyway, I don't know all what to say here except Hooo Boy are you all in for a ride! Our climax chapter has arrived and boy oh boy is a dozy! At least I hope it is as the second longest chapter in this fic XD

Anyway! Without further ado...I'll see you all at the end of the chapter!

Previous Chapter/Next Chapter; AO3/FF.net

@writerofberk​-OUR CLIMAX CHAPTER HAS ARRIVED! And while I admit I might have rushed it a little, I feel I’m justified cause I just wanted to get to the Broppy already!!! Hope you enjoyed!

                                                ~*~*~*~*~*~

Poppy got a chance to talk to Creek two nights later, or rather she would have had he not kept changing the subject every time she brought it up. They were in Bergenville's museum tonight, a special display on royalty through the ages being featured, surrounded by gentle chatter. Poppy had a good appreciation for art but a museum, if she was being honest, wasn't really her idea of a 'date-night' location. It also really wasn't her ideal place for this conversation but she was at least trying to tell him she wanted to talk about something serious. She was seconds away from dragging him to some place they could talk when he wrapped his arm around her and guided her over to look at another piece.

“Exquisite, isn't it?” He said, gesturing to the beautiful gold crown adorn with rubies in the case they stood in front of.

“Yes.” Poppy looked up at him, “Look, Creek, I-”

“You would look stunning in a crown, Love.” He wasn't even looking at her as he said that, just the jewelry on display.

“Creek.” She stressed, actually starting to feel just a little annoyed with him, “I really, really want to talk to you about something serious.”

He sighed, looking forlorn before turning his gaze to meet hers, “Yes, I can tell. You haven't been subtle.” It was honestly just a little annoying, he was trying to enjoy what little time he had left to toy with her feelings before breaking up with her. She could be so frustratingly stubborn when she wanted to be, especially if it was about some asinine party, “I just thought we could enjoy the rest of the exhibit before talking 'seriously'. This is a date after all.”

“I...” Poppy knew she had to firm about this, Smidge made her Cupcake Promise she would, but she supposed if this would possibly be the last date with Creek, for a while hopefully, then she could at least give him that much, “I guess so...”

“You guessed right~ Boop!” He tapped his finger against her nose lightly, “Now, how about we enjoy the rest of our date, hmm?”

Poppy nodded, though she really wasn't feeling all that into it. She had been hoping he would see how important this was to her, he was usually so good at seeing her feelings, but she supposed she could wait until the drive back to her apartment to talk. The thought of possibly breaking up with him still made her stomach clench, she hated hurting people's feelings especially Creek's, but it didn't clench as much as when he leaned down and kissed her. Plus she had promised Suki and Smidge she would voice how uncomfortable she got because it was important she communicated with him. And, she had to remind herself, this could all be for nothing! They could talk and work this out and then everything would be fine! Yes, everything could be amazing again and they would have the romance Poppy had been dreaming of.

                                            ~*~*~*~*~*~

Poppy sighed dejectedly as she leaned against the door, closing it. She let her head fall backwards and rest on the wood as she thought about the mistake she'd made. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Creek after all and now she was regretting not being a little more direct with him. And she hardly ever regretted anything! He had gotten a call from his upstairs neighbor saying they had accidentally flooded their apartment. Poppy listened as they told Creek it would be a good idea to come home and make sure it hadn't leaked down into his place. Poppy had offered to come help, to even call the Snack Pack if the damage was bigger, but Creek had denied her. Almost harshly too before he sent her home in a cab. It hadn't been until she was on the way up that she got a call telling her things were mostly fine and they'd talk about what she wanted soon but he was tired and was going to bed. After a lackluster good night, the pinkette had stepped inside and slumped against the door. She hated feeling so out of sorts, she had always been so sure of her feelings and now…now she wasn't.

It wasn't until Branch's voice floated from around the corner did she snap out of it, "Everything okay?"

Taking a breath, she stepped around the corner to find her roommate at the table, text books spread out around him, "Yeah…" She smirked slightly as she rested her arms on the back of a dining chair, "Studying again, I see."

Branch rolled his eyes before standing up, "Well excuse me for caring about my grades. We all can't just get by on sugar and good luck. Besides midterms are coming up." He crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her, "So…You sure you're okay?" He had to tread carefully here, as he really wanted to ask how her date had been, hearing how dejected she had sounded when she came in but he didn't want to risk upsetting her.

"Oh, yeah. Totally!" She grinned slightly before sighing, "Creek just…had to leave a little early cause he got a call from a neighbor saying there'd been a tiny emergency. So I had to come home by myself." She also hadn't gotten to talk to him about his odd, pressuring behavior but Branch didn't need to know that part. If she knew Branch, he'd get all protective about her and possibly call Creek to start a fight or something. She hung her purse on the chair she was hanging on before walking by, "But I'm all good, yup! Though I think I'm gonna go get ready for bed and play on my computer for a bit."

"Alright…" Something in his gut told Branch that wasn't all there was to it but he didn't know how to ask without it seeming like he was prying. He didn't want to start an argument with Poppy right now.

"…Hey, Branch?" Poppy paused, before shyly half turning toward him, "Can…can I have a hug?" She knew this could end with him saying no but she felt she really needed one right now and none of the Pack was here. And, if she was being honest, she wanted one from her best friend.

"Uh…" Branch was a little confused and caught off guard by her request, she'd never really asked before, "Sure?"

Suddenly she was wrapping her arms around his waist and tucking her head under his chin and Branch was taken slightly aback by how quickly she had come to him. He slowly and carefully wrapped his around her and he felt her heave a sigh of relief as she relaxed. Poppy hummed happily, face half buried in his shoulder, feeling better already wrapped in his warm embrace. Branch's hugs were still the best, they'd been her favorite to receive when they were kids, and she glad it felt the same, strong and comforting. This was exactly what she'd needed after her little hiccup tonight. Branch looked down at her with concern, wondering just what was going on with her lately as he subconsciously rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"Hey, Poppy?" He asked softly. He needed to be careful here.

"Hmm?" She hummed, making no move to pull away from him. Not yet at least.

"Are you…really okay?"

"Yeah…" She finally looked up at him, smile soft, "I just need a 'Hug Time' with my best friend."

Branch snorted at her old childhood term, "Whatever you say…"

"Really! I'm fine!" She chirped before snuggling her face back into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a moment, neither really wanting to move, before Poppy spoke up, "Hey, Branch?"

"What is it now?" He asked, sounding annoyed but lacking any real bite.

She giggled before lifting her face, "Wanna come study with the Pack and I tomorrow at the park? We're doing some pre-midterms prep and I…I'd really like you there." She felt a blush crawl over her cheeks and hope it was light enough to blend in with her make-up.

Branch groaned lightly, studying with all of them could be disastrous, "I don't know….Are you asking because you actually want me there or because I know the curriculum?"

"Um…both?" She grinned cheekily at him, "Come oooon, it'll be fun~" She did want him there, everyone together would be fun but she also need a little bit of help with the stuff she didn't quite remember and knew Branch would help her. "Please? I'll make you those super fudgy double chocolate brownies you like~"

He groaned again, only it sounded more dramatic than anything, and he mentally cursed Poppy and her knowledge that he had a tiny chocolate obsession, "Fine. But!" Here he pulled back enough to look her in the eye, "You've got to promise to actually pay attention to what I tell you. No whining."

She giggled as she pulled away and swung her arms around her back, "Deal~ Gonna go find those PJs now!" Then, without really thinking about it, she quickly kissed his cheek, before scurrying off to her room, leaving a shocked and blushing Branch in her wake.

                                              ~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day held a bright blue and sunny sky as Poppy happily skipped through the park, a picnic basket swinging from her arm and a bored looking Branch trailing behind her. Today was going to be a good day, she just knew it! She was gonna have fun with her friends, well as much as they could while studying, she was gonna enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while they sat outside and she was going to talk to Creek today! He had told her this morning he'd be joining them so she was going to take advantage of that and pull him away for that important conversation they needed to have. Yes, part of her was still worried and didn't want to in case it did ruin her day but she knew she had her other friends silently supporting her and she wasn't going to let anything stop her anymore! Plus, there was always a chance things would work out and everything would be wonderful between her and Creek afterwards.

Poppy was so determined that today was the day nothing would go wrong, she failed to notice a few of her friends already sitting under a tree until they called out to her. Blinking and then laughing, she skipped over and happily claimed a spot on the blanket laid out as Branch approached more casually. He took his backpack off his shoulder as he nodded to Biggie, Cooper and Suki. Poppy had already set aside the picnic basket and was rummaging around in her own backpack, tossing text books and other various supplies in a pile beside her before she happily greeted her friends.

“Hi, guys~!” She chirped, eyes crinkling with how large her smile was, “Where's everyone else?”

Suki leaned back against the tree, stretching her arms out, “Guy should be here any minute, said he wanted to stop and grab something first.”

“Smidge is actually here already,” Biggie chimed in, pointing to the pink and yellow duffle bag sitting nearby, “She just went for a quick run to get her pumped up for studying.”

Branch rolled his eyes, “Wouldn't that just make her tired and not want to study?”

“Surprisingly, no.” Poppy hummed, sorting her pile to find her glitter covered, teal notebook, “It actually does help her stay focused.”

“For a little while at least!” Cooper laughed.

“Hey!” That familiar deep voice shouted, “Are you talking about me?” Smidge came storming up, hands on her hips and a water bottle in her hand.

Poppy giggled, “Nothing bad. You know that. We love you, Smidge.”

The short woman then smirked and fell beside Cooper, “Damn right you all do!” She then sent a suspicious look Branch's way, “You're not gonna be a fun sucker today are you?”

“Haha,” Branch breathed, “Very funny. I'm here to help Poppy.”

“And eat the brownies I made!”

Branch glared at her and she merely giggled before flopping against him, laying her head on his shoulder, a move she did to everyone, as she addressed Smidge, “And Smidge, you know how helpful Branch is. Don't be mean.”

“Who said I'm being mean?” Smidge blinked before grinning, “I gotta give him a hard time.”

“No, you really don't.”

“Yes, yes she really does!” Poppy, Suki, Biggie and Cooper all chimed together before giggling.

Branch rolled his eyes again but let the subject drop as he shook Poppy off his shoulder and reached for his own text book and a notepad. Poppy engaged in conversation with the Pack members there and he simply let the sound of her voice wash over him as he flipped though his work. It really could be so soothing at times and having her sound as happy as she did today made him feel a little bit glad he had agreed to come along. She had been so odd lately that it was nice to see her acting normal again and he could see her friends thought so too. He was...slowly learning the Snack Pack wasn't all bad, just a little too extroverted for his taste, and still absolutely insane but not bad. They cared for Poppy a lot, which he knew of course, but seeing it was a little different, he guessed. Not that he was going to tell anyone any of that of course.

Branch was brought out of his thoughts when Guy came strutting up with Couture sisters, exclaiming how fabulous he was and that they could all be in awe. Rolling his eyes, Branch looked back to his notes as Poppy rushed over to hug her other friends before they all sat down. There was some talk about what their various tests would include and what they needed to study for, when said tests would be occurring during the week and some brief gossip on how some fellow students were once again going out after breaking up for fifth time. Cooper also asked Poppy if Gristle and Bridget would be joining them and when Creek would be around.

“Well I told Bridget she and Gristle were more than welcome to join us but she said she had to work today and that Gristle was already studying with some of his business buddies. Oh! That reminds me!” She turned to Branch, “She said she'd probably call or come over this week for some help with her Calculus again before her test.”

Branch nodded, eyes still skimming his work, “That's fine. Kind of figured she would, remind me to pick up some jasmine tea before that. She'll most likely get nervous about it, tends to be pretty bad before important tests, but having her favorite tea calms her down.”

“Got it~” Poppy sang, adding a note in her phone before addressing Cooper again, “As for Creek, he said he'd be able to join us this morning but he didn't say when he'd come....But I'm sure it'll be soon!” She hoped so anyway, she wanted to talk to him as soon as she could so all this uncertainty surrounding their relationship would be gone.

“Hey.” Branch's voice cut her thoughts as he tapped her text book, “Pay close attention to chapters thirteen and fourteen, there's some pretty important information in them.”

Poppy giggled, “Okay~”

The group settled then, most going over notes or re-reading material that they needed. They weren't necessarily quiet, the Snack Pack rarely ever was, but all conversation was hushed in a way that blended in with the ambient sounds of the park. Even the music Suki eventually played was soft enough not to bother but loud enough to enjoy and motivate. Branch felt himself almost relaxing, well as relaxed as he allowed himself to get anyway, but he had to remind himself to still be alert for when the person he couldn't stand showed up. And he thought that phony 'guru' would have by now. But as he glanced at Poppy, who had an adorable concentrated looked on her face, she didn't seemed too worried that he hadn't joined them yet.

An hour like this passed, Branch was amazed at the level on concentration the entire group had for something that wasn't singing, or parties, or anything other than school work, when Poppy loudly dropped her notebook to the side and stretched her arms high in the air, “Is it too early for lunch?”

“Yes.” Branch deadpanned as some of the other bobbed their heads in agreement.

“Yeah, Pops', let's give it another hour before we have lunch.” Suki said with a smile before turning back to her Japanese text.

Poppy pouted slightly, shoulders slumping, “Aww, but I want a snack.”

“How can you be hungry?” Branch shook his head, “It's been an hour since we started.”

“Hey! Reading and trying to remember information takes a lot out of a girl!”

“I could go for a snack!” Cooper suddenly spoke up, voice cheerful, “I haven't anything since that pancake on a stick this morning.”

Chenille hummed, “And I suppose a snack doesn't sound too bad. Maybe a fruit bar?”

“Ooooh~!” Poppy cooed, “Yes!” She knew there was an ice cream stand not too far where they could get one. She stood up and grabbed Branch by the arm, hauling him up too, “Come on, Branch! You can come with me!”

“What? Why?!”

“Cause I'll need help carrying all those treats with me, duh.” She looked back at the Pack, having a good idea their answers to her next question, “Anyone else want a fruit bar?”

There was a resounded cheer of 'Yes', 'Yes, please' and 'I want cherry!' from them all, Cooper wanting cherry, that had her giggling as she pulled Branch away and toward the path. He grumbled and snatched his arm away from her but otherwise followed. They were just about the turn to go find the ice cream stand when the familiar, ombre haired guru came up the opposite way. Poppy stopped and grinned, waving cheerfully at him as Branch rolled his eyes, he didn't sign up for this. He was just about to say he'd go on ahead of her when Creek reached them.

“Hey~!” Poppy greeted, glad he was finally around. It felt like it was all too long since the entire Snack Pack had been able to spend time together, “The other's are right over there. You can go join...” She tilted her head to side in confusion, “Hey...where's all your stuff?” She would have thought he'd have brought something to study.

“Hello, Love.” Creek greeted, stopping to flash an apologetic smile at her, “I'm afraid I can't join you today after all. I just got a call from work saying they need me to come in right away. I am truly sorry.”

“O-oh...” Poppy's shoulders fell and her smile turned upside down. She had hoped for once Creek wouldn't have to go rushing to work for something and she'd be able to see him outside of their dates. And now her chance to talk to him again was slipping her by, “I-I see...”

“Now, now, Love. Chin up!” He bolstered, “There will be plenty of time to see each other soon. I promise. But work is important you know.” Creek smirked inwardly, taking some sort of pleasure in watching Poppy deflate before his eyes. What he didn't count on though was the spectator to their little exchange.

Branch watched as Poppy's entire countenance and mood shifted right before eyes, going from her usual cheerful self to disappointed and sad. Creek had to have known how let down Poppy would be when he announced he couldn't stay. Branch couldn't help but frown himself before glaring at Creek and that was when he saw it. There was a smug, self-satisfied look swimming in Creek's blue eyes even as the rest of his face tried to look sorry for what he was doing. And that just made Branch's blood boil. How dare that no-good, preaching, bastard take pleasure in hurting Poppy's feelings!

And just when the crestfallen young woman was about to say something, Branch spoke up, probably against his better judgment, because he wasn't going to let that fake hurt Poppy anymore, “You don't deserve Poppy!”

Poppy and Creek looked over at Branch's words and Creek raised an eyebrow at him, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Branch growled, stomping over to stand between the two as he continued to rant, letting out not only weeks of having to watch Poppy be unhappy with her relationship with Creek, for Branch could see that was the most likely cause for her unusual behavior now, but also years of watching her fawn over the snake and not having to courage to tell her how he felt, “You don't deserve her! You're always ditching her and making up excuses! It's like you never even consider her feelings! If I had to bet you don't even have to go anywhere, you just said that to upset her! Hell! You probably only see her as piece of ass and were going to break her heart once you pressured her into sleeping with you!” Branch knew, somewhere beneath the rage and jealousy bubbling inside what he just claimed could be untrue but he just didn't care, in the end it didn't matter because Creek still didn't deserve a sweet and caring girl like Poppy.

Creek pursed his lips, his own cool glare directed at Branch as he ranted, surprised he had hit the nail on the head. Oh well, it wasn't like he wasn't going to do it soon. So why not confirm his little suspicion while also getting his own little piece of revenge? Branch has always been a bit of thorn in his side and it wasn't like Poppy was going to return any of Branch's feelings anyway, “So what? Things happen.” He chuckled darkly, “And you're certainly one to talk. You sound as if you're in love her!”

Branch felt his heart rate pick up and sweat begin to bead on his forehead, panic beginning to set in at having his feelings called out but then he clenched his fists, he wasn't about to let Creek have the last laugh about this, “...So what if I am?” He ignore the gasps of the Snack Pack who had all gathered around them, he ignored whatever look Poppy could be giving him, “I know I'm a miserable person with too many issues to count and she's sunshine personified. I know I'm too cautious and paranoid for the beautifully, vibrant person Poppy is but at least I know she deserves someone who treasures her completely and will actually respect her!” He stepped forward into Creek's space, glare intensifying, “I know I'm not worthy of her but at least she knows now that you aren't either.” And then before anyone could say anything else, he stormed off.

Poppy, in stunned silence, watched Branch storm off, her thoughts in a whirl. Branch loved her? Branch was in love with her? Branch, her very best friend since they were kids, who grumped and grumbled about everything, who was paranoid about natural disasters and freaked out about things when he didn't need to and was always prepared for the worst, who-who...Who, despite all that was always there for her, who never truly pushed her away, who made her feel better when she was homesick by making her favorite dish -and used his grandma's old recipe to do it-, who kept her company while she got a tattoo, who took her mini golfing when the guy who was suppose to couldn't. Who made her hot chocolate and watched all her favorites movies with her late into the night when she was sad and upset over that same guy. Who hadn't ever really stopped being that reliable, strong, caring boy she knew as a kid. Who-Who-Oh....

Oh!

Who she was also in love with.

Poppy felt like an idiot, she'd been so blinded by her crush, and she knew that what it was now, she hadn't noticed just how much she actually cared for Branch. Someone who had always, always been there, supporting her even when he thought it was a bad idea. Or if he felt her or someone else would be in danger, he'd offer a different solution that could still be fun. Creek...Creek never did that. He'd support her, sure, but he had never really approved of some of the things she or the Pack did and she could see now how he always tried to persuade or change her to be something different. Branch cared for her the way she was...Creek didn't.

Poppy looked at Creek then, despite the revelation singing in her head and telling her to go after Branch, she had to-to know exactly how Creek felt about her. “Creek-” Her voice cracked a little, “Is...is that true? Were...were you going to break up with after-?”

Creek looked at her then, something cold that didn't look like the friend she'd known all these years, before rolling his eyes, “If you must know...Yes. I was.”

Poppy gasped, feeling like she'd just been hit the gut at the confirmation. Even-even he didn't want to be something romantic, she had thought they'd always been friends. She felt tears starting to prickle as she croaked, “W-why?”

He shrugged, looking none too apologetic, “Because I've gotten tired of this game. Your little sunshine and rainbows act had gotten to be quite the bother and I have no need for such a childish woman such as yourself. Perhaps if you had taken my advice and matured a little but alas you continue to stay naive. It's time to stop seeing the world through that sugar filled lens of yours and grow up.”

Poppy couldn't believe what she was hearing, could hardly even process that Creek, that shy new kid she had invited into her friend group way back when, who she had thought was always such a wise and kind soul had said something like that to her. Poppy felt a sudden and strong urge to do something then, something she normally would never have thought of doing-She punched him. She punched Creek in the face knocking him to the ground. And as she stood over him, tears finally running down her face and ignoring his shocked expression she said something she never thought she'd ever say, “Don't you ever speak to me again. I-I don't ever want to see you again.” And then she fled, hoping to catch up with the man who truly held her heart before he did something stupid.

                                                  ~*~*~*~*~*~

Branch hastily stuffed items into a bag as quick as he could, letting the panic now coursing through his veins control him. After he had stormed off he had let the feeling of having to flee, to run and never look back, to take over and had rushed back to the apartment to pack. Poppy knew how he felt now, knew he was in love with her and he had no desire to hear whatever gentle let down she had for him. So he was going to leave, he didn't know where yet, his thoughts were far too chaotic to think of a proper plan right now, he just had to get out of there, to save Poppy the awkwardness of kicking him out. There was no way she'd want to continue to be roommate's after the fiasco he had just caused. Maybe he'd stay with Gristle and Bridget? Or maybe even a hotel room until he found a place? He didn't care, he just wanted to get away before Poppy inevitably showed up. He'd fine some way to get his text books back later.

In his haste, Branch knocked over the box of invitations he had pulled from under his bed, spilling the contents over and onto the floor. He looked at all those wonderfully crafted memories of Poppy wanting him to join in on whatever fun she had planned and frowned. He doubt there would be any more now... No more seeing her lovely smile light up the room, no more hearing her adorable laughter, no more of her beautiful singing or sharing rare quiet mornings sipping coffee... Shaking his head, he gently kicked a few aside and grabbed more of his clothes, he didn't have time to be thinking about any of that. He needed to leave. But then he heard the door fly open and knew his time was up. Still he kept shoving things into his bag, ignoring the way Poppy called his name before rushing down the hall.

Poppy froze in his doorway, breath heaving as she watched him toss things into a bag. She gasped, trying to catch some air after having ran all the way home before croaking out, “You're leaving?” He couldn't be, he just couldn't!

Branch paused at the sound of her voice but didn't turn around as he nodded, “Yes.” He knew if he turned, looked into those big amber eyes of hers, he'd crumble and loose any nerve he had. But he had to leave, it was better for both of them.

Poppy made a high keening sound in the back of her throat before she flung herself at Branch, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his back, “No! You can't!” She wasn't going to let this happen, he had to stay, he just had to! “Stay!”

“Poppy...” He sighed wearily. He couldn't, it would be too painful.

She whined, tears leaking out and soaking into his shirt as she squeezed him as hard as she could, trying to prevent him from leaving, “Don't go! Please!” She had to get him to stay and to listen to her, to let her explain how stupid she was.

Branch's face twisted, he hated that Poppy was crying and he was the cause but he had to leave her. He wasn't what she needed, “I have-”

“Don't I get to decide who's worthy of me or not?!” She finally shouted before sobbing in his shirt. She felt him tense under her arms but didn't let that stop her, “I'm stupid! So, so stupid and I'm sorry!! I-I-” She gasped, trying to catch her breath before whining once more, “I was so blinded by my-my stupid crush that I-! I didn't even notice my real feelings and-and-!” She sobbed harder into his back, words starting to become almost unintelligible, “And now it might be too late but please! Please, please, please, don't goooo!!!! I-I-” She made another high keening noise before crying, “I love you!”

Branch felt all the air in his lungs leave him, unable to believe what he just heard. That couldn't be true, could it? Poppy...Poppy couldn't-She loved him? He unconsciously squeezed one of her hands around him as she continued to sob, broken 'pleases' and 'I love you's falling from her lips. Branch felt like his entire heart and lungs were going to burst and he tried taking deep, gasping breaths to calm down. Poppy loved him? All his brain could do was repeat that over and over as he tried to process hearing those three little words. And she-she was still crying and he couldn't let that continue.

“Hey...” He said gently, carefully prying her arms away, which caused her to sob harder before he turned around and allowed her to cling to him again, hands clutching his shirt tightly as he wrapped his arms around her. “Hey, come on. It-It's okay. You can stop crying...” God, he hated it when she cried and she didn't seem to hear him either as she continued to cry into his chest. Branch carefully and slowly rubbed soothing circles on her back, trying to figure out something, anything, to make her stop crying. That's when it hit him, there was only one thing that could possibly get Poppy to stop and listen, the one thing he never allowed himself to do in front of another person. Something he had promised himself to never do where anyone could hear him.

He sang.

“You with the sad eyes... Don't be discouraged..” Branch held her close and rested his head on top of hers, letting his voice wash over them, “Oh, I realize, it's hard to take courage...In a world full people, you can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you can make you feel so small...”

Poppy hiccuped in surprise, tears still flowing as she paused in her distress. Branch...Branch was singing? To her? She blinked more tears away as she sniffed and turned her head a little to listen to him. He really did have such a beautiful voice.

“Can't remember when I last saw you laughing. This world makes you crazy and you've taken all you can bear,” Branch felt her calm down but continued to sing, rocking them softly from side to side, “Just call me up, 'cause I'll always be there.” He pulled back just enough to gently tip her chin up so their eyes met, “And I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors...” He paused and took a deep breath, heart beating rapidly in his chest, even if she did already know, “And that's why I love you.”

Poppy sniffled and wiped at her tears but smiled softly up at Branch, who was looking at her with such a caring look, love shining so clearly in his eyes it really was a wonder she had been as blind as she had. “I love you.” She blurted, unable and unwilling to stop herself, “And I'm sorry I was so, so stupid that I just didn't see it before! And-”

“Poppy.” Branch breathed, hand coming up to cup her cheek and gently brush away a stray tear. He stared at her for a moment, still having a little trouble believing her, before cracking a tiny smile and leaning his forehead against hers, “You're not stupid. You could never be.” He sighed, “I hid my feelings from you, I...I thought that was the only way. I'm too boring and paranoid and-and gray for someone as bright as yourself. I didn't think...”

“Didn't think I'd return your feelings.” She finished for him and he nodded against her head. Oh, her poor Branch. She really should have seen it sooner. “How long?”

“Hmm?”

“How...How long have you been...?” She had to know so she could start making up for all the time he spent thinking she'd never love him back.

“Hmm...Few years. I think honestly since we were kids but I didn't actually notice till sometime in high school. You were laughing about something, and...and I donno. I just realized I wanted to hear that laugh, see you smile and sharing that wonderful light you have for the rest of our lives. And then I realized you'd never return my feelings so I hid them and tried to push you farther away but someone was too damn stubborn to take a hint.” He tried to glare at her but it lacked any real heat.

She giggled, “It's because you were my best friend. I couldn't let you be unhappy.” She had realized that it was probably her feelings that had kept her from ever abandoning him. Not that she'd ever do that to a friend but Branch....Branch had always been special. “You're special to me, Branch. Always have been, I just...” She ducked her head down shyly, blush suddenly staining her cheeks, “I just now know why you're so special.” She glanced back up, “I've always loved you.”

Branch breathed another sigh, as unbelievable as it was to hear Poppy say she loved him, every time she did he felt lighter than he had in years. Nuzzling his nose against hers, letting actions lead him, he closed his eyes and softly said, “I love you too,” before he leaned in and kissed her.

Poppy gasped lightly as his lips touched hers before she sank into it, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting her eyes fall shut. This. This was how she thought a first kiss should feel like. It was soft and gentle but her heart was beating quickly and as Branch tilted his head just a little and deepened the kiss as he pulled her close, she felt a spark light and she didn't want him to stop. Eventually it did, the need for air pulling them apart but Poppy didn't let that stop her from  smiling widely as she gasped. She giggled before it morphed into full blown laughter and she hugged Branch tightly, nuzzling against his shoulder. He stumbled lightly before holding onto Poppy tightly as he felt his own laughter bubbling out.

She pulled back, happiness overflowing as she grinned brightly at him, she was just so happy! “I love you~!”

Branch chuckled, shaking his head fondly at her, a smile happy smile of his own on his face, “I love you too.”

Poppy laughed again, feeling so much lighter than she had the last few weeks. No longer confused about her feelings for Creek, no longer worried about losing her best friend, she was happy and loved and she couldn't ask for more.

                                                   ~*~*~*~*~*~

It was later, after the euphoria had died down and the two had talked about some important things, that the Snack Pack had come to check on Poppy. After watching the entire scene, Branch's confessions, Creek's confirmation that he was going to break up with Poppy, Poppy's punching and subsequent kicking the guru out of her life, they hadn't quite known what to do. Smidge had managed to pry herself away from the group to give Creek another good punch before telling him to get lost and it was after that the group of friends had wanted to go after the pinkette. Biggie had then suggested that they wait and give Poppy time to talk to Branch and it was only after getting a text from said friend did they come over to the apartment.

They came baring their traditional post break-up fair, take-out, ice cream and a few bottles of wine and were only mildly surprised to find Poppy and Branch curled up on the couch. Most of the surprise was mostly from finding Branch not completely embarrassed that Poppy had claimed his lap as her seat and was making no move to leave. There had been a tiny squabble over how he was going to eat with her in his lap afterwards Poppy agreed to sit next him until he was done. Everyone had gotten a summary of what happened, Poppy begging him to stay and their confessions with Poppy happily exclaiming he even sang to her so she'd stop crying. It was only after food, some laughter and Poppy reclaiming Branch's lap did the mood turn just a little somber as they all reflected about Creek.

Poppy admitted, with a little nudging from Branch, that yes she was still pretty upset over what Creek had said to her. To know he thought she was childish and naive hurt and it hurt even worse to know that the friend he had been was gone. And as the Pack all nodded and agreed, it was Branch who told them that it was okay to miss that version of him, the version that had once upon a time been their friends and that it was okay to be upset over the person he had become. He also assured Poppy that she wasn't childish or naive, she was vibrant and held more love for the world than anymore he had ever met and that made her so, so beautiful. She had blushed and as the Pack cooed at them and Branch's pretty words, his face had turned bright red before he hid it in Poppy's shoulder. Giggling, she asked her-no, their friends to not tease her new boyfriend too much as she ran a hand through his hair. That of course brought up the question by Cooper if they were in fact dating and Branch brought his face out of hiding long enough to make a sarcastic reply. That elected another round of giggles before the Snack Pack decided Poppy was in good enough hands to be left alone. They still had school in the next day after all.

Poppy cheerfully waved them all goodbye, promising they'd try again for a large group study sessions again but only after a long and large group hug, one she made sure to pull Branch into as well. Afterwards it was just the two of them and after the crazy, emotional roller coaster of a day they'd have, the pinkette claimed she just wanted to go to bed. Branch had chuckled, his own emotional exhaustion catching up on him and agreed, even it was still considered early. His new girlfriend, and didn't that just speed his heart rate up thinking of her like that, had snorted before grabbing his hand and dragging him halfway down the hall. It was then she paused and, uncharacteristically shy, asked him if he'd come cuddle with her. She didn't want to go to bed alone.

Blushing bright red and feeling another urge to run and deny her, Branch had stood his ground and nodded stiffly. He wasn't going to allow her to be alone if she didn't want to be.

Now, they were just laying on Poppy's bed, Branch carefully spooning her against him with his face buried in her hair and surrounded by her scent. As nerve wracking at this was, even if she did know his feelings now, Branch also felt an overwhelming sense of calmness that he didn't try to fight off. Holding Poppy close was all he ever dreamed of and he could do that now and, honestly, he was still having a little trouble believing it.

“Hey, Branch?” Poppy spoke up quietly.

“Hmm?” He hummed against her neck. He had thought she had already fallen asleep with how quiet she had been.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts before asking, “Are you okay with this?”

“'This' as in me cuddling you? Or 'this' as in Us?”

“Mm...both?”

He sighed and gave her a gentle squeeze before voicing his answer, “It's a little nerve wracking. I'm....I'm not use to this stuff.” He tugged her a little closer, “But...I really am willing to try. I can't promise I won't mess up or won't get annoyed at you anymore but I'm gonna stay right here for as long as you want me.”

She giggled softly, “No relationship is perfect, Branch. I know there will be times I'll probably drive you up the walls or vise versa but I know whatever happens...We'll have each other,” She carefully turned around so she could gaze into his eyes, “And I'm gonna want you here for a very long time. I love you and I truly don't want anyone else.”

Branch breathed out a deep sigh and nodded before carefully nudging his nose against hers, “I love you too.”

A sleepy giggle was his only reply before Poppy gently kissed him and cuddled up close with her arms wrapped around him, ready to fall asleep with his steady heartbeat in her ears. Branch weaved his fingers through her hair before placing a kiss on top of her head and easily falling asleep beside her.

                                                 ~*~*~*~*~*~

                                         ONE WEEK LATER

Morning, one week later, after much studying and plenty of exams, Poppy sat on the kitchen counter wearing one Branch's shirts -the very same she had claimed as her own- and her hair up in a messy bun. She was fiddling with her camera settings before she filmed a quick little update vlog for her viewers. The past few days had been so crazy with last minute cramming, work and trying to fit in a little bit of romance that Poppy had gone almost silent on all social media so she figured a quick little video was the perfect way to catch them all up. Happy with her camera set up, she pressed record and held it up with a big grin.

“Hey there, My Cupcakes~!” She greeted happily, “How are you all doing? I know I've been a little MIA this past week and that's because a lot has been going on.” She gave a little giggle before continuing, “Mostly it was university. Midterms are no fun, let me tell you. But there's also been a few more...personal changes happening. Nothing too...well I won't say major cause it is kind of major but some of it's good!” She took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell them all about what happened a week ago. “First off is...well...” Another sigh, it was still hard to think and talk about but she knew she could do it, “Creek and I broke up. Now I know that's gonna be a shock, believe me I'm still coming to terms with it...” She took a moment to glance to the side, trying to figure out a way to explain before just going for it, “But yeah...turns out he was cheating on me!” And wasn't that a shock to find out. They only found out because some of Bridget's classmates had told her they knew of a 'great way to de-stress' and when she had asked they had explained about how this masseur helped them all relax by giving them sexual release. Bridget had of course denied them, reminding them she had a loving boyfriend, but they had still recommended it before dropping Creek's name. Poppy tilted her head from side to side as she went on, “He also kind of admitted he was going to break up with after I slept with him...”

She took a breath before flashing another smile at the camera, “But it's okay! Really! Yeah...it still hurts to know that someone I cared for wasn't...who I thought they were but I've got the Snack Pack by my side so I'm alright. And please! Don't go commenting or starting anything on any of his social media, I know you all care but I just want to let this pass.” She sighed before swaying side to side, “And now for my other news. My really, really great, wonderfully fantastic news.” She bit her lip to try and contain the smile threatening to break free before giving up and grinning at the camera, “I have a new boyfriend~!” She giggled before getting a grip on herself to continue her explanation, “Now, I know, I know it's only been a week since my break-up with Creek and some of you might think it's too soon but...” Here she paused, twirling a stray lock of hair around a finger as she looked off camera, “Is it really too soon if I just realized I was in love with him for a lot longer than I noticed?” She giggled again, unable to stop herself, “And he loves me, you guys! And I can't tell you guys just how happy that makes me! I feel like I'm floating and I don't ever want to come down.” There was a snort somewhere off camera and Poppy flashed whoever it was snorting a look before she smirked and turned back to the camera, “And I can't wait to tell you all about the poetry he writes! It's so romantic~” She giggled when whoever made a growling like sound at her before hopping off the counter.

“Now, I'm sure you're all curious who it is that could possibly capture my heart.” She walked around the counter, keeping the camera at such an angle all anyone would see was her until she sat down on none other than Branch's lap, who sleepily glared at her before wrapping his arms around her waist and hiding his face in her neck. “Ta-dah~! Bet some of you didn't see that coming! And for those of who did...well you were right!” She giggled, ignoring the way Branch squeezed her closer, “I really can't tell you guys how happy we are. And yes! Mr. Grumpypants here has admitted he's happy!” Another giggle because she just couldn't stop, “So you'll be seeing a lot more Branch now, wither he likes it or not,” He snorted against her neck but otherwise didn't comment, “And well...I guess that's it!” She gave one last big grin to the camera, “Hope you all have an amazing day and stay sweet~!”

After closing off like she always did and turning off the camera, she'd post it soon, she laid it beside Branch's empty cup of coffee and settled into his embrace, “See, that wasn't so bad, was it?”

Branch grunted before lifting his face up and leveling what could almost be a pout at her, “You're not really going to include me in more of those things are you?” The few she did were torture enough.

“Oh, I am!” She said brightly, “As my boyfriend, it's your duty to appear in them and,” Here she shifted so she could hold his face in her hands, “I told you I was gonna show you off as much as I can. You're amazing and I want the world to know it. I want you to know it.”

Branch felt a blush crawl up his neck and cheeks before looking away. Poppy saying things like that, complements and praises, to him were still so new. Although he wasn't sure even when they weren't, that he still wouldn't blush and feel a weird sort of mix of embarrassment and pride.

“I also promise I won't actually tell anyone about your poetry yet. Not until you say I can.” She smiled softly, “We'll just keep what you've said and written between us.”

Branch nodded, a little too overwhelmed again for words before looking back at her. It was still hard to believe this beautiful, generous, perky and amazing woman was finally his. He had never thought it could be true but now it was. And she thought he was worth showing off and praising and constantly reminding him just how talented and attractive she found him until he believed her and-Branch sighed softly before leaning up and carefully kissing Poppy. Thinking could be a later thing, “I love you.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his soft hair,”I love you too~”

They stayed like that for a few quiet moments, both content just wrapped around each other. Branch nuzzled against her neck carefully while drawing nonsensical shapes with his thumbs where they rested on her waist. Poppy was happy to just be held by him, surrounded by his warmth and scent, not at all wanting to move. It was only then after a few calm minutes that Branch spoke up quietly, voice muffled slightly in her neck.

“...You're sure last night was okay?”

Poppy giggled gently into his hair, she should have seen that he'd ask about that sooner or later,  “Yes, Branch.” Last night pent up frustration and hormones had finally taken control possibly sooner than either was expecting but Poppy hadn't really minded. She pulled back to hold Branch's face in her hands once more as she addressed him, “I meant what I said last night. It was more than okay. Sure, no first time is perfect but it worked out, yeah? I enjoyed it.”

Branch blushed and cast his gaze to the side, frowning slightly, “And it....wasn't too soon?” They had only been together for a week after all, he didn't want her to think that was all he had wanted. But finally being able to kiss Poppy, to hold her and make her sigh had well...done things to his already weak resistance against her.

“Branch,” She said, softly but firmly, making him look at her, “I told you last night it was okay to listen to your heart instead of your head for once and,” Here she gave soft huff of a giggle, blushing lightly herself, “I'll go at whatever pace you want. If you want to continue the pace from last night-Okay. Rather take it slow from now on and wait until the time is right to try again? That's okay too.” She reached up and started combing through his hair, “Whatever it is you want to do, I'll agree.” And she meant that, she'd gladly go however fast or slow he wanted, not wanting to push him into doing anything he wasn't ready to. She'd try to encourage him of course, on certain things, but she had learned after living together for the last couple months that she'd have to practice on her patience a lot more, especially if she wanted this to work. Which she wanted more than anything.

Branch sighed and nodded, still looking a little unsure but taking Poppy's words to heart. He hugged her close again, face once again cushioned against her neck, before suggesting softly, “Maybe...Maybe something a little in-between?” He wanted to wait a little longer to sleep with her again, romance her, prove he really was worthy of her and take her out on a real date before anything else happened.

“Like what?” She asked curiously.

“Like...” He gulped and was glad his face was hidden, this was just a little embarrassing to say out loud, “Like maybe...bed sharing?” God that sounded so ridiculous but Branch had discovered quickly just how easy it was to fall asleep with Poppy next to or in his arms. He really couldn't remember a time it had been that easy and...waking up next to her, to see those pretty amber eyes flutter open and for her to smile so softly at him, there was no way he could go back to sleeping alone.

Poppy giggled, unable to help herself, her Branch really was an adorable cutie, “Fine by me~” Plus she liked being able to cuddle up next to him, she loved her menagerie of stuffed animals but Branch was so much better at cuddling back.

Branch breathed a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he was holding, of course Poppy would agree, she loved being able to hug and cuddle, before he suddenly stood up, Poppy cradled in his arms. She laughed at the sudden change in position, holding on with her arms wrapped around his neck, “Where are we going?!”

“Back to bed.” He grumbled, about to take full advantage of being able to hold his girlfriend, “It's too damn early to be up.” Especially when they didn't have to be. She had pulled him out of bed, more or less, to film her little update and now that it was over, he was going to go sleep and taking her with him.

Poppy laughed but otherwise didn't argue, letting him cart her off back into her room, more than happy to allow him a few more hours of sleep cuddled up to her. She hugged him tightly, smile bright and cheerful, and thought life couldn't get more wonderful.

                                                   ~*~*~*~*~*~

I told you it was a ride! It certainly was to write it at any rate XD Wow oh wow, lots of happened huh? Most of which Broppy happened~! Finally...I really can't tell you guys just how much I've been waiting to write most of this chapter, like I've had that confrontation scene in my head since I started planning this fic in January! (Also having buffer chapters has saved my butt on this, especially when I had writers block or didn't feel like writing XD)

Okay! So, few things to address, was Creek a little sudden with his break-up and Poppy a little OOC afterwards with her punch/kicking him out of her life, maybe but I was trying to slightly mirror the whole 'He's selling us out' scene in the movie and Poppy's upset so I think a little OOC-ness is expected (Also she did sort of try to strangle Creek in that scene so I think the punch was justified a little). For the confession scene-I meant for the afterwards to go a little differently (I did intend to actually write out what they talked about) but the muses took over so I thought just a little summary worked better. As when the Pack came over, They did apologize to Branch for being jerks/never giving him a chance really back when they were kids/in high school, something I meant to include but just never happened much was the Pack getting to know him a little as he became use to being around them (Also yes, Smidge did give the whole 'If you hurt her...' speech before they left).

And the One Week Later stuff, I debated putting it here or separate but decided I wanted it here cause I still have 2 more chapters to go cause while it does feel like an ending and I could leave I also had another idea I wanted to use as an epilogue sort of deal. And yes, they slept together already, those two have way too much sexual frustration between them that I figured it was inevitable but that's also why I added in their little convo about pace. And Okay! I think that's it for this Author's note XD Thank you all so, so much for all the wonderful love you've given this fic! All that's left now is the gratuitous fluff chapter (next) and the epilogue! Stay tuned!

True Colors- Dreamworks Trolls version

[renatlia]

Dawn of the 1st Day

“Where’d the Time go?”

(Part 1/2)

Sensing a looming danger but no immediate threat, they allowed themselves a moment to regain composure. Whatever magic it was pulling them around had never had such an effect before. While sometimes enough to make one falter, this one in particular left them all with vertigo. The miserable Hero of Legend looked ready to crumble under the migraine he typically was able to grit and bear.

The Hero of the Sky was the first to recover. While working at his friend’s neck in hopes of helping, he tried to assess the situation. They were in a new area, one that somehow felt more ominous than anything he’d ever encountered. An intense, sinister hate that sent shivers up his spine.

Those who needed to rest while crawling dungeons, raiding temples, and being wide open to attack develop a keen sense of atmosphere. The absolute rage radiating from all sides set the party of heroes on high alert.

The sky child was reminded of Demise, and yet, the sensation felt heavier. Personal. The demon king may have had targeted his hatred on the goddess and her hero directly, but he hadn’t originally fought out of hatred. That evil sought power and would only hold anger for those actively in his way. Though the curse had twisted into pure malice by the Hero of the Wild’s era, most reappearances focused primarily on attaining power, the other two reincarnations affected by the curse merely put under surveillance.

“Wasn’t it just past noon?” The question snapped the Skyloftian out of his musings. Glancing back at the clock tower, he found it read 6:07, the scent of dew indicating early morn. The youngest of them was correct. It had been just after lunch when the worlds shifted.

“Odd? That’s never happened before,” the Hero of Twilight grunted.

The area wasn’t familiar at all either, judging by the faces shared amongst his comrades. It raised suspicion. The strong aftereffects of the magic that brought them there, the time of day changing, the storm of emotion that made the humid air even heavier. A gut feeling told him that the shadow they’d been following wasn’t behind this.

“Those construction workers look like my own, but that doesn’t lend much. I mean, we did have to drag away the old man before he spent all his rupees on milk after meeting my era’s Malon,” the most colorful among them smirked.

Unfortunately, the reaction they’d hoped to catch was nonexistent. Their unofficial leader was nowhere to be seen. The notion of anyone getting left behind had to be the most disturbing aspect of the last fifteen minutes. The missing hero’s protege looked beside himself with worry and lost on what to do.

“Look!” The Hero of Ages clapped for attention. “Just because the shift was harsher than usual, it doesn’t mean he got left behind. We’d see him again if he had been anyways. We were brought together for a reason, after all. The old man knows how to take care of himself, and he wouldn’t want us fussing over his absence instead of focusing on the matter at hand.

“Something strange is going on-different than usual, but we can’t panic over the unknown. Let’s split up and ask around. Where are we? What and where is the danger? Has anyone seen the old man? He may have only wandered off. It wouldn’t be the first time any of us had.”

Huh. He sure knew how to boost everyone’s morale. Must come from being a captain where he’s from.

“It would be unlike him to wander?” The Hero of Hyrule spoke up.

“Yeah, but... maybe he knows the place? He could’a gotten caught up in his head and forgot the plot. Okay, we’ll keep an eye out,” the farm hand nodded. He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

The eight left of them paired off to cover more ground. As the saying goes, it’s dangerous to go alone. One pair stayed put as the others went separate ways.

~*~

Link let the young hero wrap himself in the end of his scarf once again, the sudden changes in temperature chilling the island dweller. Having become fairly close, Link found it a small comfort to have the boy near. The teen was more than capable on his own, but something in the air raised the hairs off his neck.

The air cooled further as they passed the threshold to an open playground. The dew had yet to dry from the grass sealing in the night’s chill for a bit longer.

“Tingle!” his excitable friend whispered. He jutted his head towards an odd fellow spinning in place. It was a wonder the guy didn’t get dizzy.

The man, who had to be in his mid to late thirties, wore what Link could only describe as dark red undergarments over a skin-tight, full-body suit of a vibrant green. A hood exposed only his face and came to a point sticking up on the top of his head. Finally clueing Link in to what he was doing, he had a pen and parchment in hand and a compass dangling from his neck.

Okay, a map maker. Spinning explained. Gaudy costume? Still weird.

The little sailor tugged him over by the scarf he had wrapped tightly around his arms and was still firmly tucked around Link’s neck. The “forest fairy” was rather nice if a little bizarre. He told them that he sold maps of current locations at a discount, and so, the pair sat down next to a slide to get a better look at “Clock Town.”

Link frowned. The name tickled something in the back of his mind, and Tingle also seemed vaguely familiar. He quit thinking on it when felt a sharp sting in his neck, which had been happening frequently as of late. He must’ve jumped, because he received a concerned glance that he had to wave off.

Link knew the sting wasn’t a bad thing. He could recall his adventures just fine, but names, faces, and locations had become foggy since meeting the others. He remembered traveling across different eras and meeting many people of legend and myth. He figured out that the sting would stop him from thinking on them, and he pieced together that they were probably people his companions knew on their adventures (and likely lost). The goddesses sure had peculiar ways to protect their heroes. He just hoped the fog would clear once it was all over, feeling a sense of loss over his amnesia.

He blinked to focus on the map. The town was sectioned off in four areas, convenient that they’d paired off. “South Clock Town” held the clock tower with little else but the banker they had passed on their way north. To the west was what looked like an alley for shopping and other errands. The east, however, was far larger and most likely housed the local inn, which Link made a quick mental note of. The playground they were in didn’t have much, but they decided to ask around a bit more before ditching the place.

The little boy shooting darts at a balloon didn’t tell them anything. He had refused to listen to them and yelled at them to leave him alone to his practice. Not wanting to anger the child anymore, they proceeded to speak with the guard positioned at the town exit. After flailing for a moment at having found such a decorated knight in Clock Town, he managed to collect himself enough to direct them towards a cave past where Tingle... had been? “If anything, surely the Great Fairy can guide you!”

Entering the Fairy Fountain was just as refreshing as ever. The temperature was always comfortable no matter the weather outside. A calm would wash over you like a serene spring morning. Tall arches layered in vines surrounded a shallow pool of crystal clear water. The same water cascading down the circular wall parting at the entrance.

Link heard a squawk beside him, and he gasped also catching sight of a swirling cluster of fairies. Typically, there may be three or four fairies milling about at any given time, but there had to be around twenty circling in the center of the fountain.

“Heroes! Please hear my plea!” a warbled voice squealed from the mass. “I have been broken and shattered to pieces by the masked Skull Kid. Please find the one Stray Fairy lost in town, and bring her to this Fairy Fountain.”

Without hesitation, they spun on their heels and sprinted away to hunt down the missing fairy.

~*~

Link sighed as his childhood hero spent another handful of rupees to retry a game for the umpteenth time. For one who treasures his wallet so much, the Hero of Legend sure loved gambling. He’d tried prying him away, but the stubborn veteran just kept getting more red and hell-bent with every loss.

“I’ll be right outside when you’re done!” Link shouted over the loud music. The only acknowledgment he received was a shooing motion.

Taking a breather, he watched two performers juggling to each other in a daze. They were actually really good. The balls were thrown high and were in order of color. Maintaining that had to be difficult.

Link ruffled his hair. He really shouldn’t be spacing out like that, especially in unknown territory. Deciding to at least start on their original task, Link made his way over to the jugglers and overheard their conversation.

“My, my! Funny things are happening in town, aren’t they? Funny. Funny.”

“You’re telling me! Like the rumors about the swamp to the south? Did you hear about the kidnapping?”

What? Kidnapping? Link worried his bottom lip. Should I grab the others? We should help, right?

“Oh, my! The kidnapping?”

“Yep! But then the kid woke up. Get it? Kid napping? Hooo... I got a million of ‘em!”

He glared at the twins’ laughter. Though honestly, it wasn’t even a bad joke. Relax, Link. You’re just on edge. He rolled his shoulders back and coughed. “Excuse me. New around here. Could you tell me what’s going on?”

“We’re the twin jugglers from the Gorman Troupe! We’re practicing for the big carnival! It happens once in a blue moon!”

“Or in this year’s case, once in a really, really scary, red-eyed moon!”

“Ho! Ho! I hear it’s gonna fall harder than the way my clumsy brother is always dropping our juggling balls!”

“You see, we’re entertainers. We must keep people smiling. No matter how grim things get, we must always be optimistic!”

They proceeded to talk about some fellow performers, but Link’s mind was elsewhere. Scary moon? What do they mean it’s gonna fall? He turned around to go get his partner but found him standing only a couple feet away.

“Sorry, come again? ‘Red-eyed moon?’ What’s fallin’?” the Hero of Legend asked.

“Why, just look up!”

“Frightening, isn’t it? Hooo...”

AN: I feel like it’s been at least a month since I posted the Prologue, and I felt kinda bad about it. At least this part was fairly finished in my opinion, so I wanted to go ahead and post it. I don’t really have the other half fleshed out as much as I’d like it to be, but I’ll continue to work on it. Hope you like! (The majority of the dialogue for the npcs are taken straight from the game. That’s something taking up a huge part of my time trying to incorporate their words in scenes.)

[iamsonyeondone]

not so tough // lee chan

♥ college!au

♥ slight angst and fluff!!!

♥ 2.1k words

♥ requested :  Hi bby! I thought you'd may like some other seventeen members to write for so could I request an angst with happy fluff ending chan? Thanks you and keep up the amazing works ily~

chan has a habit of keeping up a strong facade, especially as the oldest in his family

and sometimes his group of friends have an effect on him to break down those walls

but even those instances dont come so often and yet he’s still strong enough to hold it in

or at least for now

you’ve known him for at least three years and all of it started with a very cliche moment of knocking into each other, more than once and quite literally

you had just gotten your exams over and done with and had decided to treat yourself to something sweet at the campus’s cafe

after ordering a small slice of cake, you turned around to head back to your seat until hot liquid poured all over your blouse, scalding you a little in the process

“oh god i’m so sorry,” a tall figure apologizes to you profusely, bringing out napkins from the counter while his friend instinctively took his hoodie off of himself

“he’s a little clumsy but i hope this hoodie will do,” the shorter one apologizes on his behalf as he gives you the hoodie but you were quick to refuse

“its not like i have anywhere else to go, and it’s not as warm with the ac on,” you muster up a smile, even though your skin was burning under your shirt

“either way, it’ll make us look like the biggest idiots for not helping you out. take it, i have more than just one hoodie,” he grin, his strong resolve to give you his hoodie was undefeatable

“if you say so. what’s your name? or maybe your number? so i can at least give it back,” and maybe your high five-ing yourself for taking this cute boy’s number with the best opportunity, fetching out your phone 

“here, let me put in my number,” he quickly types it in and gives it back

“lee chan? i guess we’ll see each other soon,” you chuckle, thanking him once more for the sweet gesture as you went to the washroom to change

“so our little baby finally asked out a girl?” mingyu teased chan, nudging him in the ribs

“for once i thank god for making you this tall clumsy giant,” he shook his head but the smile on his face never wavers

but the second time you guys meet wasnt as soon as you had thought it would be

once your grades had been keyed in, you couldnt help but forget about the cute boy’s number, a little disappointed at the fact that it wasnt up to your expectations

with a sigh, you decided it would be best to just walk it off, and get some fresh air from being so cooped up in your dorm and lecture rooms

the park near your dorm was peaceful and calming, the harmonization of the cicadas as well as the chilly breeze made it worthwhile

you were too busy admiring the night sky with your earphones plugged in to notice a figure bulldozing your way

the both of you collide, falling to the rough pavement as you rubbed your butt

just as you were about to apologize, a familiar face sits on the opposite side of you

but you dont see a smile on that face, or that reassuring aura he exuded that day

instead you him curled up in a different hoodie, tears streaming down his face, making his eyes turn blood-shot red and the tip of his nose reddening 

“lee chan?” you dont even realize your voice coming out as a whisper, his vulnerable state having such a big effect on you

you dont even get up from the floor and instead, sat with your legs crossed, holding his hand cautiously

“what’s wrong?” you whisper once more, this time drawing circles with your thumb on the top of his palm

but that only urged him to bawl his eyes out even more

he must have kept it in for a long time, you thought

without another word, you sat beside him and wrapped an arm over his shaking shoulders

after a few minutes, chan’s sobs turn into sniffles and you chuckle as you take another look at him

“i didnt want our second meeting to be this way, but i guess you look pretty cute with rudolph’s nose,” you tease a little as a small smile threaten to adorn his face

“me neither, i might even have planned it out,” he chuckled, still sniffling every once in a while

“plan? for what?” you scoff and even when your arm still remain on his shoulders, it didnt feel right to remove it from him - it’s still pretty cold y’know

“to take you out on a date? what else would i do? ask you to take a survey?” he raised a brow, and the apples of your cheeks turn bright pink and your glad the night was dark enough to hide them

“then i should have remembered to text you if it was going to be that way. but we’re here now, besides, what’s up?” you question, a topic you were a little hesitant on asking but something told you it was for the best

“its nothing-”

“if it was nothing we wouldn’t be here right now with your snot all over the place,” it was your turn to tease him now, making chan scoff in disbelief

“i guess i’m a little stressed out. personal matters and work. it’s all piling up and i guess i bottled it for too long,” he sighed, bringing his knees to his chest

“you dont have anyone to talk about this?” 

“i,,, do actually. but i’m sure they’ve got their own problems to fuss over. they’re always taking care of me too so i couldn’t make them hold the burden of my own problems,” he chuckled in embarrassment

“of course everyone has their own problems, silly. but we all still confide in someone right? then if you don’t confide in them, why not talk to me? i dont have all the time in the world but its 2018 we’ve got phones,” you giggled, quickly typing into your phone

as chan’s phone dinged with a new notification, you pat his back once more

“look, now you have my phone number too so you can always tell me whenever you have a problem. and maybe also remind me about your hoodie,” you smiled while chan chuckled at your first text message

‘for the cute boy with the red nose’

and the both of you had been close ever since

there were times that you would take the time out of your day to walk at the same park, to spill all the details about your day or to simply hang out

sometimes you would leave silly voice messages to cheer him up or simply things that reminded you of him

like the otter miniature you saw at a toy store or the time when you took a picture of a deer and drew a red nose on it

and chan would keep reminding you to give him back the hoodie

and you lowkey really want to keep it forever because its super comfy

“you told me to remind you to give it back but its been a whole year and its still at your dorm,”

“you cant blame me for liking a perfectly comfortable hoodie that smells a little like you,”

and chan actually also secretly likes it when you take a selfie with the hoodie on because you look extremely cute in it

like damn, he would give you all the hoodies in the world if you looked thaT cute with it on

and its just constant teasing and flirting between the two of you even though nothing really announces the both of you being officially together

and your scared to even mention it because you’re afraid you’re thinking things a bit too far

although holding his hand all the time and not only when his sad sounds like heaven and just,, snuggling with him?? whenever you want to too??

you’re afraid that you’re the only one thinking about it

but hOOO boi

chan has been thinking about placing kisses all over your cute face and seeing you in all his hoodies and just showering you with all the love that he has

because he has never really had someone to break him out of his shell, and for you to have that ability all the time honestly scares him too

because what if you dont want things to go further either? to take the next step

it’s been three years now ever since the both of you knocked into each other at the park

and ever since then, the both of you have been attached at the hip

you even got to know chan’s family as well as his group of friends which you still recognized one of them who towered them all

all of them loved you and secretly knew about the constant love eyes that appeared whenever chan mentioned you

jeonghan may or may not have threatened you about taking care of chan, but once he actually got to know you, he’s been fawning over you too ever since

which also meant that he might have told you things about chan whenever you werent around

like the way he kept showing your selfies to the others because he thought you looked like a cute kitten

or when he kept mentioning you whenever they went out together

and maybe also about the time chan had finally decided to tell the others about his problems too instead of relying on only you

because he knows how hard life can get for you especially with the numerous secrets you have only told him

and that was a wake up call you never new you needed

with that information, you planned to tell him the next time you and chan met at the park, where the both of you could be alone

and when chan finally suggested to take a walk through facetime, you enthusiastically agreed and slipped on his hoodie, although his scent was no longer there

when chan sees you with the familiar apparel, he laughs into the quiet night, his laughter making butterflies flutter in your stomach

“you’re finally giving this back to me? why? is it because he doesnt smell like me anymore?”

and youre caught off guard, eyes widening as your mouth failed to form sentences

“you’re making it seem like i have super powers when you cant even whisper without me hearing,” he chuckled ruffling your head

as the both of you walked side by side, catching up with each other and telling about each other’s day

you bathed in the feeling of comfort and serenity and you just knew being right by his side was a safe haven you never asked for but needed

“chan?” you call out to him, digging your hands deeper into the pockets as he hummed in reply

“i... i really want to thank you for being my friend, for being here for me and doing dumb stuff with me all the time. I couldn’t ask for someone better,” you giggled, looking back up to him

chan’s heart race at the sight, the way your eyes twinkled looking AT him

he was the reason for you to look this happy, and it felt like he was walking on cloud nine, like he became the president of south korea

“of course i would do dumb shit with you, you’re entitled to being my friend after you saw me have that mental breakdown,” he joked, wrapping an arm around your shoulder

“but i dont want to be just a friend,” you spoke up, stopping in your tracks as chan did so too, his heart running a mile per minute

“t-then what do you want to be?” he questioned, looking right back at you now, his arm letting go of you only to hold your hand again

“i want- will you be my boyfriend-” without another word, chan hugs you tight and places a soft kiss onto your forehead

“you beat me to it,” he laughed, euphoria washing over him as he swayed the both of you from side to side

he wouldnt stop laughing, nuzzling his face into your neck while you hugged his waist tightly

“so...can i take this hoodie instead?” you asked him, a mischievous grin on your face

“as long as you’re with me, you can take any hoodie of mine,”

chan soon learnt the immense regret for saying that, but who cares when the love of your life gives you the best cuddles, am i right?

[lethesomething]

The definitely not definitive otome guide

I sincerely doubt the world needs this, but that sort of thing has never stopped me before. Have an extremely biased guide of several dating sim games, organised by some arbitrary metrics.

Word of warning: this will be long (4k words), because I've played an embarrassingly large amount of otomes.

As a disclaimer: obviously this is a personal opinion. If you (as a lot of people do) enjoy the more forceful bad boy type in your dating sim, I’m not going to judge you. I, however, don’t, so this list is very specifically going to call out games for how they treat the protag.

Featured here: Amnesia: Memories,  Blood in Roses, Cutie Demon Crashers, Destined to Love, Dream Daddy, Hatoful Boyfriend, Hustle Cat,  Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Sengoku, Lost Alice,  Midnight Cinderella,  Monster Prom, Mystic Messenger

A note on play styles.

These games come in a few flavours, which is important to know if you're gonna try them.

The vast majority of the mobile games here follow a basic visual novel structure. You pick a guy and read through the different chapters, and depending on your answers you'll be leaning toward one of two or three endngs. Since these are free to play mobiles, there's a bunch of challenges you will need to log in daily to pass.  

Mystic Messenger is the main outlier, since it's a chat simulator that plays in real time.

The pc games tend to be more complex, with interlocking routes and more endings, generally. You'll need a number of skill points to meet character A for instance, or you'll need to do a series of actions to reach ending B.

  Great games

Ikemen Sengoku

Hands down one of the best mobile otomes out there right now. I found this when searching for pics of Masamune Date (from a different game) and I've sort of been obsessed with otomes since.

Platform: Android (free to play, pay for premiums) Story: MC gets sucked into a wormhole and finds herself 500 years back in time, in Sengoku era Japan. She drops in on the exact moment where Nobunaga Oda, the Demon King, would be assassinated at Honno-ji. She stops the murder, disrupts the timeline and now there's a bunch of hot warlords vying for her attention. Protagonist’s spine: Reinforced steel. This is one of my favourite protags, because she is Super Sassy and doesn't take shit, unless she's literally being threatened with a sword. The protags where I feel like I understand their actions are few and far between, but this is one of them. Except when she goes far beyond mere bravery to get her man, and decides to forgo tampons and, like, wifi, to live 500 years in the god damn past. Squick factor: Low. This game is made by Cybird, a company that appears very big on consent. The guys generally treat MC with respect, probably more than could be reasonably asked of a Sengoku warlord. The only worrying stuff happens in the Obvious Yandere route, but you kinda know what you're getting yourself into with that one.

The Good: I friggin love the writing for this game. The guys feel like real characters, there's a ton of interaction between them and I need to give this game extra points for the story events, which are almost invariably gold. This is where the makers stop giving a shit about realism and just go for what they want to write. There's ones where all the guys are suddenly idols, there's a Christmas episode, there's one where they battle through cooking and cleaning. It doesn't take itself serious, is what i mean, and it's Hilarious. The Bad: This is one where the in-game art (aside from the CG's) is actually not that great. Hideyoshi's smile is kinda weird looking and the models feel a little outdated at this point. Best Warlord: This is very difficult, because a lot of them are dreamy, but let's just say that I need a Mitsuhide route so very badly.

 Ikemen Revolution

The newest Cybird game and my current fave.

Story: MC falls down the rabbit hole when she tries to give a rushed White Rabbit man something he dropped. She ends up in Cradle/Wonderland, where war is about to break out between the Red and Black army, the Hearts and the Spades. Everyone is hot dudes and MC is considered Alice the Second (after the one from Through the Looking Glass). Squick factor: Low. Again: Cybird game. This means there is steamy situations and sex scenes, but they're blatantly consensual. The routes I've played so far keep well within the bounds of what I would consider romantic. Protagonist’s spine: Varnished wood.  In general MC is self-propelling with occasional bouts of bravery. You can tell why she's doing the things she's doing and how she reacts to situations feels sort of logical. She's hard-working and caring and a little naïve, but the fact that she's canonically a woman from early 19th Century London does put a lot of her actions in perspective (like the amount of bullshit she puts up with).

The Good: The writing is fun. There's a good mix of angst and just… general comedy. The characters interact with each other a lot, and it feels like they're a big loud family, especially in the Black Army, which is more like a frat than anything else. The art is also decent. The backgrounds are utterly gorgeous and most of the guys are very good looking. When I first started the game I was weirded out by the blinking animation, but I have since gotten used to that. The Bad: I found some of the plot rushed. Like you spend so long slow burn growing toward each other, and then suddenly stuff has to happen action movie style because we're running out of chapters. The final chapters of Fenrir's route were just plain dumb. Like could that BE more of an obvious trap. Come on MC, I expected better of you. Also, since this is a very new game, not that many routes are out (four at the time of writing). Best boy: Hooo man. Of the routes that are out, Ray is very… oooof. But my fave chars are probably 'so done' Sirius (the fact that he's voiced by Suwabe has nothing to do with this, surely) and 'also quite done' Kyle, who is both a doctor and an alcoholic wreck of a human being.

 Mystic Messenger

You know Mystic Messenger, it's like one of the biggest otome's of the past few years.

Platform: Android, iOS (free to play, pay for extra saves and stuff) The Story: MC follows a text message to a weirdly high tech apartment and this somehow puts her in the position of party planner for a secretive group of weird people. It only gets more complicated from there. The game plays out in real time, via chat conversations and the occasional story segment. Squick factor: Um. I personally wasn't weirded out, but I also decided very specifically not to play Jumin's route. This girl did her research. The routes in Another Story are also very over the top and would probably bug me. While I love the Saeran character, I don't think I'd be able to handle that route. So: highly dependent on chosen route. Protagonist’s spine: Adderall. It takes a specific kind of person to download a chat app and follow the instructions given by a random stranger therein. It takes a much stranger person to sit in an apartment with a bomb and just keep inviting people to a party. MC is on a different level from us mortals.

The Good: I loved the game mechanic, because it felt very real. The player is following a chatroom, just like the character is. Besides that, the story is completely bonkers and I appreciate that. The Bad: Did I mention it plays in real time? Because it plays in real time, meaning you get chat conversations at two in the morning. I was very sleep deprived when I played this. Best boy: 707. Dude is funny and deep and hot and relatable and smart and I want to give him all the hugs.

 Dream Daddy

One of the few decidedly mlm games I've played so far. You've probably heard of it since it was the subject of much hype and much controversy. Markiplier played it. Friggin Buzzfeed has video's on it.

Platform: PC and Mac (it's on Steam) The Story: MC is a Dad who moves into a neighbourhood with a lot of other single(-ish) dads. Time to work it. Squick factor: Low. This is primarily a humour game: there's a ton of dad jokes and silly mini games, and a distinct lack of kabe don's. The canon routes are all very thoughtful. Protagonist’s spine: Barbecued sausage. Player Dad just goes for it. He’s flexible and caring enough to handle the more sensitive subjects, and self aware enough to deal with random crime and weird drunks.

The Good: I remember opening this game and, in the character creation screen, telling a trans friend of mine 'omg you can wear binders', and the sheer Glee of his reaction. That's the kinda stuff this game was, partly, made for and it is appreciated. I really liked the tongue-in-cheek writing, most of the jokes landed and the whole thing is just a lot of fun. The Bad: Some of the minigames are annoying. Why the hell are you making me play Bejeweled with fish? I also had a hard time sympathizing with some of the kids. I mean… Lucien straight up tries to murder someone? Ernest is 'rebellious' but he's also an ass. Best dad: Damien has the best route, but have you Seen Mat? Holy moly.

 Not worth it games

Amnesia: Memories

This game should come with a friggin warning, so I'm giving it here. Its popularity and star rating is a terrible indicator for how much you may enjoy this game. It presents itself as a cute dating sim with gorgeous art, but it devolves into straight up horror, and not in the good way. This feels like a guidebook written in the 1800's to tell young women their place. Not even mortified intrigue could make me finish this. 

Platform: PC (Steam or Google Play) and PlayStation Vita Story: MC wakes up with amnesia. Someone hurt her and she doesn't know who to trust. You'll need to figure out what happened. Squick factor: Super high. Like… so high.  Everyone treats MC like shit and she just lets it happen, even developing all kinds of Stockholm Syndrome as she falls in love with these asshats. MC's childhood friend supposedly loves her but is such a tsun and just… doesn't communicate while also treating her like a small child. One of the other characters is so popular he has a fucking harem but MC is just supposed to wait for him to actually fall in love with her. And don't even get me started on that friggin yandere. *shudders* Even the secret route 'true love' character is a million types of wrong. Protagonist’s spine: Undercooked custard. MC has the self preservation skills of a wet sponge and whoever is playing this is supposed to get turned on by high concept ideas of S&M that are just written out so badly everything feels like an abusive relationship.

The Good: *sigh* The art. The art is very pretty (I'm upset at the art since it sucked me into the horror). Also, as a visual novel, this one is complex as all hell. There's a ton of endings  (most of them deadly) depending your actions as a player. It's vast, is what I'm saying. Also, I hear the clover route isn't as bad as some of the others, but I was too weirded out to try. The Bad: See rant. This is one of those games that really seems to glorify the whole possessive, abusive boyfriend shtick, but it's ok because he loves you, really. Ugh. Just… ugh. Best boy: Kent? I guess? He doesn't appear to be actively abusing MC at least.

 Shall we date: Lost Alice

I wondered if I should include this because I literally played like ten chapters  and then deleted it, but that in itself should give some indication.

Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premium purchases) Story: MC wakes up in the forest with amnesia (I see a trend). Turns out she's in Wonderland and everyone thinks she's Alice. Most of Wonderland's characters are, predictably, hot men. Squick  factor: Unavailable. I didn't play far enough to see but some of the men are quite pushy and also it's a Shall we date app, so… tread carefully. Protagonist’s spine: Cement. This is an MC that puts up a fight, which I respect. Sadly she does so in that 'needlessly aggressive' way that anime characters sometimes have. I didn't find her particularly sympathetic.

The Good: The art. It's always the art that gets me. The Bad: The UI annoyed the shit out of me. This is a free to play, pay for premiums game, so some level of mindless clicking is expected if you try to play for free. This one had just too much. There was friend greeting and picture rating and princess lessons and got knows what else, all taking a ton of time. Trying to get to the home page popped up at least four different 'now on sale' screens every single time. The writing wasn't good enough for me to deal with that. Best boy: Well there’s a cat. So.

 Decent games

Hustle cat

This game is set in a cat café, that was all the encouragement I needed to buy it.

Platform: PC (Steam) Story: MC is invited to take a job at a cat café. Turns out everyone in the café is cursed, and also they're into you. Squick factor: Almost non-existant. This is a very tumblr friendly game in the sense that your love interests are both male and female, and none of them are particularly pushy. The relationships feel pretty natural and mostly consist of MC helping their love interest with some subquest. Protagonist’s spine: Cucumber. MC is actually pretty cool. The game does that 'modern western game' thing where you get to pick a gender and a skin colour for your protag and the general atmosphere is 'tongue in cheek'. MC doesn't let people walk over them, but they're generally helpful.

The Good: CATS. The premise of this game is pretty neat. The Bad: According to Steam I played this five months ago, and I pretty much forgot about it. Fun game but not particularly memorable. Best cat: Landry. Tall, gentle giants are a particular weakness.

 Shall we date: Blood in Roses

This is me giving Shall we Date another shot, because the amount of hot mildly medieval boys was intriguing.

Platform: Android (free to play, in-app premiums) Story: There's two, because this app has been around for a while and now has two 'seasons'. The Witch stumbles upon a supposedly abandoned castle and gets imprisoned there by a bunch of vampires. The Hunter, meanwhile, seeks out the castle because she wants to stop an attack on her village. Both come to realize that the castle is now a hotel for monsters, and that its denizens are both not what they imagined, and also hot. Squick factor: Highly dependent on route. The Witch literally starts in a jail cell, so you can imagine the Stockholm Syndrome shit that goes down. Also, this is a personal preference, but I'm really weirded out by a lot of blood play stuff so most of the vampire routes are gonna be… problematic. Shall we Date games don't shy away from sex scenes and I like that, but coupling them with drinking blood 'to get in the mood' is a rather specific niche. The game does offer a number of other options for you to court, from werewolves to wizards and… grim reapers? It's a mixed batch. If you're not into pushed boundaries I can offer one tip: stay away from the vampires. Protagonist’s spine: Sand cookie. She has one, but it's brittle. I've mostly played Hunter routes and it's like… she tries, and she can take care of herself but she also tolerates more bullshit than necessary, ya know.

The Good: The art is good, and some of the storylines are intriguing despite my reservations. I'm still playing it (mostly in a quest to find a good ending where MC doesn't die to become a weird immortal creature).  The UI, while annoying, isn't as bad as Lost Alice's, or so it seems. The Bad: The writing is very hit or miss. There's routes where the guy just sort of lowkey stalks MC, until she suddenly decides she's incredibly in love with him. There's others  that make even less sense, and then there's ones that feel more natural. In general, MC's actions don't  seem to have a lot of thought put into them. Best boy: So far: Gordon. He's cute and sensible and tortured and not incredibly antagonistic.

 Midnight Cinderella

You'll notice a friggin ton of Cybird games on here.

Platform: Android (free to play, premium purchases) Story: MC gets, mostly by accident, chosen to be the Princess of Wysteria. As such she must prepare to govern the country when the king dies, and choose a consort from a number of suitors. Squick factor: Low. Not only are these men respectful of her, they're rather literally treating her like royalty. Having said that, there is a lot of the typical hurtful tsun stuff going in several routes. Protagonist’s spine: Lightly done steak. There's something weird going on with the protag in this game. When it comes to governing, she's tough as nails. She's thrown into a situation she wasn't ready for, and while this stresses her out 24/7, she performs admirably. On the other hand, her main reaction to literally anything when it comes to love is 'Oh'. She cries a lot, at times she feels like a wet rag. There's a bunch of situations she could have just solved by going 'Yeah I'm into you'. She's complex, I guess.

The Good: The writing, while melodramatic, is nice. The art is good as well. The Bad: This is an old game and it doesn't perform that well on my current-gen smartphone. Expect to push certain buttons several times before the game realizes what you're trying to do. Also the loading takes ages. Best boy: For me, Sid, because he reminds me of Aomine Daiki and I'm weak for that type of personality. As far as routes go, Leo's probably had the most impact on me.

 Destined to Love

I'll be honest, I started this because of an event in Ikemen Sengoku that would give me cross game storage. Don't judge me.

The Story: MC gets flung back in time (this is also a trend, it seems) to the 1800's, a few weeks before the Ikedaya incident will make the Shinsen-gumi a historic Legend. She meets, and chrams, a whole bunch of historical figures. Protagonist’s spine: Cured leather. As a modern woman sent back in time, MC is probably fairly sassy by the standards of the time, but she remains mostly polite. She's tough, considering the circumstances, but quite pliable in that 'we'll see where this goes and make the best of it' way. Squick factor: Low. There's one character that just screams 'red flag' but I have yet to try his route. Since this is a Cybird game, most of the guys are pretty respectful.

The Good: I really like the premise? As the title suggests, MC's love is part of a higher destiny, one that transcends time, and it's one of the reasons she has to go to friggin 1800's Japan. She has a hand in making history. This amuses me. Also, the guys are pretty good looking. The Bad: This is a fairly old mobile game and you can kinda tell. On a technical level it's not as bad as Midnight Cinderella, but again the touch buttons aren't always responsive. Besides that, some of the writing is rather clunkily translated and a bunch of the art is low res. Best Boy: I haven't played all the routes here, but Katsura is a god damn sweetheart, and Kyo and Yamazaki seem adorable AF.

 The weird: the special ones

Hatoful Boyfriend

The reason I know otome's exist. This one shot to meme status a few years back.

Platform: PC (it's on Steam) Story: MC is one of the last remaining humans after sentient birds took over the world. She gets enrolled into an elite school for pigeons. Squick factor: Medium to high. The major thing to understand about Hatoful is that on the surface it looks like a particularly silly dating sim with pigeons, but dig deeper and it is Also a full blown apocalyptic horror story. And it follows the genre where a wrong move gets MC horrifically killed. Having said that, several of the routes, including the god damn serial killer one, didn't bother me as much as something like Amnesia, because they were not sold as romantic. Maybe it's the whole pigeon thing, maybe it's the general weirdness of the plot, or maybe it is because said serial killer actually goes 'Surely you knew this would happen', before he guts you. Protagonist’s spine: Gummy bear. MC is highly forgettable, but therefore also like… not annoying. The main focus here is on uncovering the many layered plot and the player character doesn't really have a scripted personality, she just embodies the player's actions.

The Good: This whole game is so out there. There's a reason it became so popular. It's an Experience. The plot is over the top and intricate and Weird, and that makes it intriguing. There's a ton of routes and endings, some more secret than others. The 'human' version of some of these birds is kinda hot (sadly that includes the serial killer). The Bad: the plot is so weird and meandering that it's kinda hard to follow at times. I'm fairly certain it takes several guides to unlock all the endings. Best Birb: It's been a while, but I remember liking Yuuya's route quite a lot.

 Monster Prom

The new hype.

Platform: PC (Steam!) Story: MC is a student at Monster High, and is trying to get a date for Monster Prom with one of the hot people. Squick factor: None. I mean, nothing that happens here is in accordance to health and safety norms, but that's kinda the point. It's a parody game, making fun of all the hoops teenagers are willing to jump through to become popular. Protagonist's spine: Coagulated blood. MC is willing to make deals with demons, wear corpses as a hat, anything really. The question is very openly: what could I do to make them like me.

The Good: It's a funny game. I like the characters, who embody everything from the Mean Girl to the Hipster Nerd and the Needlessly Aggressive Jock. The art is simple, cartoon style, but pretty neat. The Bad: Everything is very tongue in cheek, which leaves it a little… light for my tastes. I don't feel like any of the routes matter in the grand scheme of things, MC hasn't truly touched anyone's heart. The whole thing is a joke game, so it's funny, but a bit shallow. Best monster: Polly, the permanently stoned party girl.

 Cute Demon Crashers

Technically a sex game? But a really very special one.

Platform: PC (free! Here!) Story: A portal opens in MC's house and four Incubi/Succubi drop through. To apologize for the inconvenience, while they wait for a portal back, they offer to teach MC about sex. Squick factor: I've written about this game before and the best thing, the very best thing about it is how incredibly consent-minded it is. Like, even if you're already in bed, getting it on, there's always an option to turn back and leave it at that. The demons are really just there to help MC find out what gives her pleasure. Protagonist’s spine: Rock. Obviously, MC is mildly upset about four random demons showing up. As mentioned before, what happens next is mostly up to the player.

The Good: It's free and the art is pretty and I love the premise. The Bad: Kinda short, but again: free. Cutest Demon Crasher: *cough* Orias *cough*

[wecthil]

Ok, so I had kept myself from watching RWBY Vol. 6.1 so far because I had work for university to do, and that also meant I could watch it together with 6.2 right away, so my impressions. Gonna be long.

6.1 Argus Limited

- Aaaand we start right in the action. And it looks gorgeous. We done, animators. Also, hoooo boy those Manticores. - “Thank me later”, “Good to see you’re not rusty” Ahh those smirks, that dynamic, team RWBY is fucking BACK - “Why is it always something?” Mood, Nora. Mood. - Ren and Nora <3 - THE PETALS ARE RED AND WHITE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THEY ARE BAITING US AND THE KNOW IT! - Aaand that’s a jumpcut. - So Blake is still his trigger, also this guy has worse temper tantrums than pre-Vytal Yang. I can’t believe that there was a time where I honestly thought Adam was cool. But that sentiment’s been gone since his first appearance in the show proper. - And another jumpcut. Also narration (*insert CinemaSins Ding here*). - Can understand why they’re going with this story. Still probably more than he deserves, but you wouldn’t want a panic with the state of the world right now. - Also beautiful train station right there. And Ruby is as precious as ever. - SHE WEARS HER SHAWL! - ADORKABLE BEACH REN! - Poor Weiss, right back where you came from - Oh geez who are those? - Dee and Dudley nyahahaha what the hell - And the girls’ looks in response, solid gold right there. - “I do hope those weren’t Beacon graduates” “You know, sometimes the burden of saving the world feels overwhelming, but then people like that come along and make me grateful it’s our job and not theirs” *solemn nods all around* - Ilia’s new outfit. Also neat that the Faunus are finally in the good spotlight. Also hugging. - Sun’s here! As it Neptune! - “Wrong tree” nyahahaha - Also that version of “Like Morning Follows Night” is so sweet - On that note, the musical cues in this scene are ON. POINT. - Awwww - And the old lady is totally not gonna be an important character, no way. - Bunk beds! Innocence! Yang looking at prostetic arms! - Time will tell how allright Blake and Yang are gonna be again. We’ll see. There’s some way to go. - And now we’re at the start again. - Hello, Manticores. And helloooo, Sphinx. And by Dee. Yikes. - I mean smart idea on Dudley’s part, but why isn’t the armor always up? Also, while Qrow’s got a point about the turrets, so does Dudley. If they work it’s good, right? - Yiiiikes that crunch. - Yeah Ozpin what happened to no more lies? - Hey, Jaune uses his semblance again. And with Ren... yoooooo - Aaaaand of course they’re seperating - HELL YEAH VOCAL TRACK, GET FUCKING PUMPED SON - AND THOSE HARMONIES - Manticore has resistance to bludgeoning, looks like - Teamwork, yo. Fightscenes on fleek. - Knew it. Also, her theme sounds cool. - INTRO TIME BOIS - This is gonna be HYPE, yo. - Totally not Cinder there. - Totally not Salem there. - Totally not Ozpins... yeah, you get it. - REN AND NORA IN THE ENDSCENE! RUBY AND WEISS! - Well, we’re of to a good fucking start I’d say. This is gonna be good.

6.2 Uncovered

- Cinder’s alive, surprising absolutely nobody - You gotta lose that anger, hon (and that Grimm arm, that thing kinda has to go too I mean seriously) - Oh who is tha- OH NO SHE HAS CINDER’S OUTFIT FROM THE OPENING NO DON’T KILL THE INNOCENT BYSTANDER RUN BYSTANDER RUN SAVE YOURS----- ah fuck. - Ah, so we’re doing a lot of back-and-forth this volume. Got it. - I feel you, Weiss. Also, fair point, Nora. - Aka Winter is gonna be at that base - Yeah, ransoming Weiss back sounds good. - “Relic of Knowledge”, “Lamp”, “Three questions”... that’s a Djinn y’all. - Ah I love you Nora - Calling it right now, that’s a lie Oz. - “we’ll keep it safe” jumpcut to the relic lying around, unsafe. - Hi Maria Calavera. We love you. Also yeah, Yang kinda has a point. - YEAH SO MUCH FOR NO MORE LIES AND HALFTRUTHS - OH THAT’S BULLSHIT OZ AND YOU KNOW IT - Exactly, Weiss. - (Well I mean, kinda understand that point and kinda made it half and hour ago myself, so...) - Oh dear, here we go. - That a “Give me the ring”-scene right there, aka. someone is gonna shout or make a grab for it. - Oh fighting for control - “Her name is Djinn” KNEW IT! - HOOO BOY, also that’s the woman from the statue in Haven! - Aaand jumpcut. - Fuck of course Cinder killed her. Damn. - That’s a lot of purple is what it is. - Malachite as in the twins? Relation? Or will they actually get character somewhere down the road? Also that was some grade-A snark answer. - “It was somebody’s” FUCK YOU CINDER - Ugh let it GO, you got your ass handed to you the last time - Smart spider right there. Big guy? Hazel? - My thoughts exactly, Maria. - OH FUCK CALLED IT! - Yo why you all point your stuff at Qrow, kids? - OZPIN NO! - The fuck? (Sidenote: Nice touch with who calls out whose names) - ALSO CALLED IT! - Oh shit is about to go down.

[sharperthewriter]

Chapter 16 of Rockwaller Christmas Carol

Chapter 16 - Christmas Day, 2020 - Part 1

(December 25, 2020 - 7am)

Bonnie finally managed to wake up as the image of the Spirit Barkin faded into that of a pillow...her own pillow. She gazed her teal eyes around her familiar surroundings with all th pink and purple. Even better news for her was that the time for her was her own, to make amends to the people she had impacted the most on.

"I will live in the past, present, and future!" she exclaimed "The spirits of all three shall live inside of me! Yes! I feel sooo much alive! I say it on my knees, Elsa!"

Her face was wet with tears for joy when she saw something familiar in her conflict with the Spirt Barkin.

"They aren't torn down!" Bonnie cried while folding one of the bedcurtains in her arms. "They are still here, rings and all! I am still here! The shadows of what would've been the dark future are gone!"

"WOO-HOOO!" she shouted loudly, dancing around the bedroom.

"There's the door where Elsa's ghost entered..." cried Bonnie, going around the bedroom and pointing to various places in the room. "There's the walk-in closet where the Ghost of Christmas Present sat at! There's the window where I saw all the Spirits! It's all true! It all happened! HA-HA!"

"I don't know what day of the month it is!" she exclaimed "I don't know know how long I've been with the Spirits! I don't know where my smartphone is! But I don't care! Woo-hoo!'

Rushing towards one of the windows, the middle one, she flung it wide open and peered off the balcony. Despite the fact that it was 26 degrees outside and that the snow was still on the ground, there was golden sunlight.

She then saw one of the groundskeeper's sons in his usual Rockwaller uniform.

"Hey, kid! Can you tell me what today is?" cried Bonnie to the boy.

The son crossed his arms and got down on one knee as this was the usual sign of reverence towards Bonnie within the grounds of her mansion.

"O Glorious Bonnie! O Glorious Most Exulted..."

"Yeah, yeah. Can you cut the titles and get to what today is?" Bonnie asked, a little impatient.

"Why, today is December 25th, Your Majesty! Christmas Day!"

All Bonnie could do was scream for joy.

"WOOOOO-HOOOO!"

She then heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Bonnie chimed.

The muscular servant Tightlips came in, followed by 40 servants and butlers bowing before her.

"Good morning, O Glorious Most Exulted Holy, Perfect, Immaculate Bonnie!" Tightlips decreed, "Today is Christmas Day, not that you care about the nature of the holiday! As is your tradition, me and your servants and butlers shall present you your gifts and deem the holiday as nothing more than pure garbage and bullshit."

Bonnie smirked, "I hate to break it to you, Tightlips..."

Then she uttered six words that turned the faithful Rockwaller servants' worlds upside-down.

"Christmas is not garbage and bullshit!"

Tightlips and the horde of servants gasped at what the richest woman on the planet was saying, considering how she ordered the pelting of eggs and tomatoes at a group of Christmas carolers a year ago.

"But...you said yesterday...but...how..." Tightlips stammered, for he was at a loss of words, "W-w-why? W-w-where...?"

"Tightlips, I had a change of heart!" Bonnie exclaimed, "I saw the true meaning of Christmas with my own eyes and with my own soul!"

"Umm...uhhh..."

Tightlips just stood there dumbfounded, unable to come up with words to say to his employer.

Finally, he had the courage to speak up.

"So...umm...what do you want us to do?"

"We are going to Middleton around town and have the best Christmas ever!" Bonnie insisted.

"But how? About all of the stores are closed today!" Tightlips wondered, still not believing a word Bonnie was saying.

"We're gonna go to certain houses throughout town and spread Christmas cheer!" Bonnie exclaimed, "And I know which house to start with first...the Possible-Stoppable house!"

"Your Majesty!" Tightlips exclaimed in shock, "The Possible-Stoppables have put a restraining order against you nine months ago, ordering that you cannot go within 500 feet of the family or their house and has blocked any and all means of communication between you and her."

Bonnie, though, gave a smile.

"Correction, Tightlips...had! Possible called up the judge to tear up the order! I can go on her property without being tackled and tasered by the cops!"

Tightlips, still puzzled at Bonnie acting this way, decided to play along.

"Understood, Your Majesty. What shall we do for you today on this...glorious...Christmas Day?"

Bonnie gave her command, "I want you and your servants to gather five of the surplus turkeys that we have stored in the large fridge."

"You mean the turkeys that the servants usually eat on Christmas Day?" Tightlips questioned

"Yes!" Bonnie ordered. "Put them in the truck."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tightlips obeyed. He snapped his fingers for 10 of the servants to go to the kitchen to gather the turkeys.

"How many limousines do you want to take to the Possible-Stoppable house?" Tightlips asked.

"We're gonna take two, Tightlips!"

[voyages-extraordinaires]

C:R ~VE~ Chapter 6

I look at the folded piece of paper in my hand. I don’t know when, but sometime during our embrace Nemo had put it in my pocket.

“He made sure I saw,” Barbicane said with a proud smile. “Nemo’s a weird guy, but he can be sneaky when he wants to be!”

I can’t help but feel a little conflicted when I hear this. Our first time touching, and it was a ploy. No, I shake my head. Besides, how long did he hold me? How long did we stay touch, palm-to-palm? In the end, all that matters is that he communicated safely with us and we will get him out. I should not be selfish, not with someone I care about. A dear friend.

Speaking of communicating with us…

“What did he tell you?” I asked. “When he kissed you?”

Barbicane’s jovial expression quickly falls. “P-Please don’t remind me of that, Polly-chan… I was so worried I’d have to wipe his weirdo lipstick off me!”

He rubs his cheek with an expression of pure agony on his face, but he stops when he sees the look on my face. “A-Anyway, he just said ‘tonight’. Not giving us a lot of time, but it’s better to act quickly if Victoria-chan has convinced herself that Nemo’s some kind of rebel prince.”

I unfold the paper and look down at it. He has surprisingly neat handwriting, even if he does accentuate it with little drawings of stars.

A.–

Sponsor will drop off ship tonight, specs below for

I M P E Y  B A R B I C A N E. This is so cool!

“Why did he write my name like that?” Barbicane squints over my shoulder.

I will take you to our M Y S T E R I O U S  I S L A N D. There we can have lots of fun!

“Is… is that a drawing of himself winking?” Cardia asks.

I suddenly regret letting the two of them read over my shoulder.

X O X O,

–N.

I hear Barbicane begin to chuckle, and he winks knowingly at me. “Lots of fun, huh…? Wow, a bold love confession! His bravery is motivating me, too!”

Barbicane suddenly gets down on one knee and takes Cardia’s hand.

“Cardia-chan, my angel! Will you have fun with me on a mysterious island?!”

Cardia initially doesn’t respond. Finally, she glances at Impey and says, “I think your definition of ‘fun’ is different from Nemo’s…”

“H-Hey hey hey! Don’t say that I’m worse than that pervert! That stings, Cardia-chan!”

I knew that Cardia was right, but I was surprised to find that I felt disappointed when I heard her say it. Of course, the discoveries that will be made on our voyage will be lots of fun. Being with someone who is as passionate about science as I am will be fun, even if our favorite subjects are different.

But, I’m shocked at how I was hoping that there was more to it, with that cute little drawing he did.

What kind of ‘fun’ was I hoping he meant…?

…….

I’m so ashamed that I don’t even flinch when Barbicane plucks the paper from my hand.

“Let’s see, ship ship ship… ohh-hooo! Looks like we’re going to be getting a pretty good one! This sponsor Nemo got ahold of isn’t messing around! We’ll be sailing through the sky in no time!”

My stomach drops.

“When you say ‘ship’…”

“Mm-mm!” Barbicane closes his eyes, imagining the metal curves. “A gorgeous, gorgeous airship will be our getaway chariot!”

It’s rather hard to put into text the sort of noise that comes out of my mouth at this point. It isn’t a happy noise, that’s for certain. I sit down on a chair and stare at the ground.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Polly-chan?” Barbicane puts a hand on his hip. “Worried about being held captive like a cute princess by the scary airship captain, Nemo? A~aahh! I’ll rescue you, Cardia-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”

Cardia looks at Barbicane. “If Aronnax is the one being kidnapped, why would you talk about rescuing me?”

“Ho ho ho! Because Polly-chan would only resist to save face, of course!” He strikes a pose that almost reminds me of Nemo. “Oh no~ how horrifying! Please be gentle with me!” He gives a thumbs up. “So that would give me lots of time for a super love rescue for my angel! All’s well that ends well, right, Polly-chan?”

“I have no idea what you just said,” I reply.

Cardia ignores Barbicane and looks at me. “Do you not like flying?”

I nod and take a deep breath.

“I have no specific reason for it, and my fear makes no logical sense,” I say. “I just hate the sight of the ground getting smaller…. and the only thing that separates you from falling into that eternal blue is a thin piece of metal.”

“And science!” Barbicane flicks down his goggles. “If you want, I can explain how airships are put together and what makes them tick. I can eeeeeeeeeven taaaaaaaaaaalk liiiiiiiiiiike thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis if it’ll make you feel better.”

“…. Never do that again,” says Cardia.

“I appreciate it, Barbicane, but I think I’ll pass,” I say. “All I have to do is take my sleeping draught before take-off and I’ll be in dreamland in about an hour.”

I stand back up.

“Doesn’t help quell the anxiety beforehand, though.”

I shake my head and dismiss my worries with a wave. “Seems silly to be anxious about that while we’re plotting a jailbreak!”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” says Impey. “Just have to sneak an explosive in and ka-boom, no more cell!”

“Just sneak in an explosive,” I repeat.

“Impey and the others do things like this often…” Cardia states flatly.

“That’s a little worrying,” I say.

“Are you surprised at this point?” asks Cardia.

I think about it for a moment.

“Not really.”

—–

Stealth has never been one of my skills. It’s a little unnerving to see the beautiful man in front of me weaving in and out of shadows like he belongs there. When Barbicane told the Count about our plan to rescue Nemo, he had simply smiled and said, “Oh, how fun!”

So now we’re walking through the grounds of Buckingham Palace. It’s strange how easily we are able to get around, but the Count is moving with the experience of someone who’s done this many times. I think I would be too frightened to ever ask him what his hobby is.

“Count, there’s a guard ahead!” I hiss.

“Yes, I know,” the Count just smiles as he walks up to him. Before the guard can comprehend what’s going on, he falls to the ground unconscious.

I didn’t even see the Count move. He just looks back at me with a smile and gestures for me to enter. I run past him and the Count follows in case there are more guards inside.

Of course there are more guards inside.

“My, my,” says the Count. “So many.”

At that moment, there’s a crash and smoke fills the room.

“Aronnax, go on ahead! San and I will hold them off!” I hear Frankenstein’s voice amidst the smoke.

“Thank you!” I call out to them before running in the other direction.

It’s hard to navigate through the smoke, I have to grope at the walls and pray I’m going the right way. How do they make it look so easy?

Eventually I make it to the door and open up into the cells.

“Nemo!” I yell.

I’m greeted with booming laughter.

“It’s time, it’s time, it’s tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!”

There’s another explosion, and I see a warped cell door go flying across the hall.

“Fwahahahahahahahaha!!” A familiar silhouette steps over the rubble from the blast and stands triumphantly.

“H-How did you…?” I trail off.

Nemo’s teeth glinted.

“Did you reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally think that my resources were limited to a few mere scraps? Why, Professoooooooooooooooor, I’m insuuuuuuuuuuuulted!” But the wide smile on his face showed me that he was anything but insulted. In fact, he balanced one of his feet on the rubble and leaned back in mad laughter.

“I could have escaped aaaaaaaaaany time I wanted!” he shrieked. “I stayed put like a good boy so that I could triuuuuumphantly return and show that I’ve surpassed the greatest mind of Steel London: Isaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaac-sensei!”

I’m stunned. I just stare in surprise as he continues to laugh.

“But I’m afraaaaaaid their change of plans forced me to action! So I must go, for my sun is setting over Steel London and dawning above the deep bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!”

He thrusts out one of his hands.

“Noooooooow, Pauline Aronnax! Come with me on the joooooourney of a thousand lifetimes!”

I swallow and gingerly reach out to take his hand. However, his eyebrow twitches and he pulls his hand back. He steps over the rubble and stands in front of me, so close that fine strands of his hair brush my cheek.

My heart is pounding.

“I’m afraid, with these developments… the terms of our promise have changed,” says Nemo.

A bolt of coldness runs through me. “W-What are you saying?”

The grandeur of the scene is ruined by him biting his lip and shifting his weight—he’s nervous.

“If you go with me,” he starts. “You’ll likely be branded as a criminal by the British Empire.”

He reaches out and takes me firmly by the shoulders. “I—I wanted you to know, before we left—there’s still a chance! If you…”

His voice darkens.

“If you reject me now, you’ll likely be able to go back to the way things were. You could go back to Paris, you could go back to your studies and work. No one would have to know that you assisted me.”

His grip on me tightens, and I can’t stop myself from whimpering from the pain.

Is this a reminder of just how dangerous he is? A glimpse of the madman who built a battleship to cover the sky in darkness?

I try to seek out his eyes hidden behind his goggles. Even this close, they’re completely obscured.

For some reason, I suddenly recall the conversation that I had with the university’s headmaster, and I say the same words:

“It’s too safe for me here.”

Nemo’s expression falls in shock, his mouth slackens and he lets go of my shoulders.

“What…” his voice is higher than usual. “What are you saying?”

“I’m going with you,” I say. “Nothing will make me change my mind.”

He looks like he’s trying to process what I just said.

“Discoveries require risks,” I continue. “The greatest discoveries require the greatest risks. Besides that…”

I feel my face redden as I look down at the ground.

“I don’t want to go on this voyage with anyone but you, Nemo.”

I hear him make a confused noise.

“I don’t think anyone else could make me feel so happy about what I’m doing, about the science I’m pursuing. You … you love science so much. Being with you makes me feel like there’s so much left in the world to be discovered. By us.”

I hold out my hand.

He looks down at it, then looks back up at me. I try to reassure him with a smile.

He slowly reaches out for me, and we’re finally palm-to-palm again.

The only bars around us now are open, and we look at one another for what feels like an eternity.

Both of us move at the same time, closing the space between our bodies—

“Aronnax! Impey is coming in with the airship!”

Frankenstein is standing in the doorway, the Count not standing too far behind.

“MYYYYYYY ETERNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL RIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICTOOOOOOOOOOR FRAAA---”

“The prisoner’s escaped!” guards pour in from the door on the other side of the hall, interrupting Nemo’s passionate greeting.

I keep a hold on Nemo’s hand as we begin running for the door with the others. I don’t ever want to let go of him. We were so close to holding each other again.

Surely this passion is the beauty of science!

… At least, that’s what I wish I was thinking.

As we escape from Buckingham Palace, I realize that I’m losing the battle against my own feelings. But thinking it, acknowledging it… Nemo and I are companions who will go on a great journey in the name of scientific discovery.

I can’t sully the beauty of that by admitting to myself that I’m falling in love with him.

The airship is waiting for us, hovering above as Frankenstein and the Count hold off the guards that seem to be pouring in from all directions.

“Ahoy there! Everyone ready to go, then?!” Impey’s voice is broadcast through the air.

I find it hard to move as I realize that we’ll be boarding that thing and sailing and plummeting and tossing ourselves through the unforgiving sky. My body becomes even more rigid when I see a rope ladder dropped down from the ship.

“Miss Pauline, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” says the Count.

“Don’t forget us if you ever find yourself in Steel London again,” says Frankenstein. They turn their backs to us to fight the guards who run to stop us.

I yelp when I feel an arm wrap around my waist and lift me.

“Hee hee hee! Noooooo time for being sheepish!” Nemo hoists me up and grabs ahold of the rope ladder, sandwiching my body in-between him and the rope.

I can feel the rise and fall of his breathing. It’s calming, even if only a little.

The airship begins to rise into the air.

“O-K! Reel us in!” Nemo yells upward.

The ethereal boy standing above the airship trapdoor looks down at us and narrows his eyes.

“Sister… if we were to drop them, we would be rid of so much noisiness.”

My throat goes dry. I can’t even scream at the horror that fills my core at that terrifying joke.

I feel Nemo lean in close to me. “Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing.”

The ladder vibrates and then is slowly reeled in by someone turning a crank.

“Finis, this is no time for that!” I hear Cardia yell to her brother.

“In and out…” Nemo continues. “I won’t let my precious friend fall, so just keep on breathing.”

It still feels like an eternity before I feel Cardia grab ahold of me and pull me inside the airship. As soon as I’m inside I collapse to the ground in a heap.

“Hoooooooooooooooo! It feels so gooooooooooooood to be back in the sky!!” I hear Nemo’s joyous shriek.

“Pipe down back there!” shouts Barbicane.

“Get away from that steering wheeeeeeeeeeel!” Nemo cackles. “Out, out, ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut!”

“You should show a little more gratitude to the genius who rescued you!”

I feel the ship lurch as Nemo grabs the steering wheel away from Barbicane.

“I’m going to be sick…” I murmur into the floor.