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ploffskinpluffskin · 2 years

Text

Title: voracity

Rating: Gish probably

Characters: Baron, Muta, Cat King, Natori, Haru, Toto, Natoru

Summary: When the normally idyllic and sleepy Cat Kingdom is subjected to a number of strange sightings and near attacks, Baron and Muta of the Cat Bureau are invited in to investigate the subject at the top of the Cat Kingdom’s list of suspects— a human teenager who has somehow stumbled into the place. But when her name is cleared with little fanfare, the real mystery begins.

Notes: Written for the 2022 Birthday Bash, and in particular for the ‘cursed’ prompt. I don’t recall what exactly led me to this idea other than that one tumblr post about werewolves and how some legends say that a loved one speaking their name is enough to break the curse. Otherwise it was just an exercise that basically amounted to me dipping my toe into the AU business. This isn’t actually finished yet, and I’m second-guessing it Hard, but I didn’t spend the last month or so working on it to just not post it!

Like the last time I posted something unfinished, missing parts are explained. If I ever finish it in its entirety, it’ll be posted to AO3 more than likely

+++

The illustrious Cat Kingdom is much more of a Cat Hamlet than its grande and overly charitable name might have one believe. At least, that’s what Muta finds himself thinking as they trundle down the dirt and gravel path to the castle which looms over the surrounding hillsides. Why they have a castle and yet not a legitimate town or city surrounding it he supposes can simply be chalked up to skewed priorities. They are cats, after all.

He might even grudgingly agree on some level that building a castle is likely to be much more interesting than putting a town together.

He and his colleague (another charitable term) had been called to deal with a potential ‘werewolf.’ Muta’s first instinct had been to laugh and utter a not entirely kind quip about the intellect of cats as a general whole, a quip which Baron had quite concisely and brutally sucked the fun out of by pointing out that Muta himself was, in fact, a cat.

Muta finds himself even now still nursing a small grudge over that.

“This is a waste of time,” he starts now. “You an’ I both know there’s no such thing as werewolves.”

“Do we?”

It’s only the withering glare Muta directs at him that gets Baron to smile apologetically and respond otherwise.

“It’s unlikely, yes, Muta. But according to the vast majority of humans, there’s no such thing as a Cat Kingdom, either.”

“Yeah, well, humans aren’t the brightest, either.”

“Still. It may prove to be wise to see what’s going on with this particular stray human. If nothing else, then to ensure they don’t come to any harm by admittedly well-intentioned cats.”

“Aw, we wouldn’t hurt her,” interjects the voice of their escort— a little tan cat with what seems to be an ever-present, sunny smile.

Muta’s glare is turned now to her. “Listening in on private conversations, uh?”

“I wanted to know!” The escort admits readily. “You can’t go around whispering in the Cat Kingdom and not expect to attract some curiosity.”

“Curiosity killed the cat, and so on, I suppose.”

“And satisfaction brought it back,” the escort agrees with a nod. Then, “Is it true, though? Are werewolves really just a fantasy?”

“Yes,” Baron says. “At least, as far as my knowledge goes.”

Their escort waddles a little further out ahead of them, paws joined behind her back now.

“Boy, Natori’s gonna be pretty embarrassed when he hears that.”

+++

Natori, despite the similar name, is a quite disparate sight beside his apparent coworker, being not only a tall and thin cat but prim as an aged governess as well.

He greets them shortly after they enter the castle doors, expression trained into one of aloof formality, and regards their escort, who seems to be struggling not to spill the beans on the apparent embarrassment coming his way, with no small amount of disapproval as she smiles innocently at him.

To Baron, it’s rather evident the two have worked together for some time.

“Just this way, gentlemen. I’m afraid it’s a relatively lengthy journey.”

The human they’re led to is no more than a teenager. Her chocolate brown hair is tied back into a ponytail which at one point must have been rather neat and tidy but now sits upon her head in loose straggles due to her short (but no doubt trying) confinement. When she sees them all approach her cramped cell, her hopeful expression drops, and the exasperation in her voice can not be ignored.

“Oh, not more cats,” she starts. “You said you were bringing in a human expert.”

“Yes,” Natori responds with no small amount of perplexity, glancing back to survey his new companions. “These two are experts on humans.”

Here the teen hesitates for only a second before putting her face in her hands.

“...That’s on me, I guess.” Then, with more vigor, “I’ve already told you all I don’t even know how many times that I don’t know what you’re talking about! Before today, I didn’t even know cats could talk, much less that they had a whole kingdom to themselves..!”

Baron looks to Muta, who quite pointedly looks away.

“What is your name?” The ginger cat then eventually asks their human companion.

“Haru,” she answers with a good deal of caution.

Baron inclines his head politely and continues. “If you don’t mind speaking with me, Miss Haru, how exactly did you arrive here? From what I understand, it’s something of a rarity for humans like yourself to appear here. Isn’t that right?”

Here he turns to regard Natori behind them, who quickly nods in agreement.

“Yes, you’re correct! It is quite rare, particularly for us to entertain a human who has already aged out of childhood.”

“I’m not that old,” Haru mumbles. “And I don’t know how I got here, exactly— I was just walking home from school like normal, and the next thing I know I’m surrounded by cats all accusing me of being some weird monster.”

“You don’t remember anything in between that?”

“Well… yes, but it’s a little hazy and confusing.”

“That’s understandable. You’ve learned a lot of strange things in a quite short amount of time, Miss Haru. Just try your best.”

Haru seems heartened, and starts, “Like I said, I was walking home from school like I usually do. My best friend, Hiromi, usually walks with me, too, but she was on cleanup duty after school today, and she couldn’t get me to take her place for her. So she can be there to support Tsuge, fine, but I’m not letting her bribe me into it willy-nilly.”

Then, continuing in a more chastened sort of manner, as if concerned she’d overshared, “...Um, but, anyway— don’t think I’m a bad friend, okay? I usually do all kinds of things for her, really I do. She’s my best friend.”

“Of course,” Baron agrees, sympathetic.

“Well, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, just a little shadow or something. It had me curious, so I followed where I thought I’d seen it— down an alley. I don’t… um, I don’t understand how it happened, exactly, but I swear it seems like I just turned a corner somewhere and suddenly there were cattails and grassy hills everywhere.”

“Does that sound feasible to you, Mr. Natori?”

Natori seems reluctant to answer. “...Well. Yes, there are actually countless, ah, gaps in the boundary between our world and hers, you might say. It’s not at all unlikely she might have accidentally passed through one without realizing it.”

“I see.”

“What do you think, then?” Natori asks under his breath.

“...I do regret being the bearer of unfortunate news, but the creature you’re thinking of— this ‘werewolf’, is merely a product of fiction in the human world,” Baron begins gently, looking from Haru to the other cat. “While her presence in your kingdom is admittedly unusual, I don’t believe she is your monster.”

The way Natori’s expression falls is almost comical— a mixture of disappointment, surprise, and embarrassment, much as Natoru had predicted. When he speaks, however, it’s with the same composed formality he’s exhibited thus far.

“Ah, I see.” Then, after another reluctant pause, “As the, ah, expert on humans in this case, what do you propose we do with her, then? Is it prudent to simply send her back to her home? Will she find her way back here in a vengeful haze..? I imagine it might be wise to offer our sincerest apologies and a gift basket as consolation, at least.”

“I’m not certain the gift basket is necessary, but I imagine an apology shall be quite appreciated,” Baron whispers back. Then, aloud, he adds, “However, yes, there is likely to be no harm in sending her back to her home.”

“Oh!” Haru says upon hearing that, her hands clasped in relief. “You ended up being my knight in shining armor after all..! I was so scared I’d be stuck here forever!”

“We wouldn’t have kept you forever,” Natoru says. “Eventually we would have shot you with a silver bullet or something.”

Beside her, Natori appears to struggle through a silent test of faith, but ultimately seems to see fit to say nothing to offset his shorter coworker’s blunt claim, much to Haru’s dismay. Instead, he clears his throat and addresses her directly as Natoru flips through the heavy key ring at the door.

“On behalf of the esteemed Cat Kingdom, I offer our most sincere apologies. I’m afraid you came upon our dominion at a quite trying, inopportune time.”

“You know, if any of you had just said werewolf, I would have understood. I could have told you myself those don’t actually exist,” Haru says plaintively, but her laments don't last, not when she hears the door to the cell clinking open. It takes a little bit of maneuvering, but she manages to crawl through the exit, standing slightly hunched against the higher ceiling outside the cell. For the first time, Muta finds himself wondering how a bunch of cats had even managed to get her in there in the first place.

“Even so, it’s doubtful they would have taken your word for it,” Baron tries to reassure her. Natori coughs.

“Well… thank you, anyway,” she says, tucking a stray hair behind her ear self-consciously.

“Think nothing of it.” Then, “By the by, Miss Haru, you said you saw something out of the corner of your eye and that it led you here.”

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to recall what it was? Any particularly strange features, anything that stuck out to you?”

“It was small, but not as small as a cat. I think maybe that’s why it caught my attention. I thought someone had maybe lost their dog. Sorry, I wish I could remember more.”

“That’s quite alright.” Then, to Natori, “If you don’t mind, my colleague and I would like to offer our services— those outside our expertise on humans and their world, that is— in order to uncover your mystery creature and help you to regain some sense of security in your fair kingdom.”

Somewhere behind him, Muta speaks up.

“We would—?!”

“Yes,” Baron responds without hesitation, without so much as a glance back at the cat. “I believe we may have some other insight to offer the situation.”

“Oh—!” Natori practically claps his paws together. “We could only be so fortunate to receive your continued help in this matter! I was going to do this anyway, you must understand, but do please let us treat the two of you to a banquet in gratitude for your trouble, and your future assistance.” Here he looks to Haru, as well, addressing her with the same deference, “And you, as well, Miss Haru— as a most sincere apology for your confinement, of course.”

“A banquet? Okay.”

Baron’s smile isn’t directed at Muta himself, but it’s clear the cat’s sudden willingness to entertain a longer stay is what brought the expression about.

“Yes,” he agrees, too, “I believe such an occasion may prove to be a fertile ground to gather more intel as well as repay kindness. Will the king be present?”

“Of course.”

+++

The Cat King is perhaps not quite as stately as his regal title might lead one to expect. He’s rather tall for a cat, like his advisor (or at least Baron surmises he would be were he standing), but covered in long lavender fur which seems to point in whatever random direction it pleases, giving him an appearance that might almost be unfortunately described as slovenly. At the moment, he lounges idly in an ornate chair at the head of the table.

When Natori introduces them all, the king merely mumbles something to himself, and then greets them with an indolent, almost sullen-sounding, “Hey.”

“Your Majesty,” Natori then continues, in a pressured way that belies some amount of exasperation, “The Baron von Gikkingen and his colleague, Muta, have decided to continue to offer their expertise— that is, their expertise outside that which they possess on humans, in their own words— in order to help solve our creature mystery.”

“Oh, yeah?” The king all but drawls. “That’s cool, babe.”

At this, Natori seems to deflate, asking them all to sit while he checks on the meal. It’s only after he’s left that the conversation continues.

“I do hate to seem as if I’m all business, if you will,” Baron begins, “But I’m quite interested in your own opinions on this mystery creature business, Your Majesty.”

The Cat King sniffs a time or two, resting the side of his head against his paw propped against the arm of his chair. His attention seems drawn to the shiny metal of one of the forks sitting beside the platter before him as opposed to any of his kingdom’s guests. When he does finally respond, it’s with a bored tone, and spoken while combing absentmindedly through his mustache.

“It’s not a fun time, I’ll tell you that much. Haven’t had an upset this annoying since that time I tried to implement taxes. If you ask me, the sooner it goes away, the better. I’m tired of hearing about it.” Then, before anyone can respond to any of that, he eyes Haru blearily a few seconds and asks, “How come you’re so huge, babe?”

Haru, sitting upon a low bench with her knees hopelessly drawn a couple inches above the table and admiring the tiny silverware, reddens a little. “I’m not, sir..! I’m short for a human.”

“Huh. Didn’t know that about humans. I always pictured them like little garden gnomes.”

“I’ve known a handful of garden gnomes,” Baron adds thoughtfully.

Muta clears his throat loudly, staring at Baron with the —.

“...but I suppose that’s not important right now.”

[ insert dinner arriving, as well as natori coming back probably ]

“Baron,” Haru suddenly whispers from beside him. When he turns to her, he sees that she’s staring down at the array of forks spread out upon the tablecloth with a palpable amount of abrupt apprehension, no longer simply admiring them.

“The one farthest to the left is appropriate for appetizers,” he whispers back helpfully, guessing what her conundrum is, and seemingly correctly at that, as her manner noticeably relaxes.

“Oh, thank goodness.” She gingerly picks it up.

“What can you tell us about the monster so far, anyway?” Muta asks as he inspects the plate set before him hungrily, soon after wasting no time in gulping down his first bite.

“Not much, babe. Just sorta showed up a couple weeks ago and started terrorizing the place. Lune was the one who’d seen it the most,” the king recalls, lazily spinning his fork in his paw. From her seat, Haru notices it’s the wrong one (at least, according to Baron’s advice).

“The prince,” Natori supplies quietly from his standing spot behind the Cat King’s seat.

“...Was..?”

At this the king gives a vaguely discomfited noise, leaning back to talk with his advisor in low tones. Eventually, he answers in a pressured manner that speaks to some uncertain annoyance, “No one knows it yet, but we sent Lune on some made-up errand this morning to get him away from the castle.” He levels his fork this time at their guests, eyes narrowed and lip curled. “And that means you three can’t go blabbing about it now, either. No one outside this room needs to be getting any ideas about some monster stalking the royal family.”

“Is it then safe to assume you yourself have had encounters with this creature?”

Baron’s question seems to catch the king off-guard. What had been a narrowed, almost unimpressed glower very quickly relaxes. The king shrugs.

“Sometimes I’d think I saw something outta the corner of my eye, but it’s always turned out to be something else. You’ll have to ask the servants and other riffraff who’ve seen it to give you a description.”

“Or Natori,” Natoru pipes up from her own station by the door. “It stalked him once, he told me.”

“Only from a distance,” Natori is quick to correct when attention then turns to him. “I’m afraid I didn’t see it very clearly. My own experience is likely to be of little help compared with the likes of Lune’s or even that of our head chef’s.”

“What, is your monster just looking for a snack?”

“If it is, it’s looking in the right place, babe,” the king responds without so much as a sniff of offense, and continues on with his usual casual vernacular,“Our chef’s the best in the kingdom. Knows how to roast a sweet potato the same way the humans do.”

“Oh,” Haru perks up. “You mean yakiimo?”

The king points his fork in her direction. “That’s the stuff.”

“Perhaps we might shadow your head chef tonight, then— not for his no doubt exemplary cooking skills, but since he appears to be the monster’s main target at the moment, with your son on an errand.”

[ insert continuing conversation and a transition scene to natori going about the castle at night. last minute checks and all. baron and muta stay with the chef for the night as they planned but i. admittedly don’t know where haru goes. natori has a run-in with the monster ]

Heat explodes over the top of his head and runs down his spine as his heart plummets with it. With an iron-clad calmness, the likes of which he’s certain he’s never experienced before, Natori reaches mechanically, gingerly, for the curtain covering the door to his right and inches toward it. Shuffling footsteps grow closer by the second, and he just manages to slip through the split in the fabric relatively soundlessly.

It’s only once he’s enveloped in the safety of what he recognizes as the king’s media room that he shakily rests against the wall closest to the door, breathing a sigh of relief and letting himself slide down to a hunched sitting position.

Such rotten luck, Natori thinks to himself, that he might encounter the creature after downplaying his other run-ins with the thing.

The reprieve from his fear is short-lived, however.

From the corner of his eye, he sees the curtain bowing inwards, and to his horror something peeks into the room once that curtain is parted. Despite what seems to be a lack of eyes, it immediately turns to the grey cat huddled against the wall to its right.

Having mostly seen the creature from a distance (that part hadn’t been a lie), Natori finds he’s rather unprepared for getting up close and personal with it. From afar, its cavernous maw hadn’t been obvious, though he’s now uncertain how, looking upon rows of large, rounded teeth and a broad tongue which sways from side to side as the creature barges into his space.

The noise Natori utters in response is something of a strangled, fearful sob and the wetness on his cheeks tells him his panicked tears have welled up and overflown significantly.

“No— please—” Who is he hoping will hear his pleas? The creature? How ridiculous, he thinks.

“Hungry… hungry. Natori, hungry…”

The voice sounds familiar, albeit as if channeled through a moving fan. It’s there, at last, that he spies the king’s eye-like crown, crooked and tiny, but proudly displayed upon the creature’s massive head, as it normally would be upon a much more familiar visage.

“...Your Majesty..?” Natori breathes, transfixed in both horror and a tentative hopefulness.

The monster closes its yawning mouth, those rows of blunted teeth vanish, and it rears back in much the same manner an animal might upon being sprayed with water.

“Your Majesty—” Natori tries again, this time a touch more confidently.

Here the creature (the king..?) utters a low whine and slinks back, shies away and skulks through the curtain. It’s not panicked or quick enough to flee, but the retreat is obvious in any case. Natori hesitates, waits until the shuffling of its many feet is a distant hum, and then, with the same mechanical numbness he’d exhibited earlier upon first becoming aware of the monster’s presence, walks to the cabinet on the other side of the room, climbs into it, and silently waits for morning.

+++

It’s Natoru who finds him the next morning, and somewhere Natori feels he should have predicted that.

“I know I’ve found you in all kinds’a places, Natori, sir, but this one is… um, strange even for you.”

Natori, rubbing groggily at his face in the sudden light of the morning sun, can only agree faintly before he remembers the previous night through his sleep haze.

"H-His Majesty— where is the king..?"

"In his quarters, I'd assume," Natoru answers nonchalantly, watching as the advisor stumbles from the room.

+++

“Your Majesty..!”

It’s patently unlike Natori to enter the king’s quarters without knocking, and even more so to do so by throwing the door open, but that’s exactly what he does. The king’s room is large and airy, and his bed a disarray of blankets and pillows, some of which also lie scattered across the room. Being familiar with the Cat King’s erratic sleeping behavior (for reasons he’d rather not think about at this moment, not after last night’s encounter), Natori supposes the chaos isn’t entirely evidence of his theory on its own. The king himself appears to have rolled off the bed at Natori’s sudden intrusion, and now sits glowering at his advisor over the edge of the mattress.

“This better be good, babe.”

Natori teeters further into the room in a seeming daze, rounding the bed and reaching out for the king’s face, peering into his eyes, patting his arms as if unconvinced the other cat is real.

“You’re— ah, yourself..! You’re not— o-oh, now I’m quite confused.”

“What—? What are you rambling about now?”

“Well, er, I believe I may know who the creature is, sire.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, spit it out. Who?”

“You.”

[ insert. well, things i couldn’t figure out how to word and put together, like how they all come to the conclusion that it’s a curse which has been put upon the king, rumors of mystical and occasionally mischievous, if not mean-spirited, beings living in the woods surrounding the kingdom, and muta grudgingly volunteering himself to go speak with them since he is implied to have experience dealing with such beings. so enter toto ]

“You might think of me as a spur,” Toto says. Without any prior warning, he suddenly takes wing, alighting a few feet away on a barren branch. “One perhaps embedded in someone’s side, that rouses them into movement to dislodge it.”

“...Take it you’re the one who cursed the royal kitty cat, then,” Muta says as he follows after the crow, always a step or two behind.

“Yes, I’m the one who cast the curse,” Toto admits offhandedly, flapping his wings once, then twice, in an effort to get comfortable upon his new perch. “There’s no sense pretending I didn’t. But where it goes from there is not really in my own hands— well, wings— by now.”

“Seems kinda irresponsible to cast a curse you can’t control, if you ask me.”

“That’s the nature of them!” It’s there Toto studies Muta with an almost fond smile, though it’s cloaked in a muted amusement which the cat finds he does not care for at all. “You’ve not dealt with many curses before now, have you?”

“So what if I haven’t?” Muta asks with a toss of his head. “They just haven’t come up, is all.”

“Where are you from? You don’t have the manner of those kingdom cats.”

“That’s ‘cause I live in the human world like a normal cat.”

“That doesn’t tell me where you’re from,” Toto observes readily.

“No, it doesn’t. Are you gonna let me in on how to deal with your curse?”

“That depends.”

In the taut silence that follows, Muta defiantly refusing to break their eye contact and Toto’s smile unwavering, it occurs to the cat suddenly just how still the forest truly is. With great reluctance, as if the motion is being performed underwater, Muta looks away, gives their surroundings a stormy inspection, and when his budding suspicions appear to be supported, he clicks his tongue under his breath.

“...You got me, didn’t you. I should have been paying more attention.”

Toto only emits a brief chuckle, nonchalantly preening one of his wings.

“What do I have to do to get out of here, then?”

Here the crow stops, eyeing Muta indulgently, and answers, “I like you, Muta, so I’ll go easy on you. Here is my offer— one kiss, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about the curse. No kiss, and, well, I’ll tell you the way out.”

Muta crosses his arms.

“That’s not gonna work for me, crow. Sounds to me like you forgot something— if I do lower my standards enough to give some birdbrain a kiss, I didn’t hear anything about that birdbrain showing me the way out of here, too.”

“Oh, shoot, you figured me out. You’re a little smarter than I assumed.”

“You know what they say about assuming.”

“Hm. Smarter than I thought but not very original, I see.”

[ insert, yes, a kiss lmao it’s nothing more than a peck on the cheek, but still, i didn’t figure out how to word it in time ]

“I don’t do riddles,” Toto all but sniffs. “Alright. Here’s the thing— the king’s curse can only be broken by someone he loves, and who loves him.”

“That’s a tall order. You met the king..?”

Toto gestures to himself with a deadpan look.

“...right.”

“I’ll tell you this, by my observations you have three choices. But choose wisely, as I can’t guarantee just any of those three will do the trick.”

“Alright, who’re the three, then?”

Here Toto hesitates.

“The king is an inordinately hungry creature even when he thinks he’s had his fill. The three you’re looking for feed him, in whatever way he craves at that moment.”

“Thoughtcha didn’t do riddles,” Muta says, unimpressed.

“Riddles rhyme.”

“So you’re not creative enough to rhyme, got it. What do they have to do then, the three, assuming we figure out who they are?”

“You only need one.” Toto hesitates, eyes narrowed at the cat in apparent agitation.

[ yada yada toto gives muta the answer but phrased in a vague unhelpful way. muta is less than impressed ]

“Now, how do I get out of here?”

“The same way you came in,” Toto answers, and the flat stoniness in his voice makes it clear he’s no longer feeling all that chummy toward the cat. Muta feels the surrounding forest become more suffocating. “Leave me be.”

“One last thing, then, just for my own curiosity— why’d you do it, uh? The curse?”

Here Toto lifts his head so that he stares down at the cat with an imperious gaze. He’s really pushing his luck. “Do I need a reason? You implied it yourself, didn’t you? He’s a loveless lout, with no concern for anything or anyone beyond what he wants in that very moment. Perhaps one day he crossed the wrong person; perhaps I simply saw him commit some unforgivably cruel act. In the end, it doesn’t matter. It was bound to happen in any case, if not by my hand, then by someone else’s.”

“And the staff? The prince? What did they do?”

“Nothing,” the crow responds, now soft and pensive again. “But that is the nature of curses.”

“Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time.”

“Best be on your way. Silly me, I forgot to mention time works differently here than it does in the kingdom. It’ll be dark by the time you get back.”

“Now you tell me. Thanks for nothing, birdbrain.”

“I could at least give you another insult to use on me before you leave.”

Muta grumbles to himself as he turns and treads back the way he came, ultimately giving Toto no reply, and, true to the crow’s words, the life and bustle of the forest returns as he drifts closer to the boundary between it and the kingdom, though it’s noticeably more tranquil than it had been when he’d entered closer to noontime. Night, as Toto had predicted, is certainly falling.

[ from here i hadn’t written enough to be compelling, so i’m so sorry but there’s no satisfactory end rip if you know me and my character leanings and such then it might be obvious how it ends anyway thinking emoji or maybe not! maybe i’m not as obvious as i feel i am XD;; but i doubt it. thank you for reading and sticking through to the end ]

#tcr birthday bash 2022 #typewriter ghost #cursed 22 #i flipped the switch so my blog temporarily shows up in search results so let's hope this makes it to the tag jjfdkls #i'm mad that i had such a headstart on this and still didn't finish it but what can u do

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sharkboygirlish · 3 years

Text

Messy.

ONE-SHOT

Word count: 2793

Disclaimer: One piece and all it’s characters belong to Eiichiro Oda, I just like to write about them.

Warning: None

Rating: T (i guess?? there’s cursing)

Author’s Note: Whale, this is the first fanfic I’ve posted on the interwebs since high school so please keep that in mind, lol. I do plan to finish it sooner than later so check back in a few days if you want to read the rest, sorry I don’t have it all done right now. At long last it it FINISHED.

Feel free to tell me what u think! Unless it’s mean, then I ask that u keep those thoughts in ur noggin because I’m just writing these for fun not for grades.

Without further ado, here ya go.

Author’s Note pt 2: So i didn’t end up going the smut route like I originally planned, but I think it worked out better bc this one got nice and Emotional.

Summary: Zoro really shouldn’t agree to be Nami’s drinking partner if he wanted to keep their friendship from getting... Complicated.

__________________________________________

The moon was floating high in the night sky when Nami wandered onto the deck, unable to sleep even after a few hours of sketching.

She wanted company – specifically, she wanted the company of the crew’s resident alcoholic. It only took a few minutes to find him on the lawn deck with his back against a tree and his eye closed. ‘How typical.’

Nami smiled a small, excited smile as she strode over to him and squatted between his parted legs. An unconscious sigh left her nose as she swept her gaze up and down his face. She caught herself thinking, ‘He really is easy on the eyes isn’t he.’ ....again.

Who was she kidding? She’d been thinking the same thing every time she looked his way lately.

Two years ago she’d been able to keep the immature crush she had on him locked tightly away but somehow - it had gotten out and was slowly consuming her entire being.

Nami hoped he hadn’t noticed how often she invited him to drink with her because she didn’t think she could handle being rejected. So she settled for spending time alone with him whenever and however she could.

“Hey, moss-head,” the navigator said finally, leaning in to squint at him, “Are you asleep?”

He had literally just settled down for a nice cat nap when the navigator appeared suddenly to interrupt him. ‘Damn. What the hell did she want now?’

Instead of answering, Zoro chose to ignore her and pretend like he was deep asleep. ‘Why won’t she go bother someone else?’

Nami started prodding his cheek with one finger to rouse him if he really was sleeping, ”Zorooo wake up, I wanna drink,” she whined and his eyelid opened instantly.

‘Why’s she so damn pretty..’ was the first thought he had when he realized that she was a lot closer than he’d anticipated.

He mentally chastised himself after, trying to remind his id that Nami had never once indicated that she wanted to be anything other than friends and he should respect that.

But… There was no harm in looking from time to time was there? And she was pretty. She’d always been... ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, now he sounded like Sanji. He needed to get a grip.’

“Helloooooo,” Nami waved her hand in Zoro’s face until he snapped back to reality and snatched her wrist up, pulling it away. He scowled but it wasn’t deep, and now he was refusing to look her in the eye. “What was that about, huh Zoro?”

“Nothing.” The swordsman replied perhaps a little too quickly to avoid suspicion, “Thought I heard a noise, doesn’t matter – oi, didn’t you want to do something?”

He couldn’t remember what exactly it was. He’d been so distracted by the way her bangs framed her face and sometimes got caught in her eyelashes—’Damnit! He was doing it again.’

Nami smirked again but didn’t press the subject anymore. She’d do that later once they started drinking. “Weren’t you listening to me? You’re so rude, maybe I should find someone else to share my booze with.”

Was it a good idea to go drink with Nami when he kept catching himself thinking about feelings that he’d been suppressing for the last two years? Probably not…

But he couldn’t just decline an opportunity to get buzzed. ‘And... Maybe he wanted to get buzzed with Nami, specifically.’

Zoro scoffed, mostly at himself. “Quit playing games, damnit, do you want me to drink with you or not?”

“You’re so stubborn,” The navigator teased with a pleased smile that made his heart beat unevenly, “I could care less if you join me, but you’re not allowed to come unless you say you’ll be nice.”

“Nami. I am older than you, quit treating me like a fucking child or I swear-”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady who’s getting you drunk for free, Roronoa Zoro. If you can’t be nice then I’ll just add the cost of everything you drink to your debt and-”

Zoro didn’t have time to ruminate over the way hearing her say his full name made him shiver because he had to shut her up before she did charge him.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be... nice.” He hissed through gritted teeth and her answering giggle made his pulse flutter. He had to fight to keep himself from smiling. ‘What the hell was going on with him tonight? Was he sick?’

“Good boy,” she turned and started walking towards the Sunny’s aquarium bar, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure he was coming.

“Don’t push your luck, woman.” Zoro snarled to mask his confusion over the sudden need to touch her that he felt scratching at the back of his head. He really shouldn’t agree to be Nami’s drinking partner if he wanted to keep their friendship from getting... Complicated.

He knew it, but he followed her up the stairs all the same.

* * *

“Why d’you always want to drink with me anyway, witch?” Skeptical of her intentions, his narrowed eye fixed itself on Nami as she approached him holding two maroon tinted bottles. She offered one to him and he accepted it – but he didn’t let his guard down yet.

Zoro lowered his gaze to check the label out, whistling long and low when he read 23% alcohol per volume. A couple puzzle pieces clicked together in his head ‘Oh, that’s why. Because if she tried to drink this with anyone else they’d pass out after two glasses.’

“Would you believe that I just like hanging out with you?” Though her tone was teasing she was actually being genuine, she had a lot of fun with him whenever they went out.

“No–“ He paused when Nami kicked him in the shin hard enough to make him swear. Reaching down with his free hand he rubbed the sore patch of skin and glared daggers at his crewmate. “What the fuck was that for?!”

“You said you’d be nice, Zoro! So be nice or I’ll charge you a hundred thousand beris for that bottle.” Nami uncorked hers but waited to hand the corkscrew over until he behaved himself. The look he was giving her would probably frighten a small child but she didn’t flinch.

‘This was his choice.’ He reminded himself. Of his own free will he chose to get drunk with Nami instead of napping, and that meant dealing with her bossiness no matter how much he loathed it. ‘Sometimes he just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and make her shut up, there were better things her mouth could be doing anyway-‘

“Why do you keep staring at me like that, do I have a zit or something?”

Zoro sat up so fast that he banged his shoulder on the underside of the countertop. ‘What the hell was that? What the hell was wrong with him?’ He hadn’t even opened the damn bottle and he was already making himself look like an idiot.

“No,” the swordsman grumbled, wracking his brain for a believable excuse, “Just thinking about how I’ll owe you money even after I’m dead if you keep charging me for bullshit.” That made her laugh and Zoro cursed himself for how much he liked hearing it. “Don’t see how it’s funny for me, witch.”

Nami let him take the corkscrew from her, eyes crinkled with amusement while he opened his bottle. “You’ll just have to stay alive until you pay me back in full, I guess!” She trilled before taking a long, heavy drink from hers.

“Yeah?” Zoro snorted before mimicking her and downing about half of the wine in the container. It tasted disgusting, which he’d expected, but that didn’t make the bitter aftertaste any less miserable. His nose wrinkled slightly as he set the bottle down. “I bet even if I did try to pay you off you’d find a way to charge me more.”

“You make me sound so heartless,” the navigator batted her eyelashes innocently, pretending to look hurt, “Why would I ever do such a thing?”

“Hah.” He scoffed before chugging some more wine and failing to keep track of how much he was drinking each time. “Because you want to keep me on a leash since I don’t throw myself at you like that dumbass cook.”

An impish smirk crawled it’s way onto Nami’s face that made him immediately regret what he’d just said. ‘Fuck. Damnit!’

“So…” She began slowly, savoring every second that the swordsman spent avoiding direct eye contact with her, “You admit that you are one of my lap dogs?”

A muscle in his jaw flexed and he stopped drinking for one second to grunt, “That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what I heard!” Chimed Nami as she rose from her seat, stepping over to Zoro and tracing a finger under his jaw while he drained the last few drops of liquid. “I should get you a collar, so people know who to bring you to when you get lost.”

Normally he would have snapped at her for poking fun at his sense, or lack thereof, direction but he wasn’t listening to her. She’d come close enough for him to pick up her scent and maybe it was the alcohol intensifying his feelings, but it was suffocating him in a good way.

He loved the way she smelled. Tangerines from her soaps mixed with salty seawater and traces of sunscreen. A hint of orange blossom, but only when she was close to him like this.

Zoro inhaled deeply through his nose and, without realizing it, his expression melted into something affectionate and gentle. ‘In two years she’d changed in so many different ways… but she still smelled the same. She still smelled like home.’

* * *

“What are you thinking about, Zoro?” Her voice void of it’s usual teasing tone, Nami’s curiosity was piqued by his sudden shift in demeanor. He looked soft and peaceful, like he didn’t have anything to worry about. She wanted to know why.

‘Ah, fuck.’ What was he supposed to tell her? That he was thinking about how good she smelled? ‘Yeah right.’ Zoro was quiet for a while, mulling over his words until he came up with an explanation that didn’t sound as creepy – but also wasn’t a lie.

“I guess..” he finally murmured, his gaze shifting to meet hers, “It’s just been a while and… I was thinking about how nice it feels to be back here, with everyone…” a brief pause then he added, “I missed you guys.” ‘Look at him being all gushy and emotional, this wine really was something else.’ Zoro reached to brush his fingertips by her temple, catching a stray lock of hair and tucking it behind her ear, “I missed you.”

When had Zoro ever been this honest with her about the way he felt? Never was the answer, but now he seemed to trust her well enough to know she wouldn’t spill his secrets. Nami took his face in both of her hands, surprising him, and pulled his head down so she could kiss his forehead. “I missed you too, Zoro.”

Something about hearing her say that she’d missed him too broke a dam in his chest that he’d been trying to keep together for two years. Hormoness flooded through his bloodstream quicker than Zoro could even process them and before he knew it he was practically throwing his arms around Nami’s waist and crushing her against his chest.

“Nami—” he pressed his face into her neck to hide the tears that he couldn’t hold back anymore. Sober he might have cared about losing it like this around her but she was here and… ‘He just – needed to hold her.’ Hold her and smell her and feel how real she was because she had almost been taken from him.

‘He’d barely begun to process what he had been through on Thriller Bark when they were attacked in Sabaody. If he tried to think back on it his memories would get hazy and his bones would ache from their very cores. He knew what had happened but it’s like his brain was protecting him from understanding how close to death he’d come. Then – to be torn away from the people he loved with all of his heart? Who he had just nearly killed himself to protect?

It had ripped him apart and rubbed salt into every wound. And it fucking hurt. The same kind of pain he felt when he saw Kuina dead on the floor of their dojo. He was scared, he was furious, he was devastated – all over again but this time it was so much worse. So, so much worse.

That was why he had trained so hard over the last two years. Because he couldn’t bear the grief that came with loving them so deeply – so he got stronger. And stronger. And stronger. No matter the cost to his body, he would become powerful enough to defeat anyone who crossed them. Then… He would never have to feel the agony that he did when he first woke up on Kuraigana Island ever again.

Taking on all of Luffy’s suffering in Thriller Bark had been the most physically painful experience of his entire life – but that was nothing compared to how much it hurt to think that his friends were gone forever, that he hadn’t been able to protect them.

Training made it easy not to think about what had happened -- but now he was home, and they were safe - and he was realizing just how close he’d come to losing all of them. At once. And he could do nothing to stop it.’

Startled by him grabbing her, Nami was prepared to give the pirate a good smack if he was getting handsy but… He started trembling. ‘Was he not feeling well?’ Her mouth opened to form the question then stopped. His breathing hitched while his entire body jerked and she realized…

‘Zoro was crying.’

Roronoa Zoro, who prided himself on his strength, was sobbing wretchedly into her neck. ‘He must have been holding this in since Sabaody.’ Nami’s heart ached for him and his stupid pride that forced him to torture himself instead of letting him cry like he needed to. She’d been expecting him to crash at some point, how couldn’t he? Even someone as strong as Zoro was still a human being.

One of her arms cradled his head while the other wound round his shoulders, her fingers combing gently through his hair. “Oh you sweet, sweet boy…” she spoke in the tone that Bellemere used to use when Nami and Nojiko were frightened by a passing thunderstorm. It always calmed her, maybe it would calm Zoro, too.

‘Quit fucking crying you loser you’re supposed to be a man.’ But he couldn’t, he literally could not stop because he was trying to. “I wasn’t strong enough,” his voice quivered at the edges and he hated it. ‘He was definitely never going to drink this kind of wine again ever. Not if it turned him into a blubbering mess like this every time.’

“Shhh, no. No. Don’t you dare try to blame yourself for what happened. Hey, look at me.” Nami urged his head off her shoulder and cupped his face in both of her palms, “None of us were strong enough, okay? Not even Luffy.” Each tear that fell she tenderly swept away with the pad of her thumb. The corner of her mouth turned up as she assured him, “But we are strong enough now. We can take care of each other. Nothing is ever going to tear us apart again, Zoro.”

‘She was right. Of course, she was right. He needed to have faith in his crewmates and his captain. They could do anything as long as they had each other.’ His breathing slowly evened out as he focused on anchoring himself back to reality. He wasn’t in Sabaody or Kuraigana – he was on the Sunny. In the bar, with Nami who had grown so much since he last saw her. The look in his eye softened like it had before his breakdown.

“You’re staring at me again, Zoro.” The navigator teased, her hands falling to rest on his shoulders. He hadn’t let go of her yet but she didn’t mind, he could hold on to her for as long as he needed.

A ghost of his usual smirk passed across his face. “Sorry, Nami…” Zoro took a little risk by leaning in to press a chaste but lingering kiss to her cheek, then traced a path with the edge of his nose to her ear, murmuring, “Wine makes me a little… Messy.”

#zona #zonami #zoro x nami #zona one-shots #zoro nami fanfiction #zonalove #zoro x nami fanfic

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peppermintbee · 4 years

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OMORI’s poor writing (Part 2)

Once again, if you are a big fan of OMORI, this review is not for you. Treasure this game, love it, recommend it, make fan art, buy the merch, do what you will with it. I am not here to take OMORI away from anyone. Based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, I know that my opinion is in the minority.

However, just as the fans have the right to praise the game, I have the right to examine it, criticize it, and explain why it failed to provide a compelling experience. This is second part of my review where I will tackle OMORI’s problematic themes and disrespectful appropriation of mental health.

[ See Part 1: Plot Writing Lies ]

(Note: I use “OMORI” in all-caps for the game title, and “Omori” in title case for the character name.)

Spoilers and criticism below.

Part 2: OMORI’s message is mishandled and distasteful

OMORI provides a warning that it depicts scenes of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Because the game includes these scenes, I assumed these mental health issues are presented in a way that is meaningful and respectful.

However, that is not the case.

Despite having depictions of such, this game is not really about depression, anxiety, or even suicide. It’s about committing a horrible crime, lying about it, and getting over the guilt.

1. Suicide as a game mechanic

Suicidal thoughts are intrusive, terrifying, and painful. As well as ending the victim's life, suicide wreaks havoc on the lives of those who once knew them. It is often a taboo topic, but discussing such matters is an important step to understanding and preventing it. Video games are a medium well suited to approaching such dark topics.

Unfortunately, OMORI does not handle the topic of suicide well at all.

First, suicide is written as a unavoidable game mechanic that seems to have been included for shallow reasons such as aesthetic and shock value. To leave Sunny’s headspace and wake up, you--as a player--must direct him to stab himself in the stomach.

But why? It’s not like waking up involves some sort of major sacrifice. In fact, waking up is something that is more or less unavoidable. Reality should be something that snatches Sunny away from his headspace against his will, perhaps as an encroaching darkness that Sunny can run from, but never truly escape. But instead, facing reality is something you are forced to opt into in the most needlessly violent way possible.

Forcing you--as a player--to literally commit suicide just to wake up from a dream is a pointless, distasteful, and disrespectful action that sets a precedent for suicide not being taken seriously in this game. (And it isn’t.)

In the black space, Omori is pressured to kill a cat. In that scene, regardless of your choice, you are forced to kill yourself. However, the act of stabbing yourself has been seen so many times at that point that it has completely lost any impact. Who cares about suicide when it’s been reduced to just a means of travel?

Lastly, if you fail to defeat the final boss, Sunny commits suicide in the real world. However, this is not a cutscene, it is once again something that you--as a player--are forced to do to progress. Putting these actions in the hands of a player is not as meaningful as the writer seems to believe, because there are no other options to progress. Any weight in making that decision is lost to resignation; a frustrated sigh of “Well, okay, fine. I guess I have to click Z here.” You are then rewarded with a SLAPPING pop song and a psychedelic cutscene of Sunny falling to his death. It’s tasteless to its core and appropriates the deaths of every suicidal person as a quirky, shallow “bad end.”

(Seriously, this is how the writer decided to depict a child taking his own life.)

youtube

2. Sunny/Omori is a poor presentation of depression

Sunny/Omori does not smile. Even in past photographs before The Incident, he still is not smiling. The contrast between Sunny and his friends stands out like a sore thumb, so I assumed this was the writer’s attempt to show that Sunny is dealing with depression, where he can’t be happy even in happy situations.

Of course, if that were the case it would be inaccurate since depressed people do smile and do hide their true feelings. They are often dismissed with, “You can’t be depressed, I saw you smiling once.” However, I was willing to let Sunny’s chronic frown slide because sometimes you have to oversimplify an idea to get your point across.

Much to my surprise, there is NO evidence of Sunny having depression before The Incident and there is very little indication of him having depression throughout the game either. The evidence of this is that while looking at a family portrait, Sunny comments that he's never liked to smile. Since he's a a baby in this portrait, this goes to show that his not smiling is simply a preference -- a quirky character trait that makes him stand out so that you feel an emotion during the true ending when he finally smiles.

Everything in the game seems to point to him being pretty happy and well adjusted up until he killed Mari. Then, even after he killed Mari, he pretty much looks and behaves the same way. Wouldn’t it be more jarring and tragic if you saw Sunny was happy in the past, but depressed now?

Which leads me to my next point...

3. Sunny and Basil are not depressed, they’re guilty (and for good reason)

In the book I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t), Brené Brown explains the difference between feeling guilt and shame.

Guilt means: “I did something bad.” Shame means: “I am something bad.”

Guilt, when attributed to bad behavior, is actually a healthy emotion. It means that you have a sense of right and wrong, that you empathize with those you’ve hurt, and it motivates you to make things right.

Shame is an unhealthy emotion. It arrests growth, destroys self-esteem, causes poor decision making, isolates you from your loved ones, and is directly correlated with anxiety and depression.

OMORI should be a game about overcoming shame. All the right set pieces are there. Sunny’s walled himself off, his sister (allegedly) committed suicide, and he seems to be struggling with lifelong depression. However, this all falls apart, when it’s revealed that he killed his sister and staged her death as a suicide to escape blame (with Basil’s help). He DID do something bad. It’s not shame, it’s literally guilt.

All at once, OMORI stops being a game about recovering from grief and depression and becomes a game that demands the player to sympathize with a killer and liar who is hiding from his crimes. Because he and Basil feel bad about what they did, Sunny and Basil are presented as greater victims than their actual victim.

4. OMORI asks you empathize with villains (with ZERO self awareness)

Games where you are playing a character with a guilty conscience has been told before, but where OMORI really fails is that Sunny is not truly held accountable for what he did to others. Instead, the game focuses on HIS pain: since killing his sister he’s been isolated, he’s having nightmares, and he’s suicidal.

The plot of the game is focused on helping Sunny forgive himself for ruining other people’s lives. The writing barely acknowledges how his friends/family feel about what he did. When his victims’ pain IS addressed, it’s either used to further victimize Sunny (ie: isn’t it sad for him that he made his friends so sad?) or it’s used to reassure the player that Sunny’s victims have forgiven him (or will forgive him).

In fact, the game holds Mari responsible for her own death, citing that her "perfectionism" must have been what pushed Sunny to attack her. OMORI presents Mari, through headspace, as someone who accepted death gracefully and wants Sunny to live a happy life. She is never given her own voice and nothing in the game suggests she is capable of feeling bitter over her death and postmortem desecration. She plays the role of the Madonna archetype--and the perfect victim--allowing the player to empathize entirely with Sunny while accepting that Mari brought everything on herself.

[Mari suggesting that Sunny acting out his aggression on her was her fault.]

The climax of this game is NOT Sunny telling the truth to his friends. The climax is Sunny defeating his guilt and forgiving himself. We know this because the story does not even show how his friends respond to his confession, because-- once again-- what’s most important thing is resolving Sunny’s pain, not the pain he has caused others. (Though the game does heavily imply that his friends will forgive him.)

[Pictured: the boys shedding their guilt is the true happy ending ]

Imagine, for a moment, if this game was about an abuser, who caused immense pain to someone and got away with it. Then, the whole game was about how they felt bad for the abuse they caused, and-- as a player-- you help them forgive THEMSELF for their past abuse. Then, in the last few seconds of the game, they either apologize to their victim or kill themself. The victim’s response is not shown because it is not important.

This is the plot of OMORI, except with a bunch of excuses thrown on top to make it more palatable. Sunny and Basil are just soooo cute and sad. Killing Mari was an accident. Stringing her body up like a piñata was a juvenile mistake. The boys feel SO BAD that they want to kill themselves. And because suicide is so tragic, you-- as an audience-- are manipulated into empathizing them.

5. In OMORI, suicide is used as a cheap ploy for sympathy

As I mentioned before, suicide is horrible and tragic. People struggling with suicidal ideation need help, support, and respect. That said, let’s make one thing clear: being suicidal does not automatically make someone a good person. There are plenty of examples of criminals who kill themselves to escape the penalty or guilt for something they did. It is so common in the news that I don’t think I have to list out examples.

In bad endings, Sunny and Basil’s suicides are 100% motivated by guilt for their very real crimes. Now, it should be stated, Sunny and Basil do not deserve to die. And because suicide is such an extreme, permanent end for those two boys, we-- as players-- are invested in preventing that tragic end at all costs.

However, the looming threat of suicide is used as leverage to force the audience to dismiss the severity of what Sunny and Basil did. As I’ve said before, the plot of the game is about soothing and alleviating Sunny’s guilt and stopping him from killing himself as opposed to making things right.

The worst thing is, this tactic actually works. The threat of suicide is so strong, it has distracted many players from the truth that this story is about sympathizing with a boy who has killed his sister, with little regard for those his actions have affected (see point #4).

It’s terrible because suicide is such a serious topic worthy of discussion, but when used as little more than pity-bait, it twists your perception of what the characters did and silences those who try to criticize how this game handles such topics.

6. Mari's suicide being fake is a terrible twist

Lastly, by revealing Mari’s “suicide” as an accidental death, OMORI misses an opportunity to tell a much more powerful story. In the first half of this game, when Mari is thought to have committed suicide at the young age of 15, is a sobering moment. That tragedy is something very real.

If Mari had killed herself as opposed to being killed, Sunny isolating himself after his sister takes her own life is realistic. Mari’s death coming as a surprise is also realistic; how often have we heard people saying that they never knew someone was suffering? That they seemed like such a happy person?

Losing a loved one to suicide does not just cause horrible grief, but crippling shame as well. Those left behind will blame themselves, tormented by thoughts of how they could have saved them, how they would do anything to get them back. That shame can follow you forever, haunting you like a ghost, threatening you with the same fate. Overcoming that grief and shame is no simple task, and I truly thought OMORI was going to be about grappling with grief and letting go of survivor guilt.

Instead, Mari didn’t commit suicide, her life was cut short by her brother. Then, her body was staged as a suicide, forever changing how her family and friends perceived her. Her hanging body did not represent a devastating loss of life and horror of teen depression, but instead is a cheap twist that represents Sunny’s guilt for killing her and tampering with her corpse.

Conclusion:

As I’ve mentioned before OMORI has a lot of potential. The set pieces of a depressed kid who escapes to a dream world to cope with his unresolved trauma is one that had the makings to be very meaningful. However, it fumbles these issues, creating a sloppy plot that results in a problematic message. It’s baffling that this even happened, especially considering the length of time this was in development.

#omori #omori hate #review #words #the more I analyze it the worse this game gets #suicide cw #omori spoilers

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in-the-dollpalace · 4 years

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American girl pets in real life

here is another random thing I wanted to do, I wanted to see what each character’s pets and the truly me pet line’s breeds actaully look like. Warning, this is a very long post. I mostly make these kinds of posts first and formost for myself, and myself only so if you actually read the random crap I spit out everyday thanks so much lmfao

Kaya’s pets

Tatalo, brown huskey (I think?)

Steps high, Appaloosa horse

Felicity’s pets

Posie, a lamb (Idk if there are specific breeds of sheep lmao)

Penny, Thorughbred horse

Caroline’s pets

Inkpot, tuxedo cat

Garnet, calf of a an auburn highland cow

Josefina’s pet

Sombrita, baby goat (not sure of it breed, even after alot of google-ing around)

Marie-Grace and Cecile’s pets

Cochon, red crowned parrot

Argos, Bouvier des Flanders dog

Kirsten’s pet

Mama cat and kitten, grey tabby cats

Addy’s Pet

sunny, yellow canary

Samantha’s pet

Cocker spaniel? (honestly idk what the hell the first version of jip is and beforever version of jip is a whole different dog lmao)

Rebecca’s pets

Kittens, orange and white, and just white (I’m not sure of the breeds)

Kit’s Pet

Grace, Basset hound dog

Molly and Emily’s pets

Bennet and Yank, jack russel terrier dogs

Nanea’s pet

Mele, Scruffy poi dog

Maryellen’s Pet

Scooter, dachshund aka weiner dog

Melody’s pet

Bo, mixed terrier dog

Julie’s Pet

Nutmeg, french lop bunny

Courtney’s pet

Parsley, guinea pig (idk if there are breeds of them)

Marisol’s pet

Rascal, himalayan cat

Nikki’s Pets

Sprocket, Bordie collie? (i wasnt sure with this one, and google didnt know either so this is just a guess)

Jackson, Buckskin horse

Chrissa’s pet

Starburst, Mini Llama (LMAO??? I Never read chrissa’s books why tf does she have a llama? where did she get it? did she just casually have one?)

Lanie’s pets

Lulu, flop eared rabbit

Raccoon and trash can (ASDFGH WHY DID THEY SELL THIS I AM DYING)

Kanani’s pets

Barksee, cocker spaniel white terrier mix

Monk seal

Mckenna’s pets

Cooper, Golden doodle (golden retriever and poodle mix)

Polka dot, hamster

Saiges pets

Sam, Border collie

Picasso, Spanish Barb horse

Isabelle’s pet

Tutu, persian cat

Grace’s pet

Bonbon, french bulldog

Lea’s pets

Sea turtle

Sloth

Margay cat

Gabreila’s pet

Maya, grey tuxedo cat

Luciana’s pet

Orion is an interesting pet! It is one of those robot toy dogs.

Blaire’s pets

piglet

lamb

Joss’s pet

Murph, english bulldog

Kira’s pet

Koala

Tenny’s Pet

Waylon, Golden retreiver

Z Yang’s pet

Popcorn, dalmation

And finally, the truly me pets (but only the named characters, not the modern unnamed ones)

Our trans queen, coconut, white westie dog

Licorice, Tuxedo cat

Ginger, calico cat

Sugar, Yorkshire terrier

Honey, Golden retriever

Pepper, grey huskey

Chocolate chip, brown labradoodle (EDIT: I meant labrador not labradoodle lmao oops)

Meatloaf (english bulldog)

And thats all! Like I said, this is a long post because i did every charactar pet. Like i also said, I really made this more for me. I had fun reaserching all these animals! If you’ve read all the way to the end without skipping, thank you for reading!

#american girl #american girl doll #american girl pets #girl of the year #historical dolls #beforever #coconut the dog

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pettyrevenge-base · 3 years

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Mean animal people kick me out of kitten volunteering but then use my copy for the ads without even checking.

I live in a fairly remote medium-sized town and the RSPCA moved out and now we have a local woman tending to all the stray animals with a team of volunteers. Problem is she is a Karen, and has several Karen’s on the team. I found some stray cats and I contacted her and she agreed to advertise and sell them after getting them desexed. I chose one of the kittens for my son and went about adopting him through the organisation. Of course he’s the cutest one and guess what one of the Karen’s wants him too. So the pair of them ganged up on me and wouldn’t accept my paperwork, claiming that I wasn’t allowed to have 2 cats at home, even after I showed them completed paperwork from my estate agent. They then threatened to call the police to collect the now desexed cats, and warned me that my foster child ‘had better look healthy’, or the police would take her too! Well I’ve had a long day of them hassling me and when it came time to write a description of the kittens, I might had some devil horns on. I named the kittens after the characters from its always sunny and their descriptions match. Mac likes wrestling with the guys and Charlie is the wild card you get the picture. These stuffy old cows can’t work out why everyone is laugh reacting their posts, and they’re mad! And it feels good. I delivered the cats to one of the other volunteers and told them to never contact me again.

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

#pettyrevenge #lol #omg

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rocorambles · 4 years

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Reminiscent

Pairing: Daichi x Reader

Genre: SFW, 5+1, Soulmate/Reincarnation AU, Angst (there is technically a character death, BUT THERE’S AN ULTIMATELY HAPPY ENDING, I SWEAR), Fluff

Prompt: You woke me up at 3 in the morning for this?

Summary: 5 lifetimes Daichi and you just weren’t meant to be and the 1 lifetime you finally found your happy ending together.

Author’s Note: This is my contribution for my HQ Discord Server’s SFW collaboration. There are so many talented writers on the server and I highly encourage you to check out the collaboration masterlist here to see how everyone decided to run with this spicy prompt. (Masterlist goes live December 1st!)

Tagging @sawamooora since I accidentally scarred her by making her read only the section where there was a character death without the heads up...OOPS, so I guess you can have your happy ending now~

When Daichi meets you in this first lifetime, he can’t help but notice just how different you are from him and he stares at the luxurious fabrics beautifully accentuating your figure, wishing he could wipe off the meticulously and elegantly layered on makeup and see more of your bare face, wanting more than anything to know who you are beneath the graceful and well-mannered smiles and bows you grace the court with. But when he looks down at himself and sees the memories of crimson blood splattered all over his skin and robes, hears the sound of his sword piercing flesh, remembers the way your father enthusiastically thanks him for another job well done as a flash of fear races across your eyes at the corpse of proof he drags in, it’s all too apparent just how different the worlds you live in are.

And really, that should have been it, he should have stopped himself right then and there, stopped thinking about you, stopped his gaze from trailing after you when he sees you roaming around the clan property. But his heart has different plans and here he is, a well respected samurai who works underneath your father, pining after you, a clan leader’s daughter, someone already betrothed to the son of a neighboring clan, someone much too pure and innocent for his blood soaked hands.

He smiles when he sees your posture relax, your body slouch in relief when you think no one is watching you, no pretenses and facades to keep up when it’s just you, unaware of the brown eyes watching you. He clenches his fists so hard his nails threaten to break skin when he hears your secret anguished sobs as he guards your bedroom the night after you meet your fiance for the first time and realize you’ve been doomed to a life with a man who’ll never love you, a man who doesn’t see you as anything more than a political tool. He dreams of a life where he can whisk you away, a life where there would be no consequences if the two of you ran off to live a peaceful, happy life together far far far away from the cruel and cold world of money and power you’re both entangled in.

But there are consequences and he lives with the constant shattering of his heart as he watches the light dim in your eyes as you continue courting your fiance, the cool indifferent look you wear on your face throughout your own wedding ceremony, the way you seem like just a shell of the vibrant young woman he once knew and fell in love with. And yet, he doesn’t do a thing, remaining faithfully by your father’s side and serving your clan for the remainder of his days.

II.

Something jolts inside of Daichi when he sees you in the second lifetime and he can’t help but feel like there’s something familiar about you, something nostalgic about the situation you’re both in as you humbly bow before helping him dress and get ready for the busy day of meetings he has. And you watch in awe as you dutifully trail after him, making sure all his needs are attended to, amazed by just how hardworking, intelligent, and kind the young lord is, so different than the stories you had heard of royals. Not once does he ever treat you as anything less than an equal, not once does he ever lay an unwanted gaze on you, let alone a finger and you find yourself jumping to please him and aid him out of something more than just a sense of responsibility as your heart flutters from just his presence.

You feel honored by how much he entrusts you with when it’s just the two of you in his room and you patiently listen when he throws his disciplined manners out the window, grumbling and ranting about the power-hungry ploys of his fellow royals, the way greed and privilege have corrupted them, how he can’t trust anyone anymore. But when he wonders if he needs to change, to adapt in order to thrive, you surprise the both of you with your vehement outburst as you blather on about how he’s perfect the way he is. And then there’s silence as the two of you look away, both your faces heating up at the hidden message in your words, a message so incredibly inappropriate considering both your positions and the time you live in. But before you can open your mouth and stutter out an apology, you freeze at the warm smile Daichi sends your way, heart racing at the heartfelt, but quiet thank you he utters in response.

Of course nothing happens after that. This is real life after all and Daichi is far too respectful of his family and their reputation, far too noble to smear his clan’s name with taboo affairs, far too kind to hurt his future bride despite the fact that he’s never even met her yet, doesn’t know the first thing about her other than her name, to pursue something just for his own pleasure, his own satisfaction, something that could potentially harm so many others. And you understand. After all, these are the reasons you fell in love with him, and you’re just happy to be able to remain by his side for the rest of your days despite the lancing pain in your chest every time you see him with his wife, with his future children, living a life where you just exist on the sidelines, watching and longing for something you know you’ll never have.

III.

In the third lifetime Daichi meets you in, he can’t understand the regrets of a missed opportunity he feels when you introduce yourself to him, welcoming him to the neighborhood with a basket of freshly baked goods. He knows he should smile, graciously accept your kind (and delicious smelling) gifts and he does, but as he bites into the still warm cookies after you leave, the image of the gold wedding band around your finger is branded in his mind.

In a small rural community like yours, you’re bound to run into each other, especially since your farms are right next to each other and he thinks you look ethereal each morning with the sun rising behind you, a soft golden glow framing you as you gather eggs, milk the cows, and water the crops. But there’s a sense of bitterness he can’t explain when your husband joins you, a hulking stoic figure besides you as he helps you on the fields, and he turns his back on the two of you to tend to his own chores.

There’s nothing “wrong” with your spouse, nothing Daichi can truly fault him for and if he’s honest, if Ushijima wasn’t your husband, he’d have only respect and admiration for the man. He certainly can’t complain about how he treats you and something bittersweet churns inside of him when he sees Ushijima’s usually stern face soften whenever you’re around, when he sees the way Ushijima’s broad shoulders relax whenever you affectionately hold his hand. And although he internally chides himself at night in private when he dreams of what it would be like to be in Ushijima’s shoes, he can’t help but feel relieved, glad that you’ve found someone who loves and treats you well.

But he laughs the silly thought away. Of course you had found someone who loved you. Why wouldn’t you have? And yet that night he dreams of your face, dressed in a beautiful silk robe better suited for the historicals eras of Japan, seated next to someone he somehow knows is your husband, but there’s only loneliness in your eyes and he wakes up with tears in his eyes, unsure why he’s crying, why he’s hoping you never feel alone ever again.

IV.

Daichi should be scared of you when he meets you in the fourth lifetime, but although he’s certainly wary of you, staring at you with his beady eyes from the branches high above your head, he can’t help the curiosity he feels when he sees your small furry body try to leap and paw at him despite how far the distance between the two of you is. And despite all his natural instincts, he feels himself relaxing, cawing teasingly at you as you tire yourself out, fluttering down a few branches closer to you when you give up and just sprawl out on the floor, tail flickering back and forth in interest as you watch him draw nearer. But before he can get any closer, he hears a human voice calling for you and the two of you lock eyes before you rush back to your owner and even after your body squeezes through the little cat door that had been built in the front door, he can’t help but watch your home closely, wondering if he’ll see you again.

To his delight he does see you again, every single day as a matter of fact. On sunny days, he spreads out his wings and swoops down to meet you when you lazily curl up at the base of his tree and sometimes the two of you just lay there together, basking in the warmth of the beautiful day, sometimes the two of you take a stroll together, you trotting down the sidewalk as he flits from tree to tree beside you. He’s learned that rain and water in general don’t sit well with you and on gloomier days he glides over to the outside of your favorite window, peering through the glass and cawing warmly when you jump up and curl up on the windowsill, his beak and your nose pressing against the glass across from each other.

But time is limited, especially for a crow like himself, and as you grow bigger and stronger, he begins to lose his appetite, begins to struggle flying for as long or as well as he used to. And although neither of you can speak to each other, there’s an intuitive understanding as you tone down your playing and spend his last remaining days just laying side by side, his feathered body curled up in the warm plush of your fur, your body and tail wrapped protectively around him until he passes away peacefully.

Daichi only has himself to blame for the fifth lifetime being a complete loss. You had caught his eye in a way no girl ever had before when he saw you skillfully racing across the court at the Tokyo training camp. He can’t explain exactly what draws him to you. Sure, you’re attractive, but he’s been around other beautiful girls before, hell Shimizu is the manager of his team and even she’s never captivated him like this. Maybe it’s the fact that he hasn’t seen many talented female volleyball players up close before? But that can’t be it. No other female player in the room even remotely peaks his interest. No...it’s something deeper than that and he swears it feels like there’s an invisible thread tying the two of you together.

He watches and watches until a lanky arm is thrown over his shoulder, a sly voice purring in his ears.

“Sa’amura. My, my, my. I thought a country bumpkin crow like you would have better manners than to gawk at our pretty Tokyo girls like a creep.”

Daichi scowls at the messy haired Nekoma captain, but his face heats up when he realizes how strange he probably looked just staring at a gym full of female athletes. But before he can spout any excuses, Kuroo hums in interest as he follows Daichi’s gaze to see who he had been looking at so intently.

“Well well well. I guess birds do attract each other. You have some good taste, Sa’amura. She’s a great player, although I personally think she would have been a better fit at Nekoma than Fukurodani. She moves a lot like a cat, doesn’t she? But if you want to get closer to her, try talking to Bokuto. They’re both pretty close.”

A cat? Daichi wordlessly waves goodbye to Kuroo who’s strolling away before turning his attention back to you. And he’s surprised to see that there’s something eerily correct about Kuroo’s observation, something about your feline movements that nags at a deep unconscious thread inside of him, and it’s unnervingly easy to imagine you with a tail swishing back and forth behind you, to imagine you with soft ears and claws. But when he blinks, there you are, completely human once again, celebrating a point your team had scored, no cat appendages anywhere in sight.

He doesn’t take Kuroo’s advice, never approaches Bokuto to learn more about you, and he leaves training camp without even exchanging one word with you. But from time to time for the rest of his life, he’ll dream of you, dream of a friendly cat he feels like he used to know and he’ll wake up with a pang of regret, wondering what would have happened if he had the courage to talk to you all those years ago.

VI.

Daichi groans, nursing a hangover as he groggily sits up in bed and turns off the ear splitting alarm. Thank God for humans and their habits, his brain not needing to work at all as he methodically brushes his teeth and throws on his uniform. But as he makes his way to the precinct, he pauses at the corner of the street, intrigued by the sight of a newly opened cafe. There’s technically coffee at work and the smarter and financially responsible choice would be to just wait and drink the free caffeinated liquid, but something draws him into the quaint storefront and before his mind can even catch up to his body, he’s already pushing open the door and walking towards the counter.

He hears your voice ring throughout the small store, telling him you’d be with him in just a moment and he takes his time to peruse the menu, the soothing scent of coffee whetting his appetite and making the pastries in the glass case look even more appealing. He’s narrowed down his options to either the chocolate frosted donut or the coffee cake when he sees you approaching from the corner of his eyes and he smiles only to freeze when he sees your face.

“Do I know you-”

“You look familiar-”

Both of you start and stop talking at the same time and there’s an awkward silence before you both burst out laughing. As you prepare his order, both of you throw out possibilities of where you may have met before, but nothing pans out, and you both shrug your shoulders as you hand over the paper wrapped pastry and piping hot coffee. It’s a big world with tons of people. Perhaps both of you had met someone who looked similar to the other. But as Daichi sips his coffee and as you wait in the cafe for your next customer, neither of you can stop thinking of the other, wondering if you really hadn’t met before.

And maybe it’s that curiosity that leads Daichi to regularly return to your cafe on a daily basis, that leads you to always perk and brighten up when he walks through your door. Daily morning coffee runs before work is how it all starts, but pretty soon you’re seeing him at all times of the day. Sometimes he pops in to order a sandwich and some chips for lunch. Sometimes he’ll plop down at one of your small tables, plugging his laptop into an outlet as he works for hours on end even on the weekends. And sometimes, when there’s no one else in the store, when you’re technically closed, you’ll join him, sharing a new dessert you’re testing for the menu with him and chatting away into the wee hours of the night.

So really, it shouldn’t be a surprise when Daichi nervously enters the cafe right before closing one day, making sure no other customers are around before asking you out on an official first date. And even though you knew that the day where you two would discuss what your relationship exactly was would come soon, your face still heats up. But you eagerly nod, fingers instinctively interweaving with his when he hesitantly reaches to hold your hand and as the two of you walk hand in hand to the restaurant he’s chosen for dinner, you both can’t help but feel like your hands fit perfectly together, like you were made to be with each other.

Romantic candlelit dinners become more frequent casual affairs after a while and the two of you find yourself cuddled up on a couch in comfortable clothing, eating a meal the two of you had cooked together more often than not. You make fun of Daichi’s bachelor closet, dragging him to go shopping and ignoring his squawking when you pay for all his new clothes while he’s still changing in the fitting room. He teases you for how flustered you get when you see him in his cop uniform, purposefully striking a cheesy pose in the doorway only to bend over in a belly bursting laugh when you just wordlessly gape and stutter at the sight.

But the change that both of you love the most is never having to sleep alone again and your bodies slot together perfectly like two puzzle pieces when you curl up with each other in bed, letting sleep, body warmth, and rhythmic breathing lull you both into the best nights of sleep you’ve ever had.

Well, usually that would be the case.

Daichi grumbles as you insistently shove his body until he begrudgingly sits up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and batting away your hands that keep on nudging him awake. He looks at you in confusion and maybe the slightest hint of irritation at being woken up at such an ungodly hour of the night, but the bright smile you flash his way softens him and he internally groans about how weak he is for you as he stumbles out of bed, sleepily accepting the bundle of clothes you throw at him and haphazardly throwing them on.

He lets you drag him out the door, shivering a bit as the cold night air wakes him up and he holds you close to him, his cop instincts keeping him alert as he continuously scans the area. You live in a safe neighborhood, but it is the middle of the night and he’d be a hypocrite to not be aware of his surroundings when he’s always warning people not to be out by themselves late at night. But the two of you make it to what he assumes is your final destination unscathed and his jaw drops in disbelief when he sees that you’ve brought them to the neighborhood park.

“You woke me up at 3 in the morning for this?”

You giggle at his outburst, slapping his arm in mock anger as you pull him to sit beside you on one of the benches.

“I checked the weather and tonight’s supposed to have the clearest skies for stargazing! And you and I both have off tomorrow, so it seemed like perfect timing. Don’t be such a grumpy old man.”

And how can Daichi possibly be angry when you’re practically radiant, the soft glow of the stars illuminating your features as you stare up in awe, holding his hand and snuggling into his side as your free hand points at the different constellations you recognize. But the two of you freeze when you hear rustling nearby, letting out a sigh of relief when only a stray cat stalks out from behind a bush and you both watch in amusement as it regally walks towards your bench before plopping down with its stomach bared right at your feet.

But just as Daichi is about to reach down and accept the invitation to pet the furry creature, a loud squawk echoes throughout the area and suddenly the cat is leaping to its feet as a crow swoops down and hops around on the ground just a few feet away. And the two of you watch in amazement as the two creatures play with each other, paws lazily batting at the bird while wings spread wide and teasingly brush against a whiskered face in a practiced friendly dance.

It should be just a light hearted scene, maybe heartwarming at most, but to the two of you it’s more than that and your hearts ache, tears streaming down both your faces in a strange combination of soul crushing sorrow and gratitude for the present. But why is it so sad? Why are you both crying? The two of you shakily laugh, apologizing for your strange behavior as you hurriedly try to wipe the salty streaks away, but they don’t stop, only growing worse and turning into body wracking sobs as pain, loss, regret, and unrequited love built over what feels like multiple lifetimes slam into both of you all at once.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

But like magic it all instantly fades away when the two of you find yourselves tightly wrapped in each other’s arms, your body somehow now in Daichi’s lap as you bury your tear stained face in his chest, his arms wrapped around you in a bone crushing hold as he buries his face in the top of your head. And the two of you just stay like that for a bit as the calming breeze swirls past you, as the creatures and sounds of the night begin to fade away, as the morning sun begins its ascent into the sky, all the while exchanging words of love with each other, words of gratitude for finding each other.

And when the tears have finally all been wiped away and the sun is shining brightly down on both of you, the two of you share a smile before Daichi is ushering both of you back home, jokingly whining about immediately going back to sleep once you both return home, both of you animatedly bantering as you walk away, ignorant of the way the cat and crow lay curled up beside each other, both their eyes never straying from your retreating figures until you’re out of sight.

Neither of you ever discuss that night again. Neither of you ever try to understand and explain the chaotic overwhelming mess of emotions that had bombarded both of you. But every now and then, even after the two of you exchange vows, even after your shared home is filled with children’s laughters and voices, the echoes of that night follow both of you in your dreams and you wake up with tears in your eyes and a lingering ache in your hearts.

But all it takes is a quick glance to your side, the reassurance that both of you are together, right where you belong, to completely snuff out any negative emotions and you let the comforting warmth of love lull you back into slumber, smiles gracing both your lips as Daichi holds you just a bit closer and tighter to him, as you snuggle just a bit more until you’re firmly tucked underneath his chin.

#haikyuu fluff #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #daichi x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu fic #haikyuu headcanons #daichi #sawamura daichi #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu angst #haikyuu writing

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kuredono · 3 years

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Sing Sing Sing [part 1 of penpals] | Fushiguro x gn!(clarinettist)reader

TW: mentions of throwing up, hospital despite the TW this is v fluffy! basically you and Meg have been penpals and you meet for the first time! but not in the way either of you would’ve imagined...

"i think they're coming around now..."

"hello..?"

all you remember was taking a wrong turn down an empty alley on a sunny day, then you were in a cold building with an ugly looking monster holding the back of your neck.

you grasped at a knee, or maybe an arm, squeezing as your felt your stomach churn, though you kept your lips pursed together, willing for it to stay down.

"i think they're gonna be sick..."

"GOJO-SENSEI! HELP! THE CIVILIAN IS GOING TO THROW UP!"

fresh air suddenly hit your face and you threw up in a bush before everything went black again.

"-the thing up. afterwards it was pretty easy to deal with."

"you say that, but the civilian still got injured."

"hey! i didn't see you trying to catch them."

"i had my hands full already!"

your eyes were immediately assaulted with the bright sunshine as you tried to crack them open. you decidedly kept them shut and moved your lead weighted arms to cover your eyes.

"oh?"

"you awake?"

"what happened?" was all you could ask. you had tried to beat the ugly thing with-

"my clarinet!" you bolted up, eyes wide open and met with three equally wide ones (person one had a black blindfold?), but suddenly your head exploded with pain.

"go slowly. you hit your head pretty hard." a voice said as you groaned, squeezing your temples with your trembling hands. "do you remember what happened?"

"got lost walking back. woke up in a weird building and there was a funky looking thing. tried to run away, then some people turned up and the thing exploded. kinda gross."

"gross?!"

"i mean, they are super gross."

"where are we? what's going on?" you dared to open your eyes again, more slowly, as you took in your surroundings. you were sat on the floor, leaning against a big black dog. how cute. you nuzzled your head into its fur, easing your killer headache.

"we're in Akihabara, and i think you're concussed. we'd like to take you to a hospital." the one with white hair and the blindfold spoke with a kind smile.

"who are you?" you furrowed your brows together, feeling like you should run away because stranger danger ! but the dog was comfy, lulling you to sleep.

"ah, i'm Gojo Satoru, i'm a teacher at the Tokyo Jujutsu Tech High School, and they are my first year students. we were out on a field trip when we found you." the white haired male answered again. he was a teacher? you'd never be able to guess.

"Jujutsu Tech High School?" you repeated, the name distantly ringing bells. you turned your attention to the students. "i recognise that uniform."

"we've been in Akihabara and around Tokyo before! did you see us then?" the pink haired boy asked with a bright smile. you buried your face into the dog with a thoughtful hum.

"it's only natural we stand out you know!" amother voice voice sung.

"never in a good way." a calmer voice grumbled.

"i guess i just exude that kind of eye-catching aura."

"it's easy recognise beauty such as mine."

how did you get here? why was this happening to you? you were just performing with a marching band this morning, doing your absolute best and playing your loudest for someone. you wanted to stand out for someone. he said he'd come by but didn't. you weren't disappointed... well... you were, but you understood he had his reasons. he probably had classes because it's Thursday.

"Megumi Fushiguro?" you mumbled, the students around you falling silent.

"what did you say?"

"oh yeah, in Japan you say it the other way round don't you?" you chuckled, remembering how embarrassed you were when Megumi cared to point that out when you were discussing nicknames. "Fushiguro Megumi. think he goes to your school."

it was quiet for a moment before the students erupted into excited chatter,

"Fushiguro! you know them?"

"why didn't you tell us!"

"what? i - i don't—" the calm voice was not calm, but his breath stuttered, "Y - Y/N?"

you had first met Fushiguro via letter in first year middle school, your middle schools partners for a penpal project. you had sent the first letter and even went through the extra effort to try and make a translation, though your characters were very messy so you made sure to also send the English original in case it was unreadable. it was nearly a month before your class got their responses, and it appeared you were the most lucky as Fushiguro's English was far better than your Japanese, and when comparing letters with your classmates, you had the most interesting response.

nearly a year and 7 more letters later, you were the only one in your class still in touch with your penpal, and with the year drawing to a close, the teachers explained that you could only send one more letter. so with a wish, you sent your phone number and downloaded several Japanese chatting apps. sure enough, 2 weeks later, there was a friend request on LINE from a Megumi Fushiguro. his profile picture was just a night sky, but you couldn't say anything, yours was sheet music. this anonymity continued indefinitely. at first you had no idea how often he was okay with you messaging him, and you added the Tokyo timezone to your clock app so you didn't message him at ungodly hours, but after a few months, Megumi would be your first thought when you saw a cute cat or something and you'd quickly snap a photo to send him. he also did the same, mostly pictures of the sky.

on Megumi's birthday, you sent a recording of you playing his favourite piece on clarinet, and for your birthday he sent you a playlist of songs he thought you would like. from then on, you continued to send him your repertoire and small recordings of your practices. then one day, when you talked to him about your most recent performance, Fushiguro asked for the link to the video. you did, but didn't tell him which clarinet player you were. he didn't ask either. you toed the border of your anonymity when you first moved to high school with a picture of you in your new marching band uniform, but from the neck down. you weren't expecting a photo back, but he surprisingly sent one back of his uniform from the neck down. his uniform looked much comfier.

then a spot for a Japanese high school exchange opened (one of the main reasons you chose to attend the high school you did), and though it was for second years, you fought and won the spot. you immediately messaged Fushiguro without checking the time in Japan. and as if that wasn't enough, the wind band in your Japanese high school were having a performance in Tokyo! Fushiguro was in Tokyo! you told Fushiguro, but then dread began to pool in your stomach. what if he didn't want to meet? you were totally fine with that. but you wanted to so badly! you remember your elation when he stopped you mid-anxious text ramble to say he would meet you.

you woke up to a white ceiling and the potent smell of disinfectant. the hospital curtain slid open to reveal a beautiful boy with deep blue hair and long eyelashes, his eyes widening at you.

"ah- good afternoon."

"good afternoon, how can i help?" you smiled, "i think you might have the wrong bay?"

"no. i- uh- do you remember what happened? do you, do you remember me?"

"um... no? i'm not really sure what you mean? i mean, i recognise your uniform- do you go to Tokyo Jujutsu Tech High School by any chance?"

"they said you would be concussed and you might have some memory problems..." the boy mumbled, "is it alright if i sit down?" your eyes darted to the curtain in panic, "ah, i'll leave the curtain open, our teacher is just signing you out the hospital, i'm Fushiguro Megumi."

"Megumi?!" you gasped, the boy smiling softly as you fumbled for words, "i- you- huh?"

"yeah... we have a lot to talk about."

"then, please! sit! i can't believe!" you covered your mouth with your hand, which did nothing to muffle your delighted squeal as he sat in the chair next to your bed. "wow. i mean, it's so nice to finally meet you in person!"

Megumi couldn't help smiling too.

"it's nice to see you too... and i'm sorry i didn't make it to your performance."

"hey, it's okay! we still met up!" you grinned brightly. Megumi then found his hands very interesting.

"and, um... your clarinet is broken..."

"that--" will be very expensive, the thought alone bringing tears to your eyes- your precious baby! it was worth more than your entire wardrobe and shoes! but you shoved that thought away until later. Megumi was here now, visiting you in hospital. "-actually, why am i here? what happened?"

Megumi thankfully didn't push the topic of your clarinet and gladly filled you in on what had happened. by the end of his explanation, you had your face buried in your hands.

"i'm so sorry you had to see that."

"it's fine, i've seen worse. besides, you were concussed, it's normal."

"still..." you whined, peeking between your fingers to find him offering you a hint of a reassuring smile. you gave in with a sigh, "i must say, that's some weird religion you have and they teach you, no offence."

Megumi chuckled, eyes distant, "you're right, it is pretty weird."

"but, um, thank you for saving me Megumi." said boy snapped back into reality very quickly, his cheeks flushing red as it dawned on you that everyone probably called him by his last name. "or do you prefer Fushiguro? am i pronouncing it right? sorry, i got used to-"

"it's fine." he uttered out, "Megumi is fine."

"what about honourifics?"

"whatever you're comfortable with."

"then... Megumi-kun? or is that too weird?"

the boy's cheeks darkened, "it's fine..."

"then you can call me Y/N-chan! then it's not as weird right?" you suggested, starting to feel the second-hand embarrassment.

"yeah." Megumi flinched too much when his phone chimed, and he hurriedly read it over. "Gojo-sensei -my teacher- said he's signed what you need to let you out. you just need to sign a few things before you go."

"right." well, the moment had to end at some point. you couldn't stay in the hospital bay forever. it was just an amazing coincidence that you had met Megumi, so you should be thankful you even had the opportunity to speak to him like this. "am i okay to move?"

"um, i'll call a nurse."

Megumi stepped out as you were examined by the nurse, and you saw him again in reception as you gave him and his teacher a thumbs up before signing the hospital forms.

"thank you very much for everything you've done. i'm so grateful. and please pass my thanks on to the other first years!" you bowed formally to the pair, Megumi flushing red while his teacher just waved you off.

"no worries. sorry about your clarinet and the concussion." the teacher responded.

"it's fine, i was always told i have a thick skull! comes in handy sometimes."

"i have to go now, but Megumi will walk you to the station, right?"

Megumi scowled at his teacher with an unreadable look in his eyes which seemed to make the teacher's smile brighten.

"well it was nice to meet you sir!" you bowed again at the adult, who nodded to you.

"nice to meet you too! hope you enjoy Japan. Megumi, be nice."

Megumi glared at the older man as he skipped away, seemingly pleased with himself for winding the younger up. Said male sighed.

"you don't have to walk me back if you're busy, i have GPS on my phone."

The boy startled at your comment, brows furrowed, before shaking his head, "it's fine, it's no trouble. i would feel better if i walked you to the station at least."

you couldn't stop the wide smile stretching on your lips, "thanks!"

"it's nothing."

you mentally thanked all the deities for letting you spend a little longer with your penpal, chatting easily as if you hadn't just met him less than 10 hours ago. by the time you had made it to the station, you had mentally prepared to part.

"so... i guess this is it?"

"yeah..."

"it was so nice to meet you- i cannot fully explain how nice this has been! even if i did spend a while in a hospital." Megumi chuckled at your words. you felt your cheeks heat up, his smile squeezing at your heart.

"i feel the same."

your train arrived.

"well. i'll message you later then?" you grinned hopefully, Megumi nodding. "hug? or do you not do those? i don't mind."

you nearly burst out laughing at the rush of emotions that flickered in Megumi's eyes- mostly panic. he blinked out his state when a giggle slipped out. he flushed red but nodded stiffly, opening his arms for you. you smiled as you wrapped your arms around him, feeling his wrap behind you too, surprisingly quickly considering how awkward he was at first. keeping it short because of the train behind you, you pulled away to find him also smiling. so he did like hugs.

"until next time?"

"yeah."

the doors shut and you waved to him as the train set off. and that was that.

your phone buzzed in your pocket.

Megumi: the school offered to pay compensation for the damages to your clarinet, so please let me know if and when you're free to go to a music shop in Tokyo to buy a new one.

sorry this hasn’t been proofread and the ending is kinda rushed because i just really wanted to publish it hahaha (catch me constantly editing this for DAYS now, so i probably shouldn’t post it but we die like men)

#penpals #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu sorcerer #fushiguro megumi #x reader #gojo sensei #itadori yuuji #kugisaki nobara #fluff #idk how to tag: a series #just wanted to write fluff #high school romance #hospitalisation #concussion #jjk megumi #jjk #jjk x reader

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madamecricket · 4 years

Text

My first impressions of Omori, no spoilers please

So, some people I follow have a really high opinion of this game Omori, which I just got on sale today. From what I can gather it’s about staying connected to your friends, depression, anxiety, isolation, and the juxtaposition of cute art and music with heavy themes. I played it for the first time today, and I’d like to share some stuff that stood out to me in no particular order. Early spoilers under the cut!

- Right from the opening cinematic, I kind of dig the colored pencil art style. It appears to be a flashback, and I feel like this is going to be important to the rest of the game tone-wise

- “White Space” is a pretty obvious metaphor for depression, but what I like about it is that it explores a side of depression that’s less constantly dark and miserable and more empty, numb, and apathetic. I’m guessing that Omori here is supposed to learn to get more in touch with his own feelings over the game. Sadly, I think I relate a little bit... moving on.

- A sketchbook full of creepy drawings drawn by a character with mental struggles isn’t a terribly new concept, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen the concept applied to the player character. I do like that it’s not easy to define what makes these drawings “creepy”. It’s a bit abstract; the artist didn’t just throw a lot blood and murder in there and call it a day.

- Took me a bit to figure out how to get out of white space since it’s not especially obvious what you’re supposed to interact with, but there’s not a lot of interactable things, so I figured it out. To get through our door, we pick up not a key, but a knife. O... kay.

- We go through the door and wow, that’s different. The game suddenly got kind of Earthbound-esque and really cute. Really kind of highlights the difference between Omori and these kids (literally in the case of their color schemes), but I’m glad they’re being so friendly towards him.

- Now we’re having a picnic and looking through a photo album. Did I see this “Basil” character in the opening? Wow, he literally turns up wearing a flower crown! And he’s so sweet and positive and... and he’s not going to get through this game unscathed, is he?

- one of the first things that I noticed about Basil after the flower crown is that his character portrait is really pale compared to the others. I think this might mean that the character is dead or otherwise no longer in Omori’s life. We’ll see if I’m right about that.

- before we go to Basil’s house, we are invited to play hide and seek with some of the other kids. I accept. Omori draws the short straw and is chosen as “it”, but his friends want to re-pick because Omori doesn’t like to be alone. Berly goes ahead with it anyway. O...kay.

- Holy shit, a Boss fight!! No, literally, we’re fighting a guy called Boss. Boss’s health gets low and he one-shots literally the whole party, making all Omori’s friends “toast” (no, literally) except Omori, who hangs on with 1 HP and kick’s Boss’s ass right back. This “Boss” character seems to have issues with isolation just like Omori himself... hmm. Basil forgives Boss, Boss seems content to just hang around in his own corner for now, and we move on to Basil’s house.

- During the boss fight, I notice that status effects in this game are represented as emotions (happy, sad, angry). They get explained a little later, but it stuck out to me that Omori’s status effect makes enemies and team members sad. Our player is being established as making his friends sad in his own self-perception. O...kay.

- Emotion status effects get explained in the next section where we walk through Basil’s garden. We also get several plots of different flowers that all seem to represent the traits of our different party members, plus Mari and Basil. Of all the flowers being grown here - gladiolus, sunflowers, cacti, etc - Omori himself is apparently being represented with white tulips because they’re white and plain, and that’s about it... ouch. This gets reinforced a bit when I get a diagram of the triangular relationship between happy, sad, and angry, and Omori is represented in the middle with “neutral”.

- we get another boss fight (not named boss this time) and the game introduces a new mechanic called follow up attacks that I’m not sure I get. I thought I got it, but it only seems to work sometimes, so I might be missing something.

- Aubrey and Kel mess up Basil’s photo album by fighting with each other (typcial) and now I’m doing a little minigame where I try to remember what order all these pictures went in. I’m not sure I got them all right, but the game proceeds anyway, so... okay then. The photo album is labeled “Basil’s memories”. I see what you did there!!!

- ah... yup, there we go. Basil has apparently been traumatized by something, but we’re not sure what yet.

- Back to white space! That was abrupt. And I can’t find the door... huh. Now what? I notice that there’s a new drawing in the creepy sketchbook. I’ve seen this thing on people’s posts about Omori before, so I guess now it’s going to be a Thing.

- I talk to the cat. “There’s always a way out,” he says, “but...” but what? I check the menu... oh. They’re really going there, huh. I guess stabbing yourself is one way to get out of depression, but, uh, let’s hope that there are other ways in the future.

- Omori wakes up! ... no, wait, he’s called “Sunny” now. Ironic, considering his disposition. So yeah, the white space and the more colorful place are both part of his dreamscape, apparently. Our mom mentions Kel on the phone, so apparently he knows a Kel IRL.

... and that’s the part where I saved and quit, but I think I’m definitely going to keep playing to see where the game is going with this. I’m already pretty intrigued.

#omori #omori spoilers #tw: self harm #tw: depression

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bri-flores · 4 years

Text

Secrets

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Characters: Azul Ashengrotto v.s Idia Shroud

Reader: Female

Warnings: Yandere content

Other Info: Part one, heavy dialogue, probably bad spelling,

The bell had rung announcing it was time to go back to the dorms. Students rushed out of the building and most started running as it seemed like it was going to rain. Unlike the others (Y/n) couldn’t afford to get a run not when her boyfriend could easily catch up to her if she waited for one of her friends to pick her up, and she honestly didn't feel like drowning in questions if he showed up. This resulted in the girl deciding on walking home it might be quite far, but much better than confronting him. The girl started walking as fast as she could while looking over her shoulder every once in a while trying to spot any of his silver hair; a dead giveaway that he was following her. A good ten minutes passed without the male appearing giving the girl a false sense of security. She stops next to a tree, deciding to take out the gift her friend had given her out of the bag. When suddenly she felt a hand grab her shoulder from behind. Her fist flew towards the figure, the person skillfully caught her attack and firmly held her hand, bruising it in the process.

“Angelfish! I’m not a punching bag.”

The maiden looked into the blue eyes of the tall figure, her heart overflowing with panic.

“Oh, it’s you Azul.” Soon as his name fell from her lips the male gripped her hand tighter making the girl winced. The young man took notice of her pained look, but ignored it.

“Azul? What happened to honey?” The boy jests.

“I apologize, my mind is completely scrambled that I forgot.”

“Oh angel fish, don’t fret I won't hold it against you.” Azul took a quick glance at her hand, he saw the mark he left, ignoring it as well, “Why were you so on-guard back there? Were you expecting someone to attack you.” He joked, making the maiden roll her eyes.

“You can never be too careful.”

“If that’s the case I'm walking you to your dorm for extra security. You’re too feeble.” He cheerily stated.

“I guess.” The pale male put his arm around her shoulders. “So how was your trip?”

“It was fun to say the least.” Her eyes sparkled with joy and excitement, remembering her wonderful time at the beach alongside her best friend. Her train of thought interrupted by the blue-eyed male.

“That’s all you have to say.”

“Well I got to see some sharks, Idia almost drowned and-”

“Wait my board game buddy almost drowned HA! I wish I could witness it.” (Y/n)’s hand instantly turned into a fist, and she swung her arm towards the male and it almost collided against his face. She glimpsed to the right seeing her hand was being held back once again by the silver haired male and to add insult to the injury the young man shook his head and mouth out truly pathetic. (Y/n)’s cheeks now scarlet and puffed, she will wipe that smirk out of him. Azul was now looking the other way while laughing at her pitiful attempt of a punch, she used this opportunity to use her left arm to smack him as hard as possible on the back of his head.

“What was that for?!” Azul removed his arm from her shoulder to start rubbing his head and immediately started to laugh. The maiden’s head now gazing at the grey sky, a visible pink hue of her cheeks,

“God, Azul, you’re so callous. No wonder you don’t have any friends.”

“I don’t need friends. All I need is you” The maiden shook her head, maybe Ace was right only stupidity comes out Azul’s mouth.

“Everyone needs friends. Even stone-cold, ruthless, heartless, overachievers like you,” the maiden smiled.

“I don’t need friends. It’s just a meaningless word and all humans are disappointing and besides, the leech twins are enough. You should be the one getting new friends” Azul argued back.

“And that’s the kind of talk that’ll have you being friends with cats, forever.”

“New friends?” She raised one eyebrow and looked up at him. The girl raised her hand, making the silver hair male raise his own prepared for another assault, but realize that she was just counting her fingers,

“Ace, Deuce and the others are great friends.”

“I doubt it.”

“See what I’m talking about!” Using the hand he raised up he pulled her into a tight embrace resting his chin on top of her head and smiling into her hair,

“Nope.” Azul responded smugly.

“You're impossible.” He let go of her, and they started to walk once again.

They were half-way when she realized that Azul wasn’t even wearing a jacket and wondered if he was getting cold, but remembering that this is the guy who used to live in the Coral Sea. Azul had watched (Y/n) get more and more goosebumps as well as how she rubbed her arms for heat during their way to her dorm. He didn’t want his angel fish to turn to ice, so he proceeded in taking off his grey coat and offering it to her, leaving him exposed to the rain. The girl tilted her head showing the boy what she had previously taken out of the bag; a black motorcycle jacket he perceived belonged to Idia. The girl heard a slightly inhuman, low growl coming from her partner at the sight of the object. Azul snatched it and fairly quickly threw it far away, (Y/n)’s eyes widened and her mind started going a mile per minute, she could feel her mind being clouded by anger and sadness. Once more handing his grey coat towards her, she couldn’t help but turn around and cross her arms. She could feel small droplets fall to her face and the wind growing colder. She suddenly felt a soft material being draped over her shoulders taking a peak she recognized to be a coat she refused to take. Turning to face Azul, she saw him staring into the ground while shifting his left leg side-to-side. He raised his head making the best puppy eyes (Y/n) has ever seen,

“Well…”

“Thank you,” mumbled (Y/n) while putting on the clothing correctly, not seeing Azul smirking.

“What was that?”

“Thank you! Happy,” (Y/n) answer sarcastically.

“Was it that difficult?”

“Practically took ten years out of me,” she told him. They started walking once more. The sky got darker by the minute, the rain was dropping faster than before, and the wind got wilder, colder. For the girl it felt like she was walking through a hurricane, but for the young man, it felt like a sunny day.

“Angelfish.” The maiden turn to face him

“What?”

“Did Idia waste all his lottery money?” He hissed, something (Y/n) brushed off.

“No he didn’t, he said something about saving for something special.” Her hands clenched into fists.

“Don’t tell me, more video games.” He sarcastically noted.

“Not exactly.” Azul could see how (Y/n) was scratching her neck in an awkward manner.

“Why even ask me this?”

“Just wondering.”

“Well wonder to him not me.” With that in mind he decided on pushing her buttons.

“You know I been wonder-“

“What did I just tell you?”

“Don't fret is not about Idia, it’s for you Angelfish,” Azul stops her “did you gain weight because last time I saw you,” the male lightly tapped her stomach “this was flat.”

“What!!! No I… I Haven’t!!! Is just your imagination.” The girl’s face quickly turned crimson. Looking away from him, her wide eyes in realization of what that meant. Grabbing her chin turning to face him, he spoke once more,

“Don’t lie to me. I get it beach food is exquisite, but this is a bit over bored.”

“Okay, so what?! You know I stress eat” (Y/n) tried putting an embarrassing facade, but Azul is no fool and easily saw through it, but dismissed it. “I’m not buying that. Stress about what? You had two months to worry about nothing.” She could hear her heart beating quickly, her mind trying to think of any excuse but came out blank every time, so she did the best next thing.

“Shut up!” The male slightly cringed at the maiden’s harsh words that seemed to hit a sensitive spot in his heart.

“Okay I’ll drop the subject.” He knew pushing the subject would continue to aggravate her beyond the tipping point after her outburst but he knew that this was more than just food. After the girl had cooled down from her confrontation with the male she decided to speak up again, “Talking about months, what did you do when I was gone? You never did tell me.”

“How I am supposed to tell you when you've been avoiding me like the plague since your return.”

“I apologize it was never my intention to avoid you.” Her voice sounded honey-like, a telltale sign for him that she was lying.

“Is that so? Well I started to earn more money to start our future together.”

“Future together?” (Y/n) asked herself under her breath. Her eyebrows rise gradually in realization. Her action was misinterpreted by the male to be one of worries, so he held her hands to explain what he meant, “I want to start a family with you.”

“Don't you think we are going too fast.”

“Not at all,” responded Azul, ignoring the fact he tightened his grip around her hand, injuring even further.

“Since when did we decide this?” (Y/n) inquired in an ill tone while trying to pried her hand off his iron grip.

“When you left for your trip. Or do you think I will not be a suitable husb-”

“NO! No, that's not it at all.”

“Your face is telling me otherwise.” He loosen his grip enough for the girl to pull it. Her hand now purple than its original color, something the male considered ironic. To reassure her of his love he spoke once more but in a softer more gentle tone, “You do know I only fancy you, my angel fish. No one will love you the way I do, remember that.” Those words click something on her brain. Guilt, sorrow, regret slowly washed over her. Had she made a mistake? Perhap. A million things started going through her already scrambled mind. To not make things more awkward the girl started walking back up again not caring if the male followed. The mild rain had now turned into a full on storm.

“Angelfish”

“What now Azul?” The maiden snapped. Her tears were covered by the heavy rain but he could tell what fell from the sky and what fell from her eyes.

“Planning on going to Ignihyde?” Azul told her trying to lighten up the mood.

“No, why?” (Y/n) asked, confused at his question. He laughed, “Because you passed your dorm.”

“That can’t be” turning around she did indeed pass her dorm, how could that be? Her hands came up to her face to cover her embarrassment.

“You're too careless. I’m glad I came along.” He took one of her hands off her face to guide her. By doing that the girl could see how truly beautiful her partner looked. His face and upper body tainted by the water, wilded silver hair tamed by the small droplets, his features held gentleness and delicateness under the rain. This made the maiden look down, shame taking over her. She truly messed up on her decisions. How she wishes she could manipulate time. They arrive in front of her dorm. The silence broken by the young man, “Is Grim home?”

“No, he said he was going to hang out with ADeuce. Why?”

“Grim was going to give some things,” The maiden shot him a perplexed look “it's a secret, of course,” he added.

“If you want, I can go check his-”

“No no I’ll tell him to give it to me another day.”

“Oh, okay. Goodbye.”

“That’s not the tone I want to hear,” he murmured. “Before I forget, tell the Idia we have a match tomorrow.” Azul added.

“Okay!”

“Well I’m glad you're back, I missed you so much, Angelfish.” (Y/n) could hear the happy delight in his voice. The silver-haired male waved farewell and started walking towards his own dorm which was not far from her own. Arriving at his dorm, he entered the Mostro Lounge; The leech twins waiting for his commands. He took a seat at one of the couches not caring if he got it wet in the process. Once seated Azul took the mobile device out of his back pocket and started calling gold-eyed senior's number while directing the twins towards him.

“Hello Idia, It’s Azul, where are you?”

“I’m in my room. Need something?”

“Yes,” He hisses, “You wouldn’t mind if I go? Right” he told him in a bitter tone.

“Of course not!” The silver-haired man cared very little about the senior’s response even if he said no, he would still go.

“I’ll be right there.”

He was going to fix this even if it means getting his hands filthy.

#azul ashengrotto #idia shroud #twisted wonderland #yandere #yandere azul ashengrotto #yandere idia shroud #yandere twisted wonderland

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nxvalunxsis · 3 years

Text

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐘 . 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐞 : Junha

𝓫𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓼.

full name: yoo junha historical connection: none age: 27 birthday: april 11 ethnic group: asian nationality: korean languages: korean & some english sexual orientation: heterosexual romantic orientation: heteroromantic relationship status: single home town/area: busan, south korea current home: studio apartment in seoul profession: film editor

𝓹𝓱𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵.

hair: brown eyes: brown nose: regular sized, straight face: oval lips: thin complexion: fair tattoos: none height: 182 build: fit usual hair style: short, either brushed forward or parted off-center usual face look: natural usual clothing: jeans, t-shirt, button up shirt

𝓹𝓱𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝔂.

fears: death aspiration: to create his own movie and make it into an active career positive traits: creative, passionate, sincere, gentle, considerate negative traits: grumpy, vague, aloof, difficult, passive mbti: intj zodiac: aries temperament: melancholy animal: owl vice: none ghosts: no afterlife: unsure reincarnation: yes aliens: yes moral alignment: lawful neutral educational level: university, degree in film, television, and multimedia & visual arts

𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂.

father: deceased mother: deceased siblings: none spouse: none children: none extended family: grandparents

𝓯𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓼

book: umma’s table by hong yeonsik movie: the way home 5 songs: cavetown - idea of her, eyedress - something about you, sam fender - long way off, adoy - wonder, oohyo - papercut holiday: chuseok month: december season: winter place: beach weather: cold but sunny sounds: sizzling meat scents: fresh bread, garlic tastes: honey, beans, fruit covered in chocolate feels: walking barefoot through sand animal: dogs, cats, squirrels, bunnies number: 11 colour: pastels, blues

𝓮𝔁𝓽𝓻𝓪.

talents: cooking, photography, film making turn ons: soft touches, lingering kisses, soft moans turn offs: anything too rough or experimental aesthetic: autumn leaves changing colors quotes: one picture is worth a thousand words

𝓯𝓬 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓸.

main fc: lee dohyun alt fc: none older fc: none younger fc: none voice claim: lee dohyun

𝓶𝓾𝓷 𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼.

q1: if you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about ? a1: he’d be an aspiring chef, working his way up to running his own restaurant. of course, there would be hardships and struggles but he’d eventually make it in the end. q2: what would their soundtrack / score sound like ? a2: something upbeat mixed with something a little more on the dramatic side for certain moments. q3: why did you start writing this character ? a3: i came across a similar character in a visual novel i was playing and created my own version of him to explore his character in my own way. q4: what first attracted you to this character ? a4: i liked the idea of having a character who is passionate about something when he’s young but takes a different path and finds a second passion after a traumatic event because it’s too painful to continue with his first passion. q5: describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse. a5: i guess, that he can be a bit cold at times and even though, he wants to open up, he has a really hard time doing so. q6: what do you have in common with your muse ? a6: love for food and cooking. q7: how does your muse feel about you ? a7: he doesn’t like it when i try to get him to go back to his passion for cooking but he tolerates it every once in a while. q8: what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with ? a8: he’s interacting with @latibulx‘s booyoung and @starlingisms‘s ophelia and i absolutely love and adore both pairings in their own way. his connection to booyoung is on completely different level and his connection to ophelia helps him come out of his bubble. q9: what gives you inspiration to write your muse ? a9: honestly? the people i write him with give me inspiration because they’re amazing and i love to see how things develop and where they’ll lead. q10: how long did this take you to complete ? a10: no idea

#things;junha

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shiishki · 3 years

Note

okay wait, i changed my mind. you should answer all of these questions as well, if that's what you want from me >:)

oof there's a lot of it, that's what i get for wanting to be ✨aesthetic✨

1: 6 of the songs you listen to most?

vowels (and the importance of being me) - hunny

honeypie - jawny

pretty young thing - michael jackson

mirrors - justin timberlake

sunflower - red orange county

paradise - rude-a

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

a therapist.

ok someone else.. uhh,, my grand grandma because i only have scratches of memories but i dunno if that counts since she passed away...

*rummages through ancient scripts* uhh ok someone who isn't dead.. uhm,, tommie? yeah I'd like to meet them if i could meet anyone on earth

3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

ok, the closest german, english or polish book? nvm i have english

"suddenly was. So I just said thank you a few times too, and Mum" ironically this is one of the normal lines in this book

4: What do you think about most?

the fact that I'll have to do something after school. and I don't know if i want to go to college or get a job bc i have no legitimate idea on what to do with my life. it gets overwhelming, just the lack of knowledge about the actual experience.

5: What does your latest text message from someone else say?

6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on?

with, tho i sleep with just shorts in summer

7: What’s your strangest talent?

not sure if it's a talent, but i can fall asleep anywhere

8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence)

girls are pretty. boys are pretty

9: Ever had a poem or song written about you?

by me, yes. no one else has written a poem about me specifically. nvm, tommie wrote one and it shall rest on my wall, or desk, i need to find a place for it

10: When is the last time you played the air guitar?

uhh i think last month?

11: Do you have any strange phobias?

i don't think so, but i am hella afraid of the possibly gigantic, terrifying things in the ocean depths that humans haven't discovered yet

12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

yep, beloved legos as a lil child

13: What’s your religion?

i can't ever remember the name, but i believe gods (from all religions) exist in some way or form. so i believe in different pantheons and etc.

14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

walking my doggo, skateboarding, thinking about how to make the lives of my characters worse

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

behind it.

16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

uhmm the arctic monkeys? or the strokes

17: What was the last lie you told?

i know what i want

18: Do you believe in karma?

yes, the rule of three specifically

19: What does your URL mean?

i don't know. it's something me and my sis came up with and that's just my whole identity now.

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

uhh greatest weakness.. i can't finish things. strength is that I'm very stubborn so maybe I'll finish that thing out of spite

21: Who is your celebrity crush?

i grew up thinking crushes were like unicorns. my ex was odd enough to argue with that i didn't love her if i didn't have a crush on her. but I think if i had to guess.. selena gomez, especially in the role of alex russo in wizard of weverly street

22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

nope

23: How do you vent your anger?

i write angry letters. sometimes they're sad letters. i write a lot of letters. except i never send them out and no one made a movie about them :}

24: Do you have a collection of anything?

jars and witchy bottles, books? scented candles

25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

phone calls are stressful enough as is, i don't need you to see my reading off what i frantically wrote to not stumble over my words

26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

i think so, yes, but that won't stop me from becoming better

27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

hate flies buzzing right by my ear, love cat purring

28: What’s your biggest “what if”?

what if I'd been born in a place where it was illegal for me (nonbinary) to live, in a time when others thought of me as a curse?

29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

they be chilling.

30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

right arm, doggo, left arm, pillow

31: Smell the air. What do you smell?

fresh air and doggo, because doggo is with me and I can't live without open windows

32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

i dunno tbh

33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast?

which one is less homophobic?

34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?

every gender is my opposite gender. selena gomez and justin timberlake

35: To you, what is the meaning of life?

to make it easier for people down the line

36: Define Art.

make thing, thing goes woo

37: Do you believe in luck?

yis

38: What’s the weather like right now?

it's nice actually, very sunny, slight breeze

39: What time is it?

12.59 am

40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

i don't, but i once crashed into a fire department vehicle with my bike. bike ded.

41: What was the last book you read?

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

42: Do you like the smell of gasoline?

i legit ass don't know what gasoline smells like.

43: Do you have any nicknames?

many variations of my name, aka. Luce

44: What was the last film you saw?

i think it was Robin Hood: King of Thieves, but it might have been that half of spider-man homecoming i managed to watch with my poor internet

45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

oh man i dunno... it's not an injury, but i was very sickly as a lil kid and almost died :)

46: Have you ever caught a butterfly?

once, years ago

47: Do you have any obsessions right now?

hmmm horizon zero dawn i think

48: What’s your sexual orientation?

proud pansexual ^^

49: Ever had a rumour spread about you?

not really, i don't think they're big enough to be actual rumors,, meh

50: Do you believe in magic?

yis

51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

meh. they suck, i know they suck, that's it.

52: What is your astrological sign?

cancer ♋

53: Do you save money or spend it?

i attempt saving. attempt

54: What’s the last thing you purchased?

for my own money, sweets. i bought lizards for my cats so they can brush their teeth from my dad's amazon acc

55: Love or lust?

luv

56: In a relationship?

nope, i buy my own cookies

57: How many relationships have you had?

1, kinda toxic toward the end, very stressful, don't recommend

58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

nu ><

59: Where were you yesterday?

on the fields walking my doggo

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

yep, a pastel pink hoodie in my closet uwu

61: Are you wearing socks right now?

yis, thicc warm socks

62: What’s your favourite animal?

cats

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

cuddles and food.

64: Where is your best friend?

bold of you to assume i have a best friend.

65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr.

tommie-hildebrandt, kageyuji, nekomas-kuroo, joyful-soul-collector

66: What is your heritage?

I'm a demon boi from Poland tho that's not a thing to be proud of, i mean, look at the economy. awful.

67: What were you doing last night at 12AM?

sleeping, trying to sleep.

68: What do you think is Satan’s last name?

Pinkton. or Satan.

69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

this is such an odd combination of words i had to look it up. yea.

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

a friend who won't laugh at me when i ask them to order smth for me because I'm too anxious to.

71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

excuse me? i am saving the doggo wtf. f u boss, I'm gonna sell my tragic story to the news.

72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

a) i tell my parents. b) live the hell out of them uwu c) nope uwu.

73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love.

trust.

74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

history maker - dean fujioka :]

75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

3332

76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

communication, trust, some more communication.

77: How can I win your heart?

let's not pretend to be something else to please each other, and bring some bitter chocolate.

78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?

maybe. it could. i don't have a say in it since my sanity is held by tape.

79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

eat the pizza. stop caring about others not liking me/parts of me. just living for myself uwu.

80: What size shoes do you wear?

uh i dunno how the american sizes work and i don't wanna look it up so, 39, 40 fits too.

81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

demon boi

82: What is your favourite word?

socks.

83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

the bloody organ that sits in your chest and pumps blood into your body so you don't die.

84: What is a saying you say a lot?

uhm im not sure if that counts as a saying, but fake it till you make it

85: What’s the last song you listened to?

blinding lights - the weeknd

86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours?

oh a normal question people use for ice breaking, sea blue and pastel variations of it.

87: What is your current desktop picture?

like my wallpaper? or the actual picture that sits on my desk? or how my desk looks like atm? it's ugly, a lot of papers and pens and schoolbooks.

88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

donald trump. or the next asshole who'll try to take the rights of the lgbt and poc away

89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

this. this is the question.

90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

yo there's a pizza somewhere in the refrigerator, want me to heat it up? we can have a sleep over and talk about our feelings :3

91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

telekinesis! or shapeshifting! i could do such fun things with telekinesis ^^ yeah I'd totally eat some radioactive veggies

92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

that time my "friends" got me into shoplifting, half-hour is more than enough to punch some sense into my brain and develop good music taste

93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

can i save this one? i don't think i have an experience horrible enough to be erased haha

94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

sleep as in.. uh no thank u. but I'm down for a sleep over with sam smith ^^

95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

just me? what about my pets? my fam? it's lowkey illegal for me to go just anywhere without them owO

uhhmm, greece. imma become part of the greek pantheon out of pure spite. and maybe toronto canada.

96: Do you have any relatives in jail?

not any that i know of o.o

97: Have you ever thrown up in the car?

i think i may have but i honestly don't remember

98: Ever been on a plane?

nope, i dunno if i like planes, but I'd probably sleep if i were on one.

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

yeet.

#that was long #probably because my stubborn ass wanted to make pretty formatting #shiishki.rambles #shiishki.interacts with tommie

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hannjunkyu · 4 years

Text

hello! i’m peyton & i’m going to be writing for han junkyu aka the cookie skeleton aka the cringiest man on either of the islands, probably (but he doesn’t believe in cringe culture so it’s okay!) go ahead and leave a ♡ if you’re interested in plotting with us and i’ll send you an im!

𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑. 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓.

twenty-one and clueless. do not ask him about his future.

very artistically-inclined. his parents (especially his mom) placed greater emphasis on self-expression and creativity than education while he was growing up, which greatly shaped the man he is now. he’s been painting for longer than he’s been reading, so you could say it’s his most ~refined~ skill

but he’s also been dancing and acting for a while, too. initially trained in contemporary dance, but he’s more interested in hiphop now! also super into singing... i’ll just say this: if it’s creative/artistic, he’s into it! does have a tendency to spread himself too thin and has always been this way, so while he has various skills, he lacks a specialization.

used to be really promising. claimed that he was going to be a star and everyone believed it. unlike most kids, he had a very clear plan and was headed in the right direction. plus, he was well-known in the community, well-liked. very respectable kid

perhaps his parents gave him the wrong impression bc he ended up dropping out of high school and he was like “haha you told me education wasn’t that important” and they were like “we didn’t think you’d drop out??!?!”

and then things started going downhill because he kept traveling to auditions and participating in online auditions as well for all kinds of companies (modeling agencies, acting agencies, idol agencies bc mf didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do, still kind of doesn’t) and most of the time he was able to pass the blind round but every time agents found out he’s a hs dropout, they put a strike through his name.

ended up FINALLY getting an offer in early 2020-ish but was told he’d have to relocate to seoul and, as it turns out, junkyu’s a fuckin coward. didn’t want to leave his people so he turned it down much to..... Everyone’s dismay

now he’s working part-time as a cashier / sales associate / whatever at graciegrace! wants to work full-time, but atm he’s stuck begging his coworkers to give him some shifts and upselling like crazy to try to prove that he!!!! deserves to be a full-time employee!!!!

yes it’s the most expensive store on the island... yes he only works there because he needs that employee discount... yes he wears exclusively graciegrace clothes while he’s on shift and nonchalantly strikes poses like he’s a fuckin model while he’s supposed to be cleaning the shelfs and organizing displays... mind ur business!

his parents don’t really like him atm because he had Such A Bright Future and now he’s a retail worker, so he’s living on his own which means he needs money even more bc he doesn’t have his parents to leech off of. if not to feed himself, then to feed his trio of hamsters. so he sells artwork as a side hustle

mainly commissioned stuff bc if he just painted what he wants to, it would be anime girls sipping lemonade by the pool and no one would buy any of his pieces, so. gotta give the people what they want..... he likes to work in a ~dreamy~ kind of style with pastel color schemes, but he’ll rly do whatever if he’s getting that coin

junkyu’s obsessed with anime. started watching it shortly before he dropped out of hs, got really into it as a method of escapism after he dropped out and realized that life is hard. 9/10 times, if he’s meeting someone for the first time, he’s going to compare them to some background character from a niche anime that only nerds like him would know. i’m Personally not an anime fan so i can’t provide examples but jus take my word for it

kind of speaks japanese? he’s been studying it for a few years because he wants to watch anime without subtitles and he’s...... decent, but not fluent by any means

currently has hot pink hair because (1) he wants to and (2) he’s matching with an anime girl he likes atm.... guess who she is

obsessed with all things pretty/cute. buys a lot of sweets simply for the packaging which he REALLY needs to stop doing because he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, so they usually go to waste. collects stuffed animals, not afraid to admit it. will go crazy any time he sees a cat, dog or any other soft animal that will let him pet it.

his wardrobe’s full of pink, his home is full of pink, his phone case is pink, his favorite pair of sneakers is pink. kind of shocking to anyone who’s just getting to know him because who the fuck can see SO MUCH of one color and not get sick of it... junkyu! that’s who!

still wants to be involved in the entertainment business, kinda too scared to leave so these days he’s planning on opening up a theater in town. except apparently there are certain qualifications you have to have and..... Money’s Involved..... so he’s currently working towards a ged, don’t ask him about it

has a ton of random luggage and packed boxes in his house bc he’s lowkey always thinking about leaving, just doesn’t really have the guts to actually do it.

doesn’t believe in cringe culture, which on one hand is good for him but on the other hand, bad for everyone else. kinda hard to handle sometimes because you want to think he’s joking when he acts the way he does, but he never is.

seems like an ~elegant artist~ when you see him from a distance, which is admittedly very intentional. dramatic, always thinking that people who might happen to spot him should fall in love with him immediately so he tries to be Oddly Mesmerizing in everything he does. the illusion always breaks when he opens his mouth.

goes for a run every single morning! if you live on starden island and happen to be an early bird, you’ve probably seen him far more often than you’d ever want to.

aesthetics: rose petals on the floor, exaggerated confessions of love to distant acquaintances, muted cartoons in the middle of the night, strawberry icecream, sunny days, the feeling of a stranger’s dog coming over to greet you, clicking immediately with new people, the smell of fresh laundry, sunrises, 90′s anime, knowing you’re going to regret something and doing it anyway, neon shutter sunglasses.

#intro.

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komahinasecretexchange · 4 years

Text

Title: of justice and catalysis

Author: hajimehinataisnothim / @whatsupscythia (AmericanFrankenstein)

For: @coockiedrop

Pairings/Characters: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Hinata Hajime, Komaeda Nagito, Ikusaba Mukuro, Ishimaru Kiyotaka (mentioned)

Rating/Warnings: T

Prompt: Secret identities (Maybe one of them being a vigilante and other being a cop?)

Author’s notes: One of the prompts was secret identities and I fell in love. I don’t know how the Japanese police systems work, I just know they have some heavy corruption issues but honestly what police don’t? Another point; do you know how hard it was to write this without using Nagito’s name? Also Hinata says ACAB.

You can also read it directly on Ao3

The streets of Tokyo were boring.

Well, no, that wasn’t entirely true, Hinata supposed. He took a bite from the donut in his hand, absentminded. Because he wasn’t a slob it was wrapped in a napkin, the other hand clutching bitter black coffee.

The streets themselves were pristine, the trees lush with pink blossoms with petals that swirled into the air at the faintest breeze, and even the nights were tenuous work at their worst. The problem was that his mind often drifted to more exciting work in the field: chasing down criminals, precisely anticipating where gang warfare was likely to occur, and conducting behavioral analysis to catch a killer.

It was a shame, then, that he had never been good at any of those.

No, Hinata Hajime was a rookie in a sleepy prefecture in the middle of a spring afternoon. It wasn’t his first day on the job but the routine was solidified and unchanging. When school let out he would meander to the crosswalk and usher the traffic across, and when there was a storm he would patrol the bridges to see if the water overflowed. Crime was contained to a multitude of domestic affairs and drunken insults. Nothing worth serious dedication or dignity.

Still, a deep undefinable part of him could not help but crave excitement. It was why he had joined the police academy a year ago. The idea of cutting off a bank robbery, of saving someone’s life when they needed him most was riveting. It gave spark to his step and a smile to his face. To be the hero, the protagonist, to save the day at its darkest hour.

But how could he do that when the world was perfect?

“Check your ten, Hinata.”

He was still being shadowed by their squad leader Ikusaba Mukuro. As a rookie, he still had a lot to learn. Mukuro was the best of the best. She had risen through the ranks faster than any woman before her, breaking barriers along the way. Her uniform was always perfectly pressed, her stance steady and balanced, and her eyes cold as steel. While she was slim, she was also pure muscle. Rumors circulated that before she returned to Japan she had been part of a militia in the Middle East.

Hajime couldn’t help but be intimidated by her.

“Sorry, Ikusaba-san.”

It took him a moment to remember where ten’s hand on the clock face was (even though he could have mirrored Ikusaba’s gaze had he thought for one second). When Hajime had worked it out, he peered across the street to see a man shuffling down the sidewalk. In many instances he was normal, if not strange, with one exception:

He was wearing a gas mask.

“Is that normal?” Ikusaba turned to face him and he withered beneath her cold gaze. “Right. I’ll go check on him.”

(What an annoyance.)

He placed his breakfast atop the wall he had been leaning on beneath the bushes. It was unlikely this would take long, but he didn’t want a cat to run away with his food or a thousand other trivial annoyances that would make the day worse. Hajime found it wasn’t the hard grind that defined the day, but the moment-to-moment interaction that solidified the result.

Today was shaping up poorly.

He headed to the crosswalk to cross the road. Ikusaba’s eyes had to still be on him, and the last thing he wanted was to disappoint her. This didn’t appear to be the time for jaywalking. It was likely a kid cosplaying or being edgy for the day, they’d get a talking to, and that would be it.

While he was moving, he kept his focus on whom Ikusaba had pointed out. The man stumbled and shuffled, not to the point of obvious drunkenness. It was a pattern of uncaring aloofness, how he floated and swayed as he moved, entirely uncaring. Hajime took note of the scuff marks branding his formerly-expensive name-brand shoes.

(Is this habitual?)

Whatever. He didn’t care.

His focused target hesitated at the outskirt of the wall, lingering one moment with his long jacket brushing the concrete. His hair was wild and completely white, too similar to how bleach left fabric to be real. His hands were swept into his jacket pockets, blending his arms into the folds of the fabric. All of his mannerisms were unkempt, careless. Odd.

When he ducked into the alleyway, Hajime didn’t hesitate to follow.

He didn’t often find himself in the sidestreets of his prefecture. In contrast to the sunny disposition of the main roads, the offshoots were cramped and cluttered, bins set aside on the street. It was muddy between the tile outline of a path that the stranger continued to trod down, into darker yet darker regions. The standing water from the previous nights’ rain splashed against Hinata’s tight-laced boots, staining them with dirt. Another annoyance added to the list on a shitty day.

Finally, the dirt path gave way to a concrete flooring behind an equally filthy restaurant. Hajime had seen the establishment often on his patrols; the food was excellent and the service was terrible. He didn’t visit often. The walls were coated with posters, promotions, and sports of graffiti he didn’t have time to give attention. Instead, his focus was drawn to the four foot stack of something shoved onto a pallet covered in a gray tarp. His target had stopped in front of it, his foot tapping idly.

Hajime reached for his radio, his hand hovering over his belt.

Then the man turned around, drew a gloved hand from his pocket, and waved.

Hajime looked behind him. No one else had entered the alley.

(Is this some kind of signal?)

He looked back.

The stranger was inches from Hajime’s face, tilting his head to the left.

“Oh good, you’re here! You’ve been following for a while. Join me.”

Hajime jumped back and fell backwards, down onto the concrete.

“You’re under arrest!” He barked out even though his back stung. It was the first thing that came to mind, unfortunately for his pride.

The man laughed. Whether it was his remark or the fall that elicited it, Hajime couldn’t tell. What he could tell now that he was up close was that the mask was a custom creation. While his voice would usually be muffled with a mask in the way, this one had small speakers built into the side. It was also actively distorting his voice.

“For what? I haven’t even committed a crime yet. What would you even arrest me for?” He took another step closer.

“Yet?” (Was this person stupid? Dangerous? Dangerously stupid?) “ That’s not how this works! At the very least this is suspicious activity!”

“So you’ll arrest me from the ground? I guess they don’t make them like they used to. Officer Ishimaru gave me a rundown yesterday.”

Hinata overlooked the fact that apparently this twig of a man outran Kiyotaka for the time being. “I’m a rookie. This isn’t my forte. What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering, the stranger knelt down and offered a hand.

Hajime hesitated, then took it.

His target was oddly strong, pulling him up on one solid motion. It brought a heat to his face that he couldn’t quite place as he steadied his feet on the ground.

He kept their hands clasped for a moment longer than necessary, then pulled away and let go.

(Oh well, more to over-analyze when I’m trying to sleep tonight. He’s talking again.)

“What’s your name?”

“Hinata Hajime.”

“Well Officer Hinata, I’m sorry, but I can’t come with you. I’m preoccupied.“ He swept his same right hand to the side, gesturing to the tarp while keeping the left in his pocket.

“I—You answer my questions! What is this for!?” He could feel his face growing flustered in frustration. The sheer inanity of it all was getting to him.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s a bomb.”

(. . . a bomb. A bomb? An explosive bomb!?)

“A bomb!?”

The man rolled his eyes under the mask. “Don’t be dramatic.”

“This isn’t dramatic at all! Thank you, because now I know what I’m arresting you for. Domestic terrorism!”

He was ignored yet again.

“Do you know where we are?”

Hajime blinked.

(What?)

“No? Well, I guess I could tell you. We’re back behind the main bridge. This alleyway is a dead-end junk heap beside the intersection.”

“What does this have to do with—”

“Don’t interrupt.”

Hajime’s jaw dropped. It did little to affect the man in the mask.

“This bridge is essential for the people that use it every day. It’s become a crutch, a reliance. To lose it would be devastating, would it not? Despair-inducing? Imagine what kind of hope that could bring afterwards!”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does! But I understand what you’re thinking. You know, someone as awful, as terrible, as lowly as me can’t possibly make a change. In fact, the only thing beneath me… is you.”

“Me?”

“The police state. The whole system is so thoroughly corrupted, rotten all the way through. Don’t tell me that you don’t see it. Or are you simply not looking? Is that it?”

“I…”

“You doubt my candor? Then let me ask you this: you too crave the abnormal to compensate for your painfully boring, normal existence. Am I right?”

“I—”

“Who knows. I’m probably wrong. Who am I kidding, I’m definitely wrong!”

Hajime whipped out the baton at his side.

(It’s time to make him shut up.)

“Or perhaps there’s more to you than meets the eye.” The man’s tone stayed even. “Do you know what catalysis is, Hinata-kun?”

“We are not friends.”

“That’s harsh, but I understand. I am the scum of the earth, after all. I understand if you wouldn’t want me to explain it, I’m sure someone like you knows all about—”

Hajime’s patience had worn thin. “Go ahead and tell me!”

(Let him talk. Wait him out and Ikusaba will show up. She’ll know what to do.)

The man stilled.

Hinata felt as if he was being smiled at. Dread piled in his stomach—something was awfully wrong.

With a surprising amount of elegance, the criminal began his speech.

“It’s a chemistry term used for describing chemical reactions. Specifically, an increased rate of a reaction with the assistance of a catalyst. However, there is another meaning that often goes unrecognized; dissolution, destruction, and decay. These are all tied to the catalyst, of course, so the catalyst receives the credit. Don’t you think that the environment, the solution, deserves most of the credit?”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I am a catalyst, Hinata Hajime. A sickly symptom of this world. And this is my catalysis.”

(He’s fucking insane.)

The tiredness he had fought off with coffee and unfettered optimism was beginning to set in his bones again.

“I didn’t expect you to understand,” he continued as if he could read Hajime’s thoughts (or perhaps he wore too many emotions on his sleeve; his bulged-out eyes were quite noticeable), “But I have a purpose. You have your ideals and justice, and I have my destruction. I think that makes us alike. One and the same. For you justice is your harbor, your anchor to the ordinary while allowing the hammer of the law to pound down and smooth the unnatural, the strange, the unwanted. And that is what you truly crave, is it not? The unusual? To be different?”

“You don’t know me at all.”

Hajime approached him. At the moment it was none of his concern that he wasn’t supposed to be using weaponry yet. All this talk about catalysts, justice, and destruction was not conducive to a safe, peaceful town.

The man shrugged. “And you don’t know me.”

He pulled his left hand from his jacket and along with it a stainless steel capsule not dissimilar from a water bottle. He tossed it underhanded to the ground towards the policeman.

“Who the hell are you?” Hajime put a foot on the canister, stopping it in place.

(If this is a distraction, it’s a bad one.)

“Finally, he asks! Now you’re making it fun, Hinata-kun!”

The canister spewed smoke into the air. Hajime realized his mistake too late.

“Call me the Ultimate Hope.”

Hinata coughed, waving in front of him to disperse the chemical spray. The baton did little to dissuade the atmosphere that covered him. Upset, he tossed it to the side and stepped forward.

Somewhere, there was a faint click.

It was then he noticed, faintly through the spray, a faint orange light.

At first he was confused.

(A flame?)

His eyes widened.

(A lighter!)

He clawed his way closer, eyes stinging.

(This is what that gas mask was for, wasn’t it?)

He was mentally cursing himself out for not doing anything to stop The Ultimate Hope (?) sooner. Waiting out a madman was a ridiculous idea. All he had to do was get him away from the bomb, and that would be that. He followed like a moth to flame, watching as it dipped and lowered.

Then he heard it.

A hiss.

The cloud in front of him grew darker, and suddenly, a force pushed into Hinata throwing him back. It wasn’t aggressive, it wasn’t an attack, no: the twisted vigilante was on top of him. His hands framed the rookie’s face like a portrait, arms wrapping around his chest and hips at an angle too impractical to attribute to anything but pure, dumb luck.

“I’m not sorry Officer, but I don’t want you getting hurt.” His voice was thick with sarcasm, and Hajime could only imagine the look on his face.

Little did he know he wouldn’t have to imagine for long.

The explosive went off.

The world shook and groaned around them. Fire cascaded up into the air like a signal flare, highlighting his enemy—and savior’s—wild mane of hair like a hellfire halo.

Hajime was staring.

The back of his green jacket was also burning. Before he could speak to address it, the stranger chuckled.

“Oh that? It’s fine.” He patted his back as if it were nothing but a mere botherance. He pushed himself up, unfurling his arms from Hinata’s and drawing his hand up to his face. The metal of the mask jingled.

As he blinked to clear the gas from his eyes, Hajime felt a soft press against his forehead.

(Wait. . .)

The Ultimate had slipped off the gas mask for a phantom mockery of a kiss.

When he pulled back, Hajime could finally see him.

The stranger was beautiful in the most grotesque of ways. His face was pale and thin, gaunt even, with dark circles beneath irises devoid of any color. His lips were red, cracked as if he were parched, and twisted into the most frightening smile Hinata had ever seen.

He stood up above him and cackled.

(That is not fair.)

His laugh was insane, and Hinata knew that he shouldn’t be feeling breathless for this reason but he couldn’t help it.

He was so caught up in the moment he didn’t notice that the Ultimate Hope had started walking.

The man, who Hinata could not possibly know was one Komaeda Nagito, walked over to the wreckage and chaos before them, threw up a peace sign with his fingers, and fell backward off the broken railing.

Hajime couldn’t help himself. He snapped out of his fever, sitting up immediately upright, then broke into a run to the new hole between the alley and the main road.

There he was, the Ultimate Hope, saved by the trash bags stacked beside the stream. He stood up, brushed himself off, and smiled. Then he slipped the gas mask back on and slunk away, only to turn back once.

Komaeda gave Hajime a short, mocking salute.

A soft, “oh,” escaped Hajime’s lips, but he would never admit it.

He stood in the center of the aftermath, his hat clutched in his hands and his world view thoroughly destroyed along with the bridge.

“Hinata.” It was the first time he’d ever heard Mukuro’s voice trill.

“What? Oh! Right. Right, the bridge.” The bridge was the last thought on his mind at the moment, but Ikusaba was attentive as always. She was behind him. Only now she must have considered this worthy of pursuit.

“Did you get a look at his face?”

Hajime thought of the walk, the wave, and the lighter. He thought of the gas mask, a helping hand up, and the fog screen. He thought about the crazy, rambling speeches and the ghost of his arms pushing Hinata down. He thought of the face of the Ultimate Hope himself.

His ears were bright red with blush.

(To hell with it.)

“No. No, I didn’t.” He lied.

“Did he give his ID? Or did he give a name?” Ikusaba demanded.

Hajime had only one answer.

“He called himself ‘The Ultimate Hope’.”

She crossed her arms.

“I hope we never see him again. For his sake.”

(I hope I do.)

Because for the first time in his entire normal life, Hajime’s heart raced with excitement.

#komahina #komahina secret exchange #fanfiction

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