#i made this at 2 a.m. so i'll make a part 2

[starlet-in-blue]

MANGA v. ANIME | MAJO TO YAJŪ

majo to yajū ( creator. satake kousuke )

[shallyouobeyme]

From the Outside

Part 1 (you're here) | Part 2 (Coming soon)

Platonic!Yandere Batfam x Neglected Batsib!reader (GN)

Summary: You were living your life as a stranger in the house you were supposed to call home, an outsider in a group of people who were supposed to be your family. So you do your best to keep yourself distracted from your situation and go on with your life. But just how long will you be able to keep on with that?

! Minors Do Not Interact !

Requested by @sol565

TW: Not much in this one, neglect (obviously), loss of relatives, car crash (mentioned), cancer (mentioned), swearing, coming up to Yandereness in the next chapters. I'll try to proofread and edit once I finish the whole thing.

Last night you dreamed of your family again. It was a pleasant dream, one that had you wishing to keep on dreaming even after you were woken up by your alarm. All of you were sitting at the dinner table, enjoying Alfred’s excellent cooking. The room was filled with happiness and joy, the kind of atmosphere that has you reminiscing about that day for ages. In your dream you felt so weightless, Damian was sitting opposite you as he listened to you talk about your day, an anecdote of you leading to laughter filling the room. Your mother ruffled your hair from where she was sitting beside you and as you smiled up to her you felt filled with love. Around the table, the Waynes were actively interested in the conversation and Bruce was asking you a question leading to a cheeky comment from your left side. You knew what was said, but you couldn’t understand the voice. Confused you looked to where your father should be sitting but only a distorted shadow figure looked back at you. 

It opened whatever would be most akin to a mouth and a blaring sound echoed out of it. Your eyes flew open as you slapped your bedside table to grab your phone. 7 A.M, time to get up. This dream had been haunting you for a few weeks now, the idyllic family dinner turning into an unpleasant reminder of your situation. At first, you had woken up in a cold sweat and slightly fearful from the end, but by now you had grown very accustomed to it. Just another part of your day to get through. 

You accepted to pay the mental price for the opportunity to see your mother again, if only during the nights. 

Another look at your phone to check the notifications and you got up and got dressed. Given the time you knew that you still had enough time to join your adopted siblings for breakfast, but even Alfred's amazing pancakes and french toast could to move you into the kitchen. Deciding to just nap something from your friends during lunch break at school, you grabbed your bag and jacket before quickly making your way through the manor. Like almost every morning you silently prayed that you wouldn’t come across anyone on your way to the front door. Eighty per cent of the time you were lucky, fifteen per cent you were just ignored and the other five per cent you found yourself stuck in painfully awkward small talk with the people who lived on the same floor as you. People who were supposed to be your closest friends and confidants. People who weren’t that. People who were more akin to strangers.

Today you were in luck as you managed to slip out of the giant house you hated to call home without having to talk to anyone. Getting onto your scooter, you made your way to the school, enjoying the air in your face through the helmet and the feeling of freedom that only came to you on rare occasions. 

The school was still fairly empty when you arrived - as was expected - so you had the honour of walking through the empty halls like you owned the place. A sentiment that some of your schoolmates even believed. You wanted to tell them that you had no need for your Guardians money, no interest in his family’s name or his family’s reputation. Bitter thoughts filled your mind, leaving a taste of anger, of disappointment, of anguish on your tongue. They weren’t helped by what you saw when you stopped in front of the trophy showcase. There were pictures of some of the best former student-athletes that had attended the school, and the most recognizable was a picture that was proudly displayed right on eyesight. It was at a sporting event that had happened some twenty to thirty years earlier, one that was still held bi-annually. The winners of different disciplines were smiling proudly into the camera, arms around each other. 

Taking the spotlight was a man that every proud Gothamite would recognize as a young Bruce Wayne on one side, a different boy who people tended to overlook based on his less noticeable features and the lack of fame he had, and in the middle of both of them stood Bruce’s former best friend. Your mother. Your late mother. 

She had been a beautiful, stunning, talented woman. Everyone who had ever known her told you that. You tried to take some solace in the fact that they told you how alike the two of you were, both in looks and in personality. It did nothing to quell the underlying pain though, the pain still boiling inside you, pain that over the years had turned into anger. You weren’t angry with your mother, of course, you knew that she had not chosen to fall sick, that she had not chosen to succumb to cancer. She had loved you with all her heart and only ever wanted you to be happy. This is why, when your grandparents died in a shooting shortly after her diagnosis, she put it in her will that after her passing you were to be taken care of by her lifelong friend Bruce Wayne. After all, he already had kids and he was rich, just like she and her parents had been - money and estates that now waited on you to turn 18 to take charge of - and he’d be surely able to give you the life and the love she always wanted you to have. 

Sadly, your mother had not known Bruce quite as well as she had believed she did. She had no idea that he spent his nights as the infamous Batman, or that the kids he adopted had been turned into fighting machines - sometimes even killers. She had no idea that he was not the amazing, loving and attentive father figure she had wanted you to have. Not even close. 

You suppose he had tried at one point. When you were a young child, grieving the loss of your entire family and everything that you had known, he had taken you in like one of his own and assured you that from then on he’d protect you. Back then you had believed him. After all, your mother had told you so many great things about him, why should she lie. And with elder brothers and sisters, a Butler who made sure you had your favourite foods whenever you felt sad and a man who tried his best to be the father you never had. They did lots of work to spend time with you and to pay attention to you which would ensure you wouldn’t notice their weird habits and absences. But of course that couldn’t work forever. After a few months, you found out about their best (and somehow at the same time worst) kept secret and as you walked through the Batcave by Bruce’s side everything changed. He didn’t directly offer to train you, but he did insinuate that it was an option, though you declined. You couldn’t see yourself hurting others. You wanted to help like your mom had helped, by volunteering, bettering the world peacefully. Bruce had assured you that that was a completely acceptable decision and that it wouldn’t change anything. But he had lied. Perhaps knowingly, perhaps not. Maybe some of both. 

Once you were aware of their second life, they didn’t put in the effort to pay enough attention to you to make you unaware of their secret. At first, they still spent time with you, but over time it seemed like you were blending into obscurity like a special bottle of champagne that was planned to be open on a special occasion only. Just that the bottle was usually remembered after the occasion had passed in annoyance. You weren’t. And as you phased out of their minds and into oblivion, you made peace with your place in the family. An outsider, a stranger inside their house, just waiting until the time had come for you to finally live your own life. 

Of course, you knew you could have it worse. You had enough money to fulfil every wish you had as long as it was material, always had something to wear, something to eat, and somewhere to sleep. The only thing you didn’t have was love. But especially in Gotham you knew that you got away rather luckily with that, so while you were deeply angry towards the people who had promised to treat you like family, to love you, you also tried to just get on with your life. 

It would have been easier if it wasn’t just so hard to look at your so-called siblings as if you didn’t resent them for the way they treated you, compared to one another. Somehow showing any interest in you or attempting to spend any time with you was a chore, but somehow Jason and Cass could have a little book club, Jason and Dick could go out for lunch at a cat-cafe, Steph, Cass and Tim could have Spa-days and all of them could have an occasional movie night together. It wasn’t explicitly stated that you weren’t welcome, but you had seen how they acted when you were with them compared to how they acted when you were hiding behind the door listening in. They seemed so much happier without you. As if your mere presence ruined the mood. So you started rejecting their invitations to join and it only took one of two attempts of them to stop asking completely. 

You might have been able to cope better with the obvious dismissal of your existence if it had been because you hadn’t been part of the family when they had forged their close bond, but somehow, even when Damian joined, acting like a complete asshole to everyone around him, they managed to include him and when he warmed up to them he joined their close group. 

So your newness surely could not have been that big of an issue right? Even Damian, completely new to the family and surely aggressive towards all of his pseudo siblings, seemed to know you were less than the others since he didn’t even bother to insult you, instead opting to ignore you. Completely. A glance spared, looking you up and down, and he had decided you were not worth it and his opinion seemingly still hadn’t changed. Sure by now you had talked with him a few times, but you could say the same about the fucking mayor of Gotham so you were sure that did not really count. 

Sometimes, you lay in your bed at night, wide awake, wondering just why you were worth so much less in their eyes. What you had done wrong. Two answers usually presented themselves before you. Either it was because you weren’t a vigilante, something that you might even have been willing to accept, or it was… you. Just you. And for some reason, that was the answer that seemed more plausible to you. Maybe you were just unpleasant to be around, not fitting enough for their family. Not interesting enough, not Wayne enough. 

And so you were cursed to live your life like a ghost in what is supposed to be your home. Going in and out every day, just waiting for the day to come when you could move into the penthouse your grandparents had bought you before they died, which would become your legal property in just a few years. You’d start anew. Maybe one day, after a long time and probably a lot of therapy, you’ll be able to start your own family. One that you’d promise not to fuck up like Bruce had. Until then though, you’d go on like always, spend as little time in that Manor as possible and try to distract yourself from your reality. 

You really did spend very little time at the manor. For one, no one in that house cared when you left or when you came back except maybe Alfred, but even he either knew that you could properly use the freedom or he was too busy to care. Probably a mix of both. And along with that, you had started a very active life outside of your family. You had a lot of friends, though you were not ready to call any of them close friends, always knowing about how many of them were after the publicity of your actual and current family name and the money and fame connected to it. But they were nice enough and they distracted you so you didn’t mind. Especially because you used said popularity to help the people in town. You managed to get a lot of your friends to volunteer alongside you in different homeless shelters, though a lot of them tended to post dozens of pictures which made you feel a bit icky about them trying to profit from helping others, but you knew you couldn’t complain because it did help the shelters. The shelters told you so themselves. 

Most of your ‘pocket money’ was donated and the rest of the time was spent doing different activities, be it arts, sports, parties or just wasting the day away. You did your best to cram as much into your day-to-day life as you could to keep you from thinking too much. To stop you from thinking too much about how messed up you were now, how you couldn’t even confide in any of your friends, how you didn’t even really manage to call them your friends, because you couldn’t allow yourself to let anyone close to you anymore, because you knew you weren’t worth it, because you knew you’d be disappointed and hurt again. 

These dark thoughts were kept inside, slowly eating at you like termites, while on the outside you kept on being the happy-go-lucky Gotham personality that people loved to follow. Though you didn’t post a lot on your own social media, your friends and people around you did, which the public loved for some reason. And so you kept up the act, because what else could you do? Let people know you’re hurting? So they could ridicule you for your rich people's problems? Or keep out of the public eye? And have to face the lonely darkness that was your life? No, you’d rather keep on pretending like you had been for years now. Even if it meant being a piece of entertainment for other people who could turn on you at any second. 

The day at school was mostly uneventful, only a short moment of passing by Damian ruined your mood as your classmates did their usual shtick of asking if that wasn’t your brother and you trying to shrug them off, after all, how do you explain that your brother treated you like air not worth breathing? So you changed the topic by announcing that you’d go help out at a local shelter after school and asked if anyone wanted to join. Some excused themselves but a few agreed, which led to a group of five of you coming into the shelter a few hours later after some mandatory selfies so keep your friends placated. There was a bit more traffic inside than usual - a few people definitely not in need of help - which was probably because one of your friends posted your plans on their socials. That was something that you had to begrudgingly accept. You couldn’t afford their anger, so you made a compromise with them that they could post stuff like that, but that they couldn’t post the exact location (which in your opinion was just common sense, but it seemed not a lot of people shared that).

Ignoring the people only there to see you or be near a Wayne, you focused on helping those who needed your help, though aware of the effect you could have on the shelter business, you helped out in the kitchen where people couldn’t see you. You didn’t mind, you liked cooking and you and the fellow kitchen staff had a sort of harmonized rhythm. It even helped you get lost in thoughts that didn’t make you wanna cry, so when you got interrupted in your flow, you almost jumped in shock. One of the organizers had tapped on your shoulder. 

“Y/N, there’s a man outside that wants to talk to you,” Marcus told you and nodded towards the door to the front.

“They still haven’t left? I’m really sorry Marc, if you think it’s better if I leave, then I will,” you sighed, annoyed by the turn of events. 

“No, it’s not a fan. At least I think, he’s- well, he claims to have something really important to talk to you about. He gave me this to show to you, said it’ll show you he’s serious,” Marcus shrugged and held a picture out to you. It was an old Polaroid of a young couple smiling into the camera. Your breath hitched. 

“Is he the guy in the picture?” you asked with a newly found seriousness.

“Yes, at least he looks like it. Is the woman-”

“Yeah, could we use the office? Only if you’re okay with it, of course.”

“Sure, no problem, go ahead, I’ll bring him to you in a minute.”

“Thank you,” you earnestly smiled at Marcus as you made your way to the door that led to the office. You were used to being nervous, but not quite as nervous as you were then. This could change a lot of things, everything if it was what you imagined it to be. You looked at the picture in your hand again before sitting down behind the desk and putting it down on the desk. There were steps behind the door coming closer, so you took a deep breath as you wiped your hands on your pant legs. The door opened and in came a man who looked just like the guy from the Polaroid. He seemed familiar, not just from that snapshot of the past, but something in his face rang a bell in your memories. You mustered him, trying to keep a stern exterior as you didn’t know if this was going to be what you thought it would be. 

Marcus gestured the man to sit down on the other side of the desk, before giving you an encouraging nod and closing the door as he left. 

“Hello,” you greeted the man, hands intertwined before you on the desk.

“Hello,” he responded alike and you could feel his curiosity burning through you. Had you misinterpreted this? Was this just another weird fan?

“This picture,” you looked at it again before sliding it towards him, “how do you know my mom?”

A/N: So, what do y'all think? Let me know in the comments or in my inbox ❤️ Also, I'd appreciate feedback on the title as well, not sure if I should change it or keep it.

[gojoidyll]

Infinity

Yandere ! Gojo Satoru x Female ! Reader

Part 13 | sukuna and a crush

Summary | And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you.

Warnings | none

Infinity Masterlist

RYOMEN SUKUNA held her fiercely. His four arms never seemed to let her go. Anywhere he went, he made sure to have her follow. Be it behind him, beside him, or sitting atop his shoulders, or held in his arms.

He was always so cautious even when he was strongest back then.

"Where are you going?"

It was one of his lives where he had her all to himself.

"Nowhere..."

He knew when she was lying, when she was sad, happy, mad. It didn't matter how she hid her emotions. He could tell. He had many of her lives to practice after all.

"Is that so?"

She nodded, but she didn't look up to meet his gaze.

"Maybe i should force it out of you then."

Her eyes widened at that, which was when she decided to turn and run. Poor choice.

"Running away," he caught her easily, "you know you can't get away."

She pushed at his hands, his many many hands, "let go! I have to go somewhere!"

"Where? Why?"

She shook her head, refusing to answer.

"You leave me no choice, brat."

She grabbed one of his wrists, "Please! Anything but tickling! Anything but that!"

"Foolish woman, you resigned to your fate!"

"No! Hahaha! Stop! Stop it! If you tickle me I'm going to pee! Sukunaaaa!"

It wasn't everyday that other curses or servants witness THE King of Curses get into a tickle fight with his wife, and when it does happen? All one can do is look away and never speak of it. Because Sukuna may be soft with her, but with anyone else? It will mean death.

"Al- alright, alright! I'll tell you, just hah no more!"

Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes as she struggled within his grip. Her body withering as he finally stopped his assault.

He looked at her expectantly, but was obviously prepared to tickle her again if need be.

"That new cursed blade...the- hah- the blacksmith who made it was traveling to the town closest to hear today and tomorrow and I wanted him to make that blade for you."

She was still trying to catch her breath as her lungs finally got the air they needed and she no longer felt that ticklish feeling.

"Foolish woman..., we can just go together."

She pouted at him, arms crossed and everything, "it was supposed to be a surprise."

He rolled both sets of his eyes, spoiled, taken care of, doted on. Y/n was a handful even as his wife. But at least she was here. Alive.

"You'll get over it. Where I go, you go. Where you go, I go. That's the promise we made, and I expect you to keep, brat."

She huffed, "fine... but I still plan to wrap it for you and give it to you as present! And you better act surprised when you receive it!"

"Whatever."

"Hey!"

"Ughhh, what the? A dream?"

Itadori Yuji woke unceremoniously in the dead of night, the dream unfinished and his heart aching uncontrollably.

"Am I sick or something?"

Despite his inner turmoil and the questions that popped up into his mind, Sukuna didn't say anything. The last thing the King of Curses was going to do was explain to the brat was that he was dreaming of Sukuna's past.

Itadori decided to ignore the uneasy feeling in the end, and tried his best to go back to sleep, but he did admit that it was hard to.

I mean, he did dream of you, after all, which felt wrong to him.

[...]

"You're up late."

She felt someone gently flick her forehead, causing her to look up from her paperwork.

"Oh! Gojo! Yeah, I am. I just wanted to get some assignments ready for tomorrow- er," she glanced at the clock her desk, "I mean today," she said while amending her sentence. Her clock read 2:01 a.m. she honestly didn't realize how late she stayed.

"Why don't I take you home?"

She shook her head as she stood up from her desk and neatly stacked the papers before gathering up her belongings, "don't worry, Gojo! You don't have to."

"But I want to."

He gave her the best smile he could muster. Disarming, trustworthy, lighthearted. He didn't want to scare her away, but he also didn't want her to go away too soon. If she was going home, then he obviously wanted to go to.

"Well,... I guess a walking partner wouldn't be so bad," she relented, and he grinned.

"Who said anything about walking?"

"Wha-"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her close, "ever tried teleporting before?"

A rhetorical question. Of course she hasn't.

"G- gojo, I heard you could teleport, but I don't think I want to-"

He held her close, gently, "don't you trust me?"

She gave him a look, her mind working fast, "well, yes, but-"

"No buts! You said yes, and that's all I need."

He held her hand with his free one, "tell me where you live and you'll be there in flash."

She couldn't help her nerves, they were going haywire. Though, deep down, she did have to admit that she was curious to see how teleportation worked. She heard the rumors that Gojo could do it, so... maybe she should just give it a try? Once surely won't hurt.

So she gave him her address.

He grinned down at her when she relented, "then hold on tight."

She did as she was told and clung to the front of his uniform, her fingers twisted into the fabric as she screwed her eyes shut. Despite wanting to try, she still couldn't deny the fear that ebbed away at her.

There's a first for everything after all.

"And, we're here."

He was so close. His breath tickled her ear, it made her face feel hot all of a sudden as she let go of him and back away a bit. Though, her legs still felt a little wobbly, but luckily as she fell back, she landed on her couch which cushioned her fall.

"Oh wow."

The feeling was indescribable. It definitely felt weird from shifting from one place and then being in another so quickly.

"Pretty cool, right?"

"Mmm."

She still couldn't form many words even as she sat there.

"Hey, you good?"

She finally focused on Gojo then as he crouched in front of her, his blindfold was off and his bright, blue eyes were filled with concern that she hadn't felt in a long time.

"I'm good... just next time... let's just walk together, ok?"

He smiled then and patted her knee, the sensation sending a jolt through her entire leg, "deal!"

He was excited for when next time would come by.

She cleared her throat then as she went to stand up, Gojo immediately helping her as he took her hands and pulled her. Her bag falling to the couch cushions.

"An- anyway, even though it's late, do you want anything? Something to drink or eat?"

He let go of her hands and stuffed them into his pockets, "nah, I'm good. Just wanted to get you home and safe was all."

She couldn’t deny how her face felt hot all of sudden and she wondered if he did this with all his female coworkers, "well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Always."

And even as she bid him goodnight and showed him to her front door of her apartment, she found that she wanted him to stay and talk a little longer.

But she wasn't stupid. He was good-looking, nice, a total catch. She knew he would never see her like that and that he probably has a totally hot and rich girlfriend warming his bed right now.

"Yeah," she said with a chuckle, "I have no chance with him. Best to toss this little crush of mine out the window," her sheepish laugh echoed a little in her empty hallway when she shut and locked the door.

The exhaustion from the days events finally hitting her as she made her way to her room so she could finally crash in her bed.

"Though, crushing on him a little won't hurt, right?"

Infinity taglist, please note that for some it says "no blogs found" so I wasn't able to tag you.

@whore-for-hawks @esthelily @huicitawrites @flaming-vulpix @zeniiis @rin1802 @mrowwww @kenstarsworld @bubera974 @littleplantofdeath @fangirl-332 @thaliadoesthings @hellsingalucard18 @tamaki-simp @obsessedwithfanfiction @babygivertyrant @carvelcakes @itzmeme @nervouschocolatecat @aspiring-bookworm @babyorphanstastegood @lilacskyly @ilovethegold @mythicalsongbird

[angelizs]

[Club Activities - part 2]

Summary: Crowley keeps knocking at your door, quite literally, wanting to hear your club choice. You might as well get this over with.

Notes: gn!reader, humor, it's kinda long, reader is oblivious, mentions of minor injuries but in a funny way dw, it's the looong overdue pt2

Part: 1.0 / 2 (you're here!) / 2.5 (soon!)

"So, have you decided?"

Crowley stands by the doorway. He looks completely normal, a pleasant smile plastered on his lips. You blink, sluggish, resisting the urge to slam the door on his face.

"It's five a.m. on a sunday."

"Yes, that's correct, good to see you're keeping up with the passage of time."

You feel there's a jab aimed at you for taking your time on choosing a club. Or on answering the door. In your defense, Grim was sleeping on top of you and you didn't want to disturb his sleep. Nor yours. You were hoping the Headmaster would just give up and leave you alone, but instead he only knocked louder. 

"Well?"

"Uh..." You take a bit to remember the first thing he said. "No, I still have some meetings to go to."

"Were the sports clubs not to your liking? I'm sure you'd do well in one, should you put your efforts on it."

"Nah, I'll pass."

"I see. Then, you'll tell me your decision by the end of the week, yes?"

"Since when did we agree on this." It was a question, but with your drowsy state it just fell flat.

"Since now, of course! I was very kind to let you take so much time to chose a club, but you must understand I'm under some pressure as well to make sure you'll have the best possible education here. We can't afford to lose too much time!"

You blink again, your brain still sleepy. "Oh. Alright."

Crowley claps his hands in an excited manner. "Wonderful! I'll be eagerly waiting for your decision, then!"

Only as you watch his retreating back getting farther away that it finally registers just what you agreed on. You groan, closing the door and leaning against it.

Well, nothing to do about it now. You should really get onto it, anyway. Still, your break will be missed.

Film Research Club (Vil, Ortho platonically)

You had finally left the sports clubs behind, time to try something new, like arts!

Since you've worked with Vil at the SDC, you were already used to his strict personality and thought you'd be able to handle yourself pretty well. You might not have that much experience with acting but you did know how to pretend everything was ok and your life wasn't falling apart, so you think you might have potential.

It was quite surprising to see Ortho there, but the sight of your friend's welcoming eyes and cheer made you feel relieved, relaxing amidst the Pomefiore students. They were intimidating, though in a different way the guys from the Spelldrive club were. The latter looked like they could easily beat you to a pulp, while the former looked like they'd give you a disgusted stare and call you a peasant in such a condescending tone you'd implode on spot. They were all very pretty as well, but you wouldn't let that make you self conscious since you knew no one could beat Vil anyway.

Speaking of, Vil himself comes to speak with you and explain about the club with a professional conduct as he says that Crowley had warned him of your special situation and that he'd let you help out, since they always needed extra hands on deck. You got hopeful at that, perhaps it was time for you to shine and discover a hiden talent of yours! These daydreams are soon crushed as Vil puts you on backstage duty and turns around, having something or other to talk about with the other members.

Well. That was... not what you were expecting. Ortho explains that in order to enter the club as an actor, you must audition beforehand and prove yourself worthy. That makes sense, you guess, so you accept it with grace. Backstage work might not be as exciting as being on the actual stage, but you had Ortho by your side to make sure things won't be too dull. And a side of you wants to make Vil proud of your work, so you suck it up and ask Ortho to lead the way.

Ortho shows you around the set you'll be working on for the day. It's one of Pomefiore's dorm ballrooms, and it's huge. You look in awe at everything, even though it's a bit plain in terms of furniture, it's quite detailed. In moments like this you remember Pomefiore's dorm is a castle, as you feel the royalty emanating from the ceiling, with it's luxurious chandeliers, to the walls, with it's intricate golden patterns, even at the floor, by it's quality.

He teaches you how to operate the lights and sound for a bit while the actors decide on what they'll film that day. You feel just the tiniest bit of jealousy at them, especially because Vil seems to be very focused on everything they say. Ortho must notice this (of course he would), and tries to cheer you up. After all, you're his friend! He doesn't want you to feel bored at the club when there are so many insteresting things to do!

You move from the more technical parts and go to the storage room, where they keep most of the props and extra accessories. You explore it, looking at everything but not touching, not wanting to get in trouble if you break anything on accident. As you're looking at an old mirror, Ortho picks up one of the pink cowboy hats and puts it on your head. It looks goofy, not matching with your uniform at all, and it makes you laugh.

You retaliate by putting a pirate hat full of colorful feathers that's way too big on him. It slides down and covers his eyes, making him look like a little kid trying on their sibling's clothes. Not to mention the feathers, that also clash with his body's design. You both laugh and go to different directions, trying to find more things to put on.

Ortho ends up with a vivid red sash wrapped around his waist and a wooden rod in hands, while you've got a pink feather scarf around your neck and a hollow steel rod in hands. You stare down at each other from your sides of the room, pretending you're on one of those western cowboy movies, even acting like it too. You drawl out something about the town not being big enough for the two of you. Ortho goes along, putting up the worst pirate accent with his robotic voice and telling you to prepared to be boarded.

Between giggles, the two of you meet at the middle, your rods clashing as if they were swords. You make exaggerated moviments that would be impratical in any fight while dropping the most cliche lines you can think of. Ortho dodges your attacks in slow motion and retributes with his own, making it seem more like some funny dance than a sword fight.

You were having so much fun you kind of forgot you were there to do a job. You're quickly reminded as the door suddenly opens and you, startled, let the steel rod slip from your hands mid attack and hit the wall with a loud clang. There stands Vil, hands on his hips as he stares at the two of you with one arched eyebrow, an unimpressed look on his face even after almost being hit right on it. You're not looking the most dignified, with your whole attire. Nor is Ortho, which helps you to not feel alone on the receiving end of Vil's judgment.

The three of you leave the props behind and return to the main area. More precisely, to the actors' dressing room part. It's not an actual separate room, but rather a space of the ballroom reserved for this. Most have put on their costumes and are adjusting the finer details, Vil instructs you to help them while he sets up the stage.

You try your best, but every actor sends you a glare as you approach them, making you turn on your heels and try another one. And another. And another. You're not feeling very helpful. How you wish you could just ignore it like Ortho does. The only thing you actually do is helping zip up some clothes when they can't reach their backs and do it themselves. You don't dare to touch their hair or you feel they'd explode you with their minds. There is one instance when you have to lace a guy into a corset, but you get a bit confused with all the laces. Maybe it's like tying a shoe? You pull on it with too much force at first, leading him to complain at you the entire time. In your defense, you've never done this before! You tie it up with a cute lace at the end to make up for it and scurry away before he could release more of his wrath upon you. You settle on following Ortho around like a lost puppy.

Finally, everyone finishes up and you move to the middle of the room, where the scene will be taking place. From what you gather, the movie they are making is about a royal family that's having their heir assume the throne, but there's a plot against him going behind the scenes. The main character seems to be corset guy, who still glares at you whenever you pass by his camp of vision, much to your (un)luck.

Ortho leads you to the first place he showed, since they'd start recording soon. You watch him work with the lights, turning them on dramatically as they start the scene and making it follow the main lead as he monologues about his woes of assuming such a big responsability and how he feels between the sea of people present. The actor does a good job, good enogh to appease Vil, who watches attentively near the camera. The thing is, he's trying to replicate a foreign accent and that, combined with his melodramatic lines, makes you have to stifle a laugh.

You try your best to stay quiet and pay attention to the story, but some of the lines and the way they dramatically deliver them sound so silly you can't help but giggle in your palm. Ortho looks at you inquisitively, tilting his head and trying to understand what you found so funny. You whisper an explanation to him, making him see the words in a different manner. As you laugh, he laughs along discretely, both of you having fun again.

Vil motions for you to keep your volume down, as to not disturb the actors and break their concentration, and you send him a thumbs up. Still, you keep on reacting, even mouthing their words with exaggerated facial expressions. Ortho seems much more interested in what you have to show than the lights, since he misses some of his cues and gets it later or sooner than intended. Which is also funny, since the confused looks on the background actors' faces are very entertaining. 

It comes to a point in which you're holding in your laughter so much you're a bit out of air, and you end up bumping into one of the controls, making the background music change suddenly, from a calm waltz to an action scenesque one. Your startled eyes meet Ortho's, and in true friendship fashion you both burst out laughing. Vil cuts the filming and strides up on you two, reprimanding you once again, and you feel like a guilty puppy being scolded by their owner. You must look like that too, since he sighs like an overworked mother and takes pity on you, deciding on something else for you to do and leave Ortho to do his job without distractions.

Vil gives you the role of an extra to play, just for you to have an idle conversation with the protagonist that won't last even five minutes. He shows you exactly how the scene should go, taking hold of your hand to conduct a dance and dropping casual chatter with you, looking you in the eyes, with a conduct that's so charming you're sure you feel your heart skip a beat (too bad it's just acting though). You feel like you can do that as well, so you hurry to change into one of the formal outfits and repeat the line Vil told you over and over again in your head, heart beating way too fast.

There is just one thing you didn't count on: you apparently have a bad case of stage fright. Or perhaps it's happening especifically because you know Vil will be watching you like a hawk. As you position yourself amidst the other extras, you feel your heartbeat accelerating and your hands start to sweat. You try to relax your tense shoulders and clear your throat, looking at the floor to steady yourself.

As your cue approaches, you move closer to the corset guy, whose attention snaps at you as soon as you enter his vision field. Even if his face looks polite, like a prince, you can feel the glare he's still sending your way, just on a more subdued level this time. You can also feel the stares of the others on your back and your tongue seems to have been tied. Your head comes up with a blank when you try to remember what Vil told you to say. Oh, this is not good. Why did this have to be so nerve wracking?

Time passes slowly, seconds feels like hours as the protagonist waits expectantly for your words. Trying to not disappoint, you blurt out a joke improvisation line, like the ones you see on movies sometimes. Unfortunately, your sense of humor is vastly different from Pomefiore's students', and the joke falls so flat everyone has to take a moment to recover. You wish for the ground to swallow you as Vil yells a "Cut!" and the other actors look judgmentally in your way. Maybe if you close your eyes it will go away? You can still hear the other's whispering, and although you don't understand what exactly they're saying, you can only guess they're mocking you. Welp, guess it's time to become a hermit at ramshackle and never show your face at school ever again!

It takes only a minute, but as soon as Vil has recomposed himself he commands everyone to be quiet. You open your eyes again, gathering all your courage to see the disappointed look on his face, but you're surprised that's not what greets you. Instead, Vil's got a nasty glare that's sharp enough to cut a man, and it's not directed at you at all! Vil procceds to reprimand the rest of the cast for being so inelegant as to make fun of a begginer and even mocks their need to feel superior. You've never felt more grateful for him in your life, maybe you can still go to classes after that, since no one will dare to mess with you and risk his wrath.

As the others look ashamed for being yelled at by their leader, Vil pulls you aside and tells you that maybe it's better to try something else if your stage fright is going to affect your performance so much. He sounds strict as always, but he has an almost soft look in his eyes as he congratulates you for trying to overcome that fear and that you did well enough for someone with no experience. You feel a lot better after that and thank him sincerely, promising to give it your all at whatever other job you can do to help! He smiles at your enthusiasm and it's as if the clouds have parted ways for the sun to shine. (The other club members look amazed, as they've never seen such a soft smile on Vil's face before.)

He then asks you if you know how to work with a camera. If taking pics with Cater to post on Magicam counts then yes, you do have some experience with it. Vil says he's got the perfect job for you: being part of the camera crew and helping to film everything. You accept, after all, how hard can it be, really?

Apparently, a lot. Vil had just left out a little detail from this job: you'd be filming the aerial angle of this scene. Which meant using Kalim's magic carpet. As you recall, you're not the most adept at riding it, flashbacks from winter vacation entering in your mind. Still, you had promised Vil you'd help on this, and you weren't sure if he'd find you another thing to do or get your complaining the wrong way, so you decide to give it a try anyway.

You wobble on it, camera propped up on your shoulder and secured by a sling strap just in case you losen your hold on it. (Which is very likely). Surprisingly, you manage to get the carpet off the ground without many complications, so things are looking up (quite literally)! And then comes the part where you have to guide it and you're almost thrown out of a window with the force it makes a turn. Your grip on it tightens and you try to wrestle it into submission, with little success.

Things procced like this, you trying to learn how to drive the carpet while making turns on the air and holding on for your life. (And making sure the camera is safe. You don't want a repeat of the chandelier accident from the start of the year, so you're not taking any chances). Anything you might have tried to film is probably so shaky and blurry it isn't even usable, but you have more important matters to worry about.

That goes on until you make a particularly sharp turn, causing the carpet to lose control and go spiraling straight to the floor. Luckly, you manage to land on a convenientely placed couch (has that been there before?) and doesn't get much hurt. You're clutching the camera to your chest in a protective manner, so it isn't damaged either. At least, not much, but it isn't anything the Ignihyde guys can't fix.

Vil and Ortho are by your side in an instant, asking if you're alright. Vil extends his hand and pulls you up like a gentleman, fixing your hair softly. He's really close to your face and you can feel your heart beating faster, though you're not sure if it's due to that or the adrenaline of the fall. Ortho reassures you that not even him got the hang of piloting the carpet, as it seems to only actually obey Kalim, and that you did your best!

You really did try, so you can safely say you won't discover any hidden acting talent any time soon. Time to check out other clubs. 

(Ortho tells you to drop by another time at practice and watch the recording with him, since he had a lot of fun! Vil tells you that should you wish and work hard for it, you may have potential and he'd be willing to help you reach it. You agree, since it was very nice to visit and, most of all, to get to see Vil on his element like this. There's an added bonus of you not having ended up at the infirmary as well, which is enough to put the club on a positive light in your books. It's a bit sad that's the standard, but oh well, nothing to do about it.)

Science Club (Trey, Rook)

Alright, art may not be for you, but maybe science is! Or... whatever it is that they do in this club.

It's a bit intimidating since there are way too many people there, more than you've seen in any other club. What could they possibly be doing to attract this many people?

Rook, as observant as ever, notices you before you've even set foot inside the lab, coming close to greet you and ask if you were going to join them for the day. You relutanctly agree, staying close to his side as he leads you deeper into the room, opening the path. You make sure to not bump into anyone and cause an accident.

Trey is at one of the work tables at the back, sharing it with Rook. He sends a calming smile your way and explains that it's a club with a vast variety of activities, as long as they're not of the physical sort. You sigh in relief, listening to him reciting things such as plant cultivation and chemistry experiments. You already have to do those things on your regular classes, so you're confident in your ability of succeding for once. Rook adds that this flexibility in activity has attracted many people, creating a beauté diversity of members. (Trey explains that there's a lot of odd people as he side eyes Rook).

You sit with them, since you don't know anyone else. Rook goes on about the experiment he'll be doing this time, something that will leave a beautiful impact and stay on the mind of anyone looking. It sounds a lot like what happens when you partner up with Ace and Deuce at alchemy class, that is, stuff is about to be blown up. You scoot closer to Trey.

Taking pity on you, Trey reminds Rook that there's an ingredient missing, since they had used all from the lab's storage on their last class, and offers to get it at the botanical garden for him, inviting you to come along. You jump at the opportunity, agreeing and getting up to follow him. Rook thanks his generosity and explains that there's no way a gentleman like him would leave all the hard work onto the two of you, so he follows along. Trey looks a bit annoyed, but you only wanted to get out of being roped into a crazy experiment so you don't mind much, as long as you keep Rook away from any potential explosive plants.

The fresh air from the gardens is much better than the stuffy feeling from the crowded lab, and you take a deep breath to appreciate it. Trey takes you to the temperate zone, the path filled with beautiful flowers of all colors and scents. The sound of the little river below you only adds to the pleasant atmosphere, the sun rays warming up your skin and soul. It's wonderful. You'd like it if your club classes were to take place there. It might be enough to convince you to join, the nature so full of life energizing your mood, a smile blooming on your face.

You pass by an area that has thicker vegetation and stands out from the whole, attracting your curiosity, so you ask Trey what could be there. He warns you to not wander to that side of the garden, as there were carnivorous plants being cultivated by the third years. You wave him off, saying you had those back in your world and they were pretty harmless. Trey looks at you in doubt, but decides to not question it, aceptting your answer and going back to his search for the missing ingredient. 

Since you have no idea what you should be looking for, you leave the boys to it, deciding to observe the flowers instead. Distracted, you end up getting farther away from them, the flora enticing you and putting you under a spell, demanding your attention. It's not until you bump into a tall... something, that you realize how far you had gone. You lift up your head, wondering if you had bumped into a tree, only to find two open hinged lobes dripping with sap closing on your face.

A scream gets caught in your throat as you take in the gigantic carnivorous plant in front of you, that's only coming closer. You didn't know that when Trey had mentioned them, he didn't explain that they aren't like the one from your world at all. Not only were they huge, but also seemed ready to eat a human at any given chance.

You're pulled by someone behind you, falling into a secure chest and feeling strong arms embracing your waist as the plant's jaw's close into the air where you were just a second ago. The sigh you let out shakes your whole body and you let your weight be supported by your saviour. You find out his identity soon enough, as a familiar voice by your ear calls you chéri and asks if you were fine.

After thanking Rook, he guides you to the main area of the garden with a protective hand behind your back, making sure you wouldn't stumble into any more potential dangerous plants, as he goes on about how they were "the hunters of the natural world" and how "such danger has it's own alluring charm, non?" You don't catch the glint in his eyes as he asks the question, too busy trying to get your heart beat back into a normal rhythm. 

Trey scolds you lightly for ignoring his advice, but he seems busier trying to equilibrate the plants he harvested in his arms and glaring at Rook, probably for leaving him alone to do all the work. Rook stays unbothered, putting his hands on your shoulders and staying close as he directs you to the exit, his usual smile stamped on his face.

As you put the fresh ingredients near the others that Rook had selected earlier, you notice some strawberries in the mix. You shot a questioning stare at Trey, making him laugh and explain he took the chance to harvest some of his hand grown special strawberries. He takes some from your hands, brushing your fingers together before lifting them up to inspect closely. The strawberries are a beautiful shade of red, making you salivate only by looking at them. Trey has a contemplative expression as he murmurs he should use them as soon as possible in order to make the best use of their ripeness.

You suggest him to make a strawberry tart with them and offers your help, on the light price of getting to eat it as well. He smiles and agrees to your proposal, telling you to follow him to the kitchens. You do, happily so as you carry some of the strawberries in your arms, leaving Rook to take care of the potions experiment. Really, you feel like you've killed two birds with one stone, so you pat yourself on the back for doing a good job.

Back at the first month of classes, you remember cooking with Trey, Ace, Deuce and Grim, and how much fun you had, despite the circumstances. With the group reduced to two, it might be more toilsome, but you were confident it would be worth it.

Trey finds an extra apron for you, tying it himself to make sure it would stay in place. He gently explains the steps to prepare the ingredients, helping you whenever you didn't understand something. It was quite nice, seeing Trey look so in his element, an unconscious soft expression on his face, as if he was enjoying himself. It's domestic, even, how you dance around each other in the kitchen, passing bowls and cutlery back and forth. He is good humored as he recalls stories from the club, making you laugh whenever he bemoans Rook's experiments.

The stories he tells are very captivating, so much so that you don't look at the recipe book, doing the steps on automatic. Once or twice you almost spill what you were mixing or use too much force to cut something, but it's salvageable every time, so you don't comment on it. You leave the crust on the oven for a bit too much, but it's only slightly charred, so you're pretty sure it's still edible. One of the flour bags slips from your hands and falls on the sink, covering your face in flour powder. Trey helps you clean up, but he's laughing at you and your now white hair. It comes to the point in which you're mixing the crème pâtissière and you get too close to the stove, making the ends of your sleeves to catch on fire. Trey quickly puts it out and runs your arm under cold water. The crème ends up a bit too lumpy, since neither of you were stirring it for a while, but it's not too bad.

Alright, maybe you're not the best at cooking. Still, arranging the strawberries in a circle on top of the tart was pretty fun. The last thing left to do is to let it cool. You lick your lips thinking about eating it once it's ready. You're about to help Trey clean the mess you've made in the kitchen when Rook bursts through the door, looking excited. He tells you there's no time to explain and takes you by the hand, dragging you back to the laboratory. You send Trey your best regards and wish him luck in cleaning everything alone. He sends you a pitying look back.

You should wish yourself some luck as well, since the motive for Rook to have brought you to the lab was for you to help him with the new formula he thought for his experiment. He explains that the one he was trying didn't have it's desired effects, as you could clearly see from the scorch marks on the table you were sitting before. He says that for the new formula, he'll need help to get the ingredients prepared and handed over, since he couldn't stop stirring it until everything was added in. You don't know how he came up with this solution, and honestly? You don't want to know.

Having no other choice, you agree to help him. He reminds you to put your gloves and safety googles on before starting, making a comment on how your cute apron would do as your lab coat. After getting into place, you follow all of Rook's instructions, preparing and handing over the ingredients he asks for. You have no idea what it is that he's going for, as your potions classes are still on a basic and more theorical level, but you decide to trust that he, as your upperclassman, knows what he's doing.

Dread pools on your gut as you watch the ingredients going into the cauldron. There's a hissing sound and bubbles emerge from the deep purple concotion. You have no time to react as Rook thows his arm in front of you just in time for the explosion to take place. You grip onto the table tightly and manage to stay upright, thanking the Sevens for your safety googles. If it were not for them, your entire face would be covered in a sparkling purple powder, some getting into your hair as well. Rook laughs and tells you that you shine bright like the sun. You look on unamused. Trey appears, having heard the explosion, and sighs, clearly being too used to this happening. He tells you and Rook to clean up as he starts to clean your mess, bless him.

Rook takes you to the nearest bathroom available, both of you trying to wash the explosion's results off. It has stuck like glue, and you have to splash your face with the cold water over and over for it to go away. You think there's still some of it on your hair, but can't bring yourself to care much. The apron wasn't enough to cover your body, so your clothes weren't spared either. Rook doesn't comment on it, but you can see him looking at you funny by the corner of your eye.

As you enter the lab, you see that the students that stayed after the first explosion had left. Rook wonders out loud on why they didn't like the innovation of his experiment, sighing as he goes on about the beauty of curiosity. You and Trey exchange glances as you clean everything together. You feel like you stayed way past the club's scheduled time and your arms hurt from moping the floor. At least you get to share your wonky strawberry tart. It doesn't taste as good as Trey's usual ones do, but you like it. You can't decide if it was worth all the trouble though.

Grim laughs at you once you get back to Ramshackle, your face is itching for the rest of the day, there's some sparkles in your hair for the rest of the week, your slightly burnt arm won't stop aching, you sent your clothes' laundry bill for Rook to pay. As much as you respect scientific advances, you feel that being involved in the research isn't for you (nor the cooking). Time to check out other clubs.

(Rook keeps approaching you at the halls to update you on how he's thought of possible changes to make the potion work. Trey comments he liked having company in the kitchen and help for cleaning up for once. They aren't very subtle. You don't even have to agree to visit the club again another time, as Rook has already volunteered you as his lab assistant and Trey has gifted you a recipe book with markings on which recipes you'll try to bake next. Guess you have no other choice but to go back now.)

Pop Music Club (Cater, Kalim, Lilia)

And back to the arts you go. But this time, instead of performing, how about playing some music? Joining the school band might be fun!

You're surprised to only find three people in the club. All the others had a bunch of people, but in this one, once you enter the classroom you're met with three of your friends hanging out in a couch. Why was there a couch in this classroom in the first place!?

It's not just three random people, either. It's the chillest and most extroverted people of the school, the ones that got along with everyone and were very popular. They whip their head so fast to the direction of the door once you enter you get a little worried for their necks. They seem elated to have a visitor, so you suppose this won't be so bad, even if you don't feel confident enough to play an instrument in front of other people.

Kalim jumps at you and envelops you in a big hug, a smile shining on his face as usual. Lilia pats you on the back, pushing you closer to the center of the room and welcoming you. Cater takes out his phone and takes a selfie with everyone, declaring it would go viral to have the cutest people of the school all together in one place and gushing over how many likes he'd get. They sure are a lively bunch.

Lilia plops you down on the couch, telling you to feel at home and winking. There's a center table with food containers in front of you, Kalim offers you a bite, explaining they made the snacks to bring to their club meetings, and Cater proposes to make it a culinary competition, in which you'd judge which one was the best. You were pretty sure you had left the cooking behind at the science club, what did it even had to do with music? Well, you weren't going to complain about getting free food!

Cater insists you try his first, a round tupperware with fried corn tortilla chips and guacamole in a dipping bowl at the center. It looks amazing, making your mouth water a bit. You take one of the chips, lightly lower it on the dip and take a bite. It's overall very good, the consistency and the crispness are wonderful, there's just one little problem: it's very spicy. Very spicy. Not the "oh no there's a tiny bit of spice in my otherwise bland food" type but the "my eyes are burning my thorat is burning my stomach is burning I'm going to burn from the inside out" type. And that's how you feel as you fan your face and drink the water Kalim brings you, though it only makes the burning worse, spreading it throughout your mouth and making your eyes water. Lilia appears upside down, hanging from the ceiling and scaring you, and offers you a glass of milk instead. You gratefully take it and chug it down as quick as you can.

Once you've calmed down, Lilia explains how he keeps milk around for Cater's food, that's way too spicy for his liking. Cater looks at you with puppy eyes, asking if you liked the chilli peppers he added to the recipe. You didn't, not really. It would be one thing to add some, sure, but it's like there's more pepper than anything else. You weakly smile at him and explain apologetically that it might not suit your tastes so much. Cater seems a bit down, but he only shrugs and jokingly says that not everyone can have good taste.

Kalim bounces up to you next, shoving his container in front of your face and telling you to try it. He proudly says he made it all without Jamil's help and that he hopes you'll like it. You look at the fried dumplings, remembering it's a sweet called awameh. It looks good as well, although a bit burnt, nothing that would stop you from eating it. You take one, getting surprised by how crunchy they ended up being, the sweetness exploding in your tongue. It would be very good, but you have the impression Kalim must have used the wrong measure of the ingredients. Yes, it was sweet, but it was way too sweet. Not only that, the sugar mixed with the cinnamon on the syrup also left you thirsty, as you downed another cup of water. It was like cinnamon was impregnated on your mouth, there was definetly too much.

While you accept your tongue will never be the same after the combo of strong flavours, Kalim reveals he tried to follow one of Jamil's mom's recipes for it, declaring it to be the best he's ever proved. He just got a bit confused when taking the measures for some ingredients, but he was proud of his work! You make a mental note to try to eat one of Jamil's awameh later, sure that it would taste delicious, and compliments Kalim on his efforts, suggesting gently to ask for help next time he has trouble with it.

The last one is Lilia, and you start dreading what might be hidden on his container. He seems preppy that someone will get to try his food, telling you that he's the one that cooks dinner at Diasomnia and how Silver and Sebek love his food. Cater and Kalim look at you with pity, shaking their heads. You've heard of Lilia's infamous cooking skills before, so you have to mentally prepare yourself before looking at what he prepared. It's... uh... something alright. Though it's unrecognizable, a dark glob that just looks sticky and burnt after the point. Your desperate look does nothing for Cater and Kalim to try to save you, as they look away furtively.

Aceppting your fate, you take one of the spoons Lilia brought and take the smallest bite possible while he stares at you attentively. It tastes foul, as expected, as if something had died in your mouth. You resist the urge to gag, trying to go for a smile and ending up with a grimace instead. It's horrible, there's no other way to describe it. All the rumors don't do it justice, it's way worse than what they say. You suspect you will get food poisoning later, as you down another glass of water. At least you're keeping yourself hydrated. Lilia seems to either not notice or pretend he didn't, as he keeps his cheery attitude and asks if you liked it. You nod weakly, hoping it would be enough for him to not force you to take another bite. He mercifully looks satisfied with the answer and you sigh with relief.

In the end you tell them you don't know which one was the best (you side eye Lilia's, thinking on how you knew which one was the worst at least). They don't look disappointed, content in having you prove their food as each munchs on their own snacks happily. You wonder how they manage to do it. Suddenly you miss Trey's baking and the wonky strawberry tart you've made.

As everyone sits together, Cater puts on some electropop song on the background that reminds you of the famous vocaloids from your world. You have an epiphany that Cater would listen to Hatsune Miku. You're not sure what to do with that information, staying quiet in shock as the other three talk between themselves. You remember him mentioning something like it when you went to do the SDC auditions, but you had other things to worry about and it must have slipped your mind. Once you've recomposed yourself, you ask what the food had to do with music, since the question had been burning in your mind for some time (not as much as your tongue burned tho).

They explain that the pop music club doen't really do much music, as the name suggests, they mostly just hang around to chat and chill. It has gotten them in a bit of trouble with the Headmaster, as they don't do anything that could actually be considered a club activity, causing him to have threatened to disband the club. Not to mention there's no new members for a while, no matter how much they try to attract more students. You consider joining this one just to spite Crowley. They clarify that they do play their instruments every once in a while to cover some song, but with their different music tastes they never reach an agreement on what to play most of the time.

You're curious on how they might sound as a band, sure it would be a chaotic but entertaining sight. You would ask to see this, if it was not for Cater excitedly declaring it's "gossiping time". They put on elevator music to play at the background and huddle close together, leaving a spot open for you to join their little circle, as if you were about to be in into the school's secrets. And that's exactly what happens, as the three of them seem to know about everyone and everything that goes on Night Raven College. There's so much drama you've never heard about, and you feel you know way too much about the lives of people you've never even met, but it's nice to create conspiracy theories about what would happen next in the soap opera that was other people's lives.

The topic changes to Magicam, since you were lowkey stalking the boy that had caused a ruckus in the cafeteria the past days. Cater likes his account's aesthetic, saying it passes the bad boy vibes he has, and whines about their club's magicam page. You weren't aware they even had one, so you ask to see it. It's... not what you were expecting. They might as well not have an account, since there are no photos other than their icon, which was the symbol of the club. Cater complains that they couldn't come to an agreement on how the page should look and were too lazy to try to work something out, so it has stayed like that for months.

Since you know how much he cares about this stuff, you offer your help! After all, it could be a lot of fun, and it'd feel as if you're the manager of the club. Cater lightens up with joy, throwing his arms around you and bringing you close to affectionately rub his cheeck on the top of your head, thanking you for being such a prestative underclassman. You enter your business mode, thinking on how you could go about this. It makes sense to promote the club doing something other than hanging out, so you tell them to pick up their instruments and pose.

You go around them and try many different angles. Kalim and Lilia have fun doing weird poses that makes very clear they aren't playing at all, but there's a charming genuine smile on their faces. Cater poses with his guitar like a professional, making captivating facial expressions that make even you swoon, only encouraging him to make different ones. He could be a model, you think, with how he knows all the right ways to smile at the camera and tilts his head just so to make him look cute and alluring at the same time, fingers skillfully positioned at the eletric guitar's chords, eyes lidded, hair messy deliberately, body facing forwards with confidence. He has everything to ace the rockstar persona, at least in looks.

You try taking some of them together as an unit, but none pleases you enough. There's something missing, but you can't quite put your finger on what. You give his cellphone back as you ponder about it. Cater looks through the photos, commenting how one looks "super cool~" and in the other he's "slaying". He decides it'd be a great moment to take advantage of his cuteness streak to take a photo with everyone together, yourself included. Cater drapes his arm around your shoulders and keeps you close to him, cheek coming to rest at your forehead. Kalim and Lilia make poses behind you two, laughing at how silly they look with all the filters Cater tries on. 

He ends up telling you to decide which photo looked better, as he couldn't chose just one, something like: "any photo with you would look cute, of course I can't chose!" You look through all of them, but only one gets your eyes, the only without a filter. Everyone looks genuinely happy, making your heart warm. Cater's is not looking at the camera itself, but slightly to the side, where you are, with such a soft expression you can't help but be endeared by it. It's him, not a forced smile and exaggerated pose, just Cater, happy. That's what the other pictures were missing. 

You show it to him, insisting it's the best and should be the first photo on the club's Magicam page. He pouts about the lack of filter, saying how the other ones look much cuter, but you explain that you like the real him much more than any filter, since nothing could ever come close to the real deal, no filter in the world could make him justice. You're very genuine with it too, since it's the truth. Cater stares at you, caught by surprise, and turns his face away from you, ears tinted pink, taking a minute to recompose himself, leaving you confused. Lilia looks on knowingly, smirking at him. You weren't alone in your confusion, as Kalim seemed to be just as clueless as you.

Your argument manages to convince him, though, as he soon comes up with an eye catching description and posts it, grumbling that you should be happy now. You are, actually, so you simply smile at him, giggling at his playful eye roll. Only after the picture was already posted and you entered on your own account that you notice your eyes were closed. You yelp and try to convince Cater to change it to another one, but he refuses, telling that you were the one that chose it so you should stick with it, sticking his tongue out at you in a childsh manner. You whine some more before giving up. Cater seemed really content with the choice, if the soft smile on his face as he glanced at it meant anything, so you let it be, resigning to your fate. You weren't even a member, so you hoped you wouldn't attract that much attention. (You really hoped Ace wouldn't find it, otherwise you'd never hear the end of it.)

He suddenly gets an idea to decorate the classroom to make it look more "magicamable", dragging Lilia with him to get the decorations. Lilia whispers something to him that makes him glance back at you with a red face, quickly scurrying away and leaving you and Kalim to look on in confusion. How weird, what had gotten into him? 

At that moment, the playlist shuffles, coming up with a song that has a very upkeep beat. Kalim jumps in excitement, saying that was his favorite song and he couldn't not dance to it. You can't help jumping your leg and moving your head to the beat, swaying to the contagious rhthym. Kalim notices and extends his hands in your direction, inviting you to dance with him. You know you're nowhere near his skill level and you'd look clumsy compared to his fluid moviments, but his earnestness convinces you to give it a try. You were sure he wouldn't make fun of you, so why not have a good time too?

Hand in hand, the two of you move together, not completly in sync, but in a rhythm that feels right, that's only yours. It's nice, seeing his content expression up close, foreheads almost touching, feet following the other's steps, hips swaying together. You spin once, laughing, he spins once, grinning wildly. You're lost in the trance of the hypnotizing beat of Kalim's heart.

The song gradually comes to a stop, making both of you calm down too. Kalim has one hand on your waist, the other still holding yours. You hold onto his shoulder, your noses touch, breaths coming in puffs, his eyes crinkle and it's warm, he's warm. Your chest follows his in it's rise and fall, your stomach does pirouettes, to the point you're dizzy, your cheeks feel hot. You start worrying you might have really gotten food poisoning from Lilia's cooking.

Before either of you say anything else, the sound of Cater's giggle burst your bubble, bringing you back to the real world. You whip your head to the door, watching as Lilia and Cater giggle deviously, Cater's fingers working fast on his cellphone's keyboard. You separate from Kalim's burning touch, your hands suddenly feeling cold, and stride up to them, demanding to look at what they found so funny. Lilia shows you, on his own phone, a videoclip of you and Kalim dancing together, nearing the end of the song. Your focus is initially on Kalim, as he glows, movements showing years of expertise, it's... beautiful. Then your gaze averts to yourself, and how, like you suspected, you were looking goofy near him, not matching the tempo at all.

You whine up at Cater again, asking him to delete the stories he posted, but he refuses, saying it was way too precious to miss. You lightly hit his chest and look up your lashes at him, pouting. His teasing expression falters, as if you were on the brink of convincing him. Lilia pulls you away and explains it was only on close friends anyway, so you needn't worry about the whole school seeing it. Kalim agrees that the video is very nice, beaming as he watches you two having fun. You sigh and give up, not having the heart to be a killjoy.

Lilia and Cater's hands are empty of any decorations, so you question them about it. Cater frowns exaggeratedly, drowning on dramatically on how they couldn't find any and how it was such a pity. Lilia covers his hand to hide a giggle, only making the action more obvious. Cater glares at him subtly. Kalim notices how the club's reserved time is almost coming to an end, deciding that to make a grand finale you should play an instrument, after all they should at least pretend they did something club related for you to report back to the Headmaster. And it'd be a lot of fun for you to play with them!

Lilia claps his hands together, agreeing it would be a most gleeful experience. He insists on teaching you how to play the bass, not wanting to hear whether you already knew how to or not. He gives you the instrument and shows how to hold it in the right way, trying to teach a few chords. It's a bit difficult to understand the confusing terms he uses, so he sighs and comes behind you, taking your hands in his and doing the movements, pressing his chest against your back, his deep voice right by your ear as he explains. You can't pay attention to it all, for some reason. You kind of feel dizzy again. Perhaps it's the food poisoning for real this time?

His fingers guide yours along the strings, gently pressing on the right spots, strumming the chords at the bridge. He murmurs the instructions, voice ressonating like the low pitch of the instrument, hot breath tickling your skin. You let him do as he pleases, dazed. The simple notes ring in your ears, lulling you into calmness, eyes closing as you let your sensations take the wheel, the frequency making your heart vibrate in your chest, as if dancing along, your head floating in the clouds.

It's all good and well until Lilia starts singing along. Or whatever it is that he calls "singing". In reality, he starts screaming some punk-rock lyrics right by your ear. Your heart jumps so quickly you swear you almost had an arrhythmia, your soul leaving your body for a second. Your eyes snap open so fast the lights from the classroom blind you and make black spots appear in your vision. You elbow Lilia in your surprise, thankfully making him stop trying to burst your eardrums. You get away, taking off the strap of the bass and giving it back to him. You think that's enough practicing for now.

Later on the day you confirm your food poisoning suspicions to be true. You've gained a new found respect for Sebek for enduring the poison Lilia calls cooking everyday and still managing to keep that impressive disposition of his. At least you helped the pop music club get more followers on magicam and spread their word out there. A bunch of people sign up to know the club, so you're all really happy! You felt like you've done a good job. (In the next week, the people arrive and see no sight of you, only of the dynamic trio. They don't show up again, leaving the members number back to it's original three.)

It was pretty fun, all things considered. You didn't get hurt other than in your pride and your social image, so it's a win in your books. Still, you're not sure you could handle their energetic and chaotic personalities combined like this evey week and risk getting deaf or suffering stomach failure. Time to check out other clubs.

(Cater comments on how the photos you took together got the most likes, insisting you come over again for a photoshoot. Kalim says he's got new songs to dance with you and that he's asked Jamil to help him cook for the next club meeting. Lilia tells you that you still have to take some more bass lessons to get the hang of it. Well, you suppose you could pass by sometime to be in the know about what goes on at the school and to get to prove Jamil's cooking. And to enjoy your friend's company, of course!)

Masterlist

[dazed--xx]

SKZ Break-Up Reaction (Hyung Line)

A/N: just decided to do a reaction there will be a another version for the rest of the members soon just a small thing to hold you guys over hope you enjoy. I can’t seem to do the keep reading link so I’ll fix it when I get to my computer so sorry about that

Chan:

You stare at your lock screen, NO NEW MESSAGES, it reads. You should have expected as much. Chan never responded anymore. You look at the time 2:36 a.m. the small clock reads, the wallpaper photo laughing at your loneliness as you stare at the smile plastered on Chan’s face on the screen. You couldn’t remember the last time you had actually heard from him, a month ago? Maybe two? You weren't sure, only thing you knew was your phone was filled with unanswered calls and ignored messages on his part. You stare around the room, now void of all of your things. Your bags packed away in your trunk. You don’t know why you’ve stayed that way for the past two days. Your life packed up and ready to be started somewhere else. But something kept holding you back.  

Maybe it was your need to see him one more time before you left. Maybe it was your hope for him to beg you to stay, but he’d have to come home to even know what's going on. You knew he didn’t even read your message to come home and talk yet, here you were alone. You bit your lip, maybe it was hopeless, waiting for him to come home; still here you sat on what was now his bed, in his home waiting for him to come back so you can inform him of your departure. Your heart sank as a small ping rings through the air.  

NEW MESSAGE: CHAN ❤️ 

I'm sorry, I'll come home tomorrow night. I miss you so fucking much  

You felt the tears run down your face. Opting to ignore his message, you sob to yourself. It was always the same thing and tomorrow never came for the past month that was always the only thing you heard. You were tired of waiting for tomorrow night, you were tired of waiting for him. So, with a heavy heart you lift yourself from the bed. Taking one last look at the memory of you two, you make your way to the door. Your hands are shaky as you grab your purse. Pulling your keys, you take the house key off placing it on the key ring on the wall. You grab your jacket; something reflects off the light. You stared at your right hand, there it sat, the last thing that would tie you to him. Your promise ring, your heart cracks as you fiddle with the object, circling it around your finger a few times before taking it off and placing it on the wooden shoe rack next to the door. You give one last look at your former apartment before making your way to your car and driving away with tears in your eyes.

Chan felt his heart soar as he finally parked in the driveway.  He felt like he was going to cry as he pulled himself out of the car, he needed to see you. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he had drowned in your presence. He needed to feel you in his arms whilst he finally lay in his bed and get some much-needed sleep. He let out a heavy sigh as he unlocked the door, placing his keys on the ring, he noticed a single key. His eyes scrunch in confusion as he takes his shoes off, something catches his eye shimmering under the light. His heart drops as he recognizes the ring that once adorned your finger. Only then does he notice your presence is gone. Your blanket that once lay on the couch with your books on the coffee table completely missing. His eyes flash toward the bedroom “Babe?!” He called as he took slow hesitant steps toward the door “please….” His eyes watered his breath was trapped in his throat “….be here” he begged to himself. With heavy breath he opens the door, the bed is made, little reminders of you completely erased. He rushed into the room pulling out the drawers that once contained your clothes “No…” he cried as he stumbled back toward the bed. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Immediately dialing your number as tears burned his eyes. “Answer…. Please…answer” he begs into the phone his heart cracks as he’s greeted by your voicemail. “No....fuck please...” 

To: Y/N 💕 

  Where are you?  

Please just answer my calls 

I’m sorry whatever I did whatever. happened please just tell me  

Come home please come home  

I’m sorry fuck answer please don’t do this to me I love you  

I love you so much I’m sorry I’m sorry please I’m home now please come back I won’t leave again I can be here with you now please answer me  

I need to hear your voice I need to know you’re okay come home to me please I’m sorry without you im nothing  

     Seen at 11:32 pm

Minho-

” Why can’t you just get out of my way for fucking once!” Minho exclaimed. You rolled your eyes as you silently fumed. You couldn’t possibly see how it was your fault as he had run into you, you let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry…” you pout, taking slow timid steps toward him “D-do you work today?” You ask timidly, placing your hand on his shoulder softly only for your hand to be shoved off, he nods in response not looking at you. You could feel the heat radiating off your cheeks as you bite your lip softly, “C-can we d-do something if you don’t get out too late? I miss you” you ponder, wrapping your arms around his waist from behind “Why are you always up my ass like honestly Y/N, can you ever just stop being so damn clingy?! JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE” He states as he pulls your arms from around him and stomps his way toward your bedroom. 

You nod with tears in your eyes as you make your way toward the bathroom you could feel his eyes on you as you closed the door behind you. Locking it, you feel your breath is shaky. You were used to it. He continuously reminded you of how much you were a burden on his life. You could remember the days he begged you not to leave his arms in the early mornings before his practices. You don’t know what had changed, he was always a little standoffish, but he was never this blatantly cold and mean. Your heart sang praises as you entered the shower. The warm water kisses your skin. You could hear the front door slam closed signifying Minho’s departure. You sigh to yourself as you pull yourself out of the shower and into your shared bedroom. You had a few hours to give Minho what he wanted. You pull your clothes on and begin packing your things. If Minho wanted to be left alone then you would give that to him. Your presence seemed to ruin his mood every day and you couldn’t make him happy anymore.  

You were grateful that you had finished packing the few things you had brought into the relationship only a couple hours later. You were trying to do everything quickly before Minho came home so you could avoid the tears that would fall from your eyes at the satisfied look on his face at your departure.  Hearing a low honk from outside, you let out a heavy sigh as you pick up one of the bags. You make your way to the taxi you had called. Placing bag after bag into the trunk. “I'm sorry I think there's just one more” You apologize to the driver who sits in annoyance at your lack of speed. Rushing back through the door you take one final look around, checking for anything you could have missed. Your eyes land on the picture placed on the side of the bed. You and Minho, with a big smile on your faces, caked decorating Minho’s lips and cheeks whilst his members squeezed you two together in attempts to get in the photo. A sad smile is held on your lips at the memory, your heart cracks as you stare at Minho’s smile.  

A look you haven't seen for a long time, you wished you could go back to that time and cherish every bit of happiness he showed you. The taxi driver honking pulls you out of your thoughts. Placing the photo back on the nightstand, you take your final trip out the door with the last bag. Opening the back passenger door, you place the bag on the seat behind the driver before you feel a hand encasing your wrist. You jump in shock as you turn to face the culprit, you're met with a wide-eyed Minho. His mouth hung open; eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “W-what’s going on? W-where are you going?” He stammered. Your eyes drift to the ground as you shuffle on back and forth on your feet “I'm sorry, I thought I would be gone before you got back, I'm going now though” your bottom lip, you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. “Goodbye Minho” you whispered as you pull your wrist from his grip and close the door telling the driver your parents address. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him as you drove away.  

Minho stood in shock not comprehending your words as he stared at your crying figure in the vehicle. So many questions circled around in his head. Why had you left? Where were you going? Why hadn't you told him you had planned a trip somewhere? Why did you want to leave before he got back? Did you take him seriously earlier? His heart clenched at that one, you didn’t---you couldn’t have. You know he didn’t mean it; you must know he didn’t mean it. He loves you, fuck he loves you he doesn’t want you to leave him alone, if anything it was the opposite. He was the clingy one, he needed you around him all the time to even be able to get out of bed and you had to have known that he was just mad, you wouldn’t leave him over it, right? Right? You love him you couldn’t leave. His eyes watered as the cab drove away. His breath got caught in his throat. You were leaving, you were going to leave and not come back. His legs acted of their own accord as he chased after the car, tears streamed down his face as he called your name. His legs felt like jelly as he felt his ability to breath dwindle. Please...just keep going Minho he begged himself. Sobs ripped through his chest as he collapsed to his knees. Fuck come back...... he cried to nothing.  

Changbin:

“You never listen! Like seriously Y/N! I’m tired of telling you shit only for you to fucking ignore me!” Changbin exclaimed. You couldn’t remember how the fight had started some hours ago, the only thing you were sure of was that it was over, something that wasn’t as important as both of your anger had suggested. “Oh, I never listen?! How many times have I asked you to pick me up from work only to walk home…in the rain I might add? You continuously ignore things I’ve asked of you, and you are rarely ever here!” You scoff, crossing your arms over your chest as you roll your eyes. You could feel the fire from Changbin’s glare burning into your face. “Did you ever think that maybe I didn’t want to be around you?  You’re fucking infuriating! You never even try to listen to my point of view! You continuously go against me every chance you get!” He growls his eyes in a scowl. You feel tears welling up in your eyes as he continues his rant.  

“So why are you even with me then?!” You spit. He shakes his head in response “honestly, I have no clue…this is a waste of my time and a mistake” you feel your heart clench at his words, you scoff “good to know…”  with a definitive nod you stomp toward his bedroom grabbing your keys phone and purse. You saw nothing but red as you barreled your way to the door. As you exit his room you give him one last look “I won’t waste anymore of your time Changbin, let’s not keep making this mistake then” you state, tears running down your cheeks. You stare at him; his eyes wide and full of guilt. “Baby—no please just—just don’t. I’m done since this is such a mistake to you then I think you should just forget about me” you cut him off. His eyes fill with tears at your words as he shakes his head rapidly, his hands reaching out for you “N-No, c-come on this is stupid. We can fix this I'm sorry I didn’t mean that I was just angry” his voice is panicked, you stand in place shaking your head at his words. “Those aren't things you say just because you're mad, it's how you’ve felt for a while.” You respond dejectedly.  

His figure is shaking as he looks around the room, tears flowing down his cheeks. “I-it's not like that! I'm serious please believe me, you're not a mistake, were not a mistake I'm just stupid please don’t go” He begs. “I'm sorry Changbin, but I don’t think I’d be able to get over this. I'm always going to feel like you feel trapped with me, and it wouldn’t be healthy for us.” he gives you a small nod “I love you; I need you to believe that. Please believe that my love for you can help. I don’t want you to go, I don’t want to lose you. Fuck you're the best thing that’s happened to me in so long. Please don’t leave me.” Your face is warm at his words. Your tears still streaming down your face, as you release a sigh from your throat, “I'm sorry I just need time” you state with a whisper as you make your way out the door.  

Hyunjin:

Your hands were clammy and shaking around the basket, as you made your way through the JYPE building. You had only been here a select few times, and you were always able to figure out where you were as you usually went with Hyunjin. Whilst you were sitting in your dorm you felt the rush of loneliness, so you decided to surprise your boyfriend and his members with Tteokbokki, Bulgogi, and Chuncheon Dakgalbi. You knew they practice for hours without a break, so you figured they’d appreciate not having to order out for once. You were also excited to see Hyunjin as you haven't seen him other than in videocall for weeks. You were excited for their comeback, but you also hated that it took time away from you to spend with him. A smile forms on your lips as you see the familiar practice room. You can hear their voices booming through the door. Reaching for the handle you freeze as you hear Jeongin ask “Hyung, what's going on with you and Y/N?” your ears perk up at the mention of your name. What did he mean? “What do you mean?” You hear Hyunjin respond, annoyance lacing his tone. 

“Well...it's just we haven't seen her in a while, and I could just be guessing here but it just seems like something's off. You always seem annoyed when we mention Y/N. I was just making sure you guys didn’t break up or something and we were making it awkward by bringing her up” He states shyly. You smile to yourself. Jeongin had been the first member you had met from Stray Kids, long before you began dating Hyunjin. You appreciated that he felt like getting answers for you. You went to push the door fully open when you heard Hyunjin’s voice grow a little louder “You want to know what's actually awkward? Y/N.” Your heart sinks at his words. You were awkward? “What do you mean by that Hyung?” Jeongin questions. “I mean everything in our relationship is fucking awkward right now. She won't leave me the fuck alone; she calls me all the time not realizing that maybe I don’t want to talk to her if I don’t answer. She just doesn’t understand how the world works. She has this misconception about sex, so that’s completely off the table. Shes a foreigner so her Korean isn't the best, she doesn’t dress like someone who’s exceptionally a prude, but she is....” You look down at your current outfit at his words, a tight crop top and sweatpants. Tears make their way down your cheeks; you decide you don’t want to hear anymore. You place the basket on the ground in front of the door. Your vision is blurry as you knock on the door and make your way down the hall.  

You can hear the door open, making you pick up your pace. “Y/N?!” you hear Jisung’s voice call out, bringing you to a halt you turn to face him, bow slightly “I made a lot for you guys please eat” You call back from your place down the hall as you run toward the exit and out the building. You let the tears fall freely as you trudge your way back home. You felt stupid, you didn’t know Hyunjin felt those things. He never told you any of those things. Your bottom lip makes its way between your teeth. You didn’t know your Korean was bad, or that your no sex policy was such a deal breaker for Hyunjin. Youre pulled out of your thoughts by a hand tugging at your wrist. Your eyes connect with the culprit. You look away quickly as you see your boy—soon to be ex-boyfriend staring at you confusion etched onto his face. “Why’d you just drop food off and leave?” he questions sadness laced into his tone. “Please don’t touch me....” You state coldly ripping your arm from his hand. “D-did I do something?” He questions his voice filled with worry. Shaking your head “Just please don’t touch me.......I don’t think this is working out.......” your voice is practically a whisper. Hyunjin’s hands wrap around your arms “What's not working out?” his voice is panicked. You bring your eyes to meet his once again. “Let’s.......Breakup” You state definitively. Hyunjin’s eyes widen his mouth hung open as he shakes his head rapidly. “What?! No—why—why would we? --I don’t understand, what did I do?” he cries, tears filling up his eyes. You pull yourself from his arms as he stands there in shock. Turning away from him you restart your journey back to your dorm.  

“Wait! ” He calls “Wait! Please! Don’t go!”  

Your pace picks up, your heart racing. You notice the large crowd on the crosswalk, you escape into it. “Please wait for me! Don’t leave—fuck—come on please!” You hear him shoving his way through the crowd. “Y/N! Stop! Don’t go please come back I love you please come back; I'm trying fuck I'm trying please don’t leave me here like this! I don’t want to break up please stop!” He cries. You notice his eyes focused on nothing but you; tears streaming down his face as he continues to try to get to you. You almost stop at his declaration, until his word to Jeongin replays in your mind. Shaking your head, you break out into a run to your dorm. 

[savnofilter]

Text Me Back | Katsuki Bakugo

      Pro Hero!Katsuki Bakugo x [FEM]Reader

CONTENT WARNING(S): sexual content, sexting, sending nudes, crude jokes, mention of myspace™, p.o.v switches, established relationship.

WORD COUNT: 4k words [15 mins].

READ MORE: masterlist + [student masterlist].

A/N: gosh i wish i couldve done more with this but... i'll figure it out later. may revamp or do a part 2 but it depends on how motivated. anyways, enjoy. 🥹 also i just realized that reader did nothing the whole day LMAOOOO so ignore that pls omg. thank you, anon!

As spring rolled around, the air had a certain chill to it. 

It was a crisp scent with sharp edges, the smell of growing plants clinging onto the molecules within the vicinity. As a result of the coolness in your room, you probably should turn on the heater in your apartment. Usually, you wouldn't have to worry about doing it yourself, but due to maintenance delaying another day later to fix the issue, you now find yourself in an internal battle to get up out of your bed for your comfort. 

Of course, you didn't hate the spring atmosphere. You liked it. The nostalgic and tender feel it gave your body and mind gave a fake sense of comfort that you desired. But you would desperately love it more if you could bask in such ideals while in the comfort of your lukewarm sheets, temperature heightened by the air of the room. 

You groan in disdain at the fact you had to get out of your bed. You begrudgingly roll onto your side and feel around for your phone on your nightstand. Once finding your device you click the button on the side to partially unlock it to see what you have missed from being asleep. Of course, regular things like Twitter notifications were present, Snapchat, Instagram, MySpace, etc… until a message stuck out the most amid your roll call. 

Bakugo 🤭💕

Light schedule today, museum date?

I know you will wake up late, so I'll decide for you. Pick-up is at 7 p.m.

[✓] Sent 8:42 A.M.

You immediately perk up at the notification, a goofy smile spreading onto your lips.

Bakugo has been your boyfriend for about three years now. You had originally met years prior when you both were in school. Him being an intern for superhero-ing and you were an intern for hands-on training within the superhero management world. You were a little shit and he was an even more of a little shit… and that's what made you two click. Even with his calloused way of showing his emotions, he had still been pretty evident about his feelings towards you when you two were merely friends. In the same way, you two could work and piss each other off to no end, there was a great sense of duality showcased by empathy, love, and compassion toward each other. When you needed someone or something, you could always count on your boyfriend, Katsuki.

You chewed the inside of your lip as your brain racked your head at the things you needed to do today. Today was Friday so you were sure you wouldn't have anything on your schedule. But because you tended to let things slip your head, you still had to double-check to make sure. You light up once again as you realize today was only a busy day for yourself—chores, errands, and minimum job-related things you could finish at home. Nothing dire; just adulting.

You

and what if I said no????

how'd y'know i'd wake up late lol

[✓] 13:01 P.M.

After quickly adjusting your noise settings from silent to vibrate, you bring your phone back down onto the nightstand and properly sit up to avoid your back from aching at an uncomfortable angle. You stretch in delight, arms brought over your head and your eyes shut exerting all of the drowsiness within you. You coil back into yourself once the cold air you had forgotten about hits your skin as a rude reminder. You glare at the thermostat before swiftly throwing your covers off and trudge your way to the small dial and fix the dilemma yourself.

While fiddling with the switch, you hear your buzz behind you. Your brows scrunch in frustration as you can feel yourself start to get agitated at how it's acting, finally getting the stupid little compartment to work before walking off. You nearly trip on your way back to bed in an effort to get back to the warmth of your bed.

Bakugo 🤭💕

You always wake up in the evening, dumbass.

& you have a free schedule today.

[✓] Sent 13:08 P.M.

You scoff.

Your chat bubbles float up on the screen on his end as you try to think of something more annoying to combat him with. You fall short.

You

Damn.

[✓] Sent 13:11 P.M.

You think to yourself before pausing and sending another text.

You

shouldn't you be at work? why are you texting me

a kid is probably drowning rn bc Lord Explosion Murder Dynamight is sexting his girlfriend instead of doing his job.

did you change your name to your hero name AGAIN???

[✓] Sent 13:15 P.M.

If loving this kind of banter was something that you enjoyed, may the devil take you away. You couldn't help the grin mischievously as you waited for his correspondence. You were practically on the edge of your bed waiting for his reply.

A few minutes go by and he hasn't replied. There's a pang of hurt following your spiraling thoughts. Who cared if a kid was really drowning-

Bakugo 🤭💕

↳{replied to your text: shouldn't you be at work? why are you texting me}

Is work in the room with us?

[✓] Sent 13:25 P.M.

You're almost quick to reply before seeing his speech bubbles pop up again, eyes watching in interest. You can't help but feel nervicited seeing it disappear and reappear, proud to have stunned him. What you didn't know is what he was fixing himself to say.

Bakugo 🤭💕

↳{replied and highlighted: … Dynamight is SEXTING HIS GIRLFRIEND instead of doing his job.}

No pic, no proof

[✓] Sent 13:27 P.M.

You squint at your phone and pause. Did he just quote the way you talk AND send you a musty and memefied reply all in one go? You huff at his bravery, rolling your eyes but feeling a deep blush creep up on your cheeks. Your phone vibrates.

Bakugo 🤭💕

Don't tell me you folded that fast, babe.

[✓] Sent 13:31 P.M.

Oh, but you did. You weren't expecting him to fire back at you like this. Often when you made an innuendo of some sort he'd whine and brush it off as if he hasn't beaten your doonies down multiple times—sometimes all in one night. But you refused to let him win this. You need to think fast.

Again, the cool air caresses your exposed hand, the stroke of the uncomfortable chill making you hiss. You position yourself on your back where you can safely cover the backs of your hands as you held your phone. A few more minutes had passed than you had noticed, your screen growing dim as you were forced to look at your newly awakened and chilled state.

That's when it hit you.

No pic, no proof, right?

As you shiver feeling a stroke of air pass over again, a sign that the temperature in the room is actively changing, you look down at your chest. In your defense, they looked at you first. Your nipples are profoundly erect and poking at your shirt begging for attention. You purse your lips before looking back at your screen, contemplating your next moves. Sucking in a small breath you quickly awaken your phone and swipe your screen over to take a photo of yourself.

You angle the electronic to show your chest, your other hand dragging up some of your shirt to show little skin of your stomach. Your nipples were still very much the prominent part of the image. After realistically struggling a bit, you snap the picture and quickly hum in surprise at how good it is. If you were in any other state than your current one, you would've retaken it but you couldn't feel yourself to care knowing he's an ass anyway.

You decide to say something after the image as you bring up the chat and send in the picture.

You

(IMAGE)

is this proof?

[✓] Sent 13:40 P.M.

After setting your phone down and interlocking your fingers together, you stare up at the sky: now that you think about it, what possessed you to send such a scandalous picture all of a sudden? The hormone monster? When was the last time you sent him a proper nude? You rub your face and groan as you now really think about it.

No matter how many times you have sent spicy images, it was the mock post nut clarity after sending it off. Debating if the pic was good enough or hoping that it somehow didn't change sender at the last second. The vulnerable feeling starts to claw its way into your body… and yet you refuse to let it get to you. Just like how everything with Bakugo is, all the nervous feelings always filled you with excitement. You couldn't wait to see his response because you knew damn well he was your munch.

You hear your phone buzz once before turning your head to see it fade to black again. Deciding to not look at it straight away, you get up for the second time today. Fortunately, your room was starting to warm up which meant it was the perfect time to start your day (yes, nearing the second hour of the evening). Your phone buzzes again and you choose to ignore it.

Running through your routine is clockwork. Use the bathroom, brush your teeth, shower, facial, and the last part you hadn't reached yet was to get dressed. You had honestly forgotten about teasing your long-term boyfriend as you freshened up for the day. Typically, you did this as a way to relieve stress and rejuvenate yourself. You hum as you lotion up yourself, welcoming back the feelings of giddiness back to your body. There was no need to rush this; it was almost as though the teasing was for your enjoyment more than his. Again you wrap yourself in your robe and finally sit on your bed to go on your phone. His message reads:

Bakugo 🤭💕

↳Loved your message.

Fuck.

Is this how we're playing today?

[✓] Sent 13:41 P.M.

You bite the inside of your lip before a smirk pulls at the corners of your mouth as you type up a reply.

You

you don't want more? okay… ;( 💔

[✓] Sent 14:39 P.M.

He immediately opens your message and his speech bubbles become afloat.

Bakugo 🤭💕

You know damn well that's not what I meant, brat.

Another form of confirmation would be suitable.

[✓] Sent 14:39 P.M.

There's a pause before he sends his next text.

Bakugo 🤭💕

Please.

[✓] Sent 14:39 P.M.

You

I guess you can since you asked nicely…

[✓] Sent 14:41

He was a good boy you had to admit. When he wanted you, he certainly knew how to play the rules until he could be on top. You admired that about him.

You slightly turn your head to the mirror of your bed. You were currently out of sight in the reflection but had an idea of how you could use it. You scooch up to the edge of your bed, sitting with your legs on each side of the corner closest to the body mirror. Before you could even think about sending off a photo you pull your hair back and neaten it up whether it was with a bonnet or messy bun. Regardless you knew he wouldn't give a fuck but this surge in arousal made you want to look sexy in your most natural state. Skin glowing and thriving, you felt like a goddess.

Blessed that the room is warm enough for you to be naked, you partially undress; eyes watch your irresistible figure come to reveal itself. Of course, even with how much you loved yourself, you couldn't show all of yourself just yet. You pull your robe open enough to expose your chest, a small huff of discontent leaving as the air hits your naked skin again. A hum leaves your chest as you admire yourself a bit more, before positioning the camera in a way to show off your chest. You knew this would drive him insane. After a few awkward angles and shots, you deemed your favorite one and opened back up the messages app once again.

You waste no time uploading the pictures but grow a bit hesitant as you can’t help but feel nervous. You’d think after doing this with a trusted partner it’d be a breeze at this stage. You fidget on the edge of the bed as you type up, delete, then retype, decide to delete and then the process continues. ‘Why was this so hard?? Just send the damn pic!’ You sigh and type up your final draft, ready to send the first proper nude for the evening.

With a final decision, you decide to go with something simple.

You

how’s this?

(IMAGE)

[✓] Sent 14:57

You immediately close out the app once you send it off and fall back onto your bed. There’s a giddy smile on your face as you could only imagine what his reaction would be to see the photo. That was the whole exciting thing about this: the teasing that transpires and the adrenaline rush you receive from it. You don’t bother to check if he’s seen it yet as you think it would be best to let your heart rest. Luckily, it’s not long before you need to wait as your phone buzzes beside you.

After a few moments of waiting you sit up on your side to look at the message, your eyes immediately going for Bakugo’s text. You freeze upon seeing two messages in the same format as yours, a regular text followed by a photo to compliment the exchange. You raise your eyebrows as you prop yourself up on your hand now, tapping his notification and swiping up to look at what he has sent you.

You softly gasp as you open the image, something you were not expecting but will gladly accept. “More than perfect.” You read aloud and scrolled further down to look at the whole image. You grin upon seeing a picture of him palming his hard-on through his pants. It appeared by his scenery and clothing that he truly wasn’t out on patrol today, instead probably filming content to build his likability with his fanbase. Not only that, he was in a dressing room, by himself. He had more than enough time to do what he pleases.

Bakugo was more than ready to up the ante and your slow correspondence was killing him. He knew that this was a frequent way that you liked to tease and play dirty with him. He had been up since 5 a.m. and he was basically waiting impatiently for you to wake up.

It had been about a week or so since you two have seen each other and he was missing you badly. Your dumb jokes, your antics, the “arguments” and especially your touch. Apparently, the pre-planned date for tonight was the type of outing you needed as well. Bakugo sucks his teeth as he starts to feel a blush arise on his cheeks as he can’t help but think about you. And you weren’t making it better with how willing you are to toy with him.

Now it was the blonde-haired male's turn to be nervous awaiting your reply. He watched in expectancy to see your response, sitting up from his slouched position on the couch in his dressing room to read your reply.

#1 Brat

not too bad yourself, honey~

[✓] Sent 15:21

Katsuki is quick to start typing again, pausing when he sees your chat bubbles pop up on his phone.

#1 Brat

mind sending another one more… revealing?

(IMAGE)

[✓] Sent 15:23

He chuckles at your proposition. The laugh subsides as he takes in the new image, revealing more of your body in your lying down position practically mimicking the first photo you had sent for the day. The robe artfully covers but also shows your body and he can’t but groan as he longs to touch you. Your breasts, legs, and tummy are so fucking attractive to him. The fact that you have a pretty face tops it all off makes him feel as though he’s won the jackpot being in love with you. But there was one part that he was longing to see as well, the piece of heaven between your legs. The blonde-haired hero grunts as he starts to type up his message.

Bakugo 🤭💕

I could ask the same from you, beautiful.

[✓] Sent 15:26

You

ah-ah, you first!

[✓] Sent 15:27

“This…” Katsuki mumbles to himself but doesn’t stop from unbuckling his pants anyways. With how hard his length appeared in the earlier photo, it is no surprise at how confined it was pressing against his underwear. With a simple tug, he releases his cock from his briefs, a soft groan leaving his lips as he strokes his cock. The warmth of his hand certainly did not compare to yours at all.

He imagines your hot hands caressing every bit of his skin, your warm mouth that’s skilled with playing with his sweet spots, your plush thighs that wrap around his waist or squish his face. The way he could watch how your chest jiggle with each thrust, the way that your pussy never fails to take him in like it was made for him. Everything about you was cursing him and he needed you badly.

Bakugo tilts his head back against the top of the couch as he starts to speed up his thrusts, now fully getting into the thought of what he’d do to you if you were right next to him right now. How he could easily pick you up and pin you onto the couch as he pounds into you like no tomorrow, not giving a fuck if your moans were too loud and anyone passing by could hear the lewd noises coming from within the room. The way he could watch your face contort into the most erotic expressions all because of him, his touch, his mouth, and his dick most importantly. The moment his hips buck to meet his own stroking hand makes him realize he had distracted himself from his main task.

He fumbles around for his phone before setting it up the way you like the most when watching his videos. The angle is perfectly angled to showcase his impressive length, not tew much balls but enough to show the goodies. He made sure to be vocal as well, letting the camera show his stroking and his thumb rubbing his tip every so often to increase the pleasure. A few times you could hear his soft grunts of your name or an exploitive to release the building-up tension from his masturbation session.

He breathes out as he speeds up his strokes. It seems as though with his jerking that he's getting closer and closer to his climax, the only thing clouding his mind is only you. He softly pants and starts to collect perspiration of sweat on his forehead as he works up to his orgasm. He clenches his jaw as he finally finishes and continues to stroke, showing how much cum he can milk from himself. He hums in mere satisfaction and ends the video to clean up. Unfortunately, that in itself did not rid himself of the boner; a new one was already starting to grow once again.

When he processes the video through the messaging app, there is no cheeky remark or commentary. He is officially worked up and cannot wait any longer.

Bzzz Bzzz

Your eyes widen as you finally get your reply back. You tilt your head in curiosity and feel your heart skip a beat. It is a video. Katsuki sent a fucking video. You bite your lower lip and open the message. There was no other text to accompany it but you already knew what you were in for.

Your breath hitches as the video is straight to the point. You watched his perfectly manicured and clean nails skillfully play with his cock, his large hand almost struggling to wrap around his own length. You hear a small moan and you quickly raise the volume, your heart skipping a beat as you realize that you can hear the erotic noises come from him.

Your hand immediately shoots down to untie your robe, slick already starting to increase and your clit pulsing. You shamelessly moan as your deft fingers stroke at your vulva, your mouth in the shape of an, “o” as you use your fluid to play with your bundle of nerves.

“Shit!” You close your eyes with the image of him stroking his cock deeply ingrained in your mind. The noises he made were enough for you to get off on your own. Your middle finger rubs heavy circles into your clit while your other hand busies itself playing with your nipple, the feeling making you lightly shiver. The sounds of his heavy breathing and the silkiness of his hand rubbing his shaft were driving you crazy, and soon enough your petting wasn’t doing the job. You opt for fingering yourself instead, huffing out a whimper as your fingers barely fill your cunt but make up for it by finding your g-spot at the roof of your pussy.

You weakly open your eyes to watch the screen, your breath growing short and light as you meet your fingering with Katsuki’s stroking hand. Another buzz from your phone makes you sit up a little. Your confused and dazed attention span manages to catch the notification that rolls at the top of the screen.

Bakugo 🤭💕 — 15:45

You better not be finishing yourself off without . . .

You groan in annoyance as you remember why you were even diddling yourself in the first place. You slow your strokes down to properly set up your phone, hastily trying to find a proper angle that shows off your body in its entirety (which wasn’t that hard to do as you were in your bed). You spread your legs for the camera and look into the front camera lens as you insert both fingers into your cunt once again. You tilt your head to the side as you look down at your fingers and work a third finger into yourself.

You moan out his name as you work your right hand's fingers into you, building up to the same pace that you had before with the extra digit inside. “Need you so bad, baby--” You groan, looking back up at the screen. Your left-hand comes up to play with your tits again, the robe that still adorned you slipping off your shoulder as you got closer to your climax.

You whimper, finishing off with your fingers, your eyes looking at your cunt taking in your fingers before glancing back at the camera in lust. You repeated, “fuck” as if in a mantra, your eyes closing and your hips bucking to ride yourself to release. You smile as you slowly take out your fingers, your slick sticking to your fingers and your cunt glistening in juices. Your cunt was puffy and warm with arousal pumping through it and it was clear that you wanted him as bad as he wanted you. You scoot a bit closer to show off your sticky fingers, spreading them for him. You hit stop recording with your clean hand after your finished, wasting no time uploading it into the messenger app.

You

of course not, only for you~

(VIDEO)

[✓] Sent 15:55

As soon as you send it in, a text from him follows. You hop up from your bed as you read, heading back to your bathroom to clean yourself up even though the inevitable would have you in the same state as before.

Bakugo 🤭💕

000-0000 Tokyo-to

Be here in 10 minutes.

[✓] Sent 15:56

Hopefully, your newly scheduled meeting won’t delay his filming.

    all rights reserved © do NOT steal, alter or copy this work.

[nauwuna]

calling in the middle of night for a nightmare~

Warning: English is not my first language also this is the first time I write something like that

Shinichiro Sano/Izana Kurokawa/Manjiro Sano

Part 2 Part 3

Shinichiro

You wake up from a nightmare, you're sweaty and your body won't stop shaking

You want to call your sweet boyfriend, you want to hear his voice but at the same time you don't want to because is literally 1 A.M.

you pick up the phone nervously and find his number

<<mh? Y/n? Why did you call me at this hour>> his sleepy voice make your heart warm but you also feel selfish for call him and wake him up

<<I'm sorry Shin, I just want to hear you>>

<<is something happen my dear?>> you smile when he calls you in that way

<<I have a bad dream...>> you confess to him, Shinichiro stay in silence waiting for you to continue

<<i- I see y-you...>> you stammer as tears wet your cheeks

<<I'm coming>>

<<what?>>

<<wait for me, I'll be there in five minutes>>

<<wait Shin!>>

Shinichiro ended the call and get up to his bed, he gets dressed and take his motorcycle

he rides the bike to your house

<<you really come? It's really late Shin you don't have t->> he stop you with a hug before you finish

He kiss your lips

<<now I'm here, you don't need to worry>>

<<Shin...>> you almost cry for his sweet words

<<let's go to sleep darling>>

You two spend the night cuddling together

After that you couldn't sleep without him, you like have his arms around you all night and Shinichiro doesn't mind at all

Izana

He was awake when you call him

Sometime he have nightmare too, he dream about you leaving him, like his mom did

This boy is sweet and possessive, you are like a shining star for him that he want to protect

Sometime this little one is scare of himself too, like he is very good to destroy the good think but he don't want to destroy you because he loves you

For the first time he loves someone, and he want to protect that special one

He answers your call right away but as soon as he hears you sobbing he freezes

<<Y/n!? Ehy princess what's happened?>>

He literally panic

<<I-izana...>>

In than moment Izana get dressed while he was at phone with you

<<I'm coming>>

<<w-what?>>

<<you crying...I'm coming, wait for me>>

When you open the door your still sobbing

Izana hugs you and give you a sweet kiss

<<who made my princess cry?>> he whisper while he wip the tears on your face

<<just a bad dream, i- I'm so sorry if I make you come here for something so stupid>>

<<it's not stupid>> he start to kiss you

slowly you start to relax

He takes you to your room holding you like in a bride style

you two spent the night chatting and cuddling

Mikey

Like Izana, he was awake

He probably finish one of his metting when you call him

<<are you still awake?>> he asks while eating a Dorayaki

He freezes when he hear you crying

<<y/n?>>

Your tears don't want to stop

<<M-mikey it's nice t-to here your voice>> you sobbing

<<I'm here darling>>

You two stay on the call for a while talk about something else except why are you crying until...

<<open the door>>

<<huh?>>

<<I'm outside Y/n, let me in>>

You run to the door and open it to find Mikey staring at you with worrying eyes

He never show his fear or his weaknesses

But for you it's different

You hug him and start crying again in his arm

<<it's okay>> he pat your head <<you should sleep, I take you in your room>>

He stays with you all night

through the night he doesn't stop hugging you

[oracle-of-dream]

Jungwon's Birthday Gift

Summary: Jungwon has been going through the promotion circuit with Enhypen’s most recent comeback, making it difficult for you to see each other. The other members know about your relationship, and even try to help Wonnie reach you sometimes. But today was a special day, your birthday… But Jungwon’s late-night filming would have him booked for the entire day.

Words: 600+

Jungwon called you at the beginning of his day at 2 a.m., leaving you a voicemail wishing you a happy birthday to wake up to.

“Hi, Baby! Happy Birthday! I can't believe we've been together for a year now and this is the first time we're celebrating your birthday as a couple... But I'll be a little busy today, so I don't know if I'll make it out to you tonight. I want you to be so happy today, I'll call or text when I get the chance. I'll bring my gift to you in person when I can. But for now, you'll have to settle for a happy birthday song!"

Jungwon proceeded to softly sing you happy birthday through the phone. It was slow and sentimental, you could tell he felt bad about not being with you.

You quietly sobbed with tears streaming down your face as you heard his message, playing it over and over to listen to his voice. You knew that being in a relationship like this was going to be difficult but it still got hard at times like these. You tried to enjoy the day with some friends; shopping, karaoke, and eventually stopping at a restaurant before ending the night. But your friends noticed you weren't really enjoying yourself. They pressed you until you complained that your boyfriend’s work would keep him busy for the entire day. They complained that he was a shitty boyfriend, trying to be on your side, but you knew you couldn’t explain the full reason why and you could only half-heartly defend Jungwon. You stepped outside the restaurant, put in your headphones, and listened to his voicemail one more time. When you closed your eyes, his song made it sound like he was right next to you. But you opened them again to find yourself on the sidewalk under the night sky. Alone. You wiped your face into your sleeve and your phone dinged with a text. It’s from Jungwon.

“I know you’re probably feeling lonely right now, I’m so sorry I can’t be there with you tonight. But I’m always with you in your heart, and you're with me. Keep an eye on the TV, and watch for the MCountdown, I left a present for you.”

You hurried back inside and asked for a remote to the TV inside the restaurant. The manager helped you work the TV until he got to the broadcast of MCountdown. Enhpyen just performed their newest song, and Jungwon was front and center and looking into the camera. He smiled and showed a hand heart to the camera. But you noticed something else. You saw two silver bands on his ring fingers. You bought him a set of couples rings on his birthday, two simple silver bands one marked with his initials and the other with yours, which he only took off for stages since their outfit designers forced him to. 

You remembered a part of his text, I’m always with you in your heart, and you're with me. You smiled as more tears built up in your eyes. It wasn't something big, but it was the best present you received that day. A special gift from the best boyfriend in the world...

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

16th & 17th September 2024, Monday & Tuesday

day 22+23/50 productivity challenge - condensing 2 days into one because: ALL NIGHTER :) *sigh*

💤: 7 hrs - unintentionally k

🕒 1 p.m. - woke up

planned my day to literally focus on nothing but completing this fucking syllabus and revising english. also i don't have school on monday for some holiday (i forgot why)

some english revision (ngl it was barely anything)

studied + made notes biology ch: cell: the unit of life (completed)

took bath

studied + made notes biology ch: cell cycle and cell division (so much to memorise 😭 tell me how i actually like biology again?? like enough to wanna pursue it in the future???)

studied + made notes biology ch: structural organisation in animals (not fully) (why is animal anatomy kinda fun to learn about??)

🕒 7 a.m. - let's consider this the official start of the next day.. surprisingly i wasn't very sleepy at all the entire night even though i didn't drink any caffeine beforehand!! i'll prolly end up getting really low later but i just have to push though today to achieve the long awaited reward: SLEEP!! remind me not to do this ever again

🚰: 4 glasses - don't even say anything

took bath

morning skincare

🕒 8 a.m. - left for school - tuesday

didn't do well on my biology practical exam. i mean i did the experiments, spotting & writing part more or less ok. i'll prolly score most of the marks there but the viva voce part i tanked. she asked basic stuff which i knew very well but because i wasn't prepared at all i was nervous and spluttered my way through the minutes. i can't make the same mistake with my next practical exams!

🕒 1-6 p.m. - got back home and fell asleep...

re-planned the next few days

extended duolingo streak

practiced playing keyboard (who knew 2 off days would make me this rusty wow but it's ok i was forced to make my own associations and practice chord progressions) (yes i am VERY much a beginnerTM)

folded laundry (no one is surprised atp)

succumbed to doomscrolling & cried a shit ton for no reason guys pls don't be like me

ate dinner and realized that this is technically the only meal i had today and that's become a habit of mine

completed chemistry lab record

night skincare

studied + made notes biology ch: structural organisation in animals (not fully)

🕒 2:30 a.m. - ecstatically went to bed

🚰: 4 glasses - trying to consciously drink more, it'll be a slow journey that's for sure

🎧: someone to you - banners

[nar-nia]

3 a.m. - part 2

You hadn't even noticed that you had fallen asleep, but you woke up to the sound of giggles.

"Shut up, or do you want them to hear?" someone hissed, but you were too groggy to figure out who.

"Who cares, they decided to sleep on the couch. Someone should take a picture!"

"Heeseung will kill us if he finds out."

"Then we'll just threaten to tell y/n about his little crush on her and we should be good."

"Riki!"

You stirred, letting out a little groan. "Can you guys shut up for a second? 5 more minutes at least."

"Shit, you're awake?"

"Yeah, I'm awake," you groaned. "Anything else is impossible, why are you all so loud."

"Did you hear what we said?"

You pried your eyes open to squint at the boys, who in return had their own eyes ripped open. "No? I know you talked, that was enough."

Jungwon sighed, his shoulders slumping down. "I'm sorry we woke you up. Could breakfast make you happy again?"

"It could."

Only when you tried to get out of the blankets did you realize the hand that was swung around your hips, and the soft breath against your neck. Right. Heeseung had insisted on sleeping here with you. And it seems like he kept his word. You felt heat creeping up your neck and cheeks, a blush spreading on your face again as you tried to free yourself from the embrace. Heeseung, still asleep, seemed to have other plans though, his arm only holding you closer. You were just about to call someone to help you, when you suddenly felt a pair of lips against your neck. You froze, eyes ripped wide open as you begged your body to not blush even more, but to no avail.

"Did he just-"

"Shhh." Jungwon pressed his hand against Rikis mouth, effectively shutting him up. Your eyes met. "Do you need help getting away?"

"Or do you prefer staying like this," Sunoo grinned, high-fiving Riki.

"If you keep making comments I'd rather run away," you hissed. You didn't really know how to feel right now. Embarrassed? Happy? Shocked? Fact was, you didn't mind the embrace. You didn't even mind the kiss, if you ignored that Heeseung did it while he was still asleep and the group of people that stood around you. Especially that group of people. "Can you leave?"

"She's getting kissed by our oldest and suddenly she's getting rude," Riki grinned after he wrangled himself free. "You were more fun before."

"I could kick Riki out." Jungwon looked at him. "But other than that I'm sorry, this is our eating space too and we're hungry."

"Fine," you sighed, moving yourself out of Heeseungs embrace. "I'll never sleep on your couch ever again."

"I'm sorry," Jungwon said, right when Heeseung let out a mumbled "Don't go, baby."

You froze again, but you weren't the only one.

"Baby?" Jay whispered, all of them staring at you.

"Don't look at me like that. Nothing happened, I just didn't want to sleep alone." By now you were sure that your whole body was covered in a deep red blush, and you really wished the ground would just open up and swallow you. But your wish didn't get fulfilled, instead you had 6 pairs of eyes staring at you. Not even Riki grinned anymore. And then it was like a dam broke, and everyone started talking at the same time.

"Should we just tell her?"

"Do you like Heeseung?"

"I never want to hear him say Baby ever again."

"Okay," you sighed. "Can we take this somewhere else please? I really don't want to wake him up."

"I think Jungwon should do the talking," Jay chimed in, the others nodding in agreement. Okay, this was weird.

"Why… what is there to talk about."

Instead of an answer 5 of the guys went back to making breakfast, while Jungwon grabbed your wrist to pull you to his room. "What is going on?"

"Sit down please."

You followed Jungwons order, but his serious tone made you feel nervous. You tried to figure out what you had done wrong, but apart from sleeping on the couch with Heeseung you couldn't come up with anything. Was that the problem? Did that broke some kind of rule? But it wasn't even your choice, Heeseung had told you to lie down and you couldn't have really said no, so-

"Do you like Heeseung?"

"What." You stared at him, completely thrown out of your train of thoughts.

"I really shouldn't be doing this but- do you like Heeseung."

"As in like a friend, or…?"

"No."

"Oh." You avoided his glance, instead playing with the hem of your shirt. "No?"

Jungwon looked at you for a second, before he sat down next to you and grabbed your hands. "Y/n. Let's be honest for a second please."

"I'm sorry." You took a deep breath. "I know I shouldn't. And I know that there won't be anything coming from it so I'll just ignore it."

Jungwon was quiet for a second, which only made you more nervous.

"Maybe I should go."

"You should tell Heeseung."

"What do you mean?"

Jungwon smiled, a small action, but it still helped to ease your nerves. "It's not my place to say. But you should really talk to him. And for the rest… you'll figure it out."

He stood up, giving your hands a reassuring squeeze. "I'll call him to you. Don't worry please, it will be alright."

You didn't know if this calmed or stressed you more, but you couldn't really escape now. Especially not when Heeseungs head lurked through the door.

"Jungwon said you wanted to talk to me?" He pushed himself through, eyes focused on you. "Are you okay?"

You just nodded, your nerves too big for you to be able to say something right now. You felt like your heart was exploding in your chest, and to be fair - you weren't sure if you should really tell him. If you should open yourself up to heartbreak. Because that would surely come, right? There wasn't really a way this would end differently.

"Are you sure?" You hadn't even noticed that Heeseung had come closer, now sitting next to you. You tried to avoid his glance, but something in his eyes kept you captivated. It was like they were begging for you to say something.

"You called me baby," you blurted out, your own eyes widening in shock just after you did it. Did you really just say that?

"I-" He took a deep breath. "When?"

"This morning," you mumbled, now able to avoid his eyes. "I tried to stand up and you called me baby."

"Oh." Heeseungs cheeks turned a deep red, one that spread all the way to his ears. "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

You shook your head. "The boys heard. That's why Jungwon said I should talk to you."

"Ah."

"You also- You kinda…" You took a deep breath. "You kissed me."

"What?" Heeseungs eyes were ripped open, and his face got only more red. "I'm so sorry - what?"

"Don't be. You were asleep anyway, so… It's okay."

"It's not. I shouldn't just kiss you against your will."

He seemed in distress, so you grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly. Seemed like now was the moment of truth.

"What if it wasn't against my will."

"What?"

You sighed, nerves spiking again. Now you really had to let it all out. "It was unexpected, but I didn't mind the kiss. I would have preferred it if you were awake during it though."

Heeseung was speechless, his mouth opening and closing without a sound coming out. Your bravery disappeared within seconds, regret taking over. Why did you have to say something? Why couldn't you have just ignored it? It was dumb, you knew this would lead to nothing so why did you have to open your mouth-

"I like you."

"What?" Now it was your turn to stare. Did he really just say that?

"I like you. More than a friend… I'm sorry."

"I like you too," you barged in as Heeseung made a move to stand up, your hand pulling him back. "More than a friend."

"Are you sure?" What kind of question was that? You couldn't help but giggle, suddenly feeling a lot less tense.

"Yes, I am sure. I have been for a while."

"Why haven't you said anything?"

You looked at Heeseung, trying to put your thoughts into words. "I guess I was just scared. Scared of rejection and then also the whole idols can't date thing…"

"I was scared of rejection too," Heeseung admitted. "And I'm so happy this fear didn't come true."

"Me too." You smiled at him, once again squeezing his hand. You were glad you had talked about it, but you were also unsure how to move forward now. Would you go back to normal now? Would you move forward with this? Were you supposed to say something?

"Would it be okay if I kissed you for real this time? With both of us being awake?"

Your smile only got wider. "I'd love that."

Heeseung let go of your hands, entangling one of them in your hair instead to softly pull you closer. His other one was placed on your hip, while yours were placed against his chest. It already felt intimate, and even more when his lips finally met yours. Your eyes fluttered shut, your whole body melting against his touch. You could have stayed here forever, Heeseung holding you like this, but the sound of a door interrupted your peaceful moment.

"They kissed! I was right! They kissed!!!"

"Riki," Heeseung sighed, breaking apart from you. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," you grinned. "We should have expected this."

"Yeah," he giggled, his forehead leaning against you. "Maybe we'll meet at your place from now on."

"Oh come on, they're not that bad. If Jungwon hadn't forced me to talk about you this wouldn't have happened."

There was another commotion in the hallway, a bunch of voices talking over each other. You and Heeseung looked towards the door as it slightly opened, revealing six faces looking at you.

"Are they still kissing? I waited so long for this, I- oh."

"Hey Sunoo," Heeseung sighed, staring at him.

"Hi." Six faces started blushing, suddenly mumbling how they really needed to be somewhere right now.

"On second thought… let's meet at my place," you grinned, just in time as Heeseung pulled you in for another kiss.

this is part 2 and the last part of this little story. you can find part 1 here <33

i hope you liked it, if yes i would love it if you'd let me know! i love hearing all of your opinions.

taglist: @en-chantedtomeetyou

permanent taglist: @maeum-your @suneonu @hoonsmarsbar @soobin-chois @sjyuniverse @taekbokki

[duhragonball]

End of Evangelion: 25'

Yeah... that's...

"You don't understand!" is pretty much Neon Genesis Evangelion in a nutshell.

Or "You do (not) understand! (true²) Director's Cut" is how the franchise would put it.

Let's just get on with this.

I watched End of Evangelion last night. Well, early A.M. I took a nap and woke up at midnight and it seemed like the right time to watch a thing like this.

I did not enjoy the movie. I'll explain this, of course, but I wanted to get that out of the way up front. There are positives, sure, but I went into this thing hoping for a more satisfying conclusion than what was presented in the TV show, and I didn't get it. Both endings suck. There you go.

Let me back up a bit. So the TV series ran from 1995 to 1996. The final episodes, 25 and 26, were controversial because they were expected to wrap up the whole story, but instead they went in a bizarrely abstract direction. Both of those episodes apparently take place inside Shinji Ikari's mind as he struggles to accept being part of a collective gestalt of every human mind on Earth. This is the result of the "Human Instrumentality Project" a concept mentioned in Episodes 1 -24, but never adequately explained. The final episodes just skip past the part where Human Instrumentality was achieved and shows the result, without bothering to discuss the background or the cause, or the long-term ramifications.

From what I gather, the main reason Episodes 25 and 26 were Like That was because the studio was short on time and money, so a more satisfying conclusion was not practical. But since the series turned out to be so successful, they were able to take another crack at it with End of Evangelion. The film is very clear about its purpose as an "alternative" to Episodes 25 and 26. It's divided into two sections, numbered 25' and 26'.

I'm not sure the viewer is expected to pick one over the other. The original 25&26 take place in Shinji's mind when Human Instrumentality happens. 25' and 26' take place in the outside world, showing the events leading to Human Instrumentality and the aftermath. There may be some continuity issues to iron out, but a fan could easily accept both endings as canon.

That's not my problem here. The problem is not that there are multiple endings, or that the endings are too "abstract", or that the endings aren't "happy". Fundamentally, my gripe is that the endings are confusing. Perhaps it might be said that the endings are pathologically confusing.

I think this is one of those Big, Emotionally Raw Works, where you can't really discuss it without revealing something about yourself in the process. So let's do that. End of Evangelion makes me feel stupid. There's parts of the movie where I'm just completely confused and I have no idea what is happening or why. It feels less like entertainment and more like I'm about to take a test I didn't study for.

Except I did study, because I've literally been taking notes on this thing for the past three weeks. I was looking forward to this, and last night I'm near the end of the movie wondering what the hell I'm going to write here, because I don't understand what the hell happened in the movie.

So I poked around a fan wiki for a bit, trying to get a handle on some of the major concepts, and as I read the articles, I realized that a lot of this information just stone cold never made it into the TV show or the movie. There was one thing I looked up that had to reference a Playstation 2 game that released six years after the movie premiered.

It's not that I'm too stupid to understand Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's that the franchise appears deliberately designed to hide information from the viewer. You're just supposed to roll with it, I guess. Or spend days researching all this side material. Read the manga, read the wiki, read fan commentaries. I hate this. I hate this so much.

So maybe I'm not stupid. Maybe the anime was just badly designed. That would be comforting, except I still feel stupid for investing so much time into trying to understand this thing that seems purposely rigged to defy understanding. It's not just the ending. That's what everyone talks about, but the ending is just a symptom of a bigger problem. The beginning is really slow. Then the middle starts to get weird, and there's a lot of mysteries and subplots and lore that gets set up with the implied promise that "we'll explain later". And the ending(s) drop that ball. The surgery was a success, but the patient died.

I feel stupid because I got a reply to one of my liveblog posts, I think Episode 12, in response to some comment I made about all the characters having the same backstory. Ritsuko has a complicated relationship with her workaholic scientist mother. Misato has a complicated relationship with her workaholic scientist father. Shinji has a complicated relationship with his workaholic scientist father. Is that a theme or did they only have one idea? My point is that eventually it stops being clever and starts being redundant. Later, we learn that Asuka has... a complicated relationship with her workaholic scientist mother.

"What, are you stupid?" asked the reply guy to my wry observation. They deleted it a few minutes after I saw it, so maybe they felt some remorse over the comment. Normally, I let these things slide. I might respond if I get legitimately hot about it. But this one got to me. "Am I stupid?" I asked myself last week. I seem to be complaining a lot about this show, but it's supposed to be a classic. Am I not giving it a chance? Am I missing something here? Am I just not smart enough to appreciate this thing? Am I just not trying hard enough?

If you're reading this, Reply Guy, please know that I didn't take it personally. I'm not upset with you at all, but I am trying to be honest with myself about this. This Neon Genesis Evangelion business has been frustrating me all month long. Now I'm at the end and it all feels very hollow, like I wasted my time.

I think that's my philosophy on life. I try to seek out new things to explore, usually stories, and sometimes they don't work out the way I wanted them to, and that's okay, because it's the journey that counts. Shinji Ikari keeps shutting down throughout his story, asking why he should bother doing anything, because he's too terrified of the possible outcomes of his actions. My thing is that bad stuff happens all the time no matter what, and you just sort of have to recover and move forward, because that's the only way to see what happens next. So I'm not sure if I can relate to Shinji or not.

Anyway, let's talk about Shinji masturbating in a hospital room over Asuka's comatose body.

I had heard about this scene, but I didn't realize how long and pathetic it is. Asuka had a nervous breakdown in Episode 23. This movie has to follow up on that, becuase Episodes 24, 25, and 26 each refused to pick up on her character arc.

Meanwhile, Shinji is wracked with guilt and dread over his battle with the 17th Angel in Episode 24. He had to kill Kaworu, but in spite of Kaworu's betrayal, he was still a friend to Shinji when he needed it the most, and he was such a good sport about getting killed, you know?

So this movie has to get us back to that moment, when Shinji and Asuka are at their lowest ebb, and I guess they decided that Shinji should go see her in the hospital because he's desperate to talk to someone about what's he's been going through. But Asuka's unresponsive, so he starts shaking her like he's trying to wake her up. Instead she just rolls over, which somehow exposes her half-naked body, and Shinji is so overcome with lust that he rubs one out right there and then. Doesn't even get a Kleenex, doesn't find a place to sit, he just whips it out and goes to town right in front of her.

I guess this is supposed to be a joke, but it doesn't land. It's not even a matter of the joke not aging well. Yeah, this is a 27 year old movie, but Shinji admits this is terrible behavior almost immediately. The "joke" didn't age at all. It was stillborn. This is like when you go to a graveyard and you see one of the tiny graves and the dates are from the same year. That's how funny this is.

The most charitable reading I can give this scene is that it represents the hypocrisy of Shinji's whole deal. He constantly insists that he can only do as he's told, because he's afraid of people not liking him if he makes a mistake or thinks for himself. But here he's doing some pretty disgraceful shit, and I sure as fuck didn't tell him to do this. did you? Did anyone? Of course not. He goes limp for most of the rest of the movie, but not here. Nossir. Seems pretty sure of himself in the minute or so it took him to finish his business.

The other aspect of Shinji on display here is that his ideal social interactions are one-sided. He's most comfortable with people when they can't see what he's doing, when they can't touch him back. That's why he wished for isolation in Episode 25. Here, with Asuka unresponsive, he's basically got the same thing.

I suppose the flip side of this is when Asuka kissed Shinji in the TV series. Her hangups are kind of the opposite of his, where she wants to be in charge of everything and everyone constantly showers her with praise for her achievements. She wants to kiss Shinji but she can't be vulnerable enough to admit that, so she orders him to just stand there and be kissed because she wants to "pass the time". And she makes him hold his nose shut because she doesn't want to be breathed on while she does it. I mean, they both have intimacy issues, but at least Shinji had a chance to consent to her weirdness.

In the NERV base, the crew wonder why they're still on alert status, since the last Angel was defeated. There should be no more threats, and it kind of makes sense for NERV to be disbanded. The only business left is the Human Instrumentality Project, and none of these ham-and-eggers know what that is.

But Misato has some information about it, which she mulls over while she's in her car. I guess? Let me explain this in more detail, because the movie never totally gets into the "why" of it all.

Okay, so the SEELE group has access to something called the "Dead Sea Scrolls". According to the NGE wiki, SEELE got it from the two angels that came to Earth, Adam and Lilith, in the distant past. SEELE has used the information contained in the scrolls to establish themselves as the secret rulers of the whole world. And they founded NERV, and its predecessor organizations, to study the Angels and figure out how to preserve the human race.

They talk a lot about Second Impact on this show, but they never explain exactly what caused it. Second Impact was not a meteorite strike or a rampaging angel who self-destructed, or even a lab accident. It was caused deliberately by SEELE, as part of an effort to contain Adam, who lay dormant in Antarctica.

If I understand correctly, this was necessary because at some point, Second Impact would occur anyway, and then Adam's children, the fifteen Angels we saw in the TV series, would come looking for Adam's body and unite with it, triggering a Third Impact that would definitely wipe out humanity. This is all supposedly explained in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So SEELE's play was to trigger Second Impact deliberately, so that they could confront the Angels on their own terms. This gave NERV time to develop the Evas to fight the Angels, and to shrink Adam down to a more manageable size so he'd be harder to find.

Once the Angels were all defeated, SEELE could then trigger Third Impact. See, the TV series made it seem like the objective was to prevent Third Impact, but that was never possible. Third Impact is inevitable, I guess, so the only way to ensure humanity's survival is to evolve humans into something that can withstand the disaster. Thus, the Human Instrumentality Project, which will combine all human minds into some sort of disembodied superorganism at the moment of Third Impact.

However, throughout the TV series, SEELE has butted heads with the NERV Director, Gendo Ikari, about how this plan is to be implemented. Gendo wants to transform humanity into something new. But SEELE seems to want to retain their human nature and just use the plan as a lifeboat until the disaster has passed. At least, I think that's the disagreement here. Like I said, I had to learn about SEELE's agenda from the description of the PS2 game. It's not exactly a shock that the cabal of worldly oligarchs should want to save themselves and hold onto their wealth and power at the same time.

Gendo, on the other hand, seems mostly fixated on reuniting with his wife, Yui Ikari, who apparently died in 2004 during an experiment with Eva Unit 01. In the TV series, it was heavily implied that Yui lives on inside of Unit 01. Since Gendo's version of Human Instrumentality involves drawing up human minds into a noncorporeal union, I guess he figures that this will include Yui's mind, even if she has no body. It's unclear in this movie if Gendo actually intends to include anyone but himself and Yui in this merger, but in Episodes 25 and 26 of the TV show, Human Instrumentality is presented like it's all humans, even dead ones, and Gendo Ikari talked about it like that's what his version of Third Impact was supposed to be.

I suppose the only thing keeping Gendo and SEELE from turning on each other was the Angel threat, but now that this is over, SEELE attacks. First they try to hack NERV's supercomputers, but this is foiled when they recruit the aid of...

...Ritsuko Akagai, who betrayed NERV in Episode 23 when she destroyed all the Rei clones they had in storage. But she's the only one smart enough with computers to block the hack, so she crawls back inside one of them and uses her dead mother's notes to build a more robust firewall or something. I think she j-pegged a RAM or something, I don't know.

Ritsuko wonders why she's even bothering, since she already turned on Gendo. They had been banging on the down-low, but she got fed up with him when she realized he loved his dead wife more than Ritsuko or her mother, who also used to bang Gendo on the down-low.

With that cyberattack fended off, NERV now has to brace for an actual attack. Admiral Clownshoes notes the irony of NERV defeating all those Angels, only for their final opponent to be the humans they were trying to save.

Tactically, the entire battle is a formality. SEELE runs the whole world, and they can send wave after wave of soldiers into the NERV facility, which is already badly weakened after months of Angel attacks and budget cuts. NERV's defenses were designed for dealing with Angels, and their greatest weapons were the Evas, except Unit-00 was destroyed in Episode 22, and Unit-02's pilot has lost the ability to sync. Nonetheless, Misato wants the pilot kids secured, since she knows SEELE's goons will try to take them out first. She orders Shinji to deploy in Unit-01, and even though Asuka's in no condition to fight, she has her put in Unit-02 and then sent to the bottom of the lake. It's not much of a hiding place, but at least she'll be safer there than inside the base.

Where's Rei? Well, no one can find her, but she's gone down to the room where they keep Lilith and she's soaking in that orange goop they have down there.

Perhaps anticipating this, Gendo excuses himself and orders Clownshoes to take over the defense of the base. Clownshoes seems to know what he's up to, and sends his regards to Gendo's dead wife.

At this point, it's basically a race to see who can trigger their version of Third Impact first. SEELE wanted to use the Lance of Longinus and Lilith somehow, but since the Lance is in space now, they now plan to use Unit-01, the only Eva created from Lilith. That's what makes it special, apparently. Units 00 and 02 were made from Adam, I guess?

Anyway, Gendo plans to do it by combining Adam and Lillith together. He's got Adam's body within his own, and he wants to join with Rei, who contains some essence of Lillith. This was Rei's main purpose all along, I think.

Meanwhile, Misato leaves her post to find Shinji, who was sulking in some corner instead of reporting to his Eva like she ordered. She saves him from some goons, but they're cut off from Unit-01, so she has to find a way to get him where he needs to go. She also has to convince him to cooperate, since Shinji's completely gone to mush in the midst of this new crisis.

As she drives him to where they need to go, she explains (most of) the necessary backstory to him. Second Impact was triggered deliberately to buy time for Human Instrumentality, and humans are descended from Lilith, just as the Angels came from Adam. So in that sence, the human species is collectively the 18th Angel, just another candidate to inherit the future of Earth. Humans, like any of the fifteen Angels spawned from Adam, have the opportunity to trigger Third Impact and secure their place as the dominant life form of Earth, but we had to beat all the Angels first to do it, and then find a way to survive Third Impact when it finally happened.

And while Gendo plans to do with with Adam and Lilith, SEELE wants to use the Eva series, somehow, so it's vital that Shinji use Unit-01 to destroy all the other Evas.

Speaking of destroying Evas, Asuka finally wakes up in Unit-02, which is currently getting battered with depth charges. She still can't control the Eva, and she just keeps whimpering that she doesn't want to die. Eventually, she hears her dead mother promising to protect Asuka, and she realizes the truth: that Asuka's mother, Kyoko Zeppelin, was absorbed into Unit-02, much the same way Shinji's mom was absorbed into Unit-01.

Now, at long last, Asuka can operate her Eva again, and she goes apeshit on the SEELE troops. They sever her power cable, but she doesn't care, boasting that five minutes is plenty of time to take out these creeps. This is honestly the best part of the movie, because they had reduced Asuka to a pitiful shell for so long, and now she's finally taking charge and whoopin' ass.

It won't last.

With the conventional forces beaten, SEELE sends in nine Eva Units of their own. These are units 05 through 13, but they all look the same, and I'm not even sure they have pilots. It's a pretty cool design for a "bad guy" Eva, but they don't figure into the plot very much. They're here to destroy Asuka and Unit-02, and Asuka has to destroy them to stop SEELE.

Meanwhile, Misato has almost gotten Shinji to the Unit-01 launch bay, but she got shot, so she tells Shinji he's on his own from here. Shinji continues to resist taking any responsibility here. He says he's not worthy to pilot the Eva because he hurts people. He killed Kaworu, and he "did something terrible to Asuka". So at least the movie recognizes that. I guess it was included just to show the audience that Shinji isn't exaggerating when he doubts himself like this.

Misato refuses to indulge his self-pity, and she doesn't care how much he cries or tries to use his past actions to disqualify himself. She tells him she's made plenty of her own mistakes, but she still learned something about herself anyway. Hey, I guess Misato kind of gets what I was saying earlier. I guess this makes her my favorite character?

Well, yeah, but I don't like how she gives him a long kiss goodbye, then promises they'll "do the rest" when he gets back. I mean, she dies immediately after he leaves, so I think she was just feeding him empty gestures to motivate him while she still could, but... that's kind of fucked up.

Meanwhile, Gendo and Rei reach the room where Lillith is to begin their attempt at Third Impact, but they find Ritsuko waiting for them. She pulls a gun on Gendo and tells him that she sabotaged the supercomputer while she was reprogramming it to stop SEELE's hackers. Except... when she tries to execute her plan, the computer doesn't do it. This is because it's been imprinted with the mind of its original creator, Ritsuko's mother, and apparently mom still carries a torch for Gendo, even after Gendo screwed both Akagis over. Gendo then pulls a gun on Ritsuko, and says "I truly..." but the sound cuts out as he says the rest of it, so we don't know what he wanted to tell her.

In any case, she calls him a liar after she hears it, so either he told her he loved her and she didn't buy it, or he said something really cruel and she knew he didn't mean it. Either way, Gendo shoots, her which normally would suggest his true feelings, except I think this Human Instrumentality business works on dead people too, so life and death kind of becomes meaningless in this movie. We see a ghostly apparition of Rei as Ritsuko falls into the LCL fluid. We also saw ghost Rei when Misato died, so this seems to be a thing now.

Meanwhile, Shinji makes it to Unit 01, but it's immersed in Bakelite, which Misato had ordered dispersed through the base to impede the invading goons. I'm not sure how it got here, though, unless the bad guys used Misato's own trick to secure Unit-01. So it looks like Shinji can't get in the robot, even though it's not a robot, and he doesn't even have to be inside the stupid thing to control it. He literally proved that on his first day on the job. Yo, Shinji, get in the robot, your mom loves you.

Meanwhile, Asuka seems to be doing just fine killing the bad guy Evas without Shinji, but just as she finishes the last of them off, the Lance of Longinus suddenly flies back to Earth and improbably stabs Unit 02 through the face. Uh... how? Why? What the fuck?

Also, all the Evas Asuka defeated suddenly reactivate. With her battery drained, Asuka is helpless to stop them as they crack open Unit-02 and eat it. I'm pretty sure Asuka herself is killed during this, but we don't see a body.

I guess this was the catalyst to get Unit 01 off its duff, as it finally breaks out of the Bakelite and grabs Shinji like it's gonna put him in. Unit 01 busts out to join the battle, and it's thig big impressive spectacle. It even has angel wings now.

But it doesn't actually do anything. Shinji just gets a look at what's left of Unit-02's mangled corpse and screams.

And that's the cliffhanger for 25'. There's a credits sequence, then a dedication note from the director, and then the second half starts as Episode 26'. So this is a good place to take a break.

If you're curious, the part where Eva 05-13 show up to confront Asuka is about where things ended in "Evangelion: Rebirth". But 25' is about twenty minutes longer than that, so I'm not sure what the significance of that cutoff point was supposed to be. I guess it works as a cliffhanger, but it's kind of dumb to have Asuka finally wake up and kick ass, only to get utterly destroyed a few minutes later. Then Shinji shows up to set up the real cliffhanger.

To be fair, this half of the movie is better than the second half. Mostly, it benefits from the parts where they actually show the characters recovering from Episode 24 and beginning to move to the next phase of the story. This was what the TV show failed to do with its Episode 25. Now, we get to see the SEELE vs. NERV battle that was only implied before, and we get to see how Human Instrumentality is arranged.

We also see why it needs to be done. In the original ending, it seemed completely arbitrary, like Gendo Ikari just decided this was a cool thing to try and he just did it to the whole world without asking anyone's permission. Here, it becomes clear that if Gendo doesn't pull the trigger, SEELE will, and it's just a race to see who can get their vision accomplished first.

And we actually get to see the other characters in this version. Asuka wakes up and gets her groove back, Rei's part in the drama is revealed, and Ritsuko and Misato get shot. Seeing this stuff makes me even more irritated that the TV series just jumped right past it all.

Still, this half of the movie has problems. For one thing, a lot of runtime is spent just showing troops slaughtering NERV personnel, and showing Misato leading Shinji to his Eva. Also, there's a healthy dose of Gendo and Rei just staring pensively at Lilith without actually doing anything. A lot of the footage doesn't actually progress the plot, and only Misato and Shinji's scenes are useful for providing exposition. Gendo and SEELE's words are too cryptic to be of much use.

The main point of this installment was to reinforce things we already knew: Rei's important to all of this somehow, Shinji is a sad sack, and Asuka is helpless. And maybe it needed to be reinforced in July 1997, more than a year after the TV show ended, but I don't think it needed to be hammered home this much.

And like I said from the start, this whole thing relies on a lot of ridiculous stuff that I feel like I should have been told about in the TV series. How did the Lance of Longinus come back? SEELE couldn't have arranged this, since they were the ones who were so upset about losing it in the first place. Why are there two methods to trigger Third Impact? How did Asuka's mother get sucked into the Eva and yet she remained in human form long enough to go insane and hang herself? Why did the bad guy Evas suddenly recover from their injuries when it was convenient for the plot?

Perhaps most critically: Why are they just treating Third Impact and Human Instrumentality like the same thing? Like if you do one, then the other one just automatically happens? Is that how it works? Then why were they so worried about the progress on that project? It could be done at will, right?

Oh, and how did SEELE figure out how to do all this stuff? They have their own fleet of Evas, which seem to work better than NERV's. They made their own Angel in the form of Kaworu. They seem to know how to make Third Impact happen, without Gendo's help. And however they got this far, they seemed to pull it off without anyone from NERV knowing about it. So why did SEELE even need NERV in the first place? As it currently stands, the only reason Gendo's ahead of them is because he's physically closer to what he needs to work with. SEELE could have nuked the base from orbit and hauled Eva Unit 01 from the wreckage.

Again, the whole movie just makes me feel like I missed an episode, except I didn't. I watched the whole thing, which leads me to assume that the next chapter will clarify everything, except it doesn't, as we'll see next time. See you there.

[silverteacups]

The Metamorphosis and Nightcord at 25

FAIRLY LONG POST!

Part 2

LYRICS "How do I look like now? Am I unsightly? Of course I am."

This doesn't just represent Mizuki, but Mafuyu. This is also why they were the two to sing Villain - and no, I'm not talking about the trans Mafuyu headcanons. I'd love for that to happen, but I don't think that's what it's about. For Mizuki, it's about how people feel about their secret. They disgust people by being themself, and if Mafuyu were her "true self", she'd probably do the same. A lot of people - namely her mum - accept as the person she's forced to be, not the person she is. In the 3DMV, Mizuki holds up their hand, looks at it, then faces the camera and smiles. I am still human. I am still myself. I can see it clearly. What do you see that I don't? ""I beg you, please don't throw the apples at me." They Lock up, Lock up to themselves-""

In The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa's father throws apples at him. One badly injures him, and this line is referring to exactly that. Don't hurt me. Don't turn your backs on me. Don't treat me like filth.

"Of course, I couldn't even have a proper fight with you."

This, obviously, refers to Mafuyu and her mum. When it comes to Gregor Samsa, it might refer to how he can't even communicate with his family. He has no way to defend himself, to explain what he's doing, to explain how much he's struggling. He is suffering, his family is pretty much shaming him for it, and he can't even tell them.

"It's not a joke! Don't eat my dreams away!"

Ena and Mafuyu both got the full line, just to clarify (+ KAITO). I'm not gonna link it to Gregor this time, just point out how this links to Mafuyu's mum not letting her have the career she wants, and Ena's dad discouraging her in terms of her art.

"It's as if you're biting into the apple, Sa-sa-Samsa."

Again, Mafuyu and Mizuki both sang the full line (+ KAITO). Gregor never took out that apple, I don't think - he left it to rot. To me, this symbolises self-sabotage, feeding off something that has hurt you beyond repair. Mafuyu and her mum, for instance - despite everything leading up to the events in Immiscible Discord (and then Saying Goodbye to My Masked Self), she can't hate her. In fact, multiple times before this event, Mafuyu has tried to make it clear that she still very much loves her.

"Even if I'll become a shadow of my former self, I'm right here."

Kanade got this line, but I still think it suits Mafuyu more. Even if she's not the person she acted like she was, even if she'll never be seen the same way, she's still Mafuyu. She can change her name, she can change her appearance, whatever she wants, but that shouldn't change how people feel about her. That shouldn't make her mum turn on her. That shouldn't change anything. In the 3DMV, for this and the next line, the focus is on Kanade and Mafuyu only. These lines are about them. What I've said about Mafuyu, but also Kanade's determination to save her.

"Even if I'm poisoned by the fringed iris."

I spoke about this here. TL;DR: The fringed iris (otherwise know as the butterfly flower) is poisonous and was used around castles to slow enemies. Here, it could refer to Mafuyu's mum again. Putting up walls to protect herself will only do so much, and eventually they'll come crashing down, and it'll only hurt her more. In the 3DMV, she also does a motion like eating an apple, which links back to the biting into the apple point I made. "The light is there, at 25:00 (1 a.m.). Now drag along your tail, Sa-sa-sa-sa-Samsa."

Again, the Samsa is sang by everyone at the same time. Gregor Samsa, as time goes on, finds it far harder to even move. Struggle through your pain, basically, because you'll find that light at the end, at 25:00 - when their group meets up. Again, probably a reference to Kanade trying to save her. Also, During her line, Ena's the only one shown reaching for the light. This could be because she's the only one who's been really and truly saved. Does her art frustrate her? Does she still encounter hardships? Of course she does. But she can face them now, properly. She doesn't have that desire to disappear anymore. Look at I nandesu - she sees beauty in the world, in herself, in love, in her art, in everything.

CARDS

I've already pointed out the fringed iris, but also that it could be a japanese iris, which represents hope. Then you have Mafuyu, the butterfly. Unlike Samsa, she hasn't changed into a "hideous" creature. She's a beautiful one, in fact. There are other butterflies put on display. I don't think this represents Mafuyu's true self - it shows her "masked self". The one that everyone admires. In this event, Kanade is trying to save Mafuyu from her mum, but from the perspective of her mum, she's not doing that. She's only holding her back. Trapping her. The way I see it, this set is seeing them the way Mafuyu's mum would. Kanade, the charwoman, with her white hair and the almost completely vertical feathers in her hat. At first, the charwoman is the only one not disgusted by Gregor, the only one who has seen the worst and isn't fazed by him, but she turns his room into a dump. A cave. That's what Mafuyu's mum is seeing - someone with good intentions, maybe, but she is ruining Mafuyu's life by making music with her and distracting her from her studies, and Mafuyu sees it only as kindness. Also, unlike the charwoman, she's kept the furniture there. She's keeping what makes Mafuyu comfortable, even if (at least in her mum's eyes) it restricts her.

When Mafuyu's mum interacted with Ena, she actually got a good impression of her. Ena had to force herself to mention her dad. She told her mum she'd be using Mafuyu as a model. Ena doesn't represent someone from the Metamorphosis, I don't think. Rather, she draws what Mafuyu's mum can't see - her daughter's pain. The fringed iris that keeps her mother from her true self. The apples she's thrown at her so many times. The mirror that Mafuyu has looked into so many times, and seen the same thing each time. She draws these in books, because Mafuyu's studying, the pressure from her mum, all of it, that's where a lot of that pain comes from.

Don't think they've ever interacted with Mafuyu's mum, but if she knew their secret, this is what she'd see. Someone who seems like a friend, trying to poison her. The opposite of Kanade, basically. This is also a good way to show how people in general see Mizuki, or, certainly, trans people. Mizuki and Mafuyu are both Samsa, and Ena and Kanade are both the charwoman (if you ignore the part where she dehumanises Gregor and such). Also, note the spider necklace. Ena is the only other one with this, with some sort of insect. Gregor finds, at some point, that he can just climb up walls and onto ceilings. In fact, he quite enjoys it. Even then, though space would help, part of him didn't want to have the furniture taken because he's still attached to it. He's still human. That's the thing here. Mizuki has been dehumanised. Mizuki has disgusted people for being themself. They're no less human, yet people continue to act like that's the case.

Samsa, Mafuyu and Mafuyu's Mum

Mafuyu's mum is everyone, really, who isn't Samsa. Maybe not all to start with, but definitely towards the end of the story. I'll go through the list:

Grete, his sister - she started to see taking care of him as a chore, and was the one to propose letting him die.

His dad - after a series of events, he mistakes Gregor's actions for being harmful, throws the apples at him like I mentioned previously. He never cared about his son - he cared about the man who made them money, who provided for them, who was a human. Not the man who didn't appear human, nor the man who loved him even if he couldn't say so, even if he could do nothing to show it.

His mum - so desperate to see him, but disgusted when she did. She loved him still, but she didn't grieve his loss. Rather, she was relieved.

The charwoman later on - She's blunt. She doesn't care about how Gregor feels, because he's been reduced to just a thing. He's dead? Happens to every other insect. No big deal.

And then Mafuyu, of course is Samsa.

Even if other people can accept who she is, what about her parents? Her mum, especially. Will she ever see her the same? Will she ever love her again? Will she ever get that approval again? What happens if she stops meeting the high expectations she set? What happens when she tries to run, when she tries to talk, when she tries to rebel? Will she die thinking of her mum, still, rather than those who truly care for her, and herself? Will her mum continue to hurt her? Is it even intentional? If she could just speak properly, find the right words, could that solve everything, or will it never be enough? If she gives herself away, does that erase any chance she ever had of coming back from it, if that chance was even there to begin with?

[bestedoesmeow]

✮ daniel ricciardo

PART 2

CHAPTER NAME : You drew stars around my scars

@peytonmarkey

ZAHRA'S P.O.V

It was around 5 a.m. when I woke up to get something to drink from the refrigerator in the hotel room. The night was full of dreams about Daniel, mostly dreams that were about our past life in Australia. I got a bottle of water from the fridge and opened the balcony door to get some fresh morning air. It was race day, and a quite busy day was ahead of me. I took a deep breath before deciding to get inside to get some sleep before waking up to a busy day. I got into bed after leaving the balcony door open for a breeze to fill up the warm and humid room air. But my eyes were fully open, and my mind was too awake to sleep. The image of Daniel's wide, energetic smile had been resting in the depths of my mind since the afternoon. To feel that comfort after years was definitely the reason that I was wide awake that night. I had never been sure about my feelings about Daniel back then. He was always off limits, maybe always like a brother or a friend, but to imagine him as a boyfriend was too much for me to ask for in those times. And I never thought about my feelings so as not to ruin the friendship we had, and I was also having the time of my life during those times. My brother, his best friend, and I were always together. The nights that Daniel came over for a sleepover were the same nights that we grabbed our coffees after John was asleep and had the most deep talks; his hands were always around my shoulders or on my hair while we were sitting on the grass in our backyard listening to the sounds of crickets. I closed my eyes to got these thoughts of my mind, I was in need of a quality sleep. I got my phone from the drawer in order to open a podcast from my phone, but my eyes widened with the notification from three hours ago.

danielricciardo started following you

It was almost like a relief to know that I wasn't the only one who thought about the other after that interaction. Maybe he felt something different than other times, I thought. Or it was just a friendly follow that was made at 1 a.m. Maybe in order to keep in touch, it should be just like the old days. I didn't want to think on it too much, because I was literally overthinking, and I didn't want this whole situation to be the only thing that I had on my mind. But my actions did not make the situation any easier. As I scrolled through his feed. I saw a post of him from the day that me and my family were back from a trip, and I was extremely sad and binge crying over a boy that I met and couldn't open up about my feelings. It was a classic summer love story. That day, when I was sitting in our backyard, listening to music and trying to read a book without bursting into tears, Daniel appeared at our front door. He was carrying a plate with chocolate chips on it; he was freshly shaved, and his hair was longer than usual. But as I always say, the moment I saw him, my body was already filled with comfort. As he saw me lying on the grass, he made his way towards me instead of using the front door. He had a big, beautiful, white smile on his lips while coming near to me. I got up from the ground, smiling for the first time that afternoon, and immediately wrapped my hands around his torso.

'' Hey, big girl what's the matter? '' He said while trying to hug me and leave the plate on the grass without losing any contact between.

'' I can't talk right now or I'll cry even more.'' I said, while his hands were rubbing my back softly.

'' Oh, okay let's just hug then for a while, maybe we should sit on the swing huh, we can't hug much longer like this.'' He said, before making our ways to the yard swing. His hands wrapped my shoulders again while my crying face was resting on his chest. I don't know how long we stayed like that, hugging, him rubbing my back and playing with my hair but when I was finally feeling better Mom, Dad and Jason were back from the supermarket.

'' Oh, our beautiful boy. How are you ? Wouldn't you stay for dinner?'' My mom said, while my dad was carrying the market bags inside after bringing them out from the baggage.

'' Hi, Mrs. Astor, I came here to bring you the cookies my mama baked, they wanted me to say '' Welcome back.'' And you are already tired so, I'd better go home. Again, welcome back to our neighborhood.

Then he left, after whispering my ear that I should call him if I feel worse. I got back inside when Jason and him started to get involved in a chat about his karting trainings and other things.

Just when I was brought myself to the moment it was already 7 in the morning, and I had no time to sleep anymore. I followed him back and left my phone on the bed before going to restroom to take a shower, and meet the team in an hour.

DANIEL'S P.O.V

I was already in the paddock, listening to music before the race when I got the notification that I was expecting for the whole night.

zahraastor started following you.

I was not sure if she had felt the same things when she saw the notification or did she even scroll through my feed, but I wished to come across today in the paddock again. Maybe I could visit Charles after the race, or Carlos. I was desperate to have another interaction.

It was the race time, and I wished to have a better day with the car today. Maybe Austria and the excitement that had been coming with me since yesterday afternoon could help I thought.

ZAHRA'S P.O.V

When I made it to the paddock with Charles, I was excited and happy but also super tired. But I promised myself to make that day a beautiful one, and I was also excited to see Daniel racing for the first time that year, since the Austria GP was my second GP with Ferrari. It was bright and hot just like the other day, and I was in a summer dress to avoid the sweaty feeling that I could feel by wearing a shirt or t-shirt. While Charles was having breakfast and talking with Binotto, Carlos and I were outside chatting about something I don't even remember now, but I remember us laughing and spreading positive vibes all over the place.

'' Is it Ricciardo's year this year?'' I asked while we were sitting outside and Carlos was scrolling through his phone a few hours before the race. He raised his head from his phone and looked at me under his Ray-bans.

'' Not exactly; he's been having quite a hard time with the car. Why'd you ask?''

''Oh, I just wondered, you know, trying to keep up with the results, nothing special.''

'' Yes, yes, he is a good driver, you know, but this year's been not too good for him. I hope he'll be lucky today on the track.''

'' I hope so too, yes, but the podium is for my Ferrari boys. Wishing you two the best.'' I smiled at him before. He sent me back a smile and rubbed my shoulder before leaving to get ready for the oncoming race.

DANIEL'S P.O.V

Austrian GP was from the luckiest GP's of the season since I managed to get points for the team in ninth place, so my mood was decent, happy and even more excited. Charles was the winner of the GP so after the race when I was done with hydrating myself and talking with Lando and the team, I decided to go and celebrate his win before heading back to our hotels. As I moved to get to his trailer, I could feel my heartbeat growing faster with the thought of coming across Zahra. Just like I wasn't expecting her to be there or I didn't wait to celebrate Charles in his trailer expecting to see her.

I took a deep breath before making my way inside and yelling his name.

'' Mate, you there?'' I waited for his answer before heading inside but a different voice answered me.

''No, he is at meeting now, Who a-''. Zahra appeared in front of me with her flushed red cheeks and tired eyes. Her airpods were on her ears.

'' Daniel, congrulations on your points today, It was so excited for me to watch.'' She said, before sending me a precious smile.

''Yeah, yeah it was a nice one indeed thank you Zahra, I am glad you were able to watch me race.'' I said this time, hoping that I didn't sound so awkward.

'' I came to celebrate his win but I guess I should text him.'' I said biting my upper lip to stop the heat wave that was coming up to my ears again.

''Oh, yes, yes if you say so.'' She spoke this time, breaking the silence.

''I loved your feed, by the way; you have really nice photos.” I said, trying to keep the conversation going with the most nonsense topic that I'd ever come up with.

'' I didn't know you were interested in photography, and I loved your photos too. Maybe you should take some photos of me too?'' She said that this time it was her turn to blush. We were standing in front of the trailer door.

I'd want nothing more than that, I wanted to say. But instead 

'' Yeah, I'd love that too; actually, I was going to ask you if you want to go out tonight, you know, before leaving, not like a date though.”

I then bit my lip again to avoid any awkward sentences that I could come up with.

'' Yes.'' '' I'd love to.'' She said it without even considering it for a second or showing any signs of shyness in her voice. She sounded confident about her answer, unlike me, who wasn't able to form a better sentence.

''Yes? Okay then, uh-huh, we can leave Paddock together if you want?

She nodded her head before smiling at my features and gestures.

'' I have a surprise though; wear a hoodie or bring a jacket.''

"Okay, Ricciardo." I will.  See you tonight?

"Yes, I'll see you tonight."

[anoonimthepoorchad]

Today was a messed up day for me, as well as for many people in Kyiv, as it began with an air raid at 3 A.M., and the loud sound of explosions followed by the sound of the air raid sirens. Those were 10 ballistic missiles russia sent to our city, ruining apartment blocks and causing fire. Everything happened so fast, it was impossible for anyone to run and hide in any kind of a shelter. Now I'm afraid to sleep in my bed at night.

Yesterday I enrolled in a blood donation event at my university, all by my own initiative. I always wanted to be a donor and I finally got a chance to try this out. But I was unprepared for the food restrictions and mostly stayed half-hungry for the whole day, as well as the following morning. It also took me a lot of energy to get to the university on my own, because of the sleepless night and the lack of nutrition.

Mostly the people who were donating blood were the kids from the military department of our university, I guess it was compulsory for them to take part in this event, while I came on my own choice. I did the needed tests, got my blood type and pressure checked, drank some sweet tea and went to the classroom to have my blood drawn.

I'm not the type to be afraid of blood, nor was I forced to come here. I even argued with my grandma over me choosing to donate blood when some of my other relatives had problems with this before. Everything was fine until the very end, like 2 minutes before the needed level was reached. My body decided that hunger, tiredness and all the stress I've been under these days was enough and tried to make me unconscious. And when the doctors tried to help me, my stomach turned against my breakfast and ruined my sweater in the most embarrassing way possible. After that the pressure was normalized and I finished the donation without any complications, so I'm glad they didn't have to throw the whole portion of my blood out. The doctors made some jokes about hungry students (a funny stereotype in our culture) and made sure I had regained my strength before I went home.

The mobile service is yet to come back, so back then I only told my parents that everything was over successfully and went home, where I had a good amount of rest and washed my clothes. I still feel a bit lightheaded but mostly I'm very embarrassed. It's scary how it feels to succumb to your own body and I feel like I should have commanded it to obey and not to embarrass me in front of everyone. But I know that back then I barely understood what was going on around me, I had no power over myself at all. Still, next time I'll just make sure to eat well and to sleep well before donating blood. It just feels like I was a big child, helpless and dirty, and that I made a trouble for everyone. It ruined my happiness over finally trying to help my community.

[cnnmairoll]

Pairing : Suna x Reader

a/n : Rewriting my first fic ! There isn't really much change at first, more like the way I write it. But I did add more to it, I hope you enjoy it ! :D

"What's the matter?" Suna's voice echoed through the discord call that had been ongoing for the past three hours. It was 2 a.m., and this nightly call with Suna was a time for both of you to simply be together, doing nothing or anything while music played in the background. You lifted your head from the assignment you had been working on for the past hour. "Hmm? What do you mean?" you asked, curious.

"You've been shivering and scrunching your face. It's actually quite cute, but now I'm genuinely concerned," Suna expressed, his voice filled with worry. Leaning back in your chair, you searched for the right words to describe the strange sensations you had been experiencing. "Well, how can I put it… Lately, I've been having this weird feeling in my body that makes me all jittery and uneasy. Trust me, it's not a pleasant sensation," you explained, feeling a sense of relief as you shared your thoughts.

Suddenly, the "underground" song that Suna had been playing came to a halt. "Hey, it was getting to the good part," you playfully whined. "Shut up, I'm changing the playlist," Suna responded, his fingers clicking away on the keyboard. The bot started playing a much calmer song, and you opened the chat to see Suna had chosen a playlist titled "Everything's Going to Be Okay ~ Playlist to Soothe Anxiety." You felt the urge to tease him about his efforts to calm you down with a cheesy playlist, but instead, you silently thanked him and embraced his presence.

You weren't sure how it worked, but Suna's small gestures meant the world to you and brought a comforting warmth to your heart. Just being in his company was enough to soothe your troubles, and you treasured every moment spent together.

As the tranquil melody filled the virtual space, a peaceful ambiance settled between you and Suna. The minutes ticked by, and though the world outside seemed chaotic and unpredictable, the connection you shared with Suna provided solace and stability. It was as if the discord call existed in its own little bubble, shielding you both from the outside world.

Suna's voice broke the silence, soft and reassuring. "You know," he began, "I may not have all the answers or a magical solution, but I'm here for you. Whenever you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on, I'll be right by your side." His words resonated deeply within you, touching the core of your being. In a world where so much was uncertain, having someone who genuinely cared about your well-being was a precious gift.

A warm smile spread across your face, and you couldn't help but feel grateful for Suna's presence in your life. The bond you had formed through countless late-night conversations, shared laughter, and even the occasional tears had grown stronger over time. You realized that it wasn't just the calming playlist or the soothing words that made a difference—it was the genuine connection between you.

As the night grew darker and the moon hung high in the sky, you both found comfort in each other's virtual presence. Conversations flowed effortlessly, ranging from profound discussions about life's mysteries to lighthearted banter that elicited bursts of laughter. The hours slipped away, but neither of you minded because time seemed irrelevant when you were wrapped in the embrace of friendship.

In that moment, you understood that even amidst the uncertainties and challenges, you had found an anchor in Suna. Together, you faced the ups and downs, providing support and encouragement every step of the way. Whether it was through silly conversations, shared interests, or moments of vulnerability, you had built a bond that transcended the boundaries of the digital realm.

As the dawn approached and the sky painted hues of soft pastels, you reluctantly realized that it was time to bid each other farewell. But before you ended the call, you made a promise to continue these nightly rituals, knowing that they held a special place in your heart. With a renewed sense of hope and strength, you said your goodbyes, eagerly looking forward to the next opportunity to connect with Suna.

In a world where physical distance could separate people, you found solace in the fact that true connections knew no bounds. And as you closed your eyes, drifting into a peaceful slumber, you carried with you the knowledge that Suna's presence would always be just a call away, ready to bring light to the darkest of nights.

[yourforeverokay]

The Meaning Behind the Song (Elvis Presley x Reader) pt. 2

word count: 2,3k

summary: What happens when it's Y/N's first day in town and she goes to the local diner, only to meet the person that had filled her thoughts all day and night?

a/n: Hey my loves <3 Thank you so much for appreciating the first part of this series. I hope you enjoy this one just as much. I hope to post more often but my life is keeping me busy with work and graduation but I'll promise to start posting more regularly! Also I use the pronouns she/her in this series for the main character, but that doesn't limit the reader to anything, you can imagine the person to be whoever you want them to be! Thank you <3

You drove another hour or two before you found yourself in front of your new apartment. You parked your car in front of the poor and almost broken-down apartment building but the state of it didn't bother you at all. You had lived your whole life in poverty-stricken conditions and you wanted to change that. Your parents had always dreamed of you finding yourself a wealthy man, so that your family could finally pay off all the debts that had burdened everyone, especially your father, who worked everyday for almost 10 hours. He just wanted his only child to live a happy and fulfilled life, but he wasn't capable of miracles, despite his full schedules of work and chronical stress. You wanted the best for your family too, but marrying a wealthy man wasn't for you. You were always optimistic about life, so you figured that you could make your own money, and doing it by fulfilling your dreams. Everybody called you crazy but you knew what you were capable of and that is why you were currently stepping out of your car with your bags, ready to meet your new home.

The area that you were living in was filled with government housing, just like your house was one too. Instead of feeling embarrassed, you felt blessed to be given this opportunity to have your own apartment at such a young age. You went inside the building and walked up to the 4th floor, which was the highest one, and found your door. You took your keys, opened the door and took everything in. The apartment was fully furnished, and you loved it. You could see that the people didn't want to make the house boring and dull, because the apartment was filled with different colors. Red, green and black were the ones that really popped up in your eyes, and they were also used the most. You set your bags on the floor and started exploring the house and it's secrets. Soon after, you found your favorite spot in the apartment. It was the thick window sill, in your bedroom, that had two pillows that you could sit on while looking out of the window. The view wasn't to die for, but it was your view, and you romanticized it because that was the only way you could live your life. By seeing beauty in everything, even when there was none.

You continued settling in and hours flew by. By 10 p.m. you had already unpacked everything and set them in their places, learned how to use the radio that was located in the living room and learned how to use the oven and the stove in the kitchen. Everything was falling in place but as you sat on the window sill and drank the chamomile tea you had just poured for yourself, you couldn't help but think about the boy you met earlier. He was filling your mind with excitement but also with fear. 'What if he will not call?' You thought to yourself as you looked at the night sky. You drank your tea as you kept thinking about his beautiful deep eyes that made you blush. His voice with that southern accent, dark slicked back hair, his way of speaking...everything about him. You decided it was time to go to bed because the day had been long, exhausting but everything you wanted it to be and more.

-

You started your day early, at 8:00 a.m. to be exact. You still had some paintings to hang on your walls so you placed them in their places and after that, you heard your stomach growl. You were in desperate need of food so you got dressed, now in more basic clothes, and left the apartment. You had to walk to the city center to get to the grocery store. It was small but it had everything you needed in there. As you were walking between the isles, you got an idea of visiting the local diner tonight as a celebration of your new life. That is why you only brought home eggs, bread, milk, honey and some tomatoes from the store.

You cooked breakfast and took out your notebook. It was time to come up with something you could hopefully present to Mr. Phillips tomorrow morning when you would visit the recording studio for the first time. You always started with the lyrics and the theme and you were feeling to write a bit bluer song that you would normally write.

The other woman

You looked at the paper and suddenly remembered your last relationship which ended in a bad, bad way. The boy, who was your first love, cheated on you. He tried to lie and explain to save himself or the relationship between you and him, as he said. You were then a sad, sad girl writing songs about things you knew about but never before had you written about this heartbreak. You had been the other woman in the relationship, and you knew it. You were ashamed and lonely..waiting for love to find you again.

Has time to manicure her nails

The girl was beautiful, yes, but she didn't need to put so much effort every day to please the boy, like you did. Everyday he would see a flaw in you that needed to be fixed. That's why you always kept yourself pretty, even your nails were perfectly shaped and colored. Still it was never going to be enough. He wanted to marry the girl, his parents knew about her and they were going to have a family together. You knew you didn't have a chance but still you waited until you came to your senses and left the broken relationship you both shared.

You continued with the lyrics, trying to match a guitar to the melody you had in mind for it. It took you the whole day to write the song but you were satisfied with it. Now if only Mr. Phillips would approve it, everything would be perfect. Your notebook full of lyrics and tiny doodles of flowers, your fingers aching a bit from all the playing, you looked at the time. It was 6:30 p.m. which meant it was time for dinner. You went to your wardrobe and took out a pretty blue dress with white dots on it and put heels on that you stole from your mother. You took your purse and left the building once again.

-

You arrived to the new-ish looking diner which was booked and busy with people chatting loudly in their own groups. You walked in and heard the bell above ring upon your arrival. You walked over to the counter and waited for the waitress to appear. "Hey sweetie, what can I get ya?" The waitress had to almost yell because the lively music was playing too loud next to you and the people were laughing, having fun loudly. "Hi, could I possibly get the vanilla milkshake and the hamburger with the fries?" You decided on the safest choice since you didn't know what the house special was. "Coming right up!" The waitress yelled and disappeared to the kitchen. The diner was amazing. The people, the energy, the music, everything. Everything felt perfect in that moment. You were happy to see so many people enjoying themselves with friends and family. You wished you had somebody too but it wasn't time for melancholy feelings. You swung your legs and looked at the menu in front of you when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You looked behind you and noticed the boy from before. "Elvis!" You turned around completely to face him. You two hugged each other tight and you felt a weird feeling in your body, it felt safe? It was so comfortable already between you two which made the butterflies go crazy in your stomach. "Hi honey, what on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't princesses be eating in their castles?" Elvis smirked at you while throwing the sly comment as you both shared a small laugh. "No but seriously, what are you doing here honey?" He asked once again, excitement shining in his eyes. "Well...It's a long story but in short, I live here now. I just moved in from California." You smiled at him while gazing in his eyes. "WHAT? That's amazing, I live here close by too!" He smiled brightly. His attention was switched to his friends when they yelled his name and tried to wave at him, signaling him to return to their booth. He just nodded and yelled "I'll be there in a minute!"

Your meal arrived and you took a fry in your mouth as Elvis started to talk about his friends and why he was there. He asked you to join but to be honest, you were too shy. You were usually a bit more quieter with new people but with Elvis, you didn't need to be. The first gaze you shared felt like you had known each other forever. "I don't want to bother you." You said while pushing a piece of your hair behind your ear. "Honey, you? You could never bother me. Even now I'm blessed I can even talk to you." You giggled but a thought took over your mind. "Why didn't you call me then?" You asked him curiously, but obviously not wanting to pressure him. "I- I- um" He stuttered which you took as a sign. "It's okay, I get it." You gave the boy a small smile and took a bite of your burger. "No, no, no you don't!" He took you by your shoulders which shocked you a bit as your eyes widened. "I wanted to, I really did but I just didn't want you to find out this soon." "Find out what?" Silence took over the conversation.

"I'm not the person you might think I am. I'm a poor guy and if I would've called you would've found out that I live in the government housing by the phone number. I know girls like yourself, don't usually go for guys like me which is why I was waiting till I could've called you from my friend's house. It would have been in a lot nicer area and the number would ha-" He continued to explain before you stopped him. "Elvis, I don't care that you have no money." He looked shocked at your comment, his eyes had confusion in them though. "Elvis, I'm poor too, and I also live in a government housing, it's okay. Never would I have declined you just because of your financial situation. Never. You're a nice guy and besides all, you saved me yesterday." You said to him as you took his hand in yours. You put a fry in your mouth and popped one into his too. His friends yelled at him once again trying to get his attention but his eyes were stuck in yours. "I wanna get to know you Y/N, I wanna know your story and I definitely wanna hear what you're gonna do in here in Memphis." He said with a smile, you returned it. "Well that's going to be a long story Mr. Presley." You laughed and finished the fries that you had left. "Oh baby, I have all the time in the world. Let me walk you to your home and you can tell me all about it." He took your hand as you hopped off the stool. "What about your friends?" You asked. "They'll understand, after all I'm with a girl like you." He winked his eye at you while waving a goodbye to his friends.

-

You left the diner after paying your meal (which he insisted on paying) and walked slowly in the dark night. The night was chilly and you were walking close to each other, hands slightly touching one another. You told him about your childhood which was filled with memories with your parents and your dog that you owned. You told him all the big ups and downs, all the tears and smiles that you had ever experienced. You also talked about the money problems in your family and how hard you father worked. Elvis related to it all and it felt like you too shared a childhood even though you were far away from each other then. Elvis told you about his mother and his childhood which in a big part was music. Another thing you two had in common was the love for music. You two talked about everything and everyone but one thing that was left unsaid was the fact that you two shared a record label. He didn't tell you about his popular single That's allright mama. The reason was because you two had so much to talk about and the walk to your home wasn't very long. You only told him that you were here in Memphis to chase your dreams which he responded to with "I know you can do anything you believe in Y/N."

The two of you were standing in front of the door of your apartment building, in complete silence. You and Elvis just kept an intense eye contact, neither of you wanting to be the one who breaks it. Your hands were behind your back and Elvis was slightly leaning against the wall next to the door. He pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear, the palm of his hand slightly caressing your cheek. You were inches away from his face as you broke the silence with a simple: "I'll see you around Elvis."

"I'll see you too Y/N." Both of you resisting to share your first kiss right there and then. You backed away in your house, shyly, as you realized how close you actually were to him. "Bye, Elvis." You gave his cheek a tiny peck and closed the door quickly before realizing what you had done. You leaned your back against the door, heart racing and your face red. What you didn't know was that Elvis was leaning on the same door too, his back pressed against it. He was blushing, shaking his head with a dumb smile on his face. He sighed.

"I need to make her mine."