#i'm not sure if that'd work for him but it could be a compromise? maybe?

[kindacreepy-kindaugly]

...

[invisibleraven]

Holiday Dialogue Prompts! “Lift me up so I can put the star on the tree.” for Reggie/Carrie?

As December rolled around, Carrie was determined to have a fabulous holiday without any help from staff. She had her own place now, a cozy little apartment all her own so she didn’t need much.

She had taken boxes of decorations when she moved out, her dad was never much for the holiday, he was happy with just a tree in the corner and a wreath on the door, but he let Carrie deck their halls every year. Now she had to do it for herself.

She places the fake candles in the windows, replaces all the linens with festive ones, and starts hanging garlands wherever she can. Everything was as holly and jolly as she could make it, except one thing.

She still needed a tree.

This was where Reggie came in.

Reggie was her cute neighbour with the freckles to die for and a swoon worthy grin. He also flushed every time he saw Carrie, tripping over himself to help her out and it did her ego a world of good whenever he did. Carrie was hoping to gift him some cookie, maybe catch him under the mistletoe, get herself a date for New Years. This just happened to be an added step in that plan.

Reggie was more than happy to help her, loading her into his truck with a thermos of warm cider and a flushed smile. Carrie sipped the drink as he drove them to the tree farm, singing along to Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Carrie appreciated his vintage tastes, and he winked. "You say that now, I have Muppets Christmas Carol songs coming up."

"I like the Muppets," Carrie replied. "Miss Piggy is my favourite."

"That somehow does not surprise me. I'm more of a Gonzo man myself."

The tree farm was bustling with activity, but Carrie knew what she wanted, heading right towards the larger spruces. Reggie cautioned her to choose something that fit both in his truck and her place, but she was not to be dissuaded, picking a nice 7 foot evergreen that she managed to haggle a good price on.

Getting it into the truck and then up the stair to her place was a bit of an adventure, but they managed it with the bare minimum of scratches and sap everywhere. Reggie even offered to help her decorate it.

"That'd be nice," Carrie admitted. "Plus I might need you to lift me up so I can put the star on the top."

"Or... we could get you a footstool so neither of us end up with a broken neck or a tree on top of us," Reggie compromised.

"Fine," Carrie sighed with an eye roll. Then directed him to the box of ornaments, the two of them working together to decorate, Reggie's play list going on in the background. Carrie proved herself by knowing all the words to the Muppets songs, making Reggie look at her with a tad of awe.

Finally the tree was done, the star sparkling on the top, and they stood back to take it all in. "We did good," Reggie remarked.

"We sure did," Carrie responded, giving him a high five. "D-do you wanna stay? Have a drink and maybe watch the Grinch with me?"

"Which version?" Reggie asked.

"Karloff, d'uh," Carrie replied.

"You passed the test," Reggie grinned. "Hot chocolate and popcorn?"

"It'll have to do since I'm all out of Who Hash," Carrie snarked, but went off to make their snacks, biting back a smile when his eyes followed her.

And she found that at the end of the night, she didn't need the mistletoe to get her kiss, but that didn't stop her from pulling Reggie back underneath it to make their goodnight last just that bit longer.

[julyarchives]

In The Dark

→ Pairing: Yuto x Reader

→ Genre: fluff.

→ Words:  1.8K

→ Contains: friends to lovers; confession; pinning; song lyrics

→ A/N: This is a very soft story and we absolutely loved to write it! Hope you guys like it as well!!! Special thank you to the person who requested it <3

Laying on your bed you checked your phone for the ninth time in five minutes, it was still past 1 a.m. and Yuto still didn't write back. Sighing, you opened a game on your phone and tried to distract yourself. Of course, it only worked for a few seconds before your mind drifted back to your best friend.

You and Yuto were best friends since you met at school and the bond you shared was something else, always together and sharing everything. Everything was perfect until you noticed your stomach turning in nervousness whenever you saw him laugh at something you said when you'd find excuses to touch him and would almost squeak when he took it as an invitation to hug or cuddle on your couch.

When you finally accepted you fell for your best friend, it was scary. Obviously, Yuto could never find out, you were sure it would break a beautiful friendship and it was better to have him around as a friend than not at all. So you tried to move on. You went on dates with a few guys but of course, it never worked out perfectly. They all had a main flaw, they were not Yuto. They couldn't make you smile like him, didn't understand you like him.

As you went on dates to forget Yuto, he also went out on dates, even if they were fewer than yours. But it hurt you to know that he was just following his life, his dates were for real and not just a means to an end like yours. Tonight was his third date with this cute girl from his music course. She was a good match for him, you couldn't deny that.

That's why you couldn't stop checking your phone, as Yuto said he'd text you after he got home to tell you all about it. It'd make you hurt more but he needed your support and you couldn't deny him anything. Sighing for the millionth time, you put your phone down for a few seconds to close your eyes briefly before opening your music app and choosing a very specific song to let out your feelings.

In THE DaRk by Bobby resonated in your bedroom, your speaker doing its job perfectly. You clicked on the repeat button in the app and put down your phone. Closing your eyes, the lyrics brokenly fell from your lips as you whispered it like a prayer, the only way to let your feelings out. Even knowing you had other friends to talk to, speaking about your feelings made it even more real, meaning it'd hurt more, so you chose to keep it a secret from everyone.

The song was halfway through its second repeat when the notification sound chimed into the song. You moved a bit too fast for your liking but oh well. Of course, it was Yuto checking in, saying the date went well but he wasn't home yet. You felt sad knowing he was probably with her still and turned the sound louder getting up to move to the beat.

You focused on the lyrics, blasting out the words you wished you could tell your best friend in the same moment he was with someone else. Your body swayed as you sang all about staying up at night with him in your mind, needing him to know you loved him, wishing there was a portal between your rooms so you could be together this very moment. Your phone made a ding sound once more and you picked it up from the bed, expecting it to be Yuto once again after you told him to tell you when he got home.

🎶Are you thinking of me at this dawn?

I wish therе was a continuous portal from my room to yours🎶

You stared at it for a few seconds, alarmed and confused that he sent you the same lyrics you just sang. The phone showed he was typing and you waited, getting more and more confused.

Nice song, Y/N. But don't you think it's a bit loud for this hour?

Not knowing how to answer, you just sent a few question marks and stared at the phone. How could he know all this if he was out with the girl?

Turn around

You moved a bit too fast and you almost tripped on your feet as you saw Yuto leaning against the doorframe, a cute smile on his lips. You quickly paused the song on your phone and he chuckled at your puzzled face.

"Giving me a spare key wasn't a good choice, was it?", his deep voice sounded almost as loud as the music was a few seconds before.

"What are you doing here?", you were glued to the floor. You weren't ready to hear him speak about this date with that pretty smile and shining eyes.

"I told you the date was fine but I didn't go home… thought you'd figure I'd come see you but suddenly there was a very loud Bobby music in the house", Yuto smiled widely, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him.

"I… I thought you were still with her", your voice faltered. You were too tired, too sad about his date and truly was expecting to cry yourself to sleep when he got home while listening to the same song that was on minutes ago.

"She wasn't my best friend", he said, hands in his pocket, standing in the middle of your room. "I wanted to come to see you".

"Why?", your voice was barely a whisper. You tried to recall if you said anything out loud while in your room, now scared you said something that could compromise your feelings for him.

"Can we…?", Yuto said, pointing at your bed briefly.

You nodded, moving the covers so you could lay down and still make room for him. He moved alongside you, laying down and naturally you both moved until you laid your head on his chest, him turning slightly sideways to hug you fully, his chin resting on top of your head.

"Can you play the song again?", he asked gently. You picked up your phone, staring at your wallpaper for a second. It was a silly picture you took with Yuto and he insisted you chose it as wallpaper. "Mine is just like yours", he said after noticing you staring at the picture, "you can imagine my date wasn't very fond of it", he chuckled.

You made sure to lower the volume of the song before playing it, Bobby's voice now as a background whisper. You felt your heart tightening at the mention of Yuto's date, imagining he'd be changing his wallpaper any time now. His voice suddenly filled the room, singing along the song.

"Shine, you shine on my existence

My night keeps getting longer

At night when everyone is asleep, I think of you

At this dawn, at this dawn

Shine, you shine on my existence

Tears are erased by my emotions

Add, add color to the world"

You joined in, even if you felt like his voice was heaven and yours wasn't a match. Yuto held you tighter when you began singing, thumbs now caressing your shoulders. You stayed that way for most of the song, only moving when he moved his head and hand, gently holding your chin to make you look up to him. He smiled and gently sang while looking into your eyes. On instinct you follow, head almost spinning but too entranced on him to move.

Even if I've confessed a hundred times inside my brain

I'm invisible to you

I could do better than anybody, anything for you

If I want you to feel the same way

That must be greedy, that'd probably be a chance to peek into heaven

'Cause you are angel

Your breath caught in your throat when Yuto moved, placing his forehead against yours. Your heart was beating fast and you were sure you were dreaming, your hands finding his shirt and holding it, almost as an anchor to reality. A lot of questions were clouding your mind but you couldn't speak, scared of breaking whatever this was.

"I ditched her", Yuto whispered, "I knew something was off since the first date but I gave her a chance". You closed your eyes, too scared to look at him. "She had everything I thought I wanted, everyone said so too".

"I know", you said a bit too fast. Maybe if you answered, he'd stop talking about her while being so close to you.

"But she still missed the most important trait I've been looking for without even knowing", his hand moved, touching the side of your face so you could look at him. "She wasn't you".

You opened your eyes in shock, breathing faster without even taking notice. By now you were sure even Yuto could hear your heart beating against your chest. Your mind acted before you could even process, desperate to not let the moment go away.

"You have no idea how much it pained me to see you go on dates that weren't me. How much I listened to this very song wishing I'd tell you how much I fall for you whenever you smile", once you finished speaking, you heaved, almost felt like you ran a marathon.

"Funny. I was about to say the same to you", Yuto chuckled. His forehead was still against yours and his breath tickled your nose. You were staring into his eyes, both of you smiling shyly. "I'm going to kiss you now, ok?", he said. Your smile grew wider, his warning making you shiver in anticipation.

Yuto moved slowly, giving you plenty of time to pull back. You met him halfway, lips connecting gently. You heard him sigh and your stomach flipped, you were as happy as you were nervous. His thumb moved in circles on your face, caressing it. Your lips moved against his after a few seconds, a chaste kiss, so gently but you felt years of pinning pouring into it and hoped he felt it.

When you parted, you couldn't contain a smile, and when you opened your eyes, Yuto had the same face, smiling at you in the sweetest way. He gave you a quick peck and settled on the bed more comfortably and you followed, holding him close. It was late and you could feel how tired you were.

"We'll talk when we wake up, is that alright?", his voice sounded as sleepy as you did.

"Of course. But I have one demand", you said, lazily supporting yourself on his chest to look at his face better. He hummed in answer, fingers playing with your hair. "That song has got to be our song now". Yuto chuckled loudly and you smiled at the sound, still feeling like you were dreaming.

"Of course, princess", he kissed you briefly again before settling back on the bed, "I wouldn't have it any other way". And with that you drifted to sleep, dreaming about a future that was sure to be near with your best friend and love, that now you knew loved you back.

[stray-tori]

TPN Vol 8 - Chapters 66-70 Thoughts

[we're already on vol 9 but I'm slow with compiling]

I know I always rag on the "cop out" deaths and it is true that no corpse no dead, and I am curious if there will be any more worldbuilding regarding Lucas' survival (hello deus ex machina person) but uh. Idk. I'm sure it has a point and it makes sense in universe (having him be the reason for the knowledge among GP kids is good) but it just feels a little. Eh. Like it feels like paddling back on a small part of geezers guilt and feelings. In part it also feels like a "reward" for choosing the heroes moral side and going to help save Emma (why ever that happened - ig bc Gilda would blow up the shelter if he doesn't so. YAY).

...

Obviously the development is still his, and he obviously isn't expecting to find anyone alive there, but ig i felt like he was leading up to... healing more through the kids and not one epic Emma speech and "oh your one friend is alive btw" reveal later on. It feels like a spark of hope and happiness for him that I'm not sure if was needed narratively. He already decided he wouldn't harm them.

Like maybe they handle it very differently so i might be jumping the gun here but idk. It just feels a little... weird to me. Probably in a similar way how speeches about Norman hurt but also kind of get that "well uh about that...." Air once you know. I feel for the characters and their separation but it doesn't have the same weight it could have anymore.

In theory it reminds me a bit of the whole gate reveal structure in s2. With a setup being built up or established and a reveal just going "nvm that's not what we're doing".

It makes sense, I'm just not a huge fan of what it does for me for previously established things.

But i guess writing wise it puts its cards on the table with small scale Lucas and then Norman haha.

.

I find it rly funny how much the arc sort of mirrors the s2 arc so far (character assumed dead is alive, new cast of demon kill children introduced, a plan to kill demons).

Ig that might be intentional, for all intents it's a good method of conveying character change. Or different specifics or how things might be judged differently with different specifics (like hunting for enjoyment vs. farming)

I'm totally jumping in on this too early but idk it's interesting to think about.

That and also our whole "There's someone I want you to meet" - "ITS NORMAN" jokes made me think, like you could probably ACTUALLY restructure some of this in a way that would allow Norman's return here instead lol. Could be a fun AU, esp since we have the seeds of a (small-scale) demon annihilation plan anyway.

I also just find it funny to think about Norman grumbling from his future self that Emma agreed to some random guy's plan so easily udkhjsd

Obviously the time is a bit of a mess -- it's only been 3 months? is Adam out bc Norman's escaped already or was Adam just shipped to GP? if he already escaped, our boy is quick - plus, why would he go to GP. the supporters in Lambda probably know it's been compromised, so aside from freeing the children, there isn't a lot of reason to go there and while that may have priority, I feel like 3 months is a bit of a short timeframe for Norman to settle in there well enough -- so it's more wonky than anything BUT IT'S FUN TO THINK ABOUT.

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btw I find it so funny how Emma has that whole "intent to kill" thing going on now, considering her later moral stance - like it's fair but coming from s2 it's a bit of whiplash haha especially since she's so determined about it right from the start. (though I have no idea if she ever addressed killing demons before this, memory bad)

Though notably she said "she wants to shut down the hunting ground too", not "want to kill them too" - and it's good that she draws a line but IDK IT'S JUST INTERESTING because what bothers her is the toying / no respect for their lives, right? - "this kind of hunt", not hunting in general.

... so like, if you were hunted by a demon in the wild, who didn't toy with you, just killed and ate you, that would be fine then? Idk, it's a very fine line and I get it, but it's interesting to think about. A quick, suffer-less death is of course a valid thing to want if you will die anyway, but you're dead afterwards in both variants.

Of course maybe I'm reading it wrong and it's just her sort of realizing that between mass production farms and GP, they really did have it good, even if they died an early death, and how this is much more hate-worthy than GF's method. Which is true, I suppose, and might expand on the building blocks of her moral development down the line (as in "there's different stages of demon-badness").

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Also a more funny thought but imagine if Lucas DID have the pen, would... Geezer-senpai just not find the way back? And even if he did would he even get into the bunker? That'd be one tragic ending pff. Tell the person to run away and they can't even go back inside sudhdjd

.

Also i thought about it and isn't it weird that none of the books or materials mentioned what goldy pond actually is? Like youd expect sth that important to be in there.

We know WM wasn't at the bunker in the last 13 years and we know that the books he supplied to GF, the newest one was 2015. What if he was discovered or had to limit his WM activity 30 years ago?

So 30 years ago, he still sent people to goldy pond.

I'm just realizing.... That totally sounds like a setup for minerva to actually be on the demons side or a demon himself sjdhjddj. Like he orchestrates escapees (who are likely to be smart) and then sends them to GP where he and his noble friends can hunt them.

But where i was actually going with this uh, what if GP 30 years ago (potentially longer depending on how long ago he was there last) wasn't actually a hunting a ground? Why would you send kids there without a warning otherwise? What if it WAS a small human community (tho that would likely have been passed around by the inhabitants) or it was at least WM supporter base like the bunker, intended for humans to live there. Not sure about mansion then but YKNOW.

If it was, i wonder if it being discovered was a huge part in WM cover being blown OR if the demons decided to keep it secret bc you know this place is rly convinient haha

I also wonder how wm even finds and builds all these underground things lol. Bc it can't have existed since before the world split i think?

Man has some big construction projects running pfff.

I'm also not sure how that underground thing works-

.

its tori is confused about minor things hour

[Emma takes the axe with right hand, her right hand is still behind her as if she was winding up, but the axe is already thrown?]

like if she had the axe still in hand it'd make sense or if it was in her hand AND spinning, it'd be like "2 frames".

but this?? i am just-

.

im rly late with this but the glove is Lucas' memorial. the pair will only be together again when they reunite :<<

what I want to know is HOW. like the John thing is already questionable but I guess he could have gone back again?? but with this.

he has both gloves when they part he still have one glove on when his arm is gone. but the arm Leuvis has, doesn't have a glove?? So either Leuvis took it off but i wouldn't know why, and just dropped it on the ground for geezer to come pick up ORRRR he took one off for some reason?? maybe he threw it at the demon pff something is very un-continous here and i need answers-

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the duality of man... not wanting people to know a) your age and b) your name (which you may have forgotten, who knows)

we just assumed geezer's name is censored here but I guess it could be anything haha-