#i'm trying to get this to format correctly LET'S SEE

[hmslusitania]

For the OTP prompts - TimKon #2 👀

Please enjoy some boys being very silly in a nebulous Young Justice timeline, to the prompt of "I'm dying." "You're not dying."

“I’m dying,” Kon proclaims, draping himself dramatically over the back of the couch in their headquarters, his wrist pressed to his forehead like a caricature of a Victorian maiden swooning on a fainting couch.

“You’re not dying,” Tim snaps, rolling his eyes. He’s trying to fill out reports, because that had been part of the Justice League’s terms for letting them continue to operate — paperwork. He and Cassie had rock-paper-scissored about which of them had to do said paperwork, and after losing and taking one look at the Batman-formatted report papers, she’d declared that she was making him Young Justice’s secretary, and declared it his responsibility.

“You don’t know,” Kon complains, pushing off from the ground so he rolls all the way over the back of the couch. He manages to twist while he falls so that he lands on his stomach with his arms folded around one of the throw pillows Cissie had brought in because they “brightened up the place.” “I totally could be.”

“You can’t actually die of boredom,” Tim scolds.

“I’m sure there’s gotta be a rogue somewhere who can do that,” Kon says, which is… almost certainly true and Tim kinda hates that. “For all you know, I got whammied by it, and now unless you entertain me, I’m gonna die of the stupidest bullshit ever.”

“I am the wrong Robin if you want entertainment,” Tim says. “Dick was the one who was a literal circus performer.”

“Yeah, because I’m just gonna pop over to Titans tower and ask Nightwing to do backflips for my entertainment,” Kon scoffs.

“Well, I’m not gonna do backflips for your entertainment,” Tim replies, signs the bottom of the report, and flips it into the finished stack. As he reaches for the next one, Kon scrambles down to the end of the couch closest to Tim’s table.

“Can you actually do a backflip?” he asks.

Tim sighs. “Yeah.”

“Woooow,” Kon says, dragging the syllable out. Tim makes the mistake of glancing his way and discovers Kon watching him with a challenge brightening his face. “That would be super hot, if I believed you.”

“See, I know you’re just trying to goad me, so that’s not gonna work,” Tim says, and focuses on his paperwork. The looming, omnipresent threat of Bruce’s disapproval if he doesn’t get them filled out correctly and in a timely manner is good enough incentive to keep him from being distracted by Kon’s… everything.

“Sure, okay,” Kon says, and flips over onto his back with his hands folded behind his head. Tim makes a further mistake when he looks again and gets a good eyeful of the way Kon’s biceps are straining the leather of his jacket these days.

In a kinder world, growing up surrounded by superheroes had rendered him immune to distraction by traditional superhero physique. Unfortunately, no one’s ever accused their corner of the multiverse of being a kinder world.

Well. Except Earth-3 people, but that’s a special case.

“I’ll just sit here, content in the knowledge you lied about something stupid so that you could sound cool,” Kon says.

It shouldn’t actually get to him, but it does, and Tim kind of hates himself for that a little.

Grumbling the whole time so Kon knows exactly how much of a pain in the ass he’s being, Tim stands up, checks his clearances, and does a backflip, exactly like Dick taught him.

To his surprise, Kon doesn’t verbally respond. When Tim looks over to see what’s wrong with him, or what’s distracted him, he finds Kon just… staring at him. Blinking widely. Face slightly pink.

It makes Tim blush in response as well, without meaning to, and he kind of hates that too.

“See, I was just fucking with you—”

“Yeah, I noticed, actually.”

“—but that was actually super hot.”

Tim’s blush goes from faint to on-the-verge-of-combustion, and he takes his seat back at the table to keep doing his reports, vividly aware that Kon is now staring at him from the couch with an expression on his face that’s not wholly dissimilar to one of Damian’s cats when it’s getting ready to pounce.

“Tim,” Kon says, and Tim swears to god there’s a hint of a purr in the back of his throat.

Kryptonians and Cats. There’s probably a whole research paper in there Tim could cook up if he wanted to.

“I’m trying to keep the Justice League from shutting us down,” Tim protests. “I’m not doing another backflip for you.”

Kon huffs and launches himself into the air only to hover over Tim’s head, looking down at him and looming ominously. Tim doesn’t flinch when Kon leans down to grab his face in both hands, but it’s only Batman training that saves him. Batman training, and rapidly growing annoyance when Kon squishes his cheeks together and lowers down until Kon’s upside down face is directly in front of his.

“Tim,” Kon repeats. “You’re hot.”

“Thanks,” Tim says, voice coming out weirdly squashed thanks to Kon’s compression of his face. “So are you.”

Kon beams at him and brushes the tip of his nose against Tim’s, and then drops down another few inches so he can kiss him.

It’s not their first kiss, or even their first outside of sleepover night truth or dare and spin-the-bottle games, but this whole thing developing between them is still new enough that it might be within the counting-on-his-fingers range.

Kon nibbles lightly on his bottom lip and then faster than Tim can blink, he’s flipping around in mid-air only to land in Tim’s lap, hands still squishing Tim’s cheeks together.

“And I think, you should kiss me some more before I die of boredom and you have to find a new heavy hitter for your team,” Kon says. “Think about it. Do you want to get this paperwork submitted just on time rather than obnoxiously early, or do you want to have to figure out how to fill out paperwork for ‘I accidentally let Kon-El languish away to nothing out of boredom because I wouldn’t kiss him’ paperwork?”

“I think I’d make up a different cause of death for the paperwork,” Tim replies, waits until Kon’s scrunched up his nose and his whole face in disappointment, and only then does he give up on paperwork for the time being, and kiss him.

[cheapshrimpysheep]

Slide With Me

SUMMARY: Before returning to NRC you show curiosity to know what it's like to ride one of those racing sleds. All the boys offer to show you, inviting you to slide with them. You just need to choose with one you'd like to slide with.

CHARACTERS: Jade Leech, Idia Shroud, Sebek Zigvolt & Epel Felmier

TAGS: Fluf; GN Reader (reader is taller than Epel and shorter than the other three... because so am I ...)

WORD COUNT: An average of 380 words per character.

COMMENTS: I wanted to do something with the Harveston Sledathon theme. Taking advantage of the fact that it finally came on the eng server. And I thought that I would love for them to take me on a ride. I hope you enjoy ;)

Are you sure you want to choose him? Because Octavinelle's boys don't do anything without a deal. Maybe you made one with him without even realizing. Considering how smooth he is with words. Or maybe he'll remind you of this favour he did you when he asks you to accompany him on a hike up a mountain and you hesitate to say yes.

“You should go on front of me.” He will tell you “It will be easier to keep you safe if I am able to see you and if I have my arms by your side. That and, I am sure I'll assume correctly that you would like to enjoy the view.”

When cornering, you'll probably lose your balance and bump in his arms. And feel them around you without taking the hands off the handlebar, like a seat belt. “Are you well?” He’ll check. “Don't fret.I am able to keep my attention both on the mountain and on you. Fu fu.”

“Would you also be interested to know what it's like to jump over a ravine?” He will ask you if you’re having fun.

If you say no or your no sure: “This might be your only chance, you know? And I already jumped it once. I can assure your safety. I would never let you get hurt.” And if you still keep saying no: “*Sigh* Your lack of trust hurts me.” Not really. “But I'll respect your wishes.” He secretly enjoys messing up with you, especially when your afraid of something. But he won't go any further than teasing you.

If you say yes or you were not sure but decided to trust him on this: “Fu fu, I'll make sure you don't regret your decision.” He’ll tell you, amused. He loves it when your down for crazy things. He would get even closer to you, his abdomen on your lower back and his chest on your shoulders and head. If his arms were your seat belt, his torso was the back of your chair. He will not let you get hurt.

His stuffed deer will shameless asking you for petting after the ride. It gently bumps its head on your hip, as if trying to poke you with its rods, but since these are plush they bend when they go against you. “I thinks this is its way of asking for payment for the ride.” Jade deduces.

HIM? Why are you choosing him? He just offered to be polite, you know? Or at least that what he want everybody to think.

When you guys get far enough away from the others, as you get ready to start the ride: “Don't think I don't know why you chose me.” He tells you. But despite your little blush: “You chose me because I have the best racing plush. Smart move.”

“What, no! I choose you for you!” You realize you haven't spoken in your head and cover your mouth with your gloved hand. Both your cheeks and the ends of Idia's hair turned pink. “Y-your bear. Yes, I choose you for your bear, you're right!” You say completely unconvincing. “Should we start the ride now?” Idia nods, embarrassed and flattered at the same time, and finishes preparing the sleigh.

He will suggest you to go in front of him. Since he's the tallest and the expert (although he's only been doing this for a day or two) the safest formation is for the noob going on front of him. What? This is his way to say he cares about you. He doesn't care for other noobs. “Are you sulking because I'm calling you a noob? But you are. Fine, fine, I'll stop.”

He will not go to hard on you. He knows going to hard on a player that is just starting would make them hate a game they could love. The same with the ride. Both are supposed to be fun.

When cornering, you'll probably lose your balance and bump in his arms. And hear one of his "Hiep!" while he tries to protect you with his arms without taking the hands off the handlebar. You know when you almost drop your phone and suddenly realize how precious it is to you? That’s what that "Hiep!" meant.

If you want to go faster, he'll be happy to speed up. He knows that feeling. When you're liking a game so much you want to try the next difficulty. But he will NOT jump over that ravine again. Are you crazy?

His stuffed bear is shy but, after the ride, it will come close to you and nudge your hand with his nose to ask for petting.

HA! Of course you would choose him! Why choose a human... or merman turned into human, when one of your options is a (half) fay young man train by none other than Lilia Vanrouge to be a body-guard of none other than the Greates Malleus Draconia? Looks like your not dumb for a human.

“I hope you are up for the ride, human.” He’ll tell you with his smug smile “But nonetheless you should go on the front. It will be safer. That way, if your weak hands slip off the handlebar you will not pass through me.”

When cornering, you'll probably lose your balance and bump in his arms. But you'll realize he's not just using his arms to protect you. He's practically embrace you like the bodyguard he is protecting you from any danger that may come towards you. Despite his smug attitude, deep down he is taking his job of protecting you during the ride as serious as if he was protecting Malleus himself.

If he hears your laughs of fun during the ride, he will smile (since you can't see him), happy that you're having such fun with him. He'll not admit he was also having fun with you.

If you ask him if you two could jump the ravine like they did in the race, he’ll be surprised but say: “Ha Ha Ha! You sure have a dangerous amount of courage for your own good. Are you sure you can handle such thing, human?” you confirm “So get ready, because now I will not back down! And neither will I allowed you to!”

Don't be surprised if he ends up taking one of his hands off the handlebar to wrap it around your waist and make sure you don't come off the sled. The other arm exerting as much force to stay steady as when he trains with heavy weights.

After the ride, Squirshie will come up to you and stick out his chest as if proud of his work during the ride. It reminded you of Grim for a moment. When you bend down and pat him on the head, he recoils. To then approach again as if asking you to do that again.

YES! You choose him! Um... I mean, of course you choose him. after all, he is the most experienced at sledding. He he.

“I'm so happy you interested in sledding.” He'll tell you as you two approach his sleigh to prepare for the ride. “Despite the tension because of the race,I'm glad we still could show you how fun it is. I'm gonna give you the ride of your life!"

It will hurt his pride, but he will tell you to go behind him since you're taller. Your safety is way more important than his pride. “You must firmly grip the handlebar. But, um, you know, if you feel safer holding on to me, feel free to do so.”

If you choose to holding on to him, please don't mention the fact that his heart feels like is racing the Harveston Sledathon all over again.

When cornering, you'll probably lose your balance and and cling even tighter to him. This is the closest you've ever been to each other. Your chin is probably on his shoulder by now. “You’re okay?” he will ask whenever he feels you tighter your embrace. But don't think he isn't blushing every time this happens.

He'll ask if you want to jump the ravine. If you say no: “He he he. Don't worry. I was just kidding.”

If you say yes: “WHA-?! I was joking!” if you say you were joking as well, he will sigh with relief. If you say that now you want to do it. He'll need a minute to think about it. The last thing he wants is to put you in danger. But he understands you. In your position he would probably ask for the same thing. “Okay, if you really want to do this DO NOT let go of me! Don't even worry if you're hurting me. Hold on the tightest you can if you need, okay?”

Truth be told, he’s loving it! That shows how much you trust him to keep you safe even on a dangerous thing like that. And he won't let you doubt for a second that he won't be able to!

After the ride, his stuffed rabbit will start bouncing around you and wagging his little tail. And for some reason, I imagine if you pet him, he'll start tapping one of his hind legs on the ground. Like Thumper from Bambi. “Well that's new.” Epel will say, surprised.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[shootingmorningstar]

[slides on in] well hello there fellow lucifer fanatic

could i request some hcs with luci and an indecisive reader? gn and established relationship!! ex: he asks what they want for dinner and they panic trying to pick something because they feel like they need to decide right then and there or they’ll annoy him.

please and thank you! 🫶

anon, you're just like me fr. i also can never make up my mind and love lucifer. i'd be happy to write this for you .ᐟ

thank you for my first request, by the way ~ .ᐟ now to get to the good part.

LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR X GN! INDECISIVE READER

Look at this man. This is the man who has piles upon piles of rubber ducks in his workshop. You cannot tell me Lucifer isn't also indecisive, at least when it comes to less serious things.

Seriously. You expect me to believe he hasn't looked at his own work and went 'nope, looks bad. starting over.' .ᐣ

With that being said, I think he would find it an incredibly endearing trait in you. The concentrated face you make when you're stuck between two options .ᐣ Absolutely adorable.

That is, until the unsure and conflicted look on your face morphs into one telling of your anxiety and worry.

Now, I hope you'll excuse the bird pun, but he is absolutely a mother hen type.

The second he sees even a hint of panic on your face .ᐣ He's immediately shifting all of his focus on you -- if it hadn't been already.

He's rushing over to you without you having to so much as ask -- his beloved partner, distressed .ᐣ No matter the reason, that won't do. He won't rest until he sees you smiling again.

Wrapping his arms around you in a hug, likely even his wings, too. He's suffered so many panic attacks before, he knows just how miserable they are.

He wishes you had come into his life earlier so you could of comforted him through the worst of his.

Even if your panic hasn't dissolved into a full blown attack, he is there. His touch is grounding, it helps you calm down and come back to reality.

When your heart's stopped racing and you look as if you're able to talk about it, he'll ask you just what has you so distressed.

Don't even bother trying to lie to him. He can tell when someone's hiding their feelings.

He won't force you to tell him, though. He just wants to know what went wrong so he can help prevent it from happening again.

If you decide to share your worries with him, he wouldn't belittle you in the slightest. Is it time you need .ᐣ You two have all the time in the world.

Would you rather he choose .ᐣ Because he wouldn't mind.

Or if it's something more serious, he offers to sit down with you and discuss the pros and cons of each -- maybe you two can come up with a decision together .ᐣ

His face sort of falls if you decide to tell him part of the reasoning behind your anxiety is a fear that you'll end up annoying him. Did he do something to make you think he'd judge you .ᐣ

Or maybe he got short with you .ᐣ He's so apologetic. He wants you to feel like you can share anything and everything with him.

He won't let himself start feeling overwhelmed with guilt, though. This moment is about you and the reassurance you need, not his guilt issues.

Explain to him that you know he'd never do such a thing and that it's just an irrational thought coming from worry and he's taking your face into his hands, telling you that he would never, ever think less of you, much less get upset over something as silly as struggling to make a choice.

Like he said earlier, let him help you choose. You two are stronger together and this is no exception.

He's always soft to you, but count on him being even more so than usual for the rest of the night. You two can watch your favorite show or movie -- or whatever you'd like to do to destress. ♡

first request finished ~ .ᐟ how'd I do .ᐣ i'd love to hear your thoughts. feedback fuels my writing muse more than anything else .ᐟ

i'm really hoping this formats correctly, i'm used to using the tumblr app && currently stuck on laptop </3

[bomber-grl]

BOMBER THEY I COME BARING A REQUEST!! PLX BARE WITH ME THO I SUCK AT CORRECTLY FORMATTING THESE🙏🏻 Hiro hamada x gn! Reader hcs/comfort were the readers older brother just sucks n they hate him? Like he gets mad easily, really loud when mad,plays victim n undermines readers issues/achievements bcs their younger? (If the brother could also be a grown adult kinda like tadashi you'll have my soul 🙇🏻🙇🏻)

IM SO SORRY IF THIS IS AGAINST THE RULE WERE IT SAYS IT CANT BE SO DETAILED I'M SORRY!!!I tried my best to keep it as simple as possible (especially considering this is based on my own brother 😞😞) if it is against the rules im so sorry and feel free to ignore it !! TY for ur time n don't forget to drink water !!🙇🏻🙇🏻

Hiro Hamada x Reader with a terrible brother

Pairing(s): Hiro Hamada x Gn!Reader

A/N: Sorry if the title is too blunt, but that’s my take away from your ask and I’m rlly sorry u have a brother like that 😞💔

When Hiro first hears about your older brother and what he’s done it’s most likely a watered down version

Maybe you two were hanging out and you began to rant about how he’s trash and that’s all Hiro knew

But then he finds out how bad the reality is- it’s when you sneak into his room through his window using some gadgets

It’s in the middle of the night and you explain briefly what had occurred

An argument as usual had ensued and your brother was overly loud and brought up how you overact with your issues

This really surprises Hiro but he tries his best to comfort you

Especially since this time your delved deeper into what was going on and what your relationship with your brother truly is

Depending on how you are- he’d sneak down and get snacks, water, play games or watch a movie

Either way, the night ends with you two snuggled under the covers

Hiros usually flustered nature disappears at the sight of you being upset and genuinely hurt over a recurring situation

The night is quiet and the discussion sticks to a few words

However, the next morning you two wake up and head downstairs

obviously Cass is like 🤨

But she’s nicer obviously and decides to give you both some breakfast

I could also see her sending something wrong and so she lets it go but there will most definitely be a discussion later

Then you’re off to wherever you are

It’s the weekend and Hiro knows you’d want to take your mind off your brother

This was the first day of many that Hiro would do to try and cheer you up

Overall, he’s pretty protective and heavily dislikes your brother

Which is an understatement considering you hate him

And honestly? At first Hiro was shocked

He’s the same age that tadashi would’ve been and he could never imagine tadashi being anything but his wonderful self

The thought alone messes with Hiro and he truly begins to empathize with you

Knowing that your achievements are undermined just because you’re younger is insane to him

Tadashi was the complete opposite and would always push for Hiro to improve

He’s the reason Hiro even bothered going to his “nerd school”

He really wishes you could’ve experienced what it was like to have tadashi as an older brother but we’re in the now so he decides to just be there

Whether it’s letting you stay over or bringing you stuff

He tried his best

As well as Cass, eventually the two of you have to explain and she’s more than ok wiht you staying over

Of course with ground rules but they’re easy to follow

Even as his hero persona he’s more than protective and sure he has to help people regardless of

But if he ever runs into your brother, best believe he’s having Baymax fly like 1000 feet into the air and be like “oh sorry it was necessary “

And just be a bitch in total but it’s justified

Might be an over exaggeration but let’s be real

Hiro gets real protective over those he loves and you’re no exception

[zarla-s]

Man it's been a long time since I've done an ask cluster! Let's see if I can get some down...

He's an extremely fun character to write for and play with! So in that sense I'm fond of him, haha. He's such a huge disaster of a person, there's always something fun to do with him. Well "fun" in a relative sense.

I don't have anything to forgive him for, he didn't hurt me. |D He hurt the brothers!

I do have an idea for a cute feature inspired by Six-Eared Macaque! I should really sit down and do that already... and finish the one I half started but never finished...

I don't think my opinion on any of them changed! I love them all, haha. Which ones I drew comics about just depends on which ones I get ideas for really. Sometimes I get Alphys ideas and sometimes I get Goatparents ideas! Inspiration is fickle!

I don't have any solid plans or anything. :B Just gonna keep chugging along with silly comics and art! Work on Defrag and such. I'd like to finish a Ladyverse comic I've had lying around forever, and I had vague plans for doing a doujin for them too I could work on... and also seeing if I could format Handplates into a book format... I've always got a bunch of projects, haha.

It works on that level! It wasn't intentional though. |D

I do enjoy speculation! I don't really have much of my own though, I didn't predict anything in chapter 2 so now I'm assuming I can't predict anything in the future chapters either, haha.

Emesis Blue is great! Some really beautiful visuals in there, very striking! Love the mood of it too and a lot of the surreal imagery. I think it helped spur me back into TF2 again, haha. Medic and Scout's relationship was so cute.

I have thought about this! It has its share of challenges though... I outlined them more in this post. A pdf would be more doable though... could even include some extra stuff as well! Hmm...

I can see that! He'd probably spend as much time out in the rain as he could just doing whatever to stay outside.

It was pretty much always going to end like that. I always wanted it to end on a hopeful note! Which might seem weird with how dark it is at the beginning. I DID for a brief period at the very beginning of Handplates think about stopping with the Pacifist run, but that was only because I thought going where I wanted to go would take too long and already the project seemed so dauntingly huge at the time, haha. But it was always going to end in a positive way!

Gaster talks about what he originally intended to create here, and he explains a bit about the physical experiments he runs on the brothers here. They aren't really a solution in and of themselves so much as tools to try and find a way to break the barrier. Really though, Gaster got stuck in the sunk-cost fallacy lol.

I don't really have opinions about what canon Gaster would be like. |D Handplates Gaster is his own thing really. Canon Gaster, who knows! Deltarune Gaster, who knows! I will say I hope Gaster stays a mystery in Deltarune and never actually shows up but I think the odds of that are really low at this point.

I thought about doing a script along those lines! I did a few rough drafts of one, but it never really went anywhere... it'd end up dead-ending or kind of meandering off. I might see if I can get an actual script down for a side-comic or something in the future... it might be better suited for a fic.

I was just thinking about this lately! I was picturing Gaster totally forgetting about that until he sees Papyrus squinting and is like OH GOD YOUR EYES THAT'S RIGHT D: and goes to get him looked at lol.

I couldn't come up with a good idea for Flowey which is a shame, I do like him, haha. If one comes to me though I might make a little side comic about it!

Gaster's LV is complicated... his stats in-game are ludicrous if I recall correctly. Did he carry the damage from his murders into the void, even if those murders weren't his in the new timeline? Deep thoughts.

He fed them anything he could find, haha. Which is why sometimes they just ended up with chocolate bars (which he intended as dinner for himself). He probably fed them more often than he fed himself lol. He did feed them fairly regularly though.

Not about skeletons, probably. |D

Man I know I had an explanation for this but it was so long ago... it's hard for me to remember. It could be that the Riverperson is just weird and has weird insight into elements of things, had a prophetic dream... I don't know! It bugs me now that I can't remember this, haha.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hii can I request Kinger, Caine, and Ragatha comforting a child reader (around 6-8) who’s feeling homesick / missing their real family? Can be platonic or familial! Thank youuu :3

Caine, kinger, and ragatha x child!reader who is homesick

Pretend I'm saying something silly here I'm making the framework.. format.. things for requests at 4am and saving them for later ☹

Notes: reader is GN, platonic post but can be seen as familial depending on character

CW: edit

CAINE

doesnt fully understand why youre homesick

okay, well... he knows this isnt your... HOME home, but a lot of the circus members end up just accepting that this is their new home so hes a little confused why you havent done the same.. hes not the best with relating to humans, much less human children

he doesnt really tackle the issue at hand, rather he does whatever he can to keep your mind off of the fact that this isnt your real home

can lead to overstimulation, sadly... since its no secret that caine can be a little... much...

vaguely offended that his attempts or presence arent comforting and "home-y" enough, will attempt to find something that works for you

hes not exactly malicious, but its clear that he doesnt really know what hes doing or how to help best

RAGATHA

she gets it, she really does... if you werent a child she would let you know shes scared to

but you look up to her and she doesnt want to risk making you feel more.. sick and scared... if the person youre clinging onto doesnt know how to get back home or that they feel just as helpless

turns to comforting you and trying to gently take your mind off of it, reassures you that everything is going to be fine

...even if the above points point towards her not being so confident in that sentiment

i can see it pushing her to keep her head up just to ensure that she can be there for you, she didnt plan on abstracting before but now shes definitely making sure it doesnt happen anytime soon

you both exchange stories of what you can remember from the real world, saying it out loud helps the two of you reinforce that the real world is... real

KINGER

obligatory hes a little stumped on what to do, but he does try his best to provide some level of comfort

similar to ragatha i think he would internalize some of his feelings in order to try to keep you feeling secure, though its hard to internalize it when hes all over the place- not that hes dumping his problems on you of course... rather that there isnt much to smother down since hes so.. out of it a lot of the time

takes you out for some fresh air so you can get your mind off of things

he already kept a close eye on you before, but when you express missing home he keeps a closer eye- subconscious fear that something is going to happen, you know...

tells you stories of his own adventures in the circus... though you cant help that hes embellishing some of them... whether hes doing it on purpose to make himself look cooler or to wow you, or because he simply cant remember the details correctly... it does take your mind off of things, at least for a little while

[yunalinwrites]

kids on christmas eve | gojo satoru x reader

available on wattpad

cover by me

summary: you learn about what happened with geto suguru and make him talk to you about it

about reader: gender neutral, relationship to gojo is unclear but they're close, on a first name basis + implied to be romantic

warnings: sad (if i did my job right), mild cursing, spoilers for jjk 0 + gojo's past/hidden inventory/star plasma vessel arc

notes: i know this is really out of season bc christmas has long passed but its for the plot lol as u prob know dec 24th is an important date

anyways i prob could've edited more but tbh i just wanted to post it already lmao hope its not cringe cuz i didn't shower to finish it (avg jjk degenerate) also im angry this was correctly formatted in google docs but tumblr ruined it and i cant b bothered to reread it under the new formatting so srry if theres smth wrong

"Gojo-sensei, that's not fair!"

Itadori had his bottom lip stuck out, his arms crossed tightly and his feet stomping against the snow.

"Yeah, come on!" Kugisaki agreed, mitten-clad hands full of the cold ammunition. "Turn it off, will you?"

You looked over to where Satoru stood. The snowballs that floated around him made it a little hard to see, but you could still tell his face was like it always was: smiling, the only deviation from its usual state being the pink on his pale nose. The rosy shade was just like his tongue when he stuck it out. 

"Come and make me," he taunted.

"Why, you little..." Kugisaki grumbled. "Okay, Itadori, Formation B!"

"Roger!" Itadori yelled back.

The pair performed a number of flashy poses--as if they were trying to imitate something they'd seen in a cartoon--and before you knew it, they were charging at Satoru from two sides, arms fully loaded and wound back with mounds of snow. But it seemed Satoru knew it before you, because he just tsked--didn't even bother catching the snowballs, just let them fall apart against his forcefield.

"Gojo-sensei!" the two groaned in unison.

"You're no fun!" Itadori complained.

"It's not supposed to be fun," Satoru countered with a playful shrug. "Just because it's a snow day doesn't mean you can stop training."

"But... but... But what about...!" Kugisaki sputtered, a vein popping out of her forehead as she struggled to come up with an argument. You could almost see the lightbulb pop up above her head as she pounded her fist in her palm. "But what about global warming?"

"Yeah!" Itadori followed, not thinking. "What about--Wait, what?" Scratching his head, he tilted his head at Kugisaki.

"It could totally be the last day it ever snows, you know," she claimed matter-of-factly, her hands on her hips. "And I would so hate you forever."

Itadori's mouth formed a silent "Oh!" as Kugisaki elaborated. Nodding his head in accord, he added on: "Yeah, Gojo-sensei. I don't think I could respect you after that."

Satoru put on a dramatic pout at that last sentence, but he soon returned to a smile and gave in with a sigh. "Alright, just this once."

You could see the two students loudly jumping for joy from behind him as he made his way towards where you were sitting. You smiled warmly at the sight.

"They really are something," you commented.

"Tell me about it," Fushiguro grumbled, leaning boredly against the wooden armrest of the park bench. He observed quietly as his friends built a snowman in the distance until Satoru's towering shadow prompted him to look up.

"Megumi!" Satoru called, his voice high-pitched and sing-song. "Go play with the others."

The boy scowled in response. "I'm too old for that stuff."

"You think you're old?" Satoru challenged. He pointed at his hair, at the white color it's always been. "What does that make me?" He hunched over and put his hand on his lower spine, feigning back pain. "C'mon, listen to your teacher. Let me sit next to Y/N."

Fushiguro squinted at him for a moment before finally getting up."Gross."

You chuckled, watching the boy begrudgingly drag his feet through the snow towards his classmates, but your laughter hitched as you felt something push against you. Turning to your right, you saw his lanky teacher. At first the sensation didn’t make sense, considering that there was a considerable amount of distance between the two of you, but you soon recalled his defense measures and the complaints they had garnered. 

Not noticing your discomfort, he stared up at the cloudy sky for a moment before turning to you. 

"Are you cold?" he asked.

You shook your head. "I should be asking you," you replied, referencing his lack of winter wear. "Why didn't you wear a coat?"

"Well, it would ruin my outfit, of course," he stated perkily. He wore a confident smirk on his face, but looking closer you could tell he was shivering beneath the thin fabric of his uniform.

Taking a deep breath in disapproval, you reached for your scarf. "Here," you offered, unraveling the knot you’d made earlier. But when you reached to wrap it around his neck, you felt the resistance of his invisible force.

His smile eased. "It's okay," he obliged, sniffling. "Thank you, though."

You hesitated before tying your scarf back around yourself, the garment's chunky knit giving it enough volume to nearly cover your mouth and even your ears, but you could still hear his teeth chatter. You searched your surroundings, looking past the dead snow-adorned trees and following the wet pavement until you spotted something in the distance: a cafe, just down the street from where you were.

"I'll get you some hot chocolate," you decided, standing up and brushing the snowflakes off your coat.

"You don't--"

"Shh!" You pointed your finger threateningly at him before turning around to begin your walk. "Somehow you've bent logic so far that you'll end up sick if you don't drink it. So just take this as an excuse to have more sweets, alright?"

You were just about to make your first step away from the bench, but then you felt a firm grip wrap around your arm. "Wait, Y/N--"

Before he could finish his protest, he was cut off by a particularly firmly packed snowball striking him right in the middle of his face, highlighting his nose with the sparkling white powder and dislodging his blindfold. With his cerulean eyes now exposed, he turned his head and saw the three of them: Itadori pointing and cackling on the left, Kugisaki doing the same keeled over in the middle, and even Fushiguro, on the right, had the ends of his mouth perked up as he shook his head hopelessly.

You saw Satoru grin at the picture, but it was contradictory to what you were feeling. He had let go of your arm, but not by relaxing his hand--you felt him, as if brick by brick, build that invisible wall right back up between you, seemingly stronger than ever. You could still feel it, even as he walked away towards the trio, tying his blindfold back on. Sighing, you sat back down and watched him make snow angels with the others, his head blending right in with the scene as he drowned himself in the blinding whiteness. With his blindfold now fully on, you could only imagine what it was like when he smiled with his eyes.

***

"I can't feel my toes."

Twirling her brown hair between her fingers, Shoko spun around in her chair to face the doorway.

She darted her eyes between you and Satoru for a second before a calm, amused expression painted her face. Despite knowing it was his voice she heard--though it was more nasal than usual--she directed her question at you: "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I told him to wear thicker socks!" you exclaimed, your arms crossed in frustration. "But look! Show her."

Rolling his eyes behind his blindfold, Satoru pulled the fabric on his thighs, lifting the hems of his pants so that they revealed his ankles. They were barely covered by the cheap red and green striped polyester; it was the kind of thing you'd spot on sale in packs at the checkouts during Christmas season.

“So I forgot… Big deal!”

“I could fill a library with all the things you forgot,’” you complained. “I mean, what are you, a fish?”

Unfazed, Shoko chuckled. "You're telling me the strongest--the one powerful enough to rival the King of Curses--was defeated by a case of frostbite?"

The both of you responded simultaneously: "Exactly." "No!"

"I was not defeated," he insisted, earning a glare from you. "Barely a scratch. She's just being dramatic."

"I am not--"

"Is there a reason you can't heal yourself?" Shoko interrupted, now turned to Satoru.

He pointed his thumb in your direction accusingly. "She wanted to come here, not me."

"Wait," you interjected. "You can heal yourself?”

“Of course, duh.”

“Since when?"

"High school," he answered dismissively, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "See, look!"

He pointed down to his shoes--through the leather of his dress boots, you could see the movement of his wriggling toes. 

You held your hands up to hide his feet from your sight. “Ew, stop that--" you grimaced. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged, smirking smugly. "My talent should go without saying."

You sighed. “Your talent to bewilder me?”

"You know it,” he asserted proudly. "But anyways–Can I go now?"

Before you could even answer, you could sense him already moving in your peripheral vision.

"Satoru, wait--"

"If you don't believe I'm fine, I'll show you my toes," he threatened, halfway out the door.

"Satoru--!"

"Go on, catch me if you can!"

You listened, trying to grab onto him but, once again, his Infinity blocked you, making you stumble into Shoko's arms as it pushed you backwards. By the time you regained your balance and rushed into the hallway, his long strides and newly healed feet had already carried him beyond your sight.

You sighed and re-entered the room, brushing yourself off. "Do you have anything for a cold?" you asked.

"I should," Shoko replied, opening up one of her medicine cabinets. "Why, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, no, it's for him," you explained. "He's had a runny nose all week. I told him not to go out in the snow with the kids, but... You know how he is."

She hummed in acknowledgement with an understated smile, picking out a bottle of Acetaminophen capsules. Making her way over to you, she held up the container.

"I have these," she told you, but she didn't hand them to you; she just kept holding it up as she continued, "but, in my professional opinion, I don't think he has a cold."

"What do you mean?" you asked, your brow raised.

"Y/N, do you know what tomorrow is?"

"It's... the 24th."

"Mhm."

"So... Christmas Eve?"

She looked down at the floor, placing the bottle on a nearby counter and leaning back against it, getting comfortable. She stayed quiet for a moment, biting her lip in deep thought as she continued to stare at the floor with her arms crossed. But then, finally, she sighed, and reached into her coat pocket for a cigarette.

"Would you like one?" she offered, flicking the lighter at the end of the stick

"Um... No thank you..."

"Have a seat." She gestured to the metal seat against the wall.

Still thoroughly confused, you did as you were told. You felt as if your parents were about to have a stern "talk" with you--as if you had broken a vase or--arguably worse--it was time for you to understand the birds and the bees. That thought, along with the cold steel beneath you, sent chills up your body.

In an attempt to quell your anxiety, you beat her to the punch and spoke up: "You went to high school together, didn't you?"

She blew out a lengthy tangle of smoke strings. "That's right," she answered.

You shifted in your seat. "Has he always been... like this?"

"No,” she chuckled, bringing the cigarette back to her lips. "He used to wear glasses."

Your eyebrows shot up as you leaned forward in shock. "Seriously?"

She reached into her coat pocket again, this time producing a small print of a photo. 

You took the glossy sheet from her hands and studied it, your mouth agape. Sure enough, there he was, on Shoko's right, smiling widely with his hair down and a pair of round sunglasses, both of them holding up peace signs. But, while Shoko's arm was clearly holding up the camera for the selfie, one of Satoru’s arms appeared to be wrapped around the shoulders of a black-haired man you didn't recognize.

Your brows furrowed at the sight. "Who's the one on the left?"

The scent of the nicotine got stronger as she took her time to ponder her answer, staring blankly into the back of the photo beneath your thumbs.

"That's Geto Suguru,” she finally told you.

You scanned his portrait meticulously. The man wore a grumpy expression with dark bags under his eyes and, contrary to the cheerful pose of the other two, he was flipping off the camera.

“Was he an upperclassman?” you asked.

She shook her head. “He was our classmate.” She gestured towards the photo with her cigarette. “We were all second-years there.”

“No way…” Holding the photo closer, you could have sworn you saw the outline of ear gauges behind Shoko’s head. “He looks so much older.”

You returned the photo to her and she slipped it back in her pocket, not taking even a glance at it as she did. She just spoke plainly: “He’s Satoru’s best friend.”

You tilted your head to the side. “Really? I wonder why I haven’t heard of him, then."

She took another puff, turning her face away from you as she let it out. “Tomorrow is his death anniversary.”

Your eyes widened before falling to the floor. “Oh… I see…”

You fell into a solemn trance, not knowing what you should or shouldn’t say and, consequently, opting to stay quiet out of respect. But, suddenly, you were interrupted by the sound of light laughter. 

“Even if he were still with us, I doubt you would’ve been able to tell. They bickered so much you’d think they hated each other.”

She walked around to the other side of the counter, leaning forward on it as she rested her hand on her palm.

“Who could get to class faster… Who could shoot more hoops in a minute… Who could make a bigger crater in the courtyard…”

You tried to imagine the pair wreaking havoc on an older version of the Jujutsu Tech Campus, but while it was easy to fit Satoru’s cheeky grin into all of these scenarios, it was hard to see such a mature-looking person as Geto doing these childish things.

“Ah, but you know, Y/N,” she started, looking up at you with a smile. “I think you would have been able to tell that Suguru was actually younger.”

“What?” you gasped, surprised at both the fact that he was younger and that Shoko thought that would be clear to you. “There’s no way…”

“Well, for starters, Suguru is shorter, if you put them side-by-side,” she argued. “And… Hm…”

She stopped to contemplate how to put together her next sentence–or if she should even do so at all. But in the end, she brought her cigarette back to her lips and exhaled: “I think you would have agreed with me that he’s the more immature one.”

Your brows furrowed as you scoffed in disbelief. “That's impossible… Satoru could be ten-feet tall and not a single thing on this planet could make him seem more mature than another person.”

She chuckled, though you could sense a sadness behind the sound, and you realized that your comment might’ve come off as insensitive. Clearing your throat, awkwardly, you granted her the floor: “What makes you say that?”

She took another inhale and sighed out a long cloud. Looking out the window of her office, she saw the faint glow of the multicolored lights that decorated it on the outside. She took in the sight for a quiet moment before sinking into her swivel chair, puffing once more.

“I still don’t know much about his childhood,” she began. “I never asked, and I never got to meet his parents. But I can tell you for certain that Suguru was the sort of kid who threw a tantrum when he didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas.

“I’m sure he had wishlists a mile long, but he wouldn’t be the kind to write even a single letter about it to Santa. Of course, that’d make it difficult for his family, and maybe they could've tried harder to figure it out–but he just wouldn't understand why what he wanted wasn't obvious to everyone.

“I can imagine one day someone told him the truth about Santa, and he was probably absolutely devastated. But, to him, it wouldn't be about the presents. It would be about the people around him: his mom, his dad, his teachers, his neighbors, everyone–the people who had been deceiving him his whole life.

“I don't think he ever forgave anyone for that, all the way up until he found himself as a seventeen-year-old at Jujutsu High.”

The air became thick–suffocatingly so–and your spine no longer fit right against the back of the bench.

“What exactly… did he do?” 

She rolled her chair towards her desk and put out her cigarette, pushing and twisting it into the ashtray by her desk calendar.

“In a single night, he killed one hundred and twelve civilians–non-sorcerers–including his parents. He wanted to create a world where only sorcerers exist.”

“O-oh my God…” Your hand rose up to cover your gaping mouth. “Wh.. Why?!”

“By killing non-sorcerers, you stop curses from the source.”

“But you can't just–” You cut yourself off, thousands of words rushing and racing to your mouth. “Didn't anyone try to stop him?”

“Maybe Satoru could've. If Suguru decided to tell him, that is.”

Your face was wound up in concern. “That's horrible…”

“I know, right?” she casually agreed.  “To want to be understood, but never willing to understand… Isn't it childish?” She even laughed. “Though, I suppose he was just a kid.”

“Just a kid?!” You stuck your head out in disbelief. “No, no… Satoru is childish. But that–that’s… inhumane!

You pointed to the door. “Satoru was a kid.”

You pointed to her. “You were a kid.”

Lowering your hand, you scrunched the hem of your shirt. “I might not have known you then, but I know you never would have done that.”

“To be fair, I'm not the strongest,” she defended plainly. “I'm just a doctor.”

The crease between your eyebrows deepened as you threw your arms up. “Okay–then Satoru! Satoru would never do something like that! And he… he's still a kid!”

“Satoru killed his best friend–his one and only.” She clasped her hands together on her desk. “A kid wouldn't do that, would they?”

You froze at the edge of your seat, blinking rapidly as you pieced together the puzzle.

“He… killed…?” you trailed off.

Shoko stared grimly at her hands as she tightened her grip on herself. “A kid wouldn’t have understood.”

You bore your eyes into her, waiting, begging for her to continue, to elaborate, to make it make sense, but she just stayed quiet, kept to herself.

You directed your eyes to the freshly polished floor tiles. As you stared into the blurry reflection of yourself, you tried imagining it again: Satoru, tall and white haired, and this kid grumpy little kid he called Suguru, wreaking havoc on the old campus of Jujutsu High: walking to class together, dribbling a basketball between each other, meeting up in the courtyard with one another.

 “That…” you began hesitantly. “That still doesn't excuse what happened.”

Shoko looked up at you, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, and though she wasn’t as contented as she had been before your conversation, her expression was no longer grave; she seemed satisfied. Slowly, she put her palms on her desk and pushed herself up from her seat.

“To answer your question from earlier–properly,” she started, making her way over to you. “I think that Satoru has always been that way–the way Gojo Satoru has to be.”

“But if there were ever a time that he weren’t,” she interjected, sliding her hand into her coat pocket.

“It would have been thanks to him.”

***

Your footsteps echoed down the empty hallway, stopping every once in a while to slide open one of the stiff doors only to struggle to shut it a moment later. You increased the reach of your steps, and the thump of your shoes against the wood planks competed with the hooting owl perched on the snow covered roof.

Suddenly, you heard a new noise: a honking, like that of a goose, coming from the end of the hall and slightly to the left. Now picking up to a jog, you made a beeline for the door and jerked it open.

“Well, if it isn’t my long-awaited Christmas present!” he exclaimed. “Looks like Santa’s early this year.”

He rested against the corner of one of the student’s desks, already facing you with his hands in his pocket. From behind him, you could just barely see the white crumpled-up balls of tissue that scattered the surface.

“I guess some people do gifts on Christmas Eve though, right?” he considered, putting a finger to his chin. “But, ah… choosing gifts is so hard. I need all the time I can get.”

He didn’t acknowledge your entrance at all; his Six Eyes had seen it coming miles away, allowing him enough time to get into position to pick up wherever you’d last left off. You didn’t acknowledge him either, keeping a stone face as you stepped into the room.

“What’s with the face, hm? Did you not like your presents?”

“Satoru,” you said sternly.

“Did you ask Santa for anything this year?” he went on, continuing to pay you no mind.

You sighed. You couldn’t help but let the ends of your lips pick up, but you kept your eyes down at the dirtied pattern of the floor.

“I don’t celebrate Christmas,” you admit.

“What? Why not?” he questioned astonishedly, forming a pout. “Does that mean you didn’t get me a present?”

You shook your head lightly, making your way over to him. “I’ve always thought it was sort of weird. To celebrate the birth of a martyr.”

“Hm,” he sounded. “Well that’s no fun.”

Planting his hands on the surface, he hoisted himself up onto his desk. “Santa probably wouldn’t give anything other than coal to a non-believer,” he noted. “But since I’m so nice, I’ll get you something. Just tell me–what is it that you want for Christmas?”

His smile stayed in place as you darted your pupils around his visage, your own face beginning to fall. You took slow steps towards the desk next to him, getting as close as you could before you felt his Infinity push back

“Satoru, can you do me a favor?” you requested gently.

“Depends on what the favor is,” he chirped back.

Reaching your hand out, you traced your forefinger on the edge of the invisible barrier before applying pressure into it, testing the shield’s strength. You pushed with all your might, but all it did was whiten your finger tip and make your knuckles concave.

You retracted, looking back into his eyes. “Can you take it down?”

You could see the movement of his eyebrows raising beneath his blindfold. “You tryna kill me?”

Again, you shook your head, still solemn. 

He crossed his arms and squinted at you, biting his cheek. Leaning back, he put his weight onto his hands behind him, loosely grabbing the edge of his desk, his expression becoming relaxed. “Alright. Here you go.”

You took another small step into the newfound space until you were only inches apart. Slowly, you extended both your hands towards his face, but then suddenly reeled them back into a hesitant fist in disbelief, the lack of resistance uncomfortably foreign.

You inhaled deeply through your nose and exhaled the air shakily through your mouth, trying hard to slow the rapid beating in your chest. Ignoring the smirk on his face, you tried to reach out to him, one final time.

Letting your arms wrap around his head, your hands searched his silky hair for the knot that held up his eye covering. When you finally felt the bump, you took your time digging your nails into where the fabric held onto itself, carefully pulling apart its loops.

As the blindfold fell to his neckline, his signature grin stayed plastered on his face, but just about every other feature of his seemed to change completely when the white wisps came down to frame them. His azure eyes, for example, glimmered under the faint moonlight coming through the window, but not in the way that they usually did. They were shining like lacquer, but it was as if, from underneath that, their batteries had been taken out. In their dullness, you could see the reflection of the long white lashes resting on the eyelids above, forming sharp, unnatural shapes as they clumped together unevenly. Pink waterlines painted the bottom of his irises, and a faint red was seemingly airbrushed around the surrounding puffy skin.

You trailed your hands down the back of his head until they cupped his jawline, holding his face as you explored its entirety. Moving from his eyes to his flushed, leaking nose, his smirk grew when your gaze landed on his lips.

“Are you sure you want to use your gift on this?” he teased. “Kind of a waste, in my opinion–you could’ve just found a mistletoe.”

“Satoru.”

“Hmm?”

“I want you to stop smiling.”

For a moment, he listened to you: his mouth fell open, but then it fell back into its previous position as he flashed his teeth at you. “My bad. I didn’t mean to blind you.”

“Please?”

He kept still while your thumb gently stroked his powder-smooth cheek. He jolted slightly as his lungs forced out a nervous chuckle, but he trailed off as your touch continued on him. Realizing your relentlessness, he sucked in his lips and clamped them together with his teeth as if he was trying to stop any further laughter.

He stayed like this for a moment, waiting for you to let go, but your tender movements showed no signs of stopping–you only slowed down when your eyes flitted up to meet his. He tried his best to return your stare, but eventually, he accepted defeat in the contest. And so, little by little, he let his lips roll out and the muscles to dispose into a resting state.

His voice became low, a near whisper. “Is… everything okay?”

Finally removing your hands from him, you nodded. Returning them to yourself, you glided one into the back pocket of your pants.

Taking a step back, you held up the sheet of glossy photo paper side-by-side with his face. You could name a number of differences: the neckline of the teacher’s uniform was looser and higher, his bangs now were longer and a bit thicker, and, of course, he wasn’t wearing glasses, and he wasn’t smiling. But, somehow, now more than ever, you could see the resemblance.

“What have you got there?”

Moving towards him again, you handed him the photo. It felt strange, witnessing the rare sight of his pupils’ every rapid move. And in addition to that, ever so slightly, you could see his swollen under eyes rise as the softest of smiles pushed up his cheeks. It was nothing like the sickeningly-sweet beamings you were used to seeing from him, though; it was subdued, raw like the cacao in dark chocolate, undiluted by sugar or milk.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, incredulous.

“Like you said, Santa came early,” you joked mildly.

“No, really,” he persisted, his tone reaching a bass you’d never heard from him before. “Where did you get this?”

You sat yourself on the desk next to him. “Shoko,” you admitted.

“What did she tell you?”

Your shrug was subtle.  “As much as she could.”

He continued to scrutinize the photo in his hands, his brows drawing together.

“Satoru,” you proceeded, hushed. “If it’s okay… I’d like it if you told me about it.”

He lowered the photo so that it no longer obstructed his view of you, but he didn’t take advantage of the space he gave himself; he kept staring at the photo as he spoke: “There’s not much to tell about. I was the strongest then and I’m the strongest now.”

You rested your hands on your lap and exhaled deeply. “That’s not what I mean,” you contested. 

It was as if he couldn’t hear you, continuing to stare vapidly into the photo as if somehow your sentence didn’t make it to his ears. But that was impossible; you’d said what you said, and the room was dead silent.

“I… I want you to tell me about him,” you clarified.

He shifted in his seat, finally looking away from the photo and up at you. “You mean… Geto Suguru?” he asked, as if there were any other ‘him’ in that photo. 

“Well… he’s the worst of all curse users,” he offered. He then shoved the photo back in your direction, a sudden grin straining itself on his face. “But it’s okay. He’s gone now.”

Ignoring his move, you asked, “Is it really okay?”

“I made sure of it,” he affirmed, impatiently nudging the paper at you.

He resumed his usual playful lilt. “Are you doubting me?” he tested.

“I don’t doubt you for a second–not in that sense. You’ve always been strong,” you reassured him. “But that’s exactly why I doubt you know how to be weak.”

He scoffed. “You think Gojo Satoru would know how to be weak?”

“No, I don’t. That’s my whole point,” you upheld firmly.

He folded his arms across his chest, his mocking tone sharpening: “Why would anyone want to know how to be weak?”

“Because even Gojo Satoru needs to realize he can’t just smile and laugh all the time,” you challenged, feeling heat rise up your neck.

His eyes darkened, seemingly into a navy blue, and his inflection further condescended: “There are a lot of things you don’t understand.”

“Satoru, how on earth am I supposed to understand?!” 

As your tone cut through, just as abruptly you pushed the desk behind you and dropped heavily to your feet.

“You’re right, I don't understand you,” you confessed frustratedly, pointing to yourself. “I don’t understand you at all. Because how could I possibly understand you? I can’t see your eyes, I can’t even get near you, and I’ve never seen you not smile.”

Your voice made gaps as your vocal cords threatened sobs. “And sure, I call you by your first name, and I laugh and I smile at all your dumb jokes and… and the idiotic games you play…

“But it’s–it’s… scary, Satoru. Creepy, even. How you know just about everything there is to know about me and yet… It's like I don’t even know who you are. You’re just a toy in the corner, watching everyone come in and out of the room, but I can never make you say or be or feel anything.”

“Feelings are what made him into who he was,” he stated coldly, his eyes fixed on the grimy floor. “It’s important for sorcerers to have a hold on their emotions.”

“So you know what happens, then,” you argued firmly, your shoes coming into his view as you stepped closer. “You know what it’s like to be shut out from them.”

You pushed his chin up, forcing him to witness the way you were holding on desperately to the tears that bordered your lower waterline.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Do you always get Sprite?” he’d asked, looking down as his friend retrieved his drink from the bottom of the machine.

“I mean… yeah, I guess,” Suguru replied plainly. “Why?”

A pit formed in his stomach as he heard the crack of the can opening.

“Shit. I’ve been getting you Coke this whole time,” he’d mumbled. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Suguru shrugged, beginning to head in the direction of the classroom. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Dude, are you good?”

Suguru jolted awake, sitting up from the plush back of the couch and nearly spilling the bowl of popcorn in his lap.

“Do you wanna watch something else?” he’d suggested, but Suguru just shook his head.

“I thought you liked Digimon,” Suguru objected.

“Well yeah, but…”

The only lighting came from the flashing screen, but it was enough for him to see his friend yawn, making his eyes water, dark bags underneath them.

“You can turn it up if you want,” was all Suguru had to say, but even after doing what Suguru said, he couldn’t focus on his favorite TV show.

“I know you said you didn’t want anything,” he started, reaching into his bag. “But here.”

“What’s this?” Suguru questioned.

“Your Christmas present, duh.”

“But it’s Christmas Eve,” Suguru pointed out. “And I told you–”

“I know! But just open it.”

He watched as Suguru lifted the lid of the small gray box, revealing a small pair of white gauges.

“I didn’t really know what size to get… But I think they’d look cool on you.”

“Thanks, Satoru.”

He lit up, thinking that he’d finally done something right by his friend, but the way that Suguru looked up at him, the way Suguru smiled insincerely, told him he should’ve waited for Christmas Day.

The tears were warm as they rolled down his face, past his trembling lip and blooming into the blindfold that rested loosely around his neck.

“I just don't understand why he didn’t talk to me.”

You pulled him into a hug, carding your fingers in his hair as you rested his head on your shoulder.

“He thought I hated him,” he told you shakily, finding himself clutching onto your shirt. “I didn’t see him for ten years and… and that whole time he thought I hated him.”

He inhaled a sharp sniffle. “I… I don’t hate him,” he whimpered, his pitch jumping and his body beginning to tremble. “I don’t hate him, Y/N, I don’t, I don’t, I never, ever did.”

“I know,” you whispered, stroking his hair, holding him tighter as he jerked with sobs.

He placed his head on your shoulder, staring at the blindfold that had unraveled itself and fallen between you. “I hate myself.”

You pulled back, cupping his jawline and holding it in front of you.

“Don’t say that…”

“But he was my best friend, Y/N,” he insisted, gripping desperately onto your shoulders. “I saw him every single day… every single day, all of that was running through his head and I… I didn’t even know… I just watched and… and I made him think I hated him. I was supposed to be his best friend.”

“You did everything you could, Satoru.”

“It was all my fault.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then why did it happen?” he whined. “It had to have been for a reason–It can't just hurt and be for no reason. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“It’s not,” you told him, shaking your head gently and looking deeply into his eyes. “It’s not fair at all.”

Indicating the breaking of a dam, a deafening, siren-like wail pierced the air. His face was red and scrunched up, his nose was dripping with snot, and his hands were coming up to swipe desperately at the tears on his cheeks.

You pulled him close to you again as he kept hiccuping and sniffling into the crook of your neck. His loud weeping wet your shirt with both the fluids from his eyes and nose, but you didn’t care; you just rubbed his back, caressing him tenderly.

His voice was suddenly clearer as he took deep breaths to try and recuperate himself: “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“Why are you sorry?” you asked, stiffening your hold on him.

“I just… I don’t know. I hate crying. I’m not a kid anymore, you know?” he tried laughing.

“Satoru,” you whispered delicately, turning your head so your words rested right by his ear. “You were never a kid.”

Gently, you pressed his head into you, stopping him from moving his lips in any way. “I want you to be one right now.”

You let him stay in your arms for a while until his tears subsided and his breathing steadied. You had moved to the floor at some point, allowing him to comfortably lean on you as you embraced him, his previous quivering replaced now by the calm rhythm of his rising and falling figure.

He hadn’t talked in a while, so you assumed he’d fallen asleep, but then, among his mellow breathing, a mumble came up right by your ear:

“Thank you,” he’d said.

Hugging him tighter, you patted him on the back softly. “Of course.”

As one hand traveled to intertwine its fingers in his hair, you reached for your phone with your other one.

You pressed the power button on its side, and flinched backward, squinting at the brightness your phone screen emitted. Despite your sudden movement, Satoru didn’t show any sort of reaction; he’d fallen asleep, for sure now.

You continued to comb through his white locks, a little more consciously now, as you made note of the time and date your phone’s clock displayed, changing right before your eyes:

December 25th, 00:00

You smiled, dragging your coat up to cover the both of you as you laid your head on his shoulder.

“Merry Christmas, Satoru.”

***

might do a toji x megumi's teacher reader if u wanna follow

[princessbettina]

Being Mixed Matched Challenge Partners with Cody Rhodes Headcanons

Summary: The Mixed Matched Challenge is back in the WWE (I wish that were true! It was so cute and fun to watch) The first few weeks into the challenge your partner, who just so happens to be Cody Rhodes, and yourself take part in fun and funny moments on camera/the live stream and off camera before the in ring matches take place.

A/N: This is my first headcanon story post. I hope I wrote it correctly (format wise, if that makes sense? ) My inspiration for this came from the gif above of Charlotte Flair and Bobby Roode and thought they had cute and great chemistry when they were a team back when Mixed Matched Challenge was a thing in the wwe. I thought it would make a cute story idea and my love for Cody is super duper strong, I thought he would be perfect for this story idea. Plus, I want to write more of Cody because it seems fun. I love him so much. I hope you enjoy.

Cody and you swap gear attire which means that you,(the reader) try on his robe / jacket as it ends up being a bit too big on you, but you find it quite comfortable -as Cody tries on your vest, but struggles to put it on all the way due to the fact of how smaller and petite you are, compared to him being slightly taller than you and bigger-which isn't a bad thing.

"Y/n?! I think your vest is too small. I c-can't button it up all the way. I don't want to break your clothing."

You giggle as you glance over at Cody and agree with what he said as you try and help him,"You're good, Cody! No worries. How about this, let’s get matching jackets and win the Mixed Matched Challenge." You winked at the camera before exiting as Cody waved and followed suit behind you.

Cody and you make a video recording for the WWE universe the day before MMC, where the two of you announce that you both will be on the MMC livestream tomorrow and want to have the fans ask questions about your team,

"You guys can ask us questions like, what jacket would you like Cody and I to wear tomorrow? Ooh ooh! Would you like to see Cody recreate my entrance?" You ask while looking up at Cody, as he glanced at you as he chuckles softly, which causes you to smile brightly.

"Hey, c'mon, I think I would do amazingly fantastic at recreating your entrance. I think I'd nail it." Cody says, as he smirked down at you and chuckled.

You playfully put your finger atop of your chin and thought of a really cool idea to add onto what Cody just said, "Ooh now that you mention it, I think hitting the iconic 'woah!' In the American Nightmare's entrance would be a blast to recreate."

The following night on Smackdown, right before MMC started, you were out giving a promo in ring since you were the Smackdown women's champion and all. However, your moment was cut short by The Judgment Day's Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor as the two started to corner you in ring, leaving you defenseless... or so you thought.

"Wrestling has more than one royal family..." Rhea and Finn were surprised as they quickly turned their attention around and watched as who was about to make an entrance.

Your frown was quickly turned into a bright smile the second you saw the tron screen turn to black for a few minutes, and as soon as the voice over and song began to play throughout the arena.

Cody was there to save you from what mostly Rhea had in mind to do to you. As soon as you saw Cody walk to the ring, you placed your hands on your chest as the smile on your face grew by the second. Rhea and Finn scurried out of the ring for a moment as soon as Cody entered the ring and joined your side.

"Are you okay, Y/n? Ready to win against these two?" Cody whispers to you as he wraps his arm around your shoulder, causing you to blush.

You smile even more and nod your head. "I'm so much better now that you are here. And yes absolutely, we can take them!" You two glance back at both Ripley and Balor as they continue to stand outside the ring still for a second more, planning out their strategies against you two.

They just so happen to be your MMC opponents and it was just about that time for the challenge to start.

Rhea and Finn slid back into the ring and continued to stare at Cody and you, as you two did the same at them. You leaned towards Cody and whispered in his ear, "After we win this match, are you ready to win the whole thing?"

"For you? I'm always ready to win anything for!" Cody smiles and winks at you. The challenge was on now.

[nintickleswitch]

Strung in Her Web

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Characters: Annabelle Cane, Statement Giver OC

Word Count: 1965

Content Warnings: CNC tickling, bondage, arachnophobia (no spiders directly involved, but they are mentioned and Annabelle has spider-like features), implied NSFW

Summary: Statement of Marjorie Winters, regarding a... A really weird first date. F/F, monster bondage + tickling. enjoy :)

Statement of Marjorie Winters, regarding a... A really weird first date. Let's just call it that. Statement given July 21st, 2014. Audio recording by Marjorie Winters, per my request. Statement begins.

Look, I'm sorry. I know this isn't how you usually do things. But... When I got an ad for your Institute last night, I knew I had to tell my story. I'm not really articulate in writing, though, and I don't think I could tell this to another person with a straight face. So I'll just do the tape myself. Hopefully I've done all the formatting correctly. Anyways, I suppose I should begin.

I'm a database administrator. It's not exactly a glamorous career, but it lets me live in London without going bankrupt so I suppose I'm happy with it. You've got to understand though, it's an incredibly demanding job. You have to stay on top of everything to make sure it's running smoothly 24/7, which means weird schedules and constantly scrambling to fix outages. At least I get the choice of working from home most days, which gives me room to at least half enjoy my hobbies.

On the flip side, it means I don't really get out much to meet new people. I've always been introverted, so making the effort to trek to a bar or club has never been worth it for me. IT also happens to be a boys' club for the most part, and the couple of fellow trans girls that I do know live overseas, which is a problem when you prefer women. So you can understand with the pressures of having to keep everything under control and my lonely lifestyle, I needed something to cut loose for once.

I never really trusted dating apps, but it wasn't like I had much choice. It was that or go out and try to mingle in person. I ended up creating a pretty decent profile, with a few cute pictures of myself, my job and a list of my hobbies. I actually managed to get quite a few hits - some from male chasers, which I mean, that does happen, but most from women who seemed to be genuinely interested in me.

I didn't swipe right on most of them even then, as I was somewhat picky about people in general, but there was one woman who caught my eye. Her stark white hair complemented her beautiful dark eyes and eccentric outfit so perfectly, along with that elegant spiderweb dyed into her undercut. I was almost magnetized to her from the start. So I swiped right, and it turns out she'd already matched me. I was giddy from excitement, my hands almost shaking when I dropped her a line. My flirting was... Beyond awkward, let's say, but she took it in stride and seemed to find it rather charming. In the end, she dropped the location of a cafe and invited me to meet her there around mid-afternoon. Of course, I accepted.

You know, it's odd. I don't seem to remember learning that much about her. I know her name was Annabelle Cane. She was just as gorgeous in person as she was online, wearing a beautiful vintage tweed suit with a maroon shirt underneath. It turned out we both liked black and white movies and thrift shopping. She said she was a huge fashion enthusiast, being really fond of needlecraft and weaving in particular. She liked a bunch of cool bands I never heard of, and eagerly listened to me ramble on about my job and my life, never once taking those piercing dark eyes off me, like she was studying my every move to see what she should do next.

When she brought up that she played piano, I decided to be a little bolder than I was. I took her hand, and said I figured - she had the most elegant hands. At this, she broke into a wide smile. For a moment, I saw something strange behind the corners of her mouth - like something *retracted*. But I blinked, and it was gone. She stood up, and said her flat was just a 10 minute walk away from here if I wanted to see just how skilled they were. I couldn't believe my luck. So obviously I followed her, up to a modest little flat decorated in dark wine, purple and green hues, styled effortlessly just like the rest of her was.

She poured me a glass of red, and told me not to be so nervous. That she was going to take care of me. Now, she was 5 years younger than me, and a couple of inches shorter, but the way she spoke made me feel like I was down on my knees for her already. I hastily downed the glass, and before I knew it, I was in her bedroom. She pushed me down onto the bed, kissing me with a hunger I hadn't experienced in years. Her deft hands made quick work of my outer layers, leaving me just in my camisole and skirt, stroking and pinching me in ways that had me sighing desperately for her before anything had even happened.

Eventually, she pulled away with a wicked grin, and asked me if I wanted to do something a little more special. Before I could ask what she meant, she grabbed several lengths of silk rope from a nearby drawer. I'd written that I had a fair amount of experience with kink in my profile from my college days, and I was always down to experiment, so I hastily nodded. I lay down on the bed prone, with my arms raised above my head, waiting for her patiently and eagerly.

She started with my body, her hands working quickly to create an intricate pattern that I only recognized as a web when she was finished. It was as mesmerizing as it was complex, and the tightness of it underneath my chest, around my hips and my thighs made me ache for her touch even more. Her work continued with my arms and legs, securing them to each of the four corners of the bed. I could hardly move by the time she was done. My heart pounded in my throat like a caged bird battering itself against the gilded wire as she told me to close my eyes, whispering the safeword in my ear before leaving imprints of her teeth in the cartilage.

The stroking started off slow, sensual. By that time I gathered she liked being in control, and I relished in it. I could tell she was having fun by her pleased little hums whenever I squirmed too much, digging her nails in slightly more wherever I was particularly sensitive. She pulled light giggles and soft, delighted moans out of me, mapping out every inch of my body with her hands. Even when she intensified the pace, making me buck and squirm and laugh properly with her clever touches, I couldn't help but melt into her touch. Her nails caressed my chest, up along my inner arms, circling my stomach and the grooves of my hips, dancing along my inner thighs... I was in heaven.

In fact, I was so caught up in how good it felt to let go that I didn't even notice that something was definitely amiss. I mean, I did notice, but not consciously. Trying to cut through all of those mixed nerve signals was almost impossible in my state. It didn't click for me until I felt a fourth hand tracing the curves of my neck until I realized what the problem was. My eyes snapped open, expecting to see a second person she'd brought along without warning me. But that wasn't what I saw.

Kneeling on the bed in front of me was Annabelle Cane. It wasn't the woman I saw before, though. Her eyes... Oh god, you don't understand. She had so many eyes. Protruding from her lips were a set of vicious looking mouthparts, clicking and chittering with excitement. And where I once saw two perfectly normal arms, she had four more, their languid movements unnatural. Inhuman.

Believe me, I tried to scream, with all my might I tried. But the moment I did, it turned into cacophonous laughter when every one of those six, swaying arms descended on my prone body. And I realized I never knew what true helplessness felt like until that moment.

One set plunged its thumbs into the pockets of my hips, kneading there mercilessly. Another raked its neatly manicured fingers from my ribs to my underarms, scraping those hollows with what felt more like stiff bristles than nails. I was almost reminded of the bristles on a tarantula's leg. One of my exes was a real exotics nut, and he'd often try to convince me how cute and fuzzy they were, holding his prized pets up to me with a wide grin. But all I could see were those beady little eyes, watching me like they were plotting my every move - the same eyes that were now staring down at me with utter glee.

The last set wrapped around my knees, squeezing the caps and skittering its fingers along the underside. Occasionally, they roamed to my tight calves, the tender underside of my thighs. And all I could do was laugh. Do you understand? I couldn't - I couldn't move an inch. If this was normal bondage, I would have at least been able to squirm - she certainly gave me plenty of room to, but I couldn't. It was like I was hypnotized under some horrible spell, like a fly caught in her web, forced to endure the barrage of unbearable tickling torture.

So I laughed. And I wept. Once I got over the shock of it, I even remembered that she'd given me a safe word. But I didn't say it. Because I think the worst part of it was, I didn't really hate it. I mean, yes, I was begging for mercy, begging to do anything for it to stop, and I was petrified with fear like I'd never been in my life. But I just... I couldn't help myself, I guess. The rush that came with losing all that control, terrifying as it may have been. And she was gorgeous, and such a skilled domme...

When it finally, mercifully ended after what felt like forever, I was a wreck. My hair was plastered against my forehead, I was sweating like crazy. My body couldn't stop... Trembling. That was all the movement she allowed. All she did, leaning in close with those clicking mandibles and those dark, beady eyes sprouting from her forehead and her cheeks, was whisper a single word to me in a low, husky voice:

And I answered.

"Safeword?"

"Chelicerae."

"Good girl."

She leaned in for a kiss, and it was... God. Intoxicating would be the best word for it. At some point, she bit my lip, and I started to feel... Fuzzy. Sensitive, helpless. When she finally drew back, that was when I saw what she really was. Each of her arms a chitinous, segmented leg with those bristly little hairs all over that scratched and tickled like cruel little brushes. But it didn't matter at that point. I was all hers.

Statement ends. 

I'll spare you the rest of the details. For my sake, and for yours. I think you know what happens next, and this statement is... Hardly appropriate for your archives at this point, I think. But I had to get it out there. Had to save whatever poor soul runs into her next. She's scheduled a second date with me at some contemporary art exhibit. I think I'm going to go. After all... I just can't help myself.

[yolowritter]

In Defense of Alya Césaire

Hello there everyone, and welcome back to the source of my insanity! Sorry for being away awhile, final exams have been a serious pain. But I'm finally free, so this series continues! And this time we're talking about the greatest detective in all of Miraculous! Creator of the Ladyblog, the girl who out-Sherlocked the Holmes, and local reporter extraordinaire...Alya Césaire! I'm actually going to take a stance on this for once, she gets far more hate than she deserves. Sure, Alya isn't perfect, but there's a disturbing trend in this fandom where people tend to blame her for what the writing has Alya do, even if it's not how she as a character would react to a situation. So today, we're going to analyze our favorite reporter's character, look at her flaws, and determine how much (if any) of the Alya Hate is warranted in this show. Anyway, let's just get started before I lose my patience!

First things first, it's worth establishing exactly what we're talking about today. I'll be putting a much bigger emphasis on Alya's relationship with Marinette than her general character actions, since that's where (from my personal observations) most of the dislike for her stems from. Rena Rouge/Furtive will still be talked about, but the focus here is how Alya acts with her best friend. I don't think she needs any kind of introduction, but we should still establish a baseline for her personality and character. In the beginning, she's introduced as the classic "best friend" character. Alya is Marinette's best friend, always running around with her or getting our beloved heroine into crazy situations. She's there to support and help Marinette with anything from babysitting, to confessing her feeling for Adrien, and also the occasional crime! Because what are best friends for if not to help you steal your crush's phone? Alya is a fun character that allows Marinette to bounce a lot of her schemes off of, and generally there in a supportive role. They are great friends, and it's always fun to see them together on screen.

Alya is also a superfan of the heroine Ladybug. Who, in case you've been living under a rock, is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her very best friend! Shocking, I know! How could Thomas possibly use the classic trope of "hero with a reporter bff from who they hide their secret"? It's such a riveting writing choice! Nonetheless, this actually works really well with Alya's character. Her hyperfixation on Ladybug often puts her in interesting (or dangerous) situations that create conflict for our heroine to solve. See Pharaoh for example, where Alya is so focused on "the scoop" that she keeps trying to interview the villain even as she's being held hostage! At least one can appreciate the confidence. All in all, Alya exists to compliment Marinette's character as a fun, cheery, career-driven and sometimes reckless best friend.

Nothing of much note happens in Season 1, as most the episodes follow a villain-of-the-week format, and not all of them focus on Alya. However, her detective work continues in the background. Some honorable mentions are Pharaoh, where she correctly deduces that Ladybug must go to their school because of the unique history book, and of course Lady Wifi, since that's the point of the episode. She even guesses Chat Noir's identity on accident one time! But despite all of her clearly dedicated theory crafting, Alya's tendency to run headfirst into trouble doesn't just stop at akumatized villains. She often gets overly excited about her reporting, and sometimes this willingness to verify her theories can get her in hot water. Not to mention that she's extremely rash when it comes to anything Ladybug-related. She tends to jump through logical hoops when brainstorming, and doesn't really give much critical thought to the validity of information on the heroine. Which...brings us to Lila Rossi. It always comes back to her, doesn't it? All roads lead to Rome, and all Season 3 character conflict leads to Lila.

For those unaware, I made another post about her in general, which you can find here. I won't re-hash what I said about Lila's introduction to the series, but it becomes immediately obvious to the audience that she might just be a liar. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Alya. Aside from the well-known condition of braincell-vanishing that Lila's presence in a continental radius tends to cause, Alya is additionally affected by her bs. This once again ties in to Alya's...obsession over Ladybug. I won't call it unhealthy, but her hyperfixation and overeagerness to learn the slightest details are absolutely a negative trait which clouds her judgement constantly throughout the series. Now, Alya is a teenager at this point. Nobody is expecting her to act like a professional reporter when a friend comes up to her and claims to be friends with her idol. Critical thinking isn't exactly Alya's strong suit; she tends to tackle problems far more directly than Marinette. And I actually really like that about her, because these two are made to complete each other from a character perspective. Alya oftentimes doesn't think enough before jumping the gun, and Marinette always overthinks and spirals into impossible scenarios. Alya is needed to groundher best friend, and Marinette should be there to give her reporter buddy the occasional reality check.

All of this works perfectly as setup for the Season 3 character conflict between Marinette and Lila! it makes sense that Lila would try to get in Alya's good graces and slowly drive a wedge in their friendship, causing more and more drama by manipulating Alya into surrendering to her worst tendencies of operating on assumptions. It's an excellent opportunity for a character arc where Alya slowly comes to realize she's being too hasty, and that "a reporter must always double-check their sources" isn't just a phrase to be parroted, but instead genuine advice for how to operate. And honestly, I think that she would be doing this, albeit slowly...if only the show gave her a chance. But unfortunately, this where the infamous writing problems swoop in to take this beautiful potential and kick it off the nearest cliff!

For example, in the episode "Ladybug", Lila tries to manipulate Marinette's friends and teachers to get her expelled from school. This ties into the Lila post I mentioned beforehand, and I make a big deal of the episode there. But after that debacle of incompetence on the teachers' behalf, Alya tries to prove Marinette's innocence by collectiong evidence that her best friend isn't guilty. To her credit, she immediately thinks of lifting finger prints from Lila's locker, but is unfortunately said evidence-filled surface gets cleaned just before Alya can get to it. She's on the phone with Marinette at this time, who insists that Lila is evil and framed her. To Alya's credit, Marinette doesn't exactly provide concrete proof here. It's not unreasonable to attribute her insistence to being upset about the whole situation, and Lila was directly involved and the very reason why Marinette got expelled. I don't blame Alya for trying to verify this before taking her friend's word for it, because even if Marinette is right, nobody will believe them without evidence. My problem with this episode is that this should have been the turning point for Alya's opinion of Lila. As a reminder, Lila admits to framing Marinette and lying about the whole thing, even if her "lying disease" excuse is ridiculous. The show never clarifies how well-known this "condition" is, but I'm fairly sure it isn't brought up again after anyway.

What should have happened here is that this whole situation raises a big, waving red flag in Alya's head. She's a reporter, and finding out the truth is her job. She chases after danger for reliable news and prides herself on being a trustworthy source. So why then, is there never any mention or indication that she stops taking Lila's word for things? All across Season 3 we have moments of Lila passive-aggressively turning what is a legitimate question or concern from Marinette into an "attack", and playing the victim. So for this to have been done again, and for Lila to admit that she did it on purpose, should have Alya questioning how valid a source the girl is for anything! It could have been a huge moment of connection between the two friends, where Marinette admits that she's being too rash when fighting against Lila, and Alya finally understands that something is fishy about the italian girl. It would have made for a great plotpoint where the two work together, building off how well they compliment eachother, to take Lila down.

Unfortunately, none of this happens. Alya doesn't realize any of Lila's lies are just that, and never even begins to suspect her at all. And this isn't the first time Marinette has suggested that Lila is bad in some way. Yes, it was unreasonable to do so during "Volpina", because nobody really knew Lila that well at the time, and Marinette was clearly jealous because she got to spend alone time with Adrien. But at this point we're in Season 3, where Alya is Rena Rouge. She's on Ladybug's team, and is the exact type of person who would try to get in contact and ask "hey, do you know a girl named Lila Rossi?", before properly investigating the matter when Ladybug naturally says no. Alya's entire character is built on her detective work. Yes, she's rash and reckless. Yes, she puts herself in danger all the time. But those are character flaws that she's supposed to slowly overcome, and nothing compared to the narrative forcing her to ignore a clearly important case. Season 3 features the Miraculous Team quite heavily, and by all means should also focus on Alya's investigative work. She isn't trying to discover Ladybug's identity ever since becoming Rena Rouge and finally getting the rose-tinted glasses taken away, so why not give her a new mystery to work on in the background?

My point is that Alya already has established flaws that excel at causing problems in her life. She's overly curious. She constantly jumps the gun with assumptions and theories. She always puts investigations first, above even her own safety. But instead of those traits being used in conjunction with Season 3's main conflict of Marinette vs Lila, she's instead dumbed down when there should be a bigger role for Alya to play here. In Chameleon for example, she's openly and immediately dismissive of Marinette's accusations. This would be reasonable if Alya just wanted to wait for the right moment and investigate privately, but the only given reason for her acting like this is because she thinks Marinette is jealous over Adrien. And yes, her friend does get ahead of herself sometimes, we also see this happen with Kagami. But while calming Marinette down and taking her aside to scheme would be something Alya would do, simply doing nothing about this for a whole season wastes her role in the story. This curiosity and recklesness are what make Alya into who she is, and they are utterly absent for almost the entire season!

My problem isn't that Alya doesn't pick Marinette's side here. I don't expect her too, and frankly it makes more sense for her not to do so, and try to figure out the truth while staying in the middle and not pointing fingers without proof. Naturally, this necessitates that the writers understand the character well enough to allow Alya to act like herself. All of this inaction and needless hammering of the "nobody believes Marinette" notion just paints Alya in a bad light which is truly undeserved. There are much better ways to convery the message that Lila has everyone fooled. The rest of the class' actions already do a good enough job at that. Dragging Alya in the middle of this does raise the personal stakes, but nothing ever comes of it! If there had been a fight, or a confrontation, or something, where both Marinette and Alya's flaws clashed in a way that they stopped being friends for a while, that's wonderful! I'd cry over it, but it would be great for the narrative! This would solidify Lila's efforts to isolate Marinette from her peers and open the door for Alya's redemption arc, where she would have to confront her flaws and grow as she overcomes her stubborness and starts to be more open-minded.

There were so many interesting ways to handle this, and with Alya learning Ladybug's secret identity in Season 4, I was (reasonably, in my humble opinion) expect this to tie in back to the character conflict between Lila and Marinette. Clearly she's been lied to, because Ladybug is standing right in front of her and hates the girl. But again, Alya's wonderfully inquisitive nature vanishes in thin air for no reason. Season 4 is deeply personal when it comes to character conflict. We have overarching plots like the rift between Ladybug and Chat Noir, we have Kagami healing from her breakup with Adrien, and the overall message is how keeping secrets and not trusting other people will result in hurt. It makes logical sense for Alya to fit here perfectly, because she didn't trust Marinette about Lila. And now their friends are tangled in a web of lies, cue the re-kindling of Alyanette friendship and these two teaming up to take Lila down! Again, Alya's character perfectly compliments the story's themes, and gives depth to Marinette's civilian life that is sorely needed this season. This is what Alya is built for, and tries her best to do...but again, isn't allowed to.

Even as far into the show as Season 5, the fact that Lila is lying to her is never acknowledged by Alya, even with direct proof staring her in the face whenever Marinette breathes in the same room as her! This isn't a dig at Alya, nor any other character. Frankly it's a plothole, and a clear show of inconsistent writing from the part of Thomas and co. Alya has all the necessary information to take an active role in the story, and every last character trait the show has spent four season building on works perfectly for something to happen...but we get nothing. Even Alya's greatest flaw of jumping the gun could have her try to take Lila out on her own, get outplayed by the manipulative psycho in the room, and be in a lot of trouble because of it! But the writing sidelines her so badly, not letting this wonderful character do anything about a problem she's clearly been designed to solve! At this point, the major conflicts in the show are made clear. Monarch is the villain for Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Lila is the villain for Marinette and Adrien. Alya isn't expected to grab a frying pan and beat up a supervillain, but as a part of their inner circle, she should be there to fight against Lila. Everything about her character screams it, but all that is falling on deaf ears.

As an aside, there allegedly exists an apology scene that got cut from the show, where several characters (Alya included) apologize to Marinette for not believing her. This upsets me for several reasons, the first of which being that it got cut. The second one is that Alya shouldn't be apologizing. Not at this time. The required evidence has been staring her right in the face for almost two whole seasons now, and the writers want to act as if she didn't realize? I'm sorry, are you kidding me? What in the name of Lila's three mothers do you mean when you tell me that the DETECTIVE CHARACTER never figured out that Lila, whose entire system of lies revolves around "Marinette bullies me", is lying, when Marinette is literally a superheroine? Realistically, anybody with a singular braincell would immediately understand what Alya does not. But the worst part is that none of this is her fault! I'm sounding like a broken record here, but Alya is built to take Lila down! She might be straightforward and rash at times, but she's just as cunning! It's a battle of fox versus fox in terms of character traits, with Alya embodying the well-meaning ones, while Lila personifies the malicious evil that they can be used for!

I'm honestly just sad about this whole debacle. Alya clearly doesn't deserve the hate she gets, since she still does try to support Marinette to the best of her ability. But the writing just...forgets to make do anything? This is a general problem with Miraculous Ladybug, and one that I intend to fully touch on in a future post, but my point stands. The combination of Alya's established character and the narrative choices made with it (ex: learning Ladybug's id) make for an incredible chance to have Alya shine! And despite this, one of the best characters in this entire show is left to sit around on the writing room's floor, never getting the depth she deserves and making illogical decisions that serve only the immediate plotline. Nobody put any thought into what she would actually do, and only used Alya to further other narratives, such as having her "replace" Chat Noir as Marinette's confidant.

If Alya were allowed to act as an individual and not a girl who's been reduced to a mere plot device, I have no doubt that a lot of the shows later writing problems could easily be solved, or at least be given the necessary depth to make them interesting. She's there, and later installments in the series such as the Paris Special have tried to give Alya something to do, but her character seems stuck in a void between being the supportive, inquisitive bff we love to see...and a cardboard cutout that's reading lines off a script. Inconsistency is the death of good characters, because they aren't allowed to be themselves! But hey, these posts are all about discussion. I didn't get to cover everything here, so if you think I missed something or want to add to this, by all means feel free to do so! If you'll excuse me, I have to go and dramatically envision Alya actually being herself in this show, but I'll see you all soon with another post! Until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

[dailyfigures]

hi! sorry if youve answered this b4 (i scrolled back a while and didnt see anything related to this) but! i was wondering if you have any tips on running a "daily [thing]" blog! like... any tips on setting up the queue, preparing pictures, finding good databases, etc! i really love how detailed all of your posts are and how organized it is, its really inspirational! i hope you have a great day!

oh thank you so much that's so nice of you, i'm really glad you like my blog!!!

as for advice, it really depends on your subject ofcourse but i'll share some general things i stick to with my blog!

firstly it's important to be mindful of credit. i only use official promo pics, not only because they look good but also because it'd cost a lot more time and effort to ask people permission to post their pictures and add credit to every image. i'm lucky to have a hobby that has a very organised database (myfigurecollection) but i'm unsure whether you'll be posting about figures or not so it's hard to say where you will be able to find good official pictures.

i personally like all my posts to be as similar as possible layout wise. i avoid logos on images, i use the same caption format, i crop images to be the same size and i try to use the same type of images if possible (full figure pic + closeup is my fav but i'll do full figure front + back if there's no closeup pic available).

i make sure to tag everything correctly. character name, media name, media name + character name, manufacturer (and any variations of all these (nicknames, acronyms, etc)) and my general tags. make sure you tag correctly because people get annoyed if you clog up a tag with unrelated posts and they will block you!

setting up the queue definitely takes the most time! i personally find it relaxing to do tho so i don't mind spending a lot of time on it. i usually put on a youtube vid or something in the back and use my phone to type my captions while having my laptop/tablet open with the figure info so i can work without having to switch apps on my phone every 2 seconds. probably not good for my brain to use 3 screens at once for hours but let's not think about that!

that's everything i can think of rn but do let me know if you have any more questions! thanks again for your nice ask and good luck with your blog!!! :)

[the-takosader]

So, What Next?

Yeah, the title says everything: what's next in my adventures with guitar? Well, there's a few ideas on the table.

And by "a few", I mean "I've got 5 total ideas and they're all fighting for dominance." I wish that were false, but here we are.

So, let's list each one, front to back.

Fender Marauder build

Attempting to recreate John Lennon's modded Les Paul Jr. from a kit

Gretsch Country Gentleman build

Telecaster Bass VI build

Getting (and subsequently modding) an Epiphone Casino.

To fuck with logic and sensibility, let's go from the bottom and work our way up. Also, warning to everyone: this is going to be a VERY long post.

Epiphone Casino mod

You might recognise the Epiphone Casino from when I talked about my first project on here: the Fretless Stratocaster (which I'm hoping to refinish at some point).

The Casino is what I wanted to work with originally as a kit, instead of the Strat that I ended up using. However, I discovered something: you can't actually get a thinline hollow-body guitar as a kit because it's likely (not 100% on this) too niche of an interest for a first - or second-time builder.

This, as you could probably guess, was a massive disappointment to 16-year-old me, but now, 2 years later, I've kinda stopped with the whole "kitbash" thing. I know I listed the LPJr. kit build above, but that's gonna be a hell of a thing to do. More on that later.

Anyway, why would I buy instead of build in this case? To answer that, we need to talk about parallel universes the feasibility of making a fully hollow guitar, from scratch. Also capitalism.

So, what does building a hollow-body guitar actually entail? Well, I'm glad you asked, dear reader, because, as it turns out, quite a hell of a lot goes into building one. First, you have to have a veneer press. Yes, seriously. Why? Because you'll never get a solid top on a guitar that looks like this:

Now, this isn't to say that there aren't solid-top electric semi/fully hollow guitars out there. I'd venture to guess that Höfner do a bunch, just because they do both violins and guitars & basses. In fact, I know the Violin Bass (500/1 my beloved) has a solid spruce top, just because I've spent way too much time checking Thomann to see what they have in stock. But that's neither here nor there.

The Casino has a 5-ply maple body. Yes, five. That's 5 sheets of wood for the top, sides and back, which are pressed into formation to make the Casino. If I remember correctly, the top is made of a veneer sandwich of maple and poplar. I could be wrong, or I could be thinking of what Gibson have done. Either one is possible.

Anyway, where does capitalism come into this? It comes in when you ask "How much would all of this cost?" The short answer is "more than it'd be worth to do it." Not only do you have to find how to press veneers together in such a way that you can make the arched (yes, the top is pressed into its arch, it's not carved out) top, but you also have to source the equipment required to do so, and the veneers themselves. It's way too much hassle, money, and general effort for what would generally be a one-off build.

So that's why I'm not approaching the Casino from the angle of building it. Now, onto what I'd actually do to the thing.

Y'ever wonder why Gibson/Epiphone never stuck a PAF in the ES-330/Casino? I have! There's no definite answer to the question, sadly. In my personal opinion, I think it's because they were too scared to try it. It could, just as easily, be that they tried that, and came to the conclusion that it just didn't work, but I personally prefer the idea that it's the former, because Gibson haven't done shit in terms of new stuff. And before you reply with "What about the Theodore," may I remind you that that was stuffed in McCarty's desk for a reason (that being that it's fucking ugly jfc Gibson).

But yeah, this is the main plan: get a Casino, take out the old P90s, and put something like these things in there. Best part, the dogear covers are curved for such use!

Okay, Moving On.

The Telecaster Bass VI

This one is slightly more unique than the Casino build.

So, you remember the Cherry Telecaster XII build? Yeah, the one that required the use of a separate guitar body. I haven't got rid of that original body. It's still sat, waiting to be used. So, what's the plan?

I have some spare parts that I was so graciously given, including a set of tuning machines, a set of Telecaster pickups, ash-tray and saddles. These will all get used in the process of building the TB6. But you might be wondering - what about the neck?

Y'see, the interesting thing about this is that I want to gain experience in building guitars, not just cobbling together kits and calling it a day. I want to learn how to make a guitar from scratch. Part of that, in turn, means learning how to cut and shape a neck, and how to actually do frets.

This is where the kitbashing was supposed to end. However, I got kinda invested in the whole Lennon Les Paul Jr. thing, and that's my hard cutoff point in this case. I hope.

But enough about that, what does this actually entail?

The build entails constructing a neck from scratch, mainly, and modding the remaining pieces in order to smoothly fit the spare parts. That's it.

There's also the deal about finishes, personal touches and all that funk, jazz, and funky jazz, but the main thing to keep in mind is that this is kinda a one-off, and I'll most likely make shit up as I go. That's why this section is so much shorter than the previous one.

Next on the list...

Gretsch Country Gentleman build

This one is a shelved build, but still on the list.

The Gretsch Country Gentleman (numbered as the G6122 by Gretsch) is the signature model of guitar for the late Chet Atkins, one of the most famous American country guitarists of the mid-to-late 1950s.

It also costs, brand new, US$3,499. As much as I like the sound of the guitar, I don't want to even touch that price point, because JESUS CHRIST that's expensive. So what's the next best thing? Why, building it, of course?

Here, we run into the same issue as with the Casino: materials and methods being really expensive. But where the Casino costs less than a grand, this costs US$3,499. In this case, it's worth it.

The Country Gentleman has more documentation, as well as features, so let's run through those:

Bigsby B6 vibrato tailpiece

2 Filter'Trons (TV Jones Classics, in this case)

Mudswitch

Pickup selector

Standby switch

Flip-up foam mutes

Roller bridge for added tuning stability

ElectroTone body (thinline chambered hollow body)

Zero fret

Grover Imperial tuners

For a non-guitar nerd, that might sound weird. Let me break it further down.

The mudswitch has 3 options: no tone circuit factored in (bright as can be), ~9 on a tone knob, and ~5 on a tone knob; the standby switch cuts the signal from the guitar when you don't want your guitar making noise (like in between songs on a live set); the flip-up mutes allow the simulation of palm muting while not needing your hand to constantly rest on the bridge.

As for the rest of the features, they're not exactly important, and also, did I mention that this was a shelved project? The whole reason is that there's a little too much required work for right now.

Next!

Attempting to Recreate John Lennon's Les Paul Junior from a kit

This one is far easier, because most of the leg-work is already done for me.

Firstly, there was a recreation of his Junior back in 2007, done by Gibson themselves, so I can at least take from that to recreate it to my tastes. Secondly, I've a kit to bash this out of, so I can do most of the work without worrying about the rest of the guitar.

One small issue, however - this is the real thing:

Image source: https://www.mattsguitar.shop/en/vendues/gibson-custom-les-paul-junior-john-lennon

Now, you may be wondering, "Hey, um, what the fuck's that pickup in the neck?" That, my friend, is a recreation of the first electric pickup Gibson ever made: the Charlie Christian pickup.

It's technically the ES-150 pickup, designed in 1936, and gaining its common name through the wholesale adoption by famous jazz and bebop guitarist Charlie Christian. Sit back, folks, this one's a doozy.

The original pickups were built using 2 cobalt steel bar magnets, as AlNiCo magnets weren't widespread knowledge at the time, and were used to not only hold the pickup together, but also keep it attached to the top of the guitar. Remember, this was Gibson's first electric pickup, the P90 wouldn't be invented for another 10 years.

They were also wound with an incredibly thick gauge of wire: 38awg. In comparison, modern pickups are wound with either 42 or 43awg. It's not like extreme wire gauges weren't common at the time - Rickenbacker were using 53awg for their pickups for a long while. The only reason they stopped is because they hand-wound their pickups, and 53awg is such an incredibly thin wire, it's prone to breaking with incredible ease.

Anyway, because the pickup uses such large magnets and large wire coils, it's actually rather inefficient. Due to this, it only averaged out a DC resistance of 2.5-4k Ohms, with examples of 1.1-1.5k Ohms being very common.

Now, that's all fine, nor is it my issue. My issue is with the pickup that was used, because he somehow found a lefty pickup??? and he put it in the neck position upside down?????

Okay that needs explaining. How do I know it's a lefty pickup? Because it has this little notch where it'd pass under the B string. You'll find the same sorta thing on a Strat pickup, the pole under the B string is much lower than the others. But the thing about this is that the gap just... goes under the A string instead??? Either John got real lucky, or he asked Gibson to make him one. And either way, I cannot find one that could replicate that, which is why this build is an attempt at a replica.

Okay, last, but CERTAINLY not least.

Fender Marauder build

This one is much less of a doozy than the pickup and the Les Paul Junior. Let's dive in.

First, I need to explain one concept - the offset guitar body. Leo Fender, by all measures, was Fucking Insane by guitar standards. In a good way, that is. He designed the Fender company's biggest guitars just on the concept of improving through feedback. Take the Stratocaster for example: that was designed based on the feedback of wanting:

a vibrato system that could do what the Bigsby could, then return to tuning with ease.

individually adjustable saddles.

a more comfortable body than the slab of the Telecaster.

That's where the Strat came from, but where'd Leo get the idea for this thing, then?

In short, it was Leo getting further into the whole "improvements" thing. Larger pickups for a more defined response, a lead/rhythm circuit that emphasised an individual pickup in the switching, with which the volume and tone became pickup-specific, and a vibrato that was, in theory, easier to use and produce, meaning no need for back routing.

And y'know, he didn't get rid of everything from the Strat. He kept the body contours, the individually adjustible saddles, but he made one interesting change: the body wasn't aligned anymore. Notice the parts where the body curves inwards, around the waist of the guitar. That's the offset.

And, to his credit, the Jazzmaster was the first example of the offset guitar, with the biggest competitor (Gibson) not making a response until 5 years later, in 1963. Their response, being the Thunderbird bass and Firebird guitar, were the first example of a reverse offset, where the lower half of the guitar is more prominent than the upper half.

It was also designed by Ray Dietrich if you're wondering why it looks so off for a guitar. It's barely even offset!

So anyway, the Jazzmaster was the first of many offsets that Fender produced. There was also the:

Jazz Bass

Jaguar

Bass VI

Mustang

Electric XII

Marauder

Now, most of these have become mainstays of the Fender/Squier line-up over the years, except for that last one - the Marauder. Why? Because the Marauder never saw full production, and all the prototypes ended up going into the personal collection of Quilla "Porky" Freeman. A few have appeared here and there since then, but the model never got its time in the limelight.

Oh, sure there was the Modern Player Marauder back in 2010, but good golly gosh, wouldn't you believe it, that got none of the unique features!

Let's compare what it could have been to what it ended up as.

The Type II (2 different images because of the different headstocks)...

And the Modern Player.

Yeah, it's not exactly a competition between them in terms of features. It got done dirty with the reisue.

In case you're confused:

The Marauder was to have individual 3-mode pickup switching, but got shafted with this 5-way blade switch

Planned to have a Mustang vibrato, but got a 6-screw Strat-style trem. I know the Type 1 prototype had the Strat-style trem, but come on, you could stand to at least give it something more unique.

Was to have a lead/rhythm circuit and a standby/kill switch, and got neither one.

Yeah, the Modern Player Marauder holds nary a candle to the prototypes.

So what's my plans for this build? There's many things in my head related to this, from finish and colour to what I'm going to make it with to whether or not I want to make this kinda Red Special-ish with a zero fret and a floating tremolo, or just use a Mustang vibrato.

I do, however, know what I want to do with the pickups! I have a third pickup from the person who gave me the pair of Telecaster pickups, a hot-rodded Broadcaster bridge pickup, which you can probably guess where that's going. However, what about the other 2 pickups?

As the middle pickup, I was thinking a Burns Tri-Sonic (the same pickup as the Red Special), but I'm not sure on the neck pickup. Maybe a Wide-Range Humbucker? Or maybe a PAF copy? It's a series of long and hard thoughts in this case.

So yeah, that's everything! Keep in mind that this is always subject to change. You'd be surprised what goes on in my head to do stuff like this.

[finniestoncrane]

Hello there! I’d like to place an order for delivery?

Perfect! I’d like a signature cocktail and the surf and turf (btaa please) please. For the sides could I get the sliders, corn on the cob, and the green salad please?

Thank you so much!!

(I hope I formatted this correctly. I love your writing! Big congratulations!!)

btaa!two face x btaa!harvey, word count: 400 content (warnings): straddling, bed sharing, biting, marking kink, masturbation the kitchen is now closed! 🔞minors dni🔞 • masterlist • kofi link • tag: finnie1500 (to follow or to block) a/n: thank you anon! ok SO! i went DIFFERENT with this one, and i would love to expand on it at some point ;-;💚

there's a constant competition between harvey and two face

one that extends into every area of their life, even the most intimate points

especially, at the most intimate points, because nothing is sacred

both of them are intent on spiting the other's pleasure, unable to see the other as happy and content

and more often than not, they utilise it as a method of getting revenge on the other

harvey does it when two face has spent the entire day pushing him to edge, cajoling him into criminal activities, and calling him college boy

two face does it when he's sick of good old harvey dent trying to avoid his own fate, and the fate of others as decided by the coin

so in the dim light of their bedroom, or wherever they might be

when either the right or left hand reaches for his cock, stiff, perfectly and equally split in colour and texture down the centre

the other waits until the perfect moment

two face's preferred method is waiting until harvey thinks he's finally getting a moment of peace

before interrupting with his gruff voice

"do you need a hand, college boy? i'm better at it anyway"

a barrage of insults, cruel criticisms on his technique

"you're too slow, too gentle. get real rough with it, harv, don't be afraid!"

reminding harvey, repeatedly and loudly, that the women they encounter prefer two face, they like his style, they like a bit of a monster

in retaliation, harvey is often likely to remain calm, irritatingly so, when getting his revenge on two face

he'll speak loudly, and firmly, the entire time he's masturbating

and will insist that he is in control

and more to the point, is influencing the motions by delivering instructions that are difficult to ignore while you're in the moment

and as much as two face tries to ignore him, he will slip into a submissive mode the more he gets distracted by his mounting climax

"see, you can listen, and you can behave. perhaps as a reward i'll let you cum this time"

"what a very well-behaved boy, following the instructions to the letter!"

"that's it, grip it firm, but not too tight. and why don't you see how it might feel if you run your thumb over the head when you reach the top? ah! see... that's good, isn't it?"

and usually, harvey is very right

even if it pains two face to admit that

[penncilkid]

Hello hello! My name is PK and I'm a fervent enjoyer of non-canon ships. I'm not a fic writer exactly but I've been told "Where's the fic OP" twice now by my friends. So I thought I'd format one of my fic-adjacent ramble sessions for Tumblr!

Pairing: Milo/David [No Sweetheart or Angel, wanted to go easy on myself] [MDNI*] [Let's call this "canon reminiscent /lh]

Word Count: 3.2 K

*(I wouldn't consider this smut by any means but there's a few lines that make me want to add this as a tag)

[As a reminder, I diverge from canon quite a bit with this. This is just one route I could see leading to Milo and David getting together]

My vision for this pair is that they start getting closer in a more than just friends way a little bit after Gabe dies. Not immediately because have some decorum, but it would start during that transition period for David as Alpha. Asher is trying his best to help but is also grappling with the whole Beta thing, so he feels like he's in a complex position. But him and Milo can see that David's not doing great so Milo's like "Fine, I'll bite the bullet" and tries to confront David about it.

At first it's subtle, asking David if he needs help with something, if he wants anyone from the pack to stay after for meetings, if he wants them to pick up a shift so he can have the day off, etc. But David is too stubborn to accept any of it so he keeps brushing them off. This ends up culminating in a "fight" one day where Milo again tries to make an offer that David shoots down. Milo sort of snaps and is like "Alright, what the fuck gives? Why are you acting like you're too good to get help anymore, David?" David says he doesn't know what he's talking about, Milo calls bullshit. It doesn't turn into a screaming match but it's enough of a heated argument that Milo storms out of the den.

In the days following, Milo either calls out sick, switches shifts with people, anything to avoid seeing David. David brushes it off, thinking he's got more important things to worry about if Milo's going to throw a fit. But of course, Ash being Ash means this stuff can't fly for long, so he tells both David and Milo that he needs help with something at an odd time of day and then "coincidentally" doesn't show up. When Milo gets to the den, he's real tempted to get back in his car and leave. It's a mix of still being a little frustrated with David and being embarrassed that this "fight" has gone on for as long as it has. He walks up to David (who was waiting outside for Asher) and is like "Lemme guess, you're waiting for Ash?" "How did you...?" "Fucker told me the same thing."

They do some lighthearted bitching about their friend, which eases the tension. There's a bit of silence and right as Milo gets ready to apologize for speaking out of turn, David apologizes first. He acknowledges that Milo was right in what he said and that he's been struggling with everything changing, but he hasn't wanted it to show on the outside. Milo makes a light jab at David, "Alright well did you really expect that to go over my head? C'mon, David, we've known each other since we were kids. Gimme some credit" To make up for it, the two of them go out to eat, all that's chill. Cut to when Milo gets home, maybe has a drink or two as he's winding down. David sends him a message, confirming he made it home alright (because I've always latched onto the idea that he's super attentive to that given what happened with Gabe). Milo sends David a quick reply and wonders why seeing that message made him feel some type of way (romantic? Who knows, not Milo that's for sure /lh)

Now if I remember correctly, the audio where Angel learns about Gabe, it's been around 3 years since his passing. Keeping this in mind and in the spirit of being canon reminiscent, I think around/after this point is when Milo's feelings for David start to really bubble up. They've been building for awhile, much to his dismay. He's trying to play it cool, but his heart's in his damn throat any time David touches him casually or whenever the two of them are assigned to a job together. And he knows it's getting bad enough where he might lose focus, so he swallows his pride and does what he's been avoiding for months, if not years: asking Asher for advice.

"Alright, look: You and me both know that you had a lil crush on David when we were in high school. How the fuck did you get over it? I'm drowning, Ash." If this conversation is happening on the phone or at Asher's place, cue him yelling to Babe that they owe him 20 bucks (because it's funny to me <3). Asher asks Milo why he wants to get over the feelings so bad and Milo's like "'Cause this is David we're talking about." "So what?" "We've got... history. That complicates shit all on its own." "And?" "....Alright fine, and I'm also terrified he's not gonna feel the same. Happy?" Asher is being the little shit that he is, putting his arm around Milo's shoulder. "Listen. If I know David— And believe me, I do— What ya gotta do is be direct. If he doesn't feel the same, that's one thing. But if you even want a chance, you gotta be straight up with him. If you tried to ask him out casually, he'll just assume you're being friendly because that's what you are right now. Friends." Milo takes all this in and is like, "Nope, just gonna shove these feelings down for eternity." "I'll tell Marie—" "I will beat your ass." He knows Asher has a point though. Any idea Milo might've had could be easily construed as them just chilling as friends. But he doesn't really act on anything for awhile.

Now, before we get into the next phase of this, some added backstory: David had a crush on Milo growing up. I'm thinking a little after high school (won't say college necessarily since I don't picture them in college but like, young adulthood phase). He'd always found Milo incredibly attractive and found his boldness admirable in general. David was constantly thinking about what he had to do for others and how to make the pack look good (since he was the Alpha's kid then the pack Beta). Milo always felt incredibly refreshing to be around. But he figured Milo would never be interested in because David's just himself so he eventually got over it. Cut to that argument him and Milo had a few years back. He remembers that night when they made up because dinner had been fine but all he could do was focus on Milo. It felt nice to just hang out with him without the pressures of being Alpha. And he enjoyed listening to him talk about anything because he always had a strong opinion. I think around then is when his past feelings awoke again but there was a new obstacle: He was the Alpha of the pack. It wasn't like before, things were different. He'd never have a chance to pursue Milo without feeling like he had pushed Milo into a corner somehow. So again, he tried his best to push his feelings down, appreciate and value the friendship he had with Milo and leave it at that. It was enough to just have Milo in his life, even if it wasn't going to go any further.

Back to how these two end up together: the Moonbound Solstice. They're all at David's place, everyone's having a good time together. Milo's chilling, talking to someone from the pack when Asher cuts in and is like "Sorry, just gonna steal him for a minute" "Ash, you can't just— AY okay okay I'm coming" They walk off, somewhere far from the kitchen to minimize the risk of David overhearing. In hushed voices: "Alright, so what's the plan?" "Ash, what the fuck are you talking about?" "Milo, it's the Solstice. This is the perfect time to make a move." "Are you out of your damn mind? This is the last place I should be hitting on— On you know who." "What are you talking about it, it's perfect! The whole pack's here, no one would even notice." "Look, he's already got his hands full hosting the Solstice at his own place for a change. I'm just gonna chill and enjoy the night for what it is." Asher is pouting as Milo walks off, immediately thinking of what he can do to help nudge David Milo's way. (Unhinged alt route: Ash giving Milo a flat so he has to stay the night)

Cut to the end of the night, people are heading out and whatnot. David is subtly trying to get people out because he loves his pack but his senses need a break. Asher (+ Babe, package deal) and Milo offer to stay and help clean, and David lets them since it's only a handful of people. Milo's keeping his cool, vibing to the much lower playing music when: "Babe, what do you mean you have a work call you need to take tonight? Can't it wait?" "Sorry, Ash, I need to be home in the next twenty minutes" "Alright. Guess we're heading early." Milo thinks nothing of it until he makes eye contact with Babe. They smile with a sickeningly sweet wave. Those bastards. Before Milo can try to rope Ash into staying somehow, the two of them are gone.

When Milo and David are alone, Milo tries his best to focus on the task at hand because feelings or not, he's not gonna do a shit job at cleaning so David has to clean up after him. Once the bulk of it is done, David mentions that he needs to grab something from upstairs or maybe says he's going to go change out of his clothes (I imagine he put on something better looking but not as comfortable for the solstice). Milo's chill with that, getting his keys, phone, other personal belongings together. He happens to slip into the kitchen though, stealing a bit more of the food David had made for the solstice. While he's stealing (said with love), he hears very close to his ear: "You can take some home if you want." He nearly punches David, gripping his arm as he tries to slow his heart rate. "You tryin' give a guy a heart attack, Shaw (/lh)" because he legit didn't hear David come back downstairs. "Maybe if you weren't busy trying to steal some food, you would've heard me— Greer (/lh)." Milo rolls his eyes with a grin and there's a moment of quiet when he realizes his hand is still on David's arm.

He lets go, clearing his throat, confirming that it's actually cool if he wants to take some of the food home with him. David says sure, giving him a container to fill (or Milo takes whatever the food came in, not sure what I'm picturing David's cooking set-up to be). David walks Milo to the door (as a good host does) and the two of them talk in the doorway for a few minutes about upcoming jobs, responsibilities, all that formal shit. There's another quiet moment as the two of them watch each other. Inside, Milo's like "Alright, no one else is here. This is as good a chance as any." The second he gets ready to ask David out on a more proper date, David instead says "Good night, Milo" and essentially closes the door in his face. Milo stares for a moment before cursing himself in Spanish (my HC), walking to his car and muttering about how "Of course he was just being polite, what the fuck were you thinking?" On the other side of the door, David is groaning into his hands, face warm as he tries to calm down because he came way too close to making a move on Milo.

Intermission (Wow, you're still reading? Damn /pos): I wanted to think of how to push them closer to a confession before they actually get together and eventually settled on "sickfic shenanigans". Insert deliriously sick Milo whose phone died and he can't find a charger for the life of him so David goes over to his place to check on him. Initially, he's trying to get David to leave because "I can handle myself fine". But that doesn't last long because admittedly, he feels like shit and has been for the past 12 hours. The dynamic quickly turns into Milo convincing David to stay then being so sick his filter is hanging on by a thread (/lh). "Why do you have to go rush off so fast?" "Milo, I have a pack to take care of—" "First off, I'm part of the pack— (cue Milo coughing) And second, they'll be fine without their Alpha for a few hours." Milo's playing it off as lighthearted but David can tell he doesn't want to be cooped up inside alone on top of feeling like shit physically. A little later, when Milo's on the verge of falling asleep (as many do while sick), he's like "Y'know, it's fucking wild you don't got a mate, David. Like look at you. Doesn't make sense" David laughs at first, thinking Milo's sick delirious (which he is, but that's affecting his filter, not the validity of his words). He's like "ay, why are you laughing, I'm serious. Look— if I were ya mate, I'd treat ya right. I'd cook, I'd work extra hours so I could see ya, I'd make sure we're the best dressed wherever we go— not to mention, I got a great dick." David writes this off as Milo being sick and spewing nonsense but never forgets the words. Meanwhile, Milo (after getting over the sickness) is convinced he dreamt saying any of that to David.

Back to the present, David's been a bit stressed with work as of late so Asher suggests the pack take a trip/weekend vacation. He says he'll handle figuring everything out, letting David take a backseat this time. They go somewhere, a resort, a hotel, something that involves people having rooms they're staying in. Everyone's having a good time, chilling all day, night rolls around. David's in his room when he realizes he forgot to pack something— can be anything. Toothpaste, a charger, something for his hair, the specifics aren't important. He texts Asher, asking if he has the thing he forgot and Ash is like yeah. David asks Ash which room he's staying in, Ash texts him the room number. David leaves his room, goes there, knocks and waits patiently. Door opens, and who's standing there? Milo, shirtless and in the middle of brushing his teeth or some shit.

David's checking his phone to see if he went to the wrong room but nope, numbers match. "Asher must've made a typo. I just needed to borrow something from him." "Well, what did you need? Maybe I have it." Before David can leave, Milo's busy ushering him in, closing the door so he can finish brushing his teeth before finding what David needs. They're making idle conversation, talking about what they spent their respective days doing. While Milo's talking, David's kind of staring at his back, not processing a word he's saying. Milo turns around and notices and is like "What? Don't tell me there's a bug on me and you didn't say shit? (/lh)" and David is trying to think of a good cover up. Milo tries to lighten the mood, says he's just messing with David before going to find whatever David's looking to borrow. He finds it, hands it over when for a split second, his eyes land on David's crotch. David leaves shortly there after but all night, Milo's like "...That was a boner... why the fuck did he have a boner?" But again, Milo's mind is like "Nah, I'm reading this wrong somehow."

Now, I'm painting a picture: it's the next day, Ash, Milo, David, few others from the pack plan on doing something together while on the trip. Asher gets there a bit late but is somehow on time compared to David, who shows up minutes after (that man was up all night pining). Ash notices Milo's not here yet and has a devious idea (as always). He asks David to go check on Milo so they can go. "Why me?" "You were the last one here, it's only fair. Now shoo." David rolls his eyes but goes, getting to Milo's room, knocking. He can hear Milo's definitely inside because he's cursing and complaining. He knocks again before the door swings open to reveal a mildly disgruntled Milo Greer (my vision is he's in pants and a white tank with his name chain. The in between outfits outfit).

He asks what David is doing there, David explains that Asher sent him to pick up Milo, Milo's like "What time is it— Jesus fucking Christ." The issue at hand is Milo can't find an article of clothing that he swears he put in his bag. He's been trying to get by with alternative options but none of them look the way he wants them to, which is making him quietly lose his shit. David stifles a laugh, to which Milo lasers in on. "And what do you think you're laughing at?" "You haven't changed since we were kids, that's all." Milo scoffs but admittedly, the sentiment puts a smile on his face. Almost immediately after that moment, he finally finds what he was looking for (tucked under something, irrelevant right now). He starts to get ready, pulling his shirt on, buttoning it up but let's say a button or two is fighting him for whatever reason. Without a second thought, David walks up, buttoning it for Milo. Milo's having an internal moment as a result, staring at David's hands then his face. David finishes and looks up to catch Milo staring. He clears his throat, saying something about waiting in the hall when Milo catches his wrist.

"Can I take you out on a date?" "What?" "I don't know what or where yet, but I just— I know this is probably stupid and I'm shooting myself in the foot here, but Asher's gonna kick my ass if I don't do something so— Can I take you out on a date, David?" David's taken aback. "Wait... so you were serious. That time you were sick. All that stuff you said about being a good mate for me." "THAT WASN'T A DREAM?" Cue Milo letting go of David's hand and nearly cursing himself out, running a hand through his hair because now he's mortified. "I can't believe I actually said all that shit to you—" "Did you mean it?" "Huh?" For the first time, David's not looking at Milo like a friend or pack Alpha. The look in his eyes screams pure, unfiltered attraction. "Yes or no, Milo." Milo's face is hot, "Course I meant it. I'd treat you great if you gave me the chance to show you." David steps closer, gripping Milo's face gently and tilting it up towards his. "Show me." Milo grins before pulling David down to him, the kiss they shared far better than the ones he remembered from spin the bottle games they'd played as teens. This kiss felt deeper and closer than that could ever compare. The moment they break away, gasping for air, Milo's busy unbuttoning his shirt. David asks what he's doing, to which Milo replies "I'm about to savor as much time with you as I can before I have to see Asher's smug face. Unless you'd like to explain how your hair became a mess between the time you left to find me and when you get back?" David laughs before pulling Milo to him again.

So yeah, that concludes this fic adjacent ramble (/lh)! I love rarepairs and rambling, so if people enjoy this, I may format some other rambles as they arise. I think I've got some Sam/David tucked away somewhere, so let me know. If you actually read all of this, wow, okay, thank you (/lh /pos)

[sunshine-overload]

[BSTS] Main Story S4Ch1 ‘Setting Sun’ - Part 2

Part 1

Chapter 3

-starless lobby-

yakou: I'm finished mopping the front entrance.

yoshino: Nice work. Did you put the signboard outside already?

yakou: It wouldn't have been helpful if I forgot it so I put it out first.

yoshino: I'm almost done mopping here too, after that I have to... Kei, what else is there to do?

kei: ........

yoshino: Kei?

kei: ...Mm? Oh... My apologies, I was deep in thought.

-kei walks off-

yakou: ...That's surprising. To think people like Kei who give off an aura of being perfect also space out sometimes.

yoshino: I've never seen Kei like that before. I wonder if something happened

-hallway-

kei: ....... (sigh)

-he bumps into saki-

saki: Wah...!?

kei: My deepest apologies. Are you ok, Saki? Hm? What are you doing with that bundle of forms? Don't tell me Unei's been handing off tasks to you?

saki: They've just been sitting there in the break room for quite some time, so I figured I'd take them to the office.

kei: To make you have to bother with such a task... I'm most sorry. I shall take them from you.

saki: (Huh...?)

saki: Are you feeling worn out, Kei-san? Your face is quite pale...

kei: ......... (surprised)

kei: Worry not, I am fine. I make sure to monitor and maintain my health each day. Though, to cause you to worry about me in such a way, I suppose I need to do a better job of it.

-sotetsu walks up-

sotetsu: Oh hey Kei, those forms you have are the ones I was told to take to the office.

kei: I heard they'd been left in the break room?

sotetsu: I felt like a smoke but I was all out of cigarettes. By the time I'd gotten back from buying some the papers had disappeared.

kei: So, in short. It is your fault that Saki ended up being the one who had to transport them.

saki: I was the one who decided to take them without checking with anyone first, it's not Sotetsu-san's fault.

sotetsu: I'm not really sure what's going on, but I feel an apology is in order. My bad, Saki.

kei: Take these to the office already.

-he hands off the papers and steps towards saki-

kei: Saki, I'm finished with my duties at the store's entrance, so I'll escort you to your seat. I recommend you try the new seasonal sweets.

saki: I look forward to seeing your recommendation.

sotetsu: He really changes his demeanour at the drop of a hat.

—end

-

Chapter 3 extra

-rehearsal room-

-yakou dancing-

yakou: Change formation during the interlude, and... Once Kei and Yoshino move in front I turn. ...I'm not very good at this step yet.

gui: We've finished closing up the shop, so you should start getting ready to leave.

yakou: Woah, it's already gotten that late? That went by quickly. Thanks for letting me know, I'll finish things up.

gui: Yakou, you seem a bit strange.

yakou: What? Strange?

gui: You've... changed somehow?

yakou: Oh that's what you meant. If I remember correctly I think you've said that to me once before. Back during the performance for 'Searching for the Galactic Railroad’ was it?

gui: This is different from back then.

yakou: Is that so? If you can explain it I'd be happy to know what it is you think has changed about me.

gui: Back then... your presence was more tense. It was direct and heavy. But now... It's not overwhelming, but strong.

yakou: Hahah, ok then. 'Strong' huh? I don't really get what you're trying to say here. But well... I may not get it but thanks for telling me.

yakou: I want to learn even more, but in order to do so I need to broaden the amount of things I'm able to do. The fact I feel this way is thanks to Kei letting me join in during the anniversary show. I couldn't keep up at all, it was honestly laughable. I was like 'oh god!' It really did make me laugh.

gui: Is that so...?

yakou: It's disheartening to realise there's a lot I'm still not capable of, but it's fun at the same time. And once I'm able to do more, I'm sure I'll be able to understand more as well.

gui: 'Understand'?

yakou: What I felt that day... It was simple, but it had infinite possibilities.

gui: Broadening your abilities is a good thing. I'm sure you'll be able to achieve it soon, Yakou.

yakou: I need to quickly, that way I won't be dragging you guys down. Let's work hard again tomorrow too, Gui.

—end

-

Chapter 3 SideA

-locker rooms-

akira: Ah, there you are. Wassup~

kei: Akira?

akira: I wanted to hand this over to you.

-he gives kei the envelope-

kei: (surprised) This is... Why was this in your possession?

akira: No need to glare at me like that. I just happened to see you and Heath having a little chat. Then after you had left, Heath threw this away.

kei: ........

akira: I didn't hear what you two were saying, I'm not into eavesdropping. I figured that must've been something you gave him for his sake. If I just gave it back to Heath he'd probably just chuck it again, so that's why I'm giving it to you.

kei: I see. My apologies.

akira: How come you're chuckling?

kei: Because I'm merely grasping at straws.

akira: What? You better not start talking like Sin as well. Anyways, that's all I needed to you give you.

-akira leaves-

—end

-

Chapter 3 SideA extra

-voice training room-

rindou: Hm? Sinju and Zakuro?

sinju: Good work today Rindou. I was practising with Zakuro. You really surprised me, Zakuro, you're super easy to harmonise with. I keep getting goosebumps!

zakuro: Oh no no, to be praised as such is a great honour. Singing is simply one of the few things that this empty shell of mine is capable of. By the way, Rindou. You are looking well today, your face has a suitable amount of colour to it. Recently when I had met you at the old Starless building you looked awfully pale. I had been quite worried indeed.

rindou: I apologise for back then, however you can rest assured, I'm fine now.

zakuro: That's great to hear. Our bodies are important after all, let's both take care to treat them kindly. Sadly I have my floor shift now so I shall depart first. Farewell.

-zakuro leaves-

sinju: Rindou, was what he just said true, you went to the old Starless building?

rindou: Um, it was around after Mizuki and Mokuren had that versus about wanting to demolish it. After hearing them talk about it, I wondered how the place was holding up and went and visited it for the first time in ages.

sinju: If I remember correctly, didn't Saki-chan feel unwell when she visited there? She suddenly got really pale, it was scary.

rindou: They said it was because of the store didn't they. I'm not so sure what I believe myself, but I think it's best we stop visiting that place. It's falling to pieces after all.

sinju: H-Huh? Is it really in that bad of a state? The fence should be removed once the reconstruction work is done... Maybe I'll go and take a look. That store took good care of me after all.

—end

-

Chapter 3 SideB 

-starless office-

yoshino: I'm almost done with the inventory check, how are you doing, Heath?

heath: I've stil got some boxes left.

yoshino: Let me know when you're done then. I'm going to move on to checking the next box.

heath: ...Merch sells a lot better than I thought.

kasumi: Were you surprised by the amount we stocked? The solo shows are similar but things really start selling during versus shows~ It's like the guests want to channel their desire for their favourites to win through their penlights.

yoshino: When I see them waving them about during the performance, it feels like they're telling me to do my best. Like they're saying 'I'm here watching you' or 'I'm here for you' it gives me courage.

heath: ...I'll have to try even harder then.

kasumi: No no, you're already giving it more than enough effort, Heath~ You're getting proper rest right? You've been looking pretty pale lately.

heath: Don't worry, I'm fine.

yoshino: It's not something an opponent would usually say, but seriously, don't overdo it.

heath: ...Hearing that from you isn't gonna persuade me. Right now... I need to give it my all.

kasumi: That's something you can only say once you've experienced overdoing it yourself huh, Yoshino. 

yoshino: ...Yeah.

kasumi: I get that there's something that you can't give up, Heath. And it's not something we're going to be able to convince you otherwise. However... because it's something that we can't intervene with, it makes it tough for us onlookers.

heath: I'll make sure not to overdo it. I'm going to buy some water.

-heath leaves-

kasumi: The decision during 'ONLY IF' was difficult wasn't it, is that why you're worried about Heath?

yoshino: Worried... I'm not sure that's what it is. I am a little envious of Heath though. Staying true to himself, moving forward and only singing with his own words, I wonder how it must feel. But still, I chose to wait, since I think another chance will come to me. But, no one knows if that will actually be the case. Heath is well aware of that, and I think that's why he keeps singing.

kasumi: It can be tough to choose whether to live your life at 0 or 100. But even so, you can't avoid having to choose which path to take.

—end

note: kasumi drops his usual form of speech in his last sentence

-

Chapter 3 SideB extra

-starless restaurant area-

qu: Why did the show become a versus this time?

mokuren: Someone must've done something someone else didn't agree with, that's how it always is.

qu: What would you have done? If a Team C show was planned but you were told it got changed last minute— Would you be mature about it and accept the postponement?

mokuren: I wouldn't make it my reason for a versus. The time you get up on stage is halved, and it still counts for a performance. Unless there's something else worth fighting over, I'd rather just wait for a proper show.

qu: Right?

mokuren: I couldn't care less about the reason for the versus, but I don't understand what B are trying to achieve here at all. What is up with that woeful performance? Their movements are all completely out of sync, it's gross just watching it.

qu: You're always paying attention to those details huh. Ah, we should go put our orders in after the encore.

-kitchen dining area-

hari: Good work out there.

mokuren: Today's staff meal is rice noodles? I wasn't in the mood to eat this but whatever.

qu: I asked for them to be ready in 15 minutes. I'll put a notification on our tablets. If I remember correctly the user settings should be... Oh? The screen went black.

hari: Qu, let me see. It won't turn back on, that's strange.

mokuren: You're hopeless with technology, just write the message on a piece of paper and hand it to the kitchen instead.

qu: I wasn't doing anything different to it though...

hari: Once I'm finished eating I have business to attend to in the office, so I'll bring the tablet with me to have Taiga check it. By the way, how was B's show?

mokuren: Terrible. That mess wasn't worth watching. It's only a matter of time before they get discontinued.

hari: Huh…?

qu: To go that far... When you make predictions like that you're rarely ever wrong so that's quite a worrying sentiment.

—end

-

Chapter 4

If you want the extra immersion listen to the struggle version of Mosquitone first 🥲

-backstage-

saki: (No matter how many interim results meetings I attend, they still make me nervous... Huh?)

-she looks at heath-

saki: Heath-san doesn't look well...

haseyama: Unei, hurry up and report the current results to them.

unei: Yes sir...! I will give the interim results for the Team K and Team B versus, currently the leading team is— Team K!

sotetsu: Oh, that's a good omen.

kei: K will always deliver the highest quality of shows. That fact is simply reflected in these results.

haseyama: Sheesh, as up yourself as always. ...Oi, he's looking like a corpse over there, are you sure he's still breathing?

heath: .....…..

haseyama: What's up with that ghastly face of yours. Are you even going to make it to the closing show?

mizuki: Oi shut it you shitty old man. Of course Heath can make it.

haseyama: It would be pretty shameful if the person who started the versus ends up collapsing before it's over.

heath: ...There's nothing wrong.

heath: Guh... (staggers)

-kei rushes over to support him- 

kei: Heath.

-heath pushes him away-

heath: I'm not accepting your help. ...Let's go, Mizuki, Lico.

-B leave-

haseyama: Hmph, does he really have it in him?

saki: (He really didn't look well...)

-rehearsal room-

ran: Ah, ya back, good work! How were the results? B's winnin' right? We're the best after all!

lico: ........ (big sigh)

kongou: Are you ok, Lico?

lico: It's Heath, he can't keep going on like this. His complexion seriously makes him look dead and he was near unresponsive in the stage wings.

ran: Ah~ He has been pretty bad lately. He gets exhausted right away, it looks tough for him.

kongou: Even though he'd been looking a bit better... But he's always been the one with the least amount of stamina on our team.

lico: That's not what I'm talking about here. Even in our show tonight there were moments he missed lines. For mister MC Life to mess up his rap, he must be in an awful state.

kongou: Now that you mention it... He really mustn’t be feeling well.

ran: Where are Mizuki an' Heath anyways?

lico: I made Heath go home. Mizuki said he was buying him water.

kongou: Then once Mizuki comes back should we discuss Heath's situation with him?

lico: Discuss what, you really expect him to do anything about it?

-break room-

ginsei: I wonder if the interim results announcement is done yet.

gui: I wonder what the result will be...

yakou: It's just who's currently leading at the end of the day, Kei and the others should be back soon.

yoshino: You're pretty calm huh, Yakou.

yakou: Ah, yeah. I still have a lot of personal problems but I just have to do what I can. The guests' response to our show seemed to be good.

ginsei: .........

yakou: Rather than us, what I'm worried about is B.

yoshino: In today's show there were portions where Heath stopped singing entirely. The performers looked to be struggling to keep up too, I wonder if everything's ok.

gui: It was different from how B usually is. It didn't feel good to watch. Their movements... were all over the place.

takami: True, the other members were trying to cover for Heath, so everything fell out of sync.

yakou: Yeah, it was as if the whole show gradually decreased in quality.

yoshino: Kei must've been apprehensive because he knew this would happen and pushed their show back...

yakou: What?

yoshino: It's nothing. While I'm concerned for B all we can do is keep giving it our all.

—end

-

Chapter 4 extra

-break room-

hari: Hello, Yakou.

yakou: Hey.

hari: You looked like you were having fun on stage today.

yakou: Yeah, I was finally able to sort out some of my thoughts, K's shows are really nerve wracking. We're mostly in sync but movements change and vary slightly during the real thing. If I deviate from that it'll ruin the vibe of the team's performances, so I was scared of messing up.

hari: That’s a good means of concentration you have there. Since you came back and were thrown into a versus right away I figured there must be a lot on your mind. However it seems my worry was unfounded. Would you agree, Yakou?

yakou: Is that meant to be a compliment?

hari: K's shows could only be described as gorgeous. 

yakou: That's because they're the embodiment of Kei's ideal performance. To always put on a show of the highest quality for the guests. Honestly I didn't think things would be that different from P, however the type of 'aesthetic' that was acceptable in P is unfavourable in K. Being able to grasp that aesthetic is important, which is what makes it difficult.

hari: That sort of thing isn't just restricted to K and P. Every team has its own sense of aesthetics and beauty. And I mean that in a broad sense, the definition of that beauty would change depending on who you ask.

yakou: Whichever way you put it, Ginsei sure is amazing huh. When he's in P, he embodies P and when he's in K, he embodies K. He's able to express either aesthetic when needed. Well, I'm going to try my best to achieve that too.

hari: You're busy with the versus performance too.

yakou: I wonder if Heath's ok. We see him backstage everyday and he hasn't been looking well.

hari: It's true that Kei had originally wanted to push B's performance back, could it be that... No, nevermind. In any case, even whilst the versus continues, someone should lend him a hand if needed.

—end

-

Chapter 4 SideA

-starless lobby-

gui: I've brought the photo cards that were sold out, this is the last of the stock.

kei: Please place them on the counter. Did you inform Unei to order more?

gui: Yes.

-distant cheering-

kei: ........

gui: ...Kei?

gui: ........

kei: ...Gui, go on break between the performances. Don't forget your orders and wait on standby during that time.

gui: ...Understood.

-gui leaves-

kei: ...Gui is quick to pick up on things so I must proceed with caution.

-restaurant area-

kei: ...As I had predicted, he's still up on that stage. Heath... please— Just take the fall already.

—end

-

Chapter 4 SideA extra

-izakaya-

takami: Cheers.

kokuyou: Yeah.

-they clink glasses and drink-

kokuyou: ...Tell me the info you dug up on Nekome.

takami: Has that become your catchphrase? I'm not sure we should discuss that in an izakaya of all places.

kokuyou: Shut it, isn't this location better than the alternative, or would you rather talk at Starless?

takami: Here is fine. —To start, the fact that he's gotten himself involved with the underworld is true. However I don't know how deeply he's involved or the circumstances behind it. It could also be possible that he was caught up in it unwillingly.

kokuyou: On what basis are you saying this?

takami: He had been renting an apartment under a name that wasn't his own. When I investigated that thread I discovered a company. Meaning it's a company that deals under a fake name, there's no way a company like that could be respectable. And so, I tried paying a visit to the apartment Nekome was renting out and... If I had stayed there even a moment longer I would've been charcoal.

kokuyou: What...?

takami: The door was trapped. There was a wire attached to the handle which— Well, to put it more simply, let's just say someone had left a little gift akin to a claymore mine there to greet me. The gunpowder quality was poor, but if I'd taken a direct hit let’s just say I wouldn't be working as a cast member anymore.

kokuyou: The hell is that all about... All of that is way too fishy.

takami: I cannot confirm or deny that it was Nekome himself who set it up. We must also consider that it could've been a third party that rigged the place.

kokuyou: ...You’re saying it's not a zero percent chance that he was the one who did it though.

takami: Exactly.

kokuyou: Tch, that idiot.

takami: I would like to investigate things further. So that is all I can say today. Plus, our beers are getting warm.

-time pass, city, night time-

takami: Oh, fancy running into you, Sin. Are you on your way home?

sin: Indeed.

kokuyou: Good, I have something I want to talk to you about. Walk with us, Sin.

sin: ...? As you wish.

-secluded area-

kokuyou: Do you know anything about Nekome?

sin: ...... (shocked)

sin: ...No, I don't know much. Even I am surprised by the recent events. It must just be how he is.

kokuyou: That so...

sin: My apologies for not being of any help. If I learn any new information I'll let you know.

takami: .........

sin: If that is all you wanted then I shall be leaving. Goodnight.

-sin leaves-

-flashback, park, night time-

sin (on phone): What do you want from me? What are you planning to do with her? Answer me.

-flashback end-

-street-

sin: Those words I couldn't catch back then... Could they have something to do with this? With Nekome...

—end

note: the flashback is from s3ch8 Chapter 5 extra

-

Chapter 4 SideB

-break room-

heath: ...Ngh.

maica: Woah, you look awful. You're pale as a ghost are you alright?

heath: I'm fine.

maica: If you're not able to perform at your best every show then you don't need to keep getting up there.

heath: Would you give up during a show's run?

maica: Continuing to sing when you're not delivering the quality the guests deserve is just being self indulgent. My pride wouldn't allow me to do that.

heath: I'm giving it my all when I rap, so it won't be low quality. Thanks for the pep talk.

-heath leaves-

maica: It wasn't a mere pep talk... He can barely even walk straight.

menou: If you have a break pedal then you just have to press your foot down and stop.

maica: What are you on about...?

menou: However in the situation where there's no breaks, then there's no choice but to continue forwards. You have no choice but to keep moving. It's like in the fairy tale 'The Red Shoes'.

maica: That's the story about the little girl who puts on red shoes that force her to keep dancing forever right?

menou: Yep. In order to free herself from the curse to keep dancing, she ends up asking for both of her feet to be chopped off. There are more people out there than you might think that won't stop themselves. Even if stopping would be for their own good.

—end

-

Chapter 4 SideB extra

-starless kitchen-

taiga: Sup, the vegetables got delivered so I've brought the box. Here. 

kongou: Ah thanks, could you open it up and take them out too? I'm going to use some now. Sorry for making you assist in the kitchen, but it's a great help. Once you're done you can help yourself to the cheese cookies on the staff table. They're a new prototype, think of it as a thank you gift.

taiga: Cheese cookies... They don't sound like they'd be very sweet.

kongou: They have a salty flavour to them. They'd probably pair well with wine or beer.

-lico walks in-

lico: Excuse me, why the hell is this box so goddamn heavy? What on earth is inside it!?

kongou: That's probably full of flour. Like cake flour and bread flour. Good work bringing it here, Lico.

lico: Don't make me do such physical strength intensive jobs. I don't have the build for it... Hm? How come you're here?

taiga: Huh? Well I mean, I have a shift today.

lico: Isn't the brother you were searching for back now? Do you still have business with the store even though your goal has been achieved? If it were me, once I'd paid back what I owe the owner I'd have quit working here on the spot. 

-lico leaves-

taiga: Sigh, well, I have my own reasons so... He's not even listening to me. What was that all about, he owes the owner? Is he in debt or something?

kongou: I don't know the details but yes, that's probably the case.

-flashback, kitchen-

lico: You're just lucky that you happen to be able to exist here without having to flatter that old man. Unwillingly or not, there are people out there that encounter times where they can't live without having to rely on someone.

-flashback end-

taiga: Oh... So that's what he must've meant back then.

—end

To Part 3

[asksoldieron]

SO-12: The Spirit of Harpo Marx

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for Alight at the Window (SO-12) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

Awwwwww, ya know? Awwwwww ❤️!

Poor Erik is in ⚡🔋no shape🔋⚡ to communicate, but he's doing his best. Maggie has no idea whether he's messing with her on purpose, or what's wrong with him, but she won't let him go. They'll get to him eventually. (I've just finished that part, actually. They've got him! Uh. Sorta. At least he's... safe now? 😅Oh, I can't say that with a straight face.)

This is the last of my queued posts/instalments, and I have no idea where my reading and drawing ability will be when it goes live. If I can't update you on my condition (and the condition of the next six instalments) I'll hafta have the spouse type a note for me. I want to do six more right away, or I might take a two week break, or - if I'm really struggling - it'll be a break of indeterminate length. I hope I'll be okay to just keep going, my Patrons have been so patient this year. Thanks, y'all.

But, either way, there will be a break at some point, because I'll have a while where I can't write or draw and that's going to eat up my backlog. Also, recent updates have done more stupid things to my theme and I think the site needs a redesign - maybe including some radical simplification. I'm just not mobile friendly and I can't make the current format behave. People with better eyesight than me do a lot of reading on their phones.

I have no idea how to build a community and I'm flailing, really, but maybe if I can get the interface more convenient, more people will like me? (I have no idea. Probably they won't.)

Look, though! You've got some extra art to tide you over! And a song!

I'm not in love with how Erik's design looks right now - he looks like a train wreck, but he should look like a train wreck. Nobody is going to fix his hair. I still feel self-conscious about it. He used to be cute. I've got to do a full-body rendering of how he'll clean up, but I don't have time for it now.

However, I did do a page of something trying to get comfortable with his ability to emote in train reck form. I don't have time to finish it, but I think it looks cool so I'm sharing.

This is potentially a way for me to serve you the music without lyric backgrounds that you can't read! It's very labour-intensive, but I was figuring out how to do it and it might get a little easier with practice. Also, my current tablet is struggling with the resolution and I plan to update it by the end of the year - depending on sale prices.

After I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I found out the original Off-Broadway incarnation had filked music with lyrics by John Cameron Mitchell. 🥹😊I'm calling it! This is something other people sharing my identity do to tell their stories! Filk musicals are an enby thing! We do not give a shit about the music industry's copyrights! I'm performing nonbinary correctly!

So here's the lyrics again, and maybe I'll give you the rest in comic form as my vision and my tools improve.

You Are Found! (based on "We Are Young" by fun.) I need a minute, I… I don’t know if I’m ready yet I’m tryin’ to get my shit together, Maggie, please don’t be upset My family must be looking for me somewhere very near Guess I knew you must be coming but I can’t believe you’re here, and… It’s been forever since I’ve seen your face I know you want to take me home But although it hurts to do this work they need my help for what it’s worth —  Oh, gods I’m not sure if I wanna go So maybe if, next time you see me, You can take me by the hand, You’ll steal me away At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down No, I wanna go home I’m just not done I guess that I, I just hoped We could visit and I’d get right back to work But I can’t go yet So I must forget 'Cause I think you’ll hafta steal me away At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down Steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Come steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Come steal me away at last (na na na na na na) The gods have their own plan (na na na na na na) But I’m just one weary man (na na na na na na) So you're gonna hafta steal me away at last (na na na na na na) I have so much to do (na na na na na na) How can I go with you? (na na na na na na) So you're gonna hafta steal me away (na na na na na na) At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down So maybe if, next time you see me, You can take me by the hand You’ll steal me away at last

See you soon! Ha, I hope!

Late edit: Two week break, folks. No drawing ability yet, so we're stuck with it. I still hope to get you the next six by the end of the year. I'll keep you posted!

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