#if im going into a book like this and im skeptical i still ALWAYS hope for best and give it every shot to prove me wrong

[bluesey-182]

this review for the ballad of songbirds and snakes is going to be critical so if you loved this book and don't want to see that critique then you are welcome to skip this post. im willing to have civil conversation and im also very willing to hear other points of views bc i love discussing books (and who knows! maybe someone could change my mind) BUT if you're at all going to be nasty and/or take it personally, then you will likely be blocked.

im gonna be so honest... the ballad of songbirds and snakes was a decent book. but. i don't think it actually added anything to the overall story. it added some perspective, maybe, to how snow became snow but it also felt... pointless? i think if I'm going to get a villain origin story, i want it to make me feel conflicted, or at least somewhat understanding to how the villain turned out that way. i want it to show me the gray area. but this book just... didn't do it for me. none of it was surprising. and also, from the beginning, i didn't overall care that much to know what made him this way, because the end result was still the same, and nothing happened to change that feeling for me. bc the only way snow was interesting was how he was as the villain. there was nothing beyond that to interest me, and i think that's what this book was trying to use as the draw. and moreover, to expand on my opinion that it didn't add to the series: i think it relied solely on easter eggs from the original trilogy to make you think it was adding anything. like "see, look at this reference i made! doesn't it remind you of the original books?" idk. like i said, it's a DECENT book on it's own. the writing is good, the story itself isn't bad--it just also gives you no reason to invest in the main character, and i think to some degree that's something that's supposed to draw you into a book. and like i mentioned, nothing surprised me. i saw all of it coming. i predicted every twist before it happened. which isn't always a bad thing! but i was also mostly underwhelmed when the twists DID happen. i was hesitant to read this book in the first place, hence why im only reading it now after the movie release bc my partner wants to see it, and honestly? im not feeling like i gained anything from the experience. i had fun reading it bc, again, it's written fairly well, but at the end of it, im just feeling.... meh.

(spoilers ahead in this paragraph only) i at first thought the only thing it added was why snow dislikes the mockingjays but the more i consider it, it didn't really even add that much either. he was just creeped out by them??? hmm.... (unless, and this might be reaching, he hated the mockingjays bc they showed him his true feelings about lucy??? there's a line about how he was getting tired of her music and maybe the fact that the mockingjays repeated music instead of voice, like the jabberjays (which he had no problem with) was like... his true feelings coming through? I'll have to sit with that and see what i think)

i will say, the parallels between characters in this book and the original trilogy are interesting and i will enjoy seeing those analyses but, again, i don't really feel like it added anything. i still think snow would have done the exact same things without them. because he never ACTUALLY cared about anyone at all, except for how he could use them. how they made him look.

if anyone is interested in a star rating, i gave it 3/5 bc the reading experience was relatively enjoyable, and the writing itself was good imo, and as a stand alone story it was not bad but also not excellent. it was all "just okay". and im trying to rate this as it's own story, not as part of of the whole. however, it being part of that whole is what makes me feel so let down

[starrybl1ss]

Enchanting secrets ✧˖°.

★senior/quidditch captain/slytherin!ellie williams x senior/gryffindor!reader ★warnings: making out lol, swearing, (smut in part 2 that is complete link below) ★inspo: so basically yk the drarry ships?? this is kinda basically it but with ellie & reader and the hogwarts!ellie headcannons ★please read! harry potter fans please don't come at me because the timeline of this fic is probably not accurate from the books and movies. and yes, i did watch the movie but im not really in the fandom that much so i did as much as researching as i could.

Hogwarts has been a big journey for you and all the wacky magical things happening. as now you are in senior year, the last year in hogwarts, after that you'll have do the N.E.W.T.s test that is known to be increadibly difficult.

Your really nervous, luckly your friend, Dina is a fellow gryffindor as well. And she's a smart student.

You really want to do well in the test. magic isn't as easy as flickering a wand in the air and boom! your a frog. Its much more complex than that. theory or practice, its hard.

Your now in the library with Dina, studying your ass off. its quite stressful with all the subjects.

Tomorrow is the quidditch match. your house versus slytherin. you can't wait to watch it. its always so much fun watching quidditch. you never really liked playing quidditch since it all looks so exhausting and dangerous, not like hogwarts is not itself. but you rather focus on your studies.

"Dina, im going back. real tired. you coming?" you ask the black haired girl. "Yeah all go back after its actually time for students to get back and sleep" she replied. "Cya" you left the library grabbing your books.

You walk all along the school corridors and went on the anoyying stairs that always move to a different place. its still quite busy. but only with all the seniors. running up and down.

You suddenly bump into someone. an auburn haired girl making you drop your book. "shit, sorry let me get them for you" she bent down to your knees grabbing the books you dropped.

The girl hands out the books back to you. "thanks... ellie?" you thank her while a bit skeptical if thats her name. "no problem" she replied and continues walking down the stairs.

You were right, Ellie williams. captain of the slytherin quidditch team. You see her a lot. she's a big deal. the some what 'anoyying' quidditch captain that always makes their team win in quidditch the past years shes been in hogwarts.

You continue walking up the stairs towards the 'fat lady' painting. You stood infront of the painting. "fibbertigibbet" you said as the painting opened and you step in.

Your basically the first senior to enter since everybody was busy studying while you cant take it anymore. you were too sleepy. so you changed in to your pyjamas and went to bed

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

Your sleep was interrupted by Dina. "wake upppp, it's already time for brekfast!" she shook your unconcious body. you quicky open your eyes and saw that it is perfectly 7.30 in the morning.

Your sleep felt so quick. "wait up, im gonna get dress" you got up and dressed up as Dina waited in the common room.

"Let's go Deen" you went outside the gryffindor house and quickly went down the stairs to the great hall where brekfast is served until around 8.

You went ahead and sat down and grabbed the food you wanted. chicken, again. your kind of obsessed with eating chicken by now.

You glaired at the slytherin table where you saw, ellie williams again. for some reason, since you two bumped to eachother on the stairs, you couldnt seem to get her of your mind.

Dina waved her hand infront of your face trying to stop you from zoning out and daydreaming too much. "who's the lucky guy your gonna take to dance after the exam?" Dina looks at you hoping you already have a guy to take out to the last senior prom.

"Oh uh, dunno" you slightly shook your head. "who we're you looking at anyways?" she asks curiously. "no one, just uhh.. someone that helped me grab my books when we bumped into eachother last night"

"see? i dont think thats a 'no one' after all! who is it?" she shook your shoulder excitedly. "a girl... you know? slytherin's quidditch captain?" you said nervously.

"are you kidding? ellie? you mean ellie williams? she's bad news!-" Dina said out loudly as you stopped her to make her a little more quite since there was a lot of people looking at you two.

"My god, she's so anoyying! she's our rival y/n!" she looks at you. "i knowww, but-" you stopped talking trying to think what to say next.

"but what? okay, i could quickly find you a good looking, smart, green flag gryffindor guy in a minute! it'll be easy, almost every gryffindor wants you. not to meantion, a lot of other boys from other houses would want you"

"i'll just worry about it later, whats the point of having a 'guy' that wants you but you don't want them anyways?"

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

You couln't focus the whole time in potions. you kept having your eyes on ellie making it difficult. you exited the class and went towards the bathroom to wash your face.

You went inside hearing someone crying and ofcourse it is moaning myrtle. the ghost who haunts the girls bathroom.

You saw another girl infront of the sink. you got closer and it was ellie. god, you meet her everywhere. you went to the sink next to her as you turned on the faucet.

Ellie looks at you "hey, never really catched your name last night" slightly tilting her head. "I- im- uh, y/n" you introduced yourself.

"nice meeting you"

"y-you too!" you said nervously.

"whats your next class y/n?" god, she said your name making you blush a little. suprised that she brought up a conversation. "defence againts the dark arts" you replied.

She looks at you while not sayying a thing. just admiring your face making your heart skip a beat. you couldn't handle the tension anymore.

"i should get to clas-" you stepped a bit further from her but she grabbed your left arm. "the teacher wouldn't mind you being late right?" she said teasingly.

"y-yeah he wouldn't min-" suddenly ellie pulls you in a kiss. fuck, you didn't know this would happen so quickly. you kissed her back. her hands on your waist.

"c-can we a go somewhere a little more private? Just incase...-" ellie grabs you and puts you two in one of the stalls locking the door from behind.

She pins you to the door and started giving you hickeys on your neck with you letting out choked up moans as she lifts up your sweater.

You hear someone sniffing, moaning myrtle. "Looks like things are getting a little too spicy in here. you stupid kids forgot i haunt this place? Jeez, get out!"

Shit, you totally forgot about her being her- fuck! Your missing out on professor lupin's class!

"El- ellie im missing class i should go-" you push her back a little. "See you after the match?" You nod as you went outside the stall

You ran around the corridor. 14 minutes late into proffesor lupin's class. luckly it was him teaching so he didn't make a fuss about you being late and you just said you were in the bathroom constapated as hell and he led that slide without you telling him you hooked up with the slytherin quidditch captain.

"were you that constipated? your lucky proffesor lupin isn't absent or you'd be in hell!" Dina did made a fuss about it.

You rolled your eyes and continued writing in your notebook.

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

This evening the weather is perfect. Not too hot, a bit cloudy but no sign of rain. The quidditch match had begun 15 minutes ago.

Slytherin are currently in the lead. Brooms going back and forth in lightning speed.

You could care less about the match, you were drunk in love admiring ellie on her broomstick. She was your house biggest rival!

Your mouth accidently slipped "Go ell-!" Dina looks at you confused. "Shes our rival! Snap out of it!" You stayed silent gazing at ellie like your some dumb 12 year old thats so drunkly inlove.

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

The match has ended with slytherin, again. everybody went back inside the school corridor as the slytherin kids all cheered for ellie and her team.

you were completely starstruck by her. shes so... mesmorizing its driving you insane.

suddenly you felt someones arm touching yours in the crowd. you looked at your left to see... ew! its that icky popular gryffindor guy that cant seem to get your hands off you.

"hey, i was wondering if you'd want to come to the dance with m-" you cut off his words. "sorry, fully booked" you tilt your head with a smug face.

You were lying, theres been a lot of guys asking you but you just rejected all of them.

You walked away from him without looking back. as the corridor got a little less hectic, ellie approaches you. "hey, about that..." she stopped. "would you go to the yule ball with me after the exam? any chance? you already got someone... dont you?"

You giggled "i don't, ellie" you smile. she smiled back at you and pulled you in for a kiss infront of people including dina.

꒰୨🔮୧꒱

★read please!

HIIII soooo its donee, sorry if i misspelt stuff. ik the pole i did alotta people voted for smut but i wanted this one to be clean???? so if you want to read the next part (that has smut) you can read it here!

lmk if you wanna see the yule ball part after the n.e.w.t.s!

[sachirobabe]

Hiii if u still need Kuroo reqs can u do Kuroo hcs with y/n who is an astrology girly and can analyze natal charts?

Thank you sooo much and pls just take your timee!!! Oh btw since ur blog name is related to Sachiro so of if you dont mind can u do him too? (i just love him so baddd 😭😭)

im loving these requests rn, you’re making my brain work so ty sm🩷 i hope this meets your expectations!! i also cannot wait until more of sachiro gets animated, he’s one of my absolute favs😍

psa— i am not that knowledgeable about astrology or natal charts so i did some research and i hope i did okay

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ ᡣ𐭩 •｡

Kuroo Tetsurou

-`♡´- initially, he is very skeptical about astrology, but he’ll be curious since you enjoy it. He’ll listen intently as you try to explain the basics to him and he eventually finds himself a bit intrigued by how detailed and personalized the charts are

-`♡´- after he lets the basics sit in his head, he eventually asks you to analyze his natal chart, curious to see if it would be accurate. The two of you are sitting in his bed and he listens attentively as you tell him how his Taurus moon means he’s passionate and intense—he’ll tie that into volleyball somehow and how competitive he is

-`♡´- once he starts to get the hang of it, the two of you develop some inside jokes about star signs. For instance, whenever Kuroo is being stubborn, you’ll tease him about his Scorpio rising—and he hates to admit it, but it puts a smile on his face

-`♡´- before games, Kuroo gives his lame sciency pep talk to his teammates, but he’ll start adding in some astrological terms after learning his friends natal charts, Lev and Kenma absolutely hate it, but they’re outnumbered by everyone else

-`♡´- he’ll find himself looking for astrology-themed gifts that he thinks you’d like, maybe a necklace with your astrology sign, or a custom star map of the night he asked you to be his girlfriend

-`♡´- the two of you like to jokingly compare natal charts between your friend groups and laugh at how spot on or off the predictions are

Hirugami Sachiro

✧.* hirugami is a lot more open minded and genuinely shows interest in your passion, he loves to watch your expressions and hearing how excited you are to talk about it

✧.* when he’s feeling a bit anxious, you’re always there to reassure him and offer him some insight to how the current planetary alignment could affect his moods and you’ll offer your best comfort and advice based on his chart

✧.* he’ll listen to you explain how the influence of his moon signs can alter his emotions and he asks tons of questions to learn more about it, finding some comfort knowing there’s cosmic reason behind how he feels sometimes even when he thought the day was perfect

✧.* hirugami often buys you gifts like books or keychains with his and your astrological sign, he loves seeing you happy and he’ll continue to do it

✧.* if the weather is nice, he’ll lay some blankets at a quiet park or even in his back yard and the two of you will read together, he’ll sneak peeks from behind his book to watch your cute concentrated face as you learned more about astrology

✧.* he’ll surprise you with some newfound knowledge on astrology that he took time to learn in his free time to impress you and have deeper conversations, you’re touched by his effort and enthusiasm

✧.* when he tells hoshiumi about what he’s learned, he does not take him seriously, but after hirugami constantly talks about you and how smart you are, he comes around and asks you to analyze his natal chart—hirugami is behind you the entire time, offering his own insight and asking questions as you go

[chestcongestion]

Practical Ill Effects: Ha//zbin Ho/tel

Finally finished! The "faking someone else's sickness" trope with Al/ast/or. Fic is under the cut as always, I had a lot of fun working with this and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! ^^

Word count: 6.5K

Content warnings: Manipulation/ Gaslighting, Drugging, Food tampering (This whole fic is basically "Al/ast/or gets gaslit for 6 thousand words")

“This blows,” Angel scoffed, sitting on top of a dumpster in an alley that was a brisk walk away from the hotel. Husk was sitting on the dumpster to his right, and Niffty was running around in circles, stepping on ants with her tiny feet. 

“You’re tellin’ me,” Husk said, taking a swig of whiskey from his flask before slipping it back into his pocket. 

The trio of demons were gathered in the alley for a meeting of minds of sorts. In two days, Charlie and Vaggie would be leaving with Lucifer on a trip to the Wrath Ring, and while they were gone, the rest of the group would be heading to LuLu World as a reward for their incredible progress. 

However, Vaggie was skeptical about the group behaving themselves in public without a ‘sane, responsible adult present’, and elected to- ironically- put Alastor in charge of chaperoning them for the trip, something the Radio Demon took glee in accepting. 

“How he is the responsible one out of the four of us, I have no fuckin’ idea,” Husk grumbled, folding his arms. 

“Maybe it’s just ‘cause he’s the oldest,” Niffty offered. 

“We’re all basically the same age, that’s bullshit,” Angel replied, massaging his temples, “How’re we gonna ditch ‘im?” 

“Ooo! We could hit him in the head with something heavy! Like a piano!” Niffty proposed, jittering in place at the idea. 

“This ain’t a cartoon, Niff, we’re not droppin’ a piano on his head,” Angel argued, “I don’t think he’ll let us get close enough to ‘im to do somethin’ like that anyways.” 

Husk leaned back against the brick wall behind the dumpster, a mischievous grin spreading onto his feline face, “Charlie’d probably force him to stay behind and let us go on our own if he was sick,” he said. 

“But he ain’t,” Angel replied. 

“Who says Charlie has to know that?” Husk said, his smile widening as he hopped off of the dumpster, dusting off the seat of his pants. 

“But he’d just tell ‘er he’s fine,” Angel said, still sounding skeptical. 

“He’d do that anyways, he’d insist that he’s fine even if you were wavin’ positive test results in his face… if anything, that’ll help,” Husk explained, cracking his knuckles, “I think I’ve got an idea.” 

“Alright, spill, I’m all ears,” Angel said, kicking his feet as Husk paced back and forth between the dumpsters. 

“I know that fucker’s allergic to oak moss… he used to force me to shower every time I tried to wear cologne,” Husk grumbled, “If all three of us wore it… just a little, it’d be enough to set him off without anybody noticing.” 

“O ooo, that’s so bad, I love it,” Angel said, sighing wistfully as he hopped down from his dumpster perch, stretching out his back. 

“That ain’t the entire plan, but it is the first step, I’m gonna have to explain it quick, that motherfucker’s always eavesdropping,” Husk explained. 

After a brief huddle, the triad of demons went back into the hotel through the rear entrance, disappearing into separate rooms for about an hour. 

Later on that evening, Alastor was sitting in his armchair in the parlor and reading a book, when Husk wandered downstairs, taking his station at the bar and taking inventory of the bottles, gently ruffling his wings. 

Alastor sniffled quietly, swiping a finger under his nostrils before returning to his book. 

“Feet up, Alastor! I need to get a stain out of the carpet!” Niffty requested, ducking underneath Alastor’s feet and scrubbing away at the rug with a washcloth, the smear of oak moss perfume oil that Husk placed on the back of her neck wafting up towards Alastor. 

Alastor sniffled a bit harder, his sinuses and the back of his throat beginning to itch, “Hmm,” he hummed to himself, getting up from his chair and swallowing experimentally, feeling a scratchiness in the back of his throat.

“Heya Alastor, Fat Nuggets stole one ‘o your slippers earlier, wanted to let ya’ know I put it back,” Angel said, gently pushing up his chest fluff, pretending to glance at Alastor’s hair, “I’ve been meanin’ to ask… was this your natural color back when you were alive?” 

While looking, Angel gently reached around and smeared a bit of oak moss perfume residue on the back of Alastor’s neck, pretending to reach out and touch his red locks. 

Alastor sniffled, nudging Angel away with his microphone and struggling to keep his hands away from his twitching nose, “Hh… H-hihh… No, no it wasn’t, my hair was dark brown, thank you… hHih!” he replied, covering his nose and mouth with one hand when the oak moss fumes from the oil on his neck made his nose start to run, a speedy trickle threatening to run all the way down to his chin.

“You alright, Smiles?” Angel asked, fluffing out his hair and watching as another mist of allergenic droplets wafted into Alastor’s face. 

“Y-Yihh… Ehh… Hh!!” Alastor paused, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping off his drippy nostrils before accidentally letting out a heavy, congested sniffle, “SDdfFF! SnFF-SnrRK!” 

A silence fell over the room, and Alastor wanted to disappear under the floorboards. What was happening to him? He couldn’t smell anything suspicious before and with the sudden rush of congestion, he certainly wouldn’t be able to for the foreseeable future. 

“You didn’t hear that,” Alastor threatened, feeling another bloom of histamine tickling his nose, “SnFF-SnFF! Hehh… Ehh…H-hehh!” Alastor fanned a hand in front of his face, the overwhelming urge to sneeze building to a crescendo so quickly that he didn’t have time to teleport someplace to hide- as a matter of fact, the urge was so great he ended up dropping his microphone to free up both hands. 

Angel opened his mouth to make a sly remark, only to be interrupted by a harsh feedback sound as Alastor was thrown into a sneezing fit. 

“H-hehh’KZzhht! He-eh’KTxhhiew! Eh’KzZHht! Hnk’Kxhht-sShew!” Alastor sneezed, straightening his posture and wiping hopelessly at his streaming nose, “Sdfff…SnFF!” 

“Gesundheit,” Husk said casually, holding in his laughter as he centered his focus on cleaning beer mugs, “Never heard you let loose like that around so many people.” 

“Awww, maybe he’s warmin’ up to us, in’t that sweet?” Angel crooned, sneakily reaching out and tracing a heart on Alastor’s chest with his oil-contaminated hand before Alastor slapped it away. 

“Oh hush, I simply didn’t have the time to use any discre-ehh… E-Eh’KXHHT-sShhiew!” Alastor replied, punctuating his sentence with a particularly wet, heavy sneeze, right when Charlie wandered into the room. 

“Bingo,” Husk whispered to himself, knowing that Alastor’s ears were just stuffy enough that he wouldn’t be able to hear it. 

“Oh, Bless you, Alastor!” Charlie exclaimed, “I heard someone sneeze a couple minutes ago, I didn’t realize it was you.” 

“Thank you- SnFF!- pardon me, I’m not sure what came over me to cause that… outburst,” Alastor replied, turning away from Charlie to blow his nose, expecting to yield no results, only to wince at the gurgling rumble of congestion leaving his sinuses, his handkerchief growing damp before he pulled away, “Euch…” 

Charlie remained silent for a moment, as though mentally shuffling through responses and making sure she didn’t pick one out that reflected her quiet disgust, “That was… a lot… are you feeling okay? Sounds like you might be getting a cold,” she probed, noticing the irritated skin on Alastor’s nose.  

“Of course n’dot- SnFF!- of course not, I’m perfectly fine, there’s just… something in this room that appears to be irritating a sensitivity of mine,” Alastor replied, somehow giving off a perfect mixture of nonchalant and offended. 

“You’re only set off by strong scents: lavender, teakwood, citronella, oak moss, the kinda shit you really only find in perfume and cologne,” Husk argued, fighting tooth and nail to hide his amused smile, “If somethin’ like that was in here, we’d all be able to smell it.” 

“That’s true, I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary here,” Charlie observed. 

“Hmph! Well thed… SnFF!” Alastor replied, an indignant scowl on his face as he scrubbed at his nostrils with the back of his hand, “I’m n’dot exactly sure what it could be.” 

“Maybe you should head to bed early tonight! Extra rest always helps me when I’m fighting something,” Charlie offered, “Hopefully you can kick it before it settles.” 

“Of course,” Alastor said with a sigh, “Thank you for the recommendation, Charlotte.”  

“No problem!” Charlie replied, turning to leave the room when Alastor’s nose began to twitch again. 

“h-HiIhh’Kxzzhhtt-SsCHEW! Ih’Kxhht-SscHiEW!” Alastor sneezed, gently rubbing his irritated nose. 

“Bless you!” Charlie said before vanishing through the doorway.  

“Th- Tha…ank- Hih’xXSschew! Hi-IH’KxXHHT!” Alastor replied, wrinkling his nose with a damp, heavy sniffle, rubbing at his watery eyes with the heel of his palm before vanishing into his own shadow. 

“That was almost too easy,” Angel chuckled in a hushed voice. 

“It only gets easier,” Husk snickered, pouring a glass of rye whiskey and stirring it with a contaminated claw before leaving it on the bar counter as bait.

“Alright, as fun as this is, I’m takin’ a shower, this stuff is so sticky it’s mattin’ my fur,” Angel scoffed, arching his back to stretch as he wandered up the stairs, Husk following after him. 

Niffty, left to her own devices, skipped into the hotel’s basement to chase after families of cockroaches and centipedes with a broom, swatting at them even as the night stretched onward. 

A few hours later, Husk and Angel were curled up in Angel’s bed- Angel scrolling listlessly through his phone while Husk kneaded at the mattress and sheets with his large paws- when they heard a sound coming from a few doors down. 

Husk’s ear twitched, and his eyes widened as he attempted to focus on the sound, sitting up in bed and waiting in breathless silence. 

“What’s up-” Angel began to ask, only for Husk to shush him, tilting his head to the side and twitching his left ear, “What is it?” Angel whispered. 

The sound of wheezy, irritated, desperate coughing from the other room became audible, making Husk’s face melt into a smug smile, the ticklish coughs occasionally being muffled by bursts of static.  

“He drank the whiskey,” Husk whispered, stretching out a bit further in bed and waiting patiently. 

“khff…Khff-Khff…KHHFF!” 

“Bullseye,” Husk yawned, gently pawing at the air in front of him before nuzzling against Angel’s fluffy torso and dozing off, with Angel following close behind.

Alastor, however, had managed to cough himself awake. He felt as though he was losing his mind- eyes watering, nose streaming, and his throat so unbearably itchy that it couldn’t be soothed even after inflating his bladder with glass after glass of water. 

“Oh for- Khhff!- goodness sake- KHFF! Khff…khff!” Alastor muttered to himself, pacing in a tight circle and trying to muffle his ceaseless coughing behind both of his hands, his struggle stretching across the entire night until the tickle in his throat managed to fade around sunrise. 

Leaning against the back of his armchair, Alastor attempted to straighten his posture and stand on his own two feet, finger-combing his hair and feeling around on his person for his handkerchief to blow his hopelessly stuffy nose. 

“I have n’do clue what’s happend’ig… Snff!” Alastor said, pinching his handkerchief around his nostrils and letting out a heavy, wet blow, feeling his sinus cavity vibrate from the release, “hh…H-hihh… Hi-Ih’DddTsSchiEW! Hnk’tchhew!”  

With his nose still buried in his handkerchief and exhaustion tugging at his heels, Alastor bit the bullet and wandered downstairs to start his day in earnest. 

Upon arriving downstairs, Alastor grabbed his favorite mug and quietly filled it with water, taking slow sips in an attempt to drown the scratchy sensation in his throat and sinus cavity- to no avail- as people slowly entered the room after him. 

“Good Morning, Alastor!” Charlie greeted with her usual bouncy and colorful demeanor, rocking back and forth on her heels, “Feeling any better?” 

“Yes, a good night’s sleep was all I needed,” Alastor replied, looking away from Charlie to avoid dwelling on the exhaustion that was weighing him down, making his steps and movements seem much slower, much more deliberate. 

Charlie shot a brief glance at the dark rings underneath Alastor’s eyes, “Are you sure you got any sleep? You were coughing a lot last night,” she probed. 

Alastor felt a pit open up in his stomach, but maintained his nonchalant expression and scoffed, “Nonsense- snff!- I slept incredibly peacefully last night, you must have heard someone else.” 

Charlie looked unconvinced, but turned to Husk and Angel with a shrug, “Was it you guys?” she asked. 

Husk laughed, “Nope, those were too dry to be mine,” he said, letting out a sharp exhale that rattled his lungs, “Not after a life and afterlife of puffin’ on cigars.” 

“They were too normal to be mine,” Angel said with a scoff, “Every time I start coughin’ it sounds like a seal fucked a chew toy.” 

“Dad went out last night and didn’t come home until morning, and it was a male voice… so it had to be you, Alastor,” Charlie insisted, “Maybe you were just coughing in your sleep, so you didn’t notice.”  

Alastor swallowed, silently cursing the stinging sensation that radiated through his raw throat, “I suppose so,” he said, relenting as his left ear twitched slightly, “Regardless, I’m still feeling much be-eehh… EH’KXxht-shhiew! Eh’KzZhht-Sshew!” 

Husk snickered as he watched Alastor blearily wipe his nose, watery mess trickling into his handkerchief as friction from the fabric reddened his sensitive nostrils. 

“Bless you, Alastor,” Charlie said, “It’s okay if you’re still feeling sick, you don’t have to hide it. As long as it doesn’t get any worse you’ll still be okay to go to Lulu World with everyone!” 

“Mbarvelous- snff!” Alastor replied, blowing his nose into his handkerchief until the fabric was damp and the sensitive skin on his nose began to burn from the constant rubbing. 

Charlie vanished upstairs, having a few more things to pack for her trip, leaving the scheming trio of sinners to enact the next phase of their plan. 

Two hours after his conversation with Charlie, Alastor was relaxing in his armchair in the parlor, reading a book he’d been meaning to finish. Annoyingly, every few pages Alastor was forced to set the book down, using his finger as a bookmark, to scrub furiously at his nose with the heel of his palm in an attempt to quell the persistent itching, or to desperately cover a wet sneeze with the back of his wrist. 

“E-ehh’Kxhht-chew! EH’Kxhht-Sshew!” Alastor sneezed, his stomach churning with disgust after he looked at the damp patch of fabric on his sleeve from soaking up about thirty sneezes’ worth of spray.

Suddenly, Alastor felt a tug on his pant leg, and he looked down through rheumy eyes to see Niffty, eagerly clutching a container of ice cream. 

“Hello Ndiffty- snff!- pardon mbe… what can I do for you?” Alastor asked, quietly twirling a stray lock of Niffty’s hair around his finger. 

“Nothing… I just wanted to see if you wanted this butter pecan ice cream, I found it while I was clearing out the freezer!” Niffty offered, handing Alastor the small pint of ice cream and a spoon. 

Alastor licked his lips, butter pecan was a classic, and it was one of the only sugary things he considered an exception in his indifference towards sweets. Plus, the thought of smooth, cool ice cream cascading down his scratchy throat sounded heavenly. 

After a reluctant glance away, Alastor dug into the ice cream, eating spoonful after spoonful with so much gusto that he didn’t notice that the ice cream container was not properly sealed. 

“It’s delicious, thank you Niffty… He-EH’KXHHT-Chhew!... pardon mbe,” Alastor sighed, scraping the bottom of the ice cream container for one last spoonful before Niffty plucked the empty carton out of his hands. 

After Niffty scurried away to continue cleaning, Alastor returned to his book, thumbing through the pages and pausing every so often to sneeze, until he felt a drowsiness come over him like a dreary fog. Alastor yawned, stretching out in his armchair and rubbing his eyes. 

Three pages later, Alastor yawned again, suddenly fighting to keep his eyelids up as each blink seemed to drag on just a bit longer than the last. 

“Ehh…Eh’kxhh-shhew! Hnk’tshew!” 

Alastor rubbed at his raw nostrils with his cold, damp handkerchief, muttering drowsily at his waning energy seemingly affecting his sneezes. 

Two more pages and another intense yawn later, and Alastor finally lost the battle against his own body, drooping his head to one side and falling fast asleep, still loosely clutching his book in one hand and snoring softly- the snores occasionally being interrupted by a congested sniffle.  

Niffty smiled from her position on the other side of the room dusting the curtains, quickly racing upstairs before coming back down with Husk and Angel following behind her. 

“Look, I did it! That was easy!” Niffty cheered, clapping for herself as her two friends stared in awe at the unconscious Radio Demon. 

“How the hell’d you get him to sleep?” Angel asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I crushed up some of Husk’s gabapentin, some Hell-Dryl, and a couple of sleeping pills into a carton of ice cream!  He ate the whole thing!” Niffty explained. 

“You are one twisted little doll, y’know that?” Husk asked, ruffling Niffty’s hair, “He’d kill us if he knew we were doin’ this.” 

“Welp, he don’t, so we’re fine,” Angel snickered, pulling out his plugged-in curling iron and holding the hot metal close to Alastor’s face until he could see a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead and flush on Alastor’s cheeks to match his friction-reddened nose. Carefully, Angel moved the exposed metal over and brushed it against the insides of Alastor’s ears.

“I’ll be damned, if I didn’t know about this, I’d be convinced… he looks pathetic,” Husk said, watching Alastor’s chest rise and fall as he peacefully snored, “Hurry and go get ‘er before his ears cool down, I’ll hide the curling iron.” 

“Got it,” Angel replied, handing Husk the iron before quietly practicing his lines to himself, putting on a skeptical but concerned face, and wandering hurriedly up the stairs, “Charlie?!” he called out, disappearing around a corner. 

“He’s a damn good actor when he’s not readin’ someone else’s trash script, I’ll tell you that much,” Husk mumbled, stashing the curling iron behind the bar counter on a heat-safe cloth and pretending to look busy, grabbing a beer mug and polishing it with a rag right as Charlie followed Angel into the parlor from upstairs. 

“Oh, Angel, you’re right, he looks awful,” Charlie crooned, pressing her hands against her cheeks in dismay, “And he’d never fall asleep just out in the open like this, either…” 

Alastor, still unconscious, shuddered a bit due to a residual chill from demolishing the pint of ice cream so quickly. 

“He’s shaking,” Charlie said, sympathy dripping from her every word as she carefully reached out and pressed her palm against Alastor’s artificially-warmed forehead, feeling the heat and sweat on his skin, “He feels warm, too.” 

“Want me to go get the ear thermometer?” Angel offered, celebrating internally when Charlie shook her head. 

“No, no need, we’re already pushing our luck as it is, Alastor hates being touched… he obviously has a fever, I don’t need to know the specifics until he wakes up,” Charlie said, “This is horrible, he was so excited to go to Lulu World with you guys.” 

“It’s a damn shame,” Angel said solemnly, “We’ll bring back somethin’ for ‘im.” 

“Awww, that’s sweet,” Charlie replied, smiling before turning her attention to Husk, “Do you think you can keep things in order while you guys are at the park? I don’t want you guys to miss out on your fun time just because Al has to stay home.” 

“No worries Princess, I got it,” Husk said with a confident smile. 

“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver,” Charlie said with a sigh, looking at Alastor’s unconscious, snoring form and wincing with discomfort at the strange angle the Radio Demon was positioned in, “He’d be so much more comfortable in bed, but I don’t wanna wake him up.”  

Husk quietly shook Alastor’s shoulder as an experiment to see how much movement he would tolerate before he woke up, looking pleasantly surprised when Alastor didn’t react- the cocktail of drugs he’d been given had lulled him into a comfortable and deep sleep. 

“I think if I’m careful, I can just-” Husk scooped Alastor up into his arms, supporting his back with one hand and his knees with the other, “-there we go. I got ‘im from here, I’ve done this song and dance a couple times before when he was drunk.” 

“Oh, thank you so much, Husk, that’s so nice!” Charlie replied, clasping her hands together as a warm smile spread across her face, “I have to finish packing, but I’ll come check on him later.” 

Husk gave Charlie an understanding nod as she disappeared up the stairs. Once Charlie was gone, Husk carried Alastor upstairs and opened the door to his room one-handed. 

Husk rummaged through Alastor’s clothes until he found a pair of linen pajamas, removing Alastor’s suit and slacks and changing him into the pajamas in about four minutes. 

Once Alastor was dressed for bed, Husk sighed, peering into the dense brush of the wet Louisiana forest pocket dimension that occupied the other side of Alastor’s room. “Where the hell’d you move your bed to this time?” Husk inquired rhetorically, balancing Alastor’s sleeping form on his hip before venturing into the forest. 

“Snff…Snff-snff!” Alastor’s pitiful sniffling could be heard from his position with his head resting against Husk’s shoulder. 

Husk rolled his eyes, peering around bushes and behind trees until he found Alastor’s bed in a corner near a stream, hidden slightly by a curtain of hanging plants. Husk peeled back the duvet and sheets from their position neatly tucked underneath the pillows, gently laid Alastor down onto his mattress, and pulled the covers back up until they reached the Radio Demon’s shoulders. 

“There we go,” Husk said with a triumphant smile, “Nighty night, sucker.” 

Laughing at his victory, Husk wandered out of the dense forest, folding Alastor’s suit, vest, and slacks before placing the neatly folded clothes on a chair up against the wall, shutting off the lights, and closing the door behind him. 

Alastor remained peacefully asleep, his congestion clearing up and his hopelessly itchy throat returning to normal as the allergens on his clothes were no longer present to irritate his system. 

In the blissful darkness of Alastor’s room, his shadow slipped out from underneath his bed frame, a mischievous smile on its face as it pulled back the covers on Alastor’s bed and unbuttoned his pajama shirt. 

A cool breeze swept through the humid air in the forest, sending a chill down Alastor’s spine as he slept. Shuddering, Alastor curled in on himself in an attempt to stay warm as the cool air hit the exposed skin on his chest and neck. 

“Hnk’tchew! Hnk’tshiww!” 

Alastor’s nose twitched, and he sleepily rubbed the back of his hand against it to ward off a building itch before falling back into his deep slumber as the chilled air continued to blow on his sweat-dampened skin. 

Early the next morning, Alastor woke up to the sight of Charlie jostling his shoulders while standing at his bedside. 

“Mm… what time is it? When did I get here?” Alastor asked with a scratchy yawn, rubbing his eyes.  

“Husk brought you to bed yesterday after you dozed off downstairs,” Charlie explained, “They left for Lulu World already, but I didn’t want to leave for our trip until you woke up.” 

“They left without mbe?!” Alastor asked, moving to get out of bed, only for Charlie to press a hand against his bare chest, gently pushing him back against his pillows. 

“Yes, Husk promised he’d keep everything under control, but they left without you,” Charlie said, “I’m sorry, Alastor, I know it’s disappointing but you really shouldn’t be out and about while you’re this sick.” 

“I explained this before, Charlie, I amb perfectly he-ehh…Eh’Kxhht-shhew! Eh’KzZht-chiew! EH’KXHHT-SHEW!” Alastor argued, pawing around on his bed for his handkerchief as his nose began to run, “snff!” 

“Yeah, this is what ‘perfectly healthy’ sounds like,” Charlie scoffed, “I hate to break it to you Alastor, but you’ve been sniffling and sneezing for three days now-” cautiously, Charlie held the back of her hand up to Alastor’s forehead, “-and you have a fever. You’re sick, there’s nothing wrong with that, it happens to everyone.” 

Alastor folded his arms, refusing to look Charlie in the eyes, “If you say so,” he muttered.

“Will you be okay by yourself? I can call Rosie and ask her to come over if you want, I just want to make sure you’ll be alright before we leave,” Charlie offered.

“I’ll be fide, thank you- snff! Snff!- pardon mbe,” Alastor said, grumbling as he pulled a handkerchief out of the ether, pinching the fabric around his nose and letting out a heavy, gurgling blow, “Uch…e-Eh’KZzhht-chew!” 

“Alright, if you say so,” Charlie said in reply, stepping away from Alastor’s bed, “Call us if you need anything, okay?” 

“Alright, have a ndice trip- snff!” Alastor said, blowing his nose again as Charlie and Vaggie left the hotel to meet Lucifer outside. Once they were gone, Alastor got out of bed, staggering a bit once he got to his feet. He felt strangely tired, almost weak. 

“I know those scoundrels were up to sombething- snrkk!- I ab ndot sick,” Alastor grumbled to himself, only to pause when a sudden chill made him shiver, buttoning up his pajama shirt and tugging on his red dressing gown, sighing in relief at the comfortable warmth of the plush fabric. 

“I should go to that park and give those three a piece of mby mbind,” Alastor said, balling his fists and pacing back and forth across his floor, “Eh’KzZhht-chhiew!” 

Alastor’s ears twitched as he waned, rubbing at his eyes and deciding against going out, “I can always just-” he yawned, “-give themb a piece of mby mbind when they get back… snff!” 

Alastor wandered downstairs into the kitchen, forgoing his usual mug of coffee for a cup of tea, deciding that the fragrant vapors and smoother texture would be more helpful against his hopelessly plugged sinuses and the throbbing sensation in the back of his throat. 

‘I am not sick, everyone gets a little… irritated when they’ve just woken up, I’m fine’ 

Alastor picked up his mug of tea, only for his shadow to quietly slide the jar of honey over to him, gesturing towards it. 

“I don’t wandt a’dy hondey- snff!- guhh…The tea is fide by itself,” Alastor argued, turning away to clear his throat. 

Alastor’s shadow looked away, rolling its nonexistent eyes before wrapping its incorporeal fingers around Alastor’s neck, raising its eyebrows and gesturing back to the jar of honey. 

“Mby throat isd’t sore- snff! Snrkk!- euch… hold od-” Alastor said, turning away to blow his nose with a heavy rumble of congestion that eventually devolved into a loud honk, “There, much better.” 

Alastor’s shadow folded its arms, looking at him incredulously. 

“It isn’t!” Alastor yelled, his voice straining until he coughed into his wrist, swallowing harshly and wincing at how dry and tender his throat felt. His shadow snickered at him, smirking. 

Alastor relented, ceding a bit of ground, “I suppose- khff!- it is a bit scratchy,” he said, staring longingly at the jar of honey before grabbing the stirrer and drizzling about a tablespoon’s worth of honey into his tea. 

Alastor sighed when his shadow began to snicker playfully again, staring at him with a knowing smile. 

“This doesn’t mean anything- snff!- I am not sick, I’m not, I’m fine… E-Eh’Kxhht-ChHIEW! EH’KZzs-Sshew!” Alastor argued, running the back of his hand under his nostrils before he took a lengthy sip of his tea, relieved by the smooth sensation cascading down his raw throat, “Mmm…” 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you quite so frazzled, it’s the cat’s pajamas, I’ve gotta say,” 

Alastor blinked, looking around the room, “Who said that? Show yourself!” he demanded, setting down his cup and chewing on his tongue as sweat began to trickle down his forehead. 

“Oh calm down, mes amis, you know me, I’m right here,” 

Alastor looked ahead of him and saw his shadow, still technically attached to his heels, staring at him with a playful smirk. 

“You can’t talk, don’t toy with me, who are you?” Alastor asked, jabbing at his shadow with his microphone, grumbling in frustration when his weapon of choice simply phased through the dark figure’s torso, “You… you can talk?” 

“Of course I can,” the shadow replied, “I just save it for special occasions, like when you’re living in denial, trying to convince yourself that you can change reality if you ignore it hard enough.” 

“What are you going on about?” Alastor asked, “snff-snff! SnFF!” 

“Blow your nose already and stop sniffling!” the shadow said with a frustrated hiss, rolling its eyes when Alastor gave his nose another gurgling blow, wiping hopelessly at his nostrils and frowning at the irritated skin that moved down the bridge of his nose to the tip. 

“Mby ndose is just itchyy-Ye-eh’Ksshhew! Eh’KzZshhew!” Alastor argued, blowing his nose again, “Eehh-EH’KzZSshew! Uch… I’b ndot sick, I dond’t care what you think- snff!- if you even have a braid to think with.” 

The shadow scoffed, “Your nose is only itchy because it’s full of cold,” it said, poking the tip of Alastor’s nose, “Just like the rest of you.” 

“Eh’KzZshew! E-ihh’KsShew!” Alastor sneezed, wiping at his nostrils with his soaked handkerchief, “Keep your hands off mbe!” 

“Or what? You’ll sneeze on me? That ship’s sailed ages ago,” the shadow said, poking Alastor’s nose again. 

“e-ehh…Eh…Eeh’KZzhht-CHEW! Eh’KzZsst-ChiEW! E-ehh’KsSshew!” Alastor sneezed, his sinuses irritated and tingly as a feathery tickle lingered in his nose after the third sneeze, causing his nose to twitch, “snff-snff! E-ehh…Hehh… Wh-wha…ehh” 

Alastor’s shadow grinned as he watched the Radio Demon fanning a desperate hand in front of his face, wrinkling and unwrinkling his nose, “Need a hand?” it asked. 

“N-nuhh… H-huhh… Ndo��snff-snff! SnRKK! Ndo I d-du-huhh… Hehh! E-ehh!” Alastor struggled to reply, still resting perfectly on the precipice of a sneeze, “I just… Ha…ahh…a-Ahh-” 

“Have to sneeze? Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” 

“Ndo…I don’t ne-eed your help…H-heh…Ehh…e-ehh!” 

Alastor scrubbed desperately at his nose with his handkerchief and the back of his hand, desperate to quell the ceaseless itching. 

“Fide… help mbe, ple-ease…I-ihh…hehh- hh-” Alastor begged, his rheumy eyes beginning to water as the ticklish hitching continued. 

“Alright, I’ll help you, but you have to admit it first,” the shadow insisted. 

“A-ahh… admi-ihh… admit what?!” 

“That you’re a vulnerable, pathetic, cold-ridden mess, so desperate you need someone to poke your twitchy little nose for you,” 

“SnfF! Ndever- I-ihh… Ehh…H-heh!” Alastor hitched, sniffling hopelessly and grumbling in frustration at his shadow’s smug smile. 

Alastor’s heartbeat quickened as he watched his shadow teasingly trace a finger down the length of his nose, and then around his nostrils, so close that its presence against the sensitive skin made Alastor’s nose twitch and wiggle like a rabbit’s, but not close enough to grant him the satisfaction of the sneeze he’d been stuck on for nearly twelve minutes. 

“Eh…E-ehh..HEHH-!” Alastor hitched again, “F-fide! I have a cold, I admit it- just he-hehhlp- mbe sdeeze!” 

The shadow smiled, poking Alastor’s nose and reclining in midair to watch the fireworks. 

“He-ehh-EH’KZzTCHEW! EH’KzZhhhiew! EH’KXhht-CHEW! H-hEH’KzZsShiew! EH’KZz-TsShIEW!....E-EHH’KZzSsHHEW!” Alastor exploded into a fit of sneezes, his eyes watering profusely and his nose streaming down his face, the undersides of his eyes hopelessly puffy and red. 

“There we go,” the shadow snickered, “How pathetic, I wish you could see yourself.” 

Alastor’s usual facade of neutral amusement fell, and he leapt at his own shadow in a fit of white hot rage, throwing punches at the intangible figure and attempting to strangle it. 

“I’ve had it with you- KhFF!- you insufferable bastard!” Alastor shouted, rolling across the floor of the kitchen, wringing his shadow by its neck until he became exhausted, collapsing against the kitchen floor as his eyelids began to droop, staring at his shadow as it teased him from a safe distance. 

“Alastor?” 

Alastor turned, rolling over to face the kitchen entryway, and sniffling to shift the congestion that threatened to escape from his sinuses, when he saw the concerned face of a familiar friend. 

“Rosie?” Alastor inquired, blinking as he struggled to sit upright, choking back a cough, “What are you doing here?” 

“Charlie gave me a call and said you weren’t feelin’ well, I figured I’d stop by… didn’t expect to see you down there,” Rosie replied, “Did you fall?” 

“Ndo… I was fighting mby shadow,” Alastor said with an angry hiss, “The bastard has been mbocking mbe for hours- E-ehh’KxXhht-CHEW!” 

“Gesundheit!” Rosie said, helping Alastor to his feet and noticing how his legs struggled under his weight, “Your shadow’s been makin’ fun of you?” 

“Yes,” Alastor replied, leaning almost helplessly against Rosie as she supported him with one arm when he managed to hold steady on his feet. 

Rosie looked away from Alastor briefly and rolled her eyes, turning to look at Alastor’s shadow, who simply shrugged in response to Alastor’s accusation, “Well, I’ll straighten ‘im out for you, he should know better than to antagonize a sick person,” she crooned, scratching behind one of Alastor’s ears. 

“Snff! Snff-snff! I’m not sick,” Alastor said, pouting as he wiped off his irritated nostrils with his handkerchief. 

Rosie turned Alastor around to face her and shot him a skeptical look, leaning her head forward as though waiting for him to tell her the truth. 

Alastor scoffed, turning away from Rosie’s piercing dark eyes, “It’s only a cold… E-Eihh’KzZhht-shhew!” he insisted, blowing his nose and wincing at the heavy congestion that left his sinuses and soaked another handkerchief, “A particularly wet one… but still just a cold.” 

Rosie sighed, pressing a manicured hand up against Alastor’s cheek, “Well, you feel a little warm… how about we get you comfortable and put somethin’ in your stomach so you can take a nap?” she said in an all-too-familiar way that Alastor recognized meant he had no choice in the matter. 

“Fine,” Alastor relented, letting Rosie guide him into the parlor and sit him down on the loveseat adjacent to the sofa. Kicking off his slippers, Alastor curled into a reclined position with his back against the loveseat’s armrest. 

Rosie quietly untied and removed Alastor’s dressing gown before draping a blanket over him in its place, “Comfortable?” she asked, watching Alastor yawn as he settled into his new position, his eyelids drooping. 

“Mmhm,” 

“Good,” Rosie said with a triumphant smile, frowning after shooting a glance at the clock on the wall, “Oh goodness, Alastor I’ve gotta split for an important meeting, are you gonna be alright on your own?” 

“I think so- snff!- I feel much better,” 

“Okay, if you’re sure, but I wanna make sure you have this,” Rosie said, handing Alastor a thermos, “It’s tomato soup… I used a blood broth base like I usually do.” 

“Delicious,” Alastor mumbled sleepily, rubbing his face against the side of the thermos, “Mmm…thank you so much Rosiie- E-EHH’KxZzHTT-CHEW! Eh’kZzSshhhew! Pardon me.” 

“My pleasure, anything for such a dear friend,” Rosie whispered, gently stroking Alastor’s feverish cheek, “Get some rest, okay?” 

“I will,” Alastor replied, punctuating his sentence with a hoarse cough before setting the thermos down on the table beside the loveseat and letting out a yawn, “Goodbye Rosie.” 

“See ya ‘round, Alastor! Feel better!” Rosie said, leaving through the front doors, leaving the Radio Demon alone once again. 

Sniffling into his handkerchief, Alastor rolled onto his side, struggling to keep his eyelids open, “I’m so tired,” he yawned to himself, rubbing his slightly puffy eyes, “I suppose nothing bad would happen if I just took a little nap… I’ll be awake when they get home… E-ehh’kZzShew! Eh’kzZht-chew!” 

Alastor shut his eyes, promising himself that he’d only be asleep for a short while as he drifted off and the world went comfortably dark. 

Hours passed by as Alastor relaxed, lost in a deep and relaxing slumber with no sounds to disturb him other than his own irritated coughing and KeeKee’s relaxed purring whenever she nuzzled up to his sleeping form. 

The front doors of the hotel opened, and Husk, Angel and Niffty walked inside. Niffty was carrying a large stuffed dog, jittering in place after a day of devouring caramel apples, funnel cake, and cotton candy with nothing but soda to wash it down with, getting so excited that Husk eventually had to tether her to his pants with a bungee cord. Angel and Husk walked into the hotel behind Niffty, quietly holding hands while Angel clutched a stuffed pig that Husk won him at a ring toss in one of his arms. 

“Alastor’s probably figured us out by now… fun’s over,” Angel said to Husk as the two watched Niffty race upstairs with speed rivaling a stray bullet, “Alastor? We’re back…” 

“Eh- H-he-ihh’KZzzhht-chhew! Eh’KZzShhew! Eh’Kxhht-CHEW!” 

Angel and Husk exchanged a puzzled look, wandering into the parlor to find Alastor curled up comfortably in his position on the loveseat, blowing his nose into his handkerchief. His nose was flushed an irritated red and his cheeks were still rouged from his slight fever, a relaxed smile on his face as he waved at his friends. 

“Oh, you’re back- E-eihh’Kxhhtshhew! ‘Scuse mbe,” Alastor said softly, shifting the congestion in his sinuses with a few wet sniffles, “Did you have fun?” 

“Mmhm,” Husk replied, testing the waters to see whether or not Alastor was aware of their ruse, “You feelin’ alright?” 

Alastor gestured vaguely with his left hand, “A bit better, but not really- snff snff!- I commend you and Angel for your awareness… ‘Kxhht-shhew! ‘KXxhht-sschiew!... you and Charlie seemed to know I was coming down with something before I did,” he said, wiping his nostrils with his handkerchief, “or at least before I was ready to admit it.”

Angel and Husk silently breathed a massive sigh of relief, practically exchanging a telepathic fist bump before turning back to address Alastor. 

“Niffty won ‘ya a stuffed zebra,” Angel piped up, handing the plush animal to Alastor and watching as the slightly-delirious Radio Demon cuddled up to it with a soft smile, “Need anythin’ else before we hit the sack?” 

Alastor shook his head, “I’mb alright- snff!- I’m going to get some more rest, see you both tomorrow morning,” he said with a scratchy yawn, nestling comfortably into his blankets and falling back asleep. 

Angel and Husk turned out the lights in the parlor, tip-toeing past Alastor’s sleeping form, before quietly shaking hands triumphantly. 

“Guess he must’ve actually been gettin’ a cold,” Angel whispered, “Wanna celebrate?” 

Husk noticed the risque expression on Angel’s face, “If you’re quiet, then yes… don’t wanna wake him up if he’s actually sick,” he replied. 

“Sounds like a plan!” Angel replied, planting a kiss on Husk’s cheek as the two quietly hurried upstairs, leaving the parlor and the hotel’s downstairs completely silent. 

Except of course, for Alastor’s congested snoring… interrupted by an occasional- 

“e-Ehhh’Kxhht-shhew!” 

That. By that. 

[thotsforvillainrights]

OOO IM SO EXCITED THE BOX IS OPENED AGAIN!! I love your writings it always feels like you and horikoshi really have the same brain when it comes to the characters minds!

Can I request some bedroom time with skeptic 🫣

I hope you have an amazing day and your gonna be a great mama💖

[Oh I wouldn't take credit for that one since I do tend to write characters very...out of character most of the time lol. But I appreciate you enjoying my silly content! Let's see if I can finally do some actual smut or if I'm still not ready. Test those waters haha]

[sidenote: thank you, I'm still anxious about parenthood so it means a lot to hear that]

~Romance~

-Tomoyasu Chikazoku Smut-

Romance: a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.

It was no secret, anyone could see it. Tomoyasu was by no means a romantic person. I've said it before, and I'll bring it back up again. Even when he'd proposed to you, he'd entered the room and tossed the ring box at you before saying "Let's get married". Although he sobbed at the wedding, he still hadn't managed to find the proper way to romance you without cringing at the thought of it. Roses and candlelight, smooth words and sexy music. Hanabata had given his unsolicited advice a million times over. A lovely dinner, a walk in the park, a horse driven carriage. All lovely advice from his grand commander. Perhaps something simple like playing video games together? Geten added his suggestions. A night out on the town, shopping and eating, passionate love making. Chitose's annoying smirk at the very end had made him shutter. Making love and fucking, what's the difference. Sex is sex yes?

Nonetheless, he finally decided to let himself bare the risk of embarrassment. He took a few pages from the romance book and began setting up the cliché environment when he arrived home before you. He was far from being a good chef, but he managed to follow a basic pasta recipe. He'd taken a link to a rather inappropriate music playlist from Hanabata. He lit a few candles, but not too many. The smoke might set off the fire detectors. He'd even ran by the store and grabbed some new sheets and a blanket set. Not just to romance you but also because it was on the grocery list and he was supposed to had bought it last week. Finally he took a minute to think really hard about the words Chitose spoke earlier. Making love, was there really a difference? Even on your honeymoon he remembered the way he'd taken you. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't taken his time or went slow with you at all. You never complained but still...

"Tomo?" Your voice rang out as the front door had opened and closed. Why was he freezing up now??? He sat still and listened to the sound of shuffling around. No doubt you were putting away your bag and taking off your shoes. A few more worries started flooding his mind. What if you didn't like it? What if this is too much? What if, what if. "There you are. Is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." You smiled gently at him and took a seat on the bed. "So uh, let me start by saying that I'm really glad you finally got the bedset. I was starting to go crazy sleeping under the old one. And this one is real soft by the way, I love it." You complimented him and he nodded, keeping his eyes to the floor. "Tomo…what's all the stuff for in there?"

"Never mind it, I'll get it all cleaned up." When he went to stand up, you grab his arm and stop him. "Oh no, no way. I smell the spaghetti in the kitchen and there is no way you're trashing it. I'm starving. And anyway, I was just wondering about everything since it's not like you. There's nothing special happening is there?" He was quiet for a moment before turning to finally look at you. "I uh...I just wanted to be romantic for once. It's stupid shit so just disregard it." You chuckle lightly and caress his face with your hand. "I don't think it's stupid. I like it. I mean, I really appreciate it yknow? It's like mixing things up every once in a while. Thank you." You smile warmly at him and lean to kiss him gently (which honestly ends up being slower and longer than you anticipated. "I will say this though..." Your hand trails along his thigh and he's frozen, face turning red slowly. "With the kind of music playing in there, I don't assume you intended to just eat pasta and sleep, hmm?" Like a switch he immediately leaned over you as you ended up with you back on the sheets. He paused for a moment to think this through.

'Slower...'

He carefully moved his hand up your inner thigh and to the hem of your pants. Sure you were confused but the burning need inside far outweighed any confusion in the moment. He was never this gentle. By now you'd be face down in the pillows, ass up while he absolutely ravaged you. He'd just now managed to wiggle your pants and underwear down, the whole time kissing you still a bit rough but sweetly at the same time. He made sure to take his time and let his tongue explore every inch, every crevice in your mouth while his hands made quick work of your clothes and then his as well. He was taking special note of the way his fingers interacted with you, and the way he took just a small moment to service you with his mouth instead of the other way around had you believing something happened and this was not truly the Tomoyasu you knew and loved.

He moved slow, using his tongue to shift motions and evoke deep moans from you. You'd reached down to grip at his hair and pull, making him shake and release a moan of his own. The vibrations did nothing more than lead you further and further into an orgasm all for him. He'd be lying if he wasn't proud of causing it by the way.

He'd also even took his time to let you catch your breath, leaving buttlerfly kisses along your skin until you were finally back down to earth. Yes he was doing his best at being romantic and slow for you but he was still the same as usual too. He'd made sure not to skip his usual filth of spitting on his own cock and stoking it to lube himself up before entering you. However, this time he went in slow and gave you time to adjust. It was a delicious torture for him, and you could tell just by the way he was groaning and shivering slightly as well. He sat still until you started moving your hips indicating you were ready for him to move finally. It took everything in him to not just start drilling into you as usual. His thrusts were steady, slow but choppy and rough at the same time. He remained eye contact for a short period of time, moaning for you and uttering your name all for you. He stared into your eyes and even slipped out a small 'i love you' before leaning down to nip and kiss at your neck. He was close and you knew it from the way he kept gripping at your hips, so hard he would cut into them any minute with those nails of his. "Fuck...please?~" You nodded, feeling your own release on the horizon for the second time tonight.

He spoke your name once more, finishing and trying him best to stop that constant little twitch he gave out every time he came. It was impossible but you didn't mind it. When the both of you regained your composure, he gently rubbed circles into your back and stared up at the ceiling while you lay your head on his chest. "I really do love you by the way. My apologies it's rather difficult for me to show it like most others are able to do so. I am going to do better from now on."

"I never complained about it before Tomo. I love you and I know you have a weird way at showing it but I also never doubted your feelings for me. I love you so don't push yourself out of your boundaries if you don't want to do so. By the way...we need to get up and eat before that spaghetti gets too cold."

[frombloodandfire]

an eternity without me

Summary: y/n, a she-elf who lived on her own, was sent by Saruman to join the Fellowship and learn everything she could so he could win them. Y/n was neutral on the war because after the death of her parents she promised not to help in any war ever. Instead of being completely loyal to Saruman she helps Gandalf to revenge him. She is tired of being the puppet and wants a small adventure, but she ends up feeling something for an elf prince. Little did she know the prince would test her loyalty but he ended up catching feelings too.

Based on the Masquerade episode of Dangerously Yours.

I had forgotten how beautiful Rivendell was because I had so many years to visit it. Well since my family was killed actually. I now know how to live on my own, at least I think so... Im here for a mission, yet I only want the adventure, to make friends, live this life of mine. But I guess I can not try those, what was I even made for?

Suddenly I hear something not really far away

The senses of mine tell me it must be an elf and I know exactly which one. So what if I play a little?

I grab the closest book I find and I try to ran as close to him as I could, when we finally met face to face.

"That's it, get your book back I do not want it, you thought I was an idiot before?! "

"Wait, I do not know you, who-" I didn't let him finish and I quickly ran on my chamber. I did not remember the young prince like that... My memory stops from the day my family died and I can't remember if I saw him again or not since then, but I would say he is quite charming. As I'm ready to go to bed and wait for tomorrow to come, I hear a knock on my door.

"Sorry, I think you gave this to the wrong person, I do not know you and I did not give you this book!"

"Oh, I know Legolas"

"Wait you know me?"

"Well, of course, you are the prettiest elf here, and I was pretty lonely so I thought tonight I'm going to have an adventure!"

"Uhm, thank you Lady... "

"Y/n!"

"Y/n... How did you know I would not ran away with your book? "

"I took the chance, it is not mine anyway! Are you angry?"

"Hahaha, no I am not angry, I can only be grateful!"

We were now the Fellowship of the ring. Even though it was not my intention in first, I feel I belong here. We lost Gandalf though... Gandalf knew everything about me, my plans and my family. We had a small idea of how I could escape Saruman. Turns up I'm destined to destroy this team. We next went to Lothlórien. We spend many nights there, I could not count. But one of them stayed in my mind...

"Look y/n, a shooting star! Did you wish?"

"Oh I did not have time..."

"I know there is something you wish for!"

"Yes..."

"What did you wish for?"

"I was wishing we were two other people, people who did not have to say goodbye..."

"We do not have to, you know."

"Maybe..."

And then we wasted the whole night searching for other shooting stars, as all the others were sleeping. But deep in my mind I knew I started to love him and that would be catastrophic. The wish that I did earlier was absolutely true. I know one day I will say goodbye to him, but I do not want to. I want to spend my eternity with him, just us two. But this is only a stupid dream. I know it will never happen, maybe in another life time.

Time passed and we lost Boromir. Frodo and Sam went alone on Mordor, Merry and Pippin got kidnapped by orcs, thankfully they were saved. Now it's just me Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli and Gandalf. He was alive and well. I still had my hopes for our small plan since Saruman never reached for me. When the moon was shining and I was reading a book outside of the castle of Rohan, in a wood, I received an eagle with a letter. Saruman. The plan has changed as it seems, but I could not do that. I just couldn't. I-

And then Legolas found me, like he always do.

"Hey y/n!"

"Hey Legolas..."

"Is there something wrong? You seem skeptical. Why are you all alone here?"

"No, well yes, you see I just wanted some clear air and..."

"What is it?"

"I'm just stressed you know after everything..."

"Well do you want me to make your mood?"

"It's okay Legolas, I will get over it, you can go inside."

"But I want to say something to you, something I have been holding a long time now..."

"Look I can not right now-"

"Y/n I offer you the three things most dear to me, my heart, my homeland and my dream.."

"You are too generous!"

"Y/n you must listen to me, since the very first moment we met I've been completely yours!"

"Please, say no more, there are wars between us, wars that can't be stopped by words."

"You said one night you wished we were two different people, i think you may have that wish y/n."

"What do you mean?"

"When we will be close to victory, they won't need my service any longer..."

"Close to victory?"

"Im going to tell you something tonight y/n...something that will put my life in your hands."

"Then don't tell me, how do you know you can trust me this much..."

"I love you and I believe you love me!"

"You are quite wrong, this has been only and adventure to me."

*This is not true y/n."

"It is true. You smiled at me and I was flattered, it was an adventure for me to feel better."

"You may as well take my heart y/n it's already full of you! You walked in it, the day we met."

"You are a fool Legolas!"

"Isn't anyone who falls in love? You know what you are to me? A reason to believe again, an elf that exists for me, a fine and honest elf."

"Oh my god you are such a child Legolas, take your dream and please go..."

"What is it, what's wrong my dear?"

"You know nothing about me! You know me only 6 months!"

"6 months? Y/n I've known you all my life!"

"All your life?"

"It's true! I've read about you on a thousand stories about one of the most powerful she-elves out there, the old friend of mine... When I've heard beautiful lyrics I thought she would like that, I've talked to flowers about how stunning you are..."

"Oh stop! You must listen to me, I'm not that elf, at least not anymore, I might once was, but not now. You see you were wrong... You can not trust me."

"Are you telling me a person's name that I can't say but we both know send you?"

"What are you saying?"

"You see I have known all along, we talked about you since the first day of the trip."

"And it... It did not make any difference?"

"It did not make any difference. You see I trust you. You came here to betray me, and to betray our country. That is your mission. And yet I'm so sure about your love, that I will trust you with my life and what is far more valuable, Middle Earth."

"I will betray you Legolas, you can still go..."

"If you do, you betray yourself at the same time."

"Yes... Yes I know."

"Then you should know my secret. As we are talking, Isengard is falling and in the end the man who send you will lose. If you stay with us just one more night, tomorrow we will all together destroy him."

"Destroy him?"

"He made many mistakes, he betrayed us. But the greatest of all was sending you here, y/n."

"Why?"

"He guessed I would loved you, but he did not guess you would fall in love with me."

"No... He did not. If I betray you, I betray myself. If a betray him, I betray my safety and my new home. All I want is a new home and peace and that is very dear to me."

"I can give you a new home y/n, so is that dearer that I?"

"No... Not dearer than you."

"Then, would you help us defeat him?"

"Help you? De- defeat him?"

"By telling me his plans! That's the only way we can get him, we will both win and what you seek y/n will be yours!"

"I see..."

"Then you will help me!"

"By giving you any information I may possess of his plans?"

"Yes."

And with that yes, something changed. I felt so betrayed. He made me think I loved him just so he could only get the information he wanted.

"Ah.... You are very clever are you not? Oh I can read you like a book now. You thought I was easily wayed, that you could make me love you, that I will throw up the only chance I have to build a home, for you?"

"That is not the way to look at it y/n!"

"You were not so wise after all... Because you have lost, you hear me? Lost. You guessed wrong, you forgot how hard it is to love as an elf."

"You do not know what you are saying y/n!"

"You never loved me! You knew that I loved you and you used that!"

"Y/n stop talking like a child. Are we playing over wars now?"

"Yes! We are, aren't we? I have my bow Legolas. I advise you to be careful of what you say."

"Well, rather melodramatic are you not? Do you mind if I write down some things?"

"Write down...?"

"I always do that when things get difficult. It helps you understand the situation."

"You can do everything you please Legolas, you have a little time anyway."

"You mean you actually going to kill me?"

"I mean just that!"

"Well go ahead!"

"I do this my own way. Look, you already know my purpose of being here, tell me where Frodo is."

What that was not planned, I did not say that, I could never, this is not me, how do I stop that I can not help it.

"I will not because I simply do not know. You can not kill me, you can not, because you love me. It takes a very brave and a very cold elf to do that y/n, I do not think you can, is it not true? Is this not why you are waiting?"

"It's not true."

"You want my heart, striked with agony! My hands to shake, you want me to please for my life so you can make a generous move to spare me. Sorry y/n I do not think I'm in the mood for prayers tonight."

"You do not think I will do it? That is why you are so brave, you would not be otherwise. You lied to me, you deceived me."

"You tried to deceive me."

"I'm tired of listening to you!"

Saruman has taken over me and I can't do anything. How can I stop this madness...

"You gave me your heart y/n. You would like me to hand it back, whole again, but I will not. You will live a long time y/n, an eternity without me, you will look into the faces of passers by hoping for something that will, for an instant, bring me back to you. You will find moonlight nights strangely empty because, when you call my name through them, there will be no answer. Always your heart will be aching for me and your mind will give you the doubtful constellation that you did...a brave thing."

"You dare to talk of bravery."

"What else do we have to talk about y/n? For me there will never be another elf, but you. But to my heart there is another love that must come before you. Middle Earth. You are so still... Your face is like ice? What are you thinking y/n?"

"What can anything of what you are saying matter? You betrayed me with words. If I fail now, I deserve to die." I truly want to die now, I can not control what I am saying. "You tricked me into loving you." I keep saying things I don't want to. I truly love you Legolas. Please stop this madness.

"Did you forget that you came here for the same thing?"

"I could not betray you. I tried to tell you and you said you already knew. I was as honest as I could."

"You think I wanted to love you? Knowing where you came from and what your mission was? Do you not suppose that every hour we were together I was thinking "she is just pretending"?"

"I was not! I loved you."

"And I loved you so much I let you pretend! Because you brought something to my days, I could not stand the thought of loosing... Listen to your heart y/n... Feel it pounding."

"Your time is up!"

"Then my last words? I love you y/n."

"Are you determined to die with a lie on your lips?"

And the bow sang. I did not mean too, I did not do it, I swear I was controlling it...until I did not.

"I- love you y/n. Since we were little kids... Do you remember it? In my homeland's trees that we were dancing and dancing..."

I came to my senses, Saruman won. Why did I let that happen. I felt a hole on my heart, like you grabbed it and picked it out. There was no heart there anymore, I could not feel anything.

The bow fell to my feet and I also fell to my knees. We was trying to breath but the arrow on his chest did not let him. You know, elves are not meant to die, so when one is about to, it's shocking for everyone including him. I could not do anything. I could not move, speak, do something at all. The one and only love I had has just died, by my hands. It's all my fault. I said yes to that stupid wizard so I could have an adventure. I helped Gandalf so I could have finally, a family. But I screwed up. I lost a new family I could have and the love of my life. I do not deserve to live. I do not deserve anything at all. Maybe that is my purpose. Why was I made for. To die all along.

He looked cold, I ran and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Legolas, please, come back to me. It wasn't me, I could never do that to you. How I'm I suppose to live an eternity without you? I can not. I surely can not. I wanted it to be with you, spend our immortal lives together, be forever! Of course I remember that day at your homeland..." Suddenly my tears started to ricochet. "We were both like 50?. I also remember your first words to me. What happens if we die?" Why would you even say that you were too young, too immature. An immortal elf. I just wanted to look at moonlight nights together, call your name to the stars and say you were mine. Tell me why your hands are now cold...I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry I-"

I stopped talking because I couldn't speak anymore. All I could do was sob.

"I've killed so many soldiers, orcs, trolls yet I could never thought I would kill the love of my foolish life."

I felt every cell on my body suddenly turn off. Like it was not there. They say elves can die from pain and grief. This is what I deserve. I want to go and meet him. My home, my love, my soul. My everything.

Y/n died hugging the person she loved but killed moments before. The rest of the Fellowship could not handle the loss of the most powerful and yet cheerful members they had. They mourned them forever, as the right lovers of wrong time and place. Now they will get their eternity together, with no wars to keep them apart.

[rollercoasterwords]

hey rae, congrats on winning the costume contest! gotta be honest, i got very curious about what you think about promising young woman's politics and the ending. i remember enjoying it, other than thinking it was a bit irresponsable at some parts... but also i watched it a while ago and dont really remember much from it. im currently reading the zombie essays you rec'd, and im franlky loving it so so much. monster theory my beloved. And this is the first time im reading about zombies through sexuality lens, all essays i've read about zombies so far were about afro-latin religions and black resistance during colonization, but im loving, reading it in bed while giggling and quicking my feet, etc.... bc "queer zombie jesus" deserves to be a bed read cmom look at that sexy combination of words. hope you're doing well!! xxx substack guy

hi substack guy <3 would love 2 share my thoughts abt promising young woman but i will do that in a min + put it under a cut bc. spoilers etc. love that ur enjoying the zombie essays tho!! there are so many different angles 2 approach zombies as a monster; if u have any reading recs abt religion + colonization my inbox is always open...i have a book or 2 downloaded but have mostly read scattered articles in that vein. agree that 'queer zombie jesus' is SO fun that was one of my fave articles from zombies & sexuality lol. also just recently bought a book called dead white & blue that's abt zombies + usamerican nationalism so. excited 2 start exploring that topic as well...

anyway. promising young woman thoughts (got long...also tw sa):

still thinking & working thru them etc but. generally speaking i am not a huge fan of movies that fall into the rape revenge genre so i typically start them skeptical, and ultimately i thought it was...an odd choice to have the main character be seeking revenge not for herself, but on behalf of her dead friend's past assault...talk abt a dead girl haunting the narrative etc...but like. usually one of my issues w rape revenge is the tendency to turn the person who's been assaulted into this figure of the Righteous Victim such that they become less a person + more a symbol onto which an audience gets to project + live out violent catharsis etc...honestly don't necessarily think there's an inherent issue with creating or seeking out that form of catharsis in film but i just. do not think it is particularly politically useful...+ this setup just like. took that to the next level by literally removing the Victim from the narrative entirely, stripping her character of all agency + personhood, and making her friend the Agent seeking Justice on her behalf which. i mean it's a bit ironic innit...

was also not too sure how i felt abt the whole setup of "woman goes to bars, acts drunk, and there's ALWAYS a creep who tries to take her home + assault her"...i'm somewhat torn feeling-wise here bc i used to very much have this sort of "all men are [potential] monsters" mentality that like no matter where u go there will be someone there ready 2 take advantage of u but. i no longer feel like that is a very useful framework 4 discussing or addressing sexual violence. firstly in that it tends to devolve quickly into the sort of gender essentialism that i am fundamentally opposed to, but also bc it seems so defeatist to me. how are u supposed 2 address a problem if u assume that the problem is already so baked in, and in such simplistic terms? so while i do understand that this is a film and it's sort of dramatizing what is a very real issue, i'm not sure i was entirely sold on the way it was dramatizing it...felt like it was trying 2 highlight but in the process was also flattening 2 a certain extent...

and then like. i did to some extent appreciate the way the film is trying to highlight that it's oftentimes "nice guys" committing sexual violence, especially bc rape revenge films often just portray the "bad guys" as like. cartoonishly evil. but i felt like even there the film was still wanting to get back into that black + white territory, which manifested especially in the bo burnham character. like, on the one hand the film wants to highlight the fact that people committing sexual violence are often sympathetic, perhaps even kind, "nice" people and not obviously evil bad guys, but on the other hand it did not seem to want to sit in the gray area of what that means at all (ie, asking the audience to actually sympathize with or relate to anyone implicated in acts of sexual violence), meaning that whenever we found out a character was involved in an assault that character immediately became a completely unsympathetic bad guy. and like, again, i understand why the film wants to do that--nobody wants to encourage someone to sympathize with a rapist. but irl sexual violence is by and large not black and white, and the fact is that most people are able to sympathize with and relate to people who have committed these forms of violence, because they're not cartoonishly evil bad guys--they're friends, partners, coworkers, family members, etc. and so again, this just isn't a framework that i find particularly useful in addressing irl sexual violence, bc i think it leads to this dichotomy we so often seen where if The Perpetrator/The Accused is not clearly Evil, then they must be Innocent. so like. the film tries, in some ways, to trouble that dichotomy, but i think in the end it just falls back into it--it's just that the guys we thought were "nice" are actually "bad"; imo the audience isn't really encouraged to sit in any emotional stew beyond that.

i do give the movie props for the actual way it handled portrayals of assault; i thought it did a pretty good job there. in particular was a fan of the way they elected to never show the actual video of nina, and how in basically any scene with sexual violence the emphasis was largely on the face + emotions of the person experiencing it. and i mean i did enjoy the movie, for the most part, while i was watching it--like i thought it was a pretty engaging film, good acting, etc.

but if anything the ending really. solidified my disappointment in the politics of the movie. not just bc cassandra died--honestly, i think the death was an interesting choice and there are ways they maybe could have played it that i would have liked more. but having the "triumphant" ending be the cops swooping in to arrest al...give me a fucking break lol. like u set up this whole movie abt how the legal system + these various institutions fail people who have experienced sexual violence, and then...i'm supposed to expect the cops to handle it? the justice system that already failed previously in the movie? and the entire framing of the ending--cassandra's final texts, the music, etc--makes it clear that this is supposed to be a triumphant moment. so i was just like. wtf....like in the end both women are dead. what form of justice is the suggestion that their abuser might go to prison? especially when prison itself is a violent + corrupt institution that must be abolished as part of the fight to end sexual violence? just a very shitty ending overall to what was already a movie that had me sort of going "hmmm...idk" throughout lol. so! those r my thoughts currently

[yyunari]

hi! i really love your works and i think you’re immensely talented so i wanted to ask if you have any tips for new writers like me? tysm have a good day / afternoon / night <33 ^_^

omg hi !! thank u for reading my works i rly appreciate this ! <3 ​in general writing its a lot of figuring things out as u go and everyone’s always learning more, but here r some tips i have ^_^

- there’s a book called ‘put the cat in the oven before you describe the kitchen’ and that title within itself is good advice. if u want to do smt to keep readers invested, write an action that will make them curious and want to know more (sort of like a hook from english class)

- u don’t need to use adjectives for everything ! this is something i still need to practice as well, but usually it’s better if u only describe things unusual or important to the story, because if u do too much it can come off as confusing and overwhelming

- as ur writing/editing make sure to think abt it from a reader’s pov ! of course as the writers we know what’s going on and it’s easy to answer any questions that pop up, but sometimes those answers aren’t clear to the audience. when i proofread im usually overly skeptical to make sure everything makes sense, and it also helps to have peers proofread as well ! im always here if any1 needs someone to proofread a fic :)))

- and of course also think abt how u feel abt what ur writing. if u don’t like the story ur telling and feel compelled to write something else, don’t feel guilty abt not finishing immediately! telling the story u want to tell ensures that the end product is something u will be proud of, and if u gain inspiration for that old story again u can always go back to it!

- make sure to write in whatever style feels natural and right to u, and try not to force a certain writing style !! it gets easy to compare urself to others but the more u try to force ur works to be or sound a certain way, the easier it is to lose motivation for writing. of course u will learn a lot of new techniques and strategies the more u read and write more, but those come naturally !

- following that, reading is very helpful for developing ur writing. it can help u find out what works for u and what doesn’t, and what u enjoy writing. bc if u enjoy reading smt chances are ur going to enjoy writing it as well!

- and my biggest piece of advice is to just write when u feel inspo hit, let urself write what feels right and once u come up with something ur proud of (and u should always be proud of what u write bc writing is extremely hard ! remember, each work u post is an accomplishment) post it. even if u look back on it in a couple years and feel embarrassed, it was a learning experience and it made u the writer u are .

sry this is kind of a lot and also most of it doesn’t rly make sense but i hope this helps ! and if anyone else has any writing tips they want to share reply with some <33

[honkhonkrichard]

Theory: Stanley Uris was Murdered.

Tagging @vvanini I hope you can follow this okay it’s very word vomity lol

Okay So TW because this post will touch on Stan's death ad the methods behind it

I propose that Stan Uris was murdered. by IT. In his home on that fateful night. I think that Stan posed the biggest threat to IT and therefore IT felt the need to take him out before the battle even started.

Allow me to explain.

Okay, so, I need to lay out some basic "rules" or "facts" before I make my case. They are as follows.

- IT planted it's roots in Derry, and finds it difficult to leave, but still can at it’s own wil.  If you read the book (I honestly don't blame you if you haven't) You'd know that once the Losers kill IT for the final time, Derry (the Physical town) is obliterated. Buildings explode, sinkholes appear, things are flooded. The town is in ruins by the time that the Losers leave the sewers. The movies don't adapt this so If this is news to you thats fine. the bottom line is that destroying IT destroys Derry, like ripping a tree out of the ground with all it's roots. Because of this, we can make the claim that while it can Leave Derry (as it does every 27 years) it probably takes tremandous amount of power to do so, which is why IT only goes when the cycle is over. Why does this matter? Well, what if IT left Derry to get to Stan? The murders had stopped for about a week when they're all in the Jade of the Orient. Plenty of time for IT to cross from Maine to Georgia. Side Note: We KNOW IT leaevs Maine to elsewhere in the world because of King's extended universe all interconnecting. it's not far off at all to make the claim that IT is the same evil that haunts, say The Shining's Overlook Hotel, which is in Colarado.

- IT is omnipresent This is also a given, IT lives everywhere, and can fuck with time and space in godlike (or maybe eldritch like) ways. in IT: Chapter Two, when Mike claims "IT Doesn't know I know what I know" he's unfortunately wrong, because we know that IT can be in A) Multiple places at once, B) can manipulate anything on the drop of a hat (See: Stan being teleported away from everyone else in Chapter One, Everything about Neibolt, etc) and C) Knows everyone's deep fears. This is further proven by IT Saying things like "Beep Beep Richie" (although this is Horribly Horribly executed in the films, ugh.) and so on and so forth. On top of all of this, We can make the claim that IT can exist outside of Time as well, given that IT is immortal. SO, what's stopping IT from Knowing Mike was going to call them all back (Espically considering that IT TOLD Mike to do this?). Even if we keep IT's omnipresence to the location that IT inhabits (in this case Derry) IT would still have knowledge of where the losers are through Mike. And if you take the Lucky Seven/Chosen Seven route (oh my god I got theories on that too) you could argue IT knows where they are inherently due to their cosmic status.

- Stan is the "most Powerful" loser So, obviously all the Loser's are powerful, espically considering they're the ones who Defeat IT (Again going on to the Lucky/Chosen Seven theory). This next claim is going to be less focused on what the 2019/2017 Movies do because they are Bad Movies and that's a whole other rant. However, in the book, Stan is (to my knowledge feel free to correct me on any of this) the only loser to Actively ward off and 'defeat' IT on his own without running away. He uses his belief in this what is Real (birds) to ward off what is "not real" (IT). The other losers do manage to take down IT in their own Right, but Stan is ultimately the one to Really get IT. This is because Stan's character revolves around Belief and Willpower. These are, in some form or another, the ways to Defeat IT. the ritual of Chud is a battle of Wills. in the book, Bill takes IT down and Eddie does the final blow. In the Remake (ugh) the losers can defeat it Technically using the belief that IT isn't as powerful as it claims because IT's "just a clown" (Ihatethatfuckingendingsomuchugh). Stan being much more skeptical than the rest of the group in his ability to understand Reality vs IT's illusions is a powermove, and IT knows that ability doesn't go away as Stan grows up, but rather he gets more powerful. Stan is the Only loser out of the 6 who left that has any sort of knowledge about IT, where the other losers have nothing. Bev has nightmares, yes, but she still forgets them. We're told in his chapter (Chapter 3, Six Phone Calls (1985), Part One: Stanley Uris Takes a Bath) that he has some hazy knowledge of his place in the Lucky Seven, and even goes so far as to MENTION it sometimes, even if he doesn't quite remember or understand any of it, his knowledge of IT and Derry is worlds more prominent than that of the rest of the losers.

(page 52 of IT:  "Stanley, nothing's wrong with your life!"  "I don't mean from inside." he said. "From inside is fine. I'm talking about outside. Something that should be over and isn't. I wake up frmo these dreams and think, 'My whole pleasent life has been nothing but the eye of some storm I don't understand.' I'm afraid. But then it just... fades. The way dreams do." OR  page 45: He had been smiling a little. Now the smile faltered, and for a moment he seemed puzzled. His eyes had darkened, as if he looked inward, consulting some interior device which ticked and whirred correctly but which, ultimately he understood no more than the average man understands the workings of the watch on his wrist. "The turtle couldn't help us," he said suddenly. he said that quite clearly.)

So, Stan has some cosmic knowledge of IT and Maturin and his role in the battle against It. What does any of this have to do with his death? Well, let me point out some other things about Stan's death that always stuck out to me. - His death chapter is narrated by his wife, Patty, rather than himself. The other chapters - almost all the other chapters - are narrated by their respective Loser (the caviot for this is Ben, but Ben is also wasted out of his damn mind so its understandable.) - Stan's personality is few and far between in the book, but we know he has a weird little sense of humour and that he's incredibly logical. I think that this logical part of him would be able to understand that Suicide is Never Ever the answer, and that it would cause FAR more problems than it would solve. (the 2019 movie tries to reexplain his death and it's crap and i hate the letters i hate the letters so much im gonna explode) The other losers try to rationalize his death by saying "He would rather Die Clean than Live Dirty (Page 506, Chapter 10, The Reunion, part 3, 'Ben Hanscom Gets Skinny') but he had already BEEN Dirty when he defeated IT the first time, and I think he would've recognized that. - upon finding him, Patty (in her narration) notes that Stan's head is bent back over the edge of the bathtub, so from his sight she would have been upside down. If Stan DID kill himself, why would he be positioned like that? It's unnatural, like someone Posed him. - the cuts on his arms are two length wise cuts. I'm no expert but.. that's suspicious. That's weird. - IT is written in blood on the wall. Why? Why would Stan right THAT of all things? You know who DOES like to paint with blood? IT.

Alright, returning to my thesis statement, Stanley Uris was murdered. Do I think Stan genuinely was going to take a bath at 7pm (which we're told is weird for him)? Yes. I think that's absolutely a thing he could have done or planned to do. Do I think he slit his wrists and commited suicide so he wouldn't go back to Derry? No. Not even remotely.

Let me paint a New Picture.

It's May 28th, 2016, or 1985. Stanley Uris gets a call from Mike Hanlon. Stan is incredibly hesitant to go to, and says he needs time to think about it. Or tht he'll try. He can feel the starts of a Panic attack, and as he's remembering the circles of Hell he went through as a child, he tries to hold himself together. He doesn't want his darling wife to see his break, so he says "I think I'll take a bath" and nothing else before going upstairs. he hides in the bathroom. He closes and locks the door, because, well, he's panicking. Locking doors is one of The Small things he does. Is it usually the bathroom door? no, but still (OCD is a bitch, and even with medication, but this is a special case). He looks in the mirror and tries to breathe. This is fine. He can do this. They killed IT once before and they can do it again. He thinks about his younger self, the promises made, and how he could explain all of this Patty in time to catch a flight to Maine. It's terrifying, but if his friends are going to bite the dust, he wants to be there with them, wedding vows be Damned. Then he looks at his reflection again. A younger, rotted version of himself stares back at him. IT crawls through the mirror. Stan freaks out, obviously. This isn't real. This Can't be real. But IT utilizes this notion against him. It digs it's claws into his arms, and forces him to bleed out in the bathtub. IT then sets the scene nicely. Razorblades on the counter, a bloody signature on the wall, a horrible posture of Stan's neck. So on and So forth. and then IT returns to Derry. IT's a little weak, yeah, but Stan is dead. That's what matters. the Lucky Seven has now Officially broken, and the balance shifts in favour of the clown.

So that's the theory. feel free to correct me on anything or engage I have plenty of theories on this story and I like discussing this stuff :).

[lokissuper]

Reunion| Dean Winchester x Reader

(So I made a post about this a while ago, this specific idea. Now that im starting to get into writing I thought why not do it myself. So, in this Dean and the reader are dating but also have a kid together. Also, the reader is like a daughter to john so he sees her as so. thx xxoo i will always take feedback and support since im new to this)

-

“Dean! Sam! I’m home,” I yelled when entering the bunker.

Walking down the steps from the door I saw that they around the table in the library. Dead sitting there drinking a beer and Sam looking down at something in his hands, I spoke again, “ Is that it? The thing that is gonna save Dean.”

“Yeah,” Sam said looking at me then over to Dean, “Are you sure you don’t want to call Mom or wait for Cas?”

Dead stood up,” No. If this mojo works like you say, that’s great. But if not...why get their hopes up? I mean you and Y/n being here is fine, I just don’t wan’t you getting your hopes up either.” Dead looked at me then back at Sam, I nodded at him for an okay.

“Yeah.” Sam whispered, “Just hold the pearl and concentrate on what your heart desires.” 

Dean was handed the pearl, “Michael outta my head. Got it.” Picking up the pearl he looks at me for assurance. 

“It’s gonna be fine baby, if it doesn’t work then we’ll figure something else out,” I nodded at him again. 

He looked down at the pearl and closed him eyes shut, and squeezed the pearl in his hand. The electricity crackled, and Sam and I looked at each other as Dean eyes open again. The lights in the bunker turned red, “What the hell?” I spoke quietly. As Sam turned around he saw a dark figure and he lunged at it, me following behind him. The figure punched Sam and I attacked from behind along with Dean, we got a couple of hits in before the mysterious person knocked us to the ground. I groaned, hitting the wood floor but I got over it soon as I heard a gun cock.

“Don’t you move,” the dark figure threatened. 

We all looked at each other then the lights turned back on, we looked up at the man before us. I saw Deans eyes widened and I took a sharp intake of breath, same as Sam.

“Dad?” Dean asked in question.

“John?” I whispered.

The older Winchester looked in question at the three of us on the floor. He finally spoke up,” Dean? Sam? What in the hell? Y/n?” He looked around himself, puzzled at what he found. Sam and Dean slowly got up, Dean helping me up too. 

John continued to speak,”Sammy. Aren’t you supposed to be in Palo Alto?” 

“Palo Alto?” Sammy repeated, looking taken aback by the words.

“What happened to you,” John questioned.

Dean and I still staring at the exchange, Dean finally spoke up,” What year is it?”

John scoffs at us,” Its 2003.” I took a tiny step toward him, the man who raised me. “John, it’s 2019,” I spoke in shock.  He looked skeptical at all of us, not believing the words that were just said.  

“No. How?”

Sam started to sound a little louder, finally finding his voice,” We, uh, I think we summoned you.”

He looked at us like we were crazy,” You guys better tell me what the hell is going on right now.” We nodded at him, actually moving at this point.

“I think we should sit down.” I looked at him.

-

We had made our way to the kitchen and sat down at the table, finally able to catch our breaths after what just happened. Dean and I grabbing some alcohol knowing it would be needed for the future conversation. I knew in the back of my head that Mary was gonna come home soon, and it would be an emotional mess. She had left earlier with Dean and I’s son, wanting to have a day with him.

Dean and I made our way into the kitchen setting down the whiskey and some glasses. Finally sitting down, Dean poured all of us a glass getting ready to talk. 

After telling John about what happened after Yellow-Eyes, sparing the details about Mary and our son. He sat back to take it in, a moment later he spoke,” So, you saved the world? More than once?”

We nodded.

“Then its all true. God, the Devil, and you kids smack in the middle. Now you live in a secret bunker with an angel and Lucifer’s kid.” John said, mind boggled.

“Yeah.” We all spoke together.

“And you’ve done this whole time travel thing before?” John asked.

“A few times,” I looked at him. Dean nodded to my words, finding words himself,” Actually, our grandfather, your dad he’s the one that helped us find this place. I think he’d be real happy to know your finally here.”

They started to talk about the Men of Letters and how Dean and Sam were legacies. John not being able to believe how much we have been through, he spoke” I just wish that I had been there to see it. I went out takin’ out Yellow Eyes. I mean, that was the point, right? Get the thing that killed Mom.” He sipped on his drink nodding. All of us looking at each other, Sam and Dean finally catching on to the fact Mary could be home any minute. Just as Sam was going to tell John, we heard two pairs of footsteps. 

“ Mommy!” I heard a tiny voice yell. I then saw my sons little face peak out and run towards Dean and I.

“Hey baby! Did you have fun?” I smiled at the small child in my arms. 

“Yeah, me and Nana went shopping,” He spoke back to me.

John looked between me and the 4 year old in my arms. He spoke lowly,” Mommy? You have a kid?”

“Yeah, he’s your grandson.” I heard my boyfriend spoke from beside me.

John got teary eyed, “What’s his name? How old is he?”

“His names John Robert Winchester, after you and Bobby. But we do call him Johnny from time to time. Why don’t you show your Papa how old you are?” I asked with tears starting to grow in my eyes too.

Johnny lifted up his fingers showing the number four. I laughed and so did John,” That’s good.”

John smiled at his grandson, but it faltered when he heard a second voice coming from the hallway.

“Sam? Dean? Johnny?” Mary’s voice shouted.

Johns eyes got soft,”Mary?” He turned around at saw Mary standing in the doorway. They locked eyes with each other and they walked toward one another, sharing a kiss. I looked at Sam and Dean nodding at the door, trying to say we should give them some time.

-

I departed from the boys so I could go into mine and Deans room with Johnny. I still couldn’t believe that John was back and how happy Dean must be. It was all he ever wanted, I couldn’t count how many times he told me he wished he could just have one night with his family again. I looked down at Johnny in my arms and smiled.

“Mommy, who was that man with Nana?” he asked me.

I set him down on the bed and sat in front of him.,” That was your grandpa John. I told you that you were named after your Papa, right?” Johnny nodded at me. “Well that was him. Him and Nana are like me and your Daddy.” I spoke to him. 

Dead then walked into the room locking eyes with me. “Hey buddy,” Dean spoke softly to his son. Johnny looked at me and then at his Dad, “Is Papa John here to meet me Daddy?”

Dean looked at Johnny and smiled, kneeling down beside me he said,” Your grandfather travels all over the world and is very busy. He has always wanted to meet you, and now he finally is able to see you.”

Johnny smiled,” Can I go see him?” Dean and I nodded at the happy child sitting in front of us. Dean stood up and told me that he was gonna go check up on his Mom, and that I could bring Johnny to John. 

I walked through the hallways into the Library and saw that John was looking at the books on the shelves. I set Johnny down, and at the noise John turned around. I looked at him in the eye and smiled, Johnny walked over to his grandpa. “Mommy told me that I was named after you,” Johnny spoke up to John. He nodded to his grandson,”Seems that way doesn’t it.”

I walked up to John and said to him,” He is just like Dean in so many ways and with that I can see some of you too. Mostly the stubbornness. ” He smiled at me, and brought me into a hug. I grinned wrapping my arms around him, I heard him say,” It was about damn time you and Dean got together.” I laughed and pulled myself away from him.

“Yeah, I think after what happened with Yellow Eyes it brought us closer together. He tried to pull himself away like he always does but I wouldn’t let him, and I think that’s what caused us to get together.” I sighed but continued on,” We were dating 8 years and then had Johnny, it still blows my mind four years later and we are still going strong.” John smiled at me.

He looked down at Johnny but still spoke to me,” After 12 years and he still hasn’t popped the question. God, I’m gonna need to get on him about that.” I laughed at him. John looked down at Johnny and spoke to him,” You have the best mother and father in the world. Don’t you forget that.” 

Johnny nodded his head,” I know. They always tell me you are the best like Nana.” John looked at me and smiled. 

“No, your Nana is better than me in every way.” John laughed at the little boy, me laughing along with him.

I looked over at John,” Do you know where Sam went?” 

“Him and Dean were gonna head out and grab some stuff for that casserole Mary likes to make,” he responded.

I nodded. 

I bent down toward Johnny and spoke lightly, “How about you and Papa John go and hang out for a while.”

Johnny smiled wide,” Okay!”

He grabbed his grandfather by the hand and led him away. I smiled softly at the image now burned in my brain.

-

“I can’t believe this, we just got him back Dean.” I spoke sternly. “Johnny finally met his grandfather.”

Dean had pulled me aside when him and Sam got back explaining how everything is changing now that John was back.

“I know. But there is something else too,” He looked down at his feet. I looked at him sternly.

“What else?” I asked.

Dean took in a sharp breath before continuing on,” If he stays, it is gonna be like Mom was never here. It’s because we would have never clashed heads with God or the Darkness.” I got teary eyed and tried to say something but Dean held up his hand. He began to speak again,” Also, if he stays Sam thinks that Johnny’s gonna go too. Like you and I never got together because we only ever got together because of Dads death. I already talked to Dad about it.”

I started to silently cry thinking about not having Johnny and not being with Dean. As the tears were falling down my face I asked,” What did John say?”

He pulled me to his chest,”He said that he’s okay with going. That there is no way he is gonna be the reason his grandson can’t grow up, or Mom not being alive again.”

I looked up at him crying harder now, seeing he starting to shed tears too. 

“This sucks,” I said.

“I know, but it’s what he wants.” Dean responded.

I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips then nodded, “Okay.”

Dean then pecked mine back before saying, “ I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

-

We had sat down for dinner, something I knew Dean had always wanted. It was hard to avoid the inevitable but it was good to just be carefree for a while. 

When it was time for John to go back, I had Johnny say goodbye before telling him to go to his room. Me and Dean still not wanting him to be exposed to magic yet. 

Dean, Sam, John, Mary and I all stood in a circle together, ready to see him off. All of us teary eyed and trying to hold in sobs. 

Mary was the first to speak up, “I hate this.”

In which John responded, “So do I.”

John then began to talk to all of us,” Okay.” Looking over at Mary he spoke,”My girl. I miss you so damn much.” Before they kissed each other, for the last time. John then looked at the boys,” You two. You take care of each other.” 

Sam responded,” We always do.”

Dean spoke lightly, “It’s good to see you Dad.”

John sniffled, looking between his sons, “ I am so proud of you boys.” He then turned to me, seeing me there crying.

“And you, I am so proud of the woman you have become. Your no longer that little teenager anymore.” he spoke wiping his eyes before looking between Dean and I.

“You guys deserve each other and that little boy in there. I never thought I would see the day where Dean would grow some balls and ask you out but, here we are,” he said as we all laughed. “You guys take care of that boy, you here me,” John continued.

He then looked sternly at Dean,” If I have to come back just to make sure you finally ask this woman to marry you, I will.” 

We all laughed again. John then leaned forward and brought the three of us into a hug. 

“I love you guys so much.”

Dean sniffled before saying,”We love you too.”

John pulled away telling us he was ready.  He looked at us all one last time, before Sam broke the pearl. We watched as the man we all loved faded away. 

[oikawaplssteponme]

original request: @bakugousmymassa Hi willow🥺❤️❤️ ok so this has been on my mind for so long and I hope it makes sense. Ok so bakugou x fem reader and like yk she’s simping for him through manga/anime little does she know he’s doing the same thing is his world. And like they start thinking about each other and it comes through in the manga/anime and like they somehow find a way to communicate through it and like their love/simping becomes so strong that she randomly pops up in the common room and the bakusquad/class 1a is like 👁👄👁 and like they kiss or whatever Ik it’s long and weird but like omg I can’t get it out my mind sorryyy😭😭

pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x fem! reader

warnings: some swear words

genre: fluff, a bit angsty

a/n: thank you so much for the request bb! i added my own twist to it so i hope you like it!!

finally done with all my inbox requests!! 99% of them were bakugou in which i had zero complaints. i am here for all your bakugou needs 🤩i got a bit carried away with writing this so that’s why im letting it have it’s own moment☺️ i loved writing this and i would love to hear your thoughts on it (reblogs are greatly appreciated too🧡) enjoy xx

•

It was your favorite bookstore. It was where you bought your first manga. It was where you found a love for all these complex characters and incredible storylines. This bookstore seemed to satisfy every craving you had in regards to a 2D boy to fawn over. So there was no surprise that when you strolled into the bookstore, you headed straight to where the My Hero Academia mangas were.

You had read them all, even watched the anime. For some reason, you just kept coming back. You couldn’t get enough.

Something on the bookshelf had caught your attention. Among the original mangas, there was one lone book, different from the rest. You stared at the cover. It had your favorite character on it, keeping you intrigued. You had never seen this one before. Was it a side story? Was it a new release? If so, why would there only be one? Out of your own curiosity, you decided to buy it.

You handed the bookstore cashier the manga and your money. They looked at you, simply smiling.

“Is Katsuki Bakugou your favorite?” they asked.

“Yeah, he is,” you smiled. They handed you the book.

“Unfortunately there are no returns on this special edition. I guess you’ll be stuck with him,” they said. You chuckled, taking their comment as a joke.

“I’m okay with that.”

~

Once you were home, you sat down on your couch and pulled out the book, opening it up.

“What the…”

The pages were blank. The entire book had nothing in it. No words, no drawings, just plain white paper.

“How can you sell an empty book?” you groaned. You thought you had wasted your money on this. You set the book down, staring at the blank page angrily.

Suddenly, one spot of ink appeared on the page. Then more. Your eyes grew as the pages created their own drawing in the corner.

“This isn’t happening…”

You stared at the drawing, stunned.

“What kind of idiot buys a book before opening it first,” read the text bumble. On the page was a drawing of Katsuki Bakugou, his arms crossed with his classic smirk.

“H-How did you just…”

Another drawing began to appear next to the original.

“What? Never seen a self-drawing manga before? Come on dumbass, keep up with me here.”

You couldn’t believe your eyes. Bakugou was talking to you, through a manga.

“B-But you’re not real… you’re just a drawing…”

“Sure I’m a drawing right now, just as you are a drawing on my end. Doesn’t make me or you any less real.”

“Why are you talking to me… how did you find me?”

“Well, how did you find out about me?”

“I read about you in my mangas and I watch your show…”

“Then there is your answer gorgeous. I do the same.”

“I’M A CHARACTER IN A MANGA?” Your brain couldn’t seem to process everything that was happening.

“Of course you are. Damn, you aren’t the brightest…”

“B-But then how did I get your book? Anyone could have bought it.”

“Well me and Shitty Hair figured out a way to leave something behind for you. So that’s how you can talk to me through the book,” explained Bakugou.

“This isn’t happening...this is a lot to process right now. You’re like my dream guy but you’re supposed to be fictional and I’m not entirely sure what to do with all this new information,” you sighed.

“I can explain better in person.”

“I’m sorry, what-”

“Go grab a pen.”

“Bakugou-”

“Go grab a pen Y/N.”

You did as you were told, grabbing the nearest pen.

“Okay now what?”

“Go to a new page and draw yourself, like how I am,” Bakugou instructed. You were skeptical but did it anyway. You created a small box and drew yourself, resembling a manga panel.

“Now write your location as ‘in the common area’.”

“This has to be some kind of fever dream…”

“Just do it dumbass.”

You carefully wrote your desired location.

“Okay now what?”

“I’ll see you later dumbass,” smirked Bakugou. Your eyes grew.

“What- no you can’t just leave-”

“Bye nerd.”

No new panel appeared. You sighed, still in shock.

“There’s no way that was real…”

You set the manga down and laid on your back. You felt a wave of exhaustion come over you. You yawned, slowly falling asleep.

~

“Be quiet, you’re gonna wake her up!”

“How did she even get here?”

“Do you think Bakugou would be mad if I asked her out?”

“It’s not like she would say yes…”

“HEY-”

“Shit I think she’s awake....”

You felt groggy. As if you had been sleeping for days. You slowly started to open your eyes. People-like figures hovered around you.

“Back up, give her some space…”

You sat up, rubbing your eyes. The room was bright. The yellow-tinted walls and green floor caught your attention.

“Where am I…”

“UA High! A prestigious academy made for creating the world’s best Heroes!”

“Wait… Iida?”

“Correct!”

You soon realized what had happened. You looked around to all the familiar faces.

“Iida, Deku, Jirou, Kaminari, Momo, Mina, Kirishima, Todoroki…”

“Damn you’re good!” smiled Denki. You couldn’t believe it. You had some how made your way into your favorite story.

“Am I in the anime?”

“What anime?” asked Todoroki.

“Our anime! Or manga whichever you prefer!” smiled Deku.

“This has to be a dream, right?”

“How? You just woke up?”

“Todoroki it was a rhetorical question…”

“Oh…”

“Um where is Bakugou?” You asked. Everyone smiled.

“He’s waiting outside. You can go meet him,” explained Kirishima. You gulped. It’s not every day you get to come face to face with your fictional crush. Well, not so fictional now.

“Uh okay…” You stood up from the couch, beginning to make your way out the door. Taking a deep breath, you opened the door.

Bakugou was sitting on the steps of the dorms. His heart was beating out of his chest, though he wouldn’t admit it. He twiddled his thumbs as he waited for you to show up.

“H-Hey…” you whispered. Bakugou perked up, immediately standing up and turning around to face you. He looked at you with widened eyes. The both of you just stared at each other for a bit, fathoming the idea that you were really there. Seeing him on a screen or on a page was nothing compared to seeing him in real life.

“Damn…” he mumbled.

“What?”

“You’re beautiful.”

Even though this was technically your first meeting, the two of you weren’t strangers. You knew everything about each other. The endless admiration through pages seemed to have led you here. Exactly where you were supposed to be.

“How is this even real?” You questioned. Bakugou chuckled.

“You do realize your world isn’t the only one out there. So I had to take you to mine.”

“So I’m like a character you read about?”

“Yeah, just as I am that to you. I read your story just as you read mine. It’s not that complicated.”

“Why me though?”

Bakugou took a step towards you. He smiled, taking your hand.

“Why wouldn’t I take the opportunity to meet someone I’ve always dreamed about?”

Your face got hot as you tried to hold back your smile. You squeezed his hand.

“I’m glad you did.”

“Then let’s go dumbass,” he said. You raised a brow.

“What?”

“Well we have to write the rest of the book, don’t we? Come on, I’ve only got you for 300 more pages,” He explained.

“Wait there’s a limit on this?”

“Don’t worry about that now. Now come on, we’ve got shit to do.”

~

You and Bakugou spent the entire day together. He showed you around Musutafu, introducing you to all his favorite places. He showed you his favorite places to train, his favorite restaurant, where he likes to buy his mangas, and even where he found the book that brought you here.

You couldn’t help but take mental notes while you were with him. His hair was a lot softer than you imagined, and he actually did smell of sweet caramel. His red eyes weren’t intimidating at all, actually, you found them adorable. Bakugou had little patience, which you figured correctly. As you held his hand, he would mumble soft ‘sorry’s’, afraid that his hands were getting sweaty. You reassured him that he was fine. That caused his cheeks to blush.

The two of you sat at a park bench, enjoying the view of the city before you. Your head was rested on his shoulder as you held onto his arm. You couldn’t believe this was real. The boy you spent ages crushing over through a screen actually felt exactly the same. It was better than words.

“I wish there were fireworks,” you said. Bakugou chuckled. He removed his arm from your grip.

“Here. How’s this?”

Bakugou started to create mini-explosions in the palms of his hands, resembling fireworks. You stared at the beautiful sparks. Your smile was contagious. You looked up at him but he was already looking at you. You felt your face turn hot.

“So how many more pages until I’m allowed to kiss you?” blurted out Bakugou. You flinched. The burning in your cheeks grew stronger. You smiled.

“None.”

You grabbed the collar of Bakugou’s shirt and pulled him towards you. You crashed your lips together. He gently cupped your face as he held you close. The way he kissed you was beyond anything you could have ever imagined. His heart was beating out of his chest too. He was looking forward to seeing you in person just as much as you were, maybe more.

You looked at Bakugou. His face flushed pink, a cheeky smile from ear to ear. He wrapped his arm around you.

“Wait I have something for you,” you remembered, “I don’t really know how these work but I thought you could use it too.”

You had handed Bakugou a book, similar to the one he had left for you.

“I just think we deserve another volume,” you grinned. Bakugou kissed the top of your head, taking the book.

“I think so too.”

~

You woke up to the sound of your phone ringing. You stretched and rubbed your eyes. Then you remembered.

“Was I really there?” you mumbled. You tried to orient yourself, still slowly waking up. You reached for the manga that sat on the other side of your couch. You took a deep breath opening it up.

The pages were no longer blank. They instead were filled with perfectly detailed drawings of you and Katsuki Bakugou, following the storyline you had just experienced. You wiped the stray tear from your eye and brought the book to your chest.

“Until next time, Katsuki Bakugou.”

•

[general taglist (form in masterlist) : @lealofsblog @iwaisa @bakugousmymassa @roesaurus @evivn1 @astrooliver @tetsoleil @bokutory @vangoghmusings @moonlightaangel @complimentaryhugsgirl ]

[stormyykat]

hii 👁️👁️ qs abt all ur wizards off the ask questionaire...

- does your wizard have a primary school? secondary school?

- what do they think about forbidden magics? should it be taught?

- how do they feel about merle ambrose? the council of light?

- what kind of wand do they have? what does it say about their fighting styles?

- do they trust other people right away or are they skeptical at first meeting?

:'3?

YAAAA WEEE okok im gonna do answers for jack, storythief, marcus, skullgarden, ryan and quinn... i have not posted abt all of them equally i will admit but now is better then never.  ALSO long post hehe

- does your wizard have a primary school? secondary school? 

jack: storm is the school he got from the book of secrets. he never really branched out because he was in a questing group; everything else was already covered. however, once he got corrupted by shadow magic, it became his secondary.

storythief: got balance from the book of secrets, but she has branched out into life, death, and sun magic.

marcus: got ice from the book of secrets. he has secondaries in life and star, and is slowly learning light magic.

skullgarden: death wizard by choice, though they would have gotten myth from the book. secondary is shadow (corrupted like jack, but on purpose).

ryan: she does not go to ravenwood. she grew up avalon, and learned life magic there. she considers herself a life wizard. she also knows various star, sun, and light magic spells.

quinn: got fire from the book of secrets. xe has secondaries in sun and death.

- what do they think about forbidden magics? should it be taught?

jack: really awesome and cool everyone should use forbidden magic now. come on guys its fine see im alright *has forgotten all childhood memories and every time he uses shadow magic it physically hurts him

storythief: best used in moderation. believes they could be taught, but only to master wizards.

marcus: bad and no. he used to be jack’s best friend. he’s sickened by what it can do to people.

skullgarden: it rocks and yes. they are jack’s current best friend. they love it so much.

ryan: in light there will always be shadows. she understands that both must exist to achieve ‘balance’. shadow and light should be taught just as much as any other magic.

quinn: no strong opinion. all magic has its downsides and even though people dislike shadow magic, others should have the right to learn it.

- how do they feel about merle ambrose? the council of light?

jack: before corruption he really looked up to him. to be recognized by a powerful older wizard felt rewarding. now, he feels a little used and hurt, as ambrose was very quick to dismiss him and expel him from ravenwood. he thinks the council is a bunch of old people who don’t understand the shadow at all.

storythief: her bestie. he lets her get away with things she probably should not. he has been complicit in her ‘big lie’ since the beginning. indifferent to the rest of the council.

marcus: his like of the man is strained, but he still trusts him. he is more comfortable being in ambrose’s company with the rest of the council present. he is friends with greyrose and his adoptive father/mentor is diego.

skullgarden: i hope that old man dies. i hope they all die.

ryan: doesn’t really know him too well, but knew he was important in avalon at one point. she doesn’t see his importance anymore, and feels hurt on her lack of invite to the council. (like come on granpa i am literally an embodiment of light. let me in!!)

quinn: xe’s the human from earth so xe feels a little in debt to him, but kinda wishes ambrose gave him a heads up before pulling xem into the spiral. xe’s chill and friends with the council.

- what kind of wand do they have? what does it say about their fighting styles?

jack: a bow constructed out of a lightning bolt. his spells are cast by shooting a lightning arrow into the sigil. he’s a hard hitter like any other storm, but also a bit of a cheater, sometimes shooting stray arrows to get rid of opponents shields before attacking for real.

storythief: a redish-brown spear inscribed with balance runes that glow went cast. she uses the tip to draw out and cast sigils. she learned how to fight physically in mirage before she learned magic, so she can be a little aggressive. she has been known to throw her spear in combat sometimes. it’s uh, quite effective.

marcus: a dueling sword given to him by diego. he draws out and casts sigils with the tip, similar to storythief. he’s a bit pompous and dramatic, which reflects in how he casts. he does know how to actually duel, and hopes one day to meet one of those “swashbucklers” and have a real match.

skullgarden: a black and white flute wand. very low pitched. (sounds like a deep bass a flute!) they have another ‘flute’, which they have magically modified to play death whistles on. they are calm when casting, and play very slow, mystical songs in an attempt to intimidate opponents. the music is what turns into the sigil, being cast from the songs itself.

ryan: a greenish-blue trident gifted to her by the lady of the lake. after years of use, it has various cracks that glow with light magic. ryan is used to fighting magic battles without a battle circle, so she tends to be more aggressive and stern. she stabs her sigils with the three tips of her trident.

quinn: xe uses a blood moon staff. xe thinks its really cool and parades it around like a trophy. likes doing tricks with it while casting, thinks it makes xem look cooler (it does). spells/magic come out of the moon itself, forming the sigils.

 - do they trust other people right away or are they skeptical at first meeting?

jack: if you’re shadow, welcome new best friend. everyone else is on thin ice, or already on the ‘attack on sight’ list.

storythief: shes been doing this ‘questing’ stuff for years. trust now, get the betrayal out of the way, then beat them up. cycle repeats all too often.

marcus: oooh of course i trust u!! wait why is there a battle sigil outside the cave u just entered ?

skullgarden: just about the same as jack, but theyre a little more open to outsiders, especially those that might be easily swayed into joining the shadow.

ryan: unless your a forest animal or someone seeking help, get out of her sight she will hunt you. only exception is marcus because thats her blorbo from wizard city.

quinn: usually just follows what storythief says. only a few times has xey been like “erin if we trust that man several people will die and one of them might be us”

[transxfiles]

while im still thinking abt bird box another thing i wish they'd kept in the movie is what an unlikeable person malorie is in the books. like, she's clearly a good person, but she's also annoying and skeptical and distrustful and shitty when she has to be, because if she was perfect by societal standards she would not have survived the end of the world. the most significant part of malorie in the books is that as soon as her sister dies, malorie stops being critical of the creatures (which she initially does not believe in). she realizes that she is going to have to become a completely different person to survive AND TO KEEP HER KIDS ALIVE, someone who she never wanted to be and someone she is terrified of becoming. this internal struggle is completely disregarded in the film. i love the idea of the horse motif in the movie / her connection to the animal and the metaphor behind it, but this undermines her agency as a character.

the idea that "a horse knows it's pregnant before anyone else" and that it "needs" to take care of its child doesn't work for malorie because of her initial reluctance. and then when the film softens malorie by changing her narrative with tom i also feel like this further changes her arc and its significance.

i loved tom in the novel so i was so interested to see how they adapted him to screen and i loved him in the film, too - he's probably my favorite character from the movie. but i also think that by changing his narrative so that he survives gary's attack (which he does not survive in the novel) completely changes malorie's story AND the significance of tom as gary's narrative foil. the whole point of tom is that he's curious and he's always trying to find an answer or a new way to make life better, and this benefits everyone who lives in the house, and this is what malorie finds so enchanting about tom. but he's also the anti-gary - everything that is beautiful about tom is what makes gary dangerous, because gary is a tom without love or hope or care for other people. and tom HAS to die to force malorie to understand that sometimes she has to get on gary's level in order for her and her children to survive.

i know why netflix didn't want to, like, portray the scenes where malorie hits her babies with a spatula so that she trains them to wake up with their eyes closed (yeah that happens in the book) but she needs to be alone with the children so that she can complete her character arc of truly becoming the person she was scared of. she NEEDS to constantly question if she's a cruel mother, if she's a horrible person, and she NEEDS to live with the guilt that tom's death is her fault (and as is the death of everyone else in the house, for that matter - long story for those of y'all who haven't read the book, but yeah, it's technically malorie's fault). and she needs to know that she CANNOT be soft and although this comes across after she realizes tom is dead in the film, she has softened over the course of the years she has lived with him and boy and girl, and in the books we never see that softness because she has learned that in this world, it is impossible to be soft or likeable, and i think that's just such a significant part of the book that was left out.

[simpsiren]

Summer’s promise

xiaojun x reader

description. Your final moment with xiaojun at the beachside before the two of you go your separate ways. Or perhaps not.

genre. FLUFF, a bit emotional but bear with me im emotional rn <\3

word count. 2.9k~

warnings. nonee

a/n. i actually had a plot to this but realise that its not that good so ill limit it to this! its a very short and direct plot so cjdndn either way i hope you’ll enjoyyy

It’s three in the morning. Xiaojun had his fingers interlocked with yours as your hands met unintentionally at the back. You lean back while Xiaojun had his body forward. You rest your head on his shoulder, snuggling up in the crook of his neck while you find a comfortable spot. Eventually you did, breathing in to take in his scent.

The cold breeze touches your skin. Sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks you and Xiaojun are sitting on. You allow your legs to dangle freely on the edge. The night sky really setting the tone and atmosphere right just for the two of you.

“I don’t want to leave.” You mutter, lips brushing against his skin ever so lightly.

“You have to, love. Get back to your life in the city.” Xiaojun breathes out. Once again he calls you by the nickname love. A nickname you have grown to get too comfortable with in the short span of three months during your stay here.

“You know I’ll miss you.” You look up at him, your action causing to tilt his head down. Your eyes meet. His gaze staring into yours. It just feel so right, so perfect. To have you with him on a chilly night. For once, time has frozen for the two of you. You take in the moment quickly before it fades away.

“I said we’ll meet some day, didn’t i?” Xiaojun brings his free hand up to tuck a few strands behind your ear, you feel his chest moving up and down calmly as he tilts his head, taking a moment to admire every inch of your face.

You scoff, the side of your lip lifting up into a small smirk. “Uhuh. But you said to let fate do that for us.” You blurt out.

“Yes I did. And if fate doesn’t want us to happen, I’ll fuck it and find my own way to you. I just thought it’ll be a beautiful way to meet each other again.”

“Sending postcards of the cities we’re in? I’ll be in another country, Dejun. Still can’t get used to the idea but I somewhat see the beauty in that.”

Xiaojun chuckles softly. Oh the chuckle. No matter how many times you’ve heard it, it really still makes you feel some type of way.

His hand slowly creeps down to your waist, pulling you in closer to him. You lift a hand, you didn’t know where to put it. You just want to touch him. Absentmindedly, it arrives at his hair, threading your fingers through his soft and fluffy locks. Maybe that’s why your hand went there. To feel it for one last time before you leave.

“I want to stay here. With you. With your run-down, aesthetically pleasing tiny bookstore. I want to have you reading me poems. Or any book, huddled up in one corner while you read till I fall asleep in your arms.”

You let out a gloomy sigh, making Xiaojun put on a frown. You frown back, leaning in to give a quick peck on his nose to make him smile. And it worked. As it always did. And as it always should.

“What’s the time duration of letting fate bring us together again?”

Xiaojun purses his lips into a thin line, the gears in his head turning immensely as he tries coming up with an answer. “That’s for fate to decide too.”

You furrow your eyes, skeptical at his answer. “This summer... Has been the best one yet for me.”

“I’m thankful I agreed to Lucas inviting me here. I wouldn’t have met you otherwise.” You let out. The two of you stare into the blankness ahead of you, admiring the sight of the moonlight reflecting on the sea, giving it a beautiful glow.

“Promise you won’t forget me? Whatever we did during this summer. Don’t forget a single detail.” You start off.

Xiaojun raises both his eyebrows, allowing you to continue.

“No matter how long it takes for us to see each other. No matter where our life takes us. Whatever that’s going to happen in the future. Promise me you won’t forget what we had here.”

Xiaojun leans in and places a loving kiss on the crown of your head. He stays there, prolonging the kiss.

“I promise. It’s not an empty one, don’t worry. Like I said, if fate won’t allow it, I’ll still find my way to you regardless.” Xiaojun reassures you, his lips still touching your hair. He finally pulls away, wrapping an arm around your shoulders while yours creep to wrap around his torso.

And that’s the last time you saw Xiaojun. You stayed there till five, knowing you have to go back and pack your things before leaving.

You thought about what he said. Fate. He keeps mentioning it. But to be honest, you didn’t believe in it. Anything can happen during the time the two of you are apart. How long will it take for fate to bring you two together? Will he even remember you by then?

He promised but again, anything can happen. You were unsure and uncertainty clouded your thoughts throughout. You were scared, but you had to trust him. You had to believe. Xiaojun will come back to you.

Four years. You’ve been waiting for four years. The only thing that reminds you of him is the ring bought you. Cheap, but holds a deep meaning you can barely hold onto anymore. Your fingers fiddled with the ring for a moment.

“_____!” Lucas calls out. You quickly put your hands down and clasp them behind your back. “Yeah?”

“My friend’s having a wedding this weekend. Was thinking of inviting you.” You pucker your lips, looking up to think before tilting your head back to Lucas, nodding your head.

“Sure, why not?” You reply with a light shrug.

“Don’t forget to bring a date.”

Your eyes narrows as you cock up a brow. “We need a date to a wedding?” You huff out, scoffing lightly after.

Lucas hums and nods his head eagerly. “Duh! Plus, the wedding will be at some grand place since he’s rich. Lucky him.” Lucas says boringly with a glare.

“Yeah. Pretty sure he got that money from illegal racing.” You let out a ‘tsk’, shaking your head and acting disappointed.

“Uh no it’s legal, dumb.” Lucas retorts. “Anyways just ask someone from your work place. Oh maybe that YangYang? You’re close with him, aren’t you?”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “Yeah.” You blurt out. Lucas smiles and walks towards you, placing a hand on your shoulder and patting it once. “I’ll text you the details.”

“You better keep your promise.” Yangyang bores you. The two of you are sitting down at a corner, watching the other people that were invited being social. Something the two of you have in common despite not relly liking each other that much.

You groan, placing your glass of alcohol on the table. “Yes, Yangyang. I’ll get you your damn cupcakes.” You growl. Yangyang chuckles, letting out a sigh after.

“Thanks.” He whispers. You let out a ‘tsk’ while throwing him a glare.

The two of you didn’t talk much. You had nothing to talk about either. It has just been comfortable silence between you two for the past two hours. You would heard bits and pieces of stranger’s conversation. That’s how bored you were.

You suddenly see Lucas running up to you, looking completely frantic. You shot up from your seat and catch Lucas in your arms. He stands up straight and catches his breathing. “He’s here.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Who? The groom?” You ask, tiptoeing to see across the crown if the groom has arrived. Lucas gapes his mouth open with furrowed eyes. “No, idiot!”

“I don’t know how, but he’s here. Your little beach boy.”

You give an even more skeptical look, making Lucas groan and grab your arms. “He’s fucking here after four years and you’re giving me that face?!”

“Yeah because I highly doubt you saw him. He’s literally countries away. I think you’re being delusional.”

Lucas shakes your body vigorously, making you scream and asking him to get off of you. He finally does, looking extremely frustrated with you. “Bitch I’m not kidding. He’s by the dessert area with some guys.”

You snort, laughing slightly after as the alcohol starts to seep into your weak system. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll believe it sure.”

“Is she already fucking drunk?” Lucas turns to YangYang, who was staring at a fixated spot in the venue till he was called. “She drank a bit yeah.” Lucas places a palm on his forehead.

“Chill, I didn’t drink. I’ll take care of her.” YangYang deadpans. Lucas lets out a disappointing sigh. “Well whatever. See you around man.” Lucas waves a lazy hand at YangYang. He didn’t even bother to wave back, turning his attention to you who had your body slouched forward while leaning against the table with your chin resting on the palm of your hand.

During the wedding, you weren’t paying attention to anything. The event, your surroundings. Nothing. Instead, you are constantly stealing a glass every time a waiter or waitress walks by. The moment they take your empty glass away, you take another one. Surprisingly, you got drunk . Very drunk. And very quickly as well.

You didn’t even know why you suddenly want to get drunk. You know yourself well enough to know that you would be dizzy by two drinks. You’re now on your fifth.

You stand up, wanting to go to the toilet. Losing your balance, you trip, causing YangYang to immediately hold you by your torso. You grab onto his arm, gulping before shaking your head. “I can go myself.”

“Where are you going?” Yangyang asks softly. “I need to pee.” You whine, pushing YangYang off you and slowly head there, clearly staggering and having YangYang help you along the way.

“Okay. I’ll be waiting outside. Don’t take too long.” YangYang shouts out while you go into the toilet, hands placed on the wall constantly throughout your trip in and out.

It didn’t take you long luckily. You thought you had to vomit but it turns out you didn’t.

“Oi. Xiao Dejun.” YangYang turns his head to you, his body leaning against the wall and folding his arms. He stands up straight, tilting his head and wondering if you’re referring to him.

You run up to him, wrapping your arms around your waist. You giggle for a moment before changing your expression to an angry one. YangYang wasn’t sure of how to react, he’s never seen you drunk before.

“Fuck you. It’s been four years. Where are you?” You whine, constantly punching on his chest with a balled fist. YangYang blinks his eyes in confusion while multiple eyes glance at you as they pass by thr toilet. YangYang clears his throat, lightly tapping your back as a signal to get off him. Obviously it’s not working.

“Dejun~ You little shit...” You mumble to yourself. You eventually allow your body to fall against YangYang’s, having him to catch you and hold you steadily while you dug your face into his chest.

“Get off her.” You suddenly hear a voice. You couldn’t make out where you’ve heard it from. It’s like the voice from a distant and clouded memory. You try squeezing your brain for information, constantly asking yourself where you’ve heard it before, but you blacked out almost immediately after hearing YangYang reply with a, “Who are you to tell me that?”

You wake up with your head banging, the world spinning as you have a bad headache. Wincing, you put your hands on your head, massaging to try reducing the pain. On top of you being a lightweight, you have terrible hangovers as well.

Fuck. You thought to yourself. It took awhile to get back to your senses, noticing how you’re in an unfamiliar place. Looking around, you’re on a bed. Large, comfortable and soft. The room looks plain, and you didn’t know where you are.

Did you have a one night stand last night?

As soon as the thought came to your mind, you look under the covers. You heave a sigh of relief, seeing that you still had your dress on.

You try getting out of bed, instantly plopping back down as your head starts to spin again. You whine, turning your body to the side as you dig your head into the pillow. You were so desperate in trying to do anything to stop it.

“Here’s some hangover soup.” You heard it again. The voice. The only thing you remembered from last night.

You hear the door open. Your eyes trail from the sheets, slowly but surely looking up to meet the gaze of him.

You squint your eyes. Your vision’s extremely blurry. Rubbing your eyes to get a clearer view, you are finally able to see the face in front of you. The sight makes you widen your eyes in shock. You move your body back quickly, your head hitting the headboard of the bed and making you wince in pain.

You hear him chuckle.

There’s no way.

“Dejun?” You mumble, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed in confusion.

He clicks his tongue, nodding. “Still a klutz after all these years.” You hear him say as he makes his way to you, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Wait. I’m not hallucinating? Fuck is it my hangover?” You scratch your head, still refusing to believe the sight in front of you is real.

After four years, he suddenly shows up with you in his bed. Xiaojun is here.

He lets out a quiet sigh. “I was at the wedding last night.” He explains, reaching out to put the soup on the side table before turning to you and crossing hus legs.

“How did you...”

“Some friend invited me.”

You kept silent, wanting to take a good look at his face. He still has it. His handsomeness. Sharp features that could kill like a knife. Hair perfectly wet, still jet black like how it was before. He didn’t change in terms of appearance. Or maybe perhaps to looks a thousand times better now that you’ve seen him after so long.

“How did you find me...?” You stutter. “Four years. It took your four fucking years.” You croak, suddenly letting your emotions fill your mind. You gulp and take in deep breaths, wanting to stop yourself from crying. Too late.

A single drop of tear rolls down your cheek. Your eyes welling up and about to overflow in seconds. Xiaojun wastes no time to pull you into his embrace, arms wrapping around you and holding you close.

This feeling. The comfort, the way he touches you. The feeling you get from this. It all comes back to you. It’s true that you remembered everything from last summer. But to have them resurface just from his single touch after being shoved deep in the back of the head.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I took so long, love.” The nickname. Another thing that makes you cry even more. You hug him tightly, hands gripping onto his black sweater as it slowly gets wet from your tears.

“How did you find me?” You ask again, looking up at him, indulging yourself in his eyes that look down on you filled with love and care.

Xiaojun frowns. “You sent me postcards from different cities. Every time I went there, you’d be gone and to another one. You don’t know how frustrating it was...”

You bit the inside of your cheek. Absentmindedly bringing your hand up from his waist and to his neck, drawing circles on it. “I traveled a lot. To get you off my mind. But I realise I always had to send you something. Something to hope that you’ll still remember be.”

“You said to let fate decide.”

Xiaojun lets out a low chuckle, one that makes a shiver being sent down your spine as you feel his chest moving from it.

“I waited for a year. But I couldn’t handle not seeing you. You didn’t start sending postcards till the second year. So I instantly started looking for you.”

His hand swiftly goes down to yours, his fingers trailing down your skin. Again, his touch, is everything to you. You suddenly feel alive. Even your headache went away miraculously.

“My ring...” Xiaojun mumbles under his breath, his thumb caressing it slowly. You hum. “I took it off for awhile actually. I didn’t think I’d see you again cause’ I thought... After our summer, we’d be nothing but ancient history.”

Xiaojun frowns deeply, making you pout. “Meanie. I told you I don’t keep empty promises.”

You lean in close to his face, so close that your noses were touching. “I’m sorry, I was scared. About the fact that three months wouldn’t mean anything to you.”

Xiaojun presses his forehead against yours gently, his action making you gulp while holding your hands and interlocking his fingers with yours.

“You mean a lot to me. The three months was short, yes. But the things we did there, you know I can never forget it.”

Xiaojun leans in more, this time to the point where his lips brushed yours while he speak.

You close your eyes for a moment. “I missed you.” You whisper, soft but sincere.

“I missed you more, love.”

[7soulstars]

hello love 💕 sorry i've been away.. i'm afraid im not getting any better.. and i'll have to go through a surgery next week 😢 i thought of requesting something cause i missed your writing so much.. if you don't mind of course .maybe a fluffy oneshot with thranduil or haldir comforting sick y/n with cuddles & kisses 🙈 *though id prefer getting cuddles from you* *cough cough*😁

Hi babe! I wish I was there to hug you😞. Best of luck for your surgery! I'm glad my writing is helping you ! I'm sorry it took a while I was travelling across the country with zero wifi *and it sucked! *. I wrote one on Haldir cuz I'm also currently writing a Thranduil fic req too! I love you so much I hope you become better soon! And I really hope you like this fic! 🥰🥰

In Sickness and Health

Pairing: Haldir x Reader

Warnings: Too much fluff??

Summary: Y/N is sick and Haldir refuses to give anything but the best to his wife.

............

Elves do not get sick. It was common knowledge among every single person in middle earth. So when his wife sniffles and moves very tiresomely, Haldir is stuck between two possible thoughts, she's either being too lazy or she is dying. And Haldir being Haldir , believed it to be the latter. So the very next moment there is Galadriel and Celborn, Rumil and Orophin rushing in after your husband who barges into the two of you's house.

"Y/N/N ARE YOU DYING!? WHAT HAPPENED!?", Rumil screamed dramatically.

It amused you but you really weren't in a situation to laugh as it came out as a sneeze making you shake violently.

Your husband tensed as he stalked towards you worryingly. Galadriel and Celeborn laughed softly at the scene as the other three elves looked at them puzzled.

Galadriel smiled, "Haldir, I do understand you are highly worried about your wife but she's simply sick. We do not go through it but it's common for other beings.I do hope I am right Lady Y/N".

"Ye, is jus col' an cof' ", you mumbled incoherently and you felt another sneeze wracking through your body making you groan in irritation and pain. "Lady Y/N please lay down and rest. I shall go find a healing spell for you among the library books.", said Celeborn as he ushered you to bed. Haldir was like a son to the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien and you, like their daughter in law. " Nu tis' fin' ill be betta' by tomowow' ", you coughed.

Everyone except your husband nodded understandably but you were still skeptical considered how you saw them walking away through your window in a cluster as they argued over something.

You sighed chuckling as you turned to look at your husband who stood towering you with a frown on his face. Making you cough and laugh all together. “Meleth nin do not laugh unless you wish to hurt yourself more!" He scolded as he piled up blankets over your shivering form. You looked so delicate in the eyes of your marchwarden as if you were a cracked egg and if you were hindered with,you’d break even more. He felt really bad for you as he saw you burying yourself more into the bed and he was mad at himself for being helpless.

With a ‘I’ll be back’ he rushed out of the house leaving you to yourself with a sad frown on your face.

An hour later he was back, with a huge basket of what looked like groceries, and without looking at you he made a bee line straight to the kitchen making you think that he was mad at you for being sick.

Just as your bed ridden self was about to fall asleep, your husband entered the room with what looked like a cauldron of porridge. Haldir couldn’t cook. He wouldn’t be able to even if his life was on the line. So when you saw him pouring the weird blackish looking mass into a bowl proudly, your heart melted into a puddle though you were terrified in the back of your mind. What shocked you even more was the fact that he himself was feeding you instead of making you eat it yourself. It was unusual for him. You didn’t mind it. You knew that was just how he was.But his behaviour towards you was really making you fall in love with him even more. So much that you ate two bowls of that vomit inducing porridge he made for you, his beloved.

He got up so as to leave and fetch some water but a weak tugging on his tunic stopped him dead on his tracks. “Don’ go”, you managed to croak out as you patted the empty space beside you on the bed. Haldir looked at you with the most heartbroken face as he scurried to lay beside you. Usually he would get flustered. But not today, not when you were asking him like that. 

“Meleth nin !?”,he sputtered as you flopped your head on his chest, arms clinging to his neck. You gave him the best baby eyes you could making him sigh as he obliged by sliding his arms around your waist pulling you closer. He could feel how your chest was heaving rapidly in a poor attempt to breathe or how there were eyebags under your beautiful eyes and how your gripping his tunic unconciously. He couldn’t help but kiss you on the forehead as he held you tighter as if you would go away. You could sense him being worried so you did what you had to do.

“Haldir..”

“Yes ?”

“I love you.”

As you expected, his grip loosened for a second before tightening again. You rarely said those precious words to each other because they were really important to the two of you. You cherished it more than anything.

“I love you too.”

It almost went unheard but it did put the biggest and stupidest smile on your face. Before you even realized, you were asleep and unbeknownst to you Haldir did what he always did when you slept. He peppered loving kisses on your face and said sweet nothings that he was too afraid to tell you right in your face.

--Time Skip--

“Y/N/N we brought you some medic-” 

“SHHH”

“OH-”, Rumil stood looking at the scene in front of him. Y/N on the bed awake with a sleeping Haldir latched to her waist. 

They really meant it when they said in sickness and health.

----The End----

There ya go my lovely darling! I know it's short but I really really hope you like it! Feedback is always appreciated ! I hope your surgery goes well and that you have a super speedy recovery! Lot's of love and kisses! 😘😘

~Love, Hri

[jocia92]

(Google translated)

Dan Stevens, who grew up in Wales and south-east England, spent his summer holidays at the National Youth Theater at the age of 15, and he was drawn to the stage while studying English in Cambridge. Since his big breakthrough as Matthew Crawley in the hit series “Downton Abbey”, he has also repeatedly appeared in films such as “Inside Wikileaks - The Fifth Force”, “At Night in the Museum: The Secret Tomb” or “Beauty and the Beast” . Most recently, Stevens played the Russian Schnösel singer Lemtov in the Oscar-nominated comedy “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” from Netflix. At the beginning of June, the German film “Ich bin dein Mensch” by Maria Schrader celebrated at the Summer Berlinale Premiere, which starts on 1.7. comes to German cinemas regularly. Stevens plays the role of a love robot in it. Unlike on the screen, however, the 38-year-old prefers to speak English in the zoom-conducted interview. He chose a brick wall with a lion motif as the digital background. No allusion to the song “Lion of Love” from “Eurovision Song Contest”, but a photo of the famous Ishtar Gate in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, where “I am your human” was filmed last summer.

Mr. Stevens, in your new film “I am your human” you play a humanoid robot that is entirely geared towards fulfilling the romantic needs of a skeptical scientist. You yourself recently described the film as “delightfully German”. How did you mean that?

I wanted to say that here pretty big questions - such as what actually makes a person or how much perfection love can take - are negotiated in a very light-footed, elegant and sometimes humorous way. In my experience that is a very German quality. At least I have often seen with many of my German colleagues and friends that they are very good at not discussing difficult issues exclusively deadly serious and melancholy.

Where does your personal connection to Germany and the German language come from?

My parents had friends who lived in Bielefeld and we used to visit them in North Rhine-Westphalia during the school holidays. Traveled from England by car! That’s how I learned a little German as a child, and later I learned it as a subject at school. I even did a short internship there through our friends in Bielefeld. I really love the language. Funnily enough, I was later able to use my knowledge of German professionally, because my first film was “Hilde”, in which I was next to Heike Makatsch played the British actor and director David Cameron, who was married to Hildegard Knef. After that, I always hoped that there might be another chance to speak German in front of the camera, because playing in a foreign language is an exciting challenge. When the chance arose to shoot “I am your person”, I could hardly believe my luck.

Did you know the director Maria Schrader who gave you this chance?

Funnily enough, when the script for the film landed on my table, I had just watched the Netflix series “Unorthodox”, which she directed. I had also watched a few episodes of “Deutschland 89”. In general, I knew that she was a great German actress, not least because friends who knew their way around the German theater scene often raved about her. Working with her was a joy now. Her understanding of actors is quite instinctive and brilliant. I have seldom seen someone who can help an actor who is having difficulties with a scene with such simple means.

The fact that you had already seen “Unorthodox” shows, of course, how quickly “I am your person” must have been implemented in the past year …

Oh yes, that was really quick. In March I was still in New York and was about to premiere a new play on Broadway. But then the pandemic came, everything was canceled and I flew back to my family in Los Angeles. A few weeks later, Maria and I met each other via Zoom - and shortly afterwards I was sitting outside in a café in the Berlin June sun for the first time in months to discuss the upcoming shoot with her. That was pretty surreal because I hadn’t actually left the house since March.

Is it correct that you oriented yourself to Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart to portray the romantically programmed robot Tom?

In any case, these were role models that Maria and I spoke about. When you think of the game between the two of them, you always see an enormous clarity and directness. Cary Grant, for example, was always quite funny, especially in his romantic roles, but also flawless in an almost artificial way from today’s perspective. I found that very suitable for a robot. Apart from the fact that the ideas that Tom and his algorithm have of romance and love are certainly also shaped by the classic romantic comedies from Hollywood. Oh, the woman is sad, so I’ll bring her flowers! Such automatisms from the stories from back then were very appropriate for Tom now.

Keyword role models: Who shaped you in your career as an actor?

There were of course many. Jimmy Stewart was certainly something of a role model. My mom and I watched a lot of his films when I was little and I was always impressed by the kind of sweet tragedy that went into all of his roles. But maybe Robin Williams’ work influenced me even more. I always found the incredible variety of his films remarkable. He could make his audience laugh hysterically like no other, but also move them to tears in other roles. I always wanted to emulate this range.

In fact, the range of your roles is enormous and ranges from the Disney blockbuster “Beauty and the Beast” to a comic adaptation in series format such as “Legion” to bulky independent films such as “Her Smell” or the horror thriller “The Rental “, Which we just released on DVD. Is there a method behind this diversity?

Not in principle. I like variety, but I’m not just looking for roles that are as different as possible from one another. Rather, there are always similar factors that I use to select my projects. Sometimes there is a certain director that I really want to work with. Or the role itself is irresistible because it presents me with acting challenges. And sometimes a script is just fantastically written and I am interested in the topics it is about. With “I am your person” it was definitely the latter, especially since the timing was just right. In 2020 there were so many societal questions that ultimately touched the core of human existence. Such a script, which deals with something very similar in a light-footed way, was just fitting.

A few years ago you said in a questionnaire from the British Guardians that your greatest weakness was not being able to make up your mind. So every time you are offered a role, do you ponder whether you should accept?

No, no, when a script appeals to me, it actually does it very quickly. It’s such a gut feeling. If I’m unsure and skeptical, that’s a good indicator that this is not the right thing for me. That with the difficulty in making decisions related rather to something else. For example, it takes me forever to order in a restaurant because I can never decide what on the menu appeals to me the most.

You became famous with the role of Matthew Crawley in the series "Downton Abbey”. Did you immediately suspect at the time that something big was going on?

At first we were all pretty clueless. There are really many British history series, and we were one of them. When the first season aired in the US and was a huge success there, it was pretty unexpected. I never expected the impact the series would have on my career.

Barely ten years later, are you still being asked about the role?

Oh yes, regularly. Probably nothing will change about that either. I got out after three seasons!

In the meantime, however, the flamboyant Russian singer Alexander Lemtov from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” should also be a character with whom you will be immediately associated, right?

Right, it has been mentioned more and more recently when people recognize me on the street. This charming, silly film obviously had a nerve with the audience last year in the middle of the corona pandemic. Especially since the real Eurovision Song Contest had been canceled.

The film was the number one topic of conversation on the Internet for a while - and Lemtov GIFs and memes were everywhere. Did you follow that?

It was really hard to avoid it. I wasn’t looking specifically for what people were posting. But of course my friends passed a lot on to me, and there were already some very funny Lemtov things. But he’s also a figure made for GIFs.

Another question every British actor under 40 has to put up with these days: Would you like to become the next James Bond?

Oh, of course, everyone gets to hear this question again and again who meets certain criteria. But it is completely hypothetical. Although a few years ago I read in an audio book by Ian Fleming’s “Casino Royale”.

You mentioned earlier that you and your family have lived in the United States for a long time. How big is your homesickness?

I actually feel very comfortable in Los Angeles. But every now and then I miss the sidewalk culture of European cities. People on foot, street cafes, things like that. Last year the longing for it was particularly great, although it was of course clear to me that there was a state of emergency in Europe too. In any case, I found myself reading books that were set in Europe and made me homesick. Which is why the unexpected trip to Berlin was really a boon.

You are also an avid cricketer. That’s certainly difficult in Los Angeles, isn’t it?

There are quite a few cricket clubs here. The only problem is that the few people who do the sport here are so good at it that I have problems keeping up. That’s why I always lose sight of the matter here a little. Even as a pure TV viewer, it is not easy to stay on the ball, because of course there is no cricket broadcast here at prime time. But as soon as I’m home in England in the summer, I really want to play again!