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davidlikesguys02 · 3 years

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On A Very Special Episode...

M/n= Male name

word count= 2,847

GIF not mine also just Imagine that's you and Vision.

You're pacing around the living room rocking Tommy “Sweet, sweet Tommy, don't you wanna sleep? Daddy wants to sleep.” you sigh “if you go to sleep, I promise you will be my favorite twin.” behind you Vision is coming down the stairs “oh, come on now, darling. You know we love them both equally.” “Well, don't tell him that” Vision chuckles. “No luck with Billy”

“Tried reading to him, but for some reason, Charles Darwin’s the descent of man made him crying even harder. Oh. care to dance, darling?” “oh” you both chuckle. “It's almost like we're on a date.” “mm! Keep it down, lads, I was about to get my leg over.” you chuckle. “Vis?” “Hmm” “would you mind grabbing their binkies?” “Oh of course not. Binkies all round, I think” you and Vision set the twins down in their cribs.

Vision walks towards the kitchen “Now, I know parents aren't supposed to take shortcuts, but I think this situation calls for one, don't you?” the babies continue crying “so, go to sleep, my babies.” you move your hand but nothing happens “and go to sleep” you try again. The twins begin giggling “well, I don't think its very funny. Why won't you do what I want?”

“What's that, dear?” the babies start to cry again, you turn to see Vision has the binkies in his ears “that is not where those go” you grab the binkies and clean them “noise cancellation is not their primary function?” you put the binkies on the babies mouth and they stop crying “look, I think it's..” the twins shoot them out and start crying again.

“Vis?” “Mm” “what are we doing wrong?” “Oh don't worry dear.” Vision kisses your forehead “well figure it out. Perhaps we all need more time to get to know one another.” “maybe. Or maybe we just need some help.” the doorbell rings. “Oh” Vision walks over to the sofa and grabs a pillow to cover himself. “Hiya, kids” Agnes entered through the door.

“Oh, Agnes!” “Agnes, I was just fluffing this pillow. With my face” “oh, I was on my way to Jazzercise when i heard your new little bundles of joy were on a sleep strike.” “oh? Who told you that?” Vision asked, “uh, my ears.” Agnes chuckles, “Anyway, Auntie Agnes is here and I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve?” “oh Agnes you're a lifesaver.” “aw”

“Very well. But be careful of their belly buttons and remember to support their heads, and when was the last time you washed... Actually, you know what? It would be... Just... Maybe we better not.” the babies continue to cry, Agnes turns to you “um...uh… Do you want me to take that again?” you turn to look at Vision and turn back to look at Agnes “uh… I'm sorry?” “You want me to hold the babies. Should we just take it from the top?”

Vision chuckles awkwardly “what?” you chuckle “oh don't be silly. Vision, lets… let's let Agnes give it a try.” you chuckle nervously “fussy babies, meet buns of steel. We dare you to stay awake” Agnes and you both chuckle. “M/n” Vision motions for you to follow him “what was that about?” “what was what?” “what was what? That, that with Agnes just now.” you turn to look at Agnes and see that she's rocking the twins

“Well, I think she just got confused for a moment. She seems fine now.” you turn back to look at Vision “but what she said, the way she looked at you?” “how did she look at me?” “well, I dint… oh.” you turn back to look at Agnes she was spraying something over the twins “Lavender. It's supposed to have a calming effect. Ralph sprays it on me every night. But there's no taming this tiger..” she chuckles “it's so strange”

You start to whisper “that's not fair. It's not Agnes fault that she has an unusually high libido” “M/n did you really not see what I saw?” there's a thud behind you two “oh. Don't mind me. I'm just looking for your dark liquor.” “what?” “not for me. For the twins. What kind of babysitter do you think I am? I'm just gonna go and check in there”

You turn to Vision “Vision, the boys haven't slept in days. You and I both need a break and Agnes is just being neighborly, that's all.” the twin’s stopped crying “do you hear that?” “hear that?” “absolutely nothing” you gasp, Vision takes your hand and you two walk over to the cribs, “they finally fell asleep” “they're empty” “then where are the twins” “dad?, daddy?” you gasp “huh”

Agnes sighs “kids” she chuckles “you can't control em. No matter how hard you try” “well, hi” “hi” both you and Vision say “how are you doing, baby?” “aw”

You wander the world with a vision Of what life could be But then the years come and teach you To just wait and see Forces may try to pull us apart But nothing can phase me If you're in my heart Crossing our fingers, singing a song We're making it up as we go along Through the highs and the lows We'll be right, we'll be wrong We're making it up as we go along And there will be days We won't know which way to go But we'll take it higher You're all I desire When the going gets tough When push comes to shove We're making it up 'Cause we got love We got love We got love We got love Baby, we got... M/nVision

You walk around your house looking for Tommy and Billy. “Tommy, Billy?” you walk through the door and see Tommy and Billy standing in the kitchen “you know, I don't miss the crying, but jeez Louise, did you have to learn to walk? You two never stay put. Unless you're innocently forming a human wall in front of the kitchen sink.” someone sneezes “bless you” “Thank you” both Tommy and Billy say.

There's a soft bark “now tell me which one of you just barked? Scoot'' you gasp “oh, boy. waiter , what's this canine doing in my kitchen sink?” you turn to look at the twins “the doggy paddle?” “Can we keep him, daddy?” “Well, I'm sure his owners miss him very much. Come on.” you grab a towel and grab the dog and start to dry them “huh. There really is no collar?” “Can we keep him?”

“He was outside. Crying, alone.” “Now, boys, taking care of a living thing is a big responsibility. Dogs need food, exercise, training, belly rubs, and cuddles. And kisses between their little ears.” “morning, M/n. morning, boys.” you show Vision the dog “Good morning, unfamiliar wet animal.” you chuckle “who is this?” “we're not quite sure. Why so formal, honey?”

“Oh, it's just a precaution really. I had a hunch someone might pop over.” the back door opens and Agnes walks through “hi, kiddos” “with exactly the item we require” “my kitchen window told me someone got a new pooch.” the dog starts barking “did you name him yet?” the dog starts sniffing an outlet “how about sniffy” “oh” Agnes chuckles. Sparks start to come from the outlet causing the dog to yelp and run away. “How about sparky?”

You chuckle and hold out your hand “well, should we make it official?” you move your hand and a dog collar appears tommy takes the collar from you. “M/n” “hmm” “Agnes was right there!” “Well, she didn't notice. She didn't even notice when the boys went from babies to five-year-old's” “that's not what we agreed upon. You made no effort to conceal your abilities.”

“Well, I'm tired of hiding, Vis. and maybe you don't have to either.” you take your hand and start to crease his cheek “M/n, we are usually so much of the same mind. But right now… what aren't you telling me?” “so, is sparky our dog, daddy?” Tommy asks Vision “what?” Sparky starts to whimper.

“Boys, your father and I don't think you're ready to properly care for an animal until you're at least…” you turn to Vision “Ten” he coughs “Ten” “ten years old” you show them 10 fingers. The twins look at each other and smile “wait, now hang on there a minute…” “wait, no, no, no.” “...you young whippersnappers.” “no, no, no” you gasp as the twins age up. “Lets just hope this dog stays the same size.” Agnes chuckles “woof, woof”

You're in the living room with Tommy sitting next to you on the sofa “sit, Sparky. Now spin. Good boy” “oh bravo, Billy you weren't so bad either, Sparky” you and Tommy both clap “that's was radical. Where's dad? We gotta go show dad!” Tommy got up and walked towards the kitchen Billy followed behind him. “Oh, hes… hes at work” “huh?” “It's Saturday” the twins turn to look at you “no, it's not. It's Monday” “this morning was Saturday.”

“There was an emergency at the office and your father had to go in. end of story. look , he just… he needed a distraction.” “from what?” “from us?” “no! No way! No” you get up from the sofa and walk over to them “sometimes” you start to walk them over to the sofa so you can sit “your dad and I aren't on the same page, but that's just temporary. Like the two of you, you might fight over toys, but he's always going to be your brother. And he is always going to be yours. Because family is forever.”

“Do you have a brother dad?” “I do. Yeah he's far away from here. And it makes me sad sometimes.” Sparky begins to bark and he runs toward the door. “Hey , sparky, what's up boy?” sparky begins to growl “something scaring him” “stay here” you tell the twins and walk outside. You see a drone and you can hear a voice “M/n this is captain Monica Rambeau. Can you hear me? I just want to talk. That's it.” you look up at the drone and your eyes begin to glow red.

You use your powers to take the drone down and you grab it and start walking towards the outskirts of Westview. You can see the force field you put around the town and start to walk through it. You come out on the other side to see a camp of some sorts. “Is this yours?” you throw the drone at Haywards feet, you can still see your powers covering the drone. They have men and women armed around pointing their guns at you.

“The missile was just a precaution. You can hardly blame us. M/n” “oh, I think I can. This will be your only warning. Stay out of my home.” “I wish it could be that simple. You've taken an entire town hostage.” “Well, I'm not the one with the guns, Director.” “but you are the one in control.” “you're still here?” you start to see the red ball of energy around your hand.

“M/n, I didn't know the drones were armed. But you know that, don't you?” she begins to walk towards you “A town full of civilians. And you, a telepath, brought a S.W.O.R.D. Agent into your home. You trusted me to help deliver your babies. On some level, M/n, you know I am an ally. I wanna help you.” “how? What could you possibly have to offer me?”

“What do you want?” “I have what I want and no one” you look at Hayward “will ever take it from me again” you raise your arm and see the familiar red glow around the armed men. They all turn their guns at Hayward and you start to walk away. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa stand down!” “M/n” “Stand down”

you use your powers to change the force field you put around making it glow red you turn around one last time and walk through again.

“Sparky! Come on boy!” “sparky, sparky” you're walking around with the twins looking for sparky. “hey , what's the trouble little dudes?” “we can't find our dog” “ah, don't worry. He's sure to turn up. Your dad wont let him get far. Sir.” “I don't know where he could've gone” you tell the twins “here, boy, Sparky! Sparky!” you hear some rustling near some bushes “Sparky”

Agnes pops up holding something that appears to be wrapped “sparky”. Agnes sighs “I… I didn't wanna come until id wrapped him up.” “What happened to him?” you ask “found him in my azalea bushes. Don't know how many leaves he ate. I didn’t find him until it was too late. Oh…. Tommy. Billy, I'm so sorry.” you turn to look at the twins and see them looking at each other and nodding.

“Wait. Don't. Don’t” they look at you “don't what?” “don't age yourselves up. The urge to run from this feeling is powerful. I know.” “It's too sad” “you can fix anything, Dad. fix the dead.” “what? no” “you can do that?” you turn to look at Agnes and turn back to the twins “I am trying to tell you that there are rules in life, okay? We can't rush aging just because it's convenient.” you chuckle “And we can't reverse death. No matter how sad it makes us. Okay? Some things are forever.”

You can hear Agnes sigh behind you “you said family is forever.” “He is family. Bring him back, dad” “bring who back?” Vision looks over at Agnes “oh, boys. Come here” the twins walk over and hug Vision. Later you are picking up some toys and you turn to see Vision walk through the back door. “How are the boys?”

“A little heartbroken, but they'll be alright” “well, it's not often you get a dog and bury them the same day.” “Well, life moves pretty fast out in the suburbs.” you grab the basket of toys and take it over to the counter “I spoke with Norm” “Oh?” you look over at him confused. “I unearthed the man's suppressed personality and spoke to him free of your oversight. He was in pain, M/n”

“Vision…” you chuckle softly “listen, can we just…” “what? Watch tv? Turn in for the night so you can change everything over again? No, M/n. you can't control me the way you do to them” you look at him “Can’t I? I'm going to bed” “no! We're not done here. What is the Maximoff Anomaly?”

“The what?” “I have to believe that this, whatever this is, was subconsciousness at first and you only recently became aware of it.” “aware of what?” you walk out of the kitchen “Norm has a family, M/n” “he has a family, and he can't reach them because you won't let him reach them!” “I don't know what you're talking about” you turn to look at him. “Stop lying to me!” Vision begins to float.

The familiar red glow around your hand appears and you begin to float in front of him “This, all of this is for us. So let me handle it.” “What is outside of Westview?” “you don't wanna know, i promise you.” “you don't get to make that choice for me M/n” he points at you “you've never talked to me like this before” you start to slowly fall back to the ground.

“Before what?” Vision raises his Voice “before what? I can't remember my life before Westview. I don't know who I am! I'm scared!” you look up at him “you are my husband, you are Tommy and Billy’s father. Isn't that enough.” Vision slowly comes down “M/n, why are there no other children in Westview.” you walk over to the sofa and sit down “oh, god. There are just stop it.”

“No. no. the playground stands empty every morning I walk to work. Why? Tell me why?” “ Do you really think that I am controlling everything? That I am somehow in charge of everybody in Westview? I'm walking their dogs, mowing their lawns, getting them to dentist appointments on time? I mean, I…” you chuckle dryly ”I don't know how any of this started in the first place.”

“M/n, what you're doing here, it's wrong” he walks around and kneels in front of you “I…” “It's wrong” the doorbell rings, getting the attention of you and Vision “I didn't do that. I… you don't believe me.” “M/n, i want to, but at this point, I'm ignoring statistics entirely.” the doorbell rings a second time you get up and walk over to the door. You open the door, and are shocked “M/n who is this?”

“Long lost bro gets to squeeze his stinking brother to death or what?” “Pietro?” he nods, he opens his arms and you and hug him “who's the popsicle?” he points and Vision.

#marvel x male reader #Marvel x male!reader #WandaVision x male reader #WandaVision x male!reader #Vision x male reader #Vision x male!reader #Male reader #Male!reader

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cherryobx · 3 years

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I'm all yours//Rafe Cameron x reader

request: "Hii!! I love your writing! What if Rafe and Y/N have a fling, but he doesn’t make a move or show his motives, so she starts distancing herself from him. Later he finds out that she’s been going out with another guy (totally up to you to decide whether it’s obx character or fictional) and decides to have a conversation with her about what they are (he’s a liiitle too jealous and it makes her mad, but they work it out after a small fight). That’s it!! Hope you like it, have a great day🥰"

summary: Rafe realizes something when he hears that you're seeing someone

warnings: language, mentions of sex (but no smut!), FWB, angst

WC: 1.7k

(not my gif, creds to the owner!)

He was never there when you woke up. It was like a tradition at this point. He always left without you noticing. Of course, some mornings you wished that he’d stay a little longer and just hold you and whisper sweet nothings into your ear. But that was Rafe Cameron we’re talking about. It was nothing more than a friends with benefits situation. Although you wished it was something more. You’d never tell it to Rafe though. He’d just make fun of you for wanting something that was so out of your reach, something almost impossible.

After stretching a bit on your bed, you sat up and tried to rub the tiredness away from your eyes. Your eyes drifted to the alarm clock beside your bed. 7:32. Why had you woken up so early? You blamed it on the coldness of your bed and the sheets. After all it was just you in it.

You stood up, put on an oversized t-shirt and started picking up your clothes that had been scattered all over your bedroom the night before. You tossed them onto the bathroom floor and made a mental note to put them in the washing machine later.

Feeling your stomach grumble with hunger you walked into the kitchen and put two slices of bread into the toaster. You opened the fridge and took out the butter. Lately you had been obsessed with toast with butter. It was heavenly on mornings like these.

As soon as the toast was done, you spread some butter on them. You didn’t care enough to put them on a plate. Or you were just lazy. One of those reasons. As you were eating your toast, you scrolled on your phone, seeing all the pictures and videos from last night’s party. You had decided not to go and just stay home and watch a movie all by yourself. You actually treasured those moments. Rafe came over in the middle of the night and of course he was pretty hammered. You still slept with him though. How could you deny yourself such pleasure?

When you were finished eating, you sat on the living room couch, pulling your knees up to your chest. You felt pathetic, sad even. You were sorry for yourself. You had let Rafe crawl into your life, into your head, and now you couldn’t get him out. He was always on your mind.

“This has to stop,” you mumbled to yourself, as you took out your phone and texted the guy you had turned down a few days ago. He had asked you out but you declined because it felt wrong to go out with a guy that wasn’t Rafe. But now you realized that the smartest thing right now would be trying to forget about Rafe. He didn’t see you as nothing more than a friend, a hook-up.

He replied almost immediately which was a bit weird because it was 8 in the morning but you didn’t give it much thought. You agreed to go on a date with him in the evening.

As you were getting ready to go on the date, you got a text from Rafe, asking if he could come over tonight. You didn’t reply. It’s for the better, you thought.

The guy, Luke, picked you up at 7 p.m sharp and took you to out to eat. It was pretty romantic you were not going to lie.

“You’ve been living in Kildare your entire life? How have I not seen you before?” you asked before taking a bite of your food.

“It may be because I don’t really go to parties.” You raised your eyebrows in surprise.

“You don’t? Then what do you do here? There’s really nothing to do here except parties and golf, if you ask me.”

“Well, mostly I just hang out with my friends, play golf, go fishing. You know, the usual stuff.”

“I’d get bored with that fast,” you laughed.

“Then what do you do here?” he asked.

“Umm, I go to parties, obviously, I’m not lame,” you said, sarcastically rolling your eyes. “But sometimes I surf.”

“You do? Isn’t that like a pogue thing?”

“So, sport is now a pogue thing? Yeah, I don’t label things like that. The whole pogue vs kook things is just pointless in my opinion.”

“If you say so.” He took a sip of his drink.

After dinner, you walked down to the beach and just took a stroll there. It was a beautiful sunset and you even took some pictures with him to remember that night.

“I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for not turning me down like I did you.” He had just brought you home and walked up to your front door.

“No problem. Who am I to say no to such a pretty girl.” The compliment made you blush.

“Also, thank you for paying tonight. I promise I’ll pay next time.”

“There’s going to be a next time?”

“Yes. I mean if you want to.”

“I do.”

“Then it’s settled.” You pressed a kiss to his cheek before entering your home and closing the door behind you. You were actually happy with how this whole thing turned out. You hadn’t thought about Rafe even once this whole evening.

When you stopped answering to Rafe’s texts and calls, he became confused. What was going on? Had he done something to upset you?

After a few weeks in the dark, he heard at one party that you were seeing someone. He felt this kind of tightness in his chest. It was a mix of emotions. Almost like anger but not really. He couldn’t put a finger on it why he felt like this. It was not like you were his girlfriend or anything. Although he liked the sound of that. Y/N, his girlfriend.

He left the party and came over to your place. He banged his fist on the door repeatedly. Je might’ve even woken up your neighbours with all the noise he was making.

“Rafe, what the fuck are you doing here in the middle of the night?” you asked, as you opened the door. You were wearing an old t-shirt and shorts. You looked adorable to him.

“Can we talk?”

“At 2 in the morning? No fucking way.” You started to close the door but he shoved his foot between the door and its frame.

“Y/N, please. I need to speak with you.”

“Then come back at a reasonable hour,” you huffed and rolled your eyes.

“This is a reasonable hour. Just let me in.”

You let out a sight but then opened the door for him. You walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water because your throat was feeling a bit dry. He followed you close behind.

“If you’re here for sex then you might as well just leave right now. I’m not in the mood.”

“Is it so hard to believe that I’m here just to talk to you?”

“You want an honest answer to that?” you asked, raising your eyebrow at him.

“Not really.”

You took a sip from your glass and then placed it on the kitchen counter. “If you’re really here to talk then talk. I want to go back to sleep.”

“I don’t want you going out with that Luke you’ve been seeing.”

“How the fuck is that your business? I can go out with whoever I want. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Yes, I can. I know what’s best for you.”

You bitterly laughed. “Oh, you do now? Rafe, you don’t know shit.”

“He’s not a good guy for you.”

“And you know that how? He treats me better than you ever have. And that’s a fact. Keep your nose out of my business and go find some other girl to fuck. This,” you waved your finger between you two, “is over. I don’t want to see you anymore. Like ever again. So you might as well delete my number.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

“Why can’t you just leave me the fuck alone?” The frustration within you was too much to handle as tears started to fall from your eyes and roll down your cheeks.

“Because I love you, for fucks sake,” he admitted, yelling.

You were staring at him in shock. You were speechless and didn’t know what to say. Was this like some sort of cruel prank he was playing on you? Or was he serious? Could it be? It was hard to believe. Why would he admit it now, after all this time?

“I didn’t realize it at first. I was so caught up in myself and my problems. But when I heard you were seeing someone, I freaked out. I didn’t like the feeling it gave me. I didn’t like the thought of you with someone else other than me. It didn’t seem right.”

He slowly walked closer to your, now sobbing, frame. He placed one of his hands on your shoulder and the other under you chin. He lifted it so you’d look him in the eye.

“If there’s a slight chance that you’re feeling like I do, please tell me. If not, I’ll leave right now and you’ll never have to even see me again.”

“I do,” you whispered, not being able to actually talk. Your emotions were overwhelming you as you broke down. He wrapped his arms around you and rubbed his hand up and down on your back in a soothing manner.

“It’s okay. Don’t cry. I’m here with you.”

You stood there for what felt like eternity, crying between his arms. When you had calmed down you pulled away a bit so you could look at him.

“You’re such an asshole. You know that, right?”

He nodded. He knew.

“But. I love you too. Always have been. I tried so hard to forget you. That’s why I started going out with Luke. So I could forget you for a couple of hours. And it worked. But as soon as I got home it was like he never existed. I thought about you. Only you.”

“Well, now I’m all yours.”

“That’s good to hear because I’m yours as well.”

***

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vs-redemption · 4 years

Note

May I request a tamaki x reader where he’s crushing on the reader hard and the reader likes him too a lot and the gang keep encouraging him to confess and he doesn’t until he sees the reader flirting with mirio for fun so he asks the reader to help him with something and he confesses to her there >.<

From Cindy: I had fun writing this one! Amajiki is so precious! He deserves all the love!

The Fundraiser (Amajiki x Fem!Reader)

“Hey guys!” you prance into the small yakitori shop where you always met your friends on Friday evenings. It was after closing time, but the owner never minded making an exception for you and the former big three from UA. All four of you were pro-heroes that worked in the area, so it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience to give you guys a place to unwind and relax after a long day of patrolling the streets. It was as routine for him now as it was for all of you.

“Hey! You’re late!” Mirio points out while making Amajiki move over so you could take the spot next to him at the counter. The owner of the shop was already bringing over your usual drink.

“Sorry,” you explain while plopping down in between the two boys. “I got caught up filling out some reports at the agency.”

“You’re always putting off your paperwork,” Nejire wags her finger at you. “You know that’s a bad habit.”

“Can you really blame me?” You defend yourself, “Nobody likes doing paperwork, right Tamaki?” You glance over at your shy friend who already looked nervous about being placed in the middle of two friends in disagreement, even if it was just teasing.

“It’s not something I really enjoy doing, I guess,” He mumbles with his eyes downcast. “But, I think it’s still an important part of our job.”

“Well said!” Mirio grins encouragingly. “Anyway, let’s figure out what we’re going to order so we’re not keeping the poor owner up all night!”

As the rest of the group turns their eyes toward the menus, you can’t help but keep yours glued to Amajiki. His nervous disposition had improved a bit since graduating from UA and becoming a full time hero, but sometimes he still got so flustered over the tiniest things. It was amazing to you that someone like him had not only pursued a profession that put him in the public spotlight, but also excelled enough at the job to have earned a reputation as one of the strongest and most trusted heroes in the country. The way he was able to overcome all his anxieties with just his passion for protecting innocent people had always been something you’d admired about him. That admiration combined with the gentle warmth of his friendship had ultimately resulted in you developing a bit of a crush on him. You’d considered telling him a few times, but the thought of making him uncomfortable or jeopardizing the relationship you already had held you back.

“Hey,” Mirio calls your name to get your attention, and you look over to see both him and Nejire staring at you with weird smirks on their faces.

“It’s your turn to order,” Amajiki mumbles while sliding you the menu he’d been using. You quickly rattle off a few things you knew you liked before handing the menu back to the owner.

“So, I was thinking about the fundraiser next week,” Nejire pipes in with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “We better start thinking about who our dates are going to be.”

“Uh, I don’t remember seeing anything that said bringing a plus one was necessary,” You say while glancing over at Amajiki again. He was fiddling with his glass in his hands as if the topic of conversation was already putting him on edge. You felt bad for him, but couldn’t help but think it was cute the way the tips of his ears turned red with embarrassment. There was a part of you that wished to reach out and take his hand to comfort him even though you knew it might just intensify his nerves.

“It’s more fun with a date though!” Mirio nods his head before leaning forward to look at Amajiki. “Who do you think she should go with?”

Amajiki instantly tenses up and he reaches up to pull his hood over his face. “I don’t know,” His voice shakes a bit, “just thinking about going to a huge party like that makes my stomach hurt.”

Although he wasn’t lying completely, Amajiki was exaggerating just a bit to avoid the situation his friends were putting him in. Mirio and Nejire knew he had a huge crush on you, and had been encouraging him to ask you out whenever they found the chance. It was really hard for him to find the courage though. You were so amazing to him, both as a friend and a hero, and he wasn’t sure he was good enough for you. And if you were to reject him, he knew he’d never recover from the humiliation.

“She should go with you, Mirio!” The owner of the shop suggests while serving up the food. “You two would be too cute together!”

“Really?” Mirio asks with a surprised chuckle.

“No, he’s totally right,” you say while putting on a fake look of concern. “We would actually be too cute together. People wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“You think so?” Mirio puts a hand to his chin in thought, going along with the joke.

“Yeah,” you nod while nudging him with your shoulder. “Everyone knows you’re like a brave knight, so if you show up with me on your arm it’s going to cause a riot.”

“Are you calling yourself my princess?” Mirio asks with a dramatic gasp causing the owner and Nejire to laugh at the theatrics. You let out a dry laugh too and shake your head.

“I don’t know,” you admit. “That might be going a little too far.”

“Glad to know your ego isn’t that big,” Nejire giggles before changing the subject. “But we should definitely go shopping together this weekend to find the perfect outfit.”

You both start discussing what kind of clothes you wanted to wear to the fundraiser, leaving Amajiki to think about the conversation that had just happened. You’d all been friends for years, so it was normal to tease each other. Also, Mirio knew how he felt about you, so he’d never flirt with you seriously. It still sat strangely with Amajiki though. One day, someone might swoop in and ask you out for real. What would he do then? Maybe you would reject him, but he’d never know for sure if he didn’t try. By the time you’d all finished eating, Amajiki had somehow found the resolve to take his shot.

“All right guys!” Mirio says while you head out of the shop so the owner can close up. “I’d say same time next week, but I’ll be seeing you all at the fundraiser!” You all say your goodbyes before starting to part ways and head home. You’re shocked though when Amajiki calls your name before you get too far.

“Hey… um…” he was wringing his hands together and staring at his feet. “I wanted to ask your help with something.” You wondered what he could possibly be freaking out about, you reach out to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Sure. What’s up, Tamaki?” You feel a little sad when he reaches up to take your hand off his arm, but your heart skips in your chest when he doesn’t let go after.

“I… was thinking…” he finally peeks up at you, his dark eyes full of vulnerability. “Since we don’t have anyone else… we could… go to the fundraiser together.” You almost can’t believe your ears. When the silence goes a little too long, Amajiki tries to pull his hand away. You keep your grip though, wondering if your hopes were coming true or if he just wanted to go as friends.

“I would love to go with you,” you tell him breathlessly, causing his face to go beet red.

“Really?” His voice was barely audible, “because I didn’t know if you liked me that way.” You can’t stop the huge smile from taking over your face as you pull him closer to throw your arms around his neck.

“I’ve had a crush on you for so long Tamaki,” you admit as he slowly returns your embrace with shaky arms. “I’m so happy you feel the same way!” When you pull away, Amajiki looks totally speechless but the small smile on his lips tells you that he’s just as happy and relieved as you are. You take his hand into yours and give it a squeeze. “We’re going to have so much fun together!” You tell him before leaning in and placing a small kiss on his cheek. His face flushes again but he nods his head in agreement. It was the first time in his life he actually felt excited for a party.

#Amajiki x reader #tamaki amajiki x reader #Tamaki Amajiki #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha #mha #writing requests #Cindy's Writing

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consulaaris · 4 years

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SHEPHERDS OF HAVEN RECRUIT FORM - RHIANNON VASI

(template by @shepherds-of-haven !)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFO

name + nicknames: rhiannon vasi - rhia (by red, and later the other shepherds), sunshine/frosty/ice-queen (by chase)

titles: captain of the shepherds, the hero of haven, the dragonslayer

callsign: aethereal (possibly glacier)

gender: cis woman

sexuality: bisexual

pronouns: she/her

racial heritage: hunter

age + flower day: 28 years + 12 leph (winter)

height: 5’3” (160cm)

“a female mage with waist-length tousled raven hair and attractive stormy grey eyes. you're wearing your shepherds uniform and sun medallion. you have a streak of white in your hair as a result of your hunter heritage, and your cloak sports a golden eagle clasp.”

BACKGROUND INFO

weapon: daggers

magic specialization: elementalist (aetherai)

birthplace: maj

education: circle-trained

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

past jobs: freelance mercenary, bodyguard, library assistant, tavern waitress (that one lasted like, a solid day and a half before she blew up on a rude customer)

likes: fancy cloaks, books, khav, stargazing, sweets & baked goods, picnics, cats, snowy or rainy weather, quiet days, inside jokes, cuddling with her friends & loved ones

dislikes: people prying into her past, pickled vegetables, enclosed and/or crowded spaces, swimming, being Known™ in haven

strengths: magic (both brute force & controlled), knife-fighting, working with children, speed, cleverness, quick-thinking, introspectiveness, honesty

weaknesses: social situations, overly stubborn, past injuries (particularly on her hands) sometimes make it hard to fight physically, brute strength, holds grudges, emotionally repressed + PTSD, has a major guilt complex & will push people away/get herself into dangerous situations to “protect them” (doesn’t consider her own safety to be an important thing, essentially)

hobbies + special skills: wood carving, studying magic/history/astronomy, writing poetry, impressive gambling skills (she’s good at people reading and has a great poker face; she just struggles when she has to like. actually talk LOL)

major arcana: the hermit

dnd morality alignment: chaotic neutral/true neutral; leans towards the good side there, though

meyers-briggs personality type: intj-t

PERSONALITY

heart of gold / will of iron (it’s a 52-48 split- very close)

rebellious / loyal

independent / social

tactful / straightforward

bold / cautious

charming / stoic / intimidating

witty / sincere

resentful / forgiving

self-preserving / self-sacrificing (rhia claims she’s self-preserving, but she’s really... not)

book-smart / street-smart

one-god / atheist / old faith

bright mind / silver tongue / razor wits / nerves of steel

overall personality: although as a child/teen she was confident and playful, ten years of life alone and on the run have hardened rhia and caused her to retreat into her shell. she’s always been headstrong and stubborn, but now she tends to come across as rather prickly or icy to people she doesn’t know or trust. when you do get to know her though, it’s clear she’s more awkward than intentionally mean, although her personality can still come off as snarky or abrasive when she’s in uncomfortable situations or around unfamiliar faces. rhia can be a bit temperamental at times, but (though she’s convinced otherwise) she’s a good person with a kind heart who’s incredibly protective of those she cares about, no matter how much she may try to deny or bury it- she never asked for the powers to save the world, but she’ll be damned if she won’t do it... regardless of the cost to herself. she blames herself entirely for the loss of her village and is terrified of hurting the people she loves like that again, but joining the shepherds is the biggest catalyst for rhia trying her best to open up once more. though she’s always cared for them in her own way she’s now beginning to truly trust them, and with red around she’s slowly starting to show her softer side again, too.

RELATIONSHIPS

best friend(s): red antiqua, halek prince, riel syndran, briony stormbreaker, caine

preferred mission partner(s): red, halek, blade (they butt heads, but rhia trusts his work ethic lolol), and ayla or briony. generally a team that she trusts to get stuff done & won’t give her a heart attack (i.e. working with chase or trouble can be fun, but rhia is Stressed)

friendly rival(s): probably chase a little bit, just because they tend to snark at each other a lot. they’re good friends though! she and ayla also get a little competitive since they’re both elementalists, but it’s the type of rivalry that pushes them both to improve.

love interest(s): red antiqua (ex and current)

first kiss scenario: okay but the fact that i could 100% see that being their first kiss as teenagers + a possible first kiss once they get back together... good shit. (and i do have a WIP where rhia gets injured... 🤔)

enemies: ebert, the endarkened, the autarchy, moonsilk (not really she’s just big mad + halek is her bff ajsjjsjsj)

REFERENCE QUOTES

“she’s got a passion for learning, that one. miss vasi was the best assistant i’ve had in ages, and though i often found her reading on the job she always finished her work. very detail oriented, too, although i do wish she hadn’t left so suddenly. it always did feel like she was running from something.” (- librarian from an unnamed city in Blest)

“rhiannon’s vicious in a fight, i’ll give ‘er that much. she’s not exactly the most chatty o’ folks, but if yer looking for a good bodyguard you ain’t getting’ much better than ‘er.” (- fellow mercenary)

“i think she might hold the record for the shortest amount of time a waitress ever worked here. to be fair, i don’t really blame her for throwing a drink in that man’s face and threatening to shove her foot up his you-know-where when he made that comment, but business is business.” (- owner of an inn in an unnamed city in Blest)

“rhia was always at the top of our class in the circle; she was confident and funny, and even when she got in trouble it was clear the teachers loved her! she was always happy to help anyone with their work, too- or anything really. she was great fun, one of the good ones. i do wonder what happened in those years she was gone though, because seeing her again, it was like she was almost... sad. like a light all burnt out. i hope she’s alright; i’ve been a little worried, and i know red and neon have too. red especially, if you catch my drift.” (-panrachus )

#shepherds of haven #shoh #shepherds of haven mc #shoh oc #shoh recruit form #oc: rhiannon vasi #i’m procrastinating writing again (although i am Almost done with this rhia/red fic i’ve been working on holy shit)#but in any case: rhia has been living in my head rent free and i love this disaster woman <3 #i was too lazy to edit the artbreeder image to add her white streak or beauty marks lolol but it’s fine #i know i’ve done some art & fic with rhia but i don’t think it’s rlly touched on some aspects of her character i’ve been fleshing out?#so a solid intro post felt in order ahshjsjsjsj

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superleeleehipster · 4 years

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Caryl Spoilers/Positivity

Well, I woke up to a storm of craziness. No wonder I had a bad sleep last night, my mind knew what I’d be waking up to the next morning.

This is kind of my take on things, and I will put a positive light on them, because I’m a chronic optimist despite this damn show. Warning for spoilers below.

I was hoping that they would stick to the idea that Daryl’s never had a serious relationship before due to his past. I mean, who wouldn’t have wanted to see a Caryl love scene where Daryl is shy and admits he’s never been with anyone, so Carol sweetly helps him navigate through wonders of female satisfaction.

Gotta admit, this sucks, but this was something I was kind of expecting ever since we heard about this Leah character. I didn’t want it to be true (obviously), but I had a feeling...

The grief that settled in the pit of my stomach when I found out was the same grief I felt upon hearing Carol marrying Ezekiel. But, we've survived that and it wound up working out better than expected in the end. After all, Kang did say that Carol and Ezekiel is just a chapter in a bigger story that surrounds Daryl and Carol. And God help me, I still have faith that this will turn out for the better for us.

- If we go by the brief synopsis, it says that we see the “toxic situations that led him to be dog’s owner”, which is red flag #1 for me in this relationship he has with Leah. Why would they describe the situation with Leah toxic? We know she gives him an ultimatum, stating that he needs to decide which side he’s on (which is a shitty thing to do, and also an abuse tactic). Why would she tell him that that there weren't issues already between them?? Knowing that Rick is dead, and Carol is lost to him, he probably decided to go with her (there was no one in his life at that point) And then she leaves before he could get back in time. So im wondering if this relationship is really real for Leah or if she may be using him for some reason...

But I also knew that there was a possibility that they would let him have a relationship before he and Carol became an official thing. Some people would argue that “it’s only fair”, because Carol had a small fling with Tobin that she himself admitted could’ve been more if she had stayed in Alexandria, and of course her relationship with Ezekiel that last six years. So it’s only fair that Daryl would find someone else too during that time frame. But there are other folks who say that it’s out of character for him to have a relationship with someone else so quickly, and I do agree with that. Kang has said that Daryl wouldn’t start a relationship with someone he barely knows, so this whole situation seems extremely left field to everyone. In fact (and I know this has been said already), I think the general audience will even be thrown off because it's so out of the blue. Hell it would've made more sense for him to sleep with Connie than a random person.

But... here’s the thing. Maybe it’s supposed to be out of character for him. Here’s what I mean by it:

- The second thing that caught my eye is that the spoilers state that in a flashback, Carol tells Daryl that she’s not going to visit him anymore, and that it happens BEFORE he meets Leah (the latter isn’t confirmed yet). If that is truly the case, then him going for a relationship with Leah actually is starting to make more sense. Not only had Carol decided to live with Ezekiel, but she willingly said to Daryl that she’s not going to visit him anymore ; therefore, it sounded like she would be truly lost to him in Daryl’s eyes.

Also, we don’t even know the specifics of what Daryl and Leah bond over. Maybe Daryl admits to Leah that he’s lost everyone he loves, one way or another, and he’s all alone, and Leah being there to comfort him kind of drives him to “make a life for himself”, b/c him and Carol don't have a chance (at least at the time).

-Now this whole fight scene is... I'll admit, I'm nervous to see it. But I don't want to judge it before we get the full details on how the fight started, what they're fighting about, etc. My guess (and also my hope b/x this is the only way it would make some sense to me) is that when the fight happens, Daryl sort of goes off on everything he's held back when it came to Carol. He very well might point out that she's left him multiple times throughout the years and then hit the nail on the head when she left to live at the Kingdom and told Daryl she wasn't coming back. I'm not blaming Carol, but she has left him a lot, so I wouldn't be surprised if that comes up during the fight. Also, if Daryl has kept his frustrations dormant this entire time, what would happen when they're finally released into the wild? What happens when we keep things to ourselves and then something breaks the dam and we go off on the person who's done us wrong in our eyes? We say things to hurt them, we say things we don't necessarily mean, but you want that person to feel as much pain as you do at the moment. And maybe that's what happened with the fight. Daryl got too into it and he blamed Carol for Connie's death.

Listen, I don't like the new development as much as anyone else does. It's really out of character for Daryl, but I do believe we need to wait and see what the episode is like before jumping to conclusions. Like when we found out Carol had sex with Ezekiel, and the episode turned out way better for us than we thought. It could be a case like that. My hope is it'll be like this: Carol tells Daryl that she can't come see him anymore and he looks all sad and dejected and then he comes across Leah. Daryl blatantly says that he loved someone but she's in love with someone else, and Leah pushes him to be in a relationship by tugging at his heartstrings, but he had this dejected look after they have sex, like what they just didn't wasn't right... Then Leah tells him to pick either her or his past because she can tell he's holding onto it, but then leaves before he could come back. Then caryl get into a fight about their feelings and Daryl points out that everyone always leaves him in the end, Carol including and... they have a bad fight but also get a ton of shit out in the open. That's my hopeful take on it.

For those who are done, I get it. I mean, I GET IT. We've gone through so much and it seems like they're just toying with us at this point. But I do believe caryl is endgame. It might just take time to get there.

Side note: don't let this ruin your love for fanfiction. There's a reason why we have it. Keep reading and writing those lovely caryl stories loves 💘.

#caryl

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welllpthisishappening · 4 years

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Welllp This is...Books. Lots and Lots of Books

That gif is something of a lie. Some of these books were not great. But! Some of them were very good! And some of them were marketed weird — seriously, what does qualify as YA — and some of them I read in, like, six hours and some of them I raged about for six hours after I finished them.

Or: 2020!Laura reverted to 2004!Laura and read just a lot of books and then her husband got her a Kindle and she read even more books and has thoughts on most of those books that she is now going to share with the internet while also making absurd category names. Note that these are only books I read for the first time this year. So, the list is missing some of the stuff I used as coping devices. ALSO SOME SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

FAVORITE BOOKS THAT MADE A SHITTY YEAR SLIGHTLY BETTER AND ALSO LIKELY MADE ME SWOON A BIT

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he's not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

— I kid you not, I had to do a lap around the apartment after reading the second book in this series. Why didn’t I read this before? Why isn’t there more fic? Why I am constantly falling for dark-haired sad dudes in love with their wives??? I cannot rec this series enough. It’s got world building and found families, and that dark-haired sad dude, and magic and lore and banter, and it’s so good and I don’t understand why it was marketed as YA. The literary world is weird, guys.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (and the Heroes of Olympus) by Rick Riordan

Accompany the son of the sea god Poseidon and his other demigod friends as they go on a series of quests that will have them facing monsters, gods, and conniving figures from Greek mythology. Do they have what it takes to save the Olympians from an ancient enemy?

— Straight up, how did you guys cope with Percy and Annabeth when you were kids reading this? I would have been OBSESSED. Quarantine felt like the perfect time to finally read all of these books, and I know it’s sacrilegious to like Heroes of Olympus, but I might have liked parts of that series more? Just because it felt like they were older and I was super into Percabeth being properly in love. Also, now I get why everyone was so upset about the movies. Fair.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

— Yet another YA series that I will admit to loving this year. Started off a little slow, but once the world building really got underway —and it gets underway — I was hooked. If I had read this at an age-appropriate time I would have been super in love Captain Carswell Thorne. I was still kind of in love with Captan Carswell Thorne. So it should come as no surprise that Cress was my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed the whole thing, really.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

— YO. Y O. THIS WAS SO GOOD. World building! Magic! Marriage of convenience! Well-written enemies to lovers! As soon as I finished this, I bought the sequel. And then got upset the third book in the series isn’t out yet! That’s a frustrating theme for me this year.

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She's the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara's childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it's also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there's a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn't looked him up on the Internet...

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton's most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they're lucky, they'll help everyone else get lucky too.

— I LOVED IT. L O V E D. As I told Justin “there was more porn than I was expecting,” in that porn and the adult film industry was a legitimate plot point and not just a part of Josh’s character, but it was incredibly well written and interesting and I cared about the plot. Sometimes I also wanted to shake Clara, but that was kind of the point.

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn't know he's arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door...

As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he's forced to share his space with the owner's beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.

As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.

— More well-written enemies to lovers! It’s possible! Seriously, the banter was so good. The kissing was even better. Ridiculous and interfering family is one of my favorite things, and this had it in SPADES. It also made me want to eat samosas, which is kind of my base setting, but I really wanted Indian food whenever I was reading this. Also, the end scene was so goddamn cute I cannot believe it actually happened.

Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev

— The one that got away is one of my favorite tropes, and this modern version of Persuasion did it so well. Everyone was annoying, but in an almost understandable way that made me ache and I just wanted them TO KISS. And then they did kiss! And it was so good! Plus, at the risk of being a little self-indulgent, it was kind of Out of the Frying Pan esque and I liked that a lot. If there is a downside: it’s how quickly the relationship starts up again, like zero to 60 in two seconds flat, and that there were a lot of POVs. Which wouldn’t have been an issue if they’d been labeled, or weren’t bouncing around the timeline randomly. Sometimes I’d have to be like—wait, who’s talking about what?

Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn't a complete screw up? When she's asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She's a chef, what's the worst that could happen?Rico Silva, that's what.Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn't too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he's definitely over her.But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce...and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion...?

The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting

Lilah isn't sure what hurt worse: the day Ethan left her to focus on his hockey career or the day he came back eight years later. He might think they can pick up just where they left off, but she's no longer that same girl and never wants to be again.

Just when Lilah might finally be ready to let Ethan in, though, she finds out their reunion might have nothing to do with love and everything to do with improving his game. But Ethan's already lost her once, and even if it costs him his career, he'll do anything to keep from losing her again.

— HOCKEY ROM COM. HOCKEY. ROM. COM. Apparently this lady is regarded as the queen of “hockey romance,” which I kind of take offense to, but will give a pass on because this was a very cute book and everyone was cute in it and I was only marginally frustrated by those same people being idiots. As is required by rom coms. Hockey, or otherwise.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Fall in love, break the curse. It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom. A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

— Beauty and the Beast AU!!! Fantasy! Magic! Romance! I loved this, even when Rhen was being a whiny idiot. But he was also cursed, so like—fair. This dives into the politics of a cursed kingdom, puts a fun spin on the original fairy tale and also has a sequel. Which I read, and possibly enjoyed more. Only to realize the third book isn’t published yet, and then got annoyed by that.

QUESTIONABLY-GOOD FREE FANTASY BOOKS ON AMAZON

The Silver and Orchids Collection by Shari L Tapscott

What happens when a feisty adventuress, a lord looking to make his own way in the world, and a handsome sea captain set out to find Kalae’s rarest and most valuable flower?

Trouble—and lots of it.

— Snarky flirting! Adventure! Sword fights! Listen, this is not prize-winning fiction, but Lucia is a fun heroine, the rest of her adventure-seeking friends are an absolute delight and you don’t have to think too much while reading it. All four books wrap up their individual storylines, but help set up the next one and while the ending felt a little forced (and way too quick) I didn’t hate it enough to throw the Kindle across the room.

Forest of Firelight by Shari L. Tapscsott

After the sudden death of her brother, Princess Amalia is charged with what feels like an impossible task—she must choose the next king. Youthful thoughts of love are pushed aside as she accepts her fate, setting upon a quest throughout the kingdom to find a man worthy of her father’s throne.

Little does Amalia know, someone has already set his sights on her.

Rhys is a man of secrets, and his mission is simple: befriend the princess of Renove. Coax her to trust him, convince her to follow him.

Betray her when it’s time.

All goes according to plan until Rhys meets the princess. Amalia is a disaster. Never has he met someone so drawn to trouble. Never has he met someone so irritatingly likable.

He’s not allowed to fall for her.

She could never entrust him with a crown.

But, unbeknownst to them, their unlikely partnership might be the key to saving their entire world from a darkness that’s slowly creeping from the wounded earth that separates one kingdom from the next.

— FORBIDDEN LOVE! It’s good! Real good! I read this whole series (or the three books in it, so far) in a questionably short amount of time. Again, not the deepest story, and Amalia is occasionally frustratingly dumb. While Rhys is also sort of all-knowing in that fantasy hero sort of way? Y’know what I mean? Still, they banter very well, and eventually kiss even better.

LESS GOOD FANTASY BOOKS THAT PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE JUST BEEN AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON AMAZON

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia's family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess—a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.

For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She's endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.

Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn't always won on the battlefield.

For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here.

— I wanted to love this series. So much so that I read the whole thing. All three books. And I’m still not sure why. The world building, maybe. Which was very good, and the politics actually kept me interested, but every single character was the absolute worst and I kind of wanted them all to die. That’s not even an exaggeration. Spoiler, they didn’t all die. I was only marginally disappointed.

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

When the ruthless Pirate King learns of a legendary treasure map hidden on an enemy ship, his daughter, Alosa, knows that there's only one pirate for the job—herself. Leaving behind her beloved ship and crew, Alosa deliberately facilitates her own kidnapping to ensure her passage on the enemy ship. After all, who's going to suspect a seventeen-year-old girl locked in a cell?Then she meets the (surprisingly perceptive and unfairly attractive) first mate, Riden, who is charged with finding out all her secrets. Now it's down to a battle of wits and will... Can Alosa find the map and escape before Riden figures out her plan?

— Alosa was kind of the worst? Like, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER who had to keep reminding you how strong she was because she would kill anyone, and had an all female pirate crew. And the whole time I was just like, ok...cool. Still, I read the sequel too and that was slightly better.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.

2) Marry him.

3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King's power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she's going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra's not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

— I cannot explain this book any way except to tell you it is so weird. Like, sometimes I remember I read this and all I can think is: why did this book happen? It felt like it started in the middle of the story, which is not a knock on the story itself, but mostly on the world building. Which was lacking to say the least. Also the resolution was super rushed and even more weird and I was like—why does he like her??? I still don’t know, honestly.

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne

Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie "Leo" Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, has only one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?

But when Leo's childhood friend and first love, Elliot, returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one who got away, the boy Leo's family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now he's the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo's life miserable. But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.

— Another book whose lack of world building hurt it. Stuff just happened, and we were expected to understand it and be into it and I was neither. I had no reason to care about anyone in this book, especially Elliot who seemed like an asshole.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian's heart to the Sea Queen and or remain a human forever.The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it's his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she's more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?

— This book did not go the way I thought it was going to. Not a bad thing, but also not the best and the ending was...bleh. The middle, though? That was legit, and the action was good. I am always a fan of sword fights. Still, there was something that left me waiting for the final push towards great and it just never really came.

ROM-COMS WITH ONLY PASSABLY FRUSTRATING PLOTS AND GOOD KISSING

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe's mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can't resist—it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble—not just some privileged white politician, as she assumed him to be. Because of Max's high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?

— It was cute. Max was occasionally an idiot. The kissing was legit. Most of their problems could have very easily been solved, but that’s kind of this genre’s schtick.

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

A wedding planner left at the altar? Yeah, the irony isn't lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina's offered an opportunity that could change her life. There's just one hitch... she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials. Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he'll be working with his brother's whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they'll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina's ready to dish out a little payback of her own.Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn't interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...

— Once you got past the hooking up with your ex’s brother thing, it was cute. Max was endearing in an earnest sort of way, even when Lina was STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER in a cliche sort of way. More solid kissing. Side note, why are so many rom com dudes named Max? Does it sound hip? Passably cool, but also approachable? Discuss.

Not that Kind of Guy by Andie J. Christopher

State attorney Bridget Nolan is successful in all aspects of her life—except romance. After breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, she's been slow to reenter the dating scene. To be honest, she has more important things to do like putting bad guys behind bars. But with her brother's wedding right around the corner, she suddenly needs a date and fast. Lucky for Bridget, the legal intern is almost done with his program.

Matt Kido is dumbstruck by Bridget—total love at first sight—but there's one problem. She's totally off-limits while she's his boss. But the moment he no longer reports to her, Matt asks her on a date. An impulsive decision takes them to Las Vegas where, as the saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Unless you put a ring on it.

— Having written the “wake up in Vegas married” trope before, I know it’s difficult to do right. Consent’s a thing, y’know? And stuff gets dicy with forgotten memories, and all that, but mostly what kept me from truly loving this book was the intern thing. Don’t date your interns guys, it’s weird and off-putting. Literally if he’d just been a junior partner, or a visiting partner or something else I would have been all in.

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

Kailyn Flowers was always calm, rational, and controlled—until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. Then she did the unthinkable: She became a mortifying fangirl in five seconds flat, which may or may not have included professing her undying love. And oddly, he didn't run away. In fact, their meet cute led to a friendship she never saw coming. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming, either...Now Dax needs her help. As guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister, he's in way over his head. And though Kailyn hasn't forgiven Dax, she isn't heartless enough to make him fend for himself, either. Soon their friendly meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?

— Once again here for the one that got away trope, even if this comes with dead parents and some sad storylines. It still managed to be cute. Everyone was cute in it. Occasionally Daxton was a dick. As rom com male leads are apt to be.

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it's real?When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex's pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.Jamie Carter doesn't believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It's the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there's a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...

— FAKE DATING THAT LEADS TO REAL FEELINGS. The ex-boyfriend was an assssss, the fake boyfriend was charming, everything was good AND THEN WE GOT TO THE END. Which felt more than a little rushed, unexpected and not really in line with the rest of the book?? Give ‘em a slightly better, in-character ending, and I would have been sold.

BOOKS THAT I WAS LIKE...EH, OK

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

— I think this book was too smart for me. The prose was gorgeous, and the whole thing was very pretty and I definitely swooned when Marco said he wished for Celia. And yet. By the end I was like...eh, ok. Maybe it was the timeline? Jumping around, or how little dialogue there was. I wanted to like it all so badly, and I’m just not sure I did.

Acting on Impulse by Mia Sosa

After a very public breakup with a media-hungry politician, fitness trainer Tori Alvarez escapes to Aruba for rest, relaxation, and copious amounts of sex on the beach—the cocktail, that is. She vows to keep her vacation a man-free zone but when a cute guy is seated next to her on the plane, Tori can't resist a little harmless flirting.Hollywood heartthrob Carter Stone underwent a dramatic physical transformation for his latest role and it's clear his stunning seat mate doesn't recognize the man beneath the shaggy beard and extra lean frame. Now Carter needs help rebuilding his buff physique and Tori is perfect for the job. It doesn't hurt that she makes his pulse pound in more ways than one.Sparks are flying, until a pesky paparazzo reveals Carter's identity. Tori is hurt and pissed. She wants nothing to do with another man in the limelight, but she's still got to whip him into shape. Can Carter convince Tori he's worth the threat to her privacy that comes with dating a famous actor, or will Tori chisel him down to nothing before he even gets the chance?

— Dudes have gotta stop lying about who they are. It’s not a great trope. Other than that, the kissing was good. The romance was like...eh. I honestly don’t remember much else.

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world's biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he's the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it's possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason... and whether "once in a lifetime" can come around twice.

— This book was...weird. The early romance was wonderful and delightful, but then shit hit the fan and Sam and Tate are adults and...weird. Like, I cannot come up with another word for it. Also, they didn’t really talk much? As adults? Working on the same movie set? W e i r d.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” And since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will?

It’s simply not in Fixie’s nature to say no to people. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life, and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. As always, she wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

— Let’s be upfront, I’ve read a lot of Sophie Kinsella in my life, and more often than not I enjoy what she writes. I mostly did here. It was a book. With obvious rom com problems, that could have very easily been solved, but it wasn’t horrible. So, that was good, I guess.

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

Maddie and Theo have two things in common:

1. Alexa is their best friend

2. They hate each other

After an "oops, we made a mistake" night together, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa's wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they're comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won't fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn't looking, agreeing they would end it once the wedding is over. When it's suddenly pushed up and they only have a few months left of secret rendezvouses, they find themselves regretting that the end is near. Two people this different can't possibly have a connection other than the purely physical, right?

But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don't fall in love.

— Eh, this book happened. I still have no idea why they couldn’t be together from the get. Obstacles for the sake of plot, I guess. Also political side stories? I don’t know, guys.

WEIRD POST-ENDING FEELINGS WERE INDUCED

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

— Listen, I enjoyed this a lot. For the most part. It was funny, and introspective in a way that didn’t make me want to gag too much, and I wanted to defend January’s love of love with everything in me. But, then it—ended. And it was like...all tied up with this nice little ribbon and happily ever after, and I was like...oh, ok. Part of me that it was glad it ended like that, mostly because of who I am as a person, but the rest of me was also confused that after everything January and Augustus had been through and how messy their lives were it could just get all wrapped up in this HEA.

HITTING JUST A BIT TOO CLOSE TO HOME

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. The world may know him as Aeneas, star of the biggest show on television, but fanfiction readers call him something else: Book!AeneasWouldNever. Marcus gets out his frustrations with the show through anonymous stories about the internet's favorite couple, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone discovered his online persona, he'd be finished in Hollywood.April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she's long hidden her fanfic and cosplay hobbies from her "real life"—but not anymore. When she dares to post her latest costume creation on Twitter, her plus-size take goes viral. And when Marcus asks her out to spite her internet critics, truth officially becomes stranger than fanfiction. On their date, Marcus quickly realizes he wants more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. But when he discovers she's Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to keep from her.With love and Marcus's career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

— Here for plus-size heroines who get the guy and don’t have their (entire) storyline defined by their looks. Less here for the weird fandom culture, the ensuing second-hand embarrassment that came from that and the thankfulness that both Colin O’Donoghue and Bob Morley appear to be happily married so it seems very unlikely they’re writing fic about their characters under pseudonyms. Stop using Ao3 in actual published stories 2k4ever.

RAGE-INDUCING BOOKS OF ABSOLUTE FURY

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Kristen Peterson doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen — especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

— LISTEN THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE, BUT I FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEM BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS A SECRET GUT PUNCH AND PEOPLE SHOULD BE AWARE. Not only is infertility, like, the defining theme of this book, but the BEST FRIEND DIES. Just—dies. It’s horrible. Absolutely God awful depressing. And for a second he looks like he won’t, and it’ll be fine, but then it is not and he’s just D E A D. I know, I know that sets up the sequel, but this was so goddamn heavy in an unsuspecting way that I have absolutely no intention of reading the next one.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

— FUCK THIS BOOK. And fuck Simon, specifically. Oh, you have a sad story? Cool, you’re still a dick. He was a dick. Listen, I know enemies to lovers is a hard trope to write, but it’s even harder to accept when those enemies just announce I LIKED YOU THE WHOLE TIME and then everyone starts ripping off their clothes. No, it’s dumb. I hate it. Apparently there’s a sequel to this book. Maybe that’s better.

Kiss My Cupcake by Helena Hunting

Blaire Calloway has planned every Instagram-worthy moment of her cupcake and cocktails shop launch down to the tiniest detail. What she didn't plan on? Ronan Knight and his old-school sports bar next door opening on the very same day. He may be super swoony, but Blaire hasn't spent years obsessing over buttercream and bourbon to have him ruin her chance at success.From axe throwing (his place) to frosting contests (hers), Blaire and Ronan are constantly trying to one-up each other in a battle to win new customers. But with every clash, there's also an undeniable chemistry. When an even bigger threat to their business comes to town, they're forced to call a temporary time-out on their own war and work together. And the more time Blaire spends getting to know the real Ronan, the more she wonders if it's possible to have her cupcake and eat it too.

— Listen, I wanted to like this one. There were plenty other Helena Hunting books on this list, so like—I don’t hate her. I just hate poorly executed enemies to lovers plot lines. Give me at least one moment where they are interested in each other aside from just being attracted to each other. Also: Stop Having Dudes Be Dicks Because Of Their Sad Backstory 2k4ever.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

You always remember your first love... don't you?If there's anything worse than being fired from the worst restaurant in town, it's coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else. Reeling from the humiliation of a double dumping in one day, Georgina takes the next job that comes her way—bartender in a newly opened pub. There's only one problem: it's run by the guy she fell in love with years ago. And—make that two problems—he doesn't remember her. At all. But she has fabulous friends and her signature hot pink fur coat... what more could a girl really need?Lucas McCarthy has not only grown into a broodingly handsome man, but he's also turned into an actual grown-up, with a thriving business and a dog along the way. Crossing paths with him again throws Georgina's rocky present into sharp relief—and brings a secret from her past bubbling to the surface. Only she knows what happened twelve years ago, and why she's allowed the memories to chase her ever since. But maybe it's not too late for the truth... or a second chance with the one that got away?

— HE WAS JUST PRETENDING NOT TO REMEMBER HER THE WHOLE TIME???? WHAT?? WHY??? D U M B. Dumb boys are dumb.

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher

Jack Nolan is a gentleman, a journalist, and unlucky in love. His viral success has pigeon-holed him as the how-to guy for a buzzy, internet media company instead of covering hard-hitting politics. Fed up with his fluffy articles and the app-based dating scene as well, he strikes a deal with his boss to write a final piece de resistance: How to Lose a Girl. Easier said than done when the girl he meets is Hannah Mayfield, and he's not sure he wants her to dump him.

Hannah is an extremely successful event planner who's focused on climbing the career ladder. Her firm is one of the most prestigious in the city, and she's determined to secure her next promotion. But Hannah has a bit of an image problem. She needs to show her boss that she has range, including planning dreaded, romantic weddings. Enter Jack. He's the perfect man to date for a couple weeks to prove to her boss that she's not scared of feelings.

Before Jack and Hannah know it, their fake relationship starts to feel all too real—and neither of them can stand to lose each other.

— This is actually the prequel to Not That Kind of Guy and I honestly can’t believe I read that after hating this book so much. They were awful to each other! Their whole relationship was based on lies! Mean lies! Horrible lies! Don’t lie to your significant other!

#book recs #fiction recs #rom com recs #fantasy recs #or: i read solely fantasy and rom com books in 2020 #this does not include any david eddings or meg cabot rereads #which also happened #and i endorse them wholeheartedly too #if you have read any of these books PLEASE share your thoughts with me #i am desperate for them #or your own recs of what you read this year #laura reads books #welllp these are books

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burningupp-replies · 4 years

Text

The Market

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: Anxiety attack, I guess.

Summary: Y/N and Zuko aren’t on the best of terms - Zuko joined the gaang fairly abruptly, and Y/N isn’t sure whether she can trust him yet. When she decides to go to the market to get some medicine for Toph and Sokka, however, she is stuck with him as a tourguide.

A/N: My first ever request!! I’m sorry it took so long - I’ve had finals for about a week straight >.< I hope you enjoy it!! :)

Ever since Zuko had joined the gaang, it had been tense. No one had trusted him at first, not even Aang, really. However, as he went on adventure after adventure with everyone else, for no reason other than to help, tension started to clear around the camp. You, though, were still suspicious, and not quite as welcoming as the others.

Zuko had tried to be nice to you, he had tried bonding with you, but every time he seemed to get closer, you would pull away. It almost felt like he pissed you off further and further for every passing day, and he really didn’t know what to do. What could he do? It didn’t help that he had a crush on you the size of the damn fire nation, either. He kept fumbling around you, dropping things, knocking stuff over, stuttering… He felt stupid.

You, on the other hand, despised the fire prince. How could he just show up, steal Appa a few times, and expect to be liked? It made you seethe in anger, because he had been hunting you all for a few months. Actually, you had joined the gaang when they were travelling into Ba Sing Se, so you hadn’t been there for that long, but you still felt a sense of protectiveness over them all, since you were the oldest (Zuko excluded).

All of your friends knew exactly how you felt about Zuko and wanted to do something about it. They kept trying to change your mind, talking you through their travels together and making sure to comment whenever he did something nice for someone, but you were stubborn – perhaps more than you should be.

Right now, Sokka and Toph were sick. You were all on Ember Island, so at least you all weren’t sleeping in tents with nothing to protect against the weather, but they were miserable nonetheless. It made you sad, seeing your good friends feel so poorly, and you decided you had to do something.

“That’s it, I’m going into town to get medicine for them,” you told Katara, who was currently busying herself taking care of the two patients.

“Y/N, you know it would be really nice if we had that, but we really shouldn’t go outside right now. What if someone sees us? This is a really good hiding spot, you know,” she rambled on, and you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, okay, but I have never once been on one of those wanted posters. No one knows I’m with you, so if I go, no one would recognize me,” you argue.

The watertribe girl ponders for a moment, before Toph groans in discomfort, and she sighs.

“Fine. But you have to take Zuko, so you don’t get lost.”

You tense, being torn between getting your friends the medicine they required and avoiding spending alone-time with a broody ex-prince. You groan out loud to yourself as you decide your friends are more important than your comfort, and hang your head, making Katara laugh.

“You’re ridiculous, did you know that?”

You stick your tongue out at her, just as you hear someone enter the room. You turn around to see Zuko with Aang in tow, and you internally sigh. Damn it. Katara grins at the two boys, asking how You stick your tongue out at her, just as you hear someone enter the room. Turning to the door, you see Zuko with Aang in tow. Katara immediately smiles, asking how training is going and offering to cook up some food. Aang listens intently, never taking his eyes off of Katara – that boy is whipped, I tell you – and Zuko keeps flicking his gaze between the floor and you.

“Hey, Zuko?” you ask, and his head snaps to you with a shocked look on his face.

He doesn’t think you have addressed him first once since he met you, and honestly, he’s kind of scared of what you want to tell him. Did you finally convince the others that he should leave? Do you just want to express how much you hate him? When he sees your struggle to speak, however, his shock turns into curiosity.

“I- As you know, Toph and Sokka are sick,” you begin stiffly.

“I am aware,” he answers.

“Well, I thought I would go into town to get some medicine for them, but Katara didn’t think it was a good idea if I went alone, so she thinks you should accompany me. Of course, if you have something else to do, I’m sure I can just-“

“I’m free,” he answers, interrupting your rambling.

You are blushing furiously at this point. Why in the world did he make you feel so uncomfortable? Of course, you didn’t trust him, but you weren’t usually uncomfortable to speak to the boy. You shook your head slightly, trying to clear your thoughts.

“Okay. Thank you,” you said, turning to grab a basket to carry the medicine. “Let’s go.”

Zuko walked beside you in silence the whole way. Usually, he would make a move to try to help you, but this time he simply walks beside you in silence, sneaking glances at you once in a while. You’re relieved he isn’t trying to hold a conversation, because honestly, you have no idea what to say to him. The others have been encouraging you to go easy on Zuko, and to get to know him, but you really didn’t know how to do that. You were an awkward person, the others were technically your only friends, and things were easy with them because you had helped them get to Ba Sing Se that one time, so you already had a solid foundation to stand on. Zuko, though? How does one even start building a new foundation with someone?

It seemed both of you were lost in thought, because soon enough, you found yourself in the middle of the market, having no idea how you got there. Zuko immediately snapped up, looking around, before grabbing onto your arm to lead you through the mass of people.

It was packed at the market – it seemed a lot of people were at the island for their vacations and had decided today was a particularly good day to get groceries. It was both a blessing and a curse; no one would realize who you or Zuko were, but it was difficult to move where you wanted to go. Another con? It felt like the steady stream of people were going to whisk you both away.

Suddenly, a hand reached out to grab your arm, and you turned around to find the owner to be Zuko. His grip was tight, but he was careful not to hurt you. He wasn’t even looking at you, his focus solely on getting you where you needed to go. Normally, you would have minded his hold – you tended to dislike physical contact, in most situations – but this specific time, you would allow the boy to touch you. It’s not like he was touching you from his own free will, he was doing it out of necessity, after all.

He dragged you around the market and through lots of people for what felt like hours. You were starting to feel panicky, like you couldn’t breathe, and you quickly grabbed Zuko’s arm with your other hand to get his attention.

“What?” he asked, not in an unpleasant tone, but definitely a little bit stressed. Once he saw you face, however, his feature softened and he nodded at you “I’m gonna get us out of the crowd, hold on Y/N.”

Zuko let go of your arm momentarily, but only to grab your hand instead. He wanted to make you feel more comfortable, more safe, but he didn’t really know how to do that. He tried to not let his own slight panic at your state of discomfort bother him, but it was difficult; he had never experienced this himself, and therefore didn’t know how to help, which was the only thing he wanted to do.

Your own head was chaos. It felt like too many thoughts were going through your mind at the same time that there was complete radio silence. There was a high-pitched ringing in your ears, and your chest felt like you were being sat on by a gemsbok bull. Your vision was becoming blurry, and your hands and feet were tingling – probably from lack of oxygen. You didn’t blame Zuko for not knowing what to do, you were a whole mess.

Soon enough, the tall lanky boy found a somewhat quiet corner of the market, where there were very few people, if any. He tried to let go of your hand, anticipating your wrath for grabbing it in the first place, but instead he felt you grip on tighter, so he let you hold it.

“Uhm…” the boy had no idea what to do. He thought back to his childhood, what his mother would have said, and figured sitting down might help. “Hey, why don’t you try sitting down, okay? Just against the wall. I promise I won’t leave you if you don’t want me to.”

His voice broke through the fog in your head, and you nodded at him, looking at him with wide eyes as you hyper ventilated. Never in your life had you been amongst so many people at once, being from the countryside just outside Ba Sing Se. Seeing the sheer amount of people moving around that market had snapped something in you, and your brain couldn’t really keep up with what was going on.

As you slid down the wall, you continued to hyper ventilate, and Zuko couldn’t help but worry. He felt like if he didn’t do something soon, very soon, you would pass out in the middle of the market, and that would attract a very unwanted scene. So he did the only thing he could think of, and held your hand between both of his, starting to trace patterns all over your palm and the back of your hand. You didn’t say anything (even though he was expecting to be yelled at), so he just kept going. Your breathing seemed to be slowing down, so he just kept going, drawing different patterns and breathing slowly for you to hear.

You were slowly coming out of your panicked state, and started to realize what was going on. You had the sudden urge to rip your hand away from his, but decided against it, settling for staring at him confusedly.

“What… What are you doing?” you asked him, eyes wide.

Zuko blushed, letting go of your hand, and clearing his throat. He had had a crush on you since the first time he saw you, and finally getting to hold your hand was a very nice feeling; even if it was for all the wrong reasons.

“I-I was just trying to help,” he tried to explain lamely. “You seemed to be having some trouble breathing, and-“

“Thank you,” you said curtly, taking a deep breath before standing up.

Your head felt light and dizzy, something almost like buzzing filling your senses, and you stumbled a little. Zuko, on his way to get up, caught you before you could fall. He looked at you with eyes full of concern, but you shook him off, taking another deep breath and shaking your head a little to clear it.

“So, where are we?”

He blinked down at you, and then glanced around his surroundings, before grimacing.

“Uhm…”

“Don’t tell me…” you said, eyes shut tightly.

“Well-“

“Please don’t tell me we’re lost.”

Zuko hung his head, scratching the back of his neck. You groaned, turning your face toward the sky, almost begging the spirits to guide you. Your friend were sick, Zuko had to train Aang, and oh yeah- you were stuck with Zuko. Life just seemed to love you today, huh?

“Fine. Which way did we come from?” you asked, and when the boy shrugged, you wanted to laugh. Not because it was funny, lord knew it wasn’t funny in the slightest, but because it was just your luck. “Great. Let’s walk this way.”

You picked a random direction, and started walking. The place you were aiming for had a lot of people, so you figured chances were that you were correct, but there was a lot of people in any direction you looked, so who knew. Zuko followed your brisk pace with ease, his long legs making it easy for him to keep up. Luckily for you, you soon found a store with herbs, and so you purchased what was needed, and decided to try to leave.

On the way out, Zuko grabbed your elbow tightly, making you turn to him in anger. You opened your mouth to say something, but closed it again when you saw his expression.

“Someone is following us,” he hissed, and you cursed swiftly under your breath.

“Well, fantastic,” you murmured back sarcastically. “What’s the plan, genius?”

“Well, we have two options, both of which you’re not gonna like.”

You really, really wanted to scream.

“Lay it on me, hotman.”

“Well, either we cause a scene and run away,” he started, but at your grimace he continued, “or we… pretend to be a couple.”

“What?!” you hissed back, glaring at him.

“Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable, now choose before I’m arrested, Y/N.”

You thought about it. And then you thought some more. And then you wanted to think more, but it seemed you ran out of time as Zuko dragged you over to the nearest wall, pushed you against it, and You thought about it. Then you thought about it some more. You wanted to think about it more, but you apparently took too long to decide. In a flash, Zuko had grabbed you, pulled you to the nearest wall, pressed you against it and kissed you. Hard. The weirdest part of it all was how much you enjoyed it – you had always thought that your first kiss would gross you out, especially if it was with Zuko (not that you had thought about it), but here you were. You kissed him back, winding your arms around his neck, taking the kiss deeper.

His lips were so soft, so smooth and so inviting. It set off a swarm of butterflies in your tummy, and you couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. Before today, you had been unsure about Zuko. You hadn’t hated him, but you had been on edge around him. Trust issues were a part of who you were, so really, it wasn’t his fault. But after today, when he took care so you wouldn’t get lost, and when he did all he could to help you during your panic attack, he had won you over. Of course, being a good kisser helped his case, but still.

Zuko? Oh he couldn’t believe this was happening. Your mouth moving so perfectly with his, his body pressed against yours, and you actually enjoying the kiss. His knees felt weak, and he never wanted the moment to end. He had one hand around your waist, the other cupped beneath your jaw, thumb softly stroking your cheek. His whole body was singing with delight, with relief, from getting what it had wanted for so damn long.

The two of you stayed there like that for a long time. There was no telling where the person who had spotted Zuko was, or if he had found you, but you didn’t care. The kiss was overdue, and very, very nice. You didn’t pull apart until your lungs were screaming for air, and even then, you stayed against the wall for a while, your arms around his neck and his hands placed on your body. He pressed his forehead against yours and smiled, and you returned it, albeit shyly.

“I think he’s gone,” you told him after a while, and Zuko took a deep breath before letting you go. “We should get moving before he comes back.”

Zuko’s heart sank a little bit in his chest. For a second, he had imagined that you enjoyed the kiss, but of course, as indifferent as you always were, that wasn’t the case. You were just good at pretending. Before his heart could fully break, though, you grabbed his hand with yours and intertwined your fingers. Then you smiled up at him, pressing a peck to his cheek, before dragging him off into the throng of people.

Maybe you weren’t so indifferent, after all.

#zuko #zuko x reader #atla #atla x reader #request #prince zuko #katara #aang #toph #sokka #zuko x y/n #zuko atla #fanfiction #zuko fluff #avatar the last airbender #avatar #fluff

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sassyduckqueen · 4 years

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Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 33

So I wasn't going to include the Dark Owl but I really love the scene where Ladybug and Chat Noir basically own him. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I think the next one will be Sandboy as it's coming up to Halloween and well... creepy Adrien is perfect for Halloween... maybe even a creepy luka too haha

Edit: I forgot to add this but my friend, @naruwitch made a tv tropes page for this story. Here’s the link if you guys want to check it out :D

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/RiseOfAnatis?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=be721fb76b1432a698e46aa462d61073b4705567-1602716317-0-AThNvQ6RHrkR1d_p9c3BbHP3-gd4fnpISPslj-3RJQq44DLa0Xpdv9CT2D3z_GnOFOwGgbLfUmvxw-d3_g8ybdUmz_k92KhUKwVGa5P2x442DtDZU96YzHqMl-IsbGWt6d64twK7E6R0M0dgQKi_uxdKOAhQ8R3mCgFT4x64_gE7BpHLMCFPbZ2rNwiA5tyY1YkYj8mtKOgpQkhfPtaqNV8tSsugb4-Udk_utG7bqsVBy1hpf0ZnTHCHq0uRfYATiwofeWb5FuVx33pJsMfcwa8BRHQX34elWtN-C6J1eLLHBueGAcaK5m8k1OxgHMYef7Ism9X-aLJSKf4jGZYn7NChFjcG97v_OONxYASnqh-m-0gsIX_R_ncMO9z7qLs6wA

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Chapter Thirty-Three: The Dark Owl Returns

"I'm sorry that you can't come over to the Liberty tonight," Luka sighed as he walked out with Marinette. He glanced over to Mr Damocles, who was pushing the students to leave as quickly as they could. Luka let out a soft sigh. He was glad Mr Damocles was trying to be more heroic but his 'patrols' were making his life a lot harder. Mr Damocles seemed to have a talent for getting into a sticky situation. "I have quite a bit of homework to catch up on,"

"Oh! It's not a problem. I mean I love hanging out on the liberty with you but I have to help my parents in the bakery tonight so it's cool," She smiled back, making him smile a little. "We can have a proper hangout on the weekend,"

"Sounds good to me," He smiled, taking his helmet out of the basket and placing it on his head. He unlocked his bike and climbed on it before turning to her. "Have a good evening, Mari,"

"You too, Luka," She smiled, gently pecking his cheek before the two of them went their separate ways. Luka smiled as he cycled down to the Seine but then he remembered why he couldn't hang out with Marinette or anyone else. Thanks to Mr Damocles' out of school activities, he hadn't been able to go to band practice as often, hang out with Aurora, Jean or the others and was sleeping more. It was honestly getting ridiculous. He didn't mind that Mr Damocles was trying to be a better person. It was great in fact but what he did mind is that he was endangering himself and other people as well as taking up Anatis and Lady Noir's time. They hadn't done a proper patrol for about a week. Luckily, Hawkmoth hadn't been that active. They had only dealt with three akumas in this week. Naturally, Mr Ramier had been akumatized into Mr Pigeon again and Andre the ice cream man had been akumatized into Glaciator. He had gone after Marinette for not believing in his ice cream's magic. She had gone out with everyone to get ice cream but she had ended up dropping hers, which caused her to get upset. Knowing how Marinette was, Luka figured she wasn't actually upset over dropping her ice cream but was upset over Adrien as he had turned up with Kagami, whom he seemed to be growing closer to. She had dropped it when she saw the two of them together and he had seen her sad expression at the two of them laughing and sharing ice cream together. Not wanting to see her sad, he had offered to share his with her since he didn't have anyone with him. He was mildly annoyed that Alya had invited both of them, despite knowing that it was more a couple's activity then something friends do but he suspected it was a ploy to get Marinette to confess her feelings to Adrien. Of course, that backfired because Adrien brought Kagami but he didn't blame those two. He did have a word with Alya as Anatis later that night as he felt like her constant pressuring for Marinette to confess to Adrien was unfair and could cause Marinette to become an akuma again. That was something he did not want to face again. Luckily, Alya had realized what she had done and was wrecked with guilt but Anatis had calmed her down, explaining that he understood that she was trying to help her friend but she should take a different approach to it. Instead of pushing her into situations where she felt pressed to confess... he could think of several... she should encourage Marinette to gain the confidence she needed and not laugh at her when she failed. Something which he knew she had done in the past. While he was there, he also advised her to be careful during her filming. It seemed that she had taken his advice, both with Marinette and her blog. As Andre, well, after he had often to share his ice cream with Marinette, she told him that it was ok, that she was just going to go home and that she didn't really believe it anyway. Of course, Andre overhear her and got upset. Luka often to walk her home but she gently kissed his cheek and told him to enjoy himself then she left. He quickly made an excuse to leave and checked on her as Anatis but before they could work anything out, Andre, now Glaciator, attacked them. Luckily, he hid her and defeated him with Lady Noir's help. He later found out that Marinette had got to Andre and apologized to him. He personally didn't see why she was the one to apology. While he understood that Andre was upset at the fact that she didn't believe in his ice cream, she hadn't actually been mean about it or anything. She had only told Luka that she didn't really believe it but he suspected that's because she just wanted to go home. He personally thought that Andre turning into an akuma over her lack of belief was kind of petty. After all, all of Paris believed it so what difference would it make to have one person not believe in it? Sometimes, he just didn't understand people. As for the other akuma, that had been Adrien's bodyguard. He had literally gotten turned into a giant gorilla. He had then proceed to kidnap Adrien and Marinette, who was trying to help him escape his fans and see a film. Anatis had rescued them when Gorizilla had accidentally dropped them from a building. Once he had rescued them, he went back and defeated Gorizilla. He had almost been captured but luckily, Lady Noir turned up. It didn't take a lot to defeat the akuma after that. He sighed as he came to a stop at the Liberty. He locked up his bike and headed downstairs. Rose and Juleka were curled up in each other's arms as he walked through. He gave them a wave before heading to his room, failing to notice Juleka's raised eyebrow but she shrugged and when back to Rose. Once in his room, he locked the door as Tikki flew out.

"Do you think Mr Damocles will go out again?" She asked, yawning. He guessed she had just woken up from a nap.

"I suspect as much," He sighed, checking his phone. Nothing yet but he knew better then to leave it to chance. He may be lucky but the luck only affected him and no one else. He sighed before calling on his transformation, turning into Anatis. He climbed out of the port hole and swung off into the city, towards the school. He landed on the building opposite it and frowned as he saw Mr Damocles attempting to do up his 'owl' belt. He did it up and jumped back to his feet before leaving the office. Anatis sighed to himself before he took out his yoyo and dialed Lady Noir's number. She answered straight away as Mr Damocles rushed out of the building. "Hey, the Owl is on the move,"

"Great," She groaned, sounding just frustrated as he felt. "Any idea where he's heading?"

"Looks like he's going towards the park," He replied, rolling his eyes. "Meet you there, Kitten?"

"Sure. I stopped by the bakery by the way and got some very much needed snacks," She smiled, making him smile as well. "We'll have them while we keep an eye on him,"

"Sounds great," He smiled, standing up. "See you soon,"

She waved and he hung up before following Mr Damocles. He swung across the roofs before landing next to Lady Noir, who pointed to Mr Damocles. He was attempting to rescue a kitten that was stuck up a tree but instead of trying to call for help or rescue it in a normal way, he was attempting to climb up the tree. Anatis sighed and shook his head before jumping down, along with Lady Noir. He threw his yoyo just as Mr Damocles fell from the tree and caught him as Lady Noir caught the cat. It purred and nuzzled into her chin as she held it.

"Mr Owl, this is the fifth time we've come to your rescue this week," Anatis gasped, clearly annoyed before he lowered the man. Mr Damocles stood up and dusted himself down. "You're really gonna get hurt one of these days,"

"At least, wear a helmet," Lady Noir sighed as she gave the cat to it's owners before walking over to Anatis and Mr Damocles as a news van turned up.

"But you don't wear helmets," He argued, making Anatis face palm.

"Because we are real superheroes with real and magical costumes," He groaned, shaking his head. "We have explained this already, Mr Owl. You know it's different for us,"

"Yeah but ever since I was a little boy, I've dreamt of been a super hero and you did tell me to try and be a better person," He pointed out, making Anatis roll his eyes. "Which I have been I might add,"

"Which is great but Mr Dam- Owl, if you want to be a hero then do charity work or something other then... this..." Anatis gasped, gesturing to his outfit. Mr Damocles frowned a little as a brunette woman came over to them.

"Got a few minutes?" She asked as a camera filled them. "Mr Owl, are you planning on any more daring rescues?"

"Please don't encourage him," Anatis groaned as she held a microphone to Mr Damocles who talked to her as Anatis shook his head. Lady Noir looked just as embarrassed.

"And what about this... attempt?"

"Well, thanks to some sound advice from my good friends Anatis and Lady Noir, I am certain that I will do better next time," He answered, making both heroes face palm. "I will be reviewing my weaponry and engaging in more training because wherever there's injustice, there is the Owl!!"

He dabbed, making both Lady Noir and Anatis cringe with embarrassment before he took something out of his belt and began to shake it, creating a sort of mist.

"Owl mist!!" He declared before running off, making Owl Noises as he did. Anatis frowned deeply as the camera followed him before it turned back to him and Lady Noir.

"Any comments? Anatis? Lady Noir?" Clara asked as they watched him leave before they turned to the camera, clearly unsure and embarrassed by the Owl's actions. Anatis rubbed the back of his neck while Lady Noir pressed her forefingers together before grinning a little at the camera.

"Uh... look, he's trying to help but to the kids of Paris.. or anyone... don't copy him ok? It's very dangerous," Anatis warned as Lady Noir nodded.

"Annie's right," She agreed, nodding. "So please don't try this at home... we better go make sure he's not causing anymore trouble,"

"Yeah," Anatis agreed, taking out his yoyo and saluting the reporter before throwing and swinging off. Lady Noir did a dramatic bow and followed him, using her baton. The two of them ran off and tailed Mr Damocles until he finally decided to go home. Both letting out a sigh of relief, they found their way to a rooftop that a nice view of the Eiffel tower. Anatis sat down and stretched as Lady Noir took out the bag of snacks she had gotten from the bakery and handed him a croissant. He smiled and took it before biting into it. "Man, I swear Tom and Sabine's bakery is the best,"

"Yup," She grinned, hiding her blush a little as she ate her own before yawning. "Man, I'm so tired!"

"Hmm, me too, kitten," He sighed, finishing his croissant. "Don't get me wrong I'm glad Mr Damocles is trying to follow my advice but this is getting to be a full time job,"

"Yeah, I'm just glad that Hawkmoth hasn't akumatized anyone," She purred before looking at him. "What do you mean trying to follow your advice?"

"Uh... well, I kind of... um..." He mumbled, rubbing his neck nervously as she folded her arms and rose an eyebrow at him.

"You called him out, didn't you?" She asked in a serious tone, causing Anatis to look down before she grinned and snapped her fingers. "Damn, I can't believe I missed that. Well, what did he do and what did you say?"

"Well, I learnt that he was unfairly accusing and punishing students for things they weren't doing and then letting certain students off due to be threatened or bribed?" He mumbled as she listened. She casted her mind back and realized he must be talking about the events that led up to Despair Bear since Mr Damocles wrongly accused her of tripping the fire alarm without any proof, tried to punish her for it then proceeded to punish the whole school, apart from Chloe, for it. "As for what I said... well... I kind of told him that he was creating a breeding ground for akumas and that if I didn't see an improvement, I'd inform the school board,"

For a second, Lady Noir was silent, causing Anatis to think that maybe he had gone too far until she burst out into laughter. Instantly, he relaxed and smiled as she cackled and held her stomach as she shook with laughter.

"Oh, man! I wish I was there!!" She grinned, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I bet his expression was one of pure terror! I would pay anything to see it!!"

"It was pretty funny," He mumbled, making her smile before he yawned again. "Urg! We need to find a way to get him to stop been the Owl!"

"Hmm but we don't want to do what Ryuko and Aspik did," She mumbled, making him look at her with a confused expression. "Oh, Ryuko kind of revealed his identity straight away in front of almost everyone and well, she wasn't exactly kind about telling him off for endangering himself. Naturally that led to him becoming the Dark Owl but once he was back to normal, he didn't bring out his owl suit until you turned up. I'm afraid you re-inspired him,"

"Oh dear but still Ryuko could have handled that better," He mused, shaking his head. "Maybe we could scare him,"

"Or you could just rant at him," She grinned, making him laugh. "Well, hopefully he won't be active tomorrow,"

"Yeah, we can only hope," He sighed, frowning. He had to be in the park tomorrow afternoon to help Nino with his latest filming project. Marinette would be there too as she was making the costumes as well as starring in it. Nino was making a film based on the exploits of himself and Lady Noir but he had decided to change a few things. For one, he was making the hero of the ladybug a female and instead of there been Lady Noir, there was Chat Noir, which Adrien had agreed to play. Alya was going to be the main villain. "Anyway, I think we can call it a night,"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lady Noir agreed as she yawned. "I'm knackered,"

"Bedtime for the kitty I think," He smirked, stroking her chin. She began to purr and nuzzle his hand, making him chuckle before he pulled away and jumped up, walking over to the edge of the building as she got up. He turned to look at her as she stretched. "Good night, Kitten,"

"Night, Bug a boo," She grinned, blowing him a kiss before she ran off into the night. Anatis shook his head and allowed him to drop from the edge before throwing his yoyo and swinging through the city til he came to the Liberty. He quietly landed on the roof and climbed down, slipping through the port hole that led to his room. He dropped the transformation and caught Tikki, handing her a cookie. She thanked him and began to eat it as he changed into his PJs and climbed into his bed, placing his hands behind his head as he yawned. Once she had finished her cookie, she flew over and landed on his pillow just abve his head, making him look up at her before he yawned.

"Been a long day huh?" Tikki asked as he nodded.

"Mr Damocles is becoming a full time job," He mumbled before turning over and curling up on his pillow. "Good night, Tikki,"

"Good night, Luka,"

~Next Morning~

"Alya! You need to sound more realistic!!" Nino groaned as Luka sat on the bench, watching. Nino had convinced Marinette to take the role of 'Ladybug' as he insisted she would be perfect for the role of the hero of creativity. She wore a one piece suit that was red with black spots. Her boots blended in with it and her mask matched the suit. Her hair was still in her classic pigtail look and the only thing that remotely looked like anything Anatis had was the yoyo she had. Chat Noir on the other hand was interesting. Adrien was playing him and he had a full black outfit. He had gloves on that had claws worked into the fingers and black cat ears on top of his hair, which had been styled to be more wild and untamed. He had black boots on and a belt around his waist, that doubled up as a tail. He had a black mask over his face and he was wearing contact lens that made his eyes apart cat like. Both 'heroes' looked good and Alya looked awesome as Marinette had recreated her Lady Wifi costume. The problem was she wasn't very good at acting villainous. "You're meant to be an akuma and you've just taken Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous! You need to be victorious!"

"Ok, ok, I get it," Alya replied before taking her place and holding a box. Nino counted down before he began filming. Alya did an evil laugh before turning to Marinette and Adrien. "Give up, Ladybug and Chat Noir! I, Lady Wifi, have your miraculous!! No one can save you now!!"

"Oh no, my earrings!" Marinette gasped as she held her ears.

"Nooo!! We're doomed!!" Adrien howled as Alya laughed evilly but before anyone could do anything else, Mr Damocles ran towards them and jumped on the bench in his full owl costume.

"Oh, no," Luka gasped as he saw him. He jumped up to stop him but before he could, Mr Damocles jumped into action. "Mr Owl, it's not-"

"Whoo whoo!!" He gasped, making everyone look at him before he pointed his grapple gun towards Alya. "Owl Talon! Whoo, whoo!"

He fired it towards Alya but luckily, it missed her and bounced off several things before getting caught on a rubbish truck. Luka flinched as Mr Damocles was then dragged off by it and crashed into a bin. Instantly, Marinette and Adrien ran over to see if he was ok.

"Mr Damocles! Are you ok?!" She gasped, kneeling down as she rested a hand on his arm. "You're not hurt, are you?!"

"I'm not Mr Damocles! I'm the Owl!" He gasped, brushing her hand away and standing up. He blinked as he took them in before narrowing his eyes. "Who are you?! Why have you got Anatis' miraculous?!"

"Uh... Mr Da- I mean... Mr Owl... we were just doing a film based on Anatis and Lady Noir," Adrien explained, taking off his mask as Marinette took off hers. "Nino wanted to make it for a film contest he's entering. He changed the roles a little so I'm playing Chat Noir instead of Lady Noir and Marinette's playing Ladybug instead of Anatis. We were just shooting the last scene,"

"But... Lady Wifi..." He gasped as Alya walked over. She wiped off a bit of her make up. "You mean... it wasn't real? There was no danger?"

"No, we're all ok," Marinette tried to reassure but Mr Damocles saw that everyone had seen his failure and before she could try and reassure him, he had rushed off, clearly embarrassed by his mistake. Luka frowned as he walked over. Marinette let out a sigh as Nino walked over as well. "I hope he'll be ok,"

"Well, he ruined the shot so now we have to do it again," Nino sighed, pinching his nose before turning to Adrien and Marinette. "And could you two try to act more natural?!"

~Later That Evening~

Luka hummed to himself as he re-tuned his guitar. He had to change it's strings and give it a dust down. He fiddled with the pegs, strumming the strings and listening carefully to make sure they were the right notes. He was tuning this model into a open E pitch but he usually used a standard E pitch or drop D. However, he just wanted to experiment with the different sound. Tikki was watching Clara Nightingale's latest single and was dancing to it, making him smile when he looked up to grab a drink. He took a swing before returning his attention to his guitar, gently strumming it as he began to play.

"Civilians of Paris, listen to me very careful," A voice came through his computer, making him look up as that was definitely not Clara Nightingale. Tikki looked shocked as he looked at the TV, frowning. He instantly recognized him as the Dark Owl, meaning Mr Damocles had been akumatized again. The Dark Owl pointed to the remote in his hand, making Luka frown as he watched. "With one slight movement, I can release the rope holding up the city bus with all of these animals inside with come crushing down on my two hostages,"

The camera switched to the Eiffel Tower, showing the animal bus and directly underneath it was Juleka, Adrien, Alya and Nino. They were tied to a pole and looked terrified. Luka instantly jumped up and grabbed his phone, ignoring the rest of the broadcast. He dialed Juleka's number but it went straight to voicemail. He frowned and hung up before phoning Rose, letting out a breathe of relief when she answered.

"Rose, is-"

"Luka! It's awful!" She gasped, sounding distressed. "He came and grabbed her!! I tried to stop him-"

"Rose, listen to me. Take deep breathes and don't panic ok?" He reassured. "I'm going to contact Anatis and he'll save them,"

"O-Ok," She sniffed before he hung up. He turned to Tikki but heard the sound of someone walking on the deck. He gestured for Tikki to hide in his pocket before he rushed up to the deck.

"Mum?! Jule-" He shouted, thinking it was her but to his horror, he found the Dark Owl in front of him. For a second, he was sure Dark Owl had worked out he was Anatis but not even Marinette knew that or his family. He backed up as Dark Owl walked over to him.

"Young man, I require you to join your friends. I'm aware that you are connected to the hero Anatis and I swear on my honor as a hero, if Anatis and Lady Noir, surrender their miraculous then no harm will come to you and your friends," He stated as if that would make Luka go with him or remain calm. Luka glanced around, looking for a way to escape. His luck vision lit up the fog machine they used for their concerns. His vision also lit up a basket ball. He grabbed it and threw it straight at the Dark Owl, hitting him in his face before he jumped over to the fog machine and turned it at full. Within seconds, the fog covered at the deck, obscuring the Dark Owl's vision. Luka jumped down into the cabin and ran straight for his mum's room, locking the door as he heard the Dark Owl following. He opened the port hole and climbed out of it before jumping and rolling onto the ground before bolting out of there as fast as he could.

"Tikki, we need to save my friends,"

"The rest of the broadcast warned that he rigged the Effiel Tower with Liquid Nitrogen bombs, if anyone tries to infer, they would trigger and freeze the tower which in turn would make it extremely fragile as glass and it will collapse-"

"I get the idea. He's taken all the kids that were there when he was exposed... that explains why he wants to add me to the mix but that means he's proply gonna go after Marinette," He mumbled, jumping up and climbing over a wall. He looked around and frowned, not seeing him anywhere. "He appears not to be- never mind,"

He could see the Dark Owl, gliding above before he ran as fast as he could, diving out the way when the Dark Owl tried to grab and running into one of the parks, disappearing into the green. The Dark Owl landed on the ground, making Luka hold his breathe as he hid in the bushes.

"Mr Couffaine, come out. I only need you to lure Anatis and Lady Noir to me," He growled but stopped when he noticed the sun was going down. "Very well, Mr Couffaine. Your friends will still lure those heroes to me,"

To his surprise, the Dark Owl left but he gave it a few minutes to be certain before letting out a sigh of relief as Tikki peeked out of his pocket. He quickly sent a warning to Marinette before turning to Tikki.

"Ok, Tikki, time to rescue my friends," He muttered, swiping his earrings. "Tikki! Spots on!!"

He transformed into Anatis before throwing his yoyo and pulling himself onto the roofs of Paris. He took his yoyo and saw Dark Owl was broadcasting again. He clicked on it and watched it.

"Anatis, Lady Noir, the only way to save these children is for you to surrender your miraculous to me and you only have ten minutes!" He declared, pressing the button. Anatis frowned deeply. "Follow the Owl Signal,"

He stopped playing the broadcast and called Lady Noir. Instantly, she answered.

"Dark Owl-"

"Is back. I know and he has captured most of the kids that were making that film. Luckily he doesn't have Luka or Marinette but he could go after them,"

"He already did with Luka but he got away and contacted me. I got him to hide in the underground and it seems Dark Owl is just going ahead with his plan without him," He declared as Lady Noir hummed in agreement.

"I've already scoped out the tower and it's definitely rigged but it looks like Marinette isn't there either," She sighed, making him frown. He was relieved that Marinette was safe but there was no real way to save the others. "Think we can just find his akuma and free them that way,"

"Chances are the akuma is in the same place as before but even with my speed, getting to it would take more then ten minutes and we only have about 8 minutes to stop the countdown," He sighed, frowning as the Owl Signal appeared in the sky. "Our best course of action for now is to get that remote and stop the countdown. Once the children are safe then we can go after his akuma,"

"Makes sense," Lady Noir agreed. "The Owl Signal appears to be pointing towards the stadium. Meet you there?"

"Yeah," He agreed before hanging up and swing over to there. He landed on a building nearby and narrowed his eyes as Lady Noir landed next to him. "It seems like Mr Damocles is holding a bit of a grudge,"

"I get that he was humiliated but holding them captive is too far," She mumbled, getting a nod of him. "What's the plan?"

"I'm going to distract him while you sneak up on him. Try and get the detonator," He replied, getting a nod of her.

"Good plan," She grinned before pressing her baton. A small ear piece dropped out into her palm and she placed it in her ear. "Let's stay in touch,"

"Good thinking, Kitten," He smiled, pressing one of the spots on his yoyo. It lifted, allowing him to pick it up and place it inside his ear. He nodded to her before they went off in their separate directions. Anatis landed on the grass and spun his yoyo around as he looked around the darkened arena. He was on high alert, ready to attack if he needed to. "Mr Damocles?"

"I am not Mr Damocles!!" The Dark Own shouted as the light of the stadium turned on. Anatis frowned a little as he saw him stood on the edge. "I'm the Dark Owl,"

"Ok, Ok, I get it," Anatis muttered, putting his yoyo down and holding up his hands. "Look, why don't we talk about this? I'm sure we can come to a peaceful conclusion without getting anyone hurt,"

"Where's Lady Noir?" The Dark Owl asked, glancing to the side as Lady Noir spoke through the communication device.

"Grapple Iron, Boomerangs, utility belt. Damn Annie he has everything," She gasped. "Maybe we're lucky and the akuma is in one of his weapons,"

"The last time it was in his computer back at the school but I guess it could be different this time. Still, we need to focus on getting the detonator," Anatis replied before holding up his hands. "Lady Noir will be here soon, I'm sure of it,"

"In that case then, you can be the first to place your miraculous in the box located in the middle of the stadium," He declared, making Anatis look over at the crate before he held up the detonator. "Or..."

"Boom! Ok, I get it," He replied, walking over. "Try and get it off him,"

"I'm on it," She replied, jumping up and throwing her baton at him, knocking the detonator out of the Dark Owl's hand. Anatis ran up and jumped, catching the detonator. He was about to hit the button to stop when he heard a yell. Looking up, he saw Lady Noir flying towards him. He held out his arms to catch her but she crashed into him, causing him to drop the detonator. The Dark Owl caught it and grinned as he looked it.

"Oh, look. Time flies," He grinned before throwing it. "This is your last chance to save those poor helpless children!!"

"Heroes don't take hostages!" Anatis growled, glaring at him as he helped Lady Noir up.

"Then give me your miraculous. Otherwise you're too blame," He declared before firing his grapple hook at them. It wrapped around the two heroes, tying them together and causing them to fall over. Anatis rolled them to the side as the Dark Owl tried to punch them before Lady Noir used her cataclysm to break it. The two of them jumped up and took a fighting stance as Dark Owl glared at them. "It's the end of the line for you,"

The two of them charged at him with Lady Noir diving at him with her baton. He blocked it with his arms but Anatis took the chance to wrap his yoyo around his ankle and slide underneath him. Dark Owl went to charge at Lady Noir but Anatis pulled him back and threw him. However, he landed on his feet and smirked.

"There's no way for you to win, Anatis,"

"We'll see about that," Anatis growled back before throwing his yoyo up in the air. "Lucky Charm!!"

A fountain pen appeared, causing Anatis to frown as he caught it. Lady Noir jumped up on the crate and picked up the detonator as Anatis tried to look around yet nothing lit up. He gasped when he saw Dark Owl throwing boomerangs towards and jumped in front of her, using his yoyo to deflect them.

"Activate the hatch, Albert," The Dark Owl ordered, causing Anatis to give him a confused look before they both suddenly fell into the crate. The trap door closed, sealing them inside as they heard him declaring himself as the guardian of Paris before laughing. Anatis got up and helped Lady Noir to her feet as she tried to push the button to stop the countdown.

"No, no!" She gasped before looking at him. "Annie, it's not stopping!!"

"What?!" He gasped, taking off her and pressing the button. It did nothing. "No, no... stop!! Come on!!"

He repeatedly pressed the button as the room began to fill up with a thick liquid, making Lady Noir to frown as she took a bit on her finger and sniffed it before licking it. She gasped as she realized it was cream.

"Oh no!" Anatis gasped, causing her attention to turn to him. He looked extremely worried as the TV inside with them switched on, showing the hostages and the bus.

"Time's up! Albert, drop the bus!!" The Dark Owl declared, causing the bus to be released. Lady Noir covered her mouth in shock as Anatis looked on in horror. The bus plummeted towards the hostages, causing them to scream but then it disappeared in a blue light as the Dark Owl laughed evilly. "You knaves! It was a hologram all along... or at least the bus is. Really, do you think I'd hurt school children?"

"Bastard!!" Anatis shouted, slamming his fist against the walls.

"Temper, temper, Anatis. You really should save your breathe as this next trap is very real," The Dark Owl laughed, making Anatis notice the cream. "The room you're in is filling up with whipped cream, which is too thick to swim in but too thin to float on. You're going to drown softly but surely... unless you give me your miraculous that is,"

Anatis frowned and began to look around as Lady Noir started to bang on the walls. The TV lit up, followed by the pen and then her miraculous. He unscrewed the pen and took out the ink cartridge as a slot opened for the miraculous to be put in before walking over to the camera and using the ink to black it out. Lady Noir turned to him as she hugged herself, looking small and frightened. Dark Owl shouted something about not seeing them didn't matter and basically taking the miraculous of their dead bodies but Anatis ignored that and moved over to Lady Noir.

"He's right, Annie," She mumbled, looking close to tears. "We're done for,"

"Not yet, Kitten," He smiled, gently placing a small kiss on her forehead before gently smiling at her. "You trust me right?"

"More then anything else," She smiled but she still looked frightened, even as he winked at her.

"Alright, Dark Owl, you win!!" He shouted before leaning closer to her. "Close your eyes and no peeking,"

"Annie, no... we can't do this," She gasped but he gently took her hand.

"Trust me," He smiled, causing her to nod then she closed her eyes. Anatis closed his and took a deep breathe. "Spots off,"

"Claws in," She whispered at the same time. The two of them powered down, causing their kwamis to appear. Plagg gasped in surprise as Tikki stared at Marinette in shock. Marinette carefully took of her ring and held out her hand. She gasped softly as she felt Luka touch her hand, expecting him to take her ring but to her surprise, he closed her palm before he leaned in.

"The lucky charm lit up your miraculous but not because we're surrendering but because I think we needed your civilian form. You must have something on you that could help," He whispered in her ear, making her blush before her mind flicked back to the film she was making with Nino. She still had the fake miraculous on her.

"Of course!" She gasped, reaching into her purse. "Annie, I have just the thing,"

"Excellent," He replied as she pulled the box out. She took the fake miraculous out and placed them into his hand. He carefully moved over to the slot and placed them in. He heard it close before he made his way back over to Lady Noir. He heard the Dark Owl declare himself as the only hero in Paris and then heard the cream been drained. He smirked a little before taking out a cookie for Tikki. "Tikki? You good?"

"Yes, Plagg is too," She replied, making Anatis smile before both him and Lady Noir called on their transformations quietly. Lady Noir smirked and summoned her cataclysm, slamming her hand on the crate and turning it to dust as Dark Owl stared at them in surprise.

"What?!" He gasped before glaring at them. "But that's impossible! How did you do it?!"

"What did you expect?" Anatis asked, making Dark Owl glare at him. "A superhero never reveals his secret. I thought you'd know better,"

"Yeah, you see Annie here thought of everything," Lady Noir grinned as she rested her arm against Anatis's shoulder as he stood there with his arms close. "He has a plan A, a plan B and all the alphabet to Z. I mean did you really think we would give you our miraculous, Dark Owl?"

"We're superheroes after all. We never surrender," Anatis grinned, taking out his yoyo as Lady Noir took out her baton. "After all, we're Anatis-"

"And Lady Noir!" She grinned before taking a bow before she looked up and winked at him. "I hope Hawkmoth liked his new toys,"

"Why you?!" He growled, taking out his boomerangs before throwing them. "Boomerang trajectory control, Albert!"

"Who is he talking to?!" Lady Noir gasped as they blocked them.

"I'm guessing his computer. It's where the akuma was last time," Anatis replied, knocking back a few. "Cover me! Even if I know where his akuma is, I'm still gonna need a... Lucky Charm!"

He threw up his yoyo as Lady Noir went toe to toe with Dark Owl. He caught the comic as she was knocked back.

"Are you certain it's in his computer?" She asked as he examined it before looking around, trying to figure out how to use it. He even flicked through the pages to see if anything stood out.

"Yes," He replied, tapping one of the pages. "Even in the comic, Knightowl doesn't work alone. He has Sparrow but also his butler, Albert,"

Lady Noir pinned him down as Anatis rolled up the comic and tucked it into his belt.

"Lady Noir, keep him busy. I'm gonna go and destroy his akumatized object," He declared, throwing his yoyo and swinging off. He ran as fast as he could across the roofs before jumping down and throwing his yoyo. He heard the Dark Owl behind him as Lady Noir tried to slow him down but he threw her off and dived towards him. Anatis jumped towards the school and landed on the window, opening it. As soon as he did, an alarm glared as he took out the comic. The Dark Owl landed behind him, grabbing him as his luck vision lit up certain objects. He dropped the comic book and kicked it into the statue of Knightowl as the Dark Owl took off his earring. His outfit began to disappear as the statue wobbled before it fell, creating a chain reaction that caused the lamp to smash into the computer, knocking it off the desk. The Dark Owl let go of Anatis, allowing him to catch his earring and put it back on as the computer crashed to the floor, breaking and freeing the akuma. He opened his yoyo and captured the butterfly before releasing the purified version. He picked up the comic book and threw it up in the air. "Miraculous Ladybugs!!"

The comic burst into the magical swarm and spreaded around the room, restoring it before it flew out the window around the Eiffel Tower. Anatis smiled as Lady Noir landed next to him before the two of them pressed their fists together as Dark Owl turned back into Mr Damocles.

"Lady Noir? Anatis? What are you doing in my office?" He asked, confused before realization crept on his face. "I was akumatized again wasn't I?"

"Yes... look, Mr Damocles, I get you want to be a hero but been a hero doesn't necessarily mean that you have to what we do," Anatis stated, sighing as Mr Damocles frowned. "I am really glad you followed my advice but maybe you could try and help people in a less dangerous way,"

"Like helping the homeless?" Lady Noir suggested, making Anatis nod. "We're not saying don't help people... it's great that you want to help but we have enough on our plate... we can't keep rescuing you, Mr Owl,"

"I know... I just really want to do good..." He sighed, looking down. "I want to be a hero,"

"Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, Mr Damocles," Anatis stated, placing his hand on the man's shoulder. "You don't have to be like me to be a hero,"

"You're right as usual, Anatis," He smiled, shaking his hand. "I will be my own hero,"

(***)

"Hey, Annie," Lady Noir grinned, joining Anatis as he sat on the roof, keeping an eye on Mr Damocles. He was currently taking a selfie with Kim, Alix and Max. "Babysitting huh?"

"Nope," He grinned. "I was on patrol and happened to see him. Thought I'd see how he's doing. You know he's been tending gardens, volunteering at soup kitchens, feeding animals... he's ready spread his wings,"

"I'm glad," She grinned. "He's his own hero,"

"Exactly," Anatis grinned. "And it means we have more free time,"

"Yeah... sooo wanna go to the movies?" She grinned playfully. Anatis laughed and got up.

"Sorry," He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I promised a friend I'd hang out with her as soon as I could,"

"No worries," She grinned, stretching. "See ya later?"

"Of course, Kitten," He grinned before swinging off. He found an alleyway and called off his transformation, catching Tikki and giving her a cookie before walking towards the bakery. He took out his phone as it buzzed, making him smile as he saw it was Marinette. He pushed open the door to the bakery and greeted Sabine, who smiled softly at him.

"Hello, Luka," She smiled. "Marinette's upstairs,"

"Thank you, Mrs Cheng," He smiled back before going upstairs and to her room. He knocked on the trapdoor before he climbed inside. Marinette was setting up a game before she handed him a controller. "You know I'm not brilliant at these,"

"No worries," She grinned, making him sit down before she sat next to him. "The point isn't to be good, Lu. It's meant to be fun,"

"Lu?" He asked, making her look at him with worry.

"Y-Yeah... do you mind?" She asked, making him smile.

"Nope," He grinned. "I like it... Melody..."

"Melody?" She questioned, blushing as Tikki joined Plagg, who was happily chomping on cheese.

"I can't believe Marinette is your holder, Plagg," She muttered, making him look at her.

"What's the big deal, Sugar cube?" He asked, making her shake her head before she looked at Luka and Marinette as they played the game. Naturally, Marinette won and happily called out, making Luka laugh. Plagg followed her line of sight before his eyes went wide. "No..."

"Yes,"

"Seriously?" He sniggered, making Tikki roll his eyes. "Boat kid is in love with Doll face eh? I wonder if they realize they are in a love square,"

"Wait? What do you mean a love square?" Tikki asked, making Plagg gulp. "Is Marinette in love with him?"

"Uhhh...."

----------------------------------------------

Next Chapter: https://ultra-sassyduck.tumblr.com/post/634367165279223808/miraculous-rise-of-anatis-34

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bbnibini · 4 years

Text

PSISLY: An Obey Me!CYOA – fifty-eight🔖

{ OPEN STATUS : YES

> approved

> displaying capture targets

Mammon: 85♡/100♡

Satan: 85♡/100♡

Barbatos: 0♡/100♡

Lucifer: 5♡/100♡

@#&)(@)€RR0Я : ∞??!@????♡/10000000000♡

CLOSE STATUS : YES

>approved }

[ Let him sleep for a bit more. ]

(Satan’s affection -5)

You suppose a few minutes on the snooze button wouldn’t hurt anyone. Satan had been working hard in the student council and barely had any time to take care of himself. Adrenaline also does marvellous things to someone in precarious situations. He may scold you about it later, but he’s rather cute when he’s angry anyway (totally worth it). Excuses continued to pile in your head as 2 minutes had passed—a poke on his cheek, then a whisper on his ear only earned you his half-asleep nuzzling on the hand that prodded him to wake up.

“Satan…” Almost a whisper. There was temptation in your thought, some mischievous nickname you’ve been wanting to call him urging to be uttered. Holding back a laugh, you strained your ears to the sound of the warning bell, keenly aware.

“Kitten~” An annoying tone that sounded similar to the sugary enunciation of Levi’s many waifus. Satan hated the fake accent with a burning passion. Deep green eyes squinted at you, now awake—a frown on his face.

“Your voice is fine the way it is.” He muttered (rather annoyed). Minor complaints is always a good sign of complete consciousness; you just hoped the extended sleep lessened his fatigue. “You should have woken me up.”

“I tried.” You took his outstretched hand and stood up, dusting your pants. “Will we make it?”

“No, but the janitor should still be around.” He said, matter-of-fact and checked his DDD. “I already texted Beel we’re going to be a little late.”

“Not Asmo—oh.”

Satan sighed. “He should really stop partying. Exams are nearing.”

“Maybe Solomon is tutoring him?”

“Makes sense. Oh, there’s the janitor.”

You have no idea how Satan does it. Even the surly RAD janitor looked almost cheerful when he was talking to him. In your weeks of being in that weird, unlabelled relationship with him, you went to several dates that you were vaguely aware of being impossible to book or access. But no. It always turns out he’s friends with the owner, the owner’s wife or the owner’s son’s friend’s favourite aesthetician or some variation. You weren’t the most sociable person you know, but his charismatic pull on people was influencing you as well. Positively. Asmo had noted that you were smiling more, you were easier to talk to, more patient and understanding, even earning Lucifer’s praise. The “understanding” you was wise enough not to gloat about it to your favourite (read: only) Avatar of Wrath. He may have mellowed down on his Lucifer Complex, but it didn’t mean that it was completely gone.

“What were we talking about before?” He asked you with a smile as he jogged over to you.

You smiled back. In the back of your mind, you couldn’t help but think:

I’m glad you’re the one I like.

With how he squeezed your hand and chuckled at your side, you were sure you said your thoughts out loud.

Oh well. Maybe you wanted to be heard.

💌💌💌

Walking home was pleasant. Stars illuminated the sky amidst Devildom’s eternal darkness. The few conversations with Satan had been mundane, but comfortable. A promise of Lucifer’s rare dinners was intriguing, but you pretended to take no interest in it for your pouting companion’s sake. The only dead air you had was understandable: final exams were often not a very favourable topic, even to one as studious as Satan. He offered to teach you instead of answering Lucifer’s impossible reviewers and you readily agreed, bias be damned. Satan laughed at your antics.

“By the way, I kept your gift in a vase.” You said, swinging your intertwined hands as you walked along the pavement, pacing yourself with his strides. You knew he could walk a lot faster (he had long legs AND he’s a lot taller than you), but he seemed to be thinking the same way. You felt your face warm at the thought.

“Oh? I’d love to see it. Maybe we can study in your room after dinner.”

“Really?!” You couldn’t help but exclaim. “Studying with you is soooo much better. I could barely understand Lucifer’s notes T_T.”

Dinner was ready when you arrived, but it seems that Lucifer’s sermons had become your appetiser instead. You pretended to listen along, with Satan following suit. At least the fancy French-named meal you had that you couldn’t even spell was delightful.

“Don’t rush now—we’ve just eaten!”

Satan’s warning fell on deaf ears as you dragged him along, giddy and excited to show him his gift that brought you together.

Or so it should be.

“Huh?”

You looked around your room, seeing your personal belongings in a clutter. You just tidied up your desk this morning so it doesn’t make sense.

“Is something wrong?”

Satan was concerned over your sudden paleness. “It’s not here…” A whisper, echoing louder as you repeated (by his request). “Your gift…it’s not here.” You showed him the empty glass vase; the corner of your eyes wet with tears. “It was here just this morning…” You started to tremble, and Satan held you gently in his arms to soothe you. “I changed the water often, and…and made sure it gets enough light. I even asked Asmo to help me! But…I lost it!” Your vision was getting blurry as Satan pried the vase away from your hands. He felt really warm, and his familiar cologne made you comfortable enough to air out your complaints.

“I can buy you a new one.” He said, kissing the top of your head. “I’m sure you really took care of it. I believe you, dearest.”

“T-then…”

“Shh, it’ll be fine.” He loosened the hug and wiped your tears with his thumbs. The kind way he smiled at you was almost unfair. “I think I have an idea on where it went, actually.”

He was still holding you as you sat on your bed, fiddling with his DDD. He did not speak, but he didn’t let go either and even stroked your head occasionally.

“Satan?”

“Mhm?”

You nuzzled his chest and sighed. “You’re really not angry at me?”

“For what?” He turned to you, as if the thought never crossed his mind.

“Nevermind,” It was difficult not to let it get to you. Even if he said he wasn’t blaming you for the misplaced flowers, it was still your responsibility to take care of them. “No…that’s wrong. I shouldn’t…keep secrets from you.” You scrambled over your words, noticing he already put his phone down and stopped frowning. You had his undivided attention, and he was clearly concerned over how...sad you are. You decided to tell him how you feel. “It really mattered a lot to me,” you explained, and looked up at him. “And, I feel bad I lost it. And feel even worse I’m overreacting—“

!!!

His lips were soft against yours—gentle and almost feather soft. You returned his kisses with your cheeks warm, and (you) laughably out of breath. He only smiled at you as your lips parted, your foreheads leaning against each other’s.

“It just means you love me.” He said as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, ironically followed by a more doubtful, “You do love me, don’t you?”

You couldn’t help but laugh in reply, his anticipated “Of course.”

Content with your answer, he pressed his lips against your forehead, a generous supplier of kisses and affection compared to his prim and proper self. “Just making sure.” Then again, that was typical Satan behind closed doors.

“Your culprit should have been apprehended by now.”

“Eh?”

“Surely you have some suspects in mind. Or maybe suspect is a more accurate moniker for him.”

You do admit that you had some dark thoughts looming about. And even if you were fond of the demon in question, there was disappointment there also, betrayal if you’re being dramatic enough. “Must he really time his heist when Lucifer is around?”

“You’re way too nice, you know.” He said. “You’re spoiling him too much.”

His jealousy may be cute to you, but you were concerned about Mammon right now. Standing up, you wiped your eyes and jogged over to the bathroom sink.

“I hope Lucifer didn’t hang him upside down...” You said out loud as you washed your face to remove the puffiness of your eyes. Satan waited for you outside the door and shook his head. You splattered some water in your rush and wet a portion of your clothes in the process. “I’m fine now!”

“Your appearance says otherwise.” Satan, an eyewitness to your tears thoughtfully recounted to you.

“!!!”

“Still cute though.”

You puffed your cheeks and made light punches on his chest. “Let’s go down before something bad happens.”

He didn’t budge. Instead, he looked at you with a smirk.

“What if I want something to happen?”

"Sataaaaaan.”

He made a tsk sound, but let himself be pulled along this time.

This time is the nick of time.

“IT’S YOUUUUU!!! YA GOT TO HELP ME!”

…for Mammon looked at you as if you were an oasis in the middle of a desert. The blaring heat of the sun, which was the irate firstborn, already had a rope in hand, and the dunes, which were the passive onlookers that were his brothers (most of them; Asmo was visibly absent) only looked at the sight as if it were a typical day.

His pleading eyes were too pitiful to ignore. Satan already promised to give you a replacement bouquet, and isn’t this punishment a little too harsh?

“It’s okay, Lucifer.” Your words caused most of the brothers to express their disapproval. “It’s no harm done.” You mustered up your best smile to make your point. However, they only seemed to frown even further upon seeing your expression.

“You’re the worst Mammon,” said Levi, your ever supportive best friend who seemed to have forgiven your recent blunders.

“They’re clearly not okay,” added Belphie, clutching his cow pillow to his person.

“It looks like you made them cry,” or so you thought what Beel said. You couldn’t really be sure because he was talking with his mouth full.

“I can confirm.” Satan glared at Mammon and held you close to him. “I had to calm them down since they were crying so much. Clearly it’s more than just a gift to them.”

No. But you really are fine!

“GUYS-“

“I understand why you’re trying to defend Mammon, but you are obviously upset about the situation.” Lucifer finally spoke after his long moment of silence. “Your smiles are forced, and you’re going back to your old habits again.” Habits? Before you could ask him what he meant, he continued speaking.

“He had already sold it, and it could never be returned, along with its sentimental value. If he would not be punished or reprimanded for his actions, then he will only do this again, all because you tolerate him. And before you open your mouth, I am not done talking.” Lucifer put the rope down and let Mammon go. “Would a lighter punishment suffice?”

Mammon, who was about to make a run for it, was blocked by a concerned Beel who placed him back on the hot seat. It reminded you of police investigations—only that the said “culprit” did not have any chair or table to sit on, and the fluorescent lightbulb hanging overhead was instead a fancy chandelier in the common room. Mammon looked at you again with pleading eyes.

You really could not ignore him!

“What kind of punishment?” You tried to smile at Mammon, relieved to see he looked a lot less tense with you as his backup.

“He hasn’t even apologised to you yet.” (Levi)

Incensed, Mammon shouted. “Well, how can I when y’all are talkin’ over me?!” He turned to you. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I needed quick cash and didn’t have any choice! I didn’t know it meant somethin’ to ya!”

Wrong answer.

“Get the rope, Beel.” (Belphie)

“Tie him up nice and tight—no maybe I should, as I was the one who purchased their gift anyway.” (Satan)

“Children.” Boomed Lucifer’s voice in the common room, holding Mammon by the shoulder. There was a terrifying glare in his eyes, a cold atmosphere about him that you could feel though you were standing across from him, protected by Satan’s own warmth. Thank Satan. No, hail Satan.

“As you can already tell, remorse is an alien term to him. Expecting any from Mammon is impossible.” Second-hand embarrassment perhaps? There was definitely shame there with intent of inflicting bodily harm. You heard Mammon yelp in pain as Lucifer’s gloved fingers dug into his clavicle, intent on not letting him go. Mammon was understandably skittish. Everyone except you seemed to have him on their hit list, and you were not in the most stable state of mind at the moment to defend him properly. In fact, the harder you tried, the angrier his brothers become. If he weren’t in this situation, he would have reacted the same way.

“…however,” Lucifer continued, the already bone-chilling atmosphere becoming even more ominous as his lips curved up into a smile. “Out of respect for your affections for my dear little brother, I shall modify my punishment into a more…productive one.”

“Productive?” you parroted.

“Ahh, of course. By productive, I meant academically productive.” Mammon’s face paled at the firstborn’s words. “As long as he scores 75% and above in all of his tests, I will let this little incident slide. Any lower than that, and he will get the rope AND clerical work for a month.”

“W-What?! I haven’t even hit a 50 in 500 years!”

Smile. Poor Mammon was petrified.

“That’s your problem, not mine.”

A piercing cry echoed in the room. Mammon, with tears on the corner of his eyes held you by the shoulders and shook you. Satan attempted to pull you back to his side to no avail.

“He’s mad! Like, crazy mad! I couldn’t score so high even if Devildom freezes over!”

You were a diligent student at RAD—the novelty of almost everything around you had been a wonderful learning experience, so more often than not, studying (at least Devildom-related subjects) had been more of a hobby to you than an obligation. Satan had been encouraging you in your scholarly pursuits as well, so you couldn’t really understand where Mammon was coming from. Not completely, at least. You may love learning, but exams are another matter. That at least, you can get a sense of.

Lucifer’s words are final—it was an unspoken truth. He rarely ever compromises on his decisions, believing his way of doing things is the only correct one. The fact that he listened to you and considered your feelings was already miraculous. You didn’t want to push your luck. Doing so might only worsen Mammon’s punishment. Instead, you chose to calm your friend down by placing a hand on his own shoulder. You looked at him, hoping your willingness to help him and support him as your first shined through the glint of your eyes.

“Don’t worry, Mammon! I’ll help you study!”

However you wish to placate him however, it didn’t necessarily mean it could be conveyed to the concerned party. Satan didn’t seem amused about the situation either, acting as a barricade between you both, green eyes flickering the flames of his sin you were vaguely aware he was keeping at bay.

“You have some nerve to ask someone who you have stolen from.” You saw his eyes widen for a fraction of a second, lips smirking as if calculating something in his head. “Actually, I have an idea!”

Whatever that idea was, it's totally malicious, Levi muttered to himself (enough for you to hear).

“Y-Your ideas are stupid!” (Mammon)

“So is stealing and making the human I love cry.”

!!!

Levi looked at the both of you in disgust, disgusted even more at himself for his prophetic words. Beel almost choked on his French fry. Belphegor jolted from his half-asleep state, and Lucifer…Lucifer didn’t stir. In fact, it seemed like he anticipated the compulsive love confession. His face hinted no ounce of shock nor disgust—only the comfort of indifference. You wanted to ask if that is a consequence of his complicated relationship with Satan; you closed your mouth instead. But closing your mouth only made you entertain Satan’s bold declarations. Your face felt warm all over, your heart palpitated as if it’s ready to jump out of you. Conscious of the eyes peering at your embarrassing reactions, you hid behind Satan, seeing his reddened ears from your peripheral.

If Asmo was around, you were certain he would be teasing you right now (that or snapping some pictures for Devilgram). Thank goodness he’s not around.

Sadly, you could not see how Satan’s face flushed upon realising what he said. “What I was saying before I was rudely interrupted.” No such attempt of interruption was ever committed, but everyone was too dumbstruck to retort. “I can help you. Since I have already promised them we will study together anyway. In fact, I want to propose a study group. So everyone can bear witness to my dear older brother accomplishing something for himself, and contributing to Devildom’s increase in morale in the process, especially with the current political unrest. I’m sure you already know.”

The only thing you were privy to witness/hear from your current hidden state was how scary he sounded. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle with his sarcasms anymore.

“Sounds delightful. Doesn’t it, Mammon?” Lucifer responded with sarcasm mirroring Satan’s. “A willing tutor and a chance to right your wrongs. I trust that everyone will invite themselves over as well? I quite like the sound of it—increasing Devildom’s morale. Everyone will go, won’t they?”

The bloodlust directed at Mammon only increased as Lucifer dropped his silent warnings. And the oblivious you, still afloat in your pink-themed shoujo manga fantasy was blanketed by the foreboding reality of your future. You only grew aware of it once Mammon asked to talk to you privately. He knew enough that going through the study session was an intent to ridicule him. He was bothered about how he made you cry, but he felt it unfair to be treated like this anyway and you couldn’t help but agree.

“I’m sorry, Mammon. I tried my best to negotiate, but Lucifer’s words are final.”

“…m’sorry too.” He muttered quietly, and only shouted his words again when you asked for it to be repeated. “I really meant it when I said I didn’t know it mattered to ya.”

“I know. I trust you Mammon.”

“…”

“Mammon?”

“AHHH! To hell with this! Why are you so nice to me?” He shook your shoulders again, much like how he did earlier at the common room. “Anyone ever called you a pushover? Cos you are! Get angry at me, dammit!”

Angry? Sure, you were sad, but…

“You’re the Avatar of Greed and you couldn’t help it, can’t you?”

Mammon stopped shaking you, dumbfounded. “Satan already promised to replace my flowers, and sure I’m still really sad about it, but in the end…everything worked out. There’s no use beating myself up over it anymore. Not if we have exams to pass!

Mammon?”

He was red as a tomato. He backed away from you and faced the nearby wall, pounding it one, two, three, four…the fifth and final one the strongest, causing the paintings hanging nearby to shake a little.

“…glad…didn’t…misplace…locker…” You couldn’t really hear him. He seemed to be muttering something for his ears alone. And when you thought the long-spanned silence meant he was ready to talk to you again, he let out a lifetime’s worth of sighs. Ah. He’s facing you. Not as flustered anymore.

“Look…the Great Me is touched you’re such a good human! But…”

“But?”

Mammon hesitated. “I need a miracle to get 75% in all of my subjects. Satan? Nah! He’s out to get me! A target on my back, no offense! But yer boyfriend’s crazy!”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“No? Then whaddya call that cozying up to you for? I ain’t stupid, y’know?”

“!!!”

Mammon shrugged, feigning indifference but his gestures had been awkward. Almost sad. “Point is, I need a new tutor. And Satan won’t let you tutor me. Not alone, at least.”

“I still don’t see your point?”

“Patience’s a virtue. A virtue! You’re all buddy buddy with Asmo, aren’t ya?”

“I…guess?” It isn’t like Mammon to drag his point across. It almost felt like you’re connecting the dots. “What about Asmo?”

Oh.

You don’t like that grin on his face. That’s his ‘I have a genius plan!’ look. None of said plans ever worked, its genius equally questionable.

“Oh c’mon! It’ll work this time! He’s some wise old, king from some ravioli country, isn’t he? Maybe he’ll even help me score higher! That’ll show Lucifer!”

“It’s Israel.”

“Israel, Ishmael. Whatever! So, will you help me out?”

Realistically speaking, it was the best option for Mammon to consider. Belphie another, but Belphie barely remembers even going to class. How he manages to pass (with flying colours even) despite that was a mystery in itself. “I’ll try texting him. He said he’s with Solomon right now…so it might work out.”

Mammon smacked your back, letting out a hearty laugh. “That’s my human for ya! I knew you had it in ya!”

Asmo’s messages reeked of drunk: numerous stickers and typo errors that you decided to call him instead. Mammon looked over your shoulder and shared an earbud with you. You felt his muscles tense.

“Hello, Asmo?”

Loud was your first thought as party music blared on the receiver. There were muted conversations also, along with incomprehensible shouting. You heard Asmo’s voice much later, a hiccup or two before slurring out a “Helloooooooooo?”

“You’re drunk, aren’t you?”

“Darliiiiiing!♡”

“You know that alcohol isn’t good for your skin.”

Asmo sniffled in understanding, touched by your concern. You heard him move over to a quieter environment, hearing the name Solomon uttered before placing the phone back to his ear.

“You HAVE to go to the spa with me this weekend! This much damage to my skin is offensive! Offensive I tell you!” You didn’t speak, knowing he had more stories to recount. Mammon grew impatient from behind however, and you only shook your head at him. “Sure! The usual place, right? That aside, what happened?”

The words Asmo was waiting for! He poured his heart out upon your verbal signals. “Remember that super important thing I have to go to? It’s this party~♡ I already told you, didn’t I?”

“Mhm. Something about being summoned?”

“Exactly, exactly!~” Asmo was happy you remembered. Not that it was surprising. With someone as beautiful as him? He’d surely be a hard face to forget. Your genuine interest in him however was special. It felt like you really meant it, that you weren’t just after his beauty (even if he couldn’t quite understand and didn’t mind in the slightest, if you were interested in him solely for his looks).

“Solomon summoned me and said his mage friends were fans of mine~ And who am I to deny them?~ They invited me over to their exclusive party~! It’s teeeeeming with mages here and they’re all, like…hot. Can you believe it? When someone says, wizard friends, you’d automatically think of wrinkly old men, right?~”

“Surely not everyone there is hot.”

“To see is to believe, darling!~ Beauty is meant to be surrounded with beauty~! Isn’t it soooooo thoughtful of him to introduce me to his friends? His hot friends?”

Mammon placed the bud back on your ear, making a cross mark with his arms and shaking his head. He knew what kind of discussion was coming, and he’d rather not hear it. He sat next to you though and leaned on the wall, pretending to be interested over a painting from three centuries ago.

Needless to say, you had a blast talking with an inebriated Asmo, blushing occasionally over some details he shared with you, and blushing even more when he asked about your current standing with his fourth-born brother. You saw Mammon’s eyes roll on occasion, feeling like a father dragged by his wife and teenage daughter as a glorified trolley on their shopping trip. You managed to get a yes from Asmo however, convincing him not to get too carried away to attend the first group study session tomorrow along with Solomon. It hadn’t been as easy to convince him however, especially when he said,

“I’ll try asking him~ But I can’t make any promises.”

“Why not?”

“He’s busy with something. He always is. Sometimes he tells me, sometimes he doesn’t. That’s how pacts work, darling~♡.”

Fair enough. He did offer for you to talk to the man in question himself to ask him directly, and he had been unexpectedly gracious.

“Sure.” Was Solomon’s curt reply, making you raise an eyebrow. Not that he could tell.

“That’s it? No catch?”

“You want it to have one?” You shuddered at the thought. Your silence was already telling for him. “I take that as a no.”

“It must be the alcohol, huh? Getting in your head much?” You heard him laugh at the other end.

“Oh, definitely. Lady Luck had smiled upon you.”

“…I’ll have Satan push it back a few hours. Tell Asmo to take care of himself for me!”

“Yeah. Bye.”

And that was it. Mammon was safe. Everyone’s happy!

Until they’re not. There were a mountain of complaints and you haven’t even started yet!

Belphie fell asleep on the study table, Beel ate all the snacks. Levi was busy ignoring everyone else, intent on playing “just one more round” of Mononoke Land (it had been 15 rounds and counting). Lucifer was absent, saying he would arrive late for a reason he refused to elaborate, and Asmo was throwing up last night’s Demonus bombs. Satan was the only “sane” one as always, drumming his fingers on his crossed arms and holding back his anger.

To add insult to injury, Mammon kept pestering you about Solomon’s whereabouts. The more I don’t knows you said, followed by I’m not really close to him only made him ask more. And truthfully speaking? Much like Satan, you felt like you were running out of patience as well.

“MAMMON, SHUT THE @#@#@$$@ UP!”

It looked like Satan finally snapped.

You closed your eyes and ducked your head, successfully dodging the blackboard’s debris. Judging from Levi’s loud cries of pain however, his efforts of dodging had been a failure. The door creaked in that awkward calm of the aftermath, revealing Solomon, greeting everyone with “Hi.” in singsong, completely oblivious of what occurred before his arrival.

“Did we come at a bad time?” You were curious at his we, and focused your eyes at the door to see Simeon and a dumbstruck Luke (currently processing what transpired) standing behind him.

Seeing as you were the only one who was…okay enough to reply, you muttered out,

“Maybe we should do this at Purgatory Hall.”

The three of them agreed in a heartbeat. Yeah. Awkward.

💌continue to next scenario

💌masterlist

💌tag request: @lilliansstuff

#psisly #hamartia series #obey me #obey me x reader #interactive fiction #obey me fic #obey me fanfic #shall we date obey me #obey me mammon #obey me mammon x reader #obey me satan #obey me satan x reader #obey me barbatos #obey me barbatos x reader #obey me lucifer #obey me lucifer x reader #secret admirer #love letter

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bunnylouisegrimes · 4 years

Text

Episode 7 Review (BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH LOW KEY FUCKING UP CHARLIE’S BACKSTORY)

Spoilers, so be ready. Also, this one might be a little longer than my other ones, so just be aware.

This episode was both good and bad, at least for me. Let’s start off with all the bad and get that out of the way:

For starters, Bing’s sudden “I’m so high and moral, I’m so above Charlie, boo hoo he used me” narrative I swear... he’s so annoying. Gtfo with that shit Bing. You’re a rapist literal motherfucker. Charlie uses assholes like you for his benefit and kid’s benefit, then you die in the end, it’s what you deserve. I did love the nod to Dewey Hansom from the book and comic in this episode tho. Dewey was a rapist himself and if I remember correctly, he did stuff to kids, and Charlie made sure he got his in the end too. I guess this attitude Bing had did lead to his eventual downfall, but still... doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying lol.

A question I had, a friend on here had, and I’m sure we all had was: did Charlie get raped by Bing or... what? I mean, at the time, it was implied, based on what Bing said to him which was extremely creepy, but we didn’t know because his body got dragged away like nothing ever happened. Plus, it cut to what happened to him in his childhood around this time (my opinions on his childhood in a moment). The answer is: No, Charlie was not raped by Bing. He was about to be raped by him, but was not. Here is the screenshot from my friend who asked the writer of the episode:

So no, Charlie was not! Thank God... Of course, hitting him was not good, and what happened to him as a child was not good at all, but this would’ve made things a lot worse both writing wise and in regards to Charlie. Credit to @welcometochristmasland for asking the writer, thank you so much for clarifying this for everyone!

I’m especially relieved by this not just because I’m a Charlie fan girl, but this reason: Charlie getting raped AGAIN in his life, and especially by that fucker, would be so unneeded and stupid. There would be no point to that other than shock value filler. Not to mention, wouldn’t it make things extremely awkward between Vic and Charlie? Despite what’s happening with Wayne, I mean, she was almost raped by Bing herself, and if Charlie actually were in this scenario... that would be pretty awkward between the two, right? I know if I were Vic and I found out about that, I would feel pretty awkward, even if he had my kid, because rape is way too strong a punishment over this. We already know Bing is worse than Charlie, you wouldn’t have to show it through this, and thank God the show did not. I was gonna be real angry over that... of course, there is one thing that unexpectedly made me angry at this episode...

I don’t know what the writers’ problem is with Charlie’s backstory and the women in his life hurting him. They don’t make them saints, but they make them out to be like, “Oh, look at us, we love you and we point out your flaws, and you hurt us.” You know what Charlie’s mother and wife said to him all those years ago according to the comic book that reveals his backstory? They told him how much he drained them of their happiness and youth. No shit Charlie has such a distrust in women! He’s been told by his own mother and first wife, who he broke an arm and a leg for how much just to support the family, that he’s worthless. This leads him to snap! His mom wouldn’t have cared he was raped. She hated him. She told him, when he was forced to sleep in a coffin in the back of the inn and mortuary they lived in, that he belonged in one, so it served him right to sleep in one. Real loving mother of the year, am I right? Again, she still wasn’t a saint in the show, but Charlie going off at her like that was just... WHAT??? NO. And making Charlie groom other kids uknowingly while he’s groomed himself? I really don’t like this, and it’s even worse that Charlie gets more mad at his mom and not so much himself in this situation. He blames himself, but moreso blames his mom. Just... why?

In the comic, the guy who hurt Charlie as a kid was a random guy. He was kicked out of the inn and mortuary for hurting his mom while he was her customer. She points out that maybe a woman doesn’t satisfy him, and boy, is she right, because the fucker follows Charlie as he’s walking up a hill to play with his sled, and rapes Charlie. Charlie gets away, his abilities start to unlock just a bit once his head hits a tree, he kills the rapist, goes back into town, kills his mom, and kills one of the owners of the inn and mortuary (probably because he was trying to stop Charlie, and little boy Charlie has snapped). After this, Charlie leaves and ends up in Kansas. He has little no memory of this.

Now, did the episode show us his mom’s neglectful behavior by leaving her son midway through a little show he was doing to sleep around? Yes. Did they show his abilities unlock after his rape and him killing her? Yes. Did they show him get raped in the first place, and is it still horrible? Yes to both. And I think it was a good change in the show to make the man someone Charlie trusted instead of a random guy (its both equal in how horrible and wrong it is, but the fact it was someone he trusted is even more shocking, I think, but the good kind of shocking, not some cheap useless bullshit).

But similar to Charlie’s backstory with Cassie, the writers seemed to have skimmed through the comic and not understand the point: Not only does sexual assault as a child fuel Charlie’s trauma and pain, but so does the feelings of uselessness he felt from his mother hurting him and his wife hurting him. I get it, you want to make Charlie out to be the big bad, but he already is with the questionable ways he saves kids. His backstory is meant to be the place where you see his softer side, not see more of his bad. You see his softness, but then the show turns around and says, “ReMeMbEr, hE’s StIlL tHe BaD gUy.” We get it, writers! Now can you please stop making him unsympathetic? There is that side of him that people need to understand! That’s what makes his character so genius!

Slightly off topic, but I thought of something briefly: I can’t help but feel the show is maybe doing this not only because they really want to make it out like “Charlie’s so evil and if you like his sad backstory and understand him, you’re just wrong UWU), but maybe it’s also because they don’t want to talk about a male victim of abuse story. Of course, yes, they did it with him being raped as a child, and I’m glad that they still covered the topic of a male victim of sexual abuse, especially sexual child abuse. Showing how awful that is is important, and I think they handled that aspect well. However, Charlie is also a child abuse victim with his mother, and a domestic violence victim with his wife. Why wouldn’t they want to show a child abuse victim, and a domestic violence survivor (and a male one at that!) in a way that is important and well handled too? They didn’t make a PSA out of it, no, and they wouldn’t make PSAs out of the other things either, that’s not what I’m saying. But by showing these things in media, it’s important. It raises awareness of these issues that happen in our world, and who knows, it could help somebody find something to relate to. Think of the movie Kill Bill: the movie brings up people, especially women, getting raped in comas. It’s a problem, it happens to people, and Tarantino brought that up. It wasn’t in a PSA fashion, but he still showed you that something as awful as that could happen and does happen in our world. So what’s the problem, writers? Why couldn’t you explore these things with Charlie? Is it because he is a man, so exploring women hurting men is “wrong?”

Because let me tell you all: If Charles were Charlotte, and she were abused by her father and husband the same way as Charles was in the comic and book, I think the writers would praise this concept. “She has a distrust for men because of how much they hurt her in life! She’s a genius villain!” And don’t get me wrong: Charlotte would be. And men abusing women happens way more often than the other way around, it’s still absolutely wrong, and I would fully support Charlotte as a villain. I wouldn’t like her in that way as I do Charles because I’m straight, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy Charlotte Manx as a character and love her genius writing. But here comes Charles, a man abused by women... oh no! We can’t discuss that! Why not? What’s this double standard crap?

I’d like to reiterate that this is only a possible theory for why the writers made these choices, not an official reason. I’m not trying to accuse them of pulling a double standard, I’m just throwing that idea out there as a general, “is this why, because you’re not really giving a reason why.” And before anyone twists my words: Abuse of any kind, regardless of sexes involved, is wrong. I think female abuse stories should be told, and I think male abuse stories should be told, both in real life and in the fictional realm. I am a bit disappointed they did not do the full potential and exploration of Charlie’s very tragic backstory that they had in regards to his relationship with his mother and wife.

Now that I’ve let out my ranting, the positives of this episode:

Bing getting bird shit in his mouth in the beginning was hilarious. What happens to him in the end was fabulous. Charlie’s final words to him and how he left him to rot... oh how wonderful it was! And Charlie’s words to Bing throughout this whole episode were just... excellent. Obviously it was hard to watch him get beaten, but he had quite the guts to still try to trick him. His truthful words to Bing that made him stop when he was about to rape him, and his words to Bing after stabbing him were just... I think the best lines Charlie has said out of the whole series so far. His bad assery shines in this episode.

I find it fascinating how Charlie’s fears are outside of Christmasland and locked in that house. Despite all the nonsense with Cassie’s character I’ve discussed before and how she is not the abuser she is in the book and comic, and how important it is to discuss it and portray it, I do like Millie exploring herself. I suppose her mother does kinda have to be involved to help Millie explore herself, so I guess there is something good coming out of this, even if the take away is an aspect of Charlie being ruined and made less sympathetic when it should be.

Wayne and Craig’s interaction is really sweet, I’m glad he’s here and helping him. The comparison between Millie and her mom and Wayne and his dad is really good, I do like that. And Wayne saving Charlie, I was like HELL YES!!!! You’re doing good and you don’t even realize it, kid!

All in all: there was a part I was about to hate in this episode that was confirmed to not be there by the writer of it (Thank God), there was something I actually do hate about this episode, and then there are a few things I love about this episode. It was definitely interesting. You feel horrible for Charlie, you hate Bing even more, you feel glad he gets what he deserves, and the exploration with Millie and Wayne is good. If you’re like me and you really want Charlie’s backstory to be as it was in book form in regards to his relationship with his mother (and with his wife, quite a few episodes before) because it makes more sense, allows better exploration of concepts in our real world, and allows you to understand Charlie better, you won’t like his backstory entirely even as he was a kid. But if you can look past all that, there’s really no sour taste that will be left in your mouth, except for pity for Charlie (but most of us, if not all of us, feel that for him, that’s obvious, it’s horrible what happened to him).

Sorry this one was very long, thank you for reading till the end if you have! I hope you enjoyed it!

#charlie manx #nos4a2 charlie #nos4a2 #charles manx

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itsa-lie · 3 years

Text

Birth Of A Liar Part Two

||Part One||Part Two||Part Three||Part Four||Part Five||

More of the boy’s backstory, including a cameo from a special someone. Oh boy will that someone hurt.

Trigger warning for abuse, murder, and an unlikely pair-up

Days went by since that horrible day of his parents death. Days became months, and months became years. How the young boy managed to keep himself alive for that long was a miracle in itself. He mostly would stand outside shops making sad pouty faces until the owner or someone who would give him a half-eaten sandwich or, if he was lucky, a soda bottle. One time a kind man bought him this really sweet grape drink he really liked. It was cold, sweet, and tasted like sweet grapes. He was too young to read back then, but the man called it “Grape Panta” and oh boy was he hooked on it.

Not only would he beg for food and drink, sometimes he would outright steal using his small height to his advantage. The cashier at the local bakery leaves for a few minutes? He’d just sneak in and go around the back of the display and steal a few jelly filled donuts. It wasn’t that hard and if he was lucky he’d be able to steal a Panta too. He’s never once been caught and he is very proud of that.

One summer day as he carries his loot of sweets to his hole, he noticed something odd was going on. Someone was there with him. Kokichi practically dropped his treats in surprise! There was a boy a bit older than him with red hair that draped over his eyes, a small girl with brown hair who looked terrified and holding onto an older girl, and the older girl herself looking around Kokichi’s age with long black hair in ponytails and crimson red eyes. She was the only one not looking scared in this situation, her eyes glued to the boy in front of her as if she would attack any second.

Kokichi tries his best not to look scared, but does try to intimidate them the best the six-year-old could.

“Who the ever-loving hell are you?”

He’s heard a few grown-ups use this phase outside him hiding place. It seemed to get the job done with them into scaring the other person. Well while it did intimidate the little girl who began to sob loudly, the other two didn’t seem to be intimidated in the slightest, the red eyed girl becoming more enraged.

“If you do anything to us I swear I’ll-”

“Maki, I’ll take care of this, calm down.”

“Goro stand down, he’s already scaring Hanako.”

“WAAAAHHHH!!!”

The odd scenario going on before Kokichi both baffled and amused him just the same. He hasn’t seen any kids before nor has he played with anyone before. Or maybe he has? Unfortunately as much as he tried to prevent it his memories while his parents were still alive kept coming back fuzzy as if they were going to be forgotten entirely. It would be nice to have some company in this lonely little building. However you can never be too sure.

“Hey I know you’re probably wondering what we’re doing here, kid. I don’t blame you. This was your hole after all.” The older boy, apparently named Goro mutters with a timid laugh. He didn’t want a fight to break out it seems. “But we need your help. You see, some bad people are looking for us and we really need a place to hide. We won’t be much trouble I promise.” The red eyed girl scoffed at Goro’s plea but continued petting and comforting the child in front of her who was sniffling hysterically. Confused but intrigued, Kokichi poked his head out the hole looking around. There seemed to be a group of adults each carrying firearms. That didn’t look good.

“Fine fine, just keep her voice down! There’s guys everywhere out there.”

His loud shout only made Hanako cry more. “You idiot. That’s no way to comfort a child.” hissed Maki as she holds the girl close. “There there...don’t cry...I won’t let anything happen to you...” Kokichi, for some odd reason, felt a warm feeling hearing those words as if he heard them before...somewhere. Hanako seemed to calm down at least. This Maki girl was really great with kids.

“I heard something this way! Come on!” booms a man voice outside walking into the alley. Oh no! Did he hear them? And they are coming this way! Kokichi was able to keep a low profile for so long! Why now of all times and places should he be discovered! Thinking quickly Kokichi started to bark orders.

“You, take the kid behind that sink over there and lay low, kid, don’t worry, I got this under control. And you, big red over here, sit in that darkened corner by the kitchen and stay completely still.”

The children had no other choice but to listen, following Kokichi’s words exactly. The boy himself climbed up on a shelf above the hole holding a wooden bat in his hand. Yes it was the same hateful bat that that horrible gang member used to kill his father with, but it could still be used for protection. Though Kokichi would never kill anyone and would only knock out the man if he even tried getting in. Outside it would seem that the hole was spotted by one of the men. He leans down to look inside, flashing his flashlight around. All he could really see was a bag of what seemed to be donuts on the ground. Did an animal hide them away here for safe keeping? Defeated, the man gets back onto his feet. “False alarm. Must be a rat or something...” Kokichi gives a sigh of relief to himself and wipes the sweat from his brow while listening to the footsteps get further and further away. “Okay, he’s gone now, it’s safe.”

The three other children come out of their hiding places like fawn staring out for their mother to give them the go ahead to move. They all sat down in front of the purpleish blue haired boy as they gave sighs of relief.

“Wow mister! You’re really good at being a leader!” Hanako states with a smile. Maki didn’t want to admit it, especially from how loud and brash this kid was, but she’d admit this kid saved their skin and she was grateful. Goro nodded in agreement with the little girl. “Yeah, you really saved our butts back there, thank you. Maki why don’t you say thanks too?” Maki was quiet, her gaze to the ground, before she finally gives in and rolls her eyes. “...thanks I guess.” The orphan boy blushed from the compliments and the thanks, but pretended it meant nothing. “Yeah yeah yeah, I know I’m like...an ultimate leader and all that.” The red headed boy laughs a bit at the younger’s cockiness before speaking again. “Anyway why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m Goro Harukawa and this is my little sister Maki.” Maki didn’t even bother to look at anyone, only cradling Hanako softly. “And I’m Hanako!” Says the smallest as she waves her hand in the air. “Hanako was a baby when we found her so we just...ya know...took care of her. Could you believe someone would leave this cutie on a doorstep?”

Kokichi stares at the others with an eyebrow raised. “So if you’re brother and sister what happened to your parents?” Goro’s eyes started to look a bit sadder but continued to smile as Maki grunts and turns away much to the confusion of the young Hanako. “Well our...mother died when Maki was born so...well our father had three sons before me who had grown up or got sent to a boarding school, and he usually had mother by his side so...well...he...”

Maki was looking more and more uncomfortable at what her brother was saying.

“He was already angry at Maki for being born and was...punching her whenever he got mad or would punch me for defending her. So when he saw a defenseless baby Hanako outside he...well he tried to kill her. That was until Maki stabbed him in the back of the neck.”

“He would have killed us! Father’s temper was horrible, you know that! Don’t paint me out to be some sort of horrible murderer!” Maki snapped, her eyes filling with hate. It was enough to even scare Kokichi who glanced back at Goro like he was saying “he said it not me”. Goro stares down at the ground, sweat pouring down his face. “I-I didn’t mean it like that. I was only explaining-”

“Actually,” Kokichi started, a blank stare on his face devoid of emotion. “You’re still a murderer if you had good intentions or not. You still took a life. You’re a murderer.” Goro’s eyes turned as big as dinner plates, Hanako stares confused, and Maki...oh man Maki...was on fire with rage right now. She reeled her fist back before socking Kokichi right in the jaw, his head moving back from the blow. “You don’t know shit about what I am. You don’t know ANYTHING about me. So don’t keep talking out of your ass or else you might be the next one hurt.”

“M-Maki!? What the hell?! I know that was uncalled for but-” Before Goro could finish his sentence Maki was already up the stairs, going who knows where. Kokichi gets back up, rubbing the side of his face that hurt. “You bitch! You’re not the only one who can fight ya know!” Kokichi picked up his bat and tried to run right for her but was stopped by Goro who practically held the boy in the air by the collar of his shirt. Kokichi made a whining sound before Goro put him down again. “Look, maybe you should just...leave her alone for a bit. This whole thing hurts her very much. Heck it even hurts me and Hana.” The boy looked up at the taller boy, skeptical.

“Didn’t you say your dad was an abusive douchebag?”

Goro’s eyes start to water as he looks down. “...he didn’t used to be...he used to be a kid father until mom died...” The lump forming in his throat made it hard to talk, he holds onto Hanako close who was nestled beside him. “I thought...if we waited a bit longer he would go back to the way he used to be...that’s what I told Maki...we just...had to wait and he’d be loving and sweet again...” Goro was shaking as tears went down his eyes. “It kept us going and made Maki happy but...he wasn’t ever coming back.” Now Kokichi felt like a total ass for what he said. They had that little bit of hope from a lie, just like how he had hope from his own lie that his parents weren’t dead. The boy himself shook as well, his eyes peering to the ground as his body trembles. “I thought lying to myself would make me happy but...this makes it much worse. I’m sorry...”

Goro feels a bit better and pats Kokichi’s head. “It isn't your fault. I mean if someone came into my house saying they killed their father I’d be pretty freaked out too. I’d probably call the police.” He giggles a little before putting on a comforting smile.

“But sometimes you care about someone too much to let them suffer in lies. You have to do something or someone will get hurt.”

Kokichi was silent, taking the older boy’s words to heart. Even if lies do make you feel better, there were some that makes you feel better for a little while then hurt you in the long run. But what kind of lies are they? How could he tell the difference? Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by his growling stomach. That’s right, he didn’t get a chance to eat his stolen donuts yet. He quickly picked up the bag and starts chowing down. Given he was so young when his parents had passed on, he didn’t really have manners or the idea to share. Well, until both Goro and Hanako stared at him sadly as their own stomachs rumbled.

“Y-You want some?”

The three of them ate as much as they could and there was still some left over for Maki. They each told each other stories of their pasts and dreams they had until Goro and Hanako fell asleep on a full stomach and cuddled up next to each other on a pillow. Kokichi couldn’t sleep now feeling guilt he made Maki hurt. But it wasn’t a lie, that was the truth! Anyone who kills another human being is a murderer! Was it better if he lied about that too? Well he didn’t want the donuts to go bad or stale so he went up the stairs. The most beautiful thing about this building was the way it would go up to the roof, it would show the most scenic spots of Tokyo. Kokichi didn’t think that’s why his mom hid him in that spot, in fact she probably didn’t know it existed, but he was grateful nonetheless. If only father and mother could see these beautiful sights...perhaps someday...maybe...

As he reached the roof he could see Maki sitting alone. She stares at the busy roads and cars below her, hearing the hustle and bustle of the city. Timidly Kokichi sat on the other side of her also looking down at the ground. She didn’t seem to notice, and even if she did she gave no response. This lasted for a few minutes, only the sounds of the city bellow. Kokichi couldn’t stand the awkward silence anymore before he holds out the bag of treats to her. “Here, we saved you some.” Maki eyed the bag of treats for a second as if she was checking if they were safe or not before sighing and taking the bag. She cautiously took a bite of a cherry jelly filled donut, then took another, and another. Damn these things were good. She ate it pretty fast which made Kokichi giggle a bit before Maki gives one of those infamous stares in which he holds up his hands defensively. Maki seemed to have eaten the rest of the donuts in one sitting before taking the empty paper bag and handing it back to him. “Thanks. It was...oddly tasty...”

“Ah so you do like it? They make the best damn donuts anywhere!”

“I’d appreciate it if you would stop cussing in front of Hana.”

There was a stillness in the night, awkward silence in the air. Finally Kokichi just decided to say it.

“Hey, I really am sorry for hurting you. I shouldn’t have said that...” His hair swayed in the wind as a gust came from the east. “I’m an orphan too. My mom and dad died when I was three. Three gang guys killed them. I...I was too young to do anything so I...hid in that building. I’ve been living on my own ever since...”

Maki looked over at him carefully, her eyes still narrow but at least a bit softer now feeling sympathy for the brash loud child. She then turns back to the city and smiles a little. “It’s fine...honestly you got it worse than me. I at least have my brother and sister. You have...no one. I’m sorry...”

“About what? You weren’t those three guys.” Kokichi states as he kicks his legs over the building’s ledge. But now that he thinks of it...he really was alone. He was too busy trying to survive to notice it but...it hurt. “H-Hey...” Maki started, her eyes still on the city streets. “You don’t have to be alone you know. We wouldn’t mind keeping you company. Like an extended family or...something...” Maki seemed bashful saying this but she meant it. He did help her and her siblings out after all. Kokichi turns to the girl, giving the first genuine smile he had in a long time. “If you all want to you’re welcome to stay. Us orphans have to stick together, right?”

Suddenly he stood up quickly onto the edge of the building, almost looking like he’s about to fall but catches himself pretty quickly with cat-like reflexes.

“We should start our own orphan gang!”

Maki stares at him worriedly like he was about to fall but calmed down once she noticed he wasn’t going anywhere. “An orphan gang? That does sound fun. Just the four of us, huh?” Kokichi nods his head enthusiastically as he stares back into the girl’s red eyes. “Then we need a leader. How about you? You managed to direct us without getting caught. That was very leader-like. Even Goro would’ve froze up in that situation.”

Now this caught him off guard as Kokichi almost fell forward but moved his weight backwards so he fell on his butt onto the roof’s concrete.

“M-Me?!”

“Yes you. ‘Ultimate Leader’.”

Kokichi crosses his legs, his head down in deep thought. “W-Well...I guess. Mom used to say my dad was a leader in his gang so...”

“Then I guess you have your dad’s genes.”

“No? My dad’s jeans would be too big for me.”

Maki looks at him down founded for a second, then shook her head. “Never mind. Anyway what should the gang be called?” Kokichi thinks for a few minutes, his eyes glancing everywhere to find a name out of anything. His eyes wondered to Maki’s hairbands that held up her pigtails. They almost looked like playing die. He then nods his head again, even more enthusiastic than before.

“We’ll call it DICE!”

Maki really had to get used to this kid’s sudden outbursts. “What does it stand for?” Kokichi blinks. “Stand for?”

“N-Never mind...” She smiles a little. This dude was an idiot, but a funny idiot.

Kokichi glances over to Maki noticing her smile for the first time. “Heeey you’re smiling!” Maki looked shocked but then sighs defeated. Damn this kid’s observation skills. “All right, you got me ultimate leader.”

“You’re very pretty when you smile!”

Oh no! Here comes the blush! She stares at him for a moment, her cheeks cherry red. Kokichi noticing this quickly tries to think of a way to fix his friend’s red face.

“S-Stop lying!”

“Nyhehehe! Okay. I’m lying. You got vampire eyes. Are you a vampire?”

Her red face became red for another reason, anger.

“I’m gonna kick your ass!”

Kokichi peeks up from the door to the stairs. “I thought we weren’t cussing in front of Hanako?” Seeing Maki run forward he quickly paniced and closed the door and ran down the stairs.

“SHE’S NOT HERE RIGHT NOW! KOKICHI!!!!”

#kokichi ouma #kokichi oma #please don't read the tags there's a spoiler #maki haruwaka #headcanon

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p-jiminaa · 4 years

Text

Play Date (Part 2)

Park Jimin and You.

Summary: It’s all started with a WhatsApp status.

Genre: Fluff, fluff, fluff, and little angst towards the end.

Gif is not mine, credit to the owner.

Masterlist

Jimin had been texting and calling you when you did not respond to either his calls or texts and it's started since you got into the car actually. And when you see 25 miscalled and 60 texts the last one being ‘CALL ME ASAP’ from him you decided to call him back. Not that you intentionally ignore him, but since your father caught you escaping your ballet practice he sent you there which surprised you because you thought you’ll be listening to his chattering.

“Are you okay?” He answered your call after three rings. He worries so much about you that he could not hide his panicked voice over the phone.

You hummed. “Did he hurt you?” He asks again.

You laugh at that. “He’s my father Jimin. No matter how mad he is at me, he never hit me.”

“Then why does it took you so long to call or answer any of my text?” He asks again, sounding angry. Well, you're in your ballet class for two hours so of course, he would be worry.

“He sent me to the ballet studio and I am in practice for the past two hours. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” You explain slowly.

You heard him letting out a sigh of relief. “Thank God! I thought...”

“Nothing going to happens, please don’t worry about me.” You assured him.

“But he looks so furious.”

“That just his appearance.”

Silence engulfs both of you after that. But you heard some commotion on Jimin’s side and you recognized the background voices.

“Is that Jungkook and Taehyung?”

He laughs. “Yeah. They are busy choosing which girl is hotter on the television.”

“Asks them to find a date. Then their attention will be on that person only.”

“I know right. Just like me.” He said proudly. You can imagine his smug expression after saying this.

“Yeah. Casie seems fine.” You teased him.

“She’s my presentation partner.” He answers you instantly.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Y/n...”

“Can you fetch me up? Father told me he’ll be away and his concubine is not home.”

“Okay. Now?”

“Yes.” You say shortly.

“Okay, Girlfriend. And Y/n...” you hummed. “I know you’re hiding something from me. You can talk to me about it. But I am not going to force you. Okay?” He explained. It’s so good how someone can understand or feel that you’re actually having trouble even before you tell them.

You smile. “Thank You, Jimin.”

“Okay. I really need to hang up. Don’t want my girlfriend waiting for me.” He says happily.

“Pabo!”

“And you’re dating this Pabo.” You rolled your eyes to his statement.

***

Jimin’s facial expression turns to sorrow when his eyes landed on your cheek. “You told me he didn’t hit you.” He said angrily. His happy demeanor changed drastically when you got into his car.

“I am okay.”

“But this is too much!” He says, turning to you, eyes scanning your red cheek and touching it softly. You winced when his hand touched the red mark.

Letting out a breath you tell him. “It’s not him Jimin.” You paused briefly, gnawing your lower lips contemplating if you should tell him or no.

“It’s his concubine? I am going to kill that wo...”

“It’s my mother.” You abruptly interrupt him.

“Wh.. what?” Shocked covered his expression.

“My father called her telling how bad I am acting lately. How I missed my ballet practice and how I went out without his permission and he put the blame on my mother who should be the one taking care of me, not him.” You feel your lips quiver after explaining that to him and you cannot hide your glassy eyes from him.

“Oh Y/n...” he says as he pulled your body to him. “I am so sorry. This all happened because of me.”

“It’s not your fault. I’ve been like this even before I know you.”

You feel how he patted your back, calming you down.

“It’s really hard to continue living to remember how unwanted you are in this world.” You said finally. It feels like a burden has been lifted that you finally say the words but you say it to the wrong person. He should not be the one who hears this from you, it should be them, your parents.

“Don’t say that.” He tightened his hold on you. “You have me. You have us. You’re loved by us. So never ever feel unwanted.”

“I know.” You said with a cracked voice, unable to hide your sadness.

You both stayed in that position for a few minutes and Jimin keeps on calming you by patting your back softly.

*** “Can I sleep at your place tonight?” You saw how hard it is for him to cover his changed demeanor when you asked him the question.

Understanding the situation, realizing that you’re not more than his ‘play-date’ you hit his shoulder playfully.

“I am joking. Relax.” You say as you fastened the seat belt. But you wish you were because you're not. The last you wanted right now is to be under the same roof to someone who feels burden by your existence.

“N..not that I don’t want you at the dor...”

“Jimin, it’s fine. Now send me back please.” You said reassuringly. You forgot that before this ‘play-date’ started, a woman unknown by you is a frequent visitor at his home. Not that he did that every day, but you remember how you found or meet girl on your way to their dorm or you can say house especially if it’s during the weekend and you forgot that today is Saturday. Jimin is actually living at a two-story house outside the campus with his other six friends. They rent is paid by them equally and they usually have a party on Sunday night. Well, it's not every weekend though but it is a frequent thingy for them.

When he drives you home, you never say any words, and he kind of distracted too so you decided to stay quiet. But when you feel the car stop you see that you have arrived.

“Thank you for the ride Jimin.” You say, unbuckling your seatbelt.

“Hey...” he said, pausing you who were about to get off from the car. “Let’s just go back to my place.” He blurted out suddenly.

Is this man for real? “It’s fine Jimin. I forgot that today is Saturday and you usually have a party.”

“I... I stop attending the party since I asked you to be my date.”

His sudden confession caught you off guard.

“Why?”

“Because I just want to be with you. I know I told you about how I am not ready for a commitment but I am trying. So that ...”

“So that it’ll hurt me less if you decided to stop all of this?”

“Wait... no. I am just...” As if he realized your words, you saw how his eyebrows quirked upwards. “So you’re thinking of stopping?”

Isn’t this temporary? “What about you?” You challenged him. You need to know his thought on this. If he thinks that all of this playdate is just a kind of thing that he wanted to do because he’s bored, then you’re not going to do it.

“I... I don’t know.”

“I am going to be honest here. I like you and I am not going to lie that every action of yours did not flatter me because it did. I love how you take care of me, I especially love how you‘re so straightforward to me about your feelings. I know it’s just a matter of the heart and I am not going to force you for anything. But Jimin, please promise me one thing. If you ever think that all of this should stop and you finally realized that you don’t want me anymore, tell me in a very gentle way.” So it'll hurt me less. You say the last one to yourself.

Although frown covered his face, you know he understands by your words. Slowly, you saw how he nodded his head. “But I promise I’ll never let you down Y/n.”

“We’ll see about that.” You send him a wink before you got off his car. When you reached your room, Jimin sent you a text which does not really surprise you.

I know your parents mistreated you a lot and that why you have trust issues. But Y/n, you need to know that not everyone is annoyed or upset at you. Some love you so much more than you love yourself like how I love you more than I love myself. I am so happy that you finally opened up your feelings to me. I appreciate that. That means you trust me more than before. Please never ever feel unwanted because you’re so important to me. Please keep in mind that. I let you sleep now. I am just texting you to remind you how important you are to certain people especially to myself. Sleep tight, Girlfriend.

-PJM

When you read the texts you wanted to do nothing other than to hug him. How sweet and thoughtful he is towards you. Its been only a few years since you guy knew each other but he’s showing more love to you than your parents ever does. Hence, you do what you think the most unthinkable thing at the moment, you drove to his place. Yes, you drove to his place only to be disappointed when you see so many car parks in front of their house and alongside the road on his home. Not only that, you saw several people are on the doorways, standing. Not only that, you saw how dim the light and the loud music from inside. Now you realized, the reason for his reluctance and you’re right all the way about your guess. He wanted to spend the night with another girl. Well, who wanted a girl like you; a girl with a toxic family.

When you thought that driving here is already a stupid decision of yours but you’re more stupid when you decided to park your car and went inside. Yes, you went inside and your eyes quickly landed on the guy who sent a text message to you saying that you’re the most important person to him when his action stated otherwise. You saw how he laugh with whatever the girl is talking about with his arm draped on her shoulder. Shaking your head, realizing how stupid you are for believing his words easily you turn and walks towards the door before you feel your arm been grab and turn you around.

“Y/n...” Jungkook asks, frown painted on his face surprised by your sudden un-invited appearance at the party. “Jimin is...”

“I know.” His eyes blink when he heard you said that.

“Let’s go to my room.” He says as he sees your glassy eyes. So he took your hand and lead you to his bedroom upstairs. Truth to be speaking, it's not like this is your first time here. But it’s your first time in his room. He directed you to his bed and sat you at the edge of the bed while he sits opposite you.

“I am... did you see him?” You nodded your head.

“She’s a friend. To all of us.”

“You know you don’t owe me any explanation.”

“But you look so...”

“I know and I am fine. I just realized that I trust people too easily.”

“No. No, you’re not Y/n. Believe me, that girl is a friend, not only to Jimin but to all of us.”

“Why are you comforting me. As I said just now, I am fine Jungkook.”

“It’s just that Jimin Hyung loves you so much that I don’t want you to think differently about him just because you saw him with a girl.” You shrugged your shoulder in response as you didn’t know what to reply.

“I think I should go. Plus I am not even invited.” You were about to get up but he caught your hand, stopping your movement.

“You can stay. I don’t know if you realize but you look damn tired.”

“And where would you sleep?” You don’t even know why you agreed to his suggestion so fast but yeah, maybe because you’re tired.

“I can sleep on the floor.”

“Nonsense!”

“Fine. I’ll just sleep here...” He patted his bed.

“What?” You say, surprise to his suggestion.

“I am not going to...”

“Kidding JK. I know you can behave yourself around me.”

“Oww... we’ll see about that.” He says, wiggling his brows.

You lifted your forefinger asking him to come closer to you and he obeyed. “If you ever touch me even a little, I will not hesitate to kick your precious baby JK down there.” You wink as you finished muttered that sentence.

“Fine Noona!” He says as he walks away from you and to his closet; changing his clothes (not that you’re spying on him but yeah, your guess is correct when he lie down on the bed with new clothes. You can still hear the party going on below and you’re kind of surprise that he’s staying with you here.

“Why are you here?” You ask as you lie down on the bed, turning your body to him.

He turns his body facing you. “I don’t like the party.”

You scoff at his answer.

“I am serious. The reason I am actually at this kind of event is if the party is happening here or when I am hor*y.”

“TMI!”

“Well, you ask, I answer.” He says, smiling teasingly. You rolled your eyes at that before he laughs at your reaction.

“Thank You.”

He smiles softly and nodded his head. You don’t know how or why but you fall asleep easily. Maybe because you know at least spending the night here did not have any risk of getting your sleep disturbed with the concubine shouting you in the morning or maybe because you’re just too tired.

Your sweet sleep was disturbed by several hard knocks at the door and someone calling for Jungkook’s name. Your eyes open widely when you finally recognized the voice.

“What do we do?” You ask Jungkook who has the same expression as yours. You don’t know why but it feels like Jimin caught you cheating by spending the night at another man's room. But then, why would you worry about this. You’re sure that he too spent his night with the girl last night.

“Just stay here. If he insists on coming, cover yourself.” He says as he got off and went to unlock and opening the door.

“Why hyung! It's only 8!”

“Can I borrow your shirt?”

“You have many shirts.”

“I am tired of wearing the same one.” He replied.

“But hyung...” and before Jungkook finishes his word, you heard the door being slam against the wall. You lifted the comforter, covering your head though it’s kind of useless because he can see your hair or body from the outline of the comforter.

“Shit! I didn’t know you have company.” You heard Jimin’s.

“That what I am trying to tell you!” Jungkook’s response. “Now if you excuse us. You’re literally intruding.”

“Right. Sorry.” A few moments later you heard the door’s being close.

“We’re safe now, I guess.” He says in a doubtful tone.

You pull down the comforter to be greeted by Jungkook standing at the end of the bed. “Now what?”

He shrugged his shoulder. Not helpful at all!

“Jungkook!” You whisper shout.

“I don’t know. Wait for him to go out. He’ll be gone in a few moments trust me. That the reason he asked to borrow my shirt." Jungkook’s explained to you thought he does not look so sure with it.

Exhaling a breath while closing your eyes you thought of a thousand excuses to tell Jimin if you ever get caught and none seems logical at the moment.

“You look so worried.” Jungkook’s voice cut your train of thought.

“Am not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Fine! I am! Like what should I feel right now since I just slept with you? I feel like cheating on him."

"Correction, we sleep together but we do nothing."

You furrow your eyebrows. "As if that would change anything. You do know that if anyone were to see us together their first thought would be that."

"Well, yea. But then I can assure you Jimin would understand that."

Well, that does not make your heart at ease you for sure and you don't know why that you're acting like this. He's the one that you caught with a girl last night. Yea whatever. "Can you like to see him outside? If he's out then I am going home too."

"Okay." He answers you short and walks outside. He emerges to the room again fifteen minutes after but bringing breakfast this time. That melt your heart a little.

"I thought you're doing your spy job"

"I did. But I am not going to starve you." He then passes you the plates with a sandwich in it also a coffee.

"I feel like a princess."

"You live like a princess and this is nothing compare to your breakfast at home I guess."

"Not going to lie there." You say followed by a laugh. "No Jungkook. This is better. In fact, this is thousand, no million better than at home." You said sincerely and you see blush emerges out from his face.

*** "Are you sure?" You ask as you stand in front of the door.

"Yes, Noona. 100% sure. He went out when I made you breakfast earlier and it's been fifteen minutes."

"O- okay." You say shakily.

He actually wanted to send you out but you told him that it's better for you to go alone, not to create another misunderstanding if other's were to see you and he agreed reluctantly.

So you walk alone towards your car before you realize that someone is standing beside your car. Cancel beside but he actually leaned his back against the door of the driver seats, arms wrapping above his chest. You pace decrease when you see his frown face but you've reached him in no time and with a smirk, he says to you

"Having fun with Jungkook?"

#bts #bangtan #bts jimin #park jimin #jimin fic #jimin imagine #jimin x reader #jimin x you #jimin x y/n #bts fic #bts series #bts imagine #fanfic #fluff #angst #bts army #army #ByNaa #PD2

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valkyrieofsmut · 4 years

Text

Captive Love 6

UF!Sans x Reader (or Frisk if you wanna)

Summary: Somebody is a cuddler, and somebody's body likes it more than their brain wants them to...

A/N: Just about 1800 words of them waking up in the morning because I can. And who doesn't want to read about accidental sleep cuddling and what happens after?!

Masterlist Series Masterlist

Story

Another morning panic.

(Y/n) slowly and groggily drifted into the bleary world of the waking.

She was laying on one side, her top hand loosely around the edge of the bed, her top knee the same, giving her something to anchor herself with, while her other arm was almost trapped beneath her, and her other leg was straight down, making at least a small obstacle for if a certain someone tried to get too close to certain places.

She was instantly wide awake, though, as she was suddenly dragged backwards the few inches between her and that person's body, her fingers slipping easily from the edge of the bed they hadn't been ready to hold on to, and was now flush against his front.

His voice was hushed, deep and husky from sleep, muttering inaudible words against her neck as he nuzzled there. The arm under her held her against him, the one on top slowly trailed over her, his bony palm sliding over her stomach, down, dangerously close to the spot she was trying to keep him away from, up, making circles over her ribs, down to her thigh, pulling her leg against him.

(Y/n) crossed her ankles and tightened her thighs, pressing them as close together as possible, as her eyes widened and she felt her heart trip over itself in restrained fear.

He didn't try to pry them apart, though, which was good! ...but his pelvis was cradling her hips, and he was grinding against her ass, just a tiny bit.

Stop- stop him! Her brain cried. Move! Make him stop! Don't let him think he can get away with this!

She didn't know what to do.

She couldn't roll away.

He was too strong to just push him off of her…

Sans' hand slid a little towards the inner part of her thigh, and her hand caught his, pushing to keep it from delving between her thighs. It instead slid back up to fondle her hip, his muttering against her neck getting a bit huskier.

Automatically, (Y/n) threw her elbow back, connecting weakly to his ribs. She did it a few more times, awkwardly throwing her elbow back, sure she wasn't doing any real damage. But it was something, and the effort seemed to appease her brain.

It appeared that she was annoying enough to stop, though, since Sans' hand went to hers, grabbing it and taking it to his other to hold it.

A shot of minor panic hit (Y/n)'s belly. Now she had no hands. Now what? N-now what-

NOW WHAT?!

Hold yourself together, she told herself, that's what. Chill. Observe. Escape. Calm the fuck down. Don't make things worse.

(Y/n) took a breath and steadied her nerves, assessing her situation.

Somehow she could tell that Sans was honestly asleep this time, not just pretending. Maybe it was the difference in the movements his body made against her. Maybe it was the mumbling nonsense against her neck. Maybe she could just sense that his consciousness was missing or inactive or whatever.

She felt calmer. For some reason, knowing that he wasn't consciously holding her against her will made her feel better.

Not that it made anything he was doing ok! No! It just made it more innocent, like he was sleepwalking or something, not in control of his actions, doing something he'd never normally do.

She just had to wake him up and he'd stop.

(Y/n) took a breath and let it out to further calm herself, then kicked back with her foot, connecting with his thick shin bone. She could tell he was displeased from the grumble he let out. She kept kicking, ignoring the pain in her heel, until he let out another grumble and moved his leg away, swinging it over hers and pinning them.

And, honestly, she couldn't really blame him; she'd been hitting and kicking him. If someone had been doing that to her, she would have made them stop, too, if she could. But…

Oh fuck…

She pushed down the panic rising in her- only to find that… with his warm breath blowing over her neck and his strangely warm body pressed against her, his free hand resting in the dip of her waist, his fingers trailing lazily over her side and belly, there was none. Even when his pelvis pressed against her again, no panic.

That fact made her start worrying a bit, though…

A small, rough groan brushed her neck, followed by something warm and wet that made her skin tingle.

His tongue- that was his tongue trailing softly along her throat.

Those were his teeth that nipped her sensitive neck and made her gasp.

Those were his teeth again, nipping at the back of her shoulder.

And those , stiff, pointed little buttons… those were her nipples…

That shiver that ran through her belly… that was her body reacting, like the traitor it was.

Pleasure starved double crosser…

His pelvis rocked and pressed against her again, and she felt her cheeks heating, though it took a moment to realize that the strange tickling buzz in her sinuses had been a moan, even if no noise was able to make it out.

Fuuuck- fuck! Ok- she really needed to get out of his arms!

She was debating trying to buck him off of her and possibly stirring more passion, versus trying to headbutt him and getting a headache, but didn't have the chance to act before a snort followed by a sad attempt to clear a throat sounded at the back of her shoulder.

(Y/n) decided that playing dead, at least for a moment, was the best course of action, if only to truly test his morals.

"mmmm- taste good…" he mumbled after his tongue reached out again. "hmmmm-" he cut off, suddenly stiffening as he took in their positions. "shit," he breathed.

Slowly, he moved, and she could feel him checking her status. She stayed limp and it seemed to convince him she was still asleep.

Sans slowly pulled away, climbing from the bed and leaving the room.

ya stupid fucker! Sans silently berated himself in the hallway, his face twisted in a grimace. she's a'ready scared a ya! flinches every time ya touch her an' she's not ready, every time ya talk too harshly- ya don't need ta be makin' it worse!

He hated himself in that moment. Self hatred definitely wasn't a new thing to him, but the reason for it being scaring someone- a human especially- was something he'd never experienced before.

Sans thumped his fist to his head soft enough that it didn't do any real damage, then went back into his room.

He slowly and carefully climbed into his bed, sliding one arm under (Y/n)'s body, the other going over, but keeping them in safe places this time as he held her close.

He knew he shouldn't.

He knew that having (Y/n)'s sweet, soft body against him would make him lose his mind.

He also knew that she'd hate him if she found out how much he was coming to need to hold her close against him.

She'd especially hate him if she found out that he could take her home at any time. That he'd basically lied about the possibility of being spotted on the way to the house.

To be fair, it wasn't impossible that they had been seen then, if any monsters felt brave enough to get that close to the skeleton brothers claimed land, but it was so unlikely that he could say with confidence that they hadn't been.

And, despite what he'd seen of her conflict avoidant nature, she'd probably want to kick his ass if she found out that the only reason any of the monsters were interested in looking for her was because he'd pretty much straight out told them there was a human in the town.

He was such an asshole…

But, the thought of his sweetheart leaving filled him with panic, his soul squeezing and twisting painfully until it made him do stupid, reckless, irrational things, just to keep her close.

(Y/n) felt Sans squeeze her against him gently, and wondered what was going through his head. He seemed distraught for some reason.

Was it because he'd realized what he'd done in his sleep?

She hadn't heard his brother speaking, so it probably didn't have to do with him…

"hey, doll, ya 'wake?" He asked softly.

"Mmmm- mhmm…" She hummed, pretending that she'd woken up at just that moment, managing to actually make the noise. She felt triumphant; her voice was starting to come back!

Sans was quiet for a moment. "you, uh- ya did real well eatin' paps' lasagna las' night… took it like a champ…" He murmured the praise softly, like it was something he either wasn't used to doing, or was afraid someone would hear it. "i, uh, i 'preciate it…"

(Y/n) felt her face contort in confusion. He appreciated that she'd eaten his brother's awful lasagna?

Huh?

That was… a weird thing to be thankful for…

She lifted a shoulder to show it wasn't a big deal, then tried to whisper, getting out, "...nks f...r ...e sm...ll piece."

He chuckled into her neck, and she thought she felt him doing something that might have been nuzzling her hair. "'s no problem, sweetheart. 'll have ta ta- uh, bring ya somethin' from grillby's some time," he told her, stumbling at saying he'd take her.

It was too dangerous to take her out anywhere without obvious and very strong signs that she belonged to him as property; a burn, a mark, some kind of scar… Or something like a collar.

He shuddered at the thought.

He didn't want to do that to his sweetheart.

Collars were usually used to say that the one wearing them was used in any manner their owner felt the desire to, and there was nothing the one wearing the collar could do about it.

The thought alone, along with his own memories, made him sick, though some monsters weren't quite so vicious to their pets as they made it seem.

"S...ns," she rasped out.

Mmm, stars , he couldn't wait to hear her say his name when her voice was fully recovered.

"S...ns," she tried again, patting his arm.

"wassup, sweetheart?" He asked, rubbing his cheek against her hair. It was so soft… He wanted to run his phalanges through it and tug.

Not hard! Just enough to see what her reaction would be.

“L...t m… g…?” She asked, tugging at an arm to get her point across.

“oh, yeah, course, doll,” he told her. He took his time, shifting around to take longer to pull away, his arm drifting over her side and down her hip as it moved away, but he did let her go. F

A/N: Someone asked, "what if reader has kinks?" I also found a prompt and wrote a UF!Sans drabble.

#underfell sans x reader #underfluff #uf!sans x you #uf!sans x reader #underfell #tsundere #red x reader #reader insert #y/n #underfrick #undertale alternate universe #undertale au

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pufflyhallows · 5 years

Text

Butterbeer

Gif not mine

Pairing: Oliver Wood x reader

Summary: Oliver is feeling down with the result of the last game, so the Hogsmeade trip doesn’t seem too exciting until his friend takes him to an interesting shop.

a/n: I realized I had never written anything with a Hufflepuff reader, which is absurd! XD

Warnings: language

Word count: 2,412

********

Oliver was not happy.

Harry Potter had been unconscious in the hospital wing for the recent Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match, in which Gryffindor suffered their worst defeat in three hundred years.

Of course Oliver worried about his friend’s health and he was glad that Harry was perfectly fine now, but the weight of the defeat upon his shoulders was too much. He was the captain, after all. He knew he was the first one to blame and he knew everyone in Hogwarts was talking about it, especially the Slytherins.

For that reason, he wasn’t too excited about the last Hogsmeade trip of the year, unlike his friends, who couldn’t stop talking about it in the common room as they got ready to go out.

“I’m gonna buy as many boxes of Chocolate Frogs as possible,” Noah said as he counted his money, “I don’t wanna wait the entire summer to eat those again.”

“Sometimes I forget you’re a muggleborn,” Riley thought out loud.

“I can send you more if you run out,” Leo patted Noah on the shoulder.

“Thanks, mate.”

“Can we go now?” Oliver asked impatiently.

Noah and Leo looked at each other finding strange their friend’s behavior, but Riley understood very well why Oliver wasn’t quite happy that day.

“Yes, we can,” she replied, standing up and motioning for the boys to go with her. And they did.

Hogsmeade looked just the same as it did on their previous visit. Nothing had really changed, except maybe for the weather. It was slightly hotter now.

“There he goes,” Leo pointed discretely at Percy, who had just entered Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop with his girlfriend Penelope.

Noah smirked, shaking his head. “That’s why he was in such a hurry.”

“Let the boy live,” Riley chuckled, “Where do you guys wanna go first?”

“Honeydukes! I need my Chocolate Frogs,” Noah patted on his pocket, where his money was.

Riley thought Oliver would protest, but the boy didn’t seem to be on the same planet as them. She knew where his mind was and she felt bad for him, hoping the crowded shop would cheer him up somehow.

But it didn’t.

“Where do we go now?” Noah asked with a full mouth as the four friends left Honeydukes.

“Zonko’s?” Leo proposed.

“Sure.”

“Oh, I actually want to go to Tomes and Scrolls,” Riley said, pointing at the bookstore across the street.

“I can go with you,” Oliver offered, finally saying something since they got there and making Riley a little bit more optimistic.

“He can go with you,” Leo repeated, “Noah and I will meet you there later. It might take a while, though.”

“It’s okay. See you later then,” the girl waved and the two boys left towards the joke shop, leaving her alone with Oliver. “Let’s go?”

He nodded, following her to the store he had never paid attention to before.

As they got in, Oliver realized it was way bigger than what it looked like from outside. The shop was completely filled with books of all kinds, shapes and colors. Of course his eyes landed on Quidditch Through The Ages, exposed on a shelf by the door. He inevitably sighed, looking away from it and going further into the store. He did not need a reminder of his failure at that moment.

Riley wasn’t searching for anything specific, she said. She liked to just go there and walk around until something caught her attention, so Oliver decided to do the same.

They parted ways, each of them heading to a different side of the store, and the boy started reading the books’ titles as he walked through the tall shelves, hoping something interesting would come into sight.

He could understand why he had never paid attention to that store before or why it wasn’t as full as Honeydukes. Unfortunately, despite having a nice variety of books, that shop looked abandoned and slightly dirty. But he could also understand why Riley liked it so much. It strangely felt like home.

A bell rang from the entrance, announcing that someone had just come in. Oliver looked at the door curiously, feeling instantly glad he had done so. Standing by the first shelves, two girls talked to each other quietly as one of them pointed at a book with a yellow cover. Oliver’s eyes could not drift away from the girl on the left, wearing a navy blue coat and nodding at whatever her friend was saying about the yellow book. Her beauty illuminated the dusty, sad environment, bringing back the life Oliver knew it once had.

He gulped, his heart growing a warm feeling. The girl was holding a small package in her hands, which he could bet was a chocolate bar from Honeydukes, and he suddenly felt the urge to know what she liked to do in her free time, what was her favorite Quidditch team (if she even liked the sport at all), favorite book genre, favorite drink, her favorite song, her name... Who was that girl?

When the two new visitors started walking further into the shop, consequently closer to where he was, Oliver grabbed the first book he saw and opened it at a random page, pretending to be highly interested in the words written there.

The navy blue coat girl waved at someone behind him, a shy smile on her face that made Oliver’s cheeks heat up. He turned around slowly and a mixture of euphoria with total shock took over him as he saw Riley waving back.

He did not waste a second before walking up to her.

“Who is that girl?” he asked urgently, not caring if he sounded too demanding.

“She’s a Hufflepuff, a year below us. Why?” Riley frowned at her friend’s urgency.

“How do you know her?”

“She helped me in the bathroom once if you know what I mean. Kindest person I’ve ever met, to be honest.”

“What’s her name?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s Y/N.”

“You’re not sure?!”

“It was a long time ago, Oliver. Why are you asking me all these questions?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“How have I never seen her before?”

“I don’t know,” Riley shrugged, “But you didn’t answer me.”

“She’s...” Oliver looked at the other side of the store, where Y/N was. “She’s so beautiful.”

“Ohh...” Riley smirked, “I see.”

Oliver kept staring at the girl with a dreamy look on his face, making Riley laugh. That was completely adorable. And new! She had never seen him like that before.

“Let’s go talk to her,” she proposed.

“What?!” he looked at his friend, “No way.”

“Why not?!”

“What am I going to say?”

“’Hi, my name is Oliver, nice to meet you?’”

“Then what?”

“I’ll help you, c’mon.”

“Riley...”

“Come on.”

Riley pulled her friend gently by the arm towards the two girls on the other side of the store. Oliver felt his heart race increase instantly and his stomach get cold. He hoped his face wasn’t red, but it probably was.

“Hey, Y/N,” Riley risked, praying she had gotten the name right. The navy blue coat girl turned around and smiled.

“Hey, Riley! It’s been a while, how are you?”

“I’m good! I’ve heard about your dad’s promotion on the Ministry. Congrats!”

“Thank you! We’re really happy,” Y/N blushed slightly. “Oh, this is my friend Jade.”

The other girl held out her hand with a polite smile, “Nice to meet you, Riley.”

“Nice to meet you too, Jade,” Riley shook her hand, “This is Oliver.”

“Hi,” he said, shaking Jade’s hand as well.

“Oh, we know Oliver,” Y/N said, making his heart stop completely as he and Riley shared a surprised look. “You’re the Gryffindor captain, right? We watched the game last week.”

Oh no. Riley bit her lower lip nervously.

“Yes, I am,” he nodded, “And I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Well, you guys made history,” Jade said.

“Jade,” Y/N elbowed her friend discretely.

“It’s okay,” Oliver reassured Y/N, “She’s right, we did.”

“Miss Allen?” the owner of the shop called from behind the counter.

“That’s me,” Jade explained, “Excuse me.”

As the girl left towards the man who had called her, Riley saw the opportunity to give Oliver a little push.

“Oh, I didn’t know Mr. Bennett was here today. I’ll be right back.”

And she headed to the counter as well, leaving Oliver completely alone with Y/N.

“So...” he said, clearing his throat, “You come here often?”

Fucking hell, man. She was probably going to think that was a pick-up line.

...would it be so bad, though?

“I do, actually,” she held the small package against her chest and looked around, “This is my favorite shop in Hogsmeade. It might sound strange, but-”

“It feels like home.”

She looked at him, slightly stunned.

“Exactly,” the girl nodded.

“I get it, even though this is my first time here. It’s a pity I took this long to notice it.”

“Well, it does have a discrete facade,” she smiled kindly at the thought of Mr. Bennett decorating it.

“Yeah,” was all Oliver managed to say. He felt completely lost in her smile and didn’t seem to be able to form any more words.

Y/N noticed the small pause, but the cause of it was unknown to her.

“So, how’s Harry Potter?” she asked to break the silence, “Is he still in the hospital wing?”

“Um... Yes. But he’s okay now, he’s awake. He’ll stay there for just a few more days.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The news scared us all, but I can only imagine what it was like for you and all of his friends. It’s very understandable what happened on the match. You guys were probably still shaken with his situation.”

“Y-Yes. We were,” Oliver agreed, surprised to find sympathy after a week of disapproval. “He was still unconscious when we played.”

“And yet, you guys gave your best. That’s admirable.”

“Thank you. Not many people seem to take that into account.”

“Well, I can’t speak for the entire school, but I can assure you that the Hufflepuffs do. Cedric even had a speech about it,” she chuckled, “Some boys were being... you know.”

“Thank you. Really,” Oliver sighed, feeling like a giant burden had been lifted from his shoulders. It was very good to know that not everyone blamed him. “You have no idea of how much I needed to hear this.”

“I do,” she put a hand on his upper arm and squeezed it gently, “But it’ll be alright. You’ll see.”

If he hadn’t been able to speak when she smiled, he wasn’t able to even breathe now that she had touched him. The feeling of it was so surreal, he couldn’t believe she existed.

“Oh, and Cedric has said countless times that the Gryffindor team is the second best in Hogwarts,” Y/N added, “After Hufflepuff, of course.”

“Of course,” Oliver chuckled, being followed by Y/N. Usually, he would disagree, but this time he let it pass. The sound of her laugh was too sweet to be interrupted.

“What I mean is that this last game won’t change the fact that you guys are really talented,” she explained, “Don’t listen to the Slytherins, you know that’s an old house rivalry.”

“Yeah...” he looked down, “I know.”

“Can you believe they had a delay and it’s going to take another week?” Jade complained as she approached her friend.

“Oh no. And how are you going to pick it up?” Y/N asked.

“Mr. Bennett wanted to send it to me for free, but I said no. I’ll pay for the delivery, it’s not his fault,” Jade sighed, “But I wanted it now! That was the whole point of ordering it here, instead of buying it at Flourish and Blotts.”

“Yeah, that’s a shame.”

“So, let’s go?”

“Sure,” Y/N nodded, “It was nice meeting you, Oliver. See you around?”

“Um... Actually, are you busy right now?” the boy inevitably held his breath as he took his shot.

“I’m afraid so...” Y/N looked hesitantly at Jade, who seemed like she was trying to hide a smirk. “We had planned to go to The Magic Neep now and then to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.”

“I can go to Scrivenshaft’s by myself, Y/N,” Jade tilted her head slightly, “You’ll be totally free after The Magic Neep.”

Oliver didn’t say anything as he waited for the two friends to come to an agreement. Y/N took a while before replying.

“You’re right,” and she turned to face Oliver, “I’ll be free after I visit the greengrocer down the street. Why?”

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “I was thinking that maybe we could go to The Three Broomsticks to have a butterbeer and... talk. What do you think?”

Y/N gave her friend a glance, but the girl smiled encouragingly. Oliver couldn’t help but notice the light pink color that Y/N’s cheeks had suddenly acquired.

“That sounds nice,” she answered shyly, “I’d love to.”

“Great! So, see you in...?”

“Half an hour.”

“I’ll be there,” the boy smiled.

“Now, we should get going,” Jade said, “See you around, Oliver.”

“Bye,” Y/N waved at him and followed her friend outside the bookstore.

“Bye,” he whispered as he watched them leave.

He could not describe what he was feeling at that moment. How could a girl turn a boring day into the best one he had had in a week?

“So?!”

He jumped on the spot with the sudden voice behind him. He turned around to meet the eyes of a very excited and curious Riley.

“How was it?!”

“I have a date,” he smiled.

********

#oliver wood #oliver wood x reader #oliver wood imagine #oliver wood fic #oliver wood fanfic #oliver wood fanfiction #harry potter imagine #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #hogwarts #gryffindor #slytherin #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #random tag #i'm stupid

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