#new character...............so much thinking involved..................................so annoying.........................................

[yuriartillery]

i'd say my main complaint with cca is the pacing. it doesn't have time to say everything it's trying to. jumping in en media res to after char has already begun his war on the earth sphere was the first red flag for me in that regard.

almost every character that isn't char or amuro feels like fodder. they're the barest smidge of characterization in a fruitless attempt to gain some sympathy when they inevitability and unceremoniously axed. if they're lucky they get used to develop char or amuro a bit. and maybe i could forgive this if this was actually the Char and Amuro show, but instead we spend a solid chunk of movie focusing on quess and hathaway.

the quess storyline in cca is a trite retreading of the dozen or so "newtype girl on the enemy side that has a connection with the main male child soldier and then dies tragically" plot lines we've seen way too many times except paced way too fast to actually have any emotional impact. like i was already rolling my eyes when ple2 died and that had so much more time to develop. but by cca this trope is so over done in the uc that it's actively annoying. its not that i dislike quess as a character! i know some people hate her character but i actually think id like her a lot in a different (or at least more fleshed out) story. she's the best new character in the movie and a hell of a lot more interesting than hathaway, who feels like the most nothingburger character in a movie full of nothingburger new characters. but again my main complaint with the subplot is that honestly by this point tomino did not need to rehash this again. he's already rehashed the lalah story so many times in so many ways and this one doesn't do enough different to be interesting on it's own or in relation to the char/amuro story it's latched onto. like we did not have enough time in this movie do this whole plot and the time spent on it makes the char/amuro rivalry feel undercooked, especially in the context of this being the conflict that ends their rivalry in mutual destruction.

i felt so disappointed by cca that i haven't touched anything uc set after it. anyway i embrace the incoming artillery strike.

"a crucial part of CCA is the crushing sense of bleakness the feeling that nothing is getting better that something has to change. but no single person can make that change happen! thats why we see another generation of newtypes make the exact same mistakes. the very same mistakes that char and amuro made in 79" thats four and kamille! you've just described the point of four's storyline in zeta! char and amuro practically turn to the camera and say as much! and it was great in zeta in no small part because they had multiple episodes to build this parallel and develop the characters involved! but then tomino did it AGAIN and AGAIN with other newtype girls later in zeta and in zz! by the time of cca it feels less like tomino is making a point about the cyclical nature of war and more like he can't think of anything else to say and is just falling back on an Ol' Reliable which is so worn out it isn't very reliable anymore. the repetition isn't reinforcing the point anymore, it's just undermining the impact. i'm just glad tomino got over his obsession with this point by the time of turn a. turn a is good.

So, this might come off as a little harsh, but this is an extremely surface level reading of Char's Counterattack. What follows is a little unfocused but I just have so much to say about this movie.

Char's Counterattack is a film that is almost entirely about Char. Everything that happens in it can be traced back to Char, each character reveals or reflects something about Char. We begin in media res because after the end of Zeta and ZZ we already know what Char has been through to lead him here.

Char Aznable has tried to cut out his heart for the sake of revenge in 79. He's watched not one but two movement for spacenoid liberation collapse after going rotten from with in. His protege, Kamille Bidan, the child he tasked with building a new future, was subjected to a fate worse than death to protect the future from Paptimus Scirocco. He has been a traitor, a soldier, and a demagoue for his own sake and the sake of the future. And now he is staring at the end of history, he can see everything laid out in front of him getting worse, forever. Nothing he or anyone else has done has mattered at all. So he has resolved to do something that will change something, make the current order impossible to maintain, skip to the end! We know that as soon as we hear that Amuro Ray and Londo Bell are too late to stop another one of Char's rocks from hitting the Earth.

Quess is Kamille Bidan after Kamille Bidan. She is impulsive, emotional, selfish, immature, and has a strong sense of justice. Her relationship with her parents is terrible and she's stifled by the Federation's vision of the future and herself. Char takes her under his wing in the same way he mentored Kamille, but through their relationship we see how much worse Char has gotten. He doesn't try to help her grow into a soldier or a more complete person. He doesn't have anything to give her except proximity to authority. All Char sees in her is a means to an end. He doesn't care about the future any more.

Hathaway is the Fa Yuiry to Quess's Kamille. He's sort of a newtype but all of his concerns are very ordinary. What he wants for Quess is contrasted against what Char wants, and while it is marked by an masculine chauvanism, the immature vulgarity of it heightens the contrast.

But what it really comes down to is his relationship to Amuro Ray. Char Aznable is a man of deception. He deceives is allies, his enemies, and himself. The only person he feels he can be honest with now is Amuro. Even though he has told himself that he feels nothing, that he is doing what must be done no matter what, he doesn't want to kill everyone, deep down. He doesn't want to kill himself either. At every opportunity he gives Amuro Ray the ability to stop him and to prove him wrong. He sees Amuro as his equal and he wants there to be another path!

But Amuro Ray had his life destroyed by Char Aznable. Amuro Ray has spent his life desperately reacting to whatever new bullshit Char has pulled! He has no reason to want to save Char or to give Char another chance or any of it! So Amuro ends up fighting for a status quo that is killing everyone a little slower then Char's ultimatum will. It's only a rivalry in the broadest of strokes.

I think the film is paced and constructed perfectly to communicate that. Each scene does a wonderful job of advancing this world according to Char Aznable, where everyone has petty feelings that are missing the bigger picture, where everything is meaningless, and everyone hurts each other. Where nobody even tries to understand each other any more. And at the end, during the Axis Shock, Amuro Ray finally understands why Char is the way he is! There's understanding! It averts the crisis! For a brief moment there's a way forward! It makes me cry and cry and cry!!!

[cheritzssebba]

Secret Ending Three Chapter Ten: Still Famous

It's kind of hard to write in Red's point of view.... I feel like maybe he doesn't think in words but rather feelings. And they're rather hard to write down into words for me. So it's pretty difficult trying to write from his thoughts

Also his speech pattern is a little bit difficult for me to get the hang of

Let's see where Lance got off to then shall we?

When I leave the classroom, I linger in the doorway for more than a moment. It's not that likely she might lose her memories or get confused while I'm not there again...but was it ever likely that it would even happen in the first place? She knows that I'll be here though, and I'm only a phone call away if she needs me.

Maybe she'll be okay. I can't shake off the instinct to sit down outside the classroom, so I'm still standing there hesitating when I hear the footsteps of someone coming this way, stopping right behind me.

"Oh! Um, uh... Uh- hi." It's just a small girl with long black hair that her face hides behind and her fingers brush through desperately, as desperate as can be.

She's a girl I think I've seen before, but only out the corner of my eye. And I'd have to say that today is the day I found out she could actually speak.

Oh, but I might look pretty weird just standing here holding onto the door handle like this- "Oh- um, sorry. I was just leaving."

And I awkwardly remove myself from the door and step back- right into the poor girl. "Oh-! Sorry!" "Ahh!! Uh, sorry!! I'll just-" And we step again, out of the way, once more into each other... "Um, s-sorry. Uhh..." "Ah, no, I'm sorry, it's okay-"

I'm really really really really really not proud of this weird awkward dance we end up doing. When I try to step out of her way to the right, so does she, and when I go to the left, she does too... Um...

"Ah, you know what-" I sigh. "It's easier like this." I just take hold of the girl's arms and guide her gently to the side while I finally escape the awkward dance.

"Mission accomplished! You may now proceed!" I beam with a big thumbs up. Fantastic job, me! "Ah, haha..." Is it too warm in here? Her cheeks are a bit pink... "Th-thanks... Ah... I mean, sorry...." She stops twisting her hair around her fingers to return my thumbs up. Nice!

That felt super awkward...but oh well. Onward...

I turn the corner but then I stop... What's she even doing? That's not her classroom, she's a senior. And she's probably not in the student government and coming to speak to Lance, since she looks a bit too quiet to be in such a demanding role, so... Why?

Could it be that she's like those girls who hurt the Heroine..? What does she want to do to her..?

I have to make sure it's okay... With all the stealth and subtlety I can manage, I hide in the next corridor and listen out for what she's got planned.

She's quiet, that's what I learn. And that's probably the word that would describe her entire personality. Pacing back and forth. She's not entering the classroom but she's not leaving either.

She hesitates for a long time, a lot longer than I had stood there. And she finally takes a deep breath before finally opening the door with a knock.

It's nothing bad, right? It can't be. I've never seen her hanging out with the girls that hurt the Heroine and she just looks so...innocent.

Looks can be deceiving. That's what Tei said. If he was here, he might know. I trace the dust patterns in the wall's brickwork as she and Lance stand there in the hallway together. They don't know I'm here.

"Okay, so-" she cuts herself off with another breath. And then another. She puts her fingers back to work in her hair and I can just about see through it that she's staring down at the floor as she speaks.

"Is this really important?" "I just- Can I- Please-?"

Lance rolls his eyes.

"So...I've been thinking about this for a while. And I went back and forth on whether I should say anything. And I wasn't going to for a long time. But..." She pushed the hair out from above her eyes and she looked at Lance right in the face.

"'Cause it's New Years, I really wanted to change and be more confident. So I decided I should say something.

"It's not every day that you run into a situation like this. And since no one else has said anything about it yet, I might be the only one who noticed."

"So Lance." She pauses again, like she's psyching herself up for something big. "I don't really know how to explain it, 'cause it's a bit crazy but.

"Is this you?"

Damn it, I can't see from here. What's she showing him on her phone?? And from this angle, I'm facing Lance's back, so I can't see how he's reacting either.

But what he says... "I... I...don't know what you mean." I've never heard him so speechless... Damn it, what is it!!

"I know this does sound really crazy, I know. 'Cause it still doesn't make sense. But I don't think it's just a coincidence. 'Cause it's the same for the rest of the HOT5 too, they're all here... Apart from Red."

Apart from me? Why me?

"I... What are you trying to say? It's...just a doll. It cannot be anything more than a coincidence."

Oh my god............. Oh my god???? Is she..????//?

"But it's more than just appearance though. It's not just looks, it's personality and skills. You're plain, Yeonho has that 'maternal instinct' thing, Mr Yuri is a musician and Tei is like an older brother." "That's..." "So it can't be coincidence. I have a Lance doll myself, so when I first heard of you, I got reminded of my own doll at home. But then I saw you and the others too and I couldn't help but connect he dots... Or rather, connect the dolls? Haha-"

"Who else knows about this?" "What? Oh, I haven't told anyone. It's just me... But does that mean you want to keep it a secret if you're asking that?" Damn, she's good... She was so quiet before but won't even stutter now that she's opened up.

"So...what is it? You are him, right? The Lance from Crobidoll? You look exactly like him..." "Uh... Well... I just..." "So is it like you're just pretending to be him or you are him? It's really weird if you found out about him when you learned Korean and then tried to model all your behaviour and personality off of him to fit in, but somehow it's slightly less weird if you've just always been him and one day became human, especially since the company wouldn't be that well known outside of Korea. So which is it?" "..."

Lance is completely silent... I don't blame him though. We never decided what to do in this kind of situation. What the hell would I do in his place..? And hell, what are the odds that I specifically would actually end up in that situation?

"No one would believe the latter. They'd say you were insane," he ended up saying. "But again though. Why would you say that if it weren't true?" "Uh-!" "So you're saying it's true that you're all dolls that came to life..?"

Hmm...

"... Still. It's not like it's believable. Even if it were true, does it...matter?" Lance... I'm a bit disappointed. Of course it does. "Of course it matters!" Yeah. "Oh- Sorry..." She seems to slink back into herself, embarrassed. "Sometimes I get excited about things... I'm so sorry."

Lance sighs and tries to go back into the classroom. "Well don't get too excited about it. It's not even something I can explain anyway." But it's impossible for him to do that when she's hanging onto his sleeves and asking him so many questions.

"But what's it like to be a doll? And why are you a human now? Did Crobidoll do it or do you have an owner? Did they do it? How?

"Is it more like a conspircy theory about the company that they're experimenting in the nature of souls and stuff and they're trying to artificially create people to combat the plummeting fertility rates, or possibly to quickly create a plastic army to save the human race from the alien invaders?

"Or is it more like something completely irrelevant to the company and whatever owner you have is some sort of scientist, possibly experimenting in the world of cloning and AI and they wanna create an artificial intelligence with the personality and looks of high school boys with Crobidoll dolls as the template for each boy, and they put you in a high school as a turing test to prove how believable your coding is?"

... Uh...

"..................... Wh-... What?"

"I mean, the latter does explain a lot. But if it was some kind of experiment, you'd have to be monitored, right? By your owner, right?" "Well-" "Then your owner must be someone who attends Crobi Academy!"

Oh no...

"Oh. Uh. N-no. That's..." "They'd have to be someone who no one would actually suspect, who'd be in your classes with you and be able to interact with you through all times of the day..."

Her hair fell back onto her face again and her chin fit neatly into her hand. Clearly lost in thought.

But eventually she'll figure it out. She got this far at least. I don't know how. I don't know what she showed Lance. But she must know that we're dolls.

On it's own, that's not that bad. But if she's going to figure out that the Heroine is our owner... I can't just stand by and watch.

I have to do something.

"Actually..." I have to save her. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." I won't let her get hurt again. "Sorry for eavesdropping."

"Red??" Lance looks at me as I march over to him. How is he pissed off at me again when I'm trying to save everyone??" "Uh- oh! Um. Th-this... This is just...a joke, haha." The girl is running her fingers through her hair again. "I mean, even if this stuff was true, you wouldn't believe me anyway, so it doesn't matter, haha..."

"No. It's true. Because it's me. I'm Lance's owner. Please don't bother him or anyone else about this anymore. It's me who knows everything. It's true, I never told anyone because it's just not something that people would believe.

"So I'm sorry for lying. But please don't bother my...dolls...about this anymore. They just wanna live life normally as regular people, okay?"

"...................... What the fuck, Red??" "What?? It's not like you were doing any better, Lance, I actually-"

"Oh.

"My.

"GOD.

"No way no way no way!!!!!" The girl jumps up and down and claps her hands together. And...her excited smile is so big and genuine I...can't help but smile back. "I was right!! I was right I was right I was right, no way!!!"

"You have to tell me everything!!!" "Okay! Uh but first, what's your name?"

"Oh! Hahaha, I'm so sorry," she nervously stops herself again, facepalming at herself. "I should've probably opened with that, I'm sorry.

"Um, it's really nice to formally meet you. I'm Deosuni."

So that's the story of how I saved the day again!

How many insults is Lance gonna throw at me for this? What will happen next with Deosuni? How many more lies are we going to tell?

Tune in next time to find out!

Real Weeaboo-boo ass situation

[tadc-harlequin-au]

New Puppet Unlocked: Pomni, the Last Harlequin!

Pomni's character description:

"Pomni" is the most recent, and last model of the Combat Harlequin series; P-1210. A Harlequin puppet who doesn't have a sense of purpose due to a broken string of commands, and thus, acts loosely based on what remains of it.

After hunting down The Puppetmaster and a duel ensues between the two, it ends with the Harlequin and The Puppetmaster forming an alliance in order to fix the destroyed City; or at least, the remaining "residents" that have succumbed to Madness. The Puppetmaster now has an ally to help him in his mission, and she gets a purpose that relates to her commands. What more could one want?

Now, Pomni spends her time sparring, sharpening her sword, bantering with the Puppetmaster, hunting down bosses and eliminating manic Marionettes. The list becomes bigger as the story progresses, and Pomni unlocks more and more secrets about herself.

Fun facts about Pomni:

She likes sandwiches. Specifically, salmon.

She REALLY hates it when someone eats it. (It's Bubble)

She finds some things annoying in other Puppets, and will be blunt about it.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't care. In fact, far from it.

Pomni may come off as cold and jerkish due to her hot-temper, but in reality, her emotions simply have ahold on her more than anyone would ever really think.

Caine thinks that a therapist would benefit her. (honestly though)

She hasn't explored any hobbies outside from anything involving combat. (yet.)

Pomni occasionally gets glimpses of visions when she dies; she is unaware of what they mean.

Pomni rarely gets drunk; she'll only indulge in alcohol when there's an occasion. Aside from that, she tends to limit Caine's alcohol intake (reasoning that he smells like booze), much to the Puppetmaster's dismay.

She shuts down any form of philosophical advices, thinking they're "typical" and "unnecessary".

She tends to be careless and rude in battle.

When push comes to shove, Pomni can and WILL use her sharp teeth to her advantage.

Pomni initially disliked Ragatha. She found the doll's positive demeanor eerie, and even uncanny, borderline inhuman. Thankfully, a few interactions and heart-heart conversations later, she's changed her mind since.

Bubble usually accompanies her when she's out on missions, a condition she had to agree on just so Caine would let her fight overburdened Puppets. Even though she hates the blimp's nonsense, she knows that his presence is out of necessity, since Bubble is the only way keeping in touch can be possible.

She initially started off rarely ever apologizing. In fact, Caine would've been lucky to have a simple acknowledgement from her.

She once stole Caine's cane to try and figure out how his attacks work. She immediately lost interest once she found out it's just a plain, and boring metal cane.

She unlocks the first stage of enlightenment after the fifth boss.

Quotes:

"Yeah, yeah, shut up."

"I didn't come here just for you to act like a wuss!"

"You. Me. This sword. In your head."

"That was pretty stupid of you to do."

"Between you and me, I prefer still having my head on my shoulders."

"This is getting annoying!"

"I've had it with you idiots!"

"I'm gonna celebrate with a Puppet head kebab once I'm done."

"I like the sounds of a sword slashing, and heads bashed in."

"Keep (talking/screaming), and I'll crack your skull open."

"Ah! What the fuck!"

"You're gonna pay for that!"

"Eye for an eye, motherfucker!"

"I normally wouldn't mind... Actually, I always mind."

"When I'm done, you're gonna be unrecognizable."

"Fucking marionettes!"

"Useless scrap!"

"I really, really, REALLY wanna hurt you right about now."

"Ohohoho, you're picking the WRONG fight, BUDDY."

"Asshat!"

"Who do you think you are!?"

"Are you sure this is even safe?"

"DO THAT AGAIN AND I SWEAR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS ALL ACROSS THIS DAMNED CITY"

"HA! IN YOUR STUPID LITTLE BLIMP FACE!"

“You can’t be serious. Me? Tone it down? I’m a Puppet DESIGNED to fight. My entire purpose IS to fight. I don’t tone down anything, for anyone. Don’t forget, we might be familiar with each other now, but we’re still only getting along because you’re giving me targets.”

[starsapphire]

i understand the tim hate for meta reasons but 90s tim is so enjoyable and fun and his chronic foot in mouth disease has so much potential for great comedy

is tim telling dick that the death of the flying graysons was one of his worst memories a good thing? no. is it deeply fucking funny? yes.

is tim saying "and robin! :D" after bruce says "don't you know you can't kill batman and nightwing?" a good thing? no. is his complete inability to read the room about this so fucking funny? yes.

bruce and dick both having an internal ping-pong match between "he's such a good kid" and "trying not to throw hands with a 13 year old" because he's so earnest and wants to do what he thinks is right but he is such a little shit and so tone deaf, it's a gorgeous train wreck

tim is SO funny especially in the late 80s–⁠early 90s comics and i think a lot of it is because writers really were having so much fun writing him being A Teenage Boy. and ofc that involves him being kind of shit at reading the room and thinking before he speaks. like yeah of course he's a little tactless, he's a 9th grader and he's new to all of this!!!! if he always said the most respectful, tactful line possible and was never annoying or accidentally rude then 1) he would not be an accurate teenage boy and 2) he would suck as a character. how boring!!!!!

of course his chronic foot in mouth syndrome often ends up being worse than the average teenage boy's might because. you know. he's robin, and also he's spending all his free time with two guys who are notably Tragic Orphans and who have (recently!) lost a young family member. and he really is just so well-meaning and devoted and he dedicates himself to knowing about people, and it all comes together to make him a massive accidental asshole. and they can't even be mad at him about it because he has those big wet earnest eyes. it's so fucking funny

all that said, i think people (not you just like. people in general) tend to miss or ignore that it's Very Much part of tim's long-term character development that we see him go from being just. utterly incapable of thinking before he speaks or pulling his foot out of his mouth in the early 90s to being very methodical in his words and actions and recognizing the power and weight of what he says, as we see by the end of new earth canon in the late 2000s–2011. so you get people being like "wow tim is an asshole who has no tact ever" instead of realizing that while he's tactless as a kid (as all kids are), he is well removed from that by the time he's 18. (but he doesn't take his foot out of his mouth entirely. and i never want him to)

[anto-pops]

Sudsy Confessions - Sebastian Sallow x Female!Reader

Summary: As the end of the school year continues to creep up on all of the seventh-year students, Sebastian has thought about what’s to come after graduation shamefully little. He’s equal parts annoyed and worried that he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, and he’s even more frustrated that he’s running out of time to tell you how he really feels about you. When a chance opportunity finally presents itself, Sebastian seizes the moment, even if the setting is a little… unorthodox.  

Alternatively summarized as Sebastian confessing his long-harbored love for you while you’re naked in a bathtub. 

Word Count: 6.8k

Warnings: 18+, aged up characters, explicit sexual content, love confessions, bathtub sex

Full fic can also be found here on Ao3 with more diverse tags :))

It was rare for Sebastian to get so bent out of shape over Quidditch. Especially since it had been an unofficial scrimmage between him and a handful of friends– which he had still won, mind— but it was the topic of discussion that had transpired after the actual event in The Three Broomsticks that had gotten him all hot and bothered, and there was no way around the truth of the matter. 

Garreth had brought up graduation. 

It was a topic that Sebastian had done his best to steer clear of since he had yet to formulate a plan for himself after Hogwarts. Apparently Weasley would be starting an apprenticeship with J. Pippins at his shop in Hogsmeade, which had warranted a few hesitant congratulations from the rest of his motley group. It was obvious that Leander and Imelda assumed the same thing Sebastian did; that Garreth would probably blow up the shop soon after starting. 

Then there was Imelda. Headstrong, resilient, and determined to prove herself. She fully intended on trying out for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team after graduation and refused to believe she would do anything but succeed. There was no reason to doubt her at all– she’d always been masterful on her broom and had set new records left and right since Professor Black had reinstated Quidditch again. Sebastian only hoped that he was well out of sight in the event things didn’t go the way Imelda wanted them to. 

Leander had taken a bit of a sharp turn somewhere between the start of school and the present moment and apparently wanted to apply to work at the Ministry. Specifically, he’d been talking about joining the Council of Magical Law– evidently finding the power that would come with such a position all too appealing. Sebastian couldn’t help but think it was rather on brand for the Gryffindor to think as much, but his encouragement had been lukewarm all the same. 

Though he hadn’t joined them at The Three Broomsticks, it was already known that Ominis was also thinking about working for the Ministry, but with a different motive. He wanted to get more closely involved with the Muggle Liaison Office for reasons that continued to escape Sebastian. Whether it was to learn more about their differences to wizard-kind or to spite his family further, Sebastian didn’t know, but he was frankly inclined to believe the latter. 

Then there was you. The enigma, the mystery– the great unknown that had turned his entire world upside down from the moment you’d walked through the Great Hall doors two years ago. He had no clue what your plans were after graduation, and not knowing was slowly eating him alive. It had less to do with being kept out of the loop and more to do with his unspoken feelings for you– feelings that he had been keeping to himself for years now in a bid to keep his friendship with you unmarred. After your tumultuous fifth-year, it had understandably taken some time for the two of you to get back to any semblance of normalcy, and now that graduation was approaching, he couldn’t help but feel like time was slipping through his fingers. 

Sebastian’s previously upbeat demeanor had darkened considerably after that conversation, leading him to bail entirely on drinks at the pub in favor of returning to Hogwarts to wallow in self-pity. 

He’d moved in absolute silence following his return, a metaphorical rain cloud looming over his head as he’d gone to his dorm to grab his toiletries and a change of clothes before setting off for the Prefect’s bathroom. Friday nights were notoriously quiet now that everyone’s N.E.W.T’s had been completed, and Sebastian relished in the solitude that he always found in the spacious washroom. Sneaking in and using it was well worth the risk if it spared him from more idle conversations with his fellow classmates. 

It wasn’t unusual for the door to be locked– due in large part to the fact that it always was– so he undid the latch with his wand and shouldered the door open, barreling into the humid space with the grace of a hurricane. He tossed his items down on the countertop beside the sink and ripped his toothbrush out of his bag, shoving it in-between his lips as he turned the faucet on and rifled around for his bath soaps. Disappointment clouded his mind as his thoughts wandered back to you and the unknown future. It wouldn’t take much more than courage and a slim chance for Sebastian to get his feelings for you off his chest, but his fear of rejection kept him rooted in place. He was certain that at this point, it always would. 

“Keep running the water like that and you’ll drain the entire lake,” a familiar voice said from somewhere behind him. Sebastian damn near choked himself with his toothbrush as he whirled around to face the culprit, and then he found himself on the verge of fainting when he realized it was you. 

You were lounging in the massive tub with a smile on your face, not at all bothered by Sebastian’s sudden intrusion. Your hair was pinned up off of your bare shoulders in a messy heap, and the brunet stood no chance at concealing his blatant double take when he caught sight of your wet skin. The bulk of your naked body was covered by the scant spread of bubbles, but the tantalizing view of your collarbones had a flush rapidly spreading across his cheeks. 

“I– shit– I’m so sorry, I didn’t think anyone was in here,” Sebastian frantically mumbled around his mouthful of toothbrush. Dammit, he sounded like a fool. He ripped the thin stick from his mouth and spun back around to shut off the faucet and hastily gather his belongings from the counter. 

“You didn’t really knock to find out, but it’s fine. Don’t rush off on my account.” 

Your nonchalant tone made him pause, and he hesitantly lifted his head to stare at your reflection in the mirror. True to your words, you seemed wholly unbothered by his presence, simply continuing to bask in the warmth of the water as the steam wafted up into your face.

There wasn’t a chance in hell he could have anticipated something like this happening. 

Almost reluctantly, Sebastian dropped his towel back onto the countertop, instead picking up the paste for his toothbrush before setting to work brushing his teeth. He watched through the mirror as you raked your wet fingers through the free strands of hair that had fallen in front of your face, and the sound of the disturbed water dripping down your arms echoed through the space. “Did you win your scrimmage?” Your eyes never wavered from his in the reflection, and he nodded. “Go out for drinks afterwards?” Another nod, switching to brush the other side of his mouth. “Ominis and Garreth?” Sebastian shook his head. “What, Garreth and Leander?”

He mumbled around a mouthful of foam, “An’ Imelda.”

Your expression pinched into one of confusion as you mused, “I thought you didn’t like drinking with Leander.” Sebastian only shrugged in vague response before bending forward to spit and rinse, trying incredibly hard to not think about how very naked and wet you were presently. He was unsuccessful. 

 For a brief moment, Sebastian debated on changing into his pajamas and leaving despite having come to bathe, but something possessed him to turn around and contemplate you after he turned off the faucet. The easy smile on your face and your half hooded eyes almost knocked him out, and he swallowed thickly. 

What was it he had thought to himself just moments earlier? Courage and a slim chance? Was this not exactly that? 

“Hey,” he muttered softly, his voice almost a whisper. “What are your plans after graduation?” 

You tilted your head to the side in visible confusion, a strand of hair falling in front of your eyes seductively from the movement. He tried not to stare too hard. “Plans?” 

“What will you do once it’s time to leave? You haven’t said anything to me about it– or Ominis,” he added quickly. “We were talking about it in Hogsmeade earlier, so I was just wondering.” 

You seemed to ponder his question for a minute, your wandering hands coming to a sudden halt in the mass of bubbles. Truthfully, you hadn’t brought it up to either of the Slytherin men because you hadn’t come to a final decision yet, but it made sense that with the completion of your N.E.W.T’s, people would begin planning their post-Hogwarts lives. The thought made you equal parts sad and nervous. 

“I thought about getting a job at first… to make a name for myself and save money, you know? But honestly, I think I might travel. I’ve explored virtually all of the Highlands for ancient magic sites and I think I’ve hit a dead end. I want to learn more about Isidora’s magic– the power from the Repository is still as much of an unknown now as it was two years ago. It’s just collecting dust inside of me at this point.” 

Sebastian gave you a nonplussed blink and did his damndest not to sound paranoid when he responded. “Travel? Where exactly were you thinking?” 

You shrugged and averted your gaze to the bubbles in front of you. Of course Sebastian would be displeased to discover that yet another person from his life would be departing it so soon. It was part of the reason you’d been keeping your intentions to yourself for so long. Nonetheless, you answered softly, “Maybe to Poland. Isidora’s notes mentioned that she originally hailed from there–”

“Poland?” Sebastian’s frantic voice cut you off, and he found his legs carrying him to the edge of the bathtub to kneel there and bore holes in the top of your head from across the water. “You would go that far to chase after a maybe? You don’t know for certain if looking out there will even bring you any new information– it sounds incredibly reckless.”

You fixed him with a hard, telling look. “That’s rich, coming from you. Who was it that refused to let up in his search for a cure for all of fifth-year?”

His brows slammed down atop his narrowed eyes, “That was different.” 

“How is it any different?” You sounded exasperated, and he sighed indignantly. “You wanted answers, and you never stopped looking for them. You had nothing to go off of, much like myself presently, and you were willing to do anything if it meant saving Anne. I want to use this power for something good, Sebastian. I can’t do that if I don’t know how it works. Leaving is the only plausible outcome for me.”

“It would be that easy for you, then? To leave and disappear for who knows how long searching for who knows what? Would you have even told me if I hadn’t asked just now?” 

It would be that easy for you to leave me, is what he really wasn’t saying. 

You shook your head at him, completely bewildered that he was so affected by your revelation. “Eventually, yes, I would have. I don’t understand– why do you care so much? You of all people should know I would keep in touch; I’ll send owls every week, keep you updated on where I am and what happens. Going our separate ways was practically always in the cards, Sebastian.” 

Some tiny, annoying part of him had always known that. Living at Hogwarts was a blissful reprieve from the real world, offering himself and other students a sanctuary from the concerns and problems of adult life. Hearing you voice your thoughts was a completely different thing, however, and Sebastian was woefully unprepared for the dawning realization that he wouldn’t be able to see you anymore.

He silently cursed himself for having taken this fucking long to accept how empty he would feel without you beside him. 

“Sebastian,” you whispered from across the tub, and his eyes slid shut at the sound of your gentle voice. It hurt too much to fathom not getting to hear it again, or not being able to see you and crack stupid jokes with you in the middle of Potion’s class. He wouldn’t get to duel other students with you in Crossed Wands, or go to Hogsmeade to drink Butterbeers and stop by the lake on your walks back to skip rocks. All of it would end, and he would be alone. 

Again.

“Sebastian,” you said again, and the closer proximity of your voice had him cracking his eyes open. You were directly in front of him now, evidently having left your spot on the other side of the bath to siddle directly up to the ledge in front of him. Your wide eyes gazed imploringly up at him, and your grip on the edge of the tub was white-knuckled. “Why do you care so much?” 

“How could I not care?” He forced the words out while he still had the courage, seemingly gazing into the depths of your very soul as he stared down at you. His words had your eyes widening further as a flush crept up your neck onto your cheeks, and before you got the chance to say anything, Sebastian was leaning down to capture your lips in a desperate kiss. 

A surprised squeak weaseled its way from your throat as he lifted his hands to cradle your head cautiously, and you weakly curled your fingers around his wrists as he dipped lower to accommodate for the awkward angle. Sebastian kissed you hungrily and passionately– in the way he had dreamed of doing for years. He licked along your lower lip and bit gently at it, pulling a gasp from your parted lips before one of your hands came to rest on his bent knee, leaving a wet handprint behind in its wake. 

After a few heated moments, Sebastian broke away to look at you through his lashes, more surprised than anything to discover that your face was an open book; a mixture of shock and hesitance was etched into your features while something much hotter burned in your eyes, making his head fucking spin. 

“Sebastian, I– ah…” 

He let you go and sat back on his heels then, crossing his arms over his knees and resting his chin on his forearms as he peered at you nervously. There were a thousand different things Sebastian wanted to blurt out, but he settled for staying quiet as he waited for you to say something– anything.

You gaped up at him for a moment, blinking slowly as the flush across your cheeks darkened considerably. “How long?” 

He shrugged timidly before he said, “Ages. Since fifth-year, if I’m being honest.” 

“You didn’t… say anything?” His curly brown locs brushed across his forehead as he shook his head. “Why?” 

“After everything that happened in the Catacombs, I was terrified of fucking things up again. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship– I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. So I just… kept my feelings to myself. But now you’re telling me you would leave– that it was always inevitable things would end this way– and I can’t accept that. I refuse to.” 

You didn’t know what to say. Your mind was reeling from Sebastian’s revelation, and your heart was hammering away in your chest so loudly that you were certain he could hear it. Of course you felt the exact same way, but much like Sebastian you’d been worried about ruining things or complicating your already tentative relationship– especially after the events of your fifth-year. But now here he was– on his damn knees confessing to you– and your thoughts of the future vanished completely from your mind. 

Biting your lip, you stared up at Sebastian for a moment with wide eyes. One of your hands rose off the edge of the tub to trail your wet fingers across his cheek, and as Sebastian’s freckled face moved away from his arm to swim clearly into view, you stood straight out of the water invitingly and let him wrap his strong arms around your bare waist. As the water beading over your skin soaked through Sebastian’s shirt, his eyes flickered between yours, searching for the hesitance he’d seen there before. 

It was nowhere to be found.

When your lips met with his again, the softness had left them, and the two of you kissed one another hard and needily. Sebastian straightened and nipped at your lips, smiling against your mouth as you melted into him, and your breath caught somewhere in your throat when his tongue slipped into your open mouth to tangle with your own. Holding you tighter, Sebastian trailed his hands over your slick skin– traversing up your spine and into your unruly hair to tangle his fingers in the strands at the nape of your neck. He kissed you desperately, moaning softly into your mouth when he felt your hands sweep across his shoulders to fumble with the buttons at the front of his shirt. 

You’d made it about halfway down the row of clasps before Sebastian grew impatient, freeing one of his hands to deftly undo the buttons with a practiced finesse that made your mouth water eagerly. He panted along the curve of your jaw as he undressed, biting and sucking at the skin of your throat until he was pulling away to shrug the damp material off of his shoulders. His tie was still snug around his neck, clamping the collar of his button-up in place, and he growled as he loosened the thin bit of fabric before yanking it over his head and diving back into the kiss like he’d been starved of your very essence. 

Until now the bizarre angle had proved to be a non-issue– but then the pressing matter of his trousers came to light, and you felt as Sebastian blindly palmed at his belt buckle in a bid to undo it. “Need help?” Your coy offer whispered against his lips sent shivers up his spine, but he was too frantic and greedy to give you the chance to assist.

Those toned, capable arms released you so he could stand fully, his lust-dark eyes never wavering from yours as he finally succeeded in unlooping his belt from around his waist. “Just don’t move and keep watching like that– it’s helping me plenty.” 

You flashed him a mocking pout but did as he asked, settling back into the water and scanning his body longingly as he stripped down to his briefs. He teasingly ran his thumbs under the waistband of his undergarments and shot you a smug look, all too pleased with the way you licked your lips when he eventually began slipping the attire down the delectable ‘V’ of his hips. The sight of Sebastian biting his lip as his cock sprung free and arched proudly against his toned stomach had you halting your movements, though, and you audibly whimpered before the brunet threw his briefs over his shoulder and descended into the soapy water with you. 

In a flash he had you back within reach, his hands coming to cup your rear as he silently prompted you to jump into his arms so he could carry you through the water towards the rim of the massive tub. Your back bumped against the tiles there, and Sebastian took full advantage by pressing himself into you more firmly. The hard, stiff length of him rubbed tantalizingly against your folds, and you sighed contentedly before his mouth was on yours once more. 

The two of you languidly kissed for what seemed like forever, and you were more than willing to continue for as long as Sebastian saw fit. When one of the hands he had against your rear began to slip lower into uncharted territory, you smiled against his lips and huffed out an airy laugh. “Eager, are you?” 

“Shut up,” Sebastian murmured against your mouth, holding fast to your bottom harder and with greater fervor. “You have no idea how long I’ve been dreaming of this.” 

You arched your hips against Sebastian’s and drew in a shaky breath at the sensation of his shaft grazing over a particularly sensitive spot. “Then show me,” you implored. 

Growling again, Sebastian wrangled you around until you were kneeling on the ledge with your back to him and your hands braced on the rim of the bathtub. His hands were seemingly everywhere; sliding down your shoulder blades, scratching at the curve of your waist, then ghosting down the backs of your thighs as he nudged your legs apart further. You felt as he leaned forward to press a chaste kiss against the outline of your spine, and there wasn’t a chance in hell you could smother the shudder of delight that coursed through you. Sebastian moved on swiftly, though, and began pressing messy, open-mouthed kisses against your lower back, curling his hands around your hips before you felt him descend closer to your nether region. In your current position, it was just barely peeking above the thin layer of bubbles within the tub, and you heard the water slosh around Sebastian as he dropped to his knees and came face to face with your most intimate parts. 

The broad slick of Sebastian’s tongue sliding through your folds pulled a startled gasp from your lips, and your forehead fell against the tile with a soft, stuttered moan. The feeling of him tasting you– achingly and deliberately slow– had you shaking in earnest as you bit your knuckle for a semblance of control. You were struggling against the urge to rock back into his ministrations, eventually settling for reaching between your spread legs with your free hand to rub at your clit for some added reprieve, but then Sebastian slid his palms from your hips to your inner thighs to nudge your hand away. 

“Let me take care of you,” he whispered to you, and you mewled softly before tucking your hand against your chest and nodding. “Don’t hold back, either. I want to hear you.”

You were on the verge of responding, but the way Sebastian slid his tongue over you again drove whatever words you’d formulated straight out of your head. His hands ghosted along your skin as he lowered himself further, the tops of his shoulders completely submerging beneath the soapy water, and he took care to trail his fingers slowly down the sensitive skin of your inner thighs as he made himself comfortable behind you. 

Sebastian laved his tongue over you gently and encouragingly, then experimentally stiffened the muscle before poking it inside of you, leaving you whining and gasping his name. The brunet pushed his tongue in deeper then, moaning in response to the hitch in your voice as he pressed his lips against your folds and fucked the muscle into you slowly. 

“Gods, S-Sebastian–”

The man in question sighed and picked up his pace, flicking his tongue into you and dropping messy kisses against you. One of his hands slid up to your clit, brushing two of his fingers over the bundle of nerves with a moan, and when he leaned in hard to fuck his tongue as deep as possible into you, your high, airy whimpers made Sebastian’s head spin. 

With one last pump of his tongue, Sebastian pulled away, grinning at the way you twitched in response to his efforts. You heard the water stir and felt the warm, wet weight of the Slytherin drape over your back as he leaned forward to kiss across your shoulder, his hands running soothingly up the sides of your waist. 

“Fuck,” Sebastian breathed out, prompting you to turn and look at him over your shoulder. Your half-hooded eyes and parted lips sparked something in him then, and when you reached back to tangle your fingers in his hair, the brunet leaned in to meet you gladly. You moaned into the kiss, drawing a like-minded sound from Sebastian when you ground your hips back against his throbbing member. His thick hands gripped at your waist tightly as he gasped against your mouth, a desire unlike any he’d ever experienced overtaking him in a matter of seconds. The urge to feel you encasing him was overwhelming– enough so that for one brief moment, Sebastian allowed himself to press so hard against you that it stole your breath and smothered your senses. 

“Sebastian,” you groaned from beneath him. Your gaze sought him out, but his own eyes were pinched shut as he relished in the ecstasy that fell over him from merely grinding against you. It wasn’t simply the act itself that was doing it for him. It was knowing that he was doing it with you. Everything he had craved for two whole years was finally coming to fruition, and despite wanting to relish in every second of it with you, Sebastian was losing himself to his impulses. You called to him again, “Sebastian, please.” 

His chocolate brown eyes cracked open at the sound of your voice coupled with your incessant tugging on his hair, and his shaky sigh told you everything you needed to know; he was incredibly eager. 

“S-Sorry,” he stammered out, swallowing thickly in a way that drew your attention to his bobbing adam’s apple. You merely shook your head in silent dismissal, then rocked back against him to spur him into motion. If it was guidance he needed, you were more than happy to provide it. “I don’t know how much longer I can draw this out,” he admitted with a low voice, and as though to punctuate the statement, you felt his fingers dig into the skin of your hips to prevent you from moving against him any further. 

“Then don’t,” you insisted needily, yanking lightly on his hair once more to goad him into moving. “I’m ready if you are.”

“If it’s all the same to you,” Sebastian murmured, his voice gravelly and directly against the shell of your ear. “I’ll be the judge of that.” 

You shivered in anticipation when you felt one of his hands trail down the swell of your rear to probe at your slick entrance with one of his fingers. His other hand traced soothing circles against lower back, relaxing you further until you had melted against the rim of the tub with your neck craned to the side to watch Sebastian as he worked. 

When he sank one of his fingers into you slowly, you let loose a shaky exhale and felt a flush creep up your neck and onto your cheeks, leaving Sebastian biting his lip at the wanton image you made as he pressed the digit knuckle deep. Thrusting slowly, he eventually managed to work a second finger into you, trying not to think too hard about the way you looked spread around him, or the way you moved back against him, or how fucking wet you were. 

“Sebastian,” you groaned. His eyes flicked back up to yours, entirely certain that he looked just as fucking needy as you did– especially given the way you shivered and rode back against his hand a little harder. “C-Curl your fingers down a little–” he did so, and was instantly rewarded with a telling jolt from you. “Oh fuck– there–” 

The sound of Sebastian moaning to himself was almost lost in the way you were gasping and keening, and he moved his hand from your back to your hip to hold you in place as he followed the same path you’d instructed him to with his fingers. He thrusted a little harder, curling his digits against your sweet spot, and the way you arched your back and spread your thighs as far as you could without slipping while you gasped for Sebastian was fucking intoxicating. 

It was too much. 

Sebastian pulled his fingers free and reached towards you without a second thought, coiling his arm around your waist as he leaned in to kiss you again. You couldn’t help but whine at the way his cock rubbed against you, and you were near boneless in the brunet’s arms as his lips molded to yours and his tongue delved into your mouth. His strong arm held you fast to him as the other braced against the rim of the tub, holding him steady above you as he kissed you senseless. When he finally broke away to catch his breath, you practically sagged into the water beneath him. 

“Merlin, Sebastian…” 

“Are you okay?” The Slytherin’s voice was rough when he asked, low and raspy with arousal, and once you gave your enthusiastic approval, Sebastian reached between the two of you to line himself up before pressing into you. 

Sebastian’s eyes squeezed shut at how you felt around him; tight, hot, and utterly incredible. He just barely managed to keep his composure as he slowly filled you, and your scarcely stifled gasps and keening whimpers were decidedly not helping him keep his wits about him. Every fiber of Sebastian’s being urged him to ram his cock into you– to fuck your brains out and hear his name spill from your lips in breathless screams. When he finally did sheathe himself all the way inside of you, he melted against your back, holding you tightly and whispering your name against your ear over and over again. 

“Fuck, you’re…” you trailed off, subtly shaking against Sebastian’s damp skin. “You’re b-big.”

“Gods, darling,” Sebastian breathed, exhaling roughly into the nape of your neck. “Can I move?” 

You gave a stuttered assent, but you were still insanely tight around his cock, so for both your sakes when Sebastian pulled back a little and rolled his hips back in, he did so slowly in a bid to test the waters. 

No pun intended.

Your choked moan was more than enough of an answer for him, so he worked to set a slow, deep rhythm, buying himself time to get used to the heat wrapped around his cock. The gentle sigh that emanated from you coupled with the way your back bowed ever so slightly told Sebastian that his restraint was appreciated. But then you were glancing back at him from over your shoulder, and the rosy flush that colored your cheeks combined with your glazed over eyes nullified the majority of his self-control. 

Sebastian blindly trusted you to keep steady on your knees as he gripped your hips to thrust into you harder, moving faster and giving gasping moans as you tensed and groaned, squeezing him in the most perfect way. He pulled you back onto his cock, adjusting his hips so he could fuck into your sweet spot, and the way you arched under him and cried out was fucking amazing. 

“Oh f-fuck, Sebastian,” you moaned, reaching back to tangle your hand in his damp, brown curls, and Sebastian let you tug him closer so he could mouth along your shoulder, tasting the sweet-smelling bathsoaps as he went. The water splashed around you both, and you swore softly as a small wave of sudsy water sloshed up the side of the tub and sprayed you in your face. 

Taking note of your predicament, Sebastian slowed his movements and angled his head so he could murmur directly in your ear, “Do you want to move?” 

“We could, but– damn, Sebastian–”

Sebastian didn’t want to fucking move. He did want to see your face, though. He pulled out swiftly, and before you could move to climb out of the water, he grabbed and maneuvered you around so your back was pressed against the side of the tub with your legs bent over his elbows. When he reached back further to grip the rim of the tub on either side of you, he sank back into you with a low moan. Water wasn’t the most spectacular of lubricants as it turned out, but you were naturally slick enough that it was essentially a nonissue.

The expression that spread over your flushed face drove Sebastian a little crazy. He moved hot and slow, pulling back far with every aching thrust before filling you up and making you whimper. It’s exactly what Sebastian had wanted, but the way your eyes rolled shut just made him want to fuck you harder, water splashing in your face be damned. 

He leaned in close and nipped at your swollen lips, still rolling his hips maddeningly slow. “I want to fuck you so hard,” he managed, voice shaking. “I want to hear you scream my name. I want to see you fall over the edge so hard that you pass out in my arms.” He snapped his hips, just enough to make you cry out. “I’ll fuck you just like that. I’ll make the Prefects come running from how loud you are. I hope you don’t have plans this weekend, because you’re mine until the bell tolls on Monday.”

You whimpered and shivered under Sebastian, sucking in sharp breaths with every slow thrust, and when you rode your hips back into the brunet, he couldn’t help but let his head hang between his shoulders, his dark eyes sliding shut. The way you were sucking him in deeper was mind-blowing, the water flowing in waves around the two of you, until a burning, tightening sensation took root in your gut and made you grit your teeth together in anticipation. 

“S-Sebastian, fuck,” he thrust harder in response, grinding his hips into you and causing your back to arch with a gasping cry. “Sebastian, I’m– I’m going to–”

“Do it,” he gasped, leaning in to kiss you quickly and messily. “Let me see how you come for me.” 

Your nails dug into his shoulder before you pulled one hand away to begin frantically rubbing circles over your swollen clit. You rocked your hips back into his and worked yourself closer to your finish with a low moan, keeping your movements in time with his thrusts. The way you licked your lips and the way you watched Sebastian with a dark, fucked-out gaze made him whimper. You were so intense– your lips parting on gasping moans of Sebastian’s name– and it took a surprising amount of self-control for him to not just fucking blow it right then. Instead, he bent you back just a little further, just enough to see that needy expression fall back over your face as he fucked you just that little bit harder. 

Your moans grew higher, louder, breathier, until you were crying out and shaking in Sebastian’s arms. “S-Seb– fuck– I’m coming, I’m coming–” 

Your spine rounded and your eyes squeezed shut as you clamped down tight on Sebastian’s cock, a guttural whine ripping from your heaving chest as your climax washed over you. The dexterous movements from your fingers took you higher than you thought possible, and the way you barely managed to choke out Sebastian’s name was enough to send the Slytherin over the edge. 

He pressed himself against you and buried his cock deep, fucking you through your finish with short, fast thrusts while he moaned your name against your throat, his hands moving to grip your sides tight with trembling fingers. “Fuck, darling, fuck–”

Blearily, you moved your arm and wrapped it around Sebastian’s neck as he came, who was shaking and babbling far too loud for it to be muffled against your slick skin. You buried your face into his tangled hair, jolting slightly from every miniscule movement of his twitching member inside of you. When the bulk of his post-coital high had subsided, he began wetly mouthing up your neck and along your jaw before sweetly peppering kisses over your cheek. The demonstration brought a breathless grin to your face, and your hands found their way to the hair at the back of his neck before you wound your fingers through the strands. 

“Merlin’s bloody balls,” Sebastian gritted out, sliding his arms out from under your knees to hold them fast to his waist. You followed his lead easily and wrapped your legs around his hips, sitting up to kiss him contentedly as your palms skimmed along his freckled back. He smiled against your lips and murmured, “We should probably get out. I can feel how pruney your fingers are.” 

“Mm,” you hummed softly, pulling back from the kiss to hold one of your hands up to see how wrinkled your skin had become in the throes of passion. “You’re not wrong. But it would be counterproductive to not wash off all the sweat, wouldn’t it?” 

Sebastian gave you a nonplussed blink before smiling brightly at you in agreement. Almost reluctantly, he slid free from your welcoming heat and deposited you on the shallow stone ledge, then hoisted himself out of the bath to pad over to his toiletry bag. After grabbing all the necessities and jumping back into the steaming water, the two of you took your time cleansing one another, lingering touches and thoughtful kisses being exchanged throughout the process. Eventually Sebatian found himself sitting with his back to the rim of the tub, your smaller figure situated comfortably between his legs as he scooped water into his hands and let it run over your shoulders. If your slouched posture was anything to go by, you were incredibly relaxed, and Sebastian realized dimly that he was too. To be with you in this way was everything he could ever want and more, and he didn’t want it to end. Not by a longshot. 

“Let me come with you after graduation,” he said suddenly, his voice a mere whisper from behind you. 

Your eyes fluttered open as you processed his request, the bathroom utterly silent except for the distant dripping of water from the faucet, and before long you were turning around to face him with your hands braced on his legs. “What?” 

“Let me come with you,” he said again, conviction burning in his dark eyes. “To Poland. I want to do whatever I can to help you. Please don’t leave me behind.” 

All you could do was blink for a moment before opening and closing your mouth in surprise. Sebastian’s unwavering gaze only prolonged the formation of words, until eventually you furrowed your brow and uncertainty took root. It wasn’t that you didn’t want him with you– far from it, in fact. The events that had transpired just minutes earlier had only proven that your close relationship was something to treasure for as long as possible, and you were more than ready to do exactly that. You just didn’t want him to throw his own ambitions to the side simply because you planned to travel. “What about what you want to do? Don’t you have your own plans? I thought Professor Weasley talked to you about–” 

“I never made a decision,” he stated firmly and with a shake of his head. “The Professor had her own ideas about what I would excel at, but I never agreed or wanted to pursue any of her suggestions. I honestly felt like I was in limbo until now. My point is, what I want is to stay with you. I want to help you the same way you helped me with Anne, and I really, really don’t want to end up sitting alone in some office in London waiting for your owls to reach me. There’s always something missing when you’re not with me.”

To say you were an emotional mess would be a monumental understatement. Sebastian’s words struck something deep within you, something sentimental and desperate to come to the surface. He evidently saw your tears before you felt them, because he was instantly sitting forward to cup your cheeks in his wet hands before wiping them away with his thumbs. The concern on his face was apparent, but you were already smiling reassuringly at him before he could verbally ask if you were alright. “You really know how to confess to a girl, huh?” 

He let loose an airy, relieved laugh that drifted over your nose and chilled your damp cheeks, and you wrapped your fingers around his wrists as he smiled anxiously at you. “I had a long time to practice. Is that a yes, then?” 

“Yes, you can come with me. I would love it if you did,” you said, and the giddy excitement that radiated from the man was the most palpable thing in the room at that moment. “Two heads might be better than one, after all.”

Sebastian was on you in an instant. He coiled around you like a baby mooncalf and smiled so brightly that it easily rivaled the intensity of the sun. Water splashed everywhere as he spun you effortlessly within the bath, your capricious laughter reverberating off the walls of the spacious room as elation flooded your system. Being encased in his warm embrace was all the confirmation you needed that you had made the right choice. In turn, knowing that his future was all the clearer brought a sense of peace and belonging to Sebastian that he would hold on to for as long as he was able. 

It just so happened that presently, he was holding on to you. 

[mysterymachine67]

I have a request if that's alright.

Bottom Steve Rogers x Top Male Reader.

Male Reader is a new avenger who's in love with Steve, he thinks Steve doesn't like him until one day at the avengers gym (only the 2 of them are in the gym) Steve notices reader staring at America's ass and decided enough is enough so he decides to tease him using his greatest ASSet, then they have sex bottom Steve.

Can you make this one long, I love your fics I just wish they were always longer.

Pairing: Steve Rodgers x Top M!reader

NSFW. Minors DNI.

Here you go. So sorry this came out late and if it’s out of character 🙏🏻

The first few days went by smoothly. You got everything that needed to be done, done. There were a few…difficulties, but you got through them. All that mattered was that you were learning things that needed to be learned, and that you were doing great. Back to the ‘difficulties’. That consisted of love at first sight. Which you never believed in but once you met this man you couldn’t help it. He was perfect, perfect in so many damn ways you couldn’t explain.

But you couldn’t talk to him. Well, couldn’t get yourself to talk to him. You think he doesn’t like you, nor wants to do anything involving you. Why do you think this? There is no ‘main’ reason to it. Only that whenever you’re around him you swear you can feel some type of hatred toward you. So you leave him alone—minding your own business. And your sure as hell he noticed how distant you were from him.

—

Currently, you’re at the gym. You’re focused on yourself—the weights you’re lifting, and how many more lifts you need to do. You were the only one there and you enjoyed it. But that only lasted a few more minutes before the guy you have a little crush on walked through the doors. Steve Rodgers. The man who you swear on everything hates you. You swallowed as your face twisted with slight irritation. The look you gave him was with pure…jealousy? You’re not to sure what the correct word for it was, but all you knew was that it annoyed you how in love you were. You brushed it off—taking your gaze away from him and regaining back your focus.

Yet, every few minutes you found yourself stealing another look. You couldn’t help it, you practically admired him. You fought to draw your eyes away from him. It only got worse. Your gaze went lower, and lower, and lower till it got to his ass. See, now, you were a respectful man. You were not a creep, nor anything under that category. It was just accidental.

But it kept fucking happening. You’d look over at him when he wasn’t facing you—watching how he handled the gym equipment. Then your gaze would shift, but only for a moment. Not that it made it any better. He did eventually end up catching you. You forgot to look away quickly once he turned back around and you both made eye contact. And you thought he must’ve brushed it off. Hopefully, and not think you’re a creep because that’s the last thing you need to be represented as. But no. Steve did not brush it off, nor let it slide.

You noticed how he started to do more things involving his ass, and how he somehow got closer to you. Hell, he even asked you to help him with something. In which you put your self-control to use. His ass brushed against your front when he moved. You didn’t know what to do; so you kept your hands at a reasonable position and helped him with what he needed to be helped with.

What were you helping him with? That’s a good question. Well, it was a type of workout you’d never heard nor seen before. Was he doing this on purpose? Most definitely. Were you aware? Not so much.

This continued for a lot longer than you thought it would. Not that you…minded, but you’d think it’d be a few minutes tops. Nope. Things…escalated. And by escalated he finally confronted you—getting out of whatever position he had you guys in, and asking so many damn questions about you and why you were so distant. You answered. It’d be disrespectful and rude if you didn’t.

“Can I ask you a question?” Steve asked.

“You’ve asked plenty so far. But hit me.” You answered.

“Do you like me?”

Well shit.

You cleared your throat. Adjusting your clothes and rubbing the back of your neck. “If…I say yes?” You stammered. You’re not even sure he heard you. But then Steve spoke up.

“Then,” He started, locking eyes with you. You nearly looked away, nervous for what’s to come. Did you just fuck up? “We can call it a day. Go hang out, or do something cheesy. How’s that sound?” He offered.

Oh.

Well, except doing any of those things listed. On the way out of the gym Steve mentioned something very suggestive. In which you turned around, dropped your things and made your way to him. Obviously agreeing with what he said.

—

Your hands gripped his ass while crashing your lips against his. It hurt from how hard you did it, but it soon faded away once you heard a sweet sound from the man you’ve liked since the day you met him. The both of you moved toward a nearby wall. When you got close enough you pushed Steve against it; hearing a faint noise come from him. Maybe you pushed him a little too hard. Your lips touched his again while your hands roamed his body. This time, the kiss was more sloppy than the last.

You pulled back and whispered against his lips. “I don’t think you get how much I’ve wanted this. Wanted you.” And oh, the way he looked at you. You kissed him again before he could even respond.

Soon enough you were helping each other take off clothes. They were being thrown somewhere in the gym, a future problem. As soon as Steve got his shirt off your hands were on him yet again. Gripping his flesh and kissing where you could. Steve’s quiet whimpered and soft moans were one of many things that kept you from stopping. His hands stayed on your hips, gripping you tightly and keeping you close. When your lips met his neck he let out a gasp. It got even better when your hand trailed down Steve’s chest. All the way to his hard cock.

You fished his cock from his boxers. Then brought your hand back up to his mouth. “Spit.” You said simply. So he did.

When you finally wrapped your hand around his cock he let out a sigh. Leaning his head back against the wall. He bucked his hips into your hand—seeking more. With the mix of your mouth on him, and your hand on his cock, he was starting to get close. A moan fell from Steve’s lips. A hand of his moving its way up to your shoulder.

“Fuck..’m close.” Steve muttered, sucking in a breath once he felt your thumb rub at his tip. Just a few more thrusts into your hand and he’ll—

“Sorry, pretty boy. But we’re just getting started.” You say, as you remove your hand. Hearing as he let out a groan.

—

You slowly aligned your cock with his hole. Hearing a soft groan and a thud of his head going back against the wall. You cursed under your breath, feeling the tightness of his heat around your cock. Once you were bottomed out you stayed still for a moment. Giving Steve a moment. Well, that was until he urged you on. You had one of his legs on your hip, it helped made your cock dive deeper into him.

You pulled out slowly, watching as his face scrunched up. Before shoving your cock back inside, you gripped his leg tighter. Soon, you started a good pace and rhythm. Steve let out a few small whimpers and moans. You leaned in close, capturing his lips in a kiss. Meanwhile, your free hand started to move to his cock. Wrapping around it and started to stroke. The added pleasure and stimulation caused him to moan into your mouth. In which you tried not to smile. You soon broke the kiss, moving to kiss neck instead.

“Oh, God!” He moaned. Moving his head back against the wall with a thud. Many sounds echoed throughout the gym. Pants, moans, groans, whimpers, etc. all coming from the both of you.

Your orgasm came quick, Steve’s too. Just as you went to pull out he clenched and groan from the loss.

“No, no, just—inside.”

So you shoved your cock back in. Hearing a moan in response to your action. Not that you were complaining. Soon enough you came, painting his walls white while he coated your hand in his own cum. A mix of moans and pants echoed in the gym. But he felt so good, so you kept going even though your hips stuttered. You worked yourself up to a second orgasm in a matter of minutes. Completely ignoring Steve’s whines. But he enjoyed it. A little pain mixed with pleasure is something he didn’t know he’d be into. Your hips came to a halt—not pulling out and staying buried inside of him.

But you put your hand back on his cock and started to jerk him off again. You weren’t gonna let him cum only once. That wasn’t fair. Back to Steve, he groaned then soon let out a whine. Jerking his hips back but then moving them back forward. You heard him curse under his breath before, without a warning, cumming into your hand.

Both of you were breathing heavily. Chest raising and falling with how heavy you were breathing. Once your breathing went back to normal you finally spoke up. “So, you don’t hate me?” You asked. Such a random question after just getting done fucking him.

“Why the hell would I hate you?” Steve replied, stilling trying to get his breathing regular. In which you shrugged, a conversation for a different time.

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

how silm characters react to the fandom

Feanaro: gets way too involved way too quickly, has multiple troll accounts and blocks anyone who sa-si’s.

Nerdanel: can’t really use technology but thinks it’s kind of fun.

Maitimo: instant anxiety attack. Is morbidly fascinated by all the russingon smut. Thinks the Fingon content is sweet. Loves kidnap fam.

Maglor: follows nails-in-my-wall. Immediately starts shitposting about his family. Uncertain why half the fandom thinks he’s a crab.

Celegorm: Deleted his account when he realised Finrod got more rep than him. His new account only is on the low down.

Caranthir: embezzling fanartists somehow. No moral compass.

Curufin: found silvergifting, had a heart attack.

Nolofinwë: Anaire keeps complimenting all the art of him and he’s getting flustered.

Fingon: obsessively saves artwork of Maedhros. Ironically endorses the posts calling him a posh asshole.

Aredhel: gets so much closure from all the online support.

Turgon: disproportionately annoyed by one (1) person who said he was insensitive.

Finarfin: always brings up the youngsters on the internet who think he’s a good king.

Finrod: thinks he’s not famous enough. Works to remedy that.

Aegnor: wonders why everyone thinks he owns and frequently uses a hair straightener; cries over every artwork of him and Andreth.

Galadriel: no one knows and it’s frankly disturbing.

Elrond: periodically censors posts using him as a moral compass. Offers hugs to everyone who reblogged that one post.

[puprdou]

Hai!! I'm a new fan of your work and I have to say, you're exceptional when it comes to writing tokrev characters!! 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ I went through your rules and stuff to check if your requests are open and thankfully they are (?) Anywayz!! I'd like to request bonten! mikey with a clingy, hyperfeminine girlfriend/wife (If you don't mind, they've been together since the good toman timeline until Bonten.) It kinda reminds me of an emo husband with his barbie doll esque wife xDD I'd really like to read what you think of this :p That's all!! Keep up the great work!! ❤️

I wanna sex you up!

contains. hyperfeminine!reader. bonten!timeline. slightly mean mikey (?). semi-public sex. established relationship. fingering. strip teasing. rough sex. quickies. dressing room sex. praise + compliments. creampies.

A/N. awh, thank you! i really appreciate the compliments, makes my day to hear that people enjoy my work ♡ and, yes, they are open,,, just pretty slow thanks to the 11 reqs i have in the inbox rn, pft! this was originally gnna be a drabble but i fear it was too good to not make it into a fic.. tbh i love the idea of a hyperfeminine / hypersexual rder w bonten mikey! theres so many references to use on them that involve black n pink euuughhh,,, nyways enjoy please!

“how’s this one look, ’jiro?” you giggled, coming out in a cute, pink get-up. laces and ruffles, stockings and bows, the whole shebang. with a cheeky smile, your warm body attached to his slender form like a magnet to metal—but, even then, as his one and only love stuck to him like glue, his face remained impassive. you had to admit, he had a poker face that could rival even the most emotionless of men.

your scent filled his nostrils, flaring slightly in content at the flowery smell of your perfume. he merely let out a gentle hum, a soft nod following as he shoved his icy cold hands into the pockets of his trousers. his eyes were lidded, but you could tell he enjoyed the sight of you by the way it traveled over the plumpy curves along your beautiful form.

he never said much; after the incident that had led him into this deprived, emotionless state, he never did. the once adorable, once sweet, and once childish mikey you knew was dead. he wasn’t the mikey he was before—he’s simply manjiro now. the mikey you knew once, the fierce leader of toman, had died alongside the rest of his family, in which he once treasured.

you pouted, lips puckering out at his cold demeanor. it was annoying; you loved him, you always would love him, but him never giving you any reactions anymore majorly sucked. whining, you bounced a bit, hugging his side. he could feel your tits bouncing with the movement, straining against the tight material of that cute pink top you wore.

he tried to keep his cool, which he was good at, and simply waved you off of him. these kinds of feminine stores weren’t exactly his jam; the loud, dumb taylor swift music playing, the girls chattering in the store, and yet, he was left, here, next to your dressing room to watch as you tried on several outfits he was going to buy you, once you were finally out of that damned closet for good.

he sighed impatiently, crossing his arms over his unheathily skinny chest and leaning against the wall as you re-entered the dressing room once more. despite how scrawny his figure looked, he was no less strong than he was in his toman days, when things were still good. when they were kids, and had no real responsibilities. no matter if he looked like a goddamn corpse, he would forever be known as the most dangerous man in all of tokyo for years to come.

his pitch dark eyes shut tight, his bony shoulders relaxing from their previous tension. he was a mastermind at blocking out anything he didn’t like, he had gained the skill throughout the many years he spent, broken and deranged, that had turned him into the man he is now. he blocked out everything that didn’t matter to him—which left the slight rustle of the clothes you fit into in the dressing room behind him to reach his ears.

but, his thoughts were elsewhere. they’d ventured far from the clothing you were trying on; far, far away from the thin fabric. he visioned it in his head, the jiggle of your tits, the bounce of your ass, the way your pretty, rosy cheeks puffed outward in a pout thanks to his distance. it was like a drug invading his senses, a drug that’s giving him such an eager need for his hands to be somewhere on that gorgeous body that he desperately wants to ruin.

he knew you were far from innocent. the countless times you’d given him head, the way your pussy practically was trained to fit him, the way yuo don’t even gag anymore when sucking him off, or even the way you can cum at his mere command. it was pathetic, how whorish you could get, but he never complained. why would he, when he has his own personal pocket pussy?

not to mention, you were far from clueless about the man he is, the things he’s done, the things he still does on a daily basis. nevertheless, you never left him. his family, his past loves, every single one of them had left him. it was him that left his friends, but it was for the greater good that he did. he made a promise, he simply kept it.

even then, you were different. you never looked at him with disgust as you saw him shoot a man through his skull. you never ran away in fear. never even flinched at his cold fingers traveling along the soft skin littering your flesh. you stayed with him, through and through. that was why he never pushed you away. he needed you, needed you to live, he simply couldn’t manage without you. even your girly demeanor, which, he somehow loves.

he loved that bright aura that flew around you every day as he took you shopping, the way you smiled so brightly, giggling as he bought you a whole new closet. you two were like putting batman and hello kitty together—you were pink and black. kuromi and my melody. sylveon and umbreon. an angel and a devil. it didn’t matter the reference, the two of you would forever be together, intertwined by heartstrings.

as you finally exited the dressing room, he opened a singular eye to gaze at your new outfit. but as he saw you, he felt his jaw slack, nearly drooling at the sight of your beautiful outfit. the short skirt, the cute tube top, those pretty heels and that gorgeous necklace that had a diamond so shiny that it almost rivaled the beautiful diamond on your ring finger.

and, for the first time since the both of you entered this mall, he spoke a singular whisper of a compliment. it wasn’t much, it was a singular word, but you knew he meant it. when he bothered to speak up about something, you always knew he was serious about it. and, by the way he was practically eye-fucking you right now, you doubted he didn’t truly mean it when he said how “beautiful..” you looked.

his words were on the verge of having no sound at all, a silent compliment. but, even then, you heard it. it had your heart warming and fluttering, but your racing heart didn’t match in pace to the way your cunt clenched around thin air at the way his gaze hungily traveled over your exposed curves.

“awhh.. thank you, mikey!” you giggled, hugging his arm with your foot popped up in the air. you were so clingy, but he didn’t hate it. there were times where it got too much, and there were times where he couldn’t get enough. but, as you began dragging him into the dressing room with you, his eyebrow raised in confusion. he didn’t argue, questionably staring in silence as you tugged him inside before closing and locking the door.

“what are you doing?” he asked in his usual monotone voice, crossing his arms once again, now leaning against the locked door of the well lit dressing room. “undressing~” responding in a teasingly sweet tone, you begun undoing the strings piecing together your top. his eyes simply widened, the pitch-black pupils appearing smaller, sharper in disbelief.

but, he wasn’t particularly mad about this, either. he gets to watch you strip for him? albeit, in a random dressing room in a high-end clothing store, but it was better than nothing. his once emotionless expression had shifted, shifted into something resembling amusement. the smirk that shone on his pink lips showed you that he was sure as hell excited for the show he was about to watch.

“well, color me amused.” he mused, his voice a gentle hum as he watched you strip off that tube top, revealing that cute, lacy bra of yours beneath. he was tempted to rip it all off of you himself, but he knew you liked that outfit, and he was going to have to buy it later, so he chose not to ruin it for his little princess.

his eyes trailed over your form like a predatorial wolf to a hopeless bunny, ready to pounce to obtain his meal without any mercy. watching the slow striptease was certainly amusing him, and, by the looks of it, it amused his dick too by the sight of it straining against the black fabric of his pants.

the more you stripped, the more fabric that was ripped off of your form, the more that his desperation reached new heights to fuck you on the spot. the urge to make you scream ’n cream all at once was overwhelming all of his senses, his throat feeling dry as he watched your pretty skin appear with each piece of clothing that fell to the floor.

he was panting like a dog, looking at the beautiful view in front of him. the sight of you, now, in nothing but that pretty lacy lingerie that he had botten you just last week in replacement over a pair he’d ripped and torn, had him looking like a dog who went feral and escaped his cage. and by the looks of it, it seemed as though, today, you were the cat he was chasing.

but, in this case, the chasing wasn’t chasing—no, it was fucking. and he was about to do a whole lot of it, uncaring of the people outside of the dressing room who’ll hear.

unable to contain thesse wild urges surging through his fragile bones, he pushed himself off the wall to grab snugly onto your hips. the grip around your skin was so tight, you had a feeling there would be bruises come the next morning. you whined and squirmed, now pressed against his chest. the harsh poke of his nails into your hips stung.

“ooooowwww—i wasn’t done!” “i don’t care.” he mumbled simply, his voice a more matter-of-fact tone rather than choosing to deal with your nonsense currently. his lips attached onto the column of your neck, sucking and kissing in his own lustful haze. the feeling of your body against his, so perfect and soft, had him on cloud nine.

he rubbed circles on your hip with a calloused thumb, whilst his other hand traveled upward along the section of your back, unclasping that beautiful lacy bra of yours. he would have to make this quick, but he could do that with no problem.

“you look beautiful..” he muttered lowly, the rasp in his voice sending shivers down your spine. the feeling of his warm breath against your neck had your brain going foggy, being pushed back against a wall as he let the bra fall onto the floor. one hand holding your hip, the other fondled and played with the plushy mounds on your chest.

he continued to whisper gentle praises and compliments into your skin between each kiss, spreading the heat of his breath along every crevice of skin he could possibly reach. his hand slid lower to grip your thigh, lifting up and around his hip, which caused you to wrap your arms around his neck for pure stability.

“my pretty girl.. all mine,” he smiled, placing one more gentle kiss to your pulse point before pulling away, hands traveling along your near naked form. the only thing that was left to be ridded from your body were those pretty, and now soaked, panties. and, god, you had to resist the urge to call him cute with the cheeky smile he had on his face.

that cheeky smile, you knew it so well. it reminded you of the times when back in toman, when you all were carefree teens. he would grin like this, playfully, right before doing something stupid that all the other founding members would have to take care of afterwards.. you didn’t remember the last time you saw the founders, in all realty.

but your thoughts were taken away from you art the sudden feeling of the cold touch of his thumb pressing against your clit. it seemed whilst you were lost in thought, he had successfully managed to pull your panties off of you, one way or another.

“a-ah! ’j-jiro—” “shut the hell up,” he immediately responded in reply to your whine, placing his free hand over your mouth. he couldn’t risk anyone in this damn store to hearing the downright whorish moans he’s about to pull out of you. he rubbed firm circles on the nub, fingers gradually soaking as he slid them along the wet folds.

“jhmpph..” you whimpered, muffled by his calloused hand which trapped your mouth. “be good. gotta prep you a bit first, princess..” he hummed lowly, inserting his middle finger into your dripping wet heat. your muffled moans were sending heat straight to his dick, straining so damn tight against the confines it almost hurt.

he swore he could cum in his pants just from the sight of you—head lolling back as he inserted his index finger, pumping the two digits in and out of your messy folds with renewed figure as he pressured your clit. he felt desperate, and he hadn’t felt that in a long time. he felt desperate to be buried inside of you. to taste your juices on his tongue. fuck, it was so disgusting the things he needed to do to you.

“hngh—fuck, it’s good enough.” he huffed, his eyes appearing darker than usual as he gazed down upon you. he slowly retracted his hand from over your jaw, pressing his lips needily against your own. his hand left your cunt, slick dripping down the digits from pumping previously.

he lifted you up by the undersides of your upper thighs, pressing you tightly against him and the wall. he loved the feeling of your tits squishing against his chest, nipples hard and rubbing against the thin fabric of the black shirt he wore. he held you up with one hand, his other leading to your wrist to place it on his belt lazily.

“take it off o’me..” he mumbled against your lips, words low and breathy. he wanted you to do it. he wanted to feel your hands tremble as they fiddled with the belt buckles. he wanted to feel your nails itching his skin in a desperate attempt to get his cock. he needed to see how fucking desperate you were for some dick; like a cheap goddamn whore.

you fiddled with the buckle, tongue dancing along with his. your neediness grew by the second, resulting in you just ripping the belt off without a care in the world if it got scratch marks thanks to your nails. you pulled away from the kiss, drool falling down your chin as you undid his pants as well.

“good girl.” he praised in a monotone voice, moving to nibble on your earlobe as you pulled down his slacks, along with his boxers, just enough to reveal his girth. he was already leaking pre-cum, and yet he paid no mind to it. he didn’t even flinch or shiver at the now cold air flowing against his most private parts.

sighing softly, he buried his face into your shoulder. he stroked himself for a few moments, smearing the pre-cum at the head as makeshift lube to mix in with your juices. he place a soft kiss under your ear, aligning himself up with your entrance, pushing just the tip inside.

“now, now, be quiet.. be loud and i’m not buying any of the shit you picked out,” he huffed, not particularly caring if that hurt your feelings or not, “so just keep that pretty little mouth shut and be a good girl f’me, hm?” and, with a small hum, he pushed himself all the way inside until he bottomed out, groaning lowly at the feeling of your walls sucking him in.

with his forehead buried into your shoulder, he stayed like that, holding you in his arms with your legs wrapped ’round his hips. as much as an emotionless, asshole of a man that he was, that he had turned into, he wasn’t that mean to fuck into you raw. well, not right now, that is.

with your confirmation that it was okay to go, he began thrusting his hips up into you, simultaneously pulling you donwn on him in matching rhythm with his movements. the way your cunt fit so perfectly around his length nearly had him cumming inside of you already, and you couldn’t help but giggle. behind all of that strong exterior he puts out, he’s still just a sensitive boy. both physically, and mentally, truthfully.

“y’feel so good, b-baby.. like you were fuckin’ born for take me like this..” a small grin appeared on his lips as he pulled you down on him repeatedly, licking a long, slow stripe up your neck just to hear a pretty little moan come from your lips. seeing them parted, drool slipping down made him feel so arrogant, it almost reminded of you of that smug kid you once knew, if it wasn’t for him rearranging your insides.

“ah! ah! ah! f-fucckkk, s’too deep..” you whined, letting out breathy little gasps with each thrust of your arched body back down on him. he didn’t care whether or not it was too deep, he just wanted to cum and get the hell out of here. he had a meeting that he would be late for, either way.

“i’on care.. didn’t i tell y’to shut up?” he muttered with a heavy swallow, one hand playing with your tits as the other kept you sat on his dick, bouncing on it as if his cock was a goddamn bouncy house. he leaned down, taking the nub into his mouth and sucking like a little kid trying to get milk from their mom, his dark eyes staying on yours the entire time.

your lips puckered outward at his words, but nodded anyways. it was hard to stay quiet when he just kept on thrusting into you with renewed vigor each time, especially now that his lips attached to your nipple. hugging his neck, you nudged him closer by arching your back needily.

he could simultaneously feel his balls tightening as your cunt fluttered around him, and he knew it was perfect time. he detached from your tit to mumble against the skin, nuzzling his cheek against it. “hngh.. ’s goin’ inside, so don’t complain when y’gotta walk ’round all day full o’ my cum..”

his hand reached down to pinch your clit, wanting to make you cum on time with him. he pressed his lips against yours, bruising them with his sour kisses ’till they felt sore. he swallowed up all of your sweet moans as he buried himself to the hilt, spilling all of his white hot seed inside.

he culd feel your legs trembling and twitching, gushing an overflowing ring of white around his cock. he lazily thrusted into you a few times, riding you through it as he pulled away, looking at your glossy eyes and kiss bruised lips.

“there y’go.. knew you could do it, princess.” he praised, giving you a soft peck before pulling out with a content sigh. he hummed softly, pushing his fingers inside of your cunt, making sure to keep all of it inside as he pulled your panties back up, keeping you all plugged up with his cum.

you simply smiled at him, giggling as the aftershocks of euphoria subsided. he hummed, fixing his slacks and his belt before mumbling, “hurry up ’n get dressed. i’ll pay for your clothes, then we’re going to a meeting, and you’ll be on my lap as usual. got it?”

you nodded happily, pupils shaped into hearts as you stared at the love of your life. hopefully, he’ll maybe let you cockwarm him again this meeting.

© 2025 𝐏𝐔𝐏𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐔, all rights reserved. please do not copy, modify, steal or translate my works onto other social media platforms.

[inlovewithl3vi]

I can imagine an MC, who's just as greedy as mammon (or worse than him) except they actually always get what hey want.

of course Mammon is the literal embodiment of greed, its kind hard to top that. but somehow you at least reach the #2 spot.

you steal and take money off the ground (even if you've just seen who dropped it) and its not uncommon for you to try and sell other peoples things, just like Mammon.

when you first come to the devildom you continue your old ways, stealing and lying just for some cash. Mammon catches on immediately. not only do you have do be around him 24/7 but he's also just good at spotting it.

Though, he doesn't say much about it. you don't go for his stuff and he doesn't go for yours, he thinks it a fair deal.

until you start winning over the rest of his brothers, slowly beginning to make pacts with them. and they just willingly give you whatever you want.

you want a couple thousand grim? Asmo just had a product deal and has some left over, you can have it!

you saw something in a shop window while out with Satan? its already sitting on your bed when you get home.

you like a specific character and want a figure of them that costs more than a house? Levi used his savings and bought you it.

and Mammon gets kind of annoyed because hello? he's right there? he wants that kind of stuff too. he also wants to be the one to buy you expensive things, but that's not the point.

he tries to brush it off, until Lucifer gets involved.

with your new pact with Lucifer you haven't stolen anything in months! there's no need to, you have all the money you could ever want right in your hands. you have his credit card, a sleek black metal card with no spending limit.

and of course Mammon's jealous! he's never even gotten to touch it! his precious Goldie is nice and all, but she has a limit and he's maxed it out more than a few times.

although he already has a plan. you love him right? he's your first man so you must love him more than anyone!

yeah he just wants to use that card.

Lucifer can say no to him, but he'll never say no to you! so he offers a deal, you spend lucifers money on him and help him steal from his brothers when needed and he'll do whatever you want!

and although it sounds like a stupid idea you accept anyway. sure your probably offering more, but still you do love him and who knows what you could get away with with him.

so without the brothers knowledge, you two become partners in crime.

[sydneys-adamu]

I’m just not surprised. this is the exact way we were told he was going to be acting. like a new york ego maniac that drives everyone crazy especially syd. idk the more I think about it the more I get everyone’s frustration with carmy but like he’s supposed to make us wanna rip our hair out. like he’s supposed to be annoying and ruinous. there would be very little story if he wasn’t. we always naturally wanna see things work out nice and easy and joyous and perfect but it was never gonna be a straight upwards line like that.

I actually think that this season showed syd’s feathers more than anything. marcus makes a speech about how special it is to have someone pay attention to you and really consider you and then right after we have syd literally adjusting the margins so carmy would be more comfortable writing. and he’s so taken aback by someone doing something so small for him like it’s nothing. like despite the fact that he’s driving her insane, she really cares about him, and her wanting to leave has so much to do with not him but how he’s acting, alongside the fact that she wants to have a voice in the kitchen he keeps on saying he’ll give her and then doesn’t. it feels like she knows this isn’t who he is and she keeps waiting around to see if he’ll open up to her but it doesn’t happen so then we have half conversations and half truths that are frustrating and so true to character.

one thing that was made blatantly clear is that these two are so hungry to know the other more. they want to be more involved but are both so emotionally stunted when it comes to each other they don’t know where to start. like when they look into each other’s eyes the words just go out the window. when they’re not talking about work they don’t know where to go from there even though they want to.

I can easily say I have never seen chemistry the way these two have it. you can do whatever you can to wipe it but you can’t. even if you don’t give them a big table scene it’s still there. it’s always going to be carmy and sydney, even if they can’t find each other yet. what they want and where they’re at are two different things and it may take a bit for them to get there. I think the not knowing of it all is intoxicating.

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

Jax’s behavior is legit pretty fascinating

Yes it’s time I ramble about the purple twink.

Fast Food Masquerade did something crazy in that it actually got me to start empathizing with the asshole because Jax’s visible frustration throughout this adventure was too real.

And in fact, it’s why I think Jax was acting so “different” towards the latter half of the episode.

This adventure was Too. Damn. Real.

Now, Jax’s character is actually really simple. He even sums up his whole schtick in the pilot.

“I’m fine with doing whatever, as long as I get to see funny things happen to people.”

Then in a hilarious bit of instant karma, promptly gets hit in the face with a gloink

The “-who aren’t me” part of that self description pretty much goes without saying.

Immediately after this happens, Jax’s little laidback exterior gets so rattled that he suddenly feels the need to take control and starts assigning tasks to everyone. And his casual attitude only returns once he feels like he’s not in any position for ridicule, by redirecting the potential for ridicule onto others. This is his defense mechanism.

Jax needs to feel in control, so he deliberately controls whatever situation he’s in to get the results he wants.

Something that I’ve always appreciated about Jax from a meta perspective is that he’s a character who actively moves the story forward, usually because he wants to satisfy his urge to create chaos.

And that’s the main thing about Jax, he’s really destructive.

Like…almost pointlessly destructive.

But, y’know what? It makes sense. Because he’s in a video game.

Where else can you be as needlessly and excessively chaotic than in a game where you can do pretty much anything because nothing is real?

Jax can hurt whoever and wreck whatever because if he’s living by video game logic, then there are no lasting consequences to his actions.

Jax even goes so far as to refer to Pomni, and by extension the other trapped humans, as a “character” in the pilot. Which goes to show how little he wants to consider them as people.

You can’t really hurt a character. And if used correctly, a character can be entertaining.

And that’s all Jax really wants out of his new life in the Circus, entertainment. Because the worst thing you can be while stuck in a game is be bored.

But of course, even in games, your actions have certain consequences that are just unavoidable.

And Episode 4 really beat Jax’s yellow teeth in with that not-so-fun little reminder. Because this bit right here

Pretty much was the precedent for how bad Jax was gonna get it this time.

And it all starts with Gangle absolutely refusing to let his usual bullshit slide by personally making sure that there will be consequences.

This is the first crack in Jax’s mask, he’s visibly concerned and annoyed that he no longer is allowed to be himself lest he risks getting punished. And even more baffling is that for the first time, Gangle asserts her power over him. She actually does something about his behavior, ripping the wind right out of his sails. Not only that but she continually enforces her authority, making it harder on him to get the upper hand again.

Now his interaction with Zooble is really interesting, because it’s the first time we see him at his most normal.

I don’t think he’s trying to tease them here, I feel like he’s genuinely curious about Zooble’s way of “playing” the game, because remember, it’s been a long time since they’ve been on an adventure together, if at all. Zooble’s excuse of wanting to avoid punishment makes sense because they witnessed first hand that Caine’s unstable personality is capable of some legitimate danger.

Of course, Jax believes that there isn’t any real risk involved. The only immediate menace to him and his current desire to just get through the day, is Gangle and her new mask.

At this point he’s not trying to be destructive or disruptive. He’s fully apathetic, because being forced to act like a minimum wage salary employee is not fun in the slightest. He can’t make things fun for himself, so he refuses to participate entirely.

As the clock mocks him with every slow tick, his mask chips more and more.

Jax isn’t saying this to be calculatingly rude or hurtful, he’s not doing this to upset Gangle. He’s being sincere, which is why he’s not smiling.

Because Gangle is much easier to push around and go along with whatever he wants her to do when she’s in Tragedy mode. She’s more “fun” that way.

In other words, he really hates this new dynamic they’ve got going on.

But this little comment, just makes things even worse for him because now Gangle goes from enforcing her authority to straight up abusing it by letting herself abuse him for a change.

It’s crazy how Jax’s main concern here is making sure this torture scene is just between them. He really hates being humiliated, more so than getting physically hurt.

The man has some serious issues, but c’mon we already knew that.

So Jax is finally getting a taste of his own medicine and it completely emasculates him. To the point where he just defaults to doing whatever Gangle tells him to do just to avoid feeling like that again. Now the mask is fully stripped off, he’s openly exasperated and powerless. On top of that he has no real impulse to ridicule or ruffle anyone’s feathers anymore, because for the first time in probably a long while, he’s even more miserable than everyone else.

And what does misery love?

Company

As someone who’s worked in retail for a while, nothing helps keep you sane more than having a little of bit of camaraderie when struggling to survive in corporate hell.

Something that really stood out to me in this episode is the limited use in background music, especially when in Spudsy’s, where you either get muzak to sell the ambiance of a public eatery or silence with the occasional machinery noise.

And yeah, that’d be enough to make shit as immersive as possible. It’s not a coincidence that the restaurant looks like a McDonald’s when Gooseworx even said it was directly modeled after it. It’s uncanny, how real this setup feels.

Uncomfortably uncanny.Jax seething at the clock is a relatable struggle.

The mask immediately comes back on once Jax no longer has any obligation to stick around.

But Jax can’t even enjoy his freedom. His day is officially over, but the sting of the experience still lingers. The adventure wasn’t just boring or frustrating, it was humbling, in every terrible way. This wasn’t a game, it was real life.

And I think the last kick in the teeth was this license plate waiting for him in the parking lot (Why did Caine make them drive “home”? That’s just extra)

One is the loneliest number

Jax doesn’t hide the fact that he’s an asshole, he’s almost proud of it. He practically relishes getting a rise out of everyone. He is well aware that nobody likes him, but I think this where he starts realizing that it actually bothers him.

Everyone has talked about that very brief moment where Jax’s expression changed towards the end of Candy Carrier Chaos, when Ragatha was talking about Kaufmo’s funeral and we get to see him actually get sad for a change, before immediately shaking it off and stomping away in irritation.

Jax showed no concern over Kaufmo’s abstraction in the pilot, so why would he feel sad about it in that moment? Does he secretly care about his fellow humans and just doesn’t want to admit it?

Maybe. But personally, I think the others choosing to morn those who’ve abstracted like they’re dead makes him seriously uncomfortable. Because it serves as a reminder that even in this world, there are still major consequences when some things aren’t taken seriously.

Jax doesn’t want to consider real life consequences. None of them even look like real people, so why should he bother treating everyone like real people?

So when he sees everyone else getting closer and being good to each other, it’s annoying and weird. The idea that they need to look out for one another feels pathetic. Treating abstraction seriously means it’s a real danger, and that would mean that he’s also susceptible to experiencing it one day.

And when you’ve built up a reputation over making everyone miserable, who’s gonna wanna remember you?

In a show that’s clearly all about building relationships, Jax’s destructive behavior is really gonna cost him.

[mallory524]

Hai !!!:3

I was wondering if you could do the thunderbolts witha platonic child figure! Reader that came from the streets,? They were on the bad side of the streets before they were taken in, basically they act like a cat, and the avengerz treat her like a cat they took in? Even john,

And how do they show their care in their own ways?

(this is such a sweet idea i love this)

thunderbolts with a child figure :)

tags- platonic thunderbolts family fluff, small mentions of some character's backstories, 6 months after thunderbolts*

notes- did something a little different with the format this time, hope u enjoy this

Taking you in was a very spur of the moment decision, so of course they were not prepared.

The thunderbolts/new avengerz aren't necessarily considered to be the most gentle people in the world, but they all do have a softer side to them for sure.

They converted a spare room into your room, and let you decorate it however you like. If you needed help with anything while decorating, they were all happy to help you.

Whoever goes to the grocery store usually ends up bringing you along. At first, that was because no one knew what you liked to eat so they needed you to tell them. Now it's the routine.

They start to worry that you're getting bored just sitting around the tower all the time, so they decide you all need to get out and do something fun. There was an amusement park day trip that got very out of hand. Ava got in a fight with someone in line, you joined the fight and it got kinda messy, Alexei spent all of his cash on games, you lost Walker, and then in all the chaos of trying to find Walker, you wandered off and they briefly lost you. All in all it was a really fun day.

The first time Valentina shows up to the tower after you've moved in, they all frantically shoo you back into your room, like she's their landlord and you're the cat they weren't supposed to get. She doesn't find out about you living there for a LONG TIME.

Yelena is always there to listen to you. You keep to yourself a lot of the time, but you know she will listen to any of your worries, no matter the place or time of day, if you ever decide you want to confide in her.

Considering her past, it's no surprise that she doesn't want you to be a part of any of their "work". This is a different situation than hers, of course. You're already pretty tough, you wouldn't be forced to do anything wrong, and the thunderbolts are (relatively) good people, but she's still adamant that you will not be getting involved in all this danger at an early age like she was.

On really boring days, you'll play board games, bake something, go out on a quiet walk around the city, anything she can think of to pass the time and entertain you.

Sometimes you'll walk into her room and just sit down on the ground. She used to think you did this because you wanted to talk, but she very quickly realized you liked just sitting in silence.

Bucky is actually really protective of you. He knows you can take care of yourself, but he figures that since you have all these people around to help and protect you now, you shouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

He doesn't want you anywhere near Valentina. Bucky isn't sure what it is specifically that he's worried about, he just knows that nothing good could come of you two getting to know each other.

At first, you thought Bucky was annoyed about you living there, but the day Valentina found out about you, you were sneaking around and you heard Bucky defend you and say that this was none of her business. That was when you realized how much he really cares about you.

You show Bucky how to use Spotify and he ends up just listening to a lot of the music that you like to play when you're in the car together... and music from the 40s that you put in a little playlist for him.

Bucky goes to talk to Sam about the whole Avengers/Avengerz thing in person, and tag along. You don't say much, you just kind of hang out in the back of the room. Sam is very confused.

"Bucky who is that?"

"Oh that's y/n. Sam, the reason I'm here-"

"No. That doesn't explain anything. Who is this? You guys adopt a kid or something?"

Ava really cares about you, and as tough as she usually is, she's not afraid to show you how much she cares. She knows young people need that. She certainly did.

She relates to you a lot, in the sense that you both enjoy the quiet and you kind of keep to yourselves most of the time.

You do end up having some things in common: you share clothes sometimes, you enjoy some of the same movies, and overall you both enjoy living in the tower.

Ava knows how Yelena feels about you having any kind of role in the team beyond just living there. She feels the same way, having been made to fight at a relatively young age herself. They both want you to stay safe.

However, she thinks it's important you get better at defending yourself, so you practice together a lot.

Everyone thought Bucky would be the most hesitant to take you in, but it was actually John. His concerns were all made in the guise of "This will slow us down, we aren't their parents or something," but everyone knows what it really is. He's worried. He doesn't want to fail another kid and he doesn't want you getting too close to the insanity that is the Thunderbolts' lives.

He very quickly warms up to the idea of having you around, though. You're a nice addition to the group.

When you first join, he notices you aren't super affectionate, but you did hug Yelena one time, and he doesn't know whether or not he's supposed to hug you too, so he ends up awkwardly patting you on the head. Yelena and Ava make fun of him about it constantly.

John took it upon himself to paint your room whatever color you wanted when you first moved in. He also helped with an furniture you needed moved, because "hey it's not trouble I can pick that up with one arm, look!"

John will sit on the couch and watch tv with you for hours. Trashy reality shows, complicated plot heavy mini series, old sitcoms, he really will watch anything.

It becomes a bit of a routine. Someone will ask you to do something tonight, and John will just go "no, sorry, we have plans. we've gotta finish season 3 of (some show no one else has any interest in)" and you'll smile and nod in agreement.

Alexei is, of course, the one with the most unabashedly enthusiastic dad energy.

He's so proud of everything you do. If you helped with breakfast even a little? That is the best meal he has ever had. You made a good comeback at the dinner table tonight? He laughs way harder than he has any reason to. You found something you drew? He's ask to keep it, and if you say yes, he'll keep that in his pocket every day from now on.

He loves feeling like a dad again.

He keeps trying to take you shopping and buy you whatever you want.

"Aye the money's burning a hole in my pocket, come on, what do you want to get?"

He asks for your input on the Avengerz logos and jackets. All of his ideas are absolutely insane, so you try to help, but he mostly just talks over you because he's so excited.

He tries the jackets on you like you're a mannequin and has you walk out into the living room to show the team.

You have a very hard time not laughing when he proudly takes credit for the most ridiculous thing you've ever worn. Yelena jokingly scolds him for involving you in the creation of this monstrosity.

He really thinks he's "hip" and that he knows what the kids are into these days. He is absolutely wrong 8/10 times, but it's quite endearing to watch him try to use popular slang to sound cool. He doesn't seem to realize that he doesn't have to do all that to make you feel welcomed; he's already done that without realizing it.

You know who's actually kinda knowledgeable about what the kids are into these days? Bob.

You and him like a lot of the same music, so you have a few collaborative playlists to introduce songs to each other.

You kind of get along with him the best anyway because you're the most similar. You're both quiet, you both like sitting in the corner of the room with your friends but not really saying anything, and both of your pre-thunderbolts lives were rough.

If anyone wants you kept far away from Valentina more than Bucky, it's Bob. He is well aware how skillfully she can manipulate vulnerable people when she things they might be useful to her. Learning Bob's story is when you finally get why the team doesn't hates her so much.

He wasn't sure how your friendship would change when you found out that the horrible void thing that happened six months ago was your fault, but he's blown away by how understanding you are. You remind him of the rest of the team in that way.

He kinda appreciates that he's not the newest addition to the group anymore. He gets to help you adjust to living there and make you feel at home like he's started to.

Whenever Bob gets a milkshake, he orders two, because he knows you'll be waiting in the living room when he gets there. One time he forgot to get you something when he went out, and you didn't say anything but you looked disappointed, and he felt so bad that he went right back out the door to buy another one.

He knows about your secret "new avengers incorrect quotes" account that's all things the group actually said.

Under "source" you always just put "?"

He found it one day while he was scrolling on his phone, and he was really worried the place had been bugged. He eventually noticed that you would immediately pick up your phone whenever someone said something insane.

He never mentions this to you in fear that you'll stop. You're so close to 600 followers.

Overall, your life with the Thunderbolts is pretty great. They all really care about you and want you to thrive, and you've never felt so safe and loved.

[jeminie-rising]

onigiris for valentine's

[ Inumaki Toge x Reader ]

link to AO3: [ onigiris for valentine's by JEMINIE ]

summary: "Perhaps he didn’t get a bag with a purple ribbon, but he looked at his own colour on the ribbon that was tied on your hair."

Or, it's valentine's day and you give everyone a bag of cookies with ribbons of their favourite colours apart from Inumaki. He then realises that his ribbon was actually in your hair all along.

warnings: Inumaki Toge uses sign language, Soft Inumaki, Inumaki says more than just rice balls ingredients, fluff, toge and reader being complete idiots in love, no smut!, they're both so in love, Not actually unrequited love (they just shy), Yuuta is so supportive, love confessions (finally), slow burn

characters: inumaki toge, The Inumaki Clan, Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuuji, Kugisaki Nobara, Zen'in Maki, Panda, Yuta Okkotsu

word count: 6,623

authors note: hi, i know i know. It's the end of February and why am i posting a Valentine's themed one shot?

WELL BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

sorry, i wasn't in the mood to write about love during the month of my ex's birthday lmao. so not only was i late, but this one shot might not be as good as i would have hoped. I shall come back in the future to fix it, hopefully

In the meantime though, ENJOY xx

and reminder:

sign language in this fanfic, like in all the others, is based on japanese sign language, not ASL.

this is part 3 of the Holidays with Toge series but can 100% be read on its own

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Don’t wait for someday. She’s thinking the same thing as you. - kids that fly

It has been weeks since New Year’s Eve. January seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and even worse, it seems like nothing really has changed. Not the classes they took, not the amount of times Itadori begged for you to help him out with English, not the missions you took up with your classmates, and not the way Inumaki treated you.

You started to believe everything that has happened was a figment of your imagination. His little trick and tease during the countdown to the very last second of last year, was nothing more than his way to pull a joke out of you. It’s not that it was something out of the ordinary. He liked to pull pranks on people with Panda all the time. Something Maki had to deal with every day, being the only other classmate they had that was present. Unfortunately for her, the mysterious fourth second year was always absent, making her the only and biggest target of Inumaki and Panda’s annoying plans.

But exactly because of it, they moved on from Maki and started widening their target to the first years. They started with Itadori, quite the gullible one and easier to get forgiveness from. A safe bet, you’d say. They managed to make him believe he was invisible for an entire afternoon. Even miraculously got help from Megumi, who did not want to get involved. But because it came natural for him to ignore Itadori, he indirectly added to the two’s bit.

They managed to pull one on you too. But in comparison, your prank seemed quite mellower. One day, mid-january, you came back to your room after class only to see it filled up with Christmas decorations when you were sure you put them down just the previous week. Even then, you were certain that you never really owned Santa curtains and elves bedsheets. It took you a whole two days to bring down everything.

Up to this day, you weren’t sure how it was that they entered your room. 

“I can hear you both snickering there,” Maki warned the two solidified prankers of the school, “if this is one other prank you’re planning you will–”

“It’s not!” Panda was quick to defend himself, “Toge was just making a joke.”

“If you two have so much time to joke around then might as well use that to train the first years.”

You and Nobara couldn’t help but smile at that idea. Training with a second year other than Maki? Definitely! 

Maki was a force of nature. She may not have any cursed energy but she made up for it with raw skills and talent. Nobara swore she would take ten Pandas over one Maki any day. And that she did. Maki wasn’t even done sparring with her before she ran towards Panda to start their training. You only looked at her, a little bit of betrayal in your face for leaving you behind.

Maki looked at you expectantly, now that Nobara was gone, you were next.

“I, actually–”

“Hey, guys!”

Everyone turned around but only the second years reacted to the newcomer. 

“Who is that?” Itadori asked, almost appalled, as soon as he saw Maki actually smile.

Megumi, who was the only one from the first years who has been in the school long enough to know, smiled proudly as he answered Itadori, “That’s Yuuta Okkotsu, the last of the second years of the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Te–”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nobara interrupted him. “That’s the last of our upperclassmen then?”

“I guess...?”

With a groan Nobara let down her shoulders, “ugh, so there’s really no handsome guy in this entire school uh?”

“Hey!” Itadori pouted, but Nobara was already waving her hand, shooing him away.

“I think he’s kinda cute,” you admitted.

“Yeah, in a sick Victorian kid way,” Nobara was looking at Okkotsu from the midfield with the rest of her classmates. He was quite far from them, but she could already observe him without problems from where she stood. “He looks like he’s ready to go at any time, are we really sure he’s a special grade?” 

Megumi scoffed at her question. There was little to underestimate about Yuuta Okkotsu, and his grade was not one of them.

“Hey guys come here!” Panda waved for the first years, “let me introduce you to Yuuta Okkotsu, our classmate and friend.”

Everyone gave a small nod, all with their own reasons as to not make the first step, but overall, the cursed energy he emanated from that distance was enough to keep them away.

“Don’t worry, he’s not gonna bite,” Panda reassured them.

“Not him anyways,” Maki added, making Inumaki chuckle.

“Hello, I’m Yuji Itadori!” The pink haired boy was the first to introduce himself, you couldn’t help but wonder if he trusted Panda enough to do it or he really was just that kind of guy to not care about his own safety. The times you went on missions with him made you think it was the latter.

“Nobara Kugisaki,” she simply said, studying him with her gaze. She only let a beat pass before she added, “You’re really a special grade sorcerer?”

Yuuta could only smile at her, and with the most casual tone he answered her, “uh, yeah, I am.”

“He doesn’t look like one, does he?” Maki snickered, knowing exactly what hid behind the false appearances.

“I guess…” Nobara continued, still quite skeptical. Her reply mostly being for his appearances. “Well, my friend here thinks differently.”

Your eyes widened, “I didn’t say anything!”

“You said he was kinda cute!” Nobara reminded you. Your eyes were almost falling out of your eye sockets.

You were not the only one. Everyone present was quite taken aback by that comment. Not really expecting that at the moment. Yuuta couldn’t help but glance towards Inumaki, the boy’s face was half hidden, but he knew his friend enough to notice that little frown between his brows forming.

“And I guess you must be [name], right?” Yuuta tried his best to break the ice that was formed. You frowned at him, confused as to how he could possibly know your name. Catching on your reaction he continued, “Sorry if that sounded weird. I was away for missions, but my friends kept me updated about everything and everyone… Inumaki especially talked to me, so of course I’d know of you.” 

“Oh, well, yeah that’s me,” you chuckled, then turned towards Inumaki, his gaze was avoiding yours. He spoke about you? You quickly shook the newly forming delusions away. He must speak of every single one of you.

That’s just the kind of person Inumaki Toge was in your eyes. Sweet, kind, considerate, and so loving and caring about other people. To the point where he would limit his entire life to a few ingredients just to make it a little bit safer for everyone around him.

“Why are you here anyways, Yuuta?”

“Well, I wasn’t around for Christmas and New Years, at least on Valentine's Day I could spend it with my other single friends!” Yuuta cheered.

“Single?” Panda asked skeptically before whispering, “Is that safe to say for you?”

Yuuta could only chuckle, but you, Nobara, and Itadori were left confused. Itadori was the only one mouthful enough to bother to ask, “does Okkotsu-senpai have a girlfriend?” Others hesitated to answer, and when they did Itadori was quick to add thinking he got it wrong, “or boyfriend? …Partner, perhaps? …lover?”

“Yuuutaaa,” a screeching voice came out of nowhere bringing the three first years ready for combat, sensing the cursed energy around them becoming heavier out of nowhere.

“Calm down,” Maki warned, and you weren’t sure if she was referring to you first years who were instinctively in fighting positions, or Yuuta and whatever entity that was slowly appearing from behind him.

Everything within you, every training combat and exercise was pushing you over the edge to attack, but you hesitated. You pulled yourself and your instincts back, knowing well that if it was an enemy, your second years would be the first to react. With a deep breath, you calmed yourself down.

“Rika, it’s okay,” Yuuta was… reassuring the creature?

You frowned. Unsure how to react and even less sure what to think. Was that what made him a special grade? Was that even a cursed technique?

“Yuutaaa, why are they flirting with youuu?” 

The voice seemed to reverb until your bones, chilling your spine. But the tone seemed like that of a child throwing a tantrum, something about it seemed odd. It wasn’t until Panda started explaining the situation that Nobara placed her hammer back in her belt and Itadori let go of his tight fists.

“Sorry for having spooked you,” Yuuta apologised quickly after the explanation.

“It’s alright!” Itadori was the first to smile at him, “I understand your predicament.”

“Predicament uh, big words from you,” Megumi scoffed. “Trying to impress or something?” 

“Shut up,” Itadori gritted his teeth.

The second years all laughed, and Yuuta went back to the topic he was hoping to have since he came, “anyways, I was hoping we could all do something for the fourteenth? It’s a Friday so we all could go do something after classes…”

“I think that’s a fun idea!” Itadori cheered at the thought of being able to go out with his friends, “Maybe we can watch a movie?”

“I would love that!” Yuuta smiled fondly at the pink haired boy, “It’s been ages since I’ve been to the movies…”

“I’m going if we’re not watching one of those weird movies with long ass titles you like,” Nobara sighed.

“I heard they’re making a release of rom-com movies for the week of Valentines,” you brought up the ad you recently searched. It was in your plans to invite Inumaki for a date, but you knew that was never going to happen. This group activity could be the closest thing you could get to seeing him during Valentine’s day.

“Perfect!” Itadori looked through his phone to buy tickets for everyone before anyone could even agree on coming.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

You were a coward.

Or at least that’s what you have been thinking of. Hiding behind the opportunity of hanging out with everyone to avoid confessing your love and asking Inumaki on a date. Both Panda and Nobara have been cheering for you since the winter holidays to take a step, and you were sure that this Valentine’s was going to be your perfect opportunity. However, it all went to smoke when Yuuta came around (you pathetically excused yourself). Or maybe he gave you the opportunity to see Toge on Valentine’s day without having to confess your feelings. 

With this new motivation you thought of what you could possibly do to make the day a little bit more special for him. Maybe a Valentine’s gift was going to be enough? Or was that too forward?

You thought of giving him chocolate. But only giving him while giving others nothing felt kind of weird. So you started making everyone some cookies, something different from his but still made from the heart. But by the time you made everyone a pack of cookies, you noticed how his chocolates paled in comparison to homemade cookies. Sure you didn’t want his gift to stand out, but now it seemed like it was too little.

You racked your brain over what else you could do, but before you realised it, the first few rays of sun came through the window and you knew you had no more time to do anything else. You still had to prepare to go to class and fix the kitchen. With a calming breath, you told yourself that you’d have time during the lunch break. So without battling yourself over it for longer, you quickly cleaned the utensils and counter you used.

You almost didn’t make it to class in time, but fortunately, your training as a sorcerer was helpful to you in more ways than just fighting curses. Classes that day went smoothly. Well, not smoothly, more like they were just background noise for all the thoughts you were getting for later than day.  

“Hey let’s have lunch at th–”

“Sorry but I have to do something right now!” You said running away already, giving them no time to say anything. 

“Where is she going?” Panda asked, confused to see you running away.

It wasn’t often that everyone would have lunch together. Usually it was first years with first years, and second years among themselves. Often everyone would have their lunch alone too as they had their own things going on. But that was one of the rare times when Okkotsu was home from his long term missions, so they all decided to take advantage of that by spending more time together.

“We don't know either…” Itadori admitted.

“Girl things?” Megumi offered it as an excuse but he honestly didn’t care much. Compared to Itadori, he trusted you to do stuff on your own without getting in too much trouble.

Inumaki stayed quiet, not even offering an ingredient as an addition to the conversation as he usually does. The only one noticing his gaze fixed on you running away towards the dorm rooms was Yuuta.

“She’s probably okay,” he reassured his friend by putting a hand on his shoulder. “She doesn’t seem the kind of person to go through troubles by herself.”

“Tuna tuna,” the boy replied, his gaze lowering to the chocolate he hid in his pocket.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Other than your absence, the break went quickly and without a hitch. Everyone had a laugh sharing stories with each other. While for the afternoon classes, you were, once again, tardy, but nothing too outrageous to get the teachers to complain. Their annoyance seemed dissipated thanks to the sweet smell that came from the big paper bag you had with you.

Itadori couldn’t help himself, he had to ask about it. He leaned to the side and whispered closer to you, “What do you have there?”

“It’s just a little gift,” you giggled to yourself.

“It’s for Inumaki-senpai, isn’t it?” Nobara leaned in to join the conversation.

“Aww dang,” Itadori pouted back into his seat, his groan a little too loud catching a stern look from their teacher. He lowered his voice again, hoping it would be low enough to not be reprimanded despite knowing he could be heard anyways, “I wanted something too…”

“Just wait for later!” You tried to keep your voice low.

Patience wasn’t one of Itadori’s virtues. He kept poking at you during class, after class, on the way to the cinema, and when they were in line to claim their tickets. The others weren’t phased by anything at this point, especially when it came to Itadori, but Yuuta was new to the bunch.

“You guys seem like a good pair,” he said, smiling at you and Itadori. There was only a beat, before he realised his choice of word and had to add, “I meant that as a like platonic pair –like good friends–”

“Yeah,” Itadori laughed, “I imagined.”

“But what are you guys doing?” He asked, “Is this a normal occurrence?”

“More than you’d think,” Maki sighed. 

“It would stop if you could finally spill the beans,” Nobara poked at you. “What are you hiding?”

You looked at the remaining line for the movies. There was still quite a line, pairs of people for the most part, and those that weren’t were a group of girls celebrating in pink –galentines, you thought. There would be enough time before your group’s turn so you decided to take the opportunity at your grasp.

Putting down the paper bag, you started grabbing the elaborated pink bags tied each with a different coloured ribbon. Analysing the colours of the ribbons, you started to distribute them to all the different members of the group.

The green one to Maki. You assumed she’d prefer a darker chocolate flavour, given how much she enjoyed coffee in the early mornings. Similarly to Megumi’s, which was tied with a teal ribbon, who received coffee flavoured cookies from you.

In your hand you still had a red ribbon confection and there was no question to who it would go to. Even Nobara was eagerly looking at the bag with her favourite colour. The girl grabbed it from your hand before you could even offer it to her. Soft and chunky cookies inside, just like she likes them. Similar to hers, but bigger in size, was Panda’s. His bag was also the biggest one among the ones she held. A black ribbon wrapped around it tightly. 

After giving Panda his bag, there were only two more remaining. Yuji awaited his turn impatiently, his feet marching in place as a way to stimulate his eagerness. You almost wanted to keep his bag to tease him, but his face made you guilty enough to give his next. A bag adorned with a pink ribbon, and different flavoured cookies inside to reflect his chaotic nature. 

“Yaaay! Nothing beats homemade cookies!” He celebrated them above everyone’s head the moment he had them in hand.

Everyone chuckled at the boy, his enthusiasm contagious to everyone. But it wasn’t enough to keep Toge distracted for long. He looked at the last bag you held in hand, and could smell the sweet sweet cookies that fought their way out of the white ribbon.

“And this one…” you held the bag in front of you, “is for you!”

It wasn’t only Inumaki who was speechless, but among everyone was Yuuta, who hesitantly reached out for the bag you were handing him, “Me…? I–I wasn’t expecting anything… we–”

“Of course you get some too!” You laughed as if it was an obvious thing.

“Uh… how about Inumaki-senpai?” Itadori pointed out what everyone was thinking.

At his question, a dust of pink blush, similar to his ribbon, tainted your cheeks. You were trying to avoid doing this in front of everyone, but with everyone’s eyes on you, you had no choice. You opened up your purse, instead of the paper bag, hesitantly, hoping for an escape. And there it was, like the Gods answered your prayer.

“Next!” The lady called out for them.

This was enough to grab everyone’s attention to the cashier lady. In between busy choosing the movies and which seats to take, you took this opportunity to grab the purple tupperware from your purse and push it against Inumaki’s side.

“For you,” you whispered. “Happy valentines, Inumaki-senpai.”

You didn’t even let him say anything before you rushed your way after the other first years, who were arguing if it was better to have all seats in one row or take two rows of equal numbers.

“She gave you… tupperware?” Panda peaked over Inumaki’s shoulder, “Are the cookies inside?”

Inumaki could only shrug his shoulders. Some part of him wanted to have a cute bag with a ribbon too, but he shoved that feeling aside. He was about to eat cookies you prepared for him, who cared what they came into?

He carefully opened the tub but instead of the sweet smell of cookies he smelt the familiar scent of… onigiri?

The two looked at the tupperware container holding two rows of onigiris carefully placed over purple sheer paper. There was a moment of silence between them as they stared at the rice balls, before Panda started laughing dropping on the floor, catching the attention of people around them.

The silver haired boy could only frown and send a kick to his friend, “Bonito flakes!”

But the panda only laughed more at the unintended pun, “t-that’s right! There are bonito flakes –This may be the best prank ever!”

Toge looked back at the tupperware to notice one of the onigiris to have bonito flakes on top of it. That wasn’t common to have from store-bought onigiris –these were home-made, he concluded. With one look he searched for you among the first years, unsure truly how to react or feel about the gift he received. Although, once found the little bow on your head amongst the others, his doubts were somehow cleared. 

How could he not have noticed before? 

“What’s your favourite colour, senpai?” You once asked him once when the flowers were blooming and offered a various range of colours for him to pick on without having to speak out loud.

Inumaki looked pensive for a bit. Then pointed at a violet that was by her hand, “tuna mayo.”

You followed his finger with your gaze. For a second you thought he referred to your new set of nails, but then noticed the violet in between your pinky and ring finger. 

“Violet?” You asked to clarify.

He gave a single nod, “Salmon.”

“It’s a pretty colour!” You affirmed, “they’re similar to your eyes…”

Inumaki was once again grateful for the collar that hid his face and his red. Hoping to change the attention from himself to you, he pointed his finger back at you, “mustard?”

“Me?” You asked before thinking about it. You aren’t sure why you had to think about it. You knew what your favourite colour was. It has always been white. The infinite possibilities white could hold is far too alluring for you to not have it as your favourite colour. But after seeing the purple in Inumaki’s eyes, you hesitated for a bit. What were possibilities compared to the certainty that you found in him? “W-white,” you finally admitted after a moment too long.

Inumaki looked up at the sky, his gaze pensive and they looked farther away than where you ever could, but then he pointed at the clouds. You could only nod, smiling at him. 

“Yes, like the clouds.”

He then looked down at the ground. Picking a single daisy, he offered it to you. 

“Yes, like daisies.” You reached out for it and twirled it between your two fingers, “and mongolias… and jasmines –my favourite!”

Inumaki looked at you, his head tilted, “Mustard?”

“Yeah, I love Jasmines, they smell like comfort!”

Inumaki seemed to think about something for a bit, then brought his hand to his hair, he grabbed a few strands from his bangs and looked at it making cross eyes you giggled at. Then he looked through his bangs and directly at you, “Mustard?”

You frowned slightly unsure if you understood him correctly. This seemed to not translate to you in his ingredients, so he shifted his body towards you and clearly showed his hands. Back then, he was already studying sign language from the book you have gifted him on his birthday. He was still quite choppy on his sign language but he was getting the hang on it quicker than you did.

You knew his intentions and with a focused eye, you followed his hands as he unzipped his collar down. A sign of vulnerability from him, you learned. You tried to not get entranced by the snake fangs by each side of his mouth and forced your eyes to follow his hands instead. With all his fingers together he twisted the tips of them against each other. Colour.

“Colour?” You repeated his sign out loud and he gave you a nod.

He then pointed his pointer to his teeth showing his own fangs. The small smile he formed as he signed and flicked his finger, made you almost forget what he was trying to say. You shook your head trying to regain focus, but poor Toge assumed you didn’t know that particular sign and looked up instead to point at a new cloud. Then back to your daisy that still rested between your fingers. 

You nodded and repeated the sign for the colour white by grinning your teeth out and flick your pointer finger against it. “White,” you spoke out before bringing your two fingers at each side of your cheek as you dropped your hand down, your two fingers met at the tip of your chin. “I like the colour white.” Before a pause you added without sign language, “My favourite.”

He couldn’t avoid a smile at your words. He pointed at you before repeating your own sign. You. Bringing his fingers to his chins, highlighting his snake eyes, and dropping his hand to meet his two fingers to the tip of his chin. Like. Then he pointed at his forehead.

“Y-You…” You gaped before finally realising, “...r hair.”

He nodded and you could not keep in a smile, “yes, I do like your hair colour.”

White was your favourite colour. That was not something Toge would forget anytime soon. That was the colour of his hair, the colour of the flowers you smelt like, the colour of endless possibility. Ever since that afternoon at the field of flowers with you, he has seen the colour in a different way. 

He looked at your ribbon again, the one that held your hair together, but it wasn’t white like it usually would be to match your uniform, it was purple instead. His favourite colour. The same colour as the paper that held all his onigiri safe. Perhaps he didn’t get a bag with a purple ribbon, but he looked at his own colour on the ribbon that was tied on your hair.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

The movie was a hit. Everyone fell in love with the characters as much as they fell in love with each other. Itadori in particular was ecstatic over the ending.

“I can’t believe she wasn’t dead after all!” He jumped as everyone followed on the way back home, “I still don’t understand how it happened…”

“Of course you don’t, simpleton,” Megumi commented a few steps behind.

“It wasn’t said in the movie!” Itadori fought him.

“There are implications!” Megumi scoffed.

As the two argued between themselves you couldn’t help but laugh. It was nice to have a moment with them like that. With studying and missions, it was hard to find a time where everyone could act like normal kids –as normal as a sorcerer could get anyways. Having a literal panda walk with you guys didn’t really keep the attention away from the group. You could only guess the things going on inside people’s heads. But you assumed, just like you did when you met him for the first time, that people thought he was just one of those people who liked to get into anthropomorphic animal costumes. 

You looked behind you to check on the said friend, beside him, of course, there was Inumaki who already had his eyes on you. You knew it was too late, but you still looked away and hoped he didn’t pay mind to you. After giving him his valentine's gift, you weren’t sure how he would react, but he hasn’t said anything and that made you more anxious.

“You should make a move,” Yuuta approached him after witnessing the very short interaction.

“Tuna?”

“You never know when it’s too late,” the boy shrugged. “Sorcerers like us don’t have the privilege of time.”

Toge couldn’t look away from his friend. He was right, with all the missions you both had to go through, even more now after Sukuna’s return, there were no promises of a tomorrow. He only had today and his feelings. And with nothing more than that, the boy gave his friend a thankful wave as he caught up to you, who walked ahead of them.

You, in turn, hoped for any kind of reaction for your gift, a comment, a sign. You weren’t really expecting a grand thank you, but nothing seemed a bit too much. Sure you walked away the moment you passed the gift, but part of you was hoping for even a nod from the distance. 

You felt a tap on your shoulder and you knew it was him.

“Kelp,” he greeted you with a gentle nod.

“Hey, did you enjoy the movie?” You asked, hoping that the question would lead him astray from the thought of your onigiris. But it only did so much as he nodded again.

“Tuna tuna,” he changed the subject again, pointing at your purple ribbon.

You followed his hand, something you found yourself accustomed to at that point. “Ah yes, it’s new, do you like it?”

He paused before nodding at you, “salmon.”

“Seems like you hesitated there,” you chuckled, teasing him, but it didn’t seem to budge him at all.

“Onigiri,” you heard him say, that new word made you almost snap your head towards him in surprise. You weren’t quite sure if he meant that literally or if he was using new food-related words to communicate his thoughts. With a slight frown you tried to look for the answer in his subtle expressions.

“Onigiri…?”

He nodded, grabbing the tupperware you gave him from his bag, “onigiri.”

“Oh,” you nodded, “yes, onigiri.”

He then placed the tupperware back into his bag, allowing him to use his hands for signs. You watch him as he placed his left hand flat over a pointer finger directed towards you. With one single movement, he pointed towards you. Why?“Why onigiris?” you asked clarifying, he hummed at your interpretation. “Well, I thought you’d like to have onigiris, I just assumed they were your favourites since you chose the ingredients to be your vocabulary… Did I get it wrong?” “Bonito flakes!” Your worried expression made him shake his head as quickly as he could, hoping to shoo away your doubts. “Tuna mayo.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. The sound of your light laughter was too soft for Inumaki to hear over the chatter of the people around. Especially with Itadori having a full conversation with Nobara right in front of you. He had it in mind to curse them to shut up for a second, just to hear your giggle better. But he quickly moved that bad idea aside when you spoke again. “Each of them have different ingredients inside, I made one of each of the ones you mention the most –There are two of tuna mayo, your favourite.”

Toge could only smile fondly at your words, his chest fluttering with affection towards you, even more than before. He thought about the savoury snacks he had in his backpack, and then of all the cookies and chocolates that were being exchanged throughout the nation at that moment, and he felt like he had the best deal out of all of them. You didn’t simply give him chocolate, like he initially would have wished for, but took time to think about what he would have liked most and actually make it. He puffed his chest lightly at the new treasure he held in his bag, eager to take a taste of them as soon as he could.

“Do you like it?” You asked, looking at him, as you all walked down the street, now closer to your school, “Maybe I should have given you cookies too…”

“Bonito flakes!”

“So you’re okay with it?”

He smiled at you, and he looked around before placing a hand on your shoulder. You looked at him in slight surprise, but his gaze was directed towards Panda, “Tuna tuna.”

The friend smiled at him and gave him a single nod, as the others continued to walk away. You saw Panda pulling Itadori away by his hood. Something about wanting to watch being mumbled away. Without Itadori and the rest, there was a soft silence around you, realising how much quieter things were when it was only you and Inumaki. Nothing awkward, just peaceful. But what did warrant for such quiet and for your friends to go ahead without you both? Your delusions were already jumping everywhere, and you had to push them away before you could get ahead of yourself.

Your gaze turned back to Toge, who had his eyes already on you. “Is there something wrong?” You asked unsure. You felt like there was something to be said, but couldn’t bring yourself to take the first step to leading the conversation.

He shook his head, before zipping down his collar. You were quite sure that he was going to use Sign again, so you followed his hands closely to focus. But to your surprise, he brought his fingers to your chin and gently pulled your face up to meet his eyes. 

This simple gesture was enough to cause you to sweat cold. You fidgeted with your fingers hoping to distract yourself from his, that were still on your chin. 

“Inumaki-senpai?” You asked hoping he would finally get to the point. You weren’t sure how much longer you could handle being so close to him without breathing.

He took a step back, much to your health. But his gaze was still fixed into yours, silently guiding you to not look away. Not that you could even if you wanted to, his eyes were as hypnotising as that of a snake luring a prey.

Then he did what you didn’t expect him to, he began to open his mouth.

“I…” he attempted, “have been practicing.” 

You swore your heart stopped the moment he opened his mouth and began to beat only at each word he spoke. Unsure if you were supposed to ruin the moment, you kept quiet, not daring even to move a muscle, afraid you might miss something.

He seemed to be thinking about it for a bit, then with careful breathing, he spoke again, “I have been practicing, to not infuse my words with cursed energy.” He paused as he breathed in a big chunk of air. You wondered if it took a lot of him to do so.

“That’s amazing, senpai,” you said before you even realised you were talking. Perhaps when Inumaki could talk, it was you who was rendered speechless. You looked for words to say as he smiled at you clearly quite proud of himself. “Since when?”

He paused before answering. For the first few times he did so, you thought it was because he was thinking about what to say, but it seemed like he was actually selecting which words to use. Despite him keeping from infusing his words with cursed speech he still deliberately thought of words that were still relatively safe to speak, just in case. 

“Since New Year’s Eve,” he carefully enunciated his syllables.

You couldn't contain your own smile, “You’ve made amazing progress!” 

He smiled back at you and gave a small polite bow, “Tuna mayo.”

You giggled at his favourite onigiri ingredient. Perhaps he was still more at ease with speaking like that. And to properly show his gratitude, he was going to do it with ease.

Then he took another deep breath in and nodded to himself. You watched him patiently, hoping for more words from him. It was cold, middle of february but spring was still so far away from arriving in the hills of Tokyo. But you paid no mind, you could stay there for an entire day and a night if it meant that you could have a conversation with Toge.

“I wanted to be able to speak properly with you,” he said after having attentively selected his words. He imagined everyone would practice their speech to themselves and to a mirror before giving it, and although he did so too, it still didn’t feel enough for him. Nerves got to him quickly as he inched closer to where he was aiming. He looked at you, hoping to gain courage from it, but it only made him even more nervous. 

In the long pause, you assumed he was done, so with a small smile you tilted your head, “that’s sweet, Inumaki-senpai.”

“Wait–” he shook his head, “Ikura.”

Your eyes widened slightly, shutting up. It was faint, but you felt the tingle of a cursed energy in his ‘wait’. It didn’t hurt, you noticed, his cursed speech never did hurt you. But it was an odd sensation crawling into your skin and grabbed onto your very muscle cells, forcing you to comply by pure force. There was worry in his eyes, as he noticed it too, but you smiled at him hoping to reassure the boy. With a single nod from you, he was able to breathe again. Perhaps your actions too had the same effect on him as his cursed speech. It took so little from you for him to change emotions and follow your silent commands.

“I wanted to tell you so many things,” he continued his thoughts from earlier. For the first time ever since you’ve known him, it was him speaking and you were listening. It was a dream that you never thought would be real. It made you so grateful for your world of curses, spirits, and impossibilities.

“I like the colour white too now,” he admitted out of nowhere, remembering that one afternoon in the field of flowers. 

“And I don’t actually like fish eggs…” he said, recalling that one time you offered some to him and he could only grimace at you. You never knew why he did, but now you knew it wasn’t directed at you.

“I don’t like morning assemblies,” he admitted before carefully selecting his next few words, “that’s why I never go.” –That’s why you never see me. He wished to say, knowing from Panda how often you looked for him during the assemblies. But if he said those words he was scared you would go blind, or worse, you’d never see him specifically.

He took a deep breath and then, just as he practiced, “I wanted to thank you for Christmas,” he said remembering how it was her idea to bring everyone to visit him, “and that I am sorry for taking your last grape on New Year’s Eve.” You tried to hide your smile at the memory. At the time, you were stunned and flustered, but looking back it was quite silly. But if that memory was not going to make you blush, his next words would have been enough to do so.

“And that you looked very beautiful.”

He smiled looking at you. Perhaps because he started to get the hang of it, he wasn’t feeling as nervous as earlier. But the more he spoke and the more he looked at you, he could only find more courage to spill all his secrets. To give you everything he had. To tell you every single thought he ever had selfishly hoping you’d keep them all.

“I was going to tell you on New Year’s Eve,” he continued before chuckling to himself, “but we got interrupted.”

The memory of your silent conversation on New Year’s Eve came back at you. The way he held his fingers on each side of his cheek close to expressing how he felt. You kept your eyes fixed on him, afraid to even blink. Afraid that in that fraction of a second where you blinked, your lashes might swipe him away from you or miss his words.

You had a vague feeling of what was to come. He was so close to telling you so many times that you developed so many ‘What-If’ scenarios that all of them resembled the one where you were in at the moment. You prayed to all the Gods looking over at you two, to the saint of Valentine’s day, that nothing would interrupt you anymore.

“This might be nothing compared to your onigiri, but…” You watched him as he pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket, and with another deep breath in, a solemn look, and a fond smile, he offered both the chocolate and his feelings to you, “I like you.”

[sorcerersandskillusers]

Card Meanings in the new, The Day I Picked Up Dazai art.

Ok so im currently still in shock that were getting new day I picked up dazai content so bare with me, but onece again Asagiri has included playing cards in his art so of course I have to break down what they mean.

Lets start with side A (the right side):

First we see a joker:

While Gogol is the obvious fit for the joker, the card also describes Dazai extremely well. He is almost always acting like the fool in any given situation, even in the mafia he loved to be as weird and funny as he could as well as tease and annoy the people around him, something jesters famously did.

In fact, his dynamic with Mori is very close to how a king and a jester used to work, where the jester was the only person who was allowed to openly mock the king and would usually heckle him. They also played a key part in psychological warfare, which we see Dazai specialises in.

I think the whole; wit, intelligence and unpredictability kind of speaks for itself.

Next card is the four of spades:

This one is also really fitting, it shows how after the day I picked up Dazai side A, Dazai settles into his little routine of going to bar lupin with Oda as well as how he finally has someone who he can trust and be comfortable around. Finally, it is a clear message of optimism, something Dazai never shows before he meets Oda.

Next the two of hearts:

This one is pretty obvious, it's Dazai and Oda spending time at bar lupin. It actually fits so well, there's not much I can say about it other then how it shows the love and care Dazai and Oda had for each other (platonically)

Now for Side B (prepare to cry)

The first card is the three of spades:

Whyyyyyyyyyy... why Asagiri. This one is also fairly obvious but it has multiple meanings. It most clearly represents Dazai suffering in side B as he has to run the mafia without odasaku and live in utter loneliness while destroying all the connections he never got to have for the sake of a friend he never got to meet.

“It was hard,” muttered the young man. “It was really hard fighting Mimic without you in the organization. I had no choice but to take over for Mori and make enemies of everyone around me to expand the business. Everything I did was for this world’s—”

It also represents the moment on the platform where he nearly tells Odasaku the truth and goes with him to bar lupin, the horrible decision to abandon everything for Odas future

The next card is... the ace of spades:

The ace of spade has many meanings, most of which involve change or transition, but by far its most famous meaning it death. I really don't think I have to explain this one, Beast Dazai having the card of death has a pretty clear meaning.

But the ace of spade does have a secondary meaning, and this one is a little more hopeful, as it shows Dazai passing the safety of this world onto Atsushi and Auktagawa.

Finally, (it's a bit hard to see) we have the ten of diamonds:

I want to focus mostly on the highlighted part because it's what really applies to BEAST Dazai, he lived his whole life to create a world where what matters most to him, that Oda gets to be happy and write his books, becomes real. This card doesn't apply to Dazai directly, more to the fact that he made succeeding in his mission his only priority and discarded everything else.

Bonus round Odasku card; the king of clubs

the only card thats seen on Oda's section and one that clearly represents Odasaku as a character.

"King of clubs represents a dark man, who is loyal and kind. He is a good businessman, shrewd with money and investments, but isn’t selfish. In fact, the King of clubs is a very devoted father, husband and citizen. In a broader sense, the King of clubs encompasses idealized qualities of a fatherly figure. This card is universally considered as a very good omen."

I feel like this sums Odasaku up very well, the devoted father and loyal friend parts are just him to a t.

(this is also the card I think best represents Fukuzawa)

Right, I think I got everything, if you disagree with this or find something I missed, please reblog or comment with whatever you want to add, or send me an ask. I love discussing, and hearing other people's views as long as they're respectful.

If you add something, please add it in the post not the tags, so I can reply to it (or in the tags if that makes you more comfortable)

[em-harlsnow]

I just wish we had seen Ian be comforting to Mickey more. They had so much opportunity in later seasons, but they didn't take it and it really pissed me off. Posing Ian as more selfish in season 11 than we ever saw him in earlier seasons, with Mickey pointing a gun at Terry and saying he 'tortured him for years' and Ian shrugging it off with 'Frank broke my nose'. Like yes, yes, Ian should also talk about his own abuse. But overshadowing your partner's struggle with your own (when Ian saw first-hand what Terry was like) is just shit and felt OOC for Ian. Bear in mind, Ian also was BFFs with Mandy and knew all the horrors Terry did to her. It seems off for him to be sympathetic to her in season 2 (?) I think when trying to get her an abortion and season 6 (?) when she came back, but not to Mickey.

I'm not hating on Ian here, I love Ian. I'm saying the writers fucked him over, that Ian would have been sympathetic and kind if they hadn't been annoying. If anything, Ian bringing up Frank being abusive is not only out of character from a 'he would comfort Mickey point of veiw' but also from an 'Ian doesn't like to talk about the shit that happened to him' view.

We got the scene of Ian saying 'you are so much better than that', which is good. But it's the best we got. And considering the unbelievable amounts of abuse Mickey suffered, it doesn't feel like enough. Earlier in the show, they were amazing at going over dark themes. With Fiona struggling when she got out of prison and Lip's alcoholism and Ian's bipolar disorder and Debbie's huge mix of things and Carl's illegal proclivities. I do think this all stems from them trying to make it more comedic, but it just WASNT comedic. They tried to make Terry's death funny?? tried to have Mickey crying over it be funny?? It just felt tone-deaf, like the writers didn't watch their own show.

I heard something about the writers being changed in season 10, so maybe that's why.

But in a show that was very dark, for the last two seasons to get like three sad and meaningful scenes (Mickey's 'you don't love me enough now', Frank speaking to Lip about fatherhood and Ian's 'I miss mum') is ridiculous. It felt like they were trying to tie the show up in a neat bow, but they failed. Most of the character's storylines are open-ended and annoying. They also made them all act really middle-class (at least in my opinion) which is odd for people still struggling with poverty.

Everything felt very surface-level. In my mind, what could have been GREAT in season 10/11 would be this:

Mickey struggling with PTSD (idk insomnia, OCD, claustrophobia from prison could all play a part in this, there were so many opportunities they didn't take)

Ian struggling with getting his old job back, proving himself again and trying to find himself (they sort-of covered this, but barely)

I would keep the gallavich wedding, but I don't like Terry's involvement. honestly, it felt sort of weak coming from a bastard like Terry.

Lip and Tami I like together, but I would have liked to see their bond be deeper. It, again, felt very surface-level through the last seasons. Would be interesting to see Lip have the same intensity toward fatherhood as he did when he thought Karen was having his baby. it didn't feel the same

some of the gallavich engagement angst I like, but I think they could have done better than Mickey going off with Byron.

bring in more milkoviches. I mean, come on. where did they all go. Mandy, Iggy, Sandy, just bring them back.

Would have liked to see Ian and Mickey become like the new Kev and V (stable and loving but also crazy)

Kev and V's storyline was decent altho boring. Maybe it was good that it was boring, because it showed them become really stable in their roles as parents and partners and full-on adults (ik they were always adults, but yk what I mean)

Carl's relationship with the Mexican family I felt should have had a deeper impact on him. For someone with such emotional depth, it felt strange for him to just get over it so quickly. he really liked Anna. (plus I liked her so I want more of her)

Debbie could have had a redemption arc, she didn't.

Lip was argumentative and lost a lot of his ingenuity, it becoming sort of tragic that all his intelligence was used for was getting cheaper paint and helping out some arrogant rich guy get more rich. Idk, I would have liked to see him try and start up a business with a little crime on the side, making it really successful.

Liam's character was good. I thought it was cool to see him exploring his heritage and scamming people at school like his siblings used to. It didn't have the same rawness as the kids did in the early seasons, but it wasn't the worst storyline. I like seeing another smart gallagher with opportunities like Lip, but Liam seems less likely to lose the opportunities. He was a beacon of hope, I think. I think he should have had more friends though, because the Gallagher Family became pretty isolated from the rest of the neighbourhood. Where did the sense of community go?

I don't care what Frank does, he's always done his own thing. I like that he died at the end.

Terry should have suffered more. Although, his death being anticlimactic does show that sometimes villains in real life just die, and they don't get what's coming to them. It's unsatisfying.

Better exploration into Mickey's feelings of his death please.

Better exploration into Frank's dementia please. William h Macy did it well, but the other characters moved on from it so fast. I get it, he was a piece of shit, but it had potential as a storyline.

They should have missed Fiona more.

More actually passionate gallavich scenes like in season 4,5 even season 7. But no, we get an argument over 'who's the man in the relationship'. Sorry, straightest bullshit I ever did see.

I don't hate season 10/11. There are some good parts. But where's the fast-paced, comical, dark, chaotic, meaningful and intelligently satirical Shameless that I know?

[juniorsailmakermattcruse]

ngl i really hate Doof as Prof Time because it just doesnt make any sense that he invented time travel, its already been invented with that time travel machine at the museum and then PnF rebuilding said machine, having Doof be the father of time travel is such nonsense

oh my god I got sooo mad at the depiction of time travel in mml. it wouldn’t have been as bad if they hadn’t set it in the same universe as pnf but when you’ve already established how time travel works in that show it doesn’t make sense to completely change it for another. like why is it in pnf when there’s a new timeline characters just pop out of existence but in mml we have the whole island of lost dakotas? which isn’t a bad concept in itself but it just totally contradicts their previous rules

overall mml would have been so much better if it wasn’t tied so much to pnf. that’s why (at least IMO) season 1 is so much better than season 2, because it’s all about original characters and original stories and isn’t relying so much on another show. because when you rely on another show you have to take into account the history of that show and the way that pnf worked just didn’t quite mesh with mml the way that they wanted it to. they were too different to be reconciled in a way that wasn’t frustrating. I’m glad hamster & gretel chose to for the most part stay disconnected from pnf, I think that’s one of its strengths

but yeah I really just hate professor time for reasons even unrelated to all the time travel stuff. first of all I don’t know why it HAD to be him?? it couldn’t have been literally any other character? no, we had to bring him in from another show just to completely mess up his personal timeline and force some weird “destiny” on him that he doesn’t even want and that doesn’t even fit him. and he just kind of abandons everything he had in pnf for this “destiny,” like why isn’t perry with him? you’re telling me he spends the entire season whinging and moping about perry not spending time with him and then in the future he’s all alone? ok. where’s vanessa? she only shows up in that one scene to give him perry’s card. norm is just decapitated and his building has exploded (which happened a billion times in pnf but somehow this time it’s irreparable?) and he doesn’t give a shit. ok. remember that scene at the end of LDOS where they’re all hanging out as a happy family? I guess that dissolves pretty quickly. like his whole involvement in the show is so so weird and out of character and unnecessary. and the 1 time (i think) when he does show up as prof time in the pnf effect it’s such a dumb deus ex machina ending and that just annoyed me from a writing standpoint. and again all of this could’ve been improved if it were a different character but no

it sucks because it really sours my view of mml and I’d probably rewatch it more if the 2nd season weren’t so frustrating but it just makes me want to rewatch pnf instead. at least when that show’s frustrating it resets by the next episode but the way mml is structured with long story arcs you have to deal with writing choices you don’t like forever