#no but i love how this mystery is set up its like they just dropped clues for every single ww villain onto it and said “here. good luck.”

[sugume]

YOUR BIGGEST FAN — GETO SUGURU

✧･. on vacation with your family, you discover that your biggest fan may not be a mystery after fall.

( TW ) f!reader. camgirl!reader. stepbrother!Geto (in a plot device way, no nii-chan and stuff.) unprotected sex. cream pie. phone sex. squirting. fingering. mutual masturbation. cunnilingus. deception. mentions of bullying. misunderstandings. hurt/comfort. explicit content.  

word count - > 6.6k

authors note. can you see I wasn’t creative with the username? I have a love-hate relationship with this fic because I feel like it goes from 0 to 100 real quick lmfao. This is heavily inspired by the book Eyes on Me! 

“I bet you look handsome.” You smile at the black screen with the default profile picture floating in the middle. 

‘Nah.’ User @Sssman72  types into the chat the takes up the left half of your computer. 

“Stop! Don’t say think bad things about yourself,” You laugh, making sure your tits jiggle in the flimsy red lingerie you're wearing. “I know your handsome baby.” You reassure your favorite client. The man who alone gives you 50% of your income. He’s the one who bought you this pretty lingerie set you're wearing.  

‘You look tired babydoll...how was today?’ He types. 

“I’m fine, I promise, just had a long day, was on a few other private chats with some other customers the entire day.” You confess. In all honesty after this call you were planning to pass out and try to get a few hours of sleep before you had to fly out to your family's vacation home. Today on your live stream, you told your followers you were going on vacation for the next two weeks and wouldn't be online. You didn't plan to get on a call with @Sssman72 but he had texted you as you were getting ready to go to bed that he had a bad day and wanted to see you. Before you had a chance to protest, he spent you 500 and said it would only be 30 minutes. You gave in because first he was your biggest supporter and you wanted to be there for him in some way with all the money and gifts, he sends you and second, you didn’t mind chatting with him, you thought he was the sweetest and you struck lucky the day he joined one of your lives.  

‘I’ll let you go then, I want you to get some rest before your flight, sorry for keeping you up beautiful just needed to vent about my ass job.’ 

“I’m always here for you handsome, I'll make sure to send you those pictures you requested through the week.” 

‘Make sure you enjoy your break babydoll, don’t gotta worry about me. Goodnight.’ 

You say your goodbyes and end up falling asleep in the lingerie bought you as soon as you shut your laptop. 

— 

“How’s college y/n?” Your stepfather asks when you slide into the back seat of the car. Your mother fitting the last of your luggage into the trunk.  

“it’s fine, some of my classes are difficult but nothing I can't manage.” You answer as you buckle in. 

“Oh yeah? Thats good. You mom tells me you started a job a few months ago, how's that working out for you?”  

You tense under the small blanket you’ve thrown over yourself. 

“u-uhm yeah its good—yeah it’s been fun.” 

“I’m sorry sweetheart, I don't remember what you mother told me you did again.” He chuckles. 

“Uhm—I'm a bartender, m-my friend works there and got me a position.” You tell him the lie you've rehearsed hundreds of times. You start to sweat under the blanket. Did he buy it? What if he and your mom found out what you did? Are they planning to ambush you when you get to the house? They're going to make you drop out and chain you up in the basement when they find out. You throw the blanket off, suddenly too hot and alert. Guess that nap you were planning on taking during the drive wasn’t happening. 

“Oh, that’s fun sweetheart, I remember I bartended awhile when I was in college, got fired for stealing the alcohol though,” He laughs at the memory before turning to look at you. “You wouldn’t do that though, you’re a good girl.” 

You nod, thankful that your mom decided now to take your stepdad's attention away and get in the car. 

“Alrighty were good to!” She cheers. Your stepdad turns back around in his seat before starting the car. 

“Finally, thought we were going to get a fine parked here another minute.” 

“Oh, shut up! Y/n are you excited to go back to the vacation house? You haven’t been in years!” You mom asks as you guys pull out of the airport.  

“Yeah, I can’t wait to, I missed the hiking trails and the waterfalls. None of that in the big city.” You answer truthfully. You did miss the silence of the secluded house you vacationed at every summer since your mom married your stepdad. It was the company that you hated. As if your mom heard your thought, she says something that makes your heart drop. 

“Suguru feels the same way, we didn't even have to blackmail him to come! That boy...” 

“Suguru is coming?” You scream.  

“Coming? Sweetie, he’s already arrived this morning. I’m so excited were all together as a family again.” 

“Are you fucking serious mom? Turn the car around and bring me back to the airport!” You screech. You were not going to spend the next week with your bully of a stepbrother.  

“Y/n!” You mom gasps. 

“Sweetheart, he’s changed.” Your stepdad tells you as if that's going to make it better. 

“That’s what he wants you to think! He’s the worst human being on planet earth, please don’t make me spend the next few weeks with him, please mom,” you lean over the consul. “Please dad.” You pout at your stepfather. You know he gets weak whenever you call him dad. 

“Sweetheart...” 

“No! You aren’t sweet talking your way out of this, he’s changed. He isn't the same teenager with a chip on his shoulder, he’s matured. He even told me the reason he’s coming is to apologize and bond with you y/n.” 

“He’s lying mom! He doesn't care about me; I wouldn't be surprised if he told you that just so he could drown me in the lake. You guys own the land so nobody would find my body!” You start to tear up. You were going to jump out of the car if your parents didn't turn back around. Your stepbrother was your biggest tormentor since the day you met him. From picking on you at home to getting the girls to bully you at school. He made your life hell for four years. The day you left for college you screamed how much you hated him and told your parents that the four of you would only be in the same room again when you lay in a casket. 

“Oh, don’t cry sweetheart. Your mother is right, he’s changed, I wouldn’t have allowed him around you if he hadn’t. Give us a week and if you want to leave, I promise I'll drive you back to the airport and you’ll never have to see him again, please?” 

“No.” You cross your arms and look out the window despite knowing that they’ve won. You can’t jump out of the car now that you are on the highway, and you didn’t bring your own car to drive yourself back to the airport. 

“We’ll give you the master suite, the whole attic floor to yourself.” They bargain. You act like you’re thinking of accepting the offer. With the master suite taking up the entire third floor you could lock yourself up there and ignore Suguru. You could also film videos and even go live because the room is soundproof. You perk up at that. You could just spend your vacation on stream and chatting with @Sssman72. He’s somehow always free for you and told you that if you get bored you could call him. He’ll make up for your stepbrother’s awful behavior. 

“Fine, I’ll take the master suite.” 

— 

“Okay that's the last of your luggage, we’ll be having dinner in a few hours on the dock.” 

“Kay, thanks.”  You watch your stepdad shut the door. Once he does you release the tension in your shoulders. You lock the door before running to throw yourself onto the huge king bed. You sink down. You didn’t see Suguru when you arrived, you mom told you he was probably in town. You hope he stayed in town for the next two weeks.  

After laying it bed thinking about how much you hate Suguru with a passion you pull out your phone and open the porn app. You click on messages and open your chat with @Sssman72. 

‘Hey...I know I told you I was on vacation but I already wanna go home. You don't have to answer lol.’ You send. He immediately starts typing.  

‘Of course, I'll answer you babydoll. What’s wrong?’  Your face heats at the pet names. You wish you knew what he looked like, all he told you about himself was that he was in his twenties and worked for his father's company. You want to know more, what he looks like, what he sounds like. If the messages he sends make you sweat, you wonder what’ll happen if he spoke to them to you. In your head he’s a handsome bachelor who just so happened to find you and deem you worthy of his time and money but hell, he could be lying. He could be some old rich man in his eighties who likes young girls like all the rest of your viewers. The romantic part of you ignores that and is convinced he is who he says he is and that one day you’re going to meet in person and fall in and have a bunch of his babies. 

‘You know that stepbrother I told you about?’ 

“Mm, that asshole who bullied you?’ 

‘Yep, that asshole. Anyways I bet you won't guess who's here on vacation with me?’ 

‘Are you serious?’ 

‘Dead serious...my parents didn’t tell me until I was already trapped and now, I have to spend my vacation away with a man who hates me for no reason.’ 

‘Wow that’s crazy lol. Did your parents tell you why he chose to vacation with you if he doesn’t like you?’ 

‘Apparently he’s here to make amends...he’s probably here to kill me so he gets all the inheritance.’ 

‘Well, what if he’s really there to make amends baby?’ 

‘You should've heard the groan I just let out. I can’t believe you’re on his side babe. When I tell you that he too evil for that I mean it.’ 

‘Hey, you know I'm always on your side babydoll, I'm just giving you a man’s perspective on it. Maybe he realized he’s fucked up and he feels back so he wants to apologize for all the wrong he caused you’ 

‘Yea well from a women's perspective he’s an asshole who doesn’t care about anyone else but himself!’ 

‘Don’t say the baby...hypothetically what would he have to do to get you to forgive him?’ 

‘Hypothetically he's going to have to get on his knees and beg for my forgiveness every time he sees me until I deem, he's forgiven. And he’s also gonna have to send every dollar in his bank account to me AND be my slave for the rest of his life...hypothetically.’ 

‘Lol you never know babydoll, he just might be willing to do anything for your forgiveness. I know I would.’ 

‘That’s because you’re perfect and care about my feelings...now I'm gonna go get some sleep before having to eat with the devil. Pray he doesn’t poison me and I survive the night.’ 

— 

You sit at the dinning room table waiting for Suguru. Of course, he’s late, he doesn’t care about anyone's time but his. You say so to your parents. 

“Y/n stop being so harsh and give him a chance please.” You roll your eyes and go back to scrolling on social media.  

“Sorry I'm late.” You jump at the deep voice before whipping your head to the left where your stepbrother stands looking so...so different. 

“Suguru! No need to apologize! Come sit.” Your mother points to the empty seat opposite you. Suguru glances at you and smiles before walking to the seat. You gasp. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him smile at you or anyone else. Actually, you know he hasn’t smiled at anyone, he was know for being so stoic. You watch intensely as he pulls out the chair and sits. He looks like a different man, his hair is long, down past his shoulders, the black shirt he's wearing stretches around a huge chest. He looks like he spends half his day in the gym. And those eyes—those eyes that always had heavy eyebags and glared at everyone that looked his way, look at you with gentle look you can’t place. They even crease with the smile that he’s wearing. Your eyes widen, he has a fucking dimple. He looks like a gentleman, he looks handsome. You can't stop staring at his smile. 

“Y/n? You alright?” You Stepdad breaks through the haze you were in. You look at your parents and back to Suguru who all have concerned expressions on their faces.  You feel your entire body heat in embarrassment.  

‘Uhm—yea I'm fine.” You look at your parents, refusing to look back at that smile.  Suguru has different plans. 

“Hey y/n, it’s been a long time yeah?” Suguru says in that deep voice that has your heart beating faster.  Out the corner of your eye you watch as Suguru reaches over the food, holding his hand out. Does he really think you’re about to give him a damn handshake?  

...Are you seriously thinking about shaking that huge hand? No, you won’t. 

You purse your lips and cross your arms over your chest. You swear you see him glance down at your cleavage but the next second, he's holding eye contact. You blink and look away with a ‘hmm’. He lowers his hand.  

“Alright guys let's eat, okay?” You mom breaks the tension. Everyone grabs their share, and you eat in silence for a while, nobody brave enough to speak and you simmering with anger at Suguru. You throw glare at him every time you look up from your plate which happens more times than you’d admit.  

“You got something there.” Suguru points the sharp end of the fork at you. 

“What?” You ask. 

“There,” He grabs his napkin and starts to reach for you. You tense suddenly locked in place. Suguru brings the napkin to the corner of your mouth and wipes it. “There you go.” 

You stare at him like he's grown three heads. Maybe he’s dying and wants to make amends? Why else would he be treating you like this. Maybe someone took over his body? That has to be it. 

“Uh thanks?” You mummer, unsure what to say. 

“You're welcome little sis.” You choke on your spit. What the hell did he just call you!? He must be messing with you; you’re suddenly filled with rage. You glare at him, hoping he disintegrates with the sheer force of your stare. 

“You’ve grown up.” Suguru says after another blinking contest, you lost. 

“Yea, have you?” You snarl. He stops smiling. 

“I have,” he says seriously, setting his fork down. “I want to talk about—” 

“I don’t care.” 

“Please—” 

“No!” You slam your hand on the table, and he goes silent. You’re overcome with guilt before you remember that he bullied you for a year, that he told the entire school to bully you after he graduated. Fuck him. 

— 

You slam the door the door of your room speed walking to the bathroom. You strip your clothes before turning on the tub. You finally breathe when you settle into the scolding hot water. You needed to wash his gaze, his touch, off your body. The entire dinner after your conversation was awkward, your parents didn't really speak, and you refused to glance back up at Suguru who wouldn't stop staring.  

You hated him. You hated him. You—you can’t bring yourself to hate him. For some unknown reason you can’t bring yourself to hate him despite everything he's put you through. Why? You shake your head. You don’t want to think of Suguru while you're trying to relax. You phone dings. You pick up and a smile replaces your frown. @Sssman72. 

‘How are you babydoll, you alive?’ 

‘Yes, wish I wasn’t though.’ 

‘Why what happened during dinner?’ You sigh and send him voice message detailing everything that happened. 

‘Oh wow.’ 

‘I know.’ 

‘You gonna give him a chance to explain?’ 

‘I don’t know I don’t want to but also, I want to hear his explanation...can we call I really don't want to type all of this out?’  

‘Course, give me a second. I'll call you.’ You wait a few minutes before you hear the familiar ring. 

“Hi handsome.” you smile at the blank profile. Right now, you’d do anything to see him, to hear him comfort you, to be in his arms. He could be the ugliest man in the world, you wouldn’t care. 

‘HI beautiful. Talk to me.’ He types into the chat box. 

“I don't know. like I said I want to hear him out but also, I don't want to hear it because what it it’s bad, what if it doesn’t excuse it? But also, what if it does and I feel like shit for being mean back—it's just so stressful.” 

‘I know babydoll. I wish I could be there right now and hold you. I would do anything to take that hurt away. I'm sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.’ 

“Stop, don’t apologize you didn’t do anything. If anything, I should apologize for using you as a therapist when you paid to see me naked.” You laugh. 

‘Beautiful girl—I would rather pay to hear all your problems and be able to comfort you than see you naked again.’ 

“Wow you don’t want to see me naked, I'm hurt. Just kidding, thank you for saying that handsome.” You feel your heart skip a beat at his message. Maybe you can convince him to turn his camera on tonight. 

“I kinda wanna take my mind off everything right now.” You murmur into the phone before turning on your camera. You hold it above you and smile so he can see everything.  

‘So, fucking beautiful, prettiest girl in the world. You gonna give me a show?’ 

“hm,” You use your free hand to tap your chin. “Only if you do something for me.” 

‘And what is that?’ 

‘Can you turn your camera on? And before you say no, you don’ have to show your face—maybe you can just show your dick or something else. We can masturbate on the phone, please handsome please.” You whine giving him your best puppy face. You watch as the chat bubbles disappear and reappear. You’re about to back out but all the sudden you’re looking at a dim lit room and a huge cock between a big hand. Your eyes widen and the sight. 

"Y-you probably won’t be able to type and jack off at the same time” You suck in a breath. Please turn your audio on please... 

‘I’m gonna turn my audio on but I won’t talk, okay? Think you can get off on my moans babydoll?’  

You nod. 

‘Good girl now show me that pretty pussy, make it squirt for me.’ 

You lift yourself up to sit on the corner of the tub, propping one leg on tub and spreading the other that rests in the water. You flip the camera so your mystery man can watch you finger yourself. You hear him groan and spit onto his hand. 

You moan softly at the sound, teasing your entrance. You wish he was talking to through it, but you’ll settle for this for now. One day... 

“Mmm, wish you were the one fingering me right now,” You circle your clit before gliding your fingers out your cunt. 

“Wish you were here, holding me n' fucking me.” You curl your fingers into your g-spot and moan. You look back at your phone, watching your stranger play with the tip of his long cock. It looks so big compared to his hand, you know you’ll struggle to take it. Your pussy clenches around your small fingers that do close to nothing compared to your dildos at home.  

“Wan’ your cock in me so bad, it looks so big you’ll have to force me to take it, you’ll have to hold me down and make me take it.” You cry out. You watch as he squeezes his hand up and down his cock. It looks painful. He grunts louder. 

“M’gonna cum for you handsome, m’gonna give you what you want and make a mess,” You speed up your fingers to match how fast he slides his fist up and his cock. You moan louder, thankful that you got the suite and aren’t in the room next to your stepbrothers, how embarrassing it would be if he could hear you pleasuring yourself.  

You clench harder around your fingers. Your stranger starts to grunt and groan louder. You shiver at his deep voice on the edge of cumming. 

“Please please let me cum please! Can I come for you please?” You cry, your pussy starts to squelch, spurts of liquid coming out. 

“Yes, cum for me.” Your mystery man groans in an all too familiar voice but before you have time to think about it, you’re squirting, the grip on your phone loosening and falling into the water. 

“N-no!” 

— 

“Yes, this phone is done for, your mother and I are heading into town we can try to find a company that sells phone, but you know how small towns like this are.” You stepdad stares at your phone that’s been sitting in a container full of rice since last night.  

“Fuck, I need it for work! What am I going to do?” You look up at him in distress. 

“What do you need your phone for bartending?” He looks down at you incredulously. 

“My boss is sending me some important email and I didn't bring my computer.” You lie. 

“Well, you can use Suguru’s laptop, I saw him using it this morning in the sitting room. Think he left it there before he went on his run.” Your stepdad points down the hall as your mother rounds the corner.  

“Ready to go honey?” She asks your stepdad. 

“Coming! Use Suguru laptop to check your email, if we come back and you haven’t got the email you can use my phone. Bye! Have fun and be nice!” Your stepdad waves before following your mother. You wave back. 

 Of course, you had to use Suguru’s laptop. Maybe you can just log in, tell your stranger that you’re okay and that you won’t be able to contact him until you get a new phone and then delete the history before Suguru comes back from his run. It’ll only take a few minutes...you hope he doesn’t a password.  

You run to the sitting room, but you don’t see a laptop anywhere. Dammit, he always has to make things hard for you. You walk up the round staircase and down the hall until you're standing in front of Suguru’s room. You look around, as if Suguru's gonna pop up out of nowhere and attack you from going into his room. You shake the thought off and open his door. You stop and stare at the bed, you feel like you've seen that duvet. You chalk it up to a bunch of man having the same bedding before turning to scan the room for a laptop. You quickly spot the laptop on his desk and run to it. You sigh in relief when it opens to the last tab he had opened. Thank you Suguru for not caring about who gets into your shit. You click new tab and start to type in the name of the website you use before you freeze.  

You only need to type in three letters before the website popped up in top hits. You stop breathing. No... He couldn’t know what you do. Is that why he came here? Was he going to expose you to your parents? Was he acting nice to butter you up before crushing you? Your vision starts to blur. All boys watch porn, maybe he just happens to watch porn on the same website you film on. You can block your account from him so that he never finds you. You swallow before clicking the tab. You shakily move they pointer over to the search bar before you spot something in the left corner that makes you dizzy.  

Right where the username of the viewer is supposed to be is the username @Sssman72. Your heart stops and you feel wetness hit your hands. This can’t be real. You move to chat and cry out when you see your username. The last text he sent was asking what happened. No—this is a dream; you’re going to wake up and this is going to be a bad nightmare. You refuse to believe the man you’ve been slowly falling in love with over the last six months is your stepbrother, your bully. The man you confessed all your darkest secrets is the man who never showed you an ounce of kindness. Is this a part of his master plan? Is he going to blackmail you and hold all the nudes you’ve sent him and all the secrets you’ve told him over your head. You’re going to become his slave, doing whatever he wants of you until you die. You curl into yourself and cry harder at the thought.  

“Y/n? What are you do—” Suguru stops when he sees what's on the screen. “Let me explain please baby.” He reaches out to touch your shoulder. You flinch away from his touch.  

“D-don’t call me that,” You sob staring at him with such heartbreak in your eyes he wants to drop and beg for your forgiveness. “You-you, it was you the whole time.” Your voice breaks. 

Suguru nods slowly trying to reach out for you again. You take a few steps away. “Was this some masterplan to hold me under your thumb for the rest of my life!?” You scream at him. 

He’s grateful your parents went out of town; this would be an absolute shitshow if they were here.  

“No babydoll—” 

“I said don’t call me that you asshole! Stop pretending. I hate you Suguru! You win okay, you win!” You tell him before you run out of his room. He curses before running after you, you run up that stairs and into the suite but before you can shut the door Suguru shoves it open. You drop to your knees to pull your suitcase from under your bed. 

“Please listen to me y/n. I wasn’t faking—stop packing and let me explain.” Suguru pleads as he watches you throw your clothes into your suitcase. 

“Y/n, baby, please listen to me please” He grabs your arm, and you try to fight him, but he pulls you down onto the bed with him. He hugs you around the waist and you push in this chest trying to break free. His heart aches. He hates seeing you hurt, he hates that he was the one who made you cry like this. He hates that you only associate him with the version of himself that he created to stop anyone from seeing what he was truly feeling. He hates that you won’t accept the real version of him now that you know it was him. He holds you tighter as you scream and cry. He whispers sweet nothings as you whisper how much you hate him. At some point you stop fighting and wrapping your arms around his neck. You sniffle into his neck, and he rubs your backs and rocks you.  

“Why?” You ask hoarsely after all the anger leaves your body. Now you feel numb, like you're watching your life from a third perspective.   

“I never hated you, I never lied, and I never planned to blackmail you—I know you don’t believe me baby but everything I've ever told you on that app was real. Everything I feel for you is real.”   You pull your face out of his neck and stare up at him. You don’t believe him. 

“I have never hated you y/n. I swear it. I hated the fact that my father replaced my mother with yours not even a year after she died. Baby, I never fucking hated you. I was just a teenager who didn’t know how to express my emotions so I took them out of the person I knew I could hurt the most. It was bad I know; I feel like shit to this day. When I graduated and got away from my father, I realized how bad I was to you, and I got into therapy. I wanted to be better for myself, for you, for everyone around me. I didn’t know that the bullying continued when I left. I didn’t know how bad people had taken it until that day I came back home. When you told me off about it, I was so confused. I’m so fucking sorry. I want to reach out and apologize for everything and the day I planned to do it Satoru—my best friend, you remember him—well he sent me the link to your account and so I made an account and it all just spiralized out of control after that. I was too embarrassed to tell you it was me and then we started to form a connection, a real connection, and I didn’t want our conversations to end so—fuck I'm sorry. Everything I told you; I meant it. I fucking meant every word.”  

You sit there stunned, trying to comprehend everything he said. You never knew about his mother. You thought she had passed away long before your mom and his dad had met. But you remember when your stranger told you that. God, you remember when your not so mystery man told you about his family the seemed so familiar to yours. And he didn’t tell all those people to bully you after he left? Did he mean every word? Every word of affirmation he gave you. Those times when he told you that you were capable of being loved and that you were going to find someone who would love every part of you, the good and bad. Was that the same Suguru? You try to wrap your mind around the fact that the man you love is your stepbrother. 

“I know it’s a lot of information.” 

“It is.” 

“Do you believe me?” He looks at you with furrowed brows. You do. Despite everything you find yourself nodding. He sighs and you feel the tension release from his shoulders that your arms are wrapped around. You suddenly realize the position you two are in and feel your face heat. Your arms are wrapped around his neck and your legs are on either side of his thick thighs his cock, the cock that you saw last night, is right underneath you, if you lower yourself an inch, you’d be sitting on it.  

Suguru grips your waist with one hand, the other cupping the right side of your face. You look up at him and sniffle. He leans down until your foreheads are touching.  

“If you give me achance, I'll treat you like the queen you are. I’ll love you the way you’re meant to be loved. One chance is all I ask for.” He mummers rubbing your noses together.  

You hesitate, one part of you wants to run away with him because he’s the man you’ve wanted for the last six months. The other part of you wants to run away from him, he’s your stepbrother, he lied, and you don't know if he would’ve ever told you the truth. But isn’t that what he came here to do? Can you blame a little boy for being mad at the people who replaced his mother?  

You give him his answer by grabbind his neck and push his lips towards you. If this does go to hell at least you’ll have a story to tell your feature children.  

Suguru kisses back before standing and pulling you off him. “What—” 

“You said you wanted me on my knees, didn't you? I’m ready to serve you in any way you want. I can have my savings transferred to your account by tomorrow night.” He says as he drops to his knees. You stare at him with wide eyes as he holds your legs and starts kissing from knee to right where your pussy starts.  

“Suguru—” 

“Shh babydoll let me take care of my girl, show her how sorry I am for hurting her.” He mummers before dropping your leg and picking up the next one. He repeats this a few more times before finally asking you to lift your hips so he can pull your leggings and panties off. Suguru throws your pants behind him before standing up to pull your tank top off. You reach behind to unbuckle your bra and toss it on the floor with your other clothes. Suguru chuckles, reaching up to kiss all over your face. 

“Take your clothes off too Sugu.” You giggle, reaching for his sweatpants. You get a firm grip and yank them down. His thick cock bounces out. Your mouth goes slack. The phone call didn’t do it justice. It somehow looks bigger than before and if you weren’t wet before, you are now. That thing is going to be inside you soon.  

“Like what you see beautiful?” You nod dumbly as you watch Suguru step out of his pants and take his shirt off with one hand. He’s so fucking sexy.  

He drops back down to his knees and pulls you until your ass is hanging off the bed. “Lay down and let me please you.”  You comply and watch as Suguru lifts your legs up and buries his face in your cunt. Your hands fly down to his long shiny hair. 

“Suguru!” You moan as he licks you from asshole to clit. He sucks on your clit before biting both lips. Your pussy clenches. “Feels s’good Sugu!” You grind down on his talented tongue. Suguru hums into your clit before setting one of you thighs in his shoulder and bringing his fingers to your entrance. He teases you, only pushing his fingers into the joint before taking them out. You cry out in frustration before pulling on his long hair when he finally slides two big fingers into you. 

Yours definitely don't compare to his long thick ones. Your back arches off the bed as Suguru fingers jackhammer into you all the while his mouth sucks on your clit.  

“S’good Sugu! Don’t stop!” You scream letting go of hair with one hand to cover your loud mouth.  

“Don’t hide those sweet moans from me babydoll. If you want my cock, you’ll let me hear you scream my name as you cum on my fingers and mouth.” 

You bring you hand back to hair and grind hard as you get closer and closer to orgasm.  

“Gonna cum! M’gonna come!” You cry, as you release all over Suguru's face. He moans and sucks even harder before adding another finger. You cry at the sudden intrusion. It doesn't take long before you’re coming all over again, this time liquid shooting out of you and onto Sugu’s chest.  

“Yes baby, that's it—what a good girl,” He praises as he slurps up all your juices. “Such a fucking good gril f’me.” 

“Gimme a kiss.” You say between heavy breaths.  

“Does the pretty girl want kiss?” You nod, pulling Suguru down with you by the shoulders. 

“Want you to kiss me while you fuck me for the first time. Want it to be special,” You confess shyly. Suguru leans down and pecks you on the forehead, then the nose, and then both of your cheeks. 

“Don’ tease meanie!” You laugh when he kisses the corner of your lips. 

“M’sorry baby, can you forgive me?” He pouts.  

“Hmm—I’ll forgive you only if you kiss me right no—” You don’t even finish your sentence before Suguru shoves his tongue down your throat. You kiss him back and your tongues fight for dominance. Suguru wins and smiles into the kiss. You can’t believe this is happening. Your bully, your stepbrother, your mystery man is kissing you right now. Your about to make love with said man. 

“You okay babydoll?”  

“Mhm, just can’t believe this is all happening.” 

“Me too beautiful, you sure you want to do this right now? We can always wait.” 

“No, I want to. I want you.” You raise your hand to tuck his hair behind his ear. He smiles, showing you that adorable dimple. You kiss it.  

Suguru kisses your lips once more before he grabs his cock, rubbing it up and down your cunt. 

“Fuck—I don’t have a condom.” 

“I’m on the pill—please Sugu.” You beg, frustrated from all this foreplay. You’ve been on edge since last tight in the tub.  

“Alight beautiful,” He pushes the head of his cock into you. “Fuck me—you feel so good. Always knew you would.” You feel his fist guide his long cock into you. You moan. He fits you perfectly.  

“Sugu—feel’s s’good, want more!” You cry, fisting the blanket’s underneath you.  

“Does my baby want more—does she want to orgasm on my cock?” You nod watching Suguru lift your legs to his shoulder. He leans down, bringing your feet to the side of your head. You whine at the stretch. 

Suguru groans as he pulls his cock in and out of you.  

“S’too much!” You moan into his shoulder. He just laughs and picks up his pace. The fancy headboard above the bed starts to slam against the wall. You watch with blurry eyes as the stock photos hung on the wall shake.  

“Said you wanted more baby, ‘m giving you more.”  he says before biting into your neck. Hard. You scream, back arching at the pain. Your hands fist the sheets even tighter, knuckles turning white. Suguru unlatches his jaw. Lifting his head to admire his mark. Now all your customers will know you belong to someone. To him. He kisses the mark. 

“Sugu, It’s too much. Hurts! m’gonna cum!” You cry, tears soaking the blanket breath you. 

“Oh, don't cry baby—shhh—you’re so beautiful y/n. So damn pretty.” He whispers, coaxing you to orgasm. Your eyes roll to the back of your head. You stop breathing for a second as your pussy contracts around Suguru's cock. Suguru follows in suit, spurting his cum deep inside your pussy. 

“Fuck,” he draws out, collapsing onto you.  

“T-that was—” 

“The best sex ‘ve ever had.” 

“Same.” You smile before wincing. 

“What’s wrong babydoll.”  

“You're about to break my damn hip if you keep my legs up any longer,” Suguru lefts himself enough to bring your legs to his sides. “And you probably ripped a chunk of my neck off with that little trick of yours.” You grumble. 

“It’s not bad, promise.” He kisses the bite mark softly. 

“And all the pictures fell of the wall.”  

“I’ll put ‘em back up baby,” He laughs into your ear. “Just let me hold you for a second.”  He kisses your cheek before snuggling deeper into you. You throw your arms around his shoulder while you both try to wrap your head around everything that happened.  

[wileycap]

So, uh, Netflix Avatar, huh? Yeah. I guess I'll make a really long post about it because ATLA brainrot has is a cornerstone of my personality at this point.

So.

It's okay. B, maybe a C+.

That's it.

Now for the spoilers:

The biggest issue with the Netflix version is the pacing. Scenes come out of nowhere and many of the episodes are disjointed. Example: Aang escaping from Zuko's ship. We see him getting the key and going "aha!", and in the next scene he's in Zuko's room. And then he just runs out, no fun acrobatics or fights, and immediately they go to the Southern Air Temple where he sees Gyatso's corpse, goes into the Avatar state, and then sees Gyatso being really cheesy, comes out of it, and resolves that conflict. Nothing seems to lead into anything. The characters don't get to breathe.

The show's worst mistake (aside from Iroh fucking murdering Zhao) is its' first one: they start in the past. Instead of immediately introducing us to our main characters and dropping us into a world where we have a perfect dynamic where Aang doesn't know the current state of the world and Katara and Sokka don't know about the past, thus allowing for seamless and organic worldbuilding and exposition, they just... tell us. "Hey, this is what happened, ok, time for Aang!" There's no mystery, no intrigue, just a stream of information being shoved down the audience's throats and then onto the next set piece.

The visuals are for the most part great, but like with most Netflix productions, they just don't have great art direction. It feels like a video game cinematic, where everything is meant to be Maximum Cool - and none of the environments get to breathe. It's like they have tight indoor sets (with some great set design) and then they have a bunch of trailer shots. It's oozing with a kind of very superficial love.

Netflix still doesn't know how to do lighting, and with how disjointed the scenes are, the locations end up feeling like a parade of sets rather than actual cities or forests or temples. As for the costumes, Netflix still doesn't know how to do costumes that look like they're meant to be actually worn, so many of the characters seem weirdly uncomfortable, like they're afraid of creasing their pristine costumes.

The acting is decent to good, for the most part. I can't tell if the weaker moments come down to the actors or the direction and editing, but if I had to guess, I'd say the latter. Iroh and Katara are the weakest, Sokka is the most consistent, Zuko hits the mark most of the time, and Aang is okay. I liked Suki (though... she was weirdly horny? Like?) but Yue just fell kind of flat.

The tight fight choreography of the original is replaced with a bunch of spinny moves and Marvel fighting, though there are some moments of good choreography, like the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko (there's a million things I could say about how bad it was thematically, but this post is overly long already.) There's an actually hilarious moment in the first episode when Zuko is shooting down Aang, and he does jazz hands to charge up his attack.

Then there's the characters. Everybody feels very static - Zuko especially gets to have very little agency. A great example of that is the scene in which Iroh tells Lieutenant Jee the story of Zuko's scar.

In the original, it's a very intimate affair, and he doesn't lead the crew into any conclusions. Here, Iroh straight up tells the crew "you are the 41st, he saved your lives" and then the crew shows Zuko some love. A nice moment, but it feels unearned, when contrasted with the perfection of The Storm. In The Storm, Zuko's words and actions directly contradict each other, and Iroh's story gives the crew (and the audience) context as to why, which makes Zuko a compelling character. We get to piece it out along with them. Here - Iroh just flat out says it. He just says it, multiple times, to hammer in the point that hey, Zuko is Good Actually.

And then there's Iroh. You remember the kindly but powerful man who you can see gently nudging Zuko to his own conclusions? No, he's a pretty insecure dude who just tells Zuko that his daddy doesn't love him a lot and then he kills Zhao. Yeah. Iroh just plain kills Zhao dead. Why?

Iroh's characterization also makes Zuko come off as dumb - not just clueless and deluded, no, actually stupid. He constantly gets told that Iroh loves him and his dad doesn't, and he doesn't have any good answers for that, so he just... keeps on keeping on, I guess? This version of Zuko isn't conflicted and willfully ignorant like the OG, he's just... kind of stupid. He's not very compelling.

In the original, Zuko is well aware of Azula's status as the golden child. It motivates him - he twists it around to mean that he, through constant struggle, can become even stronger than her, than anyone. Here, Zhao tells him that "no, ur dad likes her better tee hee" and it's presented as some kind of a revelation. And then Iroh kills Zhao. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up, but it's just such an unforgiveable thematic fuckup that I have to. In the original, Zhao falls victim to his hubris, and Zuko gets to demonstrate his underlying compassion and nobility when he offers his hand to Zhao. Then we get some ambiguity in Zhao: does he refuse Zuko's hand because of his pride, or is it his final honorable action to not drag Zuko down with him? A mix of both? It's a great ending to his character. Here, he tries to backstab Zuko and then Iroh, who just sort of stood off to the side for five minutes, goes "oh well, it's murderin' time :)"

They mess with the worldbuilding in ways that didn't really need to be messed with. The Ice Moon "brings the spirit world and the mortal world closer together"? Give me a break. That's something you made up, as opposed to the millenia of cultural relevance that the Solstice has. That's bad, guys. You replaced something real with something you just hastily made up. There's a lot of that. We DID NOT need any backstory for Koh, for one. And Katara and Sokka certainly didn't need to be captured by Koh. I could go on and on, but again, this post is already way too long.

It's, um, very disappointing. A lot of telling and not very much showing, and I feel like all of the characters just... sort of end up in the same place they started out in. I feel like we don't see any of the characters grow: they're just told over and over again how they need to grow and what they need to do.

To sum it up: Netflix Avatar is a mile wide, but an inch deep.

[cynosfunnyjokes]

A Heart’s A Heavy Burden

Characters: Howl x Reader

Genre: Angst

Warning: None that I can think of.

Summary: Loving Howl Pendragon isn’t easy.

Word Count: 827

Summary: Not really edited or anything- I’m sure there’s mistakes all throughout but I wrote this while watching Howl’s Moving Castle for the umpteenth time lmao. No pronouns are used for the reader!

Apprenticing under Howl was such a joy- never was there a dull moment. He would brighten up the room with his smile- his laugh. It was so contagious that you and Markl couldn't fight the grins growing on your own faces.

Meeting Howl on its own was nothing but luck- you had found yourself in some trouble with the guards, their stupid remarks making you nothing but uncomfortable- and then poof, a stranger was there, whisking you away.

How strange that the random man was Howl himself- a well-known sorcerer and someone you looked up to. Of course, you nervously asked him to take you on as an apprentice, eagerly telling him about your interest in magic since you were young.

He simply laughed, smiling that bright smile everyone adored, and simply agreed to take you in.

All went well- he was a great teacher after all. Even with him being gone at random times throughout the day, you had Markl to spend time with to practice. And then there was Calcifer and his witty remarks. They never bothered you, simply jokingly throwing one back at him.

It didn't take long for feelings to grow for the mysterious sorcerer- everyone noticed it but Howl himself. Not that it was surprising.

Even Calfcifer noticed but never said about it, unlike Markl who made random remarks during the day in whispers, causing you to hide your face while the blush crept up to your ears.

Although one day, while cleaning up the firepit during the time Howl was away, Calficer clicked his tongue at you.

Raising an eyebrow, you turned your head to the burning ball of fire in front of you, silently asking him “what?”

“You really do love him, don't you?”

It was so sudden, it felt so random-

But that’s all he said. That's all he needed to say.

You were undeniably in love with Howl, and you could only hope the feelings were reciprocated. Maybe, just maybe they were.

All hope went down the drain the moment Sophie showed up. Suddenly, Howl wasn't around as much anymore- and when he was, he was with her.

It was always her. Sophie this, Sophie that.

Slowly, the feelings of sadness crept in, their sharp nails jabbing into your heart.

Is this what heartbreak felt like?

Eventually, you stopped leaving your room- opting to just study the days away instead of focusing on the pain residing in your heart.

Markl would stop by to check on you, dropping off food that would stay nothing but untouched, slowly growing cold as time passed.

Even though you appreciated Markl’s company, it didn't help that he often talked about Sophie- how cool she was. All this, all that.

It was all too much.

Howl never stopped in to talk- to check on you. Not that you expected him to. He was his own person who had his own things to do. He was a busy man after all. But still, you found yourself clinging to that hope- just to have it crushed.

Eventually, even Markl stopped popping in, choosing to set the food down on your table before retreating to Sophie.

It was fine. It was all fine. That's what you always told yourself.

But yet... Why did it hurt so much?

Pressing shaking hands against your tear-filled eyes, the only sound that could be heard was small sobs that you were trying oh so hard to muffle.

It was so unfair.

You wanted him to look at you like he does her. To experience the feeling of being wrapped in his arms, to feel his loving gaze.

But that would never happen.

There wasn't much point in staying there anymore- you refused to leave your room unless it was to quickly run to the bathroom, refused to even leave your bed unless it was necessary.

What was the point of staying there? Where the reminder of your unrequited love stayed?

It was raining outside, the soft pitter-patter of the rain on the window helping drown out any sounds that escaped you.

Bag in hand that was full of a few necessities and a small photo of you and Howl, you stopped to stare at Howl’s bedroom door for a minute.

Loving him hurt- but it wasn't something you regretted. If only things were different, maybe it would've been better. Such a false sense of hope.

Howl seemed happier with Sophie- even Calcifer and Markl were happier.

You weren't needed anymore.

So without a single thought, you turned on your heels and climbed out the hallway window to avoid Calcifer knowing.

Landing on the muddy ground below with a let thump, you looked at what used to be your home one last time, thoughts racing a thousand miles per second. You didn't want to stay and be reminded of how much happier everyone was without you.

So you left, the rain being your only company as you sobbed into the night.

[rendy-a]

Aha, requests are open, aha. How would Leona, Azul, and Kalim deal with a secret admirer that often sends them flowers with special (often romantic *cough cough*) meanings? :DD I'm really interested on reading your take on this~

I was really excited for this request but somehow, I kept getting writer’s block when doing it.  I finally have it ready!  Hope you enjoy it.  Thanks for requesting!

A Blooming Romance

Apple blossom and daisy: I prefer you before all, a loyal love

One day, Leona returns to his dorm room to find a small vase left on the table in his room.  It had a mixture of white flowers and looked out of place among the manly décor of Savanahclaw.  He considers its purpose, immediately rejecting having been put there by Ruggie.  The hyena would not bestir himself for something as frivolous as flowers, especially if there was no benefit to himself.  Honestly though, Leona hardly cares.  It was pointless to waste time on thinking of such things, so he merely draped himself on the bed and took his usual nap, giving them no more thought. 

When the apple blossoms started losing petals and the daisies dropping, Leona regarded them with a certain amount of cynical satisfaction.  What was the point of such things when they’d only wilt alone, without any chance to achieve their potential of seeding and creating a new generation of blooms.  Life’s not fair, is it?

Only, the flowers continued to arrive.  He returned one day to see, not the dropping and discarded blooms, but a fresh bouquet gracing the vase.  He frowned to view it, taking afront at the challenge to his depressing outlook.  As though someone cared.  Well surprise, now Leona cares enough to put effort into discovering the identity of the mystery sender.    

He figures out you are behind it really fast, once he has decided to try.  One, he has a great sense of smell and can pick up the lingering scent of flowers on you.  Two, he practically lives in the botanical garden, so he’s probably heard you picking flowers there a time or two.  Come on Prefect, at least try to make this a challenge for him.

He questions the meaning frequently.  Not that he doesn’t know the language of flowers because, as a royal, he is familiar with the use of flowers to convey meaning.  He has had education into such things from a young age, so he can be wary of accepting gifts with hidden strings or imparting unintended meanings into political spheres with a carelessly chosen gift.  So, he knows what they could mean only, to you��what do they mean?  Surely not what they seem, not for a second prince like him.  But why does he still hope…

If you don’t say anything, neither will he.  He is comfortable with the relationship you have and doesn’t want to make it complicated if you aren’t wanting to go there.  He has had a lot of disappointment in life and really doesn’t want to risk more.  He lets himself daydream about it a little bit though.

You stumble onto the path in the botanical gardens, nearly tripping over Leona.  You carefully pat your bag, where a bouquet rests (thankfully undamaged), hidden inside.  You wonder if you have a chance at slipping away unnoticed, not trusting yourself to keep your secret concealed from the sharp beastman.  However, your contemplation is cut short when Leona cracks open an eye.  After a moment of silence, he says, “Well?  Are you laying down or not?”  You realize you can’t just walk away now without rousing suspicion, so you set your bag carefully aside and lay down next to Leona to settle in for a nap. 

You pull your bag tight into yourself, hoping to keep it safe from harm (and prying eyes) while you nap.  Leona sees the gesture and says, “If you’re cold, you should come closer.  Don’t expect me to take care of you later if you get sick.”  You nervously slide closer to the lion beastman, until you can feel the warmth radiating from his side.  You hope your extremely flustered state isn’t obvious to your crush and lay waiting, dreading to hear some comment or jibe indicating he has noticed your foolish behavior.  You are so focused on your own apprehensions that you miss when he softly lays his tail over one of your legs, curling it slightly around as if to say, ‘this one is mine.’

A red carnation means love, pride, and admiration

When Azul returns from club activities and finds a bouquet tied with string sitting on his desk in the VIP room, his first reaction is to panic.  Who was in here and what did they see?  He sits at the desk and pulls up the security camera feed on his phone app.  A shadow spirit was not what he expected.  This variety, Azul knows, is connected to Sam’s Mystery Shop.  As a fellow businessman, Sam will engage in any business for the right price, even flower delivery.  However, that means the flower bouquet could reasonably be from anyone for any number of purposes.  Rather than being satisfied at finding the office intruder, Azul feels instead overwhelmed with questions.

Azul has never received flowers before, nor is he particularly informed on popular romance trends, so he is left unaware of the bouquet’s meaning.  Is this some land-dweller custom?  If Sam is involved, could it be tied to some business opportunity?  He really has no idea what this means but he does know what to do about that, research.

Azul goes to the library to research flower bouquets and customs related to receiving one.  That leads him to researching flower language and...  He bursts into the lounge, making a beeline for his VIP room.  He sequesters himself in there with a book on flower language, getting more and more flustered as he finds the meanings to the flowers.  Love…admiration…pride… and these were chosen for him?  You now have one very flustered octomer sitting on the couch, gazing at the bouquet and kicking his feet wildly like a schoolgirl.

While before he was merely curious as to the sender and possible business opportunities, Azul very quickly becomes quite obsessed with discovering his mystery admirer.  He does a complete investigation into the sender.  Your desire to continue sending your crush flowers does you in.  While Sam is as tight-lipped about your identity as you’d hoped, Azul arranges for Idia to pull security footage of the area outside the Mystery Shop.  After combing through countless hours of footage, a list of suspects is made based on patterns of who is visiting the Mystery Shop around the dates of delivery.  Now all that is left is to send Jade and Floyd to follow the suspects for confirmation.

When Jade and Floyd start following you, a sense of dread falls to the pit of your stomach.  You’ve taken this secret admirer thing too far.  You felt that your heart could more easily handle a rejection from Azul than being in a constant state of terror from being stalked by the Leech brothers, so you gathered your courage and decided it was time to confess in person.

When you arrive at Monstro Lounge and request a private conversation with Azul, you receive a very creepy laugh from Floyd and an even creepier smile from Jade.  “I believe that can be arranged, Prefect.” Jade tells you and leads you to the VIP room.  Oddly enough, Jade doesn’t even inform Azul that you’ve arrived; he merely opens the door for you and gestures for you to enter.  You feel a sense of foreboding, this is almost too easy, but you enter anyway.

When you pass over the threshold and turn your gaze to the interior of the room, you notice that Azul isn’t sitting at his desk but is instead reviewing the contents of his safe.  When he hears someone enter, he says, “Is there a problem Jade?  I asked for some privacy.”  You feel unsure about being here now.  “Um, its only me.  Sorry?” you say timidly.  Azul’s head whips around to look at you.  He catches your gaze, and his eyes widen slightly as a slight flush rises to his cheeks.  You felt unsure if that was because of the awkward statement when you entered the room or other reasons.

“Oh…o..of course, Prefect,” Azul stammers, momentarily caught off-guard, “Do come in.” With a gesture, he indicates you should take a seat before turning to close the safe.  You do sit down but at the same time, something in the safe catches your eye before it fully closes.  Your first bouquet, tied with string, has been magically preserved and is being kept in the safe.  You remember cutting the flowers for that bouquet from the botanical garden and tying them together yourself with some string you found in Ramshackle.  After that first bouquet, Sam commented that he could easily take over that task, adding the flowers and arranging to your tab for a reasonable amount and you had agreed.  The subsequent bouquets had been more professionally done up with paper and ribbon, making that first heartfelt bouquet so recognizable.  And he’d kept it. 

In the time it takes for Azul to turn back around and sit himself across from you in his chair, your demeanor has undergone a remarkable change.  You feel a confidence you hadn’t had before, and your smile is a bright indication of this.  Azul has a good idea of why you are here, having narrowed down the list of suspects greatly, but his own inexperience with romance has made him uncharacteristically timid.   What will he do if this is all just some joke to you, another cruel taunt added to the string of harsh incidents that make up his life.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight, Prefect?” Azul asks cautiously.  You smile back at him.  “Where those flowers I saw in there?  Must be pretty important to keep them locked up in there.”  Azul’s eyes widen and he stutters back at you, “N.n.no!  Its j.just…nothing.  It’s nothing.”  At his reaction, you know Azul indeed feels something connected to the flowers.  You feel your confidence welling up and boldly stand and approach Azul where he sits behind his desk. 

“You know, flowers have meanings.  Are you curious about those?  I could tell you some things, if you want.”  Azul looks a strange mix of nervous and hopeful as he asks, “What do you intend to get in exchange for that information?"  You place one hand on the arm of his chair and reply, “Oh not much, I’d just like to tell you in my own way.  Is that alright?”  Instead of speaking, Azul gives you a curt nod.  You smile and swivel his chair before sitting in his lap.  Azul’s composure entirely dissolves as you smile lovingly at him and declare, “They mean pride, admiration and,” you lean closer to whisper the last word in his ear, “love.”  You sit there, enjoying the way Azul blushes and raises his hand to hide behind as he observes you from between his splayed digits.  What you don’t realize is he is using this time to plan a contract for you, one that will keep you by his side.  Before the night is out, he is determined that you’ll be agreeing, It’s a Deal!

Red tulip: I declare my affection for you

Kalim is an open person, inviting many people to visit him at Scarabia.  So, he is not at all phased to see you in the lounge one morning, standing near a vase of fresh red tulips.  When you startle at the sight of him and nervously look at the flowers, having been caught red-handed in your secret delivery, Kalim only gives you a hearty laugh. “Ah hah hah!  Aren’t flowers the greatest!  Next time, I’ll have to show you the flowers at my family’s home!  We’ll have a big banquet in the garden to celebrate!”  He then continues on his morning routine of visiting the magic carpet in his treasure chamber.  Jamil trails after him, turning briefly to give you a highly amused look before disappearing behind Kalim.

Kalim is clueless as to your gift and intention.  He doesn’t mean to be!  Its just that he has fresh flowers around all the time, so he doesn’t notice that those specific flowers are a gift from you.  Perhaps you prefer it that way?  If not, you’ll have to be more direct!  There is still time before classes; pull Kalim aside and tell him the flowers are a gift.

Your talk doesn’t go as planned.  Even after you directly tell him the flowers are a gift from you, he doesn’t connect it with romance at all.  He just thinks is a really nice gesture from a really nice friend.  Jamil knows though.  He knows about your crush and the flower’s meaning and everything.  Just look at the way he laughs silently at you behind lidded eyes, he knows.

You have two options here; just directly confess or get Jamil on your side.  If you can convince Jamil you are harmless, he might even help you out.  If you start dating, then Kalim is your problem for at least part of the day.  Actually, time to himself sounds rather nice.  Once you depart from Scarabia, Jamil begrudgingly talks to Kalim about the bouquet.

You hear a knock on the front door and head to open it.  You don’t often have visitors at Ramshackle, leaving you to wonder who it might be.  When you open the door, you are tackled into a hug by Kalim.  “Ah hah hah!  There you are, Prefect!  I’ve been looking all over for you.”  You are taken aback by his sudden appearance.  After the disaster of your near confession this morning, you weren’t expecting to see Kalim any time soon, let alone before lunch on the same day. 

“Ah, Kalim,” you bashfully say as you gently return his greeting hug. “Umm, what brings you here?”  He pulls back enough to look at you, flashing a bright smile.  “Jamil explained it all to me.  I never knew you liked to arrange flowers!  That’s so great!”  You realize he’s missed the point of the bouquet again and give him an awkward grin.  “Well, you know…its good to have hobbies?”  Kalim nods his head enthusiastically, as though that was a great point of wisdom being bestowed upon him.  “I know!  Jamil even said so too!  In fact, he told me that I should invite you to lunch at Scarabia to tell me more about it!”  Jamil, that snake.

You arrive in Scarabia, having been coaxed and dragged along by Kalim.  You weren’t sure if you were ready to face your embarrassment from this morning again, but Kalim was so excited to hear more about flowers that you found you couldn’t refuse him.  Lunch is being served when you arrive, curtesy of Jamil.  A variety of Scalding Sand’s dishes are arranged on a table, using your flower vase as a centerpiece.  Before he leaves you two alone, Jamil pauses to say, “I’ll expect you to watch over Kalim until lunch ends.  I’m sure you can handle that, correct?”  You give him a firm nod and Jamil seems skeptical but still departs.

Once alone, Kalim keeps up a chain of conversation.  He talks about the food, the weather, classes; an array of random topics but each one discussed joyfully and enthusiastically.  Finally, he seems to settle his eyes upon your flowers, and he recalls the reason for your visit.  “Oh, Prefect!  I nearly forgot about the flowers!”  You jump and gaze upon the flowers, having forgotten them yourself.  “Ah well,” you begin, feeling a heat rising on your face, “these ones are a symbol of affection.  That you want to spend more time with someone special to you.” 

Kalim beams at you before declaring that he’d love to spend more time with you too!  You’ll have to come over to Scarabia more often.  In fact, he’ll invite everyone and you’ll have the most amazing party!  Ultimately, you are left unsure as to whether Kalim has really understood the situation.  However, when Kalim stands, throws an arm around you, and leads you to the mirror; you decide it doesn’t really matter.  You’ve achieved your goal, to spend more time with your crush.  The rest can take its time.  Even flowers know how to wait for their season.

[deliciousangelfestival]

Let Me Love You | 3 - B. Barnes

Character: college!Bucky x Female!Reader

Summary: On a mysterious, rainy night, Bucky witnesses a distressing encounter involving his crush.

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 , -

Main Masterlist || support: Ko-fi

Thank you to everyone who has read this chapter. What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment; I'd love to hear your feedback. Thank you once again.

You and Bucky sprinted away from Lloyd, hearts pounding in sync with the rhythm of your hurried steps, the adrenaline coursing through your veins dulling the ache of exhaustion.

Pausing to catch your breath, Bucky turned to you, concern etched on his face as he asked, "Are you okay?" Your response was worn as you admitted, "No, I'm not okay. I'm exhausted. I just want to go home and hide under my blanket."

Ever the caring friend, Bucky offered to drive you back to your apartment, a gesture that elicited a heartfelt "Thank you, Bucky" from your lips.

Upon arriving at your apartment, after Bucky had kindly dropped you off, the sound of a knock on your door sent a shiver down your spine.

'Knock,Knock,'

Fear gripped you, your mind racing with thoughts of Lloyd's relentless pursuit. However, to your immense relief, Bucky stood on the other side of the door.

Returning with a thoughtful gesture, he handed you something, saying, "For you. Good food could make you feel better." Before you could utter a word of gratitude, he swiftly turned and disappeared, leaving you standing there with a mix of emotions swirling inside you.

You carefully examined what was inside the plastic, finding a comforting sight—a steaming bowl of chicken soup. Gratitude washed over you as you realized how much you needed this warmth to soothe your empty stomach.

Recalling past instances, you couldn't help but contrast Bucky's thoughtful gesture with Lloyd's indifference; he never once checked on you when you were sick. Shaking your head, you pushed those memories aside, recognizing that they belonged to a time that was now behind you.

After luxuriating in a revitalizing shower to refresh yourself, you set about warming up the soup, eager to savor its nourishing goodness.

As you took the first sip, you felt the dizziness that had plagued you begin to dissipate, replaced by a comforting sense of relief. You made a mental note to express your gratitude to Bucky again the next time you crossed paths with him.

Just as you settled down to enjoy your meal, the shrill ring of your phone pierced the air, signaling an incoming call from your mother.

'Ring'

Setting down the soup spoon, you take a moment to sip the warm water, gathering yourself before answering the incoming call. With a deep breath, you bring the phone to your ear and utter a tentative, "Hello?"

On the other end, your mother's voice, Cecilia, sounds immediately concerned, "Don't tell me it's true you broke up with Lloyd?"

You let out a weary sigh, not wanting this breakup to escalate further, especially given your mother's fondness for Lloyd. "Yes, it's true."

Cecilia's tone turns to disapprove, "How? And Why? Don't let him get away, he's our golden ticket to get out from this town."

Your headache, which had just subsided, returns with a vengeance at her words. "Mom, he cheated on me."

Cecilia brushes off your concerns, "So? It's normal for a man with a bright future like him to have many women chasing him. You should've turned a blind eye. I heard from Lloyd's mother that a coach from the NFL league is recruiting him."

You exhale heavily, frustration bubbling up inside you. "I've worked tirelessly and studied hard to maintain my scholarship. I don't have time to watch whatever Lloyd does behind my back."

Cecilia's tone takes on a hint of resentment, "Oh, I see. Just because you became a St. Louis student, you think you're better?"

"That's not what I meant," you interject, feeling the conversation spiraling out of control. "You know what? I don't have time for this. Goodbye, Mom."

With that, you end the call and power off your phone, feeling drained. Glancing at the now unappetizing soup, you realize you just want to retreat into the solace of sleep.

The next day, with no classes scheduled, you requested a morning shift at work, preferring to avoid staying at your apartment to prevent any unexpected visits from Lloyd.

Today, you find yourself assuming the role of kitchen manager, a position you've earned through over a year of dedicated work, earning the trust of your manager. With the usual kitchen manager on leave due to health reasons, you've been tasked with overseeing operations for the day.

As you busy yourself assisting the cashier, your attention is drawn to the entrance by the familiar sight of Bucky and his two friends strolling in. Steve's grumbling about hunger prompts Bucky to suggest a visit to WHAM Burger, their usual haunt. Bucky insists on the visit rather than opting for delivery, eager for the chance to see you.

Welcoming them warmly, you greet them with a smile. "Welcome to WHAM Burger. What would you like to order?"

Observing your tired demeanor, Bucky admires your resilience and spirit. "Three cheeseburgers, three orders of fries, and three Cokes, please."

"Alright," you reply, masking your fatigue with determination. "You guys can take a seat, and I'll bring it over to your table."

As they settle in at their table, Bucky notices you approaching with their meals. However, his attention is caught by the unexpected addition of 12 chicken nuggets on the tray. "Y/N, we didn't order these," he points out.

You wink playfully at him, a gesture of gratitude. "My treat. Thank you for your help yesterday, Bucky."

Bucky can feel his cheeks flushing as Sam, seated beside him, notices and flicks his ear.

"Ouch," Bucky exclaims, rubbing his ear sheepishly.

Your laughter rings out at Bucky's reaction, adding a lightness to the atmosphere.

The light atmosphere in the restaurant swiftly turned dark as Lloyd, accompanied by Nicky and the rest of the football team, entered the establishment. A smirk adorned Nicky's face, her presence feeling like a taunt as she appeared to flaunt her newfound proximity to Lloyd.

Lloyd's casual remark did little to ease the tension as he addressed you, "Don't mind us, we just came here for a quick breakfast."

With a flourish, Nicky produced her black credit card, offering to foot the bill, "My treat." The football team erupted into cheers at the prospect.

Lloyd, with a smile playing on his lips, added, "Great, and we could use Y/N's employee discount."

Nicky's gaze shifted to you expectantly, awaiting your confirmation "Really?"

Raising an eyebrow, you couldn't believe the audacity of the situation. "That discount only applies to me," you retorted firmly. Working here, you've always utilized the employee discount, which Lloyd had benefited from in the past.

But to expect it for a party of 24 people? That was pushing it. You knew that allowing such a large discount would likely result in repercussions from your manager, perhaps even costing you your job.

You felt the weight of 24 pairs of eyes bearing down on you, and under their collective gaze, you couldn't help but feel small. Even the manager's expectant look added to the pressure.

Then, a comforting hand gently grasped your arm, and you turned to see Bucky standing beside you. His reassuring nod gave you a sense of calm amidst the chaos, "It's gonna be alright."

"Huh?" you uttered in confusion.

As Lloyd crossed his arms, his disapproval evident, he glanced between you and Bucky with a dismissive "Tsk," unable to comprehend your choice.

However, before you could respond, the manager, Thesa, intervened. With a professional smile, she addressed the football team, acknowledging their presence with gratitude.

"Thank you for coming to WHAM Burger, our football champions. It's an honor to have you here. As a token of our appreciation, today's order will be on us."

The unexpected gesture elicited cheers from everyone, except Nicky, whose opportunity to embarrass you had been thwarted.

Feeling a wave of relief wash over you, you couldn't help but feel fortunate for the turn of events, even if you weren't entirely sure what had transpired.

Thesa's call snapped your attention, and you nodded in response. "Sure," you agreed before casting a quick glance at Bucky. "I'm needed in the kitchen. See you guys at the uni." With that, you hurriedly made your way to the kitchen, leaving the dining area behind.

As you scurried off, Bucky watched your retreating figure, a sense of concern etched on his features. However, his attention was soon diverted when he felt a gaze burning into him. Turning, he found himself locking eyes with Lloyd, who radiated hostility.

Beside him, Steve noticed the tension and issued a warning. "You better watch out, punk."

Bucky simply nodded in acknowledgment. "I know," he replied, his tone resolute.

Sam, ever observant, chimed in with a question. "Did you help Y/N just now?"

Before Bucky could respond, Steve jumped in. "Of course, he did. He can't let his crush get bullied like that."

The word 'bullied' lingered in Bucky's mind, igniting a protective instinct within him. He vowed silently to ensure you never experienced such treatment, especially not within his domain.

Indeed, while only a few people on campus knew, within WHAM Burger, everyone was aware that Bucky Barnes was the son of the owner of this famous food chain restaurant.

Yet, despite the recognition that came with his lineage, Bucky remained grounded and humble, striving to earn his place through hard work and dedication rather than relying solely on his family name.

And now, upon discovering that his number one girl is being underestimated like this, Bucky feels compelled to protect her.

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Author Note:

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[mishwanders]

• Twilight • Sunsets •

Summary: Twilight surprises you with a ride through the forest to a little spot he’d picked out just for you.

Characters: Lu Twilight x GN!Reader

Warnings + AN: none, safe for everyone. Written by Mishwanders. Pls do not repost. Reblogs are appreciated though! @xxbuttercup and @wayfayrr have been filling my head with ideas lmao. Thanks for helping me break the writing drought!

“Come on, darling. I’ve got something to show ya.”

Twilight held his hand out to you from his position seated atop Epona. He’d been out patrolling the area while the rest of the chain were setting up for camp late that afternoon and it seemed he’d found something he thought was worthwhile.

You obliged him, placing a foot in the stirrup and a hand in his as he pulled you up to the saddle. He kept a hand on the reign, wrapping an arm around your waist. He reassured you that it was “just to keep you secure”, but with the playful smile lingering on his lips and the gentle yet firm placement of his hand on your hip, you knew he was enjoying the moment to have you close to him.

Epona then turned on his command and trotted through the dimly lit forest to the mysterious destination away from camp. Your mind wandered in curiosity to what he’d found, what he thought was so important to show you. The answer soon came to you when they brought you to a clearing at the cliffs edge.

The sky looked as if it were a painting with its vast array of purples, blues, pinks, and orange with drops of white stars settling into it, on the canvas of it all as dusk settled over Hyrule.

“It’s beautiful.” You admitted softly, eyes still turned upward at the sky in awe.

Twilight smiled at your words, replying, “You’re not wrong about that sweetheart.”

He leaned in to you, wrapped both his arms around you now, pulling you closer as he rested his head on your shoulder. You could have sworn you felt his heart beat racing faster in his chest as you leaned back against him and into the embrace.

It was nice moment, romantic even as you both stayed there in comfortable silence, watching the sun slowly descend down, revealing more stars. You couldn’t help but take subtle glances at him, admiring his handsome features in the soft light. The name Twilight was befitting of him, for he looked like he belonged here in this moment.

But you could tell something was lingering in his mind as he looked out over the horizon. His brows furrowed slightly, jaw tightened, indicating he was lost in thought.

You hand up to his arm, gently thumbing it to soothe him. “You alright?”

Twilight snapped out of his pensive thoughts, returning your question with a soft smile. “Yeah. I’m just thinkin’.”

“About?”

“About how this time of day used to make me feel lonely after everything I’ve been through.”

“Feeling a bit melancholy?” You asked, growing concerned.

He chuckled, nuzzling into your neck as he murmured, “Not even in the slightest.”

You laughed at the ticklish sensation, gently swatting his arm around your waist. Your reaction spurred him further, leading him to trail kisses up your neck, along the edge of your jaw, all the way to your heated cheek.

“Mmm, but you do make moments like this all the better.” He admitted, “It’s nice getting to watch a sunset with someone special.”

You turned your head towards him, surprising him with a kiss of your own. “I agree. It’s nice to just get to see it all like this. Do you think after this whole trip is over, that we might be able to do this back home?”

His smile beamed at the mention of home, the thought of it with you by his side caused his stomach to stir in gleeful anticipation for such a day.

Twilight kissed you back, his arms squeezing you closer to him as he replied, “I’d love that.”

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Love Game - Hangman and ?

Pairing: Hangman / Fem! Reader (Glitch) (Unrequited); Hangman / OC (Haley); Fem!Reader (Glitch) / Mystery Dagger

Word Count: 3.5k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only

Warnings: Unrequited Love; Angst; Emotional Angst; One-Sided Relationship; ‘He’s in Love with Someone Else’ Trope; Female Reader with a Callsign (Glitch), No Y/N, No Physical Description, Third Person POV; No Physical Description of any OCs

Summary: Glitch has been in love with Hangman for years but he’s getting married to another woman.

Master List

“I’m getting married.”

Glitch froze in her seat, staring at Hangman with wide eyes. When Hangman said that he wanted to take them out for drinks for some special announcement, she assumed that he got a promotion or something like that. Marriage? Hangman was getting married?

Beside Glitch, Coyote was similarly shocked, but he seemed to snap out of his stupor first.

“Congrats, man,” Coyote stated, clapping Hangman on the shoulder. “We’re so happy for you.”

Coyote smiled, though he was shooting worried glances out of the corner of his eye in Glitch’s direction. Why? Because Coyote knew that Glitch may or may not have been slightly—read: heavily—in love with Hangman. When Glitch didn’t speak, Coyote moved to fill the silence again.

“So, how did you propose?”

“I did it on the beach. In front of the sunset. There was a whole bunch of people mingling around and she, of course, said yes, and they all started clapping and everything,” Hangman explained proudly, his usual proud disposition shining through. “And hell, she gave me one hell of a kiss out there.”

“You’re getting married?” Glitch asked Hangman quietly, like she was stuck in the past five minutes.

“Yeah, Glitch, I’m getting married,” Hangman laughed, nudging her with his elbow. Noting the lack of color on Glitch’s face, Hangman leaned over a little bit more towards her with a suddenly serious expression. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I think I just . . . ate too much dairy this morning,” Glitch lied pathetically, trying to compose herself. Shifting in her seat, she turned back to Hangman. “You’ve known her for what? Six months? And for half of that, we were all deployed. Are you really sure that this is a good idea? I mean, has she even met most of your whole family? Have you met most of hers?”

“You’re the one who told me that when you know, you know,” Jake reminded Glitch, taking a casual sip from his beer and missing her wince. “And I feel it in my heart that Haley’s the one for me. I know it’s a little fast, but we can catch up on steps later on down the line.”

“Okay,” Glitch replied softly, nodding along, and forcing a smile. “Then, I’m really happy for you, Jake.”

“I knew you’d come around,” Hangman mused, nudging Glitch in the side. “Hey, why don’t I buy us another round? And actually celebrate?”

Hangman walked off to the bar, leaving Coyote and Glitch by themselves at the table. Glitch reached for her beer that she had barely taken a sip from and slowly tipped it towards her lips. Coyote watched her with concern as she proceeded to chug the beer down to the last drop, never once slowing down. Setting the empty bottle down on the table, Glitch turned to look over at Coyote.

“Don’t feel bad for me, Javy,” she whispered, covering her mouth as a burp forced its way up. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Coyote asked, gesturing to her now empty beer.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s not like he was mine to lose in the first place,” Glitch muttered bitterly, dropping her head again.

“Hey, I forgot to ask, but did you guys want to be in the wedding party?” Hangman asked, walking back over with three cold beers. “Coyote, you’re my first pick for best man.”

“I’d be offended if I wasn’t,” Coyote stated with a smirk and nod.

“And, Glitch, Haley was wondering if you’d be one of her bridesmaids,” Hangman offered to Glitch, who had to force a smile even though she felt like she was dying on the inside. “You know, since you’re like the only woman that I’m not related to that has managed to put up with me for so long.”

“I’d be honored,” Glitch replied, forcing another smile. “Thanks, Hangman.”

“Anytime.”

~~~~~

Glitch stayed to the back of the group as they walked around the wedding shop. Haley, Hangman’s fiancée, and two of her friends invited Glitch along to help them pick out wedding invitations and the other small details that Jake said he didn’t need to be consulted on. He even said that with Glitch there, his opinion was represented well enough be.

Glitch walked around the store, staying close enough to Haley and her friends to hear their conversation, but far enough away that she wasn’t concerned with how loud her thoughts were. A salesperson approached Haley and started asking all kinds of questions about the wedding, Jake, and everything else in between.

Glitch stopped in front of a simple invitation and picked it up. Running her finger down the thick paper and smiling to herself at the simple joke on the card that she knew Jake would love, Glitch flipped it over to read the back of the invitation.

“Do you like that one, Glitch?” Haley asked, walking over to where Glitch was standing.

“Oh, yeah, I guess.” Handing it over to Haley, Glitch fiddled nervously with her purse. “I saw the joke and thought that Jake would find it hilarious.”

“Really?” Haley questioned, not sounding at all rude, just surprised. A little more surprised than the woman who was marrying Jake in a few short months should have been, but it wasn’t Glitch’s place to notice that. “I really do like the font though. And this little part here, that’s so cute.”

“We have ribbon that matches the color scheme that you were considering,” the salesperson spoke up, walking over to them.

“Perfect! Thank you! I’ll take a hundred fifty, please,” Haley stated, handing the invitation over to the salesperson. “And thanks for the find, Glitch.”

“Of course,” Glitch breathed out, trying to keep her voice level. “Anytime.”

~~~~~

They went to pick out flowers next and Glitch tried to just stay out of the way. She didn’t want to overstep and start telling Haley what she knew that Jake would like. She was just here for additional support, and so, she would just trail behind Haley and her friends.

“Ooh, what if I added some of these to the bouquets?” Haley suggested, picking up some baby’s breath. “That would complete them perfectly!”

“That looks amazing, Haley,” one of her friends added, nodding along supportively.

“Um,” Glitch spoke up softly, causing Haley and her friends to turn around. “They look beautiful, Haley, they really do. But . . . Jake’s allergic to baby’s breath. They make him sneeze like crazy.”

“Oh, shit, you’re right,” Haley gasped, dropping the baby’s breath back into the container that she plucked it from. “Good catch, Glitch!”

“Of course,” Glitch replied quietly, folding her hands in front of her. “I think that they look beautiful with the other flowers that you picked out.”

“Yeah, let’s not overcomplicate it,” one of Haley’s friends agreed, inspecting the bouquet that they already put together.

“Great! Let’s get them ordered and grab a drink!” Haley suggested peppily, grabbing the bouquet.

Silently trailing behind Haley and her friends, Glitch studied the flowers in the pots lining the store. Stopping in front of a collection of daisies, Glitch remembered the stories that Jake would tell her about how his dad always brought his mom daisies and how the flowers were always found around the Seresin house on special occasions.

Glitch gently suggested them, but Haley and her friends went in a different direction. And that was fine. It was Haley’s wedding and Jake didn’t show up to tell her about the daisies, so Glitch would leave it be. Squatting down at bit, Glitch inspected the delicate petals of one of the daisies.

She always thought that the daises would look beautiful as part of a flower crown. Perhaps as a headpiece for a bride. Something simple and natural, but yet so beautiful and delicate that would compliment the white of her veil and dress.

“Glitch, you coming?” Haley called, breaking Glitch out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry. I’ll be right there,” Glitch apologized, straightening up. And with one last glance back at the daisies, Glitch followed after Haley and her friends.

~~~~~

“Are you sure that you’re going to be alright?” Phoenix asked Glitch worriedly.

It was the rehearsal dinner before Hangman and Haley’s wedding and Phoenix and Glitch had taken up residence at the bar in the restaurant, away from the mess in the other room. No one had come looking for them yet and Glitch wasn’t going to move until someone did.

“I’m fine, Nix,” Glitch sighed, reaching for her drink. “I . . . I just . . . there’s a reason why grown adults shouldn’t get caught up in fairytales. Life isn’t a romcom.”

“Still, you’re allowed to be a little upset about it,” Phoenix stated, tapping her fingers on the bar top. “Hell, without you, there were a lot times that Hangman would have definitely fallen apart. And you’re one of about three people that he actually listens to.”

“I know,” Glitch replied softly, sipping at her drink. “Doesn’t change anything, though.”

“There you guys are,” Rooster huffed, walking over to them. “You left me to fend for myself!”

“You’re a big boy. You can handle yourself,” Phoenix mused, shaking her head at Rooster. “What? Can’t fend off two bridesmaids?”

“Not with their claws,” Rooster muttered, mocking the long nails that some of the bridesmaids got for the occasion. Shaking his head, Rooster’s expression softened as he turned to Glitch. “How’re you holding up?”

“I’m fine, okay? Would everyone stop asking me how I’m doing? The answer is fine,” Glitch groaned, dropping her head for a moment.

“Look, Hangman’s just blind,” Rooster stated, flagging down the bartender to order a beer. Turning back to Glitch, he leaned on the bar with a suggestive smirk. “But if you really want to get back at him, just call me. We can make out in the middle of the dance floor.”

“Oh, Rooster, you know just the right thing to say to make a girl feel better,” Glitch cooed sarcastically, patting him on the cheek. “But I’m all set.”

“Well, if I’m not to your taste, I’m sure that we can find someone else at this wedding who is,” Rooster stated, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m fine, Rooster. Don’t worry about me,” Glitch insisted, leaning back. “He’s getting married. That’s it. There’s nothing else to say or do about it.”  

“Except move on,” Phoenix pointed out, earning a nod from Rooster.

“Yeah,” Glitch murmured, lost in her thoughts. “It’s time to move on.”

~~~~~

“I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!” the officiant proclaimed loudly.

Standing at the end of the line of bridesmaids, Glitch clapped along with the crowd as Hangman and Haley shared their first kiss as a married couple. Letting out a breath, she let the tension leave her body as she watched Jake and Haley walk down the aisle hand in hand.

The rest of the guests, including most of the Daggers save for Coyote and Glitch, moved onto the reception hall for cocktail hour while the wedding party headed for the outdoor set up for photos. Glitch smiled and posed for all of the photos that she was included in, itching to leave.

It wasn’t so much that she couldn’t emotionally stand to see Jake and Haley kissing and hugging and frolicking in that newly wed bliss. But more that she was itching to step forward. To step away from it. She didn’t really belong there with Haley’s friends. And that was fine. She didn’t need to. She was there to support Jake and she did it.

Now, she wanted to move on.

“Are you okay?” Coyote whispered to Glitch as they shuffled around for another photo.

“I’m fine. Just ready to go,” Glitch replied, tugging on the fabric of her dress as it stuck to her sweaty skin. “It’s hot as hell out here.”

After a few more snaps, the extended wedding party was released. Everyone got in a file and congratulated the couple before heading off to their cars. Glitch pulled up the end of the line and moved to greet Haley, but the bride beat her to it.

“Thank you so much for being apart of this!” Haley told Glitch, pulling her in for a tight hug. “I couldn’t have done it without all your help!”

“Anytime,” Glitch assured Haley, hugging her back briefly. “Congratulations.”

Haley released Glitch and moved to talk to one of her friends, letting Glitch move onto Jake, who shot her that same look that used to make her heart flutter out of her chest. And Glitch would have been lying to herself if she said that he still didn’t have some kind of effect on her. But she didn’t want to be that mopey, whiny girl who didn’t get the dream guy.

She wanted to leave with her head held high, friendship intact, and peace in her heart.

“Congrats, Jake,” she breathed out before he moved forward and pulled her up into a tight hug. Laughing as he lifted her off the ground briefly, Glitch hugged him back. “I’m happy for you.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you,” Jake replied, setting her back on the ground. “Really, Glitch.”

“I know,” she returned confidently, causing Jake to chuckle. “You take good care of her, Jake.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he promised, giving you a mock salute.

“Good,” Glitch responded, taking a deep breath. “I’ll see you at the reception then?”

“I’ll be there,” Jake promised with a nod before they parted ways.

Turning for the parking lot, Glitch let out the breath that she had been holding in for what felt like the whole day. It was over. Hangman was married to Haley. And that was it. It was time to move on. To move forward. With a smile creeping up her lips, Glitch strode down the hill with far less weight on her shoulders than were there when she arrived.

Glitch walked into the reception hall and made a beeline towards the bar, where the Dagger Squad were gathered. They quickly turned around and greeted her, welcoming her into the fold of support that she knew she would be lost without.

“Hell, I need a drink,” Glitch groaned jokingly, hopping up onto one of the barstools.

“Way ahead of you,” Fanboy stated, sliding her go-to drink across the bar top. “And we saved you some of these too.”

Glitch let out a thankful laugh and slid the small plate that Fanboy offered to her over along with her drink. There were some perks to being there when most of the decisions were made—she got to make sure that the food that she wanted to eat was actually at the wedding. Picking up one of the appetizers from the cocktail hour, Glitch shot Fanboy a smile.

“You’re a lifesaver, Fanboy,” she praised, moving to catch up on the food and drinks she missed.

“How are you doing??” Bob asked softly, sending Glitch a supportive expression.

“I’m doing good. Thanks for asking, Bob,” Glitch returned, reaching for her drink. “I’m just glad that it’s all wrapping up.”

“Well, we’re all here for you if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Bobby,” Glitch replied, nudging Bob with her shoulder. “You’re the best.

“Hey,” Payback reminded Glitch, causing her to turn to him. “This is a wedding. A decently sized wedding. You’re young, beautiful, and most importantly single. Go out and get someone who’ll spend the whole night with you.”

“I’ll try,” Glitch mused, genuinely touched that the whole Dagger Squad was worried about her. “And I think that today really brought me some closure, so I’m ready to have some real fun for the first time in a couple months.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Coyote cheered, walking over to the Daggers after returning from photo shoot. “Let’s have a drink on Hangman!”

The Dagger Squad, minus Hangman, hung out together for the rest of the night. They mingled with the other guests and danced around while enjoying the open bar. Feeling quite content, and decently buzzed, Glitch giggled at something that Payback said when Hangman approached them.

“Look who decided to finally acknowledge us,” Phoenix quipped, earning a playful look from Hangman.

“Hey, it’s my wedding. You have to be nice to me,” Hangman stated, coming to stop behind Glitch. “How’re you guys enjoying everything?” The Daggers all replied the typical polite responses to Hangman’s question before he turned to Glitch. “Can I talk to you?”

Glitch, sobering up a bit, nodded and set her drink down. The two of them excused themselves and walked through the room and out onto the balcony right outside of the venue. The doors were wide open, so everyone could see them, but it gave them some privacy to actually sit down and talk without fear of being overheard.

“What’s up?” Glitch asked, staring over at Hangman with concern.

“Nothing. Just . . . I wanted to thank you. Personally,” Hangman replied, speaking Glitch’s real name softly. “Really, I . . . I don’t know what I would have done without your help. What Haley would have done without your help with all of this.”

“Of course,” Glitch stated softly, resting her hands on the railing. “I’d do anything to help you out.”

“I know that. And I know that I haven’t always reciprocated it the best,” Hangman replied, causing Glitch to freeze for a moment. A bit of apprehension and tension pooled in her stomach as Hangman left her hanging briefly. “And I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I mean, when Haley told me that you picked out the invitations and stopped her from adding the baby’s breath . . . I never realized how good of a friend that you were to me. And I’m sorry that I didn’t notice it. Really, I am, Glitch.” 

“It’s okay,” Glitch returned softly.

“No, it’s really not,” Hangman stated firmly, causing Glitch to sober some more. “I really wasn’t the best friend to you. Not as good of one as I could have been. Hell, I’d have no idea what you would like at your wedding. And I’m really sorry, Glitch. And I want you to know that I’m really going to try and be a better friend to you going forward.”

“Water under the bridge,” Glitch returned, offering Hangman a small smile. “Let’s just move on.”

He returned it and offered his arms out for a hug. Glitch shot him a teasing look but let him pull her into a tight hug. She returned it and rested her head on his chest, soothing herself for a moment. But as soon as she was there, Glitch straightened up again. She wouldn’t let herself start down the rabbit hole. She was ending that. Tonight. Right then and there.

It was time to move on.

“Go. Be with your bride. I’ll be fine,” she told him, gesturing to the reception hall.

“Thanks, Glitch.”

Glitch watched Hangman reenter the reception hall and make his way over to Haley. Letting out a breath, she turned to stare out at the dark landscape. Letting the cool breeze blow back against her for a few moments, Glitch looked down to see a daisy on the ground. It must have fallen off of Jake, who had been carrying around a few earlier.

Leaning down, Glitch picked up the flower and studied it closely for a moment. She leaned back on the railing again and after a deep breath, she let it go. The flower blew a bit in the breeze before dropping into the darkness below. Gone.

“You alright?” a familiar voice called from behind Glitch, causing her to turn around.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Glitch assured them, straightening up with a small smile. “You didn’t have to come and check up on me, you know.”

“I know,” they returned, returning her smile. “What did Hangman want?”

“He just wanted to thank me for all my help over the years and . . . he apologized for not always being the best friend back. And we’re good. I’m good,” Glitch assured them, standing with more confidence and self-assurance than they had seen her in some time.

“I’m glad,” they returned kindly.

Glitch was about to say something else when she heard the new song echo from the speakers. Instantly perking up, Glitch let out a laugh.

“God, I love this song!”

“I know. Who do you think asked the DJ to play it?” they asked softly, causing Glitch to turn to them with wide eyes.

Unable to fight her smile, Glitch glanced down at the wooden deck before turning back to them. With a sparkle in her that hadn’t been there for some time, she held out a hand to them and tried to hold onto her composure.

“Well, aren’t you going to come dance with me?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“I thought you’d never ask,” they replied happily, taking her outstretched hand.

A.N. Who do you think that the Mystery Dagger is??? I wrote it with one in mind but decided to leave it open ended, so I’m curious who y’all interpret as the Mystery Dagger

[lurkingshan]

A Time Called You: A Great Reminder to Go Watch Someday or One Day 

This past weekend Netflix dropped a new kdrama called A Time Called You in its entirety, and I became particularly interested in watching it as soon as I realized what it was: the Korean remake of Someday or One Day I knew had been in the works for awhile. If you’re not familiar, Someday or One Day (SOOD) is a beloved 2019 Taiwanese drama that is widely considered to be among the best dramas the country has ever produced (there is also a 2022 film version of the story, but that’s less relevant to this post). Now, I love Korean dramas, and I know that countries remaking each other’s best shit is very common in the Asian media landscape, but I couldn’t help but feel protective of the original work and a bit resentful of the choice to adapt something that was so original and unique and specific and put that generic kdrama sheen on it. Taiwan has a small film industry, and this is one of its jewels. We didn’t need Korea’s take on it.

And having watched the adaptation in full now, I am feeling pretty justified in that initial feeling. Let me just say upfront: A Time Called You (ATCY) is a perfectly good drama with a solid cast and competent storytelling. Had I seen it absent the knowledge of what it was adapting, I probably would have liked it a lot. But I have already seen and loved Someday or One Day, so I feel compelled to break down why it is the better version of this tale, both for my fellow SOOD devotees who are wondering how this adaptation stacks up and for folks who have only seen the kdrama in the hopes that you’ll decide to watch the original. As usual, I did the most, so reader be advised that this is long (tagging @troubled-mind as promised and @smittenskitten because I saw you were looking for a comparison of the two dramas). TL; DR: if you liked ATCY, or have seen neither version and are wondering which to watch: go find Someday or One Day, because it’s an overall superior and more satisfying execution of the same story.

The Vibe

Let’s start here because it’s the most obvious and immediately striking thing as someone who has seen both versions. SOOD has a bit of a rough and unpolished feel, which makes it feel more grounded in reality (important when you are getting into fantasy elements like time travel but you still want the characters to feel like real people). We open our story in 1998 in a record shop with a young girl playing Last Dance by Wu Bai and China Blue, a 1996 mando pop rock ballad, and thus setting the tone—this will be a somewhat raw and bittersweet story about grief and hurt and longing that will invite us to wallow in our feelings. And that melancholic vibe stays throughout the drama, even in the explicitly happy scenes, because you are always aware that the joy you are seeing has already been lost. 

By contrast, ATCY feels… emotionally flat. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very faithful adaptation. The early episodes are practically a shot for shot remake of the original drama. But it’s too polished, too shiny. The filmmaking is bog standard kdrama fare; everything is soft focus and warmly lit and too beautiful and consequently nothing feels real. It feels right in line with the standard aesthetics of recent mainstream Korean dramas, and that choice undermines the emotional weight and grit of this story.

A great example of this can be seen in the way the two dramas handle the iconic scene where our female lead runs in the rain, looking back over her shoulder to smile in delight at the male lead before continuing on her way. This is a moment of realization for him about his feelings for her—one he will later immortalize in a painting that becomes part of the mystery of the past she is trying to unravel. In Someday or One Day, this scene takes place on a regular street, in the utterly mundane surroundings of their everyday lives as they walk home, and she runs down the middle of the road as puddles gather in the uneven pavement; in A Time Called Love, they are in a picturesque park for this scene, surrounded by green and encased within a grove of giant trees, and she runs right down the middle of a tree lane that looks like it came straight out of a fairytale. One story is very much about a love grounded in a reality we can recognize; the other is pure fantasy romance.

The Music 

I already mentioned the song that anchors the Taiwanese drama above. Last Dance is hugely important to the story, both thematically and as a plot device, and in its ability to set the mood and tone of the drama. 

The Korean remake similarly uses a real 1996 ballad as its main song and time travel mechanism: With My Tears by Seo Ji Won. And, uh, the vibe is a bit different. 

Discerning listeners might recognize this as one of the many classic love ballads performed by our favorite doctors by day, rock stars by night over on Hospital Playlist. It’s a perfectly fine song. But it sets quite a different tone for our story, doesn’t it? It also is meant to be a song that a teenage boy is hankering to listen to on cassette, and listen, I wasn’t living in Korea in 1996. I have no idea how culturally accurate that may be. I’m sure there were in fact baby Lee Ik Juns running around trying to get their hands on this cheesy love song. But the edgier sound of Last Dance definitely sounds more in line with something the teenage male lead would listen to and what the music is meant to convey. And frankly, since we hear this song about 30 times in the drama, it matters that Last Dance is just an objectively better song. 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because beyond the classic song each version chose to use as its centerpiece, there is also a stark difference in the quality and tone of each drama’s OSTs. Here is a compilation of the Someday or One Day tracks, including the utterly gorgeous main theme by Shi Shi. The music is hugely important in the Taiwanese drama and is used to set the mood as well as emphasize its themes, and the tracks feel specific to this story.

And here is a compilation of A Time Called You OSTs.

If you’re familiar with kdrama OSTs, you will recognize most of the artists on here, as well as some new covers of old songs. And again, the vibes are quite different. Whereas SOOD was very intentional and specific in its music choices, ATCY just sounds like every other kdrama. There is nothing on this tracklist that stands out or evokes the kind of feeling that the SOOD tracks do.

The Main Couple

The name and timeline situation in this show makes this section unnecessarily difficult, so let me just make a little reference sheet here: 

Someday or One Day

Alice Ke plays Yu Xuan (2019) and Yun Ru (1998)

Greg Hsu plays Quan Sheng (2019) and Zi Wei (1998)

A Time Called You

Jeon Yeo Been plays Jun Hee (2023) and Min Yu (1998)

Ahn Hyo Seop plays Yeun Jun (2023) and Si Heon (1998)

All of the actors here are seasoned and very good at their jobs, so I am not casting shade on any of them—they are executing their performances based on writing and directorial choices. But I cannot deny that the Taiwanese version of these characters are more compelling all around. In SOOD, the main characters have a real spark; despite the melancholic undertone of the story, there are moments of genuine joy and when they connect with each other, you feel why this bond is strong enough for them to find each other through time and despite all the trauma they endure. In ATCY, however, the characterizations are muted.

This is most evident in the difference between Quan Sheng/Zi Wei and Yeon Jun/Si Heon. Greg Hsu plays Zi Wei as magnetic, playful, mischievous, utterly lovable, and very intense about his feelings for his lady. He has a real joie de vivre about him that clearly brightens up Yu Xuan’s life considerably, and his devotion to her is not just shown, but deeply felt. Experiencing their memories, you understand immediately why Yu Xuan can’t move on from his death; he was the joyful, relaxed counterpoint to her more ambitious and serious personality. Si Heon, though? He is a nice dude and a generous partner and he is very good looking. But he doesn’t have the playfulness or the intensity that his Taiwanese counterpart does. His personality is just more moderate all around. One great example of this: upon discovering that he has traveled forward into the body of the person that would become Yu Xuan/Jun Hee’s boyfriend, Zi Wei (in Quan Sheng’s body now, are you still with me?) actively decides to find her, love her, and try to solve this time loop quagmire they are in; Si Heon (in Yeon Jun’s body) waits for a moment of fate to give him a sign, and only makes the decision to pursue Jun Hee after running into her by coincidence.

Similarly, Jun Hee is not quite as spunky and sassy as Yu Xuan and Min Yu is not as dark and awkward as Yun Ru; when Jun Hee travels to the past and takes up residence in Min Yu’s body, the differences between the two characters she is playing are not as evident. In SOOD, I could tell at a glance who is in Yun Ru’s body; in ATCY I need more context to be sure. Where Yun Ru had more of an edge, Min Yu simply reads very shy. It’s not as compelling. One scene that really stands out as an example of this: when Yun Ru is pretending to be Yu Xuan in 1998 and looks in the mirror to practice smiling, it looks downright creepy and sinister; when Min Yu is masquerading as Jun Hee and looks at herself in the mirror, she just looks awed and happy, if a bit awkward. It’s subtle, but it changes the way you feel about the characters. 

The difference in Jun Hee and Yeon Jun’s characterization also affects the couple chemistry, which is just not nearly as strong in ATCY. The characters are more muted and thus the expected sparks are more like smoldering embers. The relationship feels cozy and warm and nurturing, but it doesn’t feel vital. It doesn’t feel like the kind of relationship you would fight through time or break the rules of the universe to return to. I recall gasping or crying or laughing out loud throughout SOOD because I was constantly taken aback by Greg Hsu’s arresting presence and the chemistry he and Alice Ke generated was just emotionally riveting. When Yu Xuan told Zi Wei (as Quan Sheng) that they were officially together, that man literally jumped for joy and shouted out his love for her; Si Heon (as Yeon Jun) reacts to the same moment with a quiet smile and a hug. When Zi Wei saw Yu Xuan in Yun Ru’s body again in the finale, he knew instantly that it was her and the smile overtook his face as he reached for her; Si Heon initially called Min Ju’s name before getting closer and taking several beats to realize it was Jun Hee (ruining this iconic moment is perhaps this remake’s greatest sin against romance, my god). 

Everything between the couple in SOOD was just more, both in happiness and in despair. I liked Jun Hee and Si Heon, and Ahn Hyo Seop and Jeon Yeo Been are very competent actors whose performances I have loved in other dramas, but they didn’t achieve that level of chemistry here, the writing and directing choices worked against them, and I didn’t feel that same desperation for them to figure this out that I did with Yu Xuan and Zi Wei. 

The Story 

The Korean version is a very faithful adaptation overall (I haven’t mentioned Jun Jie and In Gyuk because his character and story is more consistent across the two shows), but does make some small tweaks to the story, some of which seem to be out of necessity due to a shorter run time (one episode and a couple hours total less than the Taiwanese original) and some just… because? The shorter amount of story time does lead to them having to cut corners on some aspects of the mythology and time travel lore, making it all a bit less clear for folks who don’t already understand what’s going on, and they put in a few nods to typical kdrama tropes like amusement park dates and hand of fate stuff that we really didn’t need—they are already trapped in a time loop together, we get it!

ATCY also messed with the timelines and ages for reasons I don’t really understand and that don’t really track. In SOOD, Zi Wei traveled forward from 2002 to Quan Sheng’s body in 2010, met Yu Xuan, and then died in 2018. In ATCY, Si Heon traveled forward from 2002 only to 2007 and did not die until 2022—but the relationship dynamics are all the same. It made sense for a young couple who had been together about 7 years and who were in their mid-20s to be having the kind of relationship problems they did—fighting about prioritizing careers and time abroad and whether it was time to get married. But a couple who has been together nearly 15 years? Who are in their mid-30s? They would have already been married probably and had a couple kids to boot. The choice to change the timeline like this had me scratching my head and accomplished nothing for the story. 

But neither of those things are the change to the story that is weighing on me most. That occurs in a very small and brief backstory for the real Yeon Jun, where the drama introduces an original character who has no counterpart in SOOD: Tae Ha. 

In SOOD, the real Quan Sheng is a closeted gay teenager who meets a tragic end: he confesses to his crush, gets brutally rejected, then gets bullied when the crush tells others about his sexuality, and ultimately decides to walk into the sea in an attempt to end his life, a choice that leaves his body in a coma until Zi Wei’s consciousness takes it over. In ATCY, this backstory changes and Rowoon is brought in for a brief but impactful cameo as Tae Ha, Yeon Jun’s cram school friend. We see that the two have mutual feelings for each other but are both struggling to confess. One day as they are driving together, they finally explicitly acknowledge their feelings, holding hands and smiling at one another—and then immediately get hit by a Truck of Doom (easily one of the most tired kdrama tropes), Tae Ha dying on impact and Yeon Jun ending up in a coma with Si Heon’s consciousness eventually taking over his body like in the original story. 

Now on first glance, you might be inclined to give the show some credit for including a new gay character and giving the original Yeon Jun a happier experience with his crush. Explicit gay representation? In a mainstream kdrama? Still very rare and a big deal if done right. But if you think for a moment longer you’ll realize we can’t give the show credit for this, because this is a textbook execution of the Bury Your Gays trope and the narrative punishment that befalls gay characters who act on their attraction. Essentially, what the Korean remake did here was reveal these two characters are gay, killed them both immediately after they decided to pursue a relationship with each other, and then had the het male lead character take over the body of this gay man and use it to enter into a relationship with a woman. Some aspects of this plot were present in the original tale, but this choice to add an additional gay character only to kill him and tie it to their moment of acknowledging their mutual attraction? Made it significantly worse. It was badly done and I will not applaud the drama for representation when they did it in such a cruel way. 

The Ending

SOOD ends on a hopeful but somewhat ambiguous note, with Yu Xuan in 2020 finding a way to go back and save Yun Ru (and Jun Jie by extension) and then breaking the time loop, sacrificing her relationship with Zi Wei in the process even as it breaks her heart (because the only way for them to meet and fall in love in 2010 was to stay in the loop). She sacrifices their romance, and all their memories together, because it’s the right thing to do—she inadvertently destroyed Yun Ru’s life with her time traveling, and she couldn’t live with that knowing there was a way to fix it. We are left with a broken time loop, original teen Zi Wei meeting child Yu Xuan again in 1998, and the hope that they will find a way to make their fates align again and be together without time travel complications. It’s just the right bittersweet touch to end the story on; their previous relationship was lost and their sacrifice was real, but there is hope for another version of a happy life together, someday.

By contrast, ATCY goes for a more explicit happy ending: Jun Hee makes the same choice to go back and save Min Ju, and to break the time loop and sacrifice her relationship with Si Heon, but in ATCY we then jump forward to 2011 to a happy epilogue to see Si Heon and Jun Hee meet as adults. And look, I love a happy ending! But what I said above about the sacrifice Yu Xuan and Zi Wei made in SOOD really resonating because of its bittersweet ending? That’s absent here, because ATCY decided they needed to put a bow on it and reassure us they would get back together. ATCY was just never willing to let us stay in the grief or commit to the darker and sadder aspects of this story, and as a result, the whole thing loses some of its impact.

[mofffun]

King-Ohger G-rosso S4

Remember when the title is just the most… non-informative with "The Kings Gather Here[at G-rosso]!"? That's. That's literally the plot. Just glad to say all your sentai trope love is satisfied.

There are a lot more actor scenes vs action scenes I doubt if I'm in the right theatre, and much more than S3. Shame on me not having revised on last year's and without realizing S4 is exclusively scripted with the face actors in mind. Even the audio is voiced by the original actors. It's almost like a fan meeting with interactive games and all rather than a Sentai stage play lol.

[spoilers below cut]

(Livestream est. Mar 17, 17:30)

Stage show:

Minnogan broke out of the seal mysteriously and stole the crown lance.

Each cast member has a short sequence of action before transforming. Gira center, Yanma upper stage right, Himeno lower stage left, Rita middle stage right, Kaguragi middle syage left. Rita did the hand-behind-back pose transforming and Papi did the ep16 strike! Jeramie's entrance is all grand with sliding doors in the middle stage. Not just the set blocks sliding horizontally, the projected virtual background (Shugoddom castle platform) also rotates to different angles, so as a stage production, it feels like a level-up from S3.

Minnogan activated the castle spaceship and transported the kings to present day Tokyo, Theatre G-rosso. Yanma commented there seems to be a lot of fun rides, Gira and Kaguragi asked the audience what this place is. Rita remained at the back of the trope.

A kaijin introduced himself as the Magician and blasted them with a beam, the kings minus Giramie suffered a personality inside out. Rita is Idol Rittan, Himeno is yankee (so still violent), Yanma became a coward/shiokara/schoolgirl with pigtails and thick round glasses trope, Kaguragi a flirty jokester. Giramie remained themselves having avoided the attack. When the others stormed off, Giramie looked each other in the eyes and said, "I'll leave that to you." The trust! They are Parents™!!

Yanma shouted, "Yanma is scared 😭" and ran off stage. Rita was the first one that moves versus when they were usually the last. Yuzuyan Rita just immediately switched to the idol voice and came down to the lower stage keep waving at people. When Himeno walked off the scene, they went after her going, "Eh~ don't leave (without) me, Hime-tan!" You can practically see the bottom half of Rita's face 😭

Cut to Rittan chasing an angry Himeno to practice for their Idol act. Rittan turned to the audience and said, "You want to see Hime-tan as an idol too, right?" Jeramie caught up to them and the magician kaijin challenged them to a game to get back to normal.

Kaguragi, Yanma, Gira: Kaguragi became all frivolous with a different tone of speaking (a bit like Ryuta Den-O/Gaon Zenkai). After some routine pick-up lines, Kagu caught up to Yanma, put his arm around his shoulders and said, "How about we have a good long talk, just the two of us?" *wink* Yanma tried to crunch himself as small as possible holding his own hand. HE HIT KAGU WITH A TINY FIST AND SAID "WARUI OTOKO (Naughty guy...)" AND STARTED GINGERLY TOUCHING HIS PECS. Gira arrived just in time for this and said "Are they dating?"

The game is a simplified Flappy Bird but Moffun. Rita's version of Moffun's song played in the background and Rita danced slightly along to it. The audience had too keep clapping loud enough while Moffun (an acutal person is in there moving its arm and legs while in the air) was hanged up by a wire and transported across the stage from left to right. (edit: Yuzuyan sang the Moffun song live instead of a recording. Moffun's arm could be waving because of wire work)

There's a progess bar and game background on the screen too. Of course Moffun fell down half way, Rittan snapped back into the judge voice and yelled at the audience not to drop it (Live Rita scream!!). Jeramie smoothed things over by calling it a practice to make the kaijin give us a second chance. We won the game and they got back to normal. I don't think they have clear memories of their behaviour, but just a vague sense. Regular Rita said, "Feels like I embarrassed myself..."

Kaijin appeared and challenged Gira to a game. The kaijin would call for different poses and Gira had to follow while the rhythm accelerates. Round 1 had Yanma doing rabbit ears and Kagu a tiger's jaw with his hands (like zyuoh shark ED pose). Gira's pose is spreading his arms with the evil laugh act.

Since Gira passed Round 1, the kaijin made the game more difficult by changing the poses faster. Round 2's Yanma's pose is Idol Rittan and Kagu did push-ups. Gira's the same so this session is just watching Taisei got up and down >D< Gira's the one most frequently interacting with the audiene. When they changed back, Yanma was shocked he was standing with his feet pointing inwards. Kaguragi said, "Hmmm, can't tell why but I feel an affection for Yanma-dono."

The six kings regroup. Minnogan summoned Dugded and the kings turned on each other. Gira was not affected but he had to fight off Jeramie. They were quickly de-transformed and appeared pinched.

Prince and Kyoryu Red descended from the middle block and ziplined to the rescue! Prince very naturally said "Otou-chan" >D< The Kyoryu pairs led the audience into a cheer for the King-Ohgers.

The kings regained strength while Dugded revived the Jesters to fight them. Gira transformed with the crown and they did the ep33 crossover roll call.

Yan Hime vs. Hibill & Glodi. Kagu Rita vs. Goma & Kamejim. The pollinator fight is amazing. They kinda ran up the audience blocks up to the last block and zipline back down??? and then they defeated them combining their "King's Proof" techniques. Jeramie and Prince fought Minnogan while Gira and King fought Dugded.

They won, detransformed, did the fist bump circle from ep39, and the kingoh dance.

After talk:

I was at Feb 4 16:00 & 17:30. Both sessions are the same.

The kings invented a game called "King-Ohger Game" (HKers call it "Ping! Pang! Wah!")

The players are in a circle and point to a person while saying a command. You have to say/do the correct response in sequence or lose.

Person A points at B, A says (First Name)

B -> C (Last Name)

C & Everyone (pose)

C -> anyone else *repeats*

The commands and poses:

Gira -> Husty -> "Jaku no Ou!" (thumb & forefinger out pointing the front)

Yanma -> Gast -> "Souchou!" (yankee fix hair both hands)

Himeno -> Ran -> "Kawaii" (this but smiling)

Rita -> Kaniska -> "Saibanchou" (stabs sword to ground)

Kaguragi -> Dybowski -> "Ou-tono!" (pose)

Jeramie -> Brasieri -> "Otto?" (two palms up on side + head shake)

The kings were in this line up 💙💛❤🤍💜🖤 at introduction, but Rita said they are serious about the game and need to see better with their only left eye so they mvoed all the way to right -> 💜💙💛❤🤍🖤. Yuzuyan even flipped her hair a bit and showed the blue eye (me dead at the coolness)

The kings formed a semi-circle to start the game. The audience was supposed to follow with the poses but the cast apparently was just having fun themselves XD. They kept getting faster and faster until it's Wings targeting each other. Yanma lost the game and Rita immediately stepped forward to announce he lost. Yanma asked "Seriously?!" (feels like it's the actors at this point but it still fits their characters lol)

The penalty is a mimic game. Aoto need to do Boon. He skipped to stage center. "Gira nii-chan~! Advent! King-Ohger!"

In the 17:30 show, Erica lost twice. She said the first time is practice but admitted it the second time. She did Suzume's "Help! Shugo Kamen-sama~!!"

After the game, Jeramie asked the audience if they like each member respectively, but paused at Gira's turn. He only asked when Gira said "What about me?" Then he also asked if we like Miss MC (so MC can ask if we like Jeramie). When everyone says "Daisuki", Jeramie gets to say "Me too <3" 😭

At the final bye-bye, Himeno is always pointing out "I see you!" at the fans. Gira will say "ギラだよ!" at the little kids. Giramie did a 🫶 with each other!! REAL. I heard the fans behind me said "There's so much Giramie (<-exact word) in this show" upon leaving.

Conclusion:

Can March 17 comes faster because I need to see this show again. This show is SO worth the price as a fan meeting.

I didn't fact-check this but twitter were saying Takada Masashi is listed in S4's credits. I don't know if he's in the Kumonos suit or in a supervising role but Kumonos looked significantly buffer than before and quite close to TV to my untrained eye. Another thing is I find Jeramie's mantle is much longer than I thought? I thought it just passed his hips but it's almost at his calf.

There were real fire shooting up and the theatre did turn completely dark for a bit so I see why baby kids would be scared. But as an adult I had a LOT of fun seeing the action so close in person and apparently the cast is having a lot of fun too.

Ticketing & seating:

(previous guide)

S3: I booked a general lottery round through proxy and got two permium through twitter. Possibly because most people has seen it, tickets weren't hard to find.

S4: I did not book anything but general lottery round were available on twitter for Saturady (2/3). Permium is hard to find because Jeramie is really popular now his badge is complimentary to the Permium ticket. General Sale opens one week before for Feb S4 (and two weeks before for March). I managed to find tickets in the first block just hopping by a 7-11. (Note: sale starts 1/27 19:00 but choosing your own seat only works after 1/28 0:00) There are still tickets in the middle and last block on the same day. The later the shows, the least crowded from my observation. Saturadays might be easier to get tickets but if you want to feel the atmosphere with kids cheering around you, choose a Sunday show.

Since it's about seeing the actors, I'd still advise seating yourself as front as possible. Even on the far left or right, you can still see the whole stage. I think the ideal distance is Row E or F because down on Permium, your view to the middle stage will be blocked and your neck's gonna hurt staring at what's happening at the ceiling.

Another good seat is any walkway seat or Row L so the suit actors run next to you. Seating at the second block isn't too bad this time because S4 has actors running/descending from as far as Row T.

Both S3 & S4 face actor sessions require real-name registration on the ticket. You have to input a name and a JP phone number at the combini machine, but they don't actually check it upon entry.

[naushtheaspiringauthor]

Hello, I wanted to send a request for your autumn writing event. I would like to request a Nikolai Lantsov imagine based on the song prompt 'how you get the girl'. The reader is female gender and the pronouns are she/her. Also if it's okay can the reader be a squaller 👉👈

Thank you😊

Win you over- Nikolai Lantsov x reader

A/N- I am SO sorry for writing this centuries later😭😭Lets just ignore how I'm doing a request for my AUTUMN writing event even tho its winter now. But I really hope u like it I worked really hard on this

Warnings- none

Summary- After Nikolai realizes he has attained feelings for a certain lady, he goes overboard to win her over

Nikolai had met all kinds of people throughout his life. Some despised him, others desired him, some wished to gain something from him, but all the time he could always figure out their intentions. However there was one about whom Nikolai couldn't figure out much of. You. 

It seemed as more as he got to know you, the more mysterious you'd seemed. 

But somehow, the more he got to know you, the more he grew closer to you. Until he finally realized he couldn't restrain his mind from wandering to you at all times, until you'd plagued all his thoughts, until he realized he'd fallen in love with you. 

And him being stubborn as always, decided to do anything to win over the girl who'd always appeared as a mystery to him. 

                 …..............................................................................

You, on the other hand, had quite similar feelings but an utterly different way of thinking. You'd began to grow closer to the sunshine boy when the threat of the Darkling had been looming over. You seemed to have grow fond of even the slightest sight of the boy. 

However, he had someone else on his mind. He'd been to indulged to win over the Sun Summoner's  heart to even glance your way. 

So you'd given up long ago. Lost any hope that he'd ever be willing to think of you the same way as he had for the girl, even long after she'd left. So you'd shut your heart and you focused on the life in front of you, you focused on your duties as the head of the Ravkan council. 

All until Nikolai had decided to go to any heights to win you over. 

             ................................................................…..........................

You'd been sitting in one of the quarters near the little palace that had been sitting idle for quite some time. You'd drop by sometimes whenever you wished to get your paperwork done with no one there to bother you, and today, there seemed to be a lot of it. 

It'd been raining intensely when u heard a sound resembling a knock.

You turned towards the door for a moment wondering if someone's outside, then went back to your work thinking no one would bother to come here at such a harsh weather even if they did know where you were. 

Then you heard it again, rapid knocks on the door. 

You got out of your chair and went to the door in a haste, wondering who was outside. 

Your eyes widened at the sight of the person in front of you. Drenched thoroughly from top to bottom, breathing intensively, stood the king of Ravka, Nikolai Lantsov. 

                                                        …....................................................................................................

The plan had been perfect, or so Nikolai had thought. He was to wait for the rain to begin and you to be away from the peering eyes of everyone when he would make his move. He intended to grab the kind of gift you'd love the most, Books.  Or more so, the one you'd been looking for since as long as he could remember. 

So he had set out, the package secured in his arms, the clear motive etched in his brain. But it was when he'd went halfway when he realized how intense the rain had been and had resulted in spoiling the gift and get himself all drenched. And by the time he was at the doorstep , he'd been shivering and had possibly attained a cold. 

“Nikolai!?” Your eyes widened at the sight of him. “What are you doing here in this rain!? “ your tone being equally surprised as your expression. 

Though being badly soaked from head to toe, the boy attempted to keep his composure, “I, came here to see you” he spoke with a nervous grin

His words really confirmed your suspicions of him being an idiot. You looked at him in awe before speaking in a rather stunned voice, “Are you insane!?” you said

“Well, only for you” the mad boy grinned. 

You opened your mouth to speak but closed it. Then suddenly grabbed his arm and rushed him inside, completely ignoring his statement. 

“Sit down” you ordered him as you rushed inside a room in the quarter.

You returned a few moments later with a clean towel to find that he had obliged you. 

“Here, there's a spare room you can use” you spoke, handing him the towel and gestured him to your left. 

“Really? I thought you'd like it better if I just did it over here” he gave a sly grin but quickly changed his expression when resulted in attaining a glare from you. 

After a while, he came out looking less miserable than he'd been and sat down next to you. 

“So why exactly did the king himself run all the way from the grand palace to here?” you asked

Tell her the truth, tell her the truth, tell her the truth, his mind screamed at him. But he just froze, as if he'd lost the ability to speak. 

“Uhhh- well- I needed some important documents from the little palace but it started raining so I thought to just come here” he managed

“Huh? So because it was raining, you chose to cross the whole palace and instead come here?“ you raised an eyebrow. 

Shit. He had been too occupied to practice what to say to you at the doorstep to even think of an excuse. 

“Yeah. Well it- I don't think it even matters anymore” he chuckled nervously

“Yeah” you slowly nodded in acknowledgement

“Anyways, how have you been? I barely see you anymore?” he changed the subject

“Nikolai, you saw me… yesterday “ you responded in confusion

“Yeah, yeah right” he chuckles nervously. “You know how weird time can be”.

You looked at him for a few moments before speaking again “Well um, I should get back  to my work or councilman Henrik is going to be up my nerves again” you sighed. 

“Yeah- yeah sure” he responded. 

He sighed as he looked at the rain through the window, pondering upon how miserably he'd failed today. But he wouldn't stop until he'd reached his goal. He Wasn't A Quitter After All, he thought, grinning to himself

                  …....................................................................................

These foolish little attempts won’t work if I really want to tell her how I feel, Nikolai thought to himself. If he wished to let out his feelings infront of you, if he really wished to tell you the truth,

he had to up his game.

You’d been out of the palace as you and David needed to test some of the weapons you’d been working on. So you’d chosen a cabin away from the population to be the most suitable place as there won't be dangers of anyone getting hurt here. 

Apparently someone else had the idea of moving his expedition to this place.

You had set up one of the you’ve made in the field to test whether it functioned properly. “Well, if it really works it should cover about 6,000 kilometres in about in, ten minutes” David spoke

“Let’s hope it does” you responded as you readied it to launch.

Just as you launched it into the air, you both noticed something in the sky. You looked at in confusion before you finally realized what it was, as it came closer towards you.

Your eyes widened at the sight infront of you, an improved version of Nikolai’s hummingbird…with him on it. He stood on the ship, not having any realization of the massive threat coming his way.

Before you could think anything, you rushed forward and brought both of your hands and sent a massive gust of wind towards the ship’s way. Until Nikolai realized what was happening, it had been too late as he was inches away from being blown to bits.

At the last moment, you thrust your arms forward and sent a gust of wind his way, making the ship violently thrash sideways and finally crashing to the ground.

David rushed towards the ship and helped Nikolai get out. 

Nikolai went towards you, grinning like an idiot. Even though his initial plan had failed, he was amused by how grand his entrance had been. He believed you to have a similar reaction to his little stunt, but the truth appeared to be on the contrary.

You stormed towards him with your fists clenched at your sides, your face flushed red

“So, how did you think of my little manoeuvre?” he asked, still grinning. 

“Have you gone mad!?” you practically yelled at him, your face brimming with anger

“I-” he was caught off-guard by your sudden tone, he’d never seen you this angry

“This place is supposed to be off limits to anyone! And you just waltz in here so willing to get yourself blown to bits!” your rage not deteriorating in the slightest. “You could’ve died!”

Nikolai’s expression transformed into one of immense regret once the realization of what could’ve just happened dawned on him. “I- I wanted to surprise you” he looked down at his feet, his face flushed with guilt

“Well you’ve surprised me enough by almost being killed by your own weapon” you spat.

He remained silent and couldn’t bring himself to meet your gaze as you left.

              ……………………...................................................................

It was proven now, either Nikolai has always been a massive idiot or he’d now turned into one. Had he lost his mind? He could’ve died today, and just because of his foolishness. Had he truly been that big of an idiot to just fly to a practically death zone? You thought to yourself as anger flooded your brain.

What if he…what if I weren’t able to save him on time? Panic filled in you, but now you were truly grateful that he was alive. You couldn’t bear to imagine your life without him in it. You couldn’t bear to live without him.

“I can’t believe he’d do something so idiotic!” you explained the whole incident to Zoya with immense exasperation.

However, she didn’t seem to have the kind of reaction you had anticipated. “Are you really that oblivious?” she sighed

“Wait, what?” you looked at her in confusion

“Can’t you see what he’s been attempting to do for weeks?” she continued, but seeing you still failed to understand, she explained further. “He’s trying to impress you . Have you not noticed his strange behaviour and foolish attempts to win you over?” she rolled her eyes.

A sudden thought struck your mind, Is this why he had been acting so strange for the past few weeks? You wondered. Him behaving strangely at the sight of you, his miserable attempts of striking a conversation with you, running to you all the way from his palace in the rain, and now this. 

Was he truly attempting to…win you over? Your eyes widened at the possibility

You had made a massive mistake, you were sure of it now. Even though Nikolai had managed to almost get himself killed, you had practically yelled at him. You’d broken the heart of the very boy who was going over the board to make you happy.

You had to fix this.

                       …………………………………….................................

You smiled at the sight of Nikolai sitting by himself in the garden. You knew you’d find him here, this is where he’d go when he’d be feeling unwell. More importantly, the place where you had your first proper conversation with him. 

“We can get the hummingbird fixed Nikolai, you shouldn’t feel so disconsolate” You spoke as you approached him

He turned sideways to look at you but then again dropped his gaze to his feet, “It’s not that I’m worried about” he spoke in a tone that truly displayed how heart broken he’d been.

 He then shifted to a side to allow you to sit beside him. “I’m sorry for doing all that, I realize how dangerous it was. But I- I just wanted to surprise you”.

You sighed as you looked at him, “I know Nikolai, I now realize you weren’t intending on getting yourself hurt. But you must know that you don’t need any grand gestures to surprise me, or make me happy. And what if you’d been hurt? How could I have lived without you?” you spoke in a soft voice.

“Really? You- you can’t live without me?” his gaze finally met yours

“Of course not you idiot” you grinned slightly. “Take this very moment for example, just sitting beside you in such a peaceful state is surprise enough for me” your tone grew sombre.

“It is?” he raised his eyebrows in curiosity

“Yeah. Now tell me, what’s been on your mind for so long?”

Nikolai seemed to hesitate before finally mustering up the courage to speak. “I- well the reason I’ve been acting so weird is, well because I’ve fallen in love with you. You’ve plagued my mind in such a way that none other ever had. The way you show affection not in words but your actions, how excited you can get when you get a new idea for something. And those eyes“ he gazed deepened.

“They’re-the way they gleam in the moonlight. They’re so- drownable in”.

His words touched your soul in a way none other had. It was like you’d fallen in love with him all over again.

“So I- I just wished to do something, anything that would make you find me endearing in the slightest” he continued

You were quite startled by his words. All this just to make me find him, endearing? 

You let out a light chickle, making him give you an utterly confused look. “Well, I believe that won't be a problem anymore” you gave him a sly grin

“What? why?” 

“Well, to your enormous luck, I already find you endearing enough, love” 

He looked at you in disbelief which was clearly displayed on his face. Did she really say that?? he thought. 

“Wait, wh- really?” he had a shocked expression plastered over his face

“Yes, I believe I do” you grinned

He continued to look at you with utter disbelief. He couldn't believe what you just said was true. He'd written a whole speech and all but he was panicking too much to think of a word. You'd rendered him speechless. 

“I-” he racked his brain to think of something but he just couldn't. He really did not wish for it to go like this, with him panicking too much to utter a word. 

But your expression remained stagnant. You gazed intensely in his hazel eyes before cupping both his cheeks with your hands and softly pressing your lips to his. 

Nikolai's eyes widened at your action, he'd been the luckiest man alive. 

You slowly pulled away from him. 

“I had a whole speech and all but I have to admit I do not remember a word” he spoke

You grinned at his words, “I have to admit it was quite entertaining, watching you fail so miserably without having a clue as to what exactly you were willing to do”

This time, his hands were on either sides of your face before he pulled you close and pressed his lips on yours. Loving every moment of it. 

Even though his plans hadn't exactly worked, he was immensely glad to be in this very moment. 

 And that, was how he managed to get the girl of his dreams. 

[bumpkinspice0]

Recovery Time: Chapter 1

Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

No use of y/n

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 4.5k

Summary: Ten years into the outbreak and you'd seen a lot. Through it all you'd managed to make a comfortable life for yourself in the end. A lonely life, but a comfortable one... then a bleeding man comes stumbling into it.

Warnings: dude in distress, serious injury, descriptions of wound care, blood, stitches, shock, I think that's it???

A/N: Let's see if I can write slow burn, kids! (please hold my hand) Got tired of just contemplating stuff in this story and just decided to post it to light a fire under my ass. This fic is inspired 25% by my love for The Last of Us (Games and series) 25% for my love for Pedro Pascal and 50% for my deep desire to abandon everything I know and live in the woods.

Series Masterlist

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AO3

_______________

Chapter 1: Mystery Man

Your ass has already gone numb from sitting in your barebones tree stand. It was little more than a seat strapped to a ladder strapped to a tree, but it got the job done— Less conspicuous than a proper deer stand, anyway. Even with numb ass cheeks and a runny nose brewing, the early fall breeze was still nice, not too bone-chilling. The sunrise was exceptionally beautiful today. You don’t recall the last time you watched the sunrise. You don’t really recall the last time you sat this still for this long.

It was too early in the season to start hunting, but you were feeling lucky. And, if you were being honest, just needed to get away from the cabin. From the monotony of daily life you’d created. This was as outside of the box you could think of— coming out to stare out a field while slowly freezing your ass off.

But it was nice… peaceful. A break from routine. Routine was all you had lately. Routine was safe. Routine kept you alive.

It started out as a little hike. Something to get your blood pumping. You had to justify it, of course, so you turned it into a hunting trip. Nothing can be done without purpose. Not in this world. What’s the worst thing that could happen— you actually bring some meat home?

Four hours without a single animal passing through your vantage point and you start to have your doubts. You would have been better off walking through trails and looking for rabbits, but something about just sitting sounded so fucking nice. Just sitting. Not doing a goddamn thing.

You both cherish and hate it at the same time.

Finally, you see movement just over the hill of the clearing. About damn time. Your grasp tightens around your bow in anticipation. You click your cheek to get Gus’s attention just below you. He’d more than likely fallen asleep by now. You look down the trunk to see your loyal companion's ears perk up. The black and white border collie rises and shakes off the leaves from his coat, ready to pounce and give chase as soon as your arrow flies. Both your eyes fixed on the movement in the clearing. It was big. You’re praying for a deer or, god willing, an elk. God, you’d be set through most of winter if you got an elk.

The animal stalks closer, a little over a hundred yards away. The tall golden grass obscures most of its body but once it takes a few more steps you can finally make it out— it’s definitely not any deer.

It’s a man. A very, very injured man. He’s limping, blood staining nearly every inch of him.

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.

You’re instantly tense, a rush of adrenaline pumping you to full alert. This was the first person you’d seen in— you can’t recall how long— and look at him. Any inkling of him being a possible threat is instantly dismissed. He’s barely walking, if you could even call it that. The possibility of him being infected crosses your mind, but there’s too much purpose to his movements. Too much humanity still left in his face.

Then why was he out here?

The likelihood of this being a trap crosses your mind next, but you quickly abandon the thought when you see him drop his rifle and pack and take a good ten steps past them. If he was acting, he deserves an Academy Award. He looked absolutely exhausted. If his pitiful walking wasn’t convincing enough, his dirty, tattered body was.

You let out a gasp when he finally collapses with a nasty thud. Gus lets out a small ruff below— just as engrossed with the stranger as you. Now what?

What do you do with this? What the hell do you do?

You could help him— of course you could. That’s who you are, what you used to be at least. Someone who helped people. You have all the skills and necessities to do so. You want to help him. Everything in you is screaming to just go up to him— but you have to be smart. You don’t have the luxury of acting on kind will anymore.

The mystery man lies there motionless as you quickly weigh your options. 

This could still be a trap. Even if he wasn’t the one setting it, he could be the bait. You hadn’t encountered it before but you’d heard stories of the raider's tactics. To lure people out with sympathy. Even if he was, Gus would have surely alerted you if there were more nearby by now.

You test this theory as you slowly crawl down from the tree stand and lurk low to the ground, Gus prowling beside you. You take a few steps into the grass and he doesn’t stop you. The coast must be clear. You always trust that dog's instincts above all. He hasn’t led you astray yet. 

Still, there’s more to debate while you let a man bleed out in front of you.

He could have been followed, but something tells you that wasn’t likely either. Or at least if he had been, they would have easily caught up to him in his condition.

Or you’re just hoping that was true.

And the worst option… He could still be infected. You’d never seen an infected come out this far. Hell, regular people never came out this far. They just didn’t. Nothing about his movements or mannerisms suggested he could be infected. And again, Gus would have let you know. He knows their scent. Maybe he’s bitten but it hasn’t taken hold yet? There’s no way to tell.

And there’s really only one way to find out.

You take a deep breath, sliding your bow across your back. You run swiftly through the grass with your dog close at your side, doing your best to remain low and somewhat hidden by the foliage. This was insane. This was stupid. This is risking so much and yet you can’t stop yourself. Even after all these years, that need is still embedded in you. The need to help.

You kneel next to the mystery man and Gus circles the two of you, the ever-vigilant guard dog. 

“Hey…Um, sir?” you say awkwardly as you tap the side of his face. There’s some small movement in his rugged features but nothing resembling consciousness. He’s out cold. 

You quickly assess the obvious damage to him. Your hands lightly glide over his body, checking for broken bones, any bloodied wet spots…or bite marks. He’s bandaged something across his stomach with some ripped fabric and duct tape. You carefully peel back the soaked-through fabric to see two nasty lacerations stretch over his stomach, one on each side. You’re not sure how deep they are and you don’t want to dig your unsanitized hands in it to find out. That was the worst of it. He was covered in small scrapes and bruises. His knuckles were bloodied and bruised. He’d fought his way out of something. A twinge of fear pricks in the back of your mind that he may have been followed after all. You end your examination on his left ankle— definitely badly sprained if not broken entirely. The flesh around his boot was swollen and red. 

But nothing that remotely resembled a bite. Gus gives him a good sniff over and you get the final approval. This man isn’t infected. Just mortality wounded— great.

You sling his gun and backpack across your back and lean over the stranger, giving yourself one final chance to debate all of this.

You could take his stuff and run. Leave him for the birds. Had the world really made you so bitter? No, you know it hadn’t. If you left him here, this man’s death would be on your conscience every day. A death you could have prevented. It’s just not in your nature to be so selfish, even after everything. Even if you couldn’t save him, you’d at least know you tried.

You had the means to get him back home. You’d wheeled out one of the small wagons with you in hopes you’d be bringing some fresh meat back. Well, you guess you still are— It’ll just be live meat. Hopefully live, at least.

If you help him, it’s another mouth to feed. Someone to take care of and bandage on top of your daily work. Are you willing to do it? You’d done it for others before, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Is it still worth it?

Yes, you decide.

“I’m gonna get you out of here.” You assure him as you hook your arms under his shoulders and start to drag him back into the tree line. Even if he can’t hear you, talking at least comforted you. You always talked to your patients anyway. 

“Christ, you’re heavier than you look.” You wheeze, shuffling as quickly as you can back to the tree line. 

Gus walks with you, still on edge. He sniffs at the curious stranger cautiously. You’re sure he’s not going to like any of this. Gus was never a fan of any of the men you brought home— not that you brought that many.

You awkwardly lift Mystery Man into your two-wheeled wagon and toss in all of your combined supplies. Time was of the essence if he’d lost as much blood as you thought he had— and your home was over a mile away. You take a moment to gather yourself before picking up the wagon handles and marching as quickly as possible through the wooded terrain back to the cabin. 

At least the September air was still pleasant. Not too hot, not too cold. The humidity of summer dissipates as fall creeps into the woods. You wish you had time to admire the changing of the leaves, but not today. At least you got to watch the sunrise.

You’re absolutely drenched in sweat by the time the cabin’s finally in sight. You don’t recall ever being so happy to see it. No one’s followed you and Gus hasn’t alerted you to anyone else's presence. Well, that at least makes you feel a little better. You likely still won’t light a fire for the next few nights, just in case.

The journey isn't over yet, though. You drop the wagon with an angry thud against the porch.  

“Here we are!” You say to the practical corpse of a man as you hoist his upper body back into your arms, “God, imagine how much you’d weigh with all your blood.”

You drag him to the living room floor, deciding to roll him into a proper bed once you clean his wounds and take care of whatever needs taking care of— a lot. A lot needed taking care of with him. First, you get his filthy flannel out of the way, unbuttoning it to reveal the full map of bruises across his toned torso. It just further confirms your suspicions of him being in a fight. A bad one.

“Don’t move!” You instruct the still man. You’re probably talking too much given the situation,  but it’s helping you process it all. Gus waits silently at the door as you panickedly rush through your home. You start to boil two large pots of water over the wood stove. One empty and one with gauze and towels. Your water was decently filtered but you’re not taking any chances on possibly making this gravely injured man even sicker with an infection because you don’t have fucking chlorine in your water.

While the water boils you ready your other supplies. You grab your untouched medical supplies from the closet and drop them next to Mystery Man. You quickly dig through the old bag, praying you have any kind of antibiotics left. Luck seems to be on your side for once today, finding a still half-full bottle of amoxicillin in the bottom of the medical bag. You organize the chaos, lining up all your necessary supplies on a towel. It wasn’t an OR but it was…something. This wasn’t necessarily a sterile environment but it was the best you could do.

The water should be sanitized by now. You take the pots off the stove and gingerly place them next to your other supplies. Another few minutes to thoroughly wash your hands and you’re good to go. While this man had lost a lot of blood, his biggest risk factor at this point was infection— the slow painful death kind, not the walking fungus kind. Both are terrible options, really. 

You kneel next to him amongst your scattered supplies, taking a deep breath to gather yourself once more before you begin your work. When was the last time you did this? Who was your last patient? It’d been years , what if you’d forgotten everything? Your isolation out in the woods could have slowly rotted your brain. Still, going through the process in your head, you can recall every step. Sure, it’d been a while but you knew what to do. Just because it’d been so long doesn’t mean your skills dried up like a well—right? You’re still a medic. You’ve got this.

“You can still do this,” You assure yourself with another steady breath. You’d done this thousands of times before. He’s no different than the rest.

Your clean hands ghost over him, deciding where to start. The massive cuts on his sides seem like a good place. You need to clean them, both to get any filth out of them, but also just to see how serious it is. If this wound was deep enough to puncture any organs there’s a good possibility there’s nothing you could do for him. 

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

The wound on his right stretches from his stomach to just below his ribs. The left one is smaller, stretching down vertically about 6 inches, stopping just above his hip. They look maybe 2 days old, based on the bruising and ridiculous amounts of dried blood. He may have saved his life with those shotty duct tape bandages in the field, but there was still a lot that needed to be done. You take a cup of clean water and pour it over the first wound. Blood and dirt trickle out of it. His muscles react to the sensation but he still doesn’t wake up. You pour more water over it and start dabbing it with a towel. You had to take this part slowly. You had to be gentle and observant just to see how bad it was.

You breathe a sigh of relief when there’s eventually only blood rinsing out. No pus or mystery liquid that should definitely be somewhere else. After a thorough cleaning, you feel confident enough to stitch him up. Fishing line is the best you have, but it’ll have to do.

You repeat the same process for the wound on his other side— also a clean cut.

Once he’s all cleaned up and closed, you tape a few layers of gauze over each one and a layer of compression bandages over that. You even top it off with a shot of amoxicillin. Better care than you were able to give some of your other patients, that’s for sure. 

“God, I hope you’re not allergic to this,” You say as you inject the potential life-saving liquid. If that does its job, this guy might just have a chance.

His other wounds were trivial in comparison. Smaller cuts or bruises you couldn’t do anything about. Less life-threatening than the giant new holes around his stomach.

“Well, that’s the worst ones taken care of,” You sigh with little relief, wiping some sweat from your brow, “Unless you’re bleeding from somewhere else I can’t see.”

You looked down at his remaining blood-soaked clothes. If you had to guess you’d say he lost nearly a liter, but maybe not all of it was his— again, you try not to think about it right now. 

You turn your attention to his other grave injury— his ankle. The skin around the joint is tender and red, swollen to nearly double the size of his other leg. You have to get his boot off. If you were treating this like a proper emergency situation you’d have just cut the boot off. Instead, you take the time to carefully unlace them completely and they slide off with no problem. Good boots are hard to come by and this guy's clothes are almost all trashed as it is. The stiffness of the leather boot may have just saved this man’s foot in the long run.

His ankle was badly sprained, if not broken.  None of the tendons seem completely severed so he’ll walk again— thank god. Lord knows you don’t know how to perform actual surgery. The best option for it regardless is to stabilize it. You wrap his foot in compression bandages and immobilize it on each side with a ruler and a wooden spoon. It’s not pretty but it gets the job done just the same. You wished you had ice to help with the swelling. You’ll have to check and see if you have any anti-inflammatories left to help with that.

With his two main injuries stabilized you continue to look over and patch up any of his smaller wounds over the next hour. None as nasty as the cuts on his stomach, but plenty were just more risk for infection. Some are just scrapes… some look fairly similar to shallow stab wounds you’d seen before. You repeat the same process for all of them— Your two bowls of water slowly become crimson red as you work.

His breath remains steady the whole time. Whoever this guy is, he’s a fighter. The scars that already littered his skin were proof enough of that. 

Once satisfied with your work you drag him over to your bedroom and wrap him in a few blankets. With no shirt and tremendous blood loss, he’s going to wake up cold. You do your best to hopefully make him comfortable. 

That’s it. You’ve done everything you can do. All that was left was to wait. 

More premature relief blankets over you as you wash your bloodied hands off in the bathroom sink, fingers trembling from the adrenaline coming down. Your mind drifts back to your brief time as a nurse— back when the world was whole. Within your first week in the ER, you’d seen dozens of injuries worse than his. After the breakout, you’d seen hundreds more. Still, your proper education was nearly ten years ago now. 

The rest of your medical history was stuff like this. Injured folk at the end of the world who needed an actual doctor, but you were the best they had— and that’d been a long time ago too. You still can’t quite recall when your last patient was. 

And of course, the first person you see in years just happens to end up a patient as well. A long-term patient.

With him tucked away and bandaged up, you turn your attention to his supplies. You unload his gun. Only four rounds left. You place the bullets in your junk drawer in the kitchen and drag all his gear into the room, placing it at the foot of the bed. Despite having hovered over him for the last few hours you finally take a moment to just… Look at him. He’s rather handsome, you suppose. For a guy living through the apocalypse. A strong chin and nose framed with a slowly peppering beard. Dusty curls with rich tan skin. If you had to guess you’d say his eyes were brown. The lines on his face are deep with character.  Okay, he was very handsome.

Upon just observing him, more of your foolish decision-making hits you. You didn’t know this man, and you brought him into your home. You put him in your bed! You don’t know his past or what he’s capable of. In his condition, he wasn’t currently capable of much at all. You’re sure you could overpower him if it came to violence when he woke up. If that’s how it had to be, then that’s how it had to be. You pray it wouldn’t come to that, though.

If Art were still here, he’d be absolutely livid right now. Then again, there was very little that didn’t set him off. He’d be so disappointed in you if he’d seen what an idiot you’d been here. Probably both for bringing a stranger into his home and your shotty patch job. 

“You don’t owe anyone anything, and neither do I. Not anymore,” Your old mentor’s voice rings in your head. Stubborn, brutish old man— you missed him so much. 

You suddenly remember who your last actual patient was. You’d learned your lesson once. Helping people had a price. A physical one sometimes. Suddenly you can feel every ridge of the scars on your lower abdomen. A constant reminder of the risks something like this came with. Someone you tried to help took something away from you. 

You hoped this man was different.

And really, what kind of asshole would wake up and murder the person that saved their life? A lot of assholes probably. This new world is full of them. 

You decide to keep your hunting knife on your belt, just in case.

It’s hours later until anything happens.

You’re sitting in the living room when you hear a crash from the bedroom— followed by a pained grunt. Gus is there before you are, his hair raised and a defensive growl in his throat. You rush to the door and there he is, your mystery patient up and walking. Well, sort of. 

He’s rolled out of the bed, knocking over a lamp that hasn’t been turned on in months in the process. He’s trashing in the tangled sheets, trying to get himself up. 

“Easy!” You say first to him, “Easy!” You say again to Gus. The dog backs down, still standing defensively between your legs. 

“Who are you?” The man wheezes out, “Where am I?” His voice is deep and raspy but there’s barely any power behind it. You can tell he’s trying to be threatening but he’s too weak to do much of anything. He’s shivering. His eyes are darting around the room, likely looking for anything he could use as a weapon.

He can’t manage to stand on his own two feet so you think you're probably safe.

You raise your hands and crouch down to his level. He’s tense— A panicked animal backed into a corner. You have to be calm, show him you’re not a threat. You slowly offer a hello and your name. “I saved your life. You’re beat up pretty—”

“Where am I?” He repeats with more force this time.

“Safe. My house.” You say calmly but with force, not letting him have control of this conversation, “I assume not far from wherever you got the shit beaten out of you.”

He flinches with a hiss of pain, grasping at his side. He’s going to open his stitches if he keeps thrashing around like this. You need to get him back into bed. He needs to rest. You need to calm him down.

You take a careful crouched step towards him. 

“Don’t.” He snarls. 

“Look, mister,” You sigh, sitting back on your heels, “Why would I have brought you here? Why wouldn’t I have just left you out there to die, hmm?”

“You might want somethin’. I don’t know what side you're on. Who you work for. ”

“Yes, because you have so much to offer right now,” You can’t help but roll your eyes, “I’m on the side that gets you in the bed and to stop writhing on the ground. You’re gonna—”

“You a raider?”

You raise your eyebrows and almost scoff at the accusation. Did you look like a raider? Is this what raiders looked like? You?

“I’m your fucking doctor and I’m ordering you to get back in that bed.” 

You should be more patient with him. You really should. You have no idea what he’d seen or what really happened to him. You thought you had given him ample reason to trust you but you’re still a stranger to him. And he’s woken up in a strange place after god knows what. 

Give him more reason to trust you. Kindness can still go a long way in this world. You believe that. 

You reach over to the foot of the bed and drag his backpack and boots into view, “Here’s your stuff. I’m washing your shirt, though I’m not sure it’s salvageable at this point. Your rifle is there in the corner. I have the bullets for safekeeping.” You push the bag closer to him, “I saw you go down in a field about a mile north from here, I brought you here, I fixed you up. I’m nobody. I just want to help.” 

You hold each other’s gaze for a moment, searching for answers in the other’s eyes. You were right, his were brown. He looks down, snagging the pack from your grasp. He riffles through it, taking a quick inventory of everything. Trust established— however minuscule it was. 

Or that’s what you thought.

In the split second your guard is lowered he springs forward, pushing you out of the way and tumbling into the hallway. Luckily, he doesn’t get far. Gus bites at his pant leg almost needlessly. The stranger didn’t even have the strength left to make it to the kitchen.

“Have to get back. Have to—” he mumbles incoherently as you approach his curled-up form.

A sane person would cut their losses here, toss him out in the cold, and wash their hands of such a burden. Lucky for him, you hadn’t been completely sane in years. With another heavy sigh, you lean over to help him to his feet. He doesn’t fight you.

“Tess?” Mystery Man deliriously mumbles, limping back to the bedroom on your arm. Well, it seems like your entire interaction was a faded memory. It was common with this kind of trauma. He’s still in survival mode. 

“No,” you grumble, laying him back down on the bed. “Not Tess.”

“I have to– Tommy—” his delirium continues, eyes fluttering open and closed just trying to grasp consciousness. Calling out to the people he knows, not you.

“Hey,” you lightly grab his shoulder. His attention focuses on you again, “You’ll see them again, I promise. Right now you have to rest.”

He studies you again and you start to wonder if he’s going to make another break for it. Thankfully, his only response is a single nod.

“I’ll be right back,” You quickly step out of the room and grab him a glass of water. You offer the glass and he studies it for a moment before chugging it down like a feverish child. He slowly rolls back into the bed with a heavy sigh. You take the empty glass back. “Rest for now. Call me when you're up again and you can have something to eat.”

He’s already passed out again before you finish your sentence. 

[dreamkidddream]

Random Domestic Headcanons with Ranpo

Random headcanons bc I needed/wanted some fluff with Ranpo ☺️ reader is gender neutral!

Living with Ranpo may seem stressful looking from the outside in, but it wasn’t surprisingly

…don’t be fooled though, it wasn’t always easy

It wasn’t a secret that Ranpo could be a massive man child, but you both had a set system in the apartment- a peaceful routine that worked well for the both of you, despite his…setbacks

It always amazed you that despite him being the smartest detective alive, he couldn’t do the simplest of things- for example, laundry

If you love your clothes- please I beg you do not let him wash your clothes

He did it once and you were left with an…interesting wardrobe for the entire week- as comical as it was, you would prefer your usual clothes over the mess that Ranpo made (and tried to fix- as comfortable as it was wearing his coat, you couldn’t wear it forever)

So now you’re the one in charge of washing and Ranpo is in charge of folding! Sometimes he would try to wash on his own but you snatch the detergent out of his hands before he could even pour anything

It still baffles your mind at how he managed to survive this long

He complains about doing housework, and sometimes you would have to entice him to get it done (whether it be the promise of extra snacks or a kiss)

But that’s not to say that Ranpo’s useless- far from it actually

Grocery shopping is a breeze thanks to him- anything you think you’re forgetting, he already knows. His memory is scarily accurate to where he’s already putting it in the basket before you could even think about it. Just remembered that you forgot something at the register? Don’t worry, Ranpo already has it on the counter ready to be scanned

He also puts in a lot of snacks in the cart- and I mean a lot- but you let him get away with it since you love him (although you do have to limit him sometimes since he can go a bit overboard)

Your snacks is his snacks pretty much- but he does share (some) of it with you, even if it’s already missing a bite out of it

Ranpo likes to help you cook! And his way of helping is to taste test everything along the way- which you don’t mind since it is one of the ways that you bond and he does give good feedback when his mouth isn’t full anymore

Eating together is a must! Whether he’s bragging about how dumb the officers acted today or the new mystery that Poe wrote for him, it was always shared over meals together. It was one of the main ways you guys spent quality time together

He would help wash the dishes afterwards

Nights after work would include watching a low-budget crime show and solving it before the show is over (even if Ranpo already knew who the culprit was as soon as the show began, it was still fun- same with a movie), playing his game together, giving a hand at Poe’s new novel, etc.- anything to keep you both entertained and that helps de-stress from the day, he’s down to do (as long as it doesn’t require a lot of work)

Regardless, Ranpo is fine just being surrounded by you after work. Even if he didn’t have to put in much effort at the agency, it still felt good to unwind with you- just having you by his side or in his arms was more than enough

You guys have matching toothbrushes!! It’s childish enough to be his idea, but it’s actually yours

He also lets you take a shower first or even better- bathing together. Its not even in a sexual manner- it’s a moment that both of you are vulnerable together and could actually relax. Taking turns washing each others backs and hair was a form of tranquility that couldn’t be replaced, especially on a rough day

Ranpo is fine being either the little spoon or the big spoon, but he’s mostly the big spoon. You guys switch it up depending on what’s wanted, but most of the time you end up tangled with one another anyway by the time morning comes

Before he leaves for the day (or after you drop him at the agency), he will not let you leave until he gets his kiss. He’ll whine if you forget and won’t let you leave until you remember why- he says that it helps him get through the day, and he’s not lying

He can be selfish at times, but Ranpo really does care for you. He makes sure to put your badge with your train card by the door so that you don’t forget, he saves an extra stick of his pocky for you since it’s your favorite, and he waits for you outside of your office to walk home together (even if Kunikida or Atsushi had to lead him there)

Most of all, he makes sure that you know how much you mean to him. Whether it’s through quality time or his words that he would whisper in the late hours of the night after pressing his lips against yours, he makes sure that you know- and that you don’t forget

[clarks-letterman]

violentine | edward cullen x reader

a/n — the pics don’t really match, cant find anything red for eddy boy😪 meant to get this out last week for v-day (vampire day, valentines day, you name it) but work and school and work and school and work and school and work and school and work and you get my point

summary — Edward visits on Valentine's day. . . right as it starts.

warnings — straddling, m@sturbation (Edward), solo sex, one watches (the reader)

words — 2k

~~~

Click, the sound emanated from your window. Click. There it was again. You assumed that it was rain—harsh pellets hitting your window as the seasons changed from the cold and bitter winter to the warmth and love of the soon-to-arrive spring.

Click. Again, there it was, like an incessant beg from the clock on the wall, reminding you to spend the time you had with a passion that should never die. Expected but unfamiliar was the sound. On the fourth, most obnoxious click, you stammered to the window in total darkness. Edward stood out from the shadows, a large bouquet of some breed of flower in his one hand as he readied his aim with another pebble.

He dropped it when he saw you slide the window open. "I was about to invite myself in," he called up to you.

"Edward it's—" You paused, glancing over at the clock that hung on the wall over your bed. Both hands pointed up, but one was dipped by the other by only a fraction, caught in its arms. "Twelve-o-one."

In a flash, he was up through the window and standing in your room. "That's a minute too late. Happy Valentines day."

You could see what was in his hands better—a clump of white petals stemming into individual flowers—roses was their name. White roses, it must have been a joke since he sucked all the red pigment from their folios.

You could also see his attire, clean and layered with an expensive watch to match and the usual mess of hair that looked like he had just woken up, even though he never needed a wink of sleep to look as gorgeous as he was. All of it was a sharp contrast from your relaxed attire; pajama bottoms and a loose-fitting tee. You felt painfully under-dressed in the moment, and unprepared, as you too had a gift. The only difference was that your gift was still as naked as you, lacking any wrapping paper or disguise to keep an aura of mystery, much like Edward's presence so early into the new day.

"They smell good," you thanked, taking them from him and setting them down on a nearby surface in your room. You made a mental note of getting a vase later for them while rushing to dig out Edward's surprise.

"If only you knew how yours makes me feel," he confessed.

"I think I have some idea," you teased, retrieving the object and returning to where he was. Edward retracted his arms from both sleeves of his jacket; yours were occupied with keeping his gift hidden behind your back as if it would actually keep him from seeing it. His panoramic senses had a way of ruining surprises, but you hoped that he wouldn't cheat the system this time. "Hey, I got you something. It's, uh, modern—something from my time that—"

"Stop trying to sell me on it. You bought it—I'll love it, no matter what." He went to reach around you, already tired of the charade, but you beat him to it and handed him a small plastic package that contained a jockstrap. Edward took it and his face fell before turning up and wrinkling into a smile. “You want to see me in this? I don't—no—I can't."

After a bit of convincing, you stood at one end of the room while Edward changed in the corner, keeping your eyes covered and closed per his request. The room was silent aside from the shuffling of fabric against itself and skin. A stone-chipped god such as himself made no creak in the floor, leaving you to be unsure of when he actually got the thing on. So much shuffling and movement. Maybe this was a necessity, because he must have had layers and layers and suspenders and knee-high socks on for it to take that long to change.

"Take your hands away but keep your eyes closed," his alluring voice commanded; soft but clear from beyond the distance between you and him.

The breeze around you shifted, and there was almost a palpable feeling of understanding to open your eyes. So you did, and the sight before you crossed purposes. An old face trapped in immaturity—a chiseled body made for a different time, now contoured by something non-contemporary. Perfect, if only by gradation.

Edward played dumb, "How did my clothes end up all the way over there?"

"How did you end up all the way over here?" You angled back at him, playing dumber.

"I think yours would look good with them," he spoke, never tearing away from your gaze—not even to blink.

"Me too."

The words were an invitation. He scaled down your neck with light kisses, undoing the wrapper of loose clothing and lingering smog from the end of yesterday, clouding your mind only with the feel of him. Such a violent creature treating his quarry so tender and soft. He reached the thin layer shaping your outline—your skin—in a matter of seconds, your slothful clothes now mingled with his formals. One piece in particular stood out to you, his boxers. He had done it, and you looked down to see the various straps hugging him nicely.

"Too small?" They looked like the aftermath of attempting to strangle a swan. Something so elegant as him weighed down by the brutality of sexual thirst.

"Maybe, if a little in the front," Edward gave a half-effort smile and a small laugh to go with the comment. Unlike Edward, the venomously teasing words left a lot to be desired.

"I'm serious!" You shoved him away, watching him take a few steps back and stretch the elastic conforming to his sculpted thighs and cadaverous backside, filling out like binary crescent moons. You couldn't fathom that, even stumbling, he made it look intentionally graceful. You flopped onto your bed, the cushion acting as quicksand as your sluggishness returned from being abruptly woken up. Though, you trudged on, determined to stay awake. If a man such as Edward had forgone sleep for decades and still looked the way that he did, then you could do it for one night.

His hands reached down to the crotch, which was the only piece of fabric actually covering something, and he readjusted it, "I'm just not used to it, is all."

"But I could definitely get used to that view," you joked, watching him spin around like a puppy-dog chasing its tail as he tried to fix one of the straps in the back. "Now, all I need is that baseball jersey to go with it. When I see that, you can suck me dry."

Edward found himself wading on his knees over lumps of mattress, "Speaking of. . . I hope you're not tired."

With a knee on either side of you—which to his unbecomingly hairy thighs and thin straps hooking around to his backside and to the thin belt encircling his lean hips—you answered him in defense, saying damn near anything to get to the furtive confines made of cloth and elastic, "I couldn't be. You're my nightmare—my adrenaline."

"Then you should start fighting me," he leaned down to whisper. But the tiredness bordering his bold contingence in your mind kept you down, and Edward physically preventing you from getting up didn't make it much easier. He sat, straddling your torso with enough care to make the pressure applied known, but not daunting, "If you can, that is."

"Why would I? You never take the opportunity to do anything fun," you whined.

He kept his face close to yours, looking it over as he remarked: "Risking your pretty face sounds fun?"

You refused to let up on the feeling. A relationship was more than words and vague actions of romance like showing up at your house at midnight. You simply wanted a little more. "I just wish we could have some more contact during a time like this."

"No one wants to go to space when they first see it; they just stare, mesmerized by stars and light in the sky. Let me have that—let me give you that," he begged.

"Sometimes it feels like you're all talk," you spat with a passion. Edward was easy to love for his profound outlook on things thanks to his time spent in various places, but it became easy to hate when that was all he offered at certain moments. But, to your surprise, he caved.

"Then you do it. Tell me everything you would do if you had dictative will over me."

In what seemed like a rebuttal, he pulled himself out of the jockstrap from the side. You could see a light gathering of hair around the pubic bone, easily identifiable by the thin area due to the absence of excess fat.

You paused, taking a moment to think. Even then, you struggled to string together something to say, "I'd. . . taste you? Fuck, Ed, I don't know how to phrase it."

"No that's good, keep going," he seemed to like the effort, at least. He went from a half-chubbed cock to something harder with the ability to bob in the air on its own for a few seconds.

You decided on what you would do, answering him with certainty, "I would—I would kiss you. All over—everywhere."

"Everywhere?" He asked, tugging thoroughly at himself. He ensured that his hand met the base and worked its way up to the tip in a screwing motion, twisting around his shaft for a heightened sense of pleasure.

"Every imperfect fold and bit of skin that sparkles, Ed." He liked that idea, too. Edwards face twisted from it's set of gorgeous placement to a strong expression of pleasure.

"What else?" He huffed out, feigning a loss of breath. Maybe, he was simply putting on a show.

"What do you want to hear?" You watched his thin core falsely heave in a breath and exude it, cold wind emanating from him as he let out a moan. It was a show, but it was a damn good one. His own ideas got to his head before you could say anything to make them enticing.

"What if we got a house one day? What would I come home to?"

"Me, your undoubtedly happy partner, waiting inside a small house. White pickets on the lawn, cloudy days with the blinds shut—we can't have anyone knowing you're a vampire," you laugh at how ridiculous it sounds, "The two of us would likely be crowned 'the weirdos in Forks,' and there would be long-running rumors about how no one goes in and comes out alive. The neighbors see us every now and then, but we're reclusive, spending every night and day making love, Ed. We'll give ourselves up to instincts and love."

"And when we are making love?" The motion of his hand picked up speed, but not to the degree of his running feats, rather, only a bit faster than what you could average when you were pent up. Though, you weren't nearly as big as him. You used it as a reference for your last point.

"I'll wear one of your shirts—that button-down right over there, coated in your scent, but you can still smell the red ocean inside me. We'll kiss, like I said, a lot. And I think for my first time with you, I'd want to swallow your. . . venom. Make you feel like you're human again."

That's when he came, spewing his own, cold release over your chest and a bit spraying on to your sheets, staining it with him. You noticed that the color was a bit darker than the regular human dickspit, but it was an extension of him in his most raw form. Edward sped over to fish out his shirt from the piles of clothes on the floor. He came over, carefully dabbing up his mess and tossing the shirt to you when he was finished. He remarked to himself, "Wash it, or not. I'd prefer it if you didn't, but I won't judge cleanliness."

You started drifting in and out of the realm of sleep, disappearing to a place Edward couldn't wander to. He hastily asked one last question, "Did you mean everything you said?"

"Every time you ask."

[bakugokemkatsuki]

Public Eye

Katsuki Bakugo x Reader

**Genre: Fluff (?) **Key: Talking: Bakugo Interviewer **Note: Gender Neutral/ for anyone reader **Word Count: 634 **Warning(s): Cussing, Fan Hates, Pushy People

You and Bakugo had been dating for about a year. The relationship was harder than past ones  due to him being a Pro Hero. The public eye was always on him, being a top-ranking hero came with this. Normally it wasn’t a big deal but, the news outlets were always digging for a story. And so, though you two were careful and tried to be discreet with your relationship it didn’t take long for media to catch wind. Once they found out he was seeing someone its all the new outlets would talk about. Who were you? How did you two meet? These were the buzzing questions flying at Bakugo after every battle. Bakugo liked keeping things private, so he was always quick to change the subject and avoid the questions about you two. Now living in the day and age of social media his fans didn’t take well to this and though some pointed out Bakugo was just a normal person who deserved privacy most didn’t see it that way. Most saw this as meaning that he was embarrassed or ashamed of you and what was worst is most agreed he should be. Though they didn’t know your name or anything about you, they didn’t even know what you looked like (you had managed to hide your face when caught by paparazzi), they still criticized you like no tomorrow. They made fun of how you dressed and the way you walked, they made fun of your hair and your height. It was brutal and they didn’t even know your name. All of this came to a head during an interview. Bakugo was set to appear on a popular talk show that was to be live broadcasted discussing his quick rise to the top and his future in the hero world. That’s when the interviewer brought up the relationship rumors. Bakugo tried to change the subject and just briefly said he wanted to keep it private. The interviewer though was not satisfied with this and kept prying. Bakugo just brushed it off trying to keep his cool until the interviewer mentioned the fans thoughts. “You know Dynamite most of your fans think you won’t open up about this mystery partner because your ashamed or embarrassed. From your reaction and quick attempts to change the subject I think they might be right.” Bakugo’s face turned to one of distaste, but he tried to keep his cool as this interview was important to his career. “Listen just shut your damn mouths and drop the topic.” “You heard it hear first, Pro Hero Dynamite is ashamed of his partner.” With that Bakugo couldn’t take it and quickly stood up pissed and fisted bawled up no longer caring about how this interview affected his career. He realized you cared about you more than that. “SHUT THE HELL UP!!! My partner is perfect and I just didn’t tell any of you shitty extras about them to protect them from your absolute shit opinions because I don’t give a FUCK what you all think of them. I LOVE THEM. So just fuck off!!” Everyone in the studio was stunned and fell silent. Bakugo stormed off stage pissed. “Wait Dynamite! Where are you going?” “Hell, most likely now fuck off. This interview is done.” You confronted him right after worrying about how this will ruin his image. He told you he didn’t care all he cared about was you and that he realized hearing them say all of those things that he loved you. The story was quick to go viral but not in a negative light. Him defending you made everyone love him seeing he has a soft spot made the public love him more than ever. The public support for your relationship was amazing and you were so happy.

[leanchugger420]

₊ ׅ ֹ 𓈒 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄 | 𝐈𝐈 𓈒 ֹ ׅ ₊

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pairings — toji x fem!reader, geto + gojo x fem!reader

summary — after spending a year in kyoto, returning home is better than you could imagine. your childhood best friends gojo and geto start seeing you in a new light and perhaps that is the reason you find yourself entangled in their sheets at night. when they find themselves falling in love with you, you can't help but feel your heart straying to the mysterious older man who helps your predicament.

warnings — mentions of alcohol, grown ass toji being flirty (if you squint), toji is twice reader's age, desolate setting.

wc — 0.8k

A/N — this is just a flashback to the morning of reader's first day back in tokyo also the first time you and toji meet. enjoyyyy.

𝐜𝐡. 𝐈𝐈; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫.

it is 4:36 am. you get off the train at your stop, finally setting foot in tokyo. it is dark and it is empty which is most unusual for a city as alive as this.

you watch your step as you walk through the seemingly abandoned station, not a person in sight. unconsciously holding your breath, you feel a sudden chill run down your spine.

the change in temperature has nothing to do with the weather and you know this. a coin clatters to ground in front of you and your instincts locate the person who threw the coin, based on the temperature of body heat.

you turn your head and suddenly you see a man sitting against a wall with a bottle of beer in his hands. you resume breathing, taking a good look at this man.

he is visibly older, gloomy and much larger than you. you squint in confusion, wondering what he might be doing here at this time.

he takes a swig of his beer and speaks up "it's not very polite to stare" turning to look at you, your resolve is shattered after taking one look at his emerald eyes. his gaze takes its time to lazily roam your body before coming back to your eyes.

"you dropped this coin.." you bend to pick up the coin but when you turn, the man is no longer sitting against the wall. you feel breathing behind you and slowly, cautiously turn around.

the man is now facing you directly, reaching his hand towards yours. you breath hitches in your throat, immobilized by his stare.

he pulls out the coin from your hand, letting his fingers linger on your knuckles for just a moment too long and you take a second to study the man who towers over you.

his hair is straight and dark with bangs sweeping over his forehead. he has a scar on his lips and the urge to reach out and trace it is strong.

your eyes make its way lower, stopping at his visible collarbones, settling on the way his black t-shirt hugs his build so tightly. his biceps are straining against the material. your heart lurches in your chest, eyes dropping the the soft, vague bulge sticking out from his pants.

you look back up to meet his eyes, suddenly made aware that he was just studying you, the same way you were, him. you swallow a little, overwhelmed by the sheer size of him. he seems to like it.

"i'm not exactly looking for company right now but i'd shoot myself before i denied the company of a girl like you" he muses, clearly intrigued by you. if he was attracted to you, his facial expressions and body language speak a different story.

"i'm flattered and all, but you look way older than me and i'm not interested in that kind of thing right now.." your trailed off, turning your head down to stare at the scuffs on your worn shoes.

"you're getting ahead of yourself. i only meant a girl as strong as you. can't say your reputation doesn't precede you, fushigoro y/n" he smirks at your assumption, and it only deepens at your confusion.

"h-how do you know who i am? and, who exactly are you?" you cross your arms, feeling suddenly confident in yourself. being jujutsu high's prodigal 2nd year does pay off after all, you think. being a grade 1 sorcerer despite being a year younger than your classmates was not an easy thing.

"doesn't really matter. i'm no one important, atleast not to you" his nose flares and his eye twitches, quickly looking away and taking yet another swig of his beer.

you furrow your brows in confusion, sensing the sudden shift in the air. you want to take it back, maybe apologise to the man but you knew it wouldn't help. this clearly wasn't your fault. your hand twitches by your side, wanting to reach out and comfort him.

you get carried away in your thoughts for a moment, taken aback by your sudden inclination towards this man.

"how old are you?" the moment it leaves your lips, you regret saying it. he turns to face you. eyes narrowing, brows furrowing and then relaxing.

"thirty five" you wince. he was exactly twice your age, but the thought didn't turn you away like you thought it would. in fact it intrigued you more.

you open your mouth to say something, but he speaks before you. "this was a mistake. forget this ever happened" you blink and he's gone.

quicker than you could breath, the atmosphere was normal again. without a trace, the man had disappeared. and then you realize, he never even told you his name.

A/N — ouh he's a piece of shit icl LMAO😭.

leanchugger420 © 2023. i do not allow anyone to upload my content on any platform without my permission [no plagiarism/translations/quotations without consent and credit].

[megoomy]

judith, a witch(?!) in a pact with a malak named ba’ul

more info and reference sheet under the cut!

here she is!! i'm happy with her look, less so with the rendered image of her, but we can't win them all.

like it says on the sheet, i was taking a lot of cues from her in game Draconic Lancer title costume. I wanted to lean into the white more than her default outfit, calling back more to the helmeted look she has before joining the party. but obviously, i didnt want to do anything that looked too much like that, or that had gold accents like her in game jacket and...skirt cape(??), because then she'd come off as kind of abbey coded. so i settled on pink accents, pulling from the colors on the Draconic Lancer look. i think it's fun. it gives her a girlish touch, which is a part of judy's character that i like! she's badass and secretive and mysterious, but she likes cute things too. well. her idea of cute, anyways...i think it suits her persona of being a "witch" in this setting. judy understands how to create an image.

speaking of that. unlike rita, who has a lot of magical knowledge, judy is basically a witch in name only. she understands how to form a pact, and not a lot past that! i think we landed on this for a few reasons:

Judy's father, Hermes, was a blastia expert, and naturally good at the magic of vesperia's universe. but judy was just the opposite, and in the novels she initially couldn't even grasp the talents natural to most krityans. being a witch who doesn't actually do much magic seems apt.

speaking of her dad, this also provides her connection to rita. they're both...witches. rita WILL NOT call judy a witch though, as you might imagine LOL (on that note, maybe hermes takes on the role of grim as the witch teacher?? again, we havent really decided on this LOL)

ba'ul obviously makes most sense as a malak, since the malaks and the entelechaia are both spirit equivalents for these tales entries. (well, entelechaia become spirits--listen, you get what i mean if you've played enough tales games) and judy MUST be with ba'ul! much like she only learns how to use her nageeg after interacting with ba'ul in the novel, i think she has just enough resonance to meet ba'ul, and their connection increases it, and she refines that ability as a "witch" enough to solidify their bond through a pact. they're family!

But yeah she uses a spear to fight. Ba'ul helps her imbue it with seraphic artes to a degree, but mostly its just the spear. I went with a design similar to the Brionac, since that's her Lore Important Weapon, but uh, i haven't designated this lance with lore importance itself. maybe we'll come up with something. looking at it right now i really think i should've colored it differently but IM NOT CHANGING IT, I ALREADY POSTED TO TWITTER!!! (it may change, hell, i decided to make it kind of glow pink in the image, im not fit for weapon designs)

Ba'ul always comes first to Judy, but neither of them is particularly biased against daemons or humans, despite knowing the truth about malevolence. she's quick to befriend yuri and loves repede (who is also a daemon, i gotta put him down on paper soon) and seems understanding of people's different circumstances. but she prioritizes her own goals first, so she'll disappear at the drop of a hat if it suits her, and yuri knows better than to count on her too much...

oh yeah. ba'ul is considered a "dragon" in vesperia, but that comes with a lot of BAGGAGE in this universe, so he's not a dragon here. he, um....he just looks like that. it's fine.