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silverstonesainz-archive · 2 years

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𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : journals and dreams could've never predicted what was to come.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : engineer!max verstappen x ofc, artist!daniel ricciardo x ofc, businessman!pierre gasly x ofc

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 3.5k words

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : explicit language, sexually suggestive dialogue & descriptions, mentions cheating briefly – semi unedited.

Sophie loved adventure more than anything.

She remembered all the days she spent in the comfort of her room, nose stuffed in books as she reads of grandeur in countries and cities she’s never heard of. She dreamt of the day she could leave home, to move to a place by the water. She imagined a house in a quiet town, not too far from the city. A studio, filled with beautiful artwork and plants all around. Maybe she would work in a coffee shop, or own one for that matter. All Sophie ever wanted was a simple life. All she wanted was to be happy.

The night after graduating from college, she packed a suitcase and left home. Not a word to her mother, whom she spent the better part of her life trying to please, and forgetting about a father who never was. Sophie left without a word, and never looked back.

She spent her days working day in and day out to be able to afford this moment. So she flew out of her little town, and made her way to Greece. London was her first stop. Glorious, but terribly wet. She spent several days in London, shacked up in a dingy hotel just outside of the city. Cheap, but homey, if she looked past the water stains in the corner of the wall and the fact the hot water knob doesn’t work. Just three days in London, three days to explore the city before she was onto the next city. And on her last night, she opted to spend it in the hotel bar.

Her feet ached after walking all day and she figured a vodka-pineapple or two might help ease the pain. She was too distracted looking at the photos on her phone, deciding what was worth keeping and what needed to be deleted, to notice the man looking at her at the end of the bar. He sits there, nursing a whiskey, completely ignoring his friend’s story. He’d hear it again anyhow, he wasn’t too worried. Instead, he placed all his focus on the girl with dark hair opposite of him, far too busy on her phone to notice that he was sitting there staring at her like a fucking creep. He shakes his head, rubbing his eyes as he nods, pretending to hear whatever punchline his friend was laughing at.

Sophie was just finishing her second vodka-pineapple when she finally put her phone down. Her eyes burned slightly and she figured it’s time for bed. She was about to pay for her tab when the barkeep let her know that it was taken care of by the gentleman over there. She looks up, eyes following the man’s index finger until she makes eye contact with a handsome man with golden brown hair and bright blue eyes. His friend is talking animatedly to the side of his face, but all the man really seemed to care about was her. His are soft, sweet, and he has dimples indenting his cheeks as he gives her a closed-mouth smile. He waves shyly, and it’s then when his friend notices that he had never been listening at all.

“Are you fucking serious dude?” the guy says before slapping the backside of the man’s head. “Whatever man, I’m gonna go play some music.”

Sophie stifles a giggle, finally turning away and getting up from her seat. She takes quick and long steps towards the end of the bar, smiling widely. “Thank you for paying for my drinks. You really didn’t have to.”

“It was my pressure- I mean pleasure.” He stuttered, cheeks turning red at his little mess up. “Sorry uh… I’m Max.”

“Sophie.” She smiles.

Sophie doesn’t end up leaving the bar as early as she intended to, and had more vodka-pineapples than she meant to. She stayed with Max at that bar until they got kicked out. And even then they didn’t seem to find an end to their conversation, sitting in the hotel lobby for another thirty minutes. With a little bit more booze, Max wasn’t as awkward as he claimed. He is animated in the way he talks, excited to share parts of him most people would be more reserved about sharing. And in all the talking and laughter, neither of them notice the staff who glare at them, upset that two people can be this happy to be together at two in the morning.

“I think we’re annoying the front desk people, no?” Max leans in to whisper, nodding his head towards the two people behind the desk, scowling as they whisper to each other.

Sophie bites her bottom lip to suppress a smile, nodding. “Maybe a little.”

“You know… I do have more vodka in my hotel room…”

“What are you suggesting?” Sophie raises her brow, to which Max flushes red.

He begins to stammer and stutter, the charm he so gracefully built crumbline. “J-just drinks. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do. Or we could just call it a night, up to you.”

Sophie is giggling again, shaking her head. “One more vodka pineapple won’t hurt me,”

But of course drinks never happened. How could they with Sophie’s lips on his the second they got into the elevator and her hands desperately gripping his shirt to pull him closer. Her last night in London turned out to be a night she would never forget. Not even the alcohol could muddle her memory of Max above her, or the way his lips felt against every single part of her body.

She woke up the next morning, his arm slung over her and his hot breath fanning against her neck. With a pounding head, she slowly slips away from him and leaves him with a note and a memory of her radiant smile.

She left London, wondering if she made the mistake of not leaving her number or if she should’ve woken him up. He was sweet, maybe slightly awkward, but there was this charm about him that was more intoxicating than the five vodka pineapples from the shabby hotel bar. But then she also wondered if he would’ve convinced her to stay one more day, and if she would even have the strength to deny his charm. She’d be damned if she let a pair of bright blue eyes keep her from her goal.

So she continued on her way, pushing Max to the furthest corner of her mind.

Germany and France, in her one day stint each, were a dream. She briefly considered staying in France, but nonetheless still got on her train and made her way to Italy. Florence was just as she imagined, everything she dreamed of and more. The architecture, the culture, the food, Sophie fell for the city fast.

Sophie stays at a motel in the city, one not too far from the train station. It’s small, the building clearly old. But it had some endearing qualities, and truthfully it was enough for the next three days. In the midst of her exploration on her first day, she ends up at a flea market happening twenty minutes from her motel. It’s busy, filled with people buying fresh produce and little knick knacks that would remind them of Florence. Sophie walks past it all and right up to a little booth at the end of the market. There aren’t many people, all them moving towards the big crowd. But Sophie was attracted to the canvases with bright colors and fun strokes. She was enamored by the beauty of every single piece the vendor had put up.

“How much for this?” She asked, eyeing the canvas of the Florence skyline. She could already picture it in the little studio apartment, maybe above a fireplace that doesn’t work, or maybe even above her bed.

The vendor has his large nose nearly right up against a canvas as he paints whatever project he’s working on. His hair is curly, a mop over his forehead and flaring outwards around his head. He doesn’t give her a second glance, he just carries on painting. “180 euros.”

The price is steep, and so she releases the corner before taking a step back. The vendor drops his brush, standing to go and begin the vicious cycle of bargaining until he is able to sell his work for a price that would demean his hard work. But hey, anything to get him by, right?

“I’m willing to bargain,” He says, wiping his hands over his jeans and right up to the front of his booth.

Sophie shakes her head, “I don’t think I’d realistically be able to afford any price you’d be willing to give me. Nothing against you! I’m just in the middle of moving… I have to make every dollar count you know? But it’s beautiful. All of it is.”

For the first time that day, the man smiles. “That means a lot… if you don’t mind my asking, where are you off to?”

Sophie must’ve stood at that stand for an hour or so, talking to the man who introduced himself as Daniel. He was charming in his own right, but different from Max. He was confident, optimistic, just down right happy and it was refreshing. She ended up helping him take down his booth, packing away the pieces of art and loading them into his truck.

He offered to drive her back to her motel, an offer she most graciously accepted.

She never wanted the night to end, even as he pulled up to her motel.

“When do you leave Florence?” Daniel asks as he pulls up to the little building.

“Thursday. Then I’m off to Rome for the weekend and then Greece.” She smiles, “Thank you again for the ride.”

“Of course.” Daniel watches as she gathers her belongings, opening the door to climb out. Just as she’s about to slam the door, he stops her, “Hey. If you’re not busy tomorrow, do you want to maybe grab some dinner?”

Sophie grins widely, nodding without any hesitation. “You’ll pick me up at six?”

“I’ll be here at 5:55,” Daniel winks.

Dinner comes as quickly as either of them hoped. True to his word, Daniel was in front of her motel at 5:55, on the dot. He waits in the lobby, nose deep in some travel magazine until he hears gentle pit-pat come closer and closer to him. Daniel looks up, completely awestruck at the woman before him. Something about the way she stands there before him, hair up and away from her face that makes the man’s heart beat in a frenzy. And when she asks him if he’s ready to go, it takes him a minute to respond. But he does, pushing the idea of what could be out of his mind.

He takes her to his best friend’s restaurant, where they spend the night learning to make pasta and drinking copious amounts of wine. He’s a wine connoisseur he claims. But whatever red cabernet or merlot he had convinced her to drink, it was enough to ease her nerves and push her straight into his arms. Something about the way he looks at her, a lazy gaze that sets fire within her. Daniel pays for the bill, as a gentleman does, and just about drags her out of the restaurant. It doesn’t take long for their hands to be all over the other, lips attached, and Sophie on top of Daniel in the driver’s seat fogging up the windows of his old truck.

The moments after are ones that Sophie will never forget. It’s soft and gentle, his slender fingers coming up to brush the hair stuck to her forehead. His sweet compliments, and the soft begging for her to stay one more day. She nearly gave in, nearly extended her trip one more day to spend just a little more time with Daniel. But she stays strong, as hard as it was. He ends up in her bed, stays with Sophie until she is boarding that train. Daniel sends her off with a gift, and watches the train until he can no longer see it.

What was Rome if not grand. Though truth be told, she struggled to enjoy the city as much as she would’ve hoped, the memory of Daniel still heavy on her mind. She wanted to cut her trip short, maybe even turn around to Florence for one more wine-fueled adventure, or London to apologize to sweet Max for disappearing. But she wasn’t in the city for her own personal time. She was there for her best friend’s wedding, to celebrate love and welcome forever. And it’s there that she meets the tall, ruggedly handsome best man. He was a cliche to a fault, standing with his chin up and chest out, smiling as he charmed his way through the room. He looked like he’d been pulled out of a book, his face ungodly. Had he been written by a man or a woman, she would have to discover for herself.

It isn’t long until the best man is in front of Sophie, hand outstretched to shake hers as he introduces himself.

“Pierre, the best man. And you must be Sophie, the maid of honor? Donna has talked so much about you.” He says.

His voice is smooth, just like honey. It goes straight to her core.

“I am, can’t say I’ve heard anything about you.”

Her bluntness catches Pierre off guard. It was what had hooked him, the way she shuts down his advances all throughout the night. Even after buying her her drink of choice twice, his charm did nothing for her. He spent the entirety of the rehearsal dinner pining after her, even making it as far as to drop her to her hotel room, which in fairness was only two doors down from his. But even then, Sophie only left him with a peck on the cheek and a promise that she would see him tomorrow.

She kept her promise, unintentionally for that matter. Though she was referring to the fact she would see him at the wedding, she ran into him at the cafe in the hotel that morning. They ended up having breakfast together, staying long after they started serving lunch, and only left because they needed to get ready for the wedding. Pierre, as relentlessly flirty as he was, was witty and smart. He is more than a pretty face, and as much as Sophie hated to admit it, she was slowly sinking deeper and deeper into him.

She fell even more at the wedding, when Donna read her vows to her husband. There were sweet words about love at first sight, something about how she just knew. She always knew the man standing in front of her was meant to be her forever. Sophie can’t say the same about Pierre, hell the idea of that made her want to vomit. But something about the way he smiles at her, void of cockiness, makes her heart skip a beat. And after the wedding, after one too many mixed drinks at the reception, Sophie let him into her room. She lets him take her on the bed, over the desk, in every conceivable way possible until she slips into a dream-filled slumber in his arms.

And she woke up feeling satisfied, feeling a bit more complete than she had recalled. It felt right, that moment felt absolutely right.

“Just one more day, belle,” Pierre muses, trailing kisses down her neck, “please… for me?”

And how could she say no? How could she deny his bright blue eyes and his soft lips against her skin just one more day?

In hindsight, maybe she should’ve. She very easily left Max and Daniel. What was so different about the Frenchman? Why was it so easy for her to melt into his hand, for him to convince her to veer off track, even for just a day?

After the day spent together, and a night of things she could never mention, Pierre is fast asleep beside her. She was almost asleep, almost in complete bliss, when his phone began to ring. He doesn't stir, doesn’t even flinch at his ring tone. And when Sophie moves over him to turn it off, she can feel her heart shatter in her chest. She stares at the contact name, Baby, with a red heart right next to it. And when the call ends, she sees the multitude of texts on the screen of Baby missing him and asking Pierre where he’s been.

Quietly but with haste, Sophie slips out of his arm, gathers her belongings and leaves. Disgust and distaste fuel her rage. Hot tears stain her cheeks while she sits on the train, trying so hard to shake off the memory of Pierre’s lips on hers and the way he set her skin on fire. She should’ve been stronger, should’ve left like she originally planned. She would’ve saved herself the heartache.

The rest of the trip to Greece was without trouble, without any more distractions or one night stands. Sophie looked straight ahead, continued her trek towards the life she so carefully planned for herself.

She wished to say that arriving at the port to get to Santorini was when she was able to push Pierre out of mind. She wished that pushing Pierre out of mind was as easy as it was to do with Daniel and Max. But the feeling of disgust, of being the other woman stays with her. It festers in her, makes her grow bitter and angry at herself. And with all that bitterness, she was even more enraged when she saw her ferry floating away.

Sophie broke down into tears, dropping to her knees as she sits on the semi-empty port and cries. Frustration sits in her chest as she tugs on the roots of her hair. She was so close. She was being fucking dramatic, she knows that. She knows how easy it is to buy another ferry ticket, that her new home can wait just a little longer. She knows deep down that it really isn’t that big of a deal. But between traveling for the last two weeks, and whatever happened with Pierre, she just wanted to be home.

“Are you alright?”

The voice is soft, but filled with worry. She wipes her eyes quickly, looking up to see a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He stares down at her with furrowed brows and wide eyes.

She nods. “Yeah. I just… it’s been a tough week and I just missed my ferry to Santorini.”

“Oh… well. I can take you.” He offers.

“Oh please, I don’t want to trouble you. I can just wait for the next one.”

“The next one won’t be here until tomorrow. I’m leaving right now and I can take you to the island in four hours.”

Sophie looks up at him, watching as he turns to look at his boat docked not too far away.

“I need to go to Kamari.”

“Well you’re in luck, because so do I.”

Mick, who introduces himself as he takes Sophie’s bags, is nothing short of a gentleman. He tells her all about Kamari, how much he loves living there and how excited he is for her to see just how great it is. She learns that Mick leaves just ten minutes outside the city, and runs a mechanic shop that had been passed down for generations. After his father’s accident, he assumed control of it to support his family. Four hours fly by faster than Sophie thought, and soon she’s back on land. Kamari, Santorini, her new home.

The lengths Mick goes for her are more than she would’ve ever expected or asked for. He had the courtesy to drive her to her new studio apartment, and help her move in. He visited her every chance he got and helped make Kamari feel like home. Sophie busied herself as much as possible, trying to get settled in and accustomed to how drastically different life seemed to be in Kamari.

Sophie finds work as a waitress at a restaurant by the coast. She commutes every day by bus to work in the city, despite Mick and Corinna (his mother) insisting they can take her. It was honest work, but she had never been happier. Her journey to Greece, the people she encountered, none of that mattered anymore. She was here, she was happy. She was living her dream.

For one month.

It was bliss for one month. Four weeks, then her body ached more, sleep never seemed to be enough, and she spent every morning bent over the toilet. Then it’s a full week of this before she realizes that she’s late. She’s fucking late.

NOTE: ahhhh i'm so happy i finally get to release this!! i've been thinking of this series for maybe two or three weeks and have been planning it out and now to have the prologue out means its real. i can't wait to share this with all of you.

as always shout out to the loml @bigdiccricc for helping me get my thoughts in order and to @vamossainz55 for listening to me come up with a MULTITUDE of ideas and helping me get this fic together. i love u both very much.

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inkantation-arch · 1 year

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need a rayne check?

2.4k words, rayne recruitment fic

August burns hot as a heat wave hits Inkopolis. It drove everyone’s anxieties high - two years ago, a heat wave caused a blackout, and now, everytime temperatures climb, people hold their breath. While some call it superstitious, Rayne keeps an eye on the meters. As people used their ACs more, the more likely it became that the city’s reserves of electrical energy - only now recovering from two years ago - would be taxed, the more they risked another blackout.

Rayne can’t take another summer like that one, run ragged trying to keep his borough alive. Nevermind that if it happens again, people might be frightened, more than they were two years ago. If there was any consolation back then, it’s that the number of people hurt was significantly low. Another blackout could mean panic, this time.

He twirls his keys between forefinger and thumb, counting a beat 1-2-3-and 4, 1-2-3-and 4, a song somewhere in the back of his mind. The grocery store moves aside for him, as he ducks his head into the deli section “Papí,” he calls from the counter, “I’m headin’ out, do you need anything?”

“Ay, it’s two already, mijo?” His father calls back, voice drained, “No, no, I don’t need anythin’. Go have fun.”

Rayne cocks an eyebrow up, and with a suspicious laugh, he adds, “I’m gonna swing by the apartment anyway to say hi to Abuela, are you suuure-”

“Actually,” his father concedes, “I could use a water. Oh, and my pills!”

“Knew it.” Rayne laughs, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Passing through to the side stairwell, Rayne climbs the steps two at a time. Now, the Ortegas owned apartment 410, on the fourth floor, so he had a bit of a hike, and through the cramped hallways, he expected to see not a single soul. After all, it was the middle of the day, and no kids got back from school this early.

Instead, however, when he reaches the third floor, there’s a surprise. A woman standing in the hallway.

The third floor housed three apartments, and though one often sat empty, the other two served two families, the Kimuras and the Seisma Tierras. The Kimuras were in 310, 311 was empty, and the Seisma Tierras live in 313 ( an error in the floor plan which had remained unchanged since, according to his abuela, the 1970s. ) Now, while the Kimuras were definitely home, the Seisma Tierras were not. It made the fact that the stranger was practically beating on their door incredibly surprising.

This woman, pale and thin, had white tentacles pulled into a bow at the back of her head, wore a surgical mask, and a full kimono. In this heat? She once more knocks on the Seisma Tierra apartment, desperate. “Three! Are you home?” If Rayne had to guess, she didn’t know he was there. Who the fuck is Three?

“Hey,” Rayne makes his presence known, chastising the stranger, “You’re gonna break their door down, or wake the baby across the hall. Whichever comes first.”

The woman, gold eyes wide as saucers, takes one step back from Rayne. “Where is Th- Tsunaomi? She lives here, right?”

Rayne Ortega has never been a fool. He watches TV, is a professional Rainmaker player, for goodness sake, and he has a knack for reading people. He also has a knack, apparently, for recognizing poorly disguised celebrities. It is, vaguely, amusing to consider why on earth Tsunaomi would have Marie Squidsisters ( do celebrities have real last names? ) knocking on her door. However, Marie’s distress is genuine, and Rayne’s not a fucking creep, so he doesn’t bother to play up his jokester exterior, or call her on her disguise.

“She flew out to Scaleford last week.” Rayne answers, and before he can say anything-

“No no no, what do you mean flew out?” There’s a rising panic in Marie’s voice, which Rayne tries to calm.

“She took a 6AM flight out east, INK to FIN, with a layover in CLC.” Rayne recites, before narrowing his eyes, hoping a shift in topic would get her to relax, “How do you know her, anyhow?”

“I’m a friend! Of hers-” Marie lies, voice tripping one word after the other, “From high school.”

“De verdad?” Really? He wonders if Marie even knows who she’s talking to, “How’d you meet?”

Marie seems to search with her eyes, as if something about the wreath on the door would give her an answer, “W-we were on the gymnastics team together.”

Okay, Rayne thinks, so she knows well enough to choose the right extracurricular, “Huh,” Rayne tuts his tongue, “Never saw you at the meets, and I’d know, ‘cause I went to every one of ‘em.” He offers his hand out, “Name’s Rayne Ortega, and I am Naomi’s best friend. So start ya story over.”

Despite the mask covering the bottom half of her face, it was evident that Marie realized she was caught in a lie. She did, however, shake his hand, so at least she was polite. “Okay, Rayne,” She starts, “Look, I’m just looking for Tsunaomi, and she’s not here- I just need her help-”

A piece clicks in his head, and Rayne says, “Anything you need Naomi for, I can do. What’s up?”

“I-” she pauses, trying to calculate an answer, “It’s not anything you would know about, Three was specifically told not to tell anyone else,” then, under her breath, “I guess that was… two years ago now-”

“You called her Three again. That’s not her name.” Rayne calls her out, before letting out a deep, tired sigh, “Listen, if I had to hazard a guess, the ‘two years ago’ you didn’t want me to hear is about is the Great Zapfish bein’ missing, like it is now. Meaning you know about Naomi disappearing in the middle of the night, coming back all bruised and shit. ( And ain’t your sister missin’ too- )'' Rayne shakes his head, “Look, I’m offering you help, because you clearly need it. Are we clear?”

“We’re not clear. You have no idea what you’re signing yourself up for. Tsunaomi knew when she came to us, but you don’t- there’s no way you could-” Marie seemed to curse herself, muttering more, her face dour. Whatever threat she talked in circles about, she was genuinely scared of it. Then, she looks up to Rayne, and declares, “If you really want to help, meet me in the Square later today, and I’ll show you where we need to go.”

“Deal.” Something gnaws in the pit of his stomach.

———

RAYNE Okay, start talking. Did you or did you not rescue the Great Zapfish two years ago?

TSUNAOMI No clue what you’re talking about. Hit your head?

RAYNE Nuh uh, cut that shit, 3. Zapfish didn’t magically come back on its own. Girl, you could’ve been killed. Why didn’t you tell me?

TSUNAOMI It was supposed to be a secret. I went out looking for it and ended up recruited by this old Captain, and I guess this is just my job now. Wait. Who the fuck told you?

RAYNE One of the fuckin Squid Sisters? El verde.

TSUNAOMI Marie.

RAYNE Yeah. That one. So I’m right then? You got the Zapfish back? Dude, from WHERE?

TSUNAOMI Yes, alright, you’re right. Ask Abuela. She found out everything like a month in.

RAYNE Yo, you told my GRANDMA before me? That’s messed up.

TSUNAOMI Actually, I told my mom first. Abuela Marisol just caught me sneaking out. Can’t keep secrets from her on her block.

RAYNE Fair enough. Next phone call tho, YOU are telling me everything. I gotta look out for you, Naomi.

TSUNAOMI I was looking out for you. For truth. I’ll call after class, ok? Love you.

RAYNE Love you too. Till death, alright?

TSUNAOMI Or handcuffs.

———

“Abuela?” Rayne peeks his head in, finding the apartment suspiciously empty.

“Mijo, come out here, I’m on the fire escape!” She calls from the open window. Her voice is chipper, as if age had barely touched her. “There’s a parade down on 170th!”

“Abuela, how can you see it from here?”

“Come out here, you can see all the floats above the building!” There’s always a glee in Marisol’s voice, whenever there is a city celebration. Though he could guess a reason, he’ll never know for sure.

Rayne could list all the facts he knew about Abuela's life before she came to the surface on one hand. She had been born underground, given that she was 89, and the war ended 100 years ago. She was a soldier, based on the strands of ceremonial kelp she hid in the back closet, and that she left sometime in her twenties, just based on the timeframe. And… That was it. She kept that part of her life very hidden from him, but her story on the surface was practically Shibooyah Heights legend.

Newcomer to the surface finds an apartment in Supa Nagano’s block ( Inkwell Buildings #1 - #10 ) and starts making money, scrubbing homes until her hands are raw, fixing cars and power stations because it paid better, and coming home to lament that she had to go so far south to get fresh food. One complaint from her, and soon enough, she noticed every time someone made an offhand remark. So, Marisol started saving, took what used to be an abandoned storefront, bought it, and gutted the entire thing. Put in fridges, put in a deli counter and industrial kitchen, and scrubbed the place top to bottom.

It was the first grocery store in the Heights. It’s the only grocery store in the Heights. Abuela’s fed people and made the corner what it is. When she opened it, it was just the Tienda. But then, a few years later she adopts a young Inkling kid. Then twenty some odd years later, she hands the store off to him, and Sunny Ortega changes the name. Doña Marisol’s, for everything she’d done for the community.

Even now, she keeps busy. Abuela liked to walk the neighborhood, liked to stop and check in on every neighbor. Her late 80s hit her like absolutely nothing, and she stands on the fire escape, looking out at the city. At her city. She keeps her eyes on the distant festivities. “Dime tus problemas, mijo.” She doesn’t even have to turn around, her gray tentacles curling up in anticipation.

“Abuela,” he starts, stomach still twisting. “Two years ago, when the Great Zapfish went missing, you… you and a couple of the other Doñas and Obaa-sans, you said something about the Shogun being responsible. No one would tell me then what they meant by that.”

“Rayne, you don’t need to know-” Abuela turned, looked at his face, and almost immediately relented. The lines drawn into her face imperceptibly softened, “But you’re gonna find out whether I tell you or not, no?”

Rayne nodded. “If someone’s threatening this city, I gotta do something.”

“Ay, mi lluvia, you’re going to have to listen and listen well.” Abuela cast her view back to the city she loves, gold eyes filled with darkness. “Everyone knows the history. A hundred years ago, we’re cast from the surface. It was a tough life down there, mijo. Every day, working just to see that night, hoping for enough food, enough electricity, fighting tirelessly for a war that we lost. Some of us figured out, we could just leave, so we snuck out. Came to the city, made our peace with it all, and started life over again. We fought for our rights to live in happiness, and we did it in the sun, in the rain, in the snow.”

“Not Octavio. Octarian King, Shogun, whatever people like to call him. From what the newcomers tell me, he is still bitter, and I cannot blame him in the slightest.” Rayne opened his mouth to ask a question, but Abuela cut him off. “Yes, two years ago, the UFO in the sky was Octavio, and it was our people who stole the Great Zapfish.”

“... But…” Rayne trails off, unsure what to say, “If there wasn’t electricity when you left, then surely they need the Great Zapfish. I-if that’s true, I can’t just take it back.”

“La estrella said the same thing, so I’ll tell you what I told her. The people may need help, but the man running the show, that power will be going to him and his war machines alone. Innocent people will die, mi lluvia.”

“Wh- what am I supposed to do? What’s the right thing to do?”

“There’s not one right thing to do.” She answers him softly. Abuela turns, and her wrinkled, withered hands cup his face. “You, mi lluvia, you show mercy wherever you can. You help people, trade favors, play the game to win. Whatever it takes to get access to wherever he keeps the Octoweapons, and you destroy them, before they can be used. And you bring the Zapfish back.”

“Most importantly,” She presses a kiss to his forehead, “Do what you do best. Be kind.”

———

His afternoon now totally destroyed, Rayne set about his tasks ( Dad’s water and medicine, not forgotten in the mess ) before heading downtown. His leg bounces on the subway, anxiety seeping and soaking down to his core. Beak clenched as he gets off the C train, Rayne keeps his hands in his pockets. Do what you do best, she said. And he’ll listen. When he reaches Inkopolis Square, he follows Marie without hesitation, out somewhere he’d never seen before.

Emerging into sunlight, Rayne winces back. Across the way, Marie stands, her surgical mask now removed, and holding a parasol. Behind her is a worn down shack, radio antennas sticking out the top.

“So… You came.” She seems almost impressed.

“Yeah, I’m here.” Rayne sighs. “So, we’re getting the Great Zapfish back from Octavio, yeah?”

Marie is taken aback, “So you do know. ( how is it everyone else gets to be prepared when they walk in? ) That makes things easier.”

“This is Cuttlefish Cabin,” she begins, “and I am Agent Two of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. We protect Inkopolis from the Octarians' attempts to bring war. Our Captain and Agent One are… away.” Oh, sore subject? “Obviously, if I could have called Agent Three - your Tsunaomi - I would have. Training a new Agent on the fly... It’s risky.”

Rayne just laughs, blustering bravado, “Risky’s my game.”

"I sure hope it is... Welcome to the team, Agent Four."

#【００Ｘ：DRABBLES.】#take this thing from my hANDS

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youn9racha · 3 years

Text

I Know (Part I)

Pairing: Changbin x fem!reader

Genre: suggestive

Word count: 1.9k

Warning: slight adult content, swearing, suggestive actions, elements of stalker behavior

Extra notes: characters mentioned are all above the age 21 years, a lot of hatred towards the male figure lol. Also this is my first time writing on tumblr, so please bare with me, it may not be the best, but I still hope you enjoy it :)

And baby, I know, I know whatever city you’re in, you’re still the boy that I’d pick…

part ii is up !!!

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This is no way representative of the way Stray Kids act. They’re nothing but references of character, and in no shape or form is this how they act. And I am in no way romanticizing or glamorizing any toxic behavior exhibited, they’re just stories that is meant to be read. Readers discretion is advised

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Men…

Truly the scums of the Earth, who do no good for no one, and are an absolute menace to society. But oh, do I enjoy the looks of their faces at times. The way they would look at me with full hope and infatuation, with full beliefs that I would step down and give them all they want from me.

Hmph. How cute… and pathetic. How pathetic to assume and lower my standards for them. They all are the same. All but one however.

All that men hating… and yet, only one I’d be willing to go down to his level.

Yes, its him… He whom a lot would have not sought to be with, not many would expect a bombshell like myself would be with. But I do not see that in him, not an ounce of what many insecure individuals would see. I see something striking that not many could see, an underrated dignified beauty that anyone could wish to admire. A fanciable and irresistible personality and face.

He was a man.. but a pleasant one.

It all started when I moved in into a new flat for myself. I previously left the old complex due to the cramped environment I had that left me feeling uneasy and stressed, as well as it wasn’t even my apartment, it was for my partner, well, ex-partner. It was simply wasn’t working out, due to our seeming never ending conflicts. But enough of the past, let us move on..

I found this flat that is comfortable and the rent pays well, its only downside is that my room’s window is faced to the next door’s flat, however it’s not a big detriment or big turn off for me so it was fine by me, and also it was prone to have random, yet rare, blackout, but then again what neighborhood doesn’t have that. Anyhow, I was set to take the complex, but before I did, I have noticed something about the neighbor’s window next to me. It was a man. A really good looking one too. Giving his side profile, he was laying on his bed, his black hair covered head bopping with earphones placed in ears, laptop placed in his revealing shorts adorned lap. My eyes began started to stare into his arms then onto his naked well built chest, which indicates that he likes to keep up with his health, as his ring adorned hands was tapping away in his keyboard. I quickly looked away when I saw him repositioned his laptop, and walked out of the soon-to-be my room.

Great… I’ve entered Hell.

But I didn’t let it affect my decisions and got the apartment nonetheless, here I am now, weeks after the incident, sitting in my car, outside of the building, still thinking about the man in his laptop. Has he noticed that I was staring at him? Does he know that there’s gonna be someone living next to him? I hope not. And if he has, I must apologize to him. But before that, let me unload my car. I have gradually put my stuff into the complex as the days go by, it seems dragging, but it felt like the time went by fast, so I’m glad I have done that. However, today was different, as I took stuff more than I usually did, as I desperately do not want to go back to my ex. Typically, I never had assistance, as usually my best friend would join in and help out, but at a time I needed them the most, they had to be really sick. They still were willing to help, but I insisted that they shouldn’t and should rest.

After thinking, I sighed and got out my car, ready to fight the battle that is putting my stuff into my complex. I opened the trunk, eyes meeting my stuff, and I begin to groan. ‘Dammit, (y/n), why do you have that many stuff?!’ I thought to myself. I really should’ve had at least one more visit to my ex, but alas I picked to just take all all together in one day. I picked up a box until..

“Need any help?” I heard someone behind me asking me. I turned around and looked at the source. ‘God damn, is it just me, or does this town just bring out more attractive people?’ I thought to myself, as I see a man that looked like he could be at a museum. He had a sandy brown curly hair, slightly tanned skin, really plump and a crazy jawline. He donned a tank top that barely covered his side torso, and basket ball shorts that complimented his really nice, thick… thighs… yeah… Needless to say he was really attractive.

It seems that I was ogling him, rather than responding, as he shyly smiled and waved his hand in front of my face, “hello,” he softly said as I shook my head and looked back at his face apologetically.

“I am so sorry, I am just really tired, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” I cringed at my pathetic way of justifying of me literally internally lusting over him. I really am turning into someone I dread to be. How can I forgive myself?

“That’s okay, I know how moving can get tiring, and I sense that you’re alone, so please let me and my friend help you out.” He said, sympathetically smiling a sweet smile, already grabbing a box out of my hand. God, if this man has a partner, then they’re the luckiest person ever, and if he’s single, I’ll gladly hand him a ring. What am I saying? (y/n), what the hell has gotten into you?!

“I’m Christopher, but you can call me Chris or Chan, whichever you prefer is fine, what’s your name?” The generous man’s voice interrupted my inner battle and I found myself looking at him again. “(y/n)” I smiled at him, which he nodded back.

“Nice to meet you,” Chan said, looking back and see that his friend showed up, meanwhile, I went back to my trunk and got out more stuff from my car “oh, there he is!” Chan enthusiastically announced.

“(y/n), meet my friend and roommate, Changbin.” Chris said, while I got out the box and looked at the other man, my face shifted from contentment to horrific.

Its the man with the laptop.

“Hello? Chan, are you sure she’s okay?” Changbin looked at Chris with worry. “Yeah, she’s just tired, just nudge her.”

It’s like Chris knew me too well, despite meeting for less than 10 minutes, as Chris slightly pushed me with the box, not enough to hurt me, but enough to put me out of a trance.

“huh? I did it again, did I?” I looked at Chan, worryingly, which he nodded. I looked back at Changbin and the pathetic act was brought up again.

“I am so sorry, I don’t know what has gotten into me.” I apologized once again, which Changbin only smirked. “Don’t worry about it,” He said, carrying a box. Something about that smirk and tone seems off. Not off in a menacing way, but off in a… coy way. Maybe not the best term to use, maybe I am just over analyzing, but I am for sure either winning the lottery tonight, or convinced that the sun will rise from the west tomorrow, since I have two very attractive men helping out, one of which is someone whom I may have an odd fascination for a while now.

The two have been nothing but a delight to interact with, their help with the stuff had done me even more than just a solid. However, I still in a way feel a bit unsettled by Changbin. It wasn’t that he was a creep, or did anything to make me uncomfortable, its just this feeling of guilt I carry with me. Meanwhile, I didn’t attempt anything, and I just simply just admired him from afar, it still felt wrong that I was just looking at him while he was barely wearing anything, let alone while not him paying attention. Despite this, it seems that he doesn’t know that I did what I did, which is why I chose to confront him about it when the time is right, which is probably when we start getting even more comfortable. I have exchanged numbers with both men, even though I could probably just go out my window and yell out their names, but I’d rather not disturb the peace.

Two good looking men are now my neighbors… Who would have thought? Whichever entity that is in existence have decided to play with me, because to them, my humiliation would be their laughing stock, because they definitely would have seen what is to become of me.

Its been a week in since I moved, and interacted with the two Chans, and I am glad that a curtain was installed onto my room, just so I wouldn’t carry even more guilt than I already do. But the thing is, I would lie that I still haven’t thought of Changbin. While I would have thought that Chris fitting into more of my ideal type, Changbin however held a mysterious power that Chan didn’t.

Ever since the time I first laid eyes on Changbin, he has never left my mind. He has started to creep up in my fantasies and dreams in every way shape of form. I couldn’t stop thinking of how his arms would look around my waist, how his lips would feel in my skin, or how his hands would wander around, exploring places that many men often fail to find to make me feel good, or how his voice would be like when talking as he puts his mouth by my ear— God, this is getting out of hand, I would think.

What if he had a girlfriend? What if he wasn’t attracted to women in general? What if he finds you a creep?

So many more endless questions would come in to ruin me, but its not like i have a choice, he just happened to settle into my dreams and thoughts, and went with it.

I decided to take a shower to try and distract myself from these thoughts, which didn’t help at all, as the hot water cascading my skin did nothing but accelerated my lustful thoughts. I decided to get out of the shower, as it didn’t help my case.

Damn you, Changbin.

I sighed, put on some underwear and a robe while having a towel wrapped around my hair. I got out of the bathroom and back to my room. It was dark out, and in my room, the only light came out of it were my night lamp, which barely lit up the whole room. I checked the window, making sure Changbin wasn’t there, or at least not facing the window, only to see his window being covered with curtains.

Great timing, could’ve used that when I first saw you, dipshit.

But nonetheless, I was really glad at least he wasn’t visible. I laid back on my bed, and decided to look through social media, as anyone should. While in the middle of a instagram scroll, I see a caller popping through at the top of the screen…

It was Changbin.

#stray kids #stray kids scenarios #stray kids fanfic #changbin #changbin scenarios #changbin fanfic #changbin smut #stray kids smut #skz fanfic #skz scenarios

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naalbinder · 3 years

Text

phoebe bridgers // elliott smith parallels

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4BEfu6YZ7XbdHFZBXthIpN?si=6bf8fc460eba4d33

E - Riot Coming - “Sat down in jail with this friend of mine/Who'd never close both his eyes/But one was shut all the time/To cover the thing he was scared of”

E - Stupidity Tries “To sail across the sea of trash”

E - Going nowhere - “The old records are sitting on the floor/The ones I can’t put on anymore”

E - Clementine - “Anything to pass the time/And keep that song out of your mind”

P - Smoke Signals - “One of your eyes is always half-shut/Something happened when you were a kid” - “burning trash out on the beach” - “You said that song'll creep you out until you're dead”

E - Miss Misery - (music videos on the same street)

E - Easy way out - “While I watch you making mistakes/I wish you luck I really do” “I heard you found another audience to bore”

E - Looking Over My Shoulder - “Another sick rock ‘n’ roller acting like a dick”

E - Placeholder - “I'm the person you'll never need/The biggest loser on sixteenth street” - “Just like my favourite song/Some pretty words that didn't last that long”

P - Motion Sickness - “I'll be glad that I made it out/And sorry that it all went down like it did” “You said when you met me, you were bored” - “Hey, why do you sing with an English accent?/I guess it's too late to change it now”

E - Some Song - “Help me kill my time cause I'll never be fine”

P - Funeral - “Jesus Christ i'm so blue all the time/And that's just how i feel/Always have and i always will ”

E - Bled White - “Happy and sad come in quick succession/I’m never going to become what you became”

P - Demi Moore - “I got a good feeling/It doesn't happen very often”

E - St Ides Heaven - “With an open container from 7/11”

E - A Fond Farewell - “A fond farewell to a friend”

P - Scott Street - “With an open heart, open container” - “Anyway, don’t be a stranger / don’t be a stranger”

E - Last Call - “And I think I’m all done, you can switch me off safely/While i’m lying here for sleep to overtake me”

E - Roman Candle - “I’m a roman candle/My head is full of flames ”

P - Killer - “But when I’m sick and tired/And when my mind is barely there/When a machine keeps me alive/And I’m losing all my hair/I hope you kiss my rotten head/And pull the plug” - “Tame the fire in you”

E - Georgia Georgia

P - Georgia - “Georgia, Georgia, I love your son”

E - Twilight - “That you are already somebody’s baby”

E - See you later - “Made out of a night train”

E - King’s Crossing - “Instruments shine on a silver tray”

P - Chelsea - “You are somebody’s baby” - “For a chemical imbalance/You sure know how to ride a train” - “With a needle on a tray”

E - Christian Brothers - “No bad dream fucker's gonna boss me around/Christian brothers gonna take him down”

P - Would you rather - “Quarantined in a bad dream/He's half the man and you're twice as tall”

E - Son of Sam - “Son of Sam, son of a doctors love a nurses touch/Acting under orders from above”

P - You Missed My Heart - “A feeling of relief came over my soul/I couldn't take it any longer, and I lost control”

E - Bye - (instrumental)

E - New Monkey (Instrumental)

P - DVD Menu - (instrumental)

E - Coming up roses - “And you're coming up roses everywhere you go/Red roses follow”

E - Rose Parade - “Said, Won't you follow me down to the Rose Parade?”

P - Garden Song “They're gluing roses on a flatbed/You should see it, I mean thousands”

E - Condor Ave - “I don’t know what to do with your clothes or your letters”

E - Baby Britain - “Fights problems with bigger problems/Sees the ocean fall and rise/Counts the waves that somehow didn’t hit her/Water pouring from her eyes/Alcoholic and very bitter”

E - Say Yes - “I'm in love with the world/Through the eyes of a girl/Who's still around the morning after”

E - Seen How Things Are Hard - “You just didn't care/You were off getting drunk instead”

E - The Biggest Lie - "Oh, I just told the biggest lie/ I just told the biggest lie/The biggest lie"

P - Kyoto - “And you wrote me a letter/But I don't have to read it” - “I wanted to see the world/Then I flew over the ocean/And I changed my mind” - “I wanted to see the world/Through your eyes until it happened/Then I changed my mind” - “I'm gonna kill you/If you don't beat me to it” - "Guess I lied/I'm a liar/Who lies/'Cause I'm a liar"

E - Memory Lane - “Your little house on memory lane ”

E - Angel in the Snow - “Angel in the snow/all crushed out on the way you are”

E - Last Call - “And I wanted her to tell me that she would never wake me”

E - New Monkey - “For the millions of fans ignoring the bands”

E - Waltz #2 - “I'm never gonna know you now/But I'm gonna love you anyhow”

E - Amity - “I'm a neon sign and I stay open all the time”

P - Punisher - “The house where you lived with Snow White” - “But never not sweet to the trust funds and punishers” - “What if I told you/I feel like I know you?/But we never met” - “The drugstores are open all night/The only real reason I moved to the east side”

E - Some Song - “Yeah it's halloween tonight and every night”

E - Pitseleh - “I got a joke I've been dying to tell you/A silent kid is looking down the barrel/To make the noise that I kept so quiet”

P - Halloween - “Baby, it's Halloween” - “I hate living by the hospital/The sirens go all night/I used to joke that if they woke you up/Somebody better be dying”

E - Shooting Star - “So bad, so far/You made me sad/Shooting star/You're distant and cold/And a sight to behold/Everybody just sighs”

E - Satellite - “When they call it a lover's moon, the satellite/'Cause it acts just like lovers do, the satellite/A burned-out world you know/Staying up all night/The satellite”

E - Everything Reminds Me of Her - “Why are you staring into outer space, crying?/Just because you came across it and lost it”

P - Chinese Satellite - “Took a tour to see the stars/But they weren't out tonight/So I wished hard on a Chinese satellite” - “Sometimes, when I can't sleep/It's just a matter of time before I'm hearing things” b- “Instead, I look at the sky and I feel nothing/You know I hate to be alone/I want to be wrong”

E - Coast to Coast - “Still you're keeping me around/'Til I finally drag us both down (Gonna drag us both down)”

E - Little one - “The moonlight tonight/Seems to belong to me” - “One more/Little one, I love you”

E - Coming up Roses - “The moon is a sickle cell/It'll kill you in time” “While the moon does its division/You're buried below”

E - Everything Means Nothing to Me - “At attention, looking backward in a pool of water/Wishes with a blue songbird on his shoulder/Who keeps singing over everything”

E - Pretty Mary K (Other Version) - “oh Mary K, I can see your face/down there in the waves, painted and erased/but I know it's just a reflection of the moon”

P - Moon song - (52) “You asked to walk me home/But I had to carry you” - (53) “And if I could give you the moon/I would give you the moon” - (54) “You are sick and you're married/And you might be dying” - (55/56) “And you pushed me in/And now my feet can't touch the bottom of you” “But you're holding me like water in your hands/When you saw the dead little bird”

E - New Disaster - “Everybody is the same in this long no-win game/Where every new blood/Gets time to become resigned” - “Until everyone knows that your smile is just a ghost/The ghost of your smile was seen on a body in the park”

P - Savior Complex - “Baby, you're a vampire/You want blood and I promised” - “All the bad dreams that you hide/Show me yours, I'll show you mine”

E - Oh well, Ok - “If you get a feeling next time you see me/Do me a favor and let me know/Cause it's hard to tell, it's hard to say 'oh well, Ok'”

E - Last Call - “You're a tongueless talker/You don't care what you say”

E - Angel in the Snow - “Only a cold still life/ that fell down here to lay beside you”

P - ICU - (58) “But I feel something when I see you now/I feel something when I see you” - (59) “I hate your mom/I hate it when she opens her mouth/It's amazing to me/How much you can say/When you don't know what you're talking about” - “laying down on the lawn” “if you’re a work of art/I’m standing too close/I can see the brush strokes”

E - Happiness / The Gondola Man - “What I used to be/Will pass away and then you'll see/That all I want now/Is happiness for you and me”

E - Whatever (Folk Song in C) - “Whatever you're doing now would probably suit me fine/If you're all done, like you said you'd be/What are you doing hanging out with me?”

E - Big Ballad of Nothing - “You can do what you want to whenever you want to/You can do what you want to there's no one to stop you”

P - Graceland too - “Said she knows she lived through it to get to this moment” - “Whatever she wants (Whatever you want)”

E - Bottle up and Explode “Bottle up and go/I can make it outside”

E - A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free - “God knows why my country don't give a fuck” - “Shine on me baby, because it's raining in my heart”

E - Alphabet Town - “Alphabet City is haunted”

P - I Know The End - “There's no place like my room” - “To some America First rap country song” “Driving out into the sun/Let the ultraviolet cover me up”- “I'll find a new place to be from/A haunted house with a picket fence”

#phoebe bridgers #elliott smith #playlist

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thefanficmonster · 3 years

Text

Corpse Infested

Corpse Husband & Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Mentions of dysfunctional family, Family problems, Swearing

Genre: Humor, Comfort, Platonic fluff, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: When your friend disappears for a long time, seemingly having lost interest in what fueled the most passionate fire in their life, you cannot not worry about them. Even if you wanna give them space, you will reach out, you will offer your help. You will tell them they always have you to rely on and talk to.

Requested by Anon. Hi dear! I’m really sorry it’s taken me so long to complete and post your request, but here it finally is! Hope you come across it and if you do I hope you enjoy the read! Love, Vy ❤

For me, it’s never hard to find things to do. I’ve constantly got things on my mind and tasks to tend to, keeping me occupied and my mind focused at all times. I think that comes with living in a home as dysfunctional as this one. I honestly can’t recall a time when my parents got along nor can I think of a time where there was at least one second of peace while the two are both present in the house. It’s always a warzone up there. I’m saying up there because I tend to live out of the basement of their home. I know living in your parents’ basement is considered a peak loser point, or the bottom of the bottom, but you’d have to believe me when I say - I wasn’t always like this. In fact, I only recently came back to this hell-hole and boy do I regret it. I mean, it was a decision forced upon me by circumstances. Trust me, I tried every other option there was. When my dorm was to be closed down and demolished, we were given a notice to start planning our next move about a month early. You can bet I immediately started looking at places but my very tragic and miserable budget didn’t allow such a purchase. No rent was adequate for me and my near-empty wallet so my second option was moving in with my best friend who was also not in the greatest of situations but I thought I’d give that a shot too.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t work out. She lived in a tiny apartment with her boyfriend and his best friend at the time, so four people in one apartment was a nightmare. Still a lesser nightmare than this one but a nightmare nonetheless. Some unwanted and downright traumatizing events chased me out of that place after barely managing to pack my stuff. Therefore, finding myself on the streets again, I had no other option other than the obvious and least liked one: moving back in with my parents.

Making money during my first year of college hasn’t been easy. Working two jobs at once and also streaming video games on the side was what my time was filled with all throughout the first semester but then this damn pandemic started and now ruined everything for me. I had things going for me, I was slowly getting my life together and now it has all fallen apart yet again. The places I worked at closed down due to quarantine and I haven’t been able to steam, not only cause I’d be the victim of my parents’ comments but also cause my terrible home life would be exposed to all my fans and viewers. It’s not like I could cancel out the commotion going on right above my head, it’s a livestream and this house’s walls are cardboard thin meaning all the arguing I hear almost 24/7 will serve as background noise for my streams.

I haven’t reached out to my friends or fans to inform them of this which I feel slightly guilty about but I’m really not looking forward to having to lie to them, just as much as I’m not looking forward to having to tell them the truth so instead I’ve picked silence which is probably either worrying them or driving them insane. Either way, I’ll make my comeback soon.

Well....not very soon by the looks of it...

I have to gather the money, then I have to find a place, then comes the packing, moving out of here, moving into the new place...oh God, there’s so much to it that I don’t even wanna think about. Just that thought that I’ll be inactive for that long makes my stomach turn. Streaming’s where I’ve been channeling all my negative emotions, turning them into something positive and entertaining with the help of my friends.

Speaking of my friends, I should probably put emphasis on how amazing they are. Basically the older siblings I’ve always wished I had. I’m the baby of the group, the eighteen year old freshman in college, powering through life the best they can cause they are constantly getting tripped up by inconvenient occurrences such as this one for example. I tend to have the gang poke fun at me quite frequently - all lighthearted and with good intentions obviously - but they are also the ones to get super defensive if anyone gets the balls to talk shit about me. They’d never allow me to be the victim of any smack talk or online rumors and ‘cancel culture’ or whatever the hell people will come up with to leave others restless and wondering if they did something shady a decade ago. Well, to be fair, I didn’t even know about the concept of social media a decade ago and I’ve never been one to post much but I still have a protection squad in case anyone decides to come after me.

Little do they know the people I need protecting from are the very people that are supposed to protect me - my parents. Luckily, they don’t venture into to basement very often if at all and I have my own exit to the outside world so I don’t have to run into them unless I absolutely have to. The only time I emerge to the surface of the house - aka the ground floor - I do so to leave my share of rent money on the dining table and I usually do it when they aren’t home or when they’re asleep - that happens often with how many bottles they each knock back on the daily.

*sigh*...at least I don’t have to talk to them, right?

Anyhow, remember how I mentioned I always have things to do? Well, right now I’ve tasked myself with rifling through the large boxes containing random stuff I found in one of the basements down here to see if there’s anything I could possibly sell online. For starters, I’d like to hope there aren’t any severed body parts in here because this was one shady-ass basement before I moved in and un-creeped it a bit so I wouldn’t have to become an insomniac due to the paranoia of there being a homeless person down here with me or some paranormal entity. Regardless, old basements tend to be, apart from haunted, also filled with junk no one would find valuable despite it actually being worth something after all. That’s basically what I’m hoping to find at the moment.

As I dig through the contents of the first box, the YouTube playlist I have put on on my phone cuts off causing me to furrow my brows in confusion for a second before my ringtone pierces the silence the lack of music created.

I quickly mute the ringing and take a look at the Caller ID to see a name I never thought would pop up on my screen as an incoming call - Corpse. I, as well as many of our friends, know that he’s not the biggest fan of talking to people on the phone so this is rather surprising. Still, I pick up the call in case it’s not a mistake and an odd chance that it’s somethin urgent cause Lord knows Corpse doesn’t call people willy-nilly.

Thank God it’s quiet up there at the moment.

“Hello?“ I try my best to cover up the confusion in my voice but I can only assume I didn’t do the best job considering Corpse replies with a slightly awkward chuckle.

“Surprised you, didn’t I?“ He asks, getting my cheeks to redden a bit, “You can’t blame a guy for calling after up and disappearing on him and on the whole internet. Where’ve you been?“

I open my mouth to respond when I hear the sound of glass breaking a shouted curse from upstairs.

Oh for fuck’s sake!

“Um...you know, places?“ I’m aware the answer isn’t only nonsensical but also sounds more like a question, but I can hardly focus on that right now. I’m too buys praying to an entity I don’t fully believe in for the situation above to not escalate.

“Uh, is everything ok over there? Where even are you right now?“ The teasing tone to his voice is all but gone at this point, replaced with deep concern, having obviously heard the commotion that did the exact opposite of what I prayed for - escalated.

“Y-yeah, it’s ok. It’s just another Thursday, you know.“ I attempt a small laugh but it’s blatantly miserable, “I moved back in with my parents when they announced the quarantine so that’s where I’m at now. They’re not the quietest of folks as you can tell so...“

“I FUCKING HATE YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I HOPE YOU DIE“

Oh crap, here we go.

“...So I can’t really stream a lot...or at all.“ I mutter, cringing with all my might, “But it’s only temporary! I’ll get back in the saddle as soon as I find another place to stay.“ I don’t dare mention how long that’s gonna take me, it’ll be too disappointing and depressing for the both of us. “So yeah...um...thanks for showing concern but there’s really nothing to worry about. I’m ok, everything’s ok, things are just...a bit off the rails, but I’ll fix em no problem. Like I always do!“ I attempt to sound as cheerful as possible with little success due to the overwhelming anger I feel towards those people upstairs and the gut-wrenching nostalgia for the world of streaming I can no longer be a part of because of them. Actually, I put the blame first on the pandemic and second on my parents - if it wasn’t for Covid I’d probably still be in my dorm!

“Hey...um, I think I know an affordable place where you can take up residence. Only if you want to, of course.“ He sounds hesitant but I easily overlook that as excitement bursts throughout my entire being at the sound if an escape being offered to me just like that. Had I known I’d find the solution to my problem in the very people I spent time avoiding because I was afraid of their pity, sympathy and judgement.

“Oh please, it could be a rat and roach infested shoe box and I’d go running to it. How much is rent?“ I ask through a gasp of hurried laughter that’s a result of my inability to contain said excitement. Listen, I’ve been sitting here in Hellsburg for three months now and haven’t gotten a proper shuteye during that whole period, whatever Corpse is offering has to be better than this misery.

“Rent can be discussed once you move in...“ He trails off, “And it’s not rat nor roach infested but there’s a slight issue...“

“Which is?“ I’m honestly expecting the worst: in a bad neighborhood; faulty wiring with a high chance of being electrocuted; faulty piping with a high chance of flooding; people have died there; things get randomly moved around in the middle of the night etc. However, I don’t voice any of them to avoid getting laughed at for my wild imagination.

“Well, uh, it’s corpse infested.“ He says a little awkwardly, causing me to let out an inaudible sigh.

So my ‘people have died there’ guess was on point, huh?

“People have died there, huh? Well, I can turn a blind eye to that as long as I don’t find their bodies in the closet or meet their spirits at 3AM.“ I attempt to joke, now second-guessing my eagerness to accept the offer.

Corpse bursts out laughing his ass off at my statement, getting me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion and wonder what I said was so funny - it was a poor attempt at a joke, it in no way deserves that sort of reaction, barely a chuckle in my opinion.

“You’re golden, Y/N, I swear.“ He says once he forces the laughter to subside, “I meant corpse infested as in Corpse Husband infested.“ He breaks out in another fit as my brain slowly starts connecting the dots.

Oooohh he’s asking me to go live with him

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait, hold up for a sec. Are you aware of what you’re offering me? I mean, we’ve never met IRL, you barely know me and....and for all you know I could be the serial killer in this situation!“ I have no idea why I’m pushing my luck, don’t ask. I just don’t want him to make a decision he’ll later regret, I guess. “Like, I could kill you in your sleep!“

“Would you?“ He asks confidently, silently stating he already knows the answer.

I roll my eyes, “Of course not! But...” He cuts me off.

“Great, the offer stands on my end. I’m not a noisy nor nosey roommate so I suggest you start packing. If you choose to live in that hell-hole over living with me, I’m sorry but I’ll be hella offended, just so you know.“

Corpse sounds like he’s about to hang up on me, a decision already made, so I hurry to stop him. “Wait! What about rent?”

“Fuck the rent, pack your bags.“ And just like that, despite my efforts, he hangs up on me.

Well...this is a chance of a lifetime that I know refusing would lead me to not only remain stuck here but also put me in the hugest loser bin. There’s also the fear of being Corpse’s burden which I’ll try my best not to be - I mean, I’m a super independent person and Lord knows that if this offer came any other time or from any other person, I would’ve declined asap, no discussion.

But streaming

But sleeping properly

But having a normal life again

Yeah those are most certainly the reasons I get up and go into the closet in search on my emptied suitcase. Time to fill it up again, I guess. This time with a smile on my face and excitement fueling each and every movement of mine.

@maat-the-prescriptive @simonsbluee @save-the-sky @itsminniekat @hacker-ghost @bi-andready-tocry @imtiredaffff @jazzkaurtheglorious @hereforbeebo @fandomgirl17 @chrysanthykios @maehemscorpyus @loraleiix @letsloveimagines @annshit @i-cant-choose-a-username-help @enigmaticmaze @divine-artemis @waterlilypat @idontknowwhatthisisfam @evi-ka @classyandfabulous00 @redperson58 @lilysdaydreams @solowheein @mythicalamphitrite @axen-gers @luckygirl144 @nj01 @buddyemily @the-albino-lioness @stardream14 @gdhdkfnn @nomadicgypsyy @preciousskye @fluffysuicideunicornsworld @o-kaelin @manacharlotte @awkward-youtube-trash @lolalee24 @bonky-beerns @meme-lord-and-savior-sebastian @strawbrinkofdeath @teenloves @tams0527 @browneyespinkhair @starstruckllamapuppy @daisychains012 @y0ulooked @tinytacosuitcaseflap @supernatural-is-my-only-life @jula-pauline @melodykitty @just-that-bi-girl @crazybutconfidentaf @lowellshade @alphakees @bellero @weallneednamjesus @starryhanji @boiled-onionrings @husherstan @fockingwhore @melaningoddessthings @prettypastelpetals @haleypearce @godwhyamiawkward @y-napotat @daisychainyoonmin @little-miss-rebel3 @free-wheelin-bi-sexual @redmoon261 @darkacademic2 @wiseflamingoqueen @into-the-end @namikhai-i @nastiablr @thelittleplantlover @mirktuan @dont-hyuck @jjk-bunny @vintagegothlover @easygoingtheatre @itsrandombooklover @miiaivi @emmybaybee @befourgolden @jjk-is-my-shit @eternalteaaars @spacebadgerx @princesslunalight @acequinn14 @samm48 @misselsbells06 @simp-lykawa @fo-love @marishimomura-blog @therealglenncoco @cinnamonbun332 @killtherandomness @sanshinexxxsan @fee-btheweeb @press-lay @cathleenpotgieter16 @jazzydoesstuff @moonlxghtbay @forestrain2000 @hyunjinhugs @blood-of-fandoms @lovellylies @ukiyolixx @simpforhpcharacters @chrisdylan17 @parkerjisung @pedernille @theodonyous @wineandionysus @malfoystilinskii05 @morbid-x @coryisagee @jessewa26 @scoobydooluver97 @mindintheskies365 @raeanneinwonderland @indecisive-empanada @gluttonypalace @loriane2503 @btsiguess-kpop @khaoticbunny @lucidlycactus @smiithys @rottenroyalebooks @kpopgirlbtssvt @fangirl-tc27 @fr0z3n-1 @notmesimpingfortechno @shotarosleftpinky @kunoi-chan @idk-whats-wrong-with-me @yikeroonie @goldenstarofthunderclan @poetry-and-tea @ama-do-writing-stuff @wishbonewolf @emeraldxhope @t0xick1tty @kusuinko @speakyourselfloveyourself @sophia902103 @lo-manburg @classsykittykat @dmgama @depressedpuppythatneedscoffee @btsiguess-kpop @akaashi-baby @gun-jong-simp @geschichtenfee @yerapotato-wp @browneyedgirl365 @thysagclub @sparklycloudnight @helloatomicshadow @queentorresstuff @vtte @val-gal @lucy-bunny17 @aaliyahh0 @katluckybear @boyleanti @straybids @franchesca-791 @cosmicstorm19 @averyisbackinthetrashcan @aomi-nabi @xlanawriter @allensimpsforcorpse

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yamujiburo · 3 years

Text

Jessie and Cassidy reconciliation fanfic thing

I was going through my notes app just now to just clear out some junk and I found something I'd written like a year ago and totally forgot about hahhaha. I don't usually do fanfics but I guess I was in a writing mood that night. I can't remember why I stopped. I either got stuck, didn't know how I wanted it to end or was just having a hard time figuring out like,,,, the arcs and what I wanted the main focus of the story to be. Anyhow, here it is if you wanna read the set up I made for it haha

Jessie, James and Meowth have once again failed to complete a mission and Matori is TIRED of it. She brings it up go Giovanni who tells her not to worry about them. Matori can’t figure out why Giovanni puts up with them and starts digging on possible reasons why Giovanni would keep them around. She decides to go to HR to find answers. There, she meets Wendy.

“Ah– Matori!”

“Pull up records for Jessie, James and–“, Matori notices that Wendy already has Jessie’s files pulled up and gives her a strange look.

“I see you’re already doing your research on Miss Jessie…”

“N-no! Well, yes. It’s just that Jessie has continuously failed almost all missions she’s been assigned! Not to mention she’s singlehandedly almost made the organization go broke. Well, not really but she still owes a lot of money!”

“And the other two?”

“Huh? Oh yeah them, too I guess.”

“I just don’t understand what Giovanni could possible see in them. They’re not good for Team Rocket.”

“Tell me about it, I’ve been trying to get the boss to fire them for years. But he’s got a real soft spot for them apparently. Tch, to think they were the top of their class once.”

“Hmph, I find that hard to believe.”

“I can’t speak for James and Meowth, but Jessie really was a promising recruit. So much so that when she threatened to quit, she somehow manipulated every exec into fulfilling her demands.”

“Threatened to quit?” The gears in Matori’s head began to turn. Sure Giovanni wouldn’t fire the trio, but if they were to quit, there would be nothing he could do.

“Yeah, she had a falling out with her first partner. And instead of being PROFESSIONAL she wined until she got a new one. Then she proceeded to go through like 10 more partners until James came along. If you’ve ever talked to her I’m sure you can tell she’s not the easiest person to work with.”

“Hm. Perhaps it’s time to switch up some teams.”

“C-can you do that? Is that allowed?”

“I could pull some strings.”

“Isn’t that sabotage?” Wendy asks. Matori shoots her a look.

“Call it what you want, but it’s my job to make sure this organization is successful as possible. Getting rid of some problem lackeys will only benefit Team Rocket. If Giovanni won’t do anything about them, then I will.”

“Matori. You are my hero”

“Are there any potential candidates we could temporarily team them up with? Or members they’ve been known to… not get along with?”

A big, Gengar-like smile creeps on Wendy’s face. “I know just the agents.”

_____________________________________________________________

Early in the morning in Jessie and James’ base, they get a call from Matori. Jessie is already annoyed, knowing who’s calling, but she wakes up her team members just in case it was Giovanni.

“A little early don’t you think, Matori?” Matori composes herself and ignores Jessie’s jab.

“Giovanni hasn’t arrived yet, but I have very important news.” Jessie, James and Meowth’s interests are piqued. “Your success rates have been… less than exemplary. But, you have previously shown you are exceptional agents.”

Jessie is taken aback by the, sort of, compliment from Matori. “So what’s the issue?”

“We have reason to believe that, while neither of you are individually the reason for your constant failures, you are incompatible as a team and you are going to be reassigned to different partners, effective immediately.”

James and Meowth look at each other shocked, and the thoughts going through their head were interrupted by their soon to be, not-leader. “WHAT?! You can’t split us up! We–“

“I apologize for the inconvenience. But this is for the benefit of Team Rocket. I do not have time to argue this. It has already been decided and your new partners have been decided. James, you are to return to headquarters where you will meet your new partner and Jessie, you will remain where you are and your new partner will arrive tomorrow.”

“What about, Me-owth?”

Matori pauses. She hadn’t thought about the cat. “You can decide who you wish to go with. Thank you for your time. Best of luck with your new arrangements.”

Matori hangs up. Jessie, James and Meowth stand staring at the screen, solemn. What doe they do now? Years of working together over, just like that.

“UGH THAT LITTLE FOUR EYED BOWL CUT HAIRED FREAK! I’m gonna do something about this! They can’t do this to us!” James gently puts his had on Jessie’s shoulder.

“There’s nothing we can do,”

James packs up, Meowth has decided to go with James. They say their goodbyes. James and Meowth grab the rest of their things and leave. Jessie is left alone with her thoughts.

_____________________________________________________________

Back at headquarters, we see James and Meowth being led by Matori to her office where she says his new partner is waiting. She talks about how this member is in a very similar situation. They walk in and see short, green hair. “BUTCH???”

“Oh no not you guys!”

“If you’re my new partner, that must mean…”

“Oh no,” they all say in unison.

_____________________________________________________________

Jessie still lying in the same place on her bed. Why was she feeling this way? She’d been through so many parters before. Sure she’d been with James and Meowth longer, but she wasn’t one to get attached. Well, not anymore. In the middle of her thought, she hears the elevator to the base coming down. She gets up and makes herself as presentable as possible (over shirt is off, makeup kinda smeared, boots off). Before she can get her shit together, a pair of white boots click, clack in. Jessie looks up, and the flash of orange, blonde seared her eyes.

“CASSIDY?!”

“JESSIE?!”

“No, no, no there has to be some sort of mistake. I can’t be teamed up with you! I hate you!”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“I can’t believe I going to have to work with your ugly ass every day.”

“You’re one to talk. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Jessie turned to the standup mirror leaning against the wall. She was definitely not looking her best.

“You caught me at a bad time!”

“You sure? I recall you always looking this ratty. I guess it has been a while since I’ve seen you, thank goodness," Cassidy said smugly. Jessie was already pissed off.

“We’re calling Matori RIGHT NOW to fix this.”

“Gee, while you’re looking like that?”

“I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT.” Jessie picked up the communicator, which brandished a large R on the wall. Matori picked up.

“Good afternoon Jessie, are you aware that you’re not in uniform?”

“Cut the crap you clod! You set me up with Cassidy on purpose!”

“Ah I see you’ve met your new partner! Hello, Cassidy.”

“Matori,” Cassidy said with a small bow. Of course Cassidy was trying to stay composed. Just another way to try one-up Jessie.

“We can NOT work together. I demand you put me back on my old team!”

“While I’m not one to disagree with higher ups, Miss Matori, I unfortunately have to side with Jessie on this one. You might not be aware but Jessie and I were partners once in our training days. We simply are not compatible,” Cassidy explained as politely as possible.

“Was there a reason for this, incompatibility? I was looking through your records and it appeared that you two were quite the team back in the day. I had assumed that the executives just wanted two top agents to be on other teams with some less skilled trainees.” Both Cassidy and Jessie blushed.

It was true that Jessie and Cassidy were at the top of their class for quite some time. But the reasons for them being split up were quite… personal.

“Listen, we just can’t work together. Try getting that through that helmet head of yours.”

_____________________________________________________________

~aaaaand this is where i got to~

Anyone wanna finish this for me? /j

I can't remember where I wanted this to go. I think I was gonna have Jessie and Cassidy try to suck it up and work together so they don't lose their jobs. They fight Ash and Goh, trying to get Pikachu as usual and quickly fail because of their bickering. They eventually have a heart to heart, wondering where they went wrong back when they were a team. They say a lot of things that they'd failed to communicate in the past and reconcile.

THEN this is where I kinda got stuck on what I wanted the focus/them to me. There was a version in my head where after they reconcile they like,,, make out and start falling in love again (for those new here, I firmly believe Jessie and Cassidy are bitter exes and had a falling out during their training days). After this their chemistry and communication improve immensely resulting in them succeeding to catch Pikachu. Matori comes to retrieve it but Ash and Goh get it back while it's in Matori's hands (making it her failure). And then I wasn't sure how to end this version. Maybe things going back to normal after Giovanni finds out that Jessie and Cassidy are dating and deems it unprofessional. Jessie, James and Meowth are reunited and Cassidy and Butch are as well. Happy ending were things are as they were but now Cassidy and Jessie are on good terms and still together maybe???

The oooother version was centering the story more around Jessie and her inability to keep her partners/not appreciating them. If I went with this I think I'd start off the story differently with her being a dick to James and Meowth (which she is a lot of the time but this time she crosses a line). After the team switch she finds that she really had been taking her teammates for granted. I think Cassidy and Jessie still have that heart to heart but then it's more about how Jessie hurt Cassidy and Jessie kinda realizes that she's still making the same errors currently. They reconcile buuut the both of them still want their old partners back so they hatch a plan to successfully steal Pikachu but ensure that Ash gets it back when it's in Matori's hands. They request that they be paired up with their old teammates and in exchange, wouldn't tell Giovanni that Matori messed up. Everything goes back to normal the end.

I had too many jumbled ideas and because I don't have the attention span to write for more than a couple hours I just dropped this LOL. Just thought I'd share in case anyone found this remotely interesting or entertaining hehe

#long post #yamushipping

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trashcanfanfics · 3 years

Text

Request from @zebra0909zebra

"I loved the Valentino fic you made about the actor may I request one about Val either getting jealous of the readers ex trying to get back together with them and if he would just shoot them"

First off, thank you! I really enjoyed writing that fic! I'm glad you liked it!! Second, I can already see where to take this! And I'm excited

It's gonna be in Val's pov

Valentino and Y/n were walking along the hallways to the recording studio when an out of breath intern ran up, carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Ah, Mx. Y/n! Someone left these for you in the lobby!" They handed Y/n the flowers, acknowledged Valentino, and then ran off again. They looked at the flowers, their favorites. A note amongst the foliage. The continued walking, Val being concious of his steps so they wouldn't have to rush to keep up with his long legs.

"Did you get me flowers again, Boss?" They grabbed the note and opened it. Val felt his blood boil and chest tighten.

"If I did, I would have sent them to your home," he chuckled, slightly annoyed. What kind of rude do you have to be to send such things to a workplace. Shameless. They hummed and read the note aloud. At this point, they both had stopped outside the studio.

"'To my dearest love, holder of my heart, I love you, signed E/n.'" There was a heart drawn underneath the message, Val noticed as he leaned down to look at the note. He memorized the name for later. Y/n sighed in slight annoyance. "It's my ex, (pronoun) has been texting me nonstop and giving me little gifts and it's getting irritating." Val let out a chuckle, his smile growing impossibly wide with malice.

"I do those things, too, you know." His smile was strained but his voice was light and playful. Y/n opened the door and they both went inside. He wasn't mad at them, never, but rather the flowers. Those pissed him off. Who did this shithead think (pronoun) was?!

"Yes, but you're my boss. I can't refuse those." Their tone told him he was joking, but he couldn't help the slight sting at those words. Their boss...That's all he was to them. He shoved those thoughts aside, ignoring the ache in his chest.

"You could, if you wanted to." He leaned down at the waist to look them in the eye, putting on a facade of amusement. he wouldn't let them be upset before the shoot, it makes their expressions all wrong. No, he would stuff down these emotions so they could focus on their work.

"'If I wanted to' my ass, you don't take 'no' for an answer." They laughed as they waved their hand to dismiss the thought. His gut twisted at the sound of their laughter. How beautiful that sound was! He loved it. He hummed in response, still slightly distracted by their laugh.

"That's true, babycakes." He stood up straight again and moved over to the cameramen. He began telling them the angles he wanted to acheive with this. Val always did this before any of the actors' shoots, but mainly Y/n's. He needed them to look their best no matter what, any unflattering angles are cut from the final product. Once everyone had understood, the scene began, Val watching over the entire thing, making sure it was all perfect, and ignoring the strain in his pants.

~*~

The video ended and Y/n, having put their clothes back on, got a call. Valentino watched as they picked up and spoke into the phone.

"Yes, I got them...No...I know...I don't care." They rolled their eyes and looked at Valentino. Y/n mimicked shooting themselves and he smiled and laughed lowly. "Listen, I'm at work right now and need to get back to it. Bye." They hung up and tossed their phone into their bag before zipping it up.

"Was that your little admirer?" Val couldn't help the bit of venom his his question. This cheeky shit was walking all over Val's territory and he hated it. They nodded with another eyeroll.

"Yes, (pronoun)'s so annoying! Like, we broke up MONTHS ago, ya know, get over it already." They slung their bag over their shoulder. "And besides, (pronoun) broke up with ME, like, come on!" They shook their head in exasperation. Valentino remembers the day the break up happened.

He hated the asshole back then, too. Y/n dating shocked him into realizing he was in love with them. He carefully bided his time, however, patiently waiting for Y/n to eventually break up with the loser. Unfortunately, it was the other way around and Y/n had come into the studio with puffy eyes and tears running down their cheeks. He doesn't remember why he didn't kill the bitch then, but he does remember holding the crying sweetheart with three of his arms while the fourth brushed through their hair. How soft it felt and how the ache in his chest worsened when they looked up at him with tears and explained what happened. And now (pronoun) wants them back?

Not on Val's watch.

~*~

Valentino saw to it that Y/n got home safe (and to make sure there weren't anymore gifts waiting for them) before he rolls up the window on the limo and gives the driver the location of E/n.

Earlier, he had some people find out where this scumbag lived so he could pay the little shit a visit. His connections didn't disappoint.

The limo stopped outside a little house. Normal, quaint. A white picket fence around the place, and rose bushes planted under the windows. The house, he noticed on his way past the gate, was a pretty mauve color, not too dull, not too bright. Y/n must've enjoyed this house when they visited. It suits their dream of a peaceful living. The door was a creamy pink, the knob a lovely bronze. Maybe he would buy this piece of property and give it to Y/n after he had it cleaned of all the blood that was going to spill.

He could see it now, him coming in the front door, just like he was now, a smile on his face. Y/n would be reading one of their little thriller books on the couch over there, though it'd be a different one. The furniture in here was tacky, white couches? That's just inviting a mess. Valentino shook his head, continuing with his fantasy, walking into the place. He'd have the ceilings fixed higher so he wouldn't have to crouch, they would greet him with that pretty little smile. The book would be set aside as they stood to come give him a welcome home kiss. He sighed at the thought of their soft lips against his.

Yes, he decided, he would buy this house and give it to his little babycakes. They deserved to have a lovely house than that dingy apartment anyhow. He made his way towards the hallway, having little interest in the kitchen. The hallway, like the living room now that he thinks about it, was full of framed pictures of E/n and Y/n. None of the pictures have Y/n's real smile, just the one they use for their acting, real enough, but once you see the true one you can easily tell the difference.

The bathroom and guest rooms were overlooked in favor of the master bedroom. It had the same tackiness the livingroom had. White sheets to match the loveseat and arm chair. Awful. The wood was even a brightly polished makore wood that looked orange in the light. Yes, the furniture would have to go. He made his way over to the closet, maybe find a few skeletons? The opened door revealed a collage. They were all pictures of Y/n from various angles. Ah, he thought, a stalker. It was a good thing Val had decided to take (pronoun) out before things got out of hand.

Speak of the devil, the nusiance walked through the front door. Valentino smiled viciously as he made his way quietly back down the hall. E/n went to the kitchen, no matter, (pronoun)'ll be out soon. He sat down on the loveseat facing the front window, lifting his feet onto the coffee table, and pulled out a cigarette. The smell of burning tobacco must have alerted the stalker, as he walked out to see Valentino let out a puff of red smoke.

"What the fuck?!" (Pronoun) dropped (pronoun)'s items, which happened to be a glass of apple juice by the smell. How childish. Valentino stood, pulling the cigarette from his lips.

"Hello, E/n," he puffed out more smoke from his pink teeth, "nice to finally put a face to the name." His chuckle was anything but friendly. It intimidated the pathetic demon, Val could tell. Good. He took another puff.

"Uh, hey..." E/n trailed off while staring at the tall overlord, who blew out more red smoke. A visible gulp would have given his fear away if the look in his eyes didn't already. "Wh-what's up?" Val could almost respect the way (pronoun) tried to keep talking, as if (pronoun) did nothing wrong.

"Oh, Y/n sent me. They say you've been sending them flowers, little gifts." He stepped closer, threateningly, putting the cancer stick back between his teeth. "Apologies, phone calls, love notes, promises you couldn't possibly keep." Val stood in front of the creep, towering over the quaking being with a cruel smile, smoke still floating off the cigarette.

"O-oh? Uh..." The attempt was almost laughable. Val leaned down, his lower right hand reaching into his coat to pull out his pistol as he blew more smoke into E/n's face, causing him to cough and gag. The lower demon's eyes follow the movement and grow wide at the sight of the weapon.

"And," He pointed the gun at E/n's head, "not to mention that collage on the inside of your closet door, how charming." Val's smile became a sneer, ashes falling off the cigarette. (Pronoun) whimpered as the gun pressed into E/n's forehead.

"What are you-what are you gonna do to me?" The question was so stupid, Val almost burst into laughter right then.

"Normally, I wouldn't give a damn what you would do to my employees as long as they were able to still work. However, you chose to fuck with my favorite actor." He breathed out the last bit of smoke, putting out the butt on the asshole's arm, making (pronoun) yelp in pain. "So, I'm going to just kill you." and with that, he pulled the trigger. Blood, brain, and bone exploded from the back of the fucker's head , splattering across the wall and kitchen floor. Valentino stood up as much as he could. He really needed to fix these ceilings.

"No one fucks with my favorite."

#hazbin hotel x reader #valentino x reader #tw: gore #trashcan answers you #babycakes

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eloiseishere · 3 years

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!!!!Contains Fresh(2022) spoilers!!!!

Summary: My ADHD brain reviews the movie and comments on the fact that I don’t seem to be phased at all by all of this… Which to me is more disturbing than the cannibalism portrayed in the movie.

Okay so I watched Fresh(2022) like twice now(once by myself, once with my mum, cuz we’re both whores for this typa genre). And I realised, I’m not phased at all by all of this? I’ve been reading about how people are scared and like creeped out by Steve Kemp and the movie as a general and like that surprises me. Is that a red flag for me? Lmao- Sebastian Stan played his role so well in this, the amount of dedication that goes into the roles he plays is impeccable, I love him.

Anyhow, back to the fact that I’m not phased by cannibalism and murder— I’ve been watching too much Scream-esk movies I guess and like I don’t know where I draw the line anymore with movies? I’ve seen decapitations—that I’ve yet to find out how they film. I’ve seen faces get cut and caved in— oh yea, that’s where I draw the line.

My mum loved that show but like the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre was so gross. I even joked with my mum who gagged when we watched Steve nonchalantly eat that meatball. Of how that’s where she draws the line when she’s seen a man wear another person’s face as a mask.

I loved that when Steve mentioned he was from Texas, my mum immediately pointed out that that was a red flag lmfao.

Cinematography-wise it was very well shot. The aesthetics, the music scenes, the sceneries. I applaud the crew for doing such a great job capturing the movie in a way that made sense, really. That shot with Steve being visible on Noa’s eyes while he took her ass? The pan of the camera as Steve slides into the room on his first solo dance scene? The wide shot when he sat on the floor after chopping up the last remains of Mellisa? The one shot from Steve dropping Noa off into her cell to walking to Mollie’s to take her tiddies? Noa going for the final bite of human flesh? Incredible. Just, incredible.

Overall, this movie is a big recommend to people that can handle imagining people eat people. Literally tho. It’s not that bad if you think about the fact that they’re just actors who’re eating normal meat most of us eat. But you’re gonna feel quite queasy if you think about the fact that these type of people have existed and may/will continue to exist-

Also I’ve been thinking of going pescatarian while occasionally indulging in meat for a while- but I think this movie have pushed me to do exactly that.

#Sebastian Stan played Steve Kemp so well #I love his dedication #his hard work just shines through his roles #I want to work with him someday just to like see how much he does in person #I wanna work in this field for the sole reason of being able to research roles and indulging in the emotions characters feel #Mimi Cave did so well in creating this #this movie is very predictable but also refreshing to me #I loved it

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merrymorningofmay · 3 years

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ok so i saw tgk for the second time and am now ready to give a Take on it so here it goes: to me it’s a movie about humanity and how much of a stranger the world is to it

like there are these humans living their lives, doing their silly little conquests against the saxons, cutting down forests, feeling pretty good about themselves. then the Other (and he is an Other here and not just an enchanted human dude like in the poem) comes in and says, you may do whatever you want to me. the human, of course, proceeds to majorly disfigure the Other, cheered on by his fellows and feeling nothing. even knowing that it will bite him in the ass in the very forseeable future. sure reminds me of nothing that humanity does irl. ahem

but then the human has to face the Other again, this time without the safety of human company or human conventions. and the rest of the humans say, you got this! according to our worldview, you will either gain some good ol’ clout out of this, or just. well. you should, okay. that’s how things are done. that's how we do things

(side note about the humans: i know the director has said that the movie is about christianity vs. paganism and all that, buuuut to me it doesn’t feel that way somehow? the christian arthur destroys the Otherness and the pagan morgana uses it to achieve her goals, so ultimately they both want to control it, and both fail, since arthur’s reign is already declining and morgana’s magic never saves gawain, neither from the green dude nor the robbers)

so anyway the human leaves the comfort zone of, well, humanity, and it immediately turns out that outside of that comfort zone he has 0 control over anything, because the world, you see, is full of Weird Shit. no, gawain, you may not know what you get if you dive into the lake. unclear what that giant lady was gonna do to you but you better be glad the fox intervened. man, there are sure lots of odd things in this castle (and who lives there but the worst creeps of all, the bi people! ugh). you can’t even navigate your interactions with other humans: the guy you’ve just had a seemingly safe conversation with is now attacking you. gawain rides out in full armour, with all the supplies, all good and ready, but as soon as he leaves the castle everything is taken from him, and he can only use what tools/help the Otherness decides to randomly provide: the magically returned axe, the boat, the fox guardian, the horse (in the vision/delusion), maybe the whole hautdesert castle? who knows. gawain can basically only follow whatever instructions he’s given and hope for the best, while the Otherness is strange, incomprehensible or at least unpredictable, and way, way more powerful.

(which incidentally! brings us to none other than my personal good pal jrr tolkien who famously translated the poem, since the human habit to dominate and control the rest of the creation was a thing he was very much preoccupied with, and if you’ve read “on fairy-stories” you know that fantasy for him was a tool to disturb our “lazy ownership” of the world and make us wonder at it as something strange and independent from us. which is also, i argue, what the movie does by being both horror-ish and VERY beautiful)

anyhow, gawain keeps on with his journey through the Other, motivated by the human notions of, uhh, honor? vanity? self-actualization? clear conscience, let’s say. when in the end he sees a vision of his life, it’s a vision of him having control and misusing it, betraying and destroying the weaker other (essel, his people, his son), while everything that he does presumably value (his wife, mother, glory) still ends up drifting away. when gawain throws away the girdle, he gives up trying to bend the situation to his will - gives up that control which humans constantly seek and feel entitled to - but, again, he does so out of his human need for clear conscience (and the one who’s urging gawain to disregard this need in the movie is not a human servant but the fox). gawain’s moral victory is him overcoming the human flaw while upholding the human virtue before the face of the Other. and that actually complements the poem nicely, since the poem is also about gawain realizing the limit of his power as a human: he wasn’t led astray by lust or greed, but could not resist the basic will to survive. both the poem and the movie say, "you’re just a human, so be humble,” but i feel like the movie, framing gawain’s ending as a triumph, also says, “it’s worth to be human even if there is nothing human around to reward you for it”

which, i think. is neat

#the green knight #this looks like a created a whole blog just to post this #but really it was a first thought i've had in a while that was both comprehensible and somewhat relevant #mari rambles #mari writes

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crowtrinkets · 4 years

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There are No Ghosts at Fathom Castle

The barista cannot sleep because something or someone is making noises late at night. Felix tries to convince them there are no ghosts. But is it true?

Gender Neutral Reader as always

I hope people laugh at the BuzzFeed unsolved quotes as I did lol. I don't have a set time that this takes place, just sometime after the MC yknow *dead sounds*The trash house story is actually based on a house my friends and I found one, we all dicked around in it like a bunch of idiots and I'm p sure something followed me home :)

Tags: @sadnhvibes @uselessbeanies

Words: 3,514

*THUMP*

I am roused from my sleep, sitting up quickly, frantically looking for the source of the sound. Nothing. What was I doing? I glance down and notice the book in front of me. Right, I was reading and I guess I must have fallen asleep.

"Stella? Did you break into my room again? You better not be knocking Felix's books over again you know how he hates that," I call out. I don't hear the telltale sign of Stella's meows so she must not be in here. I sit up properly, stretching my sore muscles, groaning with my aching bones. I stand and stumble over to my bed, if I'm going to be asleep it should at least be somewhere comfortable. Curling up in my blankets, I let my eyes flutter shut and slowly drift off.

*THUMP*

I snap my eyes open when I hear the sound a second time, this time it's followed by footsteps. That definitely was not Stella. I grab my blanket and wrap it around myself, grabbing a nearby lit candle. I hastily put on my shoes and cautiously approach the door. I slowly push it open, enough that the hinges don't creek.

Stepping out of my room, trying desperately to remain quiet and unseen, I cup my hand around the flame to protect it and shield the light from whoever is lurking in the halls. The steps are getting louder, approaching me ever so slowly. Like its taunting me. I back up against the wall, just before the corner turns, and take in a deep breath. I should have brought a weapon but maybe I can scare the intruder, I grab the corner of my blanket so I can throw it if need be. The steps are louder now, just before they reach the corner I swing around to catch them by surprise.

"AAAAH-AAUGHHHH!" I drop the candle before I can get a good look at the intruder's to face. In an instant, green flames are thrown at me, along with the intruder's screams, I fall backward and toss my blanket at the flames, scooting backward, frantically trying to get away. My blanket catches alight and falls to the ground, a flurry of green flames and feathers. I look up and meet the intruder's eyes, my breath labored and heavy.

"Felix!?" I say. Felix has his hand supporting him against the wall, trying to catch his own breath. He meets my eyes and speaks my name.

"What are you doing attacking me with your bedding in the dead of night?" Felix tries to remain whispering, but his voice is high-pitched with fear.

"What are you doing stalking around at night? And what's with the thumping?" I point at him accusatorially from the ground. Felix eyes me up and down, his gaze dropping to my blanket, which is still very much on fire. The flames illuminate his expression. Casting green light and shadows on his tired yet confused expression. I finally get to my feet dusting myself off.

"I could not sleep… Anyhow, are you alright? Not singed or injured in any way?" Felix's concern seems serious but I can't help but still feel shaken.

"No, but I feel like I lost 5 years off my lifespan," I run a hand through my hair trying to calm my violently beating heart.

"Well, yes, dying and coming back will do that to you,"

"Huh?"

"What?" Felix's eyes snap to mine, the hallway filling with an awkward silence.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," I say with a sigh. Just then the fire from the blanket goes out. "Oh great now its pitch black, and I dropped my candle too," I grumble. I hear metal clinking and then suddenly my candle is alight in Felix's hand, who hands it to me.

"Oh um, thank you," I say, reaching to take it from his hand. Our fingers graze and I suddenly feel more awake and aware, or maybe it was because I had the bejeezus scared out of me a second ago. Taking the candle holder from Felix I clear my throat.

"So um, couldn't sleep? Does thumping around relax you or something?" I try to joke.

"Thumping? I'm afraid I don’t know what you're talking about?" Felix states, crossing his arms.

"Well, it sure as hell wasn't Stella,"

"You'd be surprised what she can do," his tone turning serious.

"Well if you weren't making those thumping sounds then who was?" Felix gives me a shrug. I chuckle slightly. "Maybe it was a ghost,"

"Oh please, if there were ghosts here I would know, and besides they wouldn't just make things go bump in the night,"

"Says the man that turned into a ghost and followed me from Porrima back to Fathom,"

"I was not-!" Felix cuts himself off with a sigh. "Trust me when I tell you this dear barista, there are no ghosts in Fathom castle,"

THUMP

We both jump, inching closer together, frantically looking around in the darkness, I hold the candle up to see if I can illuminate the hallway a bit, but it remains dark and shadowy, much to our dismay.

"That definitely didn’t come from Stella," my voice barely above a whisper.

"Please, if anything it's probably Sage trying to mess with us," Felix takes a step forward, trying to appear brave, but I can hear the shake of his voice. "Hilarious Sage, you can stop your charade now though, no need to frighten out friend, the hour is late,"

No response.

"Felix I don't think it's Sage,"

"Isn't there a particular bar calling your name about now?" Felix shouts down the dark hall. Still no response. His shoulders drop as he takes a step back, his eyes still scanning the darkened hallway.

"Maybe it was a ghooost" I mimic my best haunting voice and wave my free hand ominously at Felix who only scoffs.

"If there were ghosts here they would not be able to move objects on their own, and they do not sound like that!" Felix states, but I can sense a hint of a smile in the candlelight.

“Well, I won't be able to go back to bed now, fancy some ghost hunting Felix?” I nudge his side. Felix lets out a sigh as he glances at me, eyeing me up and down.

“Well alright, but don’t get your hopes up, I doubt we’ll see anything,” I can feel the excitement, or maybe fear, well in me, we begin to walk down the hallway together, looking for the source of the sound.

“So Felix, tell me about Fathom's ghostly history?”

“What other than the thousands of Starsworn who died?

“Right… Well, every haunted place has a story of some sort, it explains why it’s haunted,”

“Oh really? Such as?” Felix’s tone is almost teasing, as a smirk form upon his lips.

“Well, hmm… Oh, one time when I was a teenager my friends and I went walking in the dark. We found an abandoned house that was absolutely filled with trash and other items,”

“What does this have to do with hauntings?”

“Well, someone wrote 'it's under the house' on one of the walls,”

“And what was under the house?”

“I’m not actually sure, none of us wanted to go digging in trash, but I'm sure something followed me home, I would always hear weird sounds at night after that day,” I hear Felix scoff once again.

“Even if there were ghosts in that place I doubt they would follow you home, you were probably paranoid,” I shrug off his comment and we continue to walk down the corridor in silence.

Our shoes echo off the walks, the only sound other than the wick of the candle, popping occasionally. We continue to walk in silence, almost like we have run out of things to say. And neither one of us dare to break it. But the thump comes once again, stopping us in our tracks, wind flows through the corridor putting out my light. Without thinking I reach for Felix’s hand in the darkness as I let out a startled gasp. I can hear Felix’s breath hitch as he grips my hand as well.

"Felix, you're not doing that right?"

"No of course not!" the thumping becomes more frantic and louder. It's getting closer.

"Well, I'm not staying to find out!" I grip Felix's hand and book it back towards my room. Dragging Felix back with me, throwing the candle holder in the direction of the sound. He yelps in response but follows me through the dark halls. We finally make it to my room and I close the door behind us.

"Why did you run? I thought you wanted to find the ghost?" Felix says between gasps.

"I'm not fond of being attacked in the dark" I say.

"Well, now you've tossed away our light source,"

"Oh, Ummm," I think for a moment and walk to the table in my room, I rummage through my backpack which is placed on top. I pull out my house keys and remove the miniature flashlight from the key ring. I flick it on and shine it on Felix, avoiding his face, he squints at the sudden light facing him.

"Gods, what is that?"

"It's a flashlight, just a handy dandy Earth invention,"

"Your Earth 'slang' as you call it, never ceases to baffle me,"

"You wouldn't happen to have holy water? Or even a crucifix?"

"A what?"

"Ok, maybe we can just will the ghost away?"

"What? What are you talking about,"

“So we can banish the ghost!” I say almost a little too enthusiastically.

“There is no ghost!” Felix sounds exasperated at this point.

“You’re right, it can’t be a ghost…. More than anything it’s a poltergeist or a demon,” a smile creeps across my lips. Felix lets out a long sigh, he stares at the ceiling almost like he’s asking the heavens ‘why’.

“C’mon Felix it’s just for fun, and besides something is making that sound so we have to find it,” I approach Felix, hoping he’s not too annoyed and will go with me. His eyes meet mine and he stares just for a second.

“Fine, yes, we really should find the source of the noise,” I return Felix's grimace with a smile as we exit my room.

The hallway is just as dark and ominous as before. I scan my flashlight as far as it will reach. It’s a cheap dollar store flashlight I got for emergencies, so it doesn’t reach that far, but it's better than nothing.

“Hey there demons, it's me, ya Earthling,” I call out into the hallway.

“What? What does that even mean?” Felix sounds utterly dumbfounded. I’m now reminding myself to brush him up on the great Earth classics.

“Its nothing, just a little friendly greeting for the ghosts,”

THUMP

The sound again. It comes from one end of the hallway. Felix and I glance at each other and with a nod, we head towards its direction. I light up what little I can of the hallway as we make our way to the source of the sound. Our breath shallow so as to not allow whoever's there to hear us approaching. We make our way around a corner, peaking just before we move forward.

“Do you hear that?” Felix puts a hand out in front of me.

“What I don’t hear-“ I stop when the sound of a wailing echoes silently through the hall. “I-is that a woman crying?”

“It must be the wind, there’s a terrible draft in this castle,” Felix’s voice wavers slightly, but he clears his throat as though to mask it.

“No… that sounds like a woman crying,” I feel my nerves bubble in my stomach, telling me to go back to the safety of my room. But I have to know what this sound is, and even then I don’t think I'd be able to fall asleep. I suddenly feel warmth on my hand, even in the dark I can tell it's Felix. I squeeze his fingers in mine.

“Let's keep moving,” he whispers to me, we then continue down the path, towards the crying voice.

“Yknow back on Earth there's a famous ghost called La Llorona, she wanders the streets at night wailing for her dead children,”

“I guess grief can transcend the grave as well,”

“Well, some people say she killed them,”

“...Maybe we should talk about something else,”

“Right,”

As we continue down the halls, the wailing seems to travel, never in one spot or room, it’s almost as though it wants us to follow. Eventually, we end up outside of the castle, where we approach a rather rickety-looking bridge connecting two sections of the castle together. We walk into the moonlight, the chill air nipping at our skin. I am suddenly mourning my blanket.

Felix pulls his hand away from mine and walks over to the ledge of a wall near the bridge, looking up at the sky. Turning off and pocketing my flashlight I stand by his side.

“Are you usually up this late?” I break the silence.

“Usually yes, my sleeping habits are temperamental so I tend to take walks, hence why I was out and about when you frightened me,” Felix says, eyes never leaving the stars.

“Right, sorry about that, you do owe me a new blanket though,”

“Yes, I suppose,” Felix chuckles. I lean forward on the wall and look at the surroundings of the castle, lots of water, I can also see the forest I occasionally take walks in. Taking a deep breath I start again.

“If you ever can't sleep you can always see if I'm up, and if I am we can take a walk together,” I glance over at Felix who stiffens slightly, but then a small smile forms on his lips,”

“I would very much enjoy that,” he states. The moonlight shining brightly on him, casting his frame in cool blue light, fitting to the cold air surrounding us.

Suddenly a rattling sound startles us. Both straightening from our spots Felix and I look at the bridge, which shakes slightly. Felix and I approach it, gawking at the bridge which starts to shake more and more violently, almost like someone is jumping on it. I look across the other side and see a door in the castle wall, slightly ajar, something white flowing in the corner.

“What is that!” I point across the bridge. Felix squints.

“I’m not sure, but there must be some explanation,” at this point the bridge is rattling loud enough that Felix and I have to yell.

“Is there an explanation for a bridge moving violently like this?!” I wildly gesture at the bridge. Felix winces at my comment.

“No I don’t think so,”

"Screw this," I take a deep breath and grip Felix’s sleeve.

“FUCK YOU, GOATMAN!” I shout at the top of my lungs, running as fast as possible across the bridge, dragging Felix in tow. The bridge continues to shake but I keep my balance and speed. As I run towards the door frame the white object disappears behind the door, I kick in the door, and once Felix and I make it inside I slam it shut. I scan for whatever disappeared behind the door but I don't see it.

“Goatman?” Is all Felix can blurt out.

“Oh yknow, another famous Earth ghost. He attacks people who play on his bridge, thought I would cover my bases and scream at him,”

“Earth is quite obsessed with death and the afterlife, and you call me morbid,” Felix retorts. I look around the room for any doors or hallways, but there are only stairs that lead back to the inside of the castle.

“I guess all we can do is head down,” Felix nods and once I bring out my flashlight, we descend the stairs. Once we reach the bottom I notice a white blur disappear behind a door. I grab onto Felix’s sleeve and pull him close so I can whisper into his ear.

“I saw something go into that door Felix, I think it’s the ghost we saw earlier,”

“I didn’t see anything,”

“Well, I did! And at this point, I'm tired of chasing it!" I storm towards the door, Felix whispering protests behind me. I kick open the door and scan my flashlight around the room. It seems we're in a small mess hall of sorts. There are tables and benches everywhere, but I don't see anyone else in the room.

"I don't see the point of chasing something that potentially isn't even there!" Felix comes up behind me, sounding very done with our hunt. Just as Felix makes his way in, the door slams shut behind us. I shine my light at the door and see no one behind us. I approach the door and pull on the knob, trying to get it open, but it won't budge. I shoot Felix a worried glance, his lips forming into a grimace.

"Open the door!" Felix's voice wavers between scared and annoyed.

"I'm trying it won't budge!" I continue to pull on the door. Felix approaches and pulls on the door as well. But it remains closed. I suddenly feel the hairs on my neck stand, almost like someone is watching me, I tense my shoulders daring not to turn around. Put a hand on Felix's shoulders, I lean in to whisper in his ear.

"Felix I think someone is behind me," without waiting for a beat Felix turns around, his eyes going wide, he backs against the door and grabs my arm pulling me close. I turn around to see what he's looking at. There stands, the shape of a woman, standing a few feet away. White cloths drape her figure shielding her face. She reaches a hand out to us and the wailing we heard earlier in the castle starts to emit from her. At this point, my whole body is shaking.

"Felix I think that's the ghost,"

"N-no! It cant be, it must be Sage," Felix continues to grip my arm, holding me close to him or maybe he's shielding himself but at this point, I'm too scared to question it. "Ok Sage you can let up now, we're trapped in this room so there's no reason to keep going with your little prank," But the figure continues to advance on us. I reach behind me and continue to pull on the doorknob, hoping it finally opens. However, my prayers are answered too soon and the door does open. Felix and I falling backward, our backs hitting something behind us.

"Boo," a deep voice growls into our ears.

"AAAUGH!" Felix and I both jump and swing around to see…

"Sage!!" I shout, my thoughts catch up to me and I turn back around only to see.

"Annie!?" Felix retorts. Anisa pulls the cloth from her face and bursts out laughing, Sage, following suit. In between shaky breathes Felix and I look at the two of them and back at each other, confusion and fear plastered on our faces.

"I think I need to sit down," I stumble over to the wall and lean against it, sliding down until I'm sitting on the floor.

"I knew it was just Sage messing with us, but Anisa! How could you,"

"I'm so sorry! It's just Sage had the idea and I couldn't resist having a little fun," Anisa says as she wipes tears from her eyes. Her fangs poking through her smile. Sage is now on the floor, having difficulty containing his laughter.

"Oh, the look on your faces! And Felix trying so hard to open the door!" Sage grips his stomach until his laughing subsides to which he lets out a sigh and sits up, using his left arm to support himself.

"So the wailing in the castle? That was you?" He gestures to Anisa who nods in response, trying to stifle her laugh.

"What about the bridge that couldn't have possibly been you?" he turns to Sage.

"Tied a rope to the bridge and pulled on it from the moat! I got a little wet in the process but I feel it was worth it," Sage sends a wink in my direction. To which I roll my eyes, still trying to calm my nerves.

"I do hope you'll forgive us," Anisa walks over to me and crouches by my side. I let out a sigh and look between Sage and Anisa.

"I guess it was kind of funny," I say.

"Nothing funny about scaring the lights out of someone," Felix mumbles under his breath.

"I think I can recall a certain someone setting many things on fire as a "prank", Felix?" Anisa shoots him a smug smile. Felix flushes slightly and shrugs. Anisa calls my name to get my attention. "How are you feeling?" I finally sit up from the wall and look at the three of them processing the night I just had with Felix.

"Like, you all owe me a new blanket,"

#fictif #fictif last legacy #last legacy fictif #fictif felix #fictif anisa #fictif sage #fictif stella #felix iskandar escellun #anisa anka #sage lesath #fictif fanfic #fictif fic #last legacy fanfic #crow writes

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freddiefcknmercury · 4 years

Text

Try Me

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader(Black coded/Genderless)

Word Count: 1k+

Warnings/Disclaimer: Smut adjacent. Allusions to ptsd/trauma. Mentions of sexual acts-not explicit.

A/N: Not too much to say about this one tbh. I just be thinking thoughts and this was another one of them: Bucky would actually be pretty tame in bed though right??? This is supposed to be a pretty un-horny Drabble piece but we’ll see how it turns out lol.

PS if anybody wants the smut for this feel free to let me know for a part two..............

Summary: You finally get a night alone together but theres something on your mind...

~*As always, be Nice to me I’m Delicate*~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Tonight isn't special. Not by any means. It's another soft grey evening. No calls. No where to be. No work to be done, mostly because you demanded one day a month that Sam cannot call with "the world is in danger"... it seldom was anyhow.

There's a gruff solider of a man gently pulling your shoulders back from behind, pushing loose coils of hair out of the way to expose that muscle in your neck that any other blood thirsty monster would swiftly take advantage of. Not him though. He nestles his face against it softly, breathing controlled and intentional so you can tell just how hungry for you he is. He needs to see that shiver in your spine before he tears into it.

He's always been sweet but passionate, enthralled by you. It's never not been amazing and you've never not been sure that this time the earth would surely fall in on itself... but it's a lot of the same. You've tried casually suggesting a little more drama, except you're honestly not that un-vanilla yourself but... tonight, on this soft grey evening where everything is going so well. You need to know.

He removed his teeth to speckle small delicate kisses just behind your earlobe, right against your hairline., The cool night air dancing a tingly sensation as it whips at the small wet spot left behind.

"Bucky...?" "Mmm."

He growls low into the back of your head as he slowly massages your shoulders and chest. You are actual putty in his hands. You Inhale a sharp breath at the sensation.

"I wanna know something."

"Shoot."

He always says that. Anybody else it would almost seem dismissive, but that is a genuine 'ask me anything you want' reply. It just hits different. "What if I said... You could do whatever you wanted to me tonight?"

He stopped for only a half second quickly shuffling threw some part of his brain you're unfamiliar with. He ghosted a firm metal hand straight down the center of your chest landing it squarely in the middle of your stomach. Pulling you back into him, hips perfectly centered into his; Face gently set atop your head. "I just... want to do what you- I don't want anything special."

It was a soft voice and a gentle head shake, but you can hear a sort of confusion in it all. He didn't have any ulterior motives which is good but not what you meant. You're gonna have to push and be clear...

You pull away just enough to turn and face him. He's calm but his eyes are searching for something that makes sense to him. You can feel your face getting hot, but if you let embarrassment win right now you'll never try again.

"If I wanted something different from what we normally do... would you want to try it?" He relaxes, relief washing him.

"There's something specific you'd like?" You shrug, pulling on a stray coil behind your ear out of habit.

"I'm not sure... maybe." He's intrigued. He smirks, still softly caressing a hip.

"I'm willing to try anything you want."

He leans forward planting a deep kiss your shoulder. You let out a shaky breath, but maybe he really is on board. "So..."

You place a firm hand on his chest, just over where his heart would be, deciding to test the waters.

"If I asked you to hold me down and bend me over this table, you would?"

A shy smirk creeps across your lips, you scoff but refuse to back down from this, not until you find a line.

"Or pin me up against the wall... and choke me?"

You both lock your gaze. There's an almost too long pause as you both search for something in each other's eyes.

"Or tie me up."

You laugh a little at that last one, you're not so sure about it just yet. He straightens himself squarely in front of you. He still hasn't answered. You can see him breathing from his stomach. Stress. He wets his lips, eyes flashing down darting a bit before finding yours again; Gently glazing over in a weird mix of emotions you've never seen before.

"Is that how you see me?" You don't get it. Of course it is? You think to yourself. There isn't anyone else you would want to do anything like that to you. You blink back the dumb look trying to find a home on your face. The emotion on his is reading just a hair more offended than it was before. Then it sinks in.

"Oh..."

You whisper it to yourself first like a secret.

"Oh god no, Bucky. No, no, no, no."

You take his face in your hands and rest your lips on his forehead. You hadn't thought about it like that. Bucky who only recently stopped asking if he could kiss you beforehand. Who always quadruple checks that you want him inside you. The man that still has a hard time trusting himself.... That maybe, just maybe the Winter Soldier didn't really want to be known for choking his partners in bed. A lot of people still think of him as a Murder machine and not much else. You know better... and you should've known better. "I'm so sorry Buck. I didn't even consider that."

Now you're definitely embarrassed. You shake your head insistently.

"Forget it. I wasn't thinking." Brow furrowed, he places your chin in his hand. You don't recognize this expression either; it reads concerned but you highly doubt he's that worried about you.

"Is all that what you want?" You stop. You don't want him to compromise himself for your own cheap thrills.

"I don't want you to feel-" He squeezes your chin gently. Tilting your head up just an ounce to look him directly in the eyes this time.

"That's not what I asked you." You exhale, unaware that you were holding a breath. "Do you want to do something like that?" He flashes a quick semi-reluctant smirk, kissing the top of your cheek and lingering there.

"...I want to make you happy."

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x black!reader #Bucky angst #bucky imagine #bucky fanfic #Bucky Barnes #Smut #smutty #angst #genderless #genderless reader #bucky barnes x genderless!reader

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ohwoopsiescafe · 3 years

Text

The Pockys and Movies Scenario

You were in the sweets section of your local supermarket trying to decide which Pocky flavour to buy. You have dreamt with this day for a long time. Let’s say you always liked the idea of a cozy movie marathon date and your boyfriend had invited you to his house tonight to do so. It was perfect! If only you could decide which box to buy. Should you get the strawberry ones because the baby pink colour was cute? Or the matcha ones because you’ve never tried them but you love the drink? Or maybe the classic chocolate ones? Ugh, why is it so difficult?!

“Fuck it,” you thought and threw all three in the shopping cart, “that’ll do.” Satisfied with your decision, you approached the cashier and payed for your little treats. It was going to be awesome! You offered to bring the snacks while Jungkook was in charge of preparing your mini “at home cinema” in the living room.

You took the plastic bag with the Pockys inside and walked to the lovely meeting place. The day was perfect for a movies session. It was cloudy and a bit chilly. Small raindrops had started to fall so you rushed to get to the house while you were still dry. You rang the bell and Jungkook came out to open the door for you. You both were excited to see each other. You couldn’t meet all week long because of your working schedules but now you were together again. Once you were inside, he pulled you in for a tight hug and kissed your cheek.

—I missed you, y/n—he said against your neck.

—I missed you too, Kookie— you smiled warmly and examined his face for a moment. You could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. They looked warm and welcoming, full of love.

—What did you bring, honey?— he inquired while pointing at the white plastic bag you had on your right hand.

—Oh, nothing much, just some Pockys.

—Some? T/n, you bought three big ass boxes—he started laughing—. Let me guess, you couldn’t decide which flavour to bring so you got all of them? Why are you always this indecisive?—the mocking continued.

—Yah! Leave me alone, it’s because of my zodiac sign, okay?

—Yeah, yeah, whatever, don’t excuse yourself in astrology, babe.

—It’s true tho! Haven’t you read about my sign? I always check yours and mine. It’s time you become a little more considerate, mister “I-mock-my-girlfriend-for-some-dumb-Pockys”—you pouted and frowned cutely making Jungkook’s heart melt—. Hey don’t laugh! This is serious, can’t you see?

—Sorry, sorry, you just look too cute when you’re mad.

—I thought that was you. I wish you could see your face when you’re angry. You are such a fluffball, I swear to god.

—Hey, drop it. I was supposed to be the one blabbering about how cute you were.

—I’m not cute!— you crossed your arms against your chest.

—Neither am I! And besides, how am I supposed to not think you’re cute when you look like that? I want to kiss you all day long.

—Well, I’m not gonna let you until you apologise for laughing about my Pockys. Mhmp!

—No way am I going to apologise for that! It’s ridiculous. If there were more flavours you would surely buy all the store.

—So what? Either way, you always end up eating our snacks! Don’t complain about me bringing more.

—Okay, that’s true, but still, you should practise your decision-making, honey.

—Ugh, whatever—you rolled your eyes playfully and laughed. You knew Jungkook always wanted to win and, although you were a pretty competitive person, you let him do it every time because you loved seeing that satisfaction smirk in his face—. Anyways, what movie are we gonna watch?

—Iron Man!

—Jungkook, we’ve seen that movie a hundred times.

—So what? Either way, you always end up sleeping in the middle of the movie.

—Touché—you point with your finger, nodded and laughed—. ‘Kay, so you have Iron Man and I have my Pockys, are we good?

—Of course we are! Now, come, I prepared a pillow fort for us on the living room—he took you by your hand and lead you all the way to the fort.

It was perfect. He had arranged the sofas in a way resembling the letter “L” so that he could put a bed sheet on top and make a little improvised tent. He also put a lot of blankets and pillows on top of an inflatable mattress, and the best part: some fairy lights to complement the cozy atmosphere. It was beautiful and it felt like home. He felt like home.

—Now, y/n, close your eyes, I have one more surprise— you did as instructed. He grabbed your hand and placed a cup of hot chocolate in them—. Okay, open.

The sight was beautiful. A pillow fort, some dim lights, movies, hot chocolate with marshmallows inside, your lovely boyfriend and some Pockys. It was perfect.

—y/n, are you alright? Do you not like it?—he lowered his head like a small puppy and you couldn’t do more than smile warmly, hug him and say:

—Of course I like it, babe, it’s perfect, more than perfect, I was just taking in all of what you did.

—So you do like it?

—You ask that one more time and I’ll punch you. It is obvious that I like it. I love it. You did so much for me, thank you.

—So… are you gonna kiss me now?

—Jungkook!!—you laughed so hard you almost spill your beverage—. How can you break the mood that way?—you said chuckling—besides, you haven’t apologised for making fun of me and my indecision.

—Oh, come on.

—Shh, shut it and let’s watch the movie, maybe I’ll reconsider it.

—Fine—Jungkook agreed and took your hand to help you place yourself in the fort. He’ll have to think of another way to make you kiss him.

The movie was good so far. Even though you’ve watched it so many times, it was still kinda interesting. Jungkook was behind you, hugging you. He had found a way to get what he wanted: he’ll suggest to play the Pocky game, you wouldn’t be able to resist it, he was sure. He grabbed the remote controller and put the movie on pause.

—Mhm? What happened? Are you okay, Jungkook?

—Y/n, do you want to play something?

—Do you mean play as in board or video games or…?—you should really stop spending that much time with Jimin, his dirty mind is rubbing onto you.

—No, no, I don’t mean it like that—he laughed and you felt his chest going up and down. You sat in front of him so you could see him better.

—Should I be disappointed or relieved?

—What?—you could see the redness starting to creep Jungkook’s neck.

—I’m kidding—you giggled—Anyhow, what do you have in mind?

—You brought Pockys, right? Why don’t we use them?— he winked at you and of course you were fast to catch what we was saying.

—Hold on—do you mean “use them” as in play the Pocky game? Oh my god, are you serious?

—Babe, you’ve tried to convince me about playing it for months, don’t tell me you didn’t buy them hoping we would do it.—Shit, he knows you too well. Damn it.

—No, I didn’t—you said, lying miserably.

—Oh, okay, let’s not play then—Jungkook said while putting the Pockys back inside the bag.

—Wait!—you grabbed his arm—Let’s play.

—Are you going to be able to choose a flavour or should we do it three times?—you blushed at his flirty comment.

—N-no, I’ll choose—you grabbed the box that you were more curious about trying and got a little stick out. Jungkook grabbed your hand making you place the treat between his lips.

—You’ll have to be the one who bites, princess—he instructed and you felt you hands trembling.

You were too nervous and your face was hot. You could only drink the image before you with your eyes. You loved every detail about it. Your handsome boyfriend in front of you with a hoodie, ruffled hair, closed eyes and a Pocky ready to be bitten in his lips. This was your moment. You gathered all the courage you could and started approaching him. At first you were hesitant but started to become more confident about halfway there. You reached his lips and gave him a little kiss. When you were about to break away, he grabbed your waist and continued to kiss you softly and slowly. Your breath hitched and you put a hand on his chest. He made the kiss a little deeper and bit your lip. You were in heaven. You could feel his warmth and his eyelashes tickling your cheek. Unhurriedly he started to break the kiss and caressed you cheek.

—Y/n…

—Mhm?

—I won.

—Huh? What do you mean?

—I thought you weren’t going to kiss me until I apologised—he chuckled lovingly and warmly.

—Jungkook!! I swear to god I’m gonna punch you! You’re the worst!

—You love me still.

—I do. And I hate to do it.— He hugged you and kissed you again.

—I love you too, y/n. Never forget that.

#bts #jungkook #bts jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts jk #bts jeongkook #bts jung jungkook #bts jeongguk #oneshot #jungkook imagine #jungkook x y/n #jungkook x army #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #bts fanfic #fanfic #bts imagines #bts scenarios

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dex-xe · 3 years

Text

I’ve made Spotify playlists inspired by each of the ghosts and I’ve made these little written pieces to talk about them. if you wanna read them, please go ahead - if not then enjoy the music!!

This is Humphrey’s playlist:

Body - Mother Mother

I wish I were sorry, but I’m honestly not. There’s no real consensus regarding what the song is actually about. I usually interpret it as being about body/gender dysphoria which isn’t really relevant here but I guess it links to the separation between body and soul and the idea that the body doesn’t define you which I think is quite relevant to Humphrey who relies on his soul for attention from others rather than his physical presence in a room.

Sign of the Times - Harry Styles

I feel like Humphrey probably has the most reasonable understanding of the passage of time of all the ghosts. He’s very down to earth compared to the rest of them. I know Robin has been there longer but I think he’s probably accepted the change of time without really considering it philosophically, whereas with Humphrey getting lost all the time he’s probably had more time to contemplate and I think he’d appreciate the song to listen to while he’s stuck various places. Also he’d like he piano, Humphrey’s a kinda piano man you can’t tell me otherwise (no Billy Joel fuck off).

Greensleeves - Ralph Vaughan Williams & Philharmonia Orchestra

This’ll come up a lot in various other ghosts’ playlists but I’ve tried to include some music from each of their time periods to try and capture what they would have heard so yeah, enjoy some Tudor music.

Tilted - Christine and the Queens

It’s been established that Humphrey’s wife was French so I felt the need to include at least a little bit of French which this song obviously captures. Also again it’s kinda the idea of not having total control over your body.

Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band

No idea why it’s just a Humphrey song I will take no criticism on this.

Don’t Look Back In Anger - Oasis

The scene with Fanny and Humphrey talking about their marriages is one of my favourite scenes and basically the whole “marriage went wrong but you can’t look back at it with contempt because it’s over now and time’s moved on” is what he was trying to say to Fanny and aid her recovery from her marriage trauma in the same way that Humphrey has healed from his.

High and Dry - Radiohead

I also see this song in reference to that scene with Fanny because it’s like no precise meaning to my knowledge but I interpret it as being about telling someone to let go of other people and what’s happening with them and focus on yourself and what you need.

My Iron Lung - Radiohead

Humphrey’s death is constrained by the decisions he made in life that brought about his death, which is kindaaaaa the meaning of the song like it’s a stretch. Like it’s actually about Radiohead being constrained by Creep as one of their most successful songs but like the idea of being stuck in a box and not being able to live freely. I really want to learn more about Humphrey’s life in the new series cause like, I want development to show how his beheading was brought about and what it’s like to live his… death completely restrained by his situation.

Body Terror Song - AJJ

“I’m so sorry that you have to have a body, one that will hurt you, and be the subject of so much of your fear, it will betray you, be used against you, then it'll fail on you my dear”. There we go!! Humphrey’s body wanders away - newsflash from me.

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

“A ballad for the lonely”, catch me crying over Humphrey as usual. But yeah obvious reason is cause Humphrey is often left alone and unable to interact with the others. The other thing I like to think when listening to this song is about the idea of lonely people noticing the little details no one else does, in the song it’s clearly the little details about the protagonists lives (Eleanor Rigby picking up tiny grains of rice with no one to help, and Father McKenzie writing sermons no one will hear) but Humphrey - like I think many lonely people — notices little things like Francis writing the letter to Thomas etc.

Where Is My Mind? - Pixies

Idk this song is just trippy. I remember reading ages ago that it was about scuba diving. But yeah, I primarily think it’s a Humphrey song because I just like the image of his body wandering aimlessly about the house with this song looking for his head XD

Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Again, I’ve said this a few times now but Humphrey being an observer of Button House and what takes place within it’s walls, just watching the others going about their days as he sits alone. I know the writer said he watched the world from the window of a hospital as a child and I think being able to watch over the city without being able to participate because of physical ailment is pretty telling.

O Lord, in Thy Wrath - Orlando Gibbons & Choir of Clare College, Cambridge

This is just a Tudor song. I grew up very very religious and, while I’m not sure I heard this exact song, I spent hours upon hours in church services every week with songs very similar to this and the music was the only thing I actually enjoyed about it. But yeah, I wanted to include at least a few religious songs in Humphrey’s because of my theory regarding his death which (given that we might find out about it in season 3 and I might be totally wrong) I’m gonna just briefly mention XD I basically think his death might’ve been religiously motivated because of the instability of state sanctioned religion in England at the time. Elizabeth I (monarch when Humphrey died) put 200 Catholics to death and given that Humphrey was married to a French woman and the French were under Catholic rule at the time it might not be too far outside the realm of possibility for Humphrey to have lost his head for being the ‘wrong’ denomination. Idk, probably miles off cause I’m really bad at theories but we’ll find out soon hopefully!!

Pantyhose and Roses - Echobelly

Just for the line “it could change but it never will”. Being a ghost must be such a difficult existence because there’s very little they can do to change what’s wrong because they obviously can’t leave where they die. But especially for Humphrey, nothing can change really for him because of his situation.

Waltz #2 (XO) - Elliott Smith

“I’m never gonna know you now, but I’m gonna love you anyhow”. As far as we know Humphrey’s relationship with his wife obviously wasn’t the best and it seems as if he possible barely knew her cause of the language barrier and the fact it was an arranged marriage.

After Hours - The Velvet Underground

This song has such a feeling of isolation like wishing that you could be a part of everyone’s fun but you’ve yet to find the person with whom you can experience that fun with.

Out of Time - Blur

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again but the idea of noticing the small things around you and focussing on the bigger picture of the world rather than hyper fixating on the intricacies of our own existence. Also, this is totally irrelevant but there’s an episode of Torchwood called ‘Out of Time’ in which three people from the 1950s suddenly rock up in 2000s Cardiff and the Torchwood 3 team have to take care of them and try to teach them about the modern world (it’s one of my favourite episodes, like it’s genuinely really good) and I think that’s really cool.

Blackstar - David Bowie

The song is just sad and I put it on any playlist of a sad character, no further explanation.

Why do I use my paper, ink and pen? - William Byrd, Stile Antico & Fretwork

More Tudor music, Tudor musiccccc.

25 Minutes to Go - Johnny Cash

Obvious but yeah there we go: just basically a man waiting and being led to his death which, if the assassination theory is to be believed (which we shall soon find out I guess) then the idea of Humphrey being led to his death is potentially gonna be a sorrowful story to hear about in the show??

#bbc ghosts humphrey #bbc ghosts

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sugarless--girl · 4 years

Text

Tender Hearted Fools

Tanjirou has been hit by a demon blood art that slowly freezes his heart. Zenitsu melts it.

This was done for a Zentan Secret Santa exchange over at the 'Gentle Scent and Sound' server! It came out way longer than I intended it to be tbh. I was hurrying to finish this but it just. Kept. Building.

Well, I got it done anyhow. Unfortunately, I did not get it beta-read so apologies for any mistakes. I suck at catching my own errors so it's entirely possible I have quite a few in there. Even so, I hope it's a good read!

This was done for Lisfranc over there! I hope you enjoy it, hun!

Read on Ao3

Tanjirou didn’t know how long he had been sitting there. The demon was long gone by now but her word’s rang clearly in his head.

“I’ll make sure you regret this! Even through my death—you took what was most important from me and now—! Now I’m going to make sure you’ll never feel anything again for the rest of your life!”

He had felt sorry for her—the tears in her red eyes had caused him to pause momentarily, causing her to get an attack in. It hadn’t hurt and that was what scared him the most.

What had the demon hit him with?

The thought lingered in his head as he slumped into a sitting position. And then he stayed there.

***

His chest burned. It felt like hours. Why wasn’t he moving?

Tanjirou tried to move his fingers and they cooperated, albeit slower than he would’ve preferred. It was discomfiting. There was a chill creeping through his body that felt colder than the snow surrounding him.

But the environment didn’t help either. The wet snowflakes that fell on his skin stung. It hurt. Why did it hurt?

Tanjirou needed to get back. Nezuko was waiting for him. But would she be upset to see him give up so easily at a bit of cold? Would she hate him? The piercing chill hurt his chest even more.

What would the others think? How would they react?

Shinobu’s scent of anger would turn toward him. Inosuke would yell at him and regard him as weak. Kanao would disregard him coldly and perhaps simply say nothing. Zenitsu would…

Would Zenitsu be disappointed in him if he laid here forever?

“Get up, idiot! Don’t fall asleep in the snow!”

The frigidness eased up. Tanjirou moved forward.

***

Tanjirou would stop every now and then when the frosty chill stopped him. Somehow thinking about disappointing others would make the ice in his heart grow more pronounced. He would touch his chest every now and then found it freezing. Was it all in his mind or was it real?

Thus, he decided not to think of the others.

Instead he thought of Zenitsu. Zenitsu with his bright smile, his obvious delight when complimented, his strong thighs that came from perfecting his Thunder Breath, his lovely yellow eyes, his—his—

And suddenly Tanjirou was running back to the Butterfly manor. A laugh startled from him once he realized that the cold had receded within him.

(Now, why was it that the thought of Zenitsu solved his problem?)

***

“So, you’re saying you can move now? Despite being unable to move before?” The skepticism was clear in Shinobu’s tone. “Were you doing anything in particular before you dealt with the demon blood art?”

Tanjirou scratched his neck. Zenitsu and Inosuke were hovering nearby, both clearly worried on his behalf.

“Not really? I mean, I was thinking of Zenitsu but—”

“What?!” Zenitsu’s voice rang loud in the clinic.

“Gonpachirou, what did that demon lady look like? The Great Inosuke will defeat her for you!”

Aoi smacked the two of them. “God, shut up both of you! Shinobu-sama, do you want me to kick them out? I’ll kick them out.”

Shinobu didn’t appear to pay the three of them any mind. “You—you thought of Zenitsu? Huh.” She leaned back and looked over him with an assessing eye. Her gentle smile was gone and instead an expression of intrigue was in place.

“I—yeah. Is that weird?”

“Wh-what does that even mean?” Zenitsu’s face had a pink tint to it and Tanjirou couldn’t help but admire how it lit up his features. The smell of mortification wafted from him and he only felt a bit sorry that he had embarrassed his friend in such a way.

“It depends. Do you mind telling me about the demon once more? I believe I may have heard of her before.”

Tanjirou nodded. “Okay, well she wore...”

***

Shinobu thoughtfully tapped her chin as Tanjirou finished the description of the woman. Zenitsu watched him with wide, terrified eyes (he hated seeing his friend in distress). Aoi struggled to keep her annoyed expression on but her worried scent gave away her true thoughts. And Inosuke—well the boar head didn’t show much but his scent had vague hints of protectiveness and a whole lot of competitiveness.

It warmed him to see that his friends were still who they were. That they still cared.

(Why wouldn’t they?)

“I’ve heard of this demon before. I believe she terrorized many humans before the Demon Corps got involved. From that point on, she hid so that she wouldn’t encounter any of us.” Shinobu got up and walked to grab some medical supplies. “From what I’ve heard, her demon blood art is a slow-acting one. It slowly kills those that have been hit with it.”

“So Tanjirou’s gonna die?” Zenitsu worried his lips. The pink tongue that darted out distracted Tanjirou momentarily but Shinobu pulled his attention back once more.

“Possibly. It all depends whether or not we kill the demon first. Or—” Shinobu hesitated. “There’s a back-up option based on the rumors I’ve heard. It’s turned into a bit of a legend actually.”

“Legend?” Tanjirou prompted.

Shinobu placed the medical supplies next to him with pursed lips before quickly plastering on her typical smile. “Well, let’s not rely on any myths, okay? I’ll send out Inosuke and Kanao to take care of the demon. The two of them should be able to handle it!”

“What about Monitsu! He’s strong when he’s asleep!”

“There are so many things wrong with what you just said! First of all—”

“I’ll have to keep Zenitsu around for...well, backup. There’s a couple things I need to test.” Shinobu’s smile was mysterious and her scent lost a bit of the anger before intensifying. Tanjirou didn’t know where her anger was directed at. Toward the demon? Or...toward him?

The chill started creeping back in.

“Shinobu-sama, should I help with you on the tests and such?” Aoi said, pulling Tanjirou out of his strange thoughts once more.

“Ah, yes. I’d appreciate that. Aoi. Now, off you go, Inosuke-kun! Kanao should be out in the front!” Shinobu said, smiling at the boy with a board head. She turned back to Tanjirou. “Now then, shall we get some tests done?”

***

Inosuke and Kanao were gone. Tanjirou didn’t know why he knew this but as he laid in bed with a dull ache ringing through his chest, he figured it had to do something with the blood demon art that he was stuck with.

No one was left in the infirmary. Shinobu insisted on keeping him under observation for a few days longer. Truthfully, Tanjirou felt guilty even taking up her time.

Useless.

The coldness of his inner thoughts shocked him. He blinked his eyes open and sat up on his bed. The room was dark and cold. So cold. Was it always this cold?

The warm glow coming from underneath the door seemed even more distant than usual. Tanjirou wanted to get up and go to it but he couldn’t. His body felt too heavy. The chill brought up an impervious tiredness within him. It felt impossible to fight.

He fell back onto his bed and slept fitfully.

***

Tanjirou awoke to a chill seeping through his bones, into his very core being. He shivered but the slight movement wasn’t enough to affect any of the despairing cold he felt then and there.

He heard whispering. Or rather whispered shouting. “—You need to trust Shinobu-sama! And me! She wouldn’t make you do something you absolutely didn’t have to.” That sounded a lot like Aoi and Tanjirou only confirmed moments later with his nose. For some reason, his sense of smell was dulled greatly. It was disconcerting.

“I do!” That was definitely Zenitsu. He could smell the distinct scent of peaches and peach blossoms that belonged to the lightning user. “And don’t like—you’d absolutely make me do something I didn’t have to do, just to have one up on me!”

“Okay, but this isn’t a situation I’m trying to be petty—”

“So, you admit it!”

“Shut up, idiot!” Aoi and Zenitsu both smelled tense. Tanjirou, still groggy from the sleep and chill, tried to piece together the situation. “You need to trust that I’m not trying to get back at you or something equally stupid. This isn’t the time for that.”

“But, I—”

“I know that none of this is…good.” Zenitsu let out a snort but Aoi seemed to forge on ahead. “—but Shinobu-sama believes this will save Tanjirou.”

Save him?

Zenitsu let out a frustrated sigh. “Are you sure that the demon can’t—”

“Inosuke and Kanao are doing their best on the mission. But just in case—don't give me that look! Just in case worse comes to worse, you have to do your part. You want to help Tanjirou, don’t you?”

“...God, you’re sounding more and more like Shinobu-sama everyday.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” The tension seemed to diffuse from the room and Tanjirou opened his eyes figuring it to be the right time to enter the conversation.

The two stood near the doorway to the medical center. Early morning light filtered through the windows, casting delicate shadows. Tanjirou was sorry to be bundled up in his blankets as his favorite thing to see was the light weave through Zenitsu’s blonde hair. They looked especially luminescent in the morning hours. But the chill gripped him and he stayed in bed under many layers of blankets.

“Aoi, I don’t know if I can do this.” Zenitsu sounded so defeated. Tanjirou wanted to scoop him up and bundle him in his own blankets. Perhaps cuddle with him near a fire.

“You can and you will.” Aoi sounded confident at least.

“Do what?” Tanjirou asked, breaking into the conversation. It was best to let them know he had been eavesdropping after all. He hadn’t meant to let it continue this long but the grogginess of waking up and the coldness crawling through his veins made him slow to react.

Zenitsu let out a shriek that earned a yelp of surprise from Aoi. The girl smacked Zenitsu on the arm (she could only reach up there when they both were standing upright) in retaliation.

“T-tanjirou! How much did you hear?”

“Tanjirou, how are you feeling?” Aoi said, cutting off Zenitsu as she went to Tanjirou’s side. She laid a hand on his forehead, withdrawing it almost immediately. “Wow, you’re—”

“Cold.” Tanjirou said, punctuating it with a weak laugh. “I think this is the demon blood art—”

“I was there yesterday, too, you know.” Aoi said, making her way to the medical equipment stored in the cabinets. As she prepared for the tests, Zenitsu made his way to Tanjirou’s cot. The brunette didn’t want to leave the relative warmth of his blankets (relative, as it was hardly enough) but he put out a hand for Zenitsu, regardless.

The young blonde man only hesitated for a moment, before taking it. He winced at the icy grip of Tanjirou’s fingers but didn’t pull away. For that, Tanjirou shot him a smile.

Zenitsu looked even more upset.

“Are you okay?” He asked which seemed to upset Zenitsu even more.

“Am I okay?! I should be asking you that! Shinobu-sama said that you’re suffering from some fucked up revenge curse from the demon!”

“I mean, I think it’s just a blood art thing? But it should be taken care of once Inosuke and Kanao capture her.”

Zenitsu’s eyes fell. “You heard us.” He sounded stricken.

“J-just a little. I heard that you have to do something and those two went to take care of the demon in the meantime. I’m really sorry about that. I promise, I’ll try to be more careful next time.” Tanjirou clutched and Zenitsu’s hands more tightly and felt a gentle squeeze back in return.

“Alright...that’s fine I guess. But, Tanjirou—! Aren’t you—! Isn’t it—!” None of his statements followed through but Tanjirou waited patiently all the same.

“I’m fine, Zenitsu.” The blonde shot him a murderous glare. Tanjirou could only laugh as Zenitsu’s glare was really adorable. Like a kitten trying to look scary—the lightning user was only ever intimidating in battle. And even then, that was more cool than anything. “Okay, okay, I’m not totally fine. But Shinobu-sama will figure it out, right? If not her, then Kanao and Inosuke will deal with the demon and that should solve whatever ‘curse’ thing I’m stuck with.”

Zenitsu didn’t look convinced. Instead, his scent seemed to grow more distressed.

Tanjirou frowned. He hated seeing the other stress. (Although, Zenitsu constantly stressed about everything, so really, Tanjirou was asking for a lot here.)

“Alright, sit up.” Aoi said, interrupting whatever Zenitsu was about to say. He looked relieved and disappointed all at once. “Let’s run some tests and then get some food in you. Sound good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine with that. As long as it’s, ah, warm?”

“Way ahead of you. Zenitsu, are you staying?” Aoi shot the other boy with a significant look. Zenitsu dithered before pulling a chair beside Tanjirou’s bedside.

Strange. Aoi hated it when Zenitsu (and Inosuke) hovered over her shoulder as she did her work. But Tanjirou wasn’t going to question it, now. Not when Zenitsu’s company appeared to help him fight the chill. Or maybe the cold had all been in his mind? That certainly was a possibility.

Either way, Zenitsu’s company was...nice. And Tanjirou appreciated it.

He shot Zenitsu a beaming smile, ignoring the icy grip on his heart. Zenitsu returned it, albeit weaker than usual. Strange that Tanjirou’s heart stuttered at that.

***

Tanjirou woke up with a start. He was freezing. He had been sleeping so much. He was just so cold.

The dream lingered in his mind even after he shook the grogginess away. Usually they slipped by fast. But this time it felt as though it was impossible to shake off.

“How about I show you what betrayal I faced? The unrequited feelings I dealt with? I didn’t deserve any of this! And yet—I’m still here!” The demon’s words prior to her attack rang in Tanjirou’s head, loud and clear. The pain was evident in her cold features. But it was her following words that were the most notable to the demon slayer.

“You won’t be able to feel anything after I’m through with you! Nothing will save you from my blood art! Not even a lover’s touch!”

Had she said that? Why couldn’t he remember?

What was happening?

“Tanjirou?” Zenitsu entered the room. “Are you alright? I heard a—”

“I’m fine!”

Zenitsu smiled and cold grew even more pronounced.

“A-are you sure? You know you can tell me anything…”

“I know, I know. I didn’t mean to make you worry.” Tanjirou sighed. “I just woke up from a nightmare. I don’t—I don’t really know what to make of it.”

“What was it about?” Zenitsu said, stepping closer. Tanjirou smiled.

“Um, it’s a bit depressing? Maybe—”

“You don’t have to talk about it! I was just giving you the option!” Zenitsu came to sit beside Tanjirou’s bed. With him so close, Tanjirou could feel the warmth of his proximity. Were lightning-breath users normally this warm? Electricity burned stuff, right?

“Thanks Zenitsu! But really, I’d rather not linger on it you know?” The dream had been disconcerting. “Why don’t you tell me about your day instead?”

“Are you sure?” The worry was evident on Zenitsu’s face. Tanjirou wanted to brush away the stress lines that were already forming. He didn’t want his friend to worry so much. “I mean, if you wanna hear about Aoi bullying me then alright.”

“It’s more interesting than what I’ve been doing.” Tanjirou said with an easy smile. It was odd at how he was able to smile despite the nightmare he had just felt.

“Okay, so Aoi thinks that my hair is fake so she—”

Tanjirou felt lighter than ever listening to Zenitsu’s story. But something still tugged at his heart.

***

Tanjirou woke up.

It was starting to get tiring to wake up to a dead coldness in his bones. He hoped Inosuke and Kanao could make their expedition faster as the chill was getting more and more unbearable.

He couldn’t muster it in him to move until the scent of peaches hit his nose. How did he notice it before?

“Zenitsu?” He called out, voice quiet. It was becoming difficult to get a grasp on the time due to how much he was sleeping. He could differentiate between day and night but it was difficult to tell what time it actually was.

The room was dark and he could barely make out the silhouette of his friend. Zenitsu’s head appeared to be slumped over on the bed covers, his arms serving as pillows. Tanjirou could barely make out the blonde hair but he reached out and touched it.

It felt soft. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him—Zenitsu took care of himself pretty well. Perhaps he expected the jagged locks to feel harsh due to the way it was cut but that clearly wasn’t the case. Something tight in him unfurled as Zenitsu let out a puff of air, snuggling into the bed covers.

Tanjirou moved, ready to pull Zenitsu into his bed—surely it wasn’t comfortable sleeping like this—and winced. God, it hurt. It hurt so much.

The inner corners of his eyes pricked with involuntary tears of pain. He gritted his teeth as an icy sharpness kept hammering at his chest.

He didn’t realize how shallow his breathing was until he felt an arm on his back stroking him. “Breath, Tanjirou. Come on, you know how to do it. Breath with me.”

“I—” But Tanjirou couldn’t choke out any more words.

The arm on him drew back and Tanjirou felt even colder.

“Tanjirou, c-can I—” Zenitsu began, waiting for permission that Tanjirou didn’t understand. Somehow he just felt hurt.

Tanjirou clutched at his chest when he felt the bed shift. He felt arms encircle him and Zenitsu pulled Tanjirou’s head to rest against his chest. He could smell the scent of embarrassment wafting off of him but Zenitsu held him tight.

Being in his arms was like being inside a kotetsu. Or taking a warm bath. Or coming back home. It felt like all of those things and more.

The room was quiet. Until Zenitsu coughed. “U-um, does this help?”

Tanjirou blinked. The sharpness in his chest receded. “Yes? I mean, it does. Huh.” He pulled back and immediately winced, the pain coming back immediately.

“Wait, hold on!” Zenitsu moved to settle in the bed next to Tanjirou and pulled him back in his arms once he was positioned comfortably. “Shinobu-sama said that, uh, cuddling helps?”

“Really?”

“T-the legends, say that you know….”

“What do they say?” He wished he had heard of the legends prior to meeting the demon. Maybe he should’ve done more reconnaissance in the area before he decided to fight her.

“Well, um, that being close to people helps?” Zenitsu’s voice sounded unsure. If that didn’t give it away, his scent held a tinge of deception beneath it. Tanjirou wrinkled his nose. It wasn’t an intolerable smell, but it felt….wrong coming from Zenitsu. “Do you feel better?”

“...yeah, actually. Did Shinobu-sama tell you anything else about the legend? Why didn’t she tell me?”

“You were sleeping! It would’ve been bad to disturb you!”

That sounded too much like an excuse and it was apparent that both of them were aware of this as Zenitsu brushed it aside and moved ahead.

“Anyway! You should go back to sleep. Shinobu-sama said that conserving your energy was the most important thing to do while we wait on Inosuke and Kanao. And don’t argue with me!”

“I wasn’t going to.” Tanjirou said with a slight chuckle. It was muffled as he circled his arms around Zenitsu’s waist. God, he was so warm. “I promise, I’m doing my best to rest. It’s just—well, everything just feels so cold, you know?”

“...I’m sorry you’re dealing with this on your own. I should’ve been there to—!”

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s this about? I was sent on a mission and I got caught up in it. It’s not like you could’ve predicted my failure.” Even as he said this, he felt a sharp stabbing sensation in his chest.

“Tanjirou? Are you—?”

“Hold on.” Tanjirou muttered. He slowed his breathing until the pain receded. His breath helped him focus on Zenitsu’s peach blossom scent which centered and anchored him.

They continued to clutch each other—Tanjirou, like a man hanging onto a life raft, and Zenitsu, terrified and shaken.

“Y-your heart. It sounds….muffled. I mean, your sound is always so—it’s always there but this time it’s not and-and it’s just so—”

Zenitsu was truly scared for him. This shouldn’t have warmed Tanjirou so much but it did all the same.

“I’m sorry—”

“Why are you apologizing! Stupid Tanjirou!”

“But, I am! I didn’t mean to worry you!”

“You’re not worrying me, idiot!”

“But, I can smell it on you?”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop smelling me?? Why do you keep doing things like this!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Tanjirou said, punctuating his apology with a laugh.

“Hmph.” Zenitsu pouted but he pulled Tanjirou closer all the same. “I’m not going to forgive you until you learn to take better care of yourself.”

“Alright, I’ll be more careful next time.”

“You’d better be! You can’t leave Nezuko-chan behind with your carelessness! Who’s supposed to take care of her if you die? Me and Inosuke?? We don’t know how to take care of girls! Inosuke would probably teach her all the wrong things! And Shinobu-sama is too busy! Kanao and Aoi maybe but...” Zenitsu began muttering under his breath how well of job Kanao and Aoi would do, coming to the conclusion that no would take care of Nezuko as well as Tanjirou did.

Tanjirou blinked. When had Zenitsu changed his song from ‘marrying Nezuko and taking care of her’ to just ‘taking care of her?’

“You don’t want to marry her, anymore?” He blurted out, unable to keep the surprise from his tone.

Zenitsu stopped and stared at Tanjirou, eyes wide. “You—what? You think I still….like Nezuko-chan?”

“Yes?” The two continued to stare at each other before Zenitsu snorted and flopped back onto the bed, taking Tanjirou with him.

“I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.” Zenitsu sighed. “I don’t like Nezuko like that anymore. I mean, she’s great and all but…”

“But what?”

“...nevermind. Anyway, Tanjirou! It’s time for you to sleep!”

“I wanna hear the rest of what you were about to say!”

“Who says I have more to say??”

“Don’t you?”

“Just go to sleep Tanjirou!” Tanjirou stared. Zenitsu was underneath him and Tanjirou’s chin was on the other boy’s chest. “W-what?”

“Are you gonna stay?” The stinging sensation in his chest sharpened but not so much it was unbearable.

“I-I, yeah. If that’s okay with you?” Zenitsu appeared strangely shy all of sudden. But Tanjirou wasn’t about to make him feel self-conscious all of a sudden.

“Absolutely. Do you wanna talk or—”

“Sleep, Tanjirou!” Zenitsu huffed, a bit of fire returning to him. Tanjirou wished there was more light so he could see the golden sparks in his eyes. “You need to rest!”

“Okay, okay.” Tanjirou conceded, moving to get comfortable. Zenitsu didn’t let go of him once. It should’ve occurred to how odd it was to cuddle with a friend like this but it felt so natural, so right that he didn’t bother to stop and think. Why would he when it all felt like a dream?

They were both on their sides, Tanjirou with his arms around Zenitsu’s waist and the other boy’s arms around his shoulder’s cradling Tanjirou to his chest. It felt warm. It felt right.

“Night, Zenitsu.”

“...Night, Tanjirou.”

***

Tanjirou woke up. It was freezing. He bolted up as a piercing sting shot through his chest.

God, he was so tired of this. How many times over was this going to happen to him? When would Inosuke and Kanao finish the demon off? Was he becoming more callous with time?

“Tanjirou?” Zenitsu mumbled. He rubbed his eyes and squinted, trying to make out Tanjirou’s expression through the cutting darkness.

Tanjirou couldn’t speak. He could barely even breath. Even his breathing techniques weren’t helping him here. Real panic was crawling up his skin and pinpricks of cold sweat dotted his pores.

“Tanjirou?” Zenitsu said, louder now. He got up and took Tanjirou’s icy hands into his. “What’s wrong? Your hands are freezing!”

“I-I—”

“Can you—what’s—” Zenitsu’s anxiety was contagious. Normally, it wasn’t—Tanjirou could easily balance out Zenitsu’s neuroticism—but this time he felt every single emotion the blonde was facing.

“Zen—” He could barely make out another word before Zenitsu took his face and kissed him.

Immediately, the bitter cold subsided.

Tanjirou let out a gasping breath, trying to suck in as much air as possible. He pulled back and stared at Zenitsu incredulously. “Zenitsu, wh—”

“It’s because of the legends!” Zenitsu’s face was now beet red. “The legends are, you know…..”

Tanjirou continued to stare, gobsmacked.

Zenitsu looked up through his lashes. The beginning of light was making its way into the infirmary. It wasn’t coming fast enough as Tanjirou wanted to drink Zenitsu's every expression. His heart was pounding fast, the rhythm seemingly melting whatever demonic curse was cast on him.

The glacial presence in his chest no longer seemed to be chipping away at him. Tanjirou didn’t even pay attention to whatever numbness was left.

“What—” Tanjirou licked his lips, chasing the taste of Zenitsu before continuing. “What legends?”

“Shinobu-sama said that-that the demon, she—” Zenitsu appeared unable to parse through his thoughts but Tanjirou wasn’t about to interrupt him. He wanted to know what that kiss had meant. “T-the legends say that she terrorized people because she lost someone she loved. And because she’s a huge romantic, or whatever, the only thing that could break her curse is a loved one’s kiss, or whatever. Personally, I think a condition is dumb—”

“You love me?”

“I—Tanjirou!”

“Y-you said, true love’s kiss could break the curse and—”

“I said a loved one’s kiss! That’s not the same!”

“But do you—do you love me?” Tanjirou could barely get the words out. He was terrified.

“I—I guess….”

“You guess? You’re not sure?”

“Okay fine! I like you!” Zenitsu glared at him but it was somewhat ineffective due to the sheer embarrassment radiating off of him. “I….sorta even, maybe, love you.”

Tanjirou stared, hardly believing his luck.

This didn’t seem real. He didn’t feel deserving of this. Zenitsu, shouldn’t have—He didn’t realize he’d ever be given something so precious like this. But, all the same...

“Wh—Tanjirou! Why are you crying?” Zenitsu flailed, worry obviously etched onto his face.

“I’m not sad, don’t worry.” Tanjirou said, rubbing away the sudden tears. It had been unexpected and caught him off-guard. But he felt relieved all the same.

The ice frozen around his heart was fully gone. It didn’t register to Tanjirou, at least not consciously. He just felt...fulfilled.

“I thought—” Zenitsu started but Tanjirou cut him off with a quick kiss.

He pulled back, almost immediately. “Sorry, sorry! I couldn’t help it! Was that okay? I should’ve asked.”

Now it was Zenitsu’s turn to look shocked. “I—I just confessed to you! And now you’re asking me if it’s okay to kiss me?”

“Well, it’s important to ask for permission. Right?” Tanjirous asked with a teasing smile. Zenitsu just pursed his lips.

“Okay but are you accepting it or—?”

“I like you too, Zenitsu. I like you a lot, actually. It’s probably love but I’m not too sure.”

“Not too sure??” Zenitsu looked a mix of annoyed and pleased. “What do you mean you’re not too sure??”

“I mean, it just occurred to me that what I felt for you was, well, romantic. I guess, I didn’t connect the dots until you mentioned it.”

Zenitsu just stared. “So, you just figured it out…?”

“Uh, I think so?” Tanjirou let out a self-conscious laugh. “I mean, I thought you liked Nezuko this whole time! So, I guess I just didn’t let myself...feel for you in that way. But it’s okay! It happened anyway!”

“...You are unbelievable.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Zenitsu simply answered him with a kiss.

#zentan #zenitsu agatsuma #kamado tanjirō #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #not too sure what else to tag this tbh #love confessions #god this was hard to write but I'm glad I got it done

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