#plus we're all just getting older and a lot of us have new responsibilities that we didn't have in the golden age of simblr lol

[stinkrascal]

Gah those who say simblr are dead should go and consume the hundreds of posts by storytellers or game players and get excited or attached so they can look forward to updates. It’s unfair that because new content isn’t being continually uploaded daily it’s deemed as dead. There’s also so many people who post text updates about their days or lives. There’s so much more life in this community besides a new edit being dropped daily to look at! Or go find new blogs! Get out of your comfort zone guys! This community also has waves of activeness and quietness which is normal for the summer time. (Sorry, I’m not ranting at you, I’m hoping that maybe people will realize that this is nothing new and to stop worrying themselves over it.)

i totally agree anon! tbh i do have sympathy for those who say this, because i totally remember having this same concern in earnest years ago when simblr first had a massive dropoff from the activity i was used to seeing in 2018. but it's kinda funny now, after so many years have passed and people are still saying the same things about how simblr is dying when it very obviously hasn't died yet haha. this is just the level of activity it's been at for a while now, but that doesn't mean it's dying, it's just being maintained at a different rate than it was back at simblr's peak activity (which again imo i'd say that was around 2018). there's always people posting on some corner of simblr about something, whether that's story posts, gameplays, edits, or even just answering asks or making text posts abt their days. you just gotta explore your options and follow as many simblrs as you can yk!! it's unreasonable to assume ppl are gonna post "content" every day (remember that this is just our hobby and not a full time job lol), but the community is still definitely here nevertheless

[comicaurora]

Hi! I'm a big fan of your work. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 I'm an artist who's been working on a story with a close writer friend of mine since the pandemic. Together we've outlined a webcomic that we're both very excited and passionate about, and it's been a great experience. Late last year we started actually making the comic itself, and a little less than a year later we're 37 pages in. 

I wanted to ask you how you're able to somehow push out three high-quality pages every week? I work full time, and most days I'm too drained when I get home to immediately start working on the comic. Plus all the other stuff I have to take care of to be a functional adult. I'm not even that slow of an artist, but it just doesn't feel like there's enough hours in the day. At my current rate, I get about one page done per week. I'm 24 now, I don't want to be in my 50s still working on this story. Do you have any advice for increasing your output as an artist without completely overwhelming yourself?

Sorry for the wordy question. There's a reason I'm the artist and not the writer.

Oof, that's a tough one!

I mean, to start with, a fundamental difference in our schedules is I don't work full time. Everything I do for a living is very self-scheduled, and I can work far in advance to meet the deadlines I set and take entire days or even weeks off when I need them. Back when I was in college, dealing with outside schedule requirements, I definitely wouldn't have been able to keep up everything I do now.

That said, there are still methods to streamline and speed up the artistic process. I don't know the details of your methods, but I'd recommend sketching and storyboarding larger numbers of pages at a time and finalizing them at a more leisurely pace, rather than taking one page of comic at a time from a total blank to a finalized, polished version. The storyboard can be very basic; many of mine are little more than color-coded scribbles showing the characters and text boxes showing their dialogue. It's just enough to be readable to me so I can go in and edit it for pacing and timing, but it looks like absolute chickenscratch to anyone else. On the production side, that makes it much more feasible for me to work on multiple pages at a time, since I don't need to finish polishing one page before I can start boarding another.

This method can be expanded into a bit of a factory production line, allowing for a two-pronged approach of progress - one for finalizing older pages, the other farther along for storyboarding new ones. And once you have multiple pages done at a time, you can schedule them well in advance, which takes a lot of deadline pressure off and can make it less mentally daunting to work on. This also diversifies the space of things you can work on, depending on your headspace and energy levels - which is a useful option to have when you're wiped from outside responsibilities.

[themainreactor]

“The Embodiment Of Luck Is Quite Stiff To Be Lucky, Don’t You Think?”

In which, the group's knight in shining armor has arrived… In the form of a rather uptight and quiet samurai. Though you have potential and you're strong, you're not really used to being around such chaotic people in your everyday life. Maybe this little mission would help you find out more about yourself, you needed a life and some friends anyway.

Tanjiro couldn't stop smiling, even with the chaos at the moment. Whether from his injuries or the two and a half year quest of finding the demon responsible for his family's death, he felt that there would finally be progress.

It was great news that a samurai would be joining this sudden group of people that kinda just grouped up for no reason, after all, samurai were very strong and disciplined people. The older woman was seeing a lot of pain and bad luck in the future, so she sent word for a lucky acquaintance she knew, aka, the samurai.

At the moment, Tanjiro was just standing in the doorway, Inosuke was trying to shove his boar mask onto Zenitsu to get some sort of scared reaction, all the while, Nezuko just ran around the two of them. Inosuke's laugh was a borderline sneeze, Zenitsu didn't have to scream so loud and Nezuko didn't have to run around and cause more trouble. Tanjiro swears they were all asleep when the older woman called him to talk about the samurai.

"Hey guys, that's enough." Tanjiro states as he grabs Zenitsu by the collar of his shirt to drag him back into his bed.

"Whatever! He needs to learn to stop screaming!" Inosuke responds with another laugh as he shoves his boar mask back onto his head. Tanjiro only sighs as Zenitsu starts yelling in protest to Inosuke.

"Oh by the way you two, someone will be joining us." He continues as he stares at the two fighting companions. Both Inosuke and Zenitsu just continue on bickering and Tanjiro looks at his sister who has already retreated back into her box with a quiet sigh.

"Someone will be joining us... On our missions?" He continues, staring at the two with an almost sarcastic smile... He was gonna lose his shit.

"You two! Let me say something!"

"Why are you yelling?!" Zenitsu almost screams out, startled by the sudden change of Tanjiro's voice.

"Because I'm trying to talk to you guys."

"... Oh... Well, what is it?"

"We're getting someone new in our group." Tanjiro smiles again at the thought of a new companion and possible friend, though you can't blame him, he had never met a samurai before.

The reactions that he earned from Zenitsu and Inosuke scared him. Zenitsu gains an almost rictus smile and Inosuke starts cackling and rolling around.

"Are we stealing them!?" Inosuke yells, pulling off his boar mask and somehow jumping off of the ground bed and onto the wooden floor.

"New or used?" Zenitsu asks, his smile getting a bit bigger as he also stands up.

Clearly they were both excited, which was a good thing but Tanjiro was baffled. What type of questions were those? And why were they being asked? New or used? Stealing them? What did it even mean?! He couldn't even respond as he pushed the palm of his hand into his forehead, then began looking up with a confused face as if he was asking the ceiling for help.

"Great... Wonderful responses, both of you." Tanjiro sighed out, clearly being sarcastic as he finally decided to lay down and go to bed.

So that's how you showed up the next week, being called from an important mission to do a 'favor' for that old lady in your old neighborhood... How... Interesting.

"Uh... I'm... "

You started, looking upon the elder woman with concern in your face. Why was this being asked of you? You didn't even know what a demon slayer was until just right now when the woman told you.

"Come again?" Y/N asks the woman, gaining a pleasant smile from her.

"I want you to join these three demon slayers, as a way to ward off bad luck. Plus, it will do you some good." The woman responded with a smile, her eyes closed as she lightly took your hand in hers.

"Lucky things happen to me, yes, however I don't think that means I will ward off demons or somehow bring good luck to the others-"

"Well how do you know that? It will be a favor for me if you join them."

"I'm sure but I may just slow them down, I don't know how to kill demons."

"I'm sure, but fear not the obstacles in your path, I believe that joining them will bring them peace and bring you some clarity."

You sighed, slightly annoyed with the request of this lady. She seemed so persistent but you knew that you would listen to her anyway since you had always learned to respect your elders and her being such a kind lady was also a bonus.

"Just meet them before you say no... Okay? As a favor for me." The woman interrupts, letting go of your hand before walking off, expecting you to follow.

"Alright then."

You followed her as she stood in front of the three that were arguing about something. One had some sort of scar on his face and he was carrying a box on his back, that one was probably Tanjiro like the woman told you. Another one had yellow hair, that was probably Zenitsu and one was shirtless with a boar mask which was probably Inosuke.

Once the woman got their attention, they all looked at you as if they were analyzing. They thought you looked like you would kill them if they did something you deemed outta pocket. Something you weren't expecting was for the one with the boar mask to suddenly try to attack you, which made you refrain snapping his throat as a first instinct.

"FIGHT ME!" He yelled, swinging at you as you dodged, Tanjiro and Zenitsu tried to catch him before he actually harmed you but it wasn't really working.

"Stop it! That's not okay! They're here to help!" Zenitsu screams out, getting scared when Inosuke lands a punch directly to your stomach. You had a strong core though so it was all good.

"Inosuke you're making us look bad! I'm so sorry!" Tanjiro apologizes as he finally grabs onto Inosuke, only for him do a flip out of Tanjiro's grasp.

You just decide to restrain Inosuke, catching his other punch as he runs back up to you and grabbing both of his arms to pull them behind his back. Of course, Inosuke thrashed around and protested, but he couldn't get out of your grasp which made Zenitsu a bit nervous to even introduce himself to you.

You knew that joining this group of people would probably make the old lady happy but you still felt like this was a very bad idea.

"Well... Will you be joining them?" The woman asked with the purest smile in the world, still putting you on the spot. You didn't answer for a bit as you finally let go of Inosuke.

Guess you were doing a side mission.

"... Yes, I will go with them."

"Good."

Tanjiro smiled, not able to contain his excitement while Zenitsu sighed in relief. Inosuke just sulked like a child since you were a lot stronger than he anticipated.

"Well, were heading out then... Thank you for everything." Tanjiro commented, bowing his head in a polite manner to the elder woman along with Zenitsu. Inosuke however didn't do so, until you forced his head down with your hand and bowed your own head.

"Hey! Let me go!" He yelled, trying to grab onto your hand and push it away but to no avail.

"I'll bestow good luck upon you." The woman commented, ignoring the thrashing from the demon slayer next to you.

"We appreciate it." Tanjiro states, making you raise an eyebrow. He seemed to be very thankful for everything, his parents must have raised him well. As the three of you turn around, the woman does her thing and freaks out Inosuke in the process.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

You were gonna knock him out if he didn't stop.

"AHH! STOP THAT YOU IDIOT!" Zenitsu yells, getting in front of the woman while Tanjiro and you grab a hold of Inoskue.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Inosuke yells, making you sigh as he thrashes around some more.

"It's ceremonial! Were going on a journey! And making sparks is for luck!"

Tanjiro was surprised when you threw Inosuke over your shoulder so that the four of you could leave. Though he appreciated it to some extent.

"Let Go Of Me!"

"Oh quiet." Zenitsu mutters out.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!? AND IT DOESN"T EVEN MATTER! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Inosuke, you deserve it!" Tanjiro yells as he walks alongside you and Zenitsu. The three of you walk out of the courtyard and you decide to place Inosuke down, ignoring the growling that his covered face was emitting. The woman follows behind and you wonder if this is really a good idea or not.

"Always live your lives in a fashion where you are able to hold your heads up high. I wish you luck in battle."

Huh, you remember the first time she said that to you when you left this place to be an apprentice a few years back. Maybe it was a sign that you were going to be gone for a while. You watch as the three start running off, you give the old lady another bow of your head before running off with them.

...

"So... Name's Zenitsu Agatsuma."

"Inosuke Hashibira! And don't you forget it!"

"My name is Tanjiro Kamado, what's your name?"

"Y/N L/N."

As the four of you run, engaging in small talk, the only thing you can think of is how slow they were running. If this was the next generation of the so called demon slayers, everyone was screwed.

"Heads up high? Luck in battle? What does that mean?" Inosuke asks to no one in particular.

"To be honest it is a bit difficult to explain. To hold your head high... I guess it means whatever hand you're given in this life, you're able to conduct yourself in a way that's honorable so that you're never ashamed."

Well, too late for that, you were always ashamed, even for other people.

"And wishing us luck in battle just means that she's praying for our safety." Tanjiro adds on, smiling as he looks back at Inosuke.

"Well, what about the hand you're given? We have two already, why should we be ashamed?"

That... Was actually a really good point.

""Well I guess-"

"What does it mean to conduct yourself honorably anyway? Why is that old hag praying for our safety in the first place?"

Old hag... This dude was wild. Literally. All you did was stare at Inosuke with a critical expression before looking at Tanjiro as if to silently ask him whether or not the boar was always like this.

"She has nothing to do with us! So what's her game huh!? Maybe she should worry about her own hand!"

You were goons give Inosuke a beat down sooner or later. Suddenly Tanjiro sped up, going past you in an effort to do... Something. You didn't really know.

"Is this a race!? I won't let you win!" Inosuke yells as he runs past Zenitzu.

"Wait for us you guys!" Zenitzu yells as he tries to catch up with them, you running just as fast as him so he didn't feel alone. Man this was chaos at it's finest wasn't it? You were actually kind of enjoying it.

"Does everyone act like this?" You ask with a small smile, gaining Zenitsu's attention briefly before he focuses on catching up.

"Yeah! Reckless too!"

...

"Do you like being a Samurai?" Tanjiro asks, wanting to make sure you didn't feel left out. You were so calm and quiet that he could almost forget you were there.

"Um... I don't know." You reply, furrowing your eyebrows in thought since you had never had someone ask you a question like that.

"What do you mean by that?" Zenitsu asks, confused by the strange response. How would you not know whether you liked being a Samurai or not?

"I mean just that, I don't know. I haven't thought about it... I don't like it nor do I dislike it... So I guess It's just something I am."

A dull response, Tanjiro could smell a scent of confusion, as if being asked that question was something foreign to you. Tanjiro didn't like it, it made him feel almost sad but it also made him feel like it was a good decision that you came. That way he could be a companion that you could talk to if you needed it.

"Well I don't care! I just want to know how strong you are! Cause I'm the king of the mountain so called samurai! And whatever you do, I can do too! Fight me!" Inosuke yells.

"I will not fight you Inosuke."

"Yes you will! Manjiro! Tell the samurai to fight me!"

"That's not my name Inosuke! And you need to stop!"

"Everyone, we need to pause here!" Zenitsu suddenly yells, gaining your attention. He looked so serious for some reason, but he must have had some sort of skill in doing so. Because how serious can you really look when you're sitting in a fetal position on the ground?

"Zenitsu, what's wrong?" Tanjiro asks.

"I'm nervous okay?! Now that we're nearing our destination, I'm getting scared!"

"Why the hell is he sitting like that?" Inosuke asks you, placing his hands on his hips.

"I have no clue." You reply, scratching the back of your head in thought.

"It's pretty weird if you ask me." Inosuke states in a surprisingly calm manner.

"Well... Nobody asked you did they?" You comment, turning to face the boar masked guy with a small smile and gaining a growl from him.

"WHO ARE YOU TO TALK TO ME ABOUT WEIRD!? You can't tell me you're not getting any spooky vibes from that mountain?!" Zenitsu yells out in a distraught manner, confusing you as to why he was a demon slayer when he wasn't mentally prepared for going up a slightly spooky mountain.

"Well... If it is spooky... I guess we'll just have be careful." You start, turning back to Zenitsu with an unbothered expression.

"Even so, we can't exactly just wait here."

"I told you this guy was an odd duck."

"I AM NOT AN ODD DUCK! I"M COMPLETELY NORMAL! IT'S YOU GUYS THAT ARE THE STRANGE ONES!"

"I'm hungry."

You said that out loud didn't you? And now Tanjiro and Zenitsu were staring at you like you were the weird one. Tanjiro turned his attention back to the mountain with an unreadable expression. It made you a bit concerned that he seemed so stressed out about the said mountain that was making Zenitsu cry.

"Tanjiro, Is there something wrong?" Zenitsu asks, not moving from his spot in any way.

"What is this smell?" Tanjiro asks to himself before booking it, running off to get closer to the mountain. Smell? What smell? This had to be the most dysfunctional group of people you had ever been with.

"Tanjiro! Hey! Wait up! Don't leave me here by myself! Who knows what'll happen!" Zenitsu cries out, still not making any move whatsoever to get up. Until of course you grab his hand and drag him along with you and the rest. When everyone does stop, it's because there is what appears to be another injured demon slayer in front.

"Are you okay?" You ask the person, slowly walking up to him to make sure you didn't scare him.

"Help me... Please help me."

"Are you alright!? What happened?" Tanjiro questions as he runs behind you to the boy. For some reason, you had this feeling, like Zenitsu was right about the mountain.

"Don't worry, we'll help you." You reply, lightly grabbing his shoulder before something seemed to pull him and throw him back towards the mountain.

"AH! THEY WERE ATTACHED TO ME TOO! PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE HERE!!"

You were startled to say the least, you had never seen anything like this in anything you've ever done.

"I'm going in."

"Um... Come again?" You quietly asked Tanjiro as if he was crazy, looking at him with a confused expression.

"I'll hit it first."

"You'll hit what first?" You question Inosuke as you stand up, still not getting an answer from anyone.

"You stay behind me, trembling like a scared little animal. This is making me hungry."

Ah, so there was more than just you here that was hungry, good, you felt less strange.

"Why's he such a showoff?" Zenitsu asked, turning his attention towards you.

"I have no clue."

"HAHAHAHAHA! LET'S GO!"

As Tanjiro and Inosuke started running off, you started off to follow them only to realize that you had left Zenitsu behind. You run back to grab him just noticing how scared he was. It would be a miracle if he could even stand with how much he was shaking. So you just take a seat next to him and wait for him to stop. Tanjiro and Inosuke could wait.

"Don't worry, I'll stay with you until you're ready to go. We'll catch up with them."

"... O-okay."

And for quite some tims, the two of you just stayed there, gazing upon the mountain. Although, you were a bit annoyed since it was taking too long and you wanted to help the others.

"I know I said I'd stay, but you're wallowing in self pity and it won't help you y'know."

"W-what!? Why are you even saying that?! I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't have to say anything."

You turn your head away from Zenitsu and look at the mountain again. There was an urge in you, telling you to run away but you wanted to help however you possibly could. Suddenly there was some chirping and you turned around to see a small little brown bird, chirping right next to Zenistu.

"Cute, maybe it's a sign that we'll be safe." You start, smiling at Zenitsu only to earn a shake of his head as he picked up the bird.

"You don't have a care in the world do you? All our human problems, you have no idea." He talks to the bird, as if it can understand him in some way. Apparently the bird took that personal as it made the decision to snap at Zenitsu's hand which caused Zenitsu to yell out in pain.

"You think you're being cute right now!? Well you're really not! I don't like this side of you one tiny bit!" Zenitsu yells, crying at the same time. You guess Zenitsu and this bird knew each other personally. Slowly you grab the flying bird, lightly petting it's head so that it would be less irritated before giving it to Zenitsu.

"Why can't you take some notes from Nezuko huh!? She's adorable and she's a demon!"

You listened to the conversation, faintly remembering that there was in fact a demon sister in Tanjiro's box, hopefully that wouldn't be a problem. But you and Zenitsu would have to leave soon so that you could help them. You would be angry with yourself if they died because you stayed behind.

"AHHH!"

"Ahh what?" You asked him, slightly surprised at the scream he let out.

"I just realized that he took Nezuko with him!"

"... I'm... Sorry?"

"Oh no! My Nezuko!"

And with that, Zenitsu almost immediately takes off running towards the mountain, yelling about the demon while freaking you out even more. Wasn't he just crying because he didn't want to go up the mountain?

"What is wrong with you? You're running into a godforsaken forest on a mountain for a girl?!" You yell out to him, running right after him with a frustrated expression clearly etched on your face. At least this was one way to get him with everyone else. So with that, you and Zenitsu ran up the mountain for a while, taking way too long as Zenitsu had to stop and catch his breath from time to time.

"N-n-nezu-ko, W-where are you?"

"Are you serious?" You ask him, gaining a weirded out expression with how he was acting. He was acting like the demon wouldn't be able to protect herself and somehow this scared demon slayer was going to save her? Like, how? That's when Zenitsu just falls to the ground and starts crying, whining about Nezuko and the rest of his friends. Honestly, it made you and your so called good luck kinda useless.

You felt something prick the back of your neck and immediately you smacked at it, moving your hand to see that it was a small spider. That was annoying and it didn't look like any normal species. The small sparrow lands on top of Zenitsu, you barely paying attention to the conversation he was having with the bird since the two of you might die. Finally Zenitsu stands up once you lightly grab his hand, only to shriek when a group of birds all fly away at once.

"What... Was that?"

"I don't know Zenitsu... But we'll be okay."

"Y'know this is starting to make me really mad. We're gonna find Nezuko and say goodbye to this creepy forest."

"... Okay." You yawn out, slowly following him while still keeping an eye out for whatever might happen.

"Ouch!"

"What is it?"

"Something pricked me!"

"Oh... Me too actually, What was it? Was it a spide-"

"We can't find Tanjiro or Inosuke anywhere! Where did they go!? Great! Now what?! Something really stinks around here too! Gross!"

"You didn't answer my question, was-"

"I think I'm gonna cry and the sound of these spiders running around is creepy! I'm sure their just doing their best to survive the same as me but still!"

"Why are you complaining so much? This-"

"BE QUIET! STOP MOVING AROUND!" Zenitsu yells, turning around when he hears some shuffling. As soon as you turn around also and lay eyes on a spider with a bald human head, you decided that you may be done with life itself.

"WHAT AM I EVEN LOOKING AT?!" Zenitsu yells, grabbing onto the back of your collar and trying to run away from it. Who knows, maybe it was a new species?

"WHY DID THAT SPIDER HAVE A HUMAN FACE ON IT?! WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!? WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

"I don't know Zenitsu, don't worry, we'll be fin-"

"PLEASE BE A DREAM! PLEASE BE A DREAM! PLEASE BE A DREAM! IF I WAKE UP RIGHT NOW I PROMISE TO WORK HARDER!! IF I WAKE-"

Zenitsu was clearly having and existential crisis at the moment and all you could do was run, grabbing his hand so he would follow you. You finally stop running, realizing that you and Zenitsu chose the wrong place to run into. Right in front of you, it was literally a spiderweb, with strange looking people stuck to it and a house hung up in the air.

"AHHH!"

You wanted to yell at Zenitsu to stop screaming but you can't, especially when you see a much bigger spider who no doubt made the spiderweb with the floating house and all the people. In fact, it was huge, almost six times the size of the one that you saw on the floor that Zenitsu was screaming at. This was some scandalous mischief that was taking place, and you wanted no part of it whatsoever.

"You better not start talking to us! I don't want to hear it from you!" Zenitsu yells at the spider demon, his little bird hiding in his yellow haori. Almost immediately after that he runs away, deciding that he wasn't going to try and bring you with him. You were the samurai after all.

"Where are you going Zenitsu?"

"There's no point in running away! You've already lost the bat-"

"Shut up, no one was talking to you" You blatantly remark, quickly running towards it to behead the spider before catching up to Zenitsu. However, you didn't have a nirichin sword which would definitely be a problem, you had to remember, you weren't a demon slayer so you had to be careful, it was uncharted territory.

"I told you I don't want you talking to us! I don't want to hear it so stop talking! You give me the creeps alright?!"

"Don't run off like that Zenitsu, we're a team."

"I know! I'm just scared Y/N!"

You turn around to see that the head of the spider demon had already grown most of his body back, laughing as he starts monologuing about the bite that Zenitsu and you had gotten on his hand and your neck and how dangerous it was. That must have been the prick you and him had gotten from before but that also meant that all those small human spiders were actually people and not demons, which meant that you couldn't kill them.

"Damnit." You mumble to yourself, glaring at the big ass spider. You notice Zenitsu start running and you follow him, Zenitsu climbing up one of the trees while you jump off of another. You grab onto one of the spider mutants legsand stab it in the back in hopes to immobile it. You knew Zenitsu wasn't going to be any help, however, you were sure you and him could still survive.

"Oww!! Damnit! You're a problem! Too bad you can't kill me with that sword! You can only try to hurt me! How laughable!" The demon taunts, quickly tossing the sword away and getting the web stuck around you... Well... Attacking him was definitely a bad idea.

"I'm doing everything I possibly can right now! I wish I could be braver but I'm not! I still have to be turned into one of those horrid creatures!?"

"Zenitsu!" You yell to him, smiling and briefly getting his attention.

"You'll be okay! Just hold on!"

Huh, that smile, it reminds Zenitsu of someone. He can't remember who it was but... It was a nice smile.

You try your best to get out of the webs and when you see that Zenitsu actually passed out from fear, you grab onto the big spider so that it can't get him. Even thought others might, you wouldn't want the big one near him.

"Agh! Let me go! You're so annoying! You can't even kill me so give up!"

He tightens the web around you to the point where you know it's gonna bruise but that didn't seem to be enough for the spider, like he was expecting a different result.

"What the hell?! Why aren't you dead?! That's so stupid! It's supposed to cut you! You're an annoying threat and brother won't be happy with that!!"

Quickly he moves the web in some way, but not after hitting you in the head with one of his legs. Next thing you know, the spider doesn't want you anywhere near him, in fact, he wants you as far away from the area as possible and you're flying through the air like you're some sort of missile.

"Crap, crap, crap! Zenitsu hold on!" You call out, still tied together by the web before finally hitting your back against one of the trees and landing on the ground with a thud. Damn that hurt, you may have actually broken a rib, or your back. You actually shouldn't have survived that throw since it was from such a far distance, your luck was really not logical.

You rustle with the threads, for some reason, not really being able to do anything. And you didn't have your sword, the big spider had it so that was even more of a headache. You growl for a moment in frustration before finally letting out a yell and putting all your strength into breaking the web. When you snap it, you quickly stand up and try to wipe it off before you realize that you're lightheaded and that you might pass out.

"Oh my, you must be a fighter huh? Although you don't look too good."

You feel a hand wrap around your waist before you fall and slowly help you up, it makes you a bit uncomfortable that whoever it was, was so gentle. When you look behind you, it's a woman who looks like she is also a demon slayer... Nice.

"You don't look like one of us... Hm." She starts, and just leaves it at that before smiling.

"It seems that you've been poisoned, I think this will be able to help you."

She takes a brown box out of her haori and then comes closer, she takes what looks to be some sort of strange syringe out of the box and you're not too sure if you should trust her, which she seems to be fully aware of so she's very slow.

"What's your name?" You warily ask her, carefully watching her movement as she takes your shoulder and pushes the small and thin needle into your arm.

"Shinobu Kocho, I am the insect Hashira, some call me the pharmacist Hashira."

You didn't really know what that meant, nor did you really care, however pharmacist stuck out to you and you needed her to get to Zenitsu too along with the other humans that had been turned into spiders.

"You have to help Zenitsu, he's the same way. He has yellow hair and a triangle-patterned haori, He's in that direction." You quickly state, watching as the woman looks at you with a strange expression before nodding her head.

"Alright then, just stay here and rest so that you'll be okay."

You nodded your head as she quickly jumps off like some sort of rabbit. You never really did stuff like that, it was kinda strange that you had never really thought about jumping places. You start to sit down, only to feel guilty and stand up again. You felt like you still needed to find everyone and hopefully that pharmacist woman would be able to help Zenitsu and possible those other spider people.

You started running around the forest area, noting your surroundings along with the many other dead demon slayers while trying to figure out where to go. You could have just waited like the woman said, but you should be fine since you didn't hear anything that would mean that someone was in trouble.

Scratch that, you did hear trouble.

You hear a shriek, but it isn't human, it sounds like some sort of monster, or demon or whatever. But that was nothing compared to what you were about to see. You look up towards the sky to see something fly past, which seemed pretty high. Was it a bird? What would by flying at that speed through the air at night? You strain your eyes harder and all you can see is green... And a brown box... It was Tanjiro... Tanjiro?! What the hell was he doing in the sky!? How was he flying!? He ain't even got wings!

"Tanjiro!" You yell out to him, your voice becoming hoarse before you hear that shriek again from a nearby demon, except it sounded closer.

"Oh Crap!" Someone yelled out, gaining your attention even though you were now frazzled from what you just saw. It sounded like a human and... It sounded like... Inosuke!

"Inosuke!?" You scream, trying to gain some sort of response before coughing. It seems your throat was definitely not happy with you yelling so much, or maybe it was from the poison. There was silence, then a louder shriek from the same demon. Then a louder shriek... Oh no.

"I'm here!" Inosuke yells back, gaining your attention as you run to try and find where he is.

"Where?!"

"Over here!"

When you bump into him, you're surprised and had to stop yourself from almost running into the demon that was chasing after Inosuke. Oh crap, it might as well have been bigfoot with how big it was.

"... What is that?" You question Inosuke, quickly running alongside him whilst dodging a punch from the guy. This was pretty scary and you didn't want to be here at all, it was tiring that you couldn't do anything but run.

"A demon you idiot!"

The both of you run for a while, getting far enough before you grab ahold of Inosuke's arm and pull him behind a tree next to you. Clearly this was a big problem, you had just been recently poisoned and then cured by some random lady and you had no sword now. Inosuke looked really injured and if he kept on bleeding like that, he could probably die. What did him and Tanjiro go through while you were waiting for Zenitsu to calm down?

"How are we going to kill it?"

"I don't kn-" You cover Inosuke's mouth through his boar mask before slowly removing it and placing your finger on your mouth, silently telling him to be quiet.

"This isn't good!" Inosuke whisper yells, freaking out when he sees the demon track the two of them.

"Inosuke." You start, gaining his attention and giving him a small smile.

"It is going to be okay, we won't die alright?"

He doesn't respond, instead he just looks at you before turning his head away, almost like he was being bashful or giddy, you weren't sure.

"Damnit, hiding away like a woodland creature, how pathetic is that? I gotta find a way to turn things around. How do you cut someone who's sword proofed anyway?"

"He's sword proofed? How-"

"What should we do? What can we do?" Inosuke whispers out, having an existential crisis just like Zenitsu was before.

"What's the way for me to get in there and hurt it? Think, think, think!"

"Inosuke! Look out!" You yell, pushing him out of the way and running before the demon could grab either one of you.

"This is bad! This is really bad! We have to survive until Tanpiro gets back! Somehow!"

"Calm down Inosuke! We can figure this out! You shouldn't be thinking things like that! We'll-"

That's when Inosuke abruptly stopped running, freaking you out when he grabbed your shoulders.

"Inosuke?!"

"You're right! Why the hell am I thinking things like that?!"

What is even going on? This had to be some sort of fever dream right? Especially since Inosuke started running towards the danger, Like, why?

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

You yawn a bit, quickly following him just in case he needed help. Once you see him jump and slam one of his swords into the demons arm, you slide under the demon and grab ahold of the other arm so that the demon wouldn't be able to attack Inosuke.

"I must have gotten infected by Tantiro's germs!"

"... Who?" You ask, struggling but succeeding in holding onto the arm as Inosuke hits his sword into the demons skin.

"I can't let my guard down again! Using my head?! That kinda thing isn't like me at all! Agh!!!" Inosuke declares with a yell, finally cutting through the arm. He jumps next to your side and surprisingly hands you one of his jigsaw like swords in a very kind manner.

"You see? It was as simple as that, if you can't cut something with a sword, all you gotta do is pound on it with another sword, so don't look down on me cause I'm not weak samurai! Plus, It's just our luck that we've got the tools for the job! HAHAH! I am untouchable!"

All you do is nod your head in response to what he was saying, all the while, trying your best not to laugh. You tighten your hold on the sword, preparing yourself to be attacked by the demon... Only for it to do a one eighty and run the opposite direction.

"WHAT?!" You yell in bafflement, not comprehending that the demon would even try to run away. After all, the other spider demon you encountered didn't run, it just threw you. So you decide to run after it, harshly throwing the sword at it so that the sword stuck itself into the demons back.

"Are you running away on me samurai!? You and that demon better come back here damnit! I will win!" Inosuke yells, following the demon when you start running after it.

"Win what?! And my name is Y/N!"

"I'm stronger than you, and I'll prove just that!"

"Were not competing Inos-" You stop once you realize that you don't actually know where the demon went.

"Whatever! Where the hell did that abomination go off to anyway!?"

"I don't know..." You reply, stopping when you feel Inosuke bump into you and fall on his knees. You looked at him, worried since you got to see just how severe his wounds were.

"Inosuke... Are you okay?"

"It's just a scratch, it doesn't hurt at all! It doesn't hurt and it's not a problem!"

You stay quiet as he stands up, but you note that even though he gave you that answer, it seemed like he was convincing himself of that. You would have to try and bandage up his wounds after the both of you killed the demon.

"I've had enough of this, it's time for us to sniff him out for good."

"Agreed." Was all you said, watching as Inosuke does his weird sniff growl thing, that was until you heard a clank and saw the sword that you had thrown into the demon. Wait, he wasn't in the tree was he? Was that demon for real?

"So there you are! You dumb playing bafoon! How high did you climb?! Bastard! You're gonna force me to try and use my head again huh?! I don't think so! I-"

"Shut up." Was all you said as you watched the demon, slowly picking up the dropped sword while you were at it. You were hearing some sort of sound emit from the demon, you didn't like it.

"Huh!? What did you say to me?! He's trembling with fear and dread at the mere sight of us so what's the big deal huh!"

"Shut up! Listen." You repeat, louder this time as you continue to watch the demon, not happy that it looks like it isn't trembling with fear, more like it's convolsing or even shedding. It sounded like sandpaper grating against a rock.

"What on Gods green earth?" You mumble to yourself, slowly backing away and still keeping an eye on the demon. It screeches and the skin falls off, letting out a much shinier and bigger version of him. It really did shed, how inconvenient.

"What the hell?! Did it just shed it's skin?!"

"Yep... That's what it looks like."

And now, the new and improved demon jumps down from the tree, landing directly in front of the two of you and you have no clue what to do. You can feel Inosuke shaking next to you and you were probably shaking as well. But when you notice that Inosuke dropped his hand that was holding his sword up, you felt like you had to do everything in your power to make sure he would be okay.

"I'm gonna die... This is the end."

"No."

Inosuke looks at you, not understanding why you suddenly said that.

"Inosuke... You are not gonna die!"

He just stares at you, not liking that you seem to be someone who cares about him. Why? He's barely known you, yet you almost acted like you cared about him.

"Well then... No way am I gonna lose to you samurai! My name is Inosuke Hashibira, of the demon slayer corp!"

"Hell yeah!" You yell, hyping him up. You stood your ground, pointing the sword that he lended you towards the demon alongside him.

"Give me the worst you've got you dirt bag!"

As excited as you were for him, you weren't sure he should have said that, especially since now he was flying through the air and hitting trees from one swing from the demon.

"Inosuke!" You yell, dodging a punch but still being affected by the wind and flying back with him.

When you do land, you run to dodge another attack. Inosuke on the other hand, uses his sword to cut it's neck, only for the sword to snap.

You try to catch Inosuke before he falls but the demon punches your stomach, making you hit a tree and cracking the base of it. You groan in pain, watching the demon grab Inosuke by the head. It's so strange, you don't remember the last time you had been so mad at something that didn't even care about you.

"I'll make sure you can never hurt my family again!" The demon growls out to Inosuke when he thrusts his sword in the demons chest as a last attempt. The demon immediately screeches when you suddenly appear, using the sword in your hand to get the demons throat. You only get it halfway through before it stopped, but you could care less, as long as you hurt him, it was okay.

"I'll make sure you never live again." You reply in a dark voice, actually scaring the demon as you put your feet on his shoulders and apply more pressure to it's neck. The demon drops Inosuke, grabbing your body instead in hopes to stop you. Unfortunately your hands were slipping and the demon was slowly but surely pulling you off, you almost sliced his entire neck off before the demon finally threw you, hitting a tree once again.

"Inosuke." You groan as the demon gets too close to him, and you can't move because of the hit you just took to your back. This wasn't fair... You didn't want him to die and you couldn't help him. You already knew you were internally bleeding and you probably had bruises everywhere.

"God... Please don't let him die." Was all you could pray out, trying to crawl your way over to him even though you knew you couldn't help. You would need someone to actually help you stand up to be of any use.

Oh... The demon suddenly doesn't have an arm. Good thing someone was faster than you, it seemed like. You look at the man who had suddenly showed up out of nowhere and silently analyze him, he seemed to be just some calm dude with a mismatched haori. He also seemed to be a demon slayer, and clearly, much stronger than the demon.

You saw the demon run to the man one moment and the next, the demon was cut from the neck, forearms, legs, and waist. How did that happen so quickly? You were fast but not that fast, at least you don't think so.

"Are you okay?" You ask, gaining Inosuke's attention as you try to stand up next to him, all tired and annoyed with life at the moment.

"Yeah..."

"Do you know that man?"

"No... Not at all."

So the two of you just stare at him, admiration apparent as he puts his sword in it's holster before looking back at the two of you with a rather blank stare. Finally you can stand up, a grunt escaping your voice since your back sucked right now.

"Thank you Sir, for helping us." You start, bowing your head in respect and unfortunately being far too weak to do so as you actually fall face first onto the ground... That was embarrassing.

"Ow." You mumble as you weakly push yourself back up with your hands and sit on your knees before using Inosuke's body to stand up again, which, probably wasn't a good thing.

The man nods his head in your direction, seemingly acknowledging your bow before just turning around and walking off.

"Hold on a second! Fight me Mr. Mismatched outfit! You beat a member of the twelve Kizuki! And now, right here, I'm gonna beat you! If I can manage that, that'll make me the most powerful of all!"

Wow... So he just wants to fight everyone new that he meets huh?

"... Twelve Kizuki? And stop that, he saved us. You can't fight him because you want to." You hoarsely state, lightly smacking his hand in an attempt to scold the wild boar but still keeping in account that he was severely injured.

"I have a better idea, go train more."

That's... kinda harsh and his voice sounded soft and stern at the same time. It almost scared you. But also, when are they supposed to train? Their all in the middle of some strange demon mountain attack.

"What'd you say to me!?"

"That wasn't one of the twelve Kizuki, could you not even tell that?" The man blatantly ask, slowly pulling out a bunch of rope from his haori... Why... Why did this dude have so much rope?

"Of course I could tell! For your information, it was Tanjiro who was saying it was one of them! I was just repeating what he said to me earlier! I know that amateur couldn't have been one of those guys."

"So you're blaming Tanjiro now?" You asks with a judgemental stare as you grab the sword that Inosuke lended to you. Your body hurt so much, but you weren't yet willing to give up. You wanted to make sure both Zenitsu and Tanjiro were okay, along with anyone else that needed help.

Wait... When did that dude tie up Inosuke to the tree?

"Hey, don't do that to me! Get back here!" He yells at the mismatched guy, trying to break free from the rope.

"If you are not aware of the state that you're body is in, then you shouldn't be fighting at all."

"What type of bull crap is that!?"

"He's right though, are you good?" You ask Inosuke, looking up at him as you start to see him thrash around.

"Stop asking me stuff like that! You're not any better! You got purple lines all over your body and you got thrown around a lot!"

"What are you talking about? I'm not hurt... Oh." You look down on your arms and hands to see the blue and slightly purple bruised lines you had on your arms with small scratches here and there. That was probably from when the demon spider got you stuck in the web and tightened them too tight. That meant you probably had them everywhere, and you had definitely destroyed the inside of your body.

Suddenly you feel two arms grabbing your midsection and you couldn't tell whether you liked it or not.

"Um sir, what are you doing?"

"I'm tying you up as well."

"Hold on, I can still help." You comment, trying to get out of his grasp even though you knew the man was right.

"No you can't, you are too injured to do anything."

"Yes I can, wait, let me go! What'll happen anyway? Why don't I have a say in what happens to me?"

You were kind of a hypocrite weren't you?

"I will not let you go or do anything of the sort, you will wait here until the Kakashi come by to assis-"

"No, no, no, nope, I don't want to be tied up! I can still help!" You keep protesting as you feel some rope replace where his hands were. That was until you slipped under it, falling and catching yourself before hitting the floor and pushing off with your hands under him.

"What the?" Was all he could say as he looked at the extra rope he had and then you running off with the sword. Absolute parkour master, a bit too calm for that title but oh well.

"Hey you idiot samurai! Come back! Don't leave me here!" Inosuke yells, growling and trying his best to get out of the wraps

"Sorry! I'll come back!" You breathlessly yell, running away since you knew you still needed to make sure that Zenitsu was okay, and Tanjiro. You haven't seen him all night. You would be so frustrated if they had died and you weren't there to at least try to help them. You guess you took this favor a bit too seriously from the old lady, at least you had a sword to use.

"A samurai?" The man asks the boar covered demon slayer as he looks to where you ran off.

"Yeah, they're a really cool samurai too! A luck samurai! Definitely stronger than you!"

Giyu already knew that wasn't the case, even so, he was slightly intrigued. Why were you here and what was with the boar dude calling you lucky? He let his guard down and you somehow escaped, however tracking you wouldn't be all that hard since you were slow, probably from the injuries.

"Luck samurai huh?" Giyu comments as he picks up the rope and walks off, following the direction that you ran into, not in any hurry though.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!"

"I said whatever."

"HUH!? I CAN'T HERE YOU! YOUR VOICE IS TOO SOFT AND YOU'RE WALKING TOO FAST!! I SAID HOLD YOUR HORSES! UNTIE THESE ROPES RIGHT NOW!! GET! ME!! DOWN!!!"

...

"Agh!" You yell out, grabbing your shoulder in pain as you run into someone who was running in the opposite direction. You didn't realize that your shoulder was bleeding.

Nor did you realize that you bumped into a demon who was carrying her own head, crying and trying to run away from someone, or something.

"Hey, wait just a moment." You call the demon, grabbing onto her head and pulling it out of the hands of the decapitated body.

"Wait! Please spare me! I beg you! I have to make my brother proud!"

You almost gave in from the sudden begging since it was something you weren't expecting, however if she was really dangerous, you have a feeling she would have killed you.

"It's okay, I won't kill you... Just tell me something and I'll let you go."

"... Okay."

"Have you seen a boy with a checkered haori and a scar on his forehead?"

She hesitated, already knowing that this kind person might die if they stumbled upon her brother, but she might aloo die if she didn't answer... It's too bad, she feared her brother more.

"Where I was running from, that's where you'll find him."

"Got it." Was all you said as you grabbed the head and set it on its body the right way.

"Thank you."

You just nodded your head towards the woman, however there was something so strange about the fact that she was just running away, as if she was scared in some way.

As quickly as you can be while also being quiet is how fast you were going, following the voices of two people, one of them you recognized was Tanjiro but you didn't know who the other one was. Guess you were about to find out.

"It's alright."

Well clearly it's not, though you don't know what the two are talking about just yet. And why does the demon sound so calm and almost kind, it was unnerving.

"You don't need to worry, I'm stronger than you. I will create a bond with her, one made out of terror. She'll know what happens when I'm defied."

Makes sense, people make bonds like that all the time, but it never a happy bond as far as you know. Slowly, you walk out into the clearing, quiet enough that both Tanjiro and the demon hadn't noticed you just yet. If you could get close enough behind the demon, you could behead him without being seen.

"I've had enough of you spouting this nonsense! Using fear to keep someone shackled to you isn't the bond of a family! And until you are able to figure that out, you'll never get what it is that you desire!" Tanjiro yells, pointing his broken sword at the demon before he notices you and has to restrain from reacting.

"So irritating, would you mind not shouting?"

'Wow, what a snobby demon' you thought.

"It's clear we don't agree."

"I'll never hand Nezuko to you."

"Very well, I'll just kill you."

"Not if I manage to cut your head off first."

"Now that's the spirit, I would love to see you try it. Let's see if you can take down a being like me, one of the twelve Kizuki."

Tanjiro tightens the grip on his sword, scared but still trying to stay as strong as possible. He watched you, nervous about your injuries and trying his best not to let any hints to the demon that you were behind him, hopefully you were strong enough to defeat a demon like that.

You on the other hand weren't really ready to fight one of the twelve Kizuki, you had just heard about them like ten minutes agoand not any time before. Just how strong were they?

"That stealy look in your eyes, I don't like it-"

"Well he's only got one pair of eyes doesn't he?" You ask out loud, immediately realizing your mistake and slamming the sword you had into the demons neck before he could let out some strange thread from his fingers. The face he made when he turned around was gross, as if he was disgusted with the fact that you thought you could kill him.

The sword went about halfway through his neck and it was quite annoying, it was like the neck had cheat codes to physics. Damn... You really thought you were about to get a stealth kill. You talk out loud way too much when you shouldn't. You cleared your throat, looking at Tanjiro and clearly feeling embarrassed before you look at the demon before you. Tanjiro was ready at any moment to run up and help, but he wasn't afraid to admit that he was kinda scared.

"Just... Who do you think you are? This has nothing to do with you so answer me, who are you?"

"Sorry to offend you... I'm not any one of consequence though." You state, still in a rather strange position. You had dodged the threads that he had thrown on you so you were in a weird sort of leaning back lunge, still holding onto the sword.

"I asked you a question, who are you?!"

"... Y/N... I am a samurai."

"... Samurai? I've never heard of such a thing. The audacity you have to lie to me, you're a demon slayer are you not?"

"Nope, just a samurai."

"What are you and this demon slayer plotting?"

"Well, good sir... To kill you I believe." You comment again with a small smile, almost immediately regretting it when he looks at you as if you were a threat to his democracy... Well communism would be a better was to describe it.

"Yeah? Don't tell me that you think you'll be able to defeat me?!"

The demon hits you in the stomach, hard enough that you fly back into a tree for like the third time, your poor back. However you took the sword with you so that was good for later. Next thing you know, strings are moving and Nezuko is flying. Is that Nezuko? It would make sense since you could tell that she was also a demon and Tanjiro's box was gone.

"That's annoying." You groan out, dodging the strings before landing onto the ground next to Tanjiro.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro yells, watching as his sister lands in the other demons hands.

"Then it's settled, I'll be taking her. You understand your role now. You give her to me and disappear, the so called samurai has no role but to die, what a waste."

"Nothing is settled, she's staying with her brother." You remark, holding onto your sword and tensing up. This would definitely be difficult and you were already really tired from the previous fights and injuries. It would be a miracle if you could actually do anything.

"Damn it." Tanjiro whispers, his arms shaking as if he was scared, but it wasn't fear, it was anger, you would even go as far as to say rage.

"Calm down, you've been fighting a lot and you're injured."

"Calm down... Why do I need to calm down?"

"Because, I'm your good luck samurai so you don't have to worry as much. I'll make sure you and Nezuko don't die." You respond, pointing to yourself with a small smile. Tanjiro just looks at you for a moment, still frustrated at what was going on. He felt almost touched by your words but there was no way he wasn't going to worry as much.

"Okay."

"Good, le-"

"Let her go!" Tanjiro interrupts you, trying to get close to the demon. Since his sword was broken, it was going to be harder, however you're pretty sure that you can withstand the threads if you needed to since the big spider demon couldn't cut you with them before.

"Okay then.. Let her go!" You yell as loud as Tanjiro had before joining him.

"Did I not tell you that I'd spare your life in return for your obedience? In fact, I'll spare both you and the samurai if that's better."

"I'll spare my own life thank you very much! Nezuko, fight back with us!" You yell towards her, having a suspicious feeling that you and Tanjiro weren't going to get anywhere close to the demon at this rate. Nezuko almost immediately scratches the other's face and you found a way to get closer since it shocked him for a moment.

You get close enough to land another hit on his throat, this time only cutting the skin before you have to jump over an attack and go back. Wait, where the hell did Nezuko go? She was literally just there. You look up when you see some blood fall from higher up and when you do, you see Nezuko tied up by the threads, almost in the same situation that you were in with the man spider demon from before. You growled when you looked back at the demon, the threads didn't cut you before but it was cutting through her, it was probably really painful for her.

"Quiet down, this won't be enough to kill her, she's a demon. But it does appear that I'll have to teach her a lesson, I'm going to let her bleed for a while, if she can't learn to be obedient, I'll just leave her till daybreak, and then let her-" You stop the monologuing by throwing the sword, somehow, by some sort of luck, impaling it directly in his arm. Sooner or later he was just gonna kill you from how pissed off you were making him.

"How dare you?" The demon growled at you, pulling the sword out and throwing it on the ground beneath him. Damn, you shouldn't have thrown it, cause now you didn't have a weapon.

"I won't allow it! Let her go!!"

"Please, what idiotic people you are, so-"

"You like to hear yourself talk huh? As far as I'm concerned I could care less what you feel or what you're family problems are." You respond, frustrated at this demon already as you try to grab your sword so you could cut him but having to dodge more attacks. Tanjiro keeps running, slipping when the threads hit the ground around him. You on the other hand grab onto a cut down tree trunk, which was annoyingly heavy. You kinda feel bad for using Tanjiro as a sudden decoy but oh well.

"Now-" The demon starts, only to be stopped by a literal tree trunk hitting the back of his head. He groaned and quickly turned around to get a sword to his neck, going through until half way once again. Why couldn't you cut through this guys neck?! You were so persistent it was making him angry. You couldn't even let him talk.

"Stop it! You're so annoying! I can kill you y'know that?" He yells, throwing his threads around you only for you to dodge.

"Yeah, I suspected." You reply, trying to keep a straight face since you knew damn well that you were ruffling his feathers.

"Hm... I may be mistaken here, but the two of you think that if you actually get close enough, you can chop my head off completely don't you?

You watch as the demon approaches Tanjiro, you stepping right next to him so that you could protect him just in case, after all, he was bleeding a lot.

"Well... Then here, give it a shot."

And with that permission from the demon, both you and Tanjiro swing at the same time, having to fight two on one and still get your asses beat somehow. You get kicked to the floor and for a moment you can't actually get up.

Tanjiro finally gets a hit on the demon's neck, somehow not being able to cut through. That scared him, why didn't it cut through? Yours was able to cut through the skin at least. His attack didn't even do any damage. That's when the demon knees Tanjiro in the stomach and quite frankly, you wanted this demon to just croak and die already.

"Didn't I tell you, you have no chance against me, the both of-" Once again you interrupted him, actually grabbing his midsection before pulling him off the ground and slamming his head down in the dirt. It was so quick that he couldn't react and it was oh so inconvenient.

"QUIT IT! I'LL KILL YOU!" He screams out, flipping over and sending a bunch of spider web like threads your way.

"Y/N!" Tanjiro yells, suddenly scared that you might die from the hands of that demon, then he would really be angry. You couldn't dodge the attack so for a split second, you were actually just going to accept your fate. However, as luck would have it, apparently your skin is rough enough from training that it actually broke the web as soon as it touched you, shattered it into a bunch of different pieces.

"... Ow, that hurt."

The demon, Tanjiro and Nezuko were all surprised to see this. It was probably because it wasn't the same as the actual webs that were holding Nezuko but it looked like you had just taken it unaffected. How strong were you that an attack like that didn't kill you?

"... What type of witchcraft is this?" The demon mumbled, looking frazzled before vigorously shaking his head and making another web to hit you again. You didn't stay for that one though, you immediately moved out of the way whether you would break it or not.

"Ah... You're stronger than most, I'll give you credit for that... However, it won't help you defeat me."

"Um... What do you mean by that?" You ask the demon, gaining a small but evil smile from him.

"Well, just imagine how much stronger you could be, if you became a demon?"

Tanjiro couldn't believe his ears, He recruiting you. Oh no. You were definitely strong but there was no way that you would accept that right?

"Wait, you can become a demon? So you guys aren't naturally reoccurring, you're all just human hybrids?"

"... Sure... But that's not the point. Join me, become a demon with the twelve Kizuki and Lord Muzan. He'll be happy to have someone as strong as you become a demon."

Lord Muzan, the hell was that? Not someone you knew that's for sure.

"Absolutely not."

"Are you really sure? If you-"

"Shut up, I said no."

"Pardon?"

"No. N, O, bro. Be quiet, I don't want to hear your pale face trying to offer my humanity away. I'm fine right here."

"The audacity! You're vulgar insulting will get you killed!!" And with that you dodge just a few more attacks, grabbing a rock after you flip away and just throw it at him, hitting his chest. You don't know why you do the things you do to annoy others, after all, it's exhausting sometimes.

"Are you okay?" You quietly ask Tanjiro as you help him stand, completely ignoring the monologue that the demon was having about how strong his neck and threads were, however he was still looking at you, almost concerned that you were even near. You were a threat.

"Yeah..."

You watch as Nezuko starts straining from the webs and you quickly shake your head, quietly trying to tell her that that's a bad idea, cause there's a demon there that plans on kidnapping her.

"You're noisy, if you don't quiet down," He starts, tightening the threads around Nezuko before you throw another rock at him, doing literally nothing. He glares at you, clearly done with your bullshit, not like that's gonna stop him from punishing Nezuko.

Nezuko screams and all you want to do is find some way to help her, but your feet won't allow you to move at the moment.

"No! Stop that!" Tanjiro yells as he stands up.

"As of today, I'm her elder brother and I command that she cease that noise."

You lightly placed your hand on Tanjiro's shoulder in hopes to calm him down since he was seething with anger, however, you still had to be an ass and poke the bear did you not?

"You mean as of tonight? Y'know... Cause it's not morning and... You're a demon?"

He looks at you with a disgusted expression and you just have to laugh inside so that you don't die because for some reason, you really like screwing around with this demon.

"Come on." You mumble to Tanjiro, standing up with your sword after patting his shoulder. You were just as ready to fight and end this because clearly, you were already done, especially after he harmed Nezuko.

You and Tanjiro start fighting again, tired but angry enough that you both could still fight. You were kinda tired of this demon and you were sure that Tanjiro just wanted his sister back. Tanjiro actually cut the threads at one point and it made you think that there was actually a chance. Did he have some sort of water decoration with is attack too? Nice!

"Cool! Can I try!" You yell out, wanting to do the same.

"Yeah?!"

Quickly you run up to a couple of them, spinning around and trying to copy Tanjiro's breathing style before succeeding in cutting the threads. You may have still fallen on your face almost immediately after but you smiled in triumph nonetheless

"Aw, you two don't think these threads are at maximum strength do you?"

Oh no, what did he mean by that, and why were his hands getting red?!

Before you can even make a snarky remark or some sort of response, he makes some sort of enclosed red web around you and Tanjiro, it felt stronger than the rest and you weren't sure if either of you could survive this one.

"You two can die now, I have no use for you anymore, farewell."

There was nowhere for you to go. As soon as the threads started to touch you, they immediately broke skin, shredding your hands and arms that you had put in front of you to try and slow it down. Thank goodness Tanjiro found a way out somehow, cause it now looked like he had some sort of fire decoration. You'd have to figure out where he bought it from.

"Hahaha!" You laugh as you start jumping through the threads, being extra careful since these red ones could actually cut you. You could definitely feel the adrenaline of the fight going through you and you hoped that it stayed, at least until the fight is over. You focus on your breathing as much as possible, not being able to do anything that looked like cool fire or water but keeping up which was good. You were even able to cut a few of those threads with the sword, making you feel almost accomplished.

"Tanjiro, there's an opening!" You yell, being able to slide behind the demon, evading the threads and the sudden fire explosion that Nezuko make even though she was still stuck.

You flip around, pushing your sword on the opposite side of where Tanjiro's was. This was good, this meant that he couldn't escape.

"THE BOND BETWEEN NEZUKO AND I CANNOT BE SEVERED! NOT BY ANYONE!!"

You push as hard as you can, helping Tanjiro to finally cut off the demons head. The head drops back, going directly behind you and it's only when Tanjiro falls to the ground that you actually move, slowly looking around in post, I'm 'bout to die energy.

"Tanjiro... Are you okay?" You ask him, not daring to take a step yet since you would probably fall face first to the ground like before.

"Y-yeah." He mumbles, trying to stand back up.

When you do finally take a step, it's because Nezuko was starting to fall and running to go grab her was probably not the best idea. Especially since when you caught her, you immediately fell on your knees and heard a loud crack. Ow. What bone was that?

"Nezuko, we won, we did it!" He yells, trying to crawl his way over. You look down at Nezuko to see her breathing which meant that she was still alive, so you put her down and scooted yourself closer to Tanjiro to try and grab his hand.

Oh. Shit. Lord have mercy on your soul cause there was no damn way. You watched as the demons body slowly stood up and you didn't know what to do. You cut his head off with Tanjiro, so how was he even alive? You grab onto Tanjiro's hand, trying to drag him but even with your sitting position, you were too weak to move him fast enough. Not only that, Tanjiro could smell immediately when the demon stood up, the scent of blood getting stronger and not smelling like ash in any way.

"You two thought you defeated me, how sad for you. Did your delusion bring your a brief moment of joy? I cut my head off myself using my own threads before you two were able to do the job yourselves."

You were suddenly so heartbroken, right after being so happy that you survived with them. Now this was round two wasn't it? There was no way any of you would survive.

"Enough struggling, I'll kill both you, the samurai and your sister. I haven't been this incensed in a long time."

No, you weren't going to let that happen, even if you died in the process. You weren't going to let Tanjiro or Nezuko die. Though you couldn't deny that you felt terrible dragging Tanjiro farther away from the demon like some frightened prey. Tanjiro could barely get himself to crawl because of how tired he was.

"I wonder why you weren't burned to cinders in that explosion earlier? Me and my threads were the only thing set ablaze and I don't know if it relates to your sisters power. It has enraged me all the same."

"You're just sulking like a child, it's not like we killed you." You growl at the demon with a bit of sarcasm added. You don't know if this is a second wind that you felt like you could still move or if it's just luck, but you were as mad as him. You wanted that demon dead.

"I will carve you up without regret! Blood demon art, murderous eye basket!"

Eye basket? What type of blood demon art would be called that? And why was it even called blood demon art? Gross.

A whole bunch of the red threads pop up from under the ground, surrounding both you and Tanjiro and already you were committed to make sure Tanjiro wouldn't die. Maybe other demon slayers would come and help if you could stall this, you were able to do it before even though it put tiny cuts all over your hands.

"You'll get tired." You seeth, glaring at the demon with an intensity you didn't even know you had. You had to mentally prepare yourself for the pain you would feel, if no one came while you were holding off the threads, it would be able to actually cut through your body over time.

Right as you got hit by some of the strings, you almost yelled in pain. Though you were actually stopping it and the demon had to add even more pressure to push you down, you were bleeding from all the tiny cuts you gained from them. You cried out, frustrated that you weren't willing because at this rate, your hands were going to be ruined. All you could really do is put your body over Tanjiro's and pray that he and his sister would survive this.

Speaking of the devil, this is the second time you've prayed and the same guy showed up.

That guy just cut up all those webs at once. Now you owed him twice for saving your life, and you were jealous.

"Tanjiro... Somebody's here."

"Is it Zenitsu?"

"No... I don't know who he is." You reply with a saddened voice. You knew you should be happy but you didn't understand why you felt like crying. Maybe from relief, you don't know.

"You two did a good job holding out until I got back. Leave the rest to me."

You don't care to watch how he defeats this demon, you don't want to know, you never want to see the face of that demon again. Nor did you care about all the insults that he was throwing out about everyone being insects.

"Blood demon art, spiraling rotation!"

"Total concentration, eleventh form, dead calm."

"Eleventh form!?" Tanjiro yells out, apparently surprised by that even though it didn't mean anything to you. And just like that, an attack is evaded by the quiet man with no hesitation. Cutting off the head of the demon like it was nothing.

Slowly you stand up, holding out your hand so that Tanjiro could as well. You walk over to where Nezuko was, only to collapse and just lay there. Tanjiro does the exact same thing, holding his sister and then placing his hand on your back in a show of thankfulness.

"You're bleeding a lot." Tanjiro comments, looking at you with some worry. He wasn't sure what to do, especially now that you looked at least ten times worse from when the fight first started.

"Don't worry." Was all you said, watching the demons body walk towards the two of you before finally falling. You would be fine, you were sure, plus, you felt so numb that the pain wasn't getting to you. You probably damaged your senses when it comes to feeling things because you're pretty sure you can't even feel anything at all.

For some reason, when the body hits the ground, you feel a sudden feeling of dread in your heart. You don't know how to explain it because you should be happy that the demon was dead, and you were, but maybe because you felt pity for him. It was almost like you could see a small part of yourself in him and the way he acted. Maybe he thought that fear was the best way to keep people around him because no one else would stay with him. Who knows.

"I hope... That he had a good family when he was still a human." You mumble, getting Tanjiro's attention with what you said. The way you said it, was small and simple but meant so much, especially for a demon like that. You wished him well, even though he was your enemy and had no hesitation in trying to kill you. Tanjiro felt admiration for you, that and the fact that he could smell a scent of sadness coming from the demon, so Tanjiro understood.

He gently placed his hand on the bodies back and you watched, it was a kind gesture and you felt that maybe it would comfort the demon through death, even if he logically didn't deserve. You looked at his head, watching most of it already disintegrate and you sighed, at least it was over now.

Then Mr stoic and quiet guy had to come and ruin it, stepping on the clothes that the former demon was wearing when he was alive. You just sit up on your knees grabbing your sword and being careful to move since your entire body was damaged in some way.

"Don't waste your sympathy, it was a demon. The fact that it looked like a child makes no difference. It lived for decades, terrorizing our people." The man explains, still making you feel uneasy that he had to step on the clothes.

"If it's for the sake of avenging those who were killed, to make sure there are no more victims, I won't hesitate to bring down my blade on any demon's neck. But when it comes to those who felt despair and regret from their actions they took as a demon, I will never disrespect them!"

You lightly pat Tanjiro's back, hoping to calm him down since he started yelling. This must have been very important to him, as it was also kind of important to you. You would have cared more about it if you didn't feel so lightheaded and almost drunk.

"Because at one time or another, they were human, no different from me. So please don't step on his remains!"

You watch in-between Tanjiro and the man, barely paying attention to the staring contest they were having when you heard something move in the bushes. You turned to look and you saw nothing and you can't tell if the sound is in your head or real.

"There not hideous monsters at all, instead demons are hopeless creatures. Tragic creatures."

It's quiet for a moment and then you here it again, not liking it one bit as you wait some more. You wanted whatever you were hearing to leave or to come out already. As long as you weren't going crazy, you think you'll be fine. Nothing is said between anyone for quite some time, then you spoke because you felt uncomfortable with everything at the moment.

"Listen." You mumble, breaking the tension as the two stay quiet and keep their guard up. You wait and mere seconds later, a woman jumps out of the bushes to attack. You don't know who the target it but you hit your sword against hers, standing up way too fast for your own good when you suddenly feel like you might throw up. It seems that you were right about the noise and the man seemed to know that too, or maybe he knew who the woman was.

"Oh my." The woman comments, quickly flipping around and landing on her feet. You didn't know if she was expecting this or not but hopefully she wasn't mad. Oh wait, that was the woman who helped you with the poisoning earlier.

She went to attack again and you couldn't move fast enough, however it was good that the man was willing to help.

"Why would you get in my way Tomioka? And after you told me we could never be friends with demons."

Ah, that was the man's name, well now you knew.

"I have to say, this kind of thing, is exactly why no one likes you."

You look at the woman for a bit before looking at the man. He didn't look like no one liked him, he probably had a friend or maybe a lover, or at least some sort of parental figure in his life, if not now, at some point in his life right?

"Now then Tomioka, would you please move?" The woman starts, aiming her sword in the general area of where you were, your sword also aiming her way even though it was clear she didn't see you as a threat.

"I don't... I don't think I'm disliked."

You almost laughed a bit which turned into a cough, completely surprised that he was actually worried about that. That and the fact that someone should have told him he was disliked if no one liked him.

"Oh dear, I do apologize. You're only just hearing about this now then? I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

There was another amount of silence that was laughable. Maybe it was because you were delirious that this conversation seemed funny to you, however it was definitely odd that's for sure.

"Boy?"

"Yes ma'am?!" Tanjiro replies, feeling on edge with the conversation that was taking place.

"What you're protecting there is actually a demon, so please move away before you get hurt."

You glare at the woman and back up, ready to protect the two still, even if your body disagreed with you. Now you completely understand why Zenitsu ran into the mountain for Nezuko, she's precious and helps as much as she can and you also want to make sure Tanjiro is okay because they've both worked so hard to survive.

"No, you're mistaken! Well, you're not mistaken, but she's my little sister, and that's why-"

"Oh my, is that really true?" The woman starts, covering her mouth and probably feeling bad for the predicament that he and his sister were in. Though you still weren't sure that you entirely trusted her... She would make a nice acquaintance.

"You poor thing. In that case, so she won't suffer, I'll use a gentle toxin in order to kill her."

She'll what?! Kinda crazy much?! And she didn't even stutter at all! What the hell?!

"Wait a moment." The woman adds on, looking at you with a strange glare before snapping your fingers.

"I helped you earlier tonight when you got poisoned, didn't I tell you to stay put so that you could rest? So how come you're here and far more injured than before? It's not good for your health and you aren't a demon slayer either right? So what's your connection with this?"

"I'm sure I also insisted on the same thing, you are too injured." Tomioka adds on just because he can, him and his annoyingly stoic self. You don't answer for a while, trying to clear the fog that was clogging your thought process. What was even worse though was that as soon as you tried to speak, a sudden gush of blood came out from your mouth and the next thing you know, you're choking and coughing on blood, probably from the internal bleeding. How embarrassing.

"... Y/N." Was all that Tanjiro could speak out, suddenly feeling guilty as he watches you throw up blood before you finally cough it all up and just try your best to breathe. He feels bad that you're this injured just by helping protect him and his sister, you really are good luck for them but he also wanted you to be okay.

"Oh no, that's not good at all. At this rate, you're recovery time will increase dramatically if you don't rest and you could actually die. I've never seen someone so beat up and somehow still standing, it's really okay to rest y'know? It's not good to lie to yourself and your body."

"Can you move at all? Even if it's difficult you need to go, take your sister and run." Tomioka states, not moving in the slightest since it seemed that Tomioka was preventing the other lady from attacking.

"Tomioka, thank you. I appreciate this!"

You look at Tanjiro for a moment, giving him a small nod since you decided that you would catch up with them soon. Hopefully you weren't going to croak and die because you felt like you could barely stand, let alone hold your sword up.

"Did you... Just break the rules of the corp?" She asks Tomioka, smiling even though it was clearly fake with the question. You don't move but instead hold your ground, you know that if she were to attack Tomioka, you were too weak to do anything and if she attacked you, you were probably dead.

"That's not good Tomioka and... Y/N? That's what the boy called you right? Really, I insist that you rest. My name is Kocho Shinobu, the insect Hashira... Do you know what a Hashira is?"

You just stare at the woman for quite some time, thinking that it's strange that she introduced herself again to you when she did it before. You just shake your head in response since you didn't want to speak all that much.

"I see, well in the demon slayer corp there are rankings, a Hashira is the highest rank for a demon slayer. The reason why we get higher in ranks is because we kill more demons, which in turn saves more lives. That's how you know someone has worked hard to protect others. So I'm sure you understand why I said that I would kill the boys sister. Because sooner or later, she will eat someone, so even though you're not a demon slayer, you should also not protect her."

You look at the woman with the same dull stare, not moving because of how dizzy you feel. Even Tomioka is a little worried about you being all broken and bloodied right next to him. If you had just let him tie you, you would have been a whole lot better off. You were just lucky that you had survived this long.

"I appreciate... That you helped me... But... I don't trust you."

"That's... Understandable actually." She smiles, moving her sword down to her side so that you weren't scared.

"I won't hold that against you. However, even if you protect her, we will still kill her. If not me, someone else. That's just the way we are in the demon slayer corp. Or the way we're supposed to be at least." She states, adding the last part specifically for Tomioka. But she smiles at you, seemingly amused by you and your choice of words. It seemed gentle, even though you couldn't tell if it was real or not.

You slowly nodded your head before deciding that it was time to move, turning around and running in the direction that Tanjiro and Nezuko went. You were good at running long periods of time and really fast when you weren't bleeding out of every orphisis of your body. But you were so you were definitely struggling right now.

Suddenly you trip and by some miracle, you land in a neatly placed pile of leaves, so thick that it didn't even feel like you hit the ground. So when you stand up, you feel a bit better, especially when you spot Tanjiro running with Nezuko still in his arms. You never really believed that you were such a a lucky person like everyone else believed you to be, but somehow things are going better than they should. You should have died at least five times over now, and the fact that you're more hyper aware of that is helping you be more cautious.

You immediately stop running when you see a shadow pass over you and when you look up, you see, well, basically a mini version of Shinobu, it was almost infuriating. She was really telling the truth when she said sooner or later they would kill Nezuko. How annoying. Well, not as long as you were alive.

"Tanjiro! Look out!" You yell, jumping down from a ledge that you were nearing that let you drop down to the same level that he was in, only to land wrong on your feet and fall to the ground with a thud. Tanjiro looked at you, only having a few seconds to react which didn't do him any good anyway. The girl jumped onto his back, getting him to drop his sister and fall into the ground.

The girl was quick, jumping off of Tanjiro's back to get to his sister, before he grabbed her haori and pulled her back away.

"Get out of here Nezuko! Run away as fast as you can! Don't get caught no matter what, hurry!"

You barely stood up from your fall, probably crying from how much pain your were feeling before. That was when you saw the girl kick Tanjiro on the top of his head to knock him out. As she jumped off of him, you immediately ran in the direction that Nezuko went, after all, she wasn't going to kill Tanjiro since they were both demon slayers.

You catch up to Nezuko, possibly scaring her since Tanjiro did tell her not to get caught. So you just follow her, watching Nezuko's back until the girl shows up. You and the girl's swords clash, surprising the girl since when she saw you yell to the boy and since you looked like you were in bad shape, she probably didn't think that you would help at all.

"I'm going to have to ask you to move." The girl states in a strangely monotone voice, like she didn't care whether you would listen or not.

"... Move? Nah... I will knock you out." You reply, glaring at the girl as you basically begin sword fighting with her, giving Nezuko enough time to get pretty far.

She tries to overpower you with the sword but it seems that you have better arm strength, so for her, kicking you is a much quicker option. Now you were behind and you weren't sure if you could even catch up, you felt like you might die on the spot.

When the girl raises her sword to kill Nezuko, she just shrinks all of a sudden, giving you just enough time to catch up and help defend. You and the girl keep fighting, you block her swings while she finds a way to kick or push you out of the way. If you weren't so injured, you would be able to keep up with her and fight easily, however you were in such pain, and you were so slow that you were just barely stopping her when she got close to Nezuko.

"CAW! CAW! ORDERS FROM THE MASTER!"

You see the girl suddenly jump back a few feet, noticing the crow that was flying around the three of them. Thank goodness because she had just backed you and Nezuko into a corner.

"TANJIRO, DRESSED IN A CHECKERED HAORI WITH A SCAR ON HIS FOREHEAD, NEZUKO, A DEMON GIRL WITH A BAMBOO MUZZLE, ARE TO BE TAKEN BACK TO HEADQUARTERS!"

You hear the crow but are too tired to raise your head to try to look at it, so instead you just look down at Nezuko since she's so much smaller than before. You weren't sure if you should talk to her in some way, or make sure she's okay, she looked okay.

"Are you Nezuko?" The girl asked, leaning down to be at the same eye level with her. Nezuko just nodded, not making any noise or movement other than that.

"Alright then, follow me." Was all she said as she started to walk off gaining a weird sound and a shake from Nezuko's head. Suddenly she walked closer to you and grabbed onto your leg since she was so small, and you wondered what she was trying to say. Maybe she wanted you to come with her, so you started to walk with her on your leg, following the other girl who was unbothered by it.

Soon, the three of you walk right back to where Tanjiro's body is, the box only a few steps away. The girl just stood while you slowly walked over to open the box.

"I assume you're with them?"

"... Yes, I am." You reply to the girl, waiting for something else to happen since you still haven't felt fully safe yet.

"Alright, you can come." Was all the girl said, walking off and not waiting for you to choose to follow or not. You looked between the box and then Nezuko who still hadn't gotten into it. You didn't want to just leave Tanjiro behind, however, you wouldn't be able to carry him even if you tried. You were too injured so you wouldn't be able to handle his weight, but you could handle Nezuko's in her box on your back.

"Nezuko... Do you mind... If I carry you?" You ask, pointing inside of the box since you would be the one carrying her on your back instead of her brother. She looked at you for a second before nodding and started fitting into the box, but not before lightly placing one of her hands on top of your head. You guess she wanted to give you a little head pat, or maybe she was saying thank you, you don't know.

Once she fully fits, you close the door of the box, struggling but succeeding to stand once you get the straps onto your back. You're pretty sure that after this, you'll probably retire from being a samurai ever again. However, you were definitely calming down from before, so you were feeling more pain but at least you could feel all of your limbs now. You follow the girl, walking down different paths before getting to an even bigger clearing with a bunch of people in fully covered black clothes with only their eyes showing. It was interesting and they seemed to be helping everyone that was injured.

"Stay here, they'll help you down the mountain." The girl comments with a small smile, politely bowing her head before walking away to go help with something else. Now it was just you and Nezuko in a box on your back. You stood for a moment, just watching all of the people move around before you actually decided to sit.

It was only then that you had noticed that you were basically back where you started, back in the place where the big spider was before. That meant the Zenitsu was probably around here somewhere but you couldn't bear to even stand up after you sat back down, you probably should have stayed standing. After a bit, a few of them come to you, immediately grabbing disinfectants and wraps for your cuts and some ice for your bruises from a box that kept it cool.

You even doze off a bit, every once in a while thanking the people that were helping you since you knew that they were pretty busy. When they take the box with Nezuko off of your back, you decide not to worry about it since they all seemed like nice people. One of them was even insisting on carrying you on some sort of bed that four people hold but you decide that you'll walk wherever they're going and rest when they get there. Since you could still stand, you didn't want them to carry you.

So off you all go into the early morning, the sun just now shining on an entire line of Kakashi and injured people that you're following. Unfortunately you were getting just a bit too far behind and it was rather annoying to keep up with them since your feet hurt so much. Apparently that's not too much of a problem when you got two Hashira that suddenly appear behind you. Guess they were taking their sweet time too.

"Oh, there you are. I would think that the others would have wrapped you up and kept you in one of the moving beds, why are you walking?"

You turn around to see both Shinobu and Tomioka behind you and once again, you find yourself not being able to speak for some time which made you feel embarrassed again.

"I wanted to walk... Because I still can."

"Oh dear, you only think that because of the adrenaline that's still going through your body. I can just tell by looking at you that you've broken your left kneecap, your right wrist and four ribs, there's also internal bleeding and much outward bruising. Not to mention all the cuts all over your body, your hands are severely cut up too."

You look at the woman, surprised even though it doesn't really show it in your face. Maybe you should have taken one of those beds, you just didn't like the idea of being carried when you could still walk.

"... Ah."

"... "Ah", That's all you can say? You're a strange one aren't you? Not that I mind since you seem to be pretty strong. What are you?"

"... I am a samurai."

"Really? How interesting. That makes a lot more sense as to why you're still walking, samurai are trained quite differently, trained to the death almost. So you have a lot of endurance with pain huh?"

You just nod your head, not really paying attention as you just walked along the path the Kakashi were using.

"Tomioka, would you do me a favor and carry Y/N? I genuinely think that this is a really close instance to death Y/N is experiencing with all of the blood loss."

"Alright." Tomioka responds, walking just a tad bit faster before gently grabbing your hand.

"Hm?" You feel him pick you up from under your shoulders and start to carry you. You were too weak to even try to move so it's not like you could do anything about it.

"Don't worry Y/N, I think that if you sleep at least a little on the way back, you'll feel better. Not only that, maybe you can help us with some questions we have. Is that alright with you?"

You look at Shinobu, nodding your head before closing your eyes from how exhausted you were. Guess that old lady was right about you gaining some clarity from this.

You weren't going to continue being a samurai, you weren't cut out for it if fighting demons was how the rest of you life was gonna be.

Based on @yu-huuuu incorrect demon slayer quote that they made. Thank you for allowing me to write this and sorry it took so long. I lied making this a lot, even though it's oh so so very long! Like thirty minutes long! I had so much fun though so I hope you enjoy.

[echo]

Previous anon here - thank you very much for answering. I feel like losing core functionalities such as all the functionality of the legacy editor (can’t highlight multiple paragraphs at once now, the archive feature will be no longer without post types, and staff have said old posts are only editable ‘for now’) is in fact driving older users away. I don’t post my long form content here anymore because it’s too difficult to use the new post editor, I only post links to the posts on other sites now. And I’ve sent feedback multiple times plus asks to wip 2 months ago that haven’t been answered. So I’ve given up hope that I’ll ever be able to post those things here again and my 12 year old tumblr account is now just a link repository that gets less and less notes as time goes on

i'm sorry to hear about these issues! i'm unsure about the editor stuff as tbh i never used the legacy editor. not sure what you mean about highlighting multiple paragraphs? like changing the color?

i'm surprised to hear about old posts being made uneditable- that is def news to me and i don't know of any project to do that. do you (or anyone seeing this) has a link to more details? otherwise without more context i think that's more misinfo.

regarding feedback: i can say that everything sent in is looked at, at least eventually. we just get a lot, so it's hard to respond to an individual person. we're talking like tens of thousands of pings every day, and the team who does WIP is like 3-4 people who fact checks everything they write. i get it's frustrating to hear nothing!

i know there is a project to let folks publicly give feedback so it's less "yell into a void" and more out in the open. idk much more tho, as it's still super early stages.

anyway, i hope my responses were informative even if they all weren't what you wanted to hear. 🖤

[skeleton-in-a-hoodie]

Thinking about DDMG Tang Shen/ Splinter. Under the cut cause this'll be long and have light spoilers:

These two have been driving me up the wall long before I wrote Memento Mori (remember that you must die). When they reunite in DDMG, they don't immediately get back together. His memory problems are getting worse by the day, and he doesn't feel pursuing a relationship with her would be fair when in a few months he may not even remember who he is. Plus, his priority is getting to spend as much time as possible with Miwa whilst he still can - he never got to raise her, but he wants her to know that despite that, her father loved her.

Shen can't say she's not disappointed, but she understands his reasoning, and Miwa is also her first priority. Not to mention, Splinter has other kids that he's responsible for, and he's doing everything he can to make sure the Turtles don't feel less loved than Miwa. Like those are his boys and he loves the bones of them, he is going to ensure they don't doubt for a second that he loves them and Miwa equally.

Adding onto this, Splinter and Shen both have insecurities.

For Splinter, he's comfortable in his body by the time he sees Shen again, but some of those old anxieties resurface because Shen fell in love with him when he was a handsome young man, not a giant rat demon with a dad bod. He remembers how hideous he felt for years, and thinks she'll feel the same, so he's very reluctant to initiate physical contact.

Meanwhile Shen feels self-conscious because she's roughly 20 years older than the last time he saw her. She has winkles and stretch marks, she's put on weight and her skin sags in places it didn't used to, because she's 53 not 33 now. There are dark lines and bags around her eyes from lack of sleep, and she looks in the mirror and she's someone tired and worn, and she can't help but think about the fact he's still technically 32 and acts like it. She feels so old around him, and thinks he won't be interested, and takes his hesitancy around her as evidence less of his own body issues, and more him being too polite to say what he thinks.

The reality is that both of them are still deeply in love with the other, and find the other incredibly, maddenly attractive.

Splinter thinks Shen has aged like fine wine, and loves all the signs of her having aged, because it's evidence of her having lived! There is nothing she would be able to say or do to convince him she wasn't beautiful, though he won't voice his opinion for a while because he doesn't think she's interested in him in that way, and doesn't want to make things awkward.

Shen is 100% interested him in that way. She's a little weirded out at first, mostly because she wasn't expecting the giant rat thing, but it bothers her a lot less than she was expecting. Like it's still Yoshi, the packaging is just a different, and she very quickly warms up to the new look. She thinks his ears are cute and likes how soft his fur is. One day she sees him walk out of the workshop he uses to make all their weapons without a shirt on, and it kinda hits her that she finds him hot.

After his memory problems are sorted and he starts both regaining memories and being able to make new ones, they start tentatively dating again. Years have past since they were last together, so even though they love each other, neither is ready to jump straight back to "We're married". Instead they want to take things slow so they can take their time and enjoy their second chance, get to know the new people they've both become on a more intimate level.

That being said, by this point they've had several months dancing around each other and sighing wistfully, so there's a lot of shameless flirting. Everyone else is either relieved because they were fed up of these two sending forlorn glances at each other, horrified because that's their mom/dad and they're being so embarrassing, or taking notes for future reference.

Random thoughts

Socorro has been telling her other old lady friends about how things are going, so there's also a group of old ladies who are super invested in Splinter and Shen's relationship.

Shen absolutely steals Splinter's clothes to wear. Because he's taller than he was a human, his clothes tend to swamp her. She is not a short woman, but there's a big difference between being around 6 foot tall and seven foot. Also a lot of his shirts or jackets are a size too big for him, because that meant he could alter them to fit his weird body proportions.

They have to get creative with date nights due to the whole rat demon thing meaning Splinter can't exactly go to a normal restaurant or movie theatre outside of Halloween. There's a lot of visiting New York to eat on rooftops, or going on hikes into the forest behind the Lair.

During lockdown, Shen would be on her computer during meetings, and then the screen would seem to glitch whilst she talked to someone just off camera. Like half the screen would go blurry. First few times it happened, her coworkers/students asked if her computer was working okay, to which she said everything was fine, her boyfriend/fiance/husband had just brought her a cup of tea and snack. After the third time the camera glitched, her coworkers came to the conclusion that camera just hates her boyfriend for some reason?

This lead to a joke among her students that Dr Tang's husband is a cryptid like Mothman or the NYC Ratman and that's why cameras glitch around him.

Same thing happens if Shen plays online games and the other gamers hear his voice. Just "... What the fuck was that?", "My husband was asking if I wanted something to drink." "Is your husband a demon!? I thought our game had become possessed!"

Eventually that turns into "Hi Lou!" "Lou!" HELLO BAROLD. GOOD EVENING TRAVIS!

They renew their vows/ get remarried depending on how you look at it. Marriage among ghosts and demons doesn't really require a formal wedding, all that's needed is two people saying their partners and that's about it, but these two have a ceremony so their family and friends can attend. I don't know if all Shen's living family are invited, mostly because that would require telling them about ghosts and Splinter being a ghost/tesso, but her paternal grandparents are there. Atsuko is also present, as is Socorro's deceased husband.

Not sure if the ghosts of New York are invited. One on hand it's a head ghost getting married, so you could argue the other head ghosts should be present, but I can imagine Splinter and Shen just wanting their loved ones present. Either way, Garson is there, because by this point he and Splinter are friends.

The deer is there - debatable if it was invited or just decided to turn up

[helloalycia]

my patient’s neighbour [five] // wanda maximoff

summary: Wanda decides to ruin your chance at moving on, which doesn't go down well with you.

warning/s: none

author's note: jealous!wanda is one of my favourite wanda’s 👀 also your comments/feedback always make my day so thank you so much! ♥️

part one | part two | part three | part four | part six | part seven | masterlist | wattpad

Meeting Anna's granddaughter wasn't something I'd ever imagined, since Anna rarely mentioned her unless it was to recall a memory that eventually made her quiet for the rest of the day or to make a snide remark out of annoyance. So, to have her here in front of us was definitely... new.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asked with disbelief.

Sasha blinked awkwardly. "I, er, got a call from the nurse. She said you'd hurt your back, so I thought I'd check in." Her gaze fell to Wanda and I. "I see you've got company."

"Sorry, we'll give you a moment," Wanda blurted, before looking to Anna reassuringly.

I did the same before eyeing Sasha suspiciously then following after Wanda into the hall. When the door closed behind us, I wondered what exactly would happen in there. To say I was overprotective of Anna was an understatement.

Taking a seat on the chairs outside her room, I became acutely aware of how stupid I looked in my trainers, Mickey Mouse pyjamas and raincoat. Especially when Wanda sat beside me, knee brushing mine.

"Do you want a drink or anything?" she asked suddenly, earning my attention.

I shook my head, crossing my arms and leaning back into my seat. "No, thank you, I'm good."

She hummed in acknowledgement but said nothing else. The awkwardness that lingered between us was overpowering, but nowhere near as overpowering as the scent of Wanda's shampoo that was drifting up my nose from how close she was sat to me. I tightened my crossed arms, trying to think of something else. Then I remembered what had happened in Anna's room before Sasha interrupted.

"What were you and Anna arguing about?" I asked, glancing at the witch.

She winced, but didn't look my way. "Nothing. Just neighbour stuff."

I smiled bitterly. So, she didn't want to share. Fine. No big deal. Who was I but her neighbour's carer anyway?

After ten minutes of waiting, we decided to head back inside to make sure Anna was okay. What we saw was Anna and Sasha crying happy tears as the latter sat at her bedside, clutching her hand.

"Damn, sorry," I apologised for Wanda and I, realising we'd interrupted a special moment. "We can–"

"No, we're done," Sasha said, wiping away her tears with embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

"Devushki (girls), this is my granddaughter, Sasha," Anna introduced, and I'd never seen her look happier.

As Sasha stood up and rounded the bed to approach us, I realised she seemed familiar because of the photographs I'd seen around Anna's apartment.

"It's nice to finally meet the two people who have been taking care of my grandmother," Sasha said, before putting out her hand.

I bit back from retorting with something along the lines of 'we wouldn't have to if you had cared for her yourself', and instead shook her hand. Wanda glanced at me, probably sensing the negative thoughts in my mind with her powers, but she said nothing as she smiled politely at Sasha and shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Wanda spoke, realising I wouldn't. "Anna talks a lot about you. I was hoping we would eventually meet."

Sasha sighed regretfully, smile fading. "Yes... well, I haven't been around as much as I should have been. I know that now."

"Took you long enough," I muttered under my breath, it slipping out without me realising.

Wanda shoved me in the arm in response and I frowned, rubbing the sore spot.

"You're right," Sasha said, looking to me apologetically. "But I'm here now. And getting that call earlier... it made me realise that I've treated Anna horribly. That's why I've invited her to live with me. To make up for lost time."

Certainly not expecting that, my jaw dropped with surprise. "What?"

Sasha sat back down beside Anna's beside and I exchanged startled looks with Wanda before looking to the older woman in question.

"No offence," I started, glancing at Sasha, before focusing on Anna again, "but are you sure this is the right move? It's not too sudden?"

Anna shook her head and grabbed Sasha's hand. "She wants me to be around her family. And I want it too, Y/N. I miss them."

I nodded, but chewed on the inside of my mouth anxiously. It's not that I didn't trust Sasha (okay, maybe it was a little), but I was scared for Anna. I didn't want her to get heartbroken all over again.

Be supportive, Wanda's voice filled my mind, and I looked to her to see her eyes fading from red to green.

I clenched my jaw. Stay out of my head.

With a bright smile, she ignored me and looked between the grandmother and granddaughter duo.

"I think that's wonderful, Anna," she said kindly. "I mean, of course I'm going to miss having you as a neighbour, but this is all you've wanted. I'm thrilled for you. And so is Y/N."

When she looked to me for confirmation, I felt a familiar anger in the pit of my stomach, only reserved for Wanda Maximoff. But this wasn't about us, this was about Anna.

"I am," I agreed, eyes flickering to Anna. "It sounds great."

"You can both visit whenever you want," Sasha said, nodding enthusiastically. "Anna loves you both so dearly."

"You can't get rid of us even if you tried," Wanda joked, flashing Anna a teasing smile.

Anna chuckled. "I knew you would both understand."

I smiled halfheartedly, glad that everything was working out for Anna but knowing I would miss caring for her greatly.

"We should leave you to rest," I said with finality.

"Thank you," Anna replied, and by the way she looked at me, I knew she was thanking me for a lot more.

"Get well soon," I told her in my 'nurse' voice that she hated, a playful smile on my lips. "I'll check on you tomorrow."

Anna nodded. "Tomorrow."

After saying an awkward goodbye to Sasha, I left the room and headed for the lift down the hall, not bothering to wait for Wanda. Thankfully, she must have known I didn't want to speak to her, as she didn't speed after me.

—

Since Anna moved in with her granddaughter, the last time I saw Wanda was at the hospital. Two more months passed and I had no need to bump into her at Anna's apartment since Anna didn't live there anymore. And the one time I visited Anna since she moved in to Sasha's house, Wanda wasn't present.

I guess it made it a lot easier to attempt to get over her. Six months since she broke up with me was long enough to move on, I think. I'd been on a few dates, none really going anywhere until Natasha decided to set me up with someone a few weeks ago.

It was a family friend of her Avenger's teammate, Clint Barton, and though it was a blind date, it actually worked out well. The woman was called Elise and she was very sweet and charming on our first date, having a similar sense of humour to mine and a killer smile. It was actually the first time since Wanda left that things felt like they were falling into place. We went on a few more dates, deciding not to rush things, and I found myself looking forward to going out with her.

It was a few weeks into our dating relationship when Natasha gave me a call, inviting me as her plus-one to Clint and his wife's vow renewal. They were having a whole celebration at their homestead in Missouri and Natasha figured I'd enjoy it, able to take a weekend break and join her at the lavish hotel she'd be staying in. And also because Elise would be there.

"Oh?" I said with surprise. "Elise didn't mention anything."

"She wanted to," Natasha said with amusement, "but she didn't want to bring it up in case you didn't want to go."

I quirked a brow, despite her being unable to see me. "And why wouldn't I want to go?"

Natasha hesitated. "'Cause Wanda will be there...?"

A sigh escaped my lips as I massaged my forehead. Elise knew about Wanda because it came up when she asked how Natasha and I became friends. She was actually really chill about the whole thing, which I appreciated, but I could only imagine how she must have felt knowing that Wanda would be at the vow renewal.

"You should still come," Natasha encouraged when I didn't say anything. "I already spoke to Wanda and she said she won't cause a scene or anything."

"I doubt that she would," I mumbled.

"She just wants you to be happy," Natasha finished. "So, be happy as my plus-one and get a cute date in with your girlfriend whilst you're there."

I tried to stifle the smile on my lips. "Elise isn't my girlfriend."

"Yet," Natasha added knowingly.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Look, send me the details and I'll be happy to be your plus-one."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, and I could just imagine her fist-pumping like an idiot. "I'll see you then, Y/N."

"Goodbye," I told her, though a smile of amusement was playing on my lips.

After that call with Natasha, I didn't hesitate to give Elise a call, hoping I wasn't bothering her whilst she was at work.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I greeted, smiling to myself. "Is this a bad time?"

"Well, luckily for you, I'm actually just starting my lunch break," she said in a joking manner. "What's up?"

I scratched my head uncertainly. "Well, Natasha just called and invited me as her plus-one to Clint's vow renewal. She said you would be there, too, obviously, but I just wanted to check in and see if it was okay that I went."

I left out the part about her not telling me about it, but she seemed to pick up on it anyway as she breathed out slowly.

"I just don't want to step on your toes," I quickly added, before chewing on my lip.

"You could never," she said reassuringly. "I actually wanted to ask you to be my date, but I thought it may be too soon. Y'know, a vow renewal when it's only what, the sixth date in?"

"It's not too soon," I said, before adding, "I can just come as Natasha's friend and we don't have to make it a date."

"There's also the fact that your ex will be there," Elise added, and I frowned at the mention of Wanda. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"It's been six months," I told her with certainty. "I'm as comfortable as can be."

She paused. "If you think you'll be okay, then I'd love to see you there, Y/N."

"I know I'll be okay," I said promisingly. "And I'd like to go and maybe see you, too."

She laughed quietly and it made me smile. "In that case, I guess I'll see you there."

"It'll be fun," I said knowingly.

"It will," she agreed. "And now I can't wait."

It was my turn laugh. "Me either."

And fun it was... along with many other words.

The day of the vow renewal came by quickly enough and as promised, I went with Natasha as her plus-one. She made it as enjoyable as she could for me which I appreciated, with the two of us getting first-class tickets which Natasha was happy to pay for, and checking in to a beautiful hotel for the weekend. And that was just the accommodation.

The actual vow renewal was a stunning affair, as Clint and his wife, Laura, had gone all out with decorating the homestead and it's fields in a traditional, romantic way. A flower arch stood front and centre, with rows of seats set out for guests. Bouquets lined the outside and lights were strung above and all around the trees which I could only imagine would look stunning once the sun set.

"They really went all out," Natasha said, impressed as she took in the scene before us.

I hummed in agreement. "It's beautiful." I glanced at her adding, "Bet you wish you brought an actual date now."

Natasha smirked knowingly. "What's to say this isn't one? This could all be a plan to steal you away from Elise."

"Because that makes sense," I played along with amusement. "The woman who set me up with her best friend's family friend is trying to steal me away from said family friend. Makes complete sense."

"True," she said with a shrug, walking forward. I followed her as she continued, "If I was trying to make a move, you wouldn't see it coming."

I tried not to laugh. "Sure, Natasha."

"Trained assassin, expert in espionage, master of lying and hiding in plain sight," she listed off her skills one by one on her fingers. Shooting me a knowing smile, she repeated, "You wouldn't see it coming."

I rolled my eyes playfully and the two of us made the rounds, myself reacquainting with the other Avengers whom I hadn't seen since, well, since Wanda and I were together. It was a little awkward, since I was never really close with them and vice versa, but they were polite and kind and made me feel comfortable (probably because of Natasha, which gave me yet another reason to be grateful to the redhead).

Eventually, it got to a point where Wanda was the next person to say hello to and I truly thought six months would be enough to get over her; oh, how sorely mistaken I was.

She was talking to Sam Wilson, the two talking about something or the other that was clearly entertaining enough to warrant a laugh from Wanda. As we approached them, the sound of her laugh taunted me, melodic and dancing around my ears like a terrible reminder of what I couldn't have.

They spotted Natasha and I soon enough, their conversation ceasing and Wanda's laughter silencing as her eyes met mine. I tried not to let her effect me, but it became increasingly different when I noticed how beautiful she looked today, wearing a maroon-coloured dress and wearing her brown-red hair down in curls. Of course, all of that didn't compliment the giant scar on her forehead.

"Y/N, it's so good to see you!" Sam exclaimed, trying to prevent an awkwardness from occurring. "How have you been?"

I smiled his way. "I'm good, Sam. You?"

We talked for a little while, catching up, before Natasha decided to drag Sam away for a stupid, fake reason that was clearly said on purpose. Knowing I couldn't exactly stop her, I let her get away with it, figuring I'd have to face Wanda at some point.

"You look good," she spoke first, making me push a stand of my hair behind my ear to give my hands something to do.

"Thanks," I mumbled, before clearing my throat and meeting her gaze. "So do you. That's, er, that's always been your colour."

She smiled in response and I cursed inwardly, wondering why the hell I said that.

"You sound like you've been doing well," she said, referring to the conversation I had with Sam.

I nodded. "Yeah, I have."

A silence filled the air that none of us knew how to fill. I stared at my shoes so hard that I'm surprised a hole didn't form. Wanda hugged herself, unsure whether to speak or not.

"What happened to your head?" I finally thought of something, nodding to the scar.

She subconsciously reached up to touch it, though she didn't seem affected by it. "Oh, nothing. Just happened in a recent mission."

I nodded uncomfortably, never responding well to when she got injured. But she knew that.

"So, Nat said you've got a date," Wanda said, and the way she said it made me think that maybe she'd been wanting to mention it for a while. "Elise, right?"

I swallowed. "Yeah. She's just helping the Bartons out with some stuff then I'll be seeing her after."

Wanda nodded, eyes flickering between me and the floor. "That's nice. So, is it new?"

God, this was awkward.

"Kind of, yeah," I answered, not even sure why. "It's not, like, exclusive, but it's nice to move on, y'know?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so you're moving on?"

I pressed my lips together firmly. She was watching me curiously, green eyes bright with intrigue.

"I'd hope so," I answered, cocking my head to the side and watching her. "It's been six months."

She nodded, looking down. "Yeah, okay... so you're not in love with her?"

I clenched my jaw. "Is that really any of your business, Wanda?" She didn't answer, so I straightened up and avoided her eyes. "I should go. Ceremony is going to start soon."

Walking away, I left with tense shoulders and more nerves than when I headed in. She had no right to be jealous. She left me.

I found Elise just before everybody was told to take their seats for the ceremony. She apologised for missing me before, mentioning how she was helping Laura with getting ready, then proceeded to shower me in compliments which sent me into a blushing mess. After catching up, we took our seats for the ceremony and waited for it to begin.

Feeling someone's eyes on me, I glanced to my left and saw Wanda sat on the other set of rows, but she was staring right at me, lips pressed together thoughtfully. I rolled my eyes and looked ahead, ignoring her stares. As if sensing my mood, Elise grabbed ahold of my hand gently, glancing at me with a small smile as if to check that was okay. I squeezed her hand in response, letting her know it was.

Are her hands sweaty? Because they look sweaty.

I clenched my jaw and shot Wanda a glare, seeing the amused smile on her lips as she watched me.

Stay out of my head, I told her mentally, knowing she was listening, before rolling my eyes. And her hands are soft, thank you very much. Yours are the sweaty ones.

Though it was a terrible comeback, Wanda lost her smile and rolled her eyes before looking away. I tried not to let her annoying self bother me as Elise and I sat together, watching the ceremony.

It was short and sweet and though I didn't know Clint and Laura too well, it was easy to see they loved each other very much. Their vows were beautiful and it was adorable when their kids ran up to them at the end to give them a giant hug. I didn't know much, but I knew that I'd love to have a love like theirs some day.

After the ceremony came the reception, and there were loads of tables and chairs set up for guests, including a stage and dance floor next to it, perfect for a nice celebration after the vow renewal. It was all wonderful and I was excited, until I learnt that I was sat on the same table as Wanda.

Me, Elise, Natasha, Sam, Wanda and Bucky Barnes were all sat at the same table, which definitely didn't help with the awkwardness as Wanda eyed me from across the food. I tried to ignore her presence and focus on having a great time with Elise. Natasha promised that Wanda wouldn't make a scene, so I just had to believe her.

"So, what can I get you all to drink?" a waiter said, stopping by our table.

Everybody told him what they wanted and when he looked to me, I shrugged.

"Literally anything is fine with me," I said, before quickly adding, "Well, anything except gin. Not a fan of gin at all."

The waiter nodded and smiled politely. "I'm sure I can get you something good without gin."

I returned his smile as he nodded to us all once more before walking away to get our drinks.

"So, what did you think of the ceremony?" Elise asked, giving me her attention.

The two of us erupted into conversation, as did everyone else, and I was genuinely having a good time with her. The food was good, too, as were the drinks when they arrived. But the one problem was Wanda bloody Maximoff who couldn't keep her eyes away from me and was agitating me with her mere presence. I tried so hard to ignore her, but God forbid my eyes flickered over to her and she was already looking my way.

After a delicious meal and lovely conversation with the others, everybody began to get up and mingle with the other guests. I took this as my chance to steer away from Wanda and instead catch up with Natasha and hang out with Elise, who got on with everyone wonderfully. Sadly though, she had to keep nipping away to help the Bartons with some stuff for the party, but I didn't mind. I figured that was also part of the reason why she didn't invite me as her plus-one, so I didn't take it personally.

About an hour into the celebrations, I was mid-conversation with Natasha when we were interrupted by Wanda. I rolled my eyes as she looked to the redhead questioningly.

"Have you seen Clint around?" she asked. "Laura wants me to take everything from the gifts table inside and I need the key."

Natasha pursed her lips, shaking her head. As her eyes looked around for him, she said, "I'm not sure where he is..."

Before either of them could come to a conclusion, Elise appeared by my side with an apologetic smile and a drink in her hand.

"Hey," she greeted, squeezing my hand gently. "Sorry for ditching you before. I had to make sure the bar didn't run out of alcohol."

"It's all good," I told her with a small smile.

"I got you this gin cocktail to make up for it," she said sweetly, making me eye the drink like it was a bomb.

Wanda snorted suddenly, making me look to her with a glare. She tried to hide her laughter behind a smile as she looked the other way, though that didn't stop her from commenting in my mind with her obnoxious, intrusive powers.

Real good listener this one. Didn't you say you didn't like gin earlier?

I refrained from smacking her. Go away, Wanda.

"Thank you," I said to Elise gratefully, accepting the drink. "It looks great."

"Oh, I think I see Clint," Wanda said, before shooting us all a smile I'd love to punch. "Catch you later."

"See ya," Natasha said, as Elise waved and I rolled my eyes.

—

Dancing was fun and I liked to think I was good for an average person. So, when the DJ put on some fun music and encouraged guests to have a little dance, I immediately asked Elise to join me. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly the most confident of dancers. She was adorably apologising as she held my hands, letting me take the lead.

"It's okay," I reassured her with a laugh. "You're doing fine."

But as she stepped on my foot for the millionth time, I could tell she thought she was doing anything but. I didn't mind though since it was amusing and cute all at the same time.

Be careful over there, Y/N. You may have been better off wearing some steel-toed shoes.

At the sound of Wanda's voice infiltrating my mind, I searched around me until I caught sight of the familiar green eyes over Elise's shoulder. She was stood to the side, entertained smile adorning her lips, as she watched Elise and I dance.

Why don't you piss off and mind your own business before I buy a pair of steel-toed shoes just to kick you with!

She didn't respond, so I focused my attention back on Elise and paused as something a little slower and more romantic played in the background. Offering an encouraging smile to Elise, I held out my hand which she accepted happily.

"Luckily, this one is pretty easy, so you might avoid bruising my feet," I joked to lighten the mood.

She flushed with embarrassment but let me pull her close as I took the lead. Subconsciously, my eyes wandered back to Wanda, who was now crossing her arms with annoyance and watching me with glowing red eyes. She had absolutely no right to be jealous. But I didn't care. It wasn't my business.

After sharing a lovely dance with Elise, the two of us took a seat at our empty table to have some water and talk. Of course, as we were chatting, our conversation was interrupted by none other than–

"Wanda," I got out through gritted teeth.

She grinned as she took a seat next to us, crossing her legs and resting her intertwined hands on her knees comfortably.

"I figured I'd introduce myself properly since we haven't really met before," Wanda explained, eyes dancing with mischief before she looked to Elise. "I'm Wanda Maximoff."

Elise smiled politely. "I'm Elise Fey. And I know who you are. A really impressive Avenger at that."

I narrowed my eyes as Wanda waved her hand dismissively. What was she playing at exactly?

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," she said bashfully. "But I guess, since you know who I am, it's only fair I return the favour. After all, you're here as Y/N's date, and as Y/N's friend, I thought it would be nice to get to know you."

"Friend," I repeated the word bitterly. "So, that's what we are now?"

Wanda chuckled, brushing off my words, before focusing on Elise. "So, what do you do, Elise?"

"I'm a veterinarian," she quipped proudly.

"How cute," Wanda said, tilting her head to the side and smiling. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Only a few years," Elise said, glancing at me with mild confusion. "It's a really rewarding job."

"I can imagine," Wanda said, before pulling a puzzled expression. "But wait, how does that work with you both? Since Y/N is allergic to pets an' all?"

Locking my jaw with agitation, I stared at Wanda's doe-eyed face. Elise looked to me with surprise.

"You are?" she asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I shook my head, smiling at her. "No, not really... I mean, well, rabbits. I'm allergic to rabbits. I didn't think it was a big deal."

"It kind of is," she said playfully. "What if I had treated a rabbit at work and then went on a date with you?"

I chuckled awkwardly. "Hmm, yeah, okay, maybe it's a little bit of a big deal."

She hummed disapprovingly before looking back to Wanda, who watched us both curiously.

"So, you work as a vet in New York?" she asked Elise, and I couldn't tell if she was actually interested or just trying to piss me off. When Elise nodded, she continued, "Are you from New York?"

"I'm originally from here actually," Elise said, motioning around us. "My family knew Laura's family before she married Clint. That's how I know the Bartons."

"Oh, so your parents still live here?" Wanda asked, leaning her head in the palm of her hand as she continued to question her.

"Yeah, not far from here actually," Elise answered with a smile.

Wanda nodded. "Cool... so how would that work, the whole visiting them thing? I mean, Y/N works a lot, right? And I assume you're close with your family. So, how does taking the time off to visit your parents work with you both when it's, like, 16 hours away?"

I squeezed my hands together to contain my frustration towards Wanda. Elise opened her mouth to respond, then closed it when she realised she didn't know how to answer. Her eyes darted to mine, asking for help, and I knew she was too polite to call Wanda out for her bullshit.

"We're still newly dating, Wanda," I answered through a fake smile. "We haven't even talked about meeting each other's parents, so it's not an issue right now."

"Right now," Wanda echoed my words, as if adding a double meaning. "But it will be in the future?"

I tried not to react harshly as I said, "That's not what I said."

Wanda nodded slowly, smirk tugging at her lips. Saying nothing more on the subject, she looked to Elise with dark eyes.

"It was lovely meeting you," she finished. "I'll see you around, I guess."

Elise nodded uncomfortably. "You, too, Wanda."

Shooting me a smile, she got up and left Elise and I sat there in mixed emotions. I was peeved at the Sokovian woman, not understanding why she had to try and ruin my one chance at moving on.

"I'm sorry about that," I said to Elise, a frown on my lips. "I don't know what the hell happened, but I definitely didn't expect it."

Elise chewed on her lower lip with thought. I waited patiently, wishing I knew what she was thinking. Finally, her blue eyes met mine apologetically.

"I don't think Wanda is quite over you," she said quietly. "And maybe you're not over her either, Y/N. At least not as much as you think you are."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Elise, she's just being a dick to piss me off. It's not like that."

Elise winced. "I think it is. And honestly, you're a lovely person, but I just don't want to get involved in something like that right now."

I knitted my brows together with confusion. "What do you mean?"

She rested her hand on mine atop the table. "It's probably better we stay friends. Easier."

"Elise... c'mon. We just– we only just got to know each other." I frowned, feeling bad that she didn't want to see where this would go.

"For what it's worth, today was really fun," she said with a smile, trying to make light of the situation. "And every date we've shared has been fun, too. But I can't compete with the history you share with Wanda. And I don't want to."

I didn't know what to say, speechless, unable to understand why she was doing this. Taking that as her chance to leave, she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek before standing up and letting go of my hand.

"I'm gonna leave early," she explained. "I hope you work stuff out for yourself."

I looked up to her, watching as she smiled once more before leaving me be. We'd only been dating a few weeks, I knew that, but I still felt saddened to know she didn't want to keep things going. And with the realisation that it was because of Wanda, my sadness was quickly replaced with anger. It always came back to her.

Scowl on my face, I stood up and knew one thing: Wanda Maximoff was dead meat.

[slafkovskys]

me, you, and the stars / j. norris

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

my masterlist!

title from summer days by martin garrix

warnings(s): swearing, nsfw content (18+), jealousy, josh is just an asshole for the first half idk, alcohol, mentions of underage drinking

word count: 4.9k

-

“look y/n, we're leaving whether you’re with us or not!” you hear josh’s familiar voice shout from the other side of the closed door. you hear a deep sigh before a thump, which you’re fairly certain is him propping himself against the wall.

“no you won’t!” you respond. you brush the tinted wand of your lip gloss over your lips before twisting the cap back on and dropping it back into your makeup bag. you take your phone off of the charger before walking back into your bedroom and across the floor to the door. you pull it open to find josh (unsurprisingly) still on the other side. “well well well, what do you know? you’re still here.”

“you don’t have to act like such a brat,” he grumbles. he pushes away from the wall and takes in your choice of outfit, raising an eyebrow, “that’s what you’re wearing?”

“i’m not doing this with you tonight, josh. last time i checked, i’m an adult and i didn’t ask for your opinion. if you don’t like my outfit, you are more than welcome to stay behind and cry about it and i’ll make sure to have a couple drinks for you,” you roll your eyes as you smooth down your dress, a loose little number that fell from thin spaghetti straps and fell just at the middle of your thighs.

“i just don’t want to have to watch over you all night. guys are- they’re gross y/n,” he’s a couple of steps behind you on the stairs as he starts his little spiel. “i don’t want you to be exposed to that.”

“then why the hell did you invite me to come if you’re just going to be overbearing the whole time? besides, like i said before, i’m twenty years old and i haven't needed a babysitter since the third grade. if i can survive your friends, i should be able to survive a bonfire with a couple of strangers.”

you don’t tune in for his response as you walk out of the front door of the rented cabin and towards the truck. the passenger seat, which had always been designated as yours ever since he’d gotten his license, was empty and the rest of the group that was riding with you was piled into the back. you pull open the back door and will looks at you confused. you jut out your bottom lip and look at him with pleading eyes, “will you take shotgun?”

“what’s the problem now?” he slides out of the backseat anyway and takes the passenger seat while you take his seat.

“i don’t wanna talk about it,” you buckle your seatbelt and cross your arms over your chest, turning your head to look out of the window when josh opens the driver’s side door.

“seriously?” he scoffs when he finds one of his best friends where you were supposed to be. it wasn’t rhetorical, but you act like it was as you turn your body away from his watchful eyes. “whatever.”

he pulls away from the house with the rest of your group following behind in a separate car. your destination was another cabin not far from your own for a bonfire put on by someone who you didn’t even know. hunter had found out about the party on his trip to the grocery store with coale earlier in the day and once the information was shared with the group that there was allegedly going to be free alcohol, it wasn’t hard to get everyone on board.  

the cabin was a little ways down the road, not that far but still too far to walk. when josh pulls behind the already long line of cars in the driveway, you all pile out and head for the house where everyone immediately splits up into their own groups.

emily tried to convince you to come with her and kate outside, but you declined, promising to join them a little while later instead. you quickly found the alcohol piled into a plastic bin on the counter, fish yourself out a can, and retreat to the living room.

your eyes scan the room. there were already loads of drunk twenty-plus-year-olds stumbling around and you even noticed some teenagers who had either convinced their parents to let them come or snuck out, making the rounds as well. your knack for observing caused you to focus on a boy.

he couldn’t be older than you, not by much if he was, and he was staring right back at you. unlike you, though, he wasn’t alone. he was quick to abandon whatever conversation he was having before to make his way across the room once he realized that you had noticed him. you turn your head quickly and your cheeks burn at the realization that you had been caught.

you don’t have time to slip away before he’s standing in front of you. his grin is soft as he speaks, “hi.”

you swallow, heart-pounding for some unknown reason, before lifting your head to meet his eyes. you muster your best ‘i’m fine i swear’ smile, “hey there.”

“i hope i’m not bothering you or anything. i just saw you standing over here by yourself and figured i would just come over to make sure that you’re okay?” he scratches the back of his neck.

“aw, that’s sweet of you,” you say, running a hand through your hair. “i’m okay, i just kind of like to know my surroundings, get a feel of the place before i really do anything. weird habit i guess.”

his eyes track your can as you raise it to your lips, “no, no, you’re fine. i’m ben by the way.”

he holds out a hand to which you raise an eyebrow at. he notices and pulls it away quickly. you shake your head and giggle softly, “i’ve just never had a guy try and shake my hand at a party before, ben, but i’m y/n. it’s nice to meet you.”

“you too,” he moves to lean against the wall beside you, his shoulder barely touching yours. “are you from here?”

“no actually. just visiting with some friends on vacation. i’m from oxford,” he raises his eyebrows. you wave your free hand around, “it’s in-”

“i know where it’s at. one of my buddies is from there, i’ve just never met anyone else who was,” he grins. “i’m not from here either. grew up outside of toronto for a little bit and i’ve kind of been a bit of everywhere since.”

“so you’ve traveled a lot?” you ask, turning your body towards his. he hums and you raise your eyebrows, “i want to do that so badly. it’s, like, on the top of my bucket list.”

“you don’t get to travel much?”

“i mean, not really. i’ve been to dallas, new york, the ‘bigger’ places. the only place outside of the us that i’ve been is ottawa which is not that extravagant if i’m honest,” the thought of josh crosses your mind at the mention of ottawa, but it’s gone almost as quickly as it came when ben chuckles.

“why specifically ottawa? it’s not usually people’s first choice,” he raises his eyebrow and you shrug. “it’s complicated?”

“a little bit. anyways, what brings you here? do you know who owns this place?” you ask and his face flushes.

“um, i do. well, not me. my dad does. he let me borrow it for the week so i packed up a couple of my friends and borrowed the family dog and here i am,” he watches as you perk up at the mention of a dog. “do you want to meet him?”

“he’s here? can i?” it doesn’t take much for you to follow him away from the living room and down the hallway. he pushes open a door and (though it wasn’t your smartest decision to follow a stranger into a room) you're met with the sight of a dog. you gasp and he lifts his head, standing up with a stretch as you bend down. he moves off of his very comfortable-looking bed and moves in between your open arms. you squeal, “hello!”

“his name is tex, short for texas,” ben takes a seat on the bench beside the washing machine and watches as you embrace the golden retriever. “he likes you.”

“what’s not to like?” you question, looking up at the brunette with a smile. tex huffs as he takes a seat and you squeeze him gently, “you’re just the sweetest boy, aren’t you? i bet you’ve never done anything wrong in your entire life.”

“he’s does have a knack for shoes-” you cut ben off with a glare and he raises his hands in surrender, “you’re right. he’s never done anything in his entire life.”

“good answer.”

you don’t know how long you were in there with ben, playing with tex and making small talk before someone stumbles inside. he looks between ben and you and smirks, “sorry ben. we’ll find somewhere else.”

you realize then that there was a girl behind him and your cheeks burn as he closes the door. you find a neon green rope and dangle it in front of tex who eagerly snatched it from your hand. “i should be getting back out there. thank you for letting me play with him.”

“actually, i was going to ask if you wanted to get out of here? we could drive around a little bit,” he’s nervous and that was something that you could tell right off the bat. “you just said that you don’t travel much and i know it’s nothing astronomical, but i could just show you some places around town.”

in your slightly not sober mind, it didn’t even click that it was well into the night. you smile, “that sounds good. let me go and tell my friends and i’ll meet you back in the living room?”

“sounds good,” he watches as you bid tex farewell and follows you out of the room. you part ways as you head off to look for someone that you knew. it didn’t take long before you found josh outside surrounded by people. while he was the last person you wanted to tell, almost everyone that you knew was with him and you were beyond ready to leave.

you make your way over, tugging on the sleeve of his t-shirt to get his attention. he tilts his head to the side and when he realizes it’s you, his hand comes to rest on the small of your back as he pulls you to his side. he bends down to hear you, “what’s up?”

you're very aware of the attention that you’ve drawn from the group, the females who didn’t know about yours and josh’s abnormally touchy relationship especially, but you just push yourself on your tiptoes so that your mouth is beside his ear, “i’m leaving.”

he makes a noise of disapproval, “with who?”

“ben,” you shrug as though it was nothing.

“who the hell is ben?”

“we met earlier. he’s gonna show me around.”

“it’s past midnight, y/n. the only place you’re going is back to the cabin and i’m going to be the one taking you there. now, if you want to go so badly, give me five minutes and we’ll leave.”

“no, josh,” you try to pull away from him, but he doesn’t allow it whatsoever. “let me go!”

“y/n,” he sighs, handing his cup off to will who dumps whatever was in there into his own and turns you both away from the group. he keeps an arm slung over your shoulder as he slowly walks you towards the house “i don’t know how much you’ve had to drink tonight, but obviously too much if you think i’m letting you leave with someone that you just met.”

“we met the other day, at the grocery store,” the lie slips easily from your lips but josh shakes his head. he’s known you long enough to know when you were lying and the way that you were avoiding his eyes told him everything that he needed to know. that and you had been very adamant on not tagging along for any grocery store runs since you had arrived. you groan once you realize that he’s not letting you off that easy and try, once again, to pull away from him, “it wasn’t even that much! and what about you? i don’t want you driving me home if you’ve been drinking!”

“i’m 6’1 and almost 200 pounds, princess. i’ve barely had one full beer and i’ve been sipping on that for about an hour. i’m perfectly fucking fine to drive,” he rolls his eyes. he walks you both through the house and points to the couch where two couples were making out, “if you don’t believe me we can sit right there and wait for half an hour. will that appease you?”

“i fucking hate you,” you spit, finally pulling away from his grasp. you storm towards the front door and throw it open, finding ben perched on the swing out front. he stands when he sees you and your eyes soften, “ben, i’m-”

“oh, so you’re ben?” josh slides up behind you and holds out his hand for ben, poor ben, who looks very confused as he reaches out to shake it, “‘m josh. thanks for offering to give my little y/n here a tour of the town at one o’clock in the morning, that was very, very kind of you, but she’s going to have to decline. you have a good one though.”

“i want to hear that from her,” ben looks at you almost hopefully. “y/n?”

“i’m sorry,” you mumble, turning away from him and making your way down to where josh had parked. he takes his sweet time making his way down the driveway and refuses to unlock the truck until his hand covers yours on the handle, “will you please just unlock the door?”

“lose the attitude,” he scoffs, “you didn’t even know him.”

“i was getting to know him josh. you always fucking do this,” you huff and he finally unlocks the door. his hand tightens on yours as you both pull on the handle. you rip your hand away as you lift yourself into the truck and sink onto the passenger seat. he watches as you reach out to pull the door closed. you pause to utter the words, “and i’m not yours so you can stop fucking saying it.”

before pulling the door closed rather forcefully. he scoffs and shakes his head, making his way around the front of the truck. he starts it and throws it in reverse, putting his hand behind your seat to look out of the back glass, “we’re talking about this when we get back.”

you lean forward and turn the radio up, drowning him out.

-

the second that he kills the engine, you snatch the keys from his hand and stomp towards the front door. you throw it open, not bothering to close it as you tossed the keys onto the counter and made quick work of going to your room, rushing to beat him because he could move a lot faster than you were able to.

you hear his loud footsteps echoing in the otherwise quiet house as he ascends the stairs after you. you make sure to slam the door when he’s barely six feet away and twist the lock.

“leave me alone!” you shout as you pull out a pair of shorts from your bag. you peel off your clothes and throw them in the pile along with your other dirty clothes and make your way into the bathroom.

you grab your toothbrush just as you hear the lock turning and you want to scream. you ignore him when he walks in, leaning against the door at first. when you don’t pay him any mind, instead grabbing your toothbrush. he grins knowingly, used to your antics, “you’re ignoring me now?”

when you don’t answer, he moves to stand behind you so that you would have to look at him in the mirror, but you only turn towards the door. he chuckles, “oh, you’re good.”

you for sure thought that he wouldn’t wait you out, but he seemingly had no problem doing so. he takes a seat on the edge of the bath and props his head in his hands, watching you intently as you start to take off your makeup. you pick up a bottle and he points his finger, “what’s that for?”

you continue your silence.

“you have to talk to me at some point. we’re here for three more days, y/n,” he sighs and you shake your head. you look into the mirror, connecting your eyes with his, and you open your mouth to speak. his eyebrows raise and he smirks, which causes you to close your mouth and grab a towel to dry your face.

you weren’t going to let him win.

when you turn to exit your bedroom, he follows quickly behind. you make your way into the kitchen and turn on your phone, connecting it to the speaker that sat on the counter. it was jack’s and he had specifically told everyone not to run the battery down because he had forgotten to bring the charger, but it was the only way that you would be able to drown josh out.

you pick your playlist and turn your volume all the way up before tucking your phone in the waistband of your shorts. you move over to stand in front of the sink, fishing out some of the dishes so you could start to fill the sink. josh leans over the other side of the counter, “you’re so pissed off at me that you’re doing the dishes? are you serious?”

you look up at him and point to yours, a silent way of saying ‘i can’t hear you.’ something changes in his eyes and you look down at the sink as he pushes away from the counter. in a matter of seconds, the speaker is turned off and his hands are on your hips. the music is still playing and you feel his hand pull your phone from its place. with one of his hands holding your phone, you're able to turn around, “hey!”

“hi,” he smirks knowingly. he pauses the music and pockets your phone in his jeans. you go to reach for it, but he grabs your wrist, “now, you can either continue to act like a brat or we can have an adult conversation.”

you glare at him, “i’ll keep being a brat, thanks. now leave me alone and give me back my phone.”

in an instant, he’s lifting you onto the counter. his hands cage you in and you look at him with wide eyes, “what is your problem, y/n?”

“i could ask you the same question, josh,” you hold his gaze. you wanted so badly to reach out and place your hand on his cheek, press your lips to his own, but you couldn’t. you shouldn’t. you were still mad at him. “you’re such a fucking cockblock and i’m sick of it.”

“it’s not my fault that you can’t take a fucking hint,” he rolls his eyes. you take a deep breath and he looks at you with an expression that seems almost shocked, “are you- why do you think i did that?”

“because you’re an asshole?” you accidentally touch your hand to his and you pull it away quickly.

“please don’t do that,” he sighs. he reaches for your hand and you let him curl his fingers around your own. it felt strange, it felt- it felt good. “you’re the only one that matters to me, y/n. why can’t you understand that? because i don’t know how much clearer i can be.”

“you’re drunk josh,” you repeat what you had said earlier when he offered to drive you home.

“you know damn well that i’m not, y/n.” and he was right. you know josh, been around him enough to know what he was like when he was under the influence and this, this wasn’t it.

“what do you mean?” you squeeze onto his hand. “you said that i’m the only one that matters to you. what do you mean?”

“i haven’t taken anyone home in almost a year because of you. even in belleville, even when i got called up. they tried to get me to hook up with someone but i couldn’t. you’re the only person that i want in my bed and you-” he pauses, shaking his head.

“what did i do, josh? you’ve been a total asshole to me and i’m supposed to realize that that means that you want me? what are we, eight?” you shake your head, untangling your  fingers from his. you lean back on the counter and he looks at you almost pleadingly, “you aren’t my boyfriend and you need to stop acting like it. this shit isn’t going to fly anymore.”

he goes quiet before he leans forward. his lips press to yours and a warm feeling takes over your body. you melt into him when he moves one of his hands to rest on your back and the other to rest on your cheek. his hand pulls you forward and you wrap your arms around his neck. he’s the one to pull away first, breathing heavily. his eyes are glazed over and by the way he’s gripping onto you, you can tell that he doesn’t want to let go. “was- is this okay?”

you squeeze his wrist on the hand that rested softly on your cheek as though he would slip away before you leaned back in after taking a deep breath. his hands slides up your back, slipping under the hem of your shirt and you pull away this time, pressing your nose into his neck, “not here. someone could walk- josh!”

you tighten your arms around his neck as he takes you down the hallway to what you knew to be his bedroom. he pushes open the door and drops you down onto the bed, which causes you to squeal as his body covers your own.

you run your hands along his shoulders and he slides his fingertips under your shirt. he’s nervous, you can tell, maybe a little hesitant as well.

“josh,” you call, running your index finger along his jaw, “this is okay with me. i promise you. is it okay with you?”

“more than okay,” he confirms, “are you sure that you want to do this? things won’t ever be the same if we do.”

why did he have to say that?

if it was anybody else, you wouldn’t have even had to think about it. if it was ben, it wouldn’t have meant anything. but this wasn’t just anyone. it wasn’t just ben who you had known all of an hour before you were willing to get into his car. this was josh who you had known since you were kids. josh that you had harbored a crush on since you were thirteen and he was fourteen. josh who you were forced to watch from a distance as he got older and buffer from the hours spent training, who you had to watch as he brought the occasional girl home to meet his mother.

you had never told anyone how you felt and no one ever seemed to notice, which was fine. perfect even. but now-

you look into his eyes as you whisper the single word, “please.”

that seems to be all he needs before he hooks his fingers in your shorts and tugs them downward, taking your panties with them easily. he tosses them to the side and chuckles as his fingers lightly run across your slit, “you’re already soaked.”

“i’ve been waiting a long time for this,” you admit, biting your lip as his thumb runs over your clit.

he sinks his index finger in slowly, pressing his lips to yours as you gasp. it doesn’t take long for him to work in a second before he speaks again, “why didn’t you say anything?”

“to be fair, i thought i was the last person that you wanted to sleep with. you aren’t the best at showing your emotions,” you grumble and he grins.

“you and your attitude,” he shakes his head, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he stretches you open. “what am i gonna do with you? don’t think that i’ve forgotten about how much of a little brat you were being earlier.”

“well,” in a sudden act of boldness, you move your lips to dance over his ear, “what are you gonna do about it? because as much as you seemed to want me out in the kitchen, you’re moving awfully slow.”

that seemed to ignite something inside of him.

it was only a couple of minutes later when both of your clothes were thrown about the room and he was ripping open a condom. you grin as he presses the tip to your slit, taking some of the wetness.

“josh,” you moan as he sinks in, slowly filling you. “fuck.”

“worth waiting for?”

“you pick the worst times to be an ass- holy,” you arch your chest into his as he bottoms out. you try and pull away but he wraps his arms around your thighs, keeping you still.

“that’s it, princess,” he coos, sucking a mark into your neck. “look so pretty on my cock. can’t believe i waited this long to see you like this, fuck.”

a whine forms in your throat as he pulls out, only to thrust right back in. he lets you dig your nails into his back as he finds his pace, finding your g-spot almost a little too quickly.

his hips snap against yours and his mouth makes its way from your neck to your breasts, taking the opportunity to leave hickeys there as well. there was no way in hell that you were going to be able to hide what had happened and you somehow find the words to voice that, “everyone’s gonna know.”

“fucking good,” he lands a particularly harsh against your spot, “want them to know that you’re mine. that they can’t have you. i’ve seen the way they look at you and i don’t like it.”

“we’re gonna have to work on that but now, i’m gonna-”

“you’re gonna ask me nicely,” his thumb finds your clit and he begins to circle. “you’re gonna show me that you can be good and say please.”

“i hate you,” your words have no real meaning and he knows that by the chuckle he has the audacity to let out. “please josh, please let me cum. i’ll be so fucking good, let everyone know i’m yours.”

“say it again,” he demands.

“i’m yours,” and that was the end.

you feel him spill into the condom before he give you permission, spilling over his cock as you tighten your arms around his neck and press your lips to his as you ride through the aftershock. he rocks upwards a few more times before slipping out and resting his head on your bare chest. his fingers run over one of breasts, “didn’t show these enough attention.”

“they’re covered in hickeys,” you breathe out, “they got the memo.”

you find yourself tangled under his covers not thirty minutes later, both fresh from the shower. you had spent minimal time actually under the water and more time-pressed against the wall with his lips pressed against yours.

your hand ran through his hair as his head rested on your naked chest. you can’t help but stare over his shoulder out of the large window that overlooked the lake. the stars were twinkling high above while everything else was quiet. too quiet.

wait-

you patiently wait until you were positive that he was asleep when you start to shift backward, trying to escape his grip. you had your feet on the ground, ready to search for your clothes before he makes a noise of protest.

“woah,” he says when you move to get out of the bed. his hand curls around your side and pulls you back to his chest, “what are you doing?”

“i’m going back to my room,” you look at him confused. “everyone’s bound to be home soon and i don’t want them to find us like this.”

“i don’t care if they see us, y/n. what part of you being the only one that i want didn’t you understand?” he sighs as he pushes your hair out of your face. you wrap one of your hands around his arm as he does so, “i don’t just want you for tonight. i want you for the long run, y/n. i don’t know exactly what that entails, but i do know that i want you to be here when i wake up in the morning. we can talk about it then, okay?”

you look into his eyes, trying to find any hint that he wasn’t telling you the truth, but you couldn’t. you relax into his chest and let his arms wrap around you once again, “in the morning.”

“in the morning,” he agrees and presses his lips to the top of your head.

[ilikekidsshows]

One thing that pisses me off not just about the miraculous fandom but modern fandoms is fans inability to consume long overarching stories.

Like so many people are complaining about how long the reveal is taking or why haven't certain characters outgrown this trait yet or why is this character arc botched or abandoned. Like guys we just got the confirmation this show will be 7 seasons long PLUS like 3 tv specials. We're only roughly halfway through the series.

Once the reveal happens half the tension in the show is gone! I'm not saying leave the reveal till season 7 and make us wait 9 years this isn't HIMYM but miraculous is not a fast paced story. It's a long haul story. I just wish more fans would be patient. Miraculous is in the extremely fortunate and rare position that it will have a conclusive end and not be suddenly cancelled. That was and still is a huge problem for shows and cartoons with dedicated fans but networks pull the plug for stupid ass reasons.

So miraculous fans please chill the fuck out on things not resolving right away. We still have 78+ episodes plus the tv specials. If we get the end to certain things now it'll be so boring.

I think the concept of Instant Gratification describes the issue with many modern fandoms today. I hate to sound like I'm anti-technology, but the constant stream of quick and short bursts of entertainment allowed by the information age has made people more impatient. It's not about waiting for the climax to get a deeper sense of satisfaction, it's about getting that instant gratification right this instant. It's why one-shot fanfics are all over the place, when multi-chapter stories used to be just as common and popular, if not even more so, and it’s also why people are less willing to read a fic that’s still a work in progress. It's why people refuse to watch Youtube video essays even as they leave comments on the topic based on the title and thumbnail alone because, while they couldn't be assed to watch a 20-minute video (let alone an hour long one), they sure can spend that time calling the Youtuber names and making arguments the video actually already refutes. It's why a lot of online arguments happen only because one party read nothing but the first and maybe the last paragraph of someone's post and skipped all the explanation for their point of view (if I've ignored an counter argument for one of my posts, it was either because I missed it or because said counter argument did this. I have attention deficit issues so I do genuinely forget responses sometimes, but I'm also not writing a second essay for someone who's proven to me they won't read it).

Of course, it's only by constantly consuming only fast-paced content that you can become this impatient. People have different ideas about stories based on what stories they have encountered in the past.

Another thing that influences the Miraculous fandom in particular is that, while I love to show off exactly how much Miraculous has done to build up the overarching plotlines, Miraculous isn't really a show that's about a single story. It's easy to understand why people think it is one though: there's one main villain, we keep discovering more about the mythology, one of the main plot threads is the romantic relationship between the leads and singular episodes and plot elements tend to get payoff later. What is the purpose of a show if not to progress the story? Because the heroes aren't getting closer to defeating Gabriel or getting together, people think that the story isn't accomplishing anything.

I'll do a comparison to illustrate why these things aren't as clear-cut signs of a continuous storyline as people think. In the Spider-Man comics, you can pick any issue up and the chances are that the villain will be a part of Spider-Man's already established Rogues Gallery, who's back for more after who knows how many defeats, and those past defeats might even get referenced in callbacks to previous issues. It's also very possible that Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is the central focus with them not being together yet, having relationship problems or even having broken up (in really old issues the girl might be Gwen Stacy and short-term options have also always been available for romantic entanglements). Does this mean Spider-Man is a continuous story where the only point is that all the villains get put away for good and Peter and MJ live happily ever after? No, it doesn't. Spider-Man is designed to go on indefinitely, so there's no clear ending point. So, what is the point of Spider-Man then, if there is no Ending?

It used to be the single issue, because comic books used to have every issue be a stand-alone story about the hero and their supportive cast. These days it's more every three-to-six issues, because superhero comics are written to have short story arcs that can then be collected into trade paperbacks. A superhero series is not a single story; it's a series that functions as a story engine, meaning the series can generate several shorter stories where the hero helps fix a problem or solve a mystery.

In the superhero genre a villain will never get killed off or removed from stories permanently as long as the writers think they can still come up with stories to tell about them. The hero's romantic life will never be completely smooth sailing unless the writer is using other things to ramp up the stakes. Everything always allows for there to be another adventure.

I think the huge success of Avatar: the Last Airbender made people think that a series that is a single story is always superior to a series with multiple shorter plots. When I was liveblogging Sailor Moon, a viewer offered to give me a list of all the non-filler episodes because they genuinely thought I'd feel like I was wasting time on the show otherwise. This attitude is simply not based on fact. It's not fair to compare Miraculous Ladybug to Avatar, because they're both setting up to do completely different things. Miraculous Ladybug is trying to become a brand, like Batman or Spider-Man. It is part of the "Zag Heroes" lineup, a series of French-created superhero franchises to compete in the America-centric superhero market. This challenge is good for the genre, because Marvel and DC have started resembling each other more and more as these companies stew in their old ideas and copy everything that worked for the other one. The superhero genre needs new blood.

Also, Avatar: the Last Airbender first became popular by doing episodic plots for almost the entirety of the first season because it's actually not a wise choice to expect the audience to be willing to commit to a story that'll only give payoff later when working with an untested IP. Very often shows with longer story arcs start with the episodic format to hook people first, and sometimes the more linear plot is introduced specifically because the audience for the show is now expected to be both dedicated enough and older and capable of keeping up. Because, here's the thing: you can't expect little kids to remember every episode or even every character you've introduced in your show. I'm not sure if people are ready to hear that but I'm throwing it out there anyway. Kids are not dumb, they can understand more complex storylines, but many kids are still training their memory, so they might not remember the details of complex storylines that go on for too long.

This is why the news that Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season was going to have a recommended viewing order originally had me concerned. Miraculous is being branded for kids. The plot requiring too much skill in memorizing story details will make it less accessible to kids and might put those two additional seasons at risk. However, it seems that the "constantly changing status quo" concept of Truth, Lies and Gang of Secrets was a fluke and the evolution of the show is more subtle, so they might not be cutting the amount of episodes for those final seasons because the show is getting too complicated for kids to follow all the important details.

Regardless, Miraculous Ladybug being an adventure cartoon TV show instead of a comic book or a more cheaper-to-produce TV drama does mean that Miraculous Ladybug isn’t expected to go on for decades like a superhero comic or a soap opera. Because of this, it can have evolution and changes and even a planned ending. The show is expected to end at some point, even by the people making money off of it, mostly because making a cartoon like this indefinitely costs a lot of money, and kids’ adventure shows tend to see a decrease in returns if they go on for too long.

[actualaster]

I was thinking about that too, but I guess we back to good old days XD

I agree, having some filter is ok, but not like it is happening. Just taking things away doesn't make any sense, you have to educate and use the stupid tag system to filter.

Because the tag is a filter. A manual one. I think is so so lazy to just ban everything . You are right, when I was kid I knew I should be careful, I didn't read some fics, only when I got older like 17 or something? Today is missing some of the good guidance we had back then.

You are right about the tags too, without them it was a trap daily XD we would just stumble on some, let's say, human on its natural way. Or have to read/ see stuff that we didn't care about or could handle.

That's why I think it's a lazy " solution" you know? Nothing is 100% safe, specially the internet and the best weapon is educate and use a stupid filters like tags, blocks, permission and what not.

Banning everything does nothing but harm. I find out about some news here, by the tags they blocked. How are you going to chat about it? Ask for help? Advice? Guess you won't or have to code everything?

Yeah, that's the problem.

I won't pretend it was all rainbows'n'Rapidash back in the day online, there was a lot of terrible stuff and people who got a kick out of exposing you to that to shock you.

But that STILL happens, we just aren't teaching kids how to minimize the risk of it and how to handle it when they do see that.

And we're making warning systems unusable with this sort of ban. I LOVE some of the safety features we have, the ability to mark content as sensitive and to opt out of seeing it, the ability to filter and block and mute and such, etc. But those are good because people used them.

If people stop using them then we can't safely avoid content we don't want to see.

Which is bad for kids, but also us adults who just want to avoid something. It's also bad for people with things like a seizure problem that can be 7rigg3r3d by certain visuals.

And yeah--a lot of those tags are ones we also use to find information out or to share experiences and discuss things. Blanket bans silence people and make it harder to discuss important topics, not just filter out upsetting content.

It's a giant mess and it isn't just Tumblr, this has been going on for quite a while across various websites and other services. It's a nightmare.

We're headed back to the old days, but without teaching people how to safely navigate the kind of landscape they'll find once we strip away easy ways to tag and filter content.

It's going to be a poor parody of what we used to have.

And, worse, the illusion of safety makes people uninterested in learning to protect themselves and because they think it's safe, not realizing that it isn't. At least back in the day we KNEW if we ventured into areas that weren't maintained explicitly as kid-friendly then we were taking risks and needing to be responsible for our own experiences. Folks now aren't being taught that so you get kids yelling about adul7 material and, worse, young adul7s who don't know how to navigate adul7-friendly spaces and to avoid things they don't want to see or how to handle it if they see something they don't want.

Plus, also, none of the bad shit from before is gone lmao. People have continued to do a lot of garbage stuff like send shock images and g0r3 to people to upset them, none of that stopped lmao.

I remember something like... 2019? Maybe? It was The Thing on twitter that people were sending kpop fancams in replies and the vid would cut to like child 4bus3 or an execution or domestic violence and other stuff. During the 2010's I saw multiple warnings about "don't watch a video with this title or thumbnail, it cuts to a graphic su1c1d3" because people would livestream retiring from life and it would go viral for some twisted reason.

Plus, as many fandom disco horse accounts can attest, people send images of g0r3, mu7ila7ion, s3lf-h4rm, r18 content, etc. to upset people.

But removing our way to easily discuss and warn about this stuff doesn't stop it from happening--it just stops it from being easier to avoid.

I hate it.

We need to have maintained kid-friendly areas, adul7-focused areas (and not just for pr0n! Sometimes adul7s just wanna chat with other adul7s even about SFW stuff), and free for all areas that you can run into anything or everything. And we need to teach people how to navigate those spaces.

Blanket bans solve nothing. :(

[free--therapy]

The Benefits of Altruism & Helping Others

Increases Happiness

Although this seems like it would be a commonly accepted belief, it's becoming more and more scientifically proven that giving to others, showing kindness, and practicing altruism leads to an overall improved mood and happiness. A study was done where the participants performed 5 new acts of kindness for one day a week, for over 6 weeks, and found that they each experienced an increase in their wellbeing compared to a control group who did not do the same thing.

Another study where participants were given $5-$20 to spend on other people or donate also found that they experienced an increase in happiness compared to those who were given the same amount of money to spend on themselves. It just goes to show that money doesn't necessarily buy you happiness, but the act of giving to make someone else's day, even if in small amounts, has a greater impact! And just by giving to others, it inspires what is called a virtuous circle/cycle where the act inspires others to be happy (ourselves included), which inspires everyone involved to want to give more, making us happier, leading to a greater tendency to give to others and pay it forward.

It should make sense that giving and helping other people will contribute to our own happiness. Humans are generally highly social creatures and have evolved as a species to live with others and can practically immediately see the impact that a small act of kindness can have on their surrounding community. It helps to lead to more trust, cooperation, compassion, and kindness. If people are more altruistic, they are more likely to be treated well by others, which build social connections, stronger social and supportive networks, which then lead to increased feelings of wellbeing, joy, and happiness. Participating in community service or social activities can also predict how satisfied people generally are even after there are other factors that are taken into account.

It Feels Good

Helping and giving back literally feels good. In a study where over 1700 women volunteers, it was found that they experienced something known as a "helper's high"--a euphoric feeling experienced, followed by a long period of calmness. The sensations were a result of the release of endorphins, which were then followed by a long-lasting period of emotional wellbeing, feelings of self-worth, which help to reduce stress and improved their overall health.

A lot of people unfortunately carry the belief that they should only help others or give to others when there is something involved to be returned in exchange for the act. Thankfully this is not always the case and the satisfaction of giving ones' time, money, or energy out of selflessness is worth not having something in return for these individuals that have incorporated altruism into their daily lives. Studies of the brain have shown that when we give money, our time, energy, etc., that the parts of the brain that light up are the same as when we either receive money, or experience pleasurable stimuli like food or sex.

Giving to others and helping others activate our reward centers in the brain which help to make us feel good in general and about ourselves, which then also encourages us to continue engaging in such acts.

It Does Us Good

Helping out with others tends to have a stronger association with our mental health as opposed to being on the receiving end of it. Studies are showing that volunteers have a lot fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, which then makes them feel a lot more hopeful about their lives. It's also related to feeling good about oneself, improving self-worth and self-esteem. It's also a great way to distract ourselves from dwelling or ruminating on our own problems, allowing us to be grateful for what we do have. When we get to see other people's perspectives and how different they live their lives, it truly puts our own lives into perspective, which reminds us to put our problems into perspective. Volunteering is also associated with psychological wellbeing, which is always a plus.

It is also suggested that giving to others can increase how long we live. There are studies about the wellbeing of older people that show that the ones who are more charitable with either their time, money, energy, ideas, etc., generally live longer than those who may not. This also included any support they gave to their friends, relatives, neighbors, and even spouses. In contrast to that, when they were on the receiving end of the support, it did not influence their lifespan.

Volunteering has also been shown to predict the maintenance of cognitive functioning in a study where 2500 people in their 70s were followed for about 8 years of their life. There are more studies that show that among teenaged kids who are volunteering, that the act of volunteering was associated with their improved self-esteem, a reduction in any anti-social/problematic behaviors, improved attitudes, and an increase in educational achievement.

There's a wealth of evidence that suggest that there is a relationship to wellbeing/healthiness of those who volunteer in the first place, volunteering is still one intentional act that people can try to engage in as a way to help increase their overall wellbeing, and optimal cognitive functioning when old in their age.

While helping other is associated with increased happiness and health, feeling burdened by it can be detrimental, such as in the case of caregivers. There's evidence that while giving for pleasure is associated with higher self-esteem, life satisfaction and positive feelings, giving under pressure is not. The point of altruism is to give selflessly without the need or expectation of receiving something in return. There are definitely times when we will need to give because it's a compassionate response and the right thing to do, like when there are crises, emergencies, etc.

However, as a general rule, we should do our best to match our acts of giving and altruism to the things that we find inherently enjoyable, that are in line with our own goals and feel are worthwhile cause for ourselves as well as those receiving it. If we're happy givers, the recipients will likely benefit more and we are more likely to continue to give to them. Remember, it's all about selflessness.

[siimjaeyun]

01: Immortality

Synopsis: it is part of human nature to be flawed and imperfect, maybe even vengeful when things don't go their way, and when seven boys find themselves in power to show those who are wrong that actions come with consequences, will they choose to keep their immortality?

masterlist

tw: mentions of blood, stabbing, murder, death and slight choking

-------

"Wait let me get this straight. Your solution to the problem is for us to get killed over and over again instead of reporting them to the police?" Sunoo stood at the edge of the room, completely baffled by the older boy's plan. 

"You don't get it Sunoo. This is part of the plan, it's always been. Why did you think we saved you?" Sunghoon took the glass of water from counter and gulped it down slowly before staring at Jungwon and Riki. 

"Your immortality is precious and it's a form of power. This is your new job." 

"What job? I don't want this job." Jay let a hefty sight escape from his lips before pulling the three minors closer to him. 

"I get you don't want to be immortal. None of us chose to be here. Come." Jay went to the nearest drawer and pulled out a scrapbook. 

"This is before we were eighteen." Jungwon furrowed his brows and didn't see a difference between them. 

"But you look the same?" 

"Immortality keeps you at this age. But we were normal teens too, we had dreams." Heeseung and Jake looked down, remembering the days from their own past as well. 

"Then what happened?" Riki asked. 

"We don't remember much of what happened. Memories fade eventually. It's been fifteen years since we entered this new world." Jake waited for a response but instead handed the three boys their belongings. 

"Go on or you'll be late. We'll keep an eye on you from afar, but just go with your mind got it?" The three youngest didn't have much to stay and reluctantly accepted the very non-existent plan. 

"Are we sure about this? What if this is a prank?" Jungwon and Sunoo stopped in their tracks and looked at Riki. 

"I clearly remember being dead so might as well suck it up. Team?" Jungwon put forward his hand and the others followed shouting a cheer before entering the room. 

"Sorry we're late, we got lost since we're not used to the campus grounds." Three heads instantly popped up at the sound of their voice. Impossible: it was impossible for them to be alive. 

"You said they were dead!" One of them whispered, close to entering into a panic. 

"They were! You saw they had no heartbeat." The other responded. Their legs began to shake left and right as well as up and down due to fear, nibbling on their nails and surrounding skin. 

"No worries, just take a seat." As if a feeling inside his heart was about to over take him, Sunoo felt a need to take a seat next to one of the three boys. He plopped his backpack onto the desk and gave a smile wave to the tall boy. 

This was the first trial.

----- 

"Hey! You three come here." The basketball players waved their hands at them in a snapping manner and if on que, Heeseung smirks when he looks down at the time on his watch. 

"Humans really are predictable aren't they?" Jake agrees and continues to listen into the conversation. 

"We're having a party tonight, you should come." Again, right on time. 

"Uhh, I'm not sure…" Jungwon elbowed Riki in the stomach before accepting the kind invitation. 

"We'll be there!" Sunoo quickly answered before looking at Jungwon with confusion. 

"What are you thinking! This is a trap to clearly kill us!" Riki states in a distressed manner. 

"Something is telling me to do so, plus isn't that the plan?" Jay and Sunghoon were amused at Sunoo and Jungwon's quick adaptation to their life. 

"Seems like they've got this, but remember to get the car anyway." Sunghoon slung his backpack lazily over his shoulder and led the way as they waited for the second trial. 

------- 

The night had fallen and almost as if the stars had aligned, Heeseung glanced at his watch once more as Sunoo, Jungwon and Riki stepped into the home where the so-called party was being held. It took half an hour for the three school boys dressed in jerseys to drag out three black bags, body shaped to be exact. 

"Hurry the fuck up man, before we get caught!" The other two obeyed the orders and carried the bags into the trunk of the car with much speed. A small drive later and an empty lot awaited them. 

"Throw them there." The sound of shovels digging surrounded the nearby area, and with the rhythm of the sand and dirt hitting the floor, the three bodies were finally covered. 

"We take this until our death beds. This better get the job done." The car drove off; it allowed for Heeseung and Jay to approach the bodies underneath the ground. 

"5..4..3..2..1" The supposed to be dead boys came from behind the trees dusting themselves off from the sand. 

"That was even more terrible the second time. Drugging us and then stabbing us isn't exactly fun." 

"You did great. You're almost there." Jake complimented only for anger to resound in Jungwon. 

"Look no offense, but I don't know if we can continue this. I don't want to relive the trauma of being murdered over and over again." He loosened his tie and threw it onto the pavement. 

"I'm with Jungwon. Is this really the only way to get the job done?" 

"Yes, now let's go get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day." Sunghoon patted their backs and led them back. 

Second trial was complete. 

------- 

"How are you boys holding up? Today's sort of the final trial." Jake walked into their room first thing in the morning, bearing food and other trinkets. 

"To be honest, I cried myself to sleep. I'd rather be dead than be doing this. Why were we saved?" Riki asked with slight hesitancy.

"Heeseung and I asked ourselves that every single day since our murder. We were the new kids and well, these two boys weren't exactly fond of us so their plan was to kill us and they were successful. We woke up to this new life and even though I've never been able to come with a clear answer, you'll find out in time. This is a lot. I get it, but you've got each other. This job isn't fun, but you get used to it. The pain isn't even that bad." He left the room almost immediately and went with the others. 

The same scenario repeated once more. Bewildered eyes met the three boys upon their entrance, and paranoia engulfed the three murderers. Heeseung went ahead and peered into the classroom. Shaky legs, check. Nail biting check. Sweat, check. 

"This can't be happening. This isn't real. What if this is a prank?" Sunoo once more waved at them slightly before leaning in towards them. 

"I had fun at the party last night, maybe we can do it again. Or maybe you'd like to rest since I'm sure digging and dragging must be hard work." With innocent eyes, he smiled slyly and gave a head nod to Jungwon and Riki. 

"What's next? I doubt that they'd be willing to get caught up again." It was lunch time, which gave them time to decide on their next move. 

"You go to them. After all, where else would you find your phone?" Riki began to feel into his pockets but found nothing. 

"Damn it." Satisfied, the four left the three kids on their own. 

The clock struck eight when Jungwon knocked on the familiar wooden door which was opened by the oldest school boy. 

"Y-you guys. Why are you here?" 

"We wanted to party like last night but I left my phone here." Jungwon went straight to the nearest bedroom and found his phone comfortably tucked away under a pillow with a recording. 

"Well what do have here? A memory from last night." Sunoo pressed the small play button and let the audio run though. 

"Hurry the hell up will you!" 

"Did you bring your dad's car like I told you? Get on with it." 

"I'm sad it had to come to this." 

"Get them!" Their hands became tightly wrapped around their necks and before they knew it, they had experienced their third death. 

They went back to the familiar lot, repeating the motions and excavating through the hard ground to create a burrow for the bodies. 

"Dump the brown haired one first." When they managed to pat the dirt neatly and move on to the rest of the bodies, they were gone. 

"Huh? Is this the end of the party? But I wanted to have more fun." Sunoo walked out first and showed a small pout while watching terror and horror overtake the players in their presence. Without a thought, the shovel was swung and he came down, falling unconscious. 

"Boooo, all we wanted was to become friends. Is this really it?" Now Riki emerged from the trees, crossing his arms while glancing at Sunoo's body. 

Another swing over took him, but it was time for the final show. 

"Hi! I'm Jungwon and these are my friends Sunoo and Riki. Please treat us well." Jungwon tried to approach them but they instead fled towards the car, struggling to understand what was occurring. 

"Get away you-you ahh!" Jungwon and Sunoo crept from behind while Riki dangled the car keys in front of them. 

"Have a safe ride! Stay safe!" With the final shouts, Heeseung, Jake, Sunghoon and Jay finally left the shadows. 

Jay let out a maniacal laughter, which caused confusion with the three youngest. 

"Good job boys. Good job." Those were the final words he told them before going home. 

As sleep entered their systems, they began to wonder about their actions and Sunghoon's words from two nights before.

Humans themselves were responsible for the consequences. They were complex creatures, sure, but driven by power and greed can betray the good of anyone. They never created the killer. 

Like a cycle, they went at a similar time to the school in the morning only to cause the three boys to break down in tears.

------- 

taglist: @the-moon-lost-in-joy @twntycm  

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 2, Through the Maelstrom (3 of 3)

House Isekai ARR Masterlist Here

—

Client: Hilda Valentin Goneril

Refusing to work with the newly reformed House Isekai due to Class VII, Duvalie takes her orders and storms off to Goneril territory, trying to get home faster. Not wanting to leave Duvalie completely alone, Raelyn and Fireteam Alpha-Nine accompany her.

Reports indicate of a giant serpent-like beast terrorizing the ocean trade routes near Goneril territory, and an unknown entity accompanying it…

--

[Respite and Sunlight - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

The carriage carried a group of knights as it made its way towards the fishing town.

As the horses leisurely drew the carriage forth, the dirt kicking up on the path, the driver turned his head and shouted out.

(Driver) "We're almost there, milady."

Hilda sighed as she stretched, putting her head back onto the carriage.

(Hilda) "Finally. That took forever."

She looked around and noticed the two knights accompanying her were calmly sitting still, not saying a word.

(Hilda) "Am I seriously the only one who noticed?!"

(Knight 1) "No milady, we feel the same. Now isn't the time to be lax, however."

(Hilda) "Percy, I remember you being the one telling me that this town wasn't anything to be concerned about!"

(Knight 2) "It was, until that letter came in. We only put the request out three days ago, how could mercenaries possibly have responded that fast? And I do not like the descriptions of them either..."

(Percy) "I agree with Jonas. Tech that looks too advanced for random mercenaries to have? This seems like it's a trap..."

(Hilda) "I sincerely doubt the Separatists would cause any trouble for the Alliance. And what strategic importance would a fishing town like this have?"

(Jonas) "I think that's all the more reason to be wary, milady. Besides, orders from Lord Holst were specifically to-"

(Hilda) "Yeah yeah, I know, make sure I'm safe and everything. It's when we get out to the ocean, you guys can start doing your jobs properly."

Jonas looked at Percy, in which his response was just a shrug.

(Percy) "Hmph. I wonder what those mercenaries are like..."

...

Duvalie woke up and quickly looked around before her shoulders relaxed. They were still inside the building the Class VII members led them to.

Duvalie noticed the ODST's were already awake.

Dutch was near the window, looking at the small blue device curiously.

(Dutch) "Hell is this thing?"

It was making a small static noise, Dutch poked at it until Mickey came close and examined it himself.

(Mickey) "Looks like a jamming device of some kind."

(Buck) "Yeah, it's messing with my helmet's visor a little. You think a fishing town like this would have something that'd warrant a jammer?"

(Romeo) "Oh, you're finally awake."

The ODST's turned to Duvalie who picked up her sword and shield.

(Duvalie) "No one bothered to wake me up?"

(Mickey) "Hey, Fie's orders. Not ours."

Duvalie rolled her eyes and noticed Raelyn and Class VII were gone.

(Buck) "They said they were going out to patrol the area, wanted us to stay in here in case someone tried snooping around."

(Duvalie) "Guess that's fair enough."

Duvalie stood next to Buck, both of them not saying a word while Romeo cleaned his sniper and Mickey and Dutch were still examining the supposed jammer.

(Buck) "So...what exactly is your problem with those kids? If you don't mind me asking."

(Duvalie) "Ugh, we were enemies during a war, then we fought alongside each other and thats IT. Don't wanna talk about it. And we're NOT friends."

(Buck) "Alright, I believe ya. Dunno why you have to say it so forcefully."

(Duvalie) "Because it doesn't go through THEIR thick skulls! I DON'T LIKE REAN EITHER!"

(Buck) "Listen, Duvalie. I am right next to you. Stop frickin' screaming."

(Dutch) "Plus, you're making it harder to figure out what this is."

Duvalie and Buck turned to Mickey and Dutch who were still staring.

(Duvalie) "What in the hell is so fascinating about it that you two are still looking at it?!"

(Mickey) "Because, I don't think it's just a jammer. It's something else..."

That caught everyone's attention.

(Romeo) "...What makes you say that?"

(Dutch) "It's making some static noise, and it's sticky too. What kind of jammer is this small?"

(Duvalie) "Huh. I don't think we had anything like that in our world, so where did those brats...?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

(Raelyn's voice) "We have returned."

The door opened with the members of Class VII and Raelyn.

(Fie) "Coast looks clear, and looks like we already got someone to help out with the Serpent problem."

(Buck) "Damn, that was fast."

(Raelyn) "I recommend we hurry, lest we make the townsfolk angry again."

Everyone grabbed their equipment and left the house, Class VII leading the way.

(Mickey) "Hey, so those blue things you put in the house, what exactly are those?"

(Laura) "It's best we not say just yet."

(Dutch) "That's...reassuring."

(Elliot) "Anyways, we visited the tavern from yesterday and he said someone wants to see us there."

(Fie) "And you can leave your weapons down, it won't be a fight."

(Duvalie) "What makes you say that?"

As they were walking to the tavern, Hilda and her two knights exited and saw them.

[Musica Universalis - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

(Hilda) "Oh my gosh!"

(Elliot) "Ha, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

(Laura) "It's been quite a bit hasn't it, Hilda?"

(Fie) "Yo."

Hilda smiled as she ran up and grabbed all three of them into a hug.

(Hilda) "It's so good to see you guys again!"

(Percy) "Hey...you were with the professor when you came to Derdriu all those years back!"

(Jonas) "Don't think we've seen their friends though."

Hilda noticed the new group behind Class VII and raised an eyebrow.

(Hilda) "These your friends?"

(Raelyn) "Raelyn Amuto, at your service."

(Duvalie) "...Duvalie."

(Buck) "Call me Buck. Squad behind me is Mickey, Dutch, and Romeo."

(Elliot) "Hopefully, we just got here super recently ourselves. Though, Rean and the others can watch over them."

(Hilda) "Wait, everyone else is here?"

(Raelyn) "Not exactly."

Raelyn quickly caught Hilda and her knights up to speed.

(Hilda) "I see...So it's happening again?"

(Laura) "That's what we're here to investigate. Originally we came here to see what was blocking communications from Sitri to us, and find out what teleported this group here."

(Elliot) "After a day of investigating, we think it may actually have to do with the serpent problem you're having."

(Buck) "Huh, isn't that convenient."

(Duvalie) "When exactly did this problem pop up anyway? We only got here three days ago."

(Hilda) "Hm...I think it was about a week ago. Same time Claude let us know something was coming from the Tower, actually."

(Romeo) "...Too convenient."

[Briefing Time - Trails of Cold Steel 3 OST]

(Raelyn) "It seems to line up with our arrival. Has there been anything in the past House Isekai and your Houses have fought that can cause this amount of trouble?"

(Hilda) "Too much to count..."

(Laura) "It wouldn't be the first time for us."

(Fie) "I think we can kill two birds with one stone here then. We can investigate that Serpent and determine if it has anything to do with our problems."

(Hilda) "Sounds good to me."

(Dutch) "So...how exactly are we going to fight a giant water monster? Our gear isn't equipped for aquatic fights."

(Percy) "We have that taken care of. We're going to use a boat and investigate it the old fashioned way."

(Duvalie) "...That is the worst idea I've ever heard."

(Buck) "Inclined to agree with the lady. That seems a good way for our asses to get eaten out there."

(Elliot) "I'm kinda drawing a blank on what else to do. It's not like they have any high tech boats."

(Jonas) "Unfortunately, he's right. All of our efforts on expanding our sea travel has been fruitless, or its too early to tell. It only has been two years before we began these projects."

(Raelyn) "Us Space Marines are engineered to breathe underwater."

(Romeo) "Damn, is there anything you guys can't do?"

(Raelyn) "Have good luck."

(Duvalie) "Was that a joke?"

Raelyn's head slowly turned to Duvalie.

(Raelyn) "It is the last thing I would joke about. You all being near me already carries a risk of a violent death, including myself."

(Dutch) "What, your gun malfunction on you in battle a lot or something?"

(Raelyn) "It is a curse our Chapter seems to suffer. For one reason or another, something unfortunate happens, and I guarantee you it will happen when we attempt to hunt this beast."

(Hilda) "Jeez, quit that downer talk, we'll be fine! We've survived plenty worse than just some monster. Heck, it's not even our first monster we've fought!"

(Laura) "If that is the case, where is this boat?"

(Percy) "This way."

Percy and Jonas led the way to the docks, everyone following them.

Fie looked behind them and saw a small boy and girl staring at them. Specifically Raelyn.

She noticed an older girl walk up to them, she couldn't be older than 15. Fie put a mental pin on them and quickly followed along.

The older girl knelt down to get on their eye level.

(Older girl) "Hey, why are you staring at them so intensely, they didn't say something to you, did they?"

(Young girl) "Nuh uh, Mila! The big yellow man was super nice!"

(Young boy) "Yeah, he helped her out and everything!"

Mila had short brown hair and a small stature, carrying two daggers on her back.

(Mila) "Did he now...?"

...

The group took an Alliance controlled ship out into the coast, being helmed by the local garrison.

They set out to the last known location to where this Serpent had been reported, which fortunately was only an hour away from the town.

The day was bright and the winds were strong, and not a cloud in sight.

They skipped across the waters with relatively little trouble.

Hilda stood next to Class VII while everyone else was scattered.

(Elliot) "Man, I can't remember the last time we've been out by the sea."

(Laura) "A shame it wasn't for a more pleasant reason."

(Fie) "Oh, hey Buck."

Buck walked up to Hilda, followed by Raelyn and Duvalie.

(Buck) "Mind if we ask you something, miss Hilda?"

(Hilda) "What's up?"

(Buck) "Who exactly are these Separatists your townsfolk are so quick to anger about? An insurrection?"

(Laura) "I remember hearing about it while we were investigating the area as well."

Hilda frowned and looked back out to the sea.

(Hilda) "After House Isekai left Fodlan, our three nations decided to form a temporary pact in order to fix the damages done by Those Who Slither and the Church. It...hasn't been easy.

For the first two years, the Empire and Kingdom were at war, until it suddenly stopped with the Church to be the ones on the offensive.

The Battle of Gronder had all our blood shed, and its nothing that everyone can easily forgive with how recent it was.

So when news that we'd all be fighting as one, it made our citizens outraged. The only people who knew the truth about Zanado and Byleth was our militaries..."

(Elliot) "So, these Separatists...-"

(Hilda) "They've been wanting us to split up and leave each other be, just like it's always been. The Alliance has a mixture of Imperial and Kingdom Separatists, and Claude has been doing his best to keep the neutrality. It hasn't been easy, in addition to the Zanado Tower acting up again."

(Raelyn) "Which is why you sent this letter of the Serpent to Garreg Mach, correct?"

Hilda nodded.

(Hilda) "And if it requires House Isekai's help again, I fear the worst..."

(Laura) "Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to help Fodlan."

(Buck) "Not sure how long we'll be staying but, might as well. It's either that or be stuck here."

(Duvalie) "Wait a second, if you guys were stuck here before and got out, then how did you get in?"

(Fie) "Teleportation with the help of the Doom Slayer."

(Hilda) "Wait, he was the one that set you guys up with that?!"

(Raelyn) "I am not sure who he is, but perhaps he can teleport us out of here."

(Buck) "With how troublesome everything sounds, I sort of doubt it'd be that easy to get out of here."

(Fie) "Only one way to try."

Fie reached out a small crest of House Isekai's logo and pressed the center.

...Nothing happened.

(Fie) "Uh oh."

(Duvalie) "W-What does that mean?"

(Elliot) "Huh? That's how we were able to teleport from our world to the base! Why isn't it working?"

(Hilda) "Does that mean you're stuck here too?"

(Buck) "Well, that's fantastic..."

Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo were listening into the conversation.

(Dutch) "They got Insurrectionists to deal with too?"

(Romeo) "Great, that means we'll be here even longer."

(Mickey) "Their teleportation isn't working, so what is the cause of-"

(Percy) "Hey, we need everyone up here!"

[Dark Clouds Gather - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

The groups looked up and went to the top deck where the wheel was. Percy and Jonas stood near the captain.

(Hilda) "What's the problem?"

(Jonas) "The skies in front of us are suddenly starting to darken."

(Captain) "The weather the way it was, this was too fast for it to suddenly darken! Something's about to happen!"

(Buck) "...Motion tracker's picking up something!"

The ODST's turned on their visors, blocking out their faces while Raelyn silently looked at his tactical display.

(Raelyn) "I am detecting something as well."

(Romeo) "Hey, remember that conversation about your luck from earlier? Suddenly beginning to believe it..."

Everyone drew their weapons as the crew of the ship shouted, readying cannons and bows.

Hilda drew out her relic axe and looked in the water.

(Hilda) "Where exactly are you sensing this thing?"

The ODST's had their weapons drawn, slowly looking to their left. The movement was quickly circling around them.

(Elliot) "U-Um, how big is this Serpent, exactly?"

(Percy) "Not sure, reports are inconsistent."

(Raelyn) "If it is as big as we expect it to be, what's stopping it from tearing this boat in half?"

Raelyn readied his Bolter and quickly turned around to the back of the ship, finally seeing a shadow.

(Buck) "ON OUR SIX!"

Only the ODST's and Raelyn turned to the back at first.

It took everyone else a second to realize what Buck meant, turning around and facing the same direction.

[Wreck to the Seaman - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

The shadow quickly vanished underneath the ship, making everyone nervous of what its about to do.

The ODST's and Raelyn paid attention to their motion tracker, and realized it was suddenly in place.

(Romeo) "Why the hell's it stopping?"

(Raelyn) ...!!! "It's not! CAPTAIN, TURN YOUR SHIP TO THE RIGHT, NOW!"

The captain quickly got on the wheel and steered right, the wind forcing the ship to make a hard right.

From the waters emerged a massive serpent, the water splashing onto the ship and blowing back some of the crew members.

The waves rocked the ship violently, almost tipping it over.

(Elliot) "AGH!"

Elliot lost his footing and was about to go overboard before Dutch grabbed his arm.

(Dutch) "Hang on kid!"

The ship barely managed to balance itself, throwing itself back with a force that made everyone lose footing again.

Duvalie was the first to stabilize herself when she realized the serpent was staring at them.

As the serpent opened its mouth, it was about to strike before Duvalie leapt forward and hit its face with her shield, making it stagger back and roar in anger.

Duvalie used the force of her attack to launch herself back onto the ship, twirling her sword.

(Duvalie) "Little help?!"

(Percy) "FIRE THE CANNONS!"

Crew mates rushed to the cannons and lit the matches.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The cannons opened fire, most of them missing their mark while only one managed to hit the torso of the beast.

Raelyn and the ODSTs rushed to the side and held the triggers of their guns, the bullets rushing towards the head.

The serpent dove underwater to dodge the gunfire.

(Crew) "IT'S COMING AROUND THE OTHER SIDE!"

Its head emerged from the water on the opposite side of the ship, its head about to strike into the heart of the ship before Laura ran to the middle and swung her sword upwards, the blow knocking it away.

Fie used her gunblades to fire at its head as well, but the bullets deflected off the scales and it dove back underwater, this time no one being able to see where it went.

(Buck) "Dutch, Mickey! Heavy weapons, NOW! Romeo, crow's nest and snipe that son of a bitch!"

The ODST's nodded and quickly did as they were told, Raelyn going to Duvalie with his Bolter still raised.

(Duvalie) "Hey, Amuto, got any ideas?"

(Raelyn) "One, but with my luck-"

(Duvalie) "Grr, SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR BAD LUCK! It's either that, or we let the ship get torn in half!"

(Raelyn) "If that is the case, please hold onto this."

(Duvalie) "...Wha-"

Raelyn put his bolter into Duvalie's arm, almost making her tip over from the weight.

(Duvalie) "HUARGH!? H-HEY...W-WHAT TH HELL?!"

(Raelyn) "I will be right back."

Raelyn pulled out a knife and looked over to the side.

(Hilda) "H-Hey, what's the yellow guy doing?!"

(Elliot) "Huh?"

Elliot, Fie and Laura turned around and saw Raelyn peeking over the edge.

(Fie) "What is he...?"

(Laura) ?! "WAIT, ARE YOU GOING TO?!-"

(Raelyn) "BROTHERS, SISTERS! PREPARE FOR ITS RESURFACING!"

[Through the Maelstrom - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

Raelyn hopped over the ship's edge and dove straight into the water.

He quickly looked around, and noticing a shadow emerging from the depths as it was rushing upwards at him.

He did everything in his power to swim away from the ship and-

(Buck) "The hell is he-"

Everyone saw Raelyn shoot upwards as the Serpent's mouth grabbed him, the Space Marine now in its teeth.

Although it tried to devour him, the armor's weight and size made it extremely difficult to do so.

(Elliot) "OH AIDIOS!"

(Percy) "Is he insane?!"

(Romeo) "QUIT STARING AND FIRE DAMN IT!"

Romeo cocked his sniper's handle back and pulled the trigger, the shot ringing out across the air as the bullet attempted to hit the wildly flailing serpent.

Raelyn was being thrashed around, the teeth unable to go through his armor. He swung his knife into the beast several times to no effect despite it piercing the scales.

(Raelyn) "INCOMING!"

Having no option, he grabbed the beast's upper jaw and slammed his fist onto it, the force of the blow knocking the beast's head onto the ship.

The ship almost submerged itself into the water from the sheer weight of the serpent's head.

Everyone managed to keep their footing, letting Duvalie, Hilda, and Laura strike fast.

Duvalie dropped the Bolter and let it slide onto the floor as she stuck her sword into the teeth, breaking a few off and letting Raelyn awkwardly roll out of it's grasp.

Hilda smashed it's skull with her axe overhead, Laura swinging her sword sideways to strike at its mouth.

It recoiled back in pain, tipping the ship over again.

Raelyn was about to get on his feet before the cannons from the right side slid over and hit him back into the water.

(Hilda) "Wow, he wasn't kidding!"

The Bolter slid over into the water and landed near Raelyn, which he quickly grabbed and looked for the serpent again.

It was coming through the other side, but it was only now he realized how huge it was.

The tail was coming near him, and he rushed over to grab it as the tail violently dragged him along the water.

Dutch grabbed a Spartan Laser while Mickey had a rocket launcher, both of them checking their motion trackers.

(Buck) "Right side!"

Romeo reloaded his sniper and quickly spun around, being the first one to see the serpent emerge and fly towards the boat.

(Romeo) "It's gonna ram us!"

(Dutch) "Like hell it is!"

Dutch's Spartan Laser began to form a red line as it whirred up making a high pitched activation noise.

Mickey fired first, the rockets flying off and trying to lock onto the serpent. They went into the water as it nimbly swerved to the left and right, the waters catching the explosion.

Raelyn held on as the water's currents fought against him, using one hand at a time to climb up the serpent until he got near the eyes.

The pupil looked directly at Raelyn and widened, realizing he was there.

Raelyn's hand with the knife stabbed directly into the eye, making the serpent thrust upwards into the air, roaring and shaking into the air.

(Dutch) "GOTCHA!"

With another second passing, the Spartan Laser shot out a force even stronger than the cannon, a burning red beam of death searing through the Serpent's skin, making it drop into the water dead.

(Buck) "Good work, gentlemen."

(Elliot) "Whew, is everyone okay?"

(Percy) "Check on the equipment and for any wounded!"

(Jonas) "Captain, get us closer to the body we need to-"

Jonas stopped midsentence when he looked up.

Percy noticed it and turned around, seeing what he was staring at.

[Blinding Indigo - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

"An assassin from our homeland? Or a foolish trespasser upon these waters?"

(Jonas) "What in the hell?!"

(Percy) "SOMETHING'S UP HERE!"

(Buck) "OPEN FIRE!"

Fie and Buck pointed their guns and pulled the triggers, the bullets passing through the aquatic creature's body, letting them drop onto the floor, water splashing from the impact.

"Very well. Then Her power shall crush the miscreant that dares pollute these waters."

The creature began glowing, making the clouds above them start pouring rain and the water glow as well.

The Serpent Raelyn was still attached to started glowing a pale blue, the wound quickly regenerating. He was quick to aim his bolter and open fire on it, but had no effect.

Hilda and Laura ran up to it with their weapons swinging overhead, it quickly teleporting away as it vacantly stared at them.

Elliot was about to cast a spell with his staff until he realized the rain was forming puddles on the ship, slowly bubbling.

(Elliot) "Uh, guys?!"

Birds made of water emerged from the puddles and flew at Elliot, the force of the impact making him fall onto the floor.

Romeo immediately turned his attention to the bird and pulled the trigger.

The bird exploded into water, it calmly splashing down onto the ship.

Hearing something behind him, he reached for his pistol and spun around, pulling the trigger.

The bird exploded, and it was then he realized a puddle was beneath him.

From the puddle emerged a wolf-like creature that leapt up, knocking Romeo off the tower.

Before he could land, Duvalie caught him and set him down to the floor and raising her shield as the wolf leapt on top of her.

Its teeth was made of water as well, but Duvalie didn't want to find out if it hurt just as bad as a real wolf, so she plunged her sword into its body making it explode.

Mickey switched to an SMG and opened fire on the other puddles before anything else could show up, Buck and Fie joining in while Hilda, Laura, Jonas, and Percy fought other wolves.

Dutch was about to switch weapons before hearing the water explode behind him.

The Serpent was glowing the same blue as the winged creature, Raelyn still on top of it, stabbing it with his knife.

(Dutch) "Oh for the love of-"

He aimed his Spartan Laser at the Serpent again, only for the shot to be taken and hitting birds that flew in the way.

Elliot rushed over and healed Romeo of any injuries, making him push away the staff.

(Romeo) "Stop healing me and get to killing these things!"

Romeo reloaded his pistol while Duvalie dispatched of another wolf that was trying to attack from behind.

(Duvalie) "They just keep coming!"

Meanwhile, Raelyn lost count of how many times he stabbed the head of this beast, it would not stop moving.

It tried ferociously to be rid of Raelyn, eventually dunking its head back underwater and using the tail to swipe him off.

Raelyn flipped several times underwater, trying to steady himself as the Serpent bit Raelyn again, this time half his body inside it's mouth.

He said nothing as he remained calm, putting his bolter into the mouth before he was thrown out of the water and into the air.

Raelyn broke through the top deck and landed onto the bottom, creating a massive hole on the top part of the ship.

The Serpent's tail slammed onto the side of the ship as it wrapped its head around to the front deck of the ship.

Dutch aimed the laser at the head, until realizing it was too close to the ship.

(Dutch) "Damn it, I'd just rip this ship apart if I took the shot!"

Fie hopped onto the Serpent's back with both her gunblades anchoring her onto it, making it twitch only a little.

She pulled the triggers several times as the bullets went into its body.

It loosened up its grip on the ship, Laura using her sword to chop off part of the tail, making it roll over and tripping some of the crew and water-formed creatures.

Buck picked off one target after the other, struggling to reload.

A wolf jumped onto him, the teeth scraping against his helmet's visor as he grabbed his knife and plunged it straight into its neck, making it disappear.

As he got up, he noticed that the winged creature only staring at them.

(Buck) "The hell is this thing?!"

Elliot tried to heal any injured crew member he could while Hilda, Percy, and Jonas covered him.

Slamming his spear into a wolf, Jonas turned to HIlda.

(Jonas) "What do we do?! There are too many of them!"

The ship slowly began to crack loudly as the serpent's grip refused to let go.

(Captain) "At this rate, the ship is going break!"

(Percy) "Wait, wheres your yellow friend?!"

(Duvalie) "Think we saw him make a hole into the lower decks!"

(Dutch) "Then what is he-"

Cannons fired onto the serpent's side that was directly next to the ports, before an entire cannon was thrown out, a rope attached to it making the serpent drop from the weight.

It finally loosened its grip and struggled to get the attached cannons off of it.

(Raelyn) "The rope will not hold, TAKE THE SHOT BROTHER DUTCH!"

(Dutch) "GOTCHA!"

Dutch grabbed his Spartan Laser and charged it, aiming at the head.

Multiple puddles formed around Dutch before the others rushed to it and stuck their weapons inside.

As several birds were about to fly into the shot again, Raelyn emerged from the lower decks and opened fire with the bolter, the shots thundering out and completely shattering them into droplets.

Dutch's Spartan Laser kicked back as the beam hit his target, its head being completely blown off, making the serpent's body go limp and dissolve into the water.

The winged creature suddenly stopped glowing, making the ODST's spin around and open fire, the bullets going into the creature.

Hilda, Fie, Laura, and Duvalie swung their weapons at it, the streaks of their weapons severing it.

Elliot's staff formed into a violin-like shape as he casted a spell that formed a circle of light, blasting upwards and making the creature finally dissipate into the air.

[End Song]

The weather finally began to clear above them, everyone now trying to catch their breath.

(Dutch) "Lord, can you please get us out of this ocean now?"

The ship began to making an uncomfortably loud screeching noise before crewmates were on it, trying to fix the damages.

(Dutch) "...So was that a yes or no?"

An explosion occured where the serpent's body was, a mixture of the rain and saltwater pouring down onto them. A tiny rainbow formed from the storm in sight of the direction back to the town.

(Dutch) "...Amen."

(Fie) "Ugh, finally."

(Elliot) "That wasn't like anything we fought before..."

(Hilda) "Whew...to be fair, don't think we ever had to fight in the ocean."

(Duvalie) "So, do any of us have an idea of-AAAAAGH!"

Duvalie suddenly fell to one knee, grabbing her head.

(Buck) "H-Hey, what's-URGH!"

Buck quickly followed suit, then the ODST's fell to one knee as well, mimicking her action.

The members of Class VII and Raelyn were soon to follow, their heads pounding as their vision suddenly faded to white.

...

...

It was an empty lake with a strange platform in the middle, the sun was bright and the skies only had a few clouds.

And going towards that platform was a blonde-braided man and a small floating companion.

(Paimon) "Hm...Is it a good idea to mess with this?"

(Aether) "It's where the villagers told us that this...thing was, so it's not going to get rid of itself.

(Paimon) "Yeah, but still-"

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard something appear behind them.

It was a small floating creature with a staff, laughing maniacally.

(Aether) "Damn it, why now?"

Aether's sword materialized into his hand and was about to swing before a bright light appeared in front of them, catching the both of them off guard.

(Abyss Mage) "Eh?"

(Aether) "What the?-"

The bright light made the both of them step back, Aether accidentally triggering the platform, and the weather suddenly clouded up.

(Paimon) "Uh oh!"

(Aether) "Damn, now we have to deal with this-"

Before he could finish, the bright light exploded and made the air push them back, before slowly pulling them in.

The Abyss Mage and whatever was summoned with the platform was sucked into the light.

Aether and Paimon came dangerously close to before he shot a powerful gust of wind out of his hand, making him fly further back as the light quickly disappeared.

The weather returned to normal as he got up trying to catch his breath.

(Paimon) "What the heck was that?!"

(Aether) "I...I have no idea..."

Everything started to turn into a static mess as Aether and Paimon slowly faded out of view...

...

(Hilda's voice) "Hey...HEY!"

Everyone's vision returned to them as they looked around confused.

(Percy) "What was that about?"

(Buck) "Alright...we all saw that too right?"

(Duvalie) "Agh...you mean that lake platform thing...?"

(Laura) "I...saw it too!"

(Raelyn) "As did I...None of us possess any psychic abilities I am unaware of, correct?"

(Mickey) "If I had the ability do that crap, I would've in that fight!"

(Hilda) "What are you guys talking about?!"

Everyone turned to Hilda and her knights. It seemed they were unaffected.

(Fie) "You...didn't see that?"

(Hilda) "No, you guys just all reached for your head at the same time!"

They all looked at each other now.

(Elliot) "Was that some kind of dream?"

(Dutch) "Looked more like a memory to me."

(Romeo) "Memory of what? Who the hell were they? And what was that winged bastard we were just fighting having to do with that?"

(Jonas) "Captain, take us back to port."

(Captain) "No need to tell me again. RAISE THE SAILS, LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Everyone slowly rose up, with Raelyn helping Duvalie up.

They all remained quiet on the ride back.

An hour passed as they finally reached the shore, reaching for their heads.

(Laura) "If we go to another ocean, it will be too soon..."

(Fie) "Let's go head back to the building and-..."

Fie frowned as her ARCUS unit was now beeping.

(Fie) "...Someone's been inside."

They all reached for their weapons and slowly approached it, including the door.

Percy and Jonas quickly scattered the townsfolk, Hilda drawing her axe and joining them.

The ODST's went near the door and silently held up their weapons, turning to the others and nodding.

Duvalie raised her shield and was the first one in, kicking down the door and drawing her sword.

(Duvalie) "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

(Mila) "AAAAAGH!"

The young girl fell backwards, completely terrified of all the weapons suddenly pointing at her.

Romeo and Raelyn looked around the room to make sure no one else was present.

(Fie) "Hey...you're that girl who was talking to those kids."

(Mila) "I-I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU ANGRY! I WAS JUST CURIOUS!"'

Fie turned to the blue devices she stuck on the walls and back to the girl.

(Mila) "U-Uh, I was just wanting to talk to the big yellow guy!"

Everyone turned to Raelyn, who looked back at the girl.

(Raelyn) "...What is it?"

(Mila) "I-I was just wanting to thank you for helping those kids? From yesterday?"

(Raelyn) "...Ah. I do not believe she means us harm."

Everyone slowly put away their weapons while Raelyn took off his helmet and knelt down.

(Raelyn) "Why did you break in here?"

(Mila) "The door was open, promise! At first I checked to see if you were home and...well, then I got curious."

(Elliot) "You could've gotten hurt! You're lucky it was just us, I don't think other mercenaries would be nice enough to let you go unscathed!"

Mila was about to say something before noticing Hilda.

(Mila) "M-MILADY!"

She quickly scrambled to get on one knee before Hilda sighed.

(Hilda) "Hey, come on kiddo. Get up, no need for that around me."

(Mila) "Are...are you guys just mercenaries?"

Raelyn cleared his throat to catch her attention.

(Raelyn) "Yes, we are. Do not mistake our intentions, we were just for the coin. But...give the children my regards. My name is Raelyn. Yours?"

(Mila) "M...Mila."

Raelyn nodded.

(Raelyn) "Then I will see you home. Everyone else we should prepare to get moving."

(Buck) "Right. Pack it up ladies, let's get ready to move."

(Dutch) "On it."

Mickey and Romeo nodded and checked around the house for leftover equipment.

Duvalie shrugged and stood in the corner with the members of Class VII. Hilda stayed with them as Raelyn walked out with Mila.

Fie activated her ARCUS unit and checked the screen.

The blue devices started to beep rapidly, making everyone turn around to see what the noise was.

(Mickey) "So...now can we know what that is?"

(Fie) "Yup. First we just gotta get away. No evidence and all that."

(Mickey) "...Oh, that explains why it looked familliar."

(Duvalie) "Huh? W-What is it?"

(Buck) "...Are we safe-"

(Fie) "I gotta push the button first. We're fine. We put these here last night in case we had to leave early."

(Elliot) "We made sure this building was abandoned and out of the way of everyone."

(Hilda) "Uh...what are they talking about?"

(Laura) "We have our things, let us get moving."

...

Raelyn walked alongside the girl, his helmet underneath his arm.

(Raelyn) "Mila, do your parents know you like to snoop around like this?"

(Mila) "Hah...y-yeah. It wasn't for anything bad, I promise!"

(Raelyn) "Hmph. Those children, who are they to you? Siblings?"

(Mila) "Nah, they're orphans. From the war..."

(Raelyn) "War?"

(Mila) "You know...the Five-year war? The one with the Church and Empire?"

(Raelyn) "Ah. My apologies, it seems I forgot."

(Mila) "Are you really mercenaries? Figured you would've remembered that at least."

(Raelyn) "...I am. My age is getting the better of me is all."

Mila raised an eyebrow at Raelyn's half assed excuse.

(Raelyn) "Regardless, you did not answer my question."

(Mila) "Oh, right. Well they were kids that were on the streets for a while. None of us really knew what to do, so I became friends with them! They ended up following me around everywhere for the past three years."

(Raelyn) "Then you have a good heart it seems. What are their names?"

(Mila) "The boy is Emil, and the girl is Lena."

(Raelyn) "Well then, take care of Emil and Lena. They are going to need you for the coming times."

(Mila) "Yeah..."

Raelyn stopped following when Mila approached a door, assuming it to be her house.

(Raelyn) "Take care then, Mila."

(Mila) "W-Wait, where will you guys go?"

(Raelyn) "I cannot say. Wherever the wind takes us I suppose."

(Mila) "Will...we see you again?"

Raelyn put on his helmet and turned to her.

(Raelyn) "If the Emperor wills it, then yes."

(Mila) "Emperor? Like, Emperor Edelgard?"

(Raelyn) "Er...different one."

KABOOM!

Raelyn turned to the source of the explosion, seeing his group semi-casually walking away from it.

(Mila) "What the?!"

(Raelyn) "Get inside. I will investigate."

Mila nodded and quickly went inside while Raelyn walked over to the group.

(Citizen) "Good goddess, the building collapsed on itself?!"

(Citizen 2) "No one was hurt, were they?"

(Citizen 3) "N-No, just-" cough cough "Some dust!"

(Fie) "Aaaand that's your answer to what they were."

(Duvalie) "Bombs?!"

(Laura) "We wanted to cover our tracks."

(Raelyn) "Would that not make them suspicious of us even more?"

(Elliot) "No more than they already were."

Buck's visor picked up signatures to their side, quietly watching them.

(Fie) "There's been people watching us ever since we arrived."

(Dutch) "Think it's those insurrectionists?"

(Hilda) "Too early to tell. We'll investigate things from our end."

(Mickey) "Well, good luck to ya then, ma'am."

Hilda nodded and went joined Percy and Jonas who were looking at the collapsed building.

(Buck) "Well then, mission accomplished on our end. Wonder how the other kids are doing."

(Duvalie) "More importantly, I want answers to whatever the hell's going on with this talk of separatists and that vision thing."

As they walked away from the town, Mila watched from the window.

(Mila) "Just who are you...?"

PART 2: ENDED

TO BE CONTINUED…

[Lost in Paradise - ALI]

Gotta get it homie gotta move it If you gonna do it then, push everything to the side Everybody just talk nobody really do it You should keep a secret until you actually do it No need to double check with someone Use your judgement only, break the walls Let’s do flashy fake More Cool, keep it low, prove them wrong I won’t give up the fight in my life 'Cause my life is living for love I won’t give up the fight in my life Stand off and groove on time Tokyo prison Going to relight your feelings When times get too rough Night and day are fading Going to relight your feelings There’s no time to explain Gimme your love Access to your love Oh yeah Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out When times getting rough Access to your love Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out Keep on dancing now Hеy hey hеy hey heyeah

[dropintomanga]

Attack on Titan's Ending - We're Now All Free

So this was finally it, huh? A manga that debuted in 2009 which became an anime/manga phenomenon in 2013 and would later still have a significant place in manga history ended this month. Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan was a title that I liked a lot and while there were some great moments in its final arc, the manga seemed like it tried a bit too hard to emphasize the complexity of human beings. Then again, maybe that's been the whole point of the series.

Spoilers abound after the jump.

I got to read up on the chapters that made up Volume 34. To be honest, it felt like somewhat of a mess. The whole backstory about Ymir Fritz confuses me a bit. I know that I will need to re-read the entire series to get a clearer idea. I got that the series became some kind of commentary on how people are always finding ways to divide one another via their differences.

It's just that I missed the old days, pre-basement. Attack on Titan was labeled as a horror action manga to a certain degree. I recently was reading an article about CM Punk (a former WWE wrestler who was very popular, but left the business after frustrations with management) and he talked about a horror movie he was cast in. Punk was asked about his love of horror and he said:

"I grew up on it, you know? I grew up on it because it was taboo. When things are taboo and you’re told you’re not allowed to watch it, what do you do? You watch it! You watch a lot of it. As you grow older, smarter and get some wisdom about the world, you realize that horror is the genre that tackles, before any other movie genre, the hard-hitting issues. Dating all the way back to George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead tackling racism. I love a great slasher movie, right? Jason Voorhees and some camp counselors. Just let them loose."

As many fans who follow Attack on Titan will tell you, the story takes a huge shift from the days of Titans eating humans and the mystery surrounding them to a world where humanity is actually thriving and politics are a big reason why the events of Attack on Titan are the way they are. I know some people dropped the series after that. I don't blame them because to be frank, the series loses some of its unique appeal as most fans have seen stories of the latter quite often. There were still horror elements (albeit very few), but the tension delivered later on in most scenes weren't ones that gave readers chills down their spines.

I wrote a lot about Attack on Titan. I wrote about Mikasa, Hange, Annie, Eren's stress, Levi's past, etc. But once that time-skip happened, I never felt compelled to write about Attack on Titan much. There was some good exploration about Reiner's guilt about his actions early on. But nothing was super-compelling to talk about honestly to me. I think the time-gap between the 1st and 2nd anime seasons didn't help and so many exciting series (mostly from Shonen Jump) were coming out around that time period.

I did think the ending was okay. I do believe that Isayama was trying to point out that bringing real change in society comes from talking to one another in person despite differences. This was reflected in a campfire scene before the final battle where all of the "good guys" and the "bad guys" sat together to hash it out. You don't have to like one another, but never let differences become radicalized to the point of no return. I'll admit that this isn't easy and these things never are. Plus, talk should mostly be a starting point to get rid of injustice.

What I've learned from my own experiences is that I sometimes get anxious over certain conversations with people that I may not agree with. But once they happen in a safe environment and no one's shouting, I actually learn something and so does the other person. I can't assume everyone who disagrees with me is an awful person. I will never, ever suggest social media as a way to have those kinds of conversations because some people are either too awful or just say well-intentioned things without thinking about the person's true feelings.

And about people I truly dislike, I just look at them with pity because I know they're just being brainwashed by grifters/scammers/cult-like leaders.

Having those kinds of perspectives really benefited my mental health, so I guess I can appreciate Isayama for highlighting what it means to live among people who I don't always feel comfortable around.

I also love the Ackermans (Mikasa and Levi) for being the ones to take out the end-game threats. They're a family known to be Titan-killers, but there's also some Asian blood within them. I got a funny sense of Asian pride in seeing Mikasa and Levi wreck shit and getting respect for it.

While the ending felt similar to Code Geass, I kind of understand the view point on being the world's enemy to bring the world together. It's just a bit too naive. Even after all that, people are still at conflict with another only without Titans around. Maybe that's the whole point - the fact that self-sacrifice isn't a panacea to life's complexities. Martyrdom is sometimes worshipped a bit too much and there's a good number of disenfranchised young men who fall in love with that idea.

To end this post, I think back to how Isayama came up with the idea of Attack on Titan. He said that the story came to him after seeing a frustrated customer grab him by the collar while working at an internet cafe. Isayama noted how scary the person was and it was hard to communicate with him. The whole point of Attack on Titan is not just freedom, but getting past communication barriers with other people we fear.

When it comes to freedom, a lot of people seem to have a naïve and/or child-like sense of it. I see this a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic. They think freedom is basically the right to do whatever you want and not be punished for it. However, true freedom involves doing as you please and having the ability to be responsible to yourself and other people.

I know this viewpoint irks people, but the whole ending gives off that vibe. I have to respect Isayama for that.

I think that's all I have to say about Attack on Titan. This series played a big part in helping the anime and manga industries post-2008. It also made me see the possibility of a mainstream shonen hit that wasn't from Jump. I was one of the first people to pay attention to the series before it was licensed in English. I even got praise from Kodansha folks saying that I played a huge part in bringing the series over.

So I have a lot of fun memories. One of my personal favorite memories was during NYCC 2013 where a huge gathering of Attack on Titan cosplayers at Kodansha Comics' booth and Japanese news programming was there to film it. I got to witness all of that interaction between Americans and Japanese. I left the gathering thinking that things were really on the up-and-up for anime and manga perception over in the U.S. We're now in a golden age of anime/manga and Attack on Titan deserves credit for bringing us to it.

So thanks, Hajime Isayama, for showing the world what Kodansha stories are all about - inspiring impossible stories.

[xxkellsvixen19xx]

Forget Me Not Jim Mason x Reader 50 First Dates AU Pt 3

Jim laid a hand on her thigh out sight and casual-like. Just a light pressure to let Y/N know he was there for her.

Her entire body tightened, and she darted a glance around the table to see if anyone was watching. Everyone else was far too interested in their conversation and the joint floating around. He leaned over slightly to whisper by her ear. "You know they love you to pieces. It's going to be just fine, angel eyes."

His use of her nickname made her lips twitch. But even more importantly, to his delight she snuck her hand over his, linking their fingers together and squeezing tightly in response.

"You two got something on your mind over there?" Chad's question buzzed angrily in Jim's ears.

It was rather amazing how much disapproval could be put into such simple words.

Y/N took a deep breath, but before she could speak Jim decided what the hell. He'd sooner be skinned for the whole disaster, no matter what she'd said before.

"Not a secret," Jim announced. "We're dating."

Other than her quick gasp of shock, there was no response to his comment. Not for a full five seconds. Then an uproar of noise hit from all sides.

"The hell?"

"Since when?"

"Are you serious?"

Over all the questions and cussing lay a deep, heavy rumble, starting low then increasing in volume until Mr. Y/D/L/N's laugh broke through. He waved his sons off. "Calm yourself, boys. You really surprised by this?" He clicked his tongue. "Never thought I’d raised a pack of dullards. I saw this coming from a mile away."

Y/N gave Jim  a dirty look before facing her father.

"What's that mean?"

The older man shrugged. "Means I'd seen you two making calf eyes at each other when you thought no one was looking. About time you came to your senses."

Chad stumbled to vertical, glaring daggers at Jim. "Bullshit. You can't be dating Y/N."

Jim stood to meet him eye to eye across the table. "Not your decision."

"She's still recovering from the accident. She doesn't need to get involved with anyone."

A stream of very creative swearing burst free from a most unexpected source. Jim waited cautiously until Chad looked away before also turning toward Y/N.

She'd stood as well, her much shorter status very clear as everyone loomed over her from where they’d all risen to their feet around the table. The vile language spewing from her mouth stuttered to a stop as she whipped out her finger and stuck it in her oldest brother’s face.

"The accident happened two months ago. I. Bumped. My. Head. That's it. I didn't have a lobotomy or revert to childhood. I've had enough of you wrapping me in cotton and refusing to let me do anything on my own. Yes, I have gaps in my memory, and yes, dealing with that is a pain in the ass. But you, Chad"-she glared around the table to take in all her brothers-"all of you, are even bigger pains. I did not break my brain, or my body. My sex drive did not vanish out the broken window, and I will not allow you, or anyone else, decide what will or won't happen in my life."

Jim wasn't sure the mention of sex was the wisest idea as eyes narrowed further, and fists were clenched. Only he couldn't worry about that because she'd spun her fury toward him.

"And you! You're the biggest pain of them all. I told you I wanted to do this myself. You agreed, and now you just leap in and do exactly the opposite of what I asked for? Damn you." Y/N stepped back from the table, her eyes full of fire as she planted her feet wide and crossed her arms. "Jim and I are not going out," she stated clearly.

Oh, shit. She was more upset by his taking control than he’d expected. He reached for her, but she twisted from his grasp.

"Forget it, Jim. We might be seeing more of each other in the future if you get your head out of your ass, but the only reason will be because you might be the father of my baby."

The question exploded from five male throats at the same moment.

Y/N lifted her chin, cheeks red, her chest heaving. "Yes. I'm pregnant. Jim insists he could be. That's all I'm going to say about this tonight because I'm sick of all of you. Good night."

She twirled on her heel and stomped from the room, the door slamming shut after her. Jim wavered between running after her and staying to explain to the guys.

He never saw it coming. The fist that connected with his jaw made stars burst before his eyes, and he stumbled backward before landing on the floor, five very angry faces staring down at him.

"Shall we bury him alive in the back forty?" Danny asked, wiggling his fingers to shake out the blow he’d delivered. "Hang him in the garage. We can use the welder’s torch and skin him first."

Jim shoved aside the anger inside that wanted to flare like a torch. "Let me explain, dammit."

Chad dragged a hand over his head then gestured his brothers aside. He extended his hand to Jim.

Jim eyed it with distrust.

His friend snorted. "Look, you surprised us all, but I’m not going to beat you any further, and neither will the others."

"Speak for yourself," Alex drawled. "What the hell is going on, Jim?"

"Boys, let him up." Y/D/F/N Y/D/L/N pushed through his sons to cast an unreadable stare upon Jim.

Alex looked disappointed. "Does this mean we're not killing him and hiding the body?"

Y/D/F/N rested a hand on his shoulder. "Not today, but there's still hope for tomorrow."

And with that, Jim sighed in relief. He was going to be forgiven, at least by the guys. ,Y/N on the other hand, was another issue. He'd have to watch his balls around her for the next while.

They all settled around the table, a little uneasy. More awkward than he'd ever felt with the family. "So, now what?" Alex asked.

"That one is easy," Y/D/F/N answered. "Now Jim finds a way to convince Y/N they’re a couple. If she's going to have a baby, she needs all the support she can get."

"So you’d better find a way to convince Y/N she wants you in her life, or else," Chad snapped. Chad's ultimatum pissed Jim off all over.

"There’s nothing I want more." The secret seed of fear inside was shoved down and ignored as Jim went nose to nose with his stubborn best friend. “Did you not listen to what I said about sending you an email, you stupid ass? Did you not hear the part about how I'm the one who came to her before she even told me about the baby?"

"Easy words to say when none of it can be proved."

"Still say we take him outside and work him over,"  Alex muttered.

"Shut up, all of you." Mr. Y/D/L/N didn’t shout. Didn't storm, but his intensely spoken comment quelled all four of his sons. "Stop poking at Jim. He knows what he did was wrong, and if my baby girl is going to have a man in her life, I like Jim."

Warmth rushed him at the man’s words of acceptance. "Thank you, sir."

Y/D/F/N turned toward him with ice in the depths of his purple eyes. "You hurt her again, though, and I'll shoot you myself."

Ahh, family. Jim straightened up and wondered if he was going to survive.

Remembering the expression of fury in Y/N's eyes, he just might be better off dealing with the guys.

*********************************************

Y/N pulled herself alert. She was only a moment away from sliding into a puddle of relaxation in the overstuffed easy chair, tired from her week and everything that had been going on.

Medina had plopped herself on the floor to apply a new layer of polish to Y/N's toes. Instead of Friday night at the pub, Medina had suggested a girls’ home spa. The laid-back evening was so much better than fighting the noise and the crowds. Y/N was in heaven.

"Skipping away from the baby talk for a minute." Heather leaned forward on her elbows. "Tell me to butt out if you're not sharing, but what's this I hear about Jim.Mason basically camping out in your front yard?"

Y/N wasn't sure if she was pissed off or pleased with his relentless attention. "I laid down the law about two weeks ago, and ever since he's been trying to get back in my good books."

"Is it working?" Medina snorted. "Jim has not yet perfected the art of the grovel, we'll just put it that way."

"Hmm." Cami and Annisa, two more of Y/N's friends, exchanged glances. "A good grovel is always nice,”  Cami admitted.

"Followed by make-up sex, right?" Annisa grinned. "So, what’s he not doing right? Not being determined enough?"

Y/N stopped to think for a minute. Jim had been persistent-that much was in his favor. "I don’t think he understands what he did wrong in the first place."

"Of course he doesn’t." Heather grabbed a pitcher and topped up her drink. "He’s a guy. The words 'I was wrong' kind of stick in their throats and end up coming out as 'Get over it, little woman, I know best.'

A snort escaped before Y/N could stop it. "Yeah, that’s about the entire story."

"So, all he needs to do is say he was wrong?" Medina tilted her head to the side. "I would have thought this situation required more than that."

"Oh, 'I was wrong' would be the first step," Y/N agreed. "But until he figures out that this is my life, I'm not letting him back in. It's bad enough with my brothers wanting to make decisions for me."

"And you don’t need another big brother, right?" Ava winked at her. "I know you probably hate getting asked, but how are you feeling?"

"Much better,” Y/N admitted happily. "Morning sickness is done. Lots of energy. I haven’t got back my memory, but I have progressed in my math beyond two plus two is four."

"Hmm, too bad you have no memory of sexing it up with Jim." Cami waggled her brows. "I bet he’s got some moves."

"I can’t believe sex with Jim wasn’t memorable enough to stay in your brain no matter what. I mean, do you think he's got a teeny penis or something, and your mind is trying to wipe that out?"

"Not the size of the equipment, it’s how well they use it," Annisa quipped innocently, batting her lashes at the laughter that rose from the other women. "Well, that’s what they say, right?"

"No, I doubt Jim is lacking penis power. Unless he's shoving socks into his jock strap, the guy's got the goods."

Like a barometer, Y/N’s cheeks had responded to the chatter. She didn't really want to speculate on Jim's... equipment. "Sorry. Memory loss doesn’t pick and choose to save the juicier tidbits for repeat consumption. We'll have to stick with 'I don't remember’ on this one."

Laughter exploded, and Y/N relaxed back into her happy haze of food and friends. It wasn't the size of Jim's equipment that interested her -well, okay, not completely. But if she remembered the act, she'd know for sure who was involved in making the baby in her belly. She slipped her hands over the slight bulge beginning to show and wished again for a miracle, like total recall. It didn't come, but the friendship and warmth around her helped. Helped a lot.

The next morning Jim shifted uneasily on his feet and waited for Y/N to answer his knock. It was just past ten. Late enough she would have had time to sleep in a little and dress, because he didn't need any temptation to mess this up.

It sort of worked. She was awake. The woman who pulled the door open had bright eyes and a rested face; only she was still wrapped in a mass of soft terry cloth. Her robe ended at mid-thigh, and Jim snapped his gaze back up to safer territory.

He swallowed hard. "Hi."

She lifted one brow in a perfect Vulcan imitation. "Hi." Jim paused. "How you doing?"

Y/N nodded. "Good."

Ah, fuck it. "I'm so sorry, Y/N. I was an ass, and I had no right to butt in and go around your wishes."

She opened the door all the way and they headed towards the kitchen. She watched with a bemused attitude from where she’d pushed herself up to sit on the counter. "What are you doing, Jim?"

"Apologizing." He lifted his glass to her. "Trying to find a way to truly be there for you and make up for my stupid move at dinner a while back."

Y/N lifted her hand to touch his jaw where the final tinge of a bruise was slowly fading. "You got worked over by my brothers that night. I'm sorry for leaving you to them."

Jim stood stock-still as her soft fingers caressed his cheek. "I blew it more ways than one that night."

"You did." She patted his cheek gently then leaned forward to whisper, “But I'm ready to forgive you. Only for heaven's sake, stop acting like some ball-less dweeb."

Jim couldn't help but to laugh. "That's blunt."

Y/N shrugged. "It’s the new Y/N-I tend to speak my mind a little sooner. So here’s the deal. You will not fuck up and go against my express wishes, and I'll stop my brothers from beating on you."

Jim nodded. "And you'll let me get involved in your life; however it will help you the most. Whether that’s getting things ready for the baby's arrival, or being there to rub your feet or ..." He'd spotted the circle on the calendar on the wall. "Or going to prenatal visits with you."

She hesitated. "I don't know how I feel about that."

"That’s not true." Jim laid a hand over hers where it rested on the counter. "Come on, new Y/N, tell me what's racing through your mind."

She stared down at their fingers. "I'm afraid to let you in, I'm afraid to have you around and then have you taken off down the road." Her head lifted and those beautiful eyes stared into his soul. "I want you to be there for more than just the baby."

Jim stroked her fingers lightly. "I’m here. In spite of your fears." In spite of his own. "I wanted you before the baby was in the picture, and I'll want you no matter what." That much he could say with full and complete honesty.

The moment hung between them. Anticipation and longing right there. All his concerns and worries were overwhelmed by the need to have Y/N make the decision for him. To be with him, and give him a chance. Even though her accepting him would open up a world of nightmares-facing those would be worth it. Had to be worth it. He'd chosen to be a better man than his father, and this was the place that he made his stand.

Y/N moved so slowly, but finally she did move. Leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. He slipped up a hand to brush the inch-long hair over her scalp, the softness against his palm like satin.

She leaned away. "Okay."

His heart raced like an out-of-control train. "Okay?"

She nodded. "You can come to the prenatal with me. And you can do some stuff around here, to help get things ready for the baby."

Jim waited, then got tired of waiting. "And us?" He demanded.

Her tongue snuck out quickly as she moistened her lips. "Well, I suppose we could start seeing each other."

He wanted to toss his fist into the air and shout, but that might freak her out. So instead he picked her up and twirled her. Hugging her close as she laughed. "Put me down, silly."

Jim lowered her carefully, reluctant to allow her warm, soft body to leave contact with his. "Does that mean we can go on a date?"

"Yes." She got an evil look in her eyes. He lowered himself onto the open space next to her, leaving room between them. There would be time to make a move on the physical side of things soon enough, now that she was letting him in. Letting him have a chance to do the right thing, and more.

She leaned back, the sunshine in the window making her soft and edible, and incredibly beautiful. "You have any plans for the day?"

"You are my plans."

Her smile bloomed, and Jim's heart swelled a little. It wasn’t what he’d expected to be doing, but in the big scheme of things-it was right.

@michael-langdon-appreciation

Credit to @carolthors

[clicktestspeed]

Best Wireless Gaming Mouse To Improve Gaming Experience

The best wireless gaming mouse models combine a rich spec sheet and lag-free connection with a battery life that can last an entire session.

The good news is that these rats have traditionally been more expensive than their bred siblings, but we now see that the cost has dropped a bit.

Wireless gaming mice may still have a slight premium, but these prices are now closer to the price of a corded mouse.

Whatever the connection, the best gaming mouse will fit your hand and meet your gameplay needs.

However, scoring the mouse click speed test can make your setup more accessible and offer more flexibility in placement and travel.

Wireless devices also feel greater comfort, and you have less resistance to staying tight on the battlefield without cables to pull and snag on your desktop.

With a wide selection of recommendations across different styles, grip styles, and use cases, we're bringing together all the best wireless gaming mouse options we have. These pointers can give you a serious edge with the best gaming keyboards.

1. Razer Naga Pro

For those who play many different styles, compromising is very familiar — you usually have to choose between more buttons or less, not so with the Razer Naga Pro.

It has three detachable panels explicitly designed for first-person shooters to MMOs and is easy to replace.

When you add Razer's HyperSpeed ​​technology to the mix, you're looking at the winner.

We also have no delay in viewing, and as a result, wired is more capable of sustaining competition (plus, you can always back up on the Speedflex USB cable if you wish).

Mainly since it also provides twitch response via the 20,000 dpi sensor.

However, the real star must have a 12-button add-on.

This makes life a lot easier in MMOs that have a lot of attacks or movements to choose from, and it reaches them quickly under your thumb; in a game like Guild Wars 2, you never have to get the right key again.

2. Logitech G305 Lightspeed

There are times when it will be cheaper and happier, which is fine, especially considering how expensive gaming rats can be these days.

Enter the G305, Logitech's affordable but still-excellent budget option.

This is an excellent choice for anyone looking for the best wireless gaming mouse without breaking the bank.

Even though the G305 has a low 12,000 DPI sensor, it's enough to give you an edge in any game you're playing.

Moreover, its elegant design allows you to play for hours in comfort.

Of course, it is not made of premium materials like G502, which you can see below.

However, that's a third of the price and still much better than your bog-standard office mouse.

Charging an AA battery for more than 200 hours will not make you feel overwhelmed at the wrong time.

3. Roccat Kain 200 Aimo

If comfort is as important to you as performance (and you don't want to spend money), the Roccat 200 Aimo is the best wireless gaming mouse out there.

As the cable-free version of the excellent Roccat Kain 120 Aimo, this cable-free option has the same benefits at 100% less participation.

That means the 200 Aimo offers a precise 16,000 dpi sensor, Titan Click technology that's "up to 16ms fast," relatively lightweight, and a luxurious rubber finish with an anti-wear, dirt-resistant coating (seriously, it's not a good idea to use it).

Good to do Not only that, the 200 AIMO promises up to 50 hours of battery life on a full charge, and that's not a bad thing for a device that costs this amount.

Create a sophisticated design with touches like brushed aluminum, and you're a winner. In short, it should be.

4. Logitech G502 Lightspeed

With a combination of excellent performance, comfort, and excellent battery life, it is easily one of the best wireless gaming rats on the market.

The Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless improves on older models with the powerful 16,000 dpi Hero sensor and feels just as responsive as the wired option when in use.

Plus, it claims to play 40+ hours on a full charge.

And that's just the beginning. The G502's grippy rubber sides make it easy to handle even in stressful showdowns, and it also hosts 11 buttons (with a 'sniper' button on the side) with metal-spring tensioning for satisfactory clicks.

Tunable weights that allow you to customize your experience also add value.

As such, this mouse is well worth the asking price - especially since it is compatible with the Logitech PowerPlay charging mat, which can be topped up even when the mouse is in use.

5. Razer Viper Ultimate

If you're a fan of sports players or shooters, the Razer Viper Ultimate (the wireless version of the original Razer Viper) will be the most excellent tool you have in your arsenal.

Designed with the help of professional gamers and offering a ridiculous 20,000 dpi sensor, this is a lightning-quick pointer that will give you an edge over where it counts.

We're not exaggerating—this kind of speed makes a huge difference in reaction times, especially in high-stack battle royale games like Call of Duty: Warzone.

The smooth tracking and low latency are equally impressive.

It also has brand new optical switches, and that's a big deal.

They respond quickly to clicks on an infrared light beam that shoots electrical signals directly to your PC, allowing you to react much faster than expected. A necessary purchase.

Are wireless gaming rats as good as wired ones?

In short, yes. Nowadays, wireless gaming mice can achieve lower delay speeds like wired options, and there is a slight difference in performance between the two.

You may find the luxury experience unattractive, and however, there are some additional costs to consider.

A few years ago, even the best wireless gaming mouse brands could not match the wired pointer in speed and latency.

However, we have seen advances in wireless devices in their connection technology since then.

With a 2.4GHz connection and extremely high voting rates, wireless gaming rats can now communicate with their limited counterparts.

However, wired options still come in very cheap.

You're still paying a premium to get a wireless gaming mouse, and you can get the same features and specs for a meager price on a cabled mouse, which means that the unattractive experience is worth considering for the extra money.

Some features support that extra cost. Traveling with a wireless gaming mouse is much easier, gives your desktop a cleaner experience without cables, and is more versatile to use - you don't even have to sit next to your PC.

[thedaveandkimmershow]

"It can be raining like crazy and then fifteen minutes later it's fine."

That's Kimmer, by the way, commenting on yesterday afternoon's sudden deluge of rain.

Deluge.

Of rain.

All that rain came with intense flashes and branches of lighting accompanied by thunder that was much like a bulldozer careening around an industrial kitchen.

It was very clangy is what I'm saying.

We managed a reservation at Margaritaville for lunch, scoring a table on the covered "Indecision Porch" in front of which everyone on foot passes. From our perch, it's impossible not to see certain things.

For example, a tall young man with his arm draped lazily around the young woman he's with. Kimmer thought first-date. My bet's on they're a couple and she's not super happy about it because at one point he leans down and over to kiss the top of her head and the look on her face at that moment is one of enduring it.

I noticed a number of families wearing uniforms, bright green or orange t-shirts that make them impossible to miss by family members even from low earth orbit. Which is a good thing 'cause all these families have little kids in tow.

I saw a coupla brothers, older and younger, and caught the moment when the older brother put his arm around the younger and they took off running.

Took.

Off.

Running.

I saw a father try to put his arm around his daughter but she kept ducking it. And when he finally relented... she took his hand instead. ♥️♥️♥️

I saw off-season Santa driving an electric cart, dressed from head to toe in a red warm-up suit.

I saw someone wearing a "Free The Dinosaurs" t-shirt and now I want one of those t-shirts too.

Plus, you know, I really do want to free the dinosaurs 'cause I'm environmental like that. 😁

I also realized during lunch that Kimmer's scheduled for us a vacation, a vacation, and a vacation. Right now we're on a three-and-a-half day stay without obligation, responsibility, or agenda. That vacation'll be followed by five days of all things Disney starting Monday. And the last two days are no-obligstion free time again.

Lovely!

Our lunch was also accompanied by a live steel drum band performing popular covers that caused me to indulge a mental game of "Name That Tune". I wasn't very good at it though eventually I figured out most of the songs. Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was one of the most well known along with the "Guilty Feet Have Got No Rhythm" song by George Michael that's actually "Careless Whisper" by Wham 'cause I just looked it up.

After lunch, it's nap and relax time. And then it's time for night bowling 'cause it's this thing we both really want to do and I stood in line this morning for nearly forty five minutes waiting to get a reservation.

We had a great time, by the way. I started off with three strikes in a row which felt really bizarre. Kimmer took a few frames to get her groove back and ended up improving her score with each game while my game seemed to get worse.

Still.

Night bowling. The missus 'n me.

♥️♥️♥️

Not long after we finished, Linzy's flight landed at Orlando International and, while we were hunting around for a dinner sandwich for her, she managed to land in our hotel's lobby.

She was pretty wiped out much as we were a few evenings ago. It's amazing what air travel takes out of you. Not sure why. And that three hour time difference is always a bigger deal than it has any right to be.

We finished the evening with Linzy getting us hooked on that Netflix series "Lupin", "a retelling of the classic French story about Arsène Lupin, the world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise." (Wikipedia)

We blew through two hours of this foreign language subtitled action/mystery show, only stopping 'cause it was 230.

A.M.

A few hours later, 6AM, I'm up again 'cause Rachel's plane lands a little after six. It winds up landing about ten minutes after six and I meet her in the hotel lobby after she Lyfts the final leg of her journey to a most welcome sleep 'cause she's been flying all night, having a classic red-eye experience.

Now, we didn't get to bed 'til 230 this morning. And Rachel didn't get any sleep on the plane 'cause they kept it so cold. So I'm figuring she's just gonna maybe say a quick hello to Kimmer 'n Linzy before going to sleep while everyone goes back to sleep.

Haha. NOPE.

We haven't all been together as a family for a long time now and suddenly (and for the week) the band's back together again. So a lot of catching up ensues. And a lot of laughter followed by shhhhh's 'cause it's still earlyish in the morning.

At some point, though, not sure when, I nod off.

It's 10AM!

Yeah. It's 10AM and this is one of those experiences like when I used to get up super early on Sunday morning's to do my paper route and then went back to bed again after finishing it only to get up a few hours later.

It felt like a different day every time. Even after those few hours of sleep.

And so it is this morning.

While the girls remain essentially comatose after their travels, Kimmer slips downstairs to Starbucks whilst I take a glorious shower. "Glorious" in that it really does seem like a completely different day.

:-)

After clearing the room, checking out, and stashing our bags at the front desk for a few hours, the missus 'n I indulge mango smoothies by the pool whilst talking life 'cause that's what old people do. Then we're off to Trader Joe's with Santiago, an Uber driver who shared bits of life with us as we did with him. We talked about New York City where he lived before, we talked a little sights of Orlando where he's lived since oh-three, we talked a little bit Seattle where his best friend's younger brother lives (and also where we were born & raised), and then we talked a touch of Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria.

It doesn't take us long at Trader Joe's, a coupla bags worth, really, before we hail another Uber back with Carlitos from New York State… . Westchester. We talked old school sports video games as well as the challenges of proper car maintenance before dropping off again for one more best.

Burger.

Ever.

At The Hideaway Bar & Grill.

😁😁😁

Eventually, it's time to end Vacation #1 with a Lyft from our driver, Wanell, to our rental condo at Floridays. We talked the recent Haiti earthquake a little and quickly determining that all his friends and family are okay. Alive and uninjured. Then, because we were passing it, we talked Icon Park with that crazy tall rotating swing guaranteed to induce nausea and vomiting. The Kraken roller coaster was another candidate on which we all voted would produce similar results as we passed Sea World. And then, finally, somehow, we talked alligators 'n fries.

I don't know what to tell you. Rachel was super interested to hear about it.

And so on.

We're pretty much having a Maui experience here where there seems to be more time in our days. More hours than just the 24 we're routinely allotted. Because once you start having to count the time between one event and the next… your day just gets away from you. Sometimes at light speed.

And we're not doing that.

These are not full days of To-Dos. This is nearly all unstructured time. And when it's unstructured time… the day just unfolds and keeps unfolding.

It's crazy how much livable time there is on any given day.

Seriously. There really is.

Anyway, this first vacation, part 1, the one before our Disney vacation, wraps up today. And tomorrow… we dive head first into, well...

We're about to find out.

🙂🤔😁