#the scale of the scene around me was absolutely awe-inspiring

[jaeheewillalwaysbemyfav]

Hello! if its ok how would the demon brothers react to a low self esteem/ self hating MC who excepts any insults with a sad smile?

Content Warnings: Self deprecation (naturally, given the nature of the prompt), verbal harassment/insults, spoilers for later chapters in Belphegor’s section

Just so you know it’s basically gonna be seven different versions of this:

Under a cut to prevent carpal tunnel!

Obey Me: The Brothers With an MC Who Has Low Self Esteem and Accepts Insults with a Smile

Lucifer

Lucifer kind of just... stops for a few seconds. Like, he freezes completely. Doesn’t move, doesn’t blink - MC’s not sure if he’s even breathing. They’re at one of Diavolo’s parties together, and a pretty important demon is coming for MC hard, albeit in a slimy, passive-aggressive kind of way. And they’re just... smiling and nodding along?

Lucifer’s single currently operating brain cell is dedicated to not just murdering this pathetic excuse for a demon. If he wasn’t already in his demon form, he would absolutely transform. With a deep breath, he stalks over in full Avatar of Pride mode: shoulders back, staring slightly down at everyone else, wings puffed up just so.

Anything the demon was saying to MC, he throws back at them tenfold, with just as much passive-aggression, though it starts slipping more and more as he continues on. Eventually it starts turning into one of those lectures of his about The Importance of The Exchange Program and Lord Diavolo’s Reputation and-  MC is gonna have to catch his attention to stop him from going full Dad-mode on this bastard.

Once they succeed in doing this, he pulls them aside and, still bristling with indignant rage, asks why MC was letting that wretch talk to them like that.

“Well, it wasn’t like they were saying anything that wasn’t true...”

Wrong. Answer. Lucifer is the Avatar of Pride, even though he has self-worth issues running deeper than the Marianas Trench he would never let anyone talk to him like that, and he wishes more than anything he could lend MC that ability. He’ll tilt their head to look him directly in the eyes and assure them that they absolutely do have value, both in the Devildom and in his family. He won’t tolerate anyone, including MC themself, put down a member of his family. Is that clear?

In the coming weeks, the younger brothers notice that Lucifer’s soft spot for MC is even more pronounced than usual. In fact, he frequently praises them for their accomplishments, flustering them to no end. None of them dare to bring it to his attention, because they’ve all noticed in one way or another that MC is carrying themself with more confidence now.

Whatever is going on between the two of them seems to be working quite well.

Mammon

Mammon... runs his mouth a lot. He says stupid things he doesn’t mean because admitting his actual feelings would be too difficult. Unfortunately, one of the feelings he’s vehemently avoiding addressing is his feelings for MC. This manifests as loud and insistent denial that The GREAT Mammon would never be interested in some stupid, weak human, how dare you suggest that?!

The brothers expect one of many responses from MC: outrage and offence, teasing at Mammon’s clear tsundere attitude, a roll of the eyes, anything other than their sad little smile whenever he insults them. One day, Mammon finally notices their staring and he actually stops and takes a minute to process the acceptance on MC’s face.

He just called them a burden and a waste of time and they’re SMILING?!

Like a horrid puzzle piece, everything clicks together in Mammon’s mind. He’s never heard MC protest any of the awful things he’s said about them. They don’t even tease him about it like his brothers do.

They think he’s being serious and they agree with him.

He changes his tune so fast it’s dizzying. He slips up sometimes, but now when he sees MC’s small smile that doesn’t reach their eyes, he adds, “H-Hey! Why’re you just letting me say all that, huh? Ya gotta stand up for yourself, MC! You better not go around letting lesser demons talk to you like this! If anyone ever gives you trouble, you come to the GREAT Mammon and I’ll shut ‘em up real quick!

“‘Cause... It’s not true, all of that about you being stupid or annoying. You’re my human and I know you really well and you’re- You’re not any of that, MC! So don’t go smiling at jerks dragging your name through the mud okay?”

Leviathan

MC and Leviathan are playing an online multiplayer game together, and MC still hasn’t quite gotten used to Devildom controls yet. They’re not exactly a great asset to their team... Not that Levi minds. He’s happy they’re showing interest in him his games at all.

Some of the demons they’re playing with, on the other hand...

Ugh, stay on the objective you stupid bitch!

Is [MC’s username] afk?

If you feed them any more kills I fucking swear-

Why is a noob even playing this game lmao just go die already

Levi scoffs. Their team wasn’t even losing, these scumbags just needed to find someone to pick on. Still, it wasn’t fair for MC to listen to their insults, he’ll just disconnect and find a better team - hey, why has MC been so quiet?

The Avatar of Envy turns to face MC only to see them staring down at their controller with a shaky smile. He calls their name and they look up, startled.

“I’m gonna find another team for us to play on,” Levi explains as the game warns him that he’s about to lose some in-game reputation points for abandoning his team. “Uh, unless you’d rather play something else?”

“No it’s fine, you pick,” MC says, still avoiding making direct eye contact. “I probably won’t do any better no matter what we play...”

Hey, insecurity is his thing!

“MC, you better not be thinking about what those losers said in the chat!”

“But-”

“NUH UH! You might be a normie, but you’re also my best friend!” MC feels an anime-inspired speech coming on. “Who cares about winning or losing one match? I’d rather lose every match I ever play from now on if it means I get to have you as my player 2!” Leviathan pauses as he realizes exactly what he just said and immediately turns beet red. “...you know... if you... wanted to, I guess...”

Satan

MC is in Devildom History with Satan, and as an exchange student, is having a rough time of it. They just don’t have the same background as the rest of the students, and can’t pick up on things as fast as they do.The teacher hands back the latest test and they cringe as they see their grade. Satan, sitting next to them, glances at the mark and gives them one of his small smiles.

“You know, if you need extra help, don’t be shy. I’d be happy to help you,” he says quietly.

Apparently not quietly enough, because a particularly rowdy pair of demons overhear him and choose that moment to make a nuisance of themselves. One of them snatches MC’s paper out of their hands, and upon seeing their grade starts laughing.

“How did you put the Abyssal Peace Treaty before the Abyssal War?! Everyone knows when that happened!” they continue chuckling at more silly mistakes MC made while very stressed during that test, while Satan’s blood starts boiling.

Much to his surprise, MC just smiles and joins in the demons’ laughter. “Yeah, that was pretty stupid...” they say with a falsely cheerful tone. Satan quickly catches on - they’re just fucking with these demons! He keeps his anger at bay with the anticipation of seeing MC really tear these lowlives a new-

“Wow, not even gonna defend yourself? Why do we even have human exchange students, they’re so boring.” The demon pair scoff and toss MC’s test back, before stalking off, annoyed that they didn’t get the reaction they wanted.

Hm. Frustrate them by not responding to their futile taunts. An interesting choice, but effective nonetheless. Satan expresses his appreciation of MC’s choice, much to their confusion. When they explain that they really were agreeing with what the demons had said, Satan doesn’t take it very well.

If MC doesn’t stop him, he’ll go over to the pair of demons that insulted them and drag their names through the dirt in front of the entire classroom, adding in some colourful suggestions about what would happen to them if they continued this behaviour. Either way, he’s furious enough that his demon form might start peeking out, tail thrashing behind him or horns growing out from his messy hair.

When class is over, Satan asks MC to stay behind.

“I want you to tell me why you feel this way about yourself,” he says. “Because I promise you, there isn’t a single explanation you can give that I won’t argue against. And I’m rarely wrong.”

Asmodeus

Asmo lives in a delightful bubble of flirtation, partying, and being the very best and prettiest being in all three realms. He works very hard to maintain this state, terrified of what he’d find on the other side of the haze.

But all it takes is one look at MC for it to come crashing down.

They’re at The Fall together, sipping on fruity drinks disguising unholy amounts of alcohol for a brief break before returning to the dance floor. Asmo knows MC struggles with confidence, and figured that if he could get them to have a good time, they would forget their insecurities for at least a little while.

And maybe he’s laying it on a bit thick with the flirting while they’re here. He can’t help it! He loves MC in a way he’s never really loved anyone else before. If he’s completely honest, the feeling scares him: he wants to put them before himself, and he’s not sure if he can, because he never has put someone else first before.

A demon notices Asmo’s lovesick staring at MC, and comments as they pass, “Oh my, has the Avatar of Lust sunken so low that he’s making eyes at some plain-jane human?” A long, scaled tail snakes around MC’s face, turning their head in the demon’s direction. “Or are you just a charity-fuck? You certainly won’t be able to hold his interest for long, darling.~”

The demon saunters off, and Asmodeus has half a mind to storm over to them and cause a scene, but the look on MC’s face stops him in his tracks.

They’re looking at him and they’re smiling.

“You don’t have to pretend to be upset about it,” they say, poking at their drink with their straw. “I know I’m not all that interesting. You just want me right now because I’m an ordinary human, right? And once the novelty wears off, well... I’m not powerful like a demon, or a wise magic user like Solomon, and I’m not exactly good-looking, so why keep me around? It’s been nice of you to pretend with me, though-”

He cuts them off with a passionate kiss, threading his fingers in their hair and pressing their bodies as close as possible. The gesture catches MC off guard and their drink spills on the two of them, but Asmo doesn’t even flinch. He only pulls away when MC starts panting from lack of oxygen.

“Please don’t say those awful things about yourself, MC,” Asmodeus says, eyes brimming with tears. “You’re...” One of the only people I don’t have to pretend around. “...You are so special to me. And you always will be.” Suddenly aware that they’ve both been soaked in a cocktail, Asmo smirks. “Oh dear, it seems our clothes are all dirty... I guess we’ll have to go back home and change, won’t we?”

Please let me prove to you how much I love you, he thinks as you tearfully smile and punch his arm before agreeing.

Beelzebub

Beel deals with survivor’s guilt, and if he’s not careful, it can lead to some pretty dark places. He’s also Belphie’s twin and is very familiar with what low self-esteem looks like. So whenever a demon tries to insult MC while he’s around, he doesn’t give them the chance to agree, calmly, but firmly jumping to their defence.

It doesn’t matter who it is or where they are, Beel always has MC’s back. Whenever they’re feeling especially down and that sad little smile is on their face, MC tends to find some of their favourite snacks tucked away into their bag or even their uniform pockets. The Avatar of Gluttony is also always ready to deploy some Emergency Cuddles, and is generally a steady, grounding presence in MC’s life. He starts to stick around them almost as much as Mammon does.

Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of some less than savoury people.

“Hey Beel! Coach wants you to know we’ve got an extra practice tomorrow! It’s semi-finals soon, and he wants to go over some new strategies,” a large, intimidating demon calls out, dressed in the RAD athletic uniform.

MC and Beel turn towards the demon’s voice, and Beel’s teammate makes a face upon seeing them. “You’re still hanging around them?” the demon asks. “Or are they clinging onto ya like a barnacle?” He laughs and MC lets go of Beel’s hand, blushing.

They have been around him an awful lot lately... Is he only doing it out of pity? Should they stop? Oh no, what if he thinks they’re annoying--

“I like MC,” Beel says plainly. “And I like spending time with them. So, tomorrow after classes is the next practice? I’ll be there.” He leaves no room for further debate. The demon stumbles over his words before confirming and abruptly running off.

MC doesn’t take Beel’s hand again.

“Hey,” Beelzebub takes MC’s much smaller hands into his own. “I mean it. I like you. Don’t listen to my teammate, he’s dumber than Mammon. Want to go have lunch together? I think they’re serving fried bats in the cafeteria...”

Belphegor

Sometimes, Belphegor peeks in on MC’s dreams. He never directly interacts with them, nor has he ever told them that he does this at all. Ever since he... ever since that happened, he’s made a conscious effort to avoid creeping them out even further, and he worries that this kind of behaviour would be frowned upon by a human.

But he can’t help it. Especially tonight.

After being woken up by a squirming MC, he decides to look into their dreams and see what is upsetting them so much. Much to his surprise, he finds himself inside one of RAD’s classrooms. MC is working on an assignment with a group of demons whose features keep shifting around. The writing on the books in front of them is illegible, and Belphegor only knows it’s writing at all because of his familiarity with dream physics.

“There they are,” whispers one of the demons. “What do they think they’re doing?”

MC asks a question about something in one of the books, pointing to a scribble that only looks like words when not focused on.

“Why do you care? It’s not like you can do anything useful for us anyway,” the demon snaps. “I’m not even sure why you’re here.” Belphegor frowns. Is this a memory?

MC meekly mentions the exchange program. “I don’t care!” The demon’s voice changes, and Belphegor suddenly feels the pitter-patter of raindrops on his skin, despite still being indoors. MC’s clothes are drenched in the invisible rain. “Fuck, can you not take a hint, MC? No one actually wants you here! You’re just a tag-along!”

“Why don’t you just pack up and leave then? Oh right, you have nowhere else to go!”

The figures of the demons become shadowy and elongated, hands sharpening into talons. MC jumps to their feet and backs away from the advancing figures, whose whispers become louder and interrupt each other.

“Just don’t mess it up again-”

“-never have trusted you! You ruin EVERYTHING-”

“Another disappointment, I see.”

“Don’t LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT-”

“Fucking whore!”

The voices continue, growing louder and louder until the figures melt into one familiar silhouette with violet eyes.

“You’re so stupid that I can’t help but laugh.” Belphegor’s blood runs cold. “You humans really are foolish, idiotic, weak creatures, aren’t you?”

The Avatar of Sloth watches helplessly as his dream-double wraps its hands around MC’s throat, cooing hideous insults at them all the while. Nonononono, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to- I didn’t know, I was just so- Ugh! That’s not an excuse, you idiot! 

The dream-Belphegor pauses, grip slackening.

“Get off of them,” Belphegor hisses. “Now.” 

The figure dissolves into the classroom, turning the surroundings completely black. Now Belphie finds himself standing in the creature’s place, in front of a confused MC.

“Are you okay?” he asks lamely.

“Why did you stop?” MC asks in return.

“I wasn’t... It was hurting you, and saying- I couldn’t keep letting it-”

MC smiles. “It’s just the truth. You said so yourself.”

MC and Belphegor wake up together, sweating, trapped in the other’s vice-like grip. MC’s pulse flutters under Belphie’s hands, way faster than it should be. It almost feels like when-

He twists out of their grasp, falling out of the bed in the process. He scrambles as far back as his room allows, nearly tripping over his own tail. MC stares at him through the darkness, torn between chasing after him and putting more distance between the two of them.

“...You saw that.” He doesn’t reply. “...Come here, Belphie.”

And slowly, he does.

For the next few weeks, Belphegor never leaves MC’s side unless absolutely necessary, even if he falls asleep next to them. He refuses to acknowledge this unusual behaviour, reacting with increasing hostility to anyone who mentions it. He also accompanies them to bed more often than not, much to Mammon’s chagrin.

“So long as I’m with you, no one else is going to talk to you like that ever again. I’m not going to let them, and I’m not going to let you just take it.”

[featherquillpen]

Reclist: Eldritch/Inhuman Castiel

My interest in Supernatural, such as it is, begins and ends with Castiel, a gay angel who is portrayed by known human being Misha Collins, but is shown by visual storytelling (shattering glass, fallen trees, dramatic lightning flashes) and in dialogue ("I am a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent", "my true body is the size of the Chrysler Building") to be an incorporeal nightmare monster who just so happens to have possessed a suburban dad. I am a monsterfucker who absolutely wanted to read about a terrifying eldritch gay angel, but I discovered to my great disappointment that most SPN fanwork portrays him as a quirky human man lightly dusted with halo spice.

However, I have managed to find some fanwork that gave me the many-eyed, mind-breaking, dorky gay possession spirit that I crave, and I thought I would share my finds with all my fellow alienfuckers. Also, for those alienfuckers who are not in this fandom (excellent life choice, by the way) I have marked with an asterisk (*) those fanworks that I think work well without any knowledge of SPN.

Fanart

Contra's trueform!Cas art

Contra's take on Cas's trueform is inspired and incredibly cute. I love how he draws Cas as his usual nearly expressionless human vessel, but then has a very expressive trueform expanding like a giant cloud of wings and eyes around him.

Carolina's trueform!Cas art

Carolina's take on Cas's trueform is very abstract and intriguing. In the example I linked, the blue and tan and white of Jimmy Novak's iconic outfit spill out in a chaos of triangles and wings and animal heads from Jimmy's body as Cas possesses him, as well as the red burn of Cas's handprint on Dean.

Friendly Pigeon's Giant Castiel series*

Friendly Pigeon heard Castiel say that his true form was the size of the Chrysler Building and decided to take that to its logical fanart conclusion. This art beautifully communicates the awe-inspiring scale of a cosmic being like Cas.

angel-derangement's trueform!Cas art*

This fanartist draws Cas so different every time, and so WEIRD that I am honestly inspired. These trueforms are inspired by everything from the lighting aisle at a hardware store to Lisa Frank. Feast your eyes.

Long Fanfic (>50k)

Cruel Angels* by orphan (107k)

The ultimate in eldritch!Cas. This author delivered to me everything I wanted: Cas walking the earth in a giant, freaky, many-headed form that sends everybody but Dean screaming for the hills. The sheer power, scale, and alienness of Castiel in this fic is unparalleled, and yet he always tries so hard to do the right thing, in his endearing way.

Cinderwings* by bendingsignpost (182k)

The Cas in this Cinderella-ish AU is technically not as alien as in most of the fics on this list, in that he is a corporeal humanoid being who just happens to have ginormous wings, but the fic does a great job of portraying Cas and angels in general as very culturally distinct from humans - a lot of the drama of this fic comes from Cas operating from totally different first principles than humans do.

So Says the Sword* by komodobits (85k)

An AU(-ish? it's complicated) where Dean says yes to being Michael's vessel, and Castiel is assigned to guard him. Castiel and Dean are basically locked in a holodeck together, under terrible circumstances, and bond with each other while they wait for the apocalypse. The Castiel POV is beautiful, his true form scene is awe-inspiring, and the fic is so poetically written in general.

Medium Fanfic (10 - 50k)

Broadway Musical* by Griftings

An exceedingly silly AU that includes references to Jewish angel lore, angels having three animal heads as per the Book of Revelation, and Cas having previously possessed a dinosaur as a vessel. I love that Cas has an internal conversation going with Jimmy throughout the fic, a stream of petty arguments and useful tips for playing human, which emphasizes how Cas is not his vessel.

closer (isn't close enough) by fleeceframe

A finale fix-it in which Cas is now an archangel. While Cas is roughly humanoid in this fic, you still get the immensity and power of his true nature. In this fic, he heals trauma damage directly from Dean and Sam's brains, and designs a heaven for bees, which is just... such wholesome weird angel content.

Autrement, Danger - or, The Account of an Exceedingly Long Day by awed_frog (31k)

The description of Cas's true form in this story was so poetic and beautiful I actually cried. This fic captures the concept of the sublime: the feeling you get in prayer or in contemplation of nature that you are very small and the universe is vast and frightening and breathtaking.

Short Fanfic (<10k)

Fata morgana. by orange_crushed (7k)

Castiel in hell, searching for Dean, from demon!Bela's point of view. I love how Bela's demon senses can see Cas's Grace fading and warping in hell. Cas is also just so hopelessly sweet amidst the bleakness of this story.

diamond star halo by jad (5k)

Castiel possessing Dean, from Sam POV. I love fic where Cas possesses other vessels than Jimmy, because it emphasizes that Cas is not his vessel - he is an incorporeal entity who needs help from humans to interact in the human world. Castiel!Dean in this story is just so weird and I love it.

Everyone is Trying to Get to the Bar by Balder12 (8k)

A very weird eldritch Cas made of blade-feathers and spinning wheels and tentacles, AND it's hurt/comfort! I'm such a sucker for fic where a monstrous/alien character is hurt and receives comfort, because monsters deserve love and care, too.

[hopeymchope]

Godzilla Singular Point

I came into Singular Point with some trepidation because Godzilla’s history in anime is both very recent and extremely bad. The three anime movies released between 2017 and 2019 are easily the worst work of famed writer Gen Urobuchi and honestly contain more bullshit than I can even get into here. Those movies and this series were both Godzilla anime properties commissioned by Netflix, which didn’t get my hopes up very much. Thankfully, Singular Point is a very different beast from the anime trilogy. One could argue it’s very different from most Godzilla media, actually — at least from my perspective. And I’m still a pretty entry-level fan of Toho’s Big G, all things considered.

Let me just warn you right up front: This smartphone-based virtual assistant is basically the breakout star of the series. 

When you think “Godzilla,” you probably don’t think “incredibly dense sci-fi concepts,” but with the big G’s first-ever anime series, the writers clearly set out to change that perception. Before the first kaiju even appears, the lead characters are plucked from obscurity and dropped into a mystery that involves fourth-dimensional time travel, physical objects that look different from all sides, theoretical math concepts, self-propagating A.I., and a whole lot more. And it’s NEVER made clear how all of it connects to the rampaging kaiju! Although we spend a lot of time investigating a red dust or sand that is very obviously tied to the monsters in SOME way, no one ever makes a connection that explains the relationship. Maybe we’re supposed to wait for a later season to connect the threads... but let’s get into the idea of “another season” later.

I like to think of myself as someone who typically enjoys hard sci-fi, but even with the characters spending loads of time trying to explain the high concepts driving the story, I was never able to fully wrap my head around what was going on in the mystery at the center of GSP. I rewound and rewatched a few explanations, but I still walked away feeling lost. I eventually settled on some vague, loose understandings of most of the ideas mentioned, but those understandings were subject to being ripped apart in subsequent scenes when I was shown or told something completely at odds with what I thought I knew. I can’t say I was ever bored with the thick, dense scientific concepts on offer — trying to find purchase with these far-out ideas kept me glued to the screen — but damn, I sure wish I was able to comprehend them.

What do we want?! DENSE SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION AND DEBATE! When do we want it?! AFTER THOROUGH RESEARCH, TESTING, AND PEER REVIEW!

Another weird thing about this show is that the lead characters remain in separate locations and on separate tracks for the entire duration. We have Yun — a mechanical engineer and programmer who has an amazing grasp on physics and human behavior. And we have Mei — a grad student who is deeply invested in theoretical science, UMAs, cryptids and other far-flung concepts. Both of them are basically geniuses in their fields, and even though they take opposing views of just how flexible reality is, their shared ability to think “outside the box” becomes the crucial component in solving the mystery at the core of the series. Because they don’t even know one another (despite being separated by like, ONE degree), they only ever interact via text messages and behind screen names, which feels pretty damn weird. At least  I immediately liked both of them, with Yun being the standout to me because of how his lowkey reactions to crazy shit generates a lot of humor.

This soundtrack cover LIES; you will never see these characters in a room together like this. 

Alas, we don’t get to know the characters a whole lot beyond what we learned of them in the first two episodes. It’s not long before they’re trapped in a series of complicated exposition dumps, endlessly attempting to explain the high concepts of the show to other characters as well as my dumb ass in the audience. The fact that I liked them in the first couple of episodes carried me through more than half of the show, but I was always hoping to see them share more of themselves or just display more emotion. Anime as a medium excels at emotional storytelling. But despite the major, world-altering events the characters are constantly warning us about, none of them seem to have many emotions about said events. 

Further complicating matters is how, when major events finally occur in this show, they are often kept off-screen. One character shockingly dies, but the portrayal of that death is so piss-poor that I didn’t even realize it’d happened until someone mentioned their death in the next episode. After that vague death, I was particularly sensitive to anything that looked like it might possibly be lethal. Yet a later event that is played up as a tragic, fatal occurrence ends up... fine, somehow? It’s not clear how the character survives, because — even after one of our heroes is left screaming their name in despair as they seemingly die — nobody ever talks about or explains how he’s just fine a couple of scenes later. And near the end of the series, there’s a major transformation that occurs for one of the characters, and we never see it happen nor do we understand HOW it happened. It’s just that suddenly, this character is extremely different due to off-screen reasons that are only vaguely verbalized.

I guess these two really bonded at some point for some reason? And what you are seeing here is literally the height of emotion shown in the entire show.

Even though the overarching story of the series so far pretty clearly wraps up in episode 13, we then get a post-credits tease for a potential second season. So the question becomes: Would I watch that?

Well... Godzilla Singular Point is a series with a lot of issues that kept me at arms’ length from it — tons of extremely confusing dialogue, highly frustrating choices in direction that lead to baffling storytelling, characters who are mostly exposition-dumping — and yet there’s still some foundational work here that I appreciated a lot. When the action occurs, it’s pretty cool/fun. And when urban destruction occurs, it can be awe-inspiring. The human characters, though little-explored, have likable and interesting foundations to them that could be expanded upon. And I didn’t even mention the soundtrack, which features a variety of musical styles combined with the classic Ifukube theme music and an OP that is an absolute banger. (I have a weakness when it comes to music; a good soundtrack can carry me through even the blandest series sometimes.) Even the core idea of centering a Godzilla series around hard science and mathematical concepts is a compelling one, I think! I just hated the execution of it; they went waaaaay too far on poorly explaining incredibly complex, mind-bending concepts for my pea brain to handle it. They spend so much time trying to explain things, yet somehow they never succeeded for me. 

Ultimately, I’d probably give the show another chance. But if I do give another season a chance, it’ll be on probation. I wouldn’t watch the entire season unless I could see within four episodes that they’d definitely improved things.

Would I recommend that anyone watch the series as it currently stands? I mean... not really? I guess if you really dig complex math, hard theoretical science, and/or Toho’s stable of monsters, then maaaaaaaaaaybe give it a shot. But otherwise? Naaaahh. It’s not good enough at anything to make it stand out from the anime crowd. I didn’t hate it like I hated the Godzilla anime films, but Singular Point is still something that both casual viewers and most fans can comfortably ignore for the time being. It’s not a complete disaster, and it’s not without its highlights... but it’s definitely disappointing in my opinion.

OKAYOKAYOKAY, so let’s talk about the kaiju for a bit! 

Below will be SPOILERS revealing all of the kaiju that appear in Godzilla Singular Point and giving my feelings on them. 

Godzilla — It’s interesting to see a version of Godzilla that borrows some ideas from Shin Godzilla. Shin G has been incredibly unique until now, but this Godzilla manages to fold some of Shin’s distinctive aspects in with the more classic/typical versions to build a fun new depiction. Be forewarned that Godzilla doesn’t show up until the series is halfway over, and he doesn’t get a ton of screen time, either. He’s used quite sparingly and kept in hazy settings, often framed from the neck-up when they show him. It’s a little frustrating that they felt the need to shroud him so much, but I respect the fact that whenever Godzilla is shown, the destruction he causes is on a scale far beyond anything that the rest of the kaiju ever do. He is pure devastation. 

Rodan — He’s easily the biological kaiju with the most screen time in Singular Point. Rodan is first introduced as one gigantic pterosaur, but if you’ve seen ANY trailers for this show then you already know that his depiction transitions into an asston of smaller pterosaurs, all of whom are also called “Rodan.” (Apparently the word Rodan is both singular and plural, like the word “buffalo.”) Although he looks kind of cool at first, pretty soon Rodan showing up isn’t special or threatening anymore. Rodan appearances go from “a big goddamn deal” to “some bland background noise” before the series is even 1/3 finished. The design might be a little too far removed from the original for my own taste, but even if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t be able to care for this Rodan simply because he’s rendered so unimportant and unimpressive.

If you go out in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise... 

Anguirus — Now check this guy out! Anguirus gets one of the coolest fights in the show and also demonstrates some powers that are well beyond anything we’ve seen him do before. Because he sticks to unpopulated areas, we never see him do much damage to Japan, but he is definitely holding all the attention when he’s on-screen. He’s a highlight for me — a total badass who is very unique in his abilities. And the stated origin for his name is goddamn adorable.

Manda — Yup, Manda is in this series... but I don’t have much to say for him. It seems like the creators of the anime didn’t have much to say about him either. His role amounts to little more than a repeated cameo, and in most of those cameos you only ever see his tail. When we finally see his full body, it’s done so briefly and kept at a distance, leaving me with no real impression. I had to look up his design online and... yup, that sure looks like Manda. Final score: MEEEEHH.

Kumonga — I definitely did not see this appearance coming! Kumonga is much smaller here than you may be used to, but she gets to star in the most suspenseful sequence in the series and easily earns the most exciting cliffhanger moment at the end of an episode. I was utterly glued to the show during her screen time, which comes with a lot of icky twists. Good ones! I honestly like Kumonga here more than I ever have previously.

NEW PHONE WHO DIS

Salunga — Uh, who? This is the one monster that isn’t based on a classic Toho kaiju but instead is a brand-new creation. I suppose that everybody who touches the Toho Kaiju franchise wants to make their own mark on it in some regard. But a big part of the fun of this series for me personally was the anticipation of seeing new interpretations and designs of classic Toho monsters. And so, given that he kind of resembles both Baragon and Gabara, I never stopped wishing they’d just used one of those guys as the basis and namesake. Taken on his own, however? He’s... pretty neat. Not unique or exciting, but solidly above par.  He resembles a cross between a lizard/dinosaur and an ape, plus his head has some nifty coloration. 

Our Jaguar!

Jet Jaguar — I guess Jet Jaguar isn’t exactly a kaiju in the traditional sense because he’s a Giant Robot. However, if you want to consider him one, then I wager he probably gets even more screen time than Rodan! We meet him almost immediately when the series begins. Initially an odd pilot-driven robot that was constructed at the whim of a quirky old factory-owner with too much disposable income, Jet Jaguar grows and changes over the course of the show, ultimately undergoing a transition in episode 7 that makes him pretty damn impossible to dislike. In fact, I utterly adored him by then. This is definitely the best Jet Jaguar I’ve ever seen. His design is recognizably similar to the original yet utterly distinct, too. Like many of the other kaiju here, he’s not nearly as big as he was when he was first introduced to the movies, but his size is ideal for battling the smaller-scale monsters that we spend most of the series on.

[crazynekochan]

Dangan Persona AU

Ideas for 3rd and 4th palace (may switch these around depending on plot progression)

3rd palace

Ruled by Akane Owari.

Captive is Nekomaru Nidai (trapped in eternal duel with Shadow Akane at the mountain top; will have stress-induced heart problem that will kill him if palace not completed in time).

Shadow manifests as her with monkey traits like Sun Wukong the Monkey King (because I think that she acts a lot like the Monkey King and basically every shounen protagonist based on them), very brutal and rather irreverent about anything other than food, friends, battle, and entertainment, with her boss form playing even more into the Monkey King comparison with her being knocked into a huge braiser before clambering out to be a huge, rampaging ape woman with red eyes and a shitton of anger she’s gonna take out on the party, using mostly physical attacks.

Palace resembles a mix of the paradise island of the Monkey King’s home and the Jade Emperor’s palace, showing that HPA is both a paradise and somewhere she can use to improve her lot in life for her family.

The party has to climb the mountain palace to get to the top where Shadow Akane and Nekomaru are having their faceoff. Right when they get to the top, Akane (real Akane) finally manages to climb up by herself from scaling the outside and tackling the Shadow her to try helping them. Didn’t work, because Shadow Akane is like a super-strong evil version and she knocks Akane out, then starts the battle.

4th palace

Ruled by Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu.

Captive is Peko Pekoyama (trapped in a very restrictive decorative armor somehow decorated like wedding gear in the boss room; will be unintentionally killed by the ongoing war outside trying to defend Fuyuhiko, with Fuyu soon following suit, if palace not finished in time).

Shadow manifests as him wearing a hakama and what looks like wedding gear that’s brutally torn between respecting Peko’s autonomy and using his authority to keep her with him forever out of fear that if he doesn’t, she’ll get herself killed that turns into a giant dragon demon in a nice fitted suit that starts being incredibly rude (a Groomzilla, if you will) and uses Wind/Psychic/Physical skills a lot.

Palace is a lovely traditional Japanese shrine/palace combo where an utter warzone is taking place outside and you can see scenes of Fuyuhiko and Peko’s story together on the way inside the shrine with major puzzles so that you can get in without getting hurt

When the party gets to the actual shrine, Fuyuhiko (real Fuyu) sneaks in and tries his best to get Peko out of the armor so that they can both escape while Shadow Fuyuhiko is busy dealing with a distraction provided by the party. But, unfortunately, Shadow Fuyuhiko is just a bit too clever and immediately rushes back to find “his bride” being “undressed” by his “weak and pathetic” true self. Shadow Fuyuhiko gives a very brutal “why you suck” speech to Fuyuhiko before trapping Peko in the shrine and attacking the party for the fight

After the fight, the shadow confesses that he was the weak one, never having the guts to ask Peko what she had wanted because he was scared that it would be to leave him or hurt herself because of him. He even mentions that it’s what got her killed once, and he was never going to let her do that again. Before anyone could get an answer for why he said that, they have to leave because the palace is falling apart. But still, it does leave a lot of questions

---

Mod:

(3rd Palace) I wouldn’t be surprised if the Monkey King was an inspiration for Akane, like for a ton of characters, since she’s to the core a super powerful and active person, who doesn’t like thinking very much but will eat without a break. So having it reflect in her Shadow resemble it is a good choice. Same with her Palace being something actually resembling a palace, since as you said for her HPA was nothing but pure luxury where things were so much better than her life before

Though they really need to get a move on to get Nekomaru out of there, cause he might be super fit, but his heart for sure will not keep up for that long and I really doubt that he has heart medications on him in the Palace. And that Akane doesn’t like to stop fighting even when defeated is nothing new. Though I can imagine that defeating her shadow must be one of the physically hardest battles, cause she is a seriously good and very fast fighter after all. While the only trained fighters the party has up until now are Sakura, Akane herself and Gundham (as far as I remember, but correct me if I’m wrong)

(4th Palace) No matter what anyone tries to say, Fuyuhiko would be the biggest Groomzilla there is because only the best is hardly good enough for Peko’s and his wedding. And if Fuyu still keeps on trying (and awfully failing) with hiding his crush on Peko after the more or less wedding his Shadow created I will personally hit him up the head

The party did have a good idea with trying to keep the Shadow distracted while Fuyuhiko tries to safely free Peko, cause Peko can’t move properly and she would absolutely try to go between them if the Shadow tries to attack Fuyu despite being unable to protect herself. If only it worked, but hey the Shadow is at least content enough with “only” attacking Fuyuhiko verbally, cause let’s be honest with his awful self-esteem that he tries to hide so desperately behind his bad boy façade, words for sure hurt him more than any physical attack ever could (I mean he cut open his gut without a 2nd thought to apologise)

I love that slowly the party is noticing that something is a bit off about what is going on with the Shadows. But they have yet to understand what it is. Though not sure if they will even like the truth (But it makes it more fun x) )

[the-writing-mobster]

Can you gush all of them, please? Did we really miss something?😲 PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! Is this what you want? Well you finally got it. I'm begging. Please for the love of God let us get to know more about it. Please God damnit!)

Ayyyy! Nice reference!

"PLEASE! I'm begging you Muffet! Is this what you want? Well you finally got it. I'm begging. Please for the love of God let me see her. Please God damnit." 

Excerpt from 50

In the wise words of Ms. Muffet... “Get up.”

This post contains soft spoilers.

🌍 World building! 🌍

"Mhm… it's all artificial. A marriage of science and magic. Like those stars… not real. They're wishing stones. They're supposed to relay messages, times and dates… but everyone just kind of likes looking at them. Makes the nights down here not so bad, you know?"

Excerpt from 21

Trivia hour:

The fake moon and sun of the Underground was built by Dr. Gaster! Basically, there are these two large lamps that scale a glass dome at the tip top of the hollow mountain. This glass dome also has the "wishing stones" aka the fake stars that blink and relay messages via light morse code. There are entire jobs dedicated to deciphering the messages. It's mostly maintenance, nothing of any political importance.

The faux moon and sun only appear in Snowden and the Capitol. The other districts are pretty submerged in the deep caverns of the underground.

I basically created this system because when I was writing I wanted beautiful sunset imagery because nothing to me is more romantic than sunsets, and I realized— “Oh shit! They're underground!...hmmmm” and then I cracked my writer knuckles and started worldbuilding!

It also paints a clear contrast between the surface and the underground. Frisk herself is in complete awe of the inner mechanics and workings of the Underground, and she is willing to completely start over and a live a life down there. Meanwhile the monsters want... Real sunlight. They want real stars. They want the surface. They want freedom.

Freedom for Frisk is completely different to freedom for the monsters, which will be shown in a future scene.

🥀 Frans 🥀

She couldn't remember who moved first, but one second they had been trapped in a staring contest, the next, she was pressed against him, his teeth biting desperately at her lips. She melted in his embrace, her soul humming with content, as if this was where she was always meant to be. 

They staggered back against the counter, and she moaned softly into his mouth as he pressed against her. They couldn't be close enough. They drove each other crazy. She didn't understand the craving they had for each other, but she definitely knew it was there. God, she needed him. For that moment she forgot that she was supposed to be mad. 

Excerpt from 31

God. These two can't control themselves when they're around each other and it only gets... worse? Better ( ? ) in part 4. Like seriously guys, they can't get their hands off each other. It's well deserved in my humble opinion. Sometimes I'm a little worried that y'all will get annoyed with how much they kiss but then I'm like “why would they get annoyed??? That's like... The whole reason they're reading this...🥴”

Yeah I read WDYW for the plot.

The plot:

OOOH, Actually there's a scene in 62 between the two of them that's so sweet. I actually got the inspiration for it when I was rewatching Hunger Games Catching Fire. 😌 (God it's so good)

Also— Oh my God guys... Guys... Chapter 64. They are so powerful. That's all I'mma say. Be looking forward to it. Power couple to the max.

💀 Gasters 💀

ACK I wrote a flashback scene in Papyrus's pov and my girlfriend and I were both like 🥺🥺😭😭 because of how heartbreaking it. Soooo just be prepared for sad skeleton boy hours.

Another thing I want to just kind of joke about is this; how do the skeletons even talk? I like to think I'm at least semi realistic with my portrayal of the skeletons. One day I was literally on a hike and I was mouthing a scene to myself (as one does) and I say the word "bitch" (don't ask) and I suddenly stop and I'm like. “Bitch... Bitch ... Bah...BAH” (say Bitch slowly out loud lol) and I was like "SHIT YOU NEED LIPS TO MAKE THE BAH SOUND!” and I had an existential crisis for like the entire rest of my hike.

Anyway, the Skeleton brothers use magic for everything. That's how the undertale fandom waves away all illogical worldbuilding holes. “Oh? How do the skeletons make the Bah sound without lips? That's easy, ✨ magic ✨ ”

💅🏻 Villains 💅🏻

Ugghhhh MUFFET is diabolical, but in Part 4 she does take a step back because Part 4 is Asgore's time to shine.

"You and your skeletons would do well to remember that this is my kingdom . And if you challenge me in my kingdom, or make promises you can't keep, you will suffer. I'll make sure of it. Keep this in mind Moxie , I like to play with my food."

Excerpt from 40

And BOY does he fulfill his promises. We do get to see more of his interactions with Alphys, which I'm excited to write.

I actually really love writing him. He has this affinity for poetry so any chance I feel that it's appropriate to have a little poem, I write one or I find a famous old poem written by Lewis Carroll or Edgar Allen Poe or something like that. In fact I have it as canon that Asgore would read Asriel a shit load of poems, and their favorite was Lewis Carroll and his nonsense poems like the Jabberwocky.

 Papyrus watched with an unbreaking gaze as Asgore flipped through the pages of a book. 

"Ah… here's a good one. Beware the Jabberwock, my son. The jaws that bite, the claws that catch…  beware the jubjub bird and shun the frumious bandersnatch… do you read poetry, Lieutenant?" 

Except from 28

That's all I've got for this post! I'll do some more gushing for other asks, but thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to rant about absolutely nothing!

[quickspinner]

Man’s Best Fang

This wasn’t what I intended to be working on last night, but then @verfound had to go and do this and here we are.

He should have know it wouldn’t be that simple. He should have known, because it was Jagged, and despite being an international rock star, a pioneer in his field, and, apparently, Luka’s biological father, when it came to getting his way, Jagged Stone was twelve fucking years old and absolutely not above glossing over some things if it meant he got what he wanted. And apparently what he wanted today was Luka and Fang out of the hotel suite.

Take Fang for a walk, mate. Nah, it’ll be fine, he loves you! Penny ordered some macarons for ‘im for afterward, so take your time, wink wink.

Jagged rambled something about inspiration but Luka was pretty sure he was getting kicked out so that Jagged could make out with Penny, which was gross on so many levels, especially now that he knew Jagged was his dad and had apparently once done things like that with Luka’s mother and— 

That train of thought had led to Luka giving in so that he could flee the scene of those very uncomfortable thoughts, but of course walking Fang wasn’t as simple as Jagged made it out to be. Of course.

And now Luka was stuck wrestling an 800 pound crocodile in the lobby of Paris’ fanciest hotel, all because Fang decided to throw a hissy fit (Luka had recently learned that crocodiles could, in fact, hiss) during his morning walk because the carpet had snagged one of his claws, and Fang, it turned out, was kind of a wuss.

Luka was far from a weakling to begin with, growing up working on the boat, which always needed repair in some tight and uncomfortable corner. After months of tagging around as a roadie and occasional backup guitarist to bond with his wanna-be father, lifting sound equipment and setting up stages and wedging himself into improbable positions to hook up sound equipment, he was probably in the best shape he’d ever been. So he was almost, sort of, holding his own against the thrashing crocodile, pressing his weight down on Fang and trying to get the dumb beast to hold still, damnit. He managed to get astride Fang’s neck and get a hand on either side of his massive jaws to hold them shut all while trying to reassure the hotel patrons that the situation was under control. 

“Now, you big baby,” he growled, lifting Fang’s muzzle up and back to keep him from thrashing. “Hold—” He glanced up at the small crowd that had gathered—and promptly forgot about them as his gaze locked on the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. She blinked big blue eyes with long lashes and her cheeks pinked and he suddenly felt like Fang had kicked him in the gut. “Still,” he finished breathlessly.

Unfortunately, Fang sensed his distraction, jerked his muzzle free, and with a wild thrash and half-spin that required more energy than Luka had ever seen the lethargic creature use, he threw Luka off. 

The crowd scattered out of his way as he tumbled across the floor towards them, except for the blue-eyed girl in the pink dress, who didn’t move. Luka rolled to a stop at her feet on his back, and for a moment they stared at each other

“Hi,” Luka panted, and a giddy grin spread over his face. 

“Are you all right?” she asked anxiously, crouching down beside him and brushing his shaggy bangs out of his eyes. It shouldn’t have been possible for his heart to beat any harder considering he’d just been wrestling a crocodile four or five times his size, but it sure did its best as she stared into his eyes. It took longer than it should have to register that she was checking him for a concussion.

“Yeah,” he gasped. “Yeah, I’m good.” 

She frowned and held up her index finger. “Follow my finger.”

“I’ll follow you anywhere,” he said, eyes tracking that delicate finger automatically. She blushed and lowered her hand to her lap, where it curled automatically around the pink bakery box in her lap.

Luka blinked. “Wait, are those macarons?” 

“Um, yes?” Blue eyes blinked back at him. “I’m supposed to be delivering them to Jagged Stone.” 

“Oh, thank fuck,” Luka groaned, rolling over. “I work for him. Sort of. Can I have one of those please?” He got to his feet and pulled off his hoodie, tossing it to one side. It was one of the only articles of clothing he owned that wasn’t ripped and he wanted to keep it that way. Those big eyes got even bigger, roving over his shoulders and arms for a moment before she fumbled the box open and offered him a cookie.

He grinned, holding up the macaron between them. “Thanks, uh—” 

“Oh,” her eyes widened again. “I’m, uh, m-my name’s Ma-Ma-Marinette.” 

“Hello Ma-Ma-Marinette,” he chuckled, thoroughly charmed, “I’m Luka, and I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

A small hand caught his arm as he turned away and he looked back in surprise. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked him anxiously, looking between him and Fang with concern. Marinette didn’t look frightened of the crocodile, but she looked up at him with a worried expression that had Luka ready to melt into a puddle at her feet. She was too sweet. 

“Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “He looks scary, but he’s basically a big baby throwing a temper tantrum. I’ll be fine.” He winked at her and faced Fang with renewed purpose. 

“Fang,” he called, waving the macaron in the crocodile’s field of vision. “Hey, boy, fancy a snack? Who’s a good croc? Fangy want a treat?”

Fang’s massive head followed him, and the crocodile’s jaws gaped wide. 

“That’s it, Fang,” Luka coaxed. “You want the treat? Let’s have a trick. Down, Fang.” 

The crocodile flopped on his belly obediently. “Good boy, Fang!” Luka praised. “Now, stay...just hold still a bit…”

Fang’s head turned as Luka held out the macaron at arm’s length, trying to reach Fang’s caught claw while keeping his attention on the macaron. 

It didn’t work; Fang lunged for the treat, forcing Luka to jump back, and pulled hard on his trapped and probably now sore paw. Fang chomped the cookie, which Luka had dropped in his surprise, and then made what should have been an angry bellow but was really more like a big whine as he began to thrash. Luka spared a moment of grudging admiration for whoever had made this damn carpet. Fang’s claws were filed religiously so he wouldn’t be slicing through it anytime soon, but you’d think he’d have managed to break free by now.

But then again, he was kind of an overgrown pampered poodle instead of the apex predator he should have been.

“Aw, c’mon, you big baby!” Luka groaned, throwing his weight back on the grumpy animal to stop his thrashing before he hurt himself. “Would you just hold fucking still for two seconds—” There was a flash of pink at the corner of his eye and he looked quickly to find Marinette at his elbow. She shoved another macaron into his hand, and Luka quickly leaned over Fang to wave it in front of the croc’s face. “Hey Fang, you want another?” he called, and the massive head swung away from his caught claw in pursuit of the macaron. That was great, for the moment, but Luka couldn’t figure out any way to tempt Fang with the macaron and get his claw loose at the same time. 

Suddenly there was a weight against his leg, and Luka looked back in surprise just in time to see the girl of his dreams grab Fang’s foreleg and force it down until there was some small amount of slack in the loose threads that had trapped him. Then she reached over with her other hand and did something Luka couldn’t see.

Just like that, Fang was free, and Luka, bent over nearly in half and hanging off the side of a crocodile, lost his heart completely. The love of his life sat up and her unfairly perfect lips curved in a triumphant smile as she brushed blue-black bangs out of her eyes. He stared as she tucked the seam ripper that had been in her hand back in her purse, and cooly tossed Fang another cookie. 

He entertained a brief fantasy of grabbing her gorgeous face and kissing her stupid right then and there, but it seemed a Jagged kind of thing to do, which meant it was probably a bad idea. Instead he slithered off of Fang’s back and sat next to her on the carpet. 

“So, uh,” he said, still rather winded but giving her the most charming grin he could muster under the circumstances. “Thanks for the assist.” 

She giggled. “My pleasure.” 

“Well, Ma-Ma-Marinette,” Luka said, turning slightly so his back was resting against the now-docile crocodile and drawing up one knee to prop his arm across it. “Will you marry me?” 

She burst into bright laughter that touched his musical soul, and he longed for his guitar. “Too soon, huh?” Luka sighed dramatically. “How about dinner, then? I promise I’ll leave Fang at home. Whoa!” He nearly fell backwards as Fang abruptly moved away from him, swinging around to nose the box of treats and then—and then the fucker turned and put his head in Marinette’s lap, blinking up at her ever so innocently.

Marinette giggled and reached for the box, plucking out a macaron and droppinging it into Fang’s mouth. She patted the crocodile’s head as he munched happily. “Aw, you’re just a puppy dog with scales, aren’t you?” she cooed, and Luka had never in his life believed he would be jealous of a fucking lizard, but here he was. Then Marinette looked up at Luka and smiled and blushed and he was ready to kiss Fang himself for giving him the chance to meet her. “Um, dinner sounds good,” Marinette said shyly, shoulders hunching slightly. “What did you have in mind?”  

Luka could only hope the grin that was spreading across his face wasn’t as dopey as it felt.

Luka drifted back into Jagged’s suite wearing that same dopey grin and a dreamy look in his eyes, Fang waddling along contentedly at his side. 

Penny frowned as he wandered past her. “Luka, everything okay?”

“Fantastic,” Luka replied, grin widening. “Can’t talk right now, Penny, I need my guitar.” 

He went into his room, Fang still waddling along with him. A few minutes later the sound of Luka’s guitar drifted through the suite. 

His door was still open, so Penny peaked in to see Luka on the floor, leaning back against Fang, strumming as he stared into nothing with that dreamy look on his face. Fang’s tail thumped lightly in time with the melody. 

Penny turned and whisper-yelled for Jagged. She waved him over. “Do you think he’s okay?” she asked, nodding toward Luka’s room.

Jagged listened for a minute, and then began to cackle. “Aw, leave him be, Penny,” he chortled, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “Boy’s got it bad. Let him work it out for a bit and then we’ll find out who the little lady is.” Jagged rubbed his hands gleefully. “It’s about time he found a muse. I told you Fang was a chick magnet. He was good before, he’s gonna be brilliant now. Every great musician needs inspiration, right love?” He chucked Penny under the chin and she blushed. 

[se-ono-waise-ilia]

Lorcan vs. Army at Perranth

Title: Lorcan vs. Army at Perranth

Summary: What if the army did go to Perranth before Orynth?  Elide has an emotional reaction to seeing her homeland crawling with Valg soldiers.  Lorcan feels the need to take back the home of his beloved, and his hopeful future home.

Action, comedy, romance

Possibly a part 2 with more comedy and implied smut…

Personal thoughts: We hear about Lorcan being the most powerful demi-fae, and see his power used to a certain extent in EOS, but I was craving seeing his magic on a larger scale.  Also, I wanted to see Lorcan utilize his power differently like Aelin does when she’s emotional.  And I just needed more Elorcan in writing.

Also, Lorcan and Farasha never had their moment!  That scene in Anielle was AMAZING, and we never learned more about how Hella’s Horse connected with Lorcan and Elide.  Unacceptable (not really, but c’mon!).  So I took Farasha away from Chaol in this story, and I’m not sorry.

Also also, there are 2 moments when I throw loving shade at 2 of Lorcan’s faults.  Hope they are identifiable and make you nod in approval.

——

The Little Folk guided the army to the south of Perranth.  Lorcan gazed upon the Valg invested lands and observed the ruins of what was once a sprawling town.  He now rode upon Farasha, or the horse officially titled Hella’s Horse after Anielle.  Chaol reluctantly parted with the beast, but he understood the pairing between Lorcan and Farasha was destined to be.  The horse exhaled in anticipation.  The stone estate in the distance stood out to Lorcan Was that her home…

He was at the front beside his Queen and court, and he knew his beloved to be safe farther back with Yrene.  He turned towards where he knew she to be, and with his fae sight was able to observe the devastation on her face.  As if she sensed his look, she gazed back at him.  Her face changed to a furious demand for justice.  He nodded to her with understanding.

“My Queen,” he said to Aelin, who’s face had shifted into a killing calm.  Her eyes looked to his in question, probably still unused to hearing him speak to her with respect in his tone, “With your permission, I will take the estate back.”

Lorcan was determined to win back that precious building for his beautiful Elide.  Prove himself worthy of this new home.  And claim his new territory.  Even if the Queen didn’t give him express permission, he would still do it.  But he hoped for her approval, as he wanted this battle to define him as a warrior of honor.  No longer the destroyer of cities, but defender of them.  His barely contained magic flickered in the excitement of the death of Valg approaching.

Aelin raised an eyebrow at him, a hint of a smile of approval on her mouth.  She nodded.

Lorcan smiled grimly in satisfaction of the upcoming battle.  Unlike in Anielle, he felt full of purpose and desire for absolute victory.  Farasha’s hooves moved restlessly beneath him, perhaps equally excited about the death to come.

While waiting for the command to begin, Lorcan allowed the aesthetic of his dark magic wrap around him, letting it extend Farasha’s mane and tail.  The horse neighed in approval.

Although Lorcan usually adhered to the logic of his natural pessimism regarding the likely problems of the situation, this time he adhered to his newfound desire to protect and cherish with honor.  Today, I will prove my worth to Elide and this land.

At the signal, Lorcan eagerly raced on an equally eager Farasha to the battle front.  His sword and hatchet were smothered in crackling black magic.  His enhanced weapons sliced through Valg like butter as Lorcan made a road of death towards the estate.  Elide’s estate.  Our estate.

Lost in time with the onslaught of gore and glory, Lorcan soon found himself at an open entrance to his future residence.  Although lost in bloodlust, Lorcan was pleased to find an open way in.  He didn’t want to cause any additional damage to his beloved’s property.  Lorcan quickly sheathed his weapons, dismounted, and changed his methods of attack.

Lorcan’s dark magic crackled around his fingers as he pommeled all nearby Valg by hand, and threw them over the wall.  No Valg with continue to taint our home with their presence and stench.

He put a magic shield around Farasha that would hide her from sight in a shadow, and deflect any harmful intent.  Lorcan then gleefully waked through the entire estate, defeated any Valg by hand to avoid staining the interior with their blood, and threw them out nearby windows.  The glory of gradually eliminating the Valg from his home was like none he had ever felt in any battle before.

—-

Aelin paused her fighting at the sight.  Every few seconds, dead or near dead Valg would seem to be thrown out of the estate.  She laughed in amusement, “It seems that Lorcan is breaking in his new home.”

Rowan also paused for a moment as he gazed upon the estate with respect and gladness, “I’ve never seen Lorchan battle with such care for property before.  He’s not the same brute we encountered in Rifthold, and that I’ve known all these years.”

Gavriel chimed in, “I believe the presence of the young lady has struck Lorcan as no other has struck him before.”

Aelin laughed as she continued to fight, “Well I suppose it’s a good thing then that I didn’t castrate him in Rifthold.”

Gavriel and Fenrys froze and gaped at her.  Rowan chuckled at the memory.

—-

Elide couldn’t help but keep her eye on her homeland, knowing she should be more focused on assisting Yrene.  The battle was coming to a close with victory for the Queen’s army, but Elide kept her focus on the estate.  She felt conflicted, worried about her beautiful warrior, and yet feeling immense pride at the shadows of Valg being thrown out of the building.  Not to mention the road of slain Valg that lead from the army’s starting point directly to her estate.  Our estate, she thought with love, Perhaps we should use that path of death as inspiration for a new road once we return and rebuild.

The thought of returning home and rebuilding with Lorcan after the war filled her with joy.  Pride rippled through her at the thought of this magnificent warrior being by her side to lead and protect Perranth.

After some additional time assisting Yrene, fueled with gratification in the male who was reclaiming her homeland, the battle field noises changed from those of weapons clashing to those of recovery.  Elide looked back to see Lorcan in the distance riding upon Farasha on his road of death.  Back to her.

With Yrene’s approval, Elide started limping towards the beginning of the road of death.  She waited for him just before the trail of bodies, letting her emotions of fierce love take over her facial features.

At last, he reached her.  His face was equally fierce, as if he knew exactly how meaningful of a personal victory today was.  For him.  For her.  For them.

He dismounted and stalked towards her, seeking approval in her face.  She gave it to him with a smile.

When he was right in front of her, he just stared at her.  His face ablaze with glory and love.  She gave him that look straight back.  Then she grabbed his chest armor and pulled him down to meet her lips.  Their kiss was passionate, hungry, claiming, victorious.  With one arm around her back, he used the other to scoop her legs up.

When Elide’s mouth parted from her beautiful warrior, she noticed black magic swirling around them.  And all the nearby soldiers watching in awe.

Elide recognized the gravity of this moment with a blush on her face, Lorcan won back my home.  For me.  For our future.  And he did it with flair… everyone is watching…oh Gods, this is a moment worthy of a song!

Tears poured down her face, and she pressed her brow upon his, “Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth.

His face softened into a loving expression, one she only ever observed directed at her, “Would you like to see it?”

She nodded, and he carried her over the bodies of dead Valg towards Farasha.  Lorcan gently positioned her on the horse, then mounted behind her.  One his arms lovingly wrapped around her waist, the other directed Farasha back to the estate.

—

Lorcan never truly understood the bliss of victory until this day.  No battle he had ever been in before compared.  The amount of loyalty and territory he felt while cleansing the estate of the Valg.  The sensation of anticipation while riding back to Elide to see her reaction.  The amount of love and glory he felt kissing her in front of the other soldiers, his magic surrounding them.  He had never even considered using his magic for a spectacle before, but he felt an out-of-character desire to show off for the moment.  And he was glad he did.  Upon seeing his heart crying tears of gratitude, he felt true victory with every bone in his body.  

He felt loved, and worthy of that love.  And it was the best feeling in his ancient life.

Upon dismounting Farasha and assisting Elide to the ground and bracing her ankle with his magic, she wrapped her fingers around his.  He never understood the intimate pleasure in hand holding before.  He couldn’t stop smiling as she pulled him around the estate.

He followed her and listened to her tour, coated in the warm sensation of love and worthiness.  Then Elide stopped in front of a door at the top level of the estate.  He heard her heart flutter, “I - I suppose this would be our room,” and she looked at him with a blush on her face.

Lorcan stilled, at a loss for words.  He of course had previous residences in his long life, but the thought of this door before him leading to a whole new kind of residence startled him to his core.  He looked at the door, “Our room…” he spoke softly, not knowing what was most appropriate to say.  He had an embarrassing reputation saying the most cringe worthy things in front of Elide during moments like this.

He looked Elide, and saw her eyes lined with silver.  He then gazed at their hands, still interlaced.  He kneeled before her and kissed her hand earnestly, “Elide…” he was still at a loss for words.

She tilted his chin up with her gentle fingers.  She caressed his face, and he pressed his cheek into her gentle hand.

After a moment of tenderness unlike anything Lorcan had ever experienced, Elide spoke, “I’m grateful to you, for you, Lorcan.”

Lorcan had already experienced the most wonderful emotions of his life on this day, but this was something else.

For the first time in Lorcan’s long life, he wept tears of joy.

----

Writing experience: I’ve started a number of fanfics, but never finished them or had the nerve to post them.  All the amazing one shots for Throne of Glass inspired me, and quarantine gave me the time.  So this is my first official fic!  I think it could be complete, but maybe I’ll write a part 2 for fun.  Honestly, I’m quite proud of myself for taking my favorite aspects of the book, and adding my imagination to it.  I also worked very hard to pace myself while reading KoA so my imagination could run wild.  So worth it.  I came up with this idea after the battle of Anielle.  Enjoy!

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Rave: Nokdu Flower

[This is a largely spoiler free review with some allusions to the ending of the drama and trajectory of some character arcs.]

I have a poor track record with traditional sageuks. I wish it weren't so. I've always wanted to watch more of them. But whether because of the often daunting length, the historical learning curve, or some other personal failing, I rarely manage to finish them, much less review them. The small handful of traditional sageuks that I have managed to finish, however, have been exceptionally rewarding experiences. Six Flying Dragons and Tree With Deep Roots specifically come to mind. And 2019 has furnished us with a third drama from the same director, Shin Kyung Soo, which has immediately put itself in contention for one of the best dramas of the year.

Nokdu Flower takes place prior to the Japanese occupation, in the contentious period just a handful of years before the events portrayed in Mr. Sunshine and focuses on a trio of characters who all become involved on one side or another with the Donghak peasant rebellion, a cultural and religious movement aimed at removing corrupt officials and moving toward a world where all people are equal. The plot revolves around a pair of half brothers, Baek Yi Kang (Jo Jung Suk) and Baek Yi Hyun (Yoon Shi Yoon), who end up on opposite sides of the ensuing violence as well as a shrewd merchant named Song Ja In (Han Ye Ri) who always follows money over factions.

From the very first episodes, this drama really moves. My first impressions were all about how good this drama looks, sounds, and feels to watch. I worried that the drama wouldn't be able to maintain the same pace and intensity over the course of the run, and while the pacing does become considerably less break-neck as the show goes on, it never seems to drag or lose direction, always moving with a sense of inevitability toward its conclusion. There is also a surprising number of "battle scenes" employed throughout the story (which is ultimately one of war and rebellion) all of which I thought looked good and were used to thrilling affect, with a clever implementation of fog and darkness to make the scale feel even more epic.

The tone of the drama is remarkably dark, with a lot of lurid details and morally ambiguous characters driving the plot. While this might be off-putting to one subset of viewers, if you're like me it's definitely a selling point. I've watched many dramas that try to strike this kind of tone early, hinting at or outright showing their characters flaws but falling into the trap of trying to simplify and sanitize those characters later on for the sake of a clean narrative. Nokdu Flower gradually develops its characters over the course of the entire drama, in a thoughtful manner that makes each dynamic change feel hard won. Of course you can't talk about Nokdu Flower's characters without talking about the incredible cast.

While I've watched a handful of his movies and dramas, I wouldn't call myself a huge Jo Jung Suk fan, though I respect his considerable acting talent and ability to disappear into his characters. Nokdu Flower was the first drama where I really felt like I couldn't imagine the show without him, between his satoori and mannerisms, his bombastic and his quiet moments, it really felt like he lived in this characters skin for a while. I've seen Han Ye Ri's turn as Song Ja In praised elsewhere on this site, and the praise is all well deserved. I've been following her career since Age of Youth and this is the first character that I've really fallen in love with as much as Yoon Sunbae for all her pretty and ugly sides.

I couldn't get through the review without mentioning Yoon Shi Yoon's performance. Every time I review one of his dramas I end up feeling like a YSY shill. Maybe that's just his disarming charm, that I end up liking whatever he does in spite of myself. (I swear he's not paying me to say these things.) I don't know if it was working with an experienced director or the fact that this character is a marked departure from type, or if it has something to do with experienced actors like JJS--who YSY mentioned in one interview gave him invaluable advice on how to portray his character-- but the character of Baek Yi Hyun and his portrayal felt like a decided elevation of YSY's craft. Be warned, he is not a cuddly flower boy in this drama. This character goes dark, his trajectory is tragic and poignant and at times his descent is incredibly painful to watch. Despite all this, and despite where he ends up, Yi Hyun was hands down my favorite character in this drama and, in my opinion, this is the single best performance of YSY's career. As much as I like his clownish and romantic roles, I really hope we get to see more like this from him in the future.

The main trio of actors should be enough of an enticement to check this drama out on their own, but the entire extended cast really helped to fill out this world, make if feel lived-in and help cement the story in my mind. Choi Moo Sung as Jeon Bong Jun, aka General Nokdu, left a big impact on me. In all of his scenes you could feel that sense of awe that the full charismatic force of this man could inspire, you could feel what the Donghak followers must have felt that made them willing to lay down their lives for these ideals. He quite literally gave me shivers at multiple points through the drama.

Park Hyun Kwon as well, as Yi Hyun and Yi Kangs's vile father, Baek Ga, left me frequently stunned or seething with rage as I wondered how a human being could get so twisted. You will absolutely despise this character, but the performance is one of the best in the drama and he is a frequent scene-stealer.

I have only a few minor quibbles about the drama, none of which seriously hurt my enjoyment. There are moments when the plot, especially regarding the Donghak army, Yi Kang and the detached force felt slightly repetitive and could have done with a little trimming. The Japanese characters are consistently portrayed as utter monsters, which isn't really a surprise for a drama set in this era, but for a show so committed to showing humanity in all of its ugliness even with regard to history's "heroes" it would have been nice to see a slightly more nuanced portrayal. However, my bias may be showing in this regard. I doubt what would be to my taste would play as well on Korean television (especially recalling the KES/Gu Dong Mae controversy from last year). It did take me a long time to get on board with the romance between Yi Kang and Ja In, which felt somewhat rushed in the first half of the drama, but came admirably into its own in the latter episodes and became one of my favorite elements with one of the most satisfying screen kisses of the year.

Pretty much everything else I would say about this drama would only serve to spoil things, when ultimately I really think you should just watch this drama yourself. If you have an interest in this period of history, or well-told character driven stories, or have been looking for a solid sageuk to sink your teeth into after SFD, or even if you just like the actors and want to watch for them, I don't think this would be a waste of your time. I truly felt like this drama was slept on while it was airing,  and I'm glad that I devoted those 24 hours and these words to watching it. For all of the above, I have to rate Nokdu Flower 9/10.

[kurokoros]

Focal Point | Part Two

Title: Focal Point

Rated: M (language, smut, references to past violence)

Words: 10.5K

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Jones!OC

Summary: Jubilee stares at him in disbelief, mouth opening and closing though no words come out. A dozen emotions flicker in her eyes as she takes in what he’s said, but they pass too quickly for him to register anything but her confusion. Eventually, she crosses her arms, leaning back in the booth, quirking a brow at him. “You want me to pose for you,” she repeats slowly, absolutely bewildered by the request. “Naked.”

Sweet Pea wets his lips, mirroring her pose, looking far too calm for the request that just came out of his mouth. His eyes meet hers, throat bobbing with a harsh swallow, and she’s relieved to see a flicker of nerves in his eyes. “Yeah.”

College!AU in which Art Major Sweet Pea needs a nude model for an assignment. He decides to ask his best friend.

Chapters: One | Two  | Three | Four | Epilogue

Read on AO3

AN: This is going to be a four part fic (now with a short epilogue!) that’s part of my extended College!Verse Like the Kids in Art School Said! It should be updated every Thursday until complete assuming nothing comes up in my personal life! Inspired by @sweetpeasbabydoll wanting an artist Sweet Pea au with him doing a nude portrait!

Movie nights are something they’ve been doing since they started college.

At first it was just the Serpents, but it didn’t stay like that for long. Every Tuesday night Sweet Pea ends up with nearly ten people piled into his flat, squished onto his couch and curled up on the floor with blankets. They used to rotate the apartment they were at, but his has the most open space and eventually they just settled on his place. Sweet Pea doesn’t mind it, not really.

It’s loud and cramped, and sometimes the movie choices are awful, but it’s comfortable. It’s home.

Sweet Pea groans when he sees what movie Jughead is queuing up to watch next. “Really, Jones?” he grumbles from his spot at the opposite end of the couch, glaring at him over Jubilee’s head. “Nightmare on Elm Street?” He raises an unamused brow, pursing his lips when Jughead sends him a look of offense.

“This movie is a classic, Sweet Pea,” Jughead tells him, his eyes narrowing in a way that lets Sweet Pea know he already has several different arguments ready for why the movie isn’t garbage.

Movie snob.

“It’s not actually that great,” Sweet Pea starts, smothering a laugh when Jughead’s eyes widen in horror.

Jubilee sighs and shifts her head against Sweet Pea’s shoulder, tilting her head up to look at him. Sweet Pea’s arm tightens around her and he breaks his stare with Jughead to glance down at her. “Don’t argue with him,” she mumbles, “he’ll just start ranting again.”

His chest rumbles with a laugh and his fingers squeeze around her upper arm apologetically when she turns back to the TV. “Sorry, Doll,” he murmurs in her ear, keeping his voice low so not to disturb any of their sleeping friends. Lydia and Kevin both passed out halfway through the first movie. And Fangs only looks half-awake where he’s sprawled across the floor, though he keeps shooting curious looks at Sweet Pea and Jubilee, unable to figure out how their conversation went earlier or if Sweet Pea even asked her to model at all.

Jubilee shivers and curls closer against his side. “Must you antagonize him?”

Sweet Pea’s thumb strokes the bare strip of skin on her shoulder where her sweater has slipped down over the course of the night. “He’s funny when he’s angry,” he reasons, hiding a grin against her hair when she snorts and shakes with muffled laughter that draws Jughead’s attention.

“Behave,” Jubilee chastises, slapping at his chest playfully, making his smile widen.

He turns back to the movie, but he’s only half-focused on the story, distracted by Jubilee’s gentle breaths against the side of his neck and her soft curves pressed against his side. Sweet Pea was hoping that the movies would keep him from thinking about their conversation at the diner, but he’s having a hard time not thinking about it when he can smell her perfume and hear every little sound that escapes her as she watches the movie.

He’s still surprised she agreed to it. He’s never been entirely sure what’s going on in her head, but Sweet Pea has known her long enough to know that she doesn’t do anything without a reason, even if it genuinely is just to help him out. Regardless, he’s just glad it didn’t make things awkward between them. Lunch went the way it always does, and afterwards she went with him to pick up snacks for the movies.

Sweet Pea doesn’t know what to make of that.

“Freddy Krueger,” he whispers in her ear partway through the movie, during a quiet scene. His fingers drum against her shoulder absentmindedly and her bent knees are resting against his left thigh.

Jubilee shifts as his lips brush against her skin. “What about him?”

“Think you could beat him in a fight?”

She glances up at him briefly, eyes narrowed in bewilderment. “He has knives for fingers, Sweet Pea,” she reminds him, baffled but amused by his question. It’s a distraction and she must know it. Jubilee has never liked horror movies much, but tolerates them for Jughead. It’s not that they scare her, exactly, but the loud noises leave her irritated and a little jumpy. And they make her headaches worse.

“So what?” Sweet Pea snorts, watching the character on the screen. “He’s skinny. I bet you could take him.”

She turns to whisper in his ear and her lips brush against his cheek. “I bet I could take you,” she says slowly, almost purposeful. Her breath is hot against the side of his face and he sucks in a sharp breath, mind suddenly in the gutter.

There’s something about the way she says it, low and teasing and it makes him all too aware of every inch of her that’s pressed up against him. She doesn’t move away from him, lips still brushing against his cheek. Sweet Pea tilts his head just enough to look down at her.

“You could try, Sweetheart,” he teases, swallowing the lump in his throat. Jubilee shifts her head against his shoulder, dark eyes alight with mirth.

“You’re not that tough.”

His eyes widen a fraction. “Oh yeah?” he challenges her, the arm around her shoulders drifting lower, his fingertips dragging down her arm slowly. “You sure about that?”

He pinches her side at the same time the score crescendos and Jubilee gasps, jerking against him as her right hand latches onto his thigh a few inches above his knee. He almost jumps at her sudden touch, breath catching as her fingers squeeze around his leg. Jubilee’s eyes snap back to the TV as a character starts screaming, but Sweet Pea isn’t able to shift his gaze away from her, staring for a moment too long.

A piece of popcorn hits him in the center of his forehead. Sweet Pea blinks, gaze snapping to floor and a smirking Fangs. His amusement is clear as he glances between Sweet Pea and Jubilee, wiggling his brows obnoxiously. Sweet Pea flips him off, but it only makes him smile wider.

Sweet Pea hopes Fangs chokes on his popcorn.

Jubilee’s hand doesn’t leave his thigh for the rest of the movie, her grip tightening anytime there’s a sudden loud noise. He reasons that she probably doesn’t realize that it’s there, to engrossed in the movie to notice, but Sweet Pea is painfully aware of every twitch of her fingers against him.

“So,” Sweet Pea starts, cutting off Jughead and Joaquin mid-sentence as he plays with the straw in his glass of water, the four of them waiting for their food to arrive. He steadfastly ignores the grin growing on Fangs face, deciding to just rip off the proverbial Band-Aid and get it over with. “I have to do a nude portrait of a friend for my art class,” he tells them casually, hiding a smirk when Jughead nearly chokes on his drink.

Joaquin blinks at him from across the table. “That’s one way to start a conversation,” he murmurs, shaking his head as he leans back against the booth. Already, Joaquin looks exhausted by the turn in conversation.

Sweet Pea only shrugs in response. He wasn’t originally planning on telling the other guys about his situation with Jubilee, but figures telling them now is better than them finding out after the fact when either he or Fangs are drunk off their ass and feel like sharing. Besides, Fangs has clearly been antsy about it all day. He wasn’t able to corner Sweet Pea last night after the movies were done, and Sweet Pea managed to slip into their morning history class just before it began, saving himself from the expected interrogation, but their psychology class afterwards ended up being canceled, leaving the four of them with a free hour.

Jughead pulls a face before narrowing his eyes at Sweet Pea, a little wary. “Sweet Pea, if you’re asking one of us to model for you I’m going to have to say no.” Sweet Pea rolls his eyes. He doesn’t actually like Jones enough to ever want to draw his pasty ass anyway.

Fangs leans around Sweet Pea to stare at Jughead, wiggling his brows suggestively. “What happened to ‘no Serpent stands alone?’ ” The quip makes Joaquin snort and shake his head. Meanwhile Jughead sends Fangs a look of utter annoyance.

“I draw my line at getting naked around any of you,” Jughead informs them, looking almost queasy at the thought. He’s never been one for public nudity, especially not after everything that happened their second year on campus.

“Afraid he’d draw your dick to size?” Fangs teases, resting one elbow on the table and propping his chin up on his hand. “You could ask him to scale it up.” Sweet Pea doesn’t bother to hide the snort that escapes him, his lips curving up at the edges at their bickering.

Fangs’ teasing is always more amusing when it’s not directed at him.

Jughead shoots Sweet Pea a nasty look before his gaze jumps back to a snickering Fangs. “Fuck you, Fangs! There’s nothing wrong with the size of my dick!”

The two of them dissolve into an argument over Jughead’s cock and Sweet Pea watches them from his spot closest to the window, thoroughly amused by the turn in conversation.

Joaquin groans from across the booth and shoots Sweet Pea an annoyed look. “Look what you did, Pea,” he chastises, rolling his eyes at their other friends. It’s not until their waitress returns with their food that Jughead and Fangs stop bickering. It doesn’t take long for Jughead to become fixated on his burger and forget all about Fangs’ ribbing and Sweet Pea’s unprompted declaration.

While the other two are busy with their food, Joaquin turns back to Sweet Pea, raising a curious brow. “So is there a reason you’re bringing this up?” he asks, resting his elbows against the table between them. “The modeling thing, not Jughead’s penis. Because, no offense man, but I wouldn’t let you draw me naked if you paid me.”

Sweet Pea snorts and rolls his eyes. He has no idea why everyone just assumes he’s asking them to get naked for him. Is that the kind of guy he seems like? “I already have a model,” he informs Joaquin. “I asked someone yesterday.”

“Okay?” Joaquin frowns at him, like he’s not sure why Sweet Pea is bringing this up to begin with.

“It’s Jubilee,” he continues casually.

Jughead’s burger falls out of his hands.

Joaquin blinks at him, eyes widening just a fraction, but his expression is otherwise unreadable. He doesn’t say a word as Jughead wheezes, choking on his lunch. Sweet Pea opts to ignore this, as do the others.

“Seriously?” Fangs gasps, positively giddy as he swivels in his seat to look at Sweet Pea. “You seriously asked Jubilee?”

He frowns at Fangs’ surprise. “You’re the one that told me to ask her,” Sweet Pea reminds his friend, baffled by his excitement, though he probably shouldn’t be. He’s known Fangs practically his entire life and Fangs has always been way too dramatic for his own good. That’s probably why he’s currently majoring in theater though.

Fangs gives an over-exaggerated roll of his eyes. “Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d have the balls to actually do it.”

“Dude, if you’re just being a bitch because I don’t want to draw you naked—”

“I’d be a great model and you know it!” Fangs snaps, glaring at Sweet Pea over his sandwich.

Sweet Pea glares right back at his friend, an argument on the tip of his tongue, but Jughead cuts him off before he can say anything. “You asked my sister to model for you naked,” Jughead repeats slowly, blue eyes wider than Sweet Pea has ever seen them before. “You asked my sister to model for you naked?” His expression quickly melts into one of disgust.

Sweet Pea isn’t entirely sure if it’s a question or not. “Yes?”

Jughead shakes his head. “Sweet Pea, I’m gonna kill you.” He pulls out his phone, grumbling something to himself that the rest of them don’t catch.

“What are you doing?” Sweet Pea questions, quirking a brow at Jughead’s furious typing.

“Texting my dad.”

“FP can text?”

Sweet Pea sighs, feeling a headache coming on. “He’s not that fucking old, Fangs. And knock that shit off, Jones.” He reaches across the table and slaps the cell phone out of Jughead’s hand, sending it clattering against the table.

Jughead huffs as he slips the phone back into his pocket. They eventually quiet down as the surprise wears off and Sweet Pea is suddenly aware of how quiet Joaquin is being. He’s never been that much of a talker compared to the rest of them, but he’s not the definition of the silent type either. Sweet Pea meets Joaquin’s eyes for just a moment before turning to his food.

They eat in silence for several minutes.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Joaquin asks him suddenly, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes from across the booth. He stares at Sweet Pea seriously, an odd look on his face. “You know, Jubilee modeling for you? Naked.” He stresses the last word and Sweet Pea rolls his eyes.

Sweet Pea shrugs, chewing his burger slowly as he glances at Joaquin. “Why wouldn’t it be? Jubilee doesn’t seem to have an issue with it.” She’d definitely let him know if there was a problem, never the type to let something like that slide. And it didn’t exactly take much convincing to get her to agree. “Besides, Jubilee is just a friend.”

“A friend who you’ve slept with,” Fangs immediately counters, rolling his eyes.

Sweet Pea stiffens.

Joaquin’s eyes widen just a fraction, his mouth dropping open. “What?”

“You slept with my sister?” Jughead questions just a little too loudly, gaining them a few looks from other patrons nearby. For the third time since the conversation started, Jughead looks queasy.

“Bed!” Sweet Pea corrects them, shooting Fangs a nasty glare that only makes him smirk in self-satisfaction. “We shared a bed!” he says, keeping his voice low to avoid any additional unwanted attention. “That’s it. And it only happened one time.”

“When the fuck—” Joaquin cuts himself off, glancing at one of the nearby tables before leaning across the table closer to Sweet Pea. “When the fuck did you share a bed?” he hisses, bewilderment flashing in his eyes.

Sweet Pea groans, dropping his head back against the booth and squeezing his eyes shut. He drags a hand down the side of his face, avoiding the varying looks from his friends. “Last semester,” he mumbles, “when Mantle came to see Lydia.” Sweet Pea drops his hand, looking between them slowly. “Their apartment was crowded and Jubilee asked to stay at my place. I would have taken the couch, but someone was slumming it there,” he explains, sending Fangs a look that the other man waves off. “Nothing happened.”

Fangs raises an unimpressed brow and snorts. “You popped a boner,” he reminds Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea takes a deep breath through his nose, fighting the urge to throttle his friend. “Fangs, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“Okay, first of all,” Joaquin says, glancing between the two of them and settling on Fangs, “I don’t wanna know why you know this.” Fangs opens his mouth to speak, but Joaquin continues before he can somehow make things worse. “Second of all,” he turns to Sweet Pea, “you got hard from sharing a bed? And you think that won’t happen when she takes off her clothes for you?”

Jughead pulls another face at the mention of his sister being naked and Sweet Pea rolls his eyes, wishing they would just drop it. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid this morning.

“Well, as long as her ass isn’t pressed against my crotch I think I’ll be fine,” he tells them sarcastically.

Joaquin frowns at him and raises a brow, apparently surprised by the new information. He glances at Fangs for clarification.

“They were spooning,” he explains.

Nodding, Joaquin slowly turns back to Sweet Pea, considering him for several long seconds. “Man you are in so much trouble,” Joaquin finally tells him, shaking his head almost sadly.

“I don’t know why you’re making a big deal out of this.” Sweet Pea crosses his arms and narrows his eyes. “There’s nothing sexy about figure drawing.” And really, there’s not. Figure drawing can be awkward at first, and it’s definitely intimate, but he definitely wouldn’t call it arousing when he’s trying for the sixth time to shade a face and the model is obviously sweaty and uncomfortable under the studio lights.

“So you’re not going to pop a boner after Jubilee takes her clothes off for you?” Joaquin asks him.

“There’s nothing sexy about figure drawing,” Sweet Pea repeats firmly, rolling his eyes at Fangs remark and trying to ignore the suddenly very prominent thought of Jubilee undressing for him. He takes a long drink of water.

Fangs shoots him an impish look. “There’s something sexy about Jubilee though.”

Jughead looks physically ill at that and Sweet Pea’s fingers curl into a fist as his jaw clenches. Fangs doesn’t bat an eye at the warning look Sweet Pea sends him. Joaquin just shakes his head and murmurs something about them being dumbasses. “Can we just drop it, please?” Sweet Pea grumbles, running a hand down the side of his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.

It’s quiet for a second.

“But what if you have to stop halfway through to rub one out?” Fangs asks.

Exasperated, Sweet Pea stops their waitress as she walks by, suddenly very glad that he has no qualms with day-drinking. “Can I get a rum and coke, please?”

The week passes by far too quickly and before Sweet Pea realizes it it’s Friday.

Normally, he’d have at least made an attempt to start his project by now, but he’s come to realize just how complicated it can be when there’s two schedules that need to align. He’s used to working when inspiration hits him, waiting for that right moment to start, even if it means pushing the limits of a deadline. He’s never been afraid to rush his work. The pressure helps sometimes—keeps him focused.

But this isn’t the kind of project he can rush. Figure drawing takes time. Hours depending on the subject and posing. People can only stay still for so long at a time and it isn’t unheard of for people to take more than one session on a single piece, especially for a higher level class like this. He has three days left to finish and he’s not quite sure if the nerves prickling across his skin are because of the looming deadline or something else.

It’s not that he’s been avoiding the project, exactly—at least, not on purpose—but between his and Jubilee’s work schedules they’ve both been busy. He hasn’t seen much of her since Tuesday night, after he dropped her off back at her place. A few times in the hallways on campus and that was it.

It’s close to that time in the semester where they’re all cramming to finish things and going out of their minds with papers and projects. Jubilee and Jughead have had it the worst, their literature classes kicking their asses as they cram out one paper after the next. It’s not uncommon for the Joneses to disappear for a few days every semester, locking themselves in their rooms and threatening anyone who dares to get close to them.

It happens every semester, but he’s never gotten used to her not being there.

Something cold always creeps into his apartment when she’s gone for more than a few days, the silence coming back when she isn’t there to chase it away. It makes him more irritated than he’d ever admit, but his friends can recognize his moods after so many years of knowing him.

None of them have brought up the nude modeling thing since Wednesday, and Sweet Pea is thankful for that. He wouldn’t tell them, but their teasing got to him more than he was expecting. As much he brushed them off and rolled his eyes they were right about one thing: it is different with Jubilee.

Sweet Pea isn’t a stranger to seeing people naked. He’s had a few girlfriends over the years and was never shy about hooking up with people at parties during his first years on campus. He spent an entire semester taking a figure drawing class where he spent six hours a week drawing various models. The nudity isn’t what makes him nervous about this project. It’s Jubilee.

Not for the first time he considers what this might mean for them. There’s always been a delicate balance between them. Sweet Pea’s always been careful not to let things get too far, even when he catches himself thinking about her more than he should.

He knows why he asked Jubilee to be his model; what he doesn’t know is why she said yes.

And now it’s Friday and the deadline is creeping up on him faster than before. It makes him antsy, irritated, and he barely sits through his morning history and psychology classes without picking a fight with the frat guys in the back of the class who won’t stop talking. Sweet Pea doesn’t even like psychology, but at least it’s something to distract him from thinking about Jubilee being naked.

There’s nothing quite like psychology to kill a boner before it can start.

By the time their professor dismisses them, Sweet Pea is ready to go home and spend his Friday night on the couch watching bad Netflix movies and drinking that bottle of whisky he’s been saving for the right occasion.

He figures frustrated and a little horny is a perfect excuse.

He blames Fangs for putting the idea of asking Jubilee in his head in the first place. Sure, he’d pictured it a few times, imagining her dark hair tickling her soft skin and the way her eyes might catch the light, turning to gold in the late afternoon. It isn’t hard to picture her like that. Jubilee has been in his thoughts for longer than he’d like to admit, there in the back of his mind and creeping up on him when he isn’t careful.

This project has only made it worse.

Sweet Pea slings his bag over his shoulder, intent on bolting from the classroom before any of his friends can stop him, but Fangs catches him before he can get far, tossing an arm around Sweet Pea’s neck and yanking him down slightly. Grunting at the strain on his neck, Sweet Pea glances at Fangs, who grins back cheekily as they leave the classroom.

“So, any plans for tonight?” Fangs asks him casually as Sweet Pea pulls himself out of Fangs’ hold and sends him an irritated look.

He already doesn’t like where this is going. The last time that Fangs asked if he had plans, Sweet Pea ended up in Cancun during spring break and was nearly arrested. He’s pretty sure he and Fangs are both wanted criminals in Mexico now. “Home,” he tells Fangs firmly, rolling his shoulders and straightening to his full height, “to drink and ignore my responsibilities as an adult.”

Fangs clucks his tongue, sending him a critical look. “No you’re not,” he decides, making Sweet Pea roll his eyes. Fangs knocks his shoulder against Sweet Pea’s, grinning and wiggling his brows. “We are going to a party tonight.”

“Fuck that,” is Sweet Pea’s immediate reply. He stopped letting Fangs talk him into going to parties their second year on campus after deciding the nasty hangovers and shitty hookups weren’t worth it. He’s only been to a few since then, and he’s regretted it almost immediately every time.

“Oh, come on, Pea.” Fangs heaves a dramatic sigh, clearly put out by the quick dismissal. “SAE is throwing a rager tonight and I need you as my wingman. Kevin and Joaquin are going on a date tonight and you know Jughead can’t wingman for shit.” Sweet Pea will give him that. Jughead is just about the worst wingman ever and is more likely to start a brawl than anything else.

He quirks a brow at Fangs. “Sigma? Really?” he asks, shaking his head in disappointment. “They’re all assholes.” Sweet Pea went to one Sigma party a few semesters back and all he got out of it was a morning spent in the bathroom afterwards. That’s not something he needs a repeat of anytime soon.

“Yeah, but they throw excellent parties and hot people show up,” Fangs reminds him, waving off his concerns.

“Why can’t you just use Tinder like everyone else?” Sweet Pea asks, annoyance dripping from his voice. It would be so much easier for the rest of them if Fangs would just take up online dating instead of attempting to hookup with anyone with a pulse and pretty eyes.

Fangs shoots him a pleading look and Sweet Pea has to look away, steadfastly avoiding his puppy-dog eyes. “Come on man,” Fangs tries again, “you promised you’d help me out after last time!” Sweet Pea snorts, fairly certain he didn’t promise Fangs shit. “Besides it beats drinking whiskey and jerking yourself off.”

“Isn’t that what you usually do on a Friday night, Fogarty?” a familiar voice teases from behind them. Sweet Pea’s head snaps around, his eyes finding a dark, amber gaze already looking at him. His whole body relaxes when he sees Jubilee standing behind them, a grin spreading across her face. She glances between them, looking comfortable in a pair of dark jeans and a big sweater.

“Jubilee!” Fangs greets her excitedly, crossing the small space between them and tossing his arms around her in a bear-hug, making her giggle. A fond smile slips onto Sweet Pea’s face as he looks at her. “Where’ve you been, girl?” Fangs asks as he releases her. “You disappeared on us there!”

“Clarkson assigned a paper due today and you know how he is,” she explains, waving off Fangs concern. She glances over at Sweet Pea, her lips curling into a smile. “I just ran down here to drop off a book with Jughead, figured I’d see what you two were up to.”

He’s a little surprised to see her this far away from the cluster of literature classes on the third floor until he remembers that Clarkson doesn’t have classes on days papers are due, a small mercy from the asshole professor.

Sweet Pea steps up to them and places a hand on her back, guiding her closer to him as students mill around them. A few of the frat guys glance at her as they walk by and Sweet Pea glares at them over her head, letting his hand linger on her hip until they turn away.

“I hate Clarkson,” Fangs mumbles off-handedly, wrinkling his nose at the mention of the professor.

Sweet Pea snorts, trying to ignore the way Jubilee leans into his side. “Why?” Sweet Pea asks, amusement flickering in his eyes. “Because he failed you?”

“Yes, because he failed me!” Fangs snaps at him, a sour look on his face. Despite it being two years since Fangs had a class with the professor, he’s never been one to let a grudge go so easily. “That paper was solid and you both know it!”

Jubilee shakes her head. “You wrote it two hours before it was due,” she reminds Fangs, crossing her arms when he looks at her and pouts. “What else were you expecting? You knew Clarkson was a hardass.”

Fangs just waves off her comment, a retort ready on his mouth before he pauses seeming to realize something very important. He looks down at Jubilee before his gaze flicks up to Sweet Pea instead. “Wait, does that mean you’re free tonight?” he asks Jubilee, suddenly excited.

Sweet Pea swears under his breath and groans, already knowing where this is heading.

Jubilee glances up at him, raising a brow. “I don’t have to speed write a paper,” she tells Fangs slowly, “so no, I don’t have anything going on. Why?”

“How would you feel about going to a party tonight?” Fangs asks her, ignoring the glare Sweet Pea sends him. It’s a dirty trick and Fangs knows it too. Sweet Pea doesn’t let any of the girls go to parties without him there to watch out for them, knowing how college parties can get.

Jubilee considers it for a moment, her eyes narrowed in thought. “Fine,” she decides, making Sweet Pea groan, “but I’m not playing beer pong.”

“Deal!” Fangs tells her, clapping Sweet Pea on the shoulder before backing away with a grin, having to run to the theater department. “I’ll see you guys tonight!” he tells them, then points to Jubilee. “Wear something sexy!”

“Don’t I always?” Jubilee calls back to him.

Sweet Pea sighs through his nose, fairly certain they’re trying to kill him.

Sweet Pea picks at a loose thread in Jubilee’s couch as he waits for her to finish getting ready, trying not to disturb the cat sleeping on his chest even as he grows restless. It’s been almost a half-hour since he showed up at the girls’ apartment, planning to walk with them the entire way to the party even though his apartment is closer.

He should have known better than to think they’d be ready by the time he got there.

“You know, you don’t actually have to dress up for a frat party, right?” Sweet Pea calls to Jubilee down the hall, where she’s getting ready in her room, hoping she’ll change her mind about wearing something nice and just go in jeans like she usually does. “Everyone is going to be too wasted to remember anything tomorrow anyway.” He’s pretty sure he won’t be able to focus on anything else tonight if she wears one of the flashy little dresses he knows are tucked into the back of her closet.

Jubilee scoffs at him from the other room and the cat on his chest opens one bleary eye to glare at him. “Just because you wear the same leather and flannel combination to every party doesn’t mean the rest of us have to,” she reminds him.

He rolls his eyes and the cat stands up, stepping on his ribs and stretching before hopping off the couch and stalking away, clearly bored of waiting with him. Sweet Pea watches Howard as the cat trots off into the kitchen just as Toni walks out. She does her best to avoid the cat, but Howard still hisses when he sees her.

“Asshole,” she murmurs, glaring at the retreating feline before plopping down on the chair in the living space and pulling out her phone.

Sweet Pea raises a brow from his spot on the couch. “No Nat tonight?” he questions. His phone buzzes in his pocket, but he ignores it, knowing it’s only Fangs wondering where they are and why they aren’t already at the party and why he has to wait for them alone. If Fangs didn’t want to wait by himself he should have waited with the rest of them.

“Nah,” Toni shakes her head, still typing furiously. “She had some project to finish up. She and a few other ceramics majors are going to pull an all nighter and hope they don’t break the kiln like they did last year. Or each others pieces. Nat was pissed last year when that freshman’s piece exploded and took hers with it.”

He hums in agreement, remembering that particular incident. He’s pretty sure Natalia would have killed the poor kid if one of the other majors hadn’t stopped her. The whole thing was an accident, but it’s still ridiculously shitty when something like that happens. Sweet Pea had one of his watercolors absolutely drenched last year by someone that wasn’t paying attention, so he gets it.

“So how’s your project coming along?” Toni asks him casually, glancing up at him over her phone, a little smile on her face. “Jubilee said you asked her, but she hasn’t said much since.”

Sweet Pea shrugs. “It’s been a busy week,” he tells her, brushing it off. It’s part of the reason, but when Toni purses her lips, Sweet Pea knows she doesn’t quite believe him.

Toni narrows her eyes at him, opening her mouth, and Sweet Pea groans, not wanting to get into this conversation with Toni, of all people. Not only is she practically his younger sister, she’s also one of Jubilee’s best friends. And talking about Jubilee agreeing to model naked for him is edging towards very dangerous territory.

Toni’s gaze shifts to something above him, her lips twisting into a large grin. “Damn, girl, you look hot tonight,” she jokes. Frowning, Sweet Pea sits up on his elbows, peering over the back of the couch.

He nearly chokes when he sees Jubilee coming down the hall. Sweet Pea’s heart lodges in his throat as his eyes trace down her frame, taking in the short, tight, plum colored dress clinging to every inch of her. The cut of the dress leaves her legs bare and her heels make them look so much longer than usual, and even from here he can see a teasing amount of her cleavage that makes his mouth go dry.

Jubilee rolls her eyes, a grin pulling at her mouth at Toni’s complement. “You say that all the time, Toni,” she chastises, amusement lighting up her eyes.

“Yeah, because it’s true.”

Shaking her head, Jubilee’s gaze shifts from her roommate to Sweet Pea, catching him staring as she comes around the couch into the living space. Something he doesn’t recognize flickers across her face, but it’s gone just as quickly as she sends him a sweet smile. “Hey, Sweets,” she starts almost too casually, “zip me up? I can’t reach.”

The question hits him in the gut and his breath catches.

He blinks at her owlishly as she grins at him, taking her lower lip between her teeth. Toni snorts, muttering “unbelievable” as Sweet Pea sits up on the couch. He hesitates for just a second before standing, ignoring Toni’s blatant amusement as he steps over to Jubilee, who shifts around so he can reach the zipper on her dress.

Sweet Pea swallows as she brushes her hair to the side, letting the wavy strands drape over her left shoulder. It’s hard not to stare at the open expanse of her back: soft, creamy skin and the gentle curve of her spine leading up to her neck. The zipper is low on the small of her back, the delicate, off-shoulder straps the only thing holding up the front of her dress, and he nearly groans when he sees she isn’t wearing a bra.

“Where’s Lydia?” Toni asks Jubilee, crossing her arms as she leans back in her chair.

“Finishing her hair.” Sweet Pea’s left hand settles on Jubilee’s waist and she takes a sudden breath. His finger find the zipper, big and a little clumsy as he takes it between his thumb and first digit. “She should be done in just a minute.”

Toni hums. “I’m surprised she wanted to come tonight.”

Sweet Pea tugs on the zipper slowly and Jubilee shivers as his knuckles brush against her soft skin. “She doesn’t,” Jubilee tells Toni, laughing lightly, “but I’m getting really close to throwing that piano out of the window.”

“Well at least you got that paper done early.” Amusement is thick in Toni’s voice, like she’s trying not to laugh, and Jubilee mumbles her agreement.

Even with her heels, Jubilee is still so much shorter than him, and from where he’s standing behind her he has an almost perfect view down the front of her dress. His eyes are drawn to the soft rise and fall of her chest as Jubilee’s back arches under his touch, and he rips his gaze away from the teasing amount of her cleavage on display. His fingers linger as he reaches the top of the dress, his knuckles brushing against the faint, silver scar on the back of her shoulder.

She looks at him over her shoulder but makes no move to pull away from his touch, even as his thumb traces the mark on her skin. “Thanks, Sweets,” she whispers, breathy and so soft he wouldn’t hear her if she wasn’t so close. Distantly, he realizes she smells like roses.

“Yeah,” he murmurs back, staring a little too long at her lips.

Lydia bursts out of the bathroom, shouting “I’m ready!”, and Sweet Pea yanks his hands away from Jubilee, shoving them into his pockets as he turns around.

“About damn time, Boyd,” he jokes, shaking off the tension and making her roll her eyes at him in annoyance. He glances back at Toni and Jubilee as Lydia walks into the living room, nearly tipping over as she fixes the strap on one of her heels. “You guys ready to go? Fangs is gonna start bitching soon if we don’t leave.”

Toni sends him an incredulous look before glancing at Jubilee and shaking her head.

The frat house is already crowded by the time the four of them get there, Fangs waiting impatiently for them out front, his foot tapping against the front porch. Music blares from inside and Sweet Pea is only a little surprised the cops haven’t already been called on Sigma. It wouldn’t be the first their parties have been shut down early and it’s only a matter of time before they get more than a slap on the wrist.

Sweet Pea can’t say he’ll be too disappointed when that happens.

When he makes a face at the house Jubilee rolls her eyes and grabs him by the hand, pulling him along behind her. Sweet Pea follows after her willingly, fighting to keep his eyes off her ass in her short dress. He catches Toni’s eye as the walk up the porch steps and she smirks at him. Sweet Pea pretends he doesn’t see it as his fingers lace through Jubilee’s.

“You guys are late,” Fangs calls to them as they get close, hands on his hips and an irritated look on his face. “We agreed on ten.” Sweet Pea rolls his eyes, knowing it’s not any later than fifteen after and Fangs is just being a big baby over nothing.

“Blame them not me,” Sweet Pea huffs as he’s led up the stairs. Getting Jubilee, Toni, and Lydia anywhere is like trying to herd cats and he’s pretty sure they do it on purpose just to fuck with him. That’s something they would absolutely do.

Fangs ignores him. “Get your game face on, Pea.” He reaches around Jubilee to slap Sweet Pea on the shoulder. “We’re playing beer pong in fifteen and I am not losing to some Sigma assholes in front of pretty girls.” Before Sweet Pea can argue about not signing up for a beer pong match, Fangs yanks open the front door and tosses his arms around Toni and Lydia’s shoulders. Both girls roll their eyes but let him lead them inside the frat house. Fangs leans down to whisper something in Lydia’s ear that makes her gasp and shove at his shoulder, making Fangs and Toni both laugh as Lydia turns red.

Sweet Pea waits for Jubilee to follow after and pull him along with her, but she doesn’t. He glances down at her when she hesitates and a frown twists at his lips when he sees an odd look in her eyes. It takes him a second to remember she hasn’t been to a frat party since their second year, after the time Kevin had to call him to pick her up.

“You okay, Doll?” he asks her, voice low against her ear as he ducks his head to her level. A couple of guys come up behind them and Sweet Pea guides her to the side, away from the door.

Her fingers squeeze around his. “Yeah,” she tells him, still staring at the front door, eyes far away. His palm presses against her hip and she jolts slightly, turning back to him with a smile that doesn’t quite meet her eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Sweet Pea keeps his hand on her hip, keeping her steady. “Jubilee, if you want to leave…” he trails off, leaving the offer hanging in the air. If she doesn’t want to be here he’ll take her anywhere else she wants to be. He can deal with Fangs later.

“I’m fine, Sweets,” she repeats. Jubilee’s hand slides up his arm to squeeze his bicep, her touch reassuring as she tilts her head back to look him in the eyes, a more genuine smile on her lips. The nervous glint he saw before is gone as quickly as it was there and he relaxes as her thumb strokes back and forth across his flannel over-shirt. “I promise.”

He sighs but nods, and she stretches up to press a quick kiss to his cheek. He leans into her without really thinking about it and Jubilee’s hand slides back down his arm. Sweet Pea lets her pull him into the frat house despite the uneasy feeling swirling in his stomach.

Somehow fifteen minutes turns into nearly an hour as Sweet Pea waits for Fangs to find him in the house. He isn’t particularly interested in playing beer pong so that Fangs can find someone to hookup with tonight, content to stand against one of the walls in the open living space and keep an eye on the girls as they have a good time. Parties have never been Sweet Pea’s thing. They’re too loud and crowded and are only good for lousy hookups and cheep beer.

And he still has the good whiskey back at his place.

Laughter rumbles in his chest as he stares at the girls, nursing a bottle of beer. Lydia has downed two fruity drinks in the last hour and is already acting a little goofy, pulling out dance moves that make everyone else in the room look like professionals. Jubilee is laughing too hard to finish her own drink and Toni has her phone out, filming Lydia and offering her encouragements.

“Sweet Pea!” His eyes snap away from the girls as a hand grabs him by the arm and yanks him away from the wall. Sweet Pea stumbles slightly, nearly spilling his beer, and he shoots Fangs an irritated look when his friend tries to drag him across the room. “I’ve been looking for you for like twenty minutes,” Fangs huffs, glaring up at him half-heartedly. Sweet Pea’s brows narrow in confusion and Fangs rolls his eyes. “We’re up dude!”

Snorting, Sweet Pea downs the rest of his drink and leaves the empty bottle on the nearest surface. He casts another look back at the girls to make sure they’re okay before following his friend. “You do know you’re shit at beer pong, right?” he reminds Fangs.

The only reason the two of them ever won at beer pong back in high school is because Sweet Pea used to play on the basketball team, and he hasn’t done that in almost four years. Besides, the only good part about beer pong is watching Fangs suck at it.

“Fuck you, Pea,” Fangs shoves at his shoulder, barely moving him, and Sweet Pea laughs. “I’m great at beer pong!”

“You’re good at losing at beer pong,” he corrects. “I think Lydia is better at beer pong than you, and one time she last by over twenty points playing mini-golf.”

Fangs rolls his eyes. “Mini-golf isn’t exactly a sport.”

“And beer pong is?”

“Irrelevant.” Fangs waves him off. “A hot blonde offered to kiss the winning team and she’s exactly my type.” He looks up at Sweet Pea, wiggling his eyebrows obnoxiously and Sweet Pea rolls his eyes. The only qualification for someone to be Fangs’ type is that they’re breathing. He doesn’t exactly have quality standards.

He doesn’t complain as Fangs leads him over to the beer pong table set up on the far side of the room. There’s a decent amount of people clustered around the table as a couple of Sigma guys set up the game, spacing the cups out evenly. Sweet Pea isn’t sure what’s entertaining about beer pong aside from watching the players get drunk off their asses, but he doesn’t think about it for long.

One game should be enough for someone in the crowd to want to fuck Fangs, and then Sweet Pea can go back to drinking and skulking in the corner of the room.

He and Fangs slip through the crowd and stop at one end of the table. A pair of Sigma brothers glance up when they see Fangs, clearly recognizing him from somewhere, but their eyes widen just a little when they see Sweet Pea and it makes him grin and straighten even further, happy to intimidate a couple of asshole frat guys.

“This your partner, Fogarty?” one of them asks as they walk up. “You weren’t fucking kidding,” he mumbles. Sweet Pea quirks a brow, but doesn’t question it. He’s better off not knowing what Fangs says about him when he’s not around.

“I’m Kyle,” the other one says. He’s shorter, blond with a good-natured grin on his face and definitely less sober than his friend. “That’s Tyler.” He gestures to his partner, who just rolls his eyes and turns back to the setup.

“Sweet Pea,” is all he says in return, already ready for the game to be over. He turns away from Kyle, searching the room and relaxing when he sees the girls chatting near one of the walls, the three of them laughing about something.

He only half-pays attention to the game, even as it draws a slightly larger crowd. The girls never join, content on the other side of the room where it’s less crowded, and Sweet Pea is angled in a way that he can keep an eye on them while he plays.

Sweet Pea hasn’t missed a shot yet, and the game is going by painfully slow. Fangs is more tipsy than he is, a little wobbly on his feet, and he keeps missing his shots, but they aren’t losing the match yet. The Sigma team is struggling just as much. Kyle is about as sober as Fangs, but the other one, Tyler, is definitely the better player of the two, and he’s pretty sure Fangs is going to be in a world of hurt in the morning because of it.

They aren’t playing a traditional game of beer pong and Sweet Pea isn’t exactly impressed by the house rules. When someone sinks a shot a member of the other team drinks, and while Sweet Pea is buzzed at best because of Kyle’s poor shots, Fangs isn’t doing quite as well.

A smile pulls at his lips when he watches Jubilee throw her head back in laughter at something Toni says. Her eyes crinkle at the edges, a wide grin spread across her face. The low lighting makes her look hazy and his eyes drag along her frame slowly, lingering on the hem of her dress for a moment. Jubilee turns suddenly, her eyes meeting his across the room, so much darker than usual and they drag him in deep. Her smile shifts into something soft when she catches him staring, and he should be embarrassed, but he can’t bring himself to look away from her.

“Which one is your girl?” His eyes snap away from her at the sudden question. Across the table, Tyler is staring in the direction Sweet Pea was, eyes following the girls for a moment before sliding back to Sweet Pea lazily. “You keep looking at them.”

Sweet Pea’s brows furrow slightly, his lips pressed into a tight line. “Just friends,” he tells the other man after a moment, unsure why he’s asking. “I’ve known them since high school.”

Tyler nods slowly, gaze drifting back to the girls as Fangs sinks his shot. “Good to know,” Tyler tells him, picking up the cup from the table and fishing out the ball Fangs sunk. “Any of them single?” He downs the beer.

Sweet Pea clenches his jaw. “No.” Fangs glances at him, quirking a brow, but Sweet Pea ignores it, staring at the man across the table.

“Shame,” Tyler says, tossing the ball into the air and catching it again. He looks across the room at Jubilee, Lydia, and Toni, staring for a little too long, and Sweet Pea’s long fingers curl into tight fists. “The one in the purple dress is a nice piece of ass,” he mentions casually. “She has some really nice cocksucker lips.”

A dark, bitter laugh bubbles up from Sweet Pea’s chest as his opponent mentions Jubilee. He looks up at Tyler and the humor immediately slips from his face. “You talk about her like that again and I’m gonna take that ping pong ball and shove it down your throat.” The threat draws a few murmurs from the crowd but he doesn’t give a damn. “Now take your shot.”

The game is tense after that, and his irritation makes him sloppy, which only drags it out longer. Eventually, they’re down to one cup on each side and it’s Fangs shot. If he doesn’t sink it they’ll definitely lose the game. Sweet Pea wouldn’t care much, but he’s tired and pissed and a little drunk, and he doesn’t want to see the Sigma team win.

“Dammit, Fangs,” Sweet Pea huffs as he leans against the ping pong table, watching as Fangs sways slightly in place, one arm raised to throw. “Just throw the fucking ball.”

“Fuck you, Sweet Pea, there are like three of them,” Fangs hisses back a him, squinting to get a better look at the cup. “I can’t see shit.”

“I swear to god, Fangs, if you let them win—”

Fangs squeezes his eyes shut and tosses the ball. Sweet Pea’s eyes widen as he follows the ball, his mouth dropping open when it drops into the last cup of beer with a gentle splash.

“Holy shit,” he murmurs, dimly registering the crowd cheering and the frat boys swearing as they lose. Fangs lets out a drunken “whoop!” and punches his shoulder, but Sweet Pea only stares at the cup in bewilderment, smug satisfaction curling through him when Tyler downs the drink and crumples it in his fist.

He’s eyes seek out Jubilee in the crowd without him really thinking about it, and maybe it’s the alcohol or maybe it’s the fact that she’s already looking at him, but Sweet Pea breaks into a wide grin that she mirrors. He pushes away from the table, swaying for a second as he’s suddenly hit with the sheer amount of alcohol he’s had in the last hour. Jubilee’s eyes flicker with amusement as he stumbles and she breaks away from the girls, heading towards him.

Sweet Pea’s chest tightens as he stares at her, heart pounding harder the closer she gets.

Soft hands cup his face and he’s suddenly ripped away from Jubilee. Before he really realizes what’s happening there’s a pair of lips on his, fingers clenching in his hair and yanking him down. He inhales sharply, stiffening at the unexpected kiss and the hands running through his hair and cupping his cheek.

He doesn’t see the way Jubilee’s steps falter halfway to him or the open, raw hurt the flickers in her eyes when the stranger kisses him, and by the time he pulls away from the drunk blonde that quickly moves onto Fangs, Jubilee is already gone.

It’s a little after midnight and he’s back where he started, leaning against the far wall, eyes searching the room. It’s only become more crowded as the night’s gone on, and he can’t find any of his friends. There’s a nervous pinch in his gut when he doesn’t immediately find the girls, but he knows them well enough to know they’ve stuck together. And Toni promised to stay sober for the night, so at least one of them is making good decisions. He’s not sure where Fangs went off to either. Last Sweet Pea saw of him, he was making out with the blonde that kissed Sweet Pea after the beer pong match.

“Sweet Pea!” His blinks in confusion at the sound of his name, his eyes narrowing when he sees Lydia shoving her way through the packed room.

“Lydia?” he asks, a tinge of relief in his voice. “What are you—”

She cuts him off before he can finish, grabbing his hand and yanking him back in the direction she came from. Sweet Pea lets her pull him around, trying to follow the rush off words slipping out of her. “I don’t know what to do,” she tells him, voice higher than usual, almost scared. “Toni said to get you. I don’t—”

“Lydia—”

“Something’s wrong with Jubilee,” she tells him, and it’s like the ground is yanked out from beneath him. He doesn’t say a word as she pulls him into the kitchen and his eyes immediately find Toni and Jubilee on the floor. Jubilee is trembling, breaths coming in wheezing gasps as Toni strokes her hair and murmurs quietly in her ear.

Sweet Pea’s heart stops when he sees her like that, already knowing what’s wrong. “What happened?” he asks as he pulls out of Lydia’s grip and drops onto his knees in front of Jubilee. Toni looks up at him, relief in her eyes,

“I found her taking shots with Fangs and then some asshole grabbed her and—” She cuts off, shaking her head as anger flashes in her eyes.

Sweet Pea swears under his breath, anger surging inside him, but he swallows it back. It’s not what he needs to focus on right now. “Hey,” he coos, reaching for Jubilee slowly. She flinches, sucking in a sharp breath, and he places a hand on her bare leg, trying to get her to look at him. “Hey, Doll, it’s just me,” he murmurs. “Jubilee, it’s just me.”

“Sweets?” she breathes back, his name soft and so shaky that it breaks his head. Jubilee peers up at him through watery eyes, and this time she doesn’t move as he reaches for her, placing a hand on her cheek and letting his thumb brush against her skin.

He tries to smile for her. “Hey, you’re okay, you’re okay,” he whispers, hushing her gently, wanting her to focus on him and not the crowd of people that’s taken notice of her panic attack.

“Is she okay?” He glances away from Jubilee for a second to look at the stranger who’s come up to them, concerned. Sweet Pea recognizes a Sigma insignia on his jacket.

“Is there somewhere I can take her?” he asks, slipping an arm around Jubilee’s back and lifting her, holding her close to his chest as he stands up. Her breathing is choppy, too fast against his neck, and her fingers clench in his flannel. The Sigma member nods at him, gesturing for Sweet Pea to follow him.

Sweet Pea sits with her in some strangers bedroom for too long, Jubilee’s back pressed up against his chest as she trembles, a shivering mess in his arms. He talks her through it, whispering in her ear and stroking her hair, reminding her to take deep breaths. Nails dig into his arm as her breathing slowly evens, her wheezing gasps crumbling into sobs. He rocks them gently, lips pressed against her temple.

It takes almost a half-hour for Jubilee to calm down and by then she’s practically boneless against him, exhausted. Sweet Pea brushes her hair away from her neck and she sighs.

“You okay, Baby?” he murmurs, gently running his hands up and down her arms as she hiccups. Jubilee curls further into his chest, one of her hands blindly groping until she finds his. Her fingers squeeze around his tightly and she nods jerkily. Her heart is still pounding in her chest, a little too fast, and he laces their fingers together. He need to get her out of here. Take her somewhere else.

She’s quiet for a long time. The only sound in the room is the thumbing bass from downstairs, muffled by the closed door. Finally, Jubilee shifts, moving just enough to look up at him, her eyes bloodshot and wet. “Take me home, Sweets?”

He knows she doesn’t mean her apartment.

The walk back to Sweet Pea’s apartment is quiet. Jubilee’s arms are loose around his neck and her head is lolled against his shoulder, her dark hair tickling at his collarbone. He figures she must have fallen asleep sometime during the walk, even if it wasn’t far between his place and the frat party, only ten blocks at best, not far from campus. It’s not surprising really, that she would fall asleep. She’s been busy all week and between the drinking and her panic attack earlier she’s bound to be exhausted.

It would have been best if they just stayed in tonight, but Fangs always has had a way with persuasion.

Jubilee doesn’t stir until he shifts her in his grasp, grip tight on her back as he pulls his keys from his pocket, trying not to jostle her too much as he unlocks the front door. She makes a quiet sound against his ear, pressing her face deeper into the curve of his shoulder. Sweet Pea hushes her gently, one hand rubbing her back soothingly as he steps into his apartment and kicks the door shut behind him, wincing at the bang that echoes in the otherwise silent room.

“Sweets?” she mumbles against his neck, warm breath sending an aching shiver down his spine. Her grip around him tightens just the slightest, limp arms moving, her fingertips dragging up his back over his flannel.

“What is it, Doll?” he murmurs back, dropping her shoes just inside of the door and tossing his keys onto the little side-table. Sweet Pea hooks an arm under her thighs, hiking her up higher as she starts to slip from his arms. “You feelin’ any better?” She doesn’t respond and he isn’t sure if she’s asleep again or not. “You’re gonna feel like shit tomorrow, Jubilee, you know that? You’ve never been able to handle tequila and you thought matching shots with Fangs was a good idea?” He chuckles. It’s always easier on her not to mention the panic attacks. Usually she doesn’t remember them the next day. “You should know better than to let him talk you into—”

“Sweet Pea.” He cuts off abruptly, glancing down at her as she shifts in his grasp, pulling her head away from his shoulder. She looks up at him, blinking slowly, half-awake and exhausted from crying earlier, and there’s something he’s never seen before in her big, dark eyes. Something soft and fond, but determined. It makes him pause just a few steps into his apartment, the look in her eyes pinning him in place.

He frowns. “What’s wrong, Jubilee—”

Sweet Pea barely gets her name out before she surges upwards, lips sealing over his in a gentle kiss. He inhales sharply through his nose as one of her hands fists in his hair and Jubilee pulls him down to meet her. For a second he can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t think as her mouth moves against his, slow and coaxing. Her chest presses against his and her thighs flex around his hips at the same time as she releases a soft, quivering sound against his lips.

A thud echoes through the apartment as he presses her against his front door, mouth moving against hers frantically. Sweet Pea’s heart pounds erratically in his chest, blood roaring in his ears as he’s lost in the taste of her, something like honey, sweet and thick on his tongue. Jubilee’s arches into his touch, her chest pressing flush against his as her hands rake through his hair, pulling harshly and drawing a low grunt from Sweet Pea. He grips at her thighs, her hips, wanting her closer, and a low, throaty sound rumbles through him when her legs tighten around his waist.

His mouth leaves her to wander along her soft skin, lips on her jaw and trailing lower as she breathes heavily against his ear. He suckles at her neck, leaving faint, red marks in his wake as her fingers dig into his shoulders. Sweet Pea presses her harder against the door and she sighs. His name leaves her lips in a breathy moan and a sick feeling curls in his stomach as he realizes what he’s doing.

One of his hands leaves her soft skin, his fist banging against the door beside his head as he rips his mouth away from her racing pulse. The little bruises on her neck make his gut clench painfully, and he’d kick himself if she wasn’t still wrapped around him, her fingers playing with his hair and her legs wound around his hips.

Jubilee peers up at him with bleary eyes, still rimmed slightly with red, evidence of the party’s events. Sweet Pea immediately feels like shit. Hot, white guilt cuts through him like a knife.

“Dammit!” he hisses, squeezing his eyes shut tightly for a second before looking down at her again. “You’re drunk,” he tells her, a lump growing in his throat as she continues to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. He feels like he’s on fire as her fingertips slide across his skin, and Sweet Pea wants nothing more than to lean into her touch, to pull her back into him and taste her skin like he’s wanted to do for years but knew he couldn’t.

But she’s drunk.

There’s a look in her eyes like she wants to deny it, but she’s flushed and unfocused and he knows he’s not sober either. “Yeah,” she finally responds, so much softer than usual, and it makes something in his chest tighten, his heart squeezing painfully beneath his ribs.

“You’re not gonna remember this tomorrow.” She looks up at him sadly and he releases a slow breath through his nose as he pushes away from the door. Jubilee’s grip on him tightens as she’s suddenly airborne again and Sweet Pea cradles her close to his chest with an arm banded around her back. “Right, that’s what I thought.”

He fucked up. It was never supposed to get this far and he fucked up. Sweet Pea knows how she gets when she drinks tequila.

Jubilee drops her head back against his shoulder, her fingers clenching tightly in the back of his shirt. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, lips tickling the side of his neck just above his Serpent tattoo. She noses at him, curling close against his chest in some sort of apology, and one of his hands slides up to cup the back of her head and stoke her hair.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Baby,” he promises her, sighing.

Sweet Pea carries her through his apartment, moving carefully in the dark, and she’s quiet again by the time he drops her down onto his bed. He drapes the blanket over her as she curls up, a soft, content sound slipping from her as she sinks into the mattress. Crouching beside the bed, Sweet Pea brushes her hair away from her face, a bitter smile tugging at his lips when she leans into his touch.

He pulls his hand away from her and drops down to the floor, his back pressed against the bed as he stares into the darkness in the room. There’s a dull ache already forming behind his eyes and Sweet Pea knows tomorrow is going to be a shitty day. The exhaustion of tonight is already weighing on him and he can only hope that Jubilee drank enough to not remember any of it.

Already he wants to forget.

Rubbing a tired hand down the side of his face, Sweet Pea pulls at his hair painfully. He squeezes his eyes shut and drops his head back against the bed. Jubilee’s soft breathing and his erratic heartbeat are the only sounds in the room, and Sweet Pea basks in the silence. When he finally forces his eyes open again the first thing he sees is his large sketchbook resting on the easel in the corner of his room.

[zer0pm]

No Name (6/?)

A/N: Thanks again to everyone that has been sticking with this story so far. I know the build is slow, but I’m hoping that it’ll be all worth it once more intimate scenes with V come into play ;) Right now, we’re covering the scenes from the game so hope everyone that has already played likes revisiting the poison tree.

Pairing: V x Fem!Reader

The reader along with V and the rest of Dante’s crew approach the Qliphoth, a demon tree that grows in the underworld and has sprouted directly in the middle of Red Grave City.

.

.

.

In all of my years, I’ve never seen anything like this.

A gargantuan tree- No. Even that word didn’t feel like it was enough to paint the sheer size of this massive phenomenon. You were straining your neck just trying to look out for the top of it as its girth pierces through the clouds above. From what you can tell, this wasn’t even all of it as it appears its roots dig far below the city.

V: “And it grew both day and night, ‘til it bore an apple bright.”

V, who was beside you the entire way, was reading from his book. You gather that he is a man who prefers poetry over the spectacle that has the passerby around you both look over the tree in awe and anxious anticipation.

You: “What is this thing?”

V: “The Qliphoth. It is a tree that grows in the underworld.”

The underworld... It is true that demons have found ways to steal themselves into the world of mortals, but to have some of this scale come from that same place, it sent a terrible feeling across your spine.

You: “And how did it spread to here?”

Dante: “Doesn’t matter.”

The both of you turn around to see Dante with two ladies who were following him in tow, the three of them with very large weapons on their backs.

Dante: “We go in. Kill the bastard behind this, get out, tree is gone. Then Imma reward myself with an extra large pizza, end of story.”

You roll your eyes. There he goes again. Ever since V revealed the name of the target, Dante has been especially dismissive, hardly speaking a word and even then, it was curt and rude. The man chased you out of the office to speak with V. He was showing the not-so-attractive side of him that you recognized when he meant serious business, but there was something in the way that he acted towards this particular mission that made you wonder about the whole thing. Who is Vergil? And what is his connection to Dante? What is his connection to V? It seems that neither men are pressed to answer that for you, so for now you have set your questions aside. You greet the two women beside Dante. The petite brunette smiles at you while the statuesque blonde nods in acknowledgement.

Dante: “Alright, Mr. Poetry. My backup. As you requested. Meet Trish.”

His thumb points towards the blonde who had her hand on her hip and acknowledged you and V with a curt nod.

Dante: “And Lady. You two have something in common. She has a fake name too.”

The brunette throws a murderous glare at Dante immediately. The look she wore was almost hilarious.

Dante: “And you already know Neff.”

V: “Neff?”

You: “It’s uh...a nickname. From back in my devil hunting days.”

Lady: “She was pretty good at her job. Probably better than Dante.”

Dante: “I heard that.”

The smaller woman giggles, strutting past the group to approach the tree. Trish follows, her arms crossed. As she passes, she turns her head slightly.

Trish: “You look better.”

You: “I feel better.”

Trish: “Good. I hope then that this job will not take us long.”

Without waiting for your answer, Trish continues onward. Dante lingers in front of you and V for a moment, his eyes on you entirely. There is a thin line on his lips in place of where his trademark smirk would usually be, his eyes wincing a tad to a slight glare.

Dante: “You really were good at your job.”

You: “...I know.”

Memories of your time as part of his crew comes back to you and it took every ounce of your willpower to shove it back to the recesses of your mind. What happened back then has long past now and had no bearing to the present. Dante looked like he wanted to say more, his mouth hung open indicating this before shutting it completely. With a grunt, he joins Lady and Trish towards the entrance of the Qliphoth. Now it was just you and V.

V: “I have the impression that there is some unfinished business between you and Dante.”

You: “Nope, business absolutely finished. We just went our separate ways after my last job, is all.”

V: “Separated on good terms?”

You: “It ended in a way where, if needed, I can do what needs to be done and he can do what needs to be done and no one would question the integrity of our work.”

Your tone came off a little more harshly than intended, as V was visibly taken aback. He seems to ponder over your words carefully just as well as you tactfully stringed them together. You hoped that it was enough to hint that you didn’t want to talk about it and was grateful that he changed the topic, disarming you with a familiar smile.

V: “It was unexpected, you know, seeing you. I had wished to visit you once more before reaching the tree.”

You: “You said that in your note this morning. I didn’t know if you meant it at the time or was just being polite.”

V: “A bit of both.”

You both share a light laugh between you. It brought you back to yesterday, the night when you two talked for a bit and shared dinner together.

V: “I also didn’t expect you to not only be a devil hunter, but an acqaintance of the devil hunter I was looking to recruit for this arduous task.”

You shrugged.

You: “You didn’t ask. Honestly, didn’t expect to see you so soon too, and employing Dante of all people.”

V: “Yes, suppose the expression “small world” would apply here.”

You: “You can say that again.”

V: “Suppose the expression-”

You: “V!”

You didn’t mean to, but him teasing you caused you to lightly smack him on the arm, earning from him a mischievously chuckle whose sound spread to your own lips.

You: “V... It’s so weird calling you that. Where did it even come from?”

The book in his hand closed and he offers it for you to look. On the cover of the hard bound poetry collection he carried was a giant gold “V” in the middle of delicate gold designs.

V: “Gather you can surmise the inspiration.”

You: “Aha, must be a really good read. This design is beautiful.”

A thought came to your mind.

You: “You didn’t mug a guy for this one, did you?”

A light-hearted laugh fills the air around you and it stirred you pleasantly inside knowing that the sound belonged to none other than V.

V: “If you must know, I came across this book legitimately. It belongs to me, I was merely retrieving it.”

You: “That’s what you were doing this morning?”

V: “Among other things.”

You noted how V was lost in his reading in the way to the Qliphoth, speaking only when spoken to. With the way he kept the book on his person and worked the length of each page with those green eyes intently, you knew that the man not only had an affinity for poetry, but the book itself held sentimental value to him.

You: “You should read a few lines to me. Slaying demons isn’t the prettiest of jobs, but...maybe some classical influence might add a little finesse to it. What do you say?”

The man smiles at your suggestion, watching you admire his book with genuine interest in your eyes, catching how you were skimming across every detail in tandem with your fingertips. He was tempted to read another passage aloud to you as requested, to gauge your reaction and, with a sliver of hopeful expectations, to see if you genuinely enjoyed the written arts as well. It would please him greatly if it were so. V dashed the fantasy when he remembered where he was standing and why.

V: “Another time, perhaps. We have a more pressing engagement.”

This made you frown, you looked away from the book to engage V directly. Your expression returns to that of a professional.

You: “Right.”

He turns to face you completely, looking down at you with those green eyes of his. Despite his youthful features, the way V speaks, his movements, his eyes- all depict that of an old soul. It made you want to learn more about him. You made a silent vow to ask him if he would concede to this after the job despite what he just said, suggesting that perhaps you two can form some sort of bond when all was said and done. For now, however, he was right. You had a job to do. Looking back towards the demon tree, you already gauge that scaling the thing was going to be a long evening.

You: “Let’s go kill some demons.”

He hums in agreement and follows behind you as you both walked to rejoin Dante, Lady, and Trish. You did not know what awaited you within but was determined to meet it. As everyone said before, you were damn good at your job. Devil hunting is in your blood, afterall.

[emaleesky]

On another site Star Wars Trivia:

Chewie stood on a small landing and pounded his mighty clenched fists against the unmoving hatch. He didn’t want to stand in the putrid pool of liquid filling the room beneath all the trash.

Luckily he, Luke, and Leia had avoided being hit by a deadly bolt from Luke’s blaster which had bounced from wall to wall before slamming into a pile of floating metallic trash, destroying it.

The room was magnetically sealed. Their weapons wouldn’t help them.

At that moment, Han fell from the darkened chute above, landing in the trash piles as they had just moment before.

He stood up, finding his footing as best he could on top of the garbage, silently assessing the situation before turning to Leia. “The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea!”

He continued condescendingly, “What an incredible smell you’ve discovered.”

Chewie was still trying to open the hatch of trash compactor 3263827. Han caught sight of him and drew his blaster. “Let’s get out of here. Get away from there.”

Luke tried his best to stop him. “No, wait!”

Han fired, and again, the blast ricocheted around the room, narrowly missing each of them before blasting the trash.

“Will you forget it, I already tried it, it’s magnetically sealed”, gesturing to the hatch.

Leia lit into him, “Put that thing away, you’re going to get us all killed!”

Han glared at her. “Absolutely your worship. Look I had everything under control until you led us down here. You know it’s not going to take them very long to figure out what happened to us.”

Leia fired back, “It could be worse.”

Suddenly a deep, inhuman moaning boiled up from beneath the trash and water, echoing off the disgusting walls.

“It’s worse” said Han, looking around for the source of the noise, blaster drawn.

The trash compactor footage was shot June 21st and 22nd 1976 on stage 4 at Elstree Studios. On June 24th, two days after this scene was completed, Harrison Ford wrapped his last day working on ‘Star Wars’ by filming his scenes in the 'Falcon's gun turret, for the getaway from the Death Star.

The detention block escape scene, followed by the Trash Compactor scene, is the first time the hero band of Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewbacca merges on screen. Luke is trying to keep the peace while Han and Leia are sniping at each other, and the undeniable chemistry tells you this is something special. It’s the perfect mix of alarm and humor that makes Star Wars work at its’ core.

As protection against the slimy water, the actors had the option of wearing a wetsuit under their costumes. Carrie thought it was mandatory, and wore hers for both days of shooting (Likely a tan skin color based on the images seen and with it being under her white costume dress).

Carrie: “I liked jumping through the garbage chute, but didn’t like wearing the wet suit. It was under my white gown, for protection, or I was going to look like Walter Brennan from the waist down from being in the water so long.”

British cameraman Ronnie Taylor, who passed away in 2018, also wore fishing waders, as did Focus puller Peter Taylor.

Roger Christian, set decorator said “The garbage compactor set was also pretty hard, because I knew I had actors in there and the walls had to come in, and they had to be in dirty water and I had to get stuff that would be light enough so it wouldn't hurt them but also not bobbing around." The set was dressed by Brian Lofthouse and the rest of the prop crew.

Even before the terror of the converging walls began, Luke and the others were visited by a live resident of the compact, the Dianoga. A lone eye stalk appeared out of the water to spy on its prey, and the something that moved past Luke’s leg was a large tentacle.

That same tentacle wound up and around Luke’s leg, body, and throat, strangling him and ultimately pulling him under the putrid water. Only after hearing the clanging indications that the compactor was about to come to life did it release him.

In order to portray the realism of the scene, Mark strenuously made himself appear as if he were being strangled.

Mark Hamill:

“I purposely made myself red-faced for a strangulated look, causing a blood vessel in my eye to burst. Afterwards-they had to shoot carefully to hide it until I healed. George told me I should've asked him first because with the lighting and red-filters it made no difference.”

It was Mark’s left eye that was affected. He was examined by the studio’s Dr. Collins, and then he was sent to be seen by eye specialist Dr. Watson.

Originally, the Dianoga was to have been a much larger creature, and be responsible for far more of the sequence than it ended up being.

Lucas described the Dianoga creature he envisioned in his mind this way: “It’s a cross between a jellyfish and as octopus, a transparent muck-monster which can take any shape. It presses itself against the floor or in nooks and crannies of the trash masher, or even in the trash itself to survive.”

Ultimately he had to scale back on the size of the part the Dianoga would play. It was yet another compromise. He had tried a trash compactor escape scene in THX 1138 and he had to cut it out because “it failed miserably”.

John Stears, Special production and mechanical effects supervisor, said they created a much larger monster, which was ultimately cut down from a full body to a tentacle when Lucas decided to combine the original, larger Dianoga encounter with the trash compactor scene. “There was an awful lot of work that went into that monster, and it really was superb. Unfortunately we couldn’t use it in its entirety. You never see the full body, just the tentacles.”

During pre-production there had been a plan to inflate the monster, so it would seem to emerge from the water. Budget cuts forced Lucas to combine scenes, so that idea was scrapped. A smaller tank had to be used, and the full scale monster became physically impossible on the resulting set.

As a result of the scaled down scene, the iconic head/eye that pops up out of the water and looks around was added at the last minute. Phil Tippett and Jon Berg sculpted it and filmed it on a stage at ILM. It was made from latex over foam, and featured hand-punched hair and a mechanism that allowed it to blink. A puppeteering rod allowed it to be turned from side to side so it could look around the trash compactor. The trash and debris in the garbage for their shoot included pieces from exploded pyrotechnic X-wings, and wreckage from the exploded Death Star.

George initially intended for music to play a part in the Trash Compactor/Dianoga scene, but ultimately decided to remove it to allow the creature’s noises, and its movement in the water to be heard, giving the scene a more ominous feel and tone.

Because the compactor room was a hollow metal chamber, Sound designer Ben Burtt ring modulated vocals, and added echo. He took inspiration from the technique used for the devil in ‘The Exorcist’ and used them for the sounds of the Dianoga. A ring modulator takes two signals and multiples them to create two new frequencies.

When the Dianoga retreats, and impending danger becomes immediate danger with the walls closing in, music returns to ramp up the tension.

From the original LP liner notes by John Williams for Side 3: Track 4, ‘The Walls Converge’:

“The walls begin to close together and the group helplessly fights to stop them. Finally C-3PO and R2-D2 come to the rescue and, at the last minute, stop the walls from crushing the group. This music has no thematic connection with anything else. I wanted to create a dark threatening sound which would represent the jeopardy of the group. I intentionally used low end music so it would co-exist with the grinding sound effects of the big steel walls.”

George was not happy with having to cut down the scene, and on one of the days Mark noticed he was a little down. He was waiting for another take to be set up - a scuba diver playing the part of the Dianoga to pull him under the water.

From Mark: “I hadn’t planned this, it was just out of desperation that this idea came into my head what with the monster being called a dianoga and everything. I picked up one of the little bits of green pieces of styrofoam floating on the water and, to the tune of ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo,’ I started to sing, ‘Pardon me, George, could this be dianoga poo-poo?'”

Lucas responded by putting his foot on Mark’s chest and pushing him into the water.

As a result of standing in the disgusting, murky water over the two days, Peter Mayhew’s yak-hair Chewbacca suit reeked for the rest of production.

The scene immediately after the heroes exit the compactor was shot in continuity, in what was called the ‘disused hallway’, explaining why it wasn’t filled with Stormtroopers or others noticing their exit from the compactor.

Before filming the scene, Mark had taken a look at the continuity of the film up to that shot, and was concerned.

“I remember saying things like, ‘Well, wait a minute. I just got out of the trash compactor. How come my hair’s all perfect?’ And Harrison replied, ‘Hey kid, it ain’t that kind of movie.’ And I thought, he’s so right.” – Mark Hamill.

[douxreviews]

Cloak and Dagger - ‘Blue Note’ Review

"Make them ride the highs and lows with us until we all come out the other side, changed."

Dangit show, please don't make me feel bad for Lia. I refuse to feel bad for Lia.

OK, I feel a little bad for Lia.

This is a story about ascension.

They may have mentioned it a time or two. 'Power up.' 'Get to the next level.' 'Run the scale until you get to the top.' You know, the occasional subtle hint.

In which case, it's probably germane to start the discussion with the title. Forgive me in advance if you're a proper student of Jazz as a form. I'm personally not, as you'll see in just a moment. I apologize for the grotesque oversimplification that follows.

A blue note, in jazz, is 'a minor interval where a major is expected. A note played at a slightly different pitch.' The upshot is that after running a musical scale, instead of playing the expected major finish to the scale you play a different note. A 'blue' note. Typically a variant of the expected major off by somewhere between a semitone and a quartertone.

That feels like an accurate and specific description of Andre's ascension into becoming a Loa, almost certainly intentionally. He's ascending and it's going to end up slightly darker and 'off.'  It helps that Andre himself is specifically underlining the metaphor right from the very first scene of the episode. Ninety-six months before the current events, Andre and his band were about to play a show that was intended to make their name in the music world. Andre specifically refers to the LPs of the jazz greats in the bin at the record studio as 'the gods.'  Further, he clearly states that it's his intention to become one of them through playing his performance. Through running the scale up to the blue note, he intends to become one of the gods. You just cannot state a thematic metaphor more directly than that.

Sadly for Andre, that's the night of his first migraine, which brings the show, and his career, crashing down around him. That's right, a good chunk of this week's episode is devoted to Andre's secret origin.

The timing for this background information isn't terrible, although it does feel a little bit like we're turning our wheels waiting for the big final confrontation. Fortunately they get away with it for a few different reasons. The primary one being the performance of Brooklyn McLinn as Andre. Despite the truly terrible things that we've seen Andre do, and the terrible things he continues to do in this episode, it's impossible not to feel for him during the scenes of his attempted suicide. That's not easy to do, as the scenes are solo and completely without dialogue. The only thing that doesn't really work about the flashback sequences, and it's a minor thing, is the way his migraines are timed to onset with his attempt to hit the blue note. There's an unpleasant aspect of 'you flew too close to the sun' about it that seems to almost be blaming Andre for his own migraines, as if they were caused by his own hubris. That struck an unpleasant note for me, no pun intended.

Another aspect of the structure that made the flashbacks not feel like they were just wasting time is that by devoting a little time to telling Andre's backstory they could simultaneously use that time to clear up a few extraneous plot threads before next week's finale. So Tandy and Mayhem track down Lia's body, while Ty goes to resolve that 'gangs want him dead' issue that's still lingering on the periphery.

I have to say, Ty's 'negotiation' techniques with the gang leaders were just wonderful. I honestly thought he'd let the one die when he threw him off the roof. Good on Ty for knowing how to use his powers to the best effect by this point, and for knowing that he can't really do anything about people buying drugs for themselves. So he focused on what he could, and now the gangs of New Orleans know better than to try to sell drugs which will be used in human trafficking. That was a good resolution to that thread. Obviously in a comic book show you can't have your characters magically 'fix' something as genuinely awful as human trafficking without coming across as crass. This was a good way to show Ty making a difference without crossing a line into something distasteful. Well judged.

Meanwhile, Tandy and Mayhem hash out whether extra-judicial murder is ever justified by the expedience of Tandy believing it is, then looking into the soul of someone who seems truly irredeemable and learning to see their humanity. Mayhem was a good foil for that particular character journey, and neither the character nor the journey outstayed its welcome.

Which brings me neatly back to the last reason that the structure of Andre's flashbacks didn't feel like a waste of time. They used our assumptions about how flashbacks work to pull an impressive rug-pull and have Andre of today's plot suddenly dovetail and interact with the Andre of seven-ish years ago's plot. Apparently, Andre of today sensed Lia being given back her hope and reached out into her despair space of seven years ago and stopped Tandy from giving her hope back to her.

Notice that the above paragraph, when written down starkly like that, sounds absolutely 100% bat-sh*t crazy and does not make a lick of logical sense. But in the episode it makes perfect aesthetic sense, and I've never seen a flashback structure used in that way before, which makes me love it. Who needs logic when you have visual poetry.

So, after giving us some backstory and cleaning up some side plots, the episode arrives at the only tangible thing that you can point to and say really 'happened' this week, if you're just looking at it in terms of pure plot progress. Andre has summoned all the girls he's 'infected' with despair to the sight of that fatal jazz performance and played the blue note, successfully 'leveling up' and getting through the locked door in his despair dimension. Cue next week's climactic battle.

It shouldn't all hang together and feel like one complete piece, but it does without question, and it's all down to the expert application of that ascension theme we started this discussion with. If I was going to compare the plot structure to music, I would call it jazz. Really, good jazz.

Bits and Pieces:

-- Very cool combination trick of Tandy throwing the light knife into Ty who teleported to where it needed to be released. Too bad it was just a little too late.

-- Andre's veve lines lighting up looked a lot like he was finding cell reception.

-- Nice little seed early on of showing Melissa Bowen's records in Andre's record store of despair.

-- I actually believed that Tandy was trying to protect Loa from waking up in an ambulance with strange men after what she'd been through. That was a clever ruse.

-- I feel like we were denied a very interesting conversation of Ty finding out that Evita got god-married.

-- Ty teleporting does not interrupt his cell reception or drop any call he happens to be on at the time. That's suspiciously dependable cell service.

-- I suspect that they showed Adina burning the bloody newspapers both as a way for Ty to understand that she'd murdered Connors and to tell the viewers, 'No, we're not faking you out, she totally killed him for real.'

-- Will Brigid get a turn at being in control of her hybrid body after the crisis is over?

-- It was a little awkward having people suddenly vanishing as a plot point what with the snap still being theoretically a thing. I'm not sure where exactly this season of Cloak & Dagger fits in relation to Infinity War, but it definitely made me second guess if that was related to what happened.

-- Tandy's plan of borrowing younger-Lia's hope in the form of sheet music and giving it to older Lia in order to give her hope back was a really elegant plan. On most shows that would have worked.

-- “Luke Cage in Harlem rumble” by Karen Page. That entire scene with Solomon is why representation is so important. Luke Cage is a hero that looks like him and because of that he inspires him to try to be better. That. That's why representation matters. Every kid deserves to see themselves in their heroes.

-- When Ty or Tandy touch someone they go into that person's 'realm' for lack of a better world. When Andre touches someone he pulls them into his. That feels like an important distinction.

Quotes:

Tandy: "Tyrone, if you ask me about my feelings one more time I’m seriously gonna kill you."

Tandy: "Brigid was a better liar." Mayhem: "Yeah, well that’s about all she was better at."

Soloman: "Sometimes you can’t fix things. Some things are just broke."

Ty: "Which one is she?" Tandy: "Both of them."

Tandy: "When all hope is gone, this is what’s left."

Tandy: "You can’t kill her. An hour ago you practically begged me not to hurt her." Mayhem: "An hour ago she had something I wanted."

A solid penultimate episode that got all of the necessary setup in place for what looks like to be an explosive finale.

Three out of four abandoned trumpets

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[mewtwo24]

Heey I love your assessment of Nobu for the character ask! You expressed things I felt but couldn't put into words and gave me more to think about~ (I think about this man far too much already..) So if you're still doing it- May I ask for IkeSen Shingen?

Aw, thank you so much!! I’m really glad I could help you look at it in a new way, I’m always happy to share my thoughts! And you and me both sister, he’s solid 2D tiddy I salute you.

No problem at all! I’d be happy to give you my take on Shingen!!! 

Favorite thing about them:

Ah hell, where do I even begin with him, honestly. It’s no secret to most that I absolutely love Shingen, but if I had to pick a singular quality I think it would be his absolute and utter selflessness. Time and again in his routes we always see him fighting for someone else and thinking about what he can do to comfort the people around him. He spends every last breath he has defending his marginalized kinsmen, trying to find ways to amend his offenses, and assisting the other suitors in their love lives (i.e. Kenshin’s rt). This is even clearer in his POVs; in which his mind is almost always on the other people in the room. How can he better serve them? How can he make them feel better as quickly as possible? What can he do to make their lives easier? And while he can be misguided now and then, he truly does seem to have their best interests at heart, paying close attention to what makes them happy. 

Alternatively, he doesn’t seem accustomed to anybody doing things for him, or wishing for his happiness, which makes it all the more endearing and satisfying when MC does both of these things. 

Least favorite thing about them:

How deterministic he can be. His propensity to analyze every facet of the issue at hand can be an incredible asset when it comes to his political and wartime decisions–I have no doubt it’s the key to most of his military successes, despite his constant disadvantages. HOWEVER. I think Shingen fails to realize–or perhaps more accurately--does this with self-deprecating intent in some cases; this can’t be as easily ascribed to individual people. No matter how much he tries to tip the scales to his desired outcome with meticulously regulated information, people will come to their own conclusions. And I think sometimes he can struggle with that; when people react unpredictably, he’s not used to being caught off guard.

Favorite line:

This was the moment that made me fall in love with him, beyond a shadow of a doubt. It’s one of my favorite lines in the entire game, and was most telling about who he really was at his core. The older I get, the more I feel that understanding and dialogue are the most expedient means of inspiring longlasting change–violence and fear seem much more ephemeral and much more damaging, by comparison.

brOTP:

Honestly, the only thing that really strikes me for this would be him and Kenshin. I find their interactions absolutely hilarious and unexpected; it’s very similar to Sasuke and Kenshin’s dynamic. Shingen seems to understand just how the man ticks, but also expresses a great deal of respect and fond acceptance for  for all his eccentricities. And Kenshin shows equal reverence for Shingen’s mental prowess and combat expertise. I mean, for all his grousing, Kenshin houses him and his displaced vassals, hangs a banner featuring Shingen’s battle philosophy in his own castle, and agrees to ally with him against Nobunaga without hesitation. Sure, Kenshin loves any reason to fight–but to go to such lengths to look after him and his people? I think it’s a very wholesome bromance that isn’t obvious in its strength, and that’s almost what makes it better for me. I think it’s among the reasons I love the Kasugayama dumpsterfire fam so much in general; it’s so unlikely that they’d all be together but they are, surviving on the fringes with nobody to call home but each other. Also I’m a sucker for absolute shenanigans and wow do they provide.

n(br?)OTP:

Honestly, I’m not sure, I suppose him and Kennyo at the most? At least, post-Honganji temple massacre. Following those events it’s quite clear that whatever friendship existed between them has long since dissolved. Shingen can’t abide watching his friend destroy himself in his own desperate bid for revenge, and Kennyo is too ashamed to be around him knowing he has no intention of seeing this mission through alive–or with any shred of dignity. I think Shingen truly does want to help Kennyo heal–and it breaks his heart that they can’t just enjoy each other’s company like they used to. But Kennyo can’t meet him halfway. It’s not that I don’t think reconciliation is possible, but it’s pretty clear the two are in pain just being around each other in that state.

Random headcanon:

I was thinking about this the other day and honestly I just can’t get it out of my head. I like to think that, in his Dramatic End, obviously he goes to the future with MC and he continues his recovery in the place MC rented out. But I love the idea of her working and him missing her all the time, so he does what he always does when he’s feeling down; channels that discontent into making her smile. I feel like if he had a cell phone, he would send her cute little animal pics and memes, compliments, and any silly/fun/adorable thing he could think of. I also like to think they went on lots of dates, and if MC was an intellectual (which she absolutely is) she definitely bought a nice suit just to see those shoulders in impeccable, tailored cloth on a swanky restaurant date at least once. 

Unpopular opinion:

I’ll be frank here, and my apologies if this rubs anyone the wrong way. But wow am I pretty done with the tendency with which I’ve seen some people characterize Shingen as some gross fuckboi. 

Can he be cheesy and ridiculous sometimes? Sure, I’ll grant you that. But I really don’t deem it disrespectful, in that he doesn’t lead people on, or force himself on others, or sabotage established relationships for the sake of his desires. And I don’t think it’s particularly wrong or awful to compliment someone on a quality you deem worth admiration; I think that speaks more to his desire to make people happy than anything. 

And some might argue that he can be over-the-top, off-putting, and/or confusing when he talks, to which I offer: that’s…kind of the whole point? His survival in this time period has relied upon his ability to shift people’s attention away from things he doesn’t want them to see and isolate information that is vital to giving him the upper-hand. Of course his sentiments might be true, but his words dissemble. His entire personality is built upon smokescreens, for the sole purpose of keeping the people that love him (and his enemies) from treating him like a dead man walking–something he tries his hardest to keep from thinking about himself. Of course he’s going to lie and divert attention and pretend he’s okay, that’s what he’s been doing for conceivably his entire life. And while there may be many of you that still dislike him for that; that’s fine. I’m not saying that’s a reason you have to like him. What I am saying is that I’m tired of the blatant misinformation and misinformed analyses I keep seeing regarding who he is and his motives–and the extent of the hostility directed towards him, in many cases. 

All skills warrant a potential for egregious misuse, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Shingen does awful things with his capabilities. I don’t really think he’s a bad man, just a guarded one at first. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Songs I associate with them:

Waiting for Superman - Daughtry

Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair (Folk Song, but I’m thinking of the cover by Peter Hollens & Avi Kaplan specifically)

Favorite picture of them:

And here we have another very soft, tender CG. It’s almost like I’m predictable. But in all seriousness, I really do love this depiction of the final scene from the Dramatic End. For a man that’s always been devoting his life to others, it was so wonderful to watch MC ask him to live for his own happiness too. And it was even better to see him agree to that request without hesitation despite his shock. I think one of the things I love best about their dynamic is how much they truly cherish each other, and how attentive they are to what the other needs. MC is always paying as much attention to his happiness as he does to hers, and it makes for a very healthy, happy relationship imo. 

[ua-momo-archive]

the halloween ball (nov. 3).

It had... taken a lot for Momo to find the courage to attend the ball. There are just so many factors involved: the memory of planning an exciting night with her now ex-boyfriend, the slightly awkward state of most of her friendships, and the fact that she’ll be attending alone... But it was ultimately her desire to portray herself as a strong individual that convinced her to finish the designs on her dress and prepare herself for the ball.

When she steps into the venue, she’s doing everything she can to maintain the fragile smile painted on her features. While sketching ideas for her dress, she had taken heavy inspiration from the season itself; her gown is a rich, satin red, the skirt cinched at her waist and gently brushing against the floor of the room as she enters it. What Momo loves most about her dress though is the leaves: she had cut each one by hand, carefully sewing them onto the top part of her dress and onto the outermost layer of her tulle skirt. They’re all different colors—shades of red, orange, and yellow—that she thought captured the changing season best. The abundance of them are sewn onto her chest area, with a significantly lesser amount on the skirt itself, in an attempt to recreate a vision of falling autumn leaves. Her hair is done in a simple, loose French braid. She had inserted a few gold pins into her hair to add some additional sparkle, and decided to keep her makeup relatively neutral—the one exception being her bright red lips.

Momo knows that it’s probably not a good idea for her to be here. It’s been a particularly dramatic week for her and she hadn’t made plans to attend with anyone—well, she had, but that was months ago, back when... She shakes the thought away, reminding herself for the millionth time that week that good things can’t happen to her unless she gives them the opportunity to. Besides, she had worked too long and too hard on her dress to just not wear it because of her social discomfort. She isn’t quite sure what to do with herself when she enters the dancehall, but she spots Shinso across the room and recalls her previous offense. Finding the courage, she approaches him. “Good evening, Shinso. You look great!”

Shinso sported Deku sitting on his phone and worked up the courage to go over to him. He didn’t want to be alone here, after all. What would have been the point in that? As he was walking over to him he was stopped by Momo and smiled at her. “Good evening, you look beautiful. It fits you nicely, and the color is beautiful. Did you come with someone?”

The painted smile almost falters on her face—almost—but she finds that she’s become pretty good at pretending. “Thank you, I made it myself,” she admits, giving him a little twirl and forcing a small giggle. She follows his gaze for a moment, seeing Midoriya sitting alone and looking awfully uncomfortable. “I’m... alone tonight. But are you meeting someone? I didn’t mean to bother you—I just wanted to quickly apologize for my behavior on the night of the festival. It was rude of me to be as hesitant and careful as I had been.” She fidgets for a moment, unsure of what else to say. “But please, don’t let me keep me if you have somewhere to be!”

“Must be nice being able to make your own clothes all the time,” Shinso said. Beats having to pay for everything. He was a bit surprised that she apologized to him, but he appreciated it nonetheless. “It’s alright. A lot of people are uneasy about me and my quirk. I’ve gotten used to it over the years. And you aren’t bothering me, I’m alone as well. I was going to see if Izuku wanted company. Care to join me?”

“It’s great practice for my quirk,” she explains, smile becoming a little more genuine at Shinso’s kind demeanor. “And your quirk is absolutely astounding! It really was unbecoming of me to be uneasy around you—I can only imagine how annoying it must be to have people judge you for something like that alone...” Momo lets herself trail off. He seems to have genuinely accepted her apology though, and she’s thankful for that—her social interactions throughout the week really haven’t been going well, so she’s happy that this one is. “And I’d love to join you, thank you! Please, lead the way.”

“I can imagine. Your quirk is very interesting. I would like to learn more about it.” Shinso’s cheeks flushed lightly when she complimented him. “Thank you. Come on.” He led her over to where Deku was sitting. “Hey, Izuku.”

Mirio looked back and forth through the filling ballroom with anxiety. His friends weren't here yet, except for Deku- which he was looking for. And he saw him, after navigating between the people, and raising a red arm (with scales!) For him to see.

"Heey!" He waved happily. "Prince Midoriya!!"

Both Mirio and Shinsou were calling out to him and Deku’s face flushes, body subconsciously sinking in his seat. He wishes, for a moment, that he could just disappear- before everything inevitably went wrong again.

Deku forces a smile out and it’s obvious that it’s that- forced. He waves awkwardly.

“Hahh...hey guys...”

Shinso still felt guilty for what had happened at the Halloween party, but was determined to make it up to Deku. He hoped that the three of them could cheer up the poor kid, even for a bit. “How are you feeling? You look great.”

Mirio could easily see how uncomfortable Deku looked...and he didn't like it. He made sure to approach him as fast as he could, and knelt on the floor with one knee to speak to him. "What happened pal? You-"

He seemed to just now notice Shinsou. He smiled at him. "Hey man."

“A-ah...I’m...you know...” Midoriya’s eyes shift to Monoma and Tetsutetsu entering the scene, and he subconsciously stiffens, sinking even lower in his chair without realizing. “...Laying low. Thanks, you look good too. U-um...you do too, Mirio. There was a lot of effort put into that costume, huh...?”

Shinso followed Deku’s eyes and he tensed slightly. Monoma was with Tetsutetsu, which would hopefully keep him occupied. It didn’t make him feel too great, but he could handle it. “Did anyone want to get food?” He asked, hoping a change of scenery would lighten Deku’s mood.

"Oh yeah. I dressed all up like this - for you!" Mirio offered Deku a bright grin. "I'm glad you went with my prince suggestion- now we match!"

Maybe talking about this would cheer him up a bit?

Deku can’t help but chuckle softly at that. “Usually matching costumes mean like, a prince and his servant...or a prince and a knight...not exactly a prince and a dragon.”

While the dramatic scene unfolds in front of them Deku tries his best not to stare, instead immediately standing up in reply to Shinsou. “Food sounds like a great idea. I’ve been really hungry since that quirk’s effect wore off...I guess not eating human food for days will do that to you.” Gently, he takes Mirio’s hand- for comfort, and reassurance that he’s still with him. He doesn’t plan on letting him wander away from him this time around.

“I can imagine. I walked past the dining room earlier and it smelled so good. Come on, before things get out of hand,” Shinso said, lowering his voice slightly at the end. He didn’t want to get caught up if Monoma and Kairi’s drama again. Tonight was going to be fun, even if it killed him. He offered his hand to Momo, not wanting her to feel left out. “Care to join us?”

Mirio had his hand taken and it filled him with joy. He heard about the plans to get food - sure enough, Deku was no longer in his vampiric state anymore - and grinned. "Oh? You think a prince and a dragon don't match?"

Out of the blue Mirio crouched and grabbed Deku behind his legs, lifting him onto his arms, bridal style. "Now you're my prisoner." Mirio grinned and pressed a kiss to Deku's temple, leaving a faint red mark.

Deku lets out a squawk when he’s picked up, face immediately flushing. His first instinct is to hide, and hide he does- feverishly burying his face in the other’s chest. “Mirio...! P...people are gonna stare!” The warm feeling of lips on his temple is not unwelcome, and Deku can’t help but simply melt into his hold after that. He was...arguably warm. And comfortable.

As always.

Momo was a little bewildered by the drama, but was thankful for Shinso’s presence. She stares at his hand for a moment and instead intertwines her arm with his. “Thank you, Shinsou-san. I would love to!”

Shinso smiled and took Momo to the dining room. He pulled out the chair for her so she could sit down and then sat beside her. “What were you all planing on getting? Everything looks so good.”

Momo feels herself blush a little when Shinso pulls out her chair for her, waiting until she takes a seat before he sits beside her. He’s such a gentleman, and it makes her feel awful for treating him rudely—however briefly—because of his quirk. “I’m not quite sure what I’d like to eat... You’re right, everything looks amazing!” She stops for a moment, taking the time to really look at him, and smiles again. “Thanks for letting me accompany you tonight—really, I’m not sure what I would have done otherwise.”

“It’s no problem. I was just waiting until I saw a familiar face. If you find some friends you want to see them don’t feel bad about going with them, alright? I wouldn’t mind at all.” He looked over the menu they had and picked out his meal. Maybe eating would ease his mind a bit.

“I was... honestly waiting for the same thing,” she admits with a little laugh. “But I really am glad that I ran into you!” Momo’s about to turn her focus onto their menu when she catches a familiar face. “Oh, Tokoyami-san!” She waves at him excitedly, gesturing for him to join their table.

Holding his just-filled plate, Tokoyami was eyeing potential empty spots when Momo caught his attention and motioned him over. He had no reason to say no--besides feeling stupid in his shoes and hat, of course--and thus complied. "Hello, Yaoyorozu-san. It's good to see you," he greeted her. "I apologize for my tardiness this evening."

Shinso smiles at Tokoyami when he sits down. He recognized him, but he didn’t know much about him “Hey, I’m Shinso. You look nice tonight. Have you found anyone else that you know?” Well, for once he was decent at small talk. Imagine that.

"Good to meet your acquaintance, Shinso-kun. I am Tokoyami," he replied taking his seat. "It is difficult to recognize friendly faces  tonight," he admitted, looking around the tables to try and identity the individuals in the room. Some were easy, others more difficult. "Your costumes look good."

"Thank you, your costume looks great as well," Shinso said as he started to eat his own food. It was nice having company now, especially after the issues from the previous event. He wasn't used to being around so many students from 1-A, but they weren't as bad as he originally thought.