#this is the best i could do </3 there weren't many options that fit the original design lol

[maraariana01]

another project DONE!!

introducing.....REKKAAAAAA!!!

[calliesadeckis]

Hey Jaiden!! I hope ur doing well today, I wanted to ask if you could write a Robin Buckley x reader where reader has to watch from the sidelines as Robin pines over Vickie and doesn't realize reader is right there. Then reader starts talking to simeone else (to distract herself from Robin because she believes it's a lost cause) and Robin's like maybe i do like reader?

Thanks:)

i'm doing well, thank you for asking <3 and oh my god, of course. i love robin so much, she's everything to me

—

and i despise my jealous eyes

pairing: robin buckley x fem!reader, and minor robin x vickie & steve x reader

summary: having a crush on your girl best friend was... complicated. even when knowing that she's attracted to girls, just one girl particularly, and that girl was not you

cw: many cups of angst, one sided pining turned two sided (because they're idiots), jealousy (on both ends), happy ending

a/n: robin is everything to me, she's a version of me as well because i kin her so bad, i just felt like she was created for me (as well as for other neurodivegent sapphics out there). also title is lyrics from lacy by olivia rodrigo and i thought it fit here

masterlist

you knew and have been friends with robin buckley since middle school and during that time, you've been inseparable. your parents would say how much you're both attached to each others hips, which was quite the understatement.

when the both of you were close enough, she came out to you. trusting you enough with who she really is and has not told anyone else. of course you'd understand, maybe not entirely for your 13 year old brain, but.... how could you hate your best friend, your ONLY friend for who she loves? you thought people hating on someone for that was dumb, yet again, you're young, you don't know much of the world and why they act the way it does. but nothing was ever gonna change on how you viewed robin.

once you started high school together, you've experienced some changes yourself. that you found yourself going through an experience that your friend was a couple years prior, but at the time, it didn't mean anything important. and you though, 'this can't be a coincidence that i'm attracted to girls, as is my best friend' and speaking of that best friend.... through this discovery journey, you started seeing robin a different light. she was still your best friend of course, but these feelings were just growing into more than friendship, and that feeling never went away.

you were unsure about your sexuality for most of your high school experience, up until senior year. robin was in band, and she met this cute girl in band, vickie, and it made your just a little bit angry. and it's not just the fact this girl is taking time away from your best friend, but it was the fact robin was looking at a girl like that, and that girl wasn't you.

it's not like you hated vickie, you don't even know her, it was just possessiveness that got to you. everything was just so fucked and you didn't wanna talk about your feelings because you weren't exactly the best at communicating your emotions. especially when you don't like talking about them to begin with.

so, the second best option was to move on, though that probably would take multiple year and not over a span of a few days. you needed some type of distraction, of course. so you decided to hang out with steve harrington. and you a a freshman would be confused and wouldn't believe they'd be friends with steve harrington during your senior year.

and we'll, you were in luck. steve was looking for someone to take as a date to lucas' championship game so you took the opportunity to volunteer. and getting to know steve, he wasn't exactly your type but he was sweet, and yeah, a bit dumb, but he had heart and cared for others. and obviously this wouldn't be a permanent thing for you, but you felt kind of sad for steve because he's been mentioning about finding a girl who isn't leaving out of state to go to college, to find someone who isn't gonna be some boring one night stand and never speak to you again. you knew he wanted something real with someone, maybe it wasn't you but... you wanted to help.

to be honest, he was a gentleman. it wasn't even a dinner date, it was going to a high school basketball game and the two of you were sitting in the bleachers. he did buy you some food as you watched the game, you weren't overly invested since you didn't know much about basketball, but you wanted to support lucas.

during the game though, you and robin occasionally gave one another glances. this had made your heart beat a little too fast, but you ignored it.

the game was over and you and steve were walking towards his car to take you home, then you made a pretty dumb move and kissed him. obviously you didn't like him like that but... distracting yourself in anyway with anyone felt good, but it made your stomach twist up in knots. that had gotten progressively worse that robin was watching the entire thing by the time you pulled away. and she was walking away heartbroken and you were just standing there frozen til steve snapped you out of it by clapping his hands together to get your attention, "hey!" and you looked at him, and you knew, that he knew, "go after her, okay? i'll be fine."

"i'm sorry, steve." you felt awful for using him like this, he was your friend and you took advantage. but he brushed it off, "it's fine. i'd rather have robin be okay than me." and you smiled at him before running after your long time best friend. and you called out to her, "robin, can we please talk?"

"there's nothing to talk about, alright." she didn't turn back to look at you and just kept walking, "i just want you and steve to be happy. i don't wanna get in the way of that." but you managed to catch up to her, making her face you. "that's not what that was, okay? he's not my type." and you got her full attention, "like i won't deny he's easy on the eyes and i think he deserves a girl who'll make him happy, but that's not me. i kissed him because i wanted to distract myself from my feelings. and i'm bad at talking about my feelings. so i just push them down and pray that they'll disappear over time but... some stuff just stays."

robin was trying to understand what you meant, she couldn't exactly understand who you were referring to, "so what are you saying exactly?"

"i like you." you blurted out, "maybe even love you. you're my best friend, and i didn't wanna ruin years of friendship because of how i felt about you. and you have a crush on vickie, which is cool. i'm happy for you, but i just... can't go on without being honest with myself. and i'm sorry if i'm talking too much and i-" but the buckley had cut you off with a kiss. and this time around, it felt great, and it felt real. the feelings and emotions were all there on both ends. she pulled away a few inches to just rest her forehead against yours, "i feel the exact same way. for years, actually."

you gasped in surprised and lightly and playfully punched her shoulder, "are you serious? why didn't you say anything?"

"i didn't think you'd feel the same." and she pulled away from your face with a big smile on her face, "especially since i thought you were straight and i didn't wanna ruin our friendship." and the two of you giggled like idiots. you brought her into another kiss before hugging her tightly, "we're both such idiots."

"yeah, pretty much." she chuckled.

[prettymrswright]

Harlem Nights

pairing: rosalie otterbourne x black!fem!reader

background: as a singer and musician growing up in the heart of New York, you constantly had people, places, and things to be inspired by. every chance you could, you were finding places inside those rooms you always desired to be in. there was nothing more you wanted to do but perform. most of your family wouldn’t be so ecstatic about your ‘unrealistic’ and ‘unstable’ ambitions. But you knew deep down that you had what it takes. You’d soon travel down to Harlem’s hottest club of the early 20th century, ‘The Cotton Club’, and an interaction with one of your inspirations would change the trajectory of your life, forever.

content: fluff, flirting, playful banter, intimacy. a lot of sweetness + sass. warmth. little explicit language.

word count: 6k

authors note: 2nd fic down. this one was very fun to create, making it fitting to the time. I have such a sweet spot for Rosalie, I had to dedicate this one to her and all her glory. as a singer and musician myself from NY, this was very special for me. I hope y’all smiling and blushing because I was smiling and blushing writing it! enjoy. p.s. chile i kinda wanna make a part two, this was teaaaa.

taglist: @inmyheadimobsessed @zayswriting @vixentheplanet @pinkwright @saintwrld @verachii @ventingfanfics @abenomeiiii @vampzxi @shuriszn @dejaonline @mysticalmarss @shurislover @msplayas @naomis-daydream @sweetalittleselfish-honey

pinned to my page is my new taglist form. if you wanna be tagged in specifics, go fill that joint out! thank you. (i also have an opt out option for those who no longer want to be tagged if they already are). <3

A warm, summer rain pitter-pattered across the glass of your bedroom window as you began cleaning up your space. It was a comfy afternoon, almost evening, the sun peaking through the clouds and beaming down on the town, preparing for its set. It was gorgeous outside. And despite it's rather saturating nature, many people were outside on their front porches. There were so many things to do in Harlem. So many places to see. And yet you felt you could die of boredom. If you weren't busy cleaning or babysitting the neighbors kids, you were receiving a 15-page verbal essay from your mother about how dangerous the city was and how 'there ain't nothing in Harlem but drugs, scams, and prostituting!'. I mean sure it could be dangerous at times. But where in the world isn't? You just knew that as much as there were frights, there were sights. Opportunity was left and right in this town. All your favorite artists and musicians grew up right here, and you wanted to join that list.

“Alright, Y/N/N,” your mom began, putting on her jacket, grabbing her things, and approaching your bedroom door. I’m off to work. Remember to drop the evening papers by Miss Jeanine after you finish cleaning. And no clubs!”

You sighed with immediate annoyance. “But Ma—“

“No butts!” She warned sternly. “Unless it’s yours in that bed there, immediately after. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” You respectfully reply, feeling defeated.

You were 21, soon to be 22, but Mother didn’t believe in ‘legal adult decision making’. As long as you were her child and under her roof, you complied by her rules. You understood her always being protective over you; You even appreciated it. But at this moment and time of your life, it felt more like a hinderance than anything else.

“Alright now. I’ll see you later. I love you,” she says on her way out.

“Love you too Ma,” you reply faintly, and with that, the door shuts.

You fall back down on your bed behind you, with a big exhale, staring up at your popcorn ceiling. It was such a lovely day. You should be somewhere dancing, or hanging with your best friend Josephine. Even watching the neighbors kids wouldn’t be so bad right now. At least you’d be out in the backyard.

Tonight was also one of hottest summer nights to be at the Cotton. Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey, and Salome Otterbourne were all performing. It was certain to be a full house, for sure. The three black female jazz pioneers were on tour, and this would be the only time in a while that anybody would be able to see them all perform in one night. Dozens of people even travel from out of state on nights like these. That also meant that there’d be a bunch of travel scouts and agents, waiting on more talent to grab and take under their wing. You were nauseated at the thought of even missing it for a moment.

You got up to finish your cleaning, and halfway through, you heard the door open and shut, followed by a familiar voice that you knew and loved so much.

“Why the long face, sugar?” It asked, making sure you’d turn around to see their smile.

“Grandpa!” You ran to him with open arms, beaming with joy.

Your grandfather was your best friend. Since you were a little girl, he took you under his wing. Your dad left to pursue his music dreams when you were younger, so your grandfather was also the Dad you never had. He always spoke life into you, and made sure that no matter what, you knew that you were capable of any and everything. He also instilled you with the unwavering confidence to back that. Grandpa’s think-pieces were like gold. He was very wise, and had been through it all. He’d always say:

'Don’t let anybody take you for a fool! Not even me!' And laughed. But he was serious. "What's going on? Lorraine got you in this house cleaning all day again?" He says in your defense, as he often does. You let out an exhausting puff of a sigh before plopping back down on your bed. "Yea Pop. As usual." You shifted your body towards him and stared at the ground in deep thought, pausing before continuing. "I mean, life has got to be a little more exciting than this, don't it?" He laughed a low, hearty chuckle. "There's always more excitement, Y/N/N. You just gotta find it. Don't wait for opportunity, create it!" He says affirmably, allowing you to comfortably reveal what you've been thinking about all week. "I really wanna go to the Cotton tonight, Grandpa. Salome Otterbourne is performing tonight! And a bunch of other singers and talents and--well--I'm gonna be here, missing it." You look down and fidget your thumbs around each other. "Well why don't you go?" He asks. "You know Mama don't want me around no clubs, Pop. Besides, I told her I would take the evening papers down to Miss Jeanine." You reply in slight aggravation. "Ohhh," He scoffs and waves his hand down in dismissal. "Don't let that child stop you. I'll take the papers down to Jeanine." Your eyes lit up in pleasant surprise and excitement. "Oh you will?!" "Don't worry about it." He says, a confident smirk creeping onto his face. "Go on and enjoy yourself. I don't know where Lorraine gets all that strictness from anyway. Me and Betty ain't raise that child like that. Besides, she's seen and DONE worse." You both share a big laugh. "Thanks Grandpa. You're the best!" You jump up and wrap your arms around the big guy, holding the embrace for a while. "Anything for my favorite granddaughter." He says jokingly. "I'm your only granddaughter, Grandpa." You reply giggling. "I know. Now gone and figure out what you're going to wear. I hear that Mrs. Otterbourne is looking for another back up vocalist for her band." He tells you as if he just revealed the world's biggest secret. You, performing with Salome Otterbourne and her band. Your stomach turned and the mere thought of it. You kissed your Grandpa on the cheek before rushing to the bathroom to get ready for your highly anticipated night. Your mind rushed with all the possibilities of the night's events. You'd be in the same room with people and experiencing things you've once only dreamed of. Intimidating it was, but your desire to even just be in that energy was bigger. .. After lotioning up and powdering down, you slipped on a cool lavender silk midi dress, with spaghetti straps and a flowy, skirt-like bottom. You leaned into the mirror of your vanity, shaping up your thin brows, rolling on your winged liner, and coating your lips with a nude pink gloss, a shade brighter than your natural lip color. You used your same liner to add your infamous faux face moles; one above your lip, one at the tip of your nose, and one at the top corner of your cheek bone. You placed two diamond stud earrings into your ears, decorated your left wrist with a rose gold watch, and clamped your custom microphone necklace around your neck, gifted by your Grandfather. Lastly, pulling your look together, you peel off your bonnet and hair net, coat your fingers with oil, and take out each of your curls, wrapped around perm rods. You fluffed and shaped your hair into its short, curly and tapered state, much like Sheila Guyse. You stood and wrapped your mesh shawl around your shoulders. You walked over to your tall, door mirror and scanned your body, turning each angle, before spritzing your figure with Blue Grass, by Elizabeth Taylor. You always put effort into your look, but tonight was definitely a little extra. You needed to look and feel the part. Like you belonged there, just with everyone else. You grabbed your white clutch hand purse, matching your white pumps before walking out to the living room. "So," you say to your Grandfather, doing a quick and excited 360. "How do I look?"

"Oh, Y/N," Grandpa says swiping across and covering his mouth to conceal his emotional expression. "You look beautiful. Just like your grandmother." Grandma has passed when you were 7. You had faint memories of her. But one thing you did remember, was how madly in love your Grandfather was. You always said you'd want to be loved just like that when you were older. All the family would constantly remind you of how much you looked like her, and even carried a lot of her personality traits.

"Thanks, Pop." You reach down to hug him and wipe his tear before stepping back and giving him an 'It's okay' smile. "Alright, I'm heading out!" "Alright now, have fun and be safe! Be back by 11, and please, don't give your mother anymore reasons to kill me." He says, almost pleading. "You got it, Pop." You chuckled and walked out the door, closing it tightly behind you. You looked out at the busy block and took a deep sigh before walking down your porch steps and strutting down the street, on your way to the Cotton.

..

When you arrived, the scene was just like you imagined, only even bigger. Bright lights cascaded from all around the venue, and herds of people were beginning to gather. Cars were beeping and honking, forcing to navigate through traffic with all these people taking up the area, many cars stopping just to see what was going on. Above your head were the list of household names making an appearance tonight. Men and women all throughout the area were dressed up in their absolute best. Valet was working overtime & security was tight. It felt like something out of a movie.

You staggered in front the building, and before you knew it, it was your time to walk in. It was no turning back now.

There was a warm, dim but radiant tone to the room. You seen pimps, hustlers, singers, showgirls, every type of personality you could imagine.

Sounds of bass, saxophones, and pianos filled up the club with a soothing but strong undertone. You walked in, looking around in awe at the set up. The seats were almost filled. You were certain you had to sit in the back, but you didn’t mind. Being in the room was enough. Just as you turned to go back, you spotted your best friend Josephine, sitting in front with an older gentlemen.

“Y/N!,” She called out to you, waving you over and patting the seat next to her.

“Girl!” Overwhelm with excitement, you almost run to where she was and accepted her seat offer. “What are you doing here!”

“I didn’t tell you?” She questions. “My Uncle Johnny is playing bass for Mrs. Holiday. I tried calling to invite you, but your mom said you were busy.”

Typical mother. You really wish she’d stop answering for you. You rolled your eyes, but decided not to build on it.

“Oh, well good for him!” You say with sincerely, with a bright smile.

The two of you briefly caught up before the lights dimmed and the announcer came out to direct what would be one of the most riveting moments of your life.

..

A few acts had already performed, and you were completely enamored. Jazz and blues were your absolute favorite genre, but to hear it live and in person in all its emotion and vulnerability was euphoric. It was life changing. Entertained you were, but all in all, you felt a strong confirmation. You were certain that this was the path you wanted to take. Every strum of string, every note belted, sent chills down your spine. Singing and performing, especially with a live band felt so natural. It felt warm and welcoming— like a warm fudge brownie with cold ice cream on top. The contrast was clear, but together it went so well.

“And now ladies and gentlemen,” The announcer began. “I present to you, singer, musician, and hit phenomenon, Salome Otterbourne!”

He disappeared into the curtains, his presenting arm being the last thing to disappear as Salome approached the stage from the other end. The crowd erupted; cheers, claps, whistles. You turned to grab Josephine's wrists, that were wrested in her lap, the two of you looking at each other and exchanging an excited squeal. She was stunning. She stood tall above the silver microphone on its stand, wearing a powdered pink blouse and skirt set, with a hat and a flowered wrist garnish to match. She had on white silk gloves, covering the hands that held the stand, one up high and one down low, close to her lips and she began to sing her rendition of Bessie Smith's Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do. There ain't nothing I can do, or nothing I can say That folks don't criticize me But I'm goin' to do just as I want to anyway And don't care if they all despise me If i should take a notion To jump into the ocean 'Tain't nobody's business if I do, do, do, do If I go to church on Sunday Sing the shimmy down on Monday Ain't nobody's business if I do, if I do

She sang every word as if she wrote it herself. It was fitting, seeing that Salome was a confident, self-assured woman. You looked around to scan her band. There were two guys on strings. Another on the sax. One on trombone. And to the left of Salome, the pianist. A woman. She was the only other woman on stage besides the main singer, and she was playing for her. It was rare to see female musicians. And not only was she playing piano, but she was singing backup as well. She was gorgeous. She had pretty, cinnamon brown skin, narrow, sparkly eyes, and the prettiest smile you ever saw. She was on the taller side and had a slim but sturdy frame. Her hair was in a pin-curled bob, parted to the side, accentuating her sharp jaw structure. "Who is that?" You semi-whispered to your friend, intrigued. "That's Rosalie Otterbourne." She leaned in and whispered back, eyes still glued to the stage. "Salome's niece, if I'm not mistaken." "Oh." You reply back. The only thing you could say really. She was breath-taking, and seemingly just as talented as her aunt. As the song continues, she briefly averts her attention the crowd and her eyes are met with yours. Stopping and holding her gaze for a second, fingers still tap dancing with the instruments keys, she slightly tilts her head and flashes you a smile. You felt your heart begin to take on an unfamiliar arrangement of beats. Taken aback, you sheepishly smiled back, shakily lifting up your hand to give a small wave. She acknowledges it before returning her attention to her piano and back at Mrs Salome as they join in on the next verse. If my friend ain't got no money And I say, "Take all mine, honey" 'Tain't nobody's business if I do, do , do do If I give him my last nickel And it lives me in a pickle 'Tain't nobody's business if I do, If I do

“Holy shit, Y/N/N,” Josephine tugs at your side. “I think she just smiled at you.”

Okay so she saw that too. Surely it wasn’t for me directly. She was being courteous to her audience.

As the song came to an end, the crowd erupted once again.

“How y’all doing tonight New York? Y’all good?” She asks scanning out to the crowd. When answered by more cheers and whistles, she continued. “Alright, that’s what Salome Otterbourne like ta hear!”

“Tonight is a very special night for me. I’m back home and I have to say you all make me feel so welcomed.” She says with a sassy smile. She proceeds to introduces all the members of her band, leaving her for the end.

“And last but certainly not least, on the piano and back ground vocals, my lovely niece, manager, brain and backbone, Miss Rosalie Otterbourne!” She stands tall and blows a few two-handed kisses out across the room and seals her welcome acceptance with a big warm smile. For whatever reason, in the moment, it felt as if time stood still.

Time progressed as Salome and her band finished out their set. You were sad to see it end so soon. It was such a beautiful arrangement of music. People began to scatter; some leaving, some going to the bar, some going to dance. Some even went to ask for autographs and things of that nature. After awhile the chaos began to subside, and there Salome and her team was, alone, packing their things. You wondered if it was your time to approach. Even if she didn’t get to hear you sing, at least you could express to her how much her music quite literally saved you. As all these different thoughts browsed through your brain, your best friend, Josephine, took a page out of its catalog, as she often did, turning to say,

“Look there go Salome and them, finally by themselves. You should go say something!" She exclaimed, mid-chew of her olive that previously rested in the middle of her martini glass. You began to get sheepish. You had thought the same, but you now you were unsure. "Say what, Jose?" She turned to face you completely. "I don't know, but make your existence known. Tell her you sing or something!" "Yeah," you scoffed. "And embarrass myself?"

"Now, don't start that mess," She began, ready to get you together, as she often did. Not to mention she was the only one who could besides your grandpa. "You and I both know you're just as talented as anybody on that stage. And we always both know that you aren't shy." She was right. Being nervous about meeting an idol was regular, but you had prepared yourself for this moment over a million times. But you weren't sure why this specific time had you tucking your tail. "Besides," she continued. "Maybe you could introduce yourself to that pretty gal, Rosalie." She flashed you a smirk. Your eyes grew so wide they almost popped out of their sockets. Josephine could read you like a book. You never discussed or confessed aloud of your feelings toward other women. Not because you were ashamed, but you felt much like the song; ain't nobody business if I do. You choked out a breathy, nervous chuckle before you could began to speak. "Wha--" "Oh, save it. Now go!" She gave you a small but hefty push towards the direction of the stage. You stumbled forward, looking back to grill your best friend before straightening out your dress, dusting yourself off, and taking a deep breath. With that, you took all the confidence you did in that moment and used to it fuel your feet's motion toward the front of the stage. You'd been up there for all of maybe ten seconds before you were spotted. Her loud and heavy laugh drifting from off the end of her last sentence to her bandmate, she turned around from her kneeled position and gave you a small smile. "Hey Sugar. Can I help you?" "Oh n-no Miss Otterbourne I jus--" she shook her head and cut you off mid-sentence. "Please, child, Salome is just fine." You half-smiled at her correction. "Well, Salome. You were phenomenal tonight. Your voice and your arrangements are just what jazz has been missing." You say to her sincerely, hand in hand. "Aren't you sweet," She chuckles at your sincerity. "Well thank you, Sugar. I've worked hard for my sound. You know what they say, you want something done right --" "Do it yourself." You both say simultaneously and you laugh. "I'm with you on that one." You were pleasantly surprised how down to earth she was. "This is exactly why I'm in charge of keeping things together. Auntie where'd Ernie put that cas--" Rosalie came out from behind the stage, stopping mid-sentence once she'd seen you. "Who's this?" She points, asking what of your presence as if you weren't standing right there. You mentally laugh at her rudeness, knowing she didn't purposely mean to do it. "I'm Y/N." "She came to tell us how much she liked the show." Salome helped you finish your introduction. "Is that right," She asks rhetorically, raising her eyebrows, intrigued. "What part striked you the most?" You felt a wave of vibrations flow through your abdomen, immediately thinking of the glance the two of you shared in the midst of the performance. "W-well, I really enjoyed your rendition of T'aint nobody's business. I could relate on personal levels, but I felt that you could too. Especially that bridge. Salome, your vibrato is unreal. And with your tone, Rosalie, it blended perfectly." The singer and her accomplice looked at you with impressed eyes. "Well, well. That's some very specific terminology, Miss Y/N. Are we speaking to a fellow musician?" Rosalie asks, eager to hear your response. "Yes. A singer." You chose the confident route. You wanted to continue their interest. "Really?" Salome says matter-of-factly. "Well let us hear something, sugar!" You were having a hard time grasping that this was reality. You lived in the R.E.M part of your brain, playing out the different scenarios that would lead you to an interaction like this, but you never thought it'd be so soon. "You sure?" You ask honestly. "I know you're a busy woman." "Nonsense. Salome leave when Salome gets good and ready." She reassures you, speaking about herself in the third person once again.

"And if your voice is as pretty as you are, then we're in for a treat." Rosalie says, tossing a wink in your direction.

You felt a lump in your throat begin to form and hurriedly swallowed to force it to subside. You felt your cheeks began to heat up like a stove. Receiving a compliment was one thing, but receiving one from a woman of Rosalie's stature, successful, pretty, and poised, was another. You tried your hardest not to let it phase you, but you couldn't help but to let a flattered smile creep onto your face.

You briefly turned around to find your best friend across the room, smiling and giving you two thumbs up.

The band's bass player came over to take your hand and help you up the stage steps, directing you to where the mic was, still plugged in and hot.

Rosalie walked over to her piano and removed the cover she had just recently placed.

"Any preferences?" Rosalie asked.

"The Very Thought of You." You answered confidently, knowing how well the song complimented your voice. "Do you know it?"

"Billie Holiday." She says with a smile, proving her knowledge. "Like the back of my hand."

"Let's do it." You say, ready to take advantage of your moment.

Rosalie began fingering through the keys of her piano, playing up the intro of the song. As the melody began to fill up the venue, the people who remained in the building all focused their attention to the stage. You closed your eyes, let in a huge breath of air, and began to sing.

The very thought of you

And I forget to do

Those little ordinary things

That everyone ought to do

I'm living in a kind of daydream

I'm happy as a queen

And foolish though it may seem

To me that's everything

In this moment, it was you and the melodies that filled your ears alone. You sang just as you would if you were home in your room. Your voice was smooth and velvety. It could serenade you to sleep, or it could fill you with emotion. It was soft, two octaves away from breathy. It was easy to be attracted to your voice alone.

The mere idea of you

The longing here for you

You never know how slow the moments go

Till I'm near to you

I see your face in every flower

Your eyes in stars above

It's just the thought of you

The very thought of you, my love

You glanced in Rosalie's direction, secretly searching for a reaction, and was met by a dazed stare and watery eyes. Even outside of her usual, self-assured nature, she was so beautiful. You wondered what thoughts were flying through her pretty head.

You walked over to the piano and sat at the edge, close to Rosalie, and finished out the song beautifully, never breaking eye contact with her.

I see your face in every flower

Your eyes in stars above

It’s just the thought of you

The very thought of you, my love

Rosalie scanned your face with adored eyes as she played out the outro. You held your gaze, adlib-ing out the rest of the song and began to get lost in the pool of her pretty, chocolate brown eyes. The eruption of the crowd before you is the only thing that broke you from the hypnosis she placed you in.

You stood up again in front the crowd, placed your hands on your heart and gave a bow. You were so proud of yourself and simultaneously stunned. They loved you. The crowds reaction just confirmed all those nights you journaled about feeling called to be in the limelight. In the distance you could see Josephine, practically jumping up and down, mouthing “That’s my girl!”

It was a long, loud applause and standing ovation. At this point, people were beginning to get curious about who you were and where you even came from. With that, the cat-calling also began.

“Hold on, where you from, baby?!“ One man shouted.

“Can I take you home?” Another one followed.

You were too starstruck by your own self to be annoyed by men and their ignorance. In fact, it humored you in this moment. Once the crowd begin to subside, Salome ran up to you.

“Well I’ll be damned!” She says, clasping her hands together. “Sista you can blow!”

Nods and sounds of approval were given by the rest of the crew.

“Says you!” You say brightly. “Thank you, Salome. And thank you for allowing me to sing on your stage.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” She says, leaving you with slight confusion. “What does the rest of your weekend look like?”

Cleaning. Possibly babysitting. Absolutely nothing exciting.

“Nothing much, really.”

“Well, I have a couple more stops to make and perform at before we get back on the road. I want you to come perform with me.” She says sincerely.

You were there with a stunned look on your face. You were at a lost of words, and when you finally find them, they come out more blunt than you expected, “Quit playin’.”

The older woman laughed. “Serious as a heart attack, Sugar. Leave your home number with Rosalie, and stay by the phone. We have business to discuss.” She walked off to other side of the stage. You had to conceal your urge to scream your head off.

“Looks like you got yourself a job,” Rosalie began to walk up to you.

“Thanks to you. Where’d you learn to play like that?” you ask genuinely interested.

“Where’d you learn to sing like that? I thought you was just bull-jiving.” You both laugh.

“I’ve been singing since I was a little girl. My mother always put me in the church choir, and I enjoyed it, so I held onto it.”

“Well you definitely got soul.” She exclaimed.

“Thank you.” You say, blushing at her intense focus on you as she spoke.

“So tell me,” She moves closer to you. “Did you mean what you said?”

You tilted your head slightly at her comment. “What did I say?”

“I see your face in every flower, just the mere thought of you, my love” She speaks the lyrics of the song you just sang.

You weren’t expecting that at all, your body slightly trembling underneath the words her forwardness.

“It’s just a song, Miss Rosalie.” You professed, keeping as much ground as you could. “I am a performer, and I performed.”

“Ahh,” She says nodding sarcastically. “A performance, was it? A stunning one, might I add.”

You playfully rolled your eyes at her sarcasm and her witt. The girl was indeed charming. And she wasn’t buying that you didn’t feel the tension that was brewing between the two of you.

“Rosie,” Salome called out. “We going on out to the car, when you ready, we can be on our way.”

“You got it,” Rosalie responded.

“Y/N!” Your best friend came running towards you, and you kneeled down towards the edge of the stage. “Girl you killed it! Brought tears to my eyes, I love seeing you in your element girl, you gone be rich!“ She rambles, saying the last part through clenched teeth. She stops and looks up.

“H-Hi Miss Otterbourne. Rosalie. I’m Y/N’s best friend Josephine.” She introduces herself.

“Hello darling,” Salome smiles. Rosalie waves.

“Well, girl,” she was now whispering. “I gotta go, my man is outside waiting for me, but call me when you get home and tell me EVERYTHING.”

You erupted in laughter. Josephine loved her some him.

“You so crazy. Enjoy yourself, and get home safe.” You say back, momentarily reaching for your best friends hand and squeezing it caringly.

“I will girl!” She runs off and out of the venue.

“Well, Miss Y/N,” Rosalie turns to you. “Where do you live? We could drop you off home.”

“Oh that won’t be necessary,” You assured her. “I live right up the street.”

Rosalie paused for a minute. “Come with me,” she grabbed your hand and the two of you scurried out through the exit backstage.

The warm outside breeze grazed your skin as the two of you began to walk semi-dark, summer streets. It wasn’t freezing, but it was a slight bitter chill that left you feeling more on the cold side.

“Here,” She took off her black, furry jacket and placed it around your arms. “It looks better on you anyway.” You gave a toothless smile at her comment.

“Did you actually enjoy my performance tonight?” You ask, somewhat serious.

“Did I?” She scoffs as if you said the most outrageous thing. “Absolutely breathtaking.”

You look down in nervousness. “You’re not so bad yourself. I mean I always knew she had other talented people in her circle but you,” You paused. “You have such a melodic voice. I enjoyed it very much.”

“Well thank you. Much like you, I keep my accolades undercover. It’s like a pleasant surprise. You think you know me and then— boom.” She illustrates her sentence, flicking her hands open, emulating fireworks.

“Well I don’t know how surprised I’d be considering how confident you are,” You say with an instance. “People like that always have something going on.”

“It takes one to know one, right?” She looks at you through low lids, her figure standing a few inches taller than you. For a while it’s silent. Suddenly, you blurt out something you’d only ever think of to yourself.

“Rosalie have you ever loved a woman?” You ask, almost regretting it, but still wanting to know her thoughts. She furrowed her eyebrows in interest, waiting for you to finish instead of answering right away.

“In the way.. you ain’t ‘supposed’ to love a woman?” you continued emphasizing the quotes, finishing your thought.

She sighed in relief. You sensed that you possibly could’ve opened a safe place for her to speak.

“I have loved women since I learned to walk and talk. My aunt and my band family are the only ones who know. They’d say, ‘Ole Rosalie couldn’t catch a man if she put a bra in a net!’ But they knew I didn’t want to. They ain’t give me no trouble. But everybody story ain’t like mine.” She opens up to you and you look at her with soft eyes.

“What about you?” She then turns to you, returning the question. “I’m guessing you have.”

“Nobody knows about me. Nobody but my bestfriend Josephine. I’ve never even been in love before. Not with a man either. But tonight, standing next to you I- I don’t know. I felt kinda like a school girl.”

Rosalie begins to laugh at your confession. She thought it was sweet. Secretly, she felt the same.

“Oh, stop it, It ain’t funny!” You say defensively, tapping her shoulder, but she continues to laugh. And you continue to fall. Before you could pull your hand back, she grabs it, and pulls you into her. The two of you stop walking momentarily, and it’s you, her, and this lonely street. She places a hand on your waist, the other still holding your hand, and comes close enough to your face to separate the two of you with a single piece of paper.

“Dance with me,” She breathes into you.

“But we ain’t got no music,” You say back, smiling foolishly at her impulses.

“Yes we do.” She begins to hum The Very Thought of You, and the two of you sway side to side, your feet moving in a circle around each other. You begin to him with her, the two of you harmonizing on every chorus. In this moment time stood still. An overwhelming feeling of adoration and excitement washed over you. You felt like the only girl in the world. She had a way of building on your romantic tension, all while making you feel like you gained another best friend. It was the perfect night, and you never wanted it to end.

The two of you stop your tango, and she pulls you in, kissing you ever so slowly and passionately. You felt yourself melt into her, the heat of your bodies keeping each other warm. You finally pull back and share a long gaze, her arms still holding you. Your moment was interrupting by a loud honk from a car coming around the corner.

BEEP BEEP.

“You two ready?” Salome smiled, hanging out the passenger window. “Get in!”

Rosalie led you to the back seat, her getting in first and you following, closing the door behind you.

“What’s your address, sugar?” Salome asked. You gave it to her, and off you all were.

“Oh,” Rosalie began, “Before I forget,” She grabs a pad and a pen from underneath the seat to give you. “Can’t leave without your number.”

You smile and take the materials from her hand.

555-8269 Y/N. You wrote in its red ink, drawing a small heart next to it, and kissing the paper, leaving the mark of your now halfway glossed lips. You folded it up and handed to her, and she delicately placed it in her purse. She slid her hand over top of yours, which now rested on your knee, and interlocked your fingers.

“I’ll be expecting you,” You say softly.

“First thing tomorrow morning.” She affirms to you, holding her intense gaze. She lifts up your hand and places a soft, gentle kiss on the back of it.

Before you knew it, you were pulling up in front of your house.

“Thank you again, Salome. I had a wonderful time.” You express, full of gratitude.

“Don’t mention it, doll. I’ve had a great night myself. Now make sure you stay by the phone, hear? You gone be a star. And I’m gone make sure of it.” She says, turning around to face you from her passenger.

“And I think my Rosalie is very fond of you.” She looks at her niece with a proud and accepting smile. Rosalie gives one back.

“Yes ma’am.” You say, blushing of slight embarrassment but also appreciation. You step out the car and walk up your concrete steps.

“Y/N,” Rosalie says out the window. You turn around.

“Yes?”

“Goodnight.” She says, holding onto every moment she has left of this night with you.

“Goodnight, Rosalie,” You say sweetly, but teasingly.

You walked into your home and crept up to your room, careful not to wake anyone up. You run up to look outside your window and watched as the car drove off. You couldn’t believe this was your life. But you were glad that it was.

All night your head spinned, accompanied by thoughts of you and Rosalie. The instant chemistry between the two of you left you in such a fuzzy state. It was the beginning of something new. It felt warm and welcoming— like a warm fudge brownie with cold ice cream on top. The contrast was clear.. but together, you went so well.

[animeyanderelover]

HxH machi with prompt 90 please

I might have adjusted the prompt a tiny bit to fit her character better.

Tw: Yandere themes, toxic relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, death, isolation, abduction

@jamayah @chxxz @leveyani @cynniical @shenryu-sama

Words: 2.2k

Prompt 90

It had gotten too quiet. What had just happened outside? What had all of that commotion just been about?

You didn't know. And you hated it. You hated that everything that had happened to you those past few weeks had happened for reason you hadn't been able to grasp. You didn't know why you had been kidnapped roughly 3 weeks ago by some criminal organization, you didn't know why they had asked you so ferociously about your girlfriend Machi only for their face to fall when they had realized that you had no clue what they had been talking about.

Was something wrong with Machi?

So many questions yet you had received little to no answers at all and it had left your head spinning ever since you had been locked away in the small and dimly lit chamber, chained to the wall and only released when they gave you dry food and dirty water or allowed you to use the dirty and reeking bathroom.

You sat against the cold wall made out of rocks, the rough and dull edges of them pressing against your back. It had become a familiar sensation for you within the many, many days since you had been thrown into this room. Tired eyes were focused on the thick door made out of wood, the only way for everyone to enter and leave this cursed tiny chamber.

Every sound from outside was largely swallowed by this door, the thick and heavy wood absorbing every sound from outside. But just now you could have sworn that you had heard screaming and shouting from behind it. Or had you finally lost it completely and had started hallucinating? Honestly, you felt like the last option was more likely than someone actually finding you. Even if someone would find you, you weren't sure if they would be able to save you anyways. There were so many armed guards in here, a person would be shot full of holes before they could even hope to reach the corridor where your prison was located.

You slumped against the wall behind you when you considered the low chances of someone saving you and just decided that the noises had all just been a project of your imagination.

At least until you heard something again. Right in front of the door. You tried to lean forward as good as you could with the chains around your wrists as you tried to figure out what the source of this sound was. The noise was very quiet through the heavy door but very reiterating as if something was grating against it.

Wait, was someone trying to put the key into the keyhole?

Now that you thought about it, it really sounded like someone outside wasn't able to properly insert the key into the hole to be able to unlock the door to you. That shouldn't have been that difficult though if you were right with your guess. Unless the person couldn't estimate distances between objects properly or was really badly shaking.

You waited cautiously as you wondered what someone would want from you now as your eyes were glued to the door. Eventually you heard a 'click' that told you that someone had just unlocked the door. The wood was groaning as someone slowly pushed it open and through the growing gap of the door, light flodded your room from outside. Your eyes truly weren't used to this anymore as they had been forced to adapt to the darkness within the lonely walls where only so little light existed.

They squeezed down tightly out of reflex as soon as the light hit you, the brightness of it almost blinding you. It was the sound of gasps and groans that enticed you to carefully crack both of them open again, your pupils doing their best to adjust to the flood of light.

You noticed a man standing now in the room, leaning against the doorframe and panting heavily as if he was about to suffocate if he didn't take in enough air. You could tell from his uniform that he belonged to the same group that had kidnapped you.

Only then did you also notice all the blood staining his clothes, his one arm twisted grotesquely in which he also held the key. That's why it had taken him so long to unlock the door.

He was wheezing as he looked at you, blood and saliva staining his chin as he opened his mouth and you noticed with horror that he was missing a couple of teeth.

"H-here they are...Please, I fulfilled my promise. Now let me g-"

A large hand suddenly appeared from outside the door and grabbed the man's head which fit perfectly into the palm. A short and bloodcurdling scream was all the man could do before his head exploded in blood, the man who appeared behind him throwing the corpse carelessly away.

The only thing you could do as you stared at the massive man in front of you was a choked whimper. His appearance was as wild and ruggish as the look in his eyes as he spotted you and gave you a huge and intimidating grin.

With only two big strides he was towering right over you and you felt like a helpless lamb in front of a savage bear. You waited for those big hands to clutch your hand and brutally end you the same way he had just done with the guard but instead he just looked down at you.

"You're (y/n)?"

Strange and tortured sounds left your lips as you tried to get your tongue and mouth to work so that you could just tell him but it felt like his sheer presence alone was pushing against your chest and pressed all of the air out of your lungs. So you settled for a weak nod instead.

"Found you then."

Found you? What was a man like that doing by searching for you?

He grabbed the chains embedded in the wall before effortlessly bending and breaking the metal and you only stared with wide eyes as the broken pieces of them fell down to the ground.

You had no words, you didn't even know what you were supposed to think in that moment as you just mindlessly stared at your broken chains.

"Aaaah, Machi warned you not to overdo it in front of them. Now you scared them." Another voice spoke up as another man walked into the room and observed you with lazy eyes. He was also tall, although nowhere near as tall as the other guy, and was in appearance much more lanky than his acquaintance. His hair was tied in a topknot and he wore traditional-looking robes.

Despite your brain possibly melting from an overload right now, you couldn't help but look at the other man when he mentioned her name.

"M-Machi?" You stuttered out, your tongue heavy as you spoke her name. She knew those people? Since when? She had never told you about any of them.

The lazy-looking man gave you a nod that was meant to reassure you a bit.

"She's somewhere around here though. I'm sure that she'll come at any moment now. You must have missed her quite a lot those past few weeks."

You would lie if you would claim that you hadn't missed her but at this moment you were just so majorly confused, frightened and scared that your excitement of possibly seeing your girlfriend again was dulling. You had so many questions for her and if the last few weeks had taught you anything it was that she knew something really important and had kept it a secret from you which had brought you into this situation in the first place.

Then you heard sharp and quick footsteps from outside approaching the room and the man with the topknot gave you a knowing look. "Talking about the devil herself, there she is."

Machi stormed past him without as much as sparing him a glance as her blue eyes instantly landed on you, her gaze almost piercing you with such intensity that it made your breath hitch in your throat.

"M-Machi? What are you...? Who are...Why?"

You were in no condition to even make out a coherent sentence as there were too many things that you yearned to say at once to the point where your mind was spinning with everything you wanted to ask her. You could see that she was scrutinizing you as if searching for any gravid injuries only to find none. Then her gaze turned into a glare as she directed her eyes up to the giant of a man standing next to you.

"Uvogin, did you kill the man outside right in front of them?" She asked in a sharp and accusing tone as her eyes narrowed slightly. Uvogin, as you had just found out his name was, let out a roaring laugh as he scratched his unkempt hair.

"My bad. I got a bit carried away there."

A bit carried away? He was talking about it as if he hadn't just crushed someone's skull and instantly murdered them. You looked up at the man with only horror and fear on your face. How could he kill so easily and then laugh about it?

Machi noticed the terror bleeding through your facial expression.

“Babe…Shit! I’m sorry you had to see this, but please believe me! He deserved it!"

Machi too? You tore your eyes slowly away from Uvogin as you now stared at her. She looked frustrated, mad, said, guilty. You could make out a lot of emotions on her face which was a surprise considering that Machi normally always hid her feelings behind her cold and rough facade. Sure, she was cursing and not laughing about his death like the other guy was. But she felt sorry for you having seen someone getting murdered instead of feeling sorry that someone had just been murdered in such a brutal way. She wasn't condemning her friend's actions.

What was wrong with them?!

"Are you hurt anywhere? How are you feeling?" She asked you a bit worried as she stepped closer to you. There was no relief or joy in you anymore as she was standing right in front of you. All you could think about was what you had just seen and you couldn't stop wondering if she could murder someone with such ease as Uvogin had just done too. You had never wished to be just swallowed more by the walls behind you more than right now as you pressed yourself tightly against the stones and felt the hard and rough edges pressing painfully against your skin. If you'd press yourself any further against them, you were sure your back would start bleeding. That was the least of your worries at the moment though.

She stopped when she noticed how you were trying to scramble away from her and she quickly realized the danger of you hurting yourself by rubbing so tightly against the stony walls with their sharper edges. You could see how she was pursing her lips for a brief moment as if trying to hold in her frustration before she knelt down to be more on your height as you were still sitting on the cold ground.

“No,no,no, don’t be scared of me. You know I would never harm you.”

She spoke with a calmer and gentle tone as she tried to help you to not be as stressed and frightened anymore. Your eyes darted hastily back and forth between all three people who were in the chamber right now and you quickly realized that you were too horrified right now to even try to run away. Your legs wouldn't have the strength anyways as they were already trembling violently whilst you were merely sitting.

"W-what will you do with me now?" You managed to choke out, your mouth dry from the lack of water you had been given and the pure fear pumping through every crevice and muscle of your body.

You noticed how the two men were looking at Machi the moment the question hung in the air as if expecting her to answer this question. For only a brief moment she appeared to hesitate as she looked a bit conflicted before her expression hardened into a serious and cold one. You tried to search for any of the previous guilt and frustration in her eyes only to find nothing. Your heart dropped when you couldn't find anything in her eyes anymore.

"We'll take you to our boss. He wants to meet you now that he knows about you."

Boss? Someone who all of them were listening to? You looked at Uvogin and tried to wrap your hand around how someone would have to be to get someone as strong as him to listen.

"And after that? Can-can I go home then?" You asked, although your wavering voice already gave away your hopelessness. Machi's eyes narrowed when she heard your question before she averted her gaze briefly to the ground as if your question was secretly hurting her.

"I fear not. You'll probably never be able to go back home. You know too much now."

Too much?! You barely knew anything!

You wanted to cry, scream and beg but her harsh gaze shut you up as she gently shook her head. You'd never be able to go back to the life you had once known, wouldn't you?

[inlocusmads]

The Eleventh Hour

Ethan wallows in his sorrows. Hope eventually arrives in the form of a pajama-wearing, file-bearing, frantically-running Jane.

Featuring: Ethan Ramsey, Jane Fletcher from Open Heart.

Word Count: 1.9k | No Warnings/General | Post Book 3: In The Future

Tropes: Proposal / Humour

A/N : This is the proposal fic. Yes. You heard that right. No I am not kidding. Yes, it is heartwarming. No, I don't guarantee fluff. Yes, fluff has various interpretations and is left up to the reader to view it whatever way they see fit.

"Marriage isn't really in the cards for me."

"Children? Nah."

"I doubt I'd be a good family person, to say the least. I don't believe I can raise a child or take them to school or – anything of that sort."

"Honestly I'm much better off alone."

It was eleven at night and the doctor was alone, with some nightly patrons at Pauling's Bistro and Bar. 

Ethan wanted to be wrong. He desperately wanted to be. Except it wasn't simple, wasn't it? His friends were all settled and happy. Tobias had a girlfriend now and if trends run smoothly, perhaps he could finally settle down. Ines and Angie were considering sperm donors and everyone was ready. Almost as if they'd had their life sorted out from the very beginning. 

It went Birth. School. Work. Marriage. Death. In that order. Kids were optional, but a wedding! People loved weddings and his father was no exception to it. 

They had a thing going on in his class in the late 80s. The kids there all wanted what their parents had - a great house, a job that paid well, endless candy. They'd all written up their wishes and had read it out to the class. When it has been Ethan's turn, he'd taken his itty project to the front and used his sharp voice to read out his essay. 

"I would love to be a dragon when I grow up!"

Ethan was, safe to say, a bit sad. Pauling's Bistro was quiet that night and he'd been served a sandwich and a tall glass of lemonade. He wasn't quite in the mood for anything strong or anything too fancy, because he believed in not giving into his depressive symptoms, such as impulse buying and keeping quiet to himself in a corner. 

A good cry would do it. 

"Over sandwiches? Really? God, I'm pathetic." Ethan spoke out loud. He massaged his eyes in agony. 

Ethan didn't need kids or a family to be complete. After all, Baz Mirani, a dear friend of his, had come out as asexual and aromatic and he'd mentioned he didn't need a partner or anyone to make his life happy and prosperous. He'd had a plan too - extend the lifespan of his career, travel the world a bit and he'd also mentioned something about garlic bread and cake that he didn't quite understand. 

Unfortunately Ethan wasn't a person on the Ace Spectrum, rather he was actually in a committed relationship. 

For three and a half years to be precise. 

Jane had been his partner for a couple of years and neither had any idea on how to take their relationship. Jane still lived with the Roommates in her Boston flat and occasionally popped by Ethan's for a chat, sometimes. It felt like they were longtime friends who decided to just date out of convenience, peer pressure and boredom. Neither of them were remotely interested in romantic things and often got together for lunch, to talk about dragons and the general way of life. 

So no. They were friends, but now they dated. They're one ring away from getting married, one hyperactive bridesmaid and best man away from a lavish wedding and one paper away from getting a house and starting a proper family. 

Many had already joked. They'd said stuff like, "Oh, you two don't need marriage! You're already together for a really long time!" - a cheeky way of guilting them into throwing a huge inconvenient party, with a cake and a dance. His friends weren't of help either. They'd all subtly hinted that Ethan was not the same, doe-eyed boy he used to be, playing with dragons and tidying up his office. He was growing old and that meant he'd have to get settled down quickly. 

A clap of thunder jolted him awake. He took a small bite of his jalapeno and cheese sandwich, before downing the lemonade in one single go. 

"I didn't ask to be an adult." he mumbled, hazily. "I – just sort of minded my own business and then – these people walk in with their obscure demands and hey, "Look at that" they'd say, "Let's make a mockery of him! He looks like an old lean fellow, someone with nobody to take care of him!" – and the next thing I know, I'm jumping down this – cliff of dread and absolute shame because of course, it's always the fellow who's got everything who can't get it. It's poetic cinema. Writes itself, practically. Three years and a book later, it becomes a movie –"

Another clap of thunder. The people serving him drinks and the patrons threw him concerned looks, as if he's gone loopy in the head. 

"-- annnd it's always me! The miserable loner who can't be bothered to have a good wedding because God forbid him go against his – stupid little feeling policies. Who even – who even made up stuff like that? Was it Mom? Louise? Did Dad have a say in it? Did they – sort of genetically code me into being this – kind of person?"

He'd always blamed Louise for his lack of empathy, but someday he was going to have to fight back. Unfortunately for him, Ethan was more than comfortable to give up and address it slowly. And it was valid, really. Recovering from trauma took time and Ethan should've been a bit more pardoning with himself.

And yet, he subjected himself to torture. He watched his friends post pictures on social media - their "happy lives, happy wives" memes and so on, that it didn't just annoy him. It made him green with envy and blue with sorrow.

He was tired of making excuses.  He was tired of missing out on a life he knew for certain he wasn't going to enjoy.

"Wha' am I suppos'd to do, anyway? Get engaged? Would that please these – Gods of Marriage then?"

The rain poured like hellfire. And suddenly, Ethan spotted a figure running across the street to the Bistro. The figure wore a coat, a pair of sandshoes and was tall enough to stick out like a sore thumb. The figure also had something tucked in their cloak and their steps, though steadfast, weren't very graceful.

"Jane."

She motioned for him to come out. Or maybe she'd gestured at something else. Either way, he complied instantly and abandoned his sandwich; ducking through the door and into the cold night where the storm raged on and on. Jane was dripping wet.

"Jane? Is this you?"

"Certainly haven't done this before – I might've just made a huge mess."

"The pyjamas–"

"Ah yes. Pardon me. They are not an artistic choice." - she adjusted the collars of her shirt. "Anyway – I was about to go to bed a couple of minutes ago, when I realised there was something terribly important I was forgetting. Something so important you could start a war and it's still be even more important than defending the country."

"No, I understand, what is it? An emergency? And how on earth did you find me here?"

"Trial and error." She panted and puffed. "You weren't at the public library or Donahue's. You weren't inside any of the supply closets. So you had to be here."

The rain ravaged. Ethan shrugged off his coat and draped it over Jane, shushing her as she tried to protest. 

"Anyway, it took a while, but I know how much you want the package."

"The what?"

"Kids. A life. An awesome car or something."

"I never said that."

"Ah, but you wouldn't stop complaining and it kind of was annoying. You didn't want the package but at the same time you were envious of the people who had it. So it was paradoxical and I didn't know what I should be doing about it. And then I had this brilliant plan. To you know, make you a little less upset with life."

"I'm not upset with anything! Jane, you need to know that all of this is just–"

"I've known you for eight years. I highly doubt you'd want your cribbings to be ignored. Anyway –"

Jane got down on one knee. Ethan stared; his eyes fixated on her, as she tried to carefully remove the documents under her cloak. 

"This contains two things. An instructional page to become a Canadian citizen and a second page that has everything you need to know about registering yourself as my common-law partner, application, paperwork, blah blah. You get the point."

She looked up at him, cleared her throat and held the manila folder as if it were a velvet box with a delicate ring inside. 

"So – Ethan. Ramsey. Whatever your middle name is. Will you be my common-law partner?"

Ethan paused; his breath hitched and he was certain he couldn't think properly. 

"I really need an answer now because I've badly hurt my knee and it hurts to do anything."

Ethan let out a chuckle, followed by a deep, hearty laugh that stemmed from his stomach. He continued - chuckling, laughing and just in the throes of this euphoric feeling of happiness that he didn't bother paying Jane any attention or her poor scraped knee. 

"Yes." - He smiled. 

"Is that a yes or a "I'll think about it" yes?"

"An actual YES." he screamed a little. 

"You know my middle name is Jonah, right?" Ethan said, as he cut up a piece of the sandwich for both of them to share. Outside, the storm stopped but the rain continued in partial drizzles; probably in tandem with the emotional highs and lows Ethan had faced that day. 

"Yeah, well, I forgot, okay? You can't expect me to remember everything."

"Considering you actually proposed, I think it'd have been nice if you went, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, will you marry me?"

"I thought it would somewhat be the opposite instead." Jane shrugged. "Like, Jantje Claude Fletcher, will you marry me? I thought you were in a rat race or a hamster wheel - or well, whatever - getting a ring, planning a wedding, conspiring with my friends, breaking open a champagne bottle like we're people inaugurating a ship like in those old cartoons."

"Like I said, it isn't in the cards for me. But common-law partnership might be."

"So it isn't a yes yes, then?" Jane raised her brow. 

"No, it is a yes. But I'd like to go through these and do some research."

"So you'd blindly jump in, before reading the manual? That's it. I'm finding a better partner. Goodbye."

"So you're saying this was a test? That there's probably an actual ring hidden inside your pocket right now? And you've got people hidden under the chairs and tables, waiting to yell, Surprise!"

"No. But it is implied." Jane shook her head. "Only joking, but if you desperately want a ring, I can make arrangements."

There was a pause. The two exchanged smiles; several inside jokes shoved up their sleeve, waiting to break out like a dam. But it didn't. Jane sighed, as Ethan dug into his sandwich. 

"This isn't a traditional arrangement, you know, so it did take me by surprise; the swiftness in which you said yes. Are you really sure?"

"Vw--ory sho--re." Ethan spoke, between mouthfuls of food. "I've never been sure ever before. This. It makes sense to me. I have to go through it to thoroughly understand it, but nothing has to change and I'm comfortable with that. Besides it's – it's you isn't it? It's you. Then there's me. And we're – well, we're happy. And I'd rather see you happy than make you hunt for a ring."

"Ah, so you would like a ring." Jane thumped her fist against the table. Ethan smiled a toothy grin. 

"There's this one black ring that I've got my eyes on. It's splendid, okay? It's got a nice engraving of a haiku. And I like haikus."

"Fine. You get your black ring. I'll get a sandwich, but you're paying this time. This is frickin good!"

"Indeed it is! Pauling's never disappoints."

Ethan looked back on the moment. The proposal at Pauling's Bistro. The rain. The storm. It felt like something out of a romance movie when the protagonists finally acknowledged the fact that things have changed. Things are now turning out to be better looking. Except Ethan didn't need a positive change in his life to be hopeful about things. Jane had taught him that even the simplest of crossword puzzles in a Sunday newspaper carried the largest of answers that unlocked the entire universe. Nothing had to change, because everything was great just the way it was.

At least for a while, because the storm didn't end there. It got worse.

"Yeah we're stuck here." Jane remarked. "Want to share some funny work stories?"

"Let's see. There was this man - no, this intern - wait, he could be a surgical one – no, probably from the anaesthetics department – anyway, he ended up doing something so hilarious and so incorrect that…"

Tag List:

Perma: @tessa-liam @peonierose @quixoticdreamer16

OH only: @cariantha @trappedinfanfiction @jerzwriter

[keratoconusgroup]

First Visit To A New (To Me) Clinic

I'm so excited. I had my first appointment at a clinic that, essentially, focuses on cornea/Keratoconus issues. This is a follow-up to a post I did a couple of weeks ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Keratoconus/comments/16is1l3/realizing_there_may_be_better_options_out_there/ The really big "finding" they educated me on today: The corneal scar (which I knew was there) is right in the center of my field of vision - and likely contributing to my poor vision. My former doc had always documented it - but NEVER said anything more. (And, to be fair, I never asked about it.) I figured "nothing could be done" since this professional that I'd trusted for many years wasn't offering anything. So - I have three strikes against me: 1/ Cataract; 2/ Central Cornea Scar; 3/ Keratoconus. (Also, they thought continued use of the RGPs could make this scar even worse.) The KC doc said there might be an option to do surgery on the scar. I'll discuss this with the surgeon on the 18th when I have a consult. They seemed a bit surprised I was in RGPs. (It's the only option my previous clinic offered.) Conversely, this new clinic ONLY fits Sclerals. So - at a minimum I'm headed toward cataract surgery, requiring some yet-to-be-determined-length of RGP holiday (3-12 weeks - the surgeon needs to assess. Since I'll be in a Scleral after cataract surgery there's less pressure to get the IOL exactly right....so maybe a relatively short holiday.) Then, when that's all done and settled down, it's Scleral time. I'm excited about the prospect of better vision out of that eye. (I'm currently getting 20/80 - the doc thinks I can get to 20/30....possibly 20/20.) I'm surprised and disappointed that my previous clinic wasn't keeping up with new technologies and, consequently, weren't able to offer me better options. It's an immense relief to be in a place where they embrace the challenge and take an attitude of "leaning in" to get me the best outcome. submitted by /u/Crafty-Sundae6351 [link] [comments] https://www.reddit.com/r/Keratoconus/comments/16v0yvt/first_visit_to_a_new_to_me_clinic/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[kkusuka]

There’s some underrated asf Haikyuu men that deserve some love! Let’s bless Aone, Sachiro, Akagi, Lev, and Numai with a thicc gf 💕

<3

Aone Takanobu<3

He really is your silent admirer.

And you silent protector.

He knew you were attractive, he wouldn’t tell you, but he knew

He also knew that you got a lot of attention for it

And honestly, at first, he thought that if he made you wear modest clothing, it all would go away, but he wasn’t that kind of guy and he had no right to do that (we love a king)

So instead, he made sure that he was close to you as much as possible

No words, but a hand on your waist, maybe starring some people down whilst you hug him- just out of your sight

Now, this man is like the perfect boyfriend

One of his favorite activities is when all of your packages arrive from online shops  and you get to try on all the clothes

He likes to just sit and watch you try all of them on

Then he can go find clothes that match yours- he’s big on looking all cute like a couple, who knew?

But that doesn’t mean he thinks everything you wear is cute.

Like jean shorts- it’s just too much for him to handle

It doesn’t even matter if they are down to your knees, every pair of jean shorts just fits you almost too well

It’s the same thing with- specifically- yoga leggings

They just accent you in the best ways, you can tell because he can’t meet your eyes

Too busy looking at your ass.

Sachiro Hirugami<3

You definitely met after hoshiumi started to harass you about your height or another random thing about you that he just had to pick a fight over

It was super embarrassing to pull him away because this time you weren't some self-centered volleyball jerk

But at least he left a lasting impression

I mean the second time you met was you falling into him on the second floor strains and landing on his face

He was barely competent enough to hear your “you’re Korai’s friend right?” it was something and so worth that fact you were straddling his waist

Thighs- around his waist, hands on his chest. Was definitely, most definitely NOT looking up your skirt, that would be bad

And that second on, the flood gates opened

He noticed everything about you

How your thighs squished whenever you sat down, and the even better, your skirt scrunching at your waist

If he were any more confident he would ask if you could crush his skull between your thighs

But really he likes grabbing your waist

You’re just waiting by your locker; he’s there, hands-on hip smiling over your shoulder

Telling him about your day; he’s got you pressed against him to make sure he can feel all of you, boobs to chest, thighs to thighs

Akagi Minchinari<3

Your poor soul was subject to Atsumu’s horrid flirting

No one should have to sit there, at a party no less, and listen to the blond’s dumb jokes and lame pick-up lines

It’s not like he didn't see what atsumu saw

Thick thighs clad in jean-shorts and the nicest pair of tits ever in a cute tank-top

It was even better that you excused yourself to dance and came directly towards him

A whole night of dancing and he was whipped

In fact, your first date outfit sticks in his mind day and night

A midnight blue dress that swayed in the wind, even when there was no wind, just when you walked.

And those boots that wrapped up your leg like thigh highs, squeezing the plush of your leg perfectly

Really the only word for it was perfection

He really can't handle the shorts you wear under your skirt

He knows they aren't really meant to be seen but he can't help but catch glances when you walk up the stairs

Just a slice of ass out gets him running for days

Lev Haiba<3

He’s just a big horny idiot

And hearing Inuoka talk about ‘thick girl supremacy’ didn't help his case

And really, absolutely no one knows why you agreed to date Lev of all people. According to Kuroo there were so many other ‘better options’ on the team and you chose him??

He doesn't even know what to do with you

Like he wants to touch you and cuddle all the time but really doesn't know where to start

Though he doesn't really need to, you do it enough yourself

Like when he was having a bad practice, didn’t block a single ball all day. He didn't even need to say anything. You just took his face and shoved it between your boobs

It is absolute heaven

Or when they lost practice games and you got a movie night ready and he didn't let you go until the next morning

It’s gotten so bad that he fakes having bad days just to cuddle, and he knows you know about it too

And hopefully, you won't stop anytime soon

Numai Kazuma<3

An extremely enthusiastic boyfriend

And extremely passionate about the way you look

Literally lets you wear anything you want, and will hype it up no matter what

The neon yellow body-con dress? Absolutely will bark at anyone who looks at you sideways.

That mother fucking lack pants suit will be engraved in his memory until the day he dies and he loves it

But if he had a choice, you would only wear things that show off your ass

Pretty and round, just absolute perfection\

And it wouldn’t only be for his benefit!

He wants every sad loser out there to see what he’s getting every night, nothing better than watching guys pant over you only to see him palm your ass like he owns it

And god bless any soul who talks bad about the way you look

Who cares if you aren't petite and cute??

In fact, if he dares to say it, thick girls are what keep the world going round

He can and will name every advantage of having you as a girlfriend, from great cuddles to motorboating your tits almost every night

It really is true perfection.

tags: @diamond-3 @rinsangel @senapioq @angelalje @monisi @crystal-lilac @sadpotato10

[seidenbros]

Hello!! I'm in love with your Jaskier fics ❤️ would you consider writing a Jaskier x (fem) reader fic with #137 “Do you know how beautiful you are? It’s truly distracting." and #143 “Are you trying to turn me on or are you really just that oblivious?”?

❤️❤️❤️

THIS WAS SO SWEET! Thank you again for these, and I was immediately filled with ideas. This is the first one, and #143 will be w follow-up, because it just fit so perfectly in my head. This turned out even fluffier than I had expected it to become, so I hope you like it <3 (feel free to request anything, I love doing these, and here are some lists)

Prompt: “Do you know how beautiful you are? It’s truly distracting." Word Count: 2125

____________________

“Are you coming to the ball with me?” Jaskier asked, looking at you across the room. You could have sworn he was nervous to ask, but this was Jaskier, we were talking about, and when had he ever really been nervous?

“What, did your date bail on you? Or are you afraid, that some nobleman will recognize you and hunt you down the hall?” You half-joked, because it wasn't like this hadn't happened before. Though you had to say, lately, he hadn't been flirting that much, let alone take some woman up to his room or go home with her. Something, that you rather appreciated, if you were honest, because the jealousy was gnawing at you, seeing him with these women. You'd been friends for so long now, that you couldn't even remember how and when exactly you'd met, but your mutual love for music had given you something to talk about, and you'd talked way into the night with lots of alcohol.

You'd heard everything from Jaskier, how Geralt had abandoned him on top of the mountain, the child surprise, destiny, yadda yadda yadda. You liked enjoyed listening to his stories, but you enjoyed singing with him even more. Not that you had ever been on stage with him – and you didn't want all the attention on you – but when it was just the two of you sitting by a stream, you sang along with him. It was easy with him, but lately, you'd realized that you had deeper feelings for him than you should have – hence the jealousy.

“No... I actually wanted you to come, but I thought you wouldn't want to, so...”

“So you thought asking me last minute was your best option?” A laugh escaped your lips, because it was just SO Jaskier.

“Well,” he started crossing the room to stop right in front of you. You were sharing a room at the inn, because it was cheaper. Nothing you hadn't done before, but right now, Jaskier was standing just a little too close to you than would be deemed appropriate. “I know that you don't have plans for tonight, and I got you a dress to minimize the chances of you saying no to coming along. You'll get free food, free drinks and in addition a wonderful evening entertainment.” He tried to dazzle you with his smile – and it worked. Lately he'd managed to make your knees week with that smile.

“You got me a dress?” Surprised, you looked at him, watched him flit about before he produced the most gorgeous blue dress you'd ever seen for you. “This is beyond beautiful, Jask. How did you manage to pay for this?” You were worried that he'd spent too much coin on this, but you couldn't help but let your fingers graze over the fabric.

“Ahh don't worry about it, Someone owed me a favour, and it fits perfectly with my outfit. So... are you going to come with me tonight?”

Without hesitation, you agreed. As if you could have said no to him, even if you knew that he might flirt here and there, that it would tear your heart apart, but you weren't the person to let a friend down.

The ball was in full swing and you were actually having fun. Sure, there were people who ignored you, people who thought they were better than anyone else, but then there were people who were actually a lot of fun to talk to. Childhood acquaintances from Jaskier that had many stories to tell about him. You felt Jaskier's eyes on you while he was singing, and you managed to give him an encouraging smile every now and then. People were clapping along, enjoying his music, demanding more, and they didn't even realise that he'd messed up here and there. Nothing major, just a wrong note here or there, but he hadn't messed up his lyrics, so that was good. You'd never seen/heard that happen before. Was he nervous? He hadn't seemed nervous when you'd gotten here, more excited to play in front of this audience. But something was definitely up, you just couldn't quite put your finger on it.

Once his set was over, you excused yourself from his friends, to meet him halfway, your drink in one hand, one for him in the other.

“Ahh just what I need,” he said looking right into your eyes, before he even looked at your hands. He leaned down to press a kiss to your cheek, before he took his drink from you. You didn't realise that your cheeks were flushed, mostly due to the kiss, but also because of the alcohol. You'd had a bit of wine so far, but the warmth of the room, the good conversation AND the peck on the cheek... all that came together.

“Care to join me outside for a moment? Get a breath of fresh air?” Jaskier pulled you from your thoughts. He liked the attention from people when he was on stage, but when he was talking to someone in particular, he'd rather have his peace and quiet. Especially when it came to you. Seeing your flushed face, he thought that some cool night air might be good for you – and him as well to clear his head, because he'd definitely been distracted while he'd been singing. This kind of distraction had happened quite often in your presence, but never when he'd been singing.

“Sounds like a good plan.” You linked your arm with his and let him lead the way, since it wasn't his first time here, but you didn't know your way around. Your heart was still beating a little faster, you knew it was because of him, but it was foolish to think about it. You were friends after all, and he'd always treated you like that. Like a friend.

The cool night air filled your lungs, as you let go of Jaskier's arm. You walked right over to the parapet to enjoy the view for a moment. There was a clear sky above, so that you could count the stars, if you wanted to. Slowly, you started smiling to yourself. This was just such a romantic spot, a romantic moment in itself, getting away from a party that was in full bloom to stand out here and enjoy the silence with Jaskier. But Jaskier being Jaskier, he had to break the silence – but not the way you'd expected him to.

“Do you know how beautiful your are?” While you were looking at the stars, Jaskier was admiring you. Slowly you turned to face him, but you were not ready to see the honesty, the adoration in his eyes, which made your heart flutter. He'd never looked at you like that – not that you'd noticed, because especially during the last couple of weeks, he'd always looked at you like this when you weren't looking. “It's truly distracting.” Jaskier had to shake his head, smile still in place.

“That's the dress. You don't usually see me in a dress.” You tried to play it down, didn't want to read too much into his words. Was he already tipsy and saying these things because of the alcohol? Then again, he hadn't had any before his performance, so you couldn't attribute it to that.

“It's not the dress, though I have to say that it looks absolutely stunning on you and only accentuates your beauty. But you've always been beautiful, and while this is a special occasion, and your hair looks nice...” He stopped right in front of you, making you tilt your head back to keep looking into his eyes. “It looks even better when you wear it down.” He reached up to pull the brooch out of your hair, let it fall over your bare shoulders, making you shudder slightly. “There... much more like you.” He reached his right hand up to brush some loose strands out of your face. His fingertips brushed the shell of your ear, trailed down the side of your neck.

“Jaskier... what are you doing?” you asked breathlessly, feeling your heart nearly beat out of your chest. You'd tried to talk some sense into yourself, forget about the feelings you'd developed for the bard, and now he was doing this, making you feel all kinds of things you shouldn't be feeling.

“I'm just telling you how beautiful you are? Am I not allowed to do that?”

You opened your lips to say something, but nothing came out.

“Good. Because while you are beautiful now, stunningly gorgeous, you are most beautiful, when you think nobody is watching you. When you're reading in bed before falling asleep and you read some line that makes you smile. When you're sitting at the lake, dipping your feet into the water, closing your eyes... that tiny little smile of happiness... You're most beautiful in the morning when you've just woken up, hair sticking up in all kinds of directions, eyes still halfway closed, because you need some more time to really wake up, but that tiny little smile you give me... It's the most beautiful thing in the world.” By now, he'd cupped your cheek.

“You're just being silly,” you whispered, not pulling away from him, because you wanted to believe him, and while you knew that he wouldn't lie to you, a small part still doubted that he really meant all this. That it was just the poet in him speaking.

“Y/N...” he said, exasperated. “You really need me to spell it out for you?” He'd thought he'd made his intentions clear with his words, had displayed his feelings for you, but apparently it wasn't that obvious. Words didn't seem to do it right now, so he wrapped one arm around your middle to pull you against him, put his other hand on the back on your neck, before he leaned down to kiss you. A sweet kiss that still lingered on your lips long after his lips had left yours. A kiss with a promise of more.

He didn't pull away, no, he stayed close to you, leaning his forehead against yours, keeping his eyes closed to stay in the moment. He'd always thought he was good with words, but when it came to you, he apparently tended to talk more than he needed to and didn't say what had to be said.

“I guess what I was trying to say is that I'm in love with you.” There. The words were out and Jaskier felt like he could breathe properly again. He opened one eye, only to see you smiling at him. For a second, you pulled away, only to then wrap your arms around his neck and press your body to his. Close wasn't close enough in this moment. If this was a dream, something you'd conjured up because of all the thinking and worrying you'd done, you didn't want this dream to end.

“I feel the same way,” you whispered, easing the tension in his shoulders, because he had still been thinking that you might not feel the same way.

“I wasn't sure whether to tell you or not as to not destroy the friendship we have, but -”

“Just shut up and kiss me, bard,” you interrupted him, pulling him down for another kiss. This one still sweet, but more passionate, now that you knew that you both were feeling the same way. His hands an your waist tightening their hold as you deepened the kiss. It was everything you'd wanted and more.

“Excuse me!” you heard someone say in a loud voice, making you pull away from Jaskier, who didn't really want to break the kiss, but one of you had to be reasonable. Your breath was ragged, your lips red from his kiss, but the man's attention wasn't focused on you, when you looked his way. He was looking at Jaskier, who in turn couldn't tear his eyes away from you.

“You're expected to sing another couple of songs, bard.”

“Yeah...” Jaskier said, waving at him. “Just a moment, and I'll be there.”

Rolling his eyes, the man disappeared again.

“So... where were we?” Jaskier asked with a cheeky grin on his lips, looking down at you, his hands now on your back keeping you in place. Needless to say, you had to be interrupted a second time until Jaskier was finally giving in and went back inside with you. After all, he was being paid to play here, but after that, you had all the time in the world.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #208

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we're building the star of Fate Apocrypha, Sieg! Which means we're also building Siegfried again. And Fafnir! This kid can fit so many legends in him. *slaps roof of child* He's a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer to get a little dragon in him, and a Fighter so he can use a real sword.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Something something beeeeeamm!

Race and Background

Sieg is a Homunculus, and just like back with Mash, we don't really have a race for that in D&D. Thankfully, we now have one in the Unearthed Arcana! As a Reborn, you get +2 Charisma and +1 Dexterity, are a Humanoid Construct with Medium size. You get Darkvision to dunk on Mash's dumb human eyes, and a Deathless Nature for that heroic sticktoitiveness. This means you have advantage on death saves, as well as saves against diseases and poisons, and resistance to poison damage. You also don't need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but you should probably keep doing those. Plus, your long rests are less long than most peoples'. Finally, your Knowledge from a Past Life lets you add a d6 to a skill check proficiency times per long rest. Follow your heart, and you can't go wrong. No seriously, that thing is jacked as hell.

You are about as Cloistered as a Scholar can get, giving you proficiency with History and Arcana. You were built to be a magic battery, and by god you'll be good at it.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be in Dexterity. You fought in a grail war by actually fighting, and most of the time you weren't even a servant either! Those hits could vaporize you, so it's better to avoid them entirely. After that is Charisma. Somehow things just sort of work out around you. You got two servants to commit treason to help you survive, and even managed to woo a saint. After that is Wisdom, then Intelligence. You haven't had much time to experience the world, but you're a quick study, and you also have a sharp eye. This means your Strength isn't super high- again, it's kind of swingy for you. Finally, dump Constitution. You're uh, not really tough compared to servants, and you wouldn't last long anyway. Spoilers, sorry. That being said: THIS IS A FLAVOR CHOICE, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY DUMP STRENGTH IF YOU'RE GOING TO REALLY PLAY THIS BUILD. YOU WILL DIE.

Class Levels

Sorcerer 1: Okay, unpleasantness out of the way, starting off with your Draconic Bloodline gives you a Dragon Ancestor. Obviously, Fafnir should be black, but you don't spit acid, you spit fire. For the sake of the build, we're calling that a Gold dragon. I mean, your power comes from gold, so it.. kinda works? Eh. Not our best stretch. Anyway, this doubles your proficiency when making dragon-based charisma checks. You also get Draconic Resilience, giving you permanent Mage Armor with an AC of 13 plus your dexterity modifier, and you get an extra 1 HP per level. Now it's like you didn't dump constitution at all! Except for the fact that you're still using the smallest hit die imaginable. Oh right, you also get Spells. Grab Blade Ward for some Siegfried toughness, Thunderclap to tear apart objects, Green-Flame Blade for an offensive Siegfrieding option, and Fire Bolt for a bit of dragon's breath. For first level spells, Shield will buff your AC further for that impervious skin, and Thunderwave tears even bigger items apart. Finally, you get proficiencies! You get Constitution and Charisma saves, plus Insight and Persuasion.

Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers are Fonts of Magic, giving you sorcery points equal to your level per long rest. Currently you can turn you spell slots into points or vice versa, but we'll get other stuff for it later. Also, pick up the spell False Life. Both Siegfried and Fafnir are a lot beefier than you, so you'll need the extra HP.

Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get two Metamagic options, letting you spend sorcery points to spice up your spells. A Heightened spell gives one targeted creature disadvantage on their save, and a Subtle spell lets you cast a spell without verbal or somatic components. For your second level spell, grab Alter Self for a makeover. Use the Change Appearance option for Siegfried or Natural Weapons for a more draconic look, claws included. This spell lasts for up to an hour with concentration. (Also there's the Aquatic Adaptation option for water breathing, but uh... you don't do that. So don't do that.)

Sorcerer 4: At fourth level you get your first Ability Score Improvement, so bump up your Charisma for better dragon breath and a more charming lack of personality. To help with that, you can cast Friends to get advantage on your charisma checks against a creature who will know you magicked them after a minute. Fafnir can control dragons, and this will help you control them too. (Seriously don't fight wyverns, they're all riders anyway. What do wyverns even ride?) Aside from that, you also get Enlarge/Reduce to enlarge or reduce a creature, and force a constitution save if they're unwilling. Enlarged creatures grow a size category, gets advantage on strength checks and saves, and deal an extra 1d4 damage on physical attacks. Reduced creatures have the opposite happen, but we're really only here so you can get big. Small dragons are a thing, but Fafnir definitely isn't one of them.

Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers can burn their sorcery points for Magical Guidance. Burn a point when you fail a check, and you can re-roll it instead. Hooray. You also get the best dragon's breath spell, Fireball. It's fire, in a ball. You probably know about fireball by now.

Sorcerer 6: At sixth level, draconic sorcerers get an Elemental Affinity, letting you add your charisma modifier to fire-based spells. When you cast spells like that, you can also spend a sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage for an hour. A dragon that gets burned? That's ridiculou- hold on. Okay, there's no fire-based assassins. Yeah, you're good. Anyway, you also get Haste, which will speed you up, give you an extra action, and a boost to your AC for thicker skin. We don't get an extra attack 'til much later, so this is what we're using instead for Siegfried.

Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells. Grab Stoneskin for tougher skin, giving you resistance to nonmagical attacks that deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. That means high level monks can still beat your ass, so stay away from holy women.

Fighter 1: Bouncing over to fighter real quick for the Dueling fighting style. I know Siegfried has a greatsword, but you're a small guy, a shortsword is the equivalent for you. This gives you +2 on damage dealt with one-handed weapons. You also get a Second Wind, letting you heal a bit as a bonus action. Your second wind is more of a transformation sequence, but some healing never hurt anyone. Unless you're a zombie. You're not a zombie, right?

Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge for one extra action per short rest. Again, you're not a big buff dude all the time, but some of the time you can multiattack.

Sorcerer 8: Back in sorcerer, use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for better attacks and AC. There aren't any other fourth level spells I really want, so head back and pick up Dragon's Breath to breathe fire. Or acid, cold, lightning, all sorts of stuff. Great for when you need some variety.

Sorcerer 9: Ninth level sorcerers get fifth level spells. Immolation is a whole lot of fire, and if it kills a creature they turn to ash, hosing any reanimation attempts. If you need to burninate the countryside, pick fireball. If you really need to burninate one guy, immolation. That's the Fafnir way.

Sorcerer 10: Tenth level sorcerers get a third metamagic option, and Quickened Spell will let you pump out that fire as fast as breathing, turning an action spell into a bonus action spell. You can't use this to cast two leveled spells, but your cantrips get better as you level up, so they're pretty good choices too. Especially since Green-Flame Blade basically lets you attack on your bonus action now. With haste, action surge, and your quickened spell, you can actually attack four times in a turn, three of which you can cast a spell on! Most fighters take 20 levels to get that good. Speaking of spells, use Sword Burst if you'd like more sword in your swordplay, or Hold Monster to calm down rowdier wyverns. They're lesser dragons, they will obey you. Even if they won't do it willingly.

Sorcerer 11:: Eleventh level sorcerers get a sixth level spell, and Tasha's Otherworldly Guise basically hands you everything you'd need to be Siegfried or Fafnir. When you cast the spell, you get filled with energy from either the lower or upper planes. We're using the lower planes for draconic flavor, but feel free to get tactical and take the high road if you're fighting celestials. You get immunity to fire and poison damage, plus the poisoned condition, a +2 to AC, and your weapon attacks are magical. On top of that, your weapons can use your charisma instead of your strength or dexterity, so you really can use a greatsword now! Finally, you can attack twice instead of once each attack action.

Sorcerer 12: Use this ASI to bump up your Constitution, finally. Remember, buffing your HP is retroactive, so you get an extra 14 HP this level, not just one.

Sorcerer 13: Once again, there really isn't a seventh level spell I really want. At least not as bad as Disintegrate. If a creature fails their dexterity save, you hit them for 10d6+40 force damage. If this drops the creature to 0 HP, they and all their shit turns to ash. This can also be used on objects to destroy a large area. Disintegrate is Sieg's Magic: the Spell. I mean, Sieg probably isn't strong enough to do anything this powerful without roasting himself from the inside out, but he's a servant now, it's probably fine.

Sorcerer 14: Fourteenth level dragon sorcerers get Dragon Wings, which you can pop in or out as a bonus action. While they're out, you get a flying speed equal to your walking speed. Tasha's is better, but at least now you don't have to worry about concentration crapping out on you.

Sorcerer 15: Fifteenth level sorcerers get eighth level spells, and wildly enough there is a spell I want from here. Dominate Monster lets you properly take command of one creature, creating a telepathic link between the two of you if it fails a wisdom save. While the link is up (for up to an hour) you can issue commands that it will follow. You can also assume direct control of the creature as an action. Each time the creature takes damage, it gets a new wisdom save. The most canon option is a dragon, but feel free to get funky with it.

Sorcerer 16: Sixteenth level sorcerers get one last ASI, so grab the Tough feat for an extra 36 HP now, and two more every time you level up. You've got a dragon's heart in your chest, and by god that's worth a couple extra HP.

Sorcerer 17: At seventeenth level sorcerers get one last metamagic option, so pick up Extended Spell to double the duration of your transformations. Alternatively, you can double the duration of your ninth level spell, Blade of Disaster. This is how you get Siegfried levels of damage. With a bonus action, you summon a giant sword that makes two spell attacks each turn. If they hit, they deal 4d12 Force damage. If they crit (on an 18 or higher) they deal triple that. Each bonus action, they can move up to 30' away and attack again.

Sorcerer 18: Your capstone level is also the final goody from your draconic bloodline, your Draconic Presence. As an action, you can spend 5 sorcery points to create a 60' aura of charming or frightening. A creature that fails their save is charmed/frightened until the aura ends (up to a minute w/ concentration). If a creature passes, they're immune for 24 hours.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

As a sorcerer, you have access to some of the most powerful damaging spells in the game, with immolation, blade of destruction, and disintegrate all working to make you a terror to face in a fight. You also have ways of just ending a fight entirely with Dominate Monster and Enlarge/Reduce, so whittle down a boss's legendary resistances, then end the fight with a truly humiliating defeat.

If an enemy gets into melee range you're still good to go, because you're also one hell of a gish. Show them why assassins can't fuck with casters and pick up your sword, then tear them to pieces with three Green-Flame Blades in a row.

Flight is good. Flight on a spellcaster is especially good. But concentration free flight on a spellcaster? That's just getting greedy. But wait, you already have that. Wild. You know all those times we say having a low range is a drawback on these builds? Show those guys exactly why that is.

Cons:

Your AC's fine, you deal decent damage, you're pretty much all set for melee combat! There is, however, one glaring flaw in this plan: your HP is fucking terrible. Don't actually dump constitution, please.

On a slightly related note, a lot of your spells are Concentration based, meaning they're mutually exclusive, and there's a chance you'll drop them completely one second after casting them. You have proficiency with concentration, so it's not a huge threat, but it is annoying.

Flight is good, but it's best suited for ranged attackers. Only one of your forms really likes chucking fireballs, so the other two aren't really great uses for it.

[that-one-weeb-but-starwars]

My Love| Echo (part 6 beejesus...)

Notes: this ones short my bad, also this way shock you. I also have a strong urge to make hondo show up perhaps in the Future

Warnings: sad flashbacks, death and disease mentioned, cannablistic mentions (not eating anyone but like the word), cursing,

Reader: Male

Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 5 | 6 (you're hah here)

Masterlist

That wasn't possible.

"What a shame." Maul spoke, turning himself around and walking away the Pyke leader following him.

This was wrong.

"If we came for this it better be important." Hunter spoke snatching the drive, "we leave now,"

"Me and Jacob they'll return you to your ship." The teen spoke up, "but be quick we'll need to leave with the transports."

It was a silent stealthy journey back to the ship, Echo being pushed along the way by Wrecker mostly as he was trying to process what was being told to him.

So...Y/n was dead? No that was possible- they couldn't of killed everyone.

He walked onto the ship the twins wishing them luck as they rushed back off into the darkness. He took a seat on his bunk, removing the head gear and mask, his gaze trapped within the grain of the metal.

"Tech get us out of here." Hunter demanded.

Wrecker watched Echo, his brows furrowed and in conflict.

"Hey. Kid." Wrecker spoke nudging Omega softly, "Good job out there."

"I just stuck to the plan." She smiled.

"Wanna do one more mission?" He asked playfully she nodded happily.

"Go find Lula. I think someone needs her." Wrecker spoke as Omega nodded rushing to find the Tooka doll.

Wrecker walked over to Echo, sitting across from the reg, Echo kept his gaze down.

"Hey."

"I don't, I don't understand." Echo responded, "I- I don't..."

"It's okay-" Wrecker tried to speak.

"But it isnt." Echo seethed.

The sudden jolt told them they had jumped to hyperspace. Echo rubbed over his eyes.

"What was Y/n's family doing associated with the Empire..." Echo spoke, "I...I don't..."

Wrecker frowned, Hunter watching the cockpits doorway, his brother lost and confused, let down and heart broken.

Walking into the cockpit the door closed behind him.

"You'll want to see this Hunter." Tech spoke, "Echo was right."

Hunter took a seat, "Y/n's code name is Rosyln then?"

"In a sense yes, yet It is many things." Tech informed, "It's multiple things, a name, a code name, a secret military operation."

" a what." Hunter demanded answers now.

"On this disk it says Project Rosyln was ment to help in implicating...hunger in a sense.."

"Hunger?" Hunter asked, "Hunger for what?"

"Flesh, sentinel flesh," Tech responded, "They had many failis dead on contacts, until. Rosyln."

"The dead brother of Y/n's Echo mention." Hunter spoke as Tech nodded.

"He survived it, partially, resulting in an outdated inner rim disease known as Cancer." Tech responded, "though it is not sepcified what type, he died young."

"So how does Y/n fit into it?"

"Rosyln was Y/n's younger brother by adoption law on corosaunt, and the Zabrack was not lying when he said The L/n family was ontop the imperals kill list, it was ment for them to go into hiding, to essentially metophorically and phsycially slip into the dark." Tech contuined.

"Okay so the kids?"

"Test subjects." He responded, "farm animals, future death troopers fueled by anger and loss, much more. Hunter, They weren't a family, those people they called there parents? Used them."

"Can we save any of them? Y/n? The older kids? The young ones? Anyone?" Hunter questioned.

"This here is a list of kids of Y/n's family," Tech spoke, plugging into the panel infront of him as the hologram formed, "red are dead, there eay of leaving is by there name. Jay here died of rejection of food, he starved to death. Siora drowned herself in the shower room-"

"Thats enough Tech. Who's alive." Hunter demanded.

"Y/n here is still alive, but that is all." Tech responded opening the file, "but has a number of unstablizing test ran on him, it shows here his diet was starting to change from normal foods to sential flesh, but before they could change him fully he escaped."

"How."

"Unknown."

Hunter was silent, for a moment as Tech closed the file, going through the others, "This also contains other information, such as helpful codes the imperals are now using, current inflation in imperal troopers, comn chatter and resources-"

"Don't let Echo see this." Hunter spoke.

"Hunter, I. I don't think this is a good idea." Tech told him, "You'e seen what he'll go through already to see him again. Hunter that was a sith he went up on, a Pyke leader."

"He doesn't need another thing to have a mental break down on. What happens if we find Y/n? Dead in a ditch-." Hunter argued, "if we can't fix him- we can't even help Crosshair None the less ourselves!"

"Hunter, he deserves to know." Tech defended, "let's be real here Hunter, we've nevee been there for him, we saved him from one hell to put into another, we can't help him because we don't understand him."

Hunter was silent, he knew Tech was right, "You're right." Hunter told him.

Tech pulled the disk from the panel looking back at Hunter, "Hunter I know this is hard. But this is his family. And I wish for a time in my life, I was wrong."

Hunter stayed silent walking out the cockpit, and down the small hallways, Omega trying to cheer Echo up with Lula and Wrecker with a supportive smile.

"Echo."

Echo looked back, "Tech wants to uh...show you something."

Echo got up without a word walking into the cockpit.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Omega questioned looking up at Hunter.

"Sure he will!" Wrecker tried to stay postive looking back at Hunter who kept his gaze down.

"Not this time Omega." Hunter told her, as she leaned in for a hug, he patting her head as she hug his stomach.

Tech walked out the cockpit, the doors closing behind him, "Echo wishes to take first watch while we rest," Tech informed.

"Where do we go next from here?" Omega spoke looking up at Hunter.

"We'll keep working jobs for Cid, seeing what we can do." Hunter responded, "Tech when Echo is done with that disk, see if anything on there has Crosshair on it."

"I have alredy copied the disk, I will look through it more on my watch after Echo's." Tech responded.

Hunter nodded

"hey kid." Wrecker spoke up, "lets go play a game together."

Omega nodded as Wrecker picked up Omega the two walking away to her room, Hunter mentally thanking Wrecker.

"How'd he react." Hunter responded.

"He hasn't." Tech responded, "I left it plugged in. He has the option. I just don't know if he's used it."

It was true, Echo had the option, the wanting, but he sat in his chair, staring at the disk sitting in the panel.

This was it.

This was the ticket, he could know, move on, grt some type of closure either Y/n was dead or alive. Even if Y/n was dead or alive he let Y/n's biggest secret slip.

'Just...I don't like people to pity his name.' Y/n told Echo, the two standing in all black together and umbrella over head as they walked the cemetery, 'he fought hard, that's all that matters, and there's no reason you should pity someone for when you loose,'

Echo nodded at him, 'I won't tell anybody, I understand to a degree, but if you need to talk, I want to listen,'

Y/n nodded, 'Thanks again for comin along Echo, not the best way to meet my baby brother,''

'I was glad to meet him, either way,'

Echo rubbed the back of his neck, finger's scratching at his nape. Standing up and walking over his hand hovered over the disk, should he pull it out? Should he press that small white button to let every fear he's had consume him?

He pulled the disk out, this was the right choice. Whatever he needed to know. He'd learn from y/n when he'd see him. Rubbing over the disk he slid it in his belts pouch and sat in the piolts seat looking out into the blue swirls. He was doing it again.

Sitting in silence, watching nothing new pass him by. Y/n was alive, if the others believed it or not was there choice, it was there opinion, he knew what he was saying was a fact, and he didn't need no disk to tell him so.

But the question still remained, Why was Y/n involved in crime syndicates and with Sith?"

The male turned himself around shoulder hair length, strings of white in his hair; stress induced.

"It's done." Lom Pyke spoke, "The kids are out, where is the spice."

"It's on the ship don't you worry." He spoke.

"You've returned the favor after I've said you returned the favor."

"Then we've returned the favor." Lom Pyke argued.

"I did everything you asked!" Lom Pyke argued, "I've stuck my neck out for you more than you can imagine you cannablistic bitch!-"

The pyke leader was cut off, lifted into the air as he gripped at his neck, and brought forward quickly, choking on the lack of air.

"Do you know who I am?" The man questioned quietly.

"L-let-" the pyke tried to speak stratching at his neck for breath, "let me g-go!"

"Oh...you don't?" The man questioned, "I was afraid once...not to long ago, afraid as you are now..."

The sound of choking made him pause adding slight pressure, "p-please!"

"I am no longer afraid...I am..." the man thought, any more and the pyke leader would die, "Well, funny thing is, I don't even know who I am anymore...but I do know, that, you, owe me much more than you think."

The man was dropped to the floor, attempting to catch air, "Perhaps, you wish, once to see who I was, to see how I became this thing you call a cannablistic bitch!"

"Please! No-" He defended, raising his head to look up in plead, "Not again! Not that place!"

A hand was placed on his head, as the Sith lord walked in. Within a matter of seconds the Pyke fell limp, the man pushing him over as he fell and rolled down the small stells of the elevated ledge.

"You're here for a reason Maul?"

"I am indeed, that clone, you told to meet us on Zut, there were clones."

"Entertain me Maul." He spoke, walking down the small steps, the hells of his boots clicking as he made it down the steps.

"Seems you're little buddy Captain dipshit isnt the only clone that's defected. That little Ray shit of your's hacked the imperal files." Maul spoke, his tone as usual, dark, broody, annoying to the mans ears, "Clone force 99, may just be on our side."

The man snatched the datapad from him, "and they have a child with them. How wonderful."

"Status' as of current."

"Like I said that dipshit of yours sursingly has his corners covered. Ray's tracking them as we speak." Maul told.

The man looked through the photo's there he was in all his glory, sure angry but just as remembered.

"Lets hope an ex sith lord, a fucked up group of clones, a cannablistic bitch kill, and some kids can help kill your old ass wrinkly master." The man spoke Maul snatching the data pad back and making his leave.

"Oh. And one know's who you are." Maul responded standing in the door way, "Before I gave them anything, one knew Rosyln is Y/n,"

[thencitytales]

ATTITUDE

A HUANG RENJUN X READER SHORT STORY (pt.1)

Hello everybody, this story has been in my head for a while and even though it's nothing too original, I coudn't wait to have something to post. For this reason I decided to post the part that I have ready, and keep writing later, seeing also if you guys like this one :)

As always please let me know if you have any feedback, thanks and enjoy!

♤ Huang renjun x reader

♤ wc: 1.77k

♤ i guess it's going to be sort of an enemies to lovers type of thing also college!au, nonidol!au, badboyish!renjun more of a style thing, he is only hella annoying.

♤ You can now find part 2 and part 3 !!

Huang Renjun.

He always hated you for some reason.

All throughout your academic time both of you just decided to ignore one another, as if some strange force was aggressively pulling you apart like two magnets that when pushed together jolt as far away from the other as possible.

But the truth is you were, just like all of your shared friends used to tell you, very similar in many different aspects, just like those magnets, which have the same charge.

When high school ended and everyone followed a different path, you heard about him less and less, until you eventually forgot about him.

Now you were at your dream college, after finally being able to get into your favorite major. You had to move to another city though, so you recognized only a few people around campus with who you had gotten closer to, but also made new friends, leaving a some behind, for one reason or another.

Like Chenle. He was your best friend growing up, but just like you did, found new friends along the way and you two grew apart, still pretty close, but not like before. And now, going to college, you just stopped talking, except for a few texts here and there. You both still loved each other very much nonetheless, and that's what kept the friendship going.

It was a Friday night, and just like all the other Friday nights, your plans of doing nothing were crushed by your friends, who decided that a bar would be the best option.

As soon as you arrived, the familiar sound of glasses clinking, people talking, and music playing all at the same time hit you. The whole scene was poetically chaotic. The barista looked at you and your friends, happy to see her "favorite customers", as she used to say, but also worried about having to serve even more people.

You sat down at the usual booth, and while waiting for somebody to come and take your order, you started looking around.

This was not a very big bar, so it was more or less always the same people, mostly college students, rarely you would be able to spot strangers' eyes.

But that night you did.

There was a boy on the other side of the room who caught your attention. He just had an aura to him that pulled you in, and you thought you had seen him before but couldn't quite pinpoint it.

He was sitting down with some friends, all of them wearing different kinds of outfits. You probably wouldn't have said they got there altogether if they weren't sitting at the same table. Your attention was brought back to the boy. His hair was black on the top and you could see that the part underneath was bleached. He was wearing a leather jacket on top of a white tee that seemed to fit him just right. And with some black ripped jeans and combat boots, the look was completed.

You let out a chuckle.

"What is it?" Lily, one of your best friends who was sitting next to you, asked.

"Nothing... It's just- You see that group of friends?"

"Yeah, I've never seen them around, and trust me I would remember if I did." You looked at her, while she was looking at a very handsome guy at the far end of the table, with black hair and a white button-up that made him look like a God.

"What about them?" She said.

"They don't even look like they came together! Look there's like every single personality I've ever had." You jokingly continued.

"There's the nerd, the cutie, the frat boy, the one that looks extremely rich and you don't really know what is doing here, the stylish one, the normal one, I guess, and..." You couldn't see where the cliché bad boy went so you didn't point at him but still finished your sentence. "The one that would be the bad boy in every fanfiction I read at fifteen years of age." You ended with a light giggle.

"And they were a lot."

Your body froze at those words, or better at that voice. It was strangely familiar, but yet again that night, it was at a point in time and space that you couldn't reach.

You didn't know what to do and kept staring at the boys in front of you, looking for something to say, hoping to remember something that your subconscious seemed to be blocking, or just waiting for a miracle, really.

And then you looked at the guy you labeled as "normal" and you didn't want to believe what you realized, because it helped you understand what you couldn't up until that point of the evening, what had been bugging you.

The normal kid was definitely Chenle. THE Chenle. Your best friend turned into the most annoying fuck after meeting your "enemy" (as you would call him), Chenle. Chenle from who it had been a couple weeks you didn't have any news of because you had to move away half across the country, and even if you missed him dearly, you couldn't bring yourself to call him again, worrying you would seem a bit too annoying.

And that meant that you were now sure of who just interrupted you.

"Oh!" he exclaimed with a smile "see? I always loved seeing the moment you realized things, there's a little something in your eyes that just tells me how annoyed you are for not seeing it sooner."The boy next to you said, looking straight into your eyes.

"Renjun!" You looked up at him with the fakest and brightest smile you could master.

"Long time no see!"

“Indeed." He answered, calm.

And with that, the conversation went cold for a few moments, until Chenle noticed you and the face of surprise that got to his features was so funny you couldn't help but laugh. You stood up knowing what was going to come. You saw him get up, and run towards you full speed, almost knocking one or two waiters on the ground, before hugging you so tight you could barely catch your breath to chuckle.

"I missed you too." you said, still trying to get air in your lungs.

"You're suffocating her, Chenle. And as much as I love the fact that she can't talk, I really don't want to be the one explaining how she died."

"I see he didn't change a single bit" you tried to say in Chenle's arms.

"Oh wait!" Your other best friend, Rachel, suddenly said, looking at Lily who was now looking back at her.

"HE'S THE GUY!!" Rachel blurted out, and you mentally facepalmed.

"WAIT WHICH ONE?!" Lily appeared more confused than ever, trying to piece the information together.

"VILLAIN GUY!!"

"You are both screaming!!" You said looking at the girls, and under your breath, you added:

"And embarrassing me"

"So I'm famous huh? Always in your mind, I see." Renjun's cocky attitude getting to you and making your blood boil every second passing.

"Well it's not like-" you looked at why he suddenly stopped and saw that Renjun's hand flew to Chenle's mouth, who had to bit him to be released.

"Soo..." you started, eager to change the subject

"What are you doing around here?"

"We were actually just passing by, a friend of ours goes to the college here" Chenle explained.

"So do we!! which one is he?" Rachel chimed in the conversation.

"The one with glasses." Renjun said.

"The real glasses, not the one who put them on only because they look cool" Chenle added.

"Oh, great! You know, I also go to college here..." You let out a bitter laugh, realizing that maybe you were not the only reason your friendship was slowly falling apart.

"Well, yeah, but..." Chenle started but was immediately interrupted by Renjun, who knew what he was going to say.

"No "buts", Chenle, she's just as guilty as you are for texting every once in a blue moon, do not apologize and stop blaming yourself"

"And since when do you decide what he can and cannot do, Renjun?" You snapped at him, always speaking up, unprompted.

"I must have taken over when you stopped doing that.” He answered in fluent sarcasm.

“Besides, don't tell me I am wrong because I am not!" he continued.

"I am not saying you're wrong, just that you could be a bit nicer. God! meeting you was a disgrace in both mine and Chenle's lives"

"Talk about being nicer! Anyways, likewise"

"And that's why we haven't talked in a while because you two cannot have a single conversation without coming for each other's throat, you are supposed to be two of my best friends for God's sake." Chenle finally interrupted you before it could turn into a big fight.

"That's not true!!" you and Renjun said in unison.

"I can take the decision of not yelling at him if needed" you added a bit hurt in your pride.

"Yeah, alright, you do you boos" Chenle looked between you and the other guy, and then back at your friends, who at this point could do nothing but laugh.

And then Lily, as if you didn't tell her a million times to shut up when it's not the right time, spoke up.

"How long will you guys be around?"

"We're just stopping for the weekend," Chenle said, confused by your face as you shot a side-eyed glance at your friend, sensing one of her bad ideas coming your way.

"Well then that's perfect"

There it was, Lily's -nth horrible idea, that you would just have to find an excuse to get out of.

"What is?" Renjun answered, puzzled.

"Now that's a question you shouldn't ask because I am telling you, you won't like what's coming-"

"Do you always have to say something about what I say and do or do yo-"

"Guys" the stern tone coming from the common friend you had, shutting you up immediately.

"We are all going out together tomorrow if you're down" Lily looked at Chenle who gave her a nod allowing her to continue, interested.

"And you two will have to keep the attitude down. Each of you gets three strikes. The referees will be everybody but you."

"And Haechan" Chenle added.

"But I like the idea..."

"Lily. Nice to meet you, this is Rachel" she said pointing to the other girl

"Y/N is not really into formalities apparently" she added smiling and subsequently looking at you.

"Chenle" the guy smiled.

Next -->

[cowboymantis]

Let's talk about Kazuto Arase

Yakuza / Yakuza Kiwami , Yakuza 3 side content spoilers. Later on Yakuza LaD too, but I'll give a warning before that especially since a lot of people haven't played that yet.

So I have a lot of thoughts about Yakuza on my mind and just want to scream into the void about it somewhere to write 'em all down somewhere! I'm starting with... Arase.

Yeah, I know, a mostly very hated character (personality and battle-wise) that has so little screen time on top of it all too, is the first thing I'll be talking about.

Hear me out, I actually really love this character and only really started to appreciate him after I went for the Yakuza 3 platinum trophy... I've replayed this game so many times, I didn't mind it when I played through it first but seeing all the hate it has gotten, I went to replay it just in case and with that replayed it again and again because I just somehow loved it so much-

And you know, one part of Yakuza 3, also completion related so there was no way I could've missed it, were the Hitman missions. In general, after playing through all the main games I started to come back to a lot of characters I didn't like or minded the first time playing that are now some of my favourites (other examples are Tamashiro or Lau Ka Long, hell even Katsuragi)!

To come back to Arase, let's start with, well, the start: Yakuza / Yakuza Kiwami.

Introduced already in the very first Yakuza game, Arase is just there for a brief moment in the game, yet has a heavy impact on the game's story and Kiryu. It starts with Arase's oath brother Shinji being shot by Arases subordinate, Mochizuki, at least it looks like it. Shinji came here to rescue Reina, whose corpse then gets dragged on the roof of the Dragon Palace by Arase, Sergeant of the Nishikiyama Family. Now that's a pretty... heavy and sadistic first image for a character introduction, and honestly, his strong personality like that seemed also to be the reason he wasn't exactly loved by other members of the Family.

His battle theme in the first Yakuza game is called "Turning Point" which also puts more emphasis on how important this scene is, Kiryu breaking down, his scream when he sees Reina's body... It's really a turning point in the story.

In Kiwami, his new theme "Virtical Point" is also used as the intro song (or at least, the intro song "Vertical Point" is similar and shortened). Which also once again shows the importance of this piece.

Of course, he's not the most important character in the story, but it's still interesting to see how much there is around him other than his rather short appearance.

Then, his fighting style. Yeah, most hate this too and also the fact that starting from there, other bosses also sometimes use his moveset or a similar one. Like, take Jiro or Jo Amon or Andre Richardson... Basically just the usual dual wielding guns while being an athlete on crack - layout. It is actually not that bad, it's even less bad when you've got the right equipment but I have to admit I didn't really have that much good equipment when I first played all the games and basically just rushed through them because I just couldn't stop!

Arase's goal here of course was also to beat Kiryu but well, just like every other character ever, he couldn't do it and got beat instead.

And that's the end of that... The end of his part in the story and also the end of his part in the Nishikiyama Family, because he got disowned right after his failure.

Which is so... hmm... It makes me think. Many others have tried to take Kiryu down, too. And I mean, Arase was normally a very successful assassin, right? Yet this one failed attempt, at which everyone else too failed, got him disowned? Seems to me like they didn't like him and gave him an impossible task to have a reason to throw him out, huh?

And with that wonderful transition, let's get into his appearance in Yakuza 3.

You get introduced to the concept of the Honest Living Association, in short the HLA pretty much after Kashiwagis death. An association, founded by Kashiwagi to help Yakuza / former Yakuza who weren't meant for this life or just wanted out but just couldn't do in it on their own. For some, all they knew was the criminal life, so having a thing like this is especially helpful. Although, I'm kinda sad this was never a thing anymore after Yakuza 3. The whole concept of it was very cool.

Kiryu gets asked by Ibuki to help the HLA because there is an organisation of hitmen, also known as The Reapers (or The Avengers on PS3) whose goal was a different one than the HLA's, it was to kill Yakuza. The Reapers consisted of former criminals, mainly Yakuza, who were wronged by their superiours and expelled, disowned, you name it. Basically what happened to Arase.

Apprehending those hitmen is a totally optional part of the game and I have to admit, I didn't finish it my first time playing. Which is such a shame because it goes by so fast too when you play it after finishing the game! And the individual stories are all so interesting too, I've really enjoyed this side content and also replayed those missions already. You don't really expect someone like Arase to be behind all of it when it turns out to be him who is the founder and the leader of it all. I was already taken aback by Shinzaki being the lieutenant, or part of it at all. I often stopped by to listen to his guitar playing and talked to him, often asking myself is there's anything else up with him.

And once this one hitman contract came in and guitar playing was mentioned, I was just thinking "It can't be him...?", god, this whole side storyline just was so good. And here people come and say Yakuza 3 was a bad game.

The whole build-up to then reveal Arase was just so cool, honestly. It made me start to look more into his character after this confrontation. The fight was really cool too, just having to fight Shinzaki so many times wasn't really necessary, but Arase seems to like to fight alongside others, so fair enough.

And his theme "End Point" is also just so good. It's more similar to Turning Point than Virtical Point was. The name is also again fitting, since this is the end for The Reapers and Arases power.

It is made clear here that Arase has a strong hatred against the Yakuza and especially holds a strong grudge against Kiryu. He sees Kiryu as the reason he got wronged and had to leave the Yakuza behind, while also seeming to be very aware of the fact that the others there probably didn't like him at all.

He's so angry at him, he holds this whole speech and talks about revenge while Kiryu tries to talk some sense into him, eventually Ibuki also joins and tries to reason with Arase too. Telling him how that's what Kashiwagi wanted, even for Arase to find a new, honest life.

Arase is too strongly lead on by his grudges, so even though it seems like he might be thinking about turning his life around, he decided to not let them help him. Then he goes on about how he will definetly return to take revenge on Kiryu... Well. That's the end of that.

It becomes clear that Arases stubborn way of thinking is kind of childish. Not taking responsibility for any of his actions, thinking that his vile personality and actions are in fact the reason he got disowned. Failing to beat Kiryu was just the final puzzle piece to have a solid reason to throw him out. He's clearly unstable, doesn't think twice before shooting someone, he could turn on anyone and wouldn't be sorry for it. Just, he doesn't seem to really think about what he does.

I guess he probably thinks he's strong enough, he doesn't need to be careful. Also fitting for that is his fighting style in Dead Souls, how when he gets low on HP, he pretty much fends for himself, disregarding orders and just charging head first with full strength.

His Dead Souls appearance is also interesting. Okay, we all know, this game isn't canon, it's a spin-off and just doesn't fit in to the story. But it is interesting how he teams up with Kiryu for a bit and then leaves again. The game itself takes place after the events of Yakuza 4, meaning at this point RGG did remember that hey, they have a rival that swore to beat Kiryu one day. But after that... radio silence.

Really, this is such a shame. Just alone from his short appearances I can talk so much about Arase because he really is an interesting character with so much more potential! The only thing that's good about it is that he didn't die, making him technically one of the longest surviving characters in Yakuza which really is a great achievement.

Okay, we don't exactly know that he's still alive, but assuming due to there not being a mention of him being dead, he's probably alive. He might be, might not. Schrödinger's Arase.

One other thing I thought about is Jo Amon. I mean, his outfit and fight style is also similar to Arase, but that's not what I'm mainly thinking about. So the name Amon is for the greatest assassins, right? And they have a strong hatred against Kiryu at the beginning too.

So, putting those things together, Arase being a former assassin in the Nishikiyama Family, then the leader of a dangerous hitman organisation... Then, to fight Jo Amon in Yakuza 3 you also need to do all the hitman missions other than the substories and the IF7 fights. And to start the search for Amon, you also need to go to Ibuki again, where you got all the other hitman missions.

Yeah, it's a bit far fetched, but ... not too far fetched to think that maybe Arase and at least Jo Amon could know each other. I'd say, they could team up in a future game but. Well... Yeah.

Now some more things I thought about, I'll put a warning here though.

Yakuza LaD spoilers ahead!

Soooo, in this game we've gotten a couple of characters "back" ... Some more real than others... Thinking about Joon Gi's body double.

But one character that survived is Kashiwagi! Now the bartender of a bar named Survive. What a fitting name. After surviving such a heavy attack and believed dead by, well, everyone, it was the best approach to keep a low profile, start a new life. Also, he doesn't seem to be fit for any fighting after the incident.

So Kashiwagi is still there. And, now I just thought about, what if there was a possible redemption arc for Arase? Kiryu is believed dead now too, alone the fact that it seems that Kiryu never met Kashiwagi while being in the same area is kinda sad. I like to imagine they met each other...

I think it could go either way, Arase somehow got information on Kiryu being in Ijincho. He is a professional after all. Plus, by now Kiryu is also, well, not really working with... but. You know, not fighting with the Amon Clan anymore, even having Shin Amon to help determine Ichibans strength with the (True) Final Millennium Tower.

And, now, maybe there can be some other comnecting inside the Amon Clan and some info got out to Arase, ah, hell, I don't know, it's all so far fetched but I just like to have those possible headcanons of Arase somehow coming back!

Another possibility could also be Arase thinking Kiryu has died, just per chance being in the area and just going to the Survive bar? He'd probably be way more open about the thought of redemption and with Kashiwagi probably being pretty good at talking former Yakuza into that, given how the whole HLA was his doing.

Just... Thinking about possible things.

Yakuza LaD spoilers end here!

Well. That's that.

At the end of the day, the chances of Arase returning are pretty much 0, other characters you never thought of reappearing sometimes appear in one way or another, so it can be possible, but probably won't.

But one thing is clear, looking more into this character made me really appreciate him more. I guess that's the fact with a lot of characters, not just in Yakuza, but in general.

The characters in Yakuza are just so well written and even though it has some very weird and silly plot points and plot twists, I just love this game so much and looking more into it and replaying it is just so much fun.

I even started to like the minigames in Yakuza 3, even though I got very hopeless at the last pool opponent and the goddamn Mahjong completion, ugh. But at the end of the day it's all just really fun once you get the hang of it. It hasn't aged too well when you play it after the other Yakuza games, but replaying it on all the difficulties and then casually, then trying to beat it as fast as I can just made me love the game more and more every time.

So, uh... I don't know if it's a blessing or curse for me to often really like the characters that either everyone hates or have almost to screen time. Because well... there's such a lack of content and appreciation but hey that's what I'm writing this for!

I hope maybe someone starts to appreciate Arase more after this - if anyone even reads further after learning that I love this character. :D' I swear I tried to write it with as little bias as possible. I do know he's a morally very very grey character but after all, it's a video game character. (...There's no way I'll ever like characters like Yoneda...Ogita...Or Kume though... ugh)

Well anyway, with that, I go!

[mortedeveles]

Hola hola! Im here for the event 💪🏼

Type: Biography 🤷🏻

Anime: Haikyuu 💪🏼

Im around 5’0 5’1ish, dark brown hair that reaches my shoulders and like a grown out wolf cut, dark brown almond shaped eyes, i have a straight nose with a slight nose bump, freckles, glasses, and i am mexican 👍, ivoryish skin tone. Fashion i wear pretty much anything but it’s usually baggy jeans and like a shirt and sweater, docs or converse. Dating preference: any gender

Personality

•i have a kind of mean sense of humor

•i can be really shy but then all of a sudden im all over the place

•im a lot. Cats over dogs any day 🙌🏼. Muchas graciassss! Que tengas un buen dia/noche :3

HEYY!! I'm so glad to see a fellow Mexican!! here's your biography, sorry for the delay and hope you enjoy!!

your life in....haikyuu!!

your s/o: kei tsukishima! i had a hard time choosing your s/o LOL i couldn't decide, but i think tsukishima would be a good fit! i was going to go with kuroo, but i recently matched another person with him so i didn't want it to feel repetitive. anyway, aesthetic wise; y'all would be the hottest couple ever. 10/10. i feel like you both could manage each other with your snarky humor, but both of you know your boundaries so no one ends up hurt, and it's just playful banter. tsukishima isn't exactly outgoing, but when you're feeling more shy or introverted he'll definitely step up and talk if you're feeling nervous or just drained. cats over dogs makes me think you like being in more relaxed, quiet and chill environments, which tsukishima would definitely agree with. y'all would go on so many library and coffee dates 😩 and at a cat cafe at least once!

other suitable options: kiyoko shimizu, kuroo tetsuro or daishou suguru!

your ex + what terms are you on: i feel like doing angst HUEHUE so we're going with yachi hitoka!! she was your first love, your first kiss; almost your first everything, and you were her first everything as well. loving her was like a rollercoaster of emotions, always with warm cheeks and nervous smiles. but unfortunately, you two weren't mean to be. it might've been the timing, the place or all the things that were happening at once, but you two ended up breaking up- she broke up with you. yachi said she was stressed, exhausted and needed some time for herself. it hurt like a bitch, but you understood. while you two ended on "good terms", it took you a while to get over her. sometimes you'd pass by her in the hallways and she'd smile at you, but just looking at her made your heart ache. but eventually, you're able to get over her; and later on, you start dating tsukishima. when she becomes the manager of the volleyball team, things get a bit awkward but nothing too major. and while you're off with tsukishima (or whoever you choose!) yachi doesn't like the way her stomach twists at the sight of you with someone else. it takes her a while to realize it, but she's still in love with you; and you aren't. you're not hers anymore, and it hurts. so instead, she's resigned to watch you fall in love with someone else while she wonders if she'll be able to make you hers in another life. maybe, if the timing was better, you would still be in her arms.

your best friend(s): yamaguchi tadashi! i went with him based on tsukishima being your s/o. they're both practically bound at the hip, so if you date tsukishima you're naturally going to hang out with yaamguchi a lot. surprisingly, he's a very good wingman and even helps you ask out tsukishima hehe 😌😌

other suitable options: if you're not interested in dating tsukishima, here's some other options of who would be your bff instead- futakuchi kenji, matsukawa issei or sugawara koshi!

what school you're in: this is a bit tricky. but i'm going with Karasuno! Mostly based on my previous answers, it would only make sense for you to go to Karasuno.

other suitable options: nekoma, date tech or nohebi academy!

random fact about your life: when you were still dating yachi, you two went to a park once and had a picnic. it was the sweetest thing ever, a red plaid blanket spread over the soft grass and a basket that held a dozen of carefully prepared meals; made by yachi just for you! while the two of you ate, you slowly became aware of the numerous amount of squirrels that began to surround you two. confused, you told yachi about this. you two barely had time to pick yourself up and race off as a group of squirrels raced towards your basket, diving straight towards the basket of food. the two of you laughed it off, but secretly you've grown a fear of squirrels LMFAO

i hope you enjoyed your biography! thanks for requesting <3

[rosesanthology]

Escape Plan | Matsukawa Issei x F!Reader [mafia!AU]

This took me SO MUCH TIME to write aaaaaah it's not surprising that it's so long :0 i just have many many feelings for Matsukawa Issei ALSO im begging y'all to listen to the playlist before/as you read please !!

Im kinda pissed that i cant add a "read more" option since im on mobile tho :\

(Also ngl at first i planned to get one of the 2 shot but i didn't have the heart to go thru with it)

Warnings : Fluff, it starts with humor but at some point it gets angsty ???? Idk y'all tell me

- Au that could be considered as a ennemies-to-lovers type of situation

[Tags] : @raevaioli and @haikoo like i cannot stress this enough @haikoo this your main manz

- if you could only use one sentence to describe your job to a Karen it would be : stealing from the rich in order to trick other rich people

- you had been what the people would call a spy for most of your life now, the Tokyo based Nekoma Organisation being something close to a family

- you worked with both of your very good friends, Kuroo Testurou and Kozume Kenma

- Kuroo, the leader of your little squad, had been the first one to open up to you when you joined

- he was a gifted chemistry genius and you were sure he could make any poison or soporific out of the most random stuff

- he also had insane combat and physical abilities which made him fit to act in a lab as well as on mission grounds

- Kenma was a little more reserved at first, he was the same age as you but still was really reluctant to accept you as one of his own at first

- when he saw how much Kuroo trusted you and how interested you were in his work he slowly but surely found himself caring for you

- to put it simply Kenma, better known as "apple pi" was a hacker. His job ranged from creating computer viruses to full on enabling the security of whole museums

- despite his cute appearance and shy demeanor he was probably the scariest of you three

- finally, you Y/L L/N was the infiltration and weapons expert of the group, you could weild literally anything from guns, to swords to,,,,,metal rods (but you don't wanna talk about this one) and you were of great help when deciding which infiltration angle was the best in missions

- Kuroo, under the orders of Boss Nekomata, quickly taught you the dangers and ways of the job during your first months working with them, the organisation specializing in outsmarting rich bastards and stealing their precious ressources in order to make "better use of them"

- if they were hoarding a particularly efficient brand of medicine, your goal was to steal it all, and sell it to people in need for free or a low price

- if they were in possession of some important object like let's say,,,,,the construction plans for the emperor's new vacation house, you stole it, made copies to sell at a high price to the highest bidder and your good affiliate, the Fukurodani Corporation would keep an eye on the original as part of their personnal collection, you were fine with that

- yeah they were others organisations like that in Tokyo, your friends from the Fukurodani Corp of course but also the Shiratorizawa elite crime group with who you had worked a couple times before

- ah and there was the Yakuzas too....honestly they were the only group in Tokyo with whom you were still on dangerous terms with

- they didn't like Nekoma in their affairs and you didn't like them in yours, but you tolerated each other

- your boss had established a truce with the representant of the big Yakuza group of your area, Kondo "the viper" Takara, a truly scary woman who had blasted her way to the one of the top positions of the hierarchy

- she even had a cool nickname ヾ(｀ε´)ノ

- but you knew better than to mess with them

- all in all y'all kept doing your jobs well, not bothering anybody

- except for one remaining rivalry with some Miyagi group

- the Aoba Johsai Institution.

- well, rivalry would be a strong word because you kinda got along with that Iwaizumi guy, he was a great hand to hand combat fighter and you respected that

- the others however ? Trash. 👁3👁

- they seem to act like Tokyo will be their territory in the next 5 seconds flat like ??

- THEY DON'T EVEN GO THERE ????

- "they be acting like they can just swoop in and eat OUR rich" you had told Kuroo and Kenma one day over ramen

- spoiler alert : it was a bad idea cause Kuroo snorted and almost made the noodles go up his nose

- no but seriously they always seemed to take advantage of YOUR missions to attract attention

- how did they even know which missions you were on anyway ??? (Kenma and Kunimi are actually good friends cause they play video games together but he'd never tell you that)

- it's like that one time you infiltrated a business company's heir's residence and then you came across a dude named Hanamaki and you had the HARDEST time whisper shouting to him how blowing up the whole place was a bad idea to retrieve one (1) diamond

- at the end you felt so tired that you gave it to him anyway ಥ_ಥ ("just take it ffs" "really ??" "Don't make me regret this")

- they also had the single worst person ever on one of their teams.

- Matsukawa Issei

- just thinking about it made you want to take your metal bat and break something in your shared room with your two other friends

- seriously that guy was like the epitome of clownery

- he's also supposed to be his team's gun expert except that's not the best task for someone who refuses to take anything with him but his freaking FISTS

- the first time you had met y'all ended up being on the same case to assassinate some guy who had kidnapped some cute freckled kid from a place in Miyagi called Karasuno

- EXCEPT HE WAS IN TOKYO SO IT WAS YOUR DUTY !!! NOT HIS !!!!

- you had Kenma on the earbud telling you about the guy's position in the club you were currently one street away from. You were posted on the rooftop of a building with a sniper rifle ready to get done with it and go save the kid but GUESS WHO COMES IN FISTS SWINGING WHEN YOU LITERALLY HAD THE TARGET IN SIGHT

- and he had the nerve to look straight toward your rifle's aim and flip you off while smirking

- sir you're about to catch these hands🚶🏽

- he had knocked him out alright and he got the young boy out but you were NOT ready to let that slide so you quickly got down and crossed path with him at the back exit of the club

- "what exactly do you think you were doing in there ?" Listen. You may have sounded confident enough saying that but you had NO idea that this dude was like a whole ass giraffe

- and he knew he was tall so he had the audacity to say

- "sorry can't hear you so well from down there midget, i was just doing my job (▰˘◡˘▰)" if it weren't for the karasuno boy being right there you would have stabbed his kneecaps on sight

- anyway after that y'all just seemed to run into each other wayyyy too often

- insults were shared just as often tho

- "well butter my buns and call me betty broker if it isn't my sweet little midget shooting people !"

- "stfu before i choke you"

- "kinky but can you reach my neck ?"

- "you've sunk low enough"

-so yeah f u n  t i m e s

- aside from that, business was going great but Kuroo had had news of a very important mission for you but he insisted on letting Boss Nekomata tell you about it himself for some reason

- he'd never done that :(

- you were kinda hurt that your best friend was hiding stuff from you tbh :(

- and Kenma did not seem to know more than you for now

- so you spent a whole week just mopping around

- sometimes you would go and poke fun and the newbie Lev Haiba but it wasn't the same

- Kuroo and Kenma kept working on missions while you were left waiting for that one assignment that Nekomata seemed to keep you for

- until today when Kuroo finally told you that the boss was requesting you in his office

- ngl you were EXCITED

- maybe you would have to zipline down the Tokyo tower (σ≧▽≦)σ maybe he was going to let you take a chainsaw with you this time (σ≧▽≦)σ

- maybe he- "oh" you deadpanned, stepping foot into the office and seeing none other than your arch nemesis, Matsukawa Issei in all his pisces clown glory

- "why tf are you there shitty eyebrows"

- "i had a good day too Y/N ! thanks for asking :D" today was the day. You were 100% ready to kill him and the knife that was attached to your thigh strap seemed like such a good option rn-

- "stop it you two. Y/N take a sit" Nekomata gestured, as you didn't hesitate to listen to your superior even fully aware of Mattsun's eyes annoyingly following your every movement

-"Okay so. Y/N i know you may be wondering why Matsukawa's here but to put it simply we've been informed that a rich family have gotten their hands on one of Aoba Johsai's rarest item : a gold engraved katana that belonged to their first boss"

- "so what do you need us for ?" You didn't mean to use "us" but you knew better than to piss off your boss, he was like a parental figure come on

- "i need you guys to infiltrate an auction held by said family and steal it back in the span of one week. It's up to you to work together or not but keep in mind that our arrangement states that we're autorised to make copies of the katana for future sells."

- you guys nodded, after all you were professionnals before everything and you were about to leave when Nekomata put something on the table

- "here are the keys to your appartment near the auction site it'll be your hideout !"

-.....now this had to be a cruel joke-

- "id rather sleep under a bridge then live with her for a whole week"

- "wow this is the first time we agree on something Mattsun" the oh so familiar nickname dripped in venom as you said it, unsure of what was supposed to happen

- "oh yes you could but i suppose that you don't have the supplies and tools that you will definitely need during that mission :)"

- you locked eyes with the brunette for a minute before reluctantly stomping to the table and grabbing hold of the keys and adress written on a paper, storming out of the door,  letting out a loose "come on shitty eyebrows we have data to collect" to your new....partner ? Ugh it was about to be a long week

-  it turns out the appartment was a lot smaller than you hoped for, with two single person beds, a computer post and different storing purposed furniture

- it was a common thing however, because the last thing an undercover spy would want is to draw attention with a flashy hideout

- the first step was to gather information on who would be at the auction which shouldnt be too hard

- "hey ill take the lead and contact my friend so that he can determine who is going to be here" you said as you sat on the chair in front of the computer

- "mm yeah you do that ill check what kind of weapons have been provided to us" Mattsun had no difficulty finding them as the drawers well full of them....this was very promising

- Kenma had just sent you the list of people that had been invited to the event, and you recognised many names as being members of the powerful Yakuza group lead by Konda Takara, of course.....the infamous viper herself

- you called out to Mattsun to show him and briefly explained what they were up too and how they usually fonctionned

- the auction was to take place the last 3 days after an opening party, leaving the rest of the week for preparations

- they usually took their time in comitting their crimes so you thought that stopping them mid plan by taking advantage of it was the best way to get the sword

- Mattsun didn't have anything to say for the moment, seemingly thoughtful about the whole situation

- "just so you know" you started, already regretting the decision of talking in your head, "i don't plan on being friends with you anytime soon but i feel like for this we should at least try not to rip each other's hair out"

- "i never planned on that second option"

- "huh ?"

- "i hope you know that we've never had a single conversation without insults of some kind before so for the sake of both of us it would be better to actually get to know each other since we're supposed to work together"

- you hated to admit it

- but he was right

- however you didn't comment on it, opting for throwing him a dry "let's sleep" before plopping yourself on your own bed on the other side of the room

- this is about to be one hell of a week

-3 days had passed in the crammed appartement both you and Mattsun struggling to inform yourself on each specific individual that was going to be present at the auction

- right now, you were both sitting on the floor, wearing simple oversized shirts and pyjama pants and shorts, cheese pizza box laying on top of the document covered surface

- "Mattsun, pass me the paper about Okuda Takeda please" :000

- Matsukawa froze, because he knew that in 2 days of living together y'all had establised that you wouldn't be at each other's throats

- but hearing you using his nickname unironically and saying please ???? That was still something he had to get used to

- "what are you staring at ? Give me the paper shitty eyebrows >:[" ah there she was

- "thats my girl" he thought, handing you the document and resuming his own reading

- here's the catch : Mattsun was head over heels in love with you since like day 1 that Hanamaki told him about this pretty girl who let him take the diamond from his mission. He tried to repress his feelings as he had noticed that you seemed way closer with your friend Kuroo who he had seen on missions with you

- maybe you liked him

- he would understand, he seemed way more confident than him and he was also probably way smarter since he was a genius and all

- also the way you were always soft to him and not Matsukawa kinda got to him

- he wanted you to hug HIM after a mission too and NOT insult him

- but he judged it for the better as he still got to be close to you in his own way with the playful fights you always seemed to pick with him

- it was easier than confronting his feelings or rejection

- this mission proved to make things so much harder for him tho

- like yeah he saw you being a badass plenty of other times but now ?

- he got to see you being all clingy and grumpy in the morning (he never knew being called a dumbass while you were falling back asleep on his shoulder was his thing but hey) , got to see your nose scrunch up when you were focusing on mapping out the position of the vent system of the venue

- he could go on for hours about how much he loved you and your plan was not making it easy.....profiting off the yakuzas' plan took way too much waiting and he understood that you wanted it to go as well as possible but he just couldn't keep living like this until then

- it felt like torture

- and he did not want to see you in that gorgeous dress that you were supposed to wear at the auction during the infiltration

- he knew that a couple more days could drive him crazy and make him do dumb shit like kissing you

- he had thought about that a lot of times but never brought himself to do it because je knew it was pointless

- he had to take action now

- the night of the opening ceremony, the day before the Yakuzas would start their scheme

- both of you were laying in your beds, awake, that was a habit you had developped over the past nights, you were just, aware of each other's presence and then sometime you would ask him something about his life, his friends, himself

- it made his heart beat too fast everytime and he could feel himself falling even more by the second when he heard you giggling talking about the time you pulled a prank on your friend Yaku with Kuroo

- he knew that you were already very sleepy from the way you were slurring your words

- "Y/N do you hate me ?" He said, abruptly and he heard a strangled laugh coming from you followed up by the question

- "what's that for dummy ?"

- "please answer" he asked in a whisper, sounding almost desperate

- you took a second to think about it

-you had grown quite close to your tall partner in such a short period of time, even letting your guard down and stopping from being so defensive

- "i don't hate you....i could never" you said the last part more to yourself tho but Matsukawa didn't miss it, he wished he did as he heard the soft sighs coming from your now sleeping form

- his heart ached as he got up, putting on his black coat over his mathing turtleneck shirt, taking his gun and spare map of the auction venue

- you were totally going to hate him now....

- and then he left for the opening party

- the rain was pouring outside

- for some reason you couldn't sleep well that night

- that only happened whenever Kuroo was out on a mission at night or Kenma was working in his office

- you hated sleeping alone, you couldn't do it

- being alone was the one thing you dreaded the most in your life, death was nothing if nobody knew where you were, if nobody aknowledged your existence you weren't alive

- but Mattsun was there and you trusted him.

- yeah you were kind of an ass to him during like 90% of your interactions with him but you just didn't know how to talk to him ??? He was so strong and good at what he did so you couldn't help but feel admiration but also intimidation

- yet you've felt probably more comfortable with him than anyone in your life (yes even Kuroo and Kenma weirdly enough)

- it was a nice feeling

- maybe it was because you saw him differently than them...

- but anyway

- you felt like yourself around him

- and yet

- why couldn't you sleep ?

- "Mattsun ?" You called out to him, voice cracked from not having used it for a while

- no answer

- maybe he didn't hear you over the rain....?

- you had a bad feeling about this

- "Mattsun ?" You called out a little louder, sitting up

- yep definitely

- you turned on the light and to your surprise, Matsukawa was nowhere in sight

- your heart sunk at the realization

- you were alone

- what about the plan ? Ah its true that he never said anything about it

- did he not trust you enough with it ? Did he think you were too assertive ?

- you wanted to cry but it seemed as if your brain wasn't working, your body rushing on its own to check the date and time on your phone : past 10pm on thursday night.....

- the opening party !

- "shit shit shit he must have gone there to take them by surprise wtf is he thinking doing this alone?" You thought aloud, maybe it would trick your body into not being scared

- at this point you were terrified, rushing to get the red dress on as well as putting your 2 guns under each of your thigh straps

- is he alone ? Surrounded by highly trained and dangerous Yakuzas ? What if....you were too late ?

- you didn't have time to think too much about it as you knew that this kind of thoughts led nowhere.

- you had to infiltrate that party the fastest you've ever done in your life and see for yourself, luckily, the venue was only a few crossroads away from your appartment

- truth was Mattsun's plan was not so bad

- after all you had insisted on making him find info on every staff member there too so it's thanks to you if he just so happened to know what type of guy that one waitress liked in order to flirt with her and convince her that he had forgotten his watch in one of the closed off aeras of the venue

- the place was absolutly gigantic, after all it was a mansion bought will illegal money

- he hated this, he just wanted to get it over with, retrieve the sword, gtfo and go back to Miyagi forever so that he wouldn't feel the pain of the illusion of being by your side when you were clearly far ahead of him

- you'd always been anyway

- he had finally reached the generator room and opened the vents with much difficulty as the room was a mess of cardboard boxes and storage shelves

- he was just going to cut the power, which would take about 15 minutes to get back, allowing him to go thru the vents to the main hall that was right thru the wall to his side, retrieve the sword and just make a run for it

- hopefully the rain would cover most of the sound he made so that was even better

- see that would have been great if he hadn't felt the icy cold metal of a gun at the nape of his neck as he was fiddling with the generator

- he had been caught.

- it was the end.

- shit he fucked the whole mission over and now even you didn't have a chance to-

- "what exactly do you think you're doing Mattsun ?" You said coldly even tho the hurt in your tone didnt go unnoticed by the taller man

- "haha Y/N whatchu doing here on this fine night ? You look stunning btw"

- "Cut the crap shitty eyebrows i asked you a question"

- you finally lowered your gun allowing your harsh glare to show how upset you truly were

- damn, Matsukawa really felt shitty :\

- he'd never seen you like that- well not soaked from the rain but....so vulnerable to him

- all your feelings talks happened in the dark of night in your hideout, he'd never seen your face look so pained before

- "I did what was best for both us..."

- "bullshit." He wasn't sure that he believed himself either to be honest

- "what the fuck are you even doing anyway ? I thought you and i were in this mission together ?? Did nothing matter to you ? I finally think that i found someone who i could trust other than my fucking family and that's what you do ? Ditch me for your own profit ?? You did what was best for your damn self Matsukawa"

- you were upset. He got it really, his insecurities had gotten the best of him like they often did....except he didn't have the strength to confront them, to confront you about it. So he got it and he didn't retaliate.

- "so what ?? You're not even going to say anything ?? Not even TRY to fucking apologize ? Do you really don't care ?" You searched for his eyes, but little did you know that he just....couldn't talk nor maintain eye contact with you right now

- "Mattsun...i thought you and i had...something ? I don't know maybe i hallucinated or some shit but i thought we were at least friends you know ? D-did you ever tolerate me at all ?"

- your voice cracked, it got lower and it cracked, and at that moment he was sure his heart broke right at this instant too

- he wanted to tell you that that was the farthest thing from the truth

- he wanted to tell you that he loved you

- but you were too far. Once again, you were miles ahead of him, more than ever

- and the sound of voices coming from the corridor did NOT HELP

- you could not afford being found here so with the professionalism left in you, you pushed your feelings away and pulled Mattsun behind a shelf, crouching and waiting

- you were so close he could feel you shivering from the cold and he felt so so bad

- but now was not really the moment

- "didn't you hear shouting ?" Shit. Maybe you should have waited until getting out of here for your heart to heart because this guard was definitely not trippin

- there were 2, luckily they didn't have the idea to split up to search the room, all you had to do was move low and close to the walls in order reach the door and well....the katana literally could not matter less to any of y'all rn

- at this moment you really regretted going out in such a hurry completly forgetting to contact Kenma, he could have hacked into the camera system and told you were they were so easily.....

- anyway, despite that you guys were stealthy enough to get out if the room

- now the problem was getting out of here.....

- you held Mattsun's wrist loosely as you ran thru the corridor of the building, thunder raging and labored breathing filling the silence

- "Y/N we could get out from the rooftop !" Right....if you could only get there then maybe you could just parcour your way out of this by getting on other rooftops....damn you were glad Matsukawa always thought of every escape plan possible

- you didn't really mean what you said earlier

- yes, you were disappointed but, you were also scared for his dumbass

- and rn may not be the best moment to realize it as you were most likely in a life of death situation but....you loved him

- fuck you loved him so much that you were running in a goddamn dress right now

- "i truly hoped it wasn't you" said a voice from the end of the lobby

- of course it just had to be the Yakuza boss you dreaded so much

- Kondo was just standing there, arms crossed but you knew better than to take her lightly

- "did you come to retrieve it ?" Its funny how her voice seemed to dominate even the full on storm outside, the occasional lightning bolt shining light from the huge windows into the corridor

- "No....let us pass please we just want to leave" Mattsun felt how tensed you were and immediatly rested his hand on his gun handle under his coat

- "yeah sure sweetheart but only if you tell your guard dog to calm down unless he wants me to cut his fingers clean off" she threatened nonchalantly as her hand met the handle of her own katana strapped to her belt

- Matsukawa was deadass glaring at her so hard you didn't recognise him

- he honestly looked like he could take her on but...you didn't feel like testing this theory tonight

- "hey hey, it's alright" you soothed him, putting your hand on his arm and squeezing slightly

- it seemed to work because he quickly let go of his gun even tho he was still glaring

- "let us go" he said firmly

- she pushed herself out of the way and motionned with her arm as if to say "go on~" in the most theatrical way

- you passed her without issues and soon found yourself on the roofs as planned in Mattsun's escape route and made it safely to the streets, rain still pouring

- you were finally letting out a breathe you didn't know you were holding all this time

- you were alive and most importantly, so was he

- you turned around and were ready to say something when he cut you off by grabbing your arms and pulling you into a kiss

- it was short but it managed to get his point across very well as well as warm you up when he wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his forehead against yours

- "i love you Y/N....i swear i didn't mean to hurt you and put you in danger like that....if i knew i would have done things differently i-"

- "i love you too Mattsun and it's never been a problem to me, i've done way more dangerous things in my life than rescue my boyfriend from getting killed dummy"

- in the end, you weren't alone

- somehow he had become, your escape plan from it

[punkscowardschampions]

Fearghal & Kaitlin

Fearghal: [So the setup is sending her a postcard pretending to be a mate visiting in England for whatever reason (could be fam you get the vibe, nothing suspect given the time this is) but giving enough info that she 1. Knows it is him 2. has the number of at least a phonebox nearby if not a phone in his care home 3. a time when he plans to first call the phonebox nearest their home in Ireland, assumedly this is some sneaky twin shit they've pulled similar enough before that she can catch on without any of the rest of the fam also doing so; only question is how long do we want it to be since he left?] Kaitlin: [3 months ish later then and they've turned 15 but only just for our ref how do we think the situation is with his dad etc like would he just be acting like he's dead cos is to him?] Fearghal: [basically my vibe was they wanted to weaponize Tabby killing herself for their gain, like make it something political even though literally not about that bar the fact her family and his family and co didn't want them together and she was a dramatic teenage girl in love (no offense but like) and so when he wouldn't go along with that there was a massive fight, actual, between him and his dad and then Fearghal left 'cos there's never any option but to do as your told with this fam and he can't lose face with all the other people etc etc and the story the dad is telling the fam etc is that Fearghal deserted them which not untrue but yeah, good enough for all the olders to disown him too so it'd be like we don't talk about him and if someone else bring him up you denounce him] Kaitlin: [let's say there's a crying baby in the background cos like in my OG post she can use her youngest sister needing fresh air as an excuse so casually left her outside the phonebox but might be able to hear her if she's going for it] Kaitlin: How ya Fearghal: K? Fuck's sake, you've not had a bastard, have ya? 's'not been that long, like Kaitlin: Catch yourself on! mind how ya ma was fit to drop, you eejit? well we're all lurred she had another girl who I'm hauling about as my cover, so I am Fearghal: [Laughs] Still easy to windup then [slight pause to take in that it's a girl and is here, like not the biggest shock but also literally no way of knowing at this time so] And go on, don't leave me in suspense, what name they burden the poor fucker with Kaitlin: [makes an unimpressed noise like fuck off] full of that good craic you are, bet the brits are buzzing to hear it. You ready? Niamh Roisin, it's a cracker, like [sighs] Fearghal: [laughs some more] Yeah, catch me on that most wanted list, obviously [makes a wincing noise like no] Christ, actually lost it fully then, has she? Made it longer than some but dunno if mentals get to heaven, haveta ask Father Quigley, like Kaitlin: [laughs herself] yeah yeah [makes like a idk noise] can you lose what you've never had? A good catholic'll find a way, to be sure, and she is that, our ma [makes a scornful noise at the mention of the priest as is standard for her] Fearghal: [makes a mm noise to agree] Suppose so, don't reckon much was said 'bout being good to 'em once you had 'em, so be alright [sighs] What have you been up to, then...How's it been Kaitlin: if it was she'd recite between the lines to keep us anyone's problem but hers, poor critter [sarcastic laugh because mum's getting no real sympathy] it could've been 3 days from when you went off for what's changed and not- [a long pause because everything's shit and we know it is] Fearghal: What's God if not top babysitter, eh? Cheaper than telly and who's giving money to the BBC [scoffs but cuts it short 'cos yep] And I'm fine too, you rude cow Kaitlin: and stand him next to our earthly da and he comes out lookin' class [chefs kiss noise] Hey now! [makes a fake noise of shock like she's appalled at the mention of the bbc] watch your profanity around me, dicko! [really long exaggerated sigh as a pisstake] a'course you are, land well anywhere, but hit me with your bars, it's no bother to hear how right I am Fearghal: If you can get him stand still long enough, like and you ain't a lad so no chance, babe [does pisstake wistful sigh] Forgot you needed protecting from the evils of this world, my apologies [coughs awkwardly then, stalling for time, fiddling with the phone in ways she can probably hear] Taking a bow as we speak, can't fit in here with me but the adoring fans are aplenty over this way, well more than there so fuck it, life's grand so it is Kaitlin: Wise up, boy, he only sways slightly of an evening on these ones lately so he does [but her voice is MAD because fuck being a girl in this fam] Did you now? Thank fuck my new lad has his uses then, like [takes a deep breath to try and calm down but exaggerates it for the pisstake because have to, god forbid they are serious rn] I went and saw your former biggest fan under that rock they've carved with protestant shite, no word on if life's grander for her now it's ended or if she's regretting she didn't send her prayers up saying she wanted another bite of the cherry, one that wasn't yours- [stops like I've probably gone a bit far here and shouldn't mention his dead ex anymore] Fearghal: Good for him [through gritted teeth like let's never talk about him thank you] Like you need a replacement protector, got how many ready and willing at home, just DYING to beat the shit out of some 15 year old kid for your honour and just for the craic of it [does it back, like and then is silent until the pips are going but he's still there 'cos they stop when he puts more money in] You'll be under some rock with Catholic shite if they catch you in their graveyard [says it much more quietly than he's said the rest] Kaitlin: [makes a noise of disgust that doesn't need to be exaggerated for the pisstake cos genuinely horrified at this fam thanks] what honour? Shame you brought down on us with what they caught you at [but her voice is softer too because didn't mean to go off and also doesn't mean any of that we know] supposed to scare me, is it? [said like I wouldn't be here to give them a chance to do it just like you weren't] Fearghal: Why you need to ask one of the others, ain't it; can't be the best looking of the bunch and the best behaved, got to leave something for 'em to do and impressing n pleasing him 's'never been high on my to-do so have at it, lads [does meh noise like this is all so casual] Called the fear of God for a reason, aye Kaitlin: [does the meh noise back and it's her turn to awkwardly fiddle with the phone/cough while she works up to saying what she does next, more quietly than she has anything else] how's it truly then? Away and everything. Free and clear Fearghal: It's, like- just shit because you realize that everything that happens in that fucking town, all the stuff that rules our lives and is all they give a shit about, no other cunt does, you know, Kait? Sure, its on the news when another bomb goes off or don't and that; but the English don't even have to think about it, their day to day ain't affected at all, no fucker but our lot cares and what's the point, honestly? Everything we were forced to at least think was important, if not fecking stupid, ain't and now I don't- [Stops to do some actual breathing to calm down] Not to mention I'm thick as shite, thanks for that and all- 'cos frees a bloody joke [laughs bitterly] I get by, now, got a place to stay so, don't haveta worry but don't be hopping the next ferry yourself, girl Kaitlin: [when you're just silent for ages because as much as you think it's bullshit you're basically in a cult rn with no chance of getting out so what can you say like] not that thick, warning me off coming to keep an eye on all these english girls with theirs on ya but no bother 'cause mind I get sea sick and class as boking on brits sounds I'd get fairly covered myself before I made any casualties of 'em Fearghal: Know enough about girls and enough about you to know the two don't need mixing, that's just school of life, that [moving away a bit and telling someone who's impatiently waiting to fuck off] Stay put [when you say it firmly like serious voice] That wain and the rest needs someone VAGUELY sane about to stand any chance, fuck me, Aislinn's already been corrupted and she's barely in double digits [kicks the box] Kaitlin: [laughs because yeah don't let her around any girls you like babe] you should know enough about me to know what giving me your orders'll do fer ya and what it'll make me do [but there's no actual real threat in it we all know she's staying for the bubs] Sane as you by that count, ain't I? [can't help genuinely sighing] Mammy's girl is Aislinn been like it since she was old enough to play house [grimaces at the thought cos never that bitch] got the rest under MY apron strings, grand they are and it goes for the stories I tell 'em every night after prayers, rest easy yourself knowing that, yeah? Fearghal: Alright, alright [hear the 🙄😏] But if you wanna be the next to bring shame on 'em, you can do better than a cheeky abortion, surely? [shakes his head] Yeah. [Pause] Yeah [Coughs again] I'm doing my bit, swear, it's gonna take a while 'til I can send you anything and I've got to work out how when I do- it ain't for them, just you lot but like I said, not cheap Kaitlin: [an outraged noise like who do you think you're talking to, of course I can do better than that etc] Yeah. [Pauses herself because again what to say, there's so much it's too much] I've got faith in the right shite, Gally [nickname ftw because feels] it'll work out. We'll work it out, like we did this Fearghal: 'Course we will, K. No other choice, is there [definitely not a question] Kaitlin: not a real question, is it? [she knows its not] Fearghal: you want me to ask you one? Kaitlin: do English girls fall for that? Fearghal: Enough of 'em, yeah Kaitlin: [makes a ugh noise] how you've got a bed, is it? Fearghal: Theirs top where mine is Kaitlin: I deeply feel that Fearghal: [makes the kinda sad 'ha' sound like 'I know'] Not all bad though, some class drugs about and you don't get kneecapped for taking a casual interest Kaitlin: [does a little hooray down the phone] Fearghal: Send you some but your phones probably tapped so I definitely won't Kaitlin: thanks or no thanks, depending who'll be listening Fearghal: Cover those bases and the baby's ears Kaitlin: nothing to be heard over her crying Fearghal: don't lie, you miss me that much [laughs] Kaitlin: fuck off [but laughs too] Fearghal: Will do Fearghal: so many English girls Kaitlin: [exaggerated being sick noise] nowhere close to a ferry and sick as a dog, don't start me any further Fearghal: You think I escaped to pray every day and fight the good fight, like Kaitlin: if you still pray you ain't escaped fuck all Fearghal: Not living on my knees for no cunt, sis Fearghal: am being haunted, for my sins, though Kaitlin: Be on track to commit more, you'll have enough ghosts for all manner of shite to get done Fearghal: No rest for the wicked on the one hand, but on the other, idle hands and idle minds [breathes out like so conflicted and confused] Kaitlin: [a change in tone because serious] She's gone, so are you. Leave it here. Leave it in this fucking town Fearghal: Not a choice Kaitlin: Can be Fearghal: Nah, s'not, boths already happened Kaitlin: Happened to you, gives you a say in how you deal with it Fearghal: Yeah Kaitlin: You've lived in one haunted house as things stand, ain't you? Miss home that much, is it? Fearghal: How could I not? Live for these lectures, like Kaitlin: [an unamused noise because you're basically calling her a nagging girl which ain't a mood] Fearghal: [the pips again] Oh shit, should robably let you go, yeah? Kaitlin: Yeah probably [but she obvs doesn't wanna that'd be clear] Fearghal: Tell the kids I miss 'em, won't ya Kaitlin: I'll even include her out there Fearghal: Try and send a picture some time, alright Kaitlin: 'Course Fearghal: You too, kid Kaitlin: [laughs but in a more genuine way] You're my twin brother, calling me kid is calling yourself a wain, you eejit Fearghal: That's alright by me, like Kaitlin: I'll not baby you, got enough noses and arses to wipe here while you're hand holding these brits Fearghal: No handholding, on me life, just good old-fashioned- [will cut him off before he can be gross] Kaitlin: [we can say she cuts him off with a very unamused noise as per like no thank you] Fearghal: G'wan then, piss off before that kid freezes to death Kaitlin: [doesn't wanna be the first one to hang up obvs] Watch yourself then Fearghal: You too Fearghal: When can we do this again then Kaitlin: When can you? It's no bother for me to slip out with this ginger whinger, needs fresh air so she does Fearghal: [laughs then is pondering like umm] Try next Sunday, after church, if I don't answer then I'll send another postcard or whatever, yeah Kaitlin: Tryin' to get a free sermon told to ya, respect that hustle if not the message Fearghal: Obviously, how am I getting to heaven from England? Kaitlin: [laughs] no angels in England is there not? You'll have been thinking on your feet for fresh pick up lines all these months, no wonder you ain't had time for me, like Fearghal: Something like that... [Trails off 'cos don't wanna tell her what's really been going on but also does 'cos not its like that and its been a lot to just deal with on his own] Kaitlin: But it's something else like what? [cos sees through you boyyy] Fearghal: It's alright now, like Fearghal: but it ain't as if the old man sent me on me way with anywhere to go, is it Kaitlin: He didn't put a bullet in your head as a send off, that's what gets me to sleep of a night, but- [trails off because she was gonna say she knows it hasn't been easy but she doesn't know how hard it's been and she's not trying to guess like let's compare struggles] Kaitlin: Yeah [another pause] Fearghal: Should've put one in his [so under his breath it's like did you mean that to be heard or] Kaitlin: You'd have to take ma out an' all, I don't reckon the broken heart myth is anything other than another story, and probably a few of us would make the cut for cute little orphans but you and me'd have to catch ourselves on quick and wise up Fearghal: Make Tara look after you all as well as Diarmaid's kids, see how committed to the family she really is [sniffs 'cos we been knew] Kaitlin: [makes an identical sound cos twinning] I'll take her out if she was bothered to try and get near 'em Fearghal: Least Owie is old enough to help out, young enough to give a clout, yeah? [genuine concern] Kaitlin: [scoffs because we know he's a bit of a knob but it's still affectionate because] Fearghal: He'll be alright [but doesn't sound as reassuring as that's meant to be 'cos like unlikely at this point] Kaitlin: He's got me, my will's stronger than god's so father Q likes to say [laughs] under his breath, a'course Fearghal: [laughs back but its less 'cos sad] He doesn't always chat shite Kaitlin: Reckon he's a soft spot for me Fearghal: [makes noise like 'hopefully not too soft' but is joking, doesn't need to be that kind of priest] Kaitlin: I don't wish you were here Fearghal: How could he not, with the charm [but just jk like] Is it better, in some ways Kaitlin: It's...[trails off cos we all know even if there's less hassle it's not better as far as she's concerned and the loneliness is a real mood] I'm buzzing you got out [genuine but her voice is sad] Fearghal: Your turn next, I mean it Kaitlin: After we get a few birthday's under Niamh's belt [pauses because it's sinking in how stuck she is for now] and the rest, give 'em a fighting chance Fearghal: Yeah Fearghal: I'll make it easier, any which way I can Kaitlin: Me too, for you, I mean Fearghal: I'm grand, honest but cheers [more pips] I am outta shrapnel though so- Kaitlin: Don't be putting honest on a lie [frustrated sigh because nobody wants this to end but she wouldn't have money] speak Sunday and like I said, watch yourself Fearghal: Love ya, K ['cos no time to take the piss for it or protest] Kaitlin: [let's say she gets cut off before she can say it back for the pain]

[musicoccurred]

Mixtapes

The mixtape, a word that is dependent on who's using it and when. I'm middle-aged and came up in the 80s and 90s so it means something different to me than a kid today or a band camp rapper. Having said that, let's take a look at the different usages of mixtape and see if we can crown a winner of the top type of mixtape.

For those of us with achy knees and patches of gray in our hair, a mixtape was, first and foremost, actually on a tape. Now there were themes involved just as there are now with some of the others I'll mention in a bit. For instance, every Sunday there was Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 radio show. I would often drop a blank cassette in my boom box and hit record. I would then go watch TV in the living room and keep an ear out for the telltale 'click' of the tape running out. I'd run back to my room, flip the tape, and hit record again. You have to understand, before the internet, geez that never not sounds old, the radio ruled. Even with albums, cassettes, and later CDs you still listened to the radio all the time. That's why I love XM so much, there's something about having someone curate music for you. And even today with every song available at the tap of a finger there's something awesome when your jam comes on the radio. It just hits different. I digress. So now at the end of the countdown you have the top 40 songs of the week, or however many you had enough tapes for... You can now make a mixtape of your favorite tracks. Radio also had "Request and Dedication" shows where you could call in and request a song and give a little dedication to your amore. You could record that and toss it at the beginning of the mixtape and good things happen. Another type would be artist specific. Say you were a Michael Jackson fan, you could take Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad and make a tape of your favorite songs from each. Another would be genre, when I was first getting into blues and jazz, I'd borrow tapes from my Mom and friends to make mix tapes. And last but not least, the mixtape for your love interest. These were the ultimate, you'd diligently record songs from the radio and mix in a song or two from either an artist she didn't know or an obscure song from a known artist to show you were a deep brother. You weren't done yet! You'd then work hard on the label and of course the note to go along with those 10 songs that perfectly sum up your feelings for that person. On a side note, I'd like to take this opportunity to say if you were the object of my unrequited affection and received one of these, I apologize. Unless you liked it, then, hey girl.

Next up we have the burned CD mixtape. It is the evolutionary cousin to the cassette mixtape. While it took a while for CD burners to become ubiquitous, they eventually showed up, primarily in PCs. What was lost in recording from the radio was picked up by being able to download from Napster and pass along. Additionally, you could write or draw on the CD itself and the labels, if you went that route, were larger for track listing and any other info you wanted to toss in there.

Now we're moving on to the streaming portion of the discussion:

Note: I'm using playlist and mixtape interchangeably here.

One step removed from the burned CD and what seems lightyears beyond the cassette technologically is the custom, personally curated playlist. This can be a playlist you do for yourself; I have several in Spotify. I will sometimes dump an entire artist's collection in there to shuffle, or perhaps include only the tracks I like best. I also have one for jazz and one for funk called 'greasy.' But in the spirit of this piece, I'm thinking of a playlist that you create for someone else and share the link with them. I actually like this, not only can you send them a custom mix of songs that can express how you feel about them, but you can update the playlist anytime. It can be romantic or simply sharing new tunes with a homie.

Next, we have the algorithmically created playlist. When you sign in Spotify (I'm assuming other services offer similar features) and you get the daily list or the multiple "just for you" selections, this is what I'm referring to. Spotify uses the data from your listening habits to create playlists with songs from artists they think you'll like. It's pretty accurate with a few swings and misses. I have to say I'm a fan of including these playlists as well as listing other artists similar to the one you're listening to. I've discovered so many new bands this way. Alternatively, there are playlists that are created based on other factors. I work out with playlists on Spotify and XM such as Hip hop workout or Lithium Workout. These are likely created based on a beats per minute count. Some don't really fit the workout but have a faster beat. Overall, I like this style of mixtape/playlist.

Finally, we have the artist mixtape. This is generally hip hop but isn't necessarily limited to any specific genre. I relate it to an EP being released prior to an LP back in the day. Some of these have very rapid turnarounds, like a day or two so sometimes the quality of the mix isn't that great but topically it's right on time.

So how do these rank in terms of which mixtape format is best? Let's find out!

5. Artist Mixtape - This may be one of those "not for you" cases but I'm not a fan of most of these I've heard. Some are pretty good, but most feel rushed or worse, don't have a cohesive feel to the tracks. The ability for artists to drop tracks near instantly is pretty amazing and I do like the idea of it. We'll see how that continues to develop.

4. Algorithmically created playlist - While I use these pretty much every single day, they lack the human touch - hello, algorithm - which is what makes the mixtape great.

3. Burned CD - I probably surprised you here with this at number 3. I do think it has a lot of strengths and is still a physical object that gives the human touch. But there were some issues. If you're old enough to have gone through the burned CD era, you'll know the pain of burning a CD for it to simply not work. Sometimes the person you gave it to had a CD player that wouldn't play those or you needed a CD -R or +R or RW, it was awful.

2. Personally curated playlist - While fully digital and not that personal this does have the ability to add and remove songs as you go. Plus, when you email the link to the person you can toss in a nice note about how you thought about them when making it.

1. Cassette - I mean come on, it's called a mixTAPE right? Clear winner here. Yeah, I'm old but there was something about it.

Epilogue:

I listen to either streaming music or records. I'm resisting the urge to get back into cassettes even though I have a couple decks and tapes. My cassette collection didn't survive growing up. Honestly, I have no idea where they went. I still have my CDs but before I would play a CD, I would stream it. There's something human about playing a record or a cassette. We are a touching, feeling creature and it means something to flip that tape over or to hold the liner notes on a record. I think that's lost on the younger folks. As everything is digitized and available on a screen it loses some of its meaning. I like buying concert tickets online but man, there's something about lining up at Macy's or JC Penney's or wherever your ticket office was and buying a physical ticket they handed you. When I have the option, even if it's a couple bucks more I still try to get physical tickets. In 20 years, I can look at that stub and remember the show, I can't do that with a barcode on an app.

What's your favorite format or mixtape/playlist?

-js