#you draw arnold so so cute….

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Three for One 5

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, cheating, customer service abuse, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: As a customer service associate, you’re used to work with a wide variety of characters. Your efforts to go above and beyond draw the attention of a certain set of customers who want more than what’s on the shelf.

Character: Andy Barber, Lloyd Hansen, Ransom Drysdale

Note: How are these getting longer lol

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me 💞

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Love you all. Take care. 💖

If you thought the darkness was torturous, the light proves to be worse. You look at your surroundings. It’s eerie. A room curated for one. For you.

The white fluffy stool in front of a matching vanity. A picture of a woman in white sitting in a meadow, flowers all around and a stream flowing through the lush field. A vanity painted with flowers, the night tables matching; the bedspread under you similar woven with pansies. The trim at the top of the wall is pink petals on white and a soft rug under the foot of the bed.

It’s all very cute but deranged. You’d love to have all this and more but you’d rather your apartment. If the price is those three men then you’d rather a gutter. Most importantly, you want your dog.

You can’t even make your demands. The walls can’t give you what you want. You doubt your captors will either but you can try. You can wear them down. You can be nice sure, you prefer that, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be your own brand of evil.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. The noise needles in your ears and you hear the mechanism click. You raise your head to watch the door open and the one with the beard enters. Alan, Arnold? Ugh, you don’t care.

He doesn’t break the threshold. He crosses his arms and stares at you. A ripple in his forehead underlines his thoughts.

“I’m going to bring you out but you have to be good,” he says.

You close your eyes and drop your head. You fill your chest and let out a blasting wail. He grunts and stomps to the bed. He grabs your shoulders, shaking you until you nearly swallow your tongue. You bite the tip as he sits you up and you’re forced to face him.

“No, no more of that. Or you don’t get your first present.”

“I don’t want any of your presents,” you sneer.

“This one, I think you do,” he intones, “I’m asking you to give me a chance. Let me show you that this isn’t just for us. This is about you, honey.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” you hiss, “why can’t you just let me go?”

He shakes his head, “it’s too late for that.”

“I won’t behave. I swear, I’m going to scream–” you inhale and he quickly covers your mouth, his other hand coming around the back of your skull. 

He hushes you as his blue eyes darken, “honey, I’m being nice right now, so you need to go along with this. If you don’t…” he pauses and looks over his shoulder, “I don’t know what they’ll do.”

You furrow your brow. Getting out of this room is one step closer to escape. You can be good. For now.

You let the tension leave your body and soften your expression. He senses it and slowly slides his hand away from your mouth. You flick your lashes, putting on your best pout.

“Okay, Alan, I’ll be good,” you avow.

His brow tweaks and his cheek ticks. His nostrils flare as his chest rise and falls, “it’s Andy.”

“Right, I’m sorry, I’m really freaked out,” you show your teeth sheepishly, “that other guy… he hurt me.”

“Which one?” He asks.

“Er… stache guy.”

“I’ll talk to him,” he huffs, “can I untie you?”

“Yeah.”

“No, honey, I’m asking,” he looks you straight in the face, “you’re not going to try anything, right?”

“I can be good,” you squirm, “my wrists hurt.”

“Alright.”

He lays you back and rolls you over. He pulls the tape away from your arms, then your ankles. You think of the trick from the van. You know his weak spot but it’s too soon for that. Timing, it all comes down to the right opportunity.

“Let’s go,” he takes your hand and helps you up.

You get to your feet and let him lead you out. His large hand clings to yours as he pulls you after him like a child. As you go into the hall, you examine every inch of the place. He takes you into the front room, a low din that in any other circumstance would be cozy.

It looks like any other living room. A sectional and an armchair, an artificial fireplace set into the wall, a mantel trimmed in tinsel, a rich carpet spread over the dark hardwood, and shelves of books along with a television mounted to the wall. The tree in the corner stands bare over a red velvet skirt.

“We can decorate the tree tonight and see if Santa leaves anything for tomorrow.”

You hold back a scoff, “um, I know Santa isn’t real.”

He chuckles, “it’s a joke.”

“Is this the surprise?” You deflate. Sounds like work to you. Of course, your apartment is too small for a proper tree but you’re less than excited for a pastime you always longed for.

“No, not the only one,” he lets you go as you tug on your hand. “Honey, we did this all for you.”

You turn on him, “I didn’t ask you too.”

“Hey, hey, why are you acting like this? You’re such a sweet girl.”

You swallow tightly and hear beeping again. Then a clamour that includes a scramble, some scraping and the thump of a door against something else. You try to see past Andy as you feel cold air rush in from outside. You want to race past him but he’d be on you in a moment.

You hear a familiar growl before another voice wafts in from the entryway.

“Ah, he bit me. Again!” One man says.

“You think I’m having fun at the ass end?” The other retorts.

“Woah, oh, shit–”

There’s a duller thump and you hear claws and paws on the floor. Your heart leaps and you look around Alan– Andy as you hear the heavy breaths bounding towards you. 

“Ernie!” You squeal as the Saint Bernard lumbers in, furtively searching before he spots you. “Ernie, my boy. Oh, baby boy.”

He nearly knocks over Andy as he barrels into your arms. You hug him around the neck and inhale the scent of his fur. His collar tinkles and let his warmth ease your fear. You were so worried about him, more than even yourself.

“You said it was a puppy,” the bare-faced man snarls as he shakes his hand.

“I didn’t know…” Andy says.

“He is a puppy,” you insist.

“Who let the pussycat out?” The mustachioed creep asks.

Your eyes shoot darts in his direction and his hand shields his pants, almost instinctively. Ernie drags his large rough tongue up your cheek. He was scared too but now you have each other.

“Surprise,” Andy says, “so now, honey, you’re going to be good, right?”

You look at him and chew your lip. His eyes fall to Ernie and you put your arm in front of the dog. He doesn’t need to put his threat into words.

“Shit, I’m bleeding. That thing got shots?” Scarf asks.

“What about the girl? She got me good,” Mustache snickers.

“No, but maybe I should get checked now,” you snip.

“Woa-ho!” Mr. Caterpillar exclaims, “she’s got a mouth.”

“Honey,” Andy warns, “we’re being good, right?”

You huff and nod.

“So, apologise.”

“What?” You burst out, “he–” You stop and look between all three men. You have Ernie but you’re more worried about him getting hurt than knowing he’d hurt them in an instant. Even then, he has his head low, a steady rumble brewing in him.

“That thing needs to calm down,” the naked faced one whines, still cradling his hand.

“He’s confused,” you defend your son, “okay? And I’m sorry, er, dude, I’m sure you don’t have any communicable diseases.”

“The fuck? Disease– Alright,” the man steps forward, “that’s it. First she bites me, then she kicks me in the dick and now–”

“Lloyd,” Andy puts his hand up, “no. We’re all just getting used to each other. You’re not exactly easy to be around yourself.”

“Fuck that, I’m funny,” the fuzzy lipped man, Lloyd, argues.

“Everyone just quit,” Andy demands, “alright? Did you get the food?”

“Food?” The bare-faced man shrugs out of his jacket, “what food?”

“For the dog? I told you–” Andy begins.

“Ah, shit, knew we forgot something,” Lloyd chuckles, “he’ll be fine. He can eat chicken, can’t he?”

“He has a sensitive tummy,” you say.

“Jesus,” the third man grumbles as he hangs his scarf over his coat. “I’m not going back. It’s late.”

“Can he have rice? Carrots?” Andy suggests.

“I guess, I don’t know if he’ll eat 'em,” you look at Ernie as his deep brown eyes meet yours. You pet his head to keep him calm. He doesn’t like these men any more than you do.

“Fine,” Andy huffs, “go get the decorations,” he orders the others.

“Why don’t you get the decorations?” Lloyd sneers.

“She needs to change,” Andy explains.

“Like we can’t help her,” the other man challenges.

“I don’t often agree with him, but he’s right. We’ll get her changed.”

You grimace as your eyes ping pong at the back and forth of their conversation. This isn’t good. You don’t enjoy being talked about like you’re not there.

“How about I get myself changed?” You offer.

The men turn to you. None of them seem impressed. A sudden peel of thunder fills the room and you look at Ernie. His bark echoes in your ears.

“Shut that thing up,” Lloyd snaps.

“He’s quiet,” you say, “he was just saying the same about you.”

“Really?” He goes to take another step forward and the other man stops him, “Ransom, let me go.”

“I’ll take her, you two go get the decorations,” he says.

Andy frames his hips and sighs, “fine. We all know the plan. Let’s stick to it.”

You want to raise your hand and clarify that you do not, in fact, know the plan but you suspect you’re not a part of the collective. You keep your hand on Ernie and gulp. He nuzzles your hip.

You bend and pet behind his ear, “it’s okay.” It’s not. You move to face him, “sit,” you raise your voice, “stay. I’ll be right back.”

As you stand, the dog obeys. He’s a gentle giant, at least with you. You pat his head and turn away. The men watch you.

“That thing listens?” The one they called Ransom asks.

“He can.”

“Come on,” he beckons you with two fingers, a smirk ghosting on his lips.

“This is bullshit,” Lloyd mutters as Andy approaches him.

“We can keep talking all night,” Andy pats his shoulder, “or get things moving.”

“Whatever,” the man smooths his mustache.

You reluctantly move towards the third man, the one with no personality grown out on his lip or jaw. A baby face if you ever saw one. The way he leers makes you uncomfortable. He smells like Armani.

“Not smiling now, are you?” He says under his breath as he ushers you down the hall.

He points you into that same bedroom. You stop just inside and he shoulders past you with a grumble. You watch him go to the wardrobe and open it. You look between him and the door. You could make it.

You wait a few seconds as he pushes hangers over the bar. You take a step. He doesn’t notice. Another and he’s bitching about colours. You didn’t think men were that picky. You get right in the frame of the door and back out. He looks around the open wardrobe.

“Bye,” you wave and pull the door shut.

You know he’s probably swearing at you but you can’t hear him. You hold onto the handle and hit the little lock icon in the corner of the keypad. The deadbolt rolls into place.

This is it. You edge out to the living room. You don’t see anybody. Ernie sits where you left him, sniffing the air. He sees you and perks up. You wave him over and he lifts his rump, taking careful steps across the room.

You grab his collar and take him with you to the front door. You twist the handle, it doesn’t budge. You flip the lock over it, still nothing. You don’t know what to do. What the hell?

You search around you. The windows are barred, you can’t get out that way. There’s a small box right beside the door. You flip it open to reveal another keypad. Fuck.

“And where are we going, pussy cat?” The question nips your ears as a plastic ornament pings off the wall beside you. You spin and face the mustachioed menace. 

“You know, I just need some fresh air.”

Ernie growls and puts himself between you and the man, keeping the distance with his body. He prowls around, snout low as he paces back and forth. Lloyd steps closer and the dog mirrors him.

“Call that thing off,” he demands.

“Why would I do that?” You challenge.

“Well I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if I made him stop,” he opens and closes his fist.

“You wouldn’t hurt a puppy–”

“I’ll do what needs to be done,” he tilts his head.

“Ernie,” you call the dog, “quiet. Sit.”

The dog lets out a wispy boof but listens. He flops his butt down and glares at the man. You put your hands up and step forward.

“You’re mean. How can you threaten an innocent dog?”

“He drooled on my Jimmy Choo’s,” he says, “come on,” he grabs you by the back of the neck, “let’s go get the dumbass out.”

Ernie barks as you whimper. You flutter your hand at him as Lloyd’s fingertips pinch into your tendons, “Ern, it’s okay, I’m okay. Stay.”

He must hear the panic. He remains, restlessly shifting his front paws. You march beside the man back to the hallway. You reach to touch his arm and he only squeezes harder.

“Shouldn’t blame you for trying,” he says, “but I will.”

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

[(Based a bit on the latest 10mph) Marcy is taking a break from her comic]

Marcy: Oh hey, the Angry Gamers just posted a new “15 minute Power Half-Hour”. Looks like they’ll be dealing with animals in this one.

[Video starts, Arnold and Darrin do their intro]

Darrin: So what’re we doing today, Arnold?

Arnold: Today we have a special guest, please welcome Anne Boonchuy from the Aquarium of the Pacific!

[Marcy spits out her drink onto the screen]

Anne: Hey, how’s it going? My girlfriend Marcy is a big fan of you two. She listens to compilations while drawing.

Arnold: Oh that’s great!

Darrin: Hi Anne’s girlfriend! Hope you’re listening!

Anne: So today I brought a bunch of cool buddies from the aquarium. I’ll give a brief educational course like what I do for my tours. Starting with my buddy here, a rare pink tree frog, this is Sprig…

[Marcy rushes to the living room where Anne and Sasha are cuddling on the couch while reading]

Marcy: Anne!! You were on the 15mphh! And didn’t tell me!!

Anne: Oh yeah, that episode comes out today. Surprise!

Marcy: How could you keep this from me??

Anne: Because I wanted to see you freak out like this…

Sasha: It’s super cute.

Anne: Yep. And also because I wanted to give you this.

[Anne pulls out from under the couch, a copy of Vagabondia Chronicles]

Anne: I got them to sign your favorite game. Happy early birthday, Mar-Mar.

Marcy: *happy crying*

Sasha: I think you broke her, Annie. I’ve never seen her this happy.

Anne: Hopefully this won’t be the last time we see her like this…we still have a wedding after all.

[foone]

Robots in temporary bodies. You agree.

Their gorgeous humanoid chasis, packed full of the latest noctua servos and the Samsung sensor package, is sitting on a bench somewhere at the repair shop. The whole damn main bus got completely fried by that EMP they got off the exploding transformer (not the Optimus Prime kind), so it's going to be at least a week before it can get rebuilt.

So now they're in the body of some toy you had gotten for your birthday a couple years ago. They barely come up to your knees and their hands don't have thumbs. They keep complaining that they only have visual and audio sensors, so they feel half-blind (once you have radar you never get over losing it) and they're constantly worried about crushing anything they pick up. You get a phone call at 2am and have to go rescue them from the bathroom. They accidentally closed the door behind them and that's the one door in the apartment you haven't replaced, so it's big and heavy and made of thick wood. Their little hands couldn't reach the doorknob.

You ask why they were in the bathroom with a smile, and they explain they needed to clean off their treads because they spilled coffee creamer on the floor. These damn hands can't grab anything.

Their job offers them a loaner body but they decide to stay on medical leave for now. Body swaps are a big hassle and no fun to go through, so they don't want to do any more than absolutely necessary. Besides, they'd just barely be getting up to speed in the loaner body by the time they were ready to switch back out. Plus they know all the loaners are those budget model combat drones. They don't want to wear a body like that. I'm sure someone wants to look like "draw Arnold Schwarzenegger from memory", but it's sure as fuck not them.

They'd tried on one of those early in their career, and it's not just the dysphoria of looking so completely different from your mental image of yourself, it's also the change in how people treat you. Yeah, if you're a cop, maybe having people flinch when you walk in the room is a good thing, and maybe it's good that most people instinctively don't want to even try attack you. But they're not a cop, and even if they were, they couldn't handle looking like that during downtime. Maybe some people like making everyone in their life scared of them. Everyone from their partner to the guy handing them their coffee... But people who like that aren't the kind of people you want to be or hang out with.

Besides, metal and motors and servos has a distinct strength advantage over muscles anyway. If you want to be able to lift a car over your head with ease, you don't need to look like a bodybuilder to do it. So it's even more obvious that the only reason you would look like that is because you either really like that aesthetic, or you want to intimidate people. And you know they are in neither camp.

They ask to cuddle one night. They don't need to sleep and they don't have the sensors to enjoy it in this body, but they want it anyway. It's not about the sensor experience anyway, it's about the intimacy and the closeness. You put up with getting poked in the chest by their square edges, and if they their current form could cry, they'd be at serious risk of rusting.

You get it. You fortunately don't have to worry about how it'd feel to spend a week without your body, but you can't imagine it'd be fun.

A few days later, you wake up to the smell of maple syrup. You start to get out of bed when they burst in the room, wearing only a cute "fdisk the cook" apron. They've got pancakes and waffles and coffee for you! Breakfast in bed, to celebrate getting their body back.

While you're sitting in bed with them finishing up your breakfast, you ask what happened to the plan for you to drive them to the repair place, since their previous body couldn't exactly work the controls of your old car, even with the wireless link? They took a cab, they say. Their body's repairs finished up at 5am and they didn't want to wait around until you got up, they were just too excited.

You ask about their previous body, the temp one? Oh, there was a minor accident. See, they were still getting used to having all their main body's senses and strength back, so it accidentally fell of the trunk. At 15,000 feet. While doing Mach 1.3 over Arizona Bay.

They promise to buy you a new robot toy. Maybe one a little... More adult? It'd be just as annoying to be stuck inside when their main body is out for repairs, but at least they could have SOME fun with you while on medical leave. You're firm on the "no creepy sex dolls" front, though. FINE! but they want at least opposable thumbs for the next temp body. You make the obvious crude joke at why they need hands that can grip, and their cheeks go gallium-arsenide-red with embarrassment. You ask if they're having cooling problems again, their face feels warm. They push you over onto the bed, laughing and telling you not to tease them.

The maple syrup goes everywhere. Somewhere downstairs your laundrybot wakes up in annoyance, already annoyed at all the extra work they're going to have to do.

[lady-margaret]

bridgerton season 3 part 1 opinion (as someone who has read all the books + is kathony biased so be warned)

after sitting and stewing on what i just watched for a few hours

i’d like to start this off by saying that due to my disappointment of the writing from the last season, i was way more gracious with this one. kate and anthony were great because of simone and jonathan; i’m not sure the writers had much to do with that.

anyway, what i’m saying is that i already knew not to expect the writers to be faithful to the source material (romancing mr. bridgerton), so i was able to enjoy myself more. additionally, polin’s book isn’t exactly a favorite of mine anyway, so there wasn’t a lot to be too disappointed with in my case.

what i liked:

penelope’s wardrobe; they hyped up the “transformation” so much and i’m glad it did not disappoint.

colin’s hot ��

eloise’ wardrobe; someone pointed out that it had a lot of philip references, so yay 😀 (it has me worried that it’ll be her story next though, we need ben first)

eloise interacting with the other ladies of the ton was really cute and refreshing; she’s learning that despite them having different interests than her, they are still people of great value. the difference is eloise was raised in a loving and supportive family, unlike most of the others.

sibling’s g&h’s personalities coming through more (they are anthony’s children, truly).

featherington sisters as comic relief.

MARRIED KATHONY CRUMBS 💕💕💕 they carried episode 1 for me.

FRANCESCA 💕💕💕 gorgeous introvert representation.

FRANNY AND JOHN 💕💕💕 (i am both ready and NOT ready to get hurt 🥹)

book references (yay! the bare minimum!)

lord debling’s dope.

i actually do like that they gave cressida a legitimate reason to want to win the competition money to unmask LW in the second part.

the music choices haven’t disappointed yet!!!!!

colin’s line for the season is def the “well are you gonna marry me or not?” line HEHEHEHEHE i ALMOST screamed as loud as i did when john entered when he said that line to pen.

as an army, plus points for dynamite 🤭 i didn’t expect to like the orchestral version and didn’t see the vision of where they would even insert it, but i actually liveddd for it.

what i don’t really have strong feelings about:

mondrich plot; alice is beautiful but the addition of their family storyline didn’t make much of a lasting impact.

the queen; she was very meh so far.

the featherington storyline: the sisters are funny, but their whole situation mixed with the humor leads me not to take it very seriously.

violet x lady danbury’s brother: 🤷‍♀️ i don’t see it.

the “lady danbury’s brother” storyline in general is very forgettable.

what i disliked:

i think nicola and luke could use more chemistry; they fall short compared to daphne&simon and kathony (HEAVY ON KATHONY THIS IS WHY THEY REMOVED THEM FROM THE REST OF THE EPISODES SIGH)

they kinda mischaracterized colin (he spent the last two seasons being selfish and putting himself above everyone else violet, what the hell are you talking about “you never place yourself over others” 🤨)

the lack of ben time?? did he go back to the academy after taking over for anthony briefly??? what did he do besides dodging debutantes all season????

they glossed over benedict running the estate so quickly; this could have been an opportunity to draw out his storyline, especially since he mentioned that he liked having a purpose: WRITERS???? DO SOMETHING WITH THAT!

i also didn’t really care for the ben x tilly arnold plot; unless sophie’s actually a maid of her’s or something, i don’t see her point in the show besides just be another one of ben’s ever changing girl of the season.

im sorry but eloise would never SHOULD NEVER have befriended her (ex?) best friend’s bully, no matter what the circumstances. that is NOT eloise.

honestly, them revealing whistledown in the first season is really screwing with the writing; in this regard, i wish they stayed more faithful to the book and how colin finds out about LW. it all just seems so messy at this point.

so s3 starts when kathony end their honeymoon… how long was this honeymoon? math isn’t mathing cuz it couldn’t have been more than a week given that kate isn’t obviously pregnant yet in the first ep.

i know that colin and pen are longtime friends, but from how they’ve interacted with each other in the past seasons, it’s a bit harder to believe that they were close CLOSE friends; close friends to the extent of helping the other find a spouse through “lessons”? i don’t see it. that’s why i was a bit ??? when i first found out about the plot they were going with for the season (in the book, colin really just starts following her around cuz she was being sus)

i hate that they had to come up with an excuse to get rid of kathony for the rest of the episodes; i get that they’ve been running their separate households alone for most of their lives and want a break but… i don’t think they would abandon their responsibilities for an “extended honeymoon”. knowing them, running the estate isn’t gonna stop them from being wh0res!! they help each other out with the estate and are still sickeningly in love and have time for each other (in the books). i was also really hoping to see kate taking over the viscountess role. i swore they would have done something like that after that cute/awkward moment when they both respond to “lady bridgerton” in episode 1.

i get that it’s established that penelope’s one goal for the season is to get a husband, but as i know her character, she would NEVER get into races (?) or run just so she can talk to a suitor before anyone else does 😭 okay but it was funny.

i am kinda sad that they couldn’t have just let a mean character or a villain character be the villain character; yea sure, i did say that i liked that cressida had a legitimate and well thought out motive for wanting the LW reward money but, idk i could’ve lived without her storyline.

one of the BIGGEST THINGS for me is that i do not think they should have released so many clips/snippets of the show days or weeks before it came out. i understand like 1 clip, but i skipped SO MANY SCENES because i have watched them at least 5 times already on tiktok or twitter.

the two part season idea is dumb.

i’m scared for how messy part 2 will be (in terms of both writing and just how stressed i will be with the revealing of LW plot HUHU poor pen) but i’m still looking forward to it 😇😇😇 and despite all the things i didn’t like, i did still enjoy it. if i do rewatch it or not is still to be decided; s1 & s2 have such high rewatch value.

franny and john were TRULY a standout though. i cannot even begin to describe how loud i screamed when he finally said his name out loud 😭💕

verdict: the writing is getting messier, get jonathan bailey in that writer’s room ASAP

[thornheartcat]

Winter 2024 Superlatives

Well the Winter 2024 season is drawing to a close so let's do a round-up! I wanna do this more consistently so let's go!

Show of the Season: It's Frieren dummy it's gotta be Frieren I mean come on FRIEREN

Best show that actually started this season and isn't a holdover from last one: Delicious in Dungeon! I mean what is there even to say other than "I'm so glad it's going for two cours and I hope it gets a season 2 after that"?

Best non-Frieren holdover show: The Apothecary Diaries. Sorry, Undead Unluck, I love you too, and you are still the holder of "show that most should've been bigger", but Apothecary Diaries is just SO GOOD!!! I'm so glad we're getting more next year I need more Maomao in my life

Biggest surprise: BANG BRAVE BANG BRAVERN. HOLY SHIT. I just wanna thank everyone involved because this is exactly the kind of wild gay shit I need more of in my life!!! Every week, I was like, "this couldn't possibly get better, or gayer (they are the same thing)" and then IT DID???????? Legendary, a true AOTY contender!

Runner up: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!! I went into this one just because I'm a slut for time loops without any real expectations but it's actually really good! Rishe is such a good protagonist and, like her, I want to know more about Arnold! I hope this one gets another season! Also the author is on Twitter and she's so happy about how well the series is doing here it's so cute

Best sequel: This is tough because I love Blue Exorcist and this arc specifically and I'm really happy we got this season and that we're getting another one as well, but I think I may have to give this one to Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki-kun? Tomozaki-kun has done such a good job continuing to be like, anime self-help, but also just being like, a good story, about characters who feel like real people? I truly hope to follow Tomozaki-kun and his friends to at least their high school graduation, because they are so fun and interesting and realistic!

Best second cour: There's literally only one show in this category but I'll always take an opportunity to talk up Synduality: Noir! This cour made me CRY!

Show that most should've been twice as long as it is: Metallic Rouge! I like the show we have, but I do feel it would've been even better if it had at least two cours and thus more room to breathe. It's a shame the anime industry is in a place where a cool original show like this can't really go for more than one cour...

Show that I started watching hoping for delicious garbage but actually it was pretty good: Gushing Over Magical Girls. LOOK, I KNOW, OKAY. BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD? I mean obviously the fetish shit is all there for you if you're into that but even if you're not it's not a TERRIBLE watch. I actually liked the characters and some of the shenanigans they got into!

Show I started watching hoping for delicious garbage AND BOY DID I GET IT: Chained Soldier. LOL this show is super dumb but it knows exactly what it is and god bless it for that. Sasuga Takahiro.

Most oddly comfy: Surgeon Elise. This villainess re-sekai isn't reinventing the wheel or anything but I adore Elise and her passion for medicine, and the soft color palette creates a great atmosphere. Definitely the best Korean webnovel adaptation this season.

Best romance: A Sign of Affection. Finding a boy who loves you in spite of your disability? Yuki is living my dream, I want what they have! I want to go on a date to Anime Costco!!! I'd really like another season of this...

Wettest fart: Solo Leveling. My coworker is obsessed with this series so I decided to watch it but I do NOT understand the hype. I mean it looks good enough and the music is great because Sawano but in the end it's just ANOTHER lame power fantasy about a dude who sucks but then becomes the most bestest strongest hottest coolest most amazing dude EVAR. Big "and everyone clapped" energy, especially as it goes on. This is just... slop. It's slop for the pig trough. You are pigs gobbling whatever garbage is placed in front of you. Have some fucking discernment.

Most excited for next season: Other than MORE DUNMESHI, I'm really excited for Konosuba 3 and Black Butler: Boarding School Arc, and as for non-sequels I'm looking forward to Kaijuu No. 8, the Spice & Wolf reboot, Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night, and Mysteries, Maidens, and Mysterious Disappearances.

[xevr]

A relaxing day, just us

Trent Alexander Arnold x Andy Robertson

cw(s): none

established relationship and fluff <3

summary: just a relaxing day, andy daydreaming and being in total love with this man.

. . .

Trent sat besides the windowsill, taking full interest in a book he was recommended by from a fan and not worrying about his surroundings; since it was his day off.

He brought his mug to his face and took a sip off his coffee, he was so engrossed into the novel he didn't even feel another's weight on the couch along side with him.

Andy made a criss-cross pose and he endeavored to look over onto Trent's book to see what's got the scouser's eye, not intending to interrupt him.

Andy gave up on trying to peek his way; he readjusted himself to where his head on was Trent's lap, his legs dangling off the arm of the couch.

Andy was positioned under the book Trent was reading, 'The Slient Patient'. He saw, he moved Trent hand to see his face better.

Trent's gaze was still on the book, Andy pondered.

'What's so good about the book that he can't get his eyes off of it?'

Trent deliberately put his hand on top of Andy's abdomen, rubbing it soothly.

"Trent." said andy in a prying tone

"Hm?" Trent responded; still not taking his eyes of the novel.

"What's got you so intrigued about that book?" Andy questioned placing his hand ontop of Trent's drawing little circles on him.

"A fan recommended this book to me, isn't that bad. Never thought I'd be this absorbed in psychological thriller." Trent stated.

Andy hummed lightly, he became tacit.

He took his partner's features into perspective, admiring his eyes, his cocoa-colored doe eyes. How they capture innocence, how they make you gullible once they take you in their presence.

Andy loved his eyes, how breathtaking they were. Andy adored how attentive Trent was towards him, those eyes were always on him. When Andy speaks, during sex, training and et cetera. Andy would sometimes stop in his tracks when speaking because those eyes were on him. His eyes.

Andy stopped his daydream; he propped himself on his elbows and kissed trent.

Trent placed his book on his thigh and  deepened  the kiss even more, inviting his tongue onto andy lips for permission to enter the scotsmans mouth.

"Finally got your full attention, yea?" Andy said playfully.

Trent plastered a smile onto his face.

"You're so cute, it's irresistible to not pay attention for you for so long."

Andy grinned slyly and rested his head down once again on Trent's lap

Trent fiddled with Andy's hair softly before going back to his book.

...

Andy woke up on the couch, to his surprise Trent was still at that book.

"Still at that book, huh?" Andy asked rubbing his eyes, yawning.

"Yea, I guess it's time to take a break." Trent left a bookmark in the novel and stretched, Andy could feel the muscles in his thighs tensing up and vibrating.

Trent got up and headed towards the kitchen, Andy reiterated his actions.

Trent placed some cookies on a plate and some glassed of milk.

They both ate their midnight snack and went to bed, Trent was first to fall asleep.

Andy stayed up for awhile, he brought his hand up lightly to Trent's face, treading his finger lightly on his lips, his 'stache, eyes, nose, eyebrows and his jawline.

Trent, eyes still closed found Andy's hand that had been tracing his features, and entwined it with his.

"Sleep, luv." peppering light staggering kisses on the scotsman hand.

Trent pushed Andy closer to him, held the back of his neck. The both fell asleep.

It was just them, a relaxing day.

[monstroustea]

a friend was talking about style influences earlier and it reminded me of this old meme and i wanted to do one!!!!! i'll talk more about each one under the read more, but if you want to do one, here's the link: https://www.deviantart.com/foxorian/art/Influence-Map-Template-174550753

Sailor Moon (particularly the 90s anime) - this is a big one! i remember drawing sailor moon in elementary school and playing pretend/LARPing sailor moon on the playground... the good old 90s anime style with the exaggerated expressions! cute girls! friendship! this general kind of soft, roundness to the style of the 90s anime? it has everything

Honey and Clover - this manga/anime means the world to me. i love the style, the way the mangaka draws emotions, but also the protagonist's story of finding himself? resonant. the manga especially is precious to me bc of the art tho, it has a sketchy quality that i love

Hey Arnold! - another childhood favorite... this one doesn't reflect on my actual style so much, but it's a big influence on the stories and characters i like and create. if i could make everyone watch only one cartoon, it would be hey arnold

this is a triple threat... Persona 5, sketchbooks, @meruz - if you look at more than one page of this blog, you can probably guess i like p5(r)!! a lot!! i love all the characters, even if you mostly see me drawing the protag and akechi bc i'm a shipper at heart lol... i'm always inspired by sketchbooks of other artists! especially proper sketchbooks, where they're messy and worked in and aren't curated to be "good looking" for people to look at. that said, this is a page meruz posted from one of their sketchbooks (go buy them) and i adore meruz's work! i got into their work a while back and their lineart really drew me in, the lineweight and use of spot blacks is delicious. i need to work more on those in my own art and meruz's work always makes me want to do just that

Dolls - and here we take a little detour from the obvious? i sadly don't own this doll :( she's a rune naito fashion doll and i want one so badly. i collect dolls, especially fashion dolls!! i love their designs!! i usually just leave them in their stock outfits bc those are part of the charm to me. i wanna draw my dolls more, but for now they're just a big influence on design and outfits for characters

Amanda Lafrenais - i've been following amanda for so many years i can't keep count anymore!! her style blends "western" and "anime" so well to me and also she just draws lots of pretty women?? also we love queens who draw different body types

Roleplaying (pixelated image from wiki-how) - i've been roleplaying, mostly just with my bestie erin, since i was like 14? i draw stuff inspired by our roleplays soooo much, whether it's from a scene or just "what if"s we threw around. erin is a brilliant writer, has great ideas, and she's basically the GM even tho it's collaborative writing-based rping lmao... im just like "erin come up with a plot and we can shoot ideas back and forth" lol

Drawfee - no idea anymore how i came across drawfee but it's a really fun and funny channel and i'll do some of their challenges on my own sometimes!! (my favorite is the 30s character from memory challenge, i'll have erin give me characters and time me) also they have a ttrpg-style series called Drawtectives that has great characters!!! also every time julia draws a scene im like "ah i want that to be me..."

The Golden Age of Illustration - i'm such a junkie for cartoons and anime and comics and such, i don't really know the classics OOPS... but in the past year or two i've gotten really into what's apparently known as the "golden age of illustration"!! roughly the 1880's to 1920s, there's a lot of fairy/folk tale art from this era and i'm obsessed with all of it. standout mentions that i love to look at the work of are kay nielsen and edmund dulac

honorable mentions are just... every manga i've ever loved. every artist i've ever obsessed over the art of. and HONORABLE honorable mention to drawingwiffwaffles who sadly hasn't updated in a few months... she got me back into traditional media tho and is a general delight to watch work

[cowboyshit]

fifteen questions

I was tagged by @zumo-san (thank you so much for the tag, love! it���s been awhile since I did one of these) tagging: I’m going to take the easy way out and say if you want to answer these feel free to say I tagged you and go wild!

nickname: ash, ashomundo sign: sagittarius height: 5'2″ last thing I googled: horse anatomy diagram song stuck in my head: I like me better by lauve number of followers: 18,690 amount of sleep: depends. some nights I can get 8 - 10 hours (sometimes even more if I’m feeling extra sleepy) but these last couple weeks it’s been 3 - 5 hours a night. dream job: making a comfortable living off of publishing cowboy romance novels wearing: plaid leggings and a black tank-top movies/books that can summarize me: I’m sure there’s a great answer to this, but my brain is drawing blanks. favorite song: right now? let me drown by orville peck favorite instrument: piano or the good ol’ acoustic guitar aesthetic: pink, cute, country favorite authors: terri farley, cassandra clare, jojo moyes, luke arnold... there’s a ton of others but those were the first that came to mind random fun fact: just a fun fact, or a fun fact about me? I guess it’s about me since this entire questionnaire is about me. let’s see... I raised cattle when I was younger and showed steers through both 4H and FFA. one of my steers (my favorite I ever had) won every single show we went to. he even took supreme grand champion at our local county fair! (he also used to let me curl up and nap on him when he was laying down sleeping, and he loved to play with soccer balls)

[moon-lv3r]

the day of reimi's murder °.*ೃ✧˚.

🦋 category: one-shot

🦋 characters: reimi, rohan, yoshikage

🦋 summary: it was a regular day in morioh, for reimi and rohan until… nightfall and an intruder with murderous intentions entered

🦋 warnings: gore, violence ofc

🦋 notes: i am not proof reading this shit so grammatical errors !! i am too lazy to proof read

Reimi was supposed to be at a sleepover but the Kishibe family had asked for her to babysit their son, Rohan. This wasn’t the first time that she babysat Rohan, he was a fun child. Her parents were out working so she and Arnold would be the only ones home with the little Rohan. This was nothing out of the ordinary for Reimi, she had babysit the boy plenty of times, alongside other kids as well. She was essentially famous in the town of Morioh for how well she babysat kids.

“Rohan stop!” Reimi ordered as she caught Rohan trying to turn on the stove. “This isn’t a safe.”

“Mimi where is Arnold?” Rohan asked as Reimi carried him away. Rohan always called her Mimi, he could never pronounce Reimi right. Reimi never minded the nickname though, she liked it. She would call him “Rohannie” sometimes as well, he was like her younger brother. Growing up as an only child was what made Reimi love babysitting, she got to have siblings that she never had. The kids she babysat made her feel like an older sister and it was a euphoric feeling for her. Her parents weren’t able to concieve easily so when Reimi came into their lives, they provided her with everything that she ever wanted and she was grateful to have such sweet parents. Her life was blessed.

“He’s outside,” Reimi responded as Rohan waddled out like a little duck. “Arnold!” Rohan cheered as he found the dog in the backyard of the Sugimoto household. The dog barked lovingly at the toddler and began to play with him, Rohan couldn’t throw Arnold’s little squishy toy far so Arnold always returned with the toy in his mouth within seconds. Rohan gave Arnold a small head pat each time he returned and the dog loved it. Reimi smiled at the pure sight as she cleaned the plates that Rohan used for his lunch, children can be cute sometimes. Reimi had some homework to do so she couldn’t join the playful pair in their fun-filled games, it was unfortunate but she didn’t want her teacher to be coming after her and chasing her for her work. Reimi was a hardworking and diligent student, rarely ever missing a deadline. Though babysitting kids did gave her a little homework disaster once.

Rohan had once drew all over her work, it looked extremely well done for a child, which was why her teacher hadn’t brought her excuse and had her punished. Reimi kept the drawing in a drawer so that she could make fun of Rohan for his drawing once he grew up. He was basically the brother she never had. Rohan had the potential to be a mangaka if he keeps up his artistic talent and Reimi wanted to see that happen.

Rohan and Arnold ran all over the place and he had dirt plagued onto his pants, he didn’t notice them though, since he kept on running. He even grabbed onto a hose and started splashing all over the place, filling the Sugimoto’s backyard with water and laughter. His parents would slaughter him if they caught him making a mess like this in their house, but Reimi was kind and understanding, she didn’t mind Rohan’s childish antics and she was also extremely patient, which was why many parents trusted her with babysitting their children.

Rohan didn’t seem to notice that Reimi’s window was opened and held the hose a little too high, letting it spill into Reimi’s room, barely missing her homework. It only drenched the floor, everything else was as dry as the desert. Reimi looked out the window and down on Rohan and he merely looked at her sheepishly. Arnold whimpered as he saw Reimi looking down on them, fearing for some sort of punishment for potentially ruining Reimi’s homework.

“Be careful!” Reimi shouted. “You almost got my homework!”

“Sorry Mimi,” pouted the little toddler Rohan. Even Arnold let out a small, apologetic bark. “We’ll be careful!” Rohan grinned afterwards, as if he hasn’t caused any trouble just mere minutes ago.

The two continued playing until the sun slowly started to set and night began to dawn upon them. Rohan originally didn’t want to stop but he was getting hungry, his stomach was practically begging for him to stop and fill it up with food. It didn’t help that Reimi was an amazing chef, almost everyone that tried her food loved it. She was extremely well-liked by everyone, she was impossible to hate. Reimi’s parents were out late due to work so Reimi didn’t cook their share of dinner.

“Slow down Rohan!” Urged Reimi as she caught the sight of Rohan trying to finish his food within seconds. It was like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. Did he enjoy her cooking that much? “Nobody is stealing your food, nor will it grow legs and run away,” Reimi laughed as she ruffled the toddler’s hair.

“Food can grow legs?” Rohan asked innocently, making Reimi laugh once more as she shook her head. “If food could grow legs, we would starve since they would all run away from us."

Arnold was the first to finish his meal, followed by Reimi. Rohan was too busy picturing his broccolis having a war with each other to finish his meal. He always had an imaginative mind.

Reimi eventually forced Rohan to finish his dinner after her parents called and said that they would be home soon. She needed to clean up before they arrive and that included ensuring that Rohan stops daydreaming a war between his meal. The ‘war’ ended in Rohan’s stomach as he swallowed them. That made him sad since his imaginative story couldn’t progress any further. Her parents arrived home shortly after Reimi finished washing the dishes.

By the time Reimi finished cleaning up everything, it was 9.30pm and in 30 minutes time, it would be time for bed. The toughest part of the day was getting Rohan to sleep. He refused to sleep, wanting to stay up till the witching hour to see ghosts. He only slept after Reimi convinced him that ghosts would only appear to obedient kids as a way to reward them. As the minute hand on the Sugimoto’s clock hit 10pm, Reimi had already hit her bed and her eyes closed shut. It had been a tired day and a long sleep was exactly what she so desperately needed. The only noise left in the house was Reimi’s parents having their late dinner, accompanied by the sounds of soft laugher from the two parent who was still deeply in love as if they had just met. The Sugimoto household was truly a heaven on earth. But it was about to turn into one of the worst place in Morioh in the matter of hours, or even minutes, and it was unknown to every member of the family.

“Oh dear,” said Mrs Sugimoto as she began to wash the dishes while her husband decided to shower. “Do you think that we could take Reimi out on a holiday some time soon? We haven’t went out as a family in a long time.”

“Sure! I’ve been thinking about going to Disney land, she asked for that a lot as a child didn’t she?” Mr Sugimoto replied as he headed into the showers. Unknown to the two adults, someone had snuck in while they were talking. Mr Sugimoto hadn’t closed the door properly when they first entered the house, he was too tired from overworking to even realise his fatal mistake. The shadows provided by the lack of sunlight provided the intruder the perfect hiding spot. The intruder hid for an hour as the Mr and Mrs Sugimoto finished their late night showers and headed towards the comforts of their own beds, ready for the sunlight in the following morning to wake them up.

The intruder took small steps, each creak could only be heard by those with ears as sensitive as a bat. Or in this case, a dog, family dog. Arnold almost immediately sensed a strange presence in their house. He softly made his way around the house, leaving his comfort spot under Reimi’s bed as the intruder made his way up into the master bedroom. Mr and Mrs Sugimoto cuddled up next to each other, enjoying each other’s presence as the intruder shadowed over them, his shadow covering their sleepy, peaceful faces. What the intruder was after wasn’t money, nor was it for a long police chase that could ruin his peaceful life.

It was to satisfy his urges. His love for hands. The pleasure that seeing some hands gave him. He went to the same school as Sugimoto Reimi, he had seen her around and gosh does she own some pretty pair of hands. Reimi was a girl who caught the attention of most boys their ages but he was drawn to her for an entirely different reason. He had planned this crime for a while but never wanted to execute it. But his urges were accelerating at insane speeds, his nails did too. He just couldn’t hold it in. He had to do it. There wasn’t any other options. Sugimoto Reimi had talked to him a few times before. The quiet Kira Yoshikage that nobody suspected to be capable of murder, and here he was, planning the murder of one of the sweetest residents to ever reside in their little town. He was doing all of this for her hands. His urges were growing by the minute. He needed to get rid of her parents before doing anything to their precious daughter. Everyone in town knew that Mr Sugimoto was strong, a blackbelt, and Mrs Sugimoto was on a similar level. If he went for Reimi first, it would be the same as proudly declaring that you cheated in an exam in front of a teacher. He wasn’t stupid enough to get himself caught. Slowly, he angled his own hands at Mr Sugimoto’s throat, he learned biology at school, he knew that slicing the jugular vein would prove to be fatal, but it would also cause a large splatter that would land onto him. And he couldn’t risk letting himself look like a murderer fresh out of a crime scene. He needed to look normal.

And he knew how to do that. He lived years with his urges and still managed to deceive others into thinking that he was like them, a normal citizen. He could do it in a murder as well.

Slowly and gingerly, he lifted a towel which he had stolen from the Sugimoto’s bathroom and held it infront of Mr Sugimoto’s throat, it was supposed to catch all of the blood splatter. Once his hand were ready, the slicing began. The sound of flesh tearing first filled the empty room, before the sound of blood gushing out of Mr Sugimoto’s throat and lastly, him waking up and choking on his own blood. He tried to wake his wife up but it was too late, Kira pounced on her next and stabbed her in the abdomen through their blanket. “Who ar—” Mrs Sugimoto tried to speak, but was gagged by the very towel used to cover the blood splatter from slitting her husband’s throat. Kira looked at those two like they were pigs ready for slaughter. They weren’t pigs, but they were ready for slaughter, and he already turned the Sugimoto’s house into a slaughter house. The laugher from hours earlier seemed to be a stranger to the now slaughter house. Muffled cries for help, mercy came from Mrs Sugimoto, begging Kira to stop. But it was hopeless, Mr Sugimoto had already bled out and died. Kira had offered him a deep slash, it didn’t only cut his jugular vein, but his trachea and ligaments as well, and that caused him to lose control movement of the head. He was too weak to fight back. Kira stabbed Mrs Sugimoto a few more times in the abdomen through their blood-soaked blanket. She kicked, punched but Kira never once gave up, he was going to award her the very same fate he had gifted her husband.

Death.

No matter how much she resisted, it wasn’t enough, Kira had the upper hand. She was at a major disadvantage since at the beginning of the struggle because she got stabbed. It was messy, blood soaked the bed as both Mr and Mrs Sugimoto died of their massive blood loss. Arnold ran into the room as Mrs Sugimoto took her last breath. A frantic bark echoed in the deadly silent room as Kira turned around to face the dog. Arnold quickly made a run for it, hoping to make it into Reimi’s room and warn her about the strange man who had just murdered her parents like they were nothing. Kira immediately began to chase after the dog, he knew where Arnold wanted to go and he had made the effort to memorise the layout of the house, he knew how to get to Reimi’s room before Arnold and ambush him there. He took a small detour inside the house as Arnold ran and barked, hoping to alert someone in the quiet neighbourhood. Kira held his bloodied knife in his hand, waiting for the dog patiently so that he could slaughter Arnold like an animal ready for dinner.

Arnold immediately stopped by Reimi’s closed room door, it was opened when he left. Arnold was confused as Kira pounced onto Arnold and sliced his throat while closing his mouth shut so that there wouldn’t be any sound made by the faithful dog. Kira realised that Arnold’s blood would probably flow into Reimi’s room so he decided to drag Arnold all the way back to the master bedroom and hang him on the coat rack, letting his blood drip while waiting for Reimi under her parents’ bed. The slow, rhythmic dripping would most likely wake up the young girl, he hoped. She was the only person left to kill, and she was his main target.

“Arnold?” Reimi’s soft voice echoed in the hours after minutes of waiting. “Mama? Papa?”

Poor girl, she had no idea that they were all dead. Kira could almost laugh at this but he couldn’t risk blowing his cover. He needed to wait for her to enter the room. Kira could feel the panic in each and every footsteps coming from Reimi as she approached her parents’ bedroom. They were soft and cautious, she was scared and knew something was up, he could feel that coming from her. Her next few footsteps were cautious as she started to realise that something was up. She had no idea that this was like a game of cat and mouse, she was the mouse walking straight into the trap made by the sneaky cat.

The soft creaking of the door alerted to Kira that Reimi had entered the room. She hadn’t screamed at the sight of her parents, maybe the room was too dark for her to be able to see something. “Mama? Papa?” She mumbled, only to recieve silence as a response, which did nothing to reassure the poor girl. Reimi hadn’t noticed the carnage on her parents’ bed as Kira had arranged them to make it look as though they were sleeping peacefully. Reimi slowly opened the closet in her parents’ room and almost collapsed onto the floor as she took in the sight.

Her beloved dog was nearly decapitated and was hanging inside the closet. She almost let out a loud gasp and her hands were trembling beside her. Her breathing started to get heavier as well. “You have such soft and cute hands, Miss,” Kira announced from under the bed. “I already killed your parents.” Reimi immediately bolted as tears were running down her cheeks, the terrifying reality finally dawning on her. Kira immediately started to chase after her.

“Oh god oh god,” Reimi mumbled as she practically flew with every single footstep she took. Her parents were already killed? This better be a nightmare. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Her parents cannot be dead. This couldn’t be happening to her. She needed to get her and Rohan out of here. She knew the layout of her own house and knew which way to take. Rohan was sleeping in a room at the very end of the corridor and if they were to jump off the window in that room, there would be a bush below to break their fall. It was perfect, she’d lock the door as well, to prevent whoever the hell just murdered her parents from murdering her and Rohan. The door to Rohan’s room was wide open, welcoming the panic-filled girl into it. Reimi hadn’t caught a glimpse of the murderer before she locked the room shut. She immediately dropped onto the floor, catching her breath. It felt like she had ran for hours and hours even though it was less than 30 seconds. Her lungs felt like it was collapsing on her and her muscles felt weak, but she needed to escape. Young Rohan awoke from the loud noise caused by Reimi slamming the door and stared around, scared.

“Rohan,” Reimi whispered as she slowly got up and made her way towards the boy. “We’re going to play a game ok?” She asked sweetly, forcing the sweetest smile she could to avoid the young child from worrying. “You have to keep very quiet for this game, alright?”

Rohan nodded at every word Reimi told him, understanding the rules of the game. It had almost broke her heart, the poor kid didn’t know that if her plan had failed, their lives end today. “We are playing hide-and-seek with my parents and we have to stay very quiet once we jump out of the window,” Reimi continued, fighting back tears. “It starts now.”

The heavy footsteps of the murderer could be heard from outside as Reimi quickly stumbled towards the window, opening it and creating a large opening enough for the both of them. The doorknob rattled, startling the child but he remembered the rules, he remained silent. Reimi dashed towards the young boy and slowly started to push him out the window, all the while reminding him to stay quiet. “Be good alright?” Reimi requested. Rohan nodded at the request as Reimi slowly started to let him down from the second storey and into the bush below.

A loud crash from behind had startled she couldn’t pinpoint where she had heard it. The third plunge was the worst, he purposely dragged the blade down her back, as if he was unzipping her. Reimi let out an inhumane scream as she felt the pain on her back. “Why?” She asked. “What did I do?” Her question recieved no answer as her whole body collapsed onto the floor, landing face down into a pool of her own blood. In fact, the murderer started to focus on her hands, the very thing that he was here for. He started to caresse his own face with her hand, which digusted Reimi to no end. She was being killed for someone’s fetish? She felt the cool, wet blade being pressed against her wrist, as if he was estimating, calculating, guessing which spot would be the best for him to cut off her hand. She could feel herself dying, her consciousness slipping away from her, her energy leaving her body. She hadn’t finished living her teenage life yet.

She tried to catch a glimpse of her murderer but her eyes shut down on her before she could. Kira watched as Reimi took her last breath, her whole body relaxing, every movement ceased to exist. He had finally found the right spot to chop off her hand and it was just below her wrist. He had to do it carefully, to avoid ruining her precious hand. He pressed his knife down as though he was chopping up chicken breast and began the process. Her hand had to be chopped off carefully, he couldn’t risk anything, not when he had come so far.

Just as he was half way through Reimi’s hand, he heard the sound of police sirens and they were closer than he liked. He was so close, if only he had a bit more time. He wasted most of his time looking for a chair to smash the damn door open. He couldn’t take Reimi’s hand as a prize for his first murder. Hell, he wasn’t going to risk getting caught for his first crime. He quickly made his escape through the back door before the police could see him. He was wearing black so he blended well with the darkness that the night had provided.

Officer Higashikata was the first on the scene. This was one of the worst crime scenes that he has ever seen in his whole life while working to protect this town where his family lives. “Goodness…” He muttered as another officer found Kishibe Rohan laying in a bush, he immediately broke into tears as soon as the officer held him up to present him to Officer Higashikata.

“Reimi snuck me out the window!” The little boy cried. “Reimi snuck me out the window!”

“This is the Sugimoto’s residence?” Said the officer holding up Rohan, he was clearly surprised. The Sugimotos were known for their kindness in the community, especially their only child, Reimi.

Weeks, months, years flew by since the murder. The Kishibes left the town, the Kiras never found out what their only son did and died in peace. Nobody found out the truth for years.

That was until Rohan returned to Morioh and a whole bizarre adventure began in the town of Morioh.

[tinswag]

Blue Too

[chief-eunuch]

So first of all, it is very cute that after all these years Lister and Rimmer still share a room. They live on a ship the size of a city, and do almost nothing but bicker with each other. They could live as far apart as they want, but apparently they want to live together. Adorable.

Secondly, I want to draw attention to this interaction in "Give and Take":

(Yes I took photos of my tablet with my phone. I couldn't find any screenshots, and I was streaming it, so I couldn't take any myself)

Are you telling me that Arnold Judas Rimmer, the most petty, anal, pedantic, covetous, petty man to have ever lived has no problem with David Lister, the most slovenly man to have ever lived, laying in his bunk for two whole days?

Now, we already know that Rimmer most likely harbours some...interesting...inclinations towards Lister, if the actions of Low Rimmer in "Demons & Angels" is anything to go by.

The casual delivery by Rimmer leads me to believe that Lister spending time in his bunk is not only a common occurrence, but also one that Rimmer doesn't really mind.

[futur3juli3]

-SCHOOL MATES-

PROFILES:

No. 01

Name: Banbi

Age: 13

Birthday: October 27

Occupation: Middle school student

Gender: Female

Blood type: B

Likes: Strawberries

Dislikes: Drawings of strawberries

Hobby: Watching baseball matches

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Getting a baseball playing high school student for boyfriend.

Worries: About being short

Personality: I don't like liars

Special skills: I'm fast so...stealing bases, maybe?

Collects: Pro baseball players trading cards

Dream: To become a pro athlete!

Respects: Ichiro (baseball player)

Releases stress by: Eating strawberry parfaits

Favorite word/phrase: Sayonara Homerun

When drunk... I'm a minor, I can't drink

With 1 million yen... I'd like to go to see a Major League match...

Quotient: Anti-Giants quotient: 90 (but I like Uehara)

Epilogue: After becoming No.1 Dancer Banbi thought a lot,

and eventually gave up on getting a baseball playing high school student for boyfriend,

deciding to have her middle school officially recognize the dance club.

"I want a baseball playing high school student for boyfriend, but dancing with everyone is the most exciting thing of all"

What kind of dance club will captain Banbi create?

No. 02

Name: Candy

Age: 16

Birthday: July 2

Occupation: Middle school student (flunked once)

Gender: Female

Blood type: O

Likes: Ultimate (sport)

Dislikes: Videogames

Hobby: Body building

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Getting a macho guy as boyfriend

Worries: I don't really think much.

Personality: Instead of worrying or fretting over something, forgetting about it seems easier to me.

Special skills: I can bench press 120 kg.

Collects: Hmm, I collect proteins but...

Dream: Becoming a pretty bride

Respects: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Releases stress by: Muscle training

Favorite word/phrase: Simple, "focus!"

When drunk... Drinking weakens muscles, so I don't do it.

With 1 million yen... I'd like to learn Brazilian Ju-Jitsu.

Quotient: Muscle-brained quotient: 92

Epilogue: She forgot completely about the Groovetron's existence,

and left it on the train when getting off at her station.

"Aaaahh!!! I forgot it!!!!...oh well, I'll try again next time."

Her fighting spirit keeps burning strong.

No. 03

Name: Betty

Age: 13

Birthday: September 14

Occupation: Middle school student

Gender: Female

Blood type: A

Likes: Aojiru ("green juice" a healthy but very bitter vegetable drink)

Dislikes: Nerds

Hobby: Gardening

Plans to use the Groovetron for: having the school acknowledge the dance club as official

Worries: About my frail body, maybe.

Personality: ...I'm a crybaby, a little.

Special skills: Paragliding

Collects: MEISSEN porcelain.

Dream: To have a love story just like "Roman Holiday"

Respects: Audrey Hepburn

Releases stress by: Drinking herb tea

Favorite word/phrase: Natural

When drunk... Alcohol is bad.

With 1 million yen... I'd like to go on a trip by myself.

Quotient: Kindness quotient: 97

Epilogue: After becoming No.1 dancer, Betty without hesitation

prayed to the Groovetron for the dance club to be

officially acknowledged by her school.

"I beg of you, please make our dance club official"

The winner of the following year's national middle school

dance tourney was indeed Betty's dance club.

No. 04

Name: Olive

Age: 14

Birthday: April 30

Occupation: Middle school student

Gender: Female

Blood type: B

Likes: Tasmanian devils

Dislikes: Purikura

Hobby: Cooking

Plans to use the Groovetron for: Collect cute animals from all over the world

Worries: It's hard taking care of my little brothers and sisters (we are 7 in all)

Personality: Serious, considered reliable by everyone.

Special skills: Hand-made cooking

Collects: Bell marks (From products marked with a bell mark. Part of the profits go to a foundation supporting special schools/institutes that need funds)

Dream: To be a cook

Respects: Ayrton Senna

Releases stress by: Watching F1 races late at night.

Favorite word/phrase: 50% discount

When drunk... I don't like alcohol.

With 1 million yen... I'd like to go to a hot spring resort with my family.

Quotient: Good daughter quotient: 86

Epilogue: Olive couldn't decide whether to pray the Groovetron for

the dance club to be acknowledged as official, or for it

to gather lots of cute animals for her.

"I would be the only one raising the animals...but we all

worked hard together, so let's make our club an official one"

At present the club has more than 100 members and Olive

is very busy training the younger ones.

[winterscaptain]

misdirected.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader

a/n: alright! The moment yall have been waiting for (other than that last moment you were all waiting for!) we have jack’s quick rebellion! Yay! this takes place in au!march 2012.

words: 1.35k warnings: language, a touch of angst and then its cute

summary: any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. - arnold bennett

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | ajf faq | requests closed!

“C’mon kiddo, time for bed.” 

Jack, still frustrated from his dad’s confiscation of the Wii hours earlier, promptly and simply responds, “No.” 

“Jack…”

“I want to keep building.” 

You step farther into his room and kneel beside him. “Can we build some more in the morning? Maybe together?” 

He shakes his head. “I want to build now. By myself." 

You know Aaron is in the other room. You know you should go get him. There’s part of you stubbornly reliant on your closeness with Jack, so you try again. “Jack, babe, it’s past eight, we needed to start getting ready about fifteen minutes ago.” 

When you reach out to touch his shoulder, he flinches. You draw your hand back as if burned and search for his eyes. “You alright, bud?”

“Go away.” 

Tears spring into your eyes, but you keep them back with a deep breath. “Is there something I can do for you before I go?”

“I want my dad.” 

“Okay.” Taking the loss, you stand and pad down the hallway, trying to smooth out your breath along the way. 

He’s never been like that. 

He’s never talked to me like that. 

Aaron instantly picks up on your anguish when you close the bedroom door behind you, closing the case file in his lap. “What’s wrong?”

You open your mouth to speak, but are overcome before anything can come out. 

He, of course, fears the worst at your silence, jumping out of bed. “Is Jack alright, where is -”

“He’s fine. He’s fine.” You stop him with two hands flat on his chest, and he immediately picks them up, kissing your fingers. 

“Baby, what’s wrong. You’re scaring me a little.” 

You shake your head. “Jack’s just - he…” You take another breath. “He just snapped at me and -” You falter, feeling a little silly for being so affected by a six-year-old’s misdirected frustration. 

Aaron pulls you to his chest and you bring your hands under his arms and around his shoulders, winding your fingers in his shirt. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry. What happened?”

“I told him,” you say around little hiccups, “I told him it was time for bed, like I usually do, and he just...said no and told me to go away and get you.” Your grip on his shirt loosens a little as he pulls back, wiping your tears with his thumb. “It seems so small, I almost feel stupid -” 

“No. Don’t feel stupid. I’ll go talk to him.” 

You nod, accepting the kiss pressed to your cheek. 

He leaves the door open behind him, and you go to the bathroom to wash your face and get ready for bed yourself, even though it's two hours earlier than normal - you’re exhausted. Aaron’s voice murmurs down the hall, with some interjections by Jack here and there. Two pairs of feet travel to the hall bath before Aaron trots in to grab his toothbrush with another quick kiss to your temple. 

You listen as they brush their teeth together in the hall and return to Jack’s room. After a long time sitting on the edge of the bathtub, you slip into bed and close your eyes. 

Sleep doesn’t come. 

Aaron returns and flips the light switch, bathing the room in a blue-tinted darkness. You’ve calmed down significantly since he left, but you’d be lying if you said you felt any better. 

He tucks up behind you, flush to your back from back to calf, and wraps an arm around you. “Hi.”

You hum a little by way of greeting. 

“Jack and I are gonna have a little day tomorrow, just us. I think the transition is a lot for him and having you here with us isn’t as easy as he expected.” 

You nod. “That’s fine.” 

He presses a kiss to the back of your neck. “I’m sorry he lashed out at you today, honey. He loves you so much.” 

“I know.” You sniff. “He’s just little and he lost his mom and it’s a lot after just having you and Jess around for so long and you were just gone for a long time and...” 

“Yeah,” Aaron says, nearly at a whisper. “The changes probably snuck up on him and I was a little hard on him this afternoon - his attitude, while badly-placed, isn’t a mystery.” 

“Right.” 

His lips travel in sweet kisses from behind your ear to your shoulder. “I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re here.” 

Your lower lip shakes as a fresh set of tears fall into your pillow. “I know. I love you too.”

Neither one of you sleep very well. 

+++

Jack’s still standoffish in the morning, but you let it roll off you as best you can. Aaron has a whole day planned - a Saturday, just for the boys - and has been a little conservative with the affection in front of Jack. 

Maybe cooling it off is a good idea...

You’re not sure what you’ll do today. 

The office, maybe? 

Today is full of maybes. 

Aaron offers you a soft smile as he pulls the front door closed behind him. 

+++

You do end up going into the office for a couple of hours, clearing your emails, and getting ahead on consults. You slip any relevant paperwork under Aaron’s door and head home, tapping your fingers restlessly on the steering wheel. 

At this point, Aaron and Jack should be home by now, just like you’d planned. The last thing you wanted to do was wait around for them all day, but you missed them. 

You only hoped Jack missed you, too. 

When you step into the house, you find Aaron at the table working on his computer. 

“Hi, sweetheart.” 

You smile at him, hanging your coat. “Hey, love. I went to the office for a little while to catch up on some stuff.” 

“You’re ahead at work.” 

You wave him off. He’s right, but there was always something to do. “How long have you two been home?”

He checks his watch. “Just over a half-hour, so not too long.” 

There’s an unspoken question and Aaron tilts his head toward the hall. “He’s in his room. He wants to talk to you.” 

With a breath, you cross the room and pad down the hallway, knocking twice on Jack’s door frame. He’s playing with the same LEGOs he had last night, but they’re significantly farther along in construction. “Hey, bud.” 

“Hi.”

“Can I come sit with you? Your dad told me you wanted to talk.”

He nods and clears space for you on the floor. You sit cross-legged beside him, waiting him out. 

He assembles LEGOs for a little while, quiet. When he reaches a decent stopping point, he turns toward you. 

Listen. Count to ten. 

Listen. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t nice yesterday,” he says, quiet. “I was mad about the Wii and I missed my mom and I got really frustrated.” 

I miss her too, bud. 

Taking the chance that he’s finished after a moment of silence, you reach a hand out. He puts his little hand in yours and you offer him a small smile. “Thank you for your apology, Jack. I really appreciate it, and I forgive you. I’m sorry if I overstepped or if you felt like I was bossing you around. I didn’t mean to do that.” 

He shakes his head. “You weren’t.” 

“Good.” You sigh, looking up at one of the photos of Haley on his short bookshelf. “And buddy, I’m not here to replace your mom. I’m here because I love you and I love your dad, and that always comes first to me, okay?”

He nods. “Yeah. That’s what Dad said.” 

Of course he did. 

“And,” you continue, “I totally understand if it’s a lot to have me around all the time. It’s really different and I know it can be weird sometimes.”

He nods. “Thanks.” 

“Just tell me, okay?” You brush some hair off his forehead while he continues to work. 

He needs a haircut. 

“I will.” 

You press a kiss to the side of his head. “Thank you, baby. I appreciate it.” 

He smiles a little, and you take your leave. 

tagging: @arganfics @quillvine @stxrryspencer @agenthotchner @hurricanejjareau @ughitsbaby @rousethemouse @criminalsmarts @shrimpyblog @genevievedarcygranger @ssaic-jareau @good-heavens-chris-evans @davidrossi-ismydad @angelsbabey @writefasttalkevenfaster @venusbarnes @hotchsflower @ogmilkis @marvels-agents100 @hotchslatte @risenfox @mrs-dr-reid @captain-christopher-pike @dwellingsofrosie @pan-pride-12 @sunshine-em @word-scribbless @jdougl-love @sageellsworth05 @dreila03 @forgottenword @aaronhotchnerr @ssa-morgan @buckybau @sana-li @tegggeeee @abschaffer2 @ssacandice-ray @ellyhotchner @lotties-journey-abroad @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @laneygthememequeen @violentvulgarvolatile  @mooneylupinblack @ssareidbby @violet-amxthyst @bwbatta @roses-and-grasses @lcvischmitt @capricorngf @missdowntonabbey @averyhotchner @mandylove1000 @cevanswhre @qvid-pro-qvo @jeor @spencers-hoodrat @infinity1321 @zizzlekwum @popped-weasels @evee87 @nuvoleincielo @this-broken-band-girl @reidtomestyles @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @winqhster @arthurmorrgans @the-falling-in-the-danger @nattylite49 @crazyshannonigans @softbibxtch @iconicc @mangoberry43 @andreasworlsboring101 @kerrswriting @mac99martin @itsalwaysb33nyou @baumarvel @kerrswriting @messyhairday-me

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Gifts // H.P.

Request: 🌻 Blurbs/Drabbles - Fluffy with Harry 🤓 - @chaoticgirl04​

A/N: This was a drabble that got away from to be honest, and I am not sorry for it! It’s a load of seasonal fluff - we’re already playing Christmas music in my house so this was bound to happen. It has such a cheesy ending and its a mess of timelines, but I love it. As always, I hope you enjoy!

Summary: the exchanging of gifts

Pairing: Harry Potter x Fem!Reader

Warnings: none - snow, fluff and cuteness.

Word count: 2.9k

Warm lights twinkle in every window of the Hogsmeade high street as you trudged through the near knee-deep depths of snow with Harry by your side.

It’s the final Hogsmeade weekend before the Christmas break, and though you really shouldn’t have left it this late, you’ve not bought a gift for the teenager now shivering next to you.

You felt a limitless amount of relief when Harry confessed late last night that he still hadn’t found you a gift either.

“Okay, it looks beautiful but it’s freezing,” You shiver, “I say we take an hour to find the gifts, meet back in this spot and leg it back to the castle. What do you think?”

Harry kisses you quickly, “I say it sounds perfect. I’ll see you back here in an hour?”

You nod; watching him plod through the snow as the warmth of his kiss is washed away by the bitter cold wind. Wrapping yourself up tightly in your thick, padded coat, you make your way into the first shop.

As you wander the aisles, you remind yourself of the agreed upon spending limit. For the most part, you stick to it.

Until you find the perfect gift.

The spending limit flies out of the window and into the dimming light of the day as you pay for the gift.

Bags in hand and gifts safely wrapped in brightly coloured tissue paper, you meet Harry at the agreed upon spot. Harry smiles broadly when he sees you walking towards him. He shifts his own bags to one hand so he can hold out a gloved hand for you to take.

Together, you walk as fast as possible through the snow back to the castle.

Stomping your feet on the stone floor of the entrance hall, you can’t help but chuckle at Harry’s wind-bitten, red face. In revenge for your laughter, Harry draws you in for a tight hug where he presses his freezing cold cheek against yours.

Shrieking, you rush back to the Gryffindor common room, desperate for the warmth of the already lit fires.

Hermione looks up from her book at the sound of your laughter as you enter the common room with Harry close behind you. She smiles at you from her spot in the corner.

“Hermione,” You begin, pulling off your hat, “Would you mind helping me with some wrapping?”

Closing her book, Hermione nods. She stands with a grin; happy to be involved.

As the both of you head to your shared dorm, you hear Ron ask Harry, “Did you buy what we talked about last night? Come on, mate. Show me what you got!”

You bite your lip to repress the laughter threatening to spill.

Hermione, herself, is a gift when it comes to wrapping. She has a knack for knowing the right sizing as well as the colour coordination of the paper she needs. Not only was Hermione the brightest witch of her age; she was also one of the most talented.

As she sticks the final piece of tape to the small box of Cauldron Cakes, she asks, “Is there anything else?”

You nod, reaching for the bag that carefully held the gift that had destroyed your pre-agreed spending limit.

You chew on the inside of your cheek with nerves as Hermione carefully unwraps the gift from its tissue paper. Hermione gasps as she holds the gift in her hands, “It’s beautiful.”

“You don’t think it’s too cheesy?”

Hermione shakes her head furiously; her trademark brunette curls bouncing in all directions, “I think he’s going to love it.”

You smile gratefully at the girl who has become a close friend in the time that you’ve dating Harry, “Thank you so much for doing this, Hermione.”

Hermione grins toothily, “I don’t mind, and besides, I wanted to know what you bought him.”

You laugh at her words; beginning to clean up the mess of bags and packaging that had soon littered the floor of your dorm room.

“When are you exchanging gifts?” Hermione ask; curiosity bright in her eyes.

“Tonight,” You confirm, “I go home tomorrow, and I don’t join you all at the Burrow until the 27th so Harry and I decided to swap gifts this evening.”

Hermione sighs, “It’s all so romantic. You’ll send me a letter telling me everything Harry gets you – don’t leave anything out!”

You sit back down at her side, “I promise,” You nudge her side with your elbow, “I happen to know that you’ll love the gift a certain Weasley has gotten you.”

Hermione rolls her eyes with a snort, “Ron is many things, but he is not a good gift giver.”

“But he’s had my help this year,” You tease.

“What?!” Hermione all but shouts.

You nod, “He came to me at the beginning of December asking for my help. I didn’t say what exactly, but I nudged him in the right direction.”

Hermione’s face turns a pretty shade of pink as she tries to work out what the youngest Weasley boy could have gotten her for Christmas. However, a knock at the door has her jumping out of her reverie and helping you hide Harry’s gifts.

“Just a minute,” You call out; throwing a blanket over your bed to smoothen out the obvious lumps of presents hidden underneath your quilt.

The unmistakable laughter of Harry and Ron sounds through the wood as you say, “It’s open.”

The two enter the room with amusement written all across both their faces. Ron tries to catch Hermione’s eye, but she stares steadfastly at the ground.

Harry laughs once more at the sight of your bed, “Great hiding place, love.”

You roll your eyes, “Hush you, I had less than a minute to hide them.”

Harry presses a kiss to your cheek as his arm winds its way around your waist, “We’re heading down to the Great Hall for the final feast – you coming?” Harry asks; amusement still very much alight in his eyes.

You reach for Hermione’s hand to pull her attention back to the room. “We’ll come with you now,” You murmur, already heading for the door.

Together, the four of you walk as a group to the Great Hall. Taking a seat at the Gryffindor table, you arrive just in time to hear Dumbledore’s end of term speech.

When food appears on the table, you waste no time in filling up your plate. You turn to Ron as you spoon vegetables onto your plate, “Will you tell your mum thank you from me for inviting me to join you next week?”

Ron nods, “Yeah, I will. She’s thrilled you’re coming. She wants to meet the person who has stolen Harry’s heart… her words, not mine.”

You laugh, winking at Harry, “Have I stolen your heart, love?”

Harry looks down at his chest and then back up at you, “I think you have, I can’t seem to find it anywhere.”

You snort, turning back to Ron, “I can’t wait to come.”

Ron smiles at you before returning to his food. You do not miss the yearning glances he sends in Hermione’s direction.

Shaking your head at the absolute absurdity of the pair of them, you turn your attention back to Harry to find him watching you with a soft smile.

“What?” You mouth; reaching for your glass of pumpkin juice.

“Nothing. Just excited to see your reaction to your presents.”

You beam at him, “I can’t wait to see what you’ve got me. I also can’t wait to see you open your presents.”

“Are they good?” Harry asks; digging for information.

You smirk, “The best.”

“What time do you want to open them?” Harry questions; eagerness displayed in his voice.

“Let’s wait until the common room is empty. That way it’s private and we can sit by the fire without being interrupted.”

“I like your thinking.”

“I like you,” You whisper causing a faint blush to rise on his cheeks.

---------

Waiting in the common room for everyone to go to bed feels like it takes forever, but it only takes a couple of hours – students still befuddled by their feast at dinner.

Hermione and Ron departed an hour ago; whispered goodbyes and see you soons exchanged before they headed to bed – smiling shyly at the other as they left together.

“How long do you think it’ll take them to get together?” You whisper to Harry.

Harry snorts, “Who knows? I hope it’s soon though. I love Ron like a brother, but he sleep talks.”

“No!” You gasp between peals of laughter.

Harry nods, “He does.”

You settle back down, resting against Harry’s side. His arm remains happily laid across your shoulder and your hand remains laid on his thigh.

The final student yawns and makes their way to their bed. The pit of excitement that had been slowly growing in your stomach bursts into your veins; lighting them with the feeling of joy. With a wide smile, you turn to Harry, “Shall we get the gifts and meet here in a couple of minutes?”

Harry grasps your chin, kissing you lightly on the mouth, “Race you!”

He throws himself off the couch and runs to the stairs; you laugh as you follow on his heels.

As quietly as you can, you tiptoe into your dorm room – careful not to disturb the already sleeping girls. You smile at Hermione; still up reading one of her many books. Pushing your feet into slippers and grabbing the presents from under your quilt, you wave and whisper a goodnight to Hermione before bounding back down the stairs to the common room.

Harry’s already there when you arrive; sitting on the worn maroon rug, a pile of hastily wrapped presents laying in front of him.

“Slow poke,” Harry comments as you sit down across from him.

You roll your eyes, “I needed to put my slippers on.”

Stretching your legs in front of you, you give Harry full view of your fluffy bunny slippers given to you by Ron on your birthday.

Harry nods solemnly, “Ah yes. We couldn’t leave Arnold and Gerald out, could we?”

You shake your head seriously, “Of course not. They’re part of this too.”

Harry tries to remain serious but a crack forms in his mask and he’s soon laughing. You join him; laughing at his laughter. This had been the happiest you had felt in a long while; Harry brought out this side of you that was a little lighter and craved the feeling of happiness and friendship as well as the all-consuming, breathlessness of teenage love.

You calm down, asking, “Who wants to go first?”

“You go first,” Harry replies, sliding one present over to you.

You beam at the messy-haired teenager before ripping into the wrapping paper. You gasp at the present; a gorgeously decorated notebook, the cover depicting one of your favourite paintings in the castle.

“Harry, it’s gorgeous, thank you,” You whisper, placing the notebook gently to one side, already thinking of ideas and thoughts to note down in it.

“You’re welcome,” Harry replies, just as quiet.

“Here,” You say, sliding his first present to him.

Harry tears open the delicately wrapped paper to find a new broomstick servicing set. Harry looks at you with bright eyes, “Thank you! How did you know mine was running low on supplies?”

“Hermione mentioned it in passing and I made a mental note.”

“Thank you very much, it’s exactly what I need.”

More presents are exchanged and so are word of thanks and kisses of gratefulness. Harry gets you some new quills to go with your new notebook as well as a small watercolour paint set as you had mentioned some weeks ago about wanting to take up painting as a new hobby. You hold back tears through all of this; you had never realised how thoughtful a gift giver Harry was.

Harry smiles constantly through all of his gifts from you; the broom servicing kit, the latest book on Quidditch strategy as well as the small box of Cauldron Cakes from Honeyduke’s. He opens them immediately; offering the box to you first before starting on his own.

Finally, only two gifts remain – one gift left each to receive.

Nerves begin to settle in your stomach; your mind hoping and praying that Harry loves this gift.

With a small smile, Harry slides his final gift to you. His cheeks are flushed but you can’t decipher whether they are from the heat from the still roaring fire or whatever is wrapped up in the deep green wrapping paper.

“This is my favourite,” Harry whispers.

“Is this what you and Ron came up with last night?”

He nods; eyes focused solely on the half unwrapped gift in your hands.

You finish unwrapping the gift; turning over what feels like a photo frame in your hands.

“Oh…” You say, holding a hand up to your mouth.

Within a silver picture frame, Harry has slid in a photo of you two from a Hogsmeade weekend weeks ago. You remember the day so clearly; it was the day of the first snow of the season and that always meant so much to you. For it to fall on a Hogsmeade weekend wasn’t simply a coincidence. Noticing the flakes from your seat in The Three Broomsticks, you dragged Harry out of the pub and into the high street. The flakes started to fall in a faster flurry, and you stuck out your tongue to try and catch them there. Harry had copied you for a minute or so before pulling you into his arms and spinning you around. He had captured your lips in a kiss soon after.

You never knew that the moment had been captured on film.

“I didn’t know Ron had taken a photo,” You whisper, running a hand over the moving photo.

“Neither had I,” Harry says just as quietly, “He didn’t show me it until last night when I was brainstorming ideas.”

You look up at the teenager you were so madly in love with; holding the frame to your chest, “Harry, this is the best present I’ve ever been given. Thank you.”

Harry nods, ducking his head from the overwhelming sense of emotion taking control of him.

You sigh shakily, standing the picture frame up with your other presents. Your hand grabs Harry’s present, looking at neatly wrapped silver paper, feeling a lot more confident in what you’ve bought him.

Before handing it over to Harry, you say, “I went over our spending limit, but I saw this, and I had to buy you it.”

Harry chuckles, “It’s okay, I went over it too.”

You hold out your gift for Harry to take; waiting nervously as he tears open the paper and opens the box.

Harry remains silent as the snow globe falls into his hand; he simply shakes the orb and watches the fake snow fall and settle around the Snowy Owl depicted there.

You clear your throat, “I know how much you miss Hedwig, and when I saw this, I needed to buy it.”

Harry opens and closes his mouth for a moment before he finally whispers brokenly, “Thank you.”

“Turn it over,” You say.

“There’s more?” Harry asks with wide eyes; what else could be added?

 “I had it inscribed…” You trail off shyly.

Harry flips the snow globe on its head; taking in the words inscribed forever onto the bottom: “The one’s that love us never really leave us.”

“This last year has been hard,” You start, “But Sirius was right – he won’t ever leave you, Harry, and neither will Hedwig. Every time you miss them, you just need to look here.”

Harry doesn’t say anything for a few minutes; he isn’t certain that he has the capacity to because he has never been given a gift as touching as this other than the photo album given to him by Hagrid at the end of his first year. Harry shakes the snow globe once again, staring at the scene of the Snowy Owl suspended in the fake snow. It wasn’t Hedwig and it never would be, but it reminded Harry so much of her that it helped to ease the pain of missing her just a little. His little finger runs over the inscription graved into the bottom and Harry lets himself feel the pain of missing his godfather; the engraving is right – Sirius would never leave him, but Harry can’t help but regret the fact that they didn’t have more time together.

With a loaded sigh, Harry sets the snow globe to one side and finally looks into your eyes. He doesn’t give you time to respond, he tackles you to the floor, supporting his weight by his hands. Without speaking, Harry kisses you – attaching his lips to yours passionately. Everything he had felt since he realised what the gift was, was poured into this kiss – his love for you, his happiness, his gratefulness, but also his mourning and the fact that he can’t believe you’re still here.

He pours it all into this kiss. The need for oxygen be damned.

Harry was too overwhelmed by the meaning of the gift for him to come up with right words to thank you; to come up with the right sentence to thank you for bringing them back into his life.

But the need for breath becomes too great and Harry breaks the kiss. You smile up at him, running a hand through his eternally messy hair as your chest heaves. Harry beams down at you, leaning in to press one more kiss to your mouth. Against your lips, he whispers, “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it, just like I love you.”

************

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[travellvogue]

“Daddy, can you dress up with us?”- Trent Alexander-Arnold

Halloweek Imagines- Day 3:

The Halloween celebrations had certainly become more exaggerated since the two of you had kids, trick or treating wasn’t necessarily something the kids cared about- especially since they hardly had any sweets or chocolate anyway- but it was more the costumes, the dressing up, and pumpkin carving they cared about. So it was no surprise that your three babies had spent the day telling you all about their plans for their costumes, giggling to yourself as they mention being pieces of cheese… literal cheese… with their faces painted yellow.

You can still hear them chatting away between themselves upstairs in the playroom, your eldest, Cairo, taking charge of the situation as Jackson- his younger brother- chirps in. And your youngest, Sophia, doesn’t entirely have much of a say in the situation- she’d just started walking and only about blubber out a ‘mumma’ and ‘dadda’ when being persuaded with food. 

Trent’s car pulls into the driveway whilst you make dinner, instantly smiling at the sight of him walking towards the door, you craved this time of the evening, when he was home for the night, the kids always so excited to see daddy after he’d been at training all day. 

“Hi baby” he whispers, the kids were too caught up in discussing Halloween costumes that they hadn’t heard the key be pushed through the door, Trent taking the opportunity of peace and quiet to pay attention to his wife. 

There’s a thick smell of spaghetti bolognese lingering in the air- his favourite- humming at the smell as he puts his bags down and tip toes into the kitchen.

“How was training?” your bum taps against the counter, Trent pushing your body so you’re trapped between his own and the cold surface, having no other choice than to look up at him and press your lips against his puckered ones. He tasted like coffee, he usually does these days, at the beginning of your relationship he was never an avid coffee drinker, but with Captaining one of the biggest teams in the world and parenting three kids, sometimes a little caffeine boost was needed.

“Was good” he hums against your mouth, since there were no nosy kids asking for your attention he took the opportunity to snake his hands down your back and to the mound of your ass, giving it a good squeeze. “Missed ya” his head buried against your neck, inviting you to play with his curls. You hum in response, as much as you love that he’s living his dream, it would be nice to spend more time with him on a daily basis, especially now you have to share his attention with three mini-me’s you’d created together. 

“The kids have missed ya” you whisper, feeling him pull away slightly so he can look you in the eye. ‘Fall in love with someone's eyes, they never change’ his mother had told him, and god was she right, every time he caught the glimmer of yours he felt himself falling in love with you all over again. Sometimes he’d wonder if this was all a dream, seven years of marriage and three beautiful and healthy kids, he really couldn’t ask for more of a perfect life. 

“They’ve been planning out their Halloween costumes” you smile, watching his eyebrows raise in interest. Nodding towards the kitchen island where paper and crayons scatter across the shiny marble counter. 

“Princesses huh?” he smiles, flicking through the drawings the kids had done of themselves in pretty dresses and fitting prompts for their characters. The little frog next to Cairo’s drawing of himself hinting that he might want to go as Princess Tiana- not a surprise when he’d made mummy and daddy watch the movie over and over again.

“Mhm... be grateful, this morning they wanted to go as pieces of cheese” you laugh.

“Well they’d make grate pieces of cheese... get it?” he wiggles his eyebrows at the poor pun, watching you roll your eyes once the mess of a joke registers, the Dad-jokes had been out in full force recently.

“Daddyyyy” the two of you smile at the sound of the boys running down the stairs, Cairo holding Sophia as best as he could, her little legs dangling in the air, Trent quickly scooping her up and into her arms for a more comfy hold, her little blabbers and giggles making him coo at her. 

“Hi boys” Trent cheers, “Mummy was just showing me your costumes!” he explains, excitement washing over their bodies all over again at the mention of the topic. Cairo claps his hands and climbs up onto the bar stool next to his dad, grabbing at his picture. 

“We’re going to be princess daddy” he says proudly making your heart burst with joy. “I’m being Tiana… see there, with the green dress and froggy” he points out the details of his drawing, Trent nodding along patiently despite Jackson tugging at his leg ready to show daddy his drawing, and Soph pulling at the collar of his top- patience is a virtue when it comes to having three young kids. 

“That looks great buddy, and who’s J gonna be?” Trent asks, you have to help Jackson onto the other barstool, he didn’t quite have the height to get up independently. 

“Snow whiteeee!” Jackson cheers, waving the paper in the air. Soph’s little chubby hands reaching forward and grabbing the air to try and grasp at it. “And daddy guess what…!” he waits for Trent to show enthusiasm in his next piece of information.

“What? You’re gonna give me a poisonous apple?” Trent asks, Sophia giggling along in his lap as he bounces her on his knee.

“No silly” Jackson tuts, “That’s the witch, I’m snow white” Trent sighs in realisation at his mistake, looking over to you as you share a look, finding it funny how bosy the kids can get. “The d- d-” at his young age he struggles with the next word, you have to help him out and say ‘dwarfs’ so he can copy you. “Yeah, them” he nods, “They are gonna be the doggies!” he cheers, Trent let’s out a laugh, of course they were, any opportunity the kids got to dress the poor dogs in costumes, they grasped with both hands. 

“And mummy’s okay with this?” Trent raises his eyebrows at you, wondering if you’d agreed to let the kids have creative freedom when dressing up the dogs. You giggle and shrug your shoulders, as long as the dogs weren’t in any harm or discomfort you didn’t mind. 

“Tell daddy who you’re gonna be Soph” Cairo coos, it was cute to see him acting so grown up when it comes to his sister. Trent had certainly raised your boys to be very protective of their sister. Sophia simply coos and giggles in response, sucking on her fist and bouncing on Trent’s lap. You make a face at your youngest as you whisper “Moana!”. Trent smiles at the idea of your little girl dressed up in her Moana outfit. 

“Soph can you say: I am Moanaaaa” Trent sings, lifting her up into the air, your two boys finding it hilarious as they giggle and sing along to the movies most infamous song. 

“Daddy?” Cairo hums, nervously fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt, Trent turns his attention to your first born, waiting for him to continue. “Can you dress up with us?” you smile at his question, and when you look to Trent, your smile only grows. Within a heartbeat he’s answering; “Of course I can buddy… pick me a princess and I’ll dress up with you”. 

***

The costume discussion continues throughout the whole of dinner, spaghetti eventually turning cold on the kids plates, their conversation about dress colours, shoes, props and face paint seemed far more interesting than actually eating their food. Your two boys discussing who Trent could go as, right now it seemed a battle between Cinderella and Aurora- seeming to love the idea of dressing daddy in a mermaid's tail. All you and Trent can do is smile and laugh at their excitement.

Bath time was the same, poor Sophia sat clueless in the bath with her brothers whilst they decorated her head with mounds of bubbles, telling you they were giving her ‘moana hair’. Even up until bedtime they were discussing October thirty-first, their bedtime story was of course a Halloween themed one, the three of them cuddled up in their pyjamas with mini-illustrated pumpkins on them. “I love you daddy, you’re going to look beautiful as a princess” Jackson whispers gently, Trent tucking him into bed and gently kissing his head, inhaling the familiar scent of his baby, the two of you had certainly done a great job raising them. 

By the time you and Trent get into bed you're exhausted from the endless Halloween discussions. “I wonder what their dressing up as” Trent teases making you giggle, snuggling up close to him as he wraps an arm tightly around you.

“I love you so much, you have no idea” you whisper. He smiles at your words, and as he lays back and closes his eyes and hums “I think the ring on your finger and the three kids give me an idea

[ask-steampunk-america]

Mun I freaking LOVE your art style! America looks so freaking cute the way you draw him!! :3 I love his goggles ;3

// Arnold has become the default character that I draw, almost even a comfort character at this point lol. Also woah I have an artstyle??? I feel like I'm still inconsistent lololol