#/ but my boy just wanted to enjoy the countryside and now he's having an episode in the middle of tokyo

[dernarrleid]

no man’s land. | @badheart​

     Wolfgang does not lose control. He groans and broods and slouches with indignance, denying all involvement in murderous activity when officers question his presence at recent crime scenes. He’s very careful about speaking of details and the who’s of what he’s seen, but Wolfgang manages to slip under the radar most times, because it’s not hard to stay hidden in plain sight when you’re a simple man on the streets of Germany. Tokyo treats him like a different beast entirely. He nearly suffocates at the presence of law enforcement and watchful citizen perched at odd corners and streets ends. He can’t breathe. He can’t feed. Wolfgang feels like an animal — all consuming of instinct, want and need to —to feed. He concentrates and finds it’s a lot easier to do so in the black of the alleyway far into a neighborhood so dingy it reeks of urine and beer and — and meth?

     His hand reaches of the wall, fingers gliding between the brick layout. His other hand comes to his face, holding his forehead, thumb barring sharply to his temple. He waits and wants. The smell of blood fills his nose while the almost distinct chatters of men fill the alley. They sneer and laugh, wondering if he’s just a lost foreigner, wondering if he’s got enough cash for another bottle of that retched smelling beer. Wolfgang would love it if they all disappeared and the dark of the alley gave him enough room to breathe — if the alley were long enough to give time for this affliction to pass and not consume him. Wolfgang does not lose control, but he was never that lucky. He remembers his fingers piercing something gooey. The glint of streetlights hit a piece of metal in one of the assailants pockets and lots of screaming. There was a miserable sort of sobbing noise and he was confused since the only one standing seemed to be him in a pool of blood and another presence too overwhelming to ignore. 

     “Long way from the Sky Tree it seems,” Wolfgang mumbles, gaining his bearings. He has a ghost of a smile when she reaches from her gun, amused at the threat knowing he’d just massacred an annoying gaggle of men. “Would you believe I’m not from here? The hospitality didn’t live up to my expectations.” 

     Wolfgang summons the will of smile fully. He breathes deeply and can finally turn to meet the gaze of a woman who at the very least isn’t perturbed by his outburst enough to tremble. Good, he thinks. Someone he can talk to without having to hide that pesky side of him. “Kind of embarrassin’ to be caught in the middle of a tantrum. I don’t usually like travelling to the city often and, well, as you can see there’s a reason,” Wolfgang looks down to the twitching hand of a man way beyond the grave. “Albeit a very dangerous one. You wouldn’t maybe forget I was here, would you... Officer?”

[punkeccentricenigma]

might I request some headcanons for the rise! boys with an S/O who was born and raised out in the country? I just love the idea of country! reader x city boys (especially since the todd scouts episode)

please, and thank you <3

Rise!Boys with Countryside!Reader

Relationship status: Can be read as romantic or platonic

Reader prounouns: They/Them

TW: Leo being dumb as always, Some aspects described here may be different from the countryside in your countries, Some grammatical errors because english is not my first language.

Author's note: Honestly for the last few days I was just thinking about this idea, because I live in the countryside myself, and now at least I have a better excuse to write about it, lmao. Enjoyyyy!

Leonardo

◇ Leo respects your down-to-earth mentality and your ability to find joy in simple things in life.

◇ However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows right away.

◇ When Leo first met you, he secretly judged you and thought that because you come from the countryside, you seemed boring and uncultured. LOOK AT YOURSELF, LEO.

◇ He tends to subtly highlight your lack of knowledge and city life experience whenever it comes up in conversation.

◇ He secretly compares his urban lifestyle to yours and sometimes feels superior to you.

◇ He might occasionally come across as insensitive and indifferent to certain issues and circumstances you've encountered or witnessed as a person from the countryside.

◇ However, over time, some of these things have lessened or faded away. All thanks to Dr. Feelings

◇ He finds your passion for nature and outdoor activities adorable.

◇ He appreciates how the ethics of hard work and practical skills can balance out his more carefree and humorous nature.

◇ It slightly shocks Splinter, but whatever, lmao.

◇ He admires your sense of adventure and willingness to try new things, even though you come from a rural background.

◇ Leo loves hearing your stories about life in the countryside and thinks they make you even more charming and interesting.

◇ He believes your close connection to nature and respect for animals are endearing.

◇ But if he ever catches you talking to animals or imitating them, you'll get the "weirdo" label.

◇ But he's a bit of an ignoramus himself, bringing up this one scene:

"Wow, [Y.N]! I didn't know you had a swan!"

"...Leo, that's a goose..."

◇ He enjoys hearing about your tight-knit community back home and loves learning about your rural traditions.

◇ Leo appreciates how your ability to adapt quickly and be resourceful in unfamiliar environments can help him broaden his perspective and become more versatile.

◇ You'll have to train him in this at Raphael's request.

◇ Sometimes he'll want to visit the countryside, especially if he's feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being the new leader and after a Kraang invasion. Then, climbing onto the roof and stargazing is a must!

◇ He doesn't quite understand all the talk about plants, but if you have orchards, he'll pick every fruit to try.

◇ Please, give him homemade cherry juice, HE'LL FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.

Raphael

◇ Raph finds you incredibly interesting.

◇ But he's not sure if you're up to date with modern technologies and practices. Despite your exposure to television and the internet, he sometimes doesn't think you have a broad understanding of them.

◇ Besides finding you fascinating, Raph is somewhat surprised by your accent and way of speaking because he's never met anyone quite like you.

◇ Of course, he doesn't make fun of it if you have such an accent.

◇ Raph is genuinely curious about the history of your hometown and the people you know.

◇ He appreciates your rural atmosphere, and the lack of city knowledge doesn't bother him. He actually likes it when he guides you or explain things.

◇ However, he can get irritated sometimes when he asks you a question, and you respond in a way that's clear to you but not to him.

◇ Usually, you use rural slang if you have any.

◇ And sometimes, he can be impatient when trying to explain something to you, and you don't understand. This is where his anger issues come into play, but he's more likely to take it out on himself than on you.

◇ Sometimes, he'd like to go on a trip to your countryside and meet the people who shaped you, but because of the ‘whole situation’, he'll have to settle for the area around your home and fields.

◇ If he manages to find a moment, he'll come. He'll gladly let you guide him and explain everything.

◇ He'll probably start bragging about the skills he's acquired from Todd's training, whether they're useful in your parts or not.

◇ He thinks your conversations with animals are cute and will start talking to them himself.

◇ Except the goose will start chasing him, wanting to nip him.

◇ Plants aren't his strong suit, but like Leo, he'll start picking some fruits from your orchard, asking for permission beforehand.

◇ He loves walking with you in the forest, especially in the approaching evening. That's when he feels the most masculine, protecting you from potential wild creatures.

Donatello

◇ Despite everything, Donnie respects your connection with nature and finds it admirable.

◇ However, despite his ultimately good memories of Todd's teachings, he wasn't that inclined towards topics related to the countryside until he got to know you better.

◇ Donnie might sometimes underestimate you because of your former rural lifestyle and simplicity (using the phrase "common sense tells " literally), considering you now live in the city. However, he realizes that you're equally intelligent in your own way.

◇ He really appreciates that you're willing to listen to his explanations about his new devices. Bonus points if, in subsequent conversations, you remind him of potential solutions based on previous information.

"... And you know, I think when you combine this with that, it could give a good result-- Donnie, what's with your face, are you crying?"

"No, I just looked at Leo's face and felt disgusted!"

◇ He has definitely been moved by the fact that you haven't completely ignored him.

◇ Donnie finds your rural lifestyle and your knowledge of plants and animals intriguing.

◇ You'll probably drag him to the countryside for a few days if he pulls another all-nighter due to his ambitions.

◇ Expect some grumbling of discontent, like that of a five-year-old.

◇ He won't complain about the lack of Wi-Fi; after all, it's the 21st century, and some households have internet. Instead, he'll complain about the weak signal.

*Donatello rocks back and forth, watching a spinning loading wheel on YouTube*

You: *visibly wtf*

◇ If you have animals, you'll likely enlist his help.

◇ He's one of the few who won't think poorly of you when you start talking to the aforementioned animals in his presence. Whether you're having a small talk with a cow or imitating a passing duck, he'll probably do the same.

◇ He'll boast that he can communicate with animals using sign language to impress you.

◇ The Weird Duo.

◇ Ohoho, if you have orchards or gardens, he'll be thrilled!

◇ He loves botany, so ever since he saw the first cherry tree, your conversations always start with botanical topics and curiosities.

◇ In my country, such competitions are rare, but while watching The Incredible Dr. Pol, I noticed that there are frequent contests for the best-grown vegetable/fruit, etc. Expect Donatello to help you with that.

◇ And he might accidentally overdo it with his assistance, hah (those worms from the end of season 2)

◇ Donnie partly considers the peace and quiet of the countryside a welcome change from the city's hustle and bustle and all the stress it puts on him.

◇ But in the long run, it's not for him. He misses the excitement of the city.

◇ And he laments the lack of interesting attractions nearby.

Michelangelo

◇ He appreciates your unique straightforwardness. I don't know how it is in rural areas in other countries, but where I come from, people from the countryside can be incredibly direct and won't hesitate to say anything. This meshes perfectly with his Dr. Delicate Touch persona.

◇ Mikey often teases you about your rural roots, but in a typical friendly manner. You, on the other hand, have permission to tease him back. No mercy.

◇ He really enjoys your accent and dialect if you have one.

◇ Mikey finds your accent adorable and charming.

◇ Michelangelo likes listening to your childhood stories from the countryside.

◇ Michel finds it cute when you use rural sayings and expressions.

◇ Every time you crack a joke or make a wisecrack, Mikey laughs and finds it endearing, even if others don't always get it.

◇ Honestly, he's probably the least judgmental of the four, but he still has his quirks.

◇ Mikey can sometimes find your lack of refinement due to your rural upbringing slightly annoying, especially if you're too slow or don't understand something.

◇ Mikey might find it frustrating when you're afraid or hesitant about new experiences or things you haven't seen before.

◇ BUT, that doesn't mean he won't help you get acquainted with new things; he'll just have to push you as if you were learning to skateboard for the first time.

◇ Oh, and Mikey once taught you how to skateboard.

◇ You fell off the vert ramp.

◇ Anyway, he seems to have some strange attachment to forests and the areas around them, which is why he wanted to go there almost immediately when he heard about your upbringing.

◇ And when he got there, he was thrilled with everything.

◇ Starting from the decoration of the house, through the fauna and flora, to the atmosphere of the place itself.

◇ If he had an art block, this place would definitely unblock it. So, be prepared for frequent visits from the youngest of the turtles.

◇ He thinks it's cute when you talk to animals, but yes, he'll tease you about it a little too.

◇ He'll probably offer to help you with fruit or vegetable picking.

◇ He'll definitely start calling you "pumpkin" or "wild goose," whether you have them with you or not.

◇ He's not a big fan of homemade foods like juices, etc. The kid is used to mechanically processed food.

[dudadragneel]

Hey guys! It's me!

How are you?

Here's another original (that might've been a request or not....) fic for you guys!

I hope you enjoy 💜

(the title idea is a courtesy of @tafeekafee 💜)

I HATE TO ADMIT IT

SKZ Code was a fun content to shoot, it was work either way but at least they had fun. However that didn't mean they weren't tired sometimes when they had to record it and it also didn't mean they didn't suffer, like when Felix almost boiled inside a sauna.

This time they were driving to a rented house, after recording the first segment, on the countryside of Korea and split into two teams in separate cars: Lee Know, Felix, I.N and Hyunjin & Bangchan, Changbin, Han and Seungmin.

In Chan's car, he volunteered to be the driver and Lee Know in the other. The ride to the house wasn't supposed to be long, since it was located at a place not so far from where they departed. But things weren't gonna go smoothly.

A FEW HOURS BEFORE

Chan had woken up tired, which is normal given his position as leader and producer and how their schedules were far from being healthy ones, but this time he was way more tired than usual. He went to bed early and slept some good 8 hours straight, a given in his case, but he woke up feeling like he had pulled an all nighter.

His body was immensely tired and heavy, he was seriously believing he wouldn't be able to get up from the bed. But he needed to, there was no escaping their schedule, unless it was something really serious, which didn't seem to be the case.

He managed to sit up on the bed and contemplated for a while, every fiber of his being was telling him to stay home and rest but he didn't have much of a choice.

He just sat there, mind racing with countless thoughts and that heavy feeling all over his body.

A knock on the door broke his trance and brought him back to earth.

- Hyung? Are you up?

- Yes. I'll be out in a minute.

That familiar voice belonged to Seungmin who had gotten up early and decided that his mission would be waking up the others.

The leader continued to contemplate his life decisions for a few seconds before he forced himself out of the bed to have breakfast and get ready to leave.

Something deep inside his mind told him today wasn't going to be easy.

After eating breakfast and getting ready, the kids left to go record another episode of SKZ Code and while some were excited, Chan was worrying about what might happen to him.

BACK TO THE CAR

Han and Seungmin were in the back chatting and eating some snacks they got on the way to the house while Changbin was on the passenger's seat next to Chan.

The leader was smiling and let out a laugh every once in a while at the kids's antics.

Everything seemed to be going well, or so he thought.

That weird feeling of exhaustion he felt earlier at the dorm, had worsened a bit while recording and now it reached a level of being almost unbearable.

The chatting inside the car went from being enjoyable to annoying his increasingly worse headache. He didn't want to ask the boys to keep quiet so he was content with only turning down the music, which was a mistake on his part as it caught the boys' attention.

- Hyung? Why did you turn down the music?

Changbin said with a cute face and pouting at him.

Chan couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his dongsaeng's cuteness but decided to answer without revealing much.

- Sorry, my head is hurting a bit, that's all.

- Are you okay?

Han asked getting up from his seat so that he could get close to the older ones along with Seungmin.

- Yes. It's just a mild headache, don't worry.

- Okay.

Han answered going back to his seat and getting comfortable again.

- Sorry, hyung. Let's keep it down boys.

Changbin said looking at the others.

But what Chan said was a complete lie. He wasn't fine, it wasn't just a mild headache. His whole body was feeling heavy, since morning, and now to top it off there was a headache and a feeling of nausea building up in his stomach, at a rate faster than he'd hoped.

The road to the house seemed to have gotten long in the past few minutes and the pavement wasn't in its best conditions, there were wholes all around which was making it rather bumpy and that was the worst combo for Chan's headache and nausea.

At each bump, the car would jump a little and Chan's stomach was doing the same, everything he ate for breakfast and during recording was jumping around and turning inside of him, like a washing machine.

A certain turn on the road made the car hit a big bump and jump harder than before and if Felix was in that car, they'd be worried sick for his back because it would definitely had hurt. That movement earned painful "ow"s from everyone inside that car and Chan started to feel that it might've just been the last straw for him.

- Sorry guys, I didn't see it.

He said with a pained smile looking at the backseat from the rear view mirror and then at Changbin.

- It's okay, hyung. But this road is awful. How much longer until we reach the house?

- Not long, I hope.

Chan said with the same pained smile that quickly turned into a frown when he felt an air bubble coming up his throat. He muffled the upcoming burp but it left a foul acid taste in his mouth and that started to trigger everything.

While still trying to focus on the road, his stomach was now swirling around and he could feel it doing so, as if it was a bag full of liquid spinning around and making an awful gurgling sound.

He was almost sure the boys could hear it over their chatting.

Another air bubble made its way up but surprisingly, or not, it brought a bit of reflux as well, which caught him off guard. He brought a hand to his mouth to muffle the burp and when he felt the reflux he quickly suppressed a gag. Crisis averted, or so he thought because he didn't notice that the expression he made wasn't subtle at all.

- Hyung? Are you okay?

- Hm? Y-yes. It's just some reflux, I guess.

- Do you want some water?

- No, it's okay.

He did want water to get rid of the taste in his mouth but he knew that drinking it right now would be the worst idea.

Unfortunately, that gag was in fact the last straw because after it, his stomach was in complete turmoil, all the food sloshing around making him feel miserable and the nausea increasingly worse.

Out of instinct he brought a hand to his stomach pressing a bit and then rubbing it, trying to ease the growing discomfort.

But it wasn't helping and it definitely wasn't going to get better.

His whole body started signaling that things were gonna get bad pretty soon. A cold sweat took over him, he felt hot and cold at the same time, there was sweat dripping down his back.

He couldn't see it but he was sure the color had completely drained from his face and he'd guess his complexion was pale with dark circles under his eyes.

His breath was a bit shaky as well and he tried to control it but wasn't being successful.

Then his stomach cramped and started churning as well, the nausea hitting an unbearable level.

It wasn't a matter of "if" he was gonna throw up but "when".

And his stomach answered that impending question quite quickly.

A harsh cramp made it contract and send liquid up his chest, he could feel it coming but he was driving, he couldn't stop now.

When he felt it at his throat he started to swallow convulsively and clenched the steering wheel for dear life, he couldn't risk throwing up right now so he tried his best to keep on swallowing and he did it until his mouth was red and numb and his eyes were watery.

The feeling of relieve that washed over him when he managed to swallow it down was soon taken over by a strong feeling of dread. Because he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it in one more time.

His stomach contracted again, once more shooting up its contents, making them rush up his chest and throat. He gagged dryly and covered his mouth to suppress another one and that caught Changbin's attention.

- Hyung? What's wrong?

He asked with a voice full of worry turning to face his leader.

Chan couldn't really answer, he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he was gonna throw up, somehow he was holding onto to a last thin thread of hope that he wouldn't.

But he knew that wouldn't be the case and he would put their lives in danger if he insisted on driving while feeling sick like this.

And before he could even try to say something, his body spoke for him.

Chan still had his mouth covered when another gag broke through him and this time he couldn't stop it, he felt his mouth fill with vomit.

Thankfully Changbin was quick to react and grabbed his jacket that was on his lap and placed it under Chan's mouth just in time for the vomit to escape though his fingers soiling the piece of clothing.

- Oh my god, hyung. Stop the car.

Changbin said grabbing the steering wheel as well and guiding the car to a shoulder that, thankfully was only a few meters away.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Chan opened the door and leaned forward as a thick stream of partially digested food gushed out of him, hitting the ground with a sickening sound and unfortunately getting a bit on the door frame as well.

Changbin got out of his seat and made his way to the older boy, while Han and Seungmin just watched in shock.

- Aigoo, hyung. What's going on?

- I don't know...

Chan answered with a raspy voice and getting out of the car.

- I wasn't fe-

He tried to elaborate but was cut off by a gag that brought up more stomach content, hurting his throat in the process.

- Woah. Take it easy hyung.

Changbin said rubbing Chan's back as he proceeded to puke his breakfast and lunch onto the pavement.

- I'm sorry... I wasn't fe- I wasn't feeling well.

- Since when?

- Since morning. I woke up feeling strange, like, too tired.

- Why didn't you tell us?

- I didn't want to worry you guys or affect the shooting.

- Don't do that again, hyung.

- Okay-

Another harsh gag made him bend over again as another bout of vomit mixed with the putrid puddle on the ground.

- Aigoo~ that's it, hyung, get everything out.

Changbin reassured still rubbing Chan's back as his stomach continued to empty itself.

The two younger ones decided to call Lee Know to explain the situation while Changbin took care of Chan.

- Hyung, we just called Lee Know-hyung to tell what happened. He said he'll talk to the staff and will be waiting for us at the house.

- Okay. Thank you. Can you get me some water?

Seungmin looked for a water bottle inside his backpack, while Han recoiled a bit.

Seungmin noticed the strange behavior and after giving Changbin the water bottle he turned his attention to Han.

The young rapper had been nursing an annoying stomach ache since the recording and he had told the others about it, so Seungmin knew exactly where this was going.

- Hyung? Are you okay?

- No, I feel sick...I'm think I'm gonna throw up

- Oh.

The vocalist was taken aback for a moment but reacted quickly getting out of the car as well to stay by Han's side.

The sick boy kneeled down and dry heaved a few times before a productive gag brought up the food he ate during recording.

Seungmin kept patting his back and holding his hoodie back to prevent vomit from getting on it.

Han spat out a few times before throwing up again but he felt empty rather quickly.

- Here, drink this. Are you feeling better now?

- Yeah, thanks. My stomach was already hurting and seeing Chan-hyung throwing up didn't help.

He spat out a mouthful of water and got back into the car, trying to get into a comfortable position, given that his stomach was still hurting although he didn't feel nauseous anymore.

On the other side, Chan was still puking his guts out, while Changbin rubbed and patted his back trying to help his hyung.

- That's it, hyung. You're doing good.

A wet burp brought another wave of vomit making him sway forward but Changbin steadied him and guided him to kneel down.

- Damn it.

Chan cursed under his breath and then broke into a coughing fit that triggered his stomach again which now brought up stomach juice and a few pieces of food.

- Hyung, you'll hurt your throat if you keep this up. Why don't you lean back a bit and try to take deep breaths?

Chan sat down on the floor, leaning his back on the car and taking a few deep breaths. It worked, the nausea was still there but he wasn't feeling the urge to vomit, or at least not as strong as before.

- Here, drink some water.

- Thanks. I'm sorry for soiling your jacket.

- Oh don't worry about it. I can wash it later or you can give me another one.

Changbin joked, earning a chuckle from his leader.

A light breeze blew for a few minutes and Chan took that moment to try to calm himself down. He really wanted to lie down on a comfy bed but he didn't want to get inside the car when the probability of him vomiting again was still a bit high.

After a few minutes, the nausea hit a bearable level, bearable enough to last the rest of the trip to the house.

- Do you think you're good to go?

- Yeah. Can you help me up?

- Sure.

Changbin helped Chan stand up and waited a few seconds to see if the oldest would feel dizzy or sick again.

- You good?

- Yes. Let's go. Han also needs to rest.

Chan heard his first stray kid being sick at the same time as him so he knew the boy also wanted to rest. A long drive wouldn't do good for neither of them.

Changbin would be the one driving, while Chan would try to keep everything under control for the remaining minutes to the house.

Halfway through the drive, Chan started to feel nauseous again and Changbin noticed because the oldest was fidgeting in his seat and clenching his fists.

- Feeling sick again, hyung?

- yeah...a little.

- You can hold my hand if that'll make you feel a little more comfortable. Plus it feels weird if I don't hold something while driving.

- Thanks.

Chan did accept the offer, why try dealing with that alone when he had his dongsaeng there to help him?

Thankfully the rest of the ride had Chan controlling the urge and squeezing Changbin's hand from time to time but no other vomiting episode.

As soon as they arrived, he went straight into the bathroom and then directly to bed.

Since Lee Know and the others arrived earlier, they talked with the staff about Chan's condition and decided to have him sit out the rest of the recording and told him he could join them later if he felt better, but if not, there wouldn't be a problem.

While in other situations, the boys would test his patience during recording, they knew when to take things seriously. So they took turns to check on him between breaks and made sure to not make too much noise, without succeeding 100%.

Chan managed to rest, even though he could hear the ruckus downstairs.

Even if he was tired and sick, seeing the kids have fun always made him feel happy.

[akookminsupporter]

Kpop is just an industry not genre. They release songs in different genres.. especially BTS have a wide variety of genres.

For me, I know many kpop groups... know as in just know their names. And some of the very popular members. I listen to kpop songs I vibe with.. but that doesn't mean I stan them or even take an effort to atleast checkout who are the members. Maybe it's one song I like or maybe it's many of their title songs. For eg. Seventeen. I like their 'SUPER' but I can only identify few members of that group. But for TWICE I know most of their title songs and knows members too but except watching their performances like watching a pretty performance I don't have any other connection with members. I don't listen to any groups regularly nor watch any of their vareity contents.

Mostly because even after listening to their songs none of them were intresting enough to check out more about them... It's not that I'm purposefully doing it lol...but just that they don't intrest me much. Now even if I watch some variety contents, in my mind I automatically compare them to bangtan shows because wow the difference is so clear just like the difference in year end shows we watched 🥲💀

Yesterday I watched a skz code episode of straykids with my sister who's a stay. Ik many people enjoy it.. but for me it felt wayyyy to dry and scripted. For eg. They were at a country side for a break, cooking and camping. Now what have we watched in Bon voyage countryside episode? Them wearing minimal or even no makeup, wearing regular clothes suitable for cold climate, each doing their own jobs and cooking delicious looking meals. That's what we've been watching all these years... our standard. And what I saw here ? 8 boys who are styled like they are about to perform on stage with pretty jewelery and designer clothing. Playing football or volleyball to decide who will do each job and cooked some plain af food.. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that chicken was plain af 😭. It was like a cultural shock for me who watched JK taking a lot effort to cook sauces or Tae waking up with drool on his chin or Jimin wearing his puffy jacket and beanie.

So yeah.. till now only bangtan broke that artist vs casual listener barrier for me. They are the most rich, most successful artists in kpop but my broke ass can only relate to them 😭🤡 I can't relate to an idol who's looking like he's on stage to perform while doing a simple live when here I'm seeing JK's 4 hours kinda live.

I agree that it's an industry, but it's also a genre, think about it. Although it's true that K-pop is a blend of many genres, influences, and sounds, there's something intrinsic to them, and indeed, that's one of the differences between BTS and many of their peers, which is why many consider BTS in a different category, and some are even bolder in considering them an entirely different genre, at least compared to their peers in Korea.

When you're so immersed in this, as many of us are, it's normal to learn about the industry, which means learning the names of other groups. I can mention the names of many groups, but I couldn't identify a specific member, much less one of their songs, even if I've heard one of their songs before.

The point is, it's not that we don't believe these other groups are talented or don't have good songs; the issue is that what they have doesn't interest us. And it's not that we don't want to give them a chance; it's that what we've seen hasn't been enough to want to give them one. That's not our problem.

I understand regarding variety content. It has happened to me too; on TikTok, several times I've seen clips that are funny and catch a bit of my attention, but when I look for the full video, I get bored after the first minute, and like you, I can't help but make comparisons with BTS's variety content. Is it fair? I don't know, but that's what ends up happening.

For most of the fandom, the most important thing is the music, the connection to BTS's music, but it's also them. It's the sincerity in their words when talking about the fandom. It's everything they've done for their fandom. It's the fact that, to some extent, they've always been honest with us and have shown us their true selves. And being a bit cynical, it's the fact that they've organically known how to nurture the social relationship the fandom has with them.

[spotaus]

Okay, putting a New Age au thing under the cut (likely a ramble-)

So, this one might come from my own hcs a bit too much. However, smth @ancha-aus (hope u don't mind the tag-) said about a situation in which newly teen Night would reach out to *Cross* if he was sick or feeling unwell? I thought a lil more and I ended up deciding that Cross is the most reliable one of the four to keep Nightmare to his word for his own good.

By that, I mean the others can't say no to Night when they have even an inkling he's uncomfortable, and while Cross definitely also would rather Night be comfy, he's also someone Night picked out for his willingness to follow orders. So, say, Night says Ccino is in charge if he falls ill. But, Ccino also has to manage a lot, so Ccino sets the guys to care for Night directly. Night reaches out to Cross, because he's aware even if he's sniffly and miserable, Cross *will* make him eat his dinner and get healing done. Killer? Would honestly probably just curl up around Night and make things worse and/or get himself sick too (<- has never cared for a sick person). Dust? Would try, but the moment Night looks even a bit more distressed than normal, he'd give up on trying to make him do what he doesn't want to. Horror? 2nd best to care for him, but he's also been known to... not but heads, just have a sort of inherent rivalry with Ccino regarding healing and rest (tradition stuff). So Cross? Cross would be the perfect storm of making sure Night feels secure and safe and comfy, while also using his Older Brother skills to get Night to stop being fussy and just do the things that will make him feel better.

On that same note! Cute brotherly things these nerds do w/ Night:

Dust loves playing traditional table games, like chess or checkers, with Night. It's a calm activity they can do together pretty much anywhere, and I know that Dust would bring it out anytime Night seemed down or stressed.

Horror? Horror loves to take trips to the countryside, buy when Night becomes small, it only makes sense for them to visit the gardens more often instead. Horror has a ridiculous amount of knowledge on flora since he lived out on the outskirts and used to farm/forage for a living. Night loves sitting under a tree with Horror after a long day.

Killer has... a lot he likes to do with Night. He's been here the longest, so he knows Night's hobbies thoroughly (Nightmare him go everywhere with him during paranoia episodes) but Killer enjoys the most reading with Night. Whether that's Night reading to him or vice versa. (I like to think Night might have taught his boys to read, or at least Horror and Killer, because I doubt they knew before-) It's his first instinct if Night I'd upset to grab a book. It was what helped him escape his episodes, and now it helps him calm from night terrors and decompress after stressful meetings.

Cross (headcanon incoming) really enjoys music. I think whenever he has the chance, he and Night will go to the music room, and Cross will play. He learned Cello when he was younger, alongside his training as a soldier, and it was one of the few times he was able to be around his siblings normally. Night knows the piano and viola (Dream learned Violin) so Night and Cross will play together sometimes, to decompress and to help Cross shake off that wall he puts up while he's working.

And! When Night was still running on the Apple Magic, their favorite group activity was always Sparring. The fighting was how Night taught the four to be so trusting of eachother, because he would tell them to incapacitate him as a team. If the worked together, they always has more fun and got used to trust eachother like an extra limb (Like Brothers). Night was always too swift for them to catch, most of the time, but it posed a challenge. When Night lost the apple magic, he never really got back that combat prowess he had before, so they couldn't spar the way they used to... To make up for it, Night and his brothers will sometimes have game nights that involve sparring challenges. Like, passing Night between eachother in fun ways, or hide and seek with him, or tags things that don't require Night to have amazing reflexes like he used to, that still let the group have fun!

Bonus Round for the side characters!

Error! Sometimes when Nightmare is really liking a story, Error will weave him a little "tapestry" of a scene out of his strings. Conversely, Night loves to sit and listen to Error ramble about his latest craft project or his new magical device. They bond over info dumping and insane passion for stuff. (Night is also allowed into Error's 'extra floors' which he weaves into the rooms with high ceilings as a safe-haven for himself.)

Ccino! They have an odd relationship, babysitter, turned confidant, turned... both? But Ccino loves when Night offers to help him make food. Like, at first it was a way to make sure Night didn't starve hinself, but then he kept ordering new interesting ingredients and recipes, and they bonded over the craft. It's a time when they both feel extremely at ease.

Lastly... I'm thinking about slipping Crop and Straw in as an homage to RealAge again, but idk where I'd plop them just yet! Maybe Crop is where Night sources a lot of supplies from? Maybe he's a guy who hid Night and a few of the guys after the first escape from Dream? We'll see lmao.

[kemakoshume]

Secrets Whispered in Writing — gojo x f!reader x geto

summary: Traveling through Edo-era Japan under the guard of two samurai—Satoru and Suguru—you find yourself in the mecca of art, music, and sex. You write your feelings down in your diary. Gojo and Getou are nosey.

· this is a samurai champloo!au based on episode 12 of the series. you don't need to watch the show to enjoy this but you should definitely watch it. it's amazing.

a/n: remember that samurai champloo fic i wrote for the lovely @cyancherub's "back from the dead" collab like... almost a year ago? lmao. well, i rewrote it, added a bunch to it, and made it satosugu x reader. so, here's that :) also posted on AO3. only the diary entries are in first-person; the rest of the fic isn't.

warnings: threesome (M/M/F), oral sex (f!receiving), double penetration.

❁ July 2nd — Sunny, then cloudy ❁

Gojo, Getou, and I landed in Edo for an extended mission today.

This is our fourth town and sixth month together. Things feel good.

I don’t have much to say about Edo except—wow. The people here are wild.

They make beautiful art with lacquers and textiles finer than silk.

The music feeds the soul and the food fuels carnal hunger.

They have sex without sexuality, and they have it in abundance.

Just between us, dear diary, the desire to throw myself into the debauchery of this town grows more and more with every hour we spend here.

What am I to do?

xx

❁ July 4th — Cloudy ❁

I met a prostitute in a bar today. She was very lovely.

She asked about my companions and how a country girl like me learned how to tend to two strong samurai.

I didn’t tell her that they aren’t technically samurai.

They’re just two bozos with a little training and nice reflexes that can wield swords.

But anyway… I also didn’t tell her that I don’t ‘tend’ to them.

I’m afraid to admit that I want to.

xx

❁ July 5th — Rainy, then foggy ❁

Today, I saw something that my eyes could’ve never imagined.

I’ve heard murmurs for ages that men here explore in ways that they don’t in the countryside. Today, I saw it.

Two men, out in the open inside our ryokan, making love like men do to women.

Now I can’t help but wonder if those two do the same when I’m not around.

If they’ve ever thought about it…

Hmph

xx

❁ July 7th — Rainy, with sun ❁

I saw that prostitute again.

She suggested that the boys and I go to a bathhouse.

We went, and I saw it again.

Two men, but this time with a woman—another worker.

All three of them, together. I didn’t know that was possible.

xx

❁ July 8th — Rainy ❁

I can’t stop picturing it.

The three of us, like those people in the bathhouse.

If it were possible.

xx

❁ July 10th — Warm, and wet ❁

A handsome man who paints portraits asked me on the street if he could draw me.

I said yes. He showed me his home, and he drew me nude.

He asked if I could touch myself… like the yuujo girls that sit in the shop windows do to attract customers.

I said yes. He drew that too.

My mind raced with thoughts of Suguru’s polished hands and Satoru’s slick tongue the entire time.

Fuck.

xx

❁ July 11th — Cloudy, with sunshine ❁

Things feel funny.

Getou held my waist today as he walked past me.

He and Gojo haven’t fought in two days.

Well, each other, at least.

They’ve fought plenty of other people.

Strange.

xx

❁ July 12th — Foggy ❁

We’ll only be in Edo for one more day.

I don’t want to leave.

The energy is infectious.

I’ve caught it like a disease.

xx

❁ July 13th — Sunny, but cool ❁

Gojo suggested we stay another night.

He conned a guy out of a home to stay in.

Getou and I said yes.

xx

❁ July 14th — Sunny ❁

I figured it out.

I know you two are reading these. Getou—give Gojo my regards.

And answer my questions ~

Cowards.

xx

“So, are you going to explain yourselves or just sit in silence all night?”

You looked down at the two men from your position at the head of your shared sleeping room, staring down at them sitting on the floor in front of you while you leaned on the homeowner’s large wooden desk. Satoru sat with his long legs crossed at the knees—his arms folded in a similar fashion across the lean muscle of his chest. Suguru did the same, though his large indigo blue haori sleeves hid his muscular arms, and his hands were interlaced in his lap—almost like he was meditating. Their faces housed similar scowls, though Gojo’s was characteristically indignant while Getou looked typically temperate.

For a moment, the room was vacant of your voices. The only sound that was audible between the firm wooden walls was your breathing—heavy against the weight of your breasts beneath the lining of your delicate yukata. The mid-summer warmth bled into the air, making all three of you bead lightly with a thin sheen of sweat.

“Well?” you said, your tone insistent as the sound of cicadas nestled in the trees grew louder from outside the ryokan.

Gojo huffed, shaking out the pleasantly clean—for once—mop of wavey white curls on top of his head.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve calling us cowards when you were busy hiding your feelings in your diary,” he said, his voice gruff as he moved his line of sight from the floor and fixed it on you. “Yeah, we read your stupid diary! Shouldn’t leave shit lying around if you don’t want anyone to see.”

A deep inhale of air filled your lungs, only for it to be expelled twice as fast. “Satoru,” you said, your eyes pointed and glaring at the wild-haired man, “that was one of my personal things. I don’t touch your swords, so why would you touch my diary? It’s basically the same thing!”

He scoffed, something akin to a laugh bubbling in his throat. “Do you protect us with that journal, princess? Can that journal cut your cute little fingers off if you wield it wrong? Hm?”

You huffed, sputtering out rushing words to negate the man’s sentiments. Though, as even Getou breathed out a chuckle, you knew your protests fell on two sets of deaf ears.

“So, no then?” Gojo said, cocking his full lips into a lazy smile. “Hear that, Suguru? She thinks her diary is the same thing as a sword.”

Your foot hit the floor with a dull thud as you stomped one down in petulant irritation. “That’s not what I said! And, anyway, it’s still my thing. My private thing. You had no right to read it!”

Satoru adjusted his body, sitting so that his right leg was still crossed, but now his left was propped up—making the already lanky man look even larger as he spread out his limbs.

“I didn’t read anything,” he said, feigning innocence—as the man was notably illiterate. “But, you can’t stand here and play the dumb card with us, princess. You say you didn’t want us to see, but you left the thing on my side of the room—and you know I’m nosey. And you left it here unattended, out in the open, knowing that Getou here can read. For something you’re so protective of, you sure do a lousy job at keeping it hidden. Unless—”

“She wanted us to read it, as proven obvious by the last submission in the journal,” Suguru said, lifting his gaze to look up at you as well. “And your incessant desire to know our thoughts about the ill-kept secrets you filled the pages with.”

Despite your higher position, being the one standing, suddenly you felt small in front of the two men. Getou—the stoic man with long black hair and piercing eyes, with dewy milk-white skin unwithered despite your days in the sun, and Gojo—the other man sworn to protect you on your journey, with untamed hair and tan skin—facial hair that added a more masculine edge to his thinner physique, and a tongue as quick as the draw of his sword.

The two couldn’t have been more different in most ways. Suguru was refined; Satoru was a menace. Yet somehow, despite the difference in their dispositions, in moments like this, they couldn’t have felt more similar. When they were toying with you with their words, passing you back and forth to be teased and taunted in that way you begrudgingly enjoyed, their similarities shined. They were always at their best when it came to playing with you.

“Well, out with it then,” Gojo said, tapping his foot impatiently. “We’ve already decided to share you, so get on with it and ask.”

You blinked, your lashes fluttering in disbelief as you scoffed. “Share me?” you said, followed by a series of incomplete thoughts flowing out in a blur from your lips. “I—I just… share? Me, with both of you? Do I look like a geiko to you? I mean… Satoru, I would never, and Suguru, you barely even look at me half the time. So, I—”

Suguru stood up without a word, crossing the small distance between where he sat and where you stood with three long strides. Your protests ceased as he slid his body against yours, his front flush against you as the man held your face in his hands.

“Stop talking,” he said firmly, making the rush of words halt on your tongue. “We read enough to know what you want. Do you want it to be a reality, or are you content with it being a personal fairytale forever?”

You looked up into Suguru’s deep onyx-colored eyes, somehow tinged even darker with a hint of something you’d never seen on the man’s face before. The fixed position of his jaw, like the man was holding back words—which, for him, was strange—enticed you to nod as he lowered his hands to your hips, guiding you to sit back on the desk.

“Good, then lay down.”

You did as you were told and laid down on the desk, feebly attempting to hold the slipping fabric of your yukata closed in the front as the fabric stretched in the new position.

“Oh, now she’s shy,” Gojo murmured, rolling his eyes as he stood too, coming over to sit next to you on the heavy desk. “But you showed that hack painter the goods with no problem?”

Satoru gripped the obe keeping the thin fabric closed, looking down at you with those crystal-blue eyes in wait until you nodded your head and moved your hands—removing them from where they’d been gripping the garment tight to shield your bare skin beneath.

“Are you hustling us?” Suguru asked, running his hands up your nude body beneath the fabric, causing it to pool around you like a halo as the fabric fell off of you and down onto the desk, only still connected to you by the sleeves. “No wrapping for your breasts. No drawers. And your skin is so supple—practically begging to be touched.”

He wasted no time in dipping his head down then, leaning his tall body over your smaller frame easily to envelop you in his warmth—the weight of his mouth on your skin sending heat down from the crown of your head to your feet as a shiver coursed through your body. He nosed your neck, nipping the area with his teeth before soothing the pain away with kisses while his hands traveled the curves and dips of your body.

Gojo watched, looking down at you both as Getou took one taut nipple into his mouth and sucked before moving his attention down the length of your torso.

“You smell wonderful right here,” Suguru said, kissing his way down until he was squatting, his face level with your cunt. “So wet for me, and I’ve barely done anything to you. Have you thought about this for that long?”

You nodded, willing to throw away a bit of your pride as the man’s mouth hovered so close but still too far away from where you wanted it.

“Me?” Satoru said indignantly, scrunching his nose in irritation. “I thought this was supposed to be a group project, casanova.”

The blue-eyed man adjusted his body to be comfortable as he lowered his head, taking one of your nipples into his mouth and sucking. You ran your hand through Gojo's hair, lightly gripping the soft strands to keep his mouth on you as Suguru lifted your legs, pushing them back and resting his arms against the back of your thighs to keep them open.

“It’s like a little pearl,” Suguru said, mostly to himself as an airy moan left your lungs due to Gojo adding his hands to the mix, pinching your unattended nipple with his fingers.

He lowered his mouth down to your “pearl” then, flicking the muscle tentatively at first, then relaxing into the motions as you wiggled your hips to make him move.

“See?” you said, your voice not sounding like your own as you spoke. “You two work together great. Perfect partners in crime.”

You felt more than saw Suguru's eye roll as he smacked the soft skin of your inner thighs, and Satoru very subtly added his teeth into the next bout of suction against your sensitive nipple. The slight sting of pain added to the pleasure, and you felt the feeling growing beneath your skin as their tongues worked harder against your body.

Satoru moved, adjusting to lay on his side next to you as he toyed with your breasts. The sound of their tongues on your skin was loud in the quiet room as your high crept up on you, building to a fever pitch until you felt nothing but wet heat and saw infinite darkness behind your eyelids. Soft whimpers and long moans poured out of your mouth to accompany it.

“Do you want to taste her? She tastes divine,” Getou murmured toward Gojo, his words slurred slightly as he licked you gently as your orgasm came down. He looked like a man starved; like he couldn’t care less that the “end” had occurred. He just wanted more of you.

Satoru lifted his head, stopping his mission of marking any skin he could get his mouth on. “I wouldn’t describe pussy as divine, but you do your thing. I want to feel her inside,” he said, looking down to watch Getou flick his tongue against your slick folds with reverence again before hopping off of the desk.

“Let’s move this party down to the floor, hm?” Gojo said, running his blunt nails along the sensitive skin of Suguru’s neck as he walked behind him. He slotted his hand in the man’s hair, pulling his head backward to remove him from his daze of feasting on you.

You couldn’t hear well over the beating of your heart in your ears, but you’re sure you heard a slight whine tumble from Getou’s mouth just as a disappointed groan left yours.

“No,” you said, pouting with irritation as Gojo coaxed Getou backward with his hold on his hair. “I felt another one coming.”

He hummed, guiding Suguru down to the ground that was padded with thick tatami mats. “Don’t pout,” Satoru said, walking back over to you. “You’ll get yours again, princess, don’t worry. Waiting for it a little won’t kill you.” He wasted no time lifting you off the furniture, carrying your weight easily with his deceptively strong arms.

He sat you down in between Suguru's legs allowing the other man to hold you close to his chest with his arm wrapped around your waist. As you settled into his lap, your eyes focused forward on Gojo, and you couldn’t stifle the gasp as you saw his length. It hung free from his pants, heavy and blushed at the tip between his legs as he approached you on the tatami.

“Don’t act all innocent,” he said, leaning into your space to kiss you before slotting his legs with Getou’s—caging you between them both. “You’ve seen a dick before.”

You blinked dumbly, wondering how much an insufferable man could be blessed with so much girth. “Not one like that,” you muttered, yelping with a shout as Gojo landed a swift spank against your sensitive bud.

“Shut up,” he groaned, resting his hand on the firm bone above your cunt while his thumb dipped down into the mess of sloppy wet slick coating your sex. “Getou, get your cock out. I want to try something.”

The typical temperate man made no contests as he normally would. He simply lifted your body enough to wiggle his pants down and placed you back down in his lap, pressing his hard length against your back.

“It’s out. Now what?”

Gojo smirked, pushing your legs toward your chest as he sat up enough to be kneeling.

“Hold these,” he said, gripping your thighs until Getou’s hands replaced his—holding you open and exposed for the world to see.

“I’ll get her nice and ready, then you can have your fill, Suguru.”

Gojo fisted his cock, running his hand up and down the length a few times before nestling himself against your entrance—impatiently asking for your approval with his eyes. You nodded as Getou tilted your chin up to meet his gaze, and he kissed you—deep and filled with passion you didn’t know the man was capable of while Gojo sheathed himself into your wet heat, groaning as he bottomed out.

“Jesus, you’re soft. Everywhere, but fuck—right here. Inside,” he said, his breathing ragged as he began to move. His characteristic ruthlessness came out in full force as he wasted no time thrusting into you, making your body jolt and rub against Getou’s abdomen, and thus his cock trapped in-between.

“A little less rough, Gojo,” Getou said, a weak moan spilling from his lips as a particularly firm thrust that made him rut against you harder than he meant to. “I’d rather not cum on her back, at least not like this.”

Satoru laughed, loosening his grip on your hips as he looked the other man in the eye. “Well, get inside of her then, dumbass. I’ll wait.”

You allowed your body to be rag-dolled as the men exchanged places inside of you—Satoru’s hard length pulling out as Suguru slid inside.

“‘S’ different,” you said, moaning into the exchange as Gojo’s girth was switched with Getou’s length. “Fucking good. It’s really good.”

Suguru cooed at you, kissing you messily as one of his hands found your nipple while the other gripped your waist—holding you still while Suguru fucked you. Satoru busied his hands with your clit as he let the other man get his fill, tugging his own cock as he watched his fuck into you nice and deep despite the position.

Gojo and patient were two words that had never complimented each other well, so when he pressed his length against your entrance, with Getou still inside, all you could do was beg for more despite the surprise. You gasped when he lightly breached your cunt, accidentally slipping in when you slammed down onto Getou’s cock. Satoru had been jerking himself off with his tip against your folds. Still, once the idea was there…

“Do it again,” you said, taking a deep breath when Suguru stopped his thrusts for a moment to process what you were asking for.

The two men communicated something with their eyes and then directed their looks down to you.

“Well, she did say she wanted us both, right? Like that prostitute and her clients at the bathhouse?” Gojo said, faltering as your breathing quickened once you pieced together that the two were okay with what you wanted.

It should have terrified you. Absolutely petrified you, but it didn’t. Your heart raced with excitement as the two men positioned themselves to do what your dreams couldn’t have conjured on their own. You felt your cunt drip with want at the mere thought of it, and the two men—the men who put their lives on the line for yours daily, who loved you so deeply in their own ways— were both ready to make it happen.

“I want it,” you whimpered, wiggling your hips back and forth to entice the man to move. For one of them to do something. “I want you both.”

You could feel Suguru’s body tense as you said the words, but you lulled his worries with a massaging squeeze with your walls around his cock—eliciting a deep moan from the man and at that moment, Satoru made you whole.

His cock nestled in snug against Getou’s, stretching you to your limits, then he moved. Slow at first, with nothing but careful intent in his eyes as he let you adjust. But after a few minutes, filled with distracting kisses and caresses on all the spots you needed their hands the most, Gojo fucked you—and you saw stars. Everything was shrouded in darkness after that. Your eyes snapped closed, and your ears no longer processed sound as the overwhelming sensation of fullness processed in your nerves, driving you to the brink of insanity as the two men rutted into you—grabbing any flesh they could reach while tangling their tongues with yours—and each other—before you were all reaching your peaks, stuffed and satiated with the warm trembling of post-coital glow.

It was bliss.

“What else do you want to try, Satoru?” Suguru panted, breathless as you all soaked in each other’s presence on the quickly cooling tatami mats. Kissing and cuddling once Satoru pulled out of you, while Getou decided to leave his cock inside you for warmth.

“Hell if I know. She’s the creative one here,” Satoru said, a lazy smile gracing his face again as he pulled you into a kiss.

“That she is.” Suguru purred, nuzzling his nose against the crown of your head. “We have all the time in the world to try everything you dream of and more, princess.”

You hummed, letting the two kiss you and touch you to your heart's content, falling into the rhythm of ‘want’ all over again.

“You know… you two never really answered my question,” you said between kisses, interrupting Suguru as he rubbed circles against your clit with his long middle finger.

“The question being?” he asked, resuming his movements as he stopped trying to rack his brain for the answer on his own.

“Have you ever done this when you’re alone?” You asked, placing a quick kiss on the samurai's throat as you gazed at Satoru. “Did you think I didn’t notice you kissing, too?”

They looked between each other, scowled, and groaned a matching, “only in your dreams.”

Though the slightest hint of hesitation gave them away, and the night of exploration continued.

------

thanks for reading <;3 taglist; ao3; twitter

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE THREE || GIRL OF STEEL

↳ featuring : itadori yuji + fushiguro megumi + kugisaki nobara + gojo satoru from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : swearing and EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 10 february

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 5.7k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : for myself 

↳ next episode : curse womb must die

↳ barista’s notes : i am back again with another episode of jujutsu kaisen everyone ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆ this will be the last update for now since i want to get some of your requests done due to my pushing them back to get the first three episodes done! i hope you enjoy this cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen) and come again ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter

3. this whole thing might be confusing and please don’t expect a part four soon because i will do it when i am ready or feel like i can at the right time ʕ ᵒ ᴥ ᵒʔ

4. i don’t know, if i am going to add this onto my masterlist since this was just for fun to be honest!

Taken back to his discovery, you turned back to look at Gojo will a deadpan expression leading him to then carefully suggest, “Since you are part of the lost L/N clan, I won’t tell the higher-ups about your existence but rather have you twist your name slightly when you enrol, how does that sound?”

Glancing at the teacher with suspicion, you tried to hide the gut-wrenching feeling that there was not a possible chance of you now escaping from this. You had been caught and found and there was no way to lie yourself out of this situation you were in, not when Gojo had discovered who you really were while Fushiguro seemed to look clueless on what was going on between his teacher and the female sorcerer in front of him.

Letting out a sigh of frustration once again, you looked up at the sky, letting the same moonlight bathe your face as it did for Sukuna a few minutes ago.

“What a drag”

                                              ꕥ

‘What the hell did I get myself into you?’

While sipping on the straw of your orange juice carton, you were currently leaning against a railing in the city of Toyko within the Harajuku district in front of a train station, where you were supposed to meet with the new student that had enrolled in the school.

Between you were both Itadori, who was eating an ice lolly while sitting on the same railing, and Fushiguro, who was just standing while facing towards you both, as they were waiting for the same person as well as a special someone who was supposed to be here with the three of you.

“How are there only three first-years? Isn’t that too few?” Itadori curiously asked as he turned to Fushiguro for the answer to his understandable questions, since he was in shock that a year group could be so small for a large school like Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.

“Well, have you ever met anyone who can see curses before?” Fushiguro questioned, as he was trying to make his new classmate get the answer he was looking for.

“Hm, expect for L/N, who hid it from everyone, nope,” Itadori than answered, leading Fushiguro look at you for a second, only to discover you still continuing to drink the orange juice that you had bought earlier while looking at the entrance of the station in a daze, it was like you were ignoring the two of them.

“That just proves how small a minority jujutsu sorcerers are,” Fushiguro explained before reminding Itadori about a really important piece of information that the vessel seemed to have forgotten. “Remember, that L/N is now Gojo Y/N, since Gojo-sensei changed her name for privacy reasons,” Fushiguro stated, leading to your classmate to look at you with a more surprised look.

“Why are you now referred to as Gojo rather than your last name?” Itadori queried as he leaned forward to get a better look at you. This reminder of your changed name led to your eyes to squint in annoyance as you steadily but furiously began to scrunch your carton since your situation, in your opinion, had gone from bad to worse.

“Ah….I’m not really sure, to be honest,” you answered with a lie, as you moved the plastic straw away from your lips as you then stirred the box around like it was a glass of wine.

‘Ugh….Gojo...’

                                              ꕥ

“Stareeeeeeeeeeee”

Looking down at the document sheet that was handed to you, you were taken by sudden surprise at the name section that was on the top left of the sheet, as there was a subtle change made from what you could recall from your birth name.

“Gojo Y/N…” you muttered under your breath leading to your teacher to clap his hands in delight before presenting you with his classic cheeky smile.

“Ah~ you are now my adoptive daughter~” Gojo cheerfully confessed, leading you to pause for a second before looking back up at the special-grade sorcerer with widened eyes - like a deer caught in headlights - once you processed the information in your head.

“How is everyone going to believe that is true? There is no way, people will believe that if they see the documents were signed yesterday or today,” you argued, trying to convince him that the excuse he gave to hide your identity was ridiculous. However, before you could even get a second word in, you unexpectedly felt a finger being pressed lightly onto your lips as if to tell you to hush yourself.

“Don’t worry, I manipulated the documents to say that I had adopted you five years ago, so your secret is safe with me and the principle, none of the higher-ups knows and none of the other students as well except for Yuji and Megumi,” Gojo informed you with a smirk, as if telling you that you had been proven wrong. Sighing in frustration, you finally gave up with the argument and handed the sheet back to Gojo as you began to fully take in where you were right now.

It was such a quick process. The day your schoolmate Itadori Yuji became the vessel of the King of Curses, was the same day that both Fushiguro and Gojo took you to Jujutsu Tech to attend and become a student at their school. In your mind, you were still supposed to be back home in Sendai. Back home in the empty house that used to be shared with your mother. Back home where you were away from the city life and peacefully in the countryside away from the hustling capital while blending into the crowd as if you were just a normal student with a normal life. 

If you hadn’t come back to school that night. 

If you hadn’t noticed the curse back at the rugby field.

If you hadn’t even looked out that window, to begin with.

All this wouldn’t have happened. 

None of it. 

You still would have been hidden like you were supposed to be.

“Oh! L/N, you’re staying here as well?” 

Snapping out of your daze, you quickly turned back around to find the source of the voice that called out for you, only to discover both Itadori and Fushiguro walking towards you leading you to then slowly close your dorm door before greeting them with a small wave.

“Ah, ah, it’s now Gojo Y/N boys, make sure to not say her last time,” Gojo quickly stated, causing both of the boys to look at their teacher with such bewilderment before turning their head towards you as if you were going to explain to them what was the reasoning behind this sudden change. 

To be honest, there was no point in your opinion. Itadori had no idea or clue on who the three families were in the jujutsu world and it was such effort to explain to him the reasons why these families were so famous and as for Fushiguro, he could probably discover that on his own so, once again, there was no point on giving them an answer.

“Well, it’s all good!” Gojo suddenly stated, as he once again clapped his hands together with a gleeful expression displayed on his face leading you to look to the side with an annoyed glance, as you didn’t need nor want the happy-go-lucky enthusiasm after discovering you were now ‘part’ of the Gojo clan as someone’s adoptive daughter. “Most importantly, we’re heading out tomorrow, we’re gonna go pick up the fourth first-year!” Gojo declared to the three of you causing a total of three pairs of eyes to look at him as you, Itadori and Fushiguro began to process the information.

‘Another one huh?’

                                             ꕥ

“By the way, didn’t you say I was the third and L/N was the fourth?” Itadori questioned, as he suddenly remembered that you and him unexpectedly enrolled in the sorcerer school leading him to wonder how long has it been since the ‘second’ student had been enrolled and why they were only just arriving now.

“Their entry was decided a while ago, you know what our school’s like, everyone has unique circumstances and remember it’s Gojo, not L/N,” Fushiguro answered while trying to remind Itadori of your new name, leading him to place his hand on the back of his neck before informing you and Fushiguro that he was just used to calling you by your original last name.

“It’s fine, just call me Gojo when we are around other people excluding Gojo-sensei, okay?” you reassured Itadori, causing the cheerful boy to nod at you, informing you that he understood your statement.

“Sorry for the wait!” Gojo shouted at you three as he was walking towards you before noticing a change of look between his two new students. “Your uniforms made it in time, I see,” Gojo uttered as he peered at both you and Itadori before giving an approving nod as if he was a fashion designer looking at his models before hitting the runway.

From what Gojo has stated, Itadori was wearing the classic blue uniform with the noticeable two pins sewed onto the left side to indicate that he was a sorcerer at jujutsu tech with a red hoodie that added a hint of colour compared to his counterpart Fushiguro, who had a high neck. On the other hand, you were sporting a short jacket with a white dress shirt underneath while wearing a long skirt that had a slit on the side to give your legs some room, revealing the thigh-high black socks you were wearing to cover some of the skin from the gentle winds that were coming while your katana was resting in a bag as you were carrying it on your left shoulder to conceal your weapon from the other citizens around.

“Yeah, it’s a perfect fit,” Itadori said while showing his teacher the thumbs up before suddenly commenting, “though it’s slightly different from Fushiguro’s, it has a hood for one,” as he started to point the differences between his uniform to his new classmate’s to which caused you and the mentioned sorcerer to look at him while he tugged on his red hoodie.

“That’s because the uniforms can be customised upon request,” Gojo mentioned, leading you to discover and finally understand why your uniform looked completely different to the one another student was wearing, all you remembered about her was that she had greenish hair while wearing a pair of glasses.

‘So, he was the one that put the request in huh?’

“But I never put in any requests,” Itadori commented, as he was confused on why there was an alteration to his uniform without his knowledge.

“I was the one who put on the custom order, as well as my daughter new uniform~” Gojo said with a smile as he playfully decided to pull on your cheek leading you to smack his hand away, resulting in him pouting while rubbing the back on his hand like your smack had caused him some pain.

“Whatever, I guess,” Itadori remarked, as he looked down onto his hoodie.

“Be careful, Gojo-sensei has a tendency to do things like that,” Fushiguro warned both you and itadori before looking back to the mentioned sorcerer with a question in mind. “Most importantly, why are we meeting up in Harajuku?” Fushiguro curiously asked since it was a bit strange to him that a student didn’t just arrive at the school like all three of you did.

“Because it’s what she asked for,” Gojo answered before Itadori randomly noticed a popcorn stand before declaring that he wanted some to enjoy leading you to walk behind him to make sure he didn’t get lost within the city that was crowded with the ongoing shopper as well as tourists that decided to take a break away from their work or lives to experience a new setting.

“Oh hello there, are you on the clock right now?” someone randomly asked, causing you to turn back only to discover what seemed to be a businessman with a green suit paired with a unique purple tie decorated with teal polka dots.

“Sort of but not really,” you uninterestingly answered, giving the man a bored expression leading his nervousness to increase further due to the anxiety of talking to a random stranger in the middle of the streets of Tokyo.

“You see, I’m looking for potential models, this is who I am,” the man explained as he processed to pull out his business card to which you didn’t give a day of time to look down at. “Would you be interested?” the businessman processed to question before you lifted an open palm while giving the man a polite smile.

“Sorry, I’m not really interested in modelling at all but thank you for the opportunity,” you politely declined as you noticed the deflated look the worker had given you. However, before the modelling scout could apologise and thank you for your time, a hand violently grabbed his shoulder before he was pulled back to face the opposite way.

“Hey, you, what about me?” a girl asked, causing you to look behind the small businessman’s figure to see a girl around the same age as you point to herself with the thumb. From what you could observe, she had short orange hair that seemed to be dyed due to the slightly darker colour of her eyebrows but it wasn’t obvious while carrying what seemed to be many shopping bags around her arms while her carrier pink backpack on her back. However, the uniform she was wearing was saying something as the buttons gave an indication of what she was.

‘Ah, so she’s the new student’ you thought before processing to continue looking at the scene right in front of you. 

“For the modelling gig, duh, I’m asking what you think about me,” she commented leading you to give squint your eyes in confusion, what was the point of being a model when you were already a jujutsu sorcerer at Toyko Metropolitan Curse Technical College. 

On the other hand, what you were concerned with was the three males who were standing on the sidelines watching the situation unfold leading you to give them a bored look before walking towards them with your left hand in your skirt pocket since the slit on the other side made it not possible for another pocket to be made.

“We’re about to go talk to her? That is kinda embarrassing,” Itadori commented while lifting up what seemed to be more than popcorn in his hand leading to a confused look to appear on your face, while Fushiguro gave an irritated side glance as he tutted.

“So are you,” Fushiguro mentioned, due to the silly ‘rook’ tourist glasses he was wearing before glancing to the other side where Gojo stood as the teacher called out the female student to come their way, while some female passersby commented on the white-haired sorcerer’s blindfold to which was quite understandable.

                                               ꕥ

Slashing the metal locker door shut, the new student then inserted the needed amount of coins to make sure the door was completely locked before turning to the three males that stood right in front of her.

“Okay, once again,” Gojo mentioned as he raised an arm to indicate to her that she can introduce herself.

“Kugisaki Nobara,” Kugisaki introduced herself before continuing with, “be happy, boys. I’m the one woman in your group,” leading to some confusion to float around within the group.

“Where’s Y/N?” Gojo curiously asked the boys as they continuously turned around the area to find where you were before turning back to look at Kugisaki. Suddenly, behind Kugisaki, the boys had found you heading towards the group while casually sipping on another carton of orange juice that you had bought out of the blue once you saw it while passing by a vending machine when you were walking to the nearest locker station for the student that had arrived.

“Ah, sorry, I got a bit thirsty,” you commented while lifting the carton up before finally standing next to the new student, who you just found out was named Kugisaki Nobara as you were able to still hear what she was saying while you were coming back to them. However, it seemed like you weren’t what she was analysing right now as you noticed her looking right at Itadori and Fushguro with an intense glance.

“I’m Itadori Yuji, I’m from Sendai,” Itadori introduced himself as he used his finger to indicate to himself as well.

“Fushiguro Megumi,” bluntly stated, as he turned to look at Kugisaki.

Letting out a sigh of disappointment, Kugisaki proceeded to complain about the circumstances she was in, leading the boys to look at her with a really awkward expression on their faces.

“She took one look and sighed,” Itadori commented, as his face turned into a sulk while Fushiguro wasn’t making eye contact at all.

“I’m Gojo Y/N, I hope we can get along,” you quickly stated, while trying not to cringe at your name, leading Kugisaki to look to her side to find you looking at her before a hint of glee and joy processed to manifest in her eyes.

“Maybe the circumstances aren’t that bad! But why do you have the same name as your teacher when you don’t even look alike?” Kugisaki mentioned while giving you a small smile to which you gave her the same trying to be friendly with the new classmate that you had just met.

“Ah it’s a drag to explain fully, but I’m his adoptive daughter,” you quickly answered as you didn’t want to slip up the lie that was concealing your whole identity which seemed to convince the sorcerer since she gave you another nod, telling you that she understood what you had just mentioned.

“Are we going somewhere from here?” Fushiguto asked his teacher, as he turned to look towards the direction of the tall man leading to a light laugh to emit from his mouth causing you to get suspicious of what Gojo was planning.

“We do have all four of you together and not to mention, three of you are from the countryside,” Gojo suddenly mentioned, leading all his students to look at him, anticipating what he had planned. “So of course we’re going on a tour of Tokyo,” Gojo suddenly announced, leading to excitement between Itadori and Kugisaki to burst out while Gojo joined in, to hype the moment up.

“Tokyo! Tokyo! Tokyo! We love Tokyo!” Itadori and Kugisaki cheered, leading you and Fushiguro to look at the two with such confusion expressed on your faces.

While you looked at the scene with such confusion, Fushiguro was more confused at the fact of why you weren’t enlivened at the fact about this ‘tour’ while the two started arguing about the structure of Tokyo as they were getting some places confused with other places.

“Why ain’t you excited?” Fushiguro commented as you continued to sip on the citrusy drink that you had brought earlier leading to another question on your obsession with orange juice to pop up in his head.

“I’ve already been to Tokyo for some business trips with my mother from time to time and what I mean by that is exorcising curses here with her,” you answered before continuing with “also, I have a suspicion that we ain’t going on a tour, it is Gojo Saturo after all,” before going back to drinking on the carton drink you were craving for.

“I will now announce our destination,” Gojo stated, leading both Itadori and Kugisaki to kneel down in front of your teacher, only for you to give them a strange look before Gojo proudly announced where everyone was heading off to. 

“Roppongi!”

“Ro-ppong-gi!” Itadori and Kugisaki said with glee as they turned to each other with the same exciting look.

‘Well, let’s see how this goes’

                                               ꕥ

‘I knew it....’

“There's a curse here,” Fushguro stated as you gave a slight nod while inspecting the large abandoned building that was surrounded by a large ominous dark purple hues indicating that there was just more than one curse in the building or maybe just a single one - you couldn’t sense it due to the amount of cursed energy being released out of the building.

“You liar!” Itadori and Kugisaki screamed in anger while complaining at the fact that they both were deceived on where they were heading off to before Kugisaki shouted something about ‘toying with us country folk’.

“There’s a big cemetery nearby, the double whammy of that and an abandoned building brought out a curse,” Gojo informed everyone like staring up at the building as well.

“So they really do pop up more often around graves?” Itadori questioned after his little tantrum, leading you to realise that he had no knowledge on how curses appeared or anything to do with the jujutsu world to start with.

“The issue isn’t the cemetery itself, it’s the fact that people associate cemeteries with fear,” you explained to the noobie while swirling the now empty carton in hand.

“Oh, it was the same for schools, too, wasn’t it?” Itadori then asked as he turned to look at you for any answers causing Kugisaki to pause her ranting to look at Itadori with a perplexed look on her face.

“Hold up. He didn’t even know that yet?” Kugisaki questioned, leading you to give off an awkward laugh while looking to the side away from the group which only led to more confusion to emit from her.

“To be honest….” Fushiguro started before explaining the situation that had brought Itadori to where he was now causing Kugisaki to give an extremely disgusted look on her face - and to be honest, you couldn’t blame her at all.

“He swallowed a special-grade cursed object!?! Gross! Unbelievable! That’s so unsanitary and disgusting! No way, no way, no way, no way!” Kugisaki yelled out before running away from the three of you as you looked at her with nonchalant faces.

“What?!” Itadori shouted in confusion.

“I agree with her,” Fushiguro mentioned in a blunt tone, leading you to completely ignore your classmates as you continuously looked up at the building in front of you.

“I want to know what all of you are capable of, just think of this as a field test,” Gojo informed everyone with a smile on his face before calling out Itadori and Kugisaki to tell them they were going to exorcise the curse inside the building themselves leaving you confused since you were also a new student here as well.

“Huh? But I thought only curses could exorcise curses, right? I can’t use any jujutsu yet,” Itadori asked before indicating his lack of ability to the teacher.

“You’re basically half a curse already, there cursed energy flowing throughout your body,” Gojo stated as he pointed at the vessel before continuing to explain “though controlling that energy isn’t something you can learn overnight, so use this,” before taking out what seemed to be a cursed weapon in front of you and the rest.

“It’s the cursed tool, Slaughter Demon. It’s a weapon imbued with cursed energy, it’ll work on curses, too,” Gojo explained while Itadori gazed at the weapon in amazement.

“Like Gojo’s sword? And why isn’t she taking part in this test?” Itadori then asked as he pointed at the bag behind your back leading to Kugisaki to look at it in shock since she thought it was just a normal carrier bag that you just had.

“Yeah, kind of like that and to be honest, this test isn’t good enough to test her abilities, she wouldn’t need to take the katana out and probably use it with the wooden hilt on,” Gojo explained as he turned to you with a cheeky smile of his face.

Suddenly, Kugisaki turned her back towards all of you before fastening a brown belt around her waist which had a small pouch to keep whatever she needed in there, leading Itadori to follow behind her.

“Oh, one more thing,” Gojo suddenly shouted, causing Itadori to turn as Gojo then stated, “don’t let Sukuna out, if you use him, you’ll get rid of all the curses nearby in a flash, but you’ll also drag everyone around into it.”

“Got it. I won’t let Sukuna out,” Itadori assumed his teacher before Kugisaki turned back around to complain to her classmate to hurry up while you quickly took a seat on the stone platform that was right behind you before setting your bag down onto the side making it lean against the same stone you took a seat on while Fushiguro and Goj followed behind.

“I think I’ll go, too,” Fushiguro mentioned, causing you to give him a side glance as you wondered if he was worried or just not hopeful that the two will actually exorcise the curse.

“Don’t push yourself, you’re still recovering,” Gojo reminded his student before saying “if I needed to put someone in for backup, it would be Y/N since she seems to be in a better condition than you.”

“But someone needs to keep an eye on Itadori, right?” Fushiguro questioned in a concerned tone.

“True,” Gojo answered in a dazed tone, indicating to you that he wasn’t worried one bit.

From your perspective, you understood why Fushiguro was worried about your new classmate since he didn’t have the ability to take on a curse from his lack of experience but from what you could recall from that night, it seemed like you didn’t have to worry at all.

“That Yuji..he’s missing a few up here,” Gojo randomly stated, as he pointed his head to indicate his brain. “He has no hesitation, when it comes to killing these things, take that the form of living creatures, albeit bizarre-looking ones, to try to kill him,” Gojo explained to his long-term student while you were just resting the back of your head on the wall before your teacher continued with “and it’s not like he’s been familiar with curses for a long time, like you. This is a boy who used to live a normal high school life, you’ve seen plenty of jujutsu sorcerers, even though with talent, give up in frustration because they couldn’t conquer their fear or disgust, haven’t you?” leading to Fushiguro to look down to his hands as he thought about the statement while you looked up to the sky to question your own thoughts.

‘Is that one of the reasons why the L/N clan decided to disappear? Nah, they were able to seal Sukuna, there is no way that could be the reason’

“So today I want to confirm how crazy she is,” Gojo mentioned, somewhat giving you a slight idea on what he was trying to inform you both.

“But Kugisaki has the experience, right? Little late for that now, isn’t it?” Fushguro asked as he was still unsure about what Gojo was trying to tell him.

“Curses are born from human minds, so their strength and numbers grow in proportion to the population, curses in Tokyo are on a different level than those in the countryside,” Gojo said in a low tone to which Fushiguro understood but still had some uncertainty lingering in his head.

“What he is trying to say that ‘level’ doesn’t mean the amount of cursed energy one curse may have but their cunningness, what he is testing is how one reacts to cruel choices that are forcibly handed to them like the weight on a human life in danger balancing upon your shoulder,” you casually explained, leading Fushiguro to look at you while Gojo had a bright smile on his face, glad that you understood what he was talking about.

However, before you continue with your explanation, there was a loud crash being heard from above with pieces of broken glass falling to the ground leading to the three of you down below to look up, only to find the curse causing the purple hue trying to escape.

“I’ll exorcise it,” Fushiguro quickly said, as he clasped his hands together ready to summon a shikigami. However, he felt a tug on his arm leading him to look down to find you tugging onto the sleeve of his uniform.

“Hold on, have some confidence in your peers,” you muttered, before letting go of the fabric as you processed to lean your head back onto the wall while closing your eyes. “I don’t know how long you have been alone but understand you have teammates now, so rely on them as well, okay?” you stated as you slowly opened your eyes to peer up at the curse, only to suddenly see large metal strikes come out of its body before disintegrating into nothing, while the purple aura that was surrounding the abandoned building disappeared with it.

“Nice, she’s crazy, all right,” Gojo mentioned with a gleeful smile on his face, happy with the results that had just come in from this field test.

                                          ꕥ

“I live over there! Thanks again!” the kid mentioned as he pointed towards the direction of his house before running off.

From what you could recall, at the end of the field test, Itadori and Kugisaki came out of the building with a child before explaining that he was in the building during the test and he was caught in the middle of it all. 

Observing the boy running to his house, you wanted to make sure he got home safely from a distance to which he did once you saw him enter through the gates to what seemed to be his house before being greeted by an obviously worried mother, who scolded him for wondering about before being pulled into a hug.

‘I wonder what’s it like to have a normal childhood?’ you wondered before small but vivid memories began to appear in the back of your mind.

“I’m jealous,” you whispered, before turning around to find both Fushiguro and Gojo already walking back to Itadori and Kugisaki, who both were sitting on the stone steps impatiently waiting for the three of you to finish the task that needed to be done.

‘In the end, I’m alone with the responsibilities of the L/N clan upon my shoulders but I have you, dear. Even with this world being full of curses and impurities, I feel like I have a normal ordinary life with you by my side. I wish I could have given that to you, I’m sorry….’

“It’s okay,” you whispered again, this time leading Gojo to turn back to you with a confused look on his face which caused Fushiguro to look back as well, finding it strange that you haven’t left your stop since the kid was already back at his home, safe and out of harm’s reach for now.

“Did you say something Y/N?” Gojo asked, only for you to shake your head to deny that you had before making your way back to the group.

“Good Joseph! We made sure the kid got home,” Gojo shouted while giving a small wave towards the two students, who suddenly jumped up on their feet which confused you slightly since they had such a determined look on their faces.

“Now shall we go grab some food?” Gojo kindly questioned leading the same two students to now express two huge grins while shouting out their preferred meal for tonight.

“Beef!”

“Sushi!”

“Leave it all to me!” Gojo excitedly stated with two thumbs up before turning to his two other students, who were waiting on the sidelines. “And you guys?” Gojo asked with the same huge grin that Itadori and Kugisaki were expressing.

“I don’t really mind,” you answered in a casual tone before turning to look at FUshiguro, who was suddenly randomly scrolling through his phone with a bored but somewhat irritated expression on his face, causing you to wonder what he was reading or finding that made him have a scowl on his face.

Taking you by the arm, Gojo started walking off with you, Itadori and Kugisaki leaving Fushiguro behind, who had just realised that you all were walking away once he heard his teacher say ‘okay, let’s go’.

“Oh, I forgot about my biggest haul of the day. Hey, you, go fetch my things,” Kugisaki said in a demanding tone, as she decided to be the leader of the group since she was walking in front of everyone.

“Huh? Why should I do it? I thought we were even,” Itadori complained, as he didn’t want to get the items that were left in the coin locker back at Harajuku.

“We won thanks to my cursed energy. Got a problem with that?” Kugisaki countered back, as she confidently continued walking in front of all of you like she would know where the restaurant Gojo was taking you all was.

“What about my raw strength?” Itadori argued, leading you to wonder what he did during the time he was the at the abandoned building with Kugisaki to mention about his immense but strange strength.

“Your monstrous power from eating weird shit?” Kugisaki shouted as she was implicating the cursed finger that Itadori swallowed as a reason for Itadori’s strength.

“It’s not just that! Right, Fushiguro, Gojo?” Itadori asked as he turned to you and Fushguro, only to find the male student with a frown on his face as he looked to the side.

“Huh? What’s the matter, Fushiguro?” Itadori questioned, as he wasn’t sure on why Fushiguro seemed to be moodier than he originally was.

“Nothing,” Fushiguro bluntly answered, not making his answer very convincing for you, Itadori, Kugisaki and Gojo leading your teacher to think it was the best time to tease his shikigami-user student.

“He’s pouting because he didn’t get to join in,” Gojo mentioned with a sly smile, which caused Kugisaki to lean back with her hand on her lips to cover her laugh.

“What a child,” Kugisaki teased, causing Fushiguro to groan in frustration before giving the female sorcerer with an irritated glare which led to Itadori laughing at the facial expression, leaving you to stay silent as you watched the scene in front of you.

‘But I’ll make sure you have the most normal life as you possibly can, so make sure you’re not alone in this world like I am Y/N, I want you to be happy even when we’re both stuck with this burden!’

“Yeah mother, I’m trying,” you whispered before continuing to walk with everyone to wherever you all were heading off to without realising the events that will occur in the future.

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 1 - living up to its name since it looks to be a series of redemption arcs. Launched with a college confession and a broken friendship, then a flash back to them as seniors in high school. Pairings include friends to lovers, nerd/jock, and maybe cafe boss/employee. There’s a lot going on, but it’s still... quiet and sweet. The script is pretty pat but it’s still WAY more watchable than Cupid Coach or Brothers and most of the acting is solid. Ep 1 tropes included: he’s in engineering, wound tending, fast & bicurious. This could turn into what I wanted My Gear & Your Gown to be. Fingers crossed. 

Love Poison 2 Ep 1 & 2 turns out I did watch and report on season 1 (8 eps), season 2 seems equally unmemorable. Thai countryside setting, strong dialect, incomprehensible plot, camp side characters, and ghastly singing. 

Y-Destiny Ep 1 (eng subs?) - opened with the sports romance enemies to lovers (they aren’t going in the teaser order). When the couple got over fighting, the flirting was v cute, but the flipping SPONGE BATH trope had to rear its ugly head. Still, this series is shaping up to be less coy and more frank than most BL, better than expected. It feels, I don’t know, gay-er or something?  *** Sources were correct that each couple is getting (at least) 2 eps, and MDL has been updated to say this is a 15 episode series (not 7). 

Cupid Coach 12 fin - The new Nite was great and should have been a main all along. It felt like we got a tiny nugget of what could have been in about 10 minutes worth of this last ep. It was way too slow with terrible editing and a criminally bad script, but at least it ended happy. Mostly, like Friend Forever, I’m just disappointed that these two actors were done dirty by the series. Bad Cupid Coach, no screen caps for you. 

Lovely Writer Ep 6 - breaking news, there’s a het couple I like: toppy bi femme + soft boi = such a good pairing! I know, but this NEVER happens. Meanwhile, Sib’s secret is out, Gene is a bit of a drama queen, and the plot thickens. We half way through.  

Brothers Ep 9 - Kaow had a serious moment of advice giving that was truly lovely. Lots of family dama made this a superior episode to... well... any of the others in this series. Which isn’t saying much. 

1000 Stars Ep 10 fin - at the start this series didn’t grab me the way GMMTV’s last BL, Tonhon Chonlatee, did. But boy did it end 1000x better. Might have given us 2021′s best forehead kiss. I enjoyed the ultra romantic cliff-top reunion kiss, and I LOVED the stinger flirting scene. That was an absolute gift we had no right to expect. This drama is a poster child for finishing on a high note (always focus on that dessert course). Final thoughts? This was FAR more a classic romance than it was BL. There were some BL tropes used but not many and most of them originated in the romance genre not yaoi. A picture perfect ending bumped 1000 Stars much higher up my best-of list than expected. Not sure how often I’ll rewatch it as a whole, but this last episode? I’m probably rewatching it right now. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Dear Uranus (Taiwan GL) Ep 3 fin - I guess that’s it? Okaaaaay  

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 3 (AKA Ep 5-6) - we got actual legit gay culture not just BL (always appreciated) from XingSi. I’m starting to find LiCheng’s “show them we fucking” hijinks hilarious rather than annoying (not sure why, maybe I just love a rubber chicken, or maybe it was the STUFFED CORN WITH THE TASSEL that did it). 

-- H4 Moment of RANT --

Tropes included beach trip, there’s only one bed, cook for him, baby is a floppy drunk, carry baby to bed, and.... drunk non-con. Whoopdedoo. Here we go again. Did TharnType teach us NOTHING? (Apparently it taught us if the chemistry is good enough, I have no morals at all.) At least H4 seems to be taking us out of cheese into serious when it comes to assault. Or is it? 

I take back what I said last week about XingSi & YongJie being codependency + salvation trope, that only works if YongJie is the uke. He’s NOT. So we got us an obsessive predatory villain with a possible redemption arc. That’s more common in crime dramas, mafia romance, and epic fantasy than BL. It’s real hard to redeem a sexual predator in a reality-grounded universe like contemporary romance (See Kla in LBC1&2). 

Next week is gonna be a test of the whole damn franchise. Imma remind both me a you that this was ep 3 of 10 so we got a ways to go yet... but ooof, what have we wrought, BL? (I ended up doing a whole post about the stepbrother trope because of this sub plot.) Taiwan is killing me.

-- RANT ended --

Word of Honor (China) Ep 19-21 - over half way point so we got ALL the back story (in a classic 4 act story structure midway reveal). Now we know who WKX really is and his lineage. We also got some cute hugs and hand holds. Moving along at a nice clip despite being 36 eps total. Still gayest thing to come out of we-not-gay China since Advance Bravely. 

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 2 - takes them a while to get eng subs together and ep 2 didn’t drop until late. So I’m putting this in a Thurs time slot going forward. Miscommunication already cleared up and a 2nd couple has been introduced. The pacing on these Vietnamese BLs is always a bit... off. But it’s still better than most of its ilk, enjoyable. I’m thinking it’s a 6 ep arc. 

We Best Love 2 (Taiwan) Ep 5 - after the initial drama DRAMA of ep 2, the current external crisis at work is much quieter, giving this whole season a top heavy feel. Taken along side the first season, I think it’s fitting nicely into a 4 act structure, but that might be my bias. I hope I’m not wrong, we’ll find out next week. Shi De puttering about being domestic with Shu Yi on his back was the best execution of the piggyback trope EVER. Meanwhile, our little D/s side couple of codependency, salvation trope + mental illness is becoming weirdly appealing. I don’t know. H4 done mess with my head. 

Stand Alones 

Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko  (Japan) Ep 1-4 mini series. Found subs under A Man Who Defies The World of BL. IT’S HILARIOUS. It’s Japan making fun of us, but also itself for having started this whole BL nonsense - from yaoi roots to present day. It’s parody goddamn gold. Utterly cheeky unto the very last line. We are not worthy. 

Apparently the most powerful tropes of all time are: baby is a floppy drunk and the piggyback fo nobility. Oh and chocolate. {Full review here.} 

Honestly, this show may have been made with only @heretherebedork and I in mind. I don’t know if you’d even understand half of it if you don’t have a history with the manga source genre and an obsessive interest in underlying narrative devices. I haven’t seen much chatter in the blog’o’sphere on this one because, in the end, it’s not a romance at all, it’s social commentary. 

The ending line was a masterclass in lampooning a genre. I’m going to rewatch the whole thing just to catch all the digs I missed first time around. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. 

Thank you Japan. I forgive you all your hair-styling sins of the last decade. 

Breaking News 

Spring Line Up:

Scholar Ryu’s Wedding Ceremony AKA Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korean historical BL) April 15th 

Close Friend the series (Thai trailer) April 22. 

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) April 22 to Thai theaters.

Nitiman (Thai) May 7 on One31.

I Told Sunset About You 2 (Thai) May 27 on LineTV

Ossan’s Love (Hong Kong) June to Viu 

Gossip 

Bad Buddies released its first promo op via Arm Share, which means GMMTV is at least *thinking* about filming it. 

Fun behind the scenes gossip sesh with eng subs for Tell the World I Love You (that Perth Bas movie we are maybe getting someday but will likely be sad). 

New Thai BL Bite Me (adapted from novel Grab a Bite) dropped a teaser. It stars Mark Siwat (Kla in LBC) as uke character Ake, a delivery boy with special foodie powers, and chef Eua (seme played by Zung Kidakorn) who discovers him. It’s from the same author as Manner of Death so we might even get some actual plot. Since it’s an established BL actor who I happen LOVE, a known author, and a plot about FOOD, I could not me more excited for this one. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed a day later than actual air date for accessibility reasons. Some are dropping multiples at a time but just started so I’m not sure on numbering. 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[lansyuan]

do you love fics where wei wuxian and lan wangji parent the crap out of lan sizhui? do you want to read accidental baby acquisition fics until your eyes bleed? would you die as your heart slowly turns to mush from the softness of this family? bitch the fuck, me too. here are some of my personal favourite fics of wangxian ft their turnip son a-yuan. its a range of canon divergence, post canon, thirteen years of inquiry, raising a-yuan at the burial mounds au etc - there’ll be something for literally everyone. enjoy!

the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (38k+)

When A-Yuan gets sick and Wen Qing doesn't have the supplies she needs to properly treat him, Wei Wuxian can only think of one place to go for help. 

a crying shame by thunderwear (16k+)

Lan Wangji gets emotionally blackmailed by a toddler. It somehow fixes everything.

to recollect and long for by wonderlands (22k+) *2/3 works posted at time of posting this rec list.

a 3-part series about best boy lan sizhui and his wonderful dads who love him and each other very much.

forgetting envies, remembering your loving hold by cosmicfuss (3k+)

The first time Zewu-jun plays for him he is five and the man is trying to comfort him, playing soft songs good for soothing children. It works to a degree but he wants his gege, he wants his gege to play his lullaby. Zewu-jun apologizes and tells him that his gege is hurting right now, and needs to be alone to get better.

When he plays the xiao, A-Yuan says, "you're holding it wrong!" When he turns fourteen, he learns to play guqin, and is many years ahead of his classmates in that regard. A large factor in that is how much he has practiced Inquiry. He has grown up hearing snippets from the jingshi, of Wangji attempting to reach a spirit that never answers.

When he's sixteen, he hears a familiar tune played in the forest, he and his fellow juniors battling a stone god. It's been years since he's heard it, and he wonders why this man, Mo Xuanyu, knows it so well.

Or, Lan Sizhui grows up and learns, and remembers.

five times wei wuxian tried to embarrass lan sizhui by blackelement7 (6k+)

(and one time he realized just how badly he'd played himself)

or: In which Wei Wuxian starts a fight but Lan Sizhui (with some meddling from Lan Jingyi) ends it.

inquiry by incendir (10k+)

Sizhui cannot fall asleep for a long, long time that night. He hears the ever-familiar melody again. He thinks perhaps he has memorized it by now.

storge by respira (9k+)

Lan Sizhui is a lake.

as the warren grows in number by kore_fics (3k+)

Before Sizhui could take another step he was surrounded by black and red, loud laughter in his ears and warm fingers running through his hair, messing it up. Palms squished both his cheeks together and Lan Sizhui let out a laugh.

Lan Sizhui was home.

tell some storm* by qurbat (31k+) *the moments with Sizhui are in chapter 2, however I highly recommend reading the whole fic, it’s adorable.

"We were raised as a generation of war, A-Yuan," Xian-gege said to him. "If your generation choses to be one of love - well, I don't think any of us would be opposed to that."

In the aftermath of the events at the Guanyin temple, the cultivation world scrambles to understand their current reality. A man roams the countryside with a string of white in his hair. Another sits on the highest seat of power with a ribbon of red around his forehead. The younger generation turns out to be full of romantics. Nie Huaisang is to blame for everything, always. Jiang Cheng realizes that happiness has been more that 16 years overdue.

Wei Wuxian declares that it's time that bitch pays up.

After a generation of war - much to the consternation of the elders, much to the delight of the young, much to the pleased shock of the subjects of the tale - the world welcomes a love story with open arms.

guess we're not eating leaves today by missingnarwhal (2k+)

Baby A-Yuan has cooked up a feast, but only one lucky gege will actually get to taste it!

Set in an alternate timeline where everything is okay after Wei Ying + Wens started living in the Burial Mounds.

response by aki_no_hikari (12k+)

What if Wei Wuxian hadn't been silent to Lan Wangji's Inquiry?

love, in all its small pieces by ynvel (4k+)

Ah Yuan is brought to the Cloud Recesses and exchanges the sun and its ashes for the clouds. Lan Wangji brings a boy home, calls him his son, and renews the promises he made.

Or: Lan Sizhui is adopted by Lan Wangji and learns about his new life. Lan Wangji in turn learns about hope and living again.

child surprise by ariaste (4k+)

He huffs a sigh. “Fine. Just - let’s just make it the law of surprise, shall we? That’s nice and simple, eh? Leave it up to destiny what will bring us back in balance. Let it drop something of yours into my lap, something small, and we’ll call the debt paid.”

Three debts, three repayments.

there's a lunatic in mo village by bastetcg (11k+)

There's a lunatic in Mo Village! And to Lan Sizhui's surprise, Hanguang-Jun has decided to bring the madman back to the Cloud Recesses! How embarrassing!

A mostly canon-compliant look into Lan Sizhui's thoughts and childhood.

on being a big boy by emberloey (1k+)

“My little A-Yuan,” Dad had said the next morning, kneeling down to A-Yuan’s height with a smile, “all grown up now. Soon you’ll be hunting without your poor old dads.”

“Never!” A-Yuan shook his head and latched onto Father’s leg. He smiled up at Father, who smiled back and nodded his head. “A-Yuan always needs Dad and Father!”

in all these shades of blue (i think we found you) by fleetling (5k+)

5 times Sizhui thought about his father's white robes, and 1 time Lan Wangji wore blue.

(Or: Lan Sizhui had never seen his father in anything other than white robes.)

this is when the feeling sinks in, i don't want to miss you like this (come back, be here) by mischievousmurmurs (6k+)

Just now… the butterflies’ conversation. Where did you learn that from, Ah-Yuan?

Ah-Yuan pats his chest. In here, shushu. I feel it in here. And in here, too, he adds, pointing to his head.

Sizhui has never quite been able to remember nor forget the memory of seeing people who he knows loved each other, loved him, and whom he loved in return.

or - a wangxian story, as told by their adopted son.

yours, mine, and ours by casecous (2k+)

When they have both mostly recovered, and A-Yuan is back to his smiling, playful self, Lan Wangji presents him with a forehead ribbon. A-Yuan’s little fingers bump into Lan Wangji’s thumbs as he traces the cloud motif along it.

“You are Lan now. This is very important,” Lan Wangji tells him and A-Yuan looks away from the ribbon to meet his eyes. “You must not take it off as you please. Only family may touch it.”

A series of wangxian family moments.

innocence by snowberryrose (8k+)

In which Wei WuXian gets to raise A-Yuan.

Canon divergence from episode 31.

to recollect and long for by mme_anxious (4k+)

Lan Xichen is there when his brother becomes a father. Lan Sizhui is there when his father's heart breaks, again. Wei Wuxian is there when his son gets drunk for the first time.

Or, the GusuLan forehead ribbon, in three parts.

our little one by writedeku (6k+)

A-Yuan is here. A-Yuan, who Wei Ying loved so much. A-Yuan, who was taught to laugh just like him. Wangji hugs him to his chest and curls over him, ignoring the way the wounds on his back pull and tear. “I have to take care of you,” he says. “I will not leave you.”

(Or: Lan Wangji comes back from Yiling with a child he does not know how to care for and a black hole in his chest. Somehow, he makes it work.)

gathered herbs & sweet grasses by hansbekhart (19k+)

Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.

the sacred homeland by particulate (8k+)

He has many names, and some are mouthfuls of blood.

[Or; a chronology of Sizhui, in which he does not forget.]

to the act of making noise by words-writ-in-starlight (19k+)

His father in white plays the song late into the night, and when A-Yuan wakes up confused and afraid, the guqin lulls him back to sleep.

Lan Sizhui hears his father play the same song every night for his whole life, and never, ever get an answer.

when he comes home to you by kika988 (2k+)

Home is Cloud Recesses now, and that's a thing Wei Wuxian is still getting used to. He still feels like a guest here, most days, though Lan Wangji has done everything to make him feel at home. He stands out like a sore thumb amongst the serene disciples and flowing white fabric.

Cloud Recesses has been home to Lan Wangji and Sizhui for years. It is their home, where they've built their family.

The thought warms Wei Wuxian even as it sits a little ill with him. He's an intruder here, in their homes, in their lives, the same way he had been in Lotus Pier.

five times people didn’t know sizhui is lan zhan’s son and one time they did by trilliastra (3k+)

“A-Yuan.” He repeats, reaching out for the boy, growing restless when he can’t touch him. “A-Yuan.”

Oh. Lan Xichen closes his eyes as the tears start to fall. Oh, Wangji.

Carefully, Lan Xichen takes the boy and lays him next to his brother on the bed, Wangji holds him protectively against his chest and A-Yuan stops his little cries immediately.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen tries again, running a hand through his brother’s hair softly, “who is he?”

“He’s my son.”

5 times the lan head disciple broke the rules by liji (6k+)

“I am not aware of any rule forbidding falling in love,” Hanguang-Jun said at last. There was a quiet sadness in his eye, like he was watching a scene from far away. The novelty of it gave Sizhui the courage to ask his next question.

“Have you ever been in love, Father?” he asked.

(or, five times that Sizhui broke the Lan sect's rules growing up)

the seasons change (but i love you the same) by kdkdkd (7k+)

"Hanguang-jun!"

When did you stop calling me Bàba, A-Yuan?

Lan Wangji had always promised himself that he would never become a poor father like his own had been.

Unfortunately, it feels like he has failed to keep that promise.

✨ bonus round ✨ uncle jiang cheng and nephew lan sizhui

tintinnabulum by respira (8k+)

A small bell chimes, the sound soft and pleasant like the water crashing against a pier, like low whistles in an empty cave, like a guqin playing a lullaby.

[joe-mazzello-archive]

Two Lost Souls

A Eugene Sledge x Fem!Reader fic

Rating: PG

Word Count: 6.8k

Warnings: references to the war/violence (duh), references to ptsd, panic attack/nightmare, snafu being his crass self, so much awkward flirting, a teeny tiny bit of angst

A/N: okay story time -- one day a few months ago i rewatched the last episode of the pacific and then took a nap and proceeded to have a lovely dream about cuddling with eugene in a train booth and running my fingers through his hair sooooo here we are. i’m extremely nervous to post this as it was a labor of love and it’s almost my first full period piece. i hope you enjoy! also bonus points if you know what book the reader is reading.

moodboard by @brianmays-hair

--

The nightmares started while Eugene was still in Peleliu. Flashes of blood and corpses and metal and dirt. Screaming and explosions, the sound of bodies hitting the ground. But then he’d wake up to the same visuals, the same sounds. His reality was one long nightmare. There was no escape, no end in sight.

Now Eugene was afraid this was all a pleasant dream. No screaming, no blood. From the moment he set foot back on the mainland, he was in constant fear that he’d wake up and be back there. Especially when the nightmares felt so real. Sometimes he didn’t know what was his true reality.

It had taken a while to get the dirt out from under his fingernails, to get the stench out of his hair, but eventually he did feel clean again.

You can’t shower away the memories. Those linger much longer.

Distractions helped. He read, he smoked. He chatted with his fellow marines. He enjoyed the good food he was given, tried to find comfort in the bed he got to sleep in. He thought about Mobile and his parents and Sid and how he’d be home to them soon. He was hyper-focused on everything and anything, knowing that if he let his mind wander, it’d wander right back there.

It’s how he found himself people-watching at the bustling San Diego train station. The boys were prattling next to him about some girl Snafu had gone fishing for, but Eugene was more engrossed in the crowd around them. Sure there were tons of other marines around, but they were mixed in with parents wrangling their children, businessmen with their briefcases, lovers saying their goodbyes.

A flash of dark red caught Eugene’s eye. A woman, probably around Eugene’s age, stood alone on the platform, clad in a burgundy blazer and matching skirt with a brown trunk resting at her feet. Whereas most of the platform was hectic and frazzled, she stood firm and patient, a calmness about her. She seemed unperturbed by the world around her, lost in her own thoughts, her eyes cast downward as she let out a sigh.

She was beautiful.

Not in the way that the nurses back on the island greeted soldiers with their red-lipped smiles and white uniforms. Not in the way that the girls had primped for the Murphy High prom, practically fighting to dance with Sid while not paying Eugene any mind -- which seemed a lifetime ago now. No, this girl was beautiful in a way that Eugene couldn’t put his finger on. She was beautiful in a way that stopped him in his tracks like no girl ever had before.

The whistle of the train finally arriving at the station and a hand on his shoulder pulled Eugene out of his trance.

“Last leg, Sledge,” Burgie commented with a nod towards the train. Eugene replied with a half-smile before following the corporal, Snafu already ahead of them. Sneaking one last quick glance in the direction of where he last saw the beautiful woman, Eugene was greeted with a sea of people - no flash of burgundy in sight. With a sigh, adjusted the duffle on his shoulder and boarded the train, ready to get home.

--

You weren’t a big fan of long train rides. The rumbling of the cars, the confined spaces, the stale air, the bad food -- it was miserable. Last time you’d boarded a train, it had been under bittersweet circumstances - excitement mixed with worry. But three years had passed since you had arrived in San Diego, and after finding yourself jobless with no place to stay, your time in the port town had come to an end.

So you booked your ticket back home, with nothing but your childhood room and your disillusioned parents waiting for you. What a way to make an already miserable form of travel even more miserable.

You found your only solace was in reading. Luckily you had grabbed a newspaper from the stand at the station -- and snatched a book from your sister’s home before you left. You planned on losing yourself in words while the American countryside passed by your window. You had quite the trek ahead of you.

You sat at a table in the dining car, a bottle of barely-sipped cola accompanying the plate of lunch that had been hardly touched. You held the newspaper in one hand as you used your fork to idly push around your roasted potatoes.

“Is your meal alright, miss?” sounded the voice of a slender waiter above you. With a deep sigh, you lowered your paper and plastered a polite smile, meeting the young staff member’s stare.

“It’s just fine, thank you,” you replied, your voice cheery despite your true demeanor. The gentleman nodded before leaving you be, stepping to the next table. As you watched him leave, your eyes drifted across the aisle of the car. A lone marine sat at the table catty-corner to yours, a private first class by the looks of his uniform. His auburn hair was neatly coiffed and a striking nose divided his face. His eyes were downcast, staring out the window, an almost solemn look to him. Despite the dark circles under his eyes, he was handsome - in a genteel boyish way.

But he was no boy. Many of the servicemen you had encountered in the past few years maybe were boys before they left. But being sent overseas to be met with nothing but violence and death -- those boys grew up quickly. This marine was no different. You could see it in the distant look in his eyes. He had seen terrors and lived to tell the tale.

Your thoughts were disturbed by a drawling southern accent behind you.

“Hiya,” the voice greeted. You glanced over your shoulder to find another marine trailing behind a woman. The woman turned at the greeting. “I’m Merriel Shelton. How about I take you to the back and you can show me your caboose?”

You spun back forward, eyes wide and your hand shooting up to cover your mouth, hiding your smirk. And when a resounding slap echoed behind you, a short giggle escaped your lips. The woman stomped down the aisle in a tiff, while the extremely forward marine and his buddy took their seats, joining the lonely marine you had been admiring.

You shook your head at the antics, turning your attention back to your paper. The boys’ voices across the aisle carried over to your side, but you tried to tune them out, not wanting to unintentionally eavesdrop. You urged yourself to focus on the words in front of you, but your ears betrayed you. After reading the same sentence over four times, not digesting a single word, your gaze drifted back over to your marine, who had taken up buttering the biscuit that had been sitting on his plate. His posture and manner had shifted, he seemed more relaxed in the presence of his fellow soldiers. His eyes were soft and friendly, and the ghost of a smile had taken up residence on his face.

“Guess I’m gonna find out soon enough whether I’m getting married or not,” the colonel who sat across from your marine declared wistfully before turning his attention to your marine. “What about you, Sledgehammer?”

You grinned at what you assumed was a nickname. How a seemingly mild-mannered fellow like your marine could have gotten the moniker of “Sledgehammer” was beyond you. Your eyes drifted back to the man, interested in his answer. He seemed to ponder the question for a moment, a flash of uncertainty briefly crossing his face as he picked at his biscuit.

“I’m just hoping this Florence girl comes to her senses,” he finally cracked with a smirk. So he was clever, too. You found that you couldn’t help but smile through the exchange, your gaze dropping back to your lap.

“Got a job lined up in Mobile?” An Alabama boy. That was an interesting development.

“Nah,” he revealed, his apparent uncertainty no longer bothering him. “No job, no girl…no plans.”

You and the lone marine had more in common than you had originally thought.

“How long you think that’s gonna last?” the flirtatious marine from before inquired, relaxing back in his seat. But the laughter of a pair of businessmen passing by your table concealed the marine’s answer. You shot a glare towards the rowdy gentlemen’s backs. How dare they prevent you from snooping on some strangers’ conversation!

Your gaze fell back to the trio of boys, and you couldn’t help but admire the redhead’s smile. The way his eyes lit up with warmth at his friends’ jokes, the way the dimple between his brows appeared and disappeared -- he was beautiful.

You were lost in your musings when for a brief moment, your marine’s eyes suddenly locked on to yours.

His smile fell and a look you couldn’t identify -- confusion? recognition? irritation? -- flashed across the features of his handsome face before you broke the spell and looked back down at your paper. You felt heat rise to your cheeks as you stared down at the black ink on the page. How embarrassing. You had been boldly staring at the man for an inappropriate amount of time -- listening to his conversation, no less -- and now you had been caught.

You couldn’t help but think about the marine’s reaction. In the fleeting moment that he held your gaze, it was almost as if he’d seen a ghost. You didn’t want him to think you were some creep or some crazy woman.

You lifted your eyes slightly, glancing across the aisle. Your marine’s cheeks were pink as he gazed back at you softly - but only for a moment before his eyes quickly fell back down to the plate in front of him.

And that became the game you played. As the train chugged through the desert - what you assumed was Arizona - you and your marine took turns stealing glances at each other. First you, then he’d notice and you’d look away. Then he’d stare and you’d catch him. Each time, a rosy color would come to his cheeks and a hint of a smile would appear. Your own shyness began to fade with each time you’d catch him, even throwing him a wink at one point.

After another hour or so, your marine’s friends elected to head back to their coach seats. You assumed your game was over, and you tried to not let yourself be too disappointed. You closed your paper, having finally read every word -- though whether you absorbed any of it was up for debate. You gathered your things, pondering your next move. Maybe you’d wander to the observation car - it tended to be quieter as the sun went down. You slung your messenger bag over your shoulder and were about to step into the aisle when you were met with the sight of your marine, alone once again, staring out the window. Just like the first time you noticed him.

You took a deep breath, channeled your sister’s boldness and took a seat at the marine’s table.

--

It was her. The mystery woman. The beautiful girl clad in burgundy from the train platform was sitting across from Eugene.

It took him a moment to collect his thoughts as he gaped at her. He had spent the last hour stealing glances at her across the aisle, unsure if she was real or simply a vision. Now there she was, close enough for Eugene to reach out and touch her, gazing at him with soft eyes and a friendly smile.

“Hi,” she spoke after a few moments, breaking the silence and Eugene’s daze.

“Hi,” Eugene practically whispered, unable to find his voice. He cleared his throat before starting again. “I do apologize for staring, miss. You know, before.”

The young woman let out a soft chuckle, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, let’s not pretend you were the sole offender, private. I believe I was staring at you first.” Oh how wrong she was. But Eugene would keep that correction to himself.

She offered her name and her hand across the table for a shake, and Eugene almost immediately felt at ease in her presence. She certainly was not like the girls back in Mobile.

“I’m Eugene,” he offered in return, trying to ignore how soft her hand felt in his. She smirked as she let him go.

“So where does ‘Sledgehammer’ come from then?” she questioned with a quirked brow, and Eugene flushed at his nickname falling from her gentle lips.

“My last name. Sledge,” he explained. “Private First Class Eugene Bondurant Sledge, at your service, miss.” His explanation earned a bright smile from the girl, and Eugene decided right then and there that he’d do anything he could to make her smile again.

“Well, pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Sledge,” she said with a nod.

“I assure you, the pleasure is all mine, miss.”

The woman playfully narrowed her eyes at Eugene, as if she were examining him.

“Was all that true? Before?” she asked before pursing her lips.

“Was what true?”

“No job. No girl. No plans,” she recited back to him, adding a twang to her normal voice. Eugene could feel the heat in his cheeks once again. He let out a nervous chuckle and scratched at the back of his neck.

“‘Fraid so, miss,” he responded, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Hope you don’t think less of me.” The woman shook her head as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

“Of course not,” she assured him. “I just don’t believe you.” She shrugged and cocked an eyebrow challengingly. Eugene was thrown off by her answer.

“You don’t believe me?” he inquired with a furrowed brow. She casually shrugged once again, as if she was making perfect sense.

“No way you can be this handsome and charming and not have a girl waiting for you back home.”

If the young woman was on a mission to make Eugene blush at all costs, she was extremely successful. Eugene shakily laughed as he stared down at his lap, unable to meet her gaze after that.

“My apologies, Mr. Sledge,” she spoke again, and Eugene let himself glance back up to see her timidly looking away this time. “That was awfully forward of me.”

Eugene was so thrown by his woman in burgundy. The prettiest dame he’d ever laid eyes on had gone out of her way to talk to him. Ask him questions. Compliment him. Yet he could see that she was just as nervous as he was. It was disarming in a way.

“No apology necessary, miss,” Eugene affirmed, offering a friendly smile when she met his gaze once again. “I’m just not used to getting attention from a gal as beautiful as you.”

A new game began. Eugene and his woman in burgundy took turns trying to make the other bashful, his confidence rising with every clever quip and retort to her own flirtations.

Eugene wouldn’t realize until much later that he hadn’t thought once about the war the entire evening.

--

“I feel like I should ask,” Eugene spoke up, rousing you from your thoughts. The two of you had relocated from the dining car to the observation car. You had been correct: it was virtually empty at this time of night, and the two of you were enjoying the peace. “Where are you off to?” You gave him a lopsided smile.

“Home,” you replied. “Tallahassee, Florida. Lived there my whole life until a few years ago.”

“Florida, huh? Why we’re practically neighbors,” Eugene commented with a grin. “So how did you end up in San Diego?”

“Few years back, my older sister married some businessman from California. Didn’t even get a chance to meet the man myself before he was drafted and shipped off to Europe.”

Eugene listened intently as you told your story. You knew he understood the horrors of war more than anyone else you’d ever spoken to.

“She demanded I come out to San Diego to stay with her,” you explained. “She’s always had terrible nerves and couldn’t bear to be alone in the house. So I took the train out, got a job at a bond office, and spent my free time keeping my sister away from the radio.” You let out a sigh and let your eyes fall to your lap before going on. “By the end, we assumed he’d be coming home safe and sound. They told us he was shot two days before the ceasefire was called.”

“To say my sister was distraught would be quite the understatement. After locking herself in her room for a week followed by five months of her ignoring my existence entirely, she told me I had until the end of the week to leave. Perfect timing really, since the bond office had terminated me that morning. No more war meant no more war bonds.” You shrugged as you recalled your story, as if it wasn’t such a fresh wound. You chanced a peek at Eugene, expecting a look of pity. But instead you were met with his warm hazel eyes, expressing nothing but understanding.

“So now here I am. Headed home. No job. No man. No plans,” you finished with a wink. Eugene smiled at your quip before turning to gaze out into the darkness.

“It seems like we both deserve to just do nothing for a while,” he suggested. Doing nothing. You quite liked the sound of that.

“Inspired idea, private.”

Eugene’s warm eyes locked on to yours once again, and you swore everything stopped and fell away. Nothing mattered except the marine in front of you, his bright smile, the lock of auburn hair that had fallen out of place. He was beautiful and clever and sweet, and though you knew he was haunted by his past, you’d never hold that against him. Gosh, you knew it was ridiculous, seeing as though you’d only met the man a few hours ago. But there was a part of you that wanted to pull him into your arms and never let go. Be there to make him laugh and make sure he knew he was safe. Listen to his stories and share yours in return. You wanted to do nothing for a while, like Eugene had said, but do that nothing with him next to you.

As you continued to gaze at the handsome man before you, you absent-mindedly tucked your bottom lip between your teeth. And you swore that for a brief moment, Eugene’s eyes fell to your mouth.

You practically lept to your feet, letting out a shaky breath before speaking.

“Well, I’m going to get some shut-eye,” you announced as you collected your things. “I suggest you do the same, private. Or at the very least you should spend some time with your friends before you have to see them off tomorrow.” Eugene, seemingly confused by the suddenness of your exit, nodded a few times before finding his voice.

“Right,” he said, “Well, goodnight.”

You cringed at what sounded like disappointment in his voice. You hadn’t meant to offend him - you just got startled is all.

You offered him a warm smile. “Goodnight, Eugene.”

You spun on your heels and headed for the doorway before you could change your mind and kiss him the way you really wanted to.

--

Eugene didn’t get much sleep that night, but that was nothing new. What changed is what kept him up. Thoughts of his burgundy girl swam through his head most of the night. He replayed every conversation they’d had, half of the time berating himself for what he said and the other half thinking about what he wished he’d said instead.

Snafu made sure to point out the bags under Eugene’s eyes that morning at breakfast.

But Eugene didn’t pay him any mind. He was too busy keeping an eye out for the woman, hoping he could flag her down to at least wish her a good morning.

By the late afternoon, there was no sign of the woman, and Eugene, Snafu, and Burgie had moved back to a booth in the coach car. Burgie was antsy, knowing they were not far out from his hometown of Jewett. He was recalling his excitement to see his little brother again when Snafu interrupted him, tapping his hand on Burgie’s chest.

“Would you look at her,” Snafu drawled out. Eugene glanced over his shoulder to where Snafu was indicating, only to be met with the sight of the very woman who had been on his mind all day, casually walking down the aisle towards him. She had traded out her burgundy ensemble for a cream colored blouse and a navy skirt. Eugene perked up, sitting up straight in hopes of getting her attention. But Snafu was faster, rising to his feet and cutting her off. She was surprised for a moment, but a look of recognition flashed across her face.

“Afternoon, miss,” Snafu greeted as the woman eyed him warily. Then her eyes flitted over to Eugene and a hint of a smile appeared. Then she looked back at Snafu.

“Something I can do for you, soldier?” she asked, arching an eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest.

“Ohh, there’s a lot you can do for me, girlie,” Snafu countered. “Hows about we head somewhere private and I’ll show you?”

Something in Eugene’s chest tightened at Snafu’s words. Sure, he had watched Snafu use line after line on any girl in his vicinity since they boarded the train. Even laughed at the man’s antics at times. But something was different about him putting the moves on his girl--or at least his friend. Acquaintance? Eugene didn’t know what the two of them were.

“Tempting,” she responded, rousing Eugene from his thoughts. “But I think I’m gonna sit and enjoy my book instead. Thank you for the offer, private.”

Snafu seemed confused -- Eugene assumed he was used to either getting the girl or getting a slap. He probably wasn’t used to getting no reaction at all. Snafu plopped back down in his seat, his brows furrowed, and Eugene chanced a look at the woman. She shot him a wink before settling in the booth directly across the aisle from the group of men and pulled out a book.

Eugene fidgeted in his seat -- his instinct was to go join her. But he respected her wishes. Maybe he’d ask her to dinner later.

--

It wasn’t long after you had settled into your booth that you watched Eugene say goodbye to his sergeant.

The mutual respect was evident, and the goodbye was definitely bittersweet. The normally chatty boys fell silent after he left, and Eugene’s far away look returned once again.

Eugene’s flirtatious friend then announced he was headed to the dining car to get a drink, and Eugene simply nodded, his gaze never leaving the window.

You waited until the audacious marine was clear out of the car before you shifted across the aisle to grab his empty seat. Eugene perked up immediately, sitting up and grinning.

“Afternoon, miss,” he greeted with a nod. “Sorry about Snafu before. I think he’s determined to pester every woman on this train before he gets off.”

“Oh, no apologies necessary,” you assured him with a chuckle. “I found it quite funny.”

Eugene’s eyes sparkled as he looked at you. Gosh, you’d almost forgotten how beautiful he was in the sunlight. Those hazel eyes you could just get lost in. You noticed the littlest bit of stubble had formed across his upper lip and around his jaw since last night.

Then you realized you were staring again and you quickly dropped your eyes to your lap out of habit.

“How’s your book?” Eugene spoke up, easing the awkwardness. You appreciated the gesture.

“It’s good so far,” you explained, patting the cover. “Not the most uplifting thing to read on the train, but I’m hoping it ends on a happy note.”

“What’s it about?”

You sighed as you stared at the book in your hands. “It’s about family hardships. Talks about poverty and alcoholism.” You paused to think for a moment before looking back up at Eugene with a smirk. “I don’t mind reading sad stories usually. But I can’t help but wish I’d stolen a happier book from my sister on my way out.”

That earned a chuckle from Eugene.

“Well, I--”

“Now now, what have we here?”

The two of you had been so focused on each other that neither of you had noticed that Eugene’s friend -- you remembered Eugene called him Snafu -- had returned, and was leaning against the side of the booth with a bottle of Coke in his hand.

“Thought you wanted to read your book?” Snafu continued, a playful tone to his voice. He cocked an eyebrow before taking a sip of his soda. You glanced over at Eugene to find him beet red in the face.

“Actually, I was just inviting Mr. Sledge here to grab some dinner with me,” you improvised, not wanting to have to lose your alone time with Eugene. “If he’d like.” His eyes lit up.

“I would be honored, miss,” Eugene replied, getting to his feet and holding a hand out for you. Your cheeks hurt from how wide you were smiling as you placed your hand into his and let him help you from the booth. Eugene looped your arm under his and began to lead you down the aisle when Snafu’s slow, southern dialect called out behind you.

“Oh, I see how it is. Well, don’t have too much fun, you two!”

--

“So what did you miss the most while you were away?”

The question surprised Eugene a little bit. It was the first time she had asked him anything that had to do with his experience in the war.

“My dog,” he replied, his eyes dropping to his half-empty plate. “Closest friend I’ve ever had. He passed while I was gone.”

She nodded in understanding, and Eugene appreciated that she didn’t offer him pity.

“Dogs really are better than humans sometimes.”

Eugene simply nodded as his gaze drifted out the window. Time passing in the pacific had been a blur, even with him keeping track of the days in his notebook. He couldn’t even remember when it was he got the letter about Deacon. Maybe it was sometime during Okinawa? It must have been. He was just so angry --

“Where do you go?” The woman’s voice interrupted Eugene’s thoughts, and he blinked rapidly as he realized he had been zoning out.

“Sorry, what?”

The woman seemed unfazed. She simply looked at him with curiosity, a soft smile tugging at her lips.

“When I first saw you yesterday, you were staring out the window. Eyes glazed over, lost in thought. You’ve done it a few times actually,” she explained. “You drifted off the same way just now. So my question is, where do you go?”

Where to start? Should he sit there and detail the horrors he’d seen? How every second he spent on those islands would flash before him, his brain forcing him to relive the atrocities he’d witnessed and been a part of? And could he even begin to put into words how affected he was? Was it fair to unload his burdens on this innocent girl, who’d brought him nothing but peace since he had set foot on the train platform?

“Back there,” was all he said, hoping it would be enough. It seemingly was, as his dinner date nodded her head once again. A silence settled over the pair, and Eugene couldn’t help but kick himself. If he hadn’t gotten lost in his thoughts before, she wouldn’t have asked and they could have continued their lovely dinner.

“I’m no expert,” the woman spoke up, and Eugene’s eyes locked on to hers. “But I have a feeling it’s going to take some time for you boys to fully leave that place.” The woman leaned forward, and Eugene was struck by how warm and comforting her eyes were. “And in my humble opinion, the world shouldn’t expect you to be okay right away.”

Eugene was blown away. This woman -- this beautiful, funny, clever, smart woman, who’d never set foot on a battlefield in her life -- somehow got it. Sure she hadn’t physically seen the things that Eugene had seen, and she never would, so she couldn’t completely understand. But she respected him and what he’d been through. And not in a superficial way, like when strangers on the street would thank him for his service. But in a way that made him feel seen and heard -- without having to speak a word of the horrors out loud.

With a nod of his head, Eugene finally spoke up.

“I appreciate that,” he said. “Now if only the rest of the world agreed with you.”

--

By the time Eugene and you walked back to the coach car, the sun had gone down completely. You could tell Eugene was beat, and you wondered if he even had slept the night before with how large the bags under his eyes were.

You tucked yourself back into your booth across from the boys, continuing where you left off in your sister’s novel.

The boys were relatively quiet next to you, and you realized after only a few moments that Eugene was out cold, slumbering against his duffle.

It soothed you to see him so peaceful. Your conversation over dinner had confirmed what you had expected to be true: Eugene could put on a face, but behind the facade he was extremely haunted by his time overseas.

It truly wasn’t fair. No one should be subjected to such horrors. Young boys with their futures ahead of them, shipped off to some foreign country, to either die or come back missing a piece of themselves? Tearing families apart and turning cities to rubble? It all seemed so pointless.

You were just one person. Just a simple girl from a small town, lost in your own life, unsure of where the path ahead would lead. But you had a loving heart and a warm embrace. And you’d give them both to Eugene, no questions asked. You could see yourself walking down that path with his hand in yours, figuring out how to navigate the future together. The thought of Eugene being there made it a little less terrifying. And you wanted nothing more than for Eugene to go through the rest of his life never feeling unsafe ever again.

You didn’t know how much time had passed when the train slowed to a stop. You watched as Snafu slowly got to his feet and grabbed his duffle from the bunk, swinging it over his shoulder. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking back at Eugene before stepping into the aisle. His eyes locked onto yours and he cocked his head back towards the sleeping marine.

“It’s rare to sleep well these days. Don’t want to ruin that,” he mumbled, clearly feeling like he had to explain himself to you. “I’m not one for goodbyes either.” You offered him an understanding nod and a friendly smile. Snafu returned your nod before heading down the aisle and out the door.

Sometimes you didn’t understand why men did the things they did. But you’d also never be able to understand the connection and camaraderie between servicemen. So you didn’t question Snafu’s decision to leave without waking Eugene.

Another hour or so had passed after the stop in New Orleans when you heard a whimper from across the aisle. Your eyes shot over to Eugene and your heart practically stopped. His eyes were closed tightly, his brow pinched, and he was gripping his own arms so hard his knuckles were practically white. He shook and thrashed in his seat, small cries escaping his lips that seemed to increase in volume each second.

You lept to your feet, throwing your book into your booth behind you before plopping next to Eugene and gently resting your hands on his.

“Eugene,” you whispered, trying not to wake him too harshly. He was clearly having a nightmare, and you didn’t know if trying to startle him awake was the right move. “Eugene, honey, wake up.”

He continued to shake, sweat forming on his forehead and his cries growing louder and louder. You moved your hands to his face, cupping his jaw gently and running your thumbs over his cheeks.

“Eugene!” you spoke louder and suddenly his eyes shot open and he sat up, gasping for air, but your hold on him prevented him from going too far. He blinked rapidly as his chest heaved, trying to get his bearings, but you continued to caress his face, murmuring affirmations to help him.

“You’re okay, I’ve got you,” you assured him. His big, hazel eyes were so sad as they stared into yours, and tears had begun to fall to his red cheeks. He let out a sob and you pulled him to your chest, cradling the back of his head as you wrapped your other arm around him. You held him close to you as he cried, your heart breaking at seeing him like this. You wished you could take every burden away from him. He didn’t deserve this. No one did.

A few nosy guests began to peek over their seats to see what was happening, frowns painted on their faces. As if this poor man’s trauma was an inconvenience to them. You glared daggers at them, and they shied away, slipping back into their seats.

You lost track of time, absentmindedly running your fingers through Eugene’s auburn locks as you held him. You began to softly hum a melody, a song that always comforted you when you were upset. Eugene’s cries began to quiet down, and his body shakes ceased.

Suddenly, he tensed in your arms before pulling away entirely. He wiped at his cheeks roughly as he sniffled, eyes locked on to his lap. You watched him carefully, unsure of what to do.

“Sorry,” he croaked out, his voice scratchy. “I, uh -- um, thank you for…” he trailed off, gesturing towards you with his hand.

“It’s okay,” you replied timidly. You knew he was embarrassed but you wanted to pull him back into your arms and assure him that he had no reason to be. But you waited, wanting him to come to you. His brow furrowed and you could practically hear his brain thinking.

“Now I guess you can see how broken I really am,” he said after a few moments and your heart ached.

“Eugene,” you practically cried. But he didn’t respond, instead turning sharply to face the dark window and letting out a shaky breath.

A tear escaped down your own cheek, your heart stinging at the rejection. But you opted to respect his space. With a sigh, you stood and shifted back over to your booth. You didn’t bother picking up your book, instead deciding to pull your own trunk and coat down from the rack and settling against them, hoping maybe you could get a little sleep.

--

Eugene didn’t bother trying to fall back asleep -- he knew wait awaited him in his dreams. Instead he focused on what he could see out of the train window. The sun eventually rose into the sky, and Eugene could finally see the greenery of Mississippi just before the train crossed the border into his home state.

He hadn’t taken a moment to look over at the woman he knew was still in the booth across from him. He couldn’t bear it. He was so ashamed of her seeing him like that. And then even more ashamed at how he’d pushed her away after she had been so kind to him. She hadn’t needed to comfort him, she had no obligation to do so. Yet she held him anyway. And Eugene had thanked her with a cold shoulder.

As the train pulled into the Mobile station, Eugene’s eyes scanned the platform. He couldn’t help but smile when he spotted Sid, leaning against his car.

Eugene slid out of the booth, grabbing his duffle and throwing it over his shoulder. A small voice sounded next to him.

“Eugene?”

The marine turned to find his woman in burgundy, eyes filled with so much worry, holding out a piece of paper.

“If you want to write. You don’t have to,” she explained, her voice uneasy. Eugene could feel his chest tighten. He hated that he had hurt her, made it so that she was so unsure around him. He gently took the piece of paper from her hand, his finger brushing hers just slightly. He was so tongue-tied, he had no idea what to say to her. So he simply offered her a soft smile and tucked the paper into his coat pocket.

As he made his way down the aisle, Eugene took a deep breath. Maybe one day he’d work up the nerve to write to her. He’d explain his actions and apologize profusely for his behavior. Hope that she’d forgive him but would understand if she didn’t.

But what was the point if he was always going to be broken?

--

You didn’t think you missed Tallahassee. But after settling back into your childhood home, visiting some of your old haunts, and reuniting with old friends, you’d begun to realize its charm.

Now that all the men were home from the war, jobs for women were scarce. You spent most of your time helping your mother around the house or taking walks downtown. Every so often you and some girlfriends would drive down to the beach, but other than that, you didn’t get up to much.

It had been a little over two months since you’d gotten home. You would have been lying if you said you hadn’t checked the mailbox religiously -- each day hoping a letter from Eugene would arrive. You knew the two of you had parted ways rather awkwardly, and you understood if a letter never arrived. But you really hoped you’d hear from him.

You opened the mailbox, only finding some random letters for your father. With a sigh, you headed back inside the house, dropping the letters on your father’s desk before heading down the hall to your room.

You collapsed on your bed with a groan, staring up at the ceiling. You needed to get Eugene off your mind. Maybe some of your friends knew some local servicemen who weren’t spoken for.

You were lost in your musings when a knock sounded at your door. Your mother called your name from the other side.

“You have a gentleman caller, dear,” she explained through the wood. “I didn’t know you knew any marines!”

You sat up with a jolt, eyes wide. Could it be?

“Be there in a minute, ma!” you called out, rushing to your vanity. You quickly checked yourself over, fixing your hair just slightly and patting down your skirt. You cursed at how your bed had wrinkled your blouse, but you didn’t have time to fix it. And if your caller was who you thought it was, you were sure he wouldn’t mind.

You practically flung open your door, pausing in the hall to take a deep breath before stepping out.

You were greeted with the sight of Private First Class Eugene Bondurant Sledge, adorned in his uniform, standing in your living room.

Eugene’s face lit up at your entrance, a huge smile plastered across his face. You grinned as you took him in -- he was even more handsome than you remembered.

“I’m sorry I didn’t write,” he said, breaking the silence. “I needed some time to get settled back home. And I figured you deserved an in-person apology for my actions.”

“Eugene, you have nothing to apologize for, I promise you,” you assured him as you took a step forward. You itched to reach out to him, but you knew your mother was watching nearby. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from him. Eugene was here, in the flesh, in your living room in Tallahassee. You could barely believe it.

“Ma’am? Do you mind if I take your daughter out for a walk around the neighborhood? I promise we’ll be back before supper,” Eugene inquired, addressing your mother, who had been lingering in the doorway of the kitchen. She grinned as she clasped her hands together.

“As long as you promise to join us for supper, Mr. Sledge.”

“It would be my pleasure, ma’am,” Eugene said with a sharp nod. He turned back to you and offered his arm. “Shall we?”

With a beaming smile, you looped your arm through his and let him lead you out the front door.

The two of you walked in silence for a few minutes, soaking up each other’s presence in the warm Floridian air. You nudged his shoulder slightly.

“I was right, you know,” you spoke up.

“About what?”

“You do have a girl.”

--

Permanent Taglist: @queenlover05 @mrhoemazzello @johndeaconshands @sadhwstudent @theblossomknows​ @stardust-galaxies​ @im-an-adult-ish​

[mirkwoodshewolf]

I just wanted to make you smile again; 10th Doctor x child reader

*Author’s note*

Okay to the anon who requested this fic THANK YOU FOR BEING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PATIENT WITH ME!!!! To those anons and users who have sent me requests literally since last year I thank you all for your patience, I AM GETTING THEM DONE SLOWLY BUT SURELY. I’m already in process of doing another DW fic w/13th doctor (one of the first requests I got when I opened them last year) so I hope you all enjoy this fic.

This takes place after the episode Journey’s end so to those that haven���t seen the episode yet SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Angst and fluff is what this fic is. Enjoy my lovelies and until next time ;)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@platawnic​

_________________________________________________________

Things have been—tough. The Daleks, one of my daddy’s biggest enemies nearly had us and almost succeeded in destroying all of life and matter as we know it.  But thanks to some fast thinking and with the help of a clone of my dad, we managed to stop Davros as well as the rest of the Daleks.

But honestly that was the easy part.  The hardest was saying goodbye to all of our friends.  Rose and her mum went back to the parallel world with the meta-human clone of my daddy, Captain Jack took Martha and Mickey off on another adventure, Sarah Jane (an old friend of my dad’s long before I was born) went back home, and Donna—oh poor, poor Donna.

Daddy said that in order to help stop the Daleks, Donna, who had touched the severed hand of my dad when he first became this new version of himself, gained so much knowledge of the Timelords and of our home that it could overwhelm her brain and eventually kill her.  So my dad had to absorb all memory of Timelord knowledge, including all the times she spent with us.

After taking her back home, daddy told her father that it was too dangerous for her to remember anything.  If there was a glimpse of her recovering her memories, she would die.  So my dad and I left her and her family and he never went back.

Since that day, almost seven months later, he still carries that guilt.  And what’s worse is that he hasn’t been the same. He doesn’t smile as much as he used to before.  I think out of everything that I love about my daddy, it’s his smile that always made me feel happy and safe.

I stepped out of my room to see him where he usually was, standing at the controls with that dazed but intense look on his face.  I looked down at paper butterfly and cautiously walked towards my dad. It’s always a touch and go of how he’ll react whenever he’s in that deep haze.  One time he actually shouted at me and I was scared to even go near him for an entire week till he apologized to me with some Turkish delights.

“Daddy.” I said softly. “Umm…uhh daddy?” he snapped out of his daze and looked down at me.

“Oh (Y/n). Sorry I was just—I was just trying to find….nothing. What is it that you wanted to tell me?”

“Well I—finished my paper butterfly and I-wanted to give it to you.” I held it out to him and he looked down at me.  He knelt down and took the butterfly from my hands and I saw his eyes grow soft.

“It’s beautiful love. Thank you.” he gently ruffled my hair and placed my butterfly right along the controls.  It didn’t work.

I had hoped that my paper butterfly would get him to smile.  He always smiled whenever I made him little trinkets of my own design, or beautiful art projects that I’ve seen on Earth.  I thought that by doing an art project, he’d smile again but it didn’t work.

I was currently in my room reading some books written back in the 20th century.  I’ve always found that time period to be rather splendid.  It was a simpler time (if you don’t count the 2 World wars, the Great depression, and every war after that. You know why must humans always start wars?)

Anyways, the start of the 20th century is always my favorite place.  It’s quiet, tranquil, and peaceful.  A nice place, especially out in the countryside. People can have picnics, host carnivals, and yeah the grown men partake in Foxhunt but I think it’s a barbaric sport and yet they call it tradition.

Maybe if—maybe if we stayed there for a while, daddy could get better and smile once again.  I think the more time we stay in the TARDIS and just keep going through space and time, the more unhappy daddy’s gonna get, like I said he always gets lost in his head and the more bad things that happen around him, the more he keeps it bottled up inside and the more sadder he gets.

The only question now was this—how was I gonna get there? I don’t know how to drive the TARDIS cause daddy always told me to keep my grabby little paws off of it. Oh wait that’s it! I raced over to my drawer and pulled out the middle one and dug through it till I found what I was looking for.

A special teleportation watch gifted to me by Uncle Jack when my dad was in his previous form (just shortly after we first met him).  I placed the watch on my wrist and I set the time and date that I wanted to go to.  Once the coordinates were typed in, I pressed the center of the watch and I disappeared from my room and went to go set up my surprise for daddy.

*10th Doctor’s POV*

I was fiddling around with the controls when I turned and looked up at my daughter’s butterfly.  For months now she’s been making these little trinkets and art projects for me, and I really haven’t been fair to her.  A lot has happened to us, especially with what happened to Donna, and I hate to admit this to myself but I’ve been neglecting my little butterfly.

Maybe she would like it if I took her to see her favorite constellation, or maybe Barcelona (she always did like Barcelona).  Oh! No wait! The Music of the Spheres! Yes brilliant! She and I could use some music in our life, the sound of the universe singing to us.

“Hey (Y/n)! Can you come out here for a second?” I called out to her.  No response.  Okay I know it usually takes her a bit of time to come down from her room but usually she’d be right here by now. “(Y/n)? (Y/n) I said can you come here please?” bah she must be listening to that loud music again, that lass I tell you what.

I left the console room and headed on over to her room and saw that her door was shut which was surprising cause she usually keeps her door open.  I knocked on it and said.

“Poppet, are you okay? You’re not—upset or anything are you?” I still didn’t hear anything from her.  “Look I—I know we’ve been through a lot the past several months, and I have no excuse for not speaking to you. I’m sorry. So—can you please open the door so we can talk?” still nothing.

Alright I know she has a right to be upset but she can’t give me the silent treatment forever.  I opened up the door and snapped.

“Alright little madam you listen here I—” it was then I saw that she wasn’t in her room. “(Y/n)?” I looked around her room to see if she was hiding in her closet again (she always takes every advantage to jump out and scare me) but when I saw that she wasn’t there, that’s when I began to get worried.

As I left her room and began to look all around the TARDIS from the backroom pool, to the library I still couldn’t find her.

“C’mon poppet don’t do this to me.” I searched high and low, near and far and every crack in between but she still wasn’t around. “No, no, no, no, no love don’t do this to me! (Y/n)!”

I raced back towards the console and went over to the computer monitor and I quickly typed in her lifeform energy.  Since she was the only Timelord in existence (well next to me), I knew that she could be pinpoint at any time in any era she might be in.  I only hope that I can get to her before—no! NO DON’T THINK LIKE THAT!! You WON’T lose her like you lost Donna!

“C’mon you blasted thing LOAD!!!” I screamed at the computer before finally I got a hit.  London, England 1908.  Of course, she always said the start of the 20th century was her favorite time period.  I punched in the coordinates and flipped the switch and soon the TARDIS started back up and I was sailing back in time over 100 years into the past.

Once I arrived, I peeked out of the TARDIS and found myself adjacent to a large park. It was pretty peaceful, families were out and about doing their normal human interactions.  I shut the doors to the TARDIS and I quickly raced over to the park and searched for (Y/n).

This was where her last known readings were at.  At this exact spot so where could that little troublemaker be at?  I walked up to a couple and said.

“Hi sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you have found a little girl around 5 years old with (h/l) (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes? She’s my daughter and she’s wondered off again.”

“No sorry. We haven’t seen any little girls fitting that description.” Said the man as he and his wife continued on their walk.  I then found another couple who seemed a more upper-class couple due to the diamond necklace around the woman’s neck.

“Excuse me could you both please help me I’m looking for my daughter have either of you……”

“We don’t have time to look for lost children, that’s what the servants are for.” Said the man.

“And who loses their child anyway? Such irresponsibility.” The woman snide.  I looked at them offendedly and said.

“At least I don’t dump my child on anyone else! I’m surprised that people like you could even have children.” They looked at me appalled before huffing and walking away from me.  

I grunted and adjusted my jacket trying to compose myself when a small Cockney accent said.

“You said you were looking for (Y/n)?” I turned around and there was a young ginger haired boy with freckles speckled all over his face.  His bright blue eyes staring up at me and he wore a paper boy’s uniform.

“Yeah that’s my daughter’s name. Do you know where she is?”

“Course I do Gov. Just got done talking with her before I started my work sir. She’s right by the lake.”

“The Lake! Oh thank you lad. Thank you so much.”

“No problem, good luck governor.” I raced off towards the lake and when I got there, I soon saw my daughter sitting right by the lake surrounded by flowers and in her lap it looked like she was in the process of making a flower crown.

The important thing was that she was safe, but that little missy is sooo going to get it now.

I trudged my way towards her and exclaimed.

“(Y/n)!” she stopped her work and turned around.  Her big (e/c) eyes staring up at me and a smile spread across her face. She stood up and ran towards me and hugged around my legs.

“Daddy you came!”

“Yes I did.” I knelt down and began to check to see if she was hurt or worst case scenario been replaced by a Graske. “Are you hurt?”

“No I’m perfectly fine.”

“Answer me this then. Who was the first companion that we had together?”

“Rose Tyler.” Okay this was my baby girl.  I immediately hugged her and whispered to her as I rest my head on top of hers.

“I thought I had lost you.” I then separated from her before scolding her vert sternly, “Do you have any idea how worried I was!? You leave your room with no note! How on earth did you leave the TARDIS without my knowledge?!”

“Uncle Jack’s time jump watch.” She said nervously as she held out her wrist.  I looked down and right there was the time teleport watch that Jack had given her shortly after we met him for the first time in my previous state.

“That figures. Remind me to never let him give you anymore teleportation gifts without my permission.” I muttered to myself. “Bottom line is that you left the TARDIS without my permission and had me scared to death! What if something happened to you hmm? Did it ever cross your mind about how that would make me feel!?”

Yes I know my voice was steadily getting angrier and angrier but she should’ve realized that my one rule for her is to never, ever, ever leave the TARDIS without my permission or knowledge and she broke that rule.

“I—I’m sorry daddy. I just……thought that if I brought you here, you would be happy.” My anger quickly vanished and confusion now took its place.

“What?” I asked her.

“Ever since—” she deeply sighed. “After what happened with Donna you never smile anymore. No matter what I’ve done, I could never get you to smile. Your real smile, the smile that always made me feel loved and protected. I thought that maybe we could—stay here for a while till you were happy again.” She looked down with regret.

I rubbed my hand over my face and through my hair before looking back down at her. I cupped my hands over her face and I said to her.

“What would I ever do without you my little butterfly?” she smiled softly.

“So we can stay?” she asked.

“For now.” I answered her.  She squealed happily and immediately hugged me around my neck repeatedly telling me thank you.  I smiled and embraced my baby girl back and kissed the top of her head as I rocked her back and forth.

This little madam truly does have me wrapped around her little finger, and she seems to know it as well.  But she was right.  Staying in one area made you stop and admire what’s around you, and not stay trapped inside your head letting your demons torment you.

We stayed in 1908 for about five months just enjoying each other’s company.  Going to the park every day, having picnics and tea parties out in the garden of our rented little cottage, and stargazing every night teaching her more about the galaxy and the stars.  

For the first time ever, I felt—peaceful, no regrets, no painful reminders of what I had to do to Donna, it was just me and my daughter.

[c-optimistic]

Hi C-Optimistic, Anon here to help you out of your angst woes. 😔 As for a prompt idea, how about this: Post 100th episode, Lena says f**k this s**t im out and f**ks off to Ireland. Just leave National City and all the drama, finds a quite cottage in the countryside, and get her head on straight (Lena POV).

hey anon, I appreciate you

“Villain,” she muttered to herself as she put the car in park and got out of the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut. “I’ll show you villain,” she continued mutinously, stalking over to the only building for miles.

“Uh, Lena, don’t you think maybe you should—”

“—I should what?” Lena demanded, not pausing for a moment. She pushed the door to the building open, using a little more force than strictly necessary, and stepped inside. Instantly, she coughed at the dust, looking around at the ramshackled cottage with a little bit of distaste. “I thought it would be...more homely,” she said, all her anger dissipating at the sight of her new residence for the foreseeable future.

“You bought an abandoned cottage in the middle of nowhere and you thought it would be homely?”

“It’s not the middle of nowhere,” Lena said immediately, defensive. “This is the countryside. It’s in the country.” She sounded weak to her own ears, and she knew her stalker had noticed, because she let out a soft sigh, coming up behind Lena and reaching out—almost as if she wanted to touch Lena’s shoulder.

“Lena, come on,” she said, in her annoying soft voice, “I know you’re upset, but come back home.”

“Home? Anywhere you are is not home,” Lena spat, turning to glare at her stalker. “Why don’t you just leave me alone? You’ve made yourself perfectly clear. I’m done with Lex, I’m done with you, I’m done with it all.” She gestured wildly at the dilapidated cottage. “I’m having an early retirement.”  

“Lena, please—”

But Lena was unwilling to listen.

“Leave,” she hissed, eyes narrowed, shoving her stalker in the chest when she didn’t immediately move. It was like pushing at a boulder. “I said go, Kara!”

And finally, with slumped shoulders and a sad sigh, Kara listened.

x

She noticed Kara skulking about not a week later.

Lena had bicycled down to the nearest town, enjoying the excellent weather as she rode, her thoughts on her list of things she needed from the market. There were supplies she needed to order as she continued to work on her cottage, but there were also some in-season fruits she waited all week for, still excited at the prospect of freshly picked berries.

(Not for the first time, she wished her own garden was further along, and that growing things wasn’t so...slow.)

Kara was at the market.

She wasn’t being sneaky. Not really. She was ambling about, charming the locals with her bright smile and excited questions, blushing profusely when a little girl accused her of looking familiar, almost like Supergirl. (“Pffft,” Kara had said loudly, her voice unintentionally carrying over to Lena as she tried to hide her awkwardness and failed, “that’s a strange thing—what an interesting—what would she even be doing...nooo, I look like me. Just like me.”) She clearly wasn’t attempting to hide her presence from Lena, but Lena—who remembered quite clearly telling Kara to leave—was annoyed.

So she settled on ignoring Kara’s presence entirely.

It worked, for the most part. She did find her eyes straying at one point, when Kara was busy with a little boy, her eyes screwed up in concentration, her tongue sticking out, as she attempted to fix whatever toy she’d accidentally stepped on while failing miserably at following Lena covertly.

(It wasn’t until much later, when Lena was fixing herself dinner back at her more rugged than ramshackled cottage, that she wondered if Kara had done it all on purpose. The following loudly from a distance, never approaching, never making actual contact.

To suggest her friendship and presence would go nowhere, while also respecting Lena’s boundaries—making it quite clear she would not approach unless Lena initiated the contact.

It made Lena roll her eyes, a traitorous smile tugging at her lips.)

x

In her third week of solitude, Lena woke up one morning to letters.

A large stack, resting innocently behind her door, held together by a waxy piece of string she recognized from the town’s bookstore. Lena looked up and around her property, but she saw no sign of blue and red, so she bit her lip and picked up the letters.

It took her another whole day before she was mentally ready to open them.

They were from everyone—or, for the most part, that was. Letters from Nia, from Brainy, from Alex and Kelly (the way that letter was worded making Lena think it was written by Kelly), even a letter from J’onn. They were apologies, pleas for her to return, admissions of fault and guilt, and one (clearly written by Alex alone, without Kelly’s soft touch) that brought up all Lena had done and how that was painful too. Nia had given updates about National City, Brainy talked about some ideas he had for some of Lena’s R&D projects—abandoned, she supposed, now that she was here and Lex was still back in National City—and J’onn wrote about heroes and M’gann, and those who managed to buck what everyone expected them to be, just to be who they actually were.

The absence of Kara, in any of it, was glaring. No mentions of Kara (or Supergirl) in the letters, none of them written in Kara’s neat, loopy hand, not even a whiff of anything to do with the reporter, even though she was the only one who could’ve brought all these unmarked letters to her doorstep.

For whatever reason, it made Lena angry. She had been stalked and followed, Kara popping into town every time she happened to be there, but she couldn’t get a single, measly letter?

Well, she would show Kara, she thought to herself as she folded all the letters back up and shoved them in the envelopes. She would show her.

x

“You,” she told Kara unceremoniously in the middle of town—in the market, right in front of a stand full of cabbages—eyeing her former best friend with as much heat as she could muster (which, well, wasn’t much), “are such an idiot.”

And then she left.

x

Kara followed.

It took a few days, but the next time she saw Kara, it wasn’t as she hid behind locals and pretended to be endlessly interested in fresh vegetables. It was outside her door, moments after a soft knock.

“Hi,” Kara said, not quite meeting Lena’s eyes. “I brought you some things I thought you might miss from National City.” (An enormous bag was at her feet, full of what looked to be books, some tech Lena had been tinkering with in her spare time and had left in her apartment, photos and the like, and even takeout from Big Belly Burger.)

“Right,” Lena said slowly, letting out a breath. “Thanks.”

(If Kara expected to be invited in and was surprised when she wasn’t, she didn’t show it. If anything, she looked pleased at the two words Lena did speak.)

“Right, well. I’d best be off. Alex is making me spend time with her and Kelly. She says I’ve been distant lately and she doesn’t like what it’s been doing to our work relationship. By which I think she just misses me, but doesn’t want to admit it,” Kara rambled, taking several steps back as she spoke. (Lena missed that, she realized suddenly. She missed Kara’s stupid quirks, her soft voice. No matter how tainted their friendship now was, she still missed her best friend.)

Kara’s fingers had reached up to her glasses when Lena found her voice.

“How did you find me?” she asked, swallowing a little bit, wanting to hide just how much she wanted the answer to this question. “I took so many precautions, to make sure Lex couldn’t track me. New bank accounts, buying this cottage in another name….” She trailed off, suggesting all the work she’d put into finding this cottage without anyone knowing. “So what did I miss? And why hasn’t Lex been here yet?”

It was a mildly suggestive question—what did you do, she wanted to ask, but didn’t. What did you do that made Lex not find the same thing that led you here? What did you do to Lex?

“I didn’t find you because of a paper trail, Lena,” Kara said, her tone changing so much that Lena felt her heart pound harder and faster in response. “I don’t think you made any mistakes.”

“So how did you find me? You were at the cottage the same time I was. How?”

For a moment, it didn’t look like Kara would respond. But then:

“When I’m overwhelmed, especially by noise, I latch onto things that are familiar and comforting to me,” she explained slowly, shaking her head when Lena tried to interrupt. “I listen for Alex’s voice, Nia’s snores, and um,” she paused, her cheeks flaming, “your heartbeat.” She fiddled with her fingers, not meeting Lena’s eyes anymore. “Since we, well—I’d been listening to it more often. And then one day it was gone from National City, and I panicked, so I started searching for it...and found you while you were on your way here.”

“You found me by my heartbeat?” Lena asked, incredulous.

“It’s one of my favorite sounds,” Kara said, clearly without thinking, her hands nearly flying to her mouth and her eyes widening in panic. (And Lena’s traitorous heart pounded harder and harder in response, as if crying out for Kara to hear it.) “Lena,” Kara continued after a long moment, “are you planning on staying here?”

(Lena wondered what this was. A question for a question? Answer for an answer?

Or was it what it actually sounded like? Kara, her former best friend, longing to have Lena come back.)

“I don’t know,” Lena answered honestly. “There’s nothing for me to go back for.” She managed to leave off the yet, but just barely. Oddly, Kara didn’t seem to notice, if her crestfallen expression was anything to go by.

“Okay,” she said, nodding curtly. “I understand. I’ll leave you, uh, to it then.”

“I could use company. Sometimes. If you’re free,” Lena blurted as Kara bent at the knees and one hand went up to her glasses. “It would be...nice, I think.”

And Kara’s blinding smile was answer enough for Lena’s unasked question.

x

“How are you all managing without me there, anyway?” Lena asked some weeks later, somewhat used to their new give and take, somewhat used to Kara’s presence in her small cottage, feeling safe enough to ask and her curiosity finally getting the best of her.

Kara didn’t even look up from the recipe she was trying to work out, biting her lip as she leaned closer to the book, her forehead resting on the page, as if she hoped she’d learn how to cook through the power of osmosis.

“Not great,” she answered honestly, not looking up. “But that’s to be expected.”

“What does that mean?”

Kara pulled away from the book, eyeing Lena oddly, as if she was missing something obvious. “It’s crazy that you don’t see how important you are to m—us.”

Lena didn’t comment on Kara’s slip, nor did she allow herself to think about how it was her personally that mattered, and not her contributions, in Kara’s mind.

At least, she didn’t allow herself to think about it too much.

x

“Sometimes I get bored out here,” Lena admitted.

“I could bring you more things to do. More of your projects, more books?”

“That’s not it,” Lena sighed, pushing a cup of tea Kara’s way. Her cottage was homely now. Full of light and flowers and smelling of freshly baked cookies. She wondered why it didn’t feel like home unless she was sharing it with someone else. “I supposed I’m jealous. Of you and the others,” she clarified at Kara’s curious look. “Game nights and lunch and all that? I miss it.”

“Oh. Well, you’re not missing much.”

“What?”

“We haven’t done any of that since you left. It’s not the same without you.”

x

“Why do you keep coming back?” Lena asked one day, months down the line. Kara was helping in the garden, mud drying on her forehead where she wiped at it with the back of her hand. “Surely there’s something else you’d rather do. What about that guy, the one who asked you out?”

“Who?” Kara answered absentmindedly, tugging on a stubborn weed. “Ohh,” she continued, laughing a little as it finally clicked and she used a bit of her super strength, the weed flying out of the ground. “I always forget about him. Is that terrible?”

“Kara,” Lena admonished, waiting for an answer to her actual question.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Kara admitted, leaning back so that she was sitting on her heels, turning to face Lena with a frown. “This is where I want to be.”

“Are you just here to convince me to come back?” Lena asked, several hours later, when the two of them were at her small table, having dinner. “Is that it?” (Fear made her ask. Anxiety made her ask. Curiosity made her ask. But also...well, hope made her ask.)

Kara was silent for a long moment, then she let out a deep breath. “I think, in the beginning. Yes. I kept coming because I wanted you to come home with me.”

“But now?”

“Now, I just want you to be happy. Wherever that is.”

Lena nodded, looking away from Kara after a moment. “National City was never my home,” she said, unsure why she said it, why she didn’t explain when Kara’s face fell but nodded knowingly.

“I get it,” she said, tone sad, but eyes flaming with promise. “I’m glad you made a home here. And I’ll keep you company as long as you’ll have me.”

No, you missed the point, Lena wanted to say. This cottage wasn’t her home either.

x

She didn’t worry when Kara didn’t visit for a week. She didn’t even worry when it stretched out for two. There was always something going on in the world, and she knew she couldn’t monopolize Kara’s time. But when two weeks stretched into a third, Lena knew something was wrong.

It was confirmed the moment she entered town, and walked into the nearest pub, seeing nearly half the townsfolk in there, all of them watching the television screen intently. Lena followed their gaze, and immediately, her heart sank at the breaking news playing out on the screen:

Supergirl still missing, traces of kryptonite at last spot she was seen

Lena turned around and rushed to her cottage, biking furiously, grabbing everything she needed for a trip back to National City.

Back to Kara.

x

After days of furious work, helping Alex and Brainy, allowing Nia to bully her into a nap, sighing in resignation when Kelly mediated an awkward hug between herself and Alex, and avoiding J’onn’s knowing gazes, Kara finally woke up.

She was still groggy, but a smile immediately tugged on her lips the moment her eyes fell on Lena.

“Am I dreaming,” she asked, holding her hand out for Lena to take, seemingly shocked when Lena actually took it, “or are you actually here with me?”

“I had to come back home,” Lena whispered, heart thudding in her chest. Kara’s eyes shut, even as her smile grew wider, and Lena knew she understood.

National City was never her home. Neither was that cottage.

Kara was.

(And from the way Lena’s heart pounded when Kara’s fingers intertwined with Lena’s, well, she didn’t think that would change anytime soon.)

[hopevalley]

Season 8, Episode 10: Old Love, New Love, Is This True Love

All right, so...like I said, work has picked up and my eyes feel like old marbles from staring at numbers (the woes of working in accounting I guess) so I want to get this written up and tossed into the nether before I lose steam and motivation to do it. The interesting thing about these little write-ups is that as the week goes on they just get harder and harder to write...

I do apologize in advance to those who like the long-winded write-ups. I’m just not up to it at the moment. Still feeling kind of bleh from the episode.

Let’s go back to an old format, shall we?

The Good

We might as well start out with the things about this episode that I enjoyed! 

Gossip Hour with the Men was one of the best openers they’ve had on the show in a while. It was genuinely funny without being meanspirited. Nobody looked like the bad guy. Everyone just calmly talked about it alike it was a normal thing to maybe call off the wedding. Bill calling out Carson for giving marriage advice was pretty funny, Mike was a delight. I don’t know what to say. I’d watch a whole episode of The Boys just hanging around spending time together.

--

Florence’s worry that she’s ugly was...not a terrible idea for a storyline, but the actress is too good-looking to pretend to be ugly (I saw her in this pretty yellow dress on Instagram a couple years ago and she was smashing)? Also, it’s not like Ned is a handsomely aged gentleman (like Henry lol) so it makes even less sense for the characters. I think they should have gone with Florence feeling she’s “plain” and that dressing up Super Nice makes her feel uncomfortable because she just doesn’t feel like Herself and worries maybe it’s projecting a false sense of Who She Is or something? I guess overall I still liked that an attempt was made to add some depth to Florence and her difficulties in choosing a dress/hairstyle, so...it goes here.

--

Ned asking Henry to be his best man was nice, too. I can forgive the shoddy pacing and weird placement of this request (like I do with almost everything in the show) but only because the scene was just...so incredibly wholesome. 

I like how Henry just casually is like, “Well maybe today’s just not the day.” I think it eased Ned’s mind just a little that he CAN back out if he really wants to.

I think it’s worth thinking about the fact that Ned and Henry would have always worked very closely, since the mercantile would have been a company store before the mine closed down... I like Henry and Ned as pals.

--

I’m glad the “investment” thing with Jesse and Clara’s savings was brought up in a way that...makes sense. And also, glad it wasn’t forgotten.

--

I really liked Molly and Florence in this episode. I’m a little sad Florence married Ned because I AM SORRY BUT I WANTED TO KEEP SHIPPING MOLLY AND FLORENCE TOGETHER UGHGHGHH

But their relationship is so good and maYBE Elizabeth will learn something from them.

Hey Elizabeth...you see that?

YOU SEE THAT?

Just saying.

And then later...

“You are the sister I never had, the mother I forever wanted, the friend I have always needed. From the depths of those dark and terrifying coal mines you’ve walked beside me, picking me up whenever I’ve stumbled along the way.”

AAAAAAAAA IT GOT ME.

--

I’m...really liking Fiona and Mike’s relationship, whatever it is. I kind of think they’re not headed toward anything romantic. Everyone thinks Mike is really into Fiona but at the end of the episode we realize he likes talking to her about business; it’s almost like they have this shared passion for numbers/ideas and he likes infodumping to her (and vice-versa).

I think they’re going to end up being “just friends” and Fiona will end up paired off with the man Elizabeth doesn’t choose. They hinted at Nathan briefly in this episode (with Allie’s hair), but who knows? I’m over trying to speculate on where the triangle is going at this point, but I actually like Fiona’s relationship with Mike so much that I’ll be disappointed if she fades into the background with Nathan or Lucas. Mike deserves more screentime. 

--

Ned and Florence sharing their fIRST KISS. My husband got emotional over this. And I admit, it was starting to get to me, too. I can’t NOT root for them. 

--

I said it before and I’ll say it again: I WOULD DIE FOR THE CANFIELDS.

--

The wedding was nice. I liked that Bill and Joseph officiated it together; it gives Joseph a li’l trial run of pastoring and finally Bill gets to use some of that power of his to officiate a wedding.

“Please, if you’d like” is such a Bill way to say that they may kiss LOL.

--

Also, I have to admit that I did enjoy Lucas calling Nathan out about Allie. She wouldn’t be caught in the middle if he’d leave Elizabeth alone AND HE IS RIGHT LMAO.

The last good thing: Elizabeth telling Nathan she doesn’t blame him for Jack’s death. Nice. Good. Thank you. He probably needed to hear that.

--

...THE BAD

Carson and Faith. UGH. UGHHHHHHHHHH. BREAK UP ALREADY I HATE YOU BOTH.

I appreciated that Carson had the ring ages ago, and I did like his conversation with Minnie—or more accurately, her advice to him. I felt like she was nudging him toward, “Remember why you became a surgeon in the first place.” If he became a surgeon to help people, then there’s no reason he can’t help people where he is. Sure, he might not be doing state of the art procedures but with Faith working alongside him, he can afford time to learn new things and go to doctor conventions or even take a specialized class now and then. No other doctor could get away for very long but he has that chance!

And he’ll arguably be doing more good in the middle of nowhere than in the city. All the doctors want to live in the city. Nobody wants to barely get paid for their time in the countryside.

We had a whole episode that made it clear that Faith and Carson don’t make a lot of money and do a lot of charity work. They also work for trade goods (mostly food). So it’s like...a pretty big difference in lifestyle? 

Half the reason I can’t get invested in these characters is because I really can’t stand Paul Greene. He just...annoys me on every single level imaginable. But he’s a decent actor and I can’t help but feel that his character was a massive waste of space for the past few seasons through no fault of the man himself. Imagine introducing a character like Carson and then leaving him to rot before you try to make him interesting with a romance plot that nobody asked for.

Yes, some people really like Faith and Carson, but as a whole I think the fandom didn’t buy into them as a ship due to the lack of chemistry.

It really is a shame. This episode didn’t do a thing to endear me to either character. Please, Carson. I am begging you to leave town.

--

This one particular line of dialogue almost enraged me.

WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE KNOW WE CAN SEE THAT FOR OURSELVES. WHY DID THEY HAVE ROSEMARY SAY THIS LIKE IT’S AN EPISODE OF A CHILD’S TV SHOW?

--

Elizabeth.........

How could Katie have...looked up to her? She was never in her class? That was? Never part of anything? It was just something they threw in here to force Elizabeth to make 1% more sense in the role she’s in but IT STILL DOESN’T WORK.

I felt like I was back in Season 5 again with Lori and Elizabeth putting their nose in everyone’s business except it’s just Elizabeth!! The whole plot, which was boring and contrived anyway, should have gone to Molly, since she’s Florence’s best friend and another woman from town that Katie would have known as a child.

AND ALSO, MOLLY WOULD HAVE KNOWN KATIE’S MOTHER AND WOULD REMEMBER THE GRIEF THAT NED STRUGGLED WITH.

I know they wanted to make Elizabeth give advice so that she’d Realize that she needs to, I don’t know, make better choices or something, but it was too on the nose for me and I hated it.

GinithePooh on Reddit made a good comparison to Elizabeth in this episode by saying she reminded them of Clippy from Microsoft Word, always popping up and offering to help when nobody really needs or wants advice.

To honor their incredible idea, I opened Photoshop and created this gem, which I will also be posting separately so that people can reblog it if they wish to.

I also don’t think I need to say also filed under The Bad is the fact that Elizabeth didn’t even apologize for being awful to Rosemary and then gave her unsolicited advice to other people for two days straight. I can’t believe they wrote that? 

All I can say is that her apology to Rosemary, when it comes, better be good.

--

And I didn’t like this either:

I wish it had been followed up by literally anything: Nathan saying he’s sorry he didn’t tell her sooner or something to make the hand-holding actually be a little more innocent.

As it is, it just seems so deliberate? 

Maybe the next episode starts off right in this scene and we’ll get that? If so, this might actually end up being fine. I just don’t think it is if it doesn’t get a little more direct attention.

--

& THE UGLY

I debated on putting anything in here, because I’m not ready to talk about my feelings on this matter, at least not fully. But I’ve been pretty quiet all season so far, and...eh, why not just mention things in advance? What will it hurt?

Let me preface this section by saying I’m biased and I doubt hardly anyone on this site will agree with me, so feel free to just ignore this part if that’s the case.

There are two things that I really didn’t like in this episode.

I hate the slanting toward Bill/Molly.

I like Molly just fine but I don’t like her with Bill. I’m biased as all getout and also worried about the future/potential Season 9 with regards to this. I don’t want to see it. Like at all. Why, you ask? You should know why if you follow me. I’m super transparent.

It’s because I like AJ AND I WANT HER BACK LOL.

John Tinker rewatched the series so we know he wouldn’t have missed that hanging plot thread—especially since he didn’t forget any of the other things that were brought up this season! So why didn’t she appear this season? The love triangle absolutely needed to be a focus or it would have never ended, so that’s part of it, but I’m also pretty sure Josie Bissett wasn’t interested in doing any filming last year during Covid. My only “proof” is that Wedding March 6 wasn’t filmed last year even though it was scheduled to be filmed, but it makes sense. Last year was chaos.

THAT SAID, Jack Wagner posted on his Instagram the other day that they are actually filming Wedding March 6 now, so... I guess AJ’s re-appearance in Season 9 wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if they wanted to write it.

You’d think I’d be hyped about that, and I kind of am? But it doesn’t come without its share of worries, too. We just had the worst love triangle in the history of love triangles and I really don’t want another one, especially if it makes any of the characters in question look stupid or mean.

I fully admit a well-written love triangle could be a LOT of fun for them* (low stakes because they’re not front and center characters), but I saw how Nathan was written so far this season and I really, REALLY do not want to see that happen to Molly, Bill, or AJ.

Anyway, not a fan of the Molly/Bill stuff. No chemistry. I don’t want it.

*I would totally write a fanfic like this lmao.

--

And finally...the part that everyone will hate me for:

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ABIGAIL COME BACK. And I specifically do not want her to come back ‘cause I do not wanna see Henry/Abigail happen.

I fully recognize that a lot of you like it and ship the heck out of it, and that’s...good. I’m glad you enjoy it. I loathe it, though, and I worry that all these hints (more like...mentions) are leaning toward...something. Like, either they’re:

1) Sending Abigail off/tying up that loose end with Henry (since nothing was ever clarified either way), or

2) Warming up the audience to receive Abigail back on the show.

I’m pretty into the idea of one-sided Henry/Abigail. Hindsight is 20/20, regrets, that’s all some juicy stuff to give a character like Henry. Some things can’t ever be made right again. He had too direct of a connection to the death of her husband and son for me to ever want to see them together. Forgiveness? Yes. A careful but meaningful friendship? Yes. Romantic relationship? Uh...no thanks.

I liked the Abigail mentions at first because I felt like...the character still mattered (as she should) but I’m at a point where I feel like they’re trying really hard to steer the fandom’s view a certain way and not knowing where it’s going is extremely unsettling to me.

--

I’ll probably talk more about the things that bother me when the season ends, because I’m hoping to have a better idea of where things are going to be headed, but for now just...know that I feel very apprehensive.

And keep in mind that I primarily watch this show for Bill these days, since all my previous faves (AJ, Frank, the old Abigail, Dottie) have exited, stage left. I also always really liked seeing Henry. So as you can imagine, seeing plotlines I hate for the only two characters I’m invested in? Is making me consider dropping the series next year.

My husband told me I should hate-watch it, but I don’t know if my heart can take it. I’ve been following this series for so long...it just...kind of hurts to feel let down like this? 

But sometimes an ongoing series ends up going where you...didn’t want it to, and it becomes something that’s no longer right for you. I hope that doesn’t happen, but last night’s episode makes me feel like...it might be happening for real this time.

I guess if that holds true it’ll be back to fanfiction for me. Will that novelization I planned ages ago end up getting written? Will I write the best love triangle fanfic known to man? WHO KNOWS.

For now, we’ll all have to wait and see! Two more episodes left. I’m really curious to see how they resolve some of the open plots right now. :>

[monstersandmaw]

Embers - Male dragon shifter x reader, Chapter Fourteen (final!) (nsfw)

You thought I’d forgotten, didn’t you? Do you have so little faith in me?

Spoilers: I was in bed when I remembered, and it’s 11.45pm here and I totally had forgotten. I’m so sorry.

Well, this is it, folks! The conclusion to the 14-part story! Hope you’ve enjoyed it, and thanks to the few of you who’ve let me know when you’ve enjoyed it, and to those of you who have consistently reminded me when I’ve forgotten to post! <3

This week: our boy has shown us his true wyvern form and has taken us for a brief test-flight around the grounds of his home, but now he's got a surprise for us and wants to take us further afield!

Catch up on previous episodes here:

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen

You would remember that flight for the rest of your life. The way the ground disappeared beneath you should have left you a frightened wreck, but sitting astride Mikaeïl like that gave you a strange rush of courage, knowing that his power and strength and agility in the air would keep you safe, that you would not fall tumbling to your death through the endless space beneath you. He would bear you up, hold you aloft, soar and glide with you as the world passed by beneath. It was hard not to laugh like a lunatic after a while, even once the adrenaline had mostly worn off.

Mikaeïl’s wing beats whooshed with a steady, thrumming rhythm as he flew, the vast stretch of the leathery wings reaching as wide as an aeroplane tip-to-tip, his neck long and spiked extending ahead of you, and, if you were brave enough, you could twist and look behind you and see the rippling muscles of his back and tail working to steady himself like a rudder in the strong currents up this high.

In the sun his scales gleamed a million shades and hues of gold and amber, and you barely noticed the countryside streaming past beneath you. As you finally released your grip on a very handy pair of spikes at the base of his neck, about ten minutes into the journey, you allowed yourself to run your palm down the smooth, reptilian scales of his withers. With a rumbling groan that was audible even with the wind roaring in your ears, he dropped a few feet in altitude as the rhythm of his wings faltered. Your stomach lurched and you felt the blood drain from your face.

“Careful,” Mikaeïl laughed, half turning back to look at you over his shoulder at you. “Remember what I told you about you being distracting while I fly?”

You laughed and apologised, but he could clearly see that you meant not a word of it, and he turned away, his nostrils actually smoking softly, which was a new sight.

“Hey,” you called. “Can you breathe fire?”

“I’m surprised that that hasn’t come up before now,” he said. “Yes,” he added. “I can. Why, do you want a demonstration?”

You looked around at the vast emptiness on all sides and shrugged. “Here’s as safe a place as any I can think of…” you yelled.

Unexpectedly, Mikaeïl laughed. “Hold on,” he rumbled. Adjusting the pattern of his wing beats, slowing down a little and tilting his head downwards, Mikaeïl sucked in a great lungful of air, his ribs expanding beneath you, and suddenly, with a booming roar, a gout of flame burst from his open mouth below you.

The distant heat of it hit you in the face as you flew past it, and you gasped, laughing. “That’s amazing!”

He shook his head and simply took a moment to breathe and continue flying. “We’re nearly there,” he said, turning his nose first and then banking right with the rest of his body as he shifted direction slightly, heading for a wooded patch of hillside above a glimmering lake shaped like a diamond.

In the distance, a small, lone building caught your attention and as he shot like a missile right towards it, it began to reveal itself with greater and greater clarity. It looked like a ruined tower, seated at the top end of a wide, grassy meadow, backed by deciduous trees.

Leaning forwards, taking hold of those two golden horns at the base of his neck, you shouted, “Is that where we’re headed?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Hold on. While I descend, alright?”

“Yeah,” you said, stomach swooping unpleasantly again as he dropped in altitude.

In fact, landing in the meadow was easier this time than it had been the first back at his estate. Perhaps that was because you knew what to expect and you hadn’t rammed your eyes shut this time, but whatever the reason, you slithered laughing to the floor as he helped you down off his back and settled down into the grass with a soft rumble.

“Are you alight?” he asked, breathing hard from the effort of the careful landing. “Not too cold?”

You turned your hands over and grimaced a little. “Hands are a bit chilly,” you mumbled, “But no, I’m ok.”

“Here,” he said before he exhaled a rush of warm breath over your hands. “Better?”

Useful. With an answering grin, you nodded, and he led you up the meadow towards what you could now see was a cylindrical tower with a red tiled roof. “It looks like one of those fairytale castles where a helpless royal is locked in a keep and guarded by a monstrous dragon…”

“And which one of us are you suggesting is the helpless royal?” he asked, his reptilian face expressing curious sarcasm with the merest adjustment of his brow, golden eyes flaring.

“Well it’s not me,” you laughed. “I’m pretty sure don’t have a single drop of blue blood in my veins…”

“You must be the dragon then,” Mikaeïl grinned, flashing his rows of incredibly sharp teeth and adjusting his wings behind him like a bird just returned from a long flight. He caught you staring at him again, and tilted his head. “What?”

“I still can’t believe you kept this from me for so long,” you said, pushing through the whispering grasses beside him as he lifted elegant, clawed hind paws and balanced on his thumbs at the front like a bat. His long, elegant tail swung behind him, a counterweight for his neck and head.

“Kept what from you? My wyvern form?”

You shrugged. “I don’t blame you, not with the history your kind has suffered, but I’m just… overwhelmed. In a good way!” you added hastily as his regular footfalls faltered.

Mikaeïl’s relieved answering chuckle was deep and throaty and it made you prickle hot all over. Something of that must have showed in your eyes because he lowered his head and sniffed gently, playfully at your neck, making you gasp. “Apparently so,” he rumbled and you let out a quiet - if obscene - moan that you hadn’t really meant to make. He only laughed again and twitched his head towards the tower. “Come on.”

“What is this place?” you asked, finally kicking your legs back into action as he moved off ahead of you.

“It belongs to my family,” he said. “It was once part of the estate of a great hunting lodge, gifted to us by the royal family for our services. We sold most of the land a long time ago, but we kept this meadow, the woodlands, and the folly.”

“The folly?” you asked, looking at the tower. “It’s not real?”

“Well, it’s not an illusion but it was never part of a castle if that’s what you mean. It does have a room at the top and a fireplace though, but no running water or electricity.”

He led you right up to the shadow of the tower before revealing anything else to you, and even when he did, he only asked you to open the heavy wooden door at the base of the tower, and bring out what was inside.

Boiling with curiosity, you did as bidden, and you returned into the daylight with an enormous grin on your face, and a picnic hamper and blanket in your arms. “Mikaeïl,” you smiled. “You big softie.”

He laughed nervously, and then the lines of his body became taut, muscles bunching as he turned a bit shy and awkward. “Do you want me to shift…?”

“Not if you don’t want to,” you shrugged as you spread out the blanket and opened the huge basket to discover an absolute feast inside. Its contents were cool too, and you saw two ice blocks sitting there to keep it all fresh. “When did you plot and pull all this off?”

As he settled his large, bronze body down on the grass beside you, he said, “I had some help.”

“From whom?”

“Frankie,” he said. “He dropped off the basket this morning. And my sister helped too. She’s the one who technically owns this land, and she keeps the keys to the folly.”

“Well, thank them both for me next time you see them, will you? This is amazing.”

“I’m glad,” he said, the fondness for you ringing deeply in his voice. He lowered his head and nuzzled at your back, breathing more warm air around you in an aura of comfort. Your head tipped back and he supported you as you sagged into him for a moment. “You’ve got other things on your mind, haven’t you?” he asked in a darker, sweeter voice.

You flushed hot at his question, but nodded. “Nothing I can’t handle for a while though,” you smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate this; I do… a lot…”

He leaned in close, bringing his maw full of deadly teeth right up to your ear, and whispered, “I know. I can smell it on you.”

Heat flared white inside you and you groaned.

As amazing as the food was, and the fruit cordial to wash it down, you could barely keep your hands off him. All the while you ate and enjoyed the view, you trailed the fingers of one hand over his unbelievably sensitive wing membrane until he was shuddering and groaning, and even as you fed him morsels of food, the way his tongue cleaned your fingers was nothing short of indecent. You wanted that tongue elsewhere. Finally, with the food long finished and the afternoon tipping towards evening, the mood shifted completely and he began to growl and purr.

“I’m not the only one who’s having trouble,” you commented and he gnashed his teeth for a moment, a plume of smoke escaping and coiling upwards through the still air. “Gods, Mikaeïl, you’re so beautiful.”

He rolled slightly onto one side and you saw that a slit in his lower abdomen was growing puffy, swollen, and had begun to glisten too. His legs kicked once as he came to lie on his side completely, his clawed feet lying limp and gentle now, one wing flopping over to flatten the grass behind him like a toppled sail from a tall ship. “I can’t…” he whispered, though it came out more as an earthy growl. His head fell heavily to the grass too and he lay there panting gently as you began to touch him everywhere you could reach.

In no time he was quivering and snorting beneath your attention and praise. His creamy belly heaved and one hind leg twitched.

“I want you,” you heard him hiss between gasps. “Let me taste you…”

You nodded, and he watched you undress with glazed, unfocused eyes and a slack-jawed expression of wonder and open lust. The moment you were free of your last pieces of clothing, he pounced on you like a cat after a mouse. There was no denying that he was a predator, as careful as he always was with you. His ‘attack’ knocked you back into the grass and he began to lave his tongue over your body as he reared up over you, blotting out the sun with his gleaming, scaled body.

His wings spread suddenly wide, his hook-taloned thumbs barely enough to balance him as he mouthed eagerly at your shoulder and took your whole torso briefly in his mouth while he let his tongue rasp over your skin. He never once gave you even the barest hint of pain, the tip of his serpentine tongue lavishing attention on your hardening nipples until your back arched and you cried out, desperate for more. You might even have articulated that aloud, but you couldn’t be sure. The sensation of his tongue moved slowly south until he tasted you and he let out a low-frequency snarl that you felt in your chest as much as heard.

“Oh gods,” he rasped, quickening his pace.

As you glanced down the length of your body, you saw that his cock had begun to emerge from the sheath between his legs and he was not small; there was no way you could take him in this form. Pre-come dripped liberally from his arrow-head tip and down his leg as he moved, his growling intensifying.

Suddenly he drew back from you with a hiss, breathing hard, sparks dancing at his nostrils. His slit pupils were now blown into a wide circle of blackness with barely a ring of the usual gold around them, and he just stood there, frozen in place and staring at you.

“What’s wrong?” you asked faintly, dizzy from the change of pace. “Come back… Mikaeïl, please…”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I… I got carried away… I… I shouldn’t… I could hurt you like this. I should… uh…”

His cock twitched visibly as you moved and he half turned away. “Mikaeïl, please,” you whimpered. “I don’t mind what form you’re in, but please don’t stop touching me… I’m so close now… I need you…”

“Let me…” he said and his body twitched. A moment later, he began to change visibly. The vast wings folded down into his back, coppery scales started to melt away and his size diminished until, with a roar of what could only have been pain, the Mikaeïl with which you were much more familiar crouched on all fours at a little distance from you, breathing hard and sweating and naked. Somehow, he was also still hard.

You rose on shaky limbs and reached out to touch him. He gasped as your palm came down tenderly on the scales that still lined his hips, and you could see that his hands and feet remained clawed and scaled as well. He hadn’t managed to shift back to his more ‘human’ form, but none of that mattered now. “Come and lie down with me,” you said, trying to draw him down to the blanket.

Mikaeïl’s red hair was long and loose and it fell around his face in a curtain of fire, but as he tilted his head up to meet your gaze you could see that lying down quietly was the last thing on his mind.

“Or not,” you grinned, and he laughed hoarsely. He still had sharper teeth than any human would, and his eyes blazed a bright gold.

With hands that were more like gilded gauntlets tipped with talons than they were hands, he laid you back down and lowered his mouth once more to you. It didn't take long with the intense heat of his tongue pressed and lapping against you, sucking and making the most obscene noises, for you to come hard against his mouth. He stayed put and teased you all the way through your orgasm, prolonging it as much as he could before finally withdrawing from you and licking the taste of you from his beautiful lips. His mouth was puffy and red from his efforts, and he stared at you with open hunger in his eyes.

You parted your legs and he took it for the invitation it was, eyes flaring again. With his claws pricking against your hips, he paused and said, “I can’t use my hands,” he said. “And I don’t want to hurt you.” His ridged cock was flushed and red, and still bigger than anything you’d ever had inside you before being with him, but you just cautioned him to go gently, which he did with great effort.

His thighs shook with the effort of not sinking himself hilt deep into you in one thrust, but after a while it became too much for you to bear. You raised your hips and reached for him at the same time, pulling him the rest of the way inside you with a cry that you almost didn’t hear through the spike of pleasure that shot through you. He filled you so completely you thought you might never feel the same again.

Mikaeïl cried out and began to move, slowly at first, snarling and growling, lips pulled back with the intensity of his pleasure. “You’re so tight,” he gasped as he lifted you up higher. With the adjustment in angle, you tipped your head back and yelled wordlessly. “Oh gods,” he said as he picked up his pace, ramming himself into you over and over with a feverish light in his eyes. “I’m not going to last.”

“Come for me,” you slurred. “Mikaeïl, come for me…”

A mere three thrusts later, he did. His hips thrust up flush against you and his head rolled back, spine arching like a bow at full draw as he emptied himself inside you with an open-mouthed roar. There was something so primal about the sight of him like this - usually so composed and reserved, not a hair out of place nor a wrinkle in his shirt - as he gave himself to you, the scales up his arms and on his hips glimmering in the last rays of the sun, and you tumbled after him a heartbeat later.

As you clenched around him, coming a second time, he bowed forwards over you like a supplicant at an altar, and fell against your neck. He kissed you weakly, his body still wracked with the last throes of his own intense orgasm.

In an unsteady, gasping whisper, he said, “I love you,” against the sweat-sheened skin of your neck, right against your thrumming heartbeat. “I love you, I love you,” he chanted, even as his body still twitched and his cock pulsed inside you.

Placing your arms around him and stroking the skin of his back, tracing the beginning of the scales halfway down his spine, you teased gentle, calming circles, centring him. His hair fell around you in a straight cascade and you raked your fingers through it too, feeling him going slack all over. “Shh,” you smiled, kissing his slightly pointed ear. “I love you too Mikaeïl. I love you too.”

___

Thank you so much for following this story through to its conclusion! The whole thing is 24,545 words long, and it's been so much fun. I really hope you folks enjoyed this one! Don’t forget to let me know if you did enjoy it by leaving a like and/or reblogging it!

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[arrow-guy]

Broken Flock (5/??)

Summary: It’s been two years since you uprooted your life and left to figure out who you really are, leaving behind Bucky and Clint with little more than a note as a warning. Now, New York is calling your name and it’s time to go home. How will Clint and Bucky react to your return, and how will the time have affected your relationship?

A/N: Hello, hello, we return with a new episode of Disaster Boys and their Winged Friend. We’re picking up right where we left off last time. Please enjoy!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Word Count: 3k

Pairing: WinterhawkxReader

Warnings: Heights, falling

Part 4

“You sure you’re alright staying behind?”

“(Y/N), I’ve already told you, the two of you need some time outside of the city.” Clint pushes Bucky and I out the door. “Get your asses upstate and get some fresh air. If you’re back before dark, there’ll be consequences.”

Bucky raises his eyebrows. “Consequences? What’re you gonna do? Spank us?”

Clint grins. “Don’t tempt me.”

Bucky rolls his eyes and hooks his arm around my waist. “We’re leaving.”

“Good.”

“We’ll pick up a couple of pizzas on the way home!” I add before Bucky can get me too far down the hall.

Clint shouts his approval and Bucky shakes his head. The smile on his face betrays his annoyance and I laugh. Bucky gives me a half-hearted glare and reaches over to take my hand.

“You think this is hilarious,” he grumbles.

“I think it’s hilarious that you refuse to smile in public.”

“We’re in a hallway.”

“And you treat it like a public space!”

"Other people live in this building, (Y/N), it's not just us!"

"Is this the moment when you finally admit you live here, too?"

“How is that what we were talking about in any way?”

“You said us when you were talking about who lives here, not just Clint and I!” I poke him in the side. “You live here too. Admit it.”

“I’m not admitting anything.”

“Seriously?” Bucky rolls his eyes and moves in front of me to walk down the stairs. He doesn’t let go of my hand. “Bucky, you have spent more nights in either my apartment or Clint’s since I moved back in. You live here.”

“I don’t pay rent. I don’t live here.”

“Then you’re a squatter. A really well-paid squatter.”

“You’re an awful person.”

I hummed. “I know, but you like me anyway.”

“Unfortunately.”

I cackle and follow him down the last few flights of stairs. We load up our bags, the picnic basket, and the umbrella Bucky wanted into the back of the car. The umbrella tries to escape a few times and Bucky has to climb into the car and hold it in while I close the back hatch. Once it’s secure, Bucky helps me get into the car by, first, laying the back of the passenger seat down flat. I tuck my wings as tightly to my body as I possibly can and lay down on the passenger side and Bucky buckles me in as soon as I settle. I pillow my hands under my cheek and wait for the car to warm up so that we can leave.

“You look comfy,” Bucky says.

“This sucks, and you know it,” I grumble.

He laughs. “Maybe.”

As soon as we’re out of the city, Bucky reaches over to me and I take his hand. He softly tells me to get some rest and that he’ll wake me when we reach our destination. I do my best to stay awake as long as I possibly can, I eventually nod off and sleep for about an hour and a half before Bucky gently shakes me awake. It takes me a moment to wake up and realize where we are.

“We’re here already?” I mumble.

“Mhm.” Bucky squeezes my hand. "Come on. Let's set up."

I nod and unbuckle my seatbelt. I open the back passenger door and crawl out across the back of the car seat. I shake out my wings as soon as my feet hit the grass and stretch my arms over my head. I pop my back all the way up and down my spine and I sigh loudly. It takes me a moment to register that Bucky’s driven us out the literal middle of nowhere and parked at the edge of a massive grassy field. Behind us stands a giant wall of trees and beyond that is miles of rolling hills and fields of grass, rippling in the wind. I look at Bucky and grin. He smiles and shakes his head before jerking his chin at the back gate of the car. I grab my bag and the umbrella and trail after Bucky while he looks for the perfect place to set up.

After wandering around for nearly five minutes, Bucky finds a spot he likes and spreads out his blanket. I open the umbrella and drive the stake into the ground at one corner of the blanket. Bucky immediately stretches out across the blanket and I lay on my stomach in the sun beside him.

“Seriously?” he asks.

I shrug and spread my wings. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do this.”

He shakes his head. “You’re nuts.”

“Not all of us have metal arms, Buck. I'm not gonna burn myself if I sit in the sun for a bit.”

"You could still burn," he mutters.

I hum and fold my arms under my chin. "Worth it."

He shakes his head. “You’re so weird sometimes.”

“Someone has to be, and seeing as Clint’s not here, I’ve gotta pick up the slack.” Bucky laughs and I smile. “How’d you find this place, anyway?”

“Stark moved operations upstate for a while. Things got loud and crowded so I left and drove around for a bit. Found this open field and filed it away for later.”

“Have you brought Clint out here yet?”

“No, not yet. He doesn’t need quiet like we do.” He takes my hand in his when I reach out to him. “He’ll get his turn at some point. But today it’s just you ‘n me.”

“I’m kinda glad it’s just us today,” I confess. “We don’t get a lot of time alone together, what with you living at the tower.”

“I know. I get sucked into a lot of work with Steve.” He sighs. “I love him, he’s my best friend, but he’s such a fuckin’ work-a-holic. Acts like he’s still got shit to prove, even though he ‘n Tony are probably two of the most respected people on the planet.”

“Well, you know how it went the last time I tried to talk him into taking a vacation.”

“You jumped out a window.”

“He started having a panic attack thinking about the paperwork that could potentially pile up while he was gone.” I sigh. “I worry about him sometimes.

“Don’t worry about him too much. Sam and Rhodey have been helping more, recently. Rhodey is great with the leadership stuff, and Sam is the perfect backup when training starts getting a little out of hand.”

“That’s good.”

“Stark’s talking with that Pym guy to see if he’ll loan his guy to us for a while.”

“Scott, right?”

“Yeah, gave Sam a hard time a few years back, but…” he lowers his voice conspiratorially, “We’re not supposed to know about that.”

I laugh and he turns his head to grin at me. “And how do you know this?”

“Confidential, sweetheart.”

“Aw, Buck, come on!”

He laughs. “I was going back through old security tapes a while back and found the feed.”

“Putting all that training to good use, I see.”

“I gotta find my fun somewhere, (Y/N).”

“And you’re not one to go tugging on Clint’s pigtails, or anything.”

“Nah, he’d like it too much.”

I giggle. “Probably.”

Bucky shakes his head. “Anyway, Steve’s doing better than he was. Work might slow down enough that I could spend more time at the building with you guys instead of stuck at the tower. Well… more than just the evenings and the occasional weekend.”

“That’d be really nice.”

He nods and hums in agreement. His eyes flutter shut as he relaxes and I watch him doze for a bit before I pull my hand from his and wander out to the middle of the field. I close my eyes and tip my face to the sky, spreading my arms and wings, just to soak up the warmth. A gentle breeze kicks up around me and the faint rustling of grass slowly reaches my ears.

I sigh and begin to move my wings, lifting from the ground with each downbeat. When I can see nothing but the tops of the trees and the rolling hills of the countryside, I angle myself and fly in several wide, lazy circles over the field. Bucky and his umbrella are little more than a speck on the ground below when I circle back around the fifth time.

With one strong stroke, I break off from my course and glide out over the treetops. I climb higher and higher through the clouds until I can’t see the ground below me. I relish the strain of the muscles all up and down my body, groaning through months of disuse, but pleased to finally move after being stuck on the ground for so long. Up in the clouds, I swear I can breathe a little better than I could not even ten minutes ago. My head is clearer than it has been in nearly a year. I feel wonderful. Wonderful enough to pull my wings in tight against my back and free fall through every single inch of cloud cover before unfurling them and gliding out over the countryside.

I do a few loop-the-loops and have to pause after to shove my hair out of my face. Embarrassed, I glance around and laugh when I realize that absolutely no one could’ve seen me.

I take off again, dipping down below the clouds, only to find that I’m in a completely different place from where I started. I squint at the surrounding area, searching for any kind of defining landmark, and immediately backpedal when the Compound comes into view. I angle my wings into a sharp turn and take off in the direction I came from.

I figure I’m home free when I see the umbrella and I put on an extra burst of speed in an attempt to reach Bucky faster.

“Long time no see, (Y/N)!”

I jerk my head from side to side in an attempt to figure out where the voice came from. A second look over my right shoulder reveals Sam, slowly emerging from some kind of cloaking shield. Startled, I forget to move my wings and Immediately lose altitude.

“Fuck!” I yell out, flailing my arms as I plummet to the earth below.

I manage to roll and face the sky and I take several deep breaths to try and calm myself. When I open them again, Sam is diving, arms outstretched in an attempt to catch me. His yells reach my ears and I pull my wings tight against my body, arch my back and flip myself to face the ground once more. About fifty feet before I hit the ground, I snap my wings open and streak across the field. Sam pulls up just in time to avoid crashing into the dry grass below.

I bank sharply and land a short distance from Sam. Anger rises in my chest and I ball my hands into fists.

“What the fuck was that, Wilson?!” I shout. “Are you trying to fucking kill me? If I had something on me right now, I’d throw it and your head!”

"I am so sorry, (Y/N)," he says, hands raised in defense. "I didn't think you'd get spooked like that."

"You were cloaked. How the hell was I supposed to know you were there?"

He freezes. “I… I don’t know.”

I let out a frustrated yell and, with one strong stroke of my wings, I send him tumbling to the ground with a massive gust of air. I storm off in the direction of the car shouting back at Sam each time he tries to defend himself.

“Come on, (Y/N), it was an accident! I’m trying to apologize.”

Bucky lumbers over, raking his hands through his hair. “What’s going on?”

“Sam just about killed me,” I grind out.

“What?”

I fold my arms and shake my head. “I got distracted and didn’t realize how far I’d flown and wound up a little too close to the Compound. I got out of there as fast as I could, and I thought I made it. But Sam followed me all the way back and decided to do so cloaked-” I look back and Sam and glare. He has the decency to look guilty. “-And startled me bad enough that I stopped flying. I fell a few hundred feet before I could get my bearings and get my wings out again.”

Bucky looks past me at Sam, brows pulled together in a scowl. “What the hell, man?”

“Look, something appeared on the scanner, I had to go check it out. How was I supposed to know it was her? We didn’t even know she was back in town!”

“Yeah, but you figured out it was her, right? Why would you follow her back after that?”

“I don’t know. None of us have seen her in two years, man. I guess I wanted to make sure it was actually her.”

“You could’ve done that from a distance, Sam,” I counter. “You know I’m not a threat. Scaring the shit out of me put us both in danger.”

“You’re right.” Sam looks between Bucky and I and sighs. “I’ll get outta your hair.”

“I hope this doesn’t end up in a report, or something,” Bucky says.

Sam laughs. “Don’t worry, it won’t. My lips are sealed.”

I give him a tight lipped smile. “Thanks, Sam.”

“Don’t mention it, (Y/N).” He lifts off the ground and grins. “I’d hug you, but I’m pretty sure you’d just punch me.”

“Damn right I would,” I mutter. Bucky laughs and bumps his shoulder against mine.

“See you next week,” Bucky calls.

Sam nods and Bucky and I watch him disappear into the clouds. Bucky sighs and shakes his head and leads me back to the umbrella, muttering to himself about hating his job. I slip my arm around his waist and tell him he doesn’t hate his job, he just really enjoys his time off.

We spread out on the blanket and eat our lunch. We don’t talk much and I take off to fly again when I’m finished. I stay much closer this time, choosing to just do laps around the field instead of exploring like I had been earlier. Instead, I content myself with doing different aerial maneuvers and buzzing by the umbrella every once in a while.

I fly for another three hours before I get tired. I drop down in front of Bucky and he cracks one eye open to look up at me.

“Done?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“I know Sam said he wouldn’t tell anyone, but I can’t help being a little paranoid,” I say. I offer him a hand up and he takes it.

Bucky yanks the umbrella from the ground and shrugs. “I’d say that’s just smart thinking, on your part.”

I hum and begin packing things back into the picnic basket. I shake out and fold up the blanket and tuck it under my arm as we head back to the car.

“Did you at least get to relax a little?” I ask.

“Oh, yeah. I think I napped most of the time.”

I laugh. “Good.”

Once everything is packed in the car, Bucky helps me back into my seat. The interior is warm and my overworked muscles are crying out for me to rest. The hum and rhythm of the car isn’t helping my case much, and I grow drowsy the further we drive. Bucky takes my hand as I begin to doze off.

“Did you have any kind of fun today?” he asks.

“Mhm.” I nod and squeeze his hand. “Gonna be sore in the morning.”

"Sounds like you had a really good time, then."

"Yeah." I nod off for a moment, but suddenly remember something. "We gotta get pizza on the way home. I promised Clint."

"I know, sweetheart, don't worry. We'll grab a couple'a pies on the way back into town."

"Okay."

I sleep the entire way home.

Bucky gently shakes me awake when we arrive and I groggily crawl out of the car. I grab the bags from the bar and Bucky shakes his head when I reach for the umbrella and picnic basket. He gestures for me to follow him into the building and we trudge up the stairs to Clint’s apartment. Lucky is at the door as soon as we’re inside and Clint barely looks up from what he’s doing when Lucky barks and announces our arrival.

“What’d I say about coming home early?” Clint asks. “It’s not even dark out yet!”

I shake my head and drop the bags near the door.

“(Y/N) got a little too close to the Compound and Sam followed her back after she got picked up on the scanners,” Bucky explains.

“He decided to surprise me and I nearly fell to my death.” I grab plates from the cupboard. “So there’s that too.”

“Holy shit,” Clint says.

“Yeah… But we have pizza.”

Bucky holds up the two boxes and Clint grins and clears his arrows from the coffee table.

“I knew there was a reason I kept you guys around.”

I roll my eyes and hand him a plate. “There’s more benefits to us than pizza.”

Clint flips open a box as soon as they’re on the table and takes three slices. “Right now, the main benefit is pizza.” He leans over when I sit beside him and kisses my forehead. “You’re still pretty great without it, though.”

“Aw, thanks, Clint.”

We eat in relative silence, doing our best to ignore Lucky’s pleading looks, though Clint gives in and tosses him his own slice. Bucky admonishes Clint but Clint just laughs and jokes about throwing Lucky another slice.

When I finish, I lean forward on the table, stretching the muscles all up and down my back. Clint reaches over and presses his knuckles between my shoulderblades, gently massaging away the steadily growing soreness. Clint and Bucky talk between themselves and I watch as Lucky climbs into Bucky’s lap and curls up.

I smile and listen to their conversation and let their voices and Clint’s hand on my back lull me into soft relaxation.

---------

Part 6

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[okayto]

Mini-Review: Handa-kun

Handsome teenage calligrapher Sei Handa is worshiped by all his classmates as an aloof superstar--too bad Sei's inherent negativity and neurotic personality make him believe that everyone actually hates him.

A comedy of errors! It’s so ridiculous, but it knows it’s being ridiculous, I cannot help but love it!

The entire series derives humor from

1) everyone is impressed by Handa-kun! He’s a notable calligrapher! And handsome! And polite! No matter who you are, you have reasons to believe that Handa-kun is the best at whatever you do--whether you’re the class rep who enjoys class repping, or a thug who likes fighting, etc.

2) Handa, due to an old prank by a friend, believes that everyone hates his guts and interprets literally everything through that lens. He gets nominated to be class rep? Obviously because no one wants to do it so they’ll foist it on him. He gets pushed out of the classroom after school? Sure, they said it’s so he can go focus on his calligraphy, but clearly it’s because they hate being around him!

This 12-episode series is the adaptation of a manga, which was the prequel to a series called Barakamon. Barakamon (which came first) is a comedic slice-of-life following young-adult city-boy Sei Handa who’s been exiled to the countryside to calm his nerves and find inspiration for his calligraphy. (And then there’s culture clashes, the city boy not knowing how to do anything, and found family.) It’s a sweet series with its own humor, but it’s very different from Handa-kun, so if you’re already familiar with Barakamon, this series is much more slapstick.

School fan clubs are common in anime, but here we get the Handa Force, a group of 4 classmates who have been inspired by Handa and 3/4 of whom believe he’s a genius of unmatched levels.

The fourth member is an average student, who, besides Handa’s one friend who was responsible for making him believe the they-hate-you thing in the first place, is the only student who actually figures out that Handa is just...shy, and nervous and stressed, and that his schoolmates are ascribing motivation that he doesn’t have and are just making Handa’s anxiety worse. And yet, he’s never able to convey this to Handa (or the others) in a way that doesn’t already fit with what they believe, and thus the cycle continues.

It’s a simple gag, but I laughed so much while watching. I loved how it addresses the “why doesn’t someone just explain what’s going on” problem, because if it could be solved that simply, it would just be frustrating to watch. (Y’all know I hate those sort of communication issues.)

Instead, it’s made obvious: the only person who can really explain is old friend Kawafuji, who intended it as a prank in middle school, but Handa’s innocent spirit believed him so hard he couldn’t take it back. And also, he thinks the whole thing is frikkin hilarious. He’ll explain everything...someday, but for now he’s enjoying the show.

(Handa, for his part, think he’s so unpopular that he refuses to be publicly seen with Kawafuji so Kawafuji won’t suffer by association. This also conveniently means that no one will ask Kawafuji any questions, so nobody is telling lies directly to anyone else, it’s all just everyone going from 0-60 on assumptions.)

There are other characters, but no one has made gifs I can find of the guy whose face almost matches Handa’s and impersonates him for a while, or the athlete who thinks Handa is his nemesis, or the girl who dedicates herself to “erasing” any other girl who dares to get close, or the teacher who gets steadily scruffier as the year goes on...

Verdict

English dub? Yes! They’re all great! I didn’t consciously think about their voices for the entire time I watched, which is good--it means everyone sounded like they fit their character.

Visuals: Light and brightly colored, with good character designs that are distinct enough to make everyone easy to tell apart.

Worth watching? Yes, if you like wacky humor. This was just so ridiculous to me and I liked the predictability that everything would end with everyone having the same ideas (Handa is Great at Everything group vs. Handa’s self-isolation). There was no attempt to make this a deep drama: it set out to be silly, and it did it very well. Plus, at 12 episodes, it doesn’t have time to get stale.

Where to watch (USA, as of June 2020): Funimation (sub and dub)

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