#// i have nothing on this show it's like another peppa pig to me except things started getting convoluted it makes me tired watching it

[m0e-ru]

walking up to the atIus localization casting office with this in a usb drive

[nothingtoseehd]

eah characters as cavetown songs

this was inspired by @/applewhiteapologist's eah characters as taylor swift songs, sooooooo yeah

some characters might not be here because: 1. it's hard to find songs for them (as of right now) 2. i forgot them/i'll do them if i have more time

apple white - devil town v2/green

-i chose devil town v2 because it seemed the most, uh, apple out of all the devil town versions? devil town v1 seems edgy-ish, and devil town v3 seems lower and calmer, i think???? maybe i just chose this because it has those light, floaty chords, i'm not sure, i'm not smart or anything -also i honestly felt like this was hard -i chose devil town because it could represent the future she pictured in her mind when raven didn't sign the book -i don't really know what to explain green, but like, ashlynn and apple in true hearts day??? that's the best way i could explain this song -lyric analysis time: --"i still get a little scared of something new, but I feel a little safer when i'm with you, falling doesn't feel so bad, when I know you've fallen this way too" ---apple is "a little scared of something new" because she's in for an unpredictable future without the storybook of legends ---for the falling part, it's like she's not so sad about being led astray when she's with her friends maybeeeeeee -lyrics for green because i can't explain it but it's just THERE: --"you looked so good in green i hope you’re well and you look so good with him and i’m proud of you still take care of my shirt warm and red i hope you think of me still as your friend i hope you love yourself your body and heart i hope you feel happy that’s all i want that's all i want"

raven queen - devil town v1 (dang it there's no purple text so have plain text)

-i just chose devil town v1 because i think it would work well with her guitar, i actually don't know how guitar works but i'm pretending to know how it works, don't tell anyone i don't know how they work -i think this song could represent her home life and whatnot because she's living with the evil queen -it's lyric analysis time!!: --"you said something dumb again, she's mad, at least that's what they say" (i just used orange so the lyrics wouldn't blend in as much) ---the something dumb thing could be like a 'nice deed' the evil queen doesn't like, and she's mad because of that --"we're all dead in devil town, that's fine, cause nothing's gonna scare us now" ---she's 'dead' after all the nagging and 'be eviL EMBRACE YOUR INNER EVIL' shit and it's now the normal, and it's not going to scare her since it's basically her life now -also slowed devil town can fit her too

madeline hatter - hug all ur friends/talk to me

-she's just so friendly?????? and supportive?????? and oh gosh i need a hug???????? -seriously though, they suit her because she feels so much like a huggy, supportive person and she's friends with everyone sooooooooooooo, hugs for everyone!! except you crystal!! and headmaster grimm!! not forgiving for the time you almost banished maddie!! -the lyrics because i can't explain these songs, it's just that maddie vibe, you know?: --"life’s too short to worry about things that we got wrong, so hug all your friends and let them know, you’re not letting go, i’m not letting go" (hug all ur friends) --"you don't have to be a prodigy to be unique you don't have to know what to say or what to think you don't have to be anybody you can never be that's alright, let it out, talk to me" (talk to me)

briar beauty - pigeon

-i had a very hard time with her but i think this kinda fits -it generates a sleepy vibe? (even though i didn't get this from the sleepyhead album *cough cough*) -okay, so the reason why i chose this for her is because of the chorus, which could kind of tie in with her destiny, with the 100 year coma -have the chorus for reference: --"didn’t give me time to say goodbye in the way that i wanted to, so honey, close your eyes and stay like you’re supposed to do, don’t know how i’m gonna live without, but i’ll stay strong for you"

ca cupid - sweet tooth/for you

-this is already self-explanatory if you listened to the song(s), buT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET, basically it's a song about an unhealthy crush and love and stuff -and you know who she has an unhealthy crush on???? that's right, it's blondie!! /hj (but seriously, in canon it's dexter but uH, i refuse to believe that, they're better off as friends) -lyric examples because like maddie, i can't really explain it but i know the vibe is THERE: --"a sweet tooth for you, i'm wide awake, the sugar went straight to my brain, feel like a kid, i double tap, my chest with my fist, i like you, say it back, say it back"

cerise hood - snail

-snail iS SUCH A GREAT SONG OMG -snail kinda represents her childhood and 'not wanting to be born like this' because of her parents technically breaking destiny (stupid storybook of legends) -lyrics from the song because i kinda don't really need to explain this song more: --"i was just born like this, wish that i could change it" --"i'm hanging out with the foxes and the hounds, and when i fit in i'll break back out"

daring charming - boys will be bugs/lemons (technically cavetown is just a feature but he's still there so yeah)

-it's just about the vibes -and also about the fact that the person in the songs have to uphold some sort of standard (the songs' standards were about masculinity) and i thought it could fit daring because he also has to uphold a standard (being the perfect charming prince) -also in lemons, daring's part is the one where cavetown sings it (if that wasn't obvious) -also ANOTHER LEMONS SIDE NOTE, i'd imagine rosabella singing brye's part, just because -lyrics time: --"don't mess with me, i'm a big boy now and i'm very scary i punch my walls, stay out at night, and i do karate don't message me 'cause i won't reply, i wanna make you cry ain't that how it's supposed to be? though it isn’t me boys will be bugs, right?" (boys will be bugs) --"so i'm gonna take it out on you too proud to show i'm hurting push it on you 'til you're burning" (lemons)

darling charming - 888/trying

-888 is a fun song, very groovy, has peppa pig plasters, 10/10 -main reason i chose 888, it kinda feels gay when you put it under a certain light?????????? -and snail could also fit with darling but i don't want to rob cerise -i was very stuck for a second song for darling because i felt obligated to give the charming siblings two songs because they're that top tier, but i think trying could be a good fit to some extent -could be like 'not great relationship with parents, struggle to fit with their standards ever since she found out she wanted to be a hero or something' -i still do think snail is a better fit for darling but i really really don't want to rob cerise because cerise is amazing -some lyrics: --"i'm workin' things out clouds lookin' strange papercut fingers dancing on the strings if i could see you right now i'd dance just for you when the nightlight goes out" (888) --"please let me know if you change your mind cause inside i'm falling And I need you to pull me out of this decline i realize how hard on you this must seem But trust me when i say it's far, far worse for me" (trying)

dexter charming - telescope/home

-telescope just feels like his vibe???? also because it kinda also have hopeless romantic-ness???? -also i headcanon him to be an astronomy nerd???? so that's fun???? that's my reasoning i guess???? (also, side-note i have just listened to astronomy by conan gray and it fits dexter) -ALSO HOME IS HERE BECAUSE DEXTER IS TRANS YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND -also because it's also his vibe??????? -what time is it????? *clap clap* it's lyrics time!!: --"through the lens, it's dark, single-digit on the clock singing, "yessiree, i sure like-a you a lot" all i need is to get her she'll be happy if you let her" (telescope) --"turn off your porcelain face i can't really think right now and this place has too many colors, enough to drive all of us insane are you dead? sometimes i think i'm dead cause i can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head but i don't wanna fall asleep just yet" (home)

okay the process of this post was just me staring at the lyrics and listening to cavetown a lot, sometimes during online classes but shhhh don't tell anyone (and finding more great songs)

is this post going to flop?? very very likely. do i care? eh, not sure, this was just me trying to put on my big brain hat.

also i realized while reading this post, that i never actually analyzed the majority of the songs' lyrics in this post?? so i'm very sorry

[sunshinesukuna]

just right

pairing: miya osamu x reader

tws: body insecurity, catcalling, self-starving

wc: 5.1k

prompt: Person A and B aren’t a couple, but A is crushing massively on B. A decides to change to get B’s attention, and while B doesn’t know about this crush, B starts to notice that A is starting to look and act differently... But B doesn’t like it and decides to confront A. What is the confrontation like? How does A react?

summary: the 6 things you want to avoid for him, and the 1 thing he wants you to avoid for him.

insp: GOT7′s Just Right, lovely - millz

special thanks to the betas that read over this @haikyuu-ink @fukuronani and @ardorwrites-hq-mha <33

this is a special love poem for all y’all that are going through something like this. psa: it gets better <3333

The lunch ladies were all flabbergasted when you skipped your usual side dishes and asked them to give you a piece smaller than your usual. 

“But you’ll go hungry!” one of them said. You shrugged and gave them an apologetic smile.  You turned your head to the side to avoid smelling even more of the scrumptious food in front of you. Instead, you focus your eyes on the small bowl in front of you. There’s some rice the size of a child’s fist coupled with a piece of fish smaller than an iPod shuffle.

Osamu pulls out his regular bento that he made himself after complaining that the ones you make weren’t enough to keep him fed throughout the day. There are three onigiris per usual. All three of them were meant to be for him, but you started nicking so much of them for yourself that he let you have one eventually.

So when you didn’t creep your hand from under his larger elbow to swipe at the snack, he stopped eating all at once. The onigiri hung suspended inches away from his ready mouth, locked in their place by your out of place habits. 

He holds it out so tantalizingly in front of you, the human personification of the devil on your left shoulder egging you to take the snack from the plastic bag in front of you. Osamu doesn’t say anything, but the nudge on your arm and the small raise of his chin asks you soundlessly: “You’re not going to eat it?”

You shake your head and continue nibbling on the fish to savor the flavor for longer. Osamu tilts his head.

“You’re not going to eat it?” Osamu says out loud. Atsumu stops his blabbering from across the table and puts his chopsticks down.

“Oh? What’s this? Our gluttonous (Y/N) isn’t eating that much anymore?” Atsumu asks. You wrinkle your nose at the other twin. Osamu’s still holding the onigiri. He makes it look like an object worthy of being your Holy Grail, perhaps even better than that. It takes all your resolve to hold back from running to the lunch ladies and demanding seconds.

“I figured that you would be tired of me stealing your food all this time, so,” you pushed his outstretched hand away from you, “you can have it this time.”

“But I don’t want it,” Osamu says. He slides the unwrapped onigiri back to you and opens another one.

“You can give it to Atsumu,” you say, sliding the snack to the other side of the table.

“Yeah, ‘Samu,” Atsumu says, using your nickname for his twin. It drips in mock sweetness that would make anyone grimace. Atsumu mockingly opens and closes his hand, even though there’s a mountain of rice and enough vegetables to feed an unwasteful family for a month on his own plate. “Give it to Atsumu.”

Osamu rolls his eyes at his twin and looks back at you. Like he’s going to give the fruits of his hard work to his no-good twin. His eyes widen again as he taps your elbow with the onigiri like you’re a stray cat deprived of warmth.

“You don’t have to give it to me, ‘Samu. I’m fine.” The groaning of your stomach says otherwise. Osamu looks at you with his ‘I-told-you-so’ eyes. You bat your eyes and open your mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. He holds out the piece of onigiri again.

You chew on the last mouthful of rice, sucking out all the flavor from the grains before swallowing it and putting down your chopsticks. Osamu keeps eye contact with you as you rise from the lunch table, looking like a puppy that had been kicked to the streets by its beloved owner.

“I’m on a diet,” you mutter, as you make your way back to class alone. “See you at practice later.”

Osamu stares at your retreating back, before finishing the onigiri that was meant to be yours.

Osamu forgot the name of the female idol a minute into the interview. The other boys in his class had been raving about her since class began. The minute the teacher left to go to the office, it was phones out and social norms out the window apparently, as they ogled the beauty giving the interviewer a way too good view of her legs.

He balances the pencil between his lips and nose as he eavesdrops on the conversation. He catches glimpses here and there of who they’re talking to, but they’re not enough to pique his interest. Truth be told, Osamu would much rather like it if the ones talking to each other in close proximity on a loveseat were you and him. 

“Yo Osamu!” one of his classmates, Osamu has better things to know than his name, calls out with a slap on his back. 

“Are you a fan of her too?” the classmates asks. Osamu twirls the pen around his fingers silently, not feeding into the question.

“There must have been something you liked about her,” one of the boys says, leaning on Osamu’s desk. Osamu has half the mind to tell him to move his arse to the dumpster where it belongs.

“She…” Osamu shrugs saying the first things that come to mind, “has a cute laugh, I guess. Doesn’t snort like those comedians on game shows,” he says. Of course, he doesn’t mean it, he just hopes that the boys will go away if he makes a dry comment.

The boys thought that Osamu couldn’t even digest the basic mechanisms of a laugh at the end of the day anyway, so they rolled their eyes and went back to happily watching. 

You stare at your hands as you listen to his words on the other side of the class.

“And then she slams into the wall, face first. When I saw her through the window, I thought she was Peppa Pig reincarnated as a human, without the pig,” Atsumu jokes later at practice.

A smile breaks out onto your lips, widening into a hearty laugh. You’re about to slap your thigh in mirth, but are suddenly jolted back to reality when you catch a glimpse of Osamu.

You laugh, but your signature snorts and chortles are gone, replaced with a tinkly giggle that makes Osamu want to punch people who laugh like that. And the wide smile on your face is hidden behind your hands, what’s up with that? But since you’re the one that’s laughing, he clenches his fist and squeezes his knee to redirect his excess tension.

You keep it up for the rest of practice as you continue with your duties as manager. The first-years that see you as their friendly senpai chat you up as usual. Osamu has more pressing appointments, like the ball hurtling towards his face at 75 miles per hour, so the face of the fella that’s making you cover up your pretty little laugh automatically stamped onto the ball in Osamu’s mind, as he spikes the ball back with a deathly force.

Osamu’s always been content with the circumstances he was born in, but right now, he wished that he was born with a superpower. Telekinesis, more specifically, so he can ward off the hands that cover your mouth and the vocal cords that constrict the laughter that is so uniquely you. 

Maybe that’s why he’s thinking about you much more than he usually does.

He doesn’t pay much attention to how much of it he’s giving you until Atsumu brings it up later on the way back home. 

“Ya’ was staring at her so hard I thought your eyes were ‘bout to pop outta your ugly face,” Atsumu says. Osamu isn’t fazed, having faced almost 17 years of the same insults over and over again from his twin that just never seems to learn any new ones. He keeps walking. 

“We have the same face, Einstein,” he retorts. There are a few minutes of silence between the twins as they pass the scenery of Hyogo. But curiosity gets the best of Osamu.

“Staring at who?” Osamu asks, finally getting his twin’s insult.

“Ya got the nerve to call me Einstein but can’t figure out something like that, eh?”

Osamu stops right in his tracks. Atsumu keeps on walking but stops as well when he realizes he’s left behind his twin. Osamu gives Atsumu a blank look. 

Atsumu clicks his tongue. “(Y/N), ya’ dummy. From the way you were lookin’ at her, I thought she ate one of your snacks or something.” Atsumu rests his head between his hands.

 “Not like ya’ would ever let anyone hurt her.”

You had anticipated what was going to come ever since the bus had dropped the team off at the beach. The boys of the volleyball team were overall respectful men, but they were teenage boys, at best. You caught their lingering stares and the way they would fight for the court nearest to the biggest gaggle of girls on the beach.

Which is why you had come prepared.

The boys rush into the sea one by one as they strip off their jerseys into the sand. You shake your head as you pick them up one by one. You roll up the sleeves of the crewneck to make it easier to reach below, but the sheer insulation it’s giving you is making it hard to take a step.

“Come on out (Y/N)! We’ll feed ya to the sharks!” Atsumu shouts from where he’s paddling in the surf. 

“How about I feed you sand and rocks in your rice later tonight?” you holler back. Atsumu instantly goes slack-jawed and camouflages himself amongst the sea foam and other beach-goers. 

There’s exactly one jersey missing from the bundle you have in your hand. Huh. All the boys should have finished practice by now. You scanned the beach line, looking for any black shirts in the distance. All of them were swimming in the ocean shirtless by now.

Except the one looming over your shoulder right now. You jump back at the sight of his shadow standing intimidatingly above you, but you reel back once you get a peep of his ash hair.

“Aren’t you going in the water, (Y/N)?” he asks. There’s a stick of fried squid in his hand. “You worked really hard back there, you know.” The combination of sudden confrontation and the crewneck’s heat-trapping material has you sweating a flood.

“I’m fine just sitting here, Osamu. You can go play with the boys if you want to,” you say. Osamu gazes at the water that reflects the sunlight so perfectly it mimics freshly polished diamonds. He rubs his chin in thought, before turning back to you.

“What are you going to do in the meantime?”

You settle back on the chair you had put in a shady spot before everyone else was even up. It took a little pocket money and some convincing, but the guy that owned the shaved ice stand right in front of the chair had saved it especially for you. You hold up the book on the table. 

“Calculus.”

“In this heat?”

“Just because we’re at the beach doesn’t mean I can slack off on my studies.” You flip open the book. “You can just leave me here. I’ll be alright.”

Osamu looks at the sea, then back at you. You’re praying to the heavens above that he’ll just go play, so you can get this damn thing off without having to worry about any of them— especially the twins— seeing. It’s the first time you would be exposed this much around them anyways. You really should have brought a lighter and looser shirt along with you.

“Then I’ll stay here with you,” Osamu says. Shoot. 

“Y-you will?” He nods. “Sure you don’t want to go cool off in the sea? Or get some food? You should really go out in the sun, you know. Everyone’s been asking me if you’re alright because you’re so pale.”

“Do they?” You curse at yourself as he pulls over an unused chair from an unoccupied table. Osamu sets it in the sun, inches away from where you’re sitting in the shade. He props up his leg. “This counts as tanning, right?”

“I guess,” you mutter.

Osamu puts his sunglasses on and goes back to eating the stick of fried squid. From time to time, he glances at your sweaty body. It was 30 degrees outside and you insisted on wearing the team’s winter crewneck? Some heat tolerance you had. Or probably it wasn’t your heat tolerance. Osamu wouldn’t know, seeing as he was interrupted by loud hooting.

“Nice bikini, sweetheart! Sure you don’t wanna share some of that with me?” 

“I would tap that!”

“Major babe at 10 o’clock!”

Surely that couldn’t be the team. They had been raised better than that after a whole school year spent drilling the Peeping Toms of the team harder than ever, courtesy of their kickass manager: you. 

Thank goodness it wasn’t. A group of boys around your age paraded around just a few meters from where you sat on the beach. Their noisy brags sent a young toddler screaming back to his mother and a poor dog back to the ocean. The crowd parted like the Red Sea for them as they made their way down.

“What about her, bro?” a scrawny one asked the tallest, most likely the leader of the group. They stopped just in front of the shaved ice stand you were lounging at, waiting at their friends to finish their transactions.

“Which one?” the leader asked.

“The one near the table.” You looked up. The boy was pointing a long, thin finger your way. There was no one around where you were sitting except for Osamu.

“Nah. Bet she’s not worth it. I wouldn’t go for her, and I feel sorry for the bros that do.��� 

They were talking about you.

You fished around in your bag for your sunglasses. Shoot, you had left them at the inn this morning. You settled for putting a hand on your temple in hopes that they wouldn’t see your eyes. 

But you would be lying to say that it didn’t hurt. The one thing you were trying so hard to avoid during your stay at the beach now thrust on you when you didn’t even ask for it? After all you had taken to avoid it?

The lump in your throat was getting bigger and bigger by the moment. Maybe you should remove yourself from the situation. The boys already knew what time their curfews were and they were in good hands. You shut the book and put it back in your bag. Osamu pulls down his glasses to see you getting ready to go somewhere.

“Where are you going?” he asks. Osamu stands up again. Please don’t follow me, please don’t follow me.

“I’ll be—” your voice cracks. Shoot. “I’ll be back at the inn if you need me.” Before he can ask you any more questions, you turn on your heel and make your way back.

“Hey, say that again,” a voice says. It’s soft, but pillows used to suffocate people to death are also soft. It’s Osamu.

“Say what?” the leader asks. “You her boyfriend?” 

You freeze in your tracks and take a peep behind you. The boys are chest to chest, Osamu having the advantage of height by only a few inches. The boy isn’t fazed at all. He smiles at Osamu,but it’s poison honey that would make anyone want to slap him across the face. 

“I can hook you up with some chicks way out of her league. You could do it, man. Come on,” the boy says.

“Shut your trap,” Osamu retorts. 

“You’re just salty ‘cause you couldn’t find a chick hotter than her.”

Things are going to get worse. Without looking back, you make your way back to the safety of the inn.

Maybe Osamu was lying about the scars on his knuckles.

Osamu loses his sanity at the same pace the clock ticks. A few more minutes left. Maybe he should go get some fresh air out in the hallways. The hallways are almost empty, save for a few last-minute stragglers that rush to get to their classes on time. With everyone that passes, the feeling of dread eats him up as he worries that you’re not going to make it.

“Morning, ‘Samu!” someone greets from behind him. The early morning sunlight on your face made it look like you had a rosy tint on your cheeks. As you stepped closer, Osamu realized that if he stroked a finger across your cheek, it would definitely come back absolutely stained with blush.

There was also a light sheen of pigment on your lips. Not like the normal shade of your lips weren’t perfectly kissable. But Osamu would digress. 

“Are you wearing makeup?” Osamu asks. You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

“You just…” Osamu gestures at your face, now caked on with makeup that you usually wouldn’t wear. “This is why you were late?” 

“No! I actually—” But then there’s a knocking on the table at the front, and everyone is back in their seats in an instant. The bespectacled teacher surveys the room. His eyes linger a bit longer on your bedazzled look, but they flit away just as quickly to the open book in hand.

“Today, we’re going to talk about ideal types,” the teacher says. A few people in the back snigger, but the teacher pays them no mind. 

“Miya Osamu! What are you looking for when it comes to a partner?” You roll your eyes at the classes jeering, but find yourself leaning back to hear Osamu’s answer. Osamu looks up at the ceiling.

“Someone… quiet? Maybe so I don’t have to deal with all their bull—” Osamu’s just bs-ing it of course, but there are people in the class that hand onto his every word like it’s the actual truth. Yourself included.

“Language!” the teacher snaps.

“In accordance with the reading material, does anyone know the reason why we have ideal types?” 

“Yes, (Y/N)?”

“We have ideal partners whose natural defenses contradict with our own. If we’re shy and quiet, we tend to pursue people who are aggressive and pursuing, for example.”

“Good. Can anyone tell me how this would have protected us in the past?”

“Yes, (Y/N)?” the teacher asks again. The teacher sighs, even though you see no one behind you raising their hands. From your peripheral vision, you catch Osamu laying his head on his hands. He stares out the window like he’s bored with class… or perhaps bored with you? 

“I... was just stretching, sorry.”

“Very well then.” 

The second you put your hand down, Osamu looks back at the teacher. Did he not want to hear you yammer on again? He did say that he liked quiet girls. 

All the more reason for you to turn it down a notch.

So you do, during math, when you clearly have a final result of 25 written clearly on your paper. Yet when the teacher asks for answers, you fumble with the pencil on your desk to make it seem like you’re working.

And again, during science, when your group in lab has finished the experiment yards above everyone else. But you stall and crumple up the paper near your chest, and only hand in the result once another group has gone and given the teacher theirs.

And again during History, when you give another lame excuse that your report on Date Masamune isn’t finished, just so you wouldn’t be the only one presenting in class that day. Osamu clearly sees the papers with “One-Eyed Dragon of Oshu, Date Masamune,” on the title page, but says nothing. 

He doesn’t really do anything. It’s your life after all, why should he tell you how to live it? But he would be lying if he said that he didn’t miss your quick answers to the teacher’s questions, always summing up the points better than the teachers.

In the end, he leaves you be and ignores the feeling in his gut he gets whenever he sees you wearing more makeup than you usually do. That is until he’s passing by the teacher’s office on his way to practice and happens to spot you. It’s unlike him to care about other people’s business, much less snoop into them, but Osamu finds himself stalling at the water fountain next to the door even when his own bottle is still full.

“I just think I ought to hold back a bit. Everyone probably thinks I’m a bit overbearing, so i’ll just… tone it down a bit,” you say. Tone what down? 

“You don’t need to, (Y/N),” someone, probably your science teacher, replied.

“It’s alright, sir, I promise.”

“Really? You seem to have changed a little this past month.” Pure facts. Even though he never said it out loud, anyone would have noticed the way you put on more makeup and started to become quieter and quieter.

“I haven’t, really.”

“You’re also starting to become more tardy, (Y/N). Is everything alright back home?” You chuckled.

“Everything’s fine, sir, it really is.”

How believable.

The final straw that breaks the camel’s back comes a few weeks after that. Coach looks over at the boys that aren’t playing on water-refilling duty, their manager absent and nowhere to be found. 

“Where’s (Y/N)?” the coach barks at the second years. Aran shrugs and looks expectantly over to Atsumu and Osamu. 

“Sick. Stomach flu,” Atsumu says in the middle of his set. 

“And no one’s gone and checked up on her?”

“Her mom said that (Y/N)’s “not in the mood for entertaining guests,” or whatever excuse she has for missing that killer math test yesterday.” Atsumu puts in air quotes for emphasis. 

It’s Osamu’s turn to serve, but his legs don’t seem to want to move anywhere. They’re anchored down to the floor by the thought of none other than you. You were generally healthy, with no other severe conditions that would knock you out for a long time. And Osamu was with you for the past few days. You hadn’t eaten anything sketchy, albeit you did eat a lot less than your usual portions. 

He shrugs it off and slams the ball to the other side of the net. 

The bell screeches from up above, the savior melody of bored students who are aching to eat and spend some time away from the teachers.  

“Hey, (Y/N), wanna go get some…” You heed him no mind, the only acknowledgment of his presence a slight bump on his shoulder as you walk out into the hall. That’s odd. Osamu steps out of the classroom to call your name out into the hallways, but you’ve disappeared under the wave of students heading for lunch. Rather than embarrass himself, Osamu decides to go eat. 

He has half a mind to go get you from your other friends to go home when the sun starts to dip against the Hyogo sky. A raised eyebrow graces his face as he is told that neither your friends can be able to locate you, what with your bag and other possessions gone from your lockers. 

Practice is another pain in the back to deal with, harshened by a new realization. It’s been dawning on him for a long time now, but he’s hesitant to take any action without further proof. 

Osamu lays a hand on the doorknob of the locker rooms. There are whispers outside the door. Normally, he couldn’t care less for other people’s business—tea was where Atsumu truly shined— but of course, it just had to be your voice on the other side of the door.

“Why can’t you just give it to ‘em yourself?” Atsumu asks. If this was going to be a scene straight out of a cliche teen romance, Osamu would make a run for it. You click your tongue.

“Just because, Atsumu. Give it to him or I’m not leaking the answers to tomorrow’s chemistry quiz to you,” you reply back. 

“If this wasn’t my twin, I wouldda cast you out to the streets already, (Y/N).”

“He’s better off not seeing me, okay?”

Oh. Well, now all the puzzle pieces have fallen into place.

You’re cornered. Why does coach have to have this day of all days to direct his frustration at Osamu. Maybe coach’s anger wasn’t really that baseless though— Osamu constantly missing his serves and crooked spikes would be enough to irk any volleyball player enough to make him run laps around the gym. And since it was getting late and everyone wanted to go home, who else to better oversee Osamu’s punishment other than their sweet manager?

“And… 100,” you call from across the hall. Osamu crouches on his knees and pants. With heavy, laboured steps, Osamu trudges all the way to the wall next to the bench where you’re sitting. And promptly makes himself comfortable just a meter a way from you on the wooden tiles. You furrow your eyebrows at him from on the bench. 

“Hey, (Y/N),” he asks almost lazily. You grip the bench seats. Please don’t drag this out, please don’t drag this out. Osamu turns his head slowly to fix his eyes on your shaking figure. You spy the door over at the edge of the gym, wondering if you can make it before Osamu’s athlete reflexes can catch up to you. 

But your neck moves on its own, turning your head around to make direct eye contact with your former best friend.

“Take ‘yer makeup off.” Osamu says it like a command, the tone of his voice alone enough to make you reach for your eyebrows that you had so painstakingly labored over this past morning to look presentable… for Osamu. 

“What?” you ask. With a click of his tongue, Osamu rises up from his position laying down on the floor and moves to where you’re sitting. He doesn’t break eye contact as he puts either hand on the sides of your hips, effectively caging you inside his arms. You can feel his heavy breaths on your forehead. 

Osamu looks up at you. For someone like him, he looks disoriented as can be. Pupils widened, breath turning shallower, and sweating even heavier.

“Why’re you doing this, (Y/N)?” he mumbles. “You’re clearly uncomfortable under all that makeup, and I can tell you wanna punch the daylights out of that girl for making fun of Isaac Newton’s wig.” 

He catches himself, realizing that the volume of his voice is growing steadily louder and louder, and that you’re shrinking in your seat. Osamu sighs and takes his hand off the bench. The air is now fresh, but Osamu’s musk is still enough to make you dizzy with images of his face only a hair’s width away from you. 

You’re not sure if you hate it.

“I-I’m sorry?” you ask Osamu, who has now taken a seat on the bench right next to you. He leans on the wall, only eyes moving to look at you. Osamu shrugs and takes a swig of the water bottle on the bench before dropping his head in between his legs. 

You scoff. Osamu, being the one to say all this? The nerve this boy has. The mental wall that is the dam to your emotions breaks. 

“You really are dumber than Atsumu, eh?” Osamu perks up at the sound of your voice. “You know why I didn’t go to school for those two days? I burned myself on my hair straightener, because I didn’t want to take a chance to let you see me like that!” 

You let the neckline of your sweater fall, the purple, rectangle burn still as clear as day on the skin of your neck. Osamu’s eyes widened. He raises a hand to touch it, but the likes of an invisible lasso hold him back from getting anywhere near you. 

There’s a burning behind your eyes. The ground under you felt like a waterbed, wobbling with each step you take. This was not how you planned your first confession would go, but here you were. 

“It’s because I like you, you dummy!” you cry, standing up.

Your words echo throughout the empty gym.  If it didn’t echo through Osamu’s mind, then you were—

“I’m the dummy here? Tch, yeah right.”

Osamu looks to the sides of the hall like he’s planning an escape route. Well, no way to escape this situation now. You’re both mice in a trap, lured by the cheese that is your feelings, and pinned down by the current circumstances. He locks eyes with you for a second, before his eyes find something more interesting to look at— your lips.  

“Only an airhead like you would go on to change themselves just so I would like them,” Osamu rises up to his full height, “when I already do in the first place.”

“You… what?” you ask. 

“I like you.” Osamu can’t seem to make a decision on wether to look at your eyes or not. “But fuck that, if ya think ya gotta change yourself for me, then I’d rather not date at all.”

You scoff. So all your efforts had been for nothing?

“But you said you liked quiet girls! And—” Osamu raises an eyebrow.

“You believed that?” 

“What else was I supposed to believe?” you screech.

There’s a large hand that’s harsh enough to send the hardest spikes across the net, yet gentle enough to toss the most careful sets and decorate the most delicate pieces of food in his bento. It’s on your cheek, wiping away tears that you didn’t know were there.

Hands lead up to muscular arms that greet you as you step inside his comforting embrace. There’s nothing except the sound of muffled crying through the halls. He does what he can, patting your back and offering his sweaty jersey as your handkerchief. If anyone walked in the gym right now, he would have given them a glare to send them running away for as long as they could run. 

“That I like you just the way you are.”

taglist: @akaashit-baeji​ 

[bentaylorrogerhardy]

Lily of the Valley - Part 5

Joe Mazzello! x Reader!

Summary: Being a young, single mom that worked full-time was hard. When you weren’t working, you were taking care of your five year old daughter, Lily. You had given up on dating after many failed attempts. That was until after a rough day of dealing with your ex boyfriend, your best friend introduced you to Joe.

Word count: 2,328

Warnings: just a whole lot of fluff

A/N: I don’t know what to put here, except for...enjoy!

(All other parts for this story are in my masterlist in my description!)

About a week had passed since you and Joe had gone on your date, and so far, things were going very well. He was nothing compared to all the other guys you dated, or attempted to date. Every morning, you woke up to a ‘good morning’ text, and every night a ‘good night’ text, or phone call. On your lunch break, you would call and talk on the phone the whole hour.

“How much longer till you get off?” he asked.

“About three hours,” you smiled to yourself, picking at the bread of your sandwich, “why? Whatcha got in mind?”

“Don’t know yet,” he chuckled, “you, me, and Lily can all do something.”

“You ready to meet her?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course!” he exclaimed, “I mean, I’m really nervous about it, but I really want to.”

“Nothing to be nervous about, she’s fairly easy-going. Very dramatic for a five year old, but easy-going,” you said, getting up and throwing your trash away, then walking back to the nurses station. “I’m gonna have to go, so I can get back to work.”

“Okay,” he answered, “hey, did you get it?”

“Huh?” you asked quizzically, “get what?”

“Let me know when you get it,” he laughed on the other end of the phone.

“Joe, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you laughed, approaching the nurses station, “oh my god.”

Sitting on the desk of the nurses station, right next to where Jana was sitting at her computer, was a nice little candy bouquet with a pink bow tied around the vase. Reese’s, M&M’s, Twix, Snickers, Butterfinger, Kit Kat’s, Crunch and Hershey bars sat perfectly in the vase, each on their own little stick.

“Are you serious?” you exclaimed, smiling ear to ear, looking through the bouquet. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to,” he replied, “so, tonight?”

“Yes,” you smiled, your face starting to turn red, “see you tonight. Bye.”

“Bye,” he said, and you hung up the phone.

“So...I take it things are going well?” Jana asked, turning around in her chair to face you while crossing her arms.

“I’d say so,” you said, still marveling at the little candy bouquet.

---

“How was school?” You asked Lily as she climbed into the backseat when you picked her up from carpool.

“It was fun!” she giggled, buckling in and throwing her bag on the floor of the car, “I colored a lot.”

“Coloring is fun,” you said, pulling away from the school and heading towards your place.

“Am I going to see my daddy?” she asked, cocking her head to the side at you.

“Not tonight, baby,” you said, “I haven’t talked to him.” Chad had been ignoring all of your phone calls and texts recently, and although you were grateful to not have to deal with the headache, it sucked that he couldn’t even answer you about seeing Lily.

“Okay,” she said, looking out the window, resting her head in her hands.

“But, guess what? Mommy has a friend coming over later for dinner,” you said, trying to change the subject quickly.  

“Who?” she asked, immediately perking up, “is it Aunt Jana? Or Aunt Kristen?”

“No, not them,” you laughed, and Lily gasped loudly, “what?”

“Is it a boy?” she whispered, her eyes wide and eyebrows raised.

“It is, as a matter of fact,” you said, pulling into the apartment complex.

“Ewwww,” she giggled as she hopped out of the car, “mommy’s friends with a boooooy.”

“You don’t have any friends at school that are boys?” you asked her, unlocking the door after getting to your apartment.

“No,” she scoffed, “they all pick their noses and are gross.”

“Yeah, that is gross,” you laughed, walking inside and setting your purse down by the door, then setting the candy bouquet on the table.

“Can I have some candy?” she asked, looking up at you with puppy dog eyes, “pleaaaase?”

“After dinner,” you said, “and you can have one piece.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she giggled, giving you a big hug, “you’re the best mommy ever!”

---

“What if she doesn’t like me?” Joe asked nervously on the phone, as you fluttered around the apartment, trying to make it look presentable.

“She’ll like you,” you answered as you picked up one of Lily’s toys and put it in the toy box, “she likes everyone.”

“I’m gonna be the first person she doesn’t like,” he laughed nervously.

“You will not!” You laughed, “now, come on. The pizza just got here, and I miss you.”

“I’m almost there,” he chuckled, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay, bye,” you smiled, hanging up the phone. “Lily, whatcha doing?”

“Watching Peppa Pig,” she said, sprawled out on the couch. You managed to squeeze into a spot on the couch that was not being occupied by her, and waited for Joe to arrive.

A few minutes later, you heard a knock on your door and jumped up to go answer it. Opening the door, you were greeted by Joe, standing there with a gift bag in his hand and a bouquet of daisies in the other.

“What’s all this?” You asked, smiling ear to ear as he handed you the bouquet.

“Just a little something for you, ‘cause I missed you,” he smiled back at you, stepping through the doorway. He followed you to the kitchen and you set the bouquet on the counter.

“I missed you, too,” you said, hugging him and laying your head on his chest, as he gently kissed the top of your head, “what’s in the bag?”

“Oh, I got Lily a little something,” he said, holding the bag up.

“Well, you wanna give it to her?” You asked, stepping back and leaning against the counter.

“Of course,” he answered, smiling at you.

“Lily!” You called to her from the kitchen.

“Yes?” She yelled back from the living room.

“Come in here. I want you to meet someone,” you said, flashing Joe another smile. He looked nervous, but was trying his best to hide it. You heard Lily get off the couch, and the pitter patter of her feet making their way to the kitchen. She walked in the kitchen, then walked over to stand next to you, holding on to your leg, going shy.

“Can you say hi to Joe?” You asked her, running your fingers through her brown, curly hair.

“Hi,” she said quietly, shyly waving at him, and Joe squatted down to be eye level with her.

“You must be Lily,” he said, smiling at her. “That’s a pretty name.”

“Thank you,” she giggled, blushing. She looked up at you, then back at Joe.

“I got you a little something,” he said, handing her the bag. She gasped, letting go of your leg and grabbing the bag from Joe.

“Can I open it?” She asked, looking up at you.

“Of course,” you smiled, and she started pulling the tissue paper out of the bag, then pulled out a stuffed pink unicorn, letting out a huge, dramatic gasp.

“Oh my gosh!” She squealed, hugging the stuffed animal close, “I LOVE IT!”

“Wow, Lils! What do you say?” you said, picking up the empty gift bag and tissue paper that was strewn across the floor.

“Thank you!” she squealed again, throwing her arms around Joe’s neck and giving him a big hug, causing him to chuckle.

“No problem. I’m glad you like it,” he said, looking up at you and smiling.

“I do!” she giggled, letting go of Joe, then hugging the stuffed animal, “I’m gonna name her Princess Bubblegum Sparkles.”

“And what a lovely name that is,” you laughed, watching as she hugged the stuffed animal tighter and tighter.

“She has to go meet all my other toys!” she gasped, then ran out of the kitchen and into her room.

“How’d you know to get the perfect present?” you asked Joe, grabbing a stack of paper plates from the counter and setting them on top of one of the pizza boxes.

“I had a little help from David,” he answered, standing up and leaning back against the counter.

“You’re basically her favorite person now,” you laughed, moving the pizzas and plates to the table to eat.

“Okay, I have good news,” Lily said, walking back into the kitchen, holding her hands up, “they’re all friends now.”

“That’s very good news,” Joe chuckled, “I hope they all treat Princess Bubblegum Sparkles very nice.”

“Oh, they better,” she said, widening her eyes and nodding her head, “because I am not dealing with that drama.”

“Oh?” you laughed, raising an eyebrow at her, then looking at Joe who was starting to crack up.

“Yes, mommy,” she answered, sitting down in one of the chairs at the table, “no drama.” So much personality in a small five year old.

---

“What do you want to do now that we’re done eating, Lils?” You asked, getting up to throw the paper plates away.

“Can we watch a movie?” she asked. You went back to the table and sat back down in your seat, across from Joe and next to Lily.

“Sure!” you said, “what movie?”

“Uhhh, Joe can pick!” she giggled, pointing at him.

“Me?!” he laughed, “why me?”

“I dunno,” she giggled again and shrugged, then got up from the table, “I’ll show you where all my movies are!”

“Alright,” he laughed, getting up and following her to the living room and over to the shelf where all of your DVD’s were kept. The two of them started looking through all the DVD’s, trying to decide on one as you walked in and sat down on the couch.

“What about this one?” Joe asked, picking up The Princess and the Frog. Lily let out, yet another, dramatic gasp of excitement.

“I love that movie!” she squealed, jumping up and down.

“Really? No way!” Joe exclaimed, “me too!”

“Let’s watch that one,” she giggled, running over to the couch next to you as Joe put the movie on, “Joe, you sit next to me, pleaaase.”

“Of course,” he said, finishing putting the movie in and walking to the couch, taking his spot next to Lily. Just as you were about to press play on the remote, Lily let out another theatrical gasp.

“WAIT, MOMMY!” she yelled, jumping up off of the couch and running to her room. You and Joe exchanged looks and busted out laughing.

“What, Lily?” you asked, trying to stifle your laugh as she walked back out into the living room with the stuffed animal Joe had gotten her.

“Princess Bubblegum Sparkles needs to watch the movie, too,” she said matter-of-factly, sitting back down in her space between you and Joe, sitting the animal in her lap, “okay, we’re ready.”

“Okay,” you laughed, finally hitting play on the remote and starting the movie.

---

The movie was about halfway through, when Lily fell fast asleep, clutching the stuffed unicorn and laying against you, snoring quietly.

“So?” you whispered to Joe, “still wanna see where this goes?”

“Absolutely,” he whispered back, flashing you a smile.

“Lemme go put her in bed, I’ll be back,” you said, slowly getting up, trying your best to not wake her up. When you got up, you picked her up, along with Princess Bubblegum Sparkles, and walked to your room and set her down in your bed. You tucked her in and gave her a gentle kiss on her head, then made your way back to the living room, sitting next to Joe.

“This was really fun,” he said, putting an arm around you and pulling you closer to him.

“Really?” you questioned, looking at him, “all we did was eat pizza and watch a movie.”

“Yeah, and I had fun,” he laughed, “what’s surprising about that?”

“Nothing, I’m glad you had fun,” you smiled, “she really likes you.”

“I like her, too,” he said, “she’s a good kid.”

“Very dramatic, but yeah,” you laughed, letting out a yawn.

“I’m gonna head out, so you can get some sleep,” he said, getting up from the couch and stretching.

“I’ll walk you out,” you said, getting up behind him and following him to the door. He opened the door and the two of you stepped outside.

“So, again?” he asked, smiling.

“Yeah, just let me know when,” you smiled back. He pulled you into a big hug and you laid your head against his chest, “thanks for the flowers and candy.”

“It won’t be the last of it,” he replied. You looked up at him and he placed a gentle kiss to your lips, and you smiled against his.

“Wow, and a good night kiss,” you joked, “how lucky am I?”

“I’m the lucky one,” he smiled, letting go and kissing you again, “goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Joe,” you smiled. He made his way back down the stairs and you walked back in the apartment, locking the door behind you. You turned the movie off and made your way into your room, where Lily was still sound asleep in your bed. You quickly and quietly changed into pajamas, then quietly climbed into the bed.

“Mommy,” Lily groggily whined, crawling over to get closer to you.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” you whispered, pulling the blankets over you, then kissing the top of her head.

“Where’s Joe?” she asked, letting out a yawn.

“He had to go home,” you answered, playing with her hair, “he’ll be over again.”

“Okay,” she yawned again, rolling over on her side, “mommy?”

“Yes, angel?” you asked, turning to face her.

“Do you like him?”

“Yeah,” you smiled, “I do.”

“Good, ‘cause I like him, too,” she giggled, “he’s my new best friend.”

“Really?” you laughed, “okay, we can talk about this tomorrow, you have to go back to bed.”

“Okay,” she sighed, snuggling into you and closing her eyes. “Goodnight, mommy.”

“Goodnight, my angel,” you said, kissing her head, and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Tags: @hargreevesgrace @deakyspuff @okiegirl24 @joalsglasses @toger-raylor @panicatttckiss @cheeseedreams47 @shesakillerquueennn 

[sass-and-suspenders]

The Patron Saint of Discounted Candy

GIF from big-brass-ego-deactivated201812

Pairing: Dr. Frederick Chilton x Reader

Words: 1,647

Author’s Note: This was based on a post by @somethingstately (but with a different ending because I have a soft spot for Chilton)

Frederick sighed as he walked down the grocery store aisle. Another Valentine’s Day had come and gone and, as usual, he had spent the day alone. His annual February 15th tradition of buying discounted candy and eating it alone on his couch in a fit of self-loathing was becoming hazardous for his mental health, not to mention his waistline.

As he made his way towards the colourful heart-shaped boxes, Frederick tried to avoid stepping on any of the rose petals, half-crushed candy hearts, and ribbons scattered across the aisle floor. No doubt these were the remnants of yesterday’s lovers and spouses frantically buying last-minute gifts on their way home from work. 

Frederick scoffed at the thought. If he was fortunate enough to be in a relationship on Valentine’s Day, he would certainly not leave anything to the last minute. No, plans would have been made months in advance; ordering his partner’s favourite flowers, making reservations at a Michelin-starred restaurant, buying countless gifts to spoil his partner with throughout the day. He would do everything to make certain his partner felt loved.

His thoughts turned to the only time he came close to spending Valentine’s Day with someone. It was during his second year of residency when he had been dating a cardiology resident. Full of excitement at the prospect of spending Valentine’s Day as a couple, he planned the perfect evening: dinner at the restaurant where they had their first date, tickets to see Swan Lake, and then back to his apartment which he would elaborately decorate with candles and flowers.

Except, on the evening before Valentine’s, Frederick had stumbled upon his partner with someone else in an on-call room. While the cheating broke his heart, it was the look on his partner’s face that had shattered it. She looked at him as if he was just a stranger who had entered the room. As if he was an annoyance. As if he meant nothing.

Frederick had spent the next three days holed up in his apartment, eating discounted chocolate and trying to drink to the point where he could appreciate the irony of a cardiologist breaking his heart.

Shaking off these unhappy memories, Frederick scanned the shelves for his preferred post-Valentine’s Day chocolates. Unfortunately, he had arrived at the store too late. The shelves had already been picked over, with only a smattering of sad-looking stuffed animals and the chocolate that tasted as if its main ingredient was sawdust remaining.

As Frederick turned to leave, resigned to his usual fate of eating dinner alone in front of the television, he spotted a lone heart-shaped box of his usual chocolate peaking out from the highest shelf.

Reaching for it, Frederick felt the pull of the stitches that now sullied his abdomen. He lowered his arm and scowled. No employee was in sight nor was a step stool. Pursing his lips, Frederick mulled over his options.

He could forget about the chocolate, but he desperately needed a win today.

He could go find an employee, but that would leave the chocolate open for someone else to take it.

He could step on the lowest shelf for a height boost, but the shelves did not look stable enough to support the weight of an adult male, particularly one whose clothes had been fitting a bit too snug lately.

He hated that he had been reduced to this -a man who was spending more time and energy than one should on obtaining a discounted box of chocolate.

A man who was missing a kidney.

A man who needed a cane.

However, Frederick realized that his cane would be useful in this situation. It was a crude solution, using his cane to knock the box off of the shelf, but it would do the trick. Though, on his first attempt, the only thing Frederick managed to knock over was a teddy bear.

Cursing under his breath, Frederick gingerly bent down to retrieve the fallen bear. As his fingers skimmed its plush fur, he noticed stuffing seeping out of a small hole in the bear’s stomach. Upon the realization, Frederick let out a bark of bitter laughter. Clearly, the universe was playing yet another cruel joke on him.

And, to pour salt on his literal wound, someone was about to grab his box of chocolate.

“That’s mine,” Frederick snapped at the offender.

“Excuse me?” You turned your head to face the man who spoke.

Frederick straightened, the teddy bear still clutched in his hand, and gestured towards the obnoxiously large heart-shaped box now in your possession. “That’s my chocolate.”

Your initial reaction was to assume the man was joking, but the expression on his face told you otherwise.

“Right, and that was made so clear by the chocolate being up there on the shelf and you being a foot away staring intently at a teddy bear,” you deadpanned, feeling a spark of annoyance at his sense of entitlement.

“Well, I was about to get it,” Frederick replied, suddenly feeling flustered.

“Look, I’m not going to argue with you over a box of chocolate. You can have it,” you said, holding out the box to him.

Frederick was momentarily stunned by your gesture; he was rarely on the receiving end of kindness these days.

“Thank you, but you should keep it. You did get to it first after all,” Frederick gave you a shy smile.

It was that small, almost hesitant, smile that made you reconsider your first impression of him.

“How about we flip a coin for it?” You suggested and Frederick nodded.

“Heads or tails?” He asked, reaching for a coin in his pocket.

“Tails.”

Frederick tossed the coin and both of you watched it somersault in the air a few times before Frederick caught it. Opening his hand slightly, Frederick saw George Washington’s profile staring back at him.

“Well?” You prompted, unable to see the outcome from where you were standing.

“Tails, definitely tails,” he lied, slipping the coin into his pocket.

You held his gaze for a moment and Frederick was worried you could see through his ruse.

“That’s lucky,” you finally said, allowing Frederick to let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “At least you’re not leaving empty-handed.”

Frederick’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“The bear?” You pointed to the stuffed animal he was still holding.

“Oh, no, this,” He stammered, a blush creeping up his cheeks. “I was just picking it up off the floor.”

“That’s too bad -it’s a cute bear.”

“He’s also damaged,” Frederick pointed out, showing you the gash in the bear’s chest.

“All the more reason why he needs a good home. Besides,” you added, studying the bear. “He’s definitely fixable.”

Frederick fiddled with the bear for a few seconds before speaking again. “Perhaps you should take him as well.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.”

“Okay, but then you take the chocolate.”

Frederick was opening his mouth to protest, but you cut him off.

“It’s not fair if I get the chocolate and the bear. Besides, the only chocolate left is the kind that tastes like sawdust and I can’t in good conscious let you buy that.”

“Alright,” Frederick consented, feeling a frisson of excitement as your fingers brushed his when you exchanged the items.

“I promise to take good care of the bear.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Frederick replied, not being able to muster the courage to look into your eyes. It certainly didn’t help that you managed to look lovely even in this dreadful supermarket lighting.

Sensing that the conversation had nearly run its course, Frederick blurted out the first thing that came to mind in a desperate attempt to remain in your company a few moments longer.

“Did you know that the origins of Valentine’s Day can be traced back to a Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia?”

Oh my God, I am such an idiot, he thought, wanting to fling himself into the sun. He swore he could even feel the judgmental stares of the rejected Valentine’s Day stuffed animals on his back. At least he’d had enough sense not to go into detail about what the festival involved. He couldn’t remember anyone making him feel this nervous before.

But instead of finding his rambling annoying, as the tiny voice in the back of his mind told him you would, you smiled at him.

“And yet everyone thinks that Valentine’s Day is a conspiracy invented by Hallmark and chocolate companies.”

Frederick grinned at your joke. He desperately wanted to ask for your phone number but he could feel the tiny voice in the back of his mind growing louder, telling him not to be ridiculous. Someone like you must certainly be in a relationship and, if by some miracle you weren’t, why would you ever want to be with him?

As if sensing his thoughts and deciding to take matters into your own hands, you plucked a heavily discounted box of Peppa Pig valentines off of the shelf and, after taking one of the many pens from your bag, began to write your name and number on one of the cards.

“In case you ever want to visit the bear,” you explained, handing the card over to the man in front of you. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m going to pay for these cards,” you added, mistakenly attributing the shock on Frederick’s face to your blatant disregard of store regulations.

Frederick fought the urge to pinch himself and delicately accepted the card. He would later tell you that your small action was responsible for dividing his life into before and after.

With that you said your goodbyes, remarking that you (and the bear) hoped to hear from him soon.

Watching your retreating figure, Frederick said a silent prayer of thanks. While St. Valentine might have abandoned him, his prayers had certainly been heard by the patron saint of discounted candy.

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Francisco Angones

Directed by: John Aoshima

Storyboard by: Jean-Sebastien Duclos, Jason Reicher, Sam King

The calm before the shadowy storm...or is it?

Previously on DuckTales 2017, Dewey found a note on the back of a portrait that happened to have the same handwriting as Della Duck’s! While following the clues on it only led to a prank involving a hat that was meant for Donald Duck, Huey takes the note and uses a pencil to mark it. Apparently, that’s a Junior Woodchuck tradition, and not just another Adam West Batman style riddle solving!

It revealed these dates, and something that looks like the tip end of a spear. It even happens to be labeled the Spear of Selene! Clearly, unlike the ending of Other Bin, they didn't want to wait a few episodes before coming back to that! Surely enough, it will be brought up again in this delightful comedy romp known as “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!”

...yeah, something tells me this won't be pretty.

The episode begins with a trip to the country of Monacrow, and everyone has their own reasons for enjoying the vacation. The boys, Webby, and Launchpad are interested in a convention called E.X.C.E.S.S., which has many star attractions, like...

Webby: Experimental racecars?

Huey: Lasers?

Launchpad: Aeroplanes?

Subtle! Mrs. Beakley also shows up to use up one of her stacked up vacation days on one of Monacrow's beaches. Who would have guessed they would use vacation days to not write off a character, but actually get one involved in a plot?

Scrooge, in particular, is more interested in the Maltese MacGuffin, which happens to be something of massive worth. It's both a reference to the trope, and a reference to one of the most famous uses of it. He also talks about how having the nephews around has made him more energetic than he ever was in a long time! Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmmmm.

They all aboard the plane, and right from the get-go, there's problems. After Mrs. Beakley is utterly shocked about the massive amounts of safety violations on a plane usually boarded by young children, including having a pilot known for crashing planes, Scrooge tells her there's nothing to worry about. He tells Launchpad to give Mrs. Beakley a tour of the ship. While he's away, he's going to take the wheel.

Mrs. Beakley tells him he doesn't know how to fly a plane, but Scrooge McDuck says that he he's Scrooge McDuck, and that seems like a good excuse for anything. Throughout most of this episode, his ego is through the roof, but why not? Right from the beginning, he seems like this invincible hero who can do anything.

Meanwhile, in a large wooden box, the boys and Webby piece together a bunch of pieces of a photograph that Louie snuck into the car, along with a few other things. Apparently, this all came from that wacky librarian from The Great Dime Chase.

While Dewey learned his lesson from the last episode, the theme of secrets still holds true for Scrooge. They feel that if Scrooge finds out about this, he'll shut down the entire operation. Much like Dewey, a lot of this is based on assumptions; if he wanted to shred these papers, clearly this has to be something Scrooge doesn't want people to know.

They manage to piece together almost all of the photograph, except for this one large piece that happens to be right in the middle. Half the episode becomes Dewey trying to get this one piece of photograph. Unfortunately, as soon as Dewey across towards this piece, the plane starts shifting forwards and backwards.

They go out of the box, doing some inconspicuous whistling when Mrs. Beakley asks them what they are up to. Well, the boys do, Webby just sings "inconspicuous whistling". They soon see what exactly happened, as we see Scrooge getting angry at the plane. He can't blame himself, he's Scrooge McDuck.

While Scrooge McDuck has many talents, flying a plane isn't one of them. It’s not a Launchpad crash, either, but a crash that ends up putting the plane on top of a "10,000 meter speedbump". Needless to say, this episode isn't going to end with racecars, lasers, or aeroplanes that aren't the titular Sunchaser.

Scrooge tries to get the plane out of this situation, because he's Scrooge McDuck, he can solve anything! That seemed to work for most episodes, but it does not work here, as anything he tried to do only made things worse.

Of course, the Sunchaser being on top of a small spire-shaped peak means that balance is absolutely everything. Unlike most episodes, there's no real villain in this episode outside of gravity. It's a high concept episode, there's no B plot happening anywhere else. Maybe.

For example, Launchpad accidently drives a car into the large door of the Sunchaser, causing the plane to lean backwards. Eventually, the door opens, and Launchpad is hanging on. We get to see some cool moments with Scrooge, having him jump up on a box that's sliding down and being able to rescue him from falling off. It's like an action movie.

Not that Scrooge gets all the fun, Mrs. Beakley gets a lot of great moments, too. Throughout the episode, she's trying her best to keep the kids safe, and arguing with with Scrooge about how he's endangering everyone. She really wants Scrooge to admit that he can't fix this problem, but Scrooge is having none of that. Under Scrooge, nothing bad is going to happen to the children! Or, as he accidently says...

Scrooge: Nothing bad is going to happen to her!

Mrs. Beakley: ...hmm?

Scrooge Er, kids.

This is our first big hint that Scrooge is not just acting the way he is in this episode because of his sense of self-worth or for the safety of his kin. This becomes far more apparent near the end of the episode. It's clear that this isn't just about Scrooge's war against Isaac Newton.

The kids eventually have to stick to one place, as much as Dewey really needs that one piece of the photograph.

Launchpad tries to give some in-flight entertainment with a nice nod to Darkwing Duck. Hopefully we’ll get to see him, or his actor, next season. Sadly, the tape only repeats the same section of credits over and over again due to damage to the VCR caused by the crash. They eventually start to sing the portion of the theme song. The lone exception being Dewey, who just can't take it anymore.

Huey gets an idea: go to the opposite way Dewey is going, keeping balance, allowing Dewey to get the piece of the photo. Eventually, Scrooge spots Dewey with the piece of the photograph, and asks what he has. Dewey, left with no choice, decides to give Scrooge that piece, only for it to blow away to the same spot where Launchpad crashed the car from earlier.

Dewey chases after the photograph, while Scrooge chases Dewey. It's the slowest chase scene ever, due to Mrs. Beakley ordering them to be careful to not to make the title fit. That joke would have been a lot better on shows that I actually judge the titles on, I realize. Scrooge is only trying to grab Dewey to save his life.

Scrooge: I'm only trying to save your life, so come back here before I have to end it!

Obviously, Scrooge doesn't mean this, but he's getting a bit unhinged.

Eventually, the box where the secret hideout was hits the door and breaks open, revealing the hideout and all the pieces of information that were nailed to its interior. Mrs. Beakley notices the paper in Webby's skirt, which happens to be the Spear of Selene picture from earlier. Her reaction to this seems to be telling.

Mrs. Beakley: Oh, children, what have you been up to?

She doesn't do anything else to the nephews and her granddaughter about this, mostly because what will happen a few seconds later will heavily, but this line read is a clear sign that whatever secrets that Spear of Selene holds is not going to be pretty.

While the paper with the Spear on it is taken, the little piece of the photo gets blown out of the window by a gust of wind. Of course, that doesn’t stop Dewey from leaping out onto the Sunchaser, chasing after it. Scrooge utters to himself, "no, not again". Anyone who's watching this show will know this is referring to his side of the Della mystery.

Dewey's reckless endangerment even scares the other nephews and honorary niece, and they ask Dewey to forget about this and love the family he has. Dewey is having none of that, and neither does the viewer; we're not going to have another cop-out. Scrooge eventually has to ask what he can do to get Dewey to listen to him. Dewey, in no uncertain terms, decides to ask him for the truth.

Dewey: (holding up photograph) Tell me about the Spear of Selene!

We saw this scene in the trailers, and that’s definitely something people would want to see Scrooge answer. Scrooge eventually nods his head, grabs Deweys hand, and gathers everyone together for the big story.

No, there's no cop-out here. The longer answer, as I said before, is that it is not pretty. The even longer answer should be figured out by watching the episode. I would stop here, but this is the kind of ending I need to talk about. This episode was already good enough that a cop-out wouldn't have made this a below-average episode.

However, I'm sorry to inform that this is not the twist you will be watching. The twist you are about to see is extremely unpleasant. If you wish to see a film about three bug-eyed freaks that beat the stuffing out of monkeys, I'm sure there's still copies on eBay.

← The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck! ☆ The Shadow War! →

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Alright, fine, in the immortal words of a Dark Souls soapstone message, "time for tears".

I honestly thought they were going to stretch the Della plot into the Season 2, but lo and behold, Scrooge manages to keep his word. He’s not a hypocrite, just like how he promised Webby that all she had to do to know about the number one dime was to ask, all Dewey had to do was ask. No need to keep secrets, we learned that in the last episode.

Even in this episode, it’s hinted that the Della situation is not going to be a bright and cheery one, and oh boy, oh boy. It all started before the nephews were even hatched.

She went on many different adventures across the entire world, until there just wasn't anything left. Eventually, she decided that. Donald was completely against this, because it's too dangerous. Scrooge decided the best plan was to buy the Spear of Selene, and keep it a surprise from both Donald and Della.

...that is, a big rocketship in the shape of one. Unfortunately, Della finds out about this surprise because she's that clever. Della takes the Spear, leaving a note.

Scrooge tries to get Della to abort the mission and come back home, but Della wasn't having any of it. After all, she was Della Duck! Needless to say, there's a lot of parallels between this and everything else in the episode. However, there is one big difference...

Scrooge: I couldn't keep her safe. The rocket and your mother were lost...in the empty abyss of space.

Major props to David Tennant’s performance here. I had no doubt that he would do well as Scrooge. Donald wasn't too happy when he heard about this, and they never spoke again until the fateful day the nephews met Scrooge. This is completely understandable, and I bet it's even more understandable that telling your nephews that your Uncle indirectly caused your mother's disappearance may not make them like you.

Dewey: Cool...so you're the reason why our Mom is gone.

My earlier assertion that there are no true villains in this episode except for gravity becomes not an opinion shared with any of the characters aside from Scrooge and maybe Launchpad after this story. Symbolically, the plane starts to teeter and totter as the boys accuse him of being a greedy person who didn't even try to save their mother.

Webby shares her two cents as well, and Scrooge immediately tells her to stay out of family matters, as she isn't family. It felt like she became this honorary niece a few episodes ago, so this is a stab in the heart. This earns the anger of Mrs. Beakley. The anger continues until the Sunchaser falls off the spire into a regular Launchpad-style crash. Did anyone forget about that?

On the bright side, Uncle Donald finally fixed that houseboat, and everyone else managed to survive and walked all the way back to Duckburg! Donald Duck shows off the freshly painted houseboat, which is fully repaired, and ready to go back to the Marina. The boys tell their not-a-rich-mother-killer uncle about what happened, and all Donald can say is, "oh."

While they are bummed out, the nephews are glad that they don’t have to live with that money-grubbing tyrant that caused their mother to get lost in space due to his greediness. Actually, that’s not bright at all. There's nothing but tears at this point.

As Scrooge is sitting in his chair, everyone leaves the Manor, even Duckworth. I wouldn't know if it's even possible for a ghost to leave the mansion he's haunting, and that never comes up again in the next episode as far as I can tell. We see another flashback, and it's even more heartbreaking than the first.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, he did try to use his riches to find Della. The Vulture Capitalists have to forcibly restrain him from wasting so much money to reverse his biggest mistake. Well, it’s also her biggest mistake, but nobody seems to blame Della for abandoning her kids before they even hatched. There's some moral ambiguity here, and whether they'll address that is up in the air.

We even see the money bin get smaller and smaller. I actually didn’t even notice that, even in this cartoon’s modern day, he never managed to get it back to the heights it was generally shown to be in previous iterations of the Scrooge McDuck mythos.

Actually, speaking of “the beginning”, this shot at the very end may take that way further than I thought at first.

This is a recreation of Scrooge’s very first appearance in the original comics, back when he wasn’t too far off from his namesake. It's a neat touch; it also references him before he met Donald, and this would be a horrifying bookend. Thankfully, there's another episode.

I was thinking that this episode was going to be the calm before the shadowy storm, but it turns out that the episode before was the calm before the storm. But after a storm, there tends to be a rainbow, and anyone can expect that the next episode would be that rainbow. But...how? I just couldn't wait to find out, and that's something an episode should be proud of.

How does it stack up?

I never thought I would spend any percentage of my day crying over Disney ducks, but here we are. It’s an action-packed thrill ride and a heartbreaker in all of the best ways.

This is the best episode of the series so far, and definitely something I want to see the conclusion to. We might not see if Della is truly gone or not, but maybe the “get the kids back together” plot. Oh, and that Lena plot, too. I guess that’s important. As much as this image is very unfitting for this episode...

Next, prepare to be drafted for the finale of DuckTales Season 1.

← The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck! ☆ The Shadow War! →