#But when she broke the spell by not saying it a third time it always dissipated

[i-really-like-phrogs]

You’ll NEVER GUESS where I’ve been!

[ryoshiwaah]

˖ ๋࣭݁ ⭑ Astronomy Lessons 🔭๋࣭⭑.

ᯓ🛸Warnings: a swear word, spelling mistakes and nothing else.

ᯓGenre: fluff, strangers to friends to situationship to idk.

ᯓ🔆Pairing: photographer!Minji x fem!reader

ᯓSynopsis: you're Minji's Sun, muse and best work of art.

ᯓStarring: Haerin as Minji's cousin & Hyein as your little sister.

ᯓ🛰️Word count: 2.9k

a/n: a one shot to feed you guys while we wait for my motivation to bring back Holidays, also the story is heavily inspired by 23.5 (watch it bc it's soooooo good and funny and fluffy), enjoyy!

If Minji was asked how much she loved the Sun on a scale of 0 to 10, she’d say 5, 5.5; sure it helped the plants grow, created the perfect light for photos and much more. The big star was fundamental to humans and the solar system, the whole thing was named after it too!

Spending half of her life in a darkroom thanks to her photography passion, Minji became sensitive to the sun’s light – She wore caps every day to cover her eyes, she bought so many that seeing her without one was odd, plus, she made space in her wardrobe just for them.

The photographer turned into some sort of vampire, worrying not only her poor mother but also her friends.

Though, she never got tired of, or annoyed at her Sun, you.

Minji basked into the light you emanated just by standing next to her, a warm feeling spread through her every time you got close enough for your shoulder to touch hers, or when you picked her up with your Vespa.

The scooter had a bright yellow color that reflected your personality perfectly: it was named “Sunny the third”. Lame, yes, but she found it cute.

“The third” part was added because that was your third scooter: you broke the first one by trying to race your dad’s car and ended up crashing into it, earning a 3 months grounding and a broken arm.

Sunny the second tragically died by the hands of a thief who, just like you, was a clumsy mess and crashed into a pole; the guy lit it on fire to hide the evidence but failed and burned his hand instead.

He was caught in the act and sent to jail for a week.

Let’s just say that now you guard your scooter from everyone and anyone, even the smallest insect will be “gently flicked away”.

Still, you didn’t miss the opportunity to help others, picking them up and driving them around. You were a kind soul that she couldn’t help but admire from behind her camera lens.

She noticed the way you went at a slow pace whenever she was with you, remembering the very first time she hopped on: tense, anxious – you name it.

Panicked screams left her lips when you speeded through the traffic, making sure to balance both of your weights.

The entire ride to school was chaos accompanied by laughter, your laughter, since Minji took her time to recover every now and then before starting to scream again until her lungs were empty.

After parking in front of the building, she immediately got off and thanked you way too many times before remembering she hadn’t introduced herself – “I’m Minji by the way, Kim Minji.”

“I never heard of you, new student?” You said after taking off your helmet, a bright smile on your face.

Your face matched your voice, sweet and adorable. Minji felt uneasy at how fast her heart was beating, it was a surprise her soul didn’t start levitating from how gorgeous you looked – gravity seemed to be pulling it down when you poked her cheek.

“Helloooo, Earth to Minji!”

“Uh- Huh? Yes. I’m new here.”

“Cool! My name is Lee Y/n, nice to meet you.”

From then on you noticed Minji being a constant presence in your life, not only in school but even in your own home: her cousin, Haerin, was a good friend of your little sister Hyein so every time they hung out, the photographer ended up tagging along.

Her parents forced her to go out, otherwise she would spend all day studying and taking pictures, which meant she locked herself in her darkroom and avoided social interaction with everyone.

Eventually things got always too girly for her, so you invited her over to your room, making the younger girls wonder what happened behind the four walls.

You spent your time watching Minji’s camera roll, gushing and praising her about the amazing photos she took; she would blush and tell you she wasn’t that good, but not so secretly loved hearing you compliment her.

The way your eyes lit up when she showed you the new photos she took, or how you would beg her to take a picture of you was hilarious.

“Oh pleaseee!” Your whine rang in her ear while she worked on the new composition, adjusting the settings of her camera.

“No, Y/n, my life already revolves much around you, stop asking.”

That made you slap the back of her head, a move that she expected since she mindlessly avoided it.

“That’s not true! We barely see each other anymore…”

“We saw each other yesterday and the day before, and the day before the day befo–”

“Okay! Okay! I get it geez.” You scoffed, bringing your knees over on the table you were sitting on, leaning against the wall behind you.

As Minji took pictures of the various objects scattered on the table, claiming that it was contemporary art, you just looked around the room of the photography club: all the artworks of the members were stuck to the wall, creating a cozy atmosphere.

Haerin’s main topic was cats, of course, your friend’s cousin was obsessed with the felines and took pictures whenever she saw one. But a few of them portrayed a girl with curly hair, smiling brightly at the camera.

Hanni’s side of the wall was funny and covered in polaroids, the dates written in red while the notes were in black, some of them were with loved ones, probably family members, some of herself and others of food.

“She could be an influencer.” You mumbled to yourself, before taking a look at Minji’s corner, skipping the other 3 columns of pictures before her.

You felt like witnessing the whole universe before you. 

There were photos of the moon, stars and constellations; Minji had connected the stars with a light blue pen and wrote the names in the corner. The only thing missing was a picture of the sun.

You knew she didn’t like being exposed to it, she had glasses because her eyes couldn’t adjust well to the light, so you guessed that was the reason why she didn’t have a photo of it.

Speaking of sunlight, the right side of your face started to feel hotter due to the light coming from the window. You closed your eyes, enjoying the warm feeling of the rays on your skin.

‘Click’

The familiar sound made you turn to Minji who was pointing the camera towards you, a faint smile making its way to her lips; you saw that expression tons of times, it was the same face she made after taking a good picture. The satisfaction etched in her eyes.

An inaudible gasp left your lips after realizing what happened: after months of begging, Minji finally took a picture of you with her camera, not her phone, her beloved camera!

You looked at the photographer with wide eyes, not knowing if you were dreaming or not.

“Minji?” You asked incredulously, as if she had grown a second head, your body shifting so it leaned closer to hers. Your faces were inches away, noses almost touching.

“Did you really just take a picture of me??”

“No.”

And then she turned back, working on her previous task.

“No? I heard the cick and you were pointing your camera at me.”

“Nope, I think being exposed to the sun kills your brain cells.”

“Wha–”

“Here.”

She interrupted you by sticking her cap on top of your head, changing the size from behind since your head was smaller than hers.

“There there…” She smiled, her dimples showing, as she patted your head. “You should be okay now.”

An exasperated sigh left your lips before you slumped back against the wall, now letting your legs loosely swing from on top of the table. You were rethinking the interaction because where on Earth did that make sense?!

Luckily for Minji, you forgot about the picture the next hour and were too bored to do anything at all, just wanting your friend to clock out from the club.

An hour later you two were out, your body feeling heavy from the sleepiness. “Note to self, never accompany Minji for club activities ever again.”

“Are you sure you can drive?”

Minji’s husky voice snapped you out of your daze. Already knowing where this was going, you reached into your pockets and tossed the taller girl your keys. She caught them with a fond smile before picking you up and sitting you on the scooter.

“I could have climbed it up myself, you know?”

Oh, how that sleepy voice made Minji feel all fuzzy and glad she was alive to hear it, a small thought made its way through her mind: what if one day she would be able to hear it every morning when she woke up… that’d be perfect.

She started humming happily while switching the cap she gave you with the helmet, securing it so it wouldn’t fall off.

“Happy?”

“Hmhm.”

“What made you happy?”

“A sleepy girl that I’m driving home.”

She said casually before thrusting forward and turning on the bike, taking off and heading to your house.

Your arms were secured around her waist and your head was resting on her back; it didn’t take long before you fell asleep, holding tighter on your gir– friend. On your friend.

“Saturn is Haerin’s favorite, I think it’s a basic answer.”

“And why’s that, my dear astronomer?”

It was a Friday night, Minji just crashed at your house like usual and you were discussing planets after staring at your ceiling for too long. It had the planets and some stars scattered around so the conversation started naturally.

“Nowadays Saturn is so mainstream, ugh, people like it for its aesthetic.”

“You’re too harsh, Y/n.”

“What? It’s your favourite planet too?”

Minji scoffed, gently pushing you away from her but you rolled towards her body, making sure that the side of your heads were touching.

“I’ll let you know that I don’t have a favourite planet… They’re just balls in space.”

“It’s like saying that your photos are just colored pieces of paper.”

Your hand wrapped around her wrist, making sure her finger was pointing up at the ceiling, towards Venus. 

“That’s Venus, Taurus’ ruling planet.” then you pointed to another one, making Minji shriek from the suddenness of the movement. “And that’s Mars, Scorpio’s ruling planet.”

You let her arm go, as it rests on the ground again. She’s silent for a few seconds, thinking of what your words meant. You talked about you two’s zodiac signs, there must be a reason.

“Uh… thank you for letting me know?”

You turned your head towards Minji, raising an eyebrow. Why was she acting like she didn’t know about the planets? Her photos were all about astronomy and space.

Plus, you didn’t spend the entire month trying to get all the names right just for her to be unaware of what you were talking about.

“You don’t get it?”

“I fear I don’t, sorry.” The look on her face turned into a sad one when she saw the hope slowly fading from your eyes, but then, a wholehearted laugh left her speechless.

All you could do was exactly that, laugh and slowly roll on the carpet as the realization hit you: all those hours studying to impress Minji were for nothing, because, apparently, the photographer barely knew what zodiac signs and ruling planets were.

“Your photos…” You began as the giggles began to quiet down, leaving you breathless and Minji scared she might have just watched you have a manic episode over heavens knows what.

“Moon phases, the constellations, the stars. I thought you knew all about astronomy.”

Then it hit Minji, it was like a lightbulb turned on in her peanut brain; she sat up and looked down at you.

“Don’t tell me you know all of this because you were trying to impress me.” 

She used the same tone a parent would use when scolding their kid, but decorated with a hint of amusement. Minji was incapable of imagining someone putting so much effort for her, but knowing that you, out of all people, did that, made her whole day and probably year.

In response you remained glued to the wooden ground, staring at the planets on your ceiling, hoping they could tell you what to do, now that your information was useless for the both of you.

“I learned all that for nothing!” You whined, your feet kicking the ground while you threw your little tantrum.

At first Minji chuckled, but then she thought about it and shook your shoulder, making you glare at her. 

“Teach me the secrets of astronomy, I want to understand, no matter how long it takes.”

The astronomy lessons went on for weeks. Even if they were only an excuse to spend more time together, Minji started learning for real, surprising you: not only she was a fast learner, but she was actually interested in the topic.

It was regenerating talking to someone who was so willing to listen, that’s why you never lost a chance to mention even the smallest detail.

You spent so much time together that Minji started to call you her Sun, while only in your mind you thought of her as your Moon; you’d stare at her hoping she would catch you and call you out on it, but instead, your best friend was always focused on the teacher.

Or, in general, something else that wasn’t you.

The probability that you and Minji weren’t aligned anymore made you doubt your own feelings towards her – You noticed it on a wednesday, while eyeing the lunch lady give out food to your sister and Haerin, the cat-like girl talked about her cousin’s birthday coming up.

Your train of thought drifted from the kimbap you were going to ask for, to the photographer, way too quickly.

“3 Kim Minji please…”

The lunch lady raised an eyebrow, already fed up with you. “You mean kimbap.”

“That’s what I said…”

With a roll of her eyes she almost tossed at you your 3 miserable kimbap and called for the next one in line. Confused but not in the mood to deal with old women, you decided to just walk away, food in your hands.

“You said my name, moron.”

The familiar voice startled you, almost making the rice rolls fall from your grip, but you weren’t so careless with food, thankfully.

“Did I– Oh shit, I did.” You blushed after recollecting yourself and your train of thoughts.

“You think about me so much it messes up your social interactions, what a loser.” 

“I overheard your cousin talking about your upcoming birthday and you popped in my mind, miss stubborn.”

“All excuses!” She grinned smugly, now getting in front of you. How she got so dangerously close you didn’t know, but damn she looked good: her hair was put up in a messy bun, while she had a jacket over her school uniform.

Her face was naturally beautiful, but what attracted your eyes were her plump lips.

Before you knew it, she pecked your forehead, stole the kimbap you started eating and ran away, leaving you in the middle of the canteen – a blushing, gay panicking mess, standing there with food in her hands.

The more time passed, the more you started to doubt your knowledge. It seemed like the Sun’s orbit changed, making it move around the now static Moon.

Your infatuation became stronger every day, and you couldn’t deny that Minji felt the same too. But when was she going to make a move, or maybe, when were you going to do something about the growing tension?

Haerin was tired of hearing her cousin ramble for hours about you, she swore Minji said your name so many times that she lost count, even of how many times she spaced out.

Things got worse when you bought the photographer a new camera for her birthday, making her promise to take more photos of you. And she did, of course she did.

If months before you had to beg her on your knees to even turn her camera towards you, now it was the complete opposite; it seemed like she had no other subject to snap photos of than you.

Of course, you thought she was just sticking to her word, her promise, but deep inside you were aware that Minji’s behaviour shifted since her birthday. None of them had the guts to confront one another, so the situation remained…questionable.

To her though, you’d become more than a simple Sun; you were art, her constant inspiration and muse, the deep feelings she nurtured for you could be seen in her photos and the dedication she put in them. 

She spent hours editing out and in anything that could make you the center of the picture, even if that meant learning how to use photoshop, she’d do it for you.

The only person that didn’t notice all of that was the protagonist of the works, you.

Only the ones stopping by for a visit could notice that Minji’s corner changed completely, displaying only certain photos, that of course were space related, carefully arranged around the best snaps she took of Y/n.

A detail, one that could blow up Minji’s aloof and careless facade, exposing her feelings to the world, was the little sentence written at the corner of the photo at the very center.

“My Sun”

Once again, the photographer found herself reconsidering her opinion about the protagonist of the solar system, seeing her reflection into the picture of the Moon that just like Earth, found herself orbiting around the Sun.

🗂️ NJZ masterlist

[caitified]

love ur fics can you please write one where you and caitlin are friends and she’s very into you but is still with c*nnor, and one day the two of you are out golfing or something and you both are getting very touchy, stealing little kisses, she’s touching you in places she shouldn’t and doing very much a lot of PDA until some paparazzi take pictures and post them online

friends

caitlin clark x reader

warnings:none except for that man

part 2? ends on cliffhanger

you never imagined a day on the golf course would turn into something life-altering, but here you were, sitting in your car, heart pounding as you replayed the last few hours in your mind. you’d known caitlin for years, back from those late college nights filled with caffeine-fueled study sessions and endless hours at the gym, pushing each other to your limits. she’d always been magnetic, the kind of person who could captivate an entire room, and over time, that magnetic pull had only grown stronger.

caitlin had met connor not long before she graduated. he was great for her, everyone thought—stable, easygoing, and supportive of her career. you told yourself you were happy for her. she deserved someone good, someone who would be there for her without the complications of your friendship. but as the years passed, and you two stayed close, you began to notice things. the way her eyes lingered on you just a little too long, how she always seemed to find an excuse to touch you, even if it was just a brush of fingers or a casual hug that lasted a beat longer than it needed to.

today had been another one of those casual invites—a day of golfing, just the two of you. “i need a break from all the chaos,” she’d said, and you didn’t think twice about accepting. so you found yourself sitting shotgun in her car, laughing at her playlist and teasing her about her “amazing” golfing skills as you drove to a secluded course just outside the city.

it started as any other outing—playful banter, challenging each other to make impossible shots, laughing at your mutual lack of skill. but somewhere around the third hole, things shifted. caitlin became bolder, her hands lingering on your waist as she corrected your stance, her breath warm against your neck as she whispered instructions in a low, teasing voice. you felt a surge of adrenaline every time she touched you, and you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was happening between you, a silent agreement that neither of you acknowledged.

by the seventh hole, the air between you was charged. she positioned herself behind you, her hands firmly on your hips as she guided your swing, her voice soft as she murmured, “you’ve gotta loosen up a little, relax.” her fingers slipped lower, and you felt a shiver run down your spine. you turned, a witty retort on your lips, but before you could say anything, her gaze dropped to your mouth. your heart skipped a beat.

“caitlin…” you began, but your voice trailed off as she leaned in, her lips brushing yours in the lightest, most fleeting kiss. it was barely a kiss, but it was enough to make your head spin. without thinking, you leaned back in, and this time she didn’t hesitate. her hands tightened on your waist, pulling you closer as your mouths met in a kiss that was anything but friendly. it was raw and vulnerable, everything you’d both been holding back for years.

the sound of a distant camera shutter broke the spell. you pulled away, breathless and disoriented, but when you glanced around, the course was empty. shrugging it off, you exchanged shy smiles, both of you laughing nervously as you returned to the game. it wasn’t until later that night, as you lay in bed, replaying the memory of that kiss, that you allowed yourself to wonder if maybe—just maybe—caitlin felt the same way.

the next few days passed in a blur. you kept in touch with caitlin, texting back and forth, both of you dancing around what had happened. you couldn’t help but feel a thrill every time her name popped up on your screen, remembering the warmth of her hands on your waist, the way she’d looked at you as if you were the only thing that mattered.

and then one night, as you were scrolling through social media, you saw it. a notification tagged you in a post from a gossip account—a set of photos that made your blood run cold. there, in high definition, were pictures of you and caitlin on the golf course. the angle was grainy, taken from behind a tree, but it was clear enough. you saw her hand on your waist, her lips brushing yours, the unmistakable closeness between you two. you quickly untagged yourself, but the damage was done. your phone buzzed, and you saw caitlin’s name flash across the screen.

“did you see it?” her voice was shaky, a mix of fear and frustration. “it’s everywhere. connor called me, and he’s furious. he saw the pictures before i could explain anything.”

you swallowed, your heart sinking. “i didn’t think anyone was there…i mean, it was just supposed to be us.”

“i know,” she whispered. there was a pause, and you could almost hear her trying to gather her thoughts. “he…he asked me if i love you.”

your breath caught in your throat. “what did you say?”

“i didn’t answer him. i couldn’t. because i don’t know if i’m ready to face what i’m feeling.” her voice cracked, and you could feel the weight of her words. “but…i know i don’t regret it. i don’t regret being with you.”

the line went silent as you both absorbed the magnitude of what she’d just admitted. finally, you spoke, your voice barely above a whisper. “where does that leave us, then?”

“i don’t know,” she said, her voice filled with uncertainty but also a quiet determination. “i don’t know what’s going to happen with connor. but i need to figure it out, for both our sakes.”

🪽🪽🪽🪽🪽

over the next few days, you barely heard from her. caitlin kept her distance, her silence heavy and filled with everything unsaid. each day felt like an eternity, and you found yourself questioning everything. were those stolen moments on the golf course just a fleeting mistake? or was there something real between you, something worth waiting for?

then, one night, caitlin texted, asking if she could come over. she showed up looking exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in days. you let her in, your heart pounding as she settled onto the couch, staring at her hands.

“i’ve been thinking,” she began, her voice barely above a whisper. “about us…about what happened, and about connor. he deserves to know the truth, and so do you.”

you nodded, unsure of what to say, afraid to hope. “and what do you want, caitlin?”

she looked up, her eyes filled with uncertainty. “i don’t know. i feel something with you that i can’t ignore, but connor…he’s been part of my life for so long. i can’t just walk away from him without knowing if this is real or just…a moment we both got swept up in.”

you swallowed, trying to stay calm. “so, what does that mean?”

“i think i need to take some time—alone,” she said, her voice breaking. “to figure out what i really want, and to be sure. it’s not fair to you or to him if i’m torn like this.”

your heart ached, but you nodded, understanding even though it hurt. “i want you to be happy, caitlin. whatever that means, whoever that means.”

she gave a soft, sad smile. “i’m sorry. i know this isn’t fair to you, but i don’t want to make promises i’m not ready to keep.”

she leaned over, taking your hand in hers, a final touch that felt like both a beginning and an ending. “thank you for understanding. i don’t know where this is going…but i’ll figure it out.”

and with that, she left, leaving you in a whirlwind of hope, confusion, and longing.

[jadoue1999]

Kaleidoscope

Next parts: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22

Summary:

What might have happened if Agatha had succeeded in draining the coven? What was her plan with Billy after?

This is this story.

Chapter 1: Power

“Are there any real witches here? Because all I see are have been and could have been.”

Alice’s magic hits her first and it feels like a full breath after years of panting. She hears someone scream in protest before another wave of magic hits her. Lilia’s. She had been scared that her earlier warning would foil her plans but it seems like the old crone was too caught up in emotions to be rational. She’s surprised when a third beam joins the rest. Of course, she knew that a coven’s power intensified when reunited, but she didn’t think it would be strong enough to override Jen’s binding. And it isn’t, not completely, but the sparks she gets are strong and only fuel her more. She can feel their lives slowly slipping away as their powers are drained and it’s the best she’s felt in 3 years.  

While she wishes she could stay in this moment forever, all good things must come to an end. Agatha feels their magick dwindling and stops, so she cuts the binds and vaguely hears their bodies hit the ground. She opens her eyes to see a terrified Mrs Hart trying to escape. She doesn’t have the energy to deal with her, so with a quick mind wiping spell she removes the memories of what happened and sends her back home to her flowers. She can hear commotions upstairs which she assumes is the kid with the Salem Seven so she decides to intervene. 

That’s when she notices a glowing door on the ground. 

At first, she doesn’t know what to do, there’s never been a door after singing the ballad. With a flick of her hand, the heavy wooden doors open to show steps leading down into the earth. The path is lit with blue roots and emanates powerful magick. She can’t understand what she’s seeing. It’s always been a con, a way to lure gullible witches to steal their powers. She’s always set the rules and the reasons why it would never open if she weren’t there. She’s always made sure that witches would come to her. And in all that time, not once had a door actually appeared. What has changed now?

“Agathaaaaaaaa,” says an approaching voice and that’s when it hits her.

It’s him.

That child who is protected by a sigil, that child who somehow broke her out of Wanda’s spell. The child that she can’t learn anything about. The child that was so desperate to embark on the Witches Road that quite literally manifested it, in the same way that his mother had lost herself to her grief and conjured up her own sitcom life.

This is Wanda’s child. 

She has seconds to react as he’s barreling down the stairs and she decides to quickly cast an illusion to hide the door. She doubts the kid knows what he’s done and she wants to crack him open herself. She closes the doors with a wave of her hand while she’s at it so no one falls into the unseen hole. 

“We have to hurry, they’re coming!” The kid exclaims. His running comes to an abrupt stop when his eyes land on Jen, Lilia, and Alice’s corpse. He looks up at her, eyes full of fear and horror. “W— what happened?”

She has a choice, she can fool him into thinking that she was the victim or she could confront him about who he is. She has to weigh the plus sides and the downsides. The Maximoffs can be… reactive if her encounter with Wanda taught her anything so Agatha has to tread lightly with a scared teenager. 

She goes for the victim act.

Her eyes water and she shrinks onto herself. “The door didn’t open and— and I suppose that they got mad. They blamed me and attacked me.”

Teen looks at the corpses, unconvinced. “And they’re dead?”

She gulps exaggeratingly. “I have the ability to siphon a witch’s powers, and I can usually control it but… but I haven’t had powers for three years, and I don’t know what happened. It was like finally taking a full breath after being underwater for years, I couldn't stop myself.”

Agatha’s been doing this for long enough that she knows exactly how to present herself when she wants to look vulnerable. She can see the teen… Billy, if she remembers right, hesitates, he’s trying to see if she’s being truthful or not. There’s no time though, because the door bursts open, and the first of the Salem Seven crawls down the stairs.

Okay, yeah, even she can admit that it’s creepy as fuck.

“Agatha!” Shouts Teen as he moves behind her. “What do we do?!”

She blasts the witch before she can reach them. She hits the wall with a crunch and Agatha hopes that it’s enough. Two more barrels down the stairs and she does her best to deal with them. Her magick is a trickle of what it once was and doesn’t hit as strongly as it did. She’s getting frustrated, she can feel Teen’s power and yet he’s not doing anything. He’s panicking, trying to find something to hit the witches with but he’s just wasting time. As the last four witches join them, she can’t take it anymore.

“Billy!” Agatha shouts. 

The kid immediately freezes as she says his name. “How do you—”

“There’s no time!” She yells, blasting the fox looking witch. “You have to help me over here!”

“How?! I can’t blast, or shield! I can’t do anything!”

He’s panicking, and apparently clueless about his powers. Just her luck. “You have power, you just have to release it.”

“I don’t!”

“Billy!” She screeches just as the raven witch manages to hit her. 

She hears the teenager whimper and Agatha looks over to see him being surrounded by two witches. She briefly wonders if they can feel who he is. The air around them starts vibrating just as he curls onto himself and she knows just what it means. The Salem Seven don’t, obviously, because they barge right at the threat the moment they sense the power radiating off Billy. Are they seriously expecting to win against a freshly realized son of the Scarlet Witch? 

Agatha watches eagerly as sparks light up his fingers and his eyes briefly glow a bright blue before he closes them in fear. Survival is often the reason that witches unlock their powers; it seems that Billy will be no different. Billy screams and power quite literally explodes from him. It’s fascinating. Agatha might be cruel and a killer but she recognizes potential. She’s always loved to see powerful magick in action and the teenager is certainly fulfilling that criteria. She watches as the Salem Seven realizes just how doomed they are as the blue magick hits them. The feral minded coven doesn’t just die, they quite literally disintegrate at what looks like a molecular level. As the witches fall apart, Billy’s magick, exploding as it is, passes through her. Her body reacts to the involuntary attack, grabbing onto the magick and siphoning it. It takes her a few seconds to realize what’s happening but she doesn’t want to stop it when she does.

Billy’s magick is delicious.

It’s somehow even more exquisite than Wanda’s, and any other witch she’s ever consumed. If Lilia’s, Jen’s, and Alice’s magicks were like a cold glass of water after a drought, Billy’s is a tsunami. It’s endless and powerful and unrestrained. She hadn’t known what she wanted to do with him before, but she knows now.

She wants to drain him until the very last drop.

Billy soon notices what’s happening, and his eyes fill with fear. His teeth are clenched tight as he tries to stop the flow of magick, but Agatha knows that unless she breaks the link, she will be feeding until the end. 

“Stop, stop!” He pleads in a voice that might have made her reconsider if she didn’t know who he was. She can see the panic growing in his eyes, and his magick tries to defend him but all it does is give her his powers faster. “Stop, please. Please stop!”

She cackles at that if the boy really thinks that she’s going to—

“STOP!”

The link is cut, and Billy falls bonelessly to the ground. Agatha looks at her hands and then at the teen loudly catching his breath, trying to understand what happened. He’s full of the wrinkles that show how much she’s taken but they smooth out in seconds. No one has ever made her stop, no matter how much they had pleaded. But then again, she hadn’t stopped out of her own volition, had she? He had compelled her to stop.

Just how powerful is the son of the Scarlet Witch?

She can’t wait to find out.

***

Notes: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! This fic is born out of me wondering what the hell was Agatha's plan ever since we saw that she wanted to kill everyone for their powers and yet kept Billy away. This story is pre-written and I'll be updating every Sunday and Tuesday. Strap yourself in, this is going to be a wild ride!

Tag list: @trampledore @hannah-0730 @fyregrl @lanfear-is-my-darkmistress @lover12345abcde @astronglywordeddm @tiredwitchmachine @lesbiifem

Comment if you want to be added!

[suite-purgatory-a-hh-what-if]

Hazbin hotel's third round of characters, this time females; these girlies round from the side, minor characters and minor villains for the s1 remake 3/5

Meet an explosive babe who died in the 80s in the outback; cherri bomb. And just like her name, she is an explosive lady, shes has a wild personality, will always throw bombs at anything authority related, and she has a temper that is as hot as she is; although for such a rebellious young woman she is trying to become an overlord which doesn't seem like something she would be interest and nobody knows why... hm maybe it has to relate with a certain spider fellow she hangs out with.

Meet the hell-born cannibal herself: Rosie. Rosie is quite a rare overlord she is a hell-born rather than a sinner, although people don't know where she came from or how she was able to live as long, but over time, people stopped asking about it. She runs the cannibal district, and she can provide people with all kinds of delicious carnivorous meals as long as they sign away their souls to her. Rosie is a rather sweet and motherly overlord if you can get on her good side, that is, you don't wanna get on her bad side the last person who did... well, let's say those angelic fangs aren't for show.

Meet Helsa Von Eldritch. She is an Ambassador to the Envy ring. She was Charlie's old rival in Hell School and her Ex-girlfriend. She is born from a father of Envy and a Mother of Greed, so she has both qualities of her mother's shark(greed) and her father's fish-like body(envy). Her family has quite the ties to Princess Leviathan and her own father was the past ambassador for envy and knows she is the current one only being in the position for the last 100 years and shes enjoying it she gets to have all the best clothes, cars, tech and a amazing house in all of envy(besides the princess) of course after being an ambassador with so much to do she does kinda miss having free time to herself and maybe a bit jealous of charlies freedom... NAW!!

With her past with said princess, they meet during one of Leviathans glorious gatherings as the young royal meet hells princess staying with her Dads bosses for her education, and after a few years they were dating of course until the accident they broke up and then they were rivals through the rest of hell school and when they broke apart they barley saw each other ever again until they have to attend balls and parties and such which is awkward... but hey Helsa laughed whenever she hears how her ex is doing when she over hears she making some dumb hotel for sinners and such, which is hilarious might wanna pop up to see how bad its doing...

(yeah I completely redid Helsa's character for this, I wanted to make Charlie and her exes instead of her brother mainly cause this cast needs a bit more female centricity but don't worry, Charlie is still BI in this au, she will have a male exe in here)

Meet the Marvelous Fantastic Mimzy!! In her old life, she was a doll with her singing and alcohol mixing. She's a life of a party although she can bring too much of a party if her debts don't come back to bite her. Mimzy was also friends with Alastor in the roaring twenties of course, she died when she cheated with her boyfriend(not in the romantic sense) for his money, and let's say that she had a swim with the fish, although it was really nice of Alastor to kill her ex for her. She also has requests from all to send some guests to the hotel to help with that weird 'hotel' project he's in.

Last but certainly not least is Venus, a raven sinner who died in the last 1600s during the witch trials in Salem; of course, she actually was a witch, but her spells were more than just silly curses they were rather... mind-controlling, she never mind controlled anyone though, but she doesn't understand why she's in hell. Whatever she can get back to her work, she wants to be something bigger, she never got to be something like that in her previous life and as of now she has three idols... those of which are powerful overlords.

(Venus is suprise an oc for the rewrite, yep an oc or two will be added (and theirs gonna be more ocs for the heaven plot of season two just wait, Venus will start of minor in season 1 and grow more into season 2 and have her finale ready in season 3 and season 4... idk well see when we see. Also I might redesign her in the future I'm idk on her design)

[ghostieeeee]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏: 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

Word count: 3.6K

Warnings: Possible spelling errors? :D

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

You've come to learn that in your current lifetime experience of schooling, high school is much like a jungle gym. The smooth concrete grounds were always littered with students, used at the disposal of others for leverage to fling themselves around; lockers were basically crashpads; and teachers did nothing but ignore the injured ones. Why would someone so simply walk from point A to B when they could find a million and one other ways to get there while having twice the fun?

Your answer would simply be because of safety regulations- or maybe it was just the fact that you couldn't deal with any form of confrontation from possible victims due to such annoying antics. Either way, it had proven that the irresponsibility of students and teachers alike had led the school to chaos, and you, for one, disliked it.

"Did you see the latest post on the muggie page?" Eunchae, probably the most social butterfly-like person within your very contained friend group blurted out, her eyes doe and her smile wide.

"Uh… no? I don't believe I did" Chaewon, the oldest of your bunch with the youngest patience replies, sharing a look of warning with Eunchae as the younger girl spins on her heel to walk backwards, causing her to become blind to her path.

"Wasn't it something about Soobin?" Inquires the taller of the group, Kazuha, also frequently labelled as the book worm for her love of most books.

"Yeah!" Eunchae snaps into grin, clicking her fingers into stretched finger guns,"apparently he's cheating to get ahead in maths"

You groan, rolling your eyes at your sister's poor habit of spreading rumours,"it's a photo, not a Wikipedia page. Where do these rumours even come from? They're almost always fake"

"Yeah, like, who would even believe that a hippopotamus broke into the school's bathroom?" Kazuha interjected, although her voice seemingly vanished after the word "believe" left her lips.

"There's pictures!"

"Eunchae, we don't need to see poorly edited pictures to believe anything," Chaewon almost huffs, having this been the third time today Eunchae has offered to show these so-called real photos. "Besides, it's all just for followers and attention. Remember Felix before he got expelled?"

"He got expelled because he threw a bucket of fish on someone-"

"Not just someone-" Eunchae interrupts Kazuha, holding out her hand,"it landed on the head teacher!"

"Even worse!" You whine,"Mrs Jang was there to stop Felix's madness, and it just so happened that she got caught in the crossfire of it all"

"None of that is the point!" Chaewon grumbles aloud, readjusting the books held between the muscles of her biceps and her ribs,"who cares about who got caught in the crossfire, who cares about the original target! All that matters is that his intentions were to gain in popularity, to ultimately gain followers for his bold and daring personality"

"God do I hate that boy…" Kazuha mumbles, eliciting what seemed to be a spell of silence over you four as you continue to walk in silence. What Felix had done won't be erasable, not to Kazuha and her dozen beloved books, at least, but you can at least try and forget the misery he put most students through.

You still remember the time you came back from gym class, only to find that your clothes had magically transformed into a tight crop top and a mini skirt. To say you were fuming was one thing, but to say your friends were ready to go on a rampage was another.

You release a content sigh however, upon the memory of Minji, Kim Minji, otherwise known as your secret girlfriend, who had been so quick to discreetly pull you aside and offer you the spare change of clothes she keeps for you. She always keeps a full outfit for you in the back of her own gym locker. You hadn't seen much point in the idea to begin with, but damn were you relieved when it actually came in handy.

Thinking back on it, you never did find your clothes again…

"Morning!" A familiar voice called out, so bright and bubbly with a coaxing of something else, something reluctant. It was the tender voice of the very person you were thinking about, Minji, and now she's standing only a few feet away, waving morning to those who pass her by with her signature smile.

On mornings like these, you'd walk past with your head down, minding your own business for the sake of your decision to keep your relationship with the school's "IT" girl private. However, something in you had you hooked on her smile today, and therefore had your eyes hooked on her as you walked past.

It was obvious Minji noticed, her eyes meeting and following yours till they no longer could. It was also obvious that it had made her morning all that much better- evident in the instant widening of her soft smile.

"Y/n, you have english first, right?" Eunchae was quick to unintentionally ruin the short moment, flinging her arm over your shoulder, her eyes boring into the side of your head as you quietly blush to yourself.

There was something different about Minji today… Maybe she was wearing a new soft toned shirt? Or maybe she did something new with her makeup? Either way, it had already devised its plan and plagued your mind with unanswered questions. Unanswered questions that needed to be solved.

"Y/n?"

"Huh?" You jolt back as a result of a small pinch to your forearm, your opposing hand rushing over to cover the new stinging sensation. You glare at Eunchae,"what?"

"You have english first, right?"

"Yes, I have english first. Why?"

Eunchae gives you a wicked grin, one you're sure could be fatal given the correct circumstance,"don't you have that new assignment, project thingy?"

"Shoot…" your eyes falter, neck growing limp as it sags slightly over your shoulders. "Why'd you remind me of that? I was having a decent morning, you know?"

"Oh? My bad?" She speaks with an insincere tone,"Just wanted to ask you who you'd pick to be your partner this time"

"Haha, funny joke munch"

"I told you to stop using that nickname years ago!" The slightly younger Hong whines, retracting her hand from your shoulder.

You roll your eyes,"Miss has never let us pick our partners, so there's no answer to that question"

"You need to have some hope," Chaewon speaks up, pushing her glasses up the thin bridge of her nose. It's been a while since Chaewon last wore glasses, so it was a welcoming sight to get used to.

"Yeah! And if your teacher does pair you with someone, I hope it'll be the boy from last time." Eunchae continues to grin, making stupid kissing faces with her lips impossibly puckered.

"Please no," you shudder out, remembering the laziness of his work ethic, but the proactive nature of his wanting to get to know you better. If it was a social experiment, you would've been somewhat alright with it- but it wasn't. "Let's just see if I can survive getting to class first"

"Why wouldn't you make it?" Truth be told, there were a thousand ways to answer that, a thousand possibilities of something happening. Possibly a fire drill; someone knocks you unconscious; maybe you'd be kidnapped; or the roof of the school gets ripped open and you could get abducted by aliens.

Maybe the last two examples were a little extreme… but never say never?

"Just look around us. Do you really think half of these people aren't secretly serial killers?"

"We're teenagers" Eunchae rolls her eyes,"were all serial killers in the making"

"But still, there's always a possibility"

"I'll see you guys later," Kazuha speaks, her tone almost making her sentence sound like a question more than anything else.

You, Eunchae, and Chaewon each respond with different farewells in unison, creating a mesh of jumbled words as your other friend heads into her class.

"Do you ever get the feeling that someone is secretly watching you?" Chaewon spurts out, causing you to raise an eyebrow at her inquiry.

"Yeah, all the time," you respond,"sometimes I swear Eunchae secretly watches me when I sleep"

"I don't do that," Eunchae almost snorts as she pinches your arm again, earning herself a slap in the process.

"Sounds like it most of the time…"

"We have paper thin walls!!"

"No we don't! You just have the need to know everything about me"

"Guys?" Chaewon interrupts. Albeit your little bickering session was entertaining, Chaewon genuinely couldn't shake the question off her mind.

"Sorry, sorry," you awkwardly laugh,"I've had the feeling once or twice- but like I said, it's almost always Eunchae," you shrug.

"And when it's not me?" Eunchae tilts her head in question, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

"It's Kazuha waiting for me to fetch a book I offered to find for her"

"Eunchae?" Chaewon asks as you stop outside of your classroom door.

"I get people looking and staring at me all the time," your sister responds with a nonchalant tone, seeming far too careless about her explosive personality.

"Right…" Chaewon tugs a smile across her face, nodding slightly.

"Hey, it's okay. If anything happens, we're all just a phone call away. Right, sis?" You turn to see Eunchae enthusiastically nodding in agreement,"see?"

"Thanks guys" she shakes off the forced smile,"You should get inside your class" she nods to you.

"Yeah, I suppose so. I'll see you all at break, " you wave before turning. The last thing you hear is them saying goodbye before you're officially in the torture chamber of hell. The classroom.

Your designated seat was on the third row back, one depressing chair away from the love of your life- the window. The view is pretty nice up here too, so why must the teacher make you suffer this bad?

You lazily throw your bag against the metal leg of your desk before slumping into the paired chair. You could feel your back almost instantly grow sore at the uncomfortable furniture choice, but it's not like you could change that. Living with the suffering is your only option.

"Morning, everyone," a voice booms against the rest, threatening the bustling army of student voices into hushed whispers until they stop altogether. She coughs,"I'm not wasting any time here, you all know what's happening, so without further ado…" The woman pauses to grab a sheet of paper, her eyes hungrily scanning over the printed information.

"Yujin and Soyeon"

"Irene and Yiren"

"Hyunjin and Jeongwoo"

"Y/n and Haerin"

You gulp. Haerin? As in Kang Haerin? The Haerin that's friends with your girlfriend? That Haerin?

Were you really questioning what Haerin you had been partnered with? There's only one in your class, and as far as you know, the only other girl named Haerin in this school is two years below you. You were tempted to slap yourself, if only it wasn't for the attention it would place upon yourself.

Hesitantly, your eyes hoister upon the figure of your new partner for the next few weeks. She sat on the front row, closest to the door- she was basically completely across the room. You lean forward a tad, capturing what you could of her before someone else's head got in the way.

She looked half asleep in all honesty. You're not even sure if she's listening. Her half lidded eyes are barely focused on the teacher, and her smokey hoodie is drawn up to her mouth.

This was bad. The possible scenario of her finding out was at an all-time high, and you're not ready for that yet- you're not ready for any of that yet.

Your relationship is meant to be a secret, a rule imposed by you to keep your emotions in tact. Minji wasn't all too fond of the idea, but she accepted it nonetheless. It's been hurting you as much as it's been hurting her- but you'll both end up far worse if people knew.

The people in your school would ravage you for details on your personal life. Your privacy would be invaded by snotty teenagers- ultimately turning your life upside down. They'd ruin you for being a nobody if you're not good enough, if you don't match their standards. It doesn't help that their standards are themselves either. It's just one of the many perks of dating Minji.

Maybe you could swap partners…?

"Hey! That's not fair! You know we don't get along well together!" You look to your left, only to find the boy you sit next to on his feet as he thrashes his arms about.

"Mister Song, please remain as you were." The teacher attempts to calm the boy, speaking in her usual dismissive tone.

"I demand a partner swap! Uh- with this girl right here!" You yelp as he grabs your elbow, dragging you to your feet.

"Mister Song, leave the girl alone and report to the head teachers office immediately," Miss huffs out, clapping her hands aggressively out of annoyance.

The boy lets go of you, to which you quickly take your seat again, scooting slightly away as heat creeps to your face and your hands begin to subtly shake. "Whatever"

You breathe in deeply, taking in mouthfuls of air at a time to steady yourself as your brain scrambles to put itself back together. You find yourself counting each breath, starting from one and working your way up to ten within a short matter of time.

It didn't take too long- only until the teacher was done reading out the list- for you to have regained a decent enough composure to not be noticed by others. You had initially calmed down, but your nerves were still very much active, and it made you all that much more aware of your surroundings.

"Find your partners and don't forget to pick up a sheet." You look up as your teacher places a thin stack of paper at the front. Was that seriously your project? It was printed out onto a sheet of paper! You're not quite sure if she's just too lazy to inform the class verbally or if this was some ingenious idea to stop you from letting her words go in one ear and out the other- like they normally do.

You halt in your seat for a moment, your hand grasping a strap of your bag as you wait for everyone else to have gotten their own resources before you move. You had watched how several people passed the Isle two seats down from you, rushing about in a sloppy mess, and now it was your turn to go before everyone was sat back down.

Standing up, your chair's legs scrape against the wooden flooring, an unwelcoming sound to bask in. You're quick to tuck your chair back into the table, also tucking the chair of the boy that grabbed you earlier to get past as he left it in obstruction to your path.

Carefully squishing yourself between the fewer students at the front, you grab a sheet and make your way over to Haerin. You notice how her brown hair tangles itself slightly, how the ends of her hair nestles into the small creases of her hoodie. You also notice how her hands are fiddling with each other, her thumb gracing over her knuckles before rubbing small circles into her palm.

Everyone in the school knows of her, but no one actually knows her. No one has ever questioned her introverted state, neither have they ever really cared enough to find out. It's their loss, you suppose.

You gently clear your throat to get her attention, only now noticing how dry your airway has gotten. You wait as she slowly turns to you, only blinking at your existence beside her.

"W-we're partners for the English project… can… can I sit here?" You felt yourself vomit whatever confidence you had left to get those words out, especially as she keeps staring at you with a blank expression.

"Go ahead," she almost mumbles, keeping her eyes trained on you as you nervously take your seat beside her- almost sweating at the intensity of her stare. You swear she could read your mind.

"Thanks" you offer her a small smile in an attempt to smooth the rough granite between you two, but you don't get one back, causing your face to falter a bit.

Haerin hums, moving her target of focus to the sheet you brung over, her eyes quickly scanning the words as she nods along to a silent beat. "You'd think she'd at least send this via email or something," she grumbles, dragging the sheet closer to her for a better look.

"That way, the instructions wouldn't get so easily corrupted," you add, noting how paper is insufficient against most elements. No one likes a soaked piece of paper, but even so, at least that would be better than having it get burnt into basically nothing.

"My point exactly." Haerin glances back to you, her dark eyes pricking at your skin,"if we lose this paper, we lose our project"

You hold back a smile at her words, more so the particular word,"our." This was already a far better start than your previous project you had done last term.

“Would you want me to type it out and send it to you later?”

“I was kind of hoping we could do that now. I know it's not really a wise thing to do because of the deadline being next month…” Haerin pauses to look over the sheet again, her finger tracing from the set deadline to the paragraphs that explain the task, until the said appendage reaches the very base of the page. “But it would save us a lot of time in case something does happen”

Nodding in agreement, you lean to unzip your bag,”Do you have a laptop?” You ask, pulling your own device out and setting it on the desk.

“Yeah, I do. Can you make a document and share it with me? I’ll write down my email for you” She questions, pulling out a pen and pulling the lid off.

“For sure,” you agree.

The classroom was already back to its usual state of madness and pure insanity. It was almost as if they had reverted to their old, primitive ways with the caveman-like sounds they were producing. It was almost impossible to miss the paper balls being thrown across the room as a strange form of note passing.

“Do people not understand the meaning behind focus?” Haerin murmurs under a light breath, her hand almost straining as she logs back onto her laptop.

“Their brains are too underdeveloped to even understand the context of silence. What makes you think they can focus on anything other than not focusing?” You reply, looking at the brown haired girl with a small smile and a nervous heart. You could still feel the rampant of your heartbeat in your ears.Talking to new people was certainly not your speciality.

She sighs,”you’re not entirely wrong. Some can focus on other things like the females and their makeup and skin care routines… I can’t say much for the boys”

“Yeah… Hey, I sent you the document” You inform, having used the email she neatly wrote down on the paper your teacher had you grab on the way over.

“Thanks. If you can type out this-” she points to the bottom half of the paper, which is arguably shorter than the opposing top half “-then i'll do the rest”

“You sure? You have way more to type out” You look away from the sheet to find her looking at you with a questioning look “I’m just saying- it is a shared project afterall”

“I'm sure. I could probably be done before you anyway”

“That sounds like a challenge…”

Haerin tilts her head, her eyes reflecting the sparkle of the overhung lights,"Take it how you will”

Not even moments later, you were half done with your smaller section, though the distraction of students behind you was making your job a sufferable task. They were too loud. However, that wasn't the only present distraction. You hadn’t come to notice it, but the rapid clicking of Haerin’s manicured fingers had you half in a daze. It was clear she was completely focused on her task, possibly speeding ahead as you pause for a moment to look over at the sheet for a catch-up before resuming with your typing. It’s only been a few minutes anyway, it's not like-

“I’m done” Your hands freeze as you turn to evaluate her screen, and sure enough, every word, every letter, every piece of punctuation was present on the screen. How? What she wrote was near enough a thousand words- or so you were assuming. “How about you? Are you almost done too?”

“Uh… yeah, almost. I’m just on the final paragraph” You look away as the tips at either side of her mouth curl up in a soft smile. You take a second to take a deep breath, eyes readjusting to the word you left off on.

“Oh- Y/n?” You nod, keeping your eyes strictly trained on your keyboard “Would you mind coming to the coffee shop with me later? I’d like to start as soon as possible if that's okay with you and your schedule?”

“Sure” you breathe out, trying to release any nerves.

“Is after school okay? I’ll meet you outside your classroom last period”

“That's fine, I have biology last. It's the last room at the far end of the corridor ”

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

: Dating in a high school full of love thirsty teenagers was never really something you wanted. But of course, things change- and you learnt that in more ways than one. Kim Minji, one of the more popular students. Hong y/n, probably the most invisible person alive. They couldn't possibly be dating… or maybe they could be? You never know what goes on behind closed doors.

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 | 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓

ᶜᵘᵗ ʰᵉʳᵉ ✄-----------------------------------------

𝐓𝐀𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: [𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍]

@jeindall777 @zuhasfavwife @thefckghost @everydayiloveyves @nasyu-kookies @justdelulumeh @feb14-kid

@ehcyps @imjeyjjey @winteresss @haechansbbg @urwyf3

@idkwhatim-doinghere101 @imahallucination11 @sserajeans @lesleepyyy @jennasluma @kaypanaq

@petruchiosstuff @pandafuriosa60 @haexrin07

[sungnxxn]

ALLODOXAPHOBIA al-lo-dox-a-pho-bi-a is the fear of opinions. This phobia can manifest as a fear of being pressured by the opinions and expectations of others, including friends.

[college student!p.sh x female college student!reader] Genre: Angst Word Count: 1,135 Notes: BREAK UP!! (even two); Sunghoon is a jerk (ok,, ig??); written in third person; both Sunghoon and Jungwon are on the same Basketball Team; female!reader has kind of unhealthy coping mechanism; English is not my first language,, so bear with my grammar/spelling mistakes; inspired by the song: pale honey-friends PHULEASE,, read the authors note at the end,, shank yewww !!! DO NOT REPOST NOR TRANSLATE WITHOUT PERMISSION !!! :NOW PLAYING: 🎧 Pale Honey - Friends 🎸

1:19 ───|────── 4:09

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

A month had passed. Exactly a month since that one unfortunate night when their relationship ended. Since then, she had finally allowed herself to feel and breathe freely. She permitted herself to identify the sadness, the anger, the disgust, and the deep emptiness within her. Yet, she also granted herself healing and the assurance of her own presence and peace of mind. She made the decision to avoid any interactions with him at all costs, just to let herself breathe.

I set myself free in my own time now I'm all alone I really don't mind

At some point, she found herself in the stands of the basketball hall, there to show her support for Jungwon - her best friend of six years — who was ready to have a match with his team against the opposing school. As she sat there, she overheard some girls sitting in front of her gossiping about her and Sunghoon's past relationship.

Apparently, every time Sunghoon is asked about the reason for their breakup, he either shrugs it off by telling others that they didn't share the same trajectory or, if he's constantly pressed about it, he says they broke up because of a lack of time due to their tight schedules and exams. What a lie.

but would you leave it out when you tell everyone about us so much went so wrong between me and you

Trying to ignore the recently received information, she cheered silently for her best friend throughout the whole match, yet she was not able to shrug off the memories of her breakup with Sunghoon. Sunghoon has always been a man of pride, whether it was his grades, his looks, or his family's wealth. He always had everything he wanted. Yet, the only thing he did not have was a significant other. While all his friends were bragging about their relationships, Sunghoon could not help but feel pressured and down. So he decided to date her.

They met in a shared chemistry class, where Sunghoon desperately looked for a girl he could pick to be his girlfriend. He flashed his beautiful smile at her and arranged to meet up frequently, whether it was for their studies, the music they shared, or simply each other's presence. At first, he thought the feelings would come after a while, but they didn't, and he did not want to deal with that issue any further. He chose to ignore the tenderness and kept on feeding the facade of being in love.

After a while of dating, Sunghoon's constant way of vaunting about his girlfriend to his friends became very stressful and bothersome to her. She could not stand the pressure of always being the center of attention around his friends. She elected to calmly confront her boyfriend about the struggle she had been hiding deep down, which resulted in a heated argument. Sunghoon revealed his real intentions about their relationship, explaining how he just wanted to boost his self-esteem, to feel less left out, less pressured, and not embarrassed around his friends for not having a girlfriend.

She could not believe nor process the words that spilled from his mouth, so she just stared at him in disbelief. Sunghoon, not able to stand her silence, told her how much he cherished her just as a trophy to show around his friends, without having any strings attached. Soon after, she made the decision to end their relationship. Unable to look at his face anymore, she spared no time and stormed out of his college room to go to her own. Tears threatened to spill out, yet she did not cry. She did not want to cry. Arriving in her own room, she blocked his number and decided to go to sleep, just to ignore her own salty eyes.

now that it's done you can tell all your friends

After the match ended with a win for her school's team, everyone cheered loudly while she just smiled proudly at her best friend. The basketball players approached the stands, and in the crowd of the team, she noticed a familiar face—not her best friend's, but her ex-boyfriend's—Sunghoon. Sunghoon, running ahead of himself towards the stands, smiled brightly and hugged a tall and slim female figure, then a moment later, kissed her passionately. Seeing this, she looked quite shocked and felt a little bit hurt, but she hoped he treated that girl differently than he had treated her.

without me around you can take turns with everyone

Some time passed. Just as she was about to exit the toilet stall, she heard a girl running and crying into the stall next to hers, disrupting her peace. She decided to stay quiet, not wanting to startle the girl. Accidentally, she overheard the girl talking to someone on the phone. Through tears, the girl explaines how much she loved a boy and how hurt she felt after an argument a few minutes ago over a minor inconvenience. The girl continued, describing how the boy had said hurtful things to her, claiming he did not love her and that she was useless, only seen as another trophy by him. Hearing this, she froze on the spot, her own breakup suddenly flooding back to her.

She exited the stall in a hurry and walked anxiously through the school hall, her thoughts racing freely in her mind. She couldn't believe that the boy she once loved and cherished had turned into such a heartless pride machine. She could not believe that Sunghoon continued to break the hearts of innocent girls just to feed his own ego and impress his friends.

even now as I'm on my own it wears me down and I've lost control

Arriving at her dorm room, she lied in her bed and chuckled at her own hope of Sunghoon changing. Soon after, the chuckles turned into wholehearted laughter as she reminisced about the lies Sunghoon told his friends about their past relationship and their reasons for breaking up.

after all we've been through would you tell everyone leaving out how you made me feel and what went wrong

Right after, the laughter turned into single droplets of tears, which trickled down her cheeks as she realized how insecure Sunghoon must feel — unable to tell the truth and live authentically, wearing a mask while breaking hearts. She felt sorry for him, though she shouldn't have; after all, he had broken her heart. Yet here she was, and the world did not end.

now that it's done you can tell all your friends

At the end, their priorities diverged: she would prioritize her future significant other, while he would always prioritize his pride and his FRIENDS.

without me around you can take turns with everyone you can tell all your friends you can tell all your friends

Authors Note: Yellow yall,, my first ff on tumblr and ngl kinda nervous,, hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing this !! I am open for any improvements, so feedback is very much appreciated (the negative one as much as the positive),, take care everyone !! (?)

(06.07.2024)

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 48

It's nice seeing the world expanded a bit even though I don't expect the story to actually go anywhere outside the Island. I'm going to speculate the magic academy is around here and the adjacent dungeon is the one Falin took Marcille to.

Main reason for this assumption is the shot of the academy in chapter 17 showed that it was in the woods, near the coast, and there is a dungeon nearby. This is the only spot I could find that matched that description.

This is a terrifying predicament. The party is deep enough in the dungeon that resurrection services aren't really an option at this point, but if they can't even find Senshi, it wouldn't even matter.

And let's ignore the part about resurrection. Out of nowhere, someone got grabbed by a monster and it flew off with them. The real terror is knowing that Senshi is going to die and there's nothing they can do. It would have been less scary if he was just killed right in front of them.

Is that a nue?

I'm sure Chilchuck said they have veggies, but I like to imagine Izutsumi said it so they could get rid of them.

Well, I have something to look forward to. We've gone 47 chapters and everyone's pasts are still fairly unknown. We've been given some general backstory on Laios, Falin, and Marcille; but there's still tons of blanks. Senshi is the one we have the least info on. Hopefully, everyone starts telling us more about themselves soon.

The dungeon was discovered six years ago, and the title image mentions that it was discovered in 507. So the current year is 513. Neiro Hotomer died nine years ago.

The familiar-creating magic seems to have some similar aspects to the ancient magic Marcille used, but the characters she speaks are more similar to the standard magic she uses. She's not actually making a new life form, just reshaping existing matter.

After seeing this process, I think the revivification spell that's normally used is probably a variant of this spell. The caster is reforming a destroyed body into a working one and it only resurrects people because the dungeon prevents the soul from leaving the body when it dies.

Laios is so disappointed in Marcille's lack of imagination. Unfortunately, Marcille is so by-the-books with everything that she basically has no creativity at all. The closest she has ever come to being imaginative is when she dreamed The Tribe of Pelkian and the plot's second and third seasons were just rehashes of the first season.

I'm surprised that familiar can fly at all. it looks more like it just glides. And it turns out it doesn't even flap its wings. It moves by spinning it's little feet like a propeller. It's more like a bird-shaped plane.

Marcille should have been kicking her feet the whole time it was flying.

The second familiar is what you get when you employ Laios's monster knowledge to help. The third is what happens when you let him act without any oversight.

Well what do you know. Marcille can have a creative thought if she tries hard enough.

Even when she's the MVP of the chapter, Marcille is not allowed to be dignified. She must always be lame and cringe.

Yeah. Marcille is doing her best.

A touching moment ruined by Laios deciding to cook Marcille's sky fish. Realistically, it was just a puppet that Marcille controlled and it was never alive, but we all get attached to non-living things all the time.

Look at how much Izutsumi has improved. She's still being picky (and to be fair, she might not be able to safely eat vegetables since cats are obligate carnivores), but she's not getting argumentative and she's chewing her food.

Chilchuck broke Marcille's brain by mentioning he has a wife and daughter. She looks even more confused than when she got blasted by a mandrake's scream. At least when she was afflicted by the mandrake, she could say sentences.

All she can say here is "Wife?" and "Daughter??"

Izganda is mentioned on the map in the title image. There's a mountain pass leading to it. It's east of Kahka Brud.

First thought when I saw the dwarf group is Senshi's helmet is a tragic keepsake.

back

[chunkypossum]

What can I pull out of my ass for a WIP Wednesday update…?

I’m working on so many things that my head is spinning. The current focus is the next couple of chapters of Hel or High Lord so I guess we can start with that. This portion finally has a home in chapter 17!!

This is a snippet of an Azris scene I wrote sometime last year. If y’all haven’t figured it out yet, this fic is just an Azris vehicle and I may have girl-bossed a little too close to the sun with the plot.

I HAVE 12k + WORDS OF AZRIS STORY LINE I WROTE A YEAR AGO WAITING FOR A SPOT TO PLUG IT IN.

Anyway …

Snippet under the cut

When Feyre stepped away from him and he opened his eyes they blazed with amber fire. She was gifting him some of her strength in a final goodbye. Thanking him. For his sacrifice. Some part of Azriel said inside his head. No, no, no this was all wrong. “Come on Az.” Feyre said to him softly before turning and following her sister and the others down the dark cave corridor. Azriel watched them go, unable to resist the pull of Feyre’s power over him and unable, or unwilling to pick up his feet and leave. “Go shadowsinger. Go protect your high lady. Leave them to me.” The fire in his eyes looked hungry. Azriel ignored him. His mouth was set in a hard line. “No.” He growled still not looking at him. His shield holding strong from his position next to Eris. “Your father will kill you when he arrives.” “Or worse.” Eris mumbled. He met Eris’ stare, a flash of terror and sadness washing over both of them. Gone as quick as it came. “Last I heard, you were quite regretting not killing me yourself. I don’t see why it should matter that I meet my end now.” “Eris.” Azriel pleaded, taking a step toward Eris as his shield cracked around them. “GO DAMMIT.” Fire leaped from Eris’ hands as he pushed Azriel back towards the others. Azriel’s shield sputtered out, his limbs growing cold as he watched Eris pour more of himself into his own shield. “Eris.” Azriel, voice laced with pain, watched as two of his shadows twine themselves lovingly around the fire lord’s wrist, dancing up his arms and across his chest. With his eyes closed Eris leaned into them as they brushed his cheeks and wound through his hair. “Azriel.” He started, almost a whisper. “Go.” “No.” His voice was small, cracked and completely unrecognizable as his own. He tried to turn around, run towards Feyre and the others, knowing she was waiting on him but he couldn’t move. Those amber eyes held him prisoner where he stood. “Let me do this. It’s all I can give you.” The quiet resolve in his voice finally broke the spell and Azriel stumbled backward for several steps, filling his stare with the words he couldn’t say. Then he turned and ran. Ran away from the truth he had always denied and the pain that waited for him in it. One of his shadows that had stayed with Eris came racing back to him and whispered to him in Eris’ voice, one last time. “I’ll wait for you,” It echoed, “at the lake.”

Holla at ya boi if you want on or off the Azris tag train :

@talibunny30 @iftheshoef1tz @born-to-riot @pathfinderofnight @fell-in-luvs @fieldofdaisiies @aktrain @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @secret-third-thing @acourtofladydeath @pippsmcgee @youvereachedthenearest-lovergirl

[fenharel-babe]

A quick ramble of Papae Solas:

In my canon, Solas meets my Lavellan 3 times in total after DAI and it all ends in sex (ofc it does bc Bloom has NEVER had it before him and she’s in love with him sm and he’s a weak weak man). The first time is like 3 years after Trespasser, the second is about a year after that (he needed more) and then the third time is about a year BEFORE DATV.

It’s all sad and angsty the third time bc she KNOWS He’s going to do something from the way he’s acting and she’s just enjoying it the best she can without worrying about anything.

But rn I’m thinking about something. I believe in DA, because it’s a magic world, there could be a spell similar to birth control, like something that would stop pregnancy. I imagine that they use that spell each time instead of a condom (since they never know when they’re going to meet and Bloom never thinks about it bc he assures her he uses the spell) but….this time…the spell breaks. He uses it because he’s so cautious and so is she.

But he’s so upset and focused on losing himself in her and his magic is a little drained from all his work that…the spell breaks as soon as they both orgasm. He doesn’t realize it, but *she* does. She knows it broke, and she had a good feeling of what would happen. Instead of freaking out (at least out loud) and telling him, she kept it a secret from him and made sure none of his agents, enemies, or her past enemies (since she disbanded the inquisition) knew about this pregnancy.

The only people she told were a few of her family (the inquisition members that are close to her and her family from the Circle and such) members. Her brother being the first and then…DORIAN!!! She knew that man would be upset if he wasn’t one of the first people she told lmao. But ANYWAYS!!!! She freaks out and she’s, like, genuinely nervous and afraid. She has a human son, BUT he was adopted when she was in Kirkwall (before inquisition). So….shes never given birth before and it’s frightening, but she pushes through it all.

Solas NEVER knows. He has 0 idea about this pregnancy and that his love is literally carrying their children. He stops seeing her because he needs to focus on his mission, so she feels lonely and emotional though she understands. She never told him, so why would he visit? Once the twins are born, she raises them with her family the best she can. She gives them so much love, just like the others do. Even if they don’t understand her truly, she always says that their father would love them, that he *will* love them. She knows she’ll save him and that everything will be okay. At least she keeps telling herself that anyways.

So they’re literally only a few months old when DATV happens, but she will STILL go to that man to yell at him and talk to him and make him be safe and happy even tho she literally just gave birth a few months ago. Doesn’t matter. She’ll push through it, she’s survived worse. But yeah when she finally arrives and they get Solas, she eventually pulls him aside and tells him she needs to show him something, and when he says they’re all busy (the usual excuse he uses when he’s afraid to confront something) she basically says “NO. WE ARE FACING THIS NOW” and he listens. She’s never really yelled like she would at this time, so he knows it’s serious. He follows her through an eluvian to Joseph’s (her brother) and Cassandra’s home (they got together in my canon :)) and she shows him the twins.

He feels like he’s in a trap. Like he got slapped in the face, punched in the stomach, or even stabbed. It’s just…what? She had twins? And they’re his too? He has so many questions, but he goes quiet when she asks him softly “…Do you want to hold one of them? I want them to see your face. Please.”

And he holds one at a time. What else could he say? Deny her this little request? He wants to see them, hold them, love them, and he *does*. Even if it’s a quick moment, he holds them close and whispers his love for them and his apologizes and sorrow. He feels even MORE guilt towards Bloom since she dealt with this without him, but she doesn’t blame him since she never told him. She just says “This is another reason to keep fighting. *This* is why I’m so desperate to help Solas, and why I want to save you. I love you, and I can’t let you leave *us*.”

‘Us’ no longer means her family, but now THEIR FAMILY. And he fights harder because he doesn’t just have his love to return to, he has his own children to protect and live for. He can’t abandon them now that he knows they exist. He can’t, and he won’t as long as he has breath in his lungs.

At the end of the battles, they live. Solas and her manage to live together, making sure to hash out all their issues and deal with them together, and raise their kids with such love. Bloom makes sure to pay attention to Cameron (her human son), too, don’t get me wrong. She makes sure *all* her kids know she loves them with everything in her. And Solas does the same, making sure their kids (and Cam too even if he never sees him as his actual dad since he’s a teenager by the time Solas meets him) know he loves them more than anything.

[fangirlvibez]

The Bradshaw son and Seresin daughter - part 2

Characters: Bradley Bradshaw x female!OC Madison Ella Hanscott, Son!OC Nicolas Peter Bradshaw, Jake Seresin x female!OC Quinn Kelsell, Daughter!OC Hazel Alexandra Seresin, Son!OC Benjamin Jacob Seresin

Warnings: in this chapter: mention of teenage pregnancy, mention of abortion, slut shaming, mention of taking advantage. (Let me know if I forgot a warning)

Summary of the story: The 16 year old daughter of Jake Seresin gets pregnant. The dad: the 18 year old son of Bradley Bradshaw. How will the dads react to their kids becoming teen parents?

A/N: English is not my first language, so if there is any spelling or grammar errors: please let me know

Previous part - next part - masterlist

His eyes wander back to the pregnancy test before finding his daughters eyes again. He can see tears coming to her green eyes. “You’re not pregnant are you?” He asked.

The room filled with silence. The only sound you could hear was cutlery hitting plates and the exciting tail of Sparky. Slowly Quinn also turned to her daughter, who only got more tears in her eyes. The young girl let out a sob. “I’m so sorry, we used protecting. I swear” she cried. Putting her head in her hands. Nick didn’t dare to look at his girlfriend or any of her family members.

Jake stood up, his protective father side coming out. “Who’s the father?” He asked with a strict voice. Hazel didn’t dare to look up and answer him. She had put her hands down again and was staring at her plate. She started to count the left-over peas on her plate. The Bradshaw parents share a worried look. Maybe they should leave. This wasn’t their place to be. At least that is what they thought.

“I asked: who is the father Hazel?” Jake stood with full body at the end of the table. Arms crossed, staring at the side of his daughter face. The Seresin kids haven’t seen their dad this strict and angry since they were little kids. Since Hazel was 9 and Benjamin was 7. When they were playing in their dads office, running around the desk and accidentally bumping into it. The shock of the desk made the coffee mug spill its content all over important documents. Important documents which Jake had worked on for at least 3 weeks. It was the first time the kids had heard their dad yell as loud as he could. He never before had yelled this loud to his kids. Not when Benjamin playing soccer in the house and broke the TV. Not when Hazel drew all over the walls with permanent marker and not even when the kids scratched drawings into his new car. Jake Seresin always tried to be the loving father he never had. He had given them 2 months of house arrest. The day after he apologized to his kids for his yelling. Hazel doubted that he would apologize after the dinner for his strict voice.

“Hazel.” Even Bradley was shocked with the strictness of Jakes voice. “I’m not asking again. Who is the father?” For a moment it got silent again. Jake was still staring at his daughter. Quinn was also looking at her, anticipating on her answer. Benjamin was petting Sparky, who wondered off to him when Bradley stopped petting him. All Benjamin wanted to do was leave to his room. Nick was still staring at his plate. Still scared to meet anyone eyes. He knew Hazel was going to say his name in less than a minute. All he hoped was that hell wouldn’t break loose when both pair of parents will hear his name come out of the girls mouth. Bradley and Madison were holding hands under the table. Feeling bad for the young girl. Not knowing that that feeling will be turned up side down in the next 10 minutes.

“Nick” a quiet voice said. “What did you say?” Jake asked, hoping he heard the wrong name coming from his daughter. Hazel looked up into her father eyes. The green eyes that matched her green ones. “It’s Nick” she repeated. For the third time that evening it got silent in the room. The whole table turned to Nick now. “Is that true?” Madison asked her son. She was shocked with how quite her voice sounded. Nick looked up at his parents and slowly nodded his head. “Yes, we’ve ..” before he finished his sentence, he turned to Hazel. Their eyes meet and Hazel nodded. Their parents should know. “We’ve been dating for over a year” he told the table.

“I can’t believe this” Jake said. Hazel could hear the disappointment in his voice. She was mentally preparing for what her father had to tell her. How she was irresponsible and reckless. But her head shot up when the words came out of his mouth. “I can’t believe you Bradshaw. Your son took advantage of my daughter!” He was turned to his best friend. Bradley looked up at his supposed to be best friend. “My son?” He asked. “Who says my son did something wrong? Maybe it was your daughter who couldn’t shut her legs” he said slowly standing up as well. Hazel shared a look with Nick. How can this happen? Now their dads where fighting. “Are you calling my daughter a slut?” Jake said stepping closer to Bradley. The mustached man let out a chuckle. “Have you seen the way she dresses? No 16 year old should wear that unless they want some attention.” Hazel looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a t-shirt dress. More tears started to form in her eyes. Did people really think that about her? That she was a slut?

Nick couldn’t believe what he heard. Did his dad really slut-shame his girlfriend? He wanted to tell his dad off. He wanted to tell him to shut up. But he knew he couldn’t, it would only cause more drama. “Oh really?” Jake asked. The two men were almost standing chest to chest now. The mothers were worried for their husbands. They could start fighting any moment now. “Maybe you should worry that your adult son slept with an underage girl” Jake took a step closer to Bradley. “Your son is a pervert” he slowly said. Bradley saw red and so was Jake. “Your son ruined my daughters life. Pregnant in high school.” “Your daughter ruined my sons life. He was going to go to the naval academy. How can he become a pilot when he needs to look after a baby?” Bradley voice started to get louder. Jake scoffed. “You need to have skill before becoming a pilot.” Bradleys fist tighten at his side. Ready to strike Jake in the face.

Madisons eyes grew wide. “Okay! Maybe we should sit down and talk this over” she rushed out of her chair in between the men. She held her husbands hand and guided him back to the chair. Quinn took Jakes hand from where she was sitting and guided him back to his chair. “Kids? Go sit in the living room for a little bit while we talk this over” Madison told her son and the Seresin kids. “What? Be we already tal..” Nick started to say. “I wasn’t asking. Go.” Madison said strictly, staring into her sons eyes. Benjamin didn’t hesitate before bolting out of his chair and running up the stairs to his room. Sparky following him, sensing that Nick wasn’t in the mood to play with him. Nick sighed and stood up from the chair following his girlfriend to the living room.

The couple sat next to each other on the couch. “Do you think I dress like a slut?” Nick turns to his girlfriend. “What? Absolutely not. I’m sure my dad didn’t mean it. They…, they just were trying to protect their kids” he said, reaching out for his girlfriends hand. Hazel nodded and took his hand in hers. “I’m sorry” she said after a moment of silence. “I should have trown the test away in the outside bin instead of the one in my room” Hazel yet again apologized to her boyfriend. “Don’t be sorry. If I had closed the door behind me, Sparky wouldn’t have been able to go in your room and go to the trash. I should be apologizing for the mess he probably made in your room.” Hazel let out a dried chuckle.

Minutes pasts, which felt like hours before Quinn came into the living room. The couple dropped each others hands when they noticed the older woman standing in the doorway. “Please come” she said with a gently voice only she could have in a stressful situation like this. It was probably the doctor in her that kept her this calm.

Nick and Hazel each took a seat next to their parents on the opposite side of the table. Jake sighed. “We talked this situation through. You guys are young and this was a mistake you both made.” He said. Hazel was looking at him. He had his fingers locked and his hands were laying on the table. He was staring at his fingers. Bradley took the word now. “Since you are still kids. We decided it’s best for us to make a decision.” Madison put her hand on Bradleys arm, encouraging him to keep talking. “We decided it is best for you guys to..” the teenagers looked at the older man. Hazel let out a loud sob again and Nick saw red when they heard the decision their parents made. “For you guys to get an abortion”

Taglist: @confusedpimp @dempy @michael-loves-chickens @massivedetectivestudent @starkleila @mirrorball-6 (if your username is crossed out it means I couldn’t tag you) (let me know if you want to be tagged)

[kaibutsushidousha]

How do you feel so far about Mahoyo ? And what do you think of its main trio ?

I'll skip to the second question because answering that automatically answers the first. I also try to refrain from including my theories for the following two Mahoyo games since the ask says "so far".

Aoko

The young Aoko is immediately intriguing because she's SO MUCH different from her adult self as we see in Tsukihime and Melty. Her responsible core and penchant for destruction are still the same, but the teen's default expression being a grumpy face instead of the adult's smile is something that speaks volumes about the intensity of the upcoming sequel on her emotional state. The transition from the constrainingly strict school president and mage-in-training to the free-spirited magician vagabond goes beyond the level of growing confident and experienced. It feels more like Aoko was freed from a burden. She broke out of her chains somewhere probably in the third game.

Aoko's best scene is when she's bedridden and explains the worldview that defines her. The young Aoko is a coward who can't stand the thought of disappointing someone. She can't run away from expectations while someone's watching. And there is always someone watching: herself. Aoko lived an unnecessarily harsh life because she forced herself to live up to her own standards, and this forms a stark contrast with how her adult self is so seemingly natural and comfortable with being Aozaki Aoko. It's like she found the version of herself she can never be disappointed with.

Anyways, Aoko's main focus in this one is the conflict against Touko. This clash is the most natural and logical culmination of the persons Aoko and Touko used to be. And honestly, I don't think that's a good thing. Aoko vs Touko just feels too mandated for tastes. There's no emotional depth to it. Aoko is fighting not because she holds any animosity towards her sister but because this kind of mage conflict is customary and she's only a mage because she can't betray expectations. Touko is not fighting not because she's violently envious of Aoko or pissed at her efforts being discarded (she is furious about it, don't get me wrong, but she is mature enough to direct her rage exclusively at her grandfather) but because a mage must seek the Fount and she knows an easy method. It's an idiotic conflict that Tsuki's Aoko and KnK's Touko would never waste their time with.

Disclaimer: My not liking the thing doesn't mean I believe Nasu failed in what he was trying to accomplish. Aoko vs Touko being so procedural is completely intentional. The game has half of a dozen scenes of Soujuurou asking a question about personal reasons, Aoko instead giving an answer about mage tradition, and Soujuurou reacting with an "I'm not sure if it needs to be like this". Even when confronting Grandpa Aozaki, he spells out that the battle was the culmination of then-central elements of both of their characters. It's meaningful and true to the themes upheld by the characters, but that doesn't make it engaging.

Alice

The girl desperately needs those sequels. Seriously.

Mahoyo 1 is roughly split into three arcs. Arc 1 where the goal is to find and kill the witness, Arc 2 where the goal is to convince Alice to spare Soujuurou, and Arc 3 where the goal is to beat Touko. Alice is only there as Beo's jobber in Arc 3, so let's focus on the first two.

Arc 1 Alice is the mage's mage. Throughout its multiple stories, Type-Moon built a solid image of what the standard mage should be like, with all mage characters being defined by how deviate from the standard due to their inescapable human nature, but until the Flat Snark fight, we only see Alice performing the standard with perfection. Which is important to Aoko's arc since Alice serves as Aoko's mage mentor and role model, but doesn't give her much of an identity of her own.

Arc 2 is the one focused on characterizing Alice by challenging Soujuurou to understand her. That arguably didn't happen. Soujuurou simply stumbled on the right answer by saying has a right to hate him.

Alice has issues. Losing her parents and her British home did a number on her. She's not explosive, but is possessive and petty. But the first game makes her too good at hiding her damage. The closest thing she has to a moment of emotional catharsis is the aquarium scene: cryptic words said in a neutral tone.

A big aggravating factor for me is that we know from an in-script to Nasu's proofreader that Soujuurou caught Alice's heart because his "you have a right to hate me" was the same thing her dad said when abandoning her, and how the scene exploring Alice's nostalgia for England went unused in the game. I don't mind Alice being all unanswered questions for game 1 out of 3, but Nasu demonstrably also removed all the hooks that were supposed to make me care about the questions. There's no left in the game proper at this point. Zero reasons to be interested in Alice.

Soujuurou

I don't have much to say about Soujuurou, especially without getting into speculation about his future, but the short of it is that he is perfect. I'm in awe at the versatility of a man who isn't used to civilization. He's Mahoyo's best when it comes to comedy because his not knowing basic things can lead to all sorts of funny misunderstandings. He's Mahoyo's best when it comes to serious discussion because his not having basic things internalized can lead to him asking the sharpest and most unexpected questions about things that could be better but aren't because of elements we're grown to take for granted. Soujuurou's commentary never fails to be impactful because he always shows the lack of logic in what civilization decided to call "natural". His character archetype tends to focus on the angle of a "human with the perspective of a wild beast", but Soujuurou feels a lot more insightful than the typical feral character because he has both perspectives and navigates through a comparison of both worldviews to decide what makes the most sense.

[buddiebeginz]

I’ve seen multiple posts about how fandom is the only one who sees Buddie happening and how if they did get together or even if one of them “all of a sudden” admitted to having feelings for the other the general audience wouldn’t accept it or understand where it was coming from. I get what some of you are saying in these posts but at the same time I don't think seeing two characters (who already have one of the strongest bonds on the show) admit they have even stronger feelings for one another would be that much of a leap.

There's also the fact that 911 is almost heading into it's seventh season at this point. This isn't the first, second, or even third season. 911 doesn't have to worry that if it veers off into a new direction it will loose a significant amount of it's audience. The majority of people watching the show have likely been long time viewers they're not going to just tune out because one relationship happens.

Speaking of the 911 audience it's obvious that most if not all the people who watch the show are lgbtq friendly to some extent, considering the show has a main character who's gay (Hen) and has always had lgbtq content of some kind. So I mean why would people watch the show if they were anti lgbtq? My point is even if people didn't like the idea of Buck and Eddie together or it was surprising at first to them it wouldn't be like if it happened on a show without no lgbtq content where the audience might be more conservative and not expecting it at all.

I feel like people over think things with Buck and Eddie sometimes because of them being a same sex ship. If this was a straight ship I think people would be expecting them to get together especially the general audience. People would be wondering why it hasn't happened yet just like we are in fandom.

Just because Buck and Eddie haven't dated men on screen or talked about their sexuality doesn't mean their romance needs this long build up with everything spelled out for the audience. They've been building up their relationship for six seasons now. I don't think it would be so shocking for the general audience for one of them to have their oh moment or admit they like guys or for them to kiss. Some might not be expecting it at first but when it happens and they think back on all those moments through out the course of the show they'll probably be like oh I was wondering why Buck and Eddie we're always spending time together, or why Buck didn't correct that elf when she thought Chris was his son, or why Buck broke down sobbing when he thought Eddie almost died, etc etc. And Buck and Eddie's story would make more sense as it was always leading towards them realizing their person was right there in front of them all along.

This ramble doesn't have a huge point I'm just tired of seeing people say that Buck and Eddie can't get together yet or the show wouldn't put them together yet because not enough has been done to develop them past just being friends. There's definitely more than just friendship there it's not just us as fans being delusional. I say it all the time but compare their relationship to the friendship of anyone else on the show and it's not the same. Buck and Eddie and Chris are already a family. All the show has to do is let Buck and Eddie cross that line and actually admit that's what's been going on.

[thirstnotes]

| Imagine Being Quiet and Nerdy and in Love with Daveed and Rafa Since Childhood and Not Realizing Rafa Liked You All That Time |

1998

"Ey, man, leave that girl alone. Give it back, f'real."

Those were the words that made your soul leave your 8th grade body. Sure he was laughing when he said it, so it was a soft demand, but the fact that Rafael Casal was defending you to any capacity made your brain leave orbit. Which is not where you needed it to be right now.

Because you didn't know what to say when his friend gave you your novel back. He didn't seem to expect a response, however, completely overlooking you to defend himself to Rafa. "What? I just wanna know what be so damn interesting in them books she always reading."

"Bitch, spell 'interesting',” Daveed joked, getting a spirited shove from behind as they all left you alone. You bit your lip to keep from laughing at the jab. The last thing you needed was to draw attention back to yourself.

They all roasted each other as they continued up the sidewalk, all shoving each other and completely forgetting about you. Thankfully. With a final "Man fuck you!" they all disappeared around the corner. Still talking shit. You exhaled. Your skin was cool with the feeling of sweat that broke out when they’d approached. Your pulse was pounding in your eardrums. You swallowed, your throat cracking a bit from the moisture finally returning to it. You were ashamed of the way you choked whenever they were around.

You were the epitome of a "good girl". Straight A's, well-read, well-behaved, stayed out of trouble. It always pleased your parents, but your social life was sorely lacking. Plus, anxiety was a bitch and it made you an easy target for teasing. Particularly from the neighborhood boys--them included. Your Grandma claimed it was because they thought you were cute and just did it because they didn't have anything better to do.

A thought you wanted to entertain.

But nah, you knew it was because you were funny to watch squirm and fumble for a good comeback. Today, however, Rafa and Dav--as they so affectionately called each other--seemed to exercise a small bit of restraint when their third homie went in on you.

Possibly because your Grandma used to be their music teacher and looked out for them. Maybe because she paid them to do odd jobs around her house to keep them out of trouble. Or maybe it was because she always fed them whenever they came over after school. Which wasn't anything novel; she fed everybody that came through. So you legit couldn't think of any other reason they'd take it easy on you. Sure, you interacted occasionally--often being in the same room and all--but you'd hardly call yourselves "friends that hang out".

You were--as Rafa put it--"so fuckin weird", although said in a lighthearted way that made your heart flutter. In a way, it did make you feel like you were closer than your other schoolmates, if only temporary.

Which was why you were so ashamed of yourself for choking up so much. They were just dumb boys doin' dumb boy shit. Clownin' around. Any cool bitch would’ve snatched her book back and cut them all off at the knees with something sharp and/or flirty.

But you were nothing like that. You were a nervous laugher, pretending to be a good sport, not wanting to offend, but also desperately wanting them to leave you alone type of girl. No matter how fine you thought they were. Especially how fine you thought they were.

They were on a whole other level. Cute, charismatic, talented, funny, down-to-earth…and right across the street. You would listen from your window all the time, doing your homework, blinds just barely open, the window cracked to hear them joking and taking turns freestyling bars about people they saw or stuff they liked. Which you enjoyed.

At least until you heard them jokingly rap:

See shawty 'cross the street always playing hide-and-seek-er/peepin all up in the blinds like can't nobody see her

You couldn't look them in the eye for a week-

"Amber Brown," your bestie laughed aloud, interrupting your story with a smirk that suggested she was holding onto a juicy secret. You frowned at her expectantly.

"What?"

"You know that song was about you, right?" she purred deviously, waggling her perfectly contoured brows at you. You rolled your eyes with a sheepish smile, the familiar feeling of embarrassment creeping up your spine.

"Anyway-"

"No, no for real!" she pleaded apologetically, "That's how I found out Rafa had a crush on you."

Your jaw went slack. "What?"

F/N gave you an obnoxiously beaming smirk. "Mmhmmmm."

Then she took a long sip of her drink, which made you practically foam at the mouth for more information.

"Okay, so???" you urged, motioning for her to go on. She seemed to revel in your anxiety.

She smacked her lips for a moment then relented. "Okay okay. For real tho. Who did you think Amber Brown was about?"

She paused to let you add two and two together. You decided to give her the wrong answer. “Somebody at school.”

You truly earned the look she gave you. “Yeah. You, silly ass.”

You laughed and shrugged, your chest fluttering and sparkling with the revelation that maybe your best friend was actually right. “I’m just sayin. There were a lot of Ambers floatin’ ‘round that school.”

“You are way too bright for me to dignify that with an answer.”

You took a smirky sip and she rolled her eyes.

“Amber brown is about your eyes, smartass.”

She looked pleased at the cough that pulled from you.

“Amber Brown in my town always got me feenin’, honey brown lookin 'round like shawty always schemin’? He was talkin about how shy you were and how he though it was cute. Which like. I ain’t gon lie. That was fuckin adorable.”

You wanted poke fun at how she remembered that freestyle from so long ago, but you did too. It was one of your favorites. But not once did you think it was about you. You truly thought it was about some chick named Amber.

“My eyes ain’t honey brown,” was all your flustered brain could manage.

“Remember in music class when we were talking about Jasmine’s contacts and the sun hit your eyes at just the right angle and we started talking about how brown eyes hit different in the sun?”

How could you forget? Rafa was the one that started it all in the first place. Everybody started laughing then Andre joked about you being his new boo. You were petrified.

“Rafa said ‘damn’ or something…whatever it was, it about how pretty your eyes were when the sun hit them. Everybody started laughing, but he was for real. I thought he was legit gon’ smack the shit outta Dre’.”

“He laughed too,” you pressed, hanging on every word, hoping she’d supply more. As if she’d sensed it, she continued.

“Because he was a dumbass boy back then. But he was straight up serious then. Anyway, after school, when Daveed and him did their usual freestyle stuff, he started spitting that shit and I was convinced homeboy was sprung."

(Part 2)

[eemamminy-art]

20. a third person pointing out how beautiful they're and suddenly you're seeing them in a different light (shalalallalaaa)

For Sadu and Cirina? Or if you're not comfy with the lizzers, then Fordolyse! - @littlelordalphinaud

a third person pointing out how beautiful they're and suddenly you're seeing them in a different light

Set at an undetermined time post-stormblood but it doesn't really reference anything outside of 4.0. Featuring Lyse being a bumbling wingwoman haha

"Oh, shit. I'm in love with you??" writing prompts

"Thank you for inviting me," Lyse said awkwardly, and a bit too loudly, though the xaela woman sat across from her merely gave her a puzzled look and a shrug.

"As companion of the khagan you will always be welcome on the Steppe, so long as she is our khagan at least," Sadu said matter of factly, stretching out her limbs and popping her knuckles. "It was not I who invited you, but I'll take full advantage of the opportunity to spar with you!"

"I had hoped you'd say that!" Lyse grinned, standing up from her seat and beginning to stretch out her muscles.

The two women stepped away from their seats, a few yalms away so as to not disturb the others around them. Not that a sparring match was ever a bad sort of disruption on the Azim Steppe.

Lyse bounced in place as she stretched out her limbs further, standing a few fulms away from Sadu whose fingers began to crackle with aether. The two locked eyes, and silently they knew to begin.

Rushing toward one another, Lyse reared her fist back and slid on the grass as she sent her arm hurtling forward. Her punch was met by a wall of ice, Sadu laughing maniacally on the other side of the magical barrier.

A few rapid punches caused the ice to crack and eventually shatter, although Sadu was seemingly nowhere to be seen when Lyse finally broke through to the other side.

She could detect a hint of aether in the air, but Lyse was never much for magical things and couldn't exactly place where Sadu had gone off to. A thought crossed her mind, in hopes to draw out the powerful mage.

"You know," Lyse called out, a mischievous smirk creeping across her sun-kissed features, "It's funny you say that you weren't the one to invite me! You should have seen all that Cirina wrote about you in her letters! I'd have sworn you two were close from how she tells it!"

The spell Sadu had been holding to conceal her position faltered, and she stumbled a few fulms away from Lyse.

"She wrote about me?" Sadu echoed, "And just what was in those letters!?"

Lyse grinned, taking the opportunity to rush toward Sadu again. This time she managed to connect, knocking her to the ground and tumbling before landing on top of her, pinning Sadu's arms down.

"That was a dirty trick, Hext," Sadu hissed, lightning crackling from her fingertips as she stared up at Lyse with wild eyes.

"It wasn't a trick!" Lyse insisted, leaning back to let go of Sadu's arms. Her body still pinned down the auri woman as she sat atop her, now holding up her arms as if to surrender.

"She wrote a lot about you, about time she's spent with you since the Mol won the Naadam, about your passion and spirit! I think she wants to get to know you better but she's not sure how," Lyse explained, smiling softly as she glanced back at camp.

Cirina sat around a fire with other au ra from various other tribes, eyes fixed upon the match unfolding between Sadu and Lyse. Even from so far away, Sadu could hear her laughing and see her bright smile. She felt her cheeks growing hot until she noticed some onlookers snickering at the apparent sight of a Dotharli warror having been defeated by an outsider.

With a growl and a roar Sadu sprung up and overtook Lyse, grappling her in a headlock and messing up her hair as she laughed triumphantly.

"Alright, alright!" Lyse conceded, "You know I just mentioned it to help you! I have a little experience myself with wild warrior women— well, at least one of them!"

"Rrrr, must you keep talking?!"

There were cheers and applause, Sadu raising her head to meet Cirina's gaze in the distance. She smiled and tilted her head as she clapped, and for perhaps the first time in her life Sadu felt fear. She only could wonder how she hadn't noticed how Cirina looked at her until now.

Sadu's head snapped back to face Lyse, cheeks burning behind her messy white locks. "You might well be right... But do not think I will suffer to hear another word of it!"

Pulling herself up, Sadu stomped off. Lyse could only giggle in the grass, holding her sides and reveling in the hand she had hoped she'd played in matchmaking the auri women.

Grass rustled beside her and suddenly Cirina was standing over her, extending out a petite hand to help Lyse up.

"Are you alright, Lyse?" she asked with worry.

"Better than ever! And you can thank me later!"

[sunspray-peak]

Ch. 64: Taking Steps

FRIDAY - WINTER 19

Alex was stopping by for dinner tonight (a dinner Achilles had admittedly not cooked himself, but a nice dinner all the same). It was convenient, with the farmhouse being so much closer to the bus stop than Pelican Town was, and with the early Winter sunset and recent dip in temperature… well, it just made logical sense.  

“Why are you trying to sell me on this?” Alex had asked when Achilles had spelled out the relevant reasons to persuade him earlier that morning on the phone. “Ever thought maybe I actually want to just spend time with you, you punk?” 

Fair enough. 

He had copied Alex a key so that he’d no longer need to swipe the spare from the garden gnome, but even so, Achilles found himself jumping nearly a foot in the air when the front door creaked open (add to the To-Do List: hire someone to fix those hinges). 

“Hello, hello—perfect timing.” Achilles shoved a fresh bread roll into Alex’s mittened-hands before bustling back to the oven for the salmon he’d been keeping warm. “How was your day?”

Bread roll between his teeth, Alex removed his coat before hanging it neatly behind a kitchen chair. “Good! I broke 53 seconds!” 

“That’s my man—”

“Hey, you know actually, though—guess what? Tanya put in her two weeks today.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah!” Alex hurried to help set the table for two, unstacking the coasters and filling the electric kettle (he’d long come around to the copious amount of tea Achilles drank). “I mean, I knew she was thinking about leaving for awhile now, I think most of her family is in Grampleton, but we didn’t think it’d be this soon. Megan’s throwing her a goodbye party at the top of the new year, she said you could come if you want.” 

“Oh yeah? Me showing up won’t be rubbing salt in the wound? Maybe that’s the real reason she’s moving back to Grampleton, realized she’d never get with you.”  

Alex laughed and lightly smacked the back of Achilles’ head as he passed him from behind. “Sure, sure.” 

Tanya had actually taken the rejection quite well, according to Alex, who’d been asked out on a third date by her on the opening day of the Night Market. She’d been supportive enough—surprised, for sure, but she had mostly shrugged and wished him well.

Haley, however, who had always been determined to dislike her, had found her lack of a reaction offensive. 

“I guess she just always saw you as disposable, huh?” she had said with a click of her tongue. 

“Haley, I told her I don’t like women, she knows there’s nothing she can do.” 

But she’d only pursed her lips and responded with her infamous little, “Hmm.” 

The table was set, the tea boiled. The two took their seats at the dining table, and for the first time, Achilles thought the farmhouse truly felt like a home. 

“But anyway—ooh, this looks good—how was your day?” 

“Less productive than yours, I think, but could’ve been worse. I’m making progress. While I did not break 53 seconds in my 100 meter butterfly though, I do think I managed to break just over 100 steps today.” Achilles flashed his wrist, and Alex could indeed make out a “135” flashing in red on the watch face. 

“135— 135? What is wrong with you—”

“—which was a bit of a surprise, but you know who stopped by to pay a visit—”

“—135 is barely a walk to your bathroom—”

“—and then she went on and on, it was just like the day I moved here—”

“Achilles, are you even listening to me?” 

“Of course I am!” 

“What did I just say?” 

“Ah. Well…” Achilles at least had the decency to look a little sheepish as he pretended to hide behind his mug. “Didn’t realize there’d be a pop quiz. Anyway, you clearly weren’t listening to me, either—”

“You didn’t go for a run this morning?”

“It’s colder than a yeti’s asshole out there—” 

“I swear to Yoba, you Monstera people… I could bring you some weights, if you want.”

“You’re hilarious.” 

“At least do some yoga or something. Okay, at least stretch. Just for 30 minutes! 135 steps… I swear to Yoba, Achilles…” 

“I used to boulder, you know. Like at a rock climbing gym—” 

“Well too bad, rich boy. We don’t have fancy things like that out here in farm country.”  

Honestly though, stretching was most definitely a good idea—his body was sore as hell from sitting at his desk all day, from his neck and shoulders all the way down to his damn calves. His calves! They hadn’t even done anything today, evident by the 135 steps he’d taken. The price of his productivity, he supposed. He’d gotten quite a bit done on his story. Or maybe it was just the price of being in your late 20s…

“By the way,” Achilles rose from his seat to take his 136th step of the day and refill Alex’s teacup. “Remind me, I want to chat about tomorrow later.” 

“Oh hey, so did I, actually. I mean, we can just talk about it now, unless you had other things on that agenda you always have rattling around in that head of yours.” 

“Begone wench, get your shady ass out of my house. Okay, really, I just wanted to confirm… you’re sure you want me there tomorrow?” 

“I told you, it doesn’t even matter what I want, my grandma wants you there and my grandpa knows better than to argue with her about it.” 

“I take that as a somewhat promising sign. Right? Perhaps?” But Alex only shrugged in response as Achilles pinched his nose and sighed in resignation. “Does Evelyn realize this is going to be the most awkward birthday dinner in the history of birthday dinners?” 

“That’s what I wanted to talk about, actually—got a, uh, a great idea to make it even more awkward.” 

“Amazing. Tell me more.” 

“So remember how you offered to, um, talk to my grandpa?” 

“Mmm, yes. I take it you’re taking me up on that?” 

“I mean… only if you’re still willing…” 

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, baby.” Achilles patted his mouth with his napkin before setting it to the side of his plate, nearly missing the goofy, lovestruck grin into which Achilles’ slip of the tongue term of endearment had transformed Alex’s anxious little frown. Don’t get distracted, it’s time to talk business. “Do you have a plan? How do you want to do this? You just tell me what you’re comfortable with.” 

*****

“Fuuuck.” 

Talking business was over, to be replaced by something Achilles was in all likelihood enjoying less.

In a doomed-to-fail attempt to belatedly reverse his pain (but mostly after a significant amount of nagging from Alex), he’d shoved in a few halfhearted beginner HIIT workouts (led by Alex) between bouts of Junimo Kart. After a minute of high knees, he’d collapsed with a groan back onto the couch, only to land right atop the bulky plastic game controller. 

“Fucking hell…” He rubbed his lower back as Alex ignored his whining, focusing instead on zooming his car down the boulder-stricken roads of Crumble Cavern. “Man, do you know what I never actually ended up getting but that would be so incredibly beautiful right now?” 

“What?” 

“Do you know what would be nice right now?” 

“A game controller that doesn’t keep drifting to the left? You know, I’ve only got one life left because it won’t let me stay on the dang road at turn 8—”

“Skill issue.” 

“Like heck it is, I’m a beast at this game. Come on, you gotta be able to afford a new controller easy—”

“Stop saying these things or I’ll think you’re only dating me for my money—” 

“Who says I’m not?” 

“Get out of my house.” 

“Ok, ok, ok,” Alex squinted in focus as the cursed turn 8 began to approach on screen. “So what is it that you wanted that was beautiful or however you said it?” 

“I want a massage.” 

“Well you’ve got a $150 a month membership to Orange Grove now, you can use our in-house masseuses, they’re really good.” 

“Can’t you just give me one?” 

At Achilles’ tone, Alex spared a second to flippantly glance to his left before retorting, “That’s not what you said last season.” 

“What I said last season—? Oh—wow, you remember that?” 

“I wasn’t that drunk on Spirit’s Eve, Ash.” 

“Yeah, yeah…” Achilles lightly chucked the extra controller at Alex before squirming deeper into the opposite end of the couch. “Well, getting hard in the middle of you giving me a back rub probably would’ve raised some questions last season, wouldn’t it’ve?” 

“Aaaand I’m dead.” Alex set the glitchy controller down on the coffee table while breaking out into light laughter. “You really think that would’ve happened?” 

“I don’t know, maybe we should try it just to see.”

A dramatic sigh—but it was clear from the narrowing of Alex’s eyes and the upturned corners of his lips that he was enjoying this.

It wouldn’t lead to sex, they both knew that. Achilles had ensured they’d discussed the nights before—Alex’s lingering anxieties and boundaries, and the compromises they both were willing to make. No matter the post-shower cuddles, the late-night make outs, and now, apparently, the midst-video game massages; no matter how their bodies couldn’t help but physically react to each other, Achilles had emphatically reassured Alex he’d never expect it all to end in sex. And that had been enough to lift the guilt and unease weighing at the back of Alex’s mind and allow them each to wholly enjoy the other, fully light of heart. 

“Fine. Take your shirt off, you dweeb.”

“Oh, say less, Alexander—”

Alex laughed at the lighthearted tease. “Come here. Turn around, please.”

Achilles stripped his sweater—black again, Alex had noted earlier; “You really do wear a lot of black in Winter” —and planted himself on the flat woven rug at the foot of the couch just as Voltaire came bounding over. He curled his fingers into the cat’s thick fur, and basked in the warmth and glow of the fireplace as Alex carefully folded the sweater and set it on the sofa cushion next to him. He felt a single finger trace seemingly random paths across his back, but taking note of the bright glare of the television and the white lights above, he attempted to guess the motivation behind Alex’s not-quite-arbitrary touch. 

“Not very pretty, is it? I’ll never forgive the spirits for that.” 

“I just didn’t realize you were still so scarred up from the mines.” 

“Yeah. The sexy mood lighting of my bedroom tends to hide it well, doesn’t it?” After a beat, he added, “They’re not too visible anymore though. And it doesn’t hurt. Could’ve been a lot worse. And a lot more visible. Which would have, of course, been a lot worse.”  

“Ha ha…” Alex stopped his tracing and planted a light kiss between Achilles’ shoulder blades before getting to work. 

“Fuck, Al…” 

Almost instantly—almost instinctually—he closed his eyes and allowed himself to melt fully into Alex’s touch. This was exactly what he needed, fuck, it felt good. His hands were warm against his skin, their strokes deep and slow. To Achilles’ mild embarrassment, he failed to conceal the breathy moan that escaped his lips—but it only gave Alex cause to laugh again. 

“You know, you should be giving me one of these, considering I’m, you know, stressed about tomorrow, not to mention I’m doing actual athletic stuff—” 

“No, no. Your actual athletic stuff is exactly why you need to go to a real masseuse. We can’t have me accidentally screwing up your back, what if I ruin your 50 second butterfly…”  

“Man, I wish it was 50 seconds, I think that’d be a world record—” 

“And tomorrow will go well, Alex. We’re going to do what we can.”