#I WANT TO SEE THIS IDIOT SHINE IN BATTLE PLEASE

[iamtheeternalbread]

It pisses me off SO BAD when Chilchuck keeps saying he can't fight. Why? Cause in the course of the manga, this lil dude manages to blind a dragon in one eye with a cooking knife he THREW AND ONE-SHOT A PHOENIX ON HIS OWN.

Sure he may not have been able to pierce through the ice golem for example and his small build isn't very practical for battles. But i'm still sure that if he were to fight at a distance he'd be able to deal some pretty good damage in addition to having an almost-perfect accuracy.

[malfoyswand]

𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

pairing: draco malfoy x reader

summary: draco malfoy pays you a visit in the infirmary after the battle of hogwarts, leading to healing for the both of you.

word count: 1.5k

genre: hurt/comfort, fluff

warnings: none, besides mention of the cruciatus curse being used

➪ masterlist

You were woken up from your slumber by the feeling of a cold ice pack being pressed upon your head. Sighing softly in relief, you were thankful for the care Madam Pomfrey had provided you these last few hours. 

To be honest, you weren’t entirely sure what led you here. You could remember preparing for the battle against Voldemort and fighting off a few Death Eaters. Then, the world went black. 

Madam Pomfrey had been kind enough to fill you in. According to several students, one of the Death Eaters had used the Cruciatus curse on you. You fell to the ground and hit your head, causing a concussion along the way. The Death Eater had assumed you were dead after using the curse so many times, and left you lying there. 

But still, you don’t remember anything at all. Then again, you were not thinking about fighting off the Death Eaters at the time. Your mind was on something, someone, entirely different. 

“Thank you, Madam Pomfrey.” Your voice harshly spoke out as you winced slightly before opening your eyes. However, it wasn’t Madam Pomfrey holding the ice pack against your head. 

It was none other than Draco Malfoy. 

Only then did you realize the looks both of you, rather him, were getting. Your ears could hear the whispers of classmates besides you, asking each other how Malfoy had the nerve to step into Hogwarts after all his family had done. 

“Are you real?” That was all you could manage to say, oh, how idiotic that must have sounded. But truthfully, you thought this was a dream. 

You hadn’t truly gotten the opportunity to look at him up close for nearly a year, until now. His skin was much paler than before and his hair seemed to shine brightly in the setting sunlight. He looked like an angel who was here to pick you up and carry you away. 

The sound of his laughter drew you from your thoughts. “Even in the aftermath of a war, you still manage to find a joke. That’s talent, (Y/L/N).” 

You wasted no time in sitting up, wrapping your arms tightly around the Slytherin man before you. You weren’t sure if it was more for you or for him. 

“Draco Malfoy! I told you, keep her laying down, or else you’ll be kicked out of here, understand?” Madam Pomfrey wasn’t exactly too pleased with the Malfoy family, or any of the Death Eaters for that matter. In her view, they were the direct cause for every bed in the infirmary to be full. 

“Yes, Madam. My apologies.” Draco spoke softly, as if he was afraid to upset her. He helped you lay back down before sitting on the edge of the bed, keeping the ice pack pressed against your forehead. 

“I know I must be the last person you may want to see right now. But I have a reason I’m here, I swear it.” He continued to speak, his eyes scanning nervously over your face. 

You wouldn’t go that far, but you were confused to see him. You hadn’t spoken to him in almost a year, since the two of you had broken up during the sixth year. You knew he was a Death Eater, and you tried to love him through it. It was only a matter of time before Draco was ordered to eliminate all distractions, including you. 

It had been painful. You knew Draco Malfoy was not the villain of this story, but so many had painted him to be so. He never wanted to try to kill Dumbledore, or to destroy Hogwarts. The school was his home, a place of comfort where he could escape from his family. Unfortunately for the both of you, he had allowed the opinions of others to cause a division in your relationship.

He breathed a sigh of relief once he realized you weren’t going to force him out of the infirmary. “I tried to look for you during the battle, (Y/N). Once we..” He winced slightly at the notion of referring to himself as part of Voldemort’s army. “..were inside the castle, I was looking for you in every room he forced us into. My father became aware of what I was doing, he wouldn’t let me out of his sight to look for you on my own.”

“I should have done more to get free of his grasp, I could have prevented you getting hurt.” His eyes were full of despair and self-hatred as he looked at your head, along with the various bruises along your body. “I was praying to some higher power that I would find you first, not another Death Eater. Merlin, I wish I did. I never-”

He was interrupted by the sound of your own voice. “Draco, please, stop. None of what happened is your fault, okay?”

What he confessed left you speechless, you didn’t quite know what to say. You didn’t think his focus would be on finding you, his ex-girlfriend, during the battle. If anything, his focus should have been on surviving. Why would he even bother searching for you, what would have happened if he did find you?

“But it is!” His voice raised slightly, causing every other patient to turn their heads towards you two. After everyone went back to their conversations, he continued in a softer tone. “It is, don’t you understand? I should have followed my gut and never become a Death Eater. Bloody hell, I should have left my family behind while I’m at it. I would have saved this entire school a lot of pain.”

There was a bit of truth in his statement. In an ideal world, he should have never given into the pressures of his family. But the real world was much more complicated. Deep down, Draco lived to please his parents. He wanted to make them proud of him more than anything, the Malfoy family name survived only on his broad shoulders.

At least, the old Draco cared about the opinions of his parents. You weren’t sure about the one sitting in front of you. This one seemed much more restless and daring. 

The old Draco never would have expressed his feelings and regrets in such a carefree manner, even to those he trusted. He never would have shown up in a place that held much of those regrets, just for a girl he used to date. Nevertheless, he never would have shown up with his platinum blond hair a mess with bags under his eyes. 

“Draco, calm down.” You reached out slowly to place your hand on top of his, your thumb slowly caressing his hand. The movement was a familiar one, it was as if your body simply knew what to do when Draco was upset. Although, it used to be him comforting you. 

A soft smile appeared on his face, his fingers interlocking with yours. His eyes went back up to yours, it was as if he was searching for an answer inside your eyes. You squeezed his hand, telling him in a nonverbal way that everything was going to be fine. 

“This is pathetic. I should be the one comforting you, as you’re the one in a hospital bed.” He spoke, earning him a soft laugh escaping your lips. It was quite ironic, in all fairness. However, seeing Draco processing his feelings openly was a comforting thought. 

“You are comforting me, you know. I was surprised that you came back to see me, after everything.” The silence was heavy for a moment. That ‘everything’ held every moment that happened between the two of you. It held every conversation, every stolen glance, everything both of you were too afraid to say to the other.

He sighed softly, tilting his head to the side. “Even after all this time, you’re still surprised when I do something nice for you. Don’t you understand that I love you?”

His confession made you feel as if your breath was caught in between your throat. If you were honest with yourself, your feelings for Draco Malfoy didn’t stop the moment he left you after becoming a Death Eater. It had continued, as if your love for him was a ghost that wouldn’t leave you alone. It lingered in every room, its presence never faded.

In fact, the one thing you do remember during the battle is searching for him too. While you defended yourself, your mind was only focused on whether he was somewhere in the castle. You wondered how you could escape this situation and take him with you, safe from here. 

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spring that on you, especially right now.” You could faintly hear him cursing himself, you realized you hadn’t even responded to him.

“I love you too.”

That caught his attention. His eyes widened, a glimmer of hope returning to him. A slight smirk then appeared on his face, you could see the tension in his shoulders almost disappear into thin air. 

“Those were four words I thought I would never hear from you again.” He spoke softly, bringing your hand to his lips for a moment. “Now, I want you to rest that pretty head of yours and get better. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Yes, sir.” You laughed softly before closing your eyes. You knew the two of you would have more difficulties to address another day, but for now, the simple joy of Draco sitting by your side gave you an overwhelming sense of peace.

[frostfro]

Filthy Pirates

If the straw hats were actual "pirates"

Luffy x fem!reader

.

Yandere luffy? I think…

Ooc luffy to some degree

Contains very dark and mature themes so please read with caution

If you want a link to my op list it's here

!Happy Halloween!

It seems you had the wrong misconceptions about these pirates… Everyone says they're good people! But they don't know that it's all a lie. Further from the truth.

These people were pirates for damn sakes. Mean cunning and cruel, if they got into a situation killing is the only way.

Your body was hot and sticky from sweating. The clothes you wore now torn barely clinging as you had been previously beaten in battle you refused to get beaten for the sake of your pride.

They had almost beaten you into submission….almost.

They took your home. And now it seems he owns you to…

Your hands tied behind your back and your ankles tied together. Tape tied onto your mouth to shut you up. As your screams and cries are all deaf in their ears as they hide you away on their ship beneath the deck.

Suddenly the door burst open. Your eyes squinted from the sudden shining rays from the sun, slowly your eyes adjusted to that of a man. The same man you manhandled you down here and tied you up.

His heavy footsteps were loud in your ears,as he approached. His endless frown along with that piercing scar had you backing away with fear.

“Don't make this harder than it needs to be brat.”

His booming deep voice was loud making you flinch as you mumbled out apologies, sounding like whines and whimpers to the man no doubt. How humiliating.

Your submissiveness seemed to please him, he let out a short chuckle smirking before approaching you.

He bent down tearing your ropes freeing your limbs. He looked at you as his hands were on the tape of your mouth.

“Scream and I'll break that little neck of yours.”

Your brows furrowed in fear as tears damn near flowed down your face.

“She needs to be unharmed for the captain, Mosshead, remember.”

You look up to see a blonde man. He scared you terribly but not as much as the green headed man in front of you right now.

He rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“You don't think I know that.”

He grumbled out ripping the tape roughly from your mouth making you gasp out in pain from the ripping sensation.

He grabbed you by the waist before slinging your body over his thick shoulders making you lose the breath from your stomach.

The yellow haired man yelled at him, something along the lines of you shouldn't be rough housing a lady in such a way.

They both begane bickering back and forth.

.

.

.

You were roughly thrown on the floor in an entirely different room you were in before.

You hung your head low, your heart pounding in fear.

The man that tied you up now you know his name as zoro spoke up with a frown.

“You better be lucky the captain sees you in high regards.”

He looked down at you, his scowl deepend before his gaze lessened up once he made eye contact with his captain.

Your eyes remained on the grown before you saw two sandled feet stepping in front of you.

Your heart sped up as you looked up slowly, and saw the man you saw on all the posters in the tavern of your island and both the grandline.

He looked down at you. He didn't have any facial expression, he just looked at your face blankly, almost like he was curiously checking you out.

He looked up at zoro.

“You said she was on that island?”

His voice had a slight tint of gravel to it. You found it appealing to listen to despite your hostility and fear towards these pirates.

“Yeah, she was bold enough to attack us.” He scoffed looking at you. “What an idiot.”

You lowered your head and deflated at his harsh tone as you sat down there embarrassed and humiliated.

“Alright then! I'll take everything from here. Thanks Zoro.”

He nodded with a grunt, looking down at you before leaving the room.

The silence was very loud. Too loud. You could feel him boring his eyes into your head. You refused to raise your head and look at him once more.

“Stand up, I wanna look at you.”

He took a step back for you to have some room.

You stood up, slowly looking away from him.

Thoughts began to swirl in your head. Was he going to kill you?!

His head tilted as he remained to look at you. He sighed before speaking again, as a smirk begane to form on his face.

“Ya know you caused a lot of trouble for us.”

You panicked.

“I'm sorry! I didn't know it was your crew!”

He let out a breath through his nose. As he smiled at your little reaction you gave him.

“Nah I don't buy it my flag is huge no way you didn't know.” He pointed up. Referring to the flag that hangs proudly on the Sunny.

“I- uh.”

Shoot you didn't know this guy was smart? What the hell was all those rumors you were hearing then!

It's like those bastards purposely set you up for failure, bunch of sellouts.

“Listen, don't kill me! I'm useful!”

You protested.

Luffy smirked, as he raised a brow curiously.

“Really how so?”

There was no guts way in hell he actually planned to kill you. You looked too cute not to steal. Well you wouldn't know that after all your friends and family were pathetic. It didn't take long for some piss poor threats to make them submit and hand you over to them with zero backlash.

He almost felt sorry for you. Well almost.

Well it didn't matter now. He has you and now he has to plan the act out smoothly. Because no way in hell he'd let you go.

He looked at the way your eyes darted around trying to find an answer. They slowly start to drift down to your body. Clothes tattered with holes leaving for supple skin open for his eyes. He'd have to thank Zoro for that later.

“I know of a way.”

You snapped out of your thinking and looked at him with relief washing over your features.

His eyes were half lidded briefly before returning to a smile.

He walked closer to you and lifted the hole with his index finger that was hanging below your left breast. Teasingly lifting and lowering the cloth.

“I think you know.” He smiled.

Your eyes widened.

You nearly debated if you ran would you even have a chance.

“Don't bother running from me.”

You flinched, you looked up at him.

His eyes dulled over as his smile went away completely.

Okay okay! I'll do what you ask!”

Your voice streaked out. Panicked, you didn't want to get killed now when he's giving you an opportunity like this one!

His aura shifted, now beamin with that smile you'd always seen on those wanted posters and newspaper covers.

He didn't hesitate, as he grabbed that loose hole in your clothes and tore everything off in one fluid motion. He mentally scoffed those idiots really didn't like you to give you cheap clothes? He'd be sure to eliminate them all personally.

Your jaw was slackend, it took a moment for you to register that your top half was loose and the coolness of the air hitting your now exposed tits.

He was quick before you could even react to cover yourself, he pounced on you.

You landed on your back with a harsh thud as he pushed you down on top of you.

Two hands full of your tits happily squeezing away, eyes glued to the way the fat spilled from his toned hands.

You were frozen, you didn't know how to react. He then squeezed a bit more and he started to trace a thumb over your nipples. Making you snap back into your senses as you grabbed both of his wrists.

He stopped to look at you. But he had a playful glint in his eyes. That look made your stomach drop as he pulled your hands off his wrists to replace them with his own hands and pinned them harshly above your head.

You let out a small pained sound at the fact that you couldn't manage to get your hands free.

“Heh, you better get used to this if you wanna live.”

He lowered his head to whisper in your ear slowly. He couldn't help but to tease you.

He bit your lobe and licked a long stripe up and down your neck making your body shiver uncomfortably.

You sighed and you just gave in.

“Fine, just be gentle.”

You said softly, embarrassment covered your facial features as you looked away from him.

He gave a half chuckle mostly because well he was planning on doing the opposite of just going soft and easy on you.

He felt his pants tighten at the thought of doing you nice and hard.

He smiled and gave into his temptation.

Roughly parting your legs making his way between you as he lifted your hips to rut himself on your clothed cunt.

Moving his hips back and forth as if we was actually fucking you.

Your legs twitched from the new sensation the friction he was creating, on your clit made you warm up with arousal.

You couldn't help but to give in and grind your hips back in time with his own movements.

He lowered himself down against you chest to chest as he started to move with more fever, hooking his hand firm against your thigh making sure you remained open for him.

You let out little gasps and deep breaths as the pleasure started to become more intense. Your brows furrowed as you took your arm to hold onto his back to leverage yourself.

His breaths and grunts filled your ears making your pussy gush with even more arousal encouraging you to let out some more noises of your own.

He then stopped to lift himself up and undid his pants, not caring to ask you to take off yours as he tore them all off anyways.

He stared at the wet patch between your folds taking a finger to stroke up and down. Your hips twitched everytime he took a finger up to the good if your clit and down again.

His mouth watered he wanted to taste you so bad, but he held himself together he wanted to take you first.

He easily tore off the remaining clothing keeping him away from your pussy. He slotted himself between your legs as he easily slid inside of your slippery walls. It was messy. The feeling had him shivering with pleasure as his brows furrowed.

You watched his face start to change with pleasure. His little button nose had the faintest of pink on them along with his cheeks.

You stared at him, he is pretty cute to look at. You didn't want to give in but, the more you look at the situation you don't think that this guy was actually planning on killing you from the beginning.

You were too lost in thought to busy staring at the man, he grunted as he softly grinded himself in your walls not yet thrusting.

“You're so cute, can't hold back anymore.”

You blinked and the next thing you know he's emptied himself from you then thrusted into you the sudden fullness of him made you gasp as a moan slipped from your lips.

His thrusts were uneven and fast but it still felt so good. He got too caught up in the feeling of your walls clamping on him. He bit your ear lifting both of your legs up higher making his cock head hit that spot over and over.

He couldn't stop his own noises after wearing your cute voice. His grunts now turned into moans as he started marking up your neck.

He was nasty with it licking and sucking on your skin everywhere, while his lower half pounded into your pussy squelching and contracting around his shaft.

Your eyes filled to the brim with tears dripping down your face from pleasure as you clawed his back. He let out a low grunt gripping on your thigh. The grip became tight then he trailed down to grip the fat of your ass.

“F-feels good! Gonna cum-”

He laughed, as he slammed hard into your g spot making you scream, throwing your head back, eyes and toes curling.

“Do it c'mon!”

And it didn't take long with two more deep thrusts. You came shaking like a leaf gripping his shoulder blades no doubt leaving nail marks.

He didn't stop, he kept hitting that delicious spot now chasing his own release, as you started to cry out pleas but he laughed. Slapping your ass and pulling you up on his lap and lifting you up by your ass to thrust you on his cock.

“Oh! My gosh! Wait!- angh! Can't!.”

He kissed you messily nibbling on your bottom lip.

“Yes you can, m not stopping.”

He said in your ear he sped up his thrusts while despite your words your body arched as you moved your hips slightly to meet his thrusts to hit that spot that made your eyes roll.

“Gonna cum!”

He let out a low grunt grabbing a fist full of your hair pulling your head back. Making you yelp as he thrusted deep and slow milking out his own orgasim he sighed brows furrowed as he bit into your collar bone.

Your pussy clenched, and you squirted all over his torso making him groan out. His eyes were glued on your cunt for a minute making sure to remember that for when he plans to eat you out.

He trailed kisses and licked all on your chest. He looked up at you through his eye lashes as he continued to kiss all over you marking you all up. He let go of your hair and grabbed your throat but didn't squeeze it to an extent.

“Mine, you're not leaving.”

You nodded your mind still fuzzy as he still remained inside of you.

He smiled, kissing you all messily. He slapped your thigh, you yelped, moving your thigh slightly away from his hand, not that you could even try to move.

He sighed as he emptied himself from you, his essence spilling from your pussy in globs as your pussy started clenching. Almost as if it wanted to keep it inside.

He scooped you up with ease, and headed towards another spare room, plopping you down.

He quickly climbed on top of you and started kissing you, making you wake up.

“Wait too tired”

“But I'm not tired. Oh well.”

He started touching your pussy again, mouth covering over.

“W-wait I'm too-!”

He licked a long stride making your legs shut around his head.

His hands remained firmly on your thighs. His eyes rolled back as he inhaled and slurped you all up.

…..

So then now you're now a straw hat member and an exclusive member for the captain of the ship. Not a completely bad way to go.

[crying-fantasies]

Filming/photographing

Masterlist

Featuring Cyberverse! Soundwave, smut/angst, CW: fingering, kissing with tongue, denied orgasm (from SW’s part), mentions of war.

Humans tend to be so insecure about themselves.

It's sickening, how their psyche has been twisted to never be sole enough, always pursuing the example of others, reaching levels of bad health and stupid dress codes to fit right in their own unnourished culture, fed by idiots and narcissism-centered idealism.

His tanks are heavy with worry when he catches you once again listening to the lies of your brethren, almost believing them when it is all you can hear.

He knows what the lies of others can do to the ones simply unfortunate enough to listen, and Soundwave would never let you be poisoned by them again as he captures your interest in him, dragging his servos over your soft, giving body as it yields and bends, skin moving like ripping waves as your weak electromagnetic field pulses along with his.

Maybe it's low, most likely degenerated, he is a mech on a mission when his knee makes contact with yours, legs falling apart to give him way as you follow his frame and lay on the mattress, the light on his visor, a furious invigorated red that burns with the passion only a lover could achieve.

A lover who with enough of the self-hatred stares you give yourself in a mirror.

He pauses and inquires, “Do you know how I see you?”, there is no broken contact between your eyes and his optics if only his visor is the only thing separating you both as his helm looms over you, “do you realize how I see you? Do you understand how I want you?”.

There is no answer, it pains him, to see you like this.

Is it so hard to let you know?

The answer, Soundwave realizes, isn't complicated at all.

“Would you want to see yourself through my optics?”, you squirm under him, fingers over his audial receptors making an effort to get him closer, but he wants a direct affirmation before he flashes the recorder inside his optics.

Soundwave, as a skilled negotiator, can make you see the positive outcomes of the deal, he begins to enlist them, numbering one after the other with his battle mask pressed over your sweet, little port and making you shudder against him, weakly trying to close your legs and stop him, he is sure that is the last thing you want, eliminating any doubts you may have about previous experience, but as a lover, he can hardly contain himself from creeping his digits over your body, making you sing and dance on his servos, you're already smiling nervously, arm over your eyes in an attempt to cover yourself before him, the smile only makes itself tighter as he can't contain himself anymore and the music spills from his frame, the deep bass of his growl and the music makes you vibrate, being so close to him, a sweet symphony fills your mouth, moans and whispers, his spark shines with affection and he can feel his modesty panel quickly being more of a hassle than a necessity, but alas, he can only do so much.

Primus condemns the fact he can not ruin you as desired.

Your affirmation, coming in between moans, finally reaches him, no second is wasted as his optics flicker again, a recording engraved in the deepest parts of his databanks, starting with your eagerness to discharge the fabrics and enticing him with bedroom eyes, fluid movements as he once again presses a digit where you want him, his whole servo manhandles you and pressed over pliable flesh, his digits leave a path that makes him repeat the action as many times he desires. “My spark, you will understand your magic once I'm done”

In between ragged breathing, the realization made you laugh and look at him, perplexed, “Did you just rephrase The Police?!”, Soundwave hums, pleased by your good taste, as always, as his forehelm presses against your head to make you lay relaxed over the mattress once again, digit dangerously playing with your port, coating himself in your desire before he is sure to make it as comfortable as possible.

You sing for him, a lustful symphony as he pumps into your body, every fraction and movement engraved in his memory, every fall and rise of your chest, every tremble streaming across your body from head to toe, the warmth is enough to suffocate as Soundwave presses his battle mask once again over your middle, optics capturing every detail and keeping it for his own, a pleased grin is all you can see as he tunes up more vibration in his voice, his sole digit still mimicking what he could do to you if the opportunity to get his servos over a mass displacement mod were real, but he can't, so all he has to do is make reach your limit with passion overwhelming your incipient electric field, make you fall apart, sing a designation taught to you after long nights of the shared company as he can only grit denta and snarl a deep growl by the pressure over his spike as his valve can only clench over nothing as your little hands come to hold him in place as tremors take over and he indulges you if only a little more, if only a little longer, as his battle mask finally recesses and gives you full access to kiss him all you desire as his designation blooms breathlessly from your lips and dies with his derma over your now frail body, a perfect angle to show your exhausted yet pleased face that makes his engines purr at the sight, trying to snuggle you with the side of his helm as he can hear the thundering of your little heart.

You fall apart, and Soundwave shows you later on, how beautifully you did so, he has just cleaned your body of any body fluid in excess and your breathing is only increasing once again as he projects the recording, the way you unravel in his hold, leaves you speechless, and your face reaches a new level of glow and warmth, it makes him feel proud, finally able to silence the lies in your head, showing you the most obvious and beautiful truth.

As you walked over to him, there was no need for words, he lowered himself to your level, gently tracing fingers over his audial receptor, prompting him to sing, your smile and the warmth in your body signaled another intimate moment.

You brought him close before whispering, "It's time to wake up, big guy."

Back on Cybertron, the planet nearly conquered by invaders, Soundwave is jolted back to reality, away from the recording of a better time, a happy memory, as he takes in the devastation, a moment passes before he fully comprehends the gravity of the situation, and overwhelmed by a mix of sorrow and anger he admonishes himself to pull it together before focusing on the task at hand as Hot Rod calls out to him.

.

Yeah, hand me the prompt of Kinktober and, somehow, I'll make it steamy and sad at the same time, make it longer than I wished for but still believe it's good.

Also, finally settled into working with different continuities.

@tf-kinktober2024

[yurinaa-world]

platonic dr ratio with child reader having a personality of madoka magica? the reader is a magical girl and dr ratio idk taking care of their clumsy behavior? i dont see anyone writing for platonic dr ratio and i really need a bit of comfort😭

write whenever you want or idk

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈: Dr. Ratio platonic! x Gender-neutral Reader

𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: with a student reader that has the personality of Madoka Magica

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Fluff and spelling mistakes,

𝒱𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓈 𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜

He doesn’t like your clumsy behaviour at all. Please watch you run around during battle; it might be worse than looking at an idiot's face. You're unpaired and should think of a plan before you jump.

A lot of the time, he’ll have to fight alongside you since you’re illiterate and can’t figure out where the enemy's weak points are.

But don't think it’s the battlefield is the only place he’s going to teach you. Count the classroom also because now you’re officially his student, and he’ll ensure you’ll become the best. He’ll make you shine like the star you meant to be! But this means you're going to have to do math…You'd rather fight than do the math!

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

Your teacher, Dr. Ratio, immediately stopped you from leaving his class. You already know the problem since he’s 100% going to yell and lecture you for hours because of your poor grades. “Yes si..-" You swiftly turned back but went a little fast and fell right backwards. You were finding yourself on the floor while in a bit of pain.

“Enough with this Tomfoolery.” He sighs, watching you get from the ground. “Sorry, dr. ratio " “It’s Mr. Ratio to you.” “Sorry, Mr. What seems to be the problem?” You scratch the back of your neck, a little nervous. "The math test you did yesterday. Why, no earth, did you get 8 out of 20." 

You might have rushed it a little, so you get out there since you were the only one still doing the test. You didn't know it would be this bad! Now you'll have to do extra work. "really? but I tried my best!" Your words weren't convincing at all to him. "What? Are you trying your best to fail? It's as if you weren't even reading the paper and just doodling on it," he disappointed expression as he turned your test in his hands so you could look at it.

It's just a bunch of cats in black ink and nonsense answers to the questions. "From tomorrow, you're getting extra work," Dr. Ratio goes over to write in his book. You sigh, knowing this is going to happen. 

"come on, it was just a couple of mistakes!" 

"12 incorrect answers."

"I'll do better next! Please!" you clasped your hands together. Hoping he shows you a little mercy, but no, he will never show you any mercy. If you can learn it when he's being nice, he'll beat you instead.

 "you're right; I ensure you’ll get a perfect score.”

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[adrift-in-thyme]

Whumptober Day 5: Healing Salve

Ao3 link

- Time & Warriors

- Summary:

CW for blood and injury, torture, burn wounds, hallucinations, and near death experience

——————————————-

Heat. Terrible fiery flames that lap at his body, set his nerves screaming.

“Stay still, old man.”

Hands. On his face, tilting his head this way, that way. A gaze he cannot see roaming over him, inspecting.

He groans. He tries to move away. Murmuring voices urge him to remain where he is, cry out for him to take care what he does. 

“Move too much and you’ll aggravate your wounds.”

Fight and they’ll die.

His breath hitches. Fear spikes. 

Everything. Everything within him screams that he run. Danger is here, danger that he must escape. Even so…

Faces leer. Monsters dig their claws into his arms. Their relentless touch draws blood that runs hot, clammy down his skin. 

The chains around his wrists giggle gleefully with every movement. His breaths are haggard and sharp.

A hand grasps his chin so roughly blood bubbles beneath the skin. His head is angled up so that he has no choice other than to gaze into his captor’s eyes. They are filled to the brim with sadistic mirth. They mock him. 

“You want to run away, don’t you? You want to fight.”

Laughter, maniacal, endless. It echoes in his ears. It aches.

“Even if you could break free, I wouldn’t advise it.”

The snap and crackle of a lit match. He pulls harder of his bonds, choking on pain, on fear.

He won’t die here. He won’t.

“Your brothers are in our clutches.”

He freezes. His head pounds.

“Fight us and we will kill them. Slowly, agonizingly, in terrible, dreadful ways. Run and it will be even worse.”

A smile shining amongst flame. The whispers and roars of fire devouring old wood. It laps at him, lunges, thirsty for blood.

“Let us see just how strong the Hero of Time is when there are no deities to help him. Let us see just how much he cares.”

He coughs crimson. He gasps mouthfuls of smoke.

“They trust you, you know. They love you, even.”

More laughter. It sounds like the screams of the dying.

“Do with that what you will.”

“Sprite, you idiot. You absolute idiot.”

“Why? Why’d he do that?”

A huffed sigh, like a half-sob. 

“To save us.”

Something cool and smooth spreads across his skin. Time exhales shakily. The relief is only slight. But it is there nonetheless. 

He knows what he will do. His mind is addled by pain, strangled by lack of air. But he knows. 

Stronger than the desperate fight within him is the desperate love. 

The words very well may be a lie. He cannot risk gambling on the fact that they are not.

“Stay still!”

His eyelids flutter. Sky blues gaze into his pleading, imploring.

“Please, Time.”

He opens his mouth, coughing, choking.

“Hurts,” he says, because no other thought sparks to mind. 

“I know,” whispers the sky. 

He doesn’t struggle. Not when the flames envelope him. Not when the smoke fills his lungs. 

But when everything begins to crumble, when the agony is so great that it is all he has, he begins to. It is fruitless, it conjures more fear than even before he had begun. He tries to stop, tries to restrain himself.

For them. For his brothers. For his family.

“I’m sorry, Malon…”

He screams. He screams until his throat burns and nothing but hoarse whispers escape. 

“Hush little hero.” A murmur he cannot place, an order he cannot follow. 

He screams until darkness comes like a keese in the night.

“Fairy! The salve can only do so much. We need a fairy! Now!”

He shudders. An icy chill has joined the endless heat. He would be grateful for it if it were not so terribly excruciating. It feels as though icicles have burrowed into his bones. 

Somewhere, someone is crying. Somewhere, voices trip over themselves in their panic. 

Time breathes in air so clear it is painful. He breathes and he lets the warmth and cold battle over him.

A soft sweetness comes next. Deceptively gentle, it drapes over him. A cloak, a blanket. He melts beneath its touch.

“I’m sorry, little one,” a small voice cries. “You should never had endured such pain.”

He wishes he had the strength to reach out. He wishes he had the strength to say that it is not her fault.

No one could have saved him. 

“You loved so much that you were willing to die for it,” says a new voice, one he knows.

A tiny kiss on his cheek, featherlight and familiar.

“You are a true hero, Link. But listen, you foolish fairy boy, you are too selfless. Please…take care of yourself.”

His breath hitches. He tries to lift a hand. He tries to say the word.

…

“Navi?”

“Time!” 

His eyes open, peeling back with the sensation of sandpaper upon new skin. He winces, blinks into the dim glow of a clouded twilight. 

Several pairs of blue eyes stare out of several eager faces. Several pairs of varying blues and one of violet.

Wind, his mind supplies sluggishly. Wind, Wild, Legend. 

…and Twilight, with an expression so sorrowful and fear-ridden that it hurts. 

“Time, are you alive? Are you okay?” 

“We were so worried!”

“You’re a moron, you know that, old man? Scared us half to death.”

Their voices are loud and they make his head ache. But the relief he feels to hear them, to see them, prevails over all else. 

“‘M sorry,” he croaks in a voice that hardly sounds like his own, eye trained on Twilight’s face, “for sc-scaring you all.”

“Sorry doesn’t — ” Legend begins with passion, but Warriors pushes into Time’s view and cuts him off.

“Hey guys, let me through. I need to check on him.” 

The others reluctantly back away. Warriors bends over him. His expression is one of careful detachment, but Time knows him well enough to see past it.

He can see the terror.

“Captain I…” he tries. Warriors shakes his head.

“We would’ve come for you. We wouldn’t have let them kill us.”

His hands are gentle, careful as he inspects his burns. Only the delirium of fever could ever have made him believe they were the clammy, clawing fingers of Majora. 

“You didn’t have to sacrifice yourself, Sprite.” 

Time feels an uncontrollable cough rising and tries to hold it down. 

“You don’t know how powerful that being is,” he rasps. “I couldn’t allow you all to die.”

Warriors stills, exhales. “You were feverish for an entire week, Link. For seven days you didn’t recognize us. And when we first found you?” He skewers Time with a trembling glare. “You were hardly living. That should never…never have…”

His shoulders hunch, tears flood his eyes so far even ducking his head is not enough to cloak them. When he speaks again, it is a whisper.

“I can’t lose you.”

Time stretches out a bandage-wrapped hand, clutches Warriors’. 

“And I…can’t lose you either. Any of you.” He smiles, an agonizing upturn of the lips. “I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that that fate never comes to pass. You would do the same. I’m certain of it.”

Warriors scowls at him, but he holds his hand as though the touch is the only thing holding him together. He doesn’t even try to let go. 

“I’m your big brother. It’s my responsibility to protect you.” 

Again, Time smiles. He is tired, oh so tired, but he can manage this.

“You did, captain.” His voice is a mere murmur, a whisper upon the breeze. “You protected me well. You brought me back here and tended to me. You ensured Malon would not become a widow.

“You didn’t allow me to die.”

[resurrection-of-soul]

Flashback | PSYCHOBREAK 12

Writer: Akira (日日日)

Characters: Koga, Adonis, Kaoru, Rei

Rei: Kya~✰ Undead~♪ Do youw bwest~ Don’t wose~♪ Koga: I was hopin’ he’d show up, but… What the hell is that idiot senpai doing?!

[ For the best viewing experience, please read directly on my blog! ♪ ]

Time: The next day, the day of the "Flashback" live.

Location: The underground live house near Yumenosaki Academy

Koga: “♪~♪~♪”

Koga: (Damn it! I was tricked…!) (The hell’s up with you, Sakuma-senpai? Weren’tcha actin’ all cool yesterday, sayin’ stuff like, “I’m gonna give it my all tomorrow”!?) (So where the hell are you!?) (The start time we were advertisin’ in all the promotional materials n’ such has already come n’ gone!) (So even though it’s just us, we still had to start the performance!)

Adonis: ……

Kaoru: ……

Koga: (Ughhh? It can’t be helped in Adonis’s case, he’s real meek despite his imposin’ looks!) (This is his first live performance, so he probably got overwhelmed n’ blanked out!) (But Hakaze-senpai- or rather, Playboy! You’re our senpai at Yumenosaki, ain’tcha? So why’re ya tremblin’ from nerves like a total newbie?!) (What was with that “I’m the kind of man you can rely on” crap?! Ya damn liar!) (Everythin’ 'bout this performance seriously sucks! UNDEAD’s the worst band ever!) (Guess I already knew this is how it’d go, though!? Whether it’s practice or whatever else, we fell short on aaall a’ that stuff! There’s nooo way some impromptu band’ll just crush the competition without even rehearsin’ once, right?!) (Of course we’re a fuckin’ mess! This ain’t some manga, after all! Miracles like that don’t happen!)

Koga: (Damn it, damn it, this is so embarrassin’!) (Sakuma-senpai’s even lendin’ me his power! If it still ends in disaster, ain’t it clearly cause I’m too weak n’ inexperienced?!) (I’ll end up puttin’ a black mark on Sakuma-senpai’s brilliant battle record!) (I don’t want that to happen! That’s why! I’ve gotta do somethin’ about this! I have to…!)

Kaoru: Calm down, Pup~ Relax, relax~ ♪

Koga: Haah!? Th-th-th-this ain’t the time to be calm! D’ya even understand our situation right now, ya damn playboy!?

Kaoru: First of all, could you at least try to understand that panicking won’t help? Sorry. It’s pretty pathetic of me to act like some know-it-all senpai now, huh… You’ve probably figured it out by now but, see, this is my first time standing on stage. And, well, actually performing on stage really is totally different from just watching from the sidelines, huh? I can’t breathe properly. The lights are hot and blinding. The sweat’s making me feel all gross and clammy. My mind’s filled with these sorts of trivial worries; I can’t focus at all. My heart feels like it’s skipping beats, and my limbs feel numb. It feels like I’ll just collapse if I don’t brace myself… It’s scary, isn’t it? The real deal. Standing on stage like this… I’m finally realizing that, even though it’s way late.

Adonis: Me too… I’m sorry, Oogami. It seems I’m just as nervous as he is. In the past, I used to do little dances with my mother, who was a singer at the time. In those days, I was young, carefree, and fearless: I had my reliable mother by my side. Without even thinking about it, I could naturally behave appropriately. Perhaps it was thanks to my mother’s guidance. She was the one who made me shine. But right now, I don’t have that guidance. I have to lead myself. It makes me anxious, and afraid… I feel as though I am lost in the dark.

Koga: That so? Guess I can’t be your guiding light, huh? It’s hopeless. Sure enough, without Sakuma-senpai around… I’m useless.

Adonis: Speaking of Sakuma-senpai… I just noticed, but isn't that him standing in the pit?

Koga: Ah?

Adonis: Talking to you guys helped me calm down a bit, so I am able to pay more attention to my surroundings now… Look, Sakuma-senpai is in the audience, waving a glow stick.

Rei: Kya~✰ Undead¹~♪ Do youw bwest~ Don’t wose²~♪

Koga: I was hopin’ he’d show up, but… What the hell is that idiot senpai doing?!

Adonis: It’s a mystery. However, he appears strangely pleased.

Kaoru: Th-that's so unfair, Sakuma-san! You’re also a member of UNDEAD, so like!? Get up on stage!

Rei: Ahaha. I know, I know. Wasn’t expectin’ to hear that from you though, Hakaze-kun. You seemed to be the one with the least motivation n’ sense a’ camaraderie out of us all.

Kaoru: Okay, whatever, just hurry up! C’mon, quickly! If you don’t do your job properly, I won’t pay you the commission fee, y’know?

Rei: Aw, geez~ You’re so hopeless, N*bita-kun³… You get all anxious and stawt cwying when mama isn't awound, huh~? Thewe, thewe ♪

Kaoru: …You probably didn’t know, but, Sakuma-san, you totally just stepped on a landmine. Don’t look down on me too much, ‘kay?

Kaoru: ―I’m not just a spoiled crybaby anymore.

[ ☆ ]

← Prev | All | Next →

Rei is likely mispronouncing UNDEAD on purpose here. It’s normally rendered in all-caps ENG, but here it was written not only in JP, but in hiragana as opposed to katakana (which is what's typically used for foreign words).

Rei says ganbae rather than ganbare, and makeyuna rather than makeruna. Children often have trouble pronouncing “r” sounds, so dropping them from words makes you sound childish. Combined with the mispronunciation of UNDEAD (You know what else children are bad at? Foreign words), he’s purposefully acting cutesy in an obnoxious, over-the-top kind of way. Ganbae in particular is somewhat infamous as it was popularized, for lack of a better word, due to a story about a middle-aged man shouting it at the top of his lungs while standing among a crowd of young girls at a PreCure show. So, yes, Rei is 100% being cringey and embarassing on purpose. I chose to render this as uwu speak because hearing a punk teen at a rock concert speaking this way would generate the exact same instinctive, visceral “wtf is wrong with you?” reaction from bystanders.

Yet another Doraemon reference. For those unfamiliar with Doraemon, Nobita, the main character, is an extremely lazy boy who constantly skips school and is unwilling to put real effort into anything. All this gives him a reputation as a dumb and frivolous person who can’t do anything without help, but he’s actually fairly intelligent, as well as kind and generous. (As a side note: Doraemon (who Rei has compared himself to on multiple occassions) is a magical wish-granting robot cat who came from the future in order to help Nobita onto a better path in life.)

[medea10]

My Review of [Oshi no Ko]

Oof. The spring anime season of 2023 was kinda lax with the sequels and reboots. This was welcoming news for me as I was happy to take on any and every new anime that dropped. And I was ready to give the top prize to Skip and Loafer or even My Love Story with Yamada-kun. But then, this anime smashed in like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. This anime was already seen as the most, highly-anticipated anime to enter this season. Of course, the creator also made Kaguya-sama. It’s going to be awesome! And that’s stiff competition as Demon Slayer and Dr. Stone both returned with positive feedback. On the day of its official release, the first episode alone was seen as #1 on all of MAL. Gee, how long did it take for the FMA fan-idiots to nuke the score of this series? About four weeks. Guys, get another hobby.

Besides becoming the #1 anime on MAL with just one episode out, Hidive received the highest amount of traffic to their website for the first time ever. The music video released by YOASOBI for Oshi no Ko trended for a full week and as of May 17, 2023, the video reached 100 million views. Add to that, YOASOBI’s single has been dominating on the global Billboard charts. Manga sales have exploded. This anime is definitely one to behold. Let’s hope that nothing happens to the anime to make it falter.

Before I talk about the synopsis, I should really go a little further when it comes to the first episode. We all know, the average anime episode is roughly 21-25 minutes as it varies. This of course doesn’t include the length and time of recaps, openings, ending themes, or previews. But then, you get several episodes that are 40-50 minutes. I call that the, “Aniplex wants your attention episode”. Yeah, it’s because most of those I see are in Aniplex animes. Especially the Monogatari series. But in most cases, these are just the first or last episode. I just learned to accept it and enjoy the extra-long episode of SAO or Demon Slayer. Plus, it’s just their way to fill in as much content for the season. Oshi no Ko’s first episode clocked in at a whopping 82 minutes. This first episode alone could have been a feature-length movie. Japan actually did put the first episode on the big screen weeks before the television premier. This seems to be a missed opportunity for Sentai Filmworks.

A REQUEST: I do have a request for those blindly stumbling upon this review. If you are reading this part and have not watched at least episode 1, I kindly ask that you close this page and go watch Oshi no Ko’s first episode. Do not even read the synopsis to the episode. It is best that you go in blind. If you have already done so, please disregard this message and let’s get at it!

Ai Hoshino is an idol in a group called B Komachi. She is loved all around Japan. One particular fan (Sarina) loves her dearly. It’s the one thing in her life that gives her joy as she is currently battling a rare form of brain cancer. She dies. She was only 12. A doctor (Gorou Amemiya) who befriended her kinda got into Ai shortly after Sarina’s death. And now he’s hooked. One day, Gorou gets the surprise of his life as one of his incoming patients is 20 weeks pregnant with twins. And surprise, it’s famous idol Ai Hoshino.

Oof. I’m sorry, seeing them talk to a 16-year-old girl who is pregnant is not a pleasant topic I like to talk about nowadays. You all know the country I hail from and how angry I get talking about real world topics.

Gorou took care of Ai for the next twenty weeks to ensure a safe and healthy delivery. The night Ai went into labor, Gorou was murdered by a man who asked him about the whereabouts of Ai. In his final moments, Gorou recalled a conversation he had with Sarina about what it would be like to be the children of a famous idol.

With that, Gorou died and is reincarnated as one of Ai’s twins (named Aqua). The other twin (named Ruby) was Sarina reincarnated. We watch Aqua and Ruby grow as Ai’s children. But their identies were shielded from the public due to fear of Ai’s career being ruined forever. Still though, when Ai is with her children, it’s some of the happiest moments of Ai’s life considering her life prior to idol fame was dreadful. As for the kids, Aqua got into acting and Ruby got into dancing. And even though it took several years, Ai’s popularity began to grow past just being a teen idol and was ready to perform at a super dome. This happiness was shattered.

The stalker that killed Ai’s doctor stabs Ai in her residence and with Aqua as a witness. In Ai’s final words, she was able to give out a sincere “I love you” to her children. Ai is dead. The stalker killed himself. The children’s biological father could be the source of all that has just occurred. Aqua is ready for revenge.

Now, at age 16 is when the real story begins for Aqua and Ruby. Ruby has ambitions of becoming an idol like her mother, but Aqua wants her to steer-clear away from that business because of what happened to their mother. That doesn’t stop Ruby’s ambitions as she ends up restarting her mother’s old idol group B Komachi. As for Aqua, he gets several television appearances. He has no interest in that stuff, but this is the only way to get answers about Ai and their possible biological father as he might be the key or the reason behind Ai’s demise.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Oh good! Rie Takahashi is in the main cast. Oh…she plays Ai. That’s just sad. So, is Ai still technically a main character even though she gets killed by episode 1? Just curious! As for the sub, Sentai has a dub out. My premature thoughts went straight to Monica Rial. I’m sniffing around to see if she’s even in this. I can sense Rial up in here.

several research voice actor moments later

Okay, Monica Rial isn’t part of the main cast…but her sister is. I was close and thought that either one or both Rial sisters were going to be there. I thought these people did a good job considering the major hype to the anime. I know I usually never give glowing recommendations for any dub done by Sentai. This, they did fine with. This is my first time hearing most (if not all) the main cast.

JAPANESE CAST: *Aqua is played by Takeo Ootsuka (known for Tem on Beastars)

*Ruby is played by Yurie Igoma

*Ai is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero, Tomo on Tomo-chan is a Girl, Megumin on Konosuba, Ena on Laid-Back Camp, Sumi on Rent-A-Girlfriend, and Mash on Fate/Grand Order)

ENGLISH CAST: *Aqua is played by Jack Stansbury (known for Mendou on Urusei Yatsura 2022)

*Ruby is played by Alyssa Marek

*Ai is played by Donna Bella Litton (known for Ran on Urusei Yatsura 2022)

SHIPPING: This…can get really ewwie really fast.

Gorou’s obsession with Ai was borderline Lolita fetish. A grown-ass man obsessing over a 16-year-old idol can get really creepy really fast. I do give him props as he remained completely professional as Ai’s OB-GYN. Now, what happens when Gorou dies and is reborn as Aqua? Oh, he loves Ai! It’s just that Aqua was careful as humanly possible. That’s my tip-toeing around the scene where Aqua turns down being breast fed by Ai. Ruby doesn’t mind drinking from Ai’s teat.

16-year-old Aqua kept getting asked by his castmates for the reality show he was in what his ideal woman was. He tip-toes around it, but we all know he’s describing Ai. His mother! A woman who died over 10 years ago. And again, HIS MOTHER! Though, nobody else knows that fact so he just tip-toes around it by being as discreet as humanly possible. Because of Aqua’s looks, he’s a prime target for thirsty girls at his school. But thanks to the reality show he was in; he ends up in a fake relationship with Akane. Totally doesn’t help that Akane starts acting like Ai! Because those two “hooked up” during the reality show, they must keep up appearances with their relationship in the public eye.

We could end that shit topic here if not for little miss Kana being little miss tsundere whenever Aqua is around. Oh boy, Kana is a true tsundere here.

SADDEST MOMENT: That first episode killed it in more ways than one. There’s no doubt that every main character here has had their hardships in the past. Ai had parents that abandoned her and she winds up in an orphanage. When Ruby was Sarina, she was suffering from that rare brain cancer where it was a struggle just to walk. And as for Aqua, they never did find his original body. But I was not prepared for what happened when Ai answered that door in episode 1.

I was thinking that stalker guy was the father of Aqua and Ruby and we’re going to have this whole thing throughout the series. Instead, when I watched this guy try to kill Ai, I immediately got flashbacks of Selena. Oh yeah, who could forget that death?

Yes, everything about Ai’s final words killed me. The animation, the delivery, everything! And Rie Takahashi knocked it out of the park!

DO THESE STORIES LOOK FAMILIAR TO YOU?: So, I might be going out on several limbs here but hear me out. Watching Oshi no Ko, do you draw any kind of correlation to any character’s backstory and seen it with an actor who might have gone through this same sort of thing? This story delves into the dark side of the entertainment industry and mostly in Japan. But being American, I can’t help but draw connections to the sad stories I would see in the entertainment industry in the U.S.

When I watched a crazed fan attack Ai, I will always immediately think of what happened to Selena. Seeing Kana try to stay relevant due to being a child actor, I think of a lot of child stars that went on after the height of their careers and while there are some success stories, there’s…well, it didn’t end well for actors like Bobby Driscoll and Dana Plato. Look both of those up, it’s quite tragic. I know these are American actors and most of the story is revolved around what happens in the Japanese entertainment industry. I’m just using these an example because I learned about these tragedies and lived through some of them (especially Selena’s death). Despite all of those stories being decades old, a lot of dark things still take place in this day and age. And with the addition of social media, being an entertainer has become worse.

The Akane storyline…ouch. First of all, social media comments are toxic. I will admit, I used to “Egosurf” a lot in my 20s when I was somewhat relevant on certain sites. It did not do well for my mental health. But I’m not like Akane. I’m not an entertainer. I’m a dork that likes to write reviews for animes and proud of it. If someone on Tumblr tells me I suck, I just ignore it. I probably won’t even see it knowing me. Tee-hee! Back to the matter at hand though. Akane wasn’t really seen as anything special in the reality show she was in with Aqua. She didn’t stick out as much as her other co-stars. Despite it being kinda like a reality show, these kids are still acting or doing what their supervisors say. Akane decides to do something impulsive and it backfired. BADLY!

This resulted in people on social media exploding with hatred for Akane with the most disgusting of messages telling her she’ll never act again or just blunt ones that say “Just die”. Despite the episode clearly stating this is a “work of fiction”, you know they got inspired by the real-life tragedy of Hana Kimura. Kimura was a female professional wrestler for the most part. In 2019, she was in a reality show called Terrace House. During an episode, Kimura got in a verbal argument with one of the castmates. From what I’ve read, they asked her to stir the pot a bit and fight with the other castmate. After this episode aired, fans took to social media and posted a lot of hate-filled messages towards Kimura. This sent her in a deep depression. Two months after this episode aired and all of the horrible messages were blasted at top speed, Hana Kimura committed suicide.

I don’t want to say Oshi no Ko blatently used this one particular story for the Akane storyline. But I’m also not saying that either. This is eerily too similar. It also doesn’t help that this episode aired days before the anniversary of Kimura’s death. I know it’s coincidence, but weird-ass timing. Thank God Aqua saved her from jumping off the bridge. While Oshi no Ko is a work of fiction, what happened to Hana Kimura was not. And bullying the woman’s family is not helping anything whatsoever. Yes, Kimura’s mother is pissed at the anime for airing a story similar to the events that drove her daughter to suicide. She has that right! Don’t bully her because she’s mad at everyone involved with Oshi no Ko. If I was in her shoes, I’d probably be pissed too and for a long time too. Moving away from that dumpster fire…

And the biggest kudos goes to Hidive. At the end of episode 6, they put up a message to prevent suicide and well, you know what? I’m going to do so here too.

As someone who has unfortunately been in dark places like some of these characters, I encourage others to seek out help as well.

ENDING: Since the events of episode 1, we watched what Ruby and Aqua want to do with their lives. Ruby is committed to becoming an idol like her mother. Slowly throughout the season, she and Kana joined Ai’s old production company and started up the idol group Ai was in, B Komachi. It was just the two of them until the end of the reality show Aqua was in. That’s when Aqua suggested to his castmate Mem-Cho that she should become an idol in the B Komachi revival. This is an interesting mixture for an idol group with the daughter of an idol (though nobody knows that fact), a former child star, and a Youtuber that’s 25 going on 16 depending on her applications.

Kana puts up a brave face in front of Ruby and Mem-Cho. But you can tell that Kana is scared. She’s been tossed around since becoming older, nobody bought her single when she recorded songs, her own mother even gave up on her, and all of these rejections kinda caught up to Kana. Regardless, Kana went up on stage with Ruby and Mem-Cho as a rookie idol. B Komachi got their chance at an idol festival to perform. It’s a start compared to a lot idols in other animes. On stage, it was clear that the audience was mostly there for Mem-Cho due to her popularity through the reality show and her Youtube channel. But Ruby got some attention from an audience member who remembered the original B Komachi and noticed Ruby kinda got that same aura as Ai.

Kana felt a little despair while performing on stage. But then we get a déjà vu trip as Aqua is in the audience doing a glow stick dance. Yeah, it was a lot like what happened when Ai was performing, doubt was swarming her, and then the twins start doing a glow stick dance. I guess the performance went well. It’s just that after that we see more tsundere moments from Kana. Mem-Cho finally sees that Kana likes Aqua. And then there’s some friction when we learn that Kana and Akane know each other and are rivals. And when I say rivals, I mean they are like Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak in the first season rivals, they are catty bitches. They’ve been at it since they were children.

A popular anime is about to be adapted as a stage musical. Akane and Kana are set to be in this production. The gentleman that Aqua has been in contact for a while now set him up with a role in that same stage musical. This theater company was apparently where things changed for Ai when she was an up-and-coming idol.

Could this be Aqua’s big lead to possibly meeting his biological father? That’s a question that won’t be answered today. At least season two is greenlit.

Soooooo…after watching episode 1 and the hype that came along with it, did the rest of the season grab my attention? Yes. It totally did. I mean it wasn’t at the hype it was when I had just watched episode 1. After one viewing of episode one, I had to tell anyone who would listen to me that this was awesome. There were however several other episodes that grabbed me. Yes, it was the Akane-centered episodes. Let’s just say any time I saw moments with Kana and Ruby trying to do idol stuff before Mem-cho came were a little boring. I just felt like they were just there and nothing else. Probably just a reminder that yeah, they exist, now let’s go back to Aqua doing what he’s doing.

Am I excited for season two? Oh yes, I am. I’m doing my best not to look at any manga spoilers. It’s hard. Every so often, a spoiler drops on Twitter and you just want to look. Or someone on Youtube will say something about a new chapter and you just want to take a quickie. NOPE! I’m going to stay strong and just practice good patience.

Medea read up about Aqua and Ruby’s father

No self control whatsoever! Not one iota of it. Whenever season two drops, it’s going to be a biggie. Will the anime continue to be a smashing hit when it returns? That’s for the future to decide. I truly hope for the best. As long as they stay with the original material and the same studio that’s animating it, I think we’ll be good. Full recommendation!

FINAL (IDIOTIC) THOUGHT: So, is Ai going to be the next member of Franchouchou on Zombieland Saga?

…I’m going to sit in the corner and think about what I just wrote.

All 11 episodes are available on Hi-Dive.

[grizzledyoungimpact]

Whumptober Day 9

Prompt #9: "You're a liar." Pairing: Brandon Cutler/Kelani Johnson (OC) Mentions Of: The Elite, Jay White, Angel Micheals (OC), Nolee Angle (OC), Cassidy Cabana (OC) Verse: Slight Main AU

The pain of realizing that her half-sister Nolee was behind the attack on Jay White wasn't even the part that hurt Kelani the most. Did it hurt her to see that Nolee had been able to hurt their half-sister Angel so badly due to her attack while the rest of the Elite were hiding behind that stolen devil mask? Oh, absolutely. Kelani was soft when it came to acts of betrayal and this was certainly no different.

Especially not when she realized that her Brandon had been the one holding the camera during the attack.

Brandon Cutler had been Kelani's first, well, everything. When she had been working with The Best Friends against The Elite, Brandon had given Nolee her first kiss. Granted, it was so she would drop Trent Baretta during a battle royal, but it had been her first kiss none-the-less. After that, Brandon had given Kelani both her first real date and then her first real relationship. She loved Brandon with all of her heart.

What she didn't love was how Brandon's "friends" treated him.

Kelani didn't like hearing Matt and Nick tell Brandon to shut up. She never liked to hear the Jackson brothers call him Landon. They were his friends, his closest friends, and in Kelani's eyes they needed to treat him better. Brandon simply smiled and shrugged it off. These were his friends, after all. The things the boys said were just jokes in his eyes. The way they worked him so hard between on-and-off camera work was just how it was because of the two contract situation.

All Out 2023 had been where it all began, or at least that weekend. Friday night Kelani and Brandon were supposed to meet up for a dinner date. She had sat at the table for almost two hours before she realized that he wasn't coming. It broke her heart and dinner was consumed in tears, but she told herself it was fine. All Out was for AEW like WrestleMania was for WWE, and she had experienced enough of those with her father to know how busy they could be. When Brandon didn't meet her the next day to go to the StarrCast even, Kelani again pretended not to let it get to her.

But this?

This was proof that he had been colluding to get rid of AEW Champion Cassidy Caban for a while, all alongside Nolee and The Elite.

Kelani was half done packing when the hotel door opened up. She refused to turn around, afraid to look Brandon in the eyes. Was this the man she had fought against the BCC with, side-by-side, bound together in their own bloodshed? Was this the man she wanted to spend forever with?

"Kelani...I..."

"You're a liar," she sniffled, moving to get into the bedside nightstand for her hairbrush and medcase, "I trusted you and you lied to me."

"You wanted me to be taken seriously, didn't you?" Brandon rubbed the back of his neck, almost sheepishly.

Kelani quickly turned to face him, "Of course I did! But you blew me off on dates for weeks. You continuously lied to me! I know The Bucks suck at relationships, but I never thought you'd take their advice."

Brandon looked at his feet, daring to look upset about his own lies and the situation he caused, "I know I had to be sneaky sometimes and I'm sorry. I'm...I'm tired of being the joke everyone wants you to leave."

"You lied to me! YOu lied to me and that hurts more than anything else! You stood me up and made me feel like an idiot, all the while you've been planning with the rest of the Elite," Kelani slammed the suitcase on the bed shut.

"Where are you...Kelani please..." Brandon's gentle nature seemed to shine through as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Stay."

"I can't," Kelani refused, hands trembling as tears streamed down plump cheeks, "I won't."

[mspi]

Growing up military

The Blue Angels had barely launched when the first pilot died. In the aftermath of World War II, a crew of elite Navy combat pilots were selected for the traveling exhibition team. The squadron, then as now, was intended to be a recruiting tool for the military and to serve as the Navy’s community envoys.

--

I didn't know this. Well the exhibitions as a recruitment tool, sure. Think my dad had me watch so many historical documentaries on battles that he might've scared me away from it. What he did was made sure I stayed super healthy so the Pentagon couldn't say he didn't try keeping me ready for battle. (Think my body decided to fail on me on purpose.)

Really though, I wanted to enlist with the Air Force. Mom wouldn't have it. Then Dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps, only now as a female engineer. Something about men not wanting to be with me if I could do things on my own.

Whatever, he was feeling funny because I got down building computers and playing with microchips at a young age from reading books and playing with his leftover parts in the garage.

You'd think he would've been happy that I zeroed in on universities, concentration, and scholarships early. Nope, that wasn't enough. Geeze, I had college recruiters speaking to me before high school. Gimme some sort of break please.

Maybe that's the earliest starts to my losing sleep. Let's call it preparation for siblings and sicknesses while shooting for the stars. All those stressful days made me even more determined to reach my goals.

Of course, your bucket list may need to change up every now and then. Know that it's not a failure if you don't complete your goals in the order you predicted. It's only not their time to make you shine yet.

Remember that it's not in your power to control EVERYTHING that happy around you. It also doesn't mean you should give up. That last line is to let you know that you may need to learn to be patient and work your way around obstacles.

Let's see, I was already sick for most my high school years and knew that most the courses were going too slow for me. Note that this was a crazy thing for me to even try, but I did research and began going to college at night and during summer breaks.

The scheduling made me more positive that I'm not an idiot because with my health, block scheduling wasn't for me. For the college prep courses I couldn't put my all into, I transferred my college courses back to get the A pluses I knew I could achieve.

Let's not talk about the general ed courses. Accounting was a total bore. Typing was awful, friggin white out strips to cover typos. Art, I was able to do. However the sharp pains in my wrists weren't good signs to take that leap for it to be a career. Besides I really really loved math and science.

-- dnagirl

20.02.2023

[seineroses]

𝐃𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒.

(𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮, 𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐢, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐲𝐮𝐮) 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲; 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝖺 𝗁𝗂𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝖺 𝖽𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖽𝗒𝗂𝗇g 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖺𝗋𝗆𝗌 </3

𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 @obsesxxsed

𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆; 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁

𝒄𝒘; 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 </3

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐔

𝗜𝗧 wasn't supposed to end like this..? You two were supposed to retire live a peaceful life away from the sacred demons

If 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗲 hadn't been so cruel, you would be happily jumping in her arms smiling under the shining sunlight

Here you are..your body cold, eyes dull, not showing the ethereal smile that adorned onto your face, easily showing true happy emotions she couldn't display

She needed to think of happy memories of you, but all she could think about was seeing you jump into battle, pushing her aside

As they all say, ❝your actions have consequences❞ getting cut onto your stomach, her eyes widening in horror. 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬..? 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠?

She doesn't want to go through it again, no.. No!! You weren't supposed to die-- she was.. supposed to live happily now

Who's gonna comfort her? Make her laugh when angers rises? You of course! No one else can ever replace the feeling of contentment she had by your side

So why? Why are you in her arms bloodied? This wasn't what she asked for.. Maybe she'll see you again

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲.

𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐈

"𝐍𝐚𝐢-𝐤𝐮𝐧!" Yelling from the distance running as fast as you could towards the serpent pillar, also known as your boyfriend

"(Name)-?" Getting cut off, jumping straight into his arms making you both land on the ground

Laughing happily on what just happened, 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝘆? Why are you here crying in his arms, blood seeping out of your mouth?

"Y-you idiot! Why'd you jump in?!" Tears falling down his eyes, wetting your uniform "You could've died..Nai-kun"

"It would've been better if you didnt-! Please don't leave me..!" Wailing againts your chest as the Kakushi could only watch in sadness

" 'm sorry..don't want you to die.." Muttering the only words that left your mouth as your eyes threatened to close

"N-no! don't close your eyes! You're going to be j-just fine..!" Tears landing on your cheek as you gave him one last smile

"𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿.."

𝐆𝐈𝐘𝐔𝐔

"Tomioka-kun were on a mission together isn't that nice?!" Showing your natural bubbly aura that filled the room with such happiness

"Im delighted to see you ecstatic as always (Name)-san.." Patting your head softly, nodding at his words before walking to the destination

"Wahh-so scary im getting chills! What about you Tomioka-kun?" Clinging on to his arms, as he turns flustered at the sudden affection

"Mhm.." Hearing a faint rustle as the natural bubbly self disappears, furrowing your brows

Holding your katana tightly, as Giyuu grits his teeth, not long before hearing a loud scream, widening his eyes staring at you,

Or the so called illusion, as the demon quickly attacks him in his state, not thinking about what may happen you quickly jump into him getting your body sliced in half

"(NAME)?!" He saw red, gripping his katana tightly as he killed the demon in the most brutal way possible

"No-please..!" Holding your frail body as he wails in agony, he already lost everyone he loved.. But why you?

"I-i should've been more cautious.. Letting my guard down so easily stupid..-stupid!" Yelling on the top of his lungs

"Why..?" Maybe if he were a better Hashira this would've never happened,

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻..

𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗯𝘂'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂? <3

[stonedregulus]

↓ ↓ master list ↓ ↓

⋆┊stand alone wips┊⋆

Never Let You Go

Rating: T Ship: James/Regulus Chapters: 1/? Word Count: 4.9k Summary:

Parent Trap but make it Jegulus. OR The time James and Regulus came up with a stupid idea so that they’d never have to see each other again.

Your Mess Is Mine

Rating: E Ship: James/Regulus, Barty/Regulus Chapters: 1/3 Word Count: 3.2k

Summary:

For Cece: Who may or may not have inspired this entire story by taking a bite out of a stranger’s banana on the train. Not a euphemism.

Until You’re in My Arms Again (Remember Me)

Rating: E Ship: Harry/Ron Chapters: 6/? Word Count: 32.6k Summary:

Three years after the Battle at Hogwarts, Ron and Harry are trying to figure out their feelings for each other without ruining their friendship.

Tell Me Pretty Lies

Rating: E Ship: Evan/Regulus/Barty/James, Sirius/Remus, Hugo/Noah Chapters: 3/15 Word Count: 24k Summary:

“James, I love you, but you’re a fucking idiot,” Remus said, crossing his arms.

⋆┊series wips┊⋆

Storm!verse:

With You I’d Dance in a Storm

Rating: E Ship: James/Regulus Chapters: 13/20 Word Count: 92.1k Summary:

James is like the sun. He shines down on everyone he meets, helping them feel warm and happy, helping them grow and thrive, and yet he has no idea how much that means to everyone he touches—he has no idea how dreary it gets when he's not there. But when the clouds shift, and he's able to shine through all the shit the universe has put in his way, he brings people back to life. Regulus wishes he was like that. But he's not. Not even close. No one needs him. — The reason sex ed was implemented at Hogwarts.

I Have Always Been A Storm

Rating: E Ship: Euphemia/Walburga Chapters: 1/3 Word Count: 1.4k Summary:

“Mum?” “You know…” she pauses, pursing her lips as if she’s thinking through her words carefully. “I knew someone once who made all the wrong choices. She made them out of self-preservation, not because she cared about anyone else. In the end, it only tore her from all the people she ever truly loved.” ☆★☆★☆ “I know you like I know my own mind, Walburga Black. So you can try to hide from me and your emotions all you want, but I still see them. I still see you. I know you.”

⋆┊completed multichapters┊⋆

Unexpected Visitors

Rating: E Ship: James/Regulus Chapters: 6 Word Count: 9.6K Summary:

Walburga and Orion show up for Christmas. Regulus aims to please his gaslighting mother while also attempting to stand up for himself. — Walburga finally rises from her chair seething as James sneaks past them to join the kids in the garage, “I have done nothing but love you and want what’s best for both of you, but you think I’m so hard on you! You have no idea what it’s like to grow up not good enough for your own mother. I may have been hard on you both but it was out of love!” “Oh? We don’t know what it’s like to never be good enough for our own mother? I’m sorry, did you blackout for our entire childhood?”

⋆┊oneshots┊⋆

Prove It

Rating: E Ship: Regulus/James Word Count: 7.8k Summary:

“What are you doing here?” A voice asked. It was rough and raw, as if the person had been recovering from a cold, and even though they were clearly at an advantage holding James at gunpoint, there was something gentle and curious about it. “Just doing my job,” James responded easily, attempting to turn his head slightly to get a look at the person holding the gun against his head, but the metal stayed pressed firmly against his temple, not allowing him to move more than an inch.

Something of Mine

Rating: M Ship: Barty/Evan Word Count: 5.3k Summary:

“You didn’t want to get clean for him?” he asks. “There’s only one person I’d ever get clean for.” Oh, fuck off. Fuck completely off. “Don’t say that to me,” Evan says because the only other way he can think to respond is to scream directly into a pillow, which he can’t really do at the moment. “I’m serious.” “You don’t get to do this, Barty.” “Why not?” “It’s mean. You’re being mean,” Evan’s voice hitches in his throat, and he can feel hot tears building in his eyes

Baby, Kiss It Better

Rating: M Ship: Darco/Harry Word Count: 7.7k Summary:

HD Sudsfest 2022 Prompt: Character A needs help from Character B, their physical therapist/sports therapist, to take an ice bath. Character A is extremely reluctant/complain-y about it. 🫧🫧🫧 Harry has been avoiding his team’s athletic healer for five years now, but a broken ankle requires him to ask for help from his former boarding school enemy, Draco. Has Draco changed? Have Harry’s feelings about him?

I Stayed There

Rating: M Ship: Barty/Evan Word Count: 2.1k Summary:

“I can’t lose you again.” & “Don’t raise your fucking voice at me.” + Rosekiller — It’s like he’s been transported back in time to that place he tends to haunt when he’s left alone with nothing but his thoughts. When Evan told Barty he’d found someone. When he told Barty he was happy. When Evan left him there in that restaurant. When Barty realized he’d been living in a fantasy of his own design thinking the boy he’d loved, loved him back.

Sorry About the Blood in Your Mouth

Rating: E Ship: James/Regulus Word Count: 1.7k Summary:

Regulus kills Lily and then he and James fuck covered in her blood. That’s literally it.

Broom Closets

Rating: M Ship: Regulus/James Word Count: 626 Summary:

James and Regulus find an empty broom closet

Unobservant As Ever

Rating: T Ship: Sirius/Remus/James Word Count: 471 Summary:

Sirius, Remus, and James are chaperones for the Yule Ball.

Snow

Rating: M Ship: Teddy/James II Word Count: 1.6k Summary:

James and Teddy meet for a blind date

Raw Geggs

Rating: M Ship:Sirius/Remus Word Count: 1.1k Summary:

Wolfstar and toddler Harry make Christmas cookies.

Onesie

Rating: M Ship: Sirius/Remus, James/Regulus Word Count: 840 Summary:

Regulus and James have a surprise for Sirius and Remus.

It Was Only A Kiss

Rating: T Ship: Harry/Ron Word Count: 834 Summary:

Ron & Harry celebrate New Years Eve

[heli0s-writes]

Your writing is amazing! If you’re taking requests for writing could you do Steve x Reader makeup sex after a fight? You could include the fight if you would like but you don’t have to. Thank you! Have a great one!

a/n: aaah this took so long but thank you for sending it in! this is about desire and self/mutual destruction. see the following quotes for more information on where my brain lives 24/7: (1, 2, 3, 4). and this poem, by Ada Limón.

“perihelion” is the closest point to the sun in a planet’s natural orbit.

warnings: emotions- what are they even! cursing, brief smut & angst. 1.6k words. please stop reading if you are not 18+

brooklyn after dark masterlist

perihelion*

“You’re an—”

“—idiot, I know—”

“I don’t think you do—" Sharp curses and agonized fingertips, your hand curling around his neck to wrench him away for a second before you shove him back, letting his split lip gush over yours, the dark copper of his blood sending a droplet into your mouth. “The most idiotic thing—”

“—on this side of the universe, I know—” Steve hisses when you bite, pull at his skin until the almost-healed again cut opens up wider, “—shit—”

“You deserve it,” your tongue darts out, lapping at his spit and teeth and the very essence of him as if there already wasn’t enough of it sticking to your palms and fingers and optical nerve each time you close your eyes. “So fucking mad at you.”

You shove him onto the bed, climbing on top and straddling him, yanking at tufts of his hair, fisting it into a rat’s nest until he’s staring up at the ceiling, the jutting point of his Adam’s apple like a buoy in a tempest.

“Honey,” he winces, “honey. Had to.”

He grunts when you shift your weight until you’re practically sitting on his chest to keep him breathless—to keep him from saying anything else so stupid.

You already yelled at him earlier, right in front of the team when your short circuiting brain couldn’t hold it in anymore after watching him rush back in. Deciding that the point isn’t solely for Steve, anyway, but possibly for all of them to quit being such self-sacrificing morons and get their heads on straight because at the end of the day, for all their heroism, numbers and logic never lie.

“If, on average, Steve Rogers saves 800 civilians every year, but runs back into a building rigged to explode to save 1 life, and he dies—how many civilian lives will he be potentially not saving because he won’t fucking be there to save for the next 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? How long is a super soldier’s shelf life? 40? 50? You’ll be 120 and still swing like a battering ram, Steve. So, tell me—is it truly worth it to get your reckless fucking head cracked open for just one fucking person?”

There wasn’t even a shred of dishonesty or hesitation as he confirmed, “yes.” In his dirt-covered, ash-soiled, profusely bleeding from an open forearm gash glory, he stood tall and swallowed thickly, knowing the hell you’d reserve for him later, and he said “yes.”

Because he’s immovable and he’s principled and he’ll always, always say yes.

You want to kill him yourself sometimes. Simply precipitate the heartache you know is in your future as long as you’re with Steve. As long as what you feel for him makes you selfish, makes you want to keep him from the fight and the fury of the open world. From the inevitable, legendary death of Captain America as he perishes— as he’s wiped from the face of the planet, wiped from ever being in your arms again— while saving innocents. Those hapless casualties caught up in whatever cosmic battle of good and evil and since he’s a shining beacon with the power to safeguard them, he’ll do it to his bitter end.

You want to kill him yourself because he’s made you into something of a coward. Because instead of trusting his strength, all you trust is fear—a lodged knife telling you he might never return.

Well fuck that. Fuck that. Fuck all that.

“C’mon,” he urges, hands up in defeat.

He’s smiling into the ugly popcorn ceiling, one side of his lips curled upward, jaw slack, easy and yielding because Steve offers himself to everything like this: headfirst, wide open, like he’s not just a man at the end of the day, and like he can’t die same as those casualties he’s overzealous about rescuing.

“Don’t you think about me,” you ask after a long moment of staring, the anger dwindling down to a soft bewilderment, and you feel wounded just a slip away. One wrong word, wrong touch, and despite the last three hours of incandescent rage, you’d break into sobbing, confused pieces.

Your fingers unwind in his hair, returning to your side and trembling starts from the pit of your stomach before it rises up to your chest, then to your throat where it hovers high and brittle. “Don’t you think about me, Steve?”

“Of course I do,” he replies, still smiling, finally allowed to tilt his chin down to meet you. He reaches to hold your wrists, index and middle fingers on your pulse, letting the feverish beat bleed into him. “I’m always thinking about you…” he trails off, taking a moment to sit up and maneuver until you’re in his lap.

He burrows into your neck, nosing up your ear, and he’s sincere when he says, “and I think that if it were you, and you were trapped somewhere and someone could have saved you—"

You wrap your arms around him, blunt nails digging into his back through the silky stretch of his undershirt to interrupt but he only shakes his head mulishly, “If someone could have saved you, and they died doing it, I wouldn’t blink twice.”

“That’s not the point—”

“It is,” he argues, “It’s the only point, because if they were doing numbers and math and decided that your life wasn’t worth it,” he breathes, focused and vicious, “Sweetheart, you don’t know what I’d do. You don’t know what kind of hell I’d raise. And it wouldn’t matter for a second who it was because I’m more selfish than I look. Especially about you. Always, about you.”

He’s chillingly serious, gone so earnest that you can barely hear him over the sound of the blood in your ears. He says it plainly, clinically, like reading data of scientific research—like he’s pored over every possible outlook, quadruple-checked his work, and firmly came to one enormously irrefutable fact:

“I have to lead by example so that everyone else will do the same. It’s not their fault so don’t yell at them anymore, okay?”

He laughs again, rolling into the bed on his back with you landing on top of him, arms absurdly locked around each other. And it’s all so ridiculous. Steve with his sense of duty, his sense of fairness and loyalty so goddamn fierce and shameless.

You retreat, shoving your hands into your eyes because you can’t stand looking at him for another second. He’s a fulgent blur of midday sun behind your tears, hot and blindingly true and it hurts you to the marrow. A part of you is on the verge of laughing inappropriately, helpless.

“So what you’re saying is we’re going in circles.”

Steve shrugs, only sitting back up and kissing you, nudging your hands free and wiping your eyelids with his lips. Once, twice, five times, like there’s been no fight. He kisses you in quick, joyful pecks, and presses the happy line of his grin into your cheek.

“Yeah, but I’m okay with that, I can handle that. You can yell at me again,” he says, clever pink mouth stamping your skin with each sentence, muffling words here and there. “As long as you want, as much as you want, as loud as you want, and I’ll take it. Yell at me. Fight me. Kiss me. Fuck me. Fuck me until you’re finished.”

You scoff, trying to dodge and realizing you’re only half-heartedly doing so— forfeiting, finished— because he really is the sun, and you’re just a nominal planet caught in his spell, mindlessly circling, forever destined to orbit him. To watch him explode in the distant future and getting caught in the blast because there’d be no way to go on without Steve Rogers.

“Jerk,” you declare, “Jerk. Dumb jerk. Dumb, stupid jerk. Asshole—can you—can you try--” you lurch your face at him, catching him on the lips, kissing hungry and desperate and broken, “—try to stay alive.”

Because I’m in love with you, is what you mean, because I can’t be without you, don’t you get it? I’m sufficient and whole and I don’t need you, but I don’t want to be without you and that’s the ultimate mark of being ruined because of another person and I’m so utterly ruined, utterly fucked.

Steve kisses back, panting now, fumbling at your pants and then his own clothes, stripping until the pile of fabric is a mass at the foot of the bed, trying to entangle his flushed limbs the same way with yours.

“I’m here,” he licks his palm, slicks himself up, thrusting inside wetly at the end of each word like he’s trying to drive the point home into your soul. Quick like a blade, a reflex, a flashfire.

“I’m right here,” he says, at your collar, his teeth clamped over the bone as if hanging on the edge of the earth with it.

“I’m alive and I love you,” he whispers, then moans, then collapses into keening light—too fast, too hot—and you’re destroyed, because what else is there to do but be destroyed by him?

“And I love you,” he says again, as you burn to ashes, “And I love you, and I love you, and I love you.”

[miadzudza]

New chapter sounds like it offers a logical and consistent development, I'm not disappointed at all

I'm new to this fandom, although not quite new to the manga itself. In the past few months, I'd read it a couple of times. But this is the first time I got to wait for the new chapter release, the first time I had to seek spoilers, and the first time I faced fandom response in real time, as new information keeps coming.

SPOILER WARNING

I'm honestly surprised by the reaction of the fans. It made me feel like we're not reading the same piece of work. Because I'm not disappointed, not even hurt (yet) - this kind of development is exactly something I expect at this point of the story. To be completely honest, I expect worse. Much worse. One of my own predictions is, not only Yashiro having sex with someone other than Doumeki, but him setting the scene especially for Doumeki to see. Yes, I think Yashiro would totally do something like that down the road, in a desperate attempt to gain back control. His way of embracing love is going to be long and messy, because there really is no other way for him. People fantasize about these two having a mature conversation about how they really feel and then enter a healthy loving relationship - but I don't torture myself like that. :D Was Saezuru ever a fan service? I don't think so. It's a dark story, with dark characters, in a dark environment. There will be more angst, pain, heartbreak, loss and death before it ends. And Yashiro will certainly not lose the battle against his heart easily.

The first time Yashiro opened up about his feelings, it was during a dissociative episode (in a bathroom scene in Doumeki's apartment). I expect something like that to happen again. Circumstances may be different. Something has to trigger Yashiro to drop his defenses, like the last time. My prediction is that it will happen when he gets drunk (alcohol seems like a perfect underused tool to mess up his inhibitions). That is also the only way I see him making the first move. Doumeki, on the other hand, is playing smart for now. The pain he is causing Yashiro by being cold and distant, is a safe kind of pain (for Yashiro at least), the type that won't make him run away. Although, it is highly unlikely Yashiro will run now when he knows Doumeki is in danger. He would want to find a way to address that problem, and I'm dying to see his manipulative self taking control and shining again.

I knew Yashiro would face some sort of sexual dysfunction after his pre-timeskip sex with Doumeki. We have to remember: that sex retraumatized him, and in Saezuru - sexual trauma has consequences. Chapter 46 practically confirmed he was struggling with anorgasmia (even Doumeki surprisingly asked Yashiro if he was pent up). But the first hint, I think, was when he was masturbating in chapter 44. He was so aroused, but he couldn't finish. Doumeki would probably find this fact (that he's the only one who can please Yashiro at this moment) very romantic, he would want to embrace him, but I can see Yashiro angrily screaming at him "Idiot, you broke me!" I hope we get some flashbacks from the last four years, showing Yashiro's struggle to enjoy violent sex again. And I wish I could find more spoilers about his sex with Inami, containing translations paired with the pictures. What I found very encouraging is one fan's translation where Yashiro referred to his first sex with Inami as rape. Pre-timeskip Yashiro would never admit that to himself, so he clearly made some huge progress. He doesn't look like he's even pretending to be enjoying the sex. Those are baby steps for fans getting new chapters every 2-4 months only to see more pain and struggle, but realistically, Yashiro's progress can't be rushed. It was a smart decision from Yoneda Kou to give the characters four years to process their feelings and evolve. It means she doesn't intend to drag this story forever, so we'll get conclusion soon enough.

[jedipoodoo]

Secret Kingdoms (Hunter x fem!Reader Fantasy AU)

Notes: This is highly self-indulgent but it's my birthday gift to me so eat my shorts, yes this is based off of that one episode of Merlin

Warnings: kidnapping, plans of an enforced marriage talk of war, one character nearly drowns, there will be a part three

Taglist: @imabeautifulbutterfly @twinkofthedink @imaginationrunswild2

Read it on AO3

You and Hunter rested beneath a tree, watching carefully as Anakin and Padme sat in the meadow below. They were using his cloak as a blanket while Padme instructed Anakin in making a chain of flowers. Without much else to do, you and Hunter were enjoying the same task. So far, you had made a chain of daisies long enough to wrap around your wrist, and then you heard Hunter humming. He had his knife, and was whittling with a piece of wood as he sang.

"There's a secret kingdom all my own With no castles, and no vassals, and no throne. Just two subjects, you and me, In my private monarchy, Where the king is love and love alone."

You set your daisy chain in your lap and looked over at him. His knife worked fast, his fingers deftly avoiding the sharp blade, though you could see a scar or two on his palm. That was to be expected if he was a knight, you supposed.

“What are you making?” You asked, looping two more daisies together.

Hunter chuckled, “It’s a secret.”

“Is it?” You leaned over, trying to get a good look, but Hunter turned away to conceal a smirk.

“Come on! Why won’t you show me?” You giggled, pulling on his shirt sleeve.

Hunter spun around to catch your wrist, his knife discarded safely. He chuckled as he pinned you to the ground, stealing the air from your lungs as he brought your hand to his lips.

“You will see soon enough, my lady,” He promised, tenderly kissing your knuckles.

Your heart fluttered, lips parted as you studied his face. His golden eyes never left yours

Your heart fluttered, lips parted as you studied his face. His golden eyes never left yours as the wind rippled across the meadow, surrounding you in a snowfall of white flower petals.

You wanted nothing more than to stay like this, forever, with your very own knight in shining armor. In this meadow, your status as a maid didn’t matter. You didn’t have to worry about the princess, or class, or politics, it was just you and Hunter.

You slid your hands up his arms, taking in his muscles before they met behind his neck.

“My lady,” Hunter sighed happily, pulling you upright again. You would do anything to hear him say that to you every day for the rest of your life.

Your thumb traced over his tattoo, marking the difference between ink and skin. It was almost unheard of in the Naboo court for knights to wear ink so proudly, but Hunter and his brothers were unmatched as the newest batch of knights. King Ruwee would be idiotic to banish them from his court if he wanted their support.

Still, curiosity got the best of you. “I have to ask, why the tattoo?”

Hunter chuckled, his large hand covering your smaller one, still resting on the side of his face. Your heart still fluttered every time you saw the ribbon tied securely around his wrist.

“Back during the siege, my brothers and I were sent to the Mandalorians to ask for help. They wore similar markings as a symbol of their family ties, and so my brothers and I adopted a skull symbol to symbolize our closeness. It's not a coat of arms or anything, King Ruwee hasn't granted us any of that, but we all have it on our armor."

He studied you nervously. "It doesn't scare you or anything, does it?"

You shook your head, "It is a bit imposing, at first glance, but that must serve you well in battle."

Hunter laughed, leaning forward so that his head rested against yours. “It does, my lady.”

After a moment, you frowned. “Why won’t you let me see what you’re working on?”

“You’re still on that?” Hunter asked, laughter threatening to bubble out of his chest. “It’s not done yet-”

“I still want to see! Please?” you wobbled your lip to be more convincing

Hunter brushed your nose with his, "Who would I be to refuse my lady?"

Keeping his eyes locked on yours, he reached behind his back, grabbing the piece of wood he'd been working on. Without breaking eye contact, he pressed it into the palm of your hand. You looked down. It couldn't be much bigger than a coin, and you could feel the little ridges around the edge. You ran your thumb over the surface, following the design he'd carved.

It was a vine, surrounding a simple flower.

"It's not finished, but it's supposed to be a necklace,” He mumbled sheepishly. 

You studied it a moment longer, touched by his craftsmanship. You took the ribbon you’d used for your hair today, and looped it through the hole at the top.

“Help me tie it off?” You swept our hair to the side, noticing the flush that covered his face.

“Is my handsome knight scared of a simple lady?” You teased.

Hunter chuckled at that, and leaned forward, his breath fanning out across your neck as gentle fingers tied a knot in the ribbon to secure it around your neck.

“Trust me, milady,” He whispered, “You are anything but simple.”

Your name echoed across the meadow, and you reluctantly looked up to find Padme waving to you as she and Anakin made their way towards you.

You sighed, and Hunter gently nudged your shoulder.

"Duty calls," He murmured, and big, fat raindrops began to slip through the branches of the tree onto your nose.

—

Two days later, the entire castle was in an uproar. Serenno had declared war on Naboo. It was rumored that Lord Dooku of Serenno was being manipulated by a sorcerer. Others insisted that he was working with this ancient sorcerer of his own will. Due to his ill health, King Ruwee would be unable to lead the troops in battle. He entrusted that task to his good friend, Duke Kenobi, and Kenobi's right-hand man and best friend, Anakin.

Padme was distraught at the idea of the man she loved having to leave for war and possibly never seeing him again, but you didn't have a chance to console her. Hunter and his brothers were to set out immediately and scout ahead for the Naboo army.

His horse was saddled by the time you made it to the courtyard. Hunter noticed you, and shouted something to his brothers before running towards you.

You threw your arms around him, and your feet momentarily left the ground as he held you tightly.

The thought occurred to you to beg him to stay, to be safe.

As if he could read your mind, he cupped your face with his hands, "If I don't go, I leave you and all the kingdom at risk, milady."

You blinked back tears, pressing a kiss to the palm of his leather glove. "I know."

He gently kissed your forehead. "I will be back soon," He promised.

You nodded, but neither of you moved to let go of the other.

"Be safe?" You whispered. You meant for it to sound like an order, but your voice wavered too much.

He nodded, and before he could change his mind, he pressed his lips to yours. It was your first kiss, and his too, from the flush that coated his cheeks a moment later.

"Hunter! Let's go!" Wrecker called. The rest of his brothers had mounted up, and their steeds were pacing the courtyard anxiously.

"I love you, my lady." He squeezed your hand, and ran to his horse. A moment later, he and his brothers had left the courtyard. The thundering of hooves on the cobblestones rang in your ears as you pressed your fingers to your lips and gripped the pendant that hung around your neck.

"I love you too."

—

The castle felt eerily empty without the knights, and the sky seemed overcast without the light of your lover's presence.

Princess Padme was determined to not let Anakin's absence erode her into nothingness, but there were days when neither of you were able to keep the other going, and you were left to sit in the windows with your stitching and dream of the men you loved returning through the castle's front gate.

Finally, Queen Jobal was tired of seeing the two of you moping about and infecting the palace with the rest of your melancholy, so she sent the two of you out into the fields surrounding the castle to get some sun. You were surprised when the Queen acquiesced so quickly to Padme's request for no guards, but Naboo was far enough away from Serenno,and guards were limited anyway with the men marching off to prepare for battle.

Being so trusting of the distance would be your downfall.

Padme sat in the center of the open field, weaving another length of daisy chains, and her worried fingers soon used up all the daisies within arms reach.

"Would you bring me those flowers at the edge of the forest, there?" she waved in the direction of the treeline, where garden of white flowers stretched towards the sunlight.

You complied without a word, and the sun beat on your back as you gathered armful of blossoms.

And hand seized your upper arm, but before you could scream, another slapped over your mouth.

"That's it, nice and quiet now, my dear. Don't want to frighten away your mistress now do we?" A voice hissed in your ear. The breath reeked of alcohol, and you couldn't tell if the nausea was from your fear or the stench.

You didn't move, freezing up as a knife pressed up against your back. Your captor dragged you into the shade, where his friends peered out from behind the trees, grinning as they set their sights on Padme. Their clothes looked to be of a fine quality, before wear and tear soiled and tore the expensive fabrics. These were mercenaries and thieves.

The hand removed itself, but before you could demand who hired these men, you were gagged with a somewhat clean cloth.

A hawk screeched in your face, and you looked up to see the leader of these mercenaries, so designated by a wide-brimmed hat and flamboyant feathers.

You could hear Padme calling your name, slowly growing closer. You tried to cry out and warn her to go get the guards, to stay away, but you struggled against the gag. There was a scuffle, out of your sight, and a moment later, Padme was dragged up beside you, her dress sullied with dirt.

She was also quickly gagged, and both of you had a hood pulled over your heads. You were tossed into a cart, the brocade of Padme's dress shoved up against your shoulder, and a moment later the cart began to move, taking you both far away from the palace.

—

Hours later, you had almost fallen asleep when the hood was ripped from your head. You were still in the forest, but it was hard to recognize for the darkness that shrouded the campfire.

"Good Evening, my dear Princess!" The lead mercenary sat on a stump, facing you and Padme as you sat together on a long.

"Who are you?" Padme demanded.

"I am Captain Hondo Ohnaka!" He answered without a pause, "Leader of Florrum's most feared band of mercenaries!"

Padme sat up straight, imagining a crown on her head to add a couple more inches to her height.

"What do you want with me, Captain Ohnaka?" She asked.

The Mercenary Captain tsked his teeth, "Truthfully, Dear Princess, I would have nothing to do with you. War between Serenno and Naboo would reap such profits for me and my men, but oh! The profits Count Dooku offered us for your capture and delivery to his palace, well, that was business we could not refuse!"

Padme glared at your captor, her knuckles growing white as her hands curled into fists.

"My father will have discovered me missing, and he will be sending his best men to find me!"

"Ah! But his best men are already in Serenno, no? By the time they receive the news that you are missing, we will already be under Count Dooku's protection."

You thought of Hunter and his brothers, though Padme was certainly praying for Anakin to leap from the bushes and cut down these brigands to defend her honor. You wanted Hunter to find you, to sweep you up in his arms, and deliver you safely back to the palace.

You and Padme looked at each other. Hondo was right, no matter your dreams, no one would be able to get to you in time.

"What does Count Dooku want with her majesty?" You asked, scooting closer to her. Both of you still had your wrists bound, but you held her hand and she squeezed tightly.

"The Count would not deign to share his plans with a mere mercenary such as myself," Hondo took a bow, waving his hat grandly.

"Though if 'ah 'ad t'say, he's lookin' to get 'Imself 'itched!" Captain Ohnaka's second in command cackled, and the Captain' s pet hawk screeched from his perch on Ohnaka's shoulder.

You and Padme looked at each other in fright.

Ohnaka chuckled, "I…. May know a bit about that, yes. Dinner, anyone?" He held out a biscuit to Padme.

Padme glared at him, so you took it before she could knock it into the fire.

"Princess, you need to eat," You urged her. Ohnaka gave you another biscuit, and left you with the second in command while he went to go check on the rest of his men.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Padme hissed. The mercenary was more concerned with keeping the hawk from annoying him.

You took a bite of the biscuit, it was stale, but flavorless, thankfully.

Padme nudged you gently. "You should run. You're a maid, they won't be concerned if you escape, you can get back to the palace and mount a rescue party."

You glanced over your shoulder. The Captain was coming back towards you.

"You're too valuable," You whispered to her, "If anyone should escape, it's you. Like you said, I'm just a maid. They're not going to be too concerned with me. You have to get away before we get to Serenno."

Ohnaka sat in front of you again, and you both went silent. An escape plan would have to come later.

—

For the most part, you weren't tied up, but you were under constant watch. It was hard to plan anything with ears constantly listening.

Two days after your capture, you crossed the border into Sereno. Trapped in the back of the pirates rickety wooden cart, you watched mournfully as Naboo's magnificent forests thinned out, making way for Serenno's cliffs and mountains.

One of the mercenaries’ scouts reported the distance to Serenno, and Ohnaka rubbed his hands together in delight.

“Tomorrow, Princess,” He took off his hat to give Padme a sweeping bow, “We shall introduce you to your husband!”

Padme blanched as the rest of Ohnaka’s crew jeered with laughter.

The mercenaries set up camp for the night at the base of the cliffs, next to a roaring waterfall. The fresh water seemed to be calling you with a siren song, making you keenly aware of every particle of dirt plastered to your skin. You were hesitant to bathe in front of these men of less than noble intentions, especially with the princess nearby. Her natural curls were limp with sweat, and her dress was covered in mud from sleeping on the ground all night.

“Captain,” You stood to catch Ohnaka’s attention, “If her highness is going to meet Count Dooku tomorrow, wouldn’t it be best for her to be cleaned up?”

The Mercenary thought it over. “You make a good point my lady.”

You grit your teeth

The men escorted you and Padme down to the riverbank.

“Alright now, off with it.” One of them jeered.

Padme glared at him, “Excuse me?”

“You ‘eard him,” His companion insisted, “We’re missing supper ‘bout now.”

While the men eyed Padme like fresh pork in the dining hall you snuck around behind them, eyeing the swords strapped to their belts.

“If you were a gentleman you’d give me some privacy,” Padme said, struggling to undo the ties on the back of her dress by herself.

“I ain’t no gentleman,” The mercenary assured her.

With a huff, Padme undid her dress, pulling it over her head and tossing it at the other man. She was still in her shift, but the men refused to look away. For your purposes, that suited you and Padme just fine.

“Then at least turn around.”

“So you can run away while my back is turned? How stupid do you think I am?”

Padme smirked, “Quite stupid, actually.”

You yanked the swords from their belts in one swift movement, keeping one for yourself and tossing the other to Padme. The both of you had been around Hunter and Anakin long enough to know how to hold your own against an opponent, particularly an unarmed one.

Padme slashed one of them across the face, and you took the other from the back. They both crumpled to the ground, but you could hear sounds from the campsite. Both of you ran.

You ran against the current of the river, hoping that the sound of rushing water would hide your footfalls. There was little to no cover in the canyon, so you hugged the wall as tightly as you could in an attempt to avoid detection.

Padme gripped your free hand tightly as you dove around a corner and into an alcove.

"Do you think we've lost them?" she whimpered.

You squeezed her hand tightly, taking one step towards the corner to look for yourself.

With a shout, one of the mercenaries lunged around the corner, yanking on your skirt.

You tried to kick him away, but he grabbed your ankle instead, knocking you off your feet.

"Run, Princess, run!" you screamed.

Padme had a white-knuckled grip on the sword, frozen in fear but desperate to help you. She raised her sword to free you, but another mercenary caught up with you. He swiped his sword at her, and she shrieked, stumbling backwards.

"NO!"

Padme disappeared over the edge of the path, and you heard the splash in the river below.

"No!" Ohnaka moaned, as his prize fell out of sight. The mercenaries went up and down the river, and none of them could find any trace of Padme.

Captain Ohnaka seethed.

"Hold her," He growled, grabbing his sword.

The mercenaries yanked you to your feet as Ohnaka approached

He gripped your chin in his hand, "My dear lady, if you value your life, You will answer my question quickly and honestly.

"Has Princess Padme ever met Count Dooku in person?"

Given that he was supposed to deliver Padme to Count Dooku, and the fact that the two had never met before hadn't mattered until now, you were quite confused.

"N-no, they've never met before." You stammered.

Captain Ohnaka dropped your chin so that it hit your chest. You gasped for breath, offering a silent prayer of gratitude that Padme had gotten away.

Captain Ohnaka took the dress from his right hand man, running the delicate fabric through his fingers.

"Let her go," he told his men.

They glanced at you, but you were just as confused as you were. Still, they dropped your arms, just in time for you to catch Padme's dress as Ohnaka threw it at you.

"Better get dressed, Princess Padme," the Captain grinned. His men began to chuckle darkly as it dawned on all of you what Ohnaka's plan was.

"Tomorrow, we shall introduce you to your future husband!"

—

Hunter wondered why he and his brothers had been summoned to Duke Kenobi’s tent again. They’d given their original report to him already, and clarified any questions the Duke had asked.

Hunter stopped Wrecker outside the tent, and all five of them could hear the shouting within. The Duke made a muffled reply, and the shouter responded. Crosshair swept the curtain aside to find Sir Anakin leaning over the Duke’s desk as he shouted angrily. The Duke was doing his best to remain calm for his brother-in-arms, but from his tense shoulders this had been going on for a while.

“We have to rescue her!” Anakin screamed. It was the only thing Hunter could make out.

“Rescue who?” Hunter asked, though there was only one person on the continent that Sir Anakin would be so protective over.

“Ah, The Bad Batch,” Duke Kenobi smiled at them wearily, happy to put Anakin’s fuming to the side as he beckoned them inside the tent.

“Tech, would you be certain no one is prying outside?” He asked, standing from his chair.

Tech nodded. After a brief perimeter sweep with Echo, they stationed Wrecker outside the tent door to make sure no one came too close.

What I am about to tell all of you cannot be repeated to another,” The Duke warned, “I am about to call off tomorrow morning’s attack on the border, and his majesty even asked me to consider running up the white flag as a precaution.”

A bird’s trill broke through Kenobi’s warning, and Hunter noticed the messenger pigeons roosting in the corner, and a tiny scroll sealed with the royal crest rested in the center of the Duke’s desk.

“Call off the attack?” Crosshair asked.

“If I may say so, your grace, the men will not be very happy about that,” Tech said. The grim twist of the Duke’s mustache proved he’d already considered that.

“We may have no other choice. We have received word from the Castle that the princess was abducted several days ago. The ransom note delivered the day after came from Count Dooku himself. He warned King Ruwee that if we tried anything, her highness would pay the price.”

That explained Anakin’s outburst. Hunter’s throat ran dry as he struggled to take a breath.

“Sir, was the princess the only one abducted?” He asked. Yes, the princess was in danger. But his only thoughts were of you.

“The king’s message didn’t say. Only to ceasefire for now.”

Hunter gulped. You never left Padme’s side, so you very well could be captured with her, or worse, cast aside and killed. Or you could have been the one to report her missing. Hunter tried to breathe and tell himself not to worry about things that couldn’t be helped. He was a knight, you would have had to worry about life or death in your relationship sooner or later.

“How can we sit here while Serenno terrorizes our borders? Their general has cut through five villages already! What of the people?” Echo asked.

“My thoughts exactly,” The Duke said grimly, “Which is where the six of you come in.”

“Six?” Hunter asked, abruptly pulled from his thoughts.

“Yes, Sir Hunter. Anakin will join you and your brothers on a rescue mission. The six of you will sneak across enemy lines, rescue the princess, and bring her back to our camp. Then we can resume our attack on Serenno.”

Crosshair grinned. “High chance of risk, small chance of success. Sounds like our kind of work.”

“Ready your horses,” Anakin said. He pushed past Hunter without waiting for the Duke’s dismissal. “We leave immediately.”

—

It was no wonder to you that Serenno wanted to invade Naboo. As the mercenaries approached the capitol the land became drier and rockier, a stark contrast to Naboo's lakes and lush greenery. These people couldn't farm, and those that stood on the side of the road to watch your procession were gaunt and thin in their ragged clothes. You couldn't look them in the eyes for the hollow, guilty feeling that filled your stomach. No wonder Serenno wanted to invade Naboo. Even as a maid, you went to bed with your stomach full and you knew that you would be guaranteed food the next day. Serenno had none of that.

The dark stone castle was surrounded by a wall ten feet thick, while giant knights armed to the teeth guarded the portcullis and every vantage point. Ohnaka and his men were granted entry, and you knew there was no chance of escape for you now.

A man in a golden crown stood on the steps of the castle, surrounded by his retinue. He had white hair with a neatly trimmed beard, and despite his height, his ermine-trimmed cloak trailed out behind him for a good foot. Count Dooku watched the procession smugly, surrounded by all the wealth and comforts his people could only dream of.

The cart came to a stop at the foot of the steps, and Ohnaka held out a hand to help you down. Padme’s dress twisted around you uncomfortably as you moved, and you hoped the count couldn’t tell how ill-fitting it was.

“My Lord!” Ohnaka said loudly, bowing to his patron, “May I present to you, Princess Padme Naberrie of Naboo!”

The Castle courtyard was silent, all looking to Count Dooku for his reaction. You stood frozen in fear, trying to remember how Padme carried herself. As much as you didn’t want to marry this count who was at least three times your age, if he discovered that you were not who you claimed to be, you would be killed without hesitation. At least alive, you had a chance of survival, a chance for Padme to make it back to the castle or to the army and mount a rescue.

Who were you kidding? You were just a maid. No one would be coming to rescue you.

The Count slowly approached her, his smug smile growing with each step. You could feel Ohnaka’s hand trembling in yours as the mercenary sent you a warning look out of the corner of his eye. He needed this scheme to work as much as you did.

The count took your chin in his hand, carefully studying your face. You swallowed nervously as the Count’s dark gray eyes bored into yours.

Then, with all the gentility a nobleman should exude, he knelt in front of you, taking your free hand and kissing it gently. It took all your self-preservation to not yank your hand away, wishing it was Hunter before you who was kissing you.

“Your highness,” He murmured, still with a self-satisfied smile, “Welcome home.”

—

As fast as Hunter wanted to ride, to rescue the princess and return her home himself if it meant seeing you again, Tech and Crosshair argued that if the rescue were to succeed, they needed the element of surprise.

Still, he and Anakin were at the front of their company, trotting as fast as they dared before Tech would remind them of the nature of their mission. Neither of them mentioned Anakin’s relationship with the princess, and Anakin didn’t try to bring you up either.

As the trees of Naboo began to vanish, they traveled down into one of the canyons to avoid detection, hugging the canyon wall as they followed the course of the river.

“This river leads to the marsh just outside the count’s castle,” Tech consulted his map again, “If we follow it, we should reach the castle by noon tomorrow.”

Hunter’s eye twitched. The Princess may not have until tomorrow.

“Camp, up ahead,” Crosshair warned.

Hunter spotted it too. It appeared abandoned, but there were the remnants of several cooking fires. As they approached, the ashes of the fires appeared fresh.

“This must be the party that captured the princess,” Anakin growled. His horse paced nervously, sensing his master’s anger.

Hunter leaped down from his horse to study the tracks left behind. They were fresher than the last two campsites they’d discovered, and now that they’d crossed the border into Serenno, the mercenaries or whoever the Count had sent to capture Princess Padme had become careless.

“There were two wagons, one loaded down with supplies, and the other not as heavy. Probably for the princess.”

“Can you tell how many men there were?” Echo asked.

Hunter grit his teeth. “About two dozen.”

“Only two dozen?” Wrecker guffawed, laughter echoing off the canyon walls, “We eat that for breakfast!”

Tech hushed Wrecker in warning as a murder of crows took off, spooked by the noise.

Hunter carefully studied the crow’s pattern, in case they warned the Count or anyone else of their unwanted presence. As he watched, the crows began to circle in the air, hesitantly scanning the area they’d just been stationed at.

“What is it?” Crosshair asked him quietly.

Hunter didn’t answer, but he chewed his bottom lip and mounted his horse again, following the river’s rapid course to where the crows finally landed.

There was a woman, washed up on the riverbank.

“Padme!” Anakin screamed her name, urging his horse into a gallop to reach her. He leaped down off his horse, pulling the princess from the water and into his arms. Her breathing was ragged, and she was wearing nothing but her shift. Anakin wrapped her in his cloak as Tech began to see to her condition. Hunter stood back, looking around for any sign of his lady.

“Ani?” Padme murmured, as she began to become cognizant of her surroundings.

“It’s alright your highness, you’re safe now,” Anakin soothed her, brushing her hair back from her face.

“If you’ll pardon me, your highness, you appear to have a fever. I’m going to administer an antidote.” Tech interrupted. Padme nodded, and Anakin helped her sit up to take a drink from one of the many draughts at his belt.

“My apologies if this is rude,” Crosshair spoke up, “But do you mind explaining what happened? How’d you end up in the river?”

“Crosshair!” Echo’s shout informed Crosshair that he had, in fact, been rude to ask those questions.

“‘S fine,” the princess murmured, shivering in Anakin’s arms, “I was captured by mercenaries from Florrum, they were hired by the Count to capture me…as a bride for Dooku.”

Such a revelation filled all the men in earshot with rage. That Dooku would be so vile towards their princess, for one, or that he would use such dishonorable means to gain control of Naboo. All of them preferred a direct fight to these political machinations.

“They had me wash up in the river, and my maid told me to run- they chased me, and I fell into the river. I guess they thought I died.”

“You nearly did.” Tech informed her grimly, but Hunter didn’t hear any of it.

Caught on a rock in the river was your necklace, with the pendant he made for you. He fished it out and held it tight.

You were still captured. Imprisoned by Count Dooku. There’s no telling what that man would do to you as punishment for losing the princess.

None of the others noticed his distress, and the Princess was too delirious with fever to think coherently.

“We have to get her back to our base camp, we can help her rest there, and Duke Kenobi can begin his attack,” Tech said. Wrecker scooped up the princess in his arms, handing her to Anakin once he was settled on his horse.

Hunter only barely registered that the others were preparing to turn around. But you were still in danger, and he refused to leave you behind.

“What about the maid?” He choked out. Your hair, your eyes, your laugh filled his mind, keeping him from thinking of anything but you.

“The maid?” Wrecker asked.

“Yes, the princess was captured with her maid. We have to save her!”

“But Serenno, the army…” Echo looked back up the canyon.

“Hunter, if Dooku has the resources to hire two dozen mercenaries, there’s no telling what kind of army he has at his disposal. We can’t break through all of them for just a maid, certainly not with the Princess sick and under our care,” Tech said.

Hunter grit his teeth.

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

With a “HYAH!” He turned his horse around, sending her galloping through the canyon.

“Hunter!” Crosshair screamed as his brother disappeared around the riverbend, “the Duke didn’t say anything about a maid!”

But Hunter was already too far ahead. He didn’t care how many men the Count had. You were in danger, and he was determined to save you.

Lady Luck (Prequel)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

[watchmegetobsessed]

SLEEPLESS

a/n: omg! it's been so long since i last wrote something for harry so it feels a bit weird but in a good way to be back. i've been spending more time offline so writing hasn't been going that fast like before, but im working on a few other stuff too! just please be patient with me, im trying my besti swear! so now enjoy this oneshot of two oblivious and stupid roommates who start sharing a bed...

pairing: Roommate!Harry x reader

word count: 8.1k

masterlist

Living with three boys has its perks but also a lot of downsides too. It’s not how you planned, you were set to move in with one of your friends from second year, but she bailed on you last minute, leaving you with no place to live when most of the houses were already taken for the next at least one year. You were bracing yourself to sleep under a bridge or something already when your heroes came along.

You went to high school with Harry Niall and Louis, but you weren’t exactly in the same friend group, just knew about each other. Then you ended up in the same Lit class freshman year with Harry and he was basically your pass into their little group. You hit it off pretty easily and you always wondered why you didn’t become friends before college. Later you had two more classes with him in the second semester and it was just all a coincidence that he found out about your living situation.

“Why don’t you move in with us?” he prompted one afternoon when you were studying together in the library.

“I’m not sharing a room with any of you, Harry,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“You wouldn’t have to. We had a fourth mate living with us but he dropped out about a month ago. You could take his bedroom.”

“Are for real? You should talk about it with the boys first, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind it. They like you too and if I’m being honest, the place could use the touch of a woman,” he smirked and you just rolled your eyes, but you were incredibly thankful for the offer.

So after talking with Niall and Louis about it and once they gave their amens on the situation, you officially moved in with the three of them.

You’d be lying if you said there hasn’t been times when you thought about choosing the bridge, living with boys is not exactly a dream. They are messy, sometimes loud and oblivious about certain things women do and need. You’ll never forget Niall’s face when you packed the shelf above the toilet with your tampons and pads. The horror in his eyes as he examined all the different sizes and types.

“But why so many? I don’t get it why you need the large ones and the mini ones too,” he huffed.

“Because I vary them according to the strength of my flow.”

“Bless you,” he scoffed and just walked away.

They tend to leave their clothes around the house and they don’t always realize when it’s time to let some fresh air into the place either. Harry has a sixth sense wanting to use the bathroom when you’re in and Louis always forgets to get rid of his spoiled food from the fridge. Tini things that surely got you thinking if it was a good idea to move in with them. But then there are times when you can’t even imagine sharing a home with anyone else than these three idiots.

The way Harry always leaves you a cup of coffee on the counter when he has an early class on mondays and wednesdays, how Niall always waits for you to get home after your night shifts at the restaurant you’ve been working at, but he always just says he was watching Supernatural on TV. You love that Louis goes out of his way to get you your favorite pastry for breakfast on sundays when he goes for his morning runs. But the absolute best is that you never feel alone or bored with these three around. Something is always happening and they make sure to involve you in everything, making you feel like part of their little pack.

Tonight is Thursday and Thursdays are movie nights in your home. It’s been a tradition since the first week and you haven’t missed any of them. Sitting on the couch at your usual spot, you laugh as Niall growls in annoyance when you suggest to watch another rom-com.

“Not again!” he protests, sitting on the floor by the coffee table you and Harry thrifted a few months ago after the previous one was broken at a smaller party held in the house.

“Why? I bet Harry would love it!” you grin, glancing at the guy in talk who is now entering the room with a big bowl of popcorn.

“Of course he would, because he is a pussy! And the two of you always team up, dragging Louis with you so I can never watch something I enjoy!” Niall whines as Harry sits next to you, not too bothered by his friend’s cries.

“Come on, I bet you enjoyed Crazy, Stupid Love last week!” you laugh, remembering how he whined for the first part, then fell asleep at the end.

“Love, if you think that was enjoyment, I wouldn’t want to be your boyfriend,” Niall scoffs and you gasp at his reply.

“Hey!” you snap at him, but can’t help laughing. This is how it always goes with you and Niall, the non-stop bickering can sometimes drive Harry and Lou insane.

“Okay, so what do you want to watch?” Harry asks, throwing some popcorn into his mouth as he gets comfortable, an arm resting on the back of the couch behind you, the other one busy with the snack in his lap.

“There is this new horror I’ve been dying to see!” Niall’s blue eyes light up right away, but you’re fast to break that shine.

“Nah, no way. I’m not watching a horror movie.”

“Why not?”

“Because I fucking hate them and they scare the shit out of me.”

“That’s like the whole point!” he protests, but you shake your head no again.

“What are you fighting about again?” Louis asks, walking into the room after his quick shower, the smell of his body wash filling the room for a few moments.

“I want to watch a horror movie, but Y/N is a little baby and she doesn’t want to.”

“I’m not a baby! I just don’t enjoy watching people get killed or demons sucking the life out of someone!” Niall just rolls his eyes at your response.

“But it’s always what you or Harry wants to watch, why can’t I choose just this once?”

“That’s not true, we watch movies you like too!” you retort, but Niall gives you an unimpressed look. “We watched that crime thing, that was your choice!”

“That was three months ago, Y/N,” he sighs and as you do some quick math you realize that he is right.

“Hey, he has a point. Let’s just watch what he wants this one time, yeah?” Harry curls his arm that’s been on the back of the couch around your shoulder and he pulls you to his side, squeezing you gently.

“But I hate horrors,” you pout, knowing well that it’s already kind of settled, you lost this battle.

“It’s just a movie. And if you get scared in the night, you can sleep at mine,” he offers with a wink that surely makes your heartbeat fasten a bit.

If you’re being honest, you’ve always had a tiny crush on Harry, even back in high school, when you didn’t really know him. He was the cool guy, but not the douchebag type, more like the one that was nice to everyone and earned their respect and liking. Getting to know him just proved that he really is a great guy, but you figured he would never feel the same way about you. These three guys only saw you as their sister and that was in a way kinda worse than being friend zoned, but there’s nothing you can do about it, so you just decided to come to peace with your situation. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get flustered when you see him wander around the house in just his boxers or when he gets a little touchy with you, which happens a lot, because that’s just how he is. Hands on your shoulders, a little squeeze on your hips, the gentle touch of his fingers on your back, they happen all the time and they get your pulse up every time. You can only hope it’s not that noticeable.

Niall finally gets what he wants and you agree to watch that stupid horror movie. It doesn’t start off too bad, but it quickly escalates and makes you shudder every time the screen gets a little darker or the music is foreshadowing that something is about to happen.

“Jesus fuck!” you jump a little when the killer appears out of nowhere in the scene.

“You alright?” Harry asks, peeking down at you.

“I fucking hate this dude,” you mumble, rubbing your face with your hands, to get your shit together. Harry chuckles lightly next to you, his arm pulling you to his side close and you gladly sink against him, the warmth of his body giving you some comfort and a sense of safety.

Your eyes are on the screen, but your mind is dancing around how his fingers are delicately running up and down your arm, drawing circles and little shapes on your skin. It could put you to sleep easily, even with the woman screaming on the screen after seeing her husband get killed.

“Just imagine the guy with a funny mustache,” Harry murmurs, leaning closer to you so he doesn’t bother the other two guys with his comment. “Or maybe in a ridiculous outfit.”

“Like… in a onsie?” you ask, squinting your eyes at the screen.

“Could be, yeah,” he chuckles quietly. “Just imagine him running through the woods in a onsie with bunnies all over it.”

You can’t push your laughter down, covering your mouth with your hand so you don’t bother the others. Harry just smirks, giving you a squeeze as you’re still melted against his side on the couch, legs pulled up to your chest, while his are spread out in front of him.

“Definitely not that scary,” you giggle and Harry hums in agreement.

“Would you mind getting a fucking room, you guys? You have two, in fact!” Niall snaps at you playfully, when you start laughing again.

“Sorry, sorry!” you clear your throat, your cheeks heating up at the comment, but luckily it’s dark enough to hide your embarrassment. Niall is always quick to make dirty jokes and tease you in a way that makes you nervous, especially when it involves Harry as well. He has made plenty of comments about you and Harry since you’ve moved in, implying that the two of you sometimes act like a couple or that you should hook up. Harry is always quick to shake them off, that’s how you know he couldn’t even take the thought seriously.

At the end of the movie you feel like it wasn’t bad, not with Harry holding you close at least.

“Will you be screaming tonight, Y/N?” Niall teases you, making you roll your eyes at him.

“Either way it’s gonna be your fault.”

“I can live with that!” he laughs, bidding his goodbye before he shuts the door of his bedroom behind him.

You do your usual evening routine, get ready to bed and by the time you’re done in the bathroom all the boys have retired into their rooms. The hallway stands dark in front of you, only a tiny bit of light coming from your bedroom since you left your bedside lamp on in there, but you still can’t help the eerie feeling that washes over you. That movie didn’t sit right with you and now you have to face the aftermath of it.

Switching the lights in the bathroom off you sprint into your bedroom, pictures from the movie flashing in your mind of the killer just jumping out of nowhere. You shut the door and lean your back against it for a moment, taking a deep breath. Tonight is going to be long.

No matter how hard you try, you just can’t fall asleep. You’re way too alerted, opening your eyes at the tiniest of sounds around you, which is unfortunate, because your window is looking over the main street, unlike two other rooms in the house, that are facing the small backyard. Harry and Louis have the luck to have those rooms.

Every time you’re about to fall asleep something from the movie sneaks into your thoughts and you get scared to death. Soon, you realize you won’t be able to sleep on your own tonight.

Sitting on the edge of your bed, you wonder if Harry really meant that offer that you can sleep with him or not. Part of you is convinced it was just a joke, but when you hear someone shouting down the street you push your doubts aside and you quickly find yourself making your way to Harry’s room.

You knock on the room lightly, not wanting to wake anyone else up. The last thing you need is Niall seeing you go into Harry’s room in the middle of the night.

No answer comes from inside, but you won’t just leave it at that. Opening the door you’re facing another dark room, barely making out the furniture, but you already know the route by heart. Making it to the bed your eyes finally adjust to the darkness and you can see Harry lying on his side, sleeping peacefully. Squatting down you place a hand to his shoulder and give him a tiny shake.

“Harry?” you call out quietly, but his answer is just a huff. “Harry, it’s me,” you try again, squeezing his arm. He furrows his eyebrows before slowly blinking his eyes open, finding you in his sight.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” he asks in that groggy, low voice you love hearing in the morning so much.

“I can’t… Did you mean that I can sleep here if I’m scared?” you ask, afraid that he might just have a good laugh and send you back to your room. For a long moment, he just blinks at you before nodding his head and you feel relief washing over you.

“Sure,” he hums.

“O-okay then I’ll bring a blanket and take the floor and--”

“Shut up, you are not sleeping on the floor,” he growls, grabbing your wrist and pulling you into bed with him as he scoots over, making you space on the mattress.

It’s a bit weird at first, lying in bed with Harry, especially because it’s just queen sized, so there’s not much space between the two of you, but it seems like Harry doesn’t mind it so why should you?

Your nerves are a lot calmer with Harry next to you, but maybe it’s still because of the movie or because you’re a bit anxious about the whole situation, you just still can’t relax enough to fall asleep.

“Y/N, no one is gonna kill you here,” Harry speaks up surprising you because you thought he has already fallen back asleep.

“I know, I know,” you whisper, trying to sound convincing, but you can’t fool anyone, especially not him.

He huffs deeply and before you could realize what’s happening, Harry’s arm is curled around your waist, pulling you against him, spooning you from behind, the warmth of his body wrapping your figure almost entirely.

“If a murderer comes, they will have to fight me first, alright? Now sleep,” he mumbles against your hair, squeezing you gently. All at once, you couldn’t care about killers and dark shadows around you, because Harry was right there, holding you tight and there was nowhere you wanted to be more than right there.

You slept like a baby. Harry’s closeness kept every nightmare away from you and the morning came with ease. Harry’s phone wakes the two of you up at eight, because he has a morning class at 9.30. The two of you are completely tangled up in each other, lying on your side facing each other, Harry’s arms are wrapped around you, while yours are hugging his waist. Groaning at the sound of his alarm, he rolls to his back to reach for the phone on the nightstand and then he finally turns it off. It’s bright outside, the darkness of the night finally long gone. You’re still groggy when Harry rolls back, his arm coming back around you like it’s the most natural thing in the world and in a sense, it feels like that. But as you both slowly wake up, you realize that you might be a little too close. Slowly but surely you let go of each other, rolling to your back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Hope I didn’t kick you in my sleep,” you smile at him, peeking over at him, hoping to break the awkwardness of the situation.

“No, don’t worry about it,” he chuckles, rubbing his eyes, before pushing himself up and off the bed. You follow him with your gaze as he steps to his dresser and grabs a pair of clean underwear. “I’ll put on a coffee while I shower, want one too?” he asks, though you know he could make one for you anyway.

“Sure, thank you,” you nod and he nods back, yawning as he walks out of the room, leaving you lying in his bed, a bit confused and kind of aching to be held by him again.

Two days pass by, everything is going as per usual, neither you nor Harry brings up that you spent the night in his bed that one particular time. Now it’s saturday and you all were planning to go out, but a sudden storm has cancelled your plans, so the evening turned into a cozy, lazy hangout instead of a wild party at some frat house.

Louis decided to work on a paper that’s due in two weeks, Niall has been relentlessly swiping on Tinder while you and Harry are spawled out on the couch, watching some shitty action movie that was on TV, since you both were too lazy to choose one and put it on. Deep down you’re a little happy you don’t have to spend the evening in a crowded, smelly house, drinking cheap alcohol.

Harry gets up from his seat to grab himself a drink just when Niall growls in annoyance.

“What is it?” you ask.

“They keep unmatching with me after we’ve talked a little!”

“Have you thought about the reason?” you smirk at him, knowing well that Niall probably isn’t the easiest to talk to, he surely takes it too far too soon.

“Well they probably don’t like that I ask them if I can go over,” he shrugs, making you laugh.

“You’d go over in the pouring rain?” Harry asks, returning to his spot on the couch. He puts his drink to the coffee table and instead of sitting into his previous position, leaning against the arm of the couch, he lies down, laying his head to your thigh, making your breath hitch for a moment.

“Of course not!” Niall rolls his eyes. “But I thought it would make them think I would do anything for them.”

“It makes you seem desperate,” Harry retorts, earning a questioning look from his friend. “What? It does!”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Yes it does,” you nod in agreement. “Going over in the middle of a storm just to fuck? Sounds like you’re having a hard time finding someone.”

“Women are so fucking complicated, and for what?!” he growls, before storming off to his bedroom, like an angsty teenager, leaving you and Harry alone.

He doesn’t move, his head stays on your thigh using it as a pillow. His curls are tickling the soft skin on your thigh and you have to fight the urge to play with his hair or scratch his scalp. You stay like this for the rest of the movie and when he gets up you almost want to pull him back.

“Alright, I’m fucked, I’m gonna go to bed,” he yawns, stretching his arms out into the air as he heads into his bedroom. “Good night, Y/N.”

“Night, Harry!” you call after him as you watch his frame disappear down the hallway.

Sighing, you slide down on the couch, cursing under your breath that you’re still so hung up on Harry. You really thought that you had it under control, but lately those damn butterflies are acting up in your stomach at everything he does.

“I’m pathetic,” you mumble under your breath just as the sky rumbles outside with a blinding lightning, making you jump with a squeak. “Shit,” you huff, already knowing that falling asleep will be a pain in the ass. Again.

You’ve always hated storms, they make you think that something bad is about to happen, a tree is about to fall into the window or a lightning will blow up the building. It’s kind of stupid, you know it, but you just can’t help it.

Tossing and turning, you jump every time a lightning flashes somewhere outside and a few seconds later the thunder rips through your whole body, almost making you fall off the bed.

“Oh God,” you let out a shaky breath. You have no idea how long it is until the Storm finally stops and you’d really like to have a good night's sleep. So pushing your anxious thoughts to the side, you get out of bed and head over to Harry’s room once again.

It’s such a deja vu from a few nights ago, as you gently knock on the door you wait again, but this time you actually get an answer.

“Yeah?” you hear him call out from inside and you slowly open the door, peeking your head inside. Harry is lying in bed, his head propped up against the headboard as he is scrolling through his phone. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” he asks, putting the phone aside as he sits up.

“I just, I-I know it’s stupid, but I was thinking… I don’t know--”

“Y/N, just tell me, alright? Come on in,” he gestures for you and you slip into the room, closing the door behind you before sitting to the edge of the bed next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep during storms…” you admit, looking into his eyes, hoping he gets the hint where you want to head with it. He stares back at you for a moment before he scoots over, lifting the covers up, giving you the green light to join him.

Relieved, you climb over to him, making yourself comfortable as he wraps the blanket over you, his arm immediately coming to cradle you, this time pulling you to his chest so your head is laid upon his shoulder, a hand gently placed onto his hard chest, probably right above where his butterfly tattoo is adorning his abdomen.

This is now easily your favorite place. Safe and tight in Harry’s arms, protected from anything and everything, like you’re in a little bubble as soon as you get on his bed.

Lightning strikes outside again and you shiver a little. Harry probably notices it, because he tightens his hold around you, as if it’s his way telling you that he is here and nothing bad is gonna happen. Eventually, you’re able to shut the outside out and only focus on Harry’s warmth, the touch of his hand on your arm and his even breathing. And then finally, you drift off to sleep.

This morning is different from the previous one you spent here. There’s no alarm since it’s Sunday, neither of you have anything in particular to do, so you wake up feeling rested, the Sun shining through his half drawn in curtains, no trace of last night’s storm can be noticed from where you’re lying in bed, the sky is as clear as ever. Sometime during the night you got tangled in a way where Harry is the one now cuddling you, his head lying on your chest, hugging you as if you were a giant teddy bear, his leg thrown between yours, lightly snoring against your sleep shirt. You can only see his mop of hair and the urge to play with them is back, but this time, you give in.

Leaving one hand on his back, you move the other one to his unruly locks, gently playing with one before you comb your fingers through it, lightly scratching his scalp. Harry hums in pleasure, shifting from his dreams back to reality, but he doesn’t move, just keeps humming as you massage his scalp.

“It’s not a good morning, it’s the best,” he mumbles groggily, making you chuckle at his words.

One of his hands is flat against your ribcage and the damned butterflies start dancing when you feel his fingers gently stroke your side as you keep playing with his curls. This feels so idyllic, as if you’ve been like this forever. You wish that was true.

Groaning as he stretches, Harry rolls to his back, making you instantly miss his body pressed against yours. He rubs his eyes, sighing deep as he blinks up at the ceiling a few times, then he turns his head to the side, looking at you.

Just when he is about to say something, outside his door it sounds like someone just broke a pile of plates and it’s followed by Niall’s usual annoyed growl. You both get out of bed to go and check what happened, not even thinking about how it might appear that you both are coming from Harry’s room in the morning.

Harry flings the door open and there is Niall, collecting pieces of a plate from the floor, his breakfast scattered down the hallway as well while he curses under his breath.

“What happened?” Harry asks, picking up a bigger piece from the plate.

“Fucking tripped,” he growls back, glancing up just for a moment, then back down, but then he processes that you’re standing behind Harry, in his room, in the morning. “What the fuck are you doing in Harry’s room?” he bluntly asks, quickly forgetting about the mess he just made.

“What?” you ask nervously, your pulse quickening in an instant. Harry stands up, seemingly not too bothered by Niall’s question.

“You slept in his room?!”

“She did,” Harry answers, leaning against the doorframe.

“Wait, are you two fucking?” Niall’s eyes widen, snapping back and forth between you and Harry.

“Just because two people sleep in the same bed, doesn’t mean they are fucking, Niall,” Harry chuckles, seemingly amused by the situation that’s got your stomach knotted. Louis’ door opens and he walks out, his hair a little messy, but already dressed, a mug halfway filled with coffee in his hand.

“Wha’s this circus out here?” he asks, looking around, his eyes scanning over the mess on the floor.

“Did you know these two are fucking?” Niall asks him and Harry lets his head drop back at his words.

“Are you?” Louis simply questions and you shake your head no.

“We are not. Y/N can’t sleep in a storm so she came over to mine.”

“Funny, she doesn’t come to me when she’s scared,” Niall scoffs.

“I never came to you because you don’t understand that sleeping together doesn’t mean sex,” you retort, though your ears are practically burning from the rising anxiety inside you.

“Wait, whoa. This wasn’t the first time you two slept together?”

“She was scared after your stupid horror movie too,” Harry shrugs.

“Wow, so are you guys a thing now or what?”

“Niall!” Harry growls and you’re not entirely sure what bothers you more. Niall’s shock and interrogation or the way Harry seems so cool and unbothered, like it’s no big deal. Maybe because for him it really isn’t, it’s only about the sleeping, nothing else, even though the cuddles are a little beyond the lines of friendship.

“What? I’m just asking the important stuff! Am I not allowed to tell dirty jokes to Y/N because you’ll cut my prick off?”

“You shouldn’t tell those anyway,” Louis chimes in and you nod in agreement.

Seeing that the conversation is just getting more and more awkward with each passing moment you decide to pull yourself out of it. Pushing yourself past Harry you mumble an excuse me before rushing back into your room, the three boys eyeing you curiously as you shut the door behind you, finally putting a physical barrier between you and them.

You shouldn’t be this offended, it’s not like any promises were made and you should have known better and not fall for him more than you already did. It was silly of you to think that there was anything more behind these nights spent curled up against each other, or when you woke up tangled and melted together. It was never what you hoped it to be.

Then and there you decide it’s better if you distanced yourself from him, or at least go back to how it was before. No bed sharing, no cuddling and preferably no bitter feelings.

It all goes well, because you have a pretty busy week after that day, you always have something to do and it’s not like you spent the night with Harry randomly, so it was evident that you stayed in your room so far.

But about a week later another storm was threatening to strike. The sky was gradually darkening all afternoon and now it’s only five o’clock, but it feels like eight. It’s Sunday, you’re quite exhausted since you were working until three. Niall was out somewhere with some of his coursemates and Louis went home for the weekend, won’t be back until Tuesday. It’s just you and Harry, who’s been sprawled out on the couch in only his sweatpants while you’re making yourself an early dinner so you can go to bed soon and have a good night’s sleep.

It doesn’t take long for the rain to start pouring, you’ve just gotten out of the shower when the first thunder rips through the place, making you gasp in fear. Harry’s head snaps around, looking in your way where you’re standing at the bathroom door, a questioning look in his eyes, but he doesn’t say a word. Ignoring his gaze, you just make your way into your bedroom, not even thinking about what could be on his mind. Is he thinking about whether you’ll ask to sleep with him again or he doesn’t care about it at all?

By the time you are ready to go to bed, the storm is fully raging outside, making your insides tremble every time you see a lightning or the thunder breaks the quietness in the house. You make one last trip to the kitchen, finding Harry leaned against the counter as he eats an apple.

“Going to bed early?” he asks as you pour yourself some water.

“Mhm,” you nod, avoiding looking at him.

“Everything alright?”

“Sure, I’m just tired,” you force a small smile onto your face just when a thunder rumbles outside, making you jump. Harry is watching you curiously and kind of expectantly, but you’re doing your best ignoring it. Instead, you just grab your water and head back to your room. “Good night.”

“Night, Y/N,” he calls after you, and you can feel his burning gaze on your back right until you close the door behind you.

Your plan to sleep a good ten hours goes right out the window. It doesn’t seem like the storm is about to calm anytime soon, so you’re stuck to suffer through it on your own. You’ll be damned to go to Harry’s, that would be an instant heart break and you just can’t take that right now. Long, torturous hours pass by with you lying awake in bed and part of you wants to go running over to Harry, but you force yourself to stay. It’s not happening tonight.

You fall asleep sometime after two in the morning when the thunder and lightning have stopped. Unfortunately, you need to wake up early in the morning, so when your phone’s alarm shakes you out of your sleep, you feel like absolute shit. Dragging yourself out of bed appears to be the hardest thing right now. As you make your way out, you are met with an all too familiar figure sitting at the small dining table, two cups of coffees in front of him, one obviously made for you.

Harry’s eyes snap up at you curiously, taking in your terrible looks as you head to the bathroom.

“Morning,” you mumble under your breath.

“Good morning’,” he nods in your way and though he doesn’t say anything else, you can tell he has a few thoughts about your current state.

Once you’re done with your morning business in there you join him at the table, barely able to keep your eyes open.

“Rough night?” he asks, eyes examining your face.

“Kinda.”

“The storm?”

You don’t answer, just nod your head. He remains silent, but you can feel that he is dying to ask another question.

Why didn’t you come over?

You’re glad he doesn’t actually asks you, because you wouldn’t be able to give either a normal answer or say anything without starting to cry. Instead, you just grab your coffee and head back into your bedroom to get ready for the day.

That week on Friday all four of you are invited to a party. At first you want to cancel, but some of your friends from classes will be there too and it’s been ages since you’ve been to a great party, so you decide to tag along with the boys.

For the first half of the evening you go your separate way, spending time with people you don’t actually live with and see every day. One drink follows the other, though you make sure you don’t go farther than getting tipsy. You’re not in the mood to deal with a nasty hangover in the morning.

Sometime after your third or fourth drink you run into Niall and he pulls you into their little circle that also involves Harry. When he sees that you’ve joined them, his eyes light up and goes out of his way to get next to you.

“I haven’t seen you in ages!” he whines, slurring his words as he wraps an arm around your shoulders to keep you at his side. He is definitely drunk, that you’re sure of.

“It’s been just about two hours, Harry,” you roll your eyes, but can’t push your smile down. You’d be lying if you said you’re not enjoying having him so close. Your dynamic hasn’t been the same since you stopped sleeping in his bed. Not that it was such a regular activity, it only happened two times.

“But I missed you, I feel like we haven’t… haven’t talked in so long!” he huffs, knitting his eyebrows together. “Have you been avoiding me?” he asks leaning closer, so your conversation can somewhat be private.

“That’s silly. Of course I haven’t!”

“But it feels like that,” he pouts with glossy eyes. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

“Sure,” you nod, the bitter taste of lying filling your mouth.

“Alright, cool,” he smirks and pulling closer he kisses into your hair before he engages with the rest of the group again, keeping his arm around you as if it wasn’t a big deal.

For the rest of the evening you simply don’t leave his side and not because he doesn’t let you, but because you don’t want to. Harry is not the only one missing the other, this week you’ve noticed that even though you’ve been keeping yourself busy, your thoughts always took you back to one particular, curly haired boy. Despite everything that’s been going on, he is your friend first and foremost who you love spending time with and talking about anything and everything.

Both of you are intoxicated, Harry a bit more than you, but you’re having a blast playing beerpong or ruining Niall’s chances with girls he is trying to pick up. You’re genuinely having an amazing time and it wouldn’t be the same without Harry.

Arriving back home your little group splits, everyone using the bathroom after the other and you’re the last one in line, because you always take the longest. By the time you’re finished, Louis and Niall are both locked up in their rooms, but Harry’s door is still open, some dim lighting illuminating the hallway. As you approach it, you find him throwing his dirty clothes into the hamper, but his head perks up when he sees you.

“Good night, H,” you sigh, quite tired and in need of a good sleep, but before you could head into your own bedroom, Harry grabs your wrist and pulls you into his. “What is it?”

“Sleep here,” he simply prompts, already leading you to the bed.

“Why?”

“Because I want you to.”

“I-I… I don’t--” you stutter, feeling flustered from his offer.

“Come on, you can’t say no,” he tells you, already crawling under his covers and then he holds them up as the invitation.

Taking a deep breath you follow him and make yourself comfortable in your almost usual spot. Harry’s arm falls over your waist in an instant, spooning you from behind as he hums pleased. But a few moments later he lifts his head, looking at you with concern in his eyes.

“You know you can say no, right? I was just joking.” Looking back at him you give him a small smile. Even drunk he makes sure you aren’t doing anything you don’t want to, but how could you not want it? You’ve been aching to sleep next to him all week, especially after the last storm when you suffered alone in your room.

“I know, Harry.”

“Alright, okay,” he nods, his head dropping back to the pillow. “I missed this,” he mumbles with a sigh.

“Yeah?”

“Mm, sleeping alone sucks,” he hums and in a split second, your heart breaks.

Harry didn’t want to sleep with you, he just wanted to sleep with someone and you were the one there. It has nothing to do with you.

You want to blame him, you want it to be his fault that your chest is now aching, knowing that it truly doesn’t mean the same thing to him it does to you, but you know you can’t. It wouldn’t be fair, so once again, you’re left with a sinking heart wrapped up into Harry’s embrace that suddenly feels burning.

“Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Harry.”

When the morning comes Harry is still sleeping deep beside you, an arm thrown over your waist, puffing warm air against the side of your head with every breath he exhales. Seeing him so peaceful warms your heart, but then you realize everything that happened last night, how he only used you because you were available and not because he wanted you.

You don’t want to wait for him to wake up and face him, your emotions would surely bring the best out of you. So carefully, you unwrap yourself from his hold and sneak out of his room, back into yours.

There’s no way you can face Harry right now, so before he could wake up you leave, planning on spending the day in the library, working on your assignments, hoping the school work will take your mind off of how badly you’ve been friendzoned.

Sometime after eleven Harry actually texts you asking where you went and you just tell him you have a shitload of school stuff to deal with. He asks if he can join you, but you tell him you’re with a group of your classmates, even though you’re sitting in an almost entirely empty library. He luckily doesn’t push it and leaves you to be. Hopefully he’ll be fine when you take another step away from him for a while to get your head straight and sort your emotions out.

You get home quite late, but not late enough, apparently. Because walking into the house you find the boys clearly getting ready to watch a movie.

“Just in time!” Niall beams. “Join us, Princess!” he laughs, grabbing himself a cola from the fridge.

“Oh, no, I have some things to work on--”

“Come on, you’ve been in the library all day, you can have a break!” Louis tells you and you know you won’t be left alone, they are just so persistent.

So you join them in your usual spot, which is of course next to Harry, though you’re trying to avoid his gaze that hasn’t left you since you arrived and by now you’re certain he knows you’re avoiding him. There’s a reason why he asked you last night if you’ve been doing it lately, he is not stupid, but this is not the time to deal with it.

With your inner crisis bubbling inside you, you completely forget to ask what you’re watching. A few minutes into the movie it becomes quite clear however.

“Is this a fucking horror movie again?” you ask, snapping at Niall, who just starts laughing.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Harry will gladly let you sleep in his bed tonight,” he teases, making your whole face heat up at his comment. Harry slaps his chest before he turns to you with concern filled eyes, but you pretend like you see nothing, turning back to the screen with your jaw clenched.

You’re fucked.

The movie is a fucking shitshow and leaves you traumatized. When it’s over, you think about why didn’t you just stand up and go into your room when you realized it’s another horror. For a change, this one was filled with demons and monsters that hide in the shadows, just what you need before going to bed. In the night. In a totally dark room.

Exiting the bathroom you’re already planning on watching something lighthearted and cheerful in your room, hoping that would make you forget the movie you just saw and give you the chance to actually sleep.

Walking past Harry’s room you see that it’s still open and you catch him expectantly looking at you when you appear in the doorway as you walk down the hallway, your eyes meeting for just a split second before you disappear from his sight and shut your bedroom door without a word behind you.

No matter how many random videos you watch on YouTube, some scenes from the movie are just imprinted into your mind and they have you trembling in fear. Every shadow looks like a demon or ghost, hiding in your room, ready to haunt and kill you and you’re on the verge of actually crying. It might not be only because of the movie, more like everything else that’s been bottled up inside you, added to the fear the movie has brought to you.

Shutting your eyes closed you try to take deep breaths and for a bit it actually seems to help, but that is until you hear the door opening. It gives you an instant heart attack and you can’t keep your tears back anymore.

A whimper leaves your mouth as the door opens and you can only see a shadow entering the room, totally not recognizing Harry in the dark.

“Y/N, hey, it’s just me! It’s okay!” he quickly clears, seeing how shaken up you are. He rushes over to the bed, one hand cupping your cheek, the other one finding your hand and before you could think, you grip it hard.

“You scared the living hell out of me!” you cry out, sobbing.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to check on you.”

Silence sets between the two of you that’s only momentarily broken by your shaky breaths as you try to calm yourself down.

“Why didn’t you come to mine after the movie if you were so scared?” he then asks, surprising you with how straightforward he is.

“I didn’t want to bother you,” you mumble, blinking the remaining of the tears away as Harry stares down at you intently.

“Why would you think you’d bother me? I like having you there.”

“But it’s… Doesn’t matter,” you sigh in defeat, but it just concerns him even more.

“No, tell me!”

“Harry, just go back to your room. I’ll be fine.”

“You definitely won’t and I’m not leaving until you don’t tell me what’s going on,” he protests firmly and you lose your patience to keep lying to him.

“You just wanted someone to sleep with yesterday, okay? You didn’t need me. And… I don’t want to depend on you more than I should.”

Harry stares back at you with a blank expression and you feel like this is going to be the end of your friendship. You have to come clean about your feelings and he’ll tell you that he doesn’t feel the same way. But then he speaks up and the tables turn faster than ever.

“Y/N, I wanted you to sleep with me last night. Not just anyone. You.”

“What?”

“I really thought we have been on the same page, but apparently, we’re not even in the same book,” he sighs, confusing you even more. “Wasn’t it suspicious how things have been between us lately? The way we slept, the mornings, did you think these are normal things to do?”

“I-I thought that… it didn’t mean anything to you.”

“Well it did,” he replies and you breath hitches in your throat. “I was trying to take it slow, see how you’d react to everything and I thought you were feeling the same way. But then last time you didn’t come to my room when there was a storm and I thought that was your way of telling me that you want to pause whatever’s been going on.”

You’re just blinking in shock, listening to his words. This is nothing you expected.

“But then you seemed like you opened back up last night and you agreed to sleep with me, thought we were back on track, but then you were nowhere to be found in the morning, avoided me all day and now you would have rather spent the night crying here alone than to come over to me. What did I do? Just tell me, because quite frankly, I have no idea what we are doing anymore, Y/N,” he sighs, clearly tired of this insane game you’ve been playing without even knowing.

“So… you did all of this, because… you…”

“Because I like you, Y/N. But there’s a possibility it’s already way more than just a strong liking,” he admits with a soft chuckle that melts you in an instant.

“Oh god, I could cry again, but not out of fear this time,” you tell him, making him laugh as you scoot closer to him on the mattress. “I feel the same way, Harry,” you softly tell him, your hands finding the base of his neck while his hands have wandered to your waist so now he is pulling you towards him until he ends up in his lap. His face is now so close, and even in the dark, you can see the cheesy smile on his pink lips.

“You’re not saying this just to keep me here because you’re scared to be alone, right?” he asks, clearly joking, earning a wholehearted laugh from you.

“No, but I guess that would be a major benefit of it.”

“I’ll protect you from all the demons and killers under one condition,” he smirks, his face already inching closer, his nose is already touching yours.

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“I get to kiss you.”

“Deal.”

You barely say this one little word, his lips are already on yours, kissing you in a way that almost knocks all the air out of your lungs. You press yourself up against him, his arms curling around you, holding you tight as if he is already protecting you from everything that scares you, though you can’t really think about the stupid horror movies now that you’re kissing Harry.

He pulls you down with himself making you lie on your back as he holds himself up above you, his lips parting from your just enough so he can look into your eyes.

“How about I kiss you every time you feel scared?” he prompts, pecking your lips gently as you pull your legs up and his hips settle between your thighs, while your hands dance down his back.

“Alright, I’m in,” you smirk at him and for a moment he just stares back at you, smiling wide, in complete awe that it’s finally happening. Then he cocks his head to the side before speaking up.

“Are you still scared?”

“Very,” you nod. “I’m shaking.”

“Good,” he grins before his lips press onto yours again.

Thank you for reading! Please like/reblog if you enjoyed!