#I love yuri!!! I can't wait to read more this year!!

[mostlymilkwood]

We're halfway through 2024! I know this has been a big Yuri year for you. What are some of your favorites you've read this year?

I will make every year a Big Yuri Year going forward!! but you're right, I've been making my way through my backlog and checking out new stuff as it hits but here are a few!

Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord We are forgiving Kitano Miyako for the crime of being a landlord because the series she's in is very sweet and gay and I like it a lot!! I'm not actually one who's into low conflict manga but there's just enough bite every now and then in Monthly, be it through Miyako's past in the idol industry or Asako's past breakups, that I think it strikes a great balance. I was also thinking the other day about how the main trope of this is kind of… There Was Only One Bed House lol. Anyway, it also nice to have the story keep going after the build up of the main couple getting together, I'm going to miss it so much once it finishes in the coming months :((( Fav panel:

Sukeban and Transfer Student Stella art that's made to mimics an 80s manga style to reinforce the time period it's set in? Sooo Good!! I love comics as an art form!! I love seeing them doing shit like this that only comics can do!!! I wish this was licensed so badly!! Anyway it's got a fun setup of two high school losers being losers in very different directions, which is always fun. I hope I get to read more of it soon! Fav panel:

False Marigold If I had a nickel for every yuri manga I'd read where the dual protagonist was a blind girl called Lily, I'd have two nickels! This has a lot of interesting elements at play, you've got the time period being the 1910s (ish??), you've got Lily's blindness, her love for Hana's brother and the fact that she doesn't know he's dead, and finally you've got Hana's failed attempt to kill Lily and her now pretending to be said dead older brother for Lily. So Like, It's A Lot!! A great mix of bitter sweet feelings from a lot of characters, I can't wait to see how it all plays out in the end. Fav panel:

How Do We Relationship? Ha ha haaaaaah. God. I'm late to the game on this series, it's already 12 volumes in and I kept seeing people who don't normally talk about manga, or yuri, or yuri manga say it's a really good and devastating read, so I was curious! THEY WERE CORRECT ON ALL FRONTS. Hat's off to the author for the total rug pull after volume 4 where you learn this is not a "story about what happens after you start dating someone" but is actually "a story about what happens after you breakup with someone"!!! God!!! But honestly, I can't say I've read anything quite like How Do We Relationship, it's rough sometimes but super compelling, it captures the college adolescent really well! I'm almost nostalgic for all the drama of my college days haha. Fav Panel That Is Driving Me Insane:

OKAY BUT LIKE, WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT YURIA IS JUST DRAWN AS AN ELF???? HER HAIR NORMALLY COVERS HER EARS SO YOU DON'T SEE THEM TILL THEIR FIRST TIME NAKED TOGETHER AND IM JUST MEANT TO NOT THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT SHE'S AN ELF?? WITH POINTY EARS AND TEETH??? IT'S NEVER MENTIONED BY ANYONE!! THIS ISN'T A FANTASY SERIES WHY DOES SHE LOOK LIKE THAT???

Shoutouts: I Want to Make Black-Knight Fall In Love With Me! and The Helpless Saint and the Powerless Princess, they're recently started in Yuri Hime and I've been enjoying the first couple of chapters that are out so far, looking forward to seeing where they go this year!

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Propaganda:

For Joongdok: "Well first of all Yoo Joonghyuk has a whole arc that is transfem coded as hell (has a power/technique that can technically only be used by women but somehow he can also use it, for a time he even turns into a woman to wield it and it's. Actually just let me get the quote "The ines of the face had changed but it was clearly Yoo Joonghyuk. No, it was even more than before.") that just kinda happens,, and doesn't get brought up again but anyway. Second of all just look at them. You see the vision. Also a bonus observation is that these two often get shipped in a poly ship with Han Sooyoung and whenever I see people make a "regular couple, yaoi couple, yuri couple, I see no difference love is love" meme with them the combination of which pair among these three is which of the categories is always different"

Note: This submission also mentions Han Sooyoung, but I decided to count this polyship submission as guy yuri as well.

"They love each other, they pretend they don't care for each other but all their actions prove they care too much, if you remove someone from the trio then the resulting duo is extremely dysfunctional, as evidenced by more than a million words of canon. Is it technically guy yuri? Well, Han Sooyoung is a woman, but in a way she's one of the guys. Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk are men, but the text heavily hints that Yoo Joonghyuk is a trans woman who's just too busy and stressed out to transition yet, and Kim Dokja has just never thought about his own gender a single day in his life. They made the world for each other, they went back in time countless times and waged countless wars for each other, they wrote and read and lived a story, their story, for each other and that's what saved them all. The way Han Sooyoung writes Yoo Joonghyuk's story to save Kim Dokja and loses herself in the process, the way Yoo Joonghyuk voluntarily lives the story to the point of losing himself too and even forgetting why he originally decided to do it, the way Kim Dokja read Han Sooyoung's story which was Yoo Joonghyuk's life and that's how he found himself, they all took so much from each other and gave so much of themselves to each other, this is all very yuri."

"they're so yuri you have no idea. they have every staple of a yuri ship. unwavering devotion. waiting dozens or thousands of years for each other. dooming themselves and the world for each other. so much yearning. i also see them genderbent a lot (including inn canon in the case of yjh) and they're right both of these people are women. i genuinely can't even see them strictly as men at this point they're just yjh and kdj and they are yuri do you understand."

"they're so yuri. the abscense of yuri is the presence of yuri etc etc. these two guys are all ABOUT abscenses. also one of them is a part time woman. the other guy is a guy but like in the same way a square is a rectangle. anyway they're so guyyuri to me. bonus points also because they have a mutual girlfriend and when she's present they're girlyaoi but that's not relevant to this specifically"

For Destiel: "There’s got something wrong with her(complementary)"

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist 138 summary

Apparently the raws came out just on the normal day this month while the translation got delayed by the holidays? I dunno man

Text summary below:

They snuck in a little anime announcement on the first page, heh

THERE IS DESTRUCTION

People are wondering what is even going on

Rin crawls out of the rubble and finds Satan also crawling out of the rubble

But Satan's regeneration isn't working right! Bits of him are crumbling! Dammit Lucifer what am I paying you for

The Illuminati are discussing how they probably can't recover [Satan? Maybe?] from this situation, Lucifer says he's going to be destroyed

Satan is lamenting the fact that he only had a body for 4 measly years, then just MCFREAKING LOSES IT for a second and tries to take Rin's body

Rin goes to punch him (Just like he said he would in chapter 1!) but ends up feeling sorry for him

"You should be allowed to live too, come on, if you just stop trying to destroy humanity maybe Mephisto can do something-"

Satan is like LOL NO, says Rin is brainwashed by humans into thinking you can tame the devil, Assiah and Gehenna can never coexist and he would rather die than get friendship speeched right now

Then he falls back into being angry that he can't have Assiah, he was gonna rewrite Assiah so he could exist there, he's a perfect being why couldn't he do it

Then as his body comes apart it looks like his mind is starting to come apart too, he gets pretty incoherent

"I want a body a body I don't have a body it's your fault your fault give her back I loved her give her back I wanted to be human you betrayed me I'll kill you you belong to me"

"I'm perfect, why is this happening to me, I'm god, call me satan-sama"

Then he reverts back to the more simple speech that he had when Yuri was teaching him, before he read all the books

It's enough like the movie 2001 that I get the song Daisy stuck in my head

Rin is like, wait a sec hang on don't go

Satan flashes back to his first meeting with Yuri and then seems to stop having a real consciousness

Now he's just that like...tree looking thing

Exorcists regroup, Lightning and Osceola are okay but Angel is seriously injured (alive though!) Shemihaza and Mephisto are MIA

Lightning: welp, we....half-succeeded? We did destroy his body, but now he's got nowhere to put all that power, and he's starting to corrupt the earth

soooooo I think Satan is like blending with Assiah somehow dun dun DUNNNN the end

[altho-arto]

A little late, but here's some of my works from 2023 ! (only cheated a little for months where i did stuff but forgot to publish it, consider it a sneak peak haha) Happy to see my style continue to evolve in a direction im generally happy with, while also occasionally going out of my comfort zone to try out a bit of painting and push my colors a little bit !

Can't wait to be even more obnoxious about my interests (related : bonus AA/DGS only summary under the cut) and post some weirder fanarts over the next year, despite wanting the concept of cringe dead and buried i have trouble applying that to myself so we'll see <3 happy 2024!

i made some fun AAvsPL crossover stuff this year, and while the DGS brainrot that consumed my whole brain this year was slowly going away i have new friends who are discovering dgs1 rn and bringing me back the spark for it... my multishipper heart is happy i could participate in more events this year, but id love to publish more ryulock than before cause the ratio of sketches i make VS stuff i finish and post for them is insane!!! also need to do my ot3 propaganda maybe so i can get even more niche than i was before !! (clown emoji)

anyways. also got more yuri in the plans but i dont want to make promises i cant keep. but ginamari i am not forgetting you <3

bonus for the people who read all that : see the Herlock in the June slot ? he was not drawn like an emoji on purpose. that lineart was actually made in 2021 when i was playing through dgs1, and finding how to do his face was my personal nightmare (tbh except ryuu none of the dgs characters came "easy" to me). it took time but as you can see now i found a way ! so dont give up if you dont know how to draw your blorbo in your style, it can rly be a struggle but eventually you'll get there!! just gotta be patient with yourself !! (also looking how other artists draw him can help. thank you random ryulock doujin which had rly cool herlock eyes)

[xitty]

Hello.... If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Feel free if you want to write the reasons or not of why you love them...Thanks if you want to answer....

Ohohoh, I don't mind at all! I've been fujoshi since forever (and I mean it, one of the very first anime I watched was Gravitation), so this is dominated by m/m couples, of various states of canon... Warning: long post.

My OTPs are Wataru/Eichi from Ensemble Stars and Yuki/Momo from IDOLiSH7. I could write essays (and sort of have done) about Wataru and Eichi, I sometimes joke I don't need romance novels because Wataru and Eichi provide all the twists, from graduation rooftop "proposal" to flirting in front of their unitmates to jealous fits to bragging about their relationship to others. There's almost 9 years of lore here so I'll just say here that their story is superb and they are my jam.

Yuki and Momo are just the most married and cute and funny couple. And funnily have some similar beats as Wataru and Eichi, where one (Yuki, Eichi) was devastated by something to point they didn't really see any reason to continue and the other (Momo, Wataru) came to drag them out of their gloom.

I have other Ensemble Stars ships I enjoy too: Tatsumi/Mayoi, Nagisa/Hiyori, Izumi/Leo, Rinne/Niki... I usually go for ships that have fair amount of canon material and these do.

I have one more OTP: Shizuma and Minato from Therapy Game. Aaa, their relationship is great because Minato *knows* all his own faults and tries to be rational but it's so hard, and Shizuma understands that and has patience of a saint. But Shizuma also doesn't always understand how some of his innocent actions towards other people look to Minato. But they are really cute and hot too. And I bow to Meguru Hinohara for her storytelling and art, her other series, The Dragon's Betrothed is good too.

Other manga couples I like are Hirano & Kagiura from Sasaki & Miyano, and their own spin-off series of course. I like Sasamiya a lot too, they are really sweet but I find myself being more invested in Hirano and Kagi's thing.

Ok, what next... I just finished The Case Files of Jeweler Richard novel vol. 7, so Seigi and Richard. If there ever was what's-actually-gonna-happen?? slowburn, it's here. Seigi is damn slow and Richard communicates in riddles but man I'm invested. I also bow to Nanako Tsujimura for these books, love them.

Speaking of slowburns and slow realizations and dumb communication (/affectionate), the danmei royalty of Hua Cheng and Xie Lian and Lang Wangji and Wei Wuxian. Both are very good. I love the trope of love transcending time and all that, so Hua Cheng waiting for 800 years for Xie Lian ticks this box so hard.

I'm also basic, so of course Viktor and Yuuri from Yuri On Ice are on my list. Same also for Ash and Eiji from Banana Fish. Touya and Yukito from Cardcaptor Sakura. Oh, I quite like Cherry blossom and Joe from Sk8 too.

I have a bunch of Genshin Impact ships I enjoy. I'm most invested in Alhaitham/Kaveh and Diluc/Kaeya. I like ships that have a past, I'm sure you noticed.

Ok, should I mentioned relationship that nobody probably knows about... But I keep thinking it a lot. There's this BL visual novel called Tokyo Onmyoji, the main character Rei is dealing with all kinds of supernatural problems as onmyoji. One of the routes is with his childhood friend Suguru and that route is beeeest. It's so good, deals with trauma and family trouble and their past and aaa now I'd like to read it again.

Also, Dramatical Murder is my least favourite Nitro+Chiral visual novel but damn, Koujaku and Aoba are so good couple, it ticks again so many boxes for me. (why oh whyyyyy that gorgeous figure of them is so expensive?! I can't justify myself to get pieces of plastic that cost two month's rent...)

Alright, let's pretend for a moment I'm not completely rotten woman... One of my favourite game couples is Eirika and Seth from Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones. It again gives me the "I've always liked you but I have kept my distance for reasons". I'm also in the Cloud/Tifa (minority?) camp for FFVII ships.

Kiyoka and Miyo from My Happy Marriage are het couple I'm really behind. I like how they are in the "so good for each other" category and how they've had to work on their relationship. The anime didn't show Kiyoka's thoughts that much but in the books he's also still learning how to be a good boyfriend/husband.

Shin and Lena from 86. Often I'm just "ok" about obvious couples like these but they are the exception. I think maybe it helped that they were separated soon after they got to know each other and then had to sort of got to know each other again.

Oh btw, I do read yuri too but I'm usually more into the series as a whole or one character's personal growth rather than their relationship. Like Sayaka from Bloom Into You. She's my favourite character from the series and I like her spin-off light novel series but I'm most into her finding peace with herself and love in general, if you understand what I mean. But! Hanako and Alice from Goodbye, My Rose Garden manga are my favourite yuri couple! Escaping relationship/marriage that people expect for you but you don't want, to unite with your true love is a trope I'm really fond of.

But Xitty, do you have any Western media couples you like? Well, murder husbands aka Hannibal and Will Graham I think of fondly and love forever. I was very very big Sherlock and John shipper (BBC ver.) and you can't take that away really. I'm also basic when it comes to Doctor Who, so Tenth Doctor and Rose make my heart flutter and eyes cry for their doomed (kinda) story. I just find myself watching less and less Western shows, so I don't even know what's happening there nowadays.

Umm... maybe that's it for now? Thank you everyone who read till the end. :D

[dazzasarchives]

The Incredible Hulk Volume 1 Issue 1

In this issue we get to witness a new hero take ship within the Marvel Comics Universe. Starting off in the form of the genius Dr Bruce Banner, but after exposure to gamma radiation he is then transformed into the Incredible Hulk.

Our story starts off in the lab of Bruce Banner as he and several others prepare to test their new gamma bomb. Some notable members here are Betty Ross, the daughter of the also present General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. We are also quickly shown that Betty harbors feelings towards Dr Banner.

As the tests for the gamma bomb are underway Bruce then realizes a boy is within the blast zone, in his vehicle. This boy being Rick Jones, he states that he wasn't going to lose a bet to his friends about staying at this testing grounds.

Dr Banner with his quick thinking as the missile is launched towards the boy, pushing him into a bunker as Bruce absorbs very intense gamma radiation. This then causes Dr Banner to pass out due to the radiation.

That night Dr Banner awakes next to Rick Jones, as an incredible transformation begins to take place with the rising of the moon. Dr Banner is then turned into, the Hulk. Also quick note the Hulk in his first issue is actually Grey, a lot of comic fans know this, I just really like this other coloration of the character.

The Hulk then escapes the hospital wing and we find out that he has super strength as he smashes through a wall and destroys a military jeep. The Military then pursues the Hulk, as they see him as a monster. Hulk makes his way into the lab of Dr Banners associate Igor ( who is a spy for the Russians ). The Hulk then smashed up the lab, but is shown an image of Bruce Banner by Rick Jones and he turns back into the Dr.

Betty Ross, and the military show up to the scene. Betty is quite concerned for Bruce as it seems like the Hulk attacked him. The military then starts a manhunt for the Hulk, while imprisoning Igor as they discover that he is a Russian Spy. While Igor is imprisoned he sends a message to Russia to someone known as the Gargoyle ( Yuri Topolov ). The Gargoyle decides he is going to capture the Hulk and sets out for America to do so.

Bruce Banner and Rick Jones are in a car when Bruce turns into the Hulk again, but this time the Gargoyle is nearby and ready to capture him. The Gargoyle does so rather easily actually, it's very interesting to see the growth of the Hulk's strength through the years. The Gargoyle then takes Rick Jones and the Hulk back to Russia but as they do so the Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner.

The Gargoyle tells Bruce that his secret identity is no longer secret, then the Gargoyle breaks down telling Bruce that he would give anything to be able to appear normal. Bruce tells him that, even though Bruce can't be cured, the Gargoyle can, with radiation. Bruce cures Yuri, and in doing so Yuri let's Bruce and Rick escape. Yuri sacrifices himself by destroying the Russian base as Bruce and Rick jet back to the States.

Alright so this issue is a decent introduction for one of Marvel's most notable heroes. I love how much this character changes though, over the next few issues Hulk will begin to change, and I love it, I love seeing experimentations with characters like this. I also loved the main villain of this issue it's so interesting that he turned good and then sacrificed himself, I really enjoy that. Alright on to the character analysis.

Alright Bruce Banner, he's a pretty standard character. Genius scientist who gets blasted by gamma rays. I really like him in this issue. I also like that he suggests to help the Gargoyle and cure him. Good guy Bruce.

The Hulk. I really like this first encounter with the Hulk, I know later he will get more of a personality, but for now he's just angry with everything and dislikes humans a lot. Usually calling humans weaklings or puny. Though again I can't wait to see him develop more.

Rick Jones, honestly I'm not a big fan of Rick, especially at first. He's essentially the Johnny Storm of this series, but without the useful powers. He's really just a useless sidekick. Though I know he will get better as time goes on.

Betty Ross, she really is just the love interest for this issue. She doesn't have many identifiable traits besides being in love with Bruce Banner. Which is really why she's here for now, but I know she will also get some development in the future and I can't wait for it.

General Thunderbolt Ross, I know for right now he hasn't had a big role in the series but he's one of Hulk's main antagonists, he often goes against orders just to try and capture, or rid the world of the Hulk. I really like him as an antagonist to both Bruce and the Hulk.

The Gargoyle, this antagonist is such a breath of fresh air. Sort of. Yes at first he is very average, the normal evil scientist trying to go against the hero. Though this time the Gargoyle begs Bruce to help him, and then he switches sides and sacrifices himself so Rick and Bruce can escape. My hero.

Alright well that's our first introduction to the Incredible Hulk, we'll be staying with this character for a little while so I hope you all enjoy, next issue we see the Hulk going to the stars. Until next time.

I do not own the images above they belong to Marvel Comics.

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[heatwa-ves]

wait do you have obscure music yuri manga recs

yes!!!! music gls light of my life..

whispering you a love song- first year student himari falls for third year yori after seeing her sing, lesbian love squares and band hijinks ensue! love these guys, himari is very arospec coded imo and there is so much relationship and band drama going on especially in the recent chapters it's great!! this one has a special place in my heart I've been following it for about a year and started reading bc of my best friend 💖

the moon on a rainy night- read this one pretty recently, a girl named saki who plays piano meets and befriends a girl named kanon who's in her class and the daughter of sakis piano teacher, kanon is deaf and isolates herself from other people until she starts to get close to saki, the story focuses on kanons disability and her relationship with saki, can't wait for more chapters!

the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all- aya has a crush on the guy who works at her local music store, only to later discover the guy is not a guy and is actually her classmate koga, whos really different at school and at the store, they find a shared love for rock music! it's really cool and has a gorgeous and unique style

hello, melancholic!- okay I'm gonna be real I don't remember much about the main couple at all I was there entirely for the side couple, sakiko and chika, they're absolutely fucking insane and I love them I love when my girls have issues!!!! 10/10 recommend just for those two but the main couple is cute too. and they're all in a band

after hours- two girls meet at a club and end up in a band idk I haven't read much of this one yet but what I have read is really good ily kei 💖

+ here's a few other gls I recommend they're all pretty short and I like them a lot

- hanabi

- the real momoka (read it if you like messy lesbians with problems)

- lonely wolf lonely sheep

- hanamonogatari

[evaofkonoha]

9 people you would like to get to know better. Tagged by the lovely @noellewrxtes! I so appreciate the tag 🥰😘

3 ships: Shisui/Itachi ofc! I can't wait to write more in this ship and interact with the community more! I love them with my whole heart truly! Next is SNS, I am and will be an SNS shipper forever, so expect lots more SNS content from me in the next year. Finally, idk! I love so many ships! I have teased writing Viktor/Yuri, and maybe I will go back and finally finish Violet, which is Itachi/Sakura

First ever ship: Joey Wheeler/Mai Valentine! From there I don't remember the correct order, but SNS and Itachi/literally like everyone are also older ones for me lol.

Last song: Superposition by Young the Giant

Last movie: Bullet Train with Brad Pitt. There are things about it I liked, but the ending dragged on for way too long imo

Currently reading: forever on that OP grind, Toilet-Bound, and I started Dorohedoro. Fic wise I have been reading nothing in particular, just whatever happens to catch my eye!

Currently watching: SpyXFamily and live stream vods and highlights?

Currently consuming: hot tea and plain sparkling water always!

Currently craving: maple oolong tea, popcorn, and Cherry Garcia ice cream

Tagging: ahh I am the worst at tagging and always feel kind of bad tagging people but I also love community stuff like this so I suppose it is a necessary evil! so I guess all of my moots and pals get a tag (feel free to not participate) @missoblaine @magmavox @smelllikeme @itsmnee @thunder-point @synestazja @narutojuice @toodleroo @serotoninbitch

[thehighpriestess1]

Ok I know Im a little late I was actually sick when you post the new chapter of August it was fantastic reading while bedridden so here's some thoughts of mine

Idk how but the moment gojo decided to call shoko I lost my mind I know for a fact both her and geto are tired of gojo fucking life about reader I know for a fact the moment geto heard gojo was asking those questions on the phone on shoko my man was re thinking his whole life it's gonna be all over again FR my man deserve an Oscar for being with gojo BS

Oh GOD SOMEONE CLEAN THOSE DISGUSTING SHEETS AND BLANKET SANITIZE THE WHOLE ROOM YOU KNOW WHAT SCREW THAT BURN THE BED AND EVERYTHING IN THAT ROOM AND GET A NEW ONE WITH EVERYTHING 🙂 I will not stand any reader touching yuna girl has touched that includes gojo man need to deep clean his body who knows what those girls hand touch (idk if just me being a clean freak when I read those reader sleeping in the same bed and sheet where that girl lay )

Miss gurl really thought she ate reader bitch you don't know anything ok reader my girl on her ARC and you can do anything stop it how you gonna call it a fight when we already have a winner in the first place You mad because reader clothes probably much more than yours it's tagged gojo x reader not nobody x gojo Sis my queen didn't even remember her name correctly as she should because she nobody we stand QUEEN MILF if was her I would be embarrassed the doors been long open sis just leave someone hold me back before I go through the screen on my phone just to drag this girl In her hair I just got my nails done and I'm ready to sacrifice them for my GIRL HONOR 😤😤

Promps for gojo trying to make the baby sleep just to have reader good rest now that's father behavior he's Soo adorable reading and watching all those stuff about taking care of baby I really hope gojo get a magical doctor to cure my girl illness Now big question is there a possibility of smut in next chapter if that's sooo LETS ALL WELCOME BABY NUMBER TWO can't wait next chapter of them just shopping and gushing about clothes looks good with their kids 😍

I hope you're all fine and healthy now 😊

Shoko and Geto are shocked. Geto deserves the best friend of the year award. That man has done more for gojo and y/n's relationship than god has lol. Shoko at this point is emotionally immune to Gojo but she is keeping an eye on y/n given her health.

Don't worry Jerry cleaned the entire room! The only thing Gojo wants right now is to hold y/n. He loves the baby but he misses his girl too much.

Yuri really being bitter because she got put into her place and this is just the start 😉

Gojo is a good father. That man is trying and is going to try so hard to be a good father so y/n would accept him.

Yes there is smut 💖

[vanmarkus]

get to know me (again) ✨

I was tagged by the lovely @eddiediaztho thank you mwuah 💛

three ships: buddie, jdox, mattfoggy

first ever ship: I wanna say... Hiei x Kurama from YYH?? Or maybe Leon and Yuri from Kaleido Star?? idk I was like 12 it's gotta be one of these 🥲

last song: Northen Attitude by Noah Kahan

last movie: still Barbie... you gotta understand that I watch TV shows all the time, but I can't make myself sit down and watch a movie that I haven't seen before, more than once every 3 years

currently reading: I'm gonna be very honest and say nothing... I do have a book on slavic mythology that I really wanna get started on and a bunch of ao3 tabs waiting for me though!

currently watching: 911 mostly, gotta check out the new OFMD eps though

consuming: coffee~

currently craving: I could definitely go for a snickers and maybe something salty idk

no pressure tags: @ladydorian05 @excuseme-greentea @yelenasbuddie @icecreampotluck @notnowtobey @hawkinsleather and anyone who wants to do it of course! ✨

[vtori73]

Back when Yuri on ice first came out I was very depressed, I deal with depression on & off kind of regularly but this time it was specifically triggered from a big event/s that happened in my life. Tumblr is what introduced me to the series too, I saw gifs that made it seem hilarious and ridiculous, I mean imagining being a sexy pork cutlet bowl, really???

And so I started watching it on my own, and it immediately became my new hyper fixation, it's what kept my mind off of the depressing thoughts and brought some joy back into my life, I related so much to Yuri too being someone who suffered from social anxiety, depression, low self esteem, having a dog that passed recently (same year the anime came out & fyi was one the thins that set of my depression), black hair + glasses and also being bisexual (of course this part is a head canon but it did seem hinted at).

I honestly kind of forgot about this too but then hearing about the movie cancellation and reading people's reactions and love & nostalgia for the series I was very much reminded of the adoration I had for this show. I'm more so mad than sad about this news tbh, I honestly wasn't ever expecting the movie to actually get made but I can't lie and say a small part of me held out hope for possibly more YOI content because that was very much a show that held my heart together when i couldn't do it myself. I also can't help but feel anger over how the studio went about this all, I mean why drag things out for so long? What was the point of it all? Why not just be honest and just cancel it and not wait 7-8 years to do so? Why???

Yuri on ice was exactly what I needed at the time, and while I haven't really rewatched since I might have to finally give it a go some time soon. Part of the reason why I held off doing so was because some aspects immediately didn't age well for me and made it hard to want to rewatch it because I didn't want it to taint my original memories of the show and the enjoyment I had for it but I think I should finally give it a go.

[capsensislagamoprh]

And just like that Victor found himself enrolled in a competition, waiting to find out the time, and having to work on a routine. It would not be for a few months, yet he found himself tingling. He'd managed to get a lutz under his skates, but wanted more rotations.

"It's all technical," Victor complained to Christophe one storm filled night.

"Yes, short programs have to be. You'll have more fun with the free skate."

"It's just so much to add. I know I can do it, but the order of it. I despair."

"What music are you using?"

"Something Lady Baranovskaya has decided on. It plays a melancholy way."

"Sounds like drama."

"I know. And I love drama! How is this so nerve racking?"

"Probably because you haven't ever had to compete for anything before. The chance of loss has never hung over your head." Victor was quiet for a time. "Are you still there?"

"I need something sweet."

"Hot chocolate?"

"I have never had. How do I make it?"

Christophe blinked at the laged video call connection. "Well, I don't know. I have some one make it for me."

"You got boggans?! I didn't get boggans," Victor pouted.

"Honestly. You're lucky they didn't give you a knocker."

Victor gasped. "How dare you."

"I dare because I care. Do you even have coco in the house? Milk? Anything you'd need?"

Victor looked thrugh his cupboards. Sulking back, he sighed. "I just need to figure this out. I need this dross, or I will be to weak to help Yuri."

"Or get the Hero back. Honestly. You're only on half the problem," Christophe grumbled. "I love you dearly, but you need to look at the whole problem. Did you know just last week a dragon attacked the forest glen?"

"So? That happens every year."

"This year there was no Hero to stop it." Victor was quiet. "This year," Christophe continued, "the villagers had to ask the Silver Falls for help to rebuild."

"They did rebuild, tho. Right?"

"The seelie are not handing back power to the unseelie."

Victor froze in more than one way. "What?" he whispered, voice choked somewhere in his midsection. Christophe waited for him to process. "They. WHAT?!"

"They say that with out samhain, there can be no hand off."

"Samhain still exists, Chris."

"Not to them. You took their Hero, lost him, and now they have no one to accept the burden of burning spring."

"Of course they do! Let them pick someone interea."

"Would you pick someone interea for Yuri if things were reversed?"

"I -" he could see Christophe staring at him. He could feel him hoping Victor wouldn't lie. Victor let out a huff of breath, blowing his long bangs off one eye. "No."

"Then why should they. Anyway, Silver Falls reports that things are moving far to fast in the Dream and to slow in the material realm. You should know this. Are you not reading your reports?"

"Reports?" Victor made a beeline for the mail pile. Sorting thrugh it as he returned, he humpfhed. "I don't see any reports. Where are you getting yours?"

Christophe sighed. "Okay, you know what, you need an assistant. You really do."

"I know, right? But the embassy wont give me one."

"You have to find one on your own. And pay them. Since you have mortal money I think you'd need that sort, but they do react weird to incidental happenings, let alone things on purpose."

"Sounds tedious. I dunno, Chris. I just feel like there isn't much wonder in the world for me. Snow and Ice used to mean something to this world, and it fueled me. Now it's like some kind of cheep escape. All they say is 'Don't in Winter' here."

"Well, you are terrifying."

"I'm Russian. This goes with out saying."

"Sure, but it also goes with out saying that people age. Mortals die, Victor. The wonder has to come from with in or it wont stand the weight of age."

"Which is why we're always young. I know. It doesn't help any to know I have such power and cannot access it save for the weak dream of mortals who themselves forget how precious those dreams are."

"Still can't find your reports, can you?"

"No! Where are they, Chris! Where do they put them?"

"Ask Phichit."

"I would but he keeps dodging my calls."

"Really?" Concern crept into Christophe's voice. "That's not like him."

Victor's head snapped around to face the screen. It wasn't? "Right. When can we check the embassy?"

"I have a juniors competition coming up soon. Where is yours?"

"ISU world Juniors... Some place called Megève? Sounds fancy."

"France! Ah ! Comme j'apprécie les vues de la passion et de la mode ! Mon ami, tu vas l'adorer ! AH! But that's a few months off. Hopefully Phichit's just lost in the stacks or been taking hostage by his hamsters again, but just in case, check your connections and I'll check mine. We can't start loosing our allies. Not when we're about to start gaining the power we need."

"Right. I'll see what Lilia knows, and possibly sneak in a visit if I can."

"Good. I'll do the same on my end. If nothing else, I'll see you at worlds. Be prepared for a hell of an adventure."

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16

[bleachanimefan1]

Desert Flower Part 2

The Hidden Leaf Village,

"Yuri, time to wake up. We're here." Yuri yawned and slowly opened her eyes, blinking them, adjusting them to the sunlight. Riding on her mother's back, Yuri saw a huge gate and a man standing outside of it, waiting to greet them. Her father. There were also two Leaf shinobi with him, on border patrol. Her father smiled and started to walk over to Yuri and her mother. Yuri clinged to her mother's back, tightly, staring at him nervously when he approached them. She didn't really remember her father much. The last time she saw him was when she was about three years old. He gently took Yuri off of her mother's back, holding her in the air.

"Wow, you've gotten big!" He smiled, softly. "Do you remember who I am?" Yuri slowly turned back to her mother, who nodded her head, telling her it was okay.

"Yes, I know who you are, dad." Yuri saw her father beamed and suddenly Yuri was pressed against her father's chest, as he smothered her with a huge hug. Yuri squealed, trying to pull away from him.

"Dear, she can't breathe." Her mother smiled, laughing a little.

"I'm so glad that you're both here!" He cried.

"So, is this your kid, Kisuke?" One of the border patrols asked him, smiling. "She's adorable."

"I take it this is your lovely wife that we've been hearing nonstop about for days." the other teased.

"Can it, you two. Can a guy have a moment with his family?" Yuri's father shouted at them and looked at Yuri.

"You are going to love it here. The air is cleaner and should be easier for you to breathe. There are a few kids that are around your age. Let's get you and your mom settled at my house and I'll take you to school to introduce you." He told her. The large gate opened, revealing many houses that were so much different from the sand houses back at the Sand village, that stretched on for miles and within the distance behind a tall red building, there was a mountain with four huge stone faces carved into it. Her father walked Yuri and her mother inside the village, taking them to his home. He showed Yuri her new room, a bed filled with stuffed animals, mirror hanging on a wall, a desk to draw on and read and a closet for her clothes. He told Yuri to get change into more suitable clothes. Yuri hanged up her Sand village robes and put on a small dark red shirt and brown shorts and put on blue shinobi sandals but left her white scarf on. She stared at herself in the mirror, not recognizing the person she was seeing. But it was still her. Just different.

Her father walked with Yuri to the school, holding her hand until they reached the school yard. Yuri saw that were several other kids playing on the playground. A tall young man with brown hair tied up in a short ponytail, a large scar over his nose approached them. 

"Hey, Kisuke!" He smiled as he greeted her father. He seems nice. Yuri's father smiled back, shaking his hand, greeting him. Then he placed his hands on Yuri's shoulders, introducing her to him.

"Iruka, this my daughter, Yuri. I'm sure she'll be a wonderful shinobi for you to teach. She's very smart and observant for her age." Yuri tensed up when she saw Iruka look down at her, smiling. He bent down to her level.

"Why don't you go on in and have some fun? I'll stay with your father for a bit and show you around the school." Iruka told her, gesturing to the kids on the playground. Yuri nodded and slowly walked in and looked back to see her father and Iruka talking to each other. Yuri turned back to the kids, watching them, studying them. The was one boy who was chubby and overweight, munching on some chips, with another boy with spiky hair shaped like a pineapple who was lying on his back looking at the clouds. He must love to eat while the other loves to lazy about. A boy with red triangle markings on his cheeks with a small puppy, a hooded boy with shades sitting by himself playing with some bugs. An animal lover and bug lover.

A boy with a bowl haircut, wearing a dark green tight uniform and orange weighted leggings walking on his hands and doing push-ups. He must really love an intense work out. A girl with long blond hair with another girl with short pink hair tied up in a red ribbon arguing over a boy who paid them no attention as he was practicing throwing kunais at targets. Hopeless romantics and a stuffy loner.

A boy with long brown hair tied in a ponytail with lilac pupilless eyes talking with another girl with brown hair up in two buns. A girl with short black blueish hair, very pale skin, with the same pupilless colored eyes, picking some flowers. Could they be related somehow? But the other girl, she was hard to read.

Then Yuri noticed another boy not too far off from the others, sitting on a swing set by himself, watching them play. He had short spiky blond hair and blue eyes, wearing an orange hoodie over a blue shirt and orange shorts. Why wasn't he playing with the others? Yuri began to walk over to him.

The pineapple shape haired boy took notice of Yuri when he sat up, seeing her going over to the blond-haired boy on the swings. "Who's that?" 

"Must be the new kid?" The chubby kid, shrugged, talking with his mouth full as stuffed his face with more chips. The bowl cut haired boy nearly fell over when he saw Yuri, his heart was overflooded with emotions. "W-whoa! Who is that!? She's a babe!"

The two girls stopped arguing, noticing Yuri, wondering who she was.

"She better not be another competition for my Sasuke!" the blond-haired girl glared at her.

"What do you mean YOUR Sasuke!? Sasuke, likes me!" the pink haired girl shouted. The other kids now took notice of Yuri, as well as the pupilless girl, who watched, quietly. The blond-haired boy was lost in his thoughts that he didn't even hear or notice Yuri was now standing over him.

"Why aren't you playing with the others?" He looked up and nearly fell out of the swing seat, startled to see a girl in front of him. "Geez! Give a guy a warning before sneaking up like that!" He sighed, holding his chest.

"It's not my fault you were lost in your thoughts." The boy frowned up at her and stood up. "I'm Yuri. What's your name?"

He blinked at her in surprise, completely shocked. Who was this girl? Why wasn't she afraid of him? Maybe, this was his chance to finally have a friend! He smiled.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm going to be the next Hokage! Believe it!" He exclaimed. Yuri blinked at him confused before she could speak another word, Yuri heard her father and Iruka shout at her.

"Yuri, get away from him!" Her father shouted.

"Of all the other kids to play with you have to pick him!?" Iruka shouted as well. Yuri saw Naruto flinch and looked down, avoiding their gaze. 

"What gives you the right to talk to him like that!?" Yuri shouted at them, angrily. The other kids watched in shock to see a kid yelling at adults. 

"Yuri, I am your father! I forbid you to play with him!" her father shouted.

"Well, maybe I don't want to be here!" Yuri shouted back at him, and she took off running and hopped the fence with ease and left the school yard. Her father chased after her. Iruka followed after them before telling the other kids to stay in the playground and to wait for him and that he will be back.

"Yuri!" 

Naruto watched, completely stunned, to see someone actually stood up for him.

He quickly chased after them.

He had to talk to her before the adults get to her first!

[houkagokappa]

1 6 7 12 for the manga ask 🤗 it was so much fun to answer looking forwards to your answers 🤓📚😽

Thank you for the ask! Let's see~

1. Your top 5 however many reads of 2023

This is really difficult to answer so I'll cheat just like you and ramble on a bit hehe

Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku by Hiro is the one I started the year with, finally, after watching the anime the year before. I love how it depicts the joy and beauty in everyday life, the art is stunning, the girls are super cute, and I'm here for the lesbian undertones that's become its own serious storyline by now!!!

I have a very soft spot for River's Edge by Kyoko Okazaki. This year I delved into josei manga for a good bit, and River's Edge is the first one I read (this year, purposefully). I love the sketchy art, the imperfect people, and the realness of the story. I don't know if I'll like it as much on a second read, but I was very impressed and inspired by my first time reading it. Other impactful josei works I read this year were Shibou to Iu Na no Fuku wo Kite and Bikachou Shinshi Kaikoroku by Moyoco Anno. I love reading about women and women's struggles :') Her art is gorgeous too! Oh and speaking of gorgeous art, a third josei highlight from this year was Kaoru Fujiwara. I did not consume her works, I let Sono Saki no Fuukei consume me. I love how it forces the reader to think and how it doesn't really open up until a second or third read-through. It was very dreamlike, and tragic with some uncomfortable themes, just the way I like it heh.

Out of all the yuri I read, Yume no Hashibashi by Yumi Sudou is the one that still lingers in my mind. I loved the construction of the story with each chapter going backwards in time, to finally reveal the tragic past of the sorrowful lives we've been following all along. The story is extra hurtful, because there are countless of stories like theirs in real life, of women who can't be with the women they love because of social, cultural and legislative reasons. I cried by the time I finished reading it!

Another manga that left a big impression on me was Hiraeth wa Tabiji no Hate by Yuhki Kamatani. The art and imagery were amazing, and I'm weak to stories about death and grief. The conclusion made me cry - to have such small and seemingly simple things in life be the reason you decide to keep on living!

Lastly, this has also been the year where I began reading Shuuzou Oshimi's manga. The first one I picked up was Okaeri Alice, and the latest I read was Chi no Wadachi, and they're both my favourites from his works. I love how deep they delve into the characters mindsets, I love the themes, and of course the art is pleasing to look at. I especially love how much of the stories are conveyed through images alone. They hit deeper when you have to read an expression rather than words.

6. Your favorite one-shot

I only read a couple of one-shots this year (that I've tracked anyway) so it's easy to give this one to Koufuku no Hato by Keiko Takemiya, a short sequel to Kaze to Ki no Uta (as if that series hasn't given me brain damage and it couldn't be my favorite otherwise).

7. The manga you reread the most

Probably Sono Saki no Fuukei, I read it, then I instantly read it again, and then I read it a third time the next day, just to experience the story again while trying to make more sense of it. I really, really loved that one!

Otherwise I haven't been rereading anything that much. Maybe Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu by Mokumokuren, since I read each chapter in Japanese, then a quick English translation and then a proper English translation later on. ...Now that I think about it, I have actually reread everything that's been published so far a few times last year, and I would've loved to reread it even more, but for some reason it takes suuuuuper long for the chapters/pages to load and I can't bother waiting half the time? It's a crime, honestly.

I've also reread the last few chapters of Double by Ayako Noda a few times, whenever I check if there are any new ones out. Same for Happy Shitty Life by Harada, although it's been so long I've gotten tired of them by now haha. Besides that, I have been rereading Harada a good amount, but it's usually bits and pieces here and there, not full works so it's difficult to estimate how much I've reread them.

12. A manga that made you look forward to every update

Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu is legitimately what keeps me going from one week to the next ;___; I love that manga so much!!!!

I also always make sure to savour each new chapter of Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku. I haven't figured out if that series has a release schedule, and if it does the releases are far and few, so it's always a treat to get one. And now with the aforementioned lesbian storyline I'm even more eager to see what the next chapter will bring!!!

[leoly]

2023 media year in review

Anime/Manga Trigun Stampede: Of course this is my anime of the year how could it not be. Amazing CG anime, great soundtrack, phenomenal character redesigns. Stampede Vash is societies baby girl and he deserves it.

Frieren Journeys End: Was put onto this by a friend recommendation so I already knew it would be good going in but managed to be better than I expected. Love love love the animation and character designs. I feel like it was a big year for like classic fantasy aesthetics in newer shows.

Dead Mount Death Play: Finally got onto this during my nostalgia moment fueled by trigun renaissance. Its actually very fun with the expected huge cast of crazy characters. Ive only read the manga so far but stay posted for when I get onto the anime as I am sure I will have many thoughts.

Games Baldurs Gate 3: What can i say about this game i haven't already screamed in desperation at my friends. its insanely perfect the game da4 wishes it could be. In the middle of a deep drought in classic fantasy rpg games i love it and wish larian all the success going forward.

Honkai Star Rail: I can't believe she came from behind to be my best gacha of the year but she did. The change from genshins live action gameplay to turn based may have been not great for some but I adored it. Sometimes i just want to not think when im playing a gacha yknow. Also the story is interesting so far and is playing to a lot of tropes i like so we'll see where it goes in 2024

Final Fantasy XIV: Of course my beloved, the post endwalker patches were kind of a mixed bag for me while it had a lot a liked there were also some things that ended up feeling very strange to me. I am excited for Dawntrail however and will definitely keep playing going into the new expansion.

Shows Severance: I feel like I watched this show a lifetime ago but damn what a good show i love old man yaoi and the psychological horror of capitalism.

Yellowjackets: i love yuri and cannibalism cults!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!

Vtubers ment. Josuji Shinri!!! My favourite debut of this year seriously can not longer imagine tempus without him. Thank you for being my best boy and dearest wife for 2023.

Hiodoshi Ao RE_gloss has a lot of interesting members but i find ao extremely cute. I promise to study jp at some point so i have more than a vague idea what shes talking about (crying)

Nerissa Ravencroft I had been waiting for gen 3 of holoen for what felt like centuries. I'm still a bit mixed feelings on the group in general but I'm really impressed with both Nerissa's design and her amazing singing voice. I think her first 3D live will be one to drop everything for. Perhaps the Towa-sama of en?

Uncategorizable mentions: seeing mcr live, Smiskis, cheese filled mochi donuts and as always my beloved friends <3

[al1x00]

⚠️CHAPTER 4 SPOILERS⚠️

Ngl as soon as I saw this I went " Oh shit better grab emotional support life-sized Hobie cutout" (yes I made a giant cutout of him)

Read the first paragraphs and already started to cry my eyes out😭 it's the longing that gets me istg.

THE LINGERING GAZES THE THOUGHTS ABOUT HOBIE'S SCARS I'M SOBBING I JUST DSJMHBDAHAJSD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA LET THEM SMOOCH AND LIVE HAPPILY I'M BEGGING.

MY GIRL MY WIFE MY PAL MY HOMEGIRL MY ROTTEN SOLDIER MY GOOD-TIME GIRL YURII AAAAA I MISSED HER SO MUCH

I swear Yuri makes me weak in the knees everytime with her damn nicknames😭 I'm simping for her right now ngl

Me reading Hobie's description:

“Or enhances what's lacking.” YOU DID NOT- HELPP THE WAY SHE JUST ROASTED HIM I'M CRYING SHE CALLED HIM OUT ON HIS NON-EXISTENT ASS

Don't mind me I'm just having intense BDAS chapter 7 flashbacks like a retired war veteran while reading the duel part

Oh so R really does come from an abusive family, we got this theory confirmed. I kinda had a feeling about it when I read that one part of the last chapter that said that R's aunt called her "broken" or something along those lines.

But why did they punish R? Maybe because they didn't want her to see Hobie because he didn't have a good status and was considered a simple peasant while R's family was a bit more rich?? Hobie implies many times that R came from a financially stable home. IDK THERE ARE SO MANY THOUGHTS SWIRLING AROUND IN MY MIND RN😭😭

A new horse?👀 I already love her tbh, and she's Bucky's opposite colors!!

THE HAT THE FUCKING HAT I'M GOING FERAL OVER HERE

HE JUST DID THAT SO NONCHALANTLY HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ACT WHEN I KNOW THE HAT RULE EXCUSE ME SIR

"he still loves you" AAAAAA I'M CRYING I KNEW IT. He isn't that dumb to deny his feelings for R, even if he sometimes tries to basically gaslight himself into thinking he changed and that R doesn't love him anymore.

Me personally I would pounce on him first chance I get to see him after five years of being apart and just never let him go again. I'd basically attach myself to his side with super glue.

GODDAMMIT JUST WHEN I THOUGHT WE WERE MAKING PROGRESS SOMEONE HAD TO FUCKING INTERRUPT HUH?

God I can't wait for the next chapter, I already loved this one and how the situation's evolving and I have a feeling the next ones will be even better.

You always amaze me with your writing it's insane, I said it a million times before and I'll say it a million times more but I genuinely love how you describe situation seen from the reader's eye, it really makes you feel like you're in the story and it's amazing, so thank you for this amazing chapter😽

Where the River Flows

Pairing: Cowboy! Hobie Brown x Fem! Reader

Word count: 7.4k

Tags: Use of Y/N sparsely, no specific physical description of the reader (except for her clothing), CW food mentions, TW Blood and violence, TW death, CW injury, CW guns, CW alcohol. Old west AU, cowboy AU

Our Place in the Middle of Nowhere Masterlist

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CHAPTER 4 >>> CHAPTER 5

You haven't slept this well in years, the last time you had was back when you've last slept next to him on the same lumpy mattress of his flat that you've once called home. Your eyes blink awake, cheek pressed against a pillow, it's soft, so soft that for a second you thought it was Hobie's arm. You stare at the ceiling, a carved magnolia tree stares back. Its branches are full of blossoms, perfectly carved just like the illustrations in your books. It's so vivid that you could practically see its pinkish hue. It's weird, you think, the carving, when the rest of the room is sparsely decorated; filled with drab oak, and cheap lamps. The room smells old, lived in by hundreds of travelers before you.

A creak echoes out at the far end of the bed, prompting you to look upon Hobie's bareback. Healed bullet wounds litter all over his flesh that you once held on. Raised scars dotted along his lower back like stars, stars that were once drenched in ruby. You wonder if it still hurts, the stars, like how the hole he left in your heart five years ago. You hope it doesn't hurt as much for him, you'll never wish agony upon him; even if a part of you thinks he deserves it.

Maybe you should tell him, tell him what agony has befallen you since he left. The pile of letters sewn into your skirt remains to be read by his viridescent eyes; its wax seal remains closed, the words of longing and hate are still scribbled upon the yellowed paper.

Your eyes dart along the expanse of his skin, frown getting deeper and deeper with every new scar you find. Hobie puts on his shirt, buttoning each one, the cloth hiding his own misfortune from your weary eyes.

“You talk in your sleep.” He finally breaks his silence. Looking over his shoulder, he regrets it immediately. The simple sight of your bed head and puffy eyes brings back memories of when you'd wake up next to him.

“I know,” I've been told. You grunt as you lift yourself off the pillow, elbow propping you whilst you watch him put on his cowboy boots and clinking spurs.

He blinks, hand pausing along the buckles. “It's new, you've never done that before.”

“Just like you said, a lot of things can change in five years.” Sitting up, you place your chin atop your knees, legs tucked under the covers, arms holding your legs in place. “What was I saying? In my sleep, I mean.”

“You were mumbling…” my name, he sighs at the thought of telling you the truth. “Someone's name I think, and egg soup for some reason.”

“I'm hungry.” You ignore whose name you might've been saying in your sleep. And you think it's not his.

“We need new clothes first, people must've gotten our descriptions by now. So we need to change.” Hobie puts on his leather vest, the metals of it clinking against one another. Then the hat comes after, he stands up, walking towards his gun belt.

“Okay, breakfast after?” You fight a yawn, palms rubbing harshly on your eyelids.

“Yes, breakfast after.” He secures his belt on his hip, silver guns shining in the early morning sun. “I don't think they have egg soup though.”

You crack a small smile. “It doesn't matter, anything will do.”

“The saloon has pumpkin soup I think, does that sound good?” Hobie has no idea why he's prolonging the conversation about soup out of all the things he could discuss with you.

You nod, staring at him through fond eyes. “Mm-hmm, sounds good.”

“Good, we need something warm to eat.” He realizes that he's been standing awkwardly at the doorway. Clearing his throat, you fight a smile. “Get dressed.” With the door shutting close behind him, he slaps his cheeks to wake himself. He needs coffee, or something stronger for that matter.

Meanwhile, you watch the space he just left with hope in your heart.

—

The dress shop smells nicer than the inn, it's elegant, looking like it doesn't belong in the middle of the dingy town. Every pile of clothing is neatly folded over the other, different outfits are displayed over the windows and display cases. Both leather and cotton are the most prominent ones, but there are a few chiffon dresses, lace and silks placed alongside the rougher fabrics. They're all wonderfully made, each having their own brand of beauty in every stitch.

You watch yourself in the floor length mirror. Dark trousers instead of a skirt hangs around your waist. A nice crisp white dress shirt on your torso fits perfectly on you thanks to the friendly tailor.

“You need a vest, or you'll get cold during your travels.” She taps your shoulder, genuinely smiling at you through the mirror. “Are you sure you don't want to wear a corset and skirt? You'd look just as marvellous.” Her eyes shine just like the dainty rings around her fingers.

“I'm sure, skirts and corsets are an inconvenience.”

“Well, you've given me a proper challenge then. But is it a challenge if everything looks good on you?” Her long dark hair sways behind her as she peruses her own shop, dozens of embroidered cloth folded neatly on tables.

“You're good,” you watch her sashay along her shop, colourful vests piled on her arm. “Just as good as the tailors back at home.”

Yuri, you learned her name just a few minutes ago, returns to you with her arm full of vests. “‘Just as good?’ oh sweetheart, I'm better.” She grins mischievously at you, red lips curled into a smug smile. Yuri would be friends with Hobie, you think, maybe in another life. “Arms up, my darling.” She holds up numerous different vests upon your body until she settles for a royal blue leather vest that has hydrangeas embroidered on it. “This is it!” Gasping excitedly, you let her help put the vest on. “Fucking beautiful! If I was your husband I'd be jumping your bones.” Grasping your shoulders, she places her chin atop it, smiling at you.

Your heart thumps loudly at the word ‘husband.’ “Thank you, Yuri.” You fiddle with the empty gun belt around your hips.

“Now for a coat or a jacket befitting a glorious woman like yourself.” She winks, twisting around in search of another dozen or so outerwear in her stock.

“Oh I think this is enough.” You don't want to use up all of Hobie's money, especially when he's still in the dressing room, none the wiser.

Yuri turns towards you abruptly, hand on her chest, feigning hurt. “Enough? Do you like prancing around town in your birthday suit?”

“No—”

“Then you shall have a jacket. The best one I've got.”

You bite your lip, a nervous tick of yours that Hobie once pointed out after kissing it off you. “I just don't want to spend too much.”

“You mean you don't want him to spend too much?” Yuri saunters over to you, boots clacking on the worn out floorboards. “What are husbands good for if not for spending their money for your own gain, hmm?” There it is again, your heart thundering loudly inside your chest. “Besides, you'd look marvelous in this coat. I'll give you a discount because you're the nicest customer I've had in years.” She leans closer to you, draping the leather coat on your shoulders for you to see. You beam at her, thankful. “It's similar to the one I gave to him, you'd be matching. Well, except this one is in a lighter shade.”

The coat reaches down to your knees, cream coloured with little fringes up front right where the front pockets are. It's beautiful with its white threads weaving around its seams. If you look closer at the bottom, you see that it gets darker as it gets closer to the hem. An almost brown shade that reminds you of the oak tree back home.

You inhale, staring at your reflection that you barely recognize in the new clothes. “Do you think it suits me?” Your voice is small, Yuri watches your expression, understanding what you truly meant.

Her playful voice lowers to a softer one, hands rubbing along your arms comfortably. “Of course, sweetheart. You're more than ready for the badlands.” You smile at her, nodding along to her encouraging words.

She twirls you around to face her, you chuckle at the sudden good hearted movement. “Now, my favourite part, the boots!”

—

You pick lint off the armchair while you wait for him to exit out of the dressing room. You're comfortable in your new clothes, it snuggles you cozily, you've never felt like this in any clothing at all; whether it be silk or velvet, all the dresses back home don't compare to what you have on. You look at your dark cowboy boots once again with a faint smile, its gorgeous spider web-like design has your heart bouncing in glee. It's a stark contrast to the threadbare shoes you had on. You make the shiny spurs clink on the floor, chuckling to yourself.

“Careful, don't scruff my floors.” Yuri appears next to you, handing you a small messenger bag.

“What's this?”

“A bag, every woman needs one to store her belongings.” She gestures towards the worn out skirt on your lap. “Especially the important ones.”

“I—”

“It's on the house, just this one though.” She chuckles before handing it to you.

“Thank you, Yuri. That's awfully kind of you.” The leather is rough against your bare hands.

“No worries, darling.” She shrugs, “after all the things you've bought it's only normal that I'd give you a little freebie.”

A door suddenly creaks open, and out comes Hobie in his new outfit. A light airy dress shirt fits perfectly on his torso, the same black bandana still hangs around his neck, hiding the large scar. He fixes the fit of his dark blue vest even though it clearly doesn't need fixing. It has a typical western embroidery on it, saved for the almost invisible peonies dotted along the buttons. His gloves are the same, lighter around the palms where friction is usually present. You flick your eyes over to his coat, Yuri's right, it's almost the same as yours. The length is shorter to accommodate for the warmer weather coming in. The shade is in this mahogany brown, warm in the eyes, a hue lighter around the hem, almost as light as your own coat. Frills are lined around the arms, the silver spikes placed atop the shoulders makes it more unique. His belt buckle this time is different, a spider trapped in amber in place of the deadly scorpion. It's cradled in silver, laurels weaving around the corpse of the spider like an elegant coffin.

Your eyes shine at his handsome appearance. “My, don't you look dapper.” You drink him up, every new thing satisfying your need. Roaming your eyes downward, you tilt your head at the odd material on his legs. His boots are the same, even the spurs, but you can't quite place the new fangled blue thing around his legs. “What's that?”

Both Yuri and Hobie follow your gaze. But Yuri seems to be the only one who could form a coherent sentence. “They're blue jeans, or work pants. Much more comfortable than the old pants. Looks nicer on the behind, eh?” She nudges you, winking at your flustered expression. “Or enhances what's lacking.” Her last comment trails off as you unabashedly ogle him.

“Fuckin' hell.” Hobie finally speaks, his eyes avoid your form. Especially the vest that cinches you right where it matters. “Why do you have a bag?”

You stand up, slinging the bag over your shoulder. Yuri watches the whole thing with amused eyes. “For my things.”

He furrows his brows, “you don't have things, Y/N.”

Eyeing the riding gloves on the table, you cross the small distance, taking it, but before you place it inside the bag, you spot a pretty pink lace ribbon next to it. You also take it for good measure and to annoy him further. Putting it inside your bag, you teasingly smile at him. “Now I've got things.”

Yuri gives you a nod and a thumbs up whilst Hobie takes out bills to pay for everything.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” She victoriously smiles, counting the money.

“Not a pleasure on my part.” Hobie grumbles, you clamp your mouth shut to prevent a laugh from coming out.

—

The saloon is bustling with people even though it's still early in the morning. Some drink their fill next to you at the bar, some are just like you, looking for something warm to fill their bellies with to survive the rest of the day. The whole place smells of hard liquor and broken dreams. You have no idea which smells worse, the sticky floors or the lavatory at the far end of the place. The wide windows help brighten up the place at least, sunlight streaming into the carved establishment. Animal heads stare down at you, an elk’s and a buffalo's empty beady eyes look over yonder the drunkard's solace.

A piano sits just behind you, its stool is currently empty, maybe you should put all the lessons drilled into you to good use. It's better to wait for your meal there than sit right next to a stranger who looks like he's about to expel his breakfast onto your new clothes. Besides, some good music could tamp down all the drunken mumbling and the annoying scrapping of plates.

Hobie notices your heavy look, abandoning his coffee, he taps your shoulder and you almost jump in your skin.

“You still play?” He asks, eyes flicking between you and the old piano.

“I dabble, but I'm a bit rusty. I prefer gardening nowadays.” You lock eyes with him, “and shooting.”

Hobie chuckles in his seat, eyes avoiding your own smile. “You should play, I'll call you when our food is ‘ere.”

“Are you sure?” A soft smile spreads across your lips.

“I’ll watch your back, don't worry.”

Hope weighs you down again. You leave the bar stool, walking the distance towards the familiar black and white keys. Sitting down, you wrack your brain for the notes you've made a long time ago. A song that you've written yourself for the man who watches your back.

Hobie watches you intently, ears perking up at the unfamiliar music. Your hands move precisely, fingers pressing quickly as the song quickens. He smiles, glass now lay forgotten on the bar to watch you play your music. The rest of the bar quiets down a smidge, even the drunkards pause their lips at the mouth of their glass to listen to you play. The song crescendos, from a fast happy beat to a tone that is slower, a forlorn one. All in all, you play it with grace, and weaved with so much emotion.

Hobie scoffs, yet the fond smile stays. “Rusty my arse.”

The bartender appears behind him, plates in hand. “Your girl plays well.” The man places your meals on the bar, pumpkin soup sloshing on the sides of the bowl. Hobie turns towards him, not fully so he could still see you in his peripheral vision. “Is she for hire? Our player retired a few weeks ago, the saloon has never been this drab.”

“No, we're just passin’ by.”

The bartender leaves with a nod. “Too bad.”

Hobie takes his sandwich, twisting around to continue watching you. His eyes zeroes in on the sudden presence next to you. The brim of the stranger's hat hides his face, yet, Hobie knows exactly who he is based on his confident stance. Or who he was before Hobie single handedly destroyed his gang.

You finish the song with a flair, chest heaving, grinning from ear to ear.

“Bravo!” The man leaning towards the piano claps, then a chorus of scattered applause follows right after. “Amazing, sweetheart! Where'd ya learn how to play?”

“A tutor.” You smile shyly.

“Ah, what's the song called? I don't think I've heard of it before.” His long beard moves while he makes casual conversation.

“I-I made it actually.”

“Oh? I didn't know we had a composer in our humble establishment.” He taps the old piano with his gloved hand, his other hand rests on his gun belt, golden pistol shining in the sun. “What's the story behind it, eh? My ears picked up some sad depressing story through the notes.”

“I'm not a composer, a-and yeah, I made it for somebody.”

“Well, I—”

“Culver!” Hobie's booming voice echoes out in the entire saloon, everyone stops what they're doing. “You want to talk to me? Come over ‘ere instead of pestering her.” He has had enough of the conversation, and the danger that you've unknowingly put yourself into.

“Mr. Brown.” Culver says through gritted teeth, standing up straight, flicking the brim of his hat to reveal his face. “Fancy seein’ you here. You're in my territory, spider.”

You notice every single patrons’ faces turning into something akin to a person seeing a ghost, or the reaper itself. Slyly, you move your eyes over to the man, Culver, his name is familiar, you're sure you've heard of it before. Inhaling, you look back at Hobie, whose hand is placed on his gun belt, ready to whip it out if needed. He silently communicates with you, run, his eyes says, but you're paralyzed by fear when you finally remember where you heard the name Culver. It was what that old man Arthur said back then, he's the man whose men were killed by Hobie in a single night.

Heaviness hangs in the air, tension so thick that you can't even poke a hole right through it with a bullet.

“Is she someone precious to ya?” Culver says, suddenly gripping you by the scruff of your blouse, your back hitting the piano keys harshly. You yelp, and Hobie abruptly stands up, eyes aflame. The bearded man smiles, blackened teeth in full display. “She is, isn't she?” He wiggles your head in his hand. You sit there frozen, unable to even breathe. “What if I do the exact thing you did to my men, eh?” You hear chairs scraping against hardwood floors and boots frantically running towards the back exit. It's just you three in the saloon. He taps his finger in between your eyes, flaking leather on your soft skin. “A bullet in between her eyes would look lovely on her, don't you agree?”

“Your quarrel is with me. Let's take this outside, shall we?” Like a strike of lightning, Hobie cracks his bullwhip towards Culver. Dust in your eyes, the high pitched sound ringing in your ears. You then see Culver getting dragged away from you by his arm. The whip wraps around his flesh, threatening to skin him from the force Hobie pulls him towards the swinging doors of the saloon.

You inhale the gunpowder like scent it left, standing up, you quickly follow Hobie out into the sun. As the light hits your eyes, you watch Hobie cracks his bullwhip again. Culver yells in pain as Hobie releases him in the whip's clutches before placing it neatly back on his belt. He stands ways away from him, just across the screaming Culver.

“Painful, innit? This is what you did to two of my mates.” You walk to Hobie's side, he spares you a glance, roaming his jade eyes over you to check for injuries. Satisfied, he then returns his attention towards his target. “Remember that fuckin' pain, because my bullet hitting your heart would hurt much more than this.”

Culver holds his aching arm, kneeling on the muddy ground, hat fallen next to him, revealing a shiny head. “You lettin’ me go?” He cackles, you don't hide behind Hobie. “Just like that? Oh that woman has softened you up, Mr. Brown.”

“D’you want to keep talking or do you want to fuckin' start?”

You knit your eyebrows, fear encompasses you. “W-what’s about to start?” Your hand finds his bicep, holding on to him tightly like he's about to leave you. Again.

“A showdown, go to the side, love, I don't want you ‘ere when the bullets start flyin’” He watches Culver slowly stand up in the corner of his eyes.

“A fucking duel? Are you crazy?” You grip tighter.

Hobie gives you a smile, the same smile he lets you see every night before you head home. It's a boyish smile, innocence hidden behind it. “Go, I'll be fine.”

“And if not? He looks like he's a gunslinger. What if he wins and you die?”

“Then I can't burden you anymore.” He whispers, green eyes glimmering in the sunlight.

“Burden—? What are you talking about?”

“Go, I'll win, don't worry about it.”

“Hobie—!”

“Go, Y/N!”

You move without question after he yells at you. Your hands trembles, knees going weak, tears brimming in your eyes, and he can't even look at you.

As the two men move further away without turning their backs towards each other, you hold onto the saloon's pillar lest you crumble from fear of losing him. Again.

Bystanders look on, watching the spectacle unfold right in front of their eyes. Some hide behind windows, children hide behind their mother's skirts. While you have nowhere to hide. Your nails dig into the wood, Hobie squares his shoulders, fingers brushing along his holster. You spare a look towards his target, his hand already resting next to his yellow-gold gun.

Silence hangs in the air. Death waits for the loser.

Hobie squints his eyes, attention fully on the man before him. He leans back slightly, right foot stepped forward, silver gun shining in the sun; you can even see your reflection on it.

With a single breath, it's all over.

Culver was too slow to quickdraw, probably from his still aching arm. He drops his gun before he could fully draw it out. Hobie's bullet has left a sizable hole in his dominant palm, a gaping, bleeding wound that you can see through if you stare long enough.

Culver screams, a gutteral shriek that worms into your mind. He drops to his knees, eyes wide in panic and shock, trousers drenched in his own blood. Gunpowder still lingers in the air when you run towards Hobie's side. Your hands grip his shoulders, breath stuck in your throat, as you check for any bullet wounds.

“Are you hurt?!” You scream, ears ringing from the loud shot.

“‘m fine,” your wandering hands find reprieve on his jaw. “Love, ‘m fine.”

He sees fear in your eyes like never before, not even when you get punished, cheeks stained with tears from whatever they've thrown at you. You've never looked like this terrified. Scared like a starving doe caught in a bear trap.

“Remember what I told you?” You can't speak or even think. “Breathe, Y/N.” Hobie takes your hand off his skin, there's a reluctance that you're not privy to. “Just breathe, inhale and exhale.” He holds your hand, squeezing once before leaving your side. “I need to finish the job.”

You exhale and he's gone, the golden gun kicked far away, aiming the still warm barrel against Culver's head. “No…” Running after Hobie, you refuse to see another dead man. “Stop! Please.” Gripping his gun once again, you plead with him. “Don't kill him.”

“Step aside, Y/N. If I don't—” he can't fathom what Culver would do to him, to *you if he doesn't end it right there and then. The cycle must stop, he can't accomplish it if you're standing in between his gun and Culver's soft head. “Don't get involved.”

“Please.” You breathe out, warm hands placed around his shooting hand. “Take him to the sheriff, let justice take its course. He's backing down, I don't want to see you kill another one.”

“The sheriff won't do shit. Just like now,” he nudges his head towards the man amidst the crowd. “Let me do this, or he'll follow us and hunt us down.”

“I won't!” Culver suddenly yells, even louder than his painful screams. “I won't follow! I'm tired, Mr. Brown. I don't want to do this no more.” He looks up at the two of you, remourse evident on his face. “I'm sorry about your friends, I really am! But we're already even, you've taken mine too. Every single one I've got.”

“Promise to never exact revenge,” you tell the groveling man as you watch his salty tears mix in with the warm crimson.

“I promise,” Culver cries. “I promise, miss.”

You look back at Hobie, your eyes meet his own. Anger subsides in those emerald eyes, face turning soft. “He promises, Hobie.”

“An outlaw's promise doesn't mean shit—”

“You’ll have to shoot through me to get to him.” You point the barrel right on top of your chest, its warmth seeps through you.

“He wanted to hurt you.” Hobie softly says, fingers wrapping around your own.

“I’m not hurt. It takes more than threats to hurt me, Hobs.” You both stare at each other, hearts beating together. “Can you holster your gun please?”

Together, you help him lower his gun. Together, you let Culver go.

—

You need to leave town immediately. Strawberry's sheriff might've been easily placated with a good duel, but other lawmen pursuing Hobie might not be. Bucky neighs loudly at the sight of you, moreso when he sees your intertwined hands.

“Hi, Bucky.” You start to place your foot on the stirrups but Hobie stops you halfway.

“You need a horse. Might as well put your new gloves to good use, hmm?” You smile as Hobie whistles for the stable hand for help. A teenage boy with worn out blue jeans appears. “She needs a horse. Anythin' fast, or hell, anythin' you have available. What do you have?”

Their conversation drifts into the background. Your attention and breath is taken away by the gorgeous mare that stands behind a stable door. Her shining blue eyes watch you as you approach, hair as white as snow, the same hue as her body, she glimmers in the sunlight that filters through the wooden cracks. She huffs, head leaning away when you hold out your hand. You could only wait for her to make the move, watching you with peculiar eyes like she's sizing you up.

The stable boy does a double take, “wait, ma'am, that's not—!” When he says it, the white mare leanes closer to your touch. “Well I'll be. She never lets anyone touch her except my boss. She's as fine as cream gravy that one is.”

“I think she likes me.” You tilt your head as she sniffs your hand.

“That's a fuckin' arabian, love.” Hobie says breathlessly, watching you and the hot tempered horse interact like you've been her rider for years. “Can't you pick another horse that doesn't cost three horses combined?”

You laugh, feeding the mare hay. “I could, but I really think she's the one for me.” Hobie scratches the back of his neck. “I can choose another one, Hobie.” As if understanding your words, the mare nudges your shoulder. Hobie feels like he's being robbed in broad daylight. But he'll spend a million for you if you ask.

The stable boy pipes up from the side. “You can't actually, ma'am, I was just tellin’ your husband here that we only have her available. The rest already have owners you see. She was abandoned six months ago.”

“How could anyone abandon you?” You whisper towards the horse, petting her head as she welcomes your touch.

“I think her last owner died, and no one has since picked her up, or bought her. My boss is more than willing to get rid of her now to make space.”

“We'll take her, on a discounted fee of course, since she's second hand. And a saddle too.” You grin at Hobie's words.

The stable hand sighs. “At half price too I bet?”

“Now you're speakin’ my language.” Hobie pats the boy's shoulder as he negotiates prices. The mare huffs again, asking for more hay while you are distracted by Hobie's wink thrown your way.

—

“She still doesn't have a name.” Hobie finally breaks his silence, he rides alongside your horse, making sure that your ill tempered mare doesn't buck you off. His hands guide Buckeye, but his eyes are completely on your form.

The road is long and empty, save for a herd of bison roaming just below the mountain you're both trudging. There are small graves littered around the road, worn out crosses, wood eaten by termites. Etched names forgotten, lives scattered in the wind amidst the dirt and blazing sun. You wonder how they died without getting to their final destination. The sun has completely risen, humidity making your lips dry, heat stuck in between your skin and the leather of your gloves. The canopy shields you from the rays, luscious greenery everywhere, trees and grass littered all over the mountain side. You can hear wild horses neighing far away from where you are, their hooves thumping freely on the soil.

You pause from braiding your horse's hair, securing the braid with the pink lace ribbon. Your eyes meet with familiar emerald eyes. “I've been thinking about it actually.”

“Well? What are your options?”

Your lips curl into a mischievous smile. “‘Blue jeans’”

“Oh fuck off.” He rides ahead to hide his growing smile.

You quickly follow, pulling the reins, clicking your tongue to make your horse trot alongside Hobie. “Why not? I like it, I think it fits her.”

“No it does not. You're fucking with me, lovie, and my blue jeans.”

You like him like this, bathed in the sun, in warmth as he smiles back at you; just like the days when you were still just friends, friends with lingering feelings that you're both too afraid to confess. If he doesn't love you back just as before, you'd settle for this, just friends who laugh and talk, and tease each other. It's better this way because friendship means that he still cares for you, that there's still a space for you in his heart no matter how small it is, that you're not forgotten.

“Oh you and your precious blue jeans!” Your laughter echoes around.

“Will you be like this the entire time?” You both turn a corner, where no trees shield you from the sun. He notices you narrow your eyes, palm above your eyes to see him better. “‘ere.”

“W-what?” There's suddenly a hat atop your head, his hat. “Oh!” You run your fingers along the brim that shields you from the light. The leather is soft, a few bumps here and there but you can feel that it's been taken care of. Hobie clears his throat, and your cheeks run warmer than the summer sun. “T-thank you.” You're not an idiot, you've been here for weeks so of course you've heard of the ‘hat rule’ in passing. But you don't know what to do, or what he wants to do when it's in reverse.

“No problem, you've already taken my money, might as well hand you my hat, eh?” Hobie inhales, the mere sight of you wearing his beloved hat sends his heart into overdrive. Maybe he shouldn't have given it to you.

“You make it sound like I'm robbing you blind. I was alright with my old clothes.”

Hobie has the opportunity to say either of the two things that popped up in his mind. One, tell you that you've only robbed him of his heart. And two, make a joke about how much Bucky disdained carrying you with your musty clothes. So he does neither.

“We had to, or we'll be recognized faster than a mother recognizes her child.” You both finally reach the foot of the mountain, successfully surviving without anyone shooting at you, kidnapping you; or hell, getting eaten by a bear. With both of your luck, it's possible.

“Weird analogy but okay.” Your stomach grumbles when you two come to a stop at a fork in the road. One goes to the right, the other on the left. There's nothing else distinguishable on either one of them. The signage is long gone, taken by strong winds, or just time itself. You wince, hoping that he didn't hear the sound your stomach made.

He raises a brow, chuckling deeply at the sight of you hiding your face with the brim of his hat. “I forgot we didn't get to eat. That sandwich smelt really fuckin' good.”

“I really want that pumpkin soup now.” You groan, leaning forward to rest your head on top of your horse who barely notices your movement.

“C’mon, I know a place.” He taps your boot with his own.

“Where?”

“On the left, it's not that far but it'll delay us on our journey.” It's not a bad deal, he thinks to himself.

You suddenly perk up, this is what you were asking for back in that cave, the road less traveled, the road where you get to just spend more time with him. And postpone your homecoming.

“What are we waiting for then, cowboy?” With a kick, and a laugh in your throat, you bolt over to the direction he pointed out.

“‘Cowboy?’ bloody hell.” He really regrets giving you his hat because now he doesn't have anything to hide his flustered face anymore.

—

“You said it was a restaurant,” you huff at the wide river before you, hands on your hips, stomach growling. “Not that we have to catch our own meal!”

Hobie can't help but laugh, a hearty, genuine one that also has you smiling. This suits him, just happy and without a gun in his hand. You like him in every conceivable way possible, even if you're still getting used to his new self. “I just said, ‘I know a place.’ I ain't no liar. Did you expect a café in the middle of nowhere?”

“Yes! And no— I'm hungry now, Hobs!” Your horse agrees, hoof digging into the dirt. Buckeye stands hitched next to her, eyes glued on her white mane. Weird, you thought. “Look, even blue jeans agree!”

“Instant gratification,” Hobie pulls his jacket off and places it on the saddle; he then takes out a folding fishing rod from Bucky's saddle bag. “You should work on that because it's not gonna work well ‘ere, love.” He walks towards the river bank, toeing off his boots, folding up the same trousers you love to see him in. And also folding the sleeves of his shirt to reveal his toned arms. “And her name can't be ‘blue jeans!’” Yelling back, he trudges the rushing cool water that goes up to just below his knees.

“Okay, fine!” You start to strip, taking off your coat and his hat— folding your trousers and sleeves, you follow him to the rocky river bank. “How about ‘trout’ then.”

He hears your voice closer, he laughs at you when you almost slip on a rock. “Careful, it's slippery. You can't name her ‘trout,’ she's too pretty for that.”

“Now you tell me,” you roll your eyes at him as he casts the line. The bait and hook plops in the deeper water, now the waiting game begins. “‘Too pretty?’ you once nicknamed me beetle just because it bit me once!” Warmth spreads across your chest at his laugh. You feel at home in that cold river.

“And? You callin' yourself pretty?” His smirk takes you back at that oak tree.

You have an urge to kiss it off him. You don't, it's not the time yet, or you may ruin everything. “Yeah, you did, I remember you calling me pretty…” you lean closer, face dangerously close to his own. Breaths mixing in together, but you still give him enough space to move away. He doesn't. You don't mention it. He thinks about your lips upon his. “And gorgeous, and then absolutely stunnin’!” You copy his drawl, but before he could even laugh at your teasing, the fishing rod starts to move, yanking him forward.

“Oh fuck!” Hobie reels it in, and you gasp in disbelief at the sheer strength the fish has. “Help me or we'll starve!”

“You don't have to tell me twice!” You embrace him from the back, arms squeezing him, face smothered by his shoulder. He feels warm, he still feels the same. You dig your heels in while he fights with lunch. “Come on, cowboy!”

He almost let go of the rod. “Shit!” You laugh into his shirt and he almost falters once again. “Come on you little—!” With one hard yank, he finally sees the fish fly up, the sun hits its scales, body frantically flopping around. But he pulled too hard, and down he goes on the river bank, with you catching him. “Fuck—!” With a splash, you get a face full of river water.

Hobie immediately jumps to the side to not squash you and drown you in two feet of water. His eyes are full of worry when you emerge coughing. He almost lets go of the rod to tend to you, but your smile and guffaw has relief flowing through him.

“How big is it?!” You ask, entirely drenched.

He gently wipes your face, calloused palms over your soft skin, fingers carefully wiping away a piece of grass stuck on your cheek. You close your eyes, letting him hold you.

Hobie inhales and drinks you in— he still loves you. It's always been there, his love for you, but he refuses to acknowledge it with what he knows just before he left, with what *he said before he took a slice at his neck. Hobie still dreams of you, still dreams of saying those three words again, he's a fool to bury the feeling, especially when you're in front of him again— close to him again, loving him again.

He has no idea what to do now, other than to stand up and give you a helping hand.

—

Hobie's been silent and you have no idea why. You warm yourself on the fire he built, the fish you both caught is now cooking wonderfully on the open fire. The river's currents are a lot stronger now, so it's a lot harder to catch anything without getting carried by it. Your clothes are slowly drying as you wring your sleeves free of water.

“Cherry.” You suddenly break the silence. “I think I'll name her cherry.”

Hobie sits across you again, gazing at you through warmer eyes. “Why cherry?”

“Because horses love fruit, and cherry is a fruit.”

“Brilliant thinkin’ love, horses definitely eat cherries.” He says in a sarcastic tone.

You furrow your brows, “wait, they don't?”

He blinks, “Huh, ‘m actually not sure. Maybe if you take out the pits and cut it in half?”

“That’s…that's plausible, they contain cyanide though.”

“Maybe we should ask them?”

“What?” You chortle, and Hobie cups his hands to yell at the horses.

“Oi! D’you lot eat cherries?” They only stare at him. “Guess not.” You laugh, he finds it infectious so he also does.

“Horses can't talk, Hobs.” You say in between giggles.

“You never know, I might be a horse whisperer.” His smile falters, and you frown at the sudden shift. “‘m sorry for yellin’ at you.” His voice is soft under the cackle of the fire. “I shouldn't have yelled.”

“Apology accepted.” Your nerves calm down, beaming at him, scooching closer to him until your knees grazes his own. He doesn't move away, even nudging your shoulder with a faint smile. “I'm sorry for making you spend so much. But thank you for the nice clothes, and being— just…kind.”

Hobie reaches for your hand slowly, your breath is in your throat, freezing you un place. His pinky brushes along your palm when a twig snaps Hobie quickdraws his gun.

“Who's there?! Show yourself or I'll fuckin' shoot.” Standing up, he hides you with his own body.

You also stand up, hand wrapping around the barrel of the rifle that was leaning next to you. Both yours and Hobie's hearts thump loudly with trepidation. The bush moves and out comes two men brandishing their own weapons. They dress like gentlemen, but their sneers say they are not.

“We came out to piss and we find the spider of the west, guess we're just lucky.” The one with a scar across his nose says, voice scratchy, nudging his companion. “And would you look at that?”

“You’ve found yourself a pretty companion, Hobart, one that has a very high bounty on her head.” The other finishes his partner's sentence. His mustache is all twirly at the end, golden tooth shining in the sun. “Y’know, sweetheart, the whole country's after ya.” You don't falter in your stance.

“With both of your bounties combined, we're aimin’ at ten thousand dollars right now.” The scarred man chuckles.

“Ten thousand?” Hobie whistles, “Can we bring ourselves in instead?” You snort, still aiming at the man's head.

“If only that was possible, Hobart.” The man gives you a twisted smile.

“Are you lawmen?” You ask, “Or pinkertons? You two don't look like either of them.”

“What do we look like then, sweetheart?” The mustachioed man taunts with a toothy smile. “A couple of handsome cowboys?”

“A bunch of dead men.” You push Hobie away, kicking hot coals in their faces, embers flying, smoke filling their lungs. While they're both distracted and yelling at the searing heat— Hobie fans the hammer of his gun, shooting all six bullets into each man's bodies until their lifeless corpses fall atop each other.

“I've seen better.” You stand next to Hobie as he checks for something in their pockets. Their blood slowly spread to the tips of his boots. “What are you doing?”

Hobie rubs a hand across his face, “Lawmen,” he raises the identification papers he found. “We need to go. Pack the fish.”

“But they're dead?” You ask but you still do what you're told.

“Lawmen are like rats, if there's two ‘ere, there's a dozen more near us, hidden under the crevices.” He walks near the banks, head downturned, eyes scanning the plants. “And they've got their noses on us now.”

“Where are you going?” You stand, wrapped fish in your arms. “Hobie!” You start to yell when he has walked a few ways away from you.

Hobie crouches down, hunting knife digging into the soil. You watch him take a bushel of grass, he walks back and now you get a closer look at what he's carrying. You thought your eyes are deceiving you, instead of the familiar green hue, the plant is pink, a very bright shade. There's still dirt clinging to the stems when Hobie carefully covers it with a handkerchief.

“That's oleander, Hobie.” You stare at him, concerned. “And that many could kill a fucking elephant.”

“I know, you taught me, remember?” You nod as shoves it inside your messenger bag. He pauses at the sight of the bundle of letters, then he dismisses them, closing the bag. “It might come in handy.”

“What's your plan?” You're terrified.

“We head to a train station.” He sighs, completely winded, and worried for your safety. “Bounty hunters and outlaws I can manage, but them?” He points at the two bodies. “They've got more resources than either group, and more people in their pocket.”

“Wouldn't that be obvious? Riding the train? We can handle them, just like we always have—”

“They hate my guts more than anyone, Y/N, and they don't fear me as much as bounty hunters or outlaws.”

“But a train…” you shudder. “We'll be in the south in a few days instead of weeks— that's quick, too quick…I don't—” I don't want to leave. “I can't.”

“You wanted the scenic route, right?” He starts to unhitch the horses. “It's the last place they'll look for thinking that we'll be traveling by our lonesome out on the backroads.”

“Yes, but—”

“Nothing’s more scenic than a train ride. C’mon, love, get on Cherry. Before more come out of hidin’”

You nod, tears threatening to spill out. Walking around the corpses, you get on Cherry with a far away look in your eyes. “To the train station then.”