#I would be insanely happy if the case was the former

[cosmicdahlias]

Picture You

MINORS DNI

You’re snowed in at your research partner’s place! All other rooms are occupied so he offers to let you sleep in his room. You’ve harbored a crush on him for some time so just being alone in his room is enough to excite you, leaving you unable to resist touching yourself.

warnings: HUGE age gap (reader is in their 20’s), masturbation, p in v, mild mdom/fsub, creampie

this is loosely based off of chappell roan’s “picture you”. the second i realized what it was about i was ✨inspired✨

You had been Stanford Pines’ research partner for a year and some change, although the actual amount of time you had spent in his company was only a little less than six months. Not long into working with him, he left to sail the open seas and travel the world with his brother, Stanley.

You stayed back, working in the lab and cataloging their findings on your computer. Your skills with technology complimented his total inept ability for anything made post-1982. He would call you- from the phone you painstakingly convinced him to get- excitedly sharing the news of his and Stan’s latest discoveries.

You weren’t totally by yourself during this period. You were once Stan’s employee before becoming Ford’s assistant, so when you ventured upstairs you had the company of your former coworkers. Wendy, an incredibly laid back teenager with a habit for shirking work, and Soos, previous handyman turned Mystery Shack owner. There was also Soos’s girlfriend, Melody, and his abuelita who would hand you home baked goods practically every morning as you walked in the front door.

Still, you missed Ford’s presence dearly. You secretly looked forward to his phone calls and eagerly awaited his return. Ever since you had met Ford two summers ago you were madly in love with him. Hell, before you even met you were drawn to him. Dipper would lend you journal 3 during your breaks when you were still working at the Mystery Shack. You read every page over and over, wondering who the author could be and what they looked like.

You watched Ford walk through the portal, shocked to discover that the Stanford Pines you thought was your boss had actually been impersonating the true Stanford, his twin and author of the journals. As he removed his goggles and hood you felt your face flush. Of all the ways you’d imagined the author to look, a silver fox was not one of them.

What should’ve been a happy reunion between brothers quickly turned into an altercation, interrupted by Mabel’s demand for answers as to just “what the heck” was going on. Ford, who had been distracted by his contempt for Stan, took notice of the other four in the basement: Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and you.

He looked everyone over, but when he reached you his gaze froze, a slight pink dusting his cheeks. He pulled out his journal, writing something down and every so often looking at you before stuffing it back in his trench coat pocket.

Between a lengthy backstory told by both brothers and an interruption by government agents, there wasn’t much room for introductions. After some quick thinking by both Dipper and Ford to use the memory gun to erase the agents’ memories of raiding the shack, Stan insisted you and Soos head home.

The following day you worked with Soos and Wendy to repair the damage of temporary gravitational insanity, when Ford ascended the stairs. He walked towards you, the same shade of pink returning to his cheeks when you met his gaze.

“I don’t believe I had the chance to properly introduce myself yesterday. I’m sure you remember my name, but just in case, I’m Stanford. Though please, call me Ford.”

“And you can call me y/n. So… you’re the mysterious author?”

He raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise.

“Wait, you’ve read my journals?”

“Only the third one, your nephew would let me read it every now and then.”

He gave a small smile. “I’m so flattered to know you take an interest in my work.”

“Are you kidding? You make this hick town actually interesting, a place worth living in!”

You and Ford had a pleasant conversation, discussing the various creatures of Gravity Falls at length. Eventually he excused himself, insisting his work must be attended to, but that he would be happy to have future discussions of the same nature. You went to return yourself to your own tasks when you heard a gravely laugh behind you. You turned to see Stan leaning against the doorframe. Had he been there the whole time?

“Heh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen sixer so interested in someone before. Hell, I’ve never seen YOU so into a guy and men practically flock to you.”

You gave a small laugh. “I think he was just happy to meet someone interested in his research.”

“Oh please, that’s all it takes. Just stroke his ego and he’s yours.”

“Oh no, I’m not-“

“Look, I know I’m a catch and he shares my good looks, so I get it. It’s hard to resist a face like ours and you’re a total nerd so clearly you were gonna fall for him.”

You went beet red. “No, seriously it’s not like that at all.”

He cackled. “Oh really? Cause your face ain’t hiding a thing, kid.”

Throughout the week, Ford would often come upstairs to continue your talks of creatures and cryptids. The second he left the room, Stan couldn’t resist winking and making an obnoxious sex gesture with his fingers.

Another day had passed and Ford once again approached you. You assumed to discuss the plaidypus or something, but instead he offered you a proposition.

“So, y/n, I’ve been mulling it over and I think I could use an assistant. Would you be interested?”

“I thought you told Dipper you wanted to work alone.”

“Because he’s just a child. You’re an adult and I believe you’re fully capable of handling the dark and dangerous side of Gravity Falls. Besides, I’m getting far too old to do this sort of thing myself.”

Ford seeing you as someone worth working alongside with felt like something to be proud of. From your interactions you sensed he didn’t trust easily. You were eager to accept when you remembered your obligations.

“I’d love to, but… I have to discuss it with Stan first. It’d be shitty to just quit on him without warning.”

He seemed to bristle at the mention of his brother, but was willing to put his feelings aside for you.

“I completely understand.”

Later that evening as your shift ended you turned to Stan.

“Hey, so listen, Ford asked me to work as his assistant. I know you guys have a touchy history, but I-“

He waved a hand. “It’s fine, kid. I figured this was coming. Me and him might not get along anymore, but I still want what’s best for him. Go for it. And hey, if you do hook up, just promise you’ll name the kid after me!” He winked.

Over a year had passed, the holiday season was well under way. Dipper and Mabel were staying over for the winter break, having just arrived the day before. You were busy with research in the lab when a startling EAS alarm blared from your phone. You picked it up, reading the notification.

“EMERGENCY ALERT

Dec. 16, 9:46 PM

Severe Blizzard Warning until Dec 17, 10 AM. Unsafe road conditions expected. Avoid travel.”

“Shit.” You groaned.

“What is it?” Ford asked.

“Looks like we’re in for a snowstorm. I’m gonna head upstairs and see if I can still get out of here.”

You ascended the staircase and poked your head out the front door only to be greeted with a massive blanket of snow and thick flakes falling in droves. The lower half of your car was completely buried, tires no longer visible. Welp, you were stuck.

Normally this would’ve been less than ideal, but as you stared out at the enormous layer of freshly fallen snow you couldn’t help the feeling of your heart pounding excitedly at your chest. Possibilities swarmed in your head of what could happen while spending a night with Ford. You turned to head back downstairs when the telltale high pitched voice of Mabel piped up.

“Did you see all the snow? Hey, how are you gonna get home?”

“They’re probably not Mabel, it’d be suicide heading out in this weather.” Dipper said, nose buried in a book.

“Ooooo, we should have a sleepover! We could stay up doing each other’s makeup, painting our nails, watching holiday movi- WAIT WAIT WAAAAAAIT!!! This could be your chance! You could finally tell Grunkle Ford how you feel!” Mabel beamed up at you, face alight with excitement.

“How did you- I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You lied.

“Pfft, yeah you do! I found your love letter to him in the trash! It was soooo romantic, I don’t get why you threw it out.” Mabel said.

“Hey! That was private!” You scolded.

“Don’t worry, she did that to me too.” Dipper sighed.

“Either way, I know there’s something between you two! Nothing like a little snowstorm as the perfect nudge to make sparks fly.” Mabel said, playfully elbowing you at the word “nudge”.

You shook your head and trudged down the stairs. Ford studied your face, trying to determine the situation by your expression.

“How is it?” He inquired.

“Not good, there’s no way I can drive in this weather.” You huffed, feigning disappointment.

“Ah, I see. Well, the house is rather full at the moment, so there’s not a spare room. The only thing I can think of is the living room recliner, but I wouldn’t exactly recommend it. It’s not really designed for sleeping.”

He paused, looking nervous before offering his suggestion.

“I suppose you could… stay in my room. I finally added a proper bed, so I can take the couch. I- if you don’t mind, I don’t want to impose.”

Your heart did a backflip.

“I’m okay with that.” You said, doing your best to act calm.

After about an hour and a half of work you finally felt yourself getting tired. You yawned, struggling to keep your eyes open. Ford noticed immediately.

“Ready to call it a night?” He asked.

“Nnnmn, yeah I suppose.” You mumbled sleepily.

“Alright, I’ll show you to my room.”

He led you up the stairs and down the hall, opening the door. A long red couch, a queen bed, and a stained glass window were the main points of interest.

“As I previously stated, the bed is yours.” He said, gesturing towards it.

You sat on the bed.

“Thanks for this, Ford.”

He gave a small chuckle. “Well, I’m not about to let you brave a storm like that. You’re my favorite assistant and far too important for me to lose.”

You blushed at the idea of being “important” to him and his “favorite”.

“Aren’t I your only assistant?” You ribbed.

He laughed softly. “Fair enough.”

He looked down at you and his face gave the impression that he wanted to say something important.

“Y/n, I-“ He paused, stopping himself.

“Yeah?”

He shook his head. “Never mind… Okay then, I’ll let you get some slee- oh wait a minute, you don’t have any clothes to sleep in, do you?”

You shook your head.

“I figured as much. I can’t imagine being in jeans all night would be comfortable. Let me see what I can do.”

He rummaged around in his dresser, pulling out an old BMU t-shirt and forest green running shorts.

“I haven’t touched these since college. They’ll be a bit big on you, but hopefully they should suffice.” He said, handing them to you.

“Alright, well, I’m going to finish up things in the lab for another hour or so. Let me know if you need anything.” He said, closing the door behind him.

You took off your clothes and bra, putting on the shirt and shorts and looking at yourself in the mirror. Wearing his clothes was way more arousing than it should be. You laid back on the bed, sighing. Every second you spent with Ford was akin to torture. You wanted him- needed him so bad. He was nearly 40 years your senior, but you always fancied older men. Something about that salt and pepper hair and having more experience than men your age was incredibly appealing to you.

Given Ford’s years in other dimensions you would’ve thought that the latter wasn’t the case for him. However, he had admitted to you after a liberal amount of drinks the night he came home from traveling the world that he hadn’t been entirely alone in those three decades. He ended his statement mumbling in embarrassment that he had still never been with another human.

Your mind was flooded with thoughts of all 12 of Ford’s fingers on you, him eating you out, and fucking you in every position known to man, some only known in other dimensions. You slipped your hand underneath the shorts and your panties. You gathered the wetness from between the lips of your pussy on your finger and dragged it up to stroke your already throbbing clit. It wouldn’t take you long, just touching yourself in his room heavy with the scent of him was turning you on so much. God, how you loved his scent, you would find any excuse to be close to him just to take it in.

You were close, you rubbed yourself furiously as you felt yourself just about to tip over the edge. You pulled the shirt up, squeezing one of your breasts. At that exact moment the door swung open, Ford stood in the doorway.

“Sorry, y/n, I forgot to- oh my.”

You moaned softly, too caught up in your own pleasure to hear his baritone voice.

“Oh god, Ford.” You whimpered.

Ford turned as red as his sweater and gave an incredibly audible clearing of his throat. Your eyes opened, you gasped as you met Ford’s gaze. You quickly snapped your hand up and pulled the shirt down to cover your breasts.

“AH! NO WAIT! IT- IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” You squeaked.

He stared at you in silence for a few seconds before speaking.

“Were you… moaning my name?”

You looked away, your embarrassment making you want to spontaneously combust. There was no way of talking yourself out of this one.

You blurted out an apology. “I’m so sorry! I seriously thought you weren’t coming in here for an hour!“

“No, no, it’s okay. You just surprised me. I wasn’t expecting this, not from someone as young and as gorgeous as you.” He said.

He shut the door behind him and crossed the room to stand next to you. You looked up at him.

“Y- you think I’m-“

He took your face in his hand, stroking your cheek with his thumb.

“Gorgeous? Of course I do, anyone with eyes can see that. When I first saw you that day after finally coming back to our dimension you were such a sight for sore eyes.”

“Ford, I- you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say something like that.”

“And you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to have you in my bed like this.”

“You wouldn’t believe half of the things I’ve done picturing you.”

He chuckled. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”

He leaned in, kissing you deeply. His hand traveled underneath the shorts to your wetness.

“Oh stars, you were close to orgasming when I walked in, weren’t you?”

You nodded sheepishly.

“Well then,” he purred “don’t stop on my account.”

He removed his hand from you, shrugging his trench coat off his shoulders and pulling his sweater over his head. He loosened his belt and unzipped his pants, sliding them off of his legs and letting them fall to the floor. His boxers barely contained his hardened cock, you could see a glimpse of it through the slit. He slid them off and they joined his pants on the floor. You bit your lip, he noticed you staring.

“D- do you like it? I’ve never been with a human, so I have no idea if it’s satisfactory.”

You laughed. “Oh I think you’ll be more than satisfactory.”

He leaned down again to kiss you.

“Let me see you, all of you.” He cooed.

You sat up and lifted the vintage shirt off of you, he eyed you in pure hunger.

“My goodness, your breasts are perfect.”

You laid back and hooked your thumbs in both the waistband of the shorts and your panties, sliding them off. Ford got onto the bed. The sight of your dripping pussy was too much to stop himself, came in close dragged his tongue along your wetness.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist, I had to taste you. God, your scent and taste are incredible, just the pure essence of sex.”

He moved to sit on his knees at the foot of the bed.

“Now, sweet girl, pick up where you left off.” He said.

You didn’t need to be told twice, returning your hand between your thighs.

“Good girl.”

“Fuck, I love being called that.” You whimpered.

He chuckled. “I always suspected you had a thing for praise.”

His hand found his cock and he began to stroke himself to you. If being in Ford’s room was enough to make you cum fast, him touching himself to you was going to do you over in half the time. You worked your fingers quickly, electricity pulsing through you. Ford watched intently.

“Are you close, princess? Already?”

“Mmmnn, I can’t help it with you watching me and stroking your huge cock like that.” You moaned.

He blushed a deep scarlet.

“H- huge?”

“Massive. Like I said, more than satisfactory.” You smirked.

Your breathing quickened, your body shook, your moans became louder.

“Good girl, that’s it. Cum for me.” He coaxed.

Your head sunk into the pillow as you came hard, moaning and swearing like a sailor. Ford watched you intently.

“God I’ve wanted to see you like this for so long, you look so perfect in a post-orgasm glow.”

Ford got on top of you, kissing you passionately.

“Ready?” He said softly.

“Please.” You begged.

He slowly slipped himself inside you, you winced and moaned at the sensation of his thick cock.

“Are you alright? You’re squeezing me so hard.” Ford asked.

“Y- yeah, just give me second to adjust.”

He kissed you and gave you time to ease up around him.

“Dear moses, even when you’re relaxed you’re still so tight. I’m going to start moving, tell me if it feels like too much. Okay?”

You nodded and he began to thrust softly.

“Oh god, human pussy feels incredible, y- you feel incredible.” He moaned.

“Ever since you told me you’d never been with a human I wanted so badly to change that.”

“I longed to have you as my first, but I never imagined it would happen. I thought it would be nothing more than a foolish pipe dream of an equally foolish old man. I’ve always been incredibly attracted to you, not simply for your beauty, but because you compliment me so well. We make a good team. I would trade all of the stars in the known universe and beyond for just a second of being in your presence. Out of all the creatures I have seen, you are by far the most enchanting, the most captivating.”

“Ugh, how am I supposed to top you saying something as beautifully Shakespearean as that?” You huffed.

“It’s alright, just the feeling of being inside you is far more poetic than anything I’ve ever read.”

You laced your fingers in his hair and pulled him into a kiss. He sat on his knees, lifting up your hips and putting a pillow under your ass, throwing your legs over his shoulders.

“What’s the pillow for?”

“It’ll increase pleasure to the Gräfenberg spot.”

“The what?”

He chuckled. “The g-spot, love. Here, this will only make things better.”

He slipped a hand between your thighs, stroking your clit. He began to move again, holy fuck he was right, this felt amazing.

“Ohhhh jesus, Ford.”

“Yes that’s it, your pleasure is all I want.”

His free hand found your waist, gripping it.

“H- harder, please.” You whimpered.

“You have to earn it. Beg for me.”

“P- please fuck me harder, sir. Make me cum all over you. I need it, I need it so badly.”

“Sir? That’s my good girl, how could I not oblige?”

His grip on your waist tightened and he began to move himself at a blinding pace. The bed creaked and shook, the headboard slamming against the wall. You tightened around him.

“God, you’re getting so wet and tight. Are you close?”

“Uh huh.” You panted.

“I’m getting there too. I’m going to let you cum, but you have to promise that you’ll cum with me. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So obedient, such behavior needs to be rewarded.”

His fingers began to move as fast as his thrusts.

“I’m going to cum, sweet girl. Will you let me cum inside you?”

You nodded.

“Use your words, princess.”

“P- please.”

He stopped.

“Please, what?”

“Please, sir.”

“Good girl.”

He resumed his brutal pace. You felt a pressure within you explode and you arched your back, cumming around his cock. The feeling of you undid him. He let go of your clit, both hands gripping your waist to pull you against him and bury his cock fully inside you down to the hilt. He came an ungodly amount inside of you, it spilled out and dripped onto the bed.

“Oh god, I love you!” You moaned.

He looked down at you, his face bright red. You froze, that was an inside thought.

“You- you love me?”

“I- I- ah, uh-“ you took a deep breath. “Yes, since the day I met you.”

He kissed you passionately.

“I love you too. I was so drawn to you from the very beginning. My feelings developed when you told me you read my journals. Hearing you talk so passionately about the weird and unusual, I knew I had met a true kindred soul, my twin flame.”

Ford pulled out and laid beside you, pulling you to him with your back pressed against his chest, his arm around you.

“This was not how I was expecting my night to turn out, but I’m so glad it did.” He mumbled into your neck.

You smiled. “Never thought I’d be so happy to be snowed in.”

You lay in silence, drifting off until you felt something hard and warm press against your ass. Ford moved himself down, his head between your thighs.

“Ready to go again, princess?”

[a-grim-thin-hope]

welcome to a short one shot called.... idk, "harry potter's attempt at connecting with hated teacher via baked goods over incendiary topics, probably because he's still reeling from the battle in which he lost his senses" ??

----

Sometime around three-thirty in the afternoon, Harry stood on the front step of the dilapidated house located on the corner of Spinner's End and absently wondered if he should have made a treacle tart after all.

Not everyone liked apple pies, Harry reasoned. And though he could be wrong, he certainly couldn't imagine Severus Snape enjoying one. Or experiencing enjoyment, period. It just seemed a bit too cheery for the dour man; apple pies were usually featured in holiday ads about happy families, not shown being held by potentially insane students who decided to bring pie to one of the most hated members of society (or so he'd heard) on a whim. Hence, the original choice of treacle.

It would have certainly matched Snape's prospected mood, in any case.

Harry sighed miserably. Maybe he should have just brought along a few Blood Pops instead, just as a - possibly? - friendly throwback to the good old times when he, and most of Hogwarts, was convinced Snape was a vampire. After a brief moment of consideration, he ditched that idea and grimaced. He doubted that the 'good old times' was anything that should be brought up when conversing with Snape, ever.

(Or even thought about in his presence, actually; lack of eye contact when conversing with the man was deemed unacceptable, and he was a Legilimens.)

This was mainly because alluding to those years in Snape's presence would probably finally drive the man to commit the murder Voldemort couldn't. And, contrary to some people's beliefs, Harry did actually have a sense of self preservation. Sometimes. And even common sense, occasionally!

Harry shifted his weight slightly, still indecisive. Compared to his current insanity, maybe bringing Blood Pops would have been a good back-up plan. Still. It couldn't be helped anymore; he had made an apple pie, and it was rather too late to turn on his heel just because his former professor might not like his confectionery choices.

Carefully shifting the warm tin to one of his hands instead of both, Harry lifted a fist and hesitated for one long moment - a tense pause in which even the cheerful warbling of the birds seemed to still in an unnatural quiet - before rapping neatly on the splintered door three times. He regretted it almost immediately, and as the crippling doubt kicked in, he figured the only thing to do about it was to ignore the doubt and add a fourth, unnecessary knock that was far more pitiful than its predecessors.

"You're being bloody ridiculous," Harry finally told himself firmly, as the minutes stretched on and the surly potions master still hadn't appeared. "He's not going to care about what you've baked." This sentiment sounded hollow, even to his own ears, but he soldiered on and lifted his hand for another go at the door with its chipped paint that had no right looking as foreboding as it did.

It turned out to be rather pointless, in the end; he'd hardly tapped his knuckles against the wood before it flew open so harshly that Harry winced in preparation for the inevitable bang as the door met the wall and that never came.

"Indeed I shall not, Mr. Potter," Snape drawled, voice unusually hoarse - likely a product of the thick, ropey scars winding up his thin neck. "In fact, you'd be sorely mistaken if you assumed that I cared very deeply about anything pertaining to you. What, exactly, are you doing outside my door?"

For someone who, quite frankly, looked awful, it was almost impressive how quickly Snape managed to formulate an insult at the unexpected appearance of an unwelcome Potter. Awful was actually somewhat of an understatement; his skin was sallow and far too pale, even for him, and the dark circles under his eyes were so deep-set, Harry could hardly tell where his black eyes began and exhaustion ended. He couldn't even muster up the proper embarrassment at Snape overhearing his vocal ramblings.

"I, um. Pie," Harry finally managed, rather stupidly. "I - I mean. I've got it. Pie, that is - could I maybe set this down? Sir?"

After a wary pause, Snape finally moved aside, somewhat mockingly, one hand gesturing to the dark hall behind him and the other remaining firmly braced on the doorframe. "But of course," he said dryly, and waited until Harry tentatively took a step inside before shutting the door with the loud sound that Harry had anticipated.

-----

Harry had been to a lot of awkward tea parties since the downfall of Voldemort.

He wasn't quite sure why: just that the defeat of a tyrannical, evil overlord apparently warranted celebration, and that celebration often came in the form of baked goods of varying quality, lukewarm tea, and awkward dinner table conversation about subjects no one really wanted to talk about. Maybe it was just something functional members of society were supposed to do.

Harry wouldn't know; most of the time he was supposed to be developing skills that would allow him to be a functional member of society - something, even at the ripe old age of seventeen, he most certainly was not - was spent locked in the cupboard under the stairs with a few spiders for company.

But no, yes, awkward tea parties. He'd experienced a lot of awkward, tense silences, but this one took the cake. If by cake, of course, Harry meant pie, and if by pie he meant the apple pie he had slaved over that morning in the hopes that it would be, at the very least, somewhat edible. The grimace on Snape's thin face indicated it was not, but Harry thought it tasted pretty good for a first attempt.

Still, maybe he should have made a treacle tart. He'd never regretted anything as much as he did in that moment as making an apple pie for someone who hadn't even asked for a pie, and it increased tenfold when Snape sighed irritably and placed his plate with his mostly untouched piece on the table.

"Mr. Potter," he began, folding his hands on his lap with an all-too-familiar look of derision settling across his features. "As much as I...appreciate this unexpected visit, you've yet to explain why, exactly, you've brought me a mediocre confection and the obligation of social interaction."

Harry tensed a bit, fiddling with his fork as he looked down at his empty plate instead of the looming presence of his former potions master. "I - mediocre? I thought it wasn't too bad. Sir. Then again, that was my third attem - "

"Potter," Snape snapped. "I've developed no miraculous tolerance for your imbecilical ramblings in the blessed months I've not been burdened with your presence. Get to the point before I lose the small amount of patience I've managed to dredge up."

Harry barely ignored the ridiculous urge to applaud. He'd almost missed the acidic comments the teacher had been so known for. Not a lot, but enough that the familiarity of the exchange lessened the bite of the words somewhat. Harry took a deep breath, placing his plate gently down with a clatter as he immediately picked up his teacup in another poor attempt to avoid looking at Snape.

"You see," he began cautiously, swirling the tea in a smooth motion. "Hermione - you know, Granger - well, she sort of went around giving baked goods to everyone she wanted to make amends with, and I figured...it wasn't a bad idea. I mean, I'm not very good at baking, I'll admit that much, sir, but it seemed doable, so - "

"Your point."

Harry took a fortifying gulp of watery tea. "Right, right. Sorry, Professor. Anyway, I decided to follow in her footsteps and I...made you a pie. First person on my list, actually! For amends, anyway. Because - because there are definitely...amends to be made. I think. So, ah. Yeah."

Harry didn't look up, trying not to cringe with every choppy word that left his lips, the previously confident tone fading into something more cautious with the storm cloud that had descended over Snape's features. Wonderful! He'd missed being chewed out for mistakes he didn't know he'd made.

"Publicity stunts so soon, Potter?" Snape spat, abruptly angry, spidery hands clutching at the armrests of the armchair he sat stiffly in. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The Chosen One, off to offer up a few platitudes for his Death Eater professor and thusly, is lauded for such a selfless act. Brava, Potter. Brava."

Harry bristled, placing down the china cup harsher than he'd wanted. "That's not it at all, sir," he said, trying not to match the professor's sharp tone and failing just a bit. "I just wanted to say sorry, for the way we all mistrusted you. I think?"

That hadn't been at all what he wanted to say, but nerves had a habit of stealing his words. Admitting he'd wanted to see--what, if his old Potions professor had changed since sharing those memories? If there was not a hint of affection in the man who had sneered at him his whole life yet set his jaw so firmly against raising him like a pig for the slaughter? Or just the need for normalcy: subdued and barraged with a black, bleak hatred that felt like being back at the Dursleys' again?

There was a moment of silence where Snape scrutinised him, black eyes narrowed and glittering with more suspicion than Harry thought warranted, given that he had just apologised. Awkwardly, he took a bite of his apple pie, and found he was even more offended by Snape's criticism of mediocrity. For a third try, it was very good.

Strangely, the action caused something to ease in Snape's severe expression. Mirroring Harry, he took a bite of the slice in front of him, and Harry resisted the urge to fist-pump childishly when he took another shortly after. So the great bat of the dungeons didn't survive only on the souls of children! But even that revelation was muted by the stiff acknowledgement Snape offered the next moment.

"Typical Potter, absorbing the guilt of others. I haven't the faintest idea of what you would be apologising for. I would be a very poor double agent if I was not mistrusted," Snape sneered, lacing his fingers together and then pulling them apart in an unusual show of human fidgeting. "Besides. Between the two of us, I suspect I've the most to make amends for."

It was roundabout, vague, and exactly the type of statement to come from the man who had introduced himself to nervous First-Years by swooping through the dungeons like a - well, Harry thought wryly, like a bat out of hell. More awkward tea-sipping commenced, mostly on Harry's part, who wasn't sure how to respond. Snape raised an arch eyebrow.

"And was that all, Mr. Potter?" He drawled. "Or should I resign myself to an evening of inedible baked goods and titillating conversation with the Chosen One?"

It was with dawning horror - the sort one might feel when seeing your parents kiss, though Harry wouldn't know - that Harry realised his dour professor was, in his own way, joking. Something in his expression must have given his maelstrom of wary surprise away, because Snape looked faintly irritated at his shock.

"I'm not very titillating," Harry said through the brain-fog descending on his mind. "I'm arguably edible, though." It was only after he saw Snape's faint smirk that he realised what he said. "No! I - sir, my pie is edible. That sounds worse. My baked goods are great. They're - I'm sorry, Professor."

"So we've established." Another sip of cooling tea, this one somehow managing to convey schadenfreude.

In his desperation, Harry, casting about for a subject that didn't make him sound like a stupid First-year, chose the worst one. "I came to ask about Lily! Mum, I mean. Only if - if you'd be willing, of course, sir," he blabbered as a storm slowly descended over Snape's face.

Dismayed, Harry realised how much his former professor had relaxed in his presence, because his sneer worsened and the lines etched into the corners of his eyes deepened. His acidic voice was a good indicator too, though. Of course, it was mostly the hunched shoulders: Harry had always been good at body language. For example, when Voldemort had had his wand pointed at him, he was probably going to try to kill Harry.

This felt a little like the same. "Invading the privacy of my home could not be enough for Potter, no," Snape hissed. "Must you also invade my mind? You have seen more of my dismal childhood than even Dumbledore in your unwelcome Legilimency forays, and now you wish to poke your grubby fingers at the worst moments of my life?" His eyes were flashing now; despite this, Snape seemed unusually honest. "That which was given to you in the Shrieking Shack was all you were or will be granted ever again."

Unbidden, the sickening thud of Snape's body hitting the ground, the sticky blood against Harry's hands, it all came rushing back.

Harry flinched, and reflexively stabbed his fork into his half-eaten pie slice. Snape, unmoving except for the flickering of his black eyes, stared at the wobbling fork, then at Harry, then back at the fork. In the fireplace, flames crackled merrily; somewhere deep in the dilapidated house, the spicy-sweet smell of Pepper-Up brewing wafted.

"No, sir," Harry finally managed thickly, hating that he felt like an eleven-year-old once more. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to know what she was like. My therapist said I should ask someone who knew her best, and Hermione - well, she was glowing with reconciliation and key lime pie, and she suggested you."

Snape angrily stabbed his fork into the last bit of crumbling crust, his free hand coming up to rub at his scarred neck. He sounded hoarser. "Oh, indeed, if Granger suggested it!"

Unthinkingly, Harry retorted, "At least I'm trying to become a functional member of society." Immediately, in the silence of his head, he wrote his will and debated on the merits of forget-me-nots (too on the nose?) versus spider-lilies for a coffin decoration.

Even the air seemed still in anticipation. Finally, Snape made a rough, wet sound in his chest, which Harry realised after a few tense moments, was his new version of laughing. "Touché, Mr. Potter," he rasped, and then pointed his rusty fork towards the pie tin. "Serve me another slice and ask your blasted questions."

Triumphant, Harry did both.

-----

Guys im Not gonna lie to you. this is nothing special. but it would have made my 17 y/o self happy to share and know people liked her writing and I am nothing if not a people pleaser. shout out to you who expressed interest ily. tbh this is more a character study than a good plot ok but if you like that...

[k-s-morgan]

What are your plans to the future? Do you think about moving to another country? At least for a while until this war ends? I hope you can undestand what i meant, english is not my first language but what i am trying to say its You have endure enough. You are strong for remaining yourself and keeping hoping for a better future but a better future sees unlikeable to happen. This world is insane. The people in it dont care about each other. I am worried by you. Every day.

Another ask: Me again. So as i said before, people dont care about anything that arent themself. Many countrys could help to end this insanity but they wont. I dont know if they even try it tbh. You have done enough Morgan. If its money the issue, i will send to you everything i can. If you have the chance to leave, please do it. You can always start again, and enjoy live again if you are alive. Your life and your mother and your family's life are important. Please, please think about it.

-----

Hello! Oh, thank you so much for worrying about me to this extent <3 I can't tell you how warm and reassuring this feels to me. Your asks touched me a lot, I'm so grateful to have readers like you - sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am.

I do think about moving - I've been thinking of it since the start of the war, but unfortunately, the choice always comes down to my safety vs. my family. To have both, I would indeed need money, but way too much of it. Like, tens of thousands of dollars. This is just not achievable.

Starting a new life elsewhere would mean that my mother would be automatically out of job. She won't be able to find anything even remotely good due to her age and qualifications, and if she leaves now, she'll lose her pension. 3 more years separate her from it. So, I'll become the sole provider.

In Kyiv, we live in our own apartment, but in another place, we would have to pay the rent, which is always expensive. Technically, with the job I have now, I would be able to support us anyway, but only barely. And what would happen if I were to lose my job? I lost it twice in one year already. What if someone gets sick, or another emergency happens, or I die? My family would be completely helpless - no pension, no jobs, no proper savings.

Selling the Kyiv apartment is way too risky - the money can lose value or disappear in other ways, and we'd be homeless. Renting it out is a possibility, but my stepfather lives here. He can't leave, or he risks getting drafted.

Of course, if the threat to our lives was acute - like if Russians were standing near Kyiv again and bombs were flying at us non-stop, we'd all flee. It would come to a life in uncertainty and poverty vs. death, and we'd naturally choose the former. But the threat isn't acute yet. Yes, the air raids happen daily, and it's terrifying, and things are getting worse, but statistically, not that many people die from it. We face a much bigger chance of being hit by a car than by a missile.

That's what makes this choice so complicated and nuanced. And I'm not even talking about emotional factors, such as this being my beloved home, a place where my relatives and pets are buried, a place where I take care of the specific homeless cats and birds - they depend on me, and leaving them behind is devastating.

If I had a lot of money, I would leave anyway, but I don't, so making this decision is next to impossible. Leaving alone would be easy, but it is not an option - my family is my lifeline. I'd rather live in horror with them than in happiness without them.

However, I also understand that such a life is impossible to bear. I'm so traumatized that I think even in the best-case scenario, I will die before my time due to some nerves-related illness.

This December, my father turns 60. After this, he will be safe to leave. If the war is not over and there is still no hope, I think I will move to another city, a safe one, with him, while my Mom and my step-father stay for 3 more years until my Mom's pension. I will come visit them often, maybe live in both places.

That's what I have in mind for now. It's a tentative plan, but it's there, and I'm holding onto it while still hoping that this nightmare finally ends this year. Justice will not come, but peace, at least a temporary one? Maybe.

[yunwangja]

undercurrents | yn’s council

masterlist

character descriptions !

y/n

after a failed relationship that traumatized her, she decided that fangirling is better than actually falling in love

her ex broke up with her saying they got “tired” of them and they’re not a match

she felt nothing but insecure in the relationship, her ex was always disappointed for her not “living up” to being a girlfriend

“you should be less demanding” or “you should be more ‘happy’ when we’re together” or “you’re too tense (said annoyingly)”

the final punch was “you’re not acting like a girlfriend”, and “you’re not cut out to being in a relationship”

since then, she’s coped by liking guys that are “out of her league”

she actually liked them anyway though

but never actually romantic !! always an admirable and happy crush

that’s why when she was invited to a volleyball match by samu, she noticed oikawa right away

but someone else found her interesting ;)

is not completely weird with tooru, she can be aggressive lol but in front of him, more of a shy fan

and tooru responds well (wholesomely) to yn

uni student

goes to yuu for diabolical plans

goes to yams for advice

goes to osamu if she needs a peptalk

osamu

calm, except for when he’s with his twin ,,, or stuck in a room with noya

more like a … yn handler

tolerates her; but he’s also the one who keeps her in check and makes sure she’s not going insane

in the first place he has no idea how people knew he had a twin because he never told that to a soul

as per his bio, tsumu is an extra character who pursued vball professionally and didn't go to univ (so diff from kuroo's team since they're all in univ as well)

former volleyball player but chose to go to univ after they graduated high school

good friends w bo since high school (but both got busy and spent some time apart when univ started)

always says yes to eating out for the food

especially when yams bakes cookies

sometimes he uses the lamest excuse to act “sad”

samu: it rained today… that’s depressing

yams: OKAY COOKIES FOR YOU (he knows, he just loves to bake for his friends)

yams

a very good friend of yn from her first day in uni

a yn protector at all times !!!!!!

he will not use violence but will instigate nishi into doing so

in this smau, he has no background of being a vball member

yn’s kindest adviser

would bake cookies whenever his friends are down or stressed

noya

loves to be painfully cringe

50% because its funny, 50% because it gets on his friends nerves

a yn protector !!!!

will use violence if that’s what it takes

the most annoyed one when yn has a new “crush”

yn: there’s this guy-

SHUT UP

so watch his reaction when she got a crush on oikawa <3

also has no background of being in the vball team

note: these are how i envisioned them to be when i started forming this smau. but along the way, there might be times their personalities may shift a little and/or expand more. just wanted you guys to take note of this in case i forget some of the details i wrote down here or make something along the way that might not be written here. idk, in my past smau i thought about this a lot so i wanted to say this lol, but rest assured the core of their personalities will be consistent throughout !

taglist: @lvtilzs @rarararararq @iamfontenlos @kurooswifeyy @secretsunsetsociety @kagsnumnine

[milaisreading]

Confusions, confusions...

🌱🩷: Listen up, Idk what possessed me to write this in the middle of my exam season... but I did. Let me know if you want a pt2..

Warnings: Reader uses a mix of she/her and they/them. The characters are aged up here and they are pros now.

⚽️Blue lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

Now, (Y/n) had found herself in a lot of weird situations during her time in Blue Lock, and even when she left. She knew nothing good would come out of Ego forcing her to join Re Al after the project ended. But, he promised he would make her retire as soon as the dust had settled with the project. Surprisingly, nearly 7 years after leaving Blue lock, the dust never settled down, as the team was still the topic of sports channels in and out of Japan. (Y/n) was just glad Ego and Anri somehow convinced the Re Al and the other teams that the former Blue lock players need to be supervised by the medical staff from the project. If it wasn't for that, her cover would have been blown the day she entered Spain.

'Well, it would have been weird if I immediately announced my retirement after Blue lock had ended...' (Y/n) would think to herself, hoping that one day she could leave these boyish clothes behind and go out in dresses with no fear that someone will recognize her. But, for now she would take it. After all, masks were a good cover-up when you leave your apartment.

Now, the other insanities aside, the one she was facing now while being surrounded by Sae and the former World 5 team was something that felt like it was from a sitcom.

"Uh... what makes you guys think I have a girlfriend?" (Y/n) laughed nervously as Luna laughed while Loki held the wine bottle away from Sae.

"We know everything! Sae showed us the pictures and everything. Pablo, Silva,Loki,  remember to pay Adam and I."

(Y/n) felt herself grow even more confused as the three man pouted while Adam pat her head, looking like a proud father.

"I always knew you had it in you to find yourself a lady. Unlike those three who thought you would only be loyal to football." The Brit laughed as he pointed at Pablo, Silva, and Loki, who were going through their wallets.

"I was hoping that..." Loki muttered. (Y/n) noted he looked weirdly sad.

"Come on, the little guy is a football nerd. Just like that Isagi kid."

"Yeah, you really think we would imagine him to look at women." The two South Americans said while taking their money out.

"What's the money for?-"

"Enough!" Sae suddenly grabbed (Y/n)'s shoulder and forced her to face him, and she will admit, never before was she more scared in her life. The glare he was giving her was beyond terrifying.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend? I had to have the shock of my life seeing a woman walk in and out of your apartment. And also, letting her leave her underwear like that in your closet?! Do you have no shame?!"

(Y/n) felt her heart stop for a moment as Sae started shaking her. Noticing the state she was in, Luna and Adam went to pull her away from Sae, while Silva, Pablo, and Loki tried to get Sae to let go of her.

"Hey, Sae, stop."

"You are being dramatic, dude."

"(Y/n) is an adult. Let him be happy with his girl."

'He should be happy with me on the field! Not some random chick!' Sae thought in anger as he heard Pablo's words.

'When did he see that?! And by woman... oh shit, he could have only meant me... But, when did he see me? I was always careful!' (Y/n)'s eyes widened in fear as it dawned on her. She felt numb for a moment, she couldn't even feel Luna and Adam pull her out of Sae's grip. She blinked a few times as she watched Silva and Pablo hold Sae back while Loki stood between them just in case.

"How... how do you know all of that?" (Y/n) suddenly spoke up as Sae's eyes narrowed even more.

"Sae said he stumbled upon your girlfriend when she left your apartment last weekend."

Pablo spoke up instead.

"And he decided to follow her. He said he found the... the things when he visited you once." Loki laughed awkwardly at the end, which mortified (Y/n) even more.

'Oh no... oh no...'

Luna, noticing her distressed state spoke up in a much softer tone than usually.

"Kid, it's ok if you don't want to talk about it yet. Relationships are complicated, especially for football players."

(Y/n) looked in surprise at Luna and slowly started shaking her head.

"But I am not-"

"Trust us, we won't judge you. If you and your lady don't want to say anything for now, it's fine." Silva said now as Adam nodded in agreement.

'That woman was me! The underwear was mine!' (Y/n) wanted to yell at them, but she knew she couldn't.

"I just didn't think redheads were your type." Pablo mused.

'That was a wig!' She groaned and sat down on a nearby chair.

"Does anyone else know this?" (Y/n) asked while looking back at Sae, who huffed and looked away.

"Sae... You didn't tell anyone, right?" Luna asked as Loki went to get (Y/n) a glass of water.

"I may have told some..."

"What?!"

'I an doomed!!' She groaned, already awaiting an incoming headache.

Now what had happened? Let's go back to the week prior to the faithful weekend. The whole team could see that (Y/n) was happier than usually, and while Luna was happy that one of his midfielders was doing well, he was a little concerned when he was told she would leave practice earlier than he usually does. Luna knew (Y/n) pretty well, he would say, and hearing the football obsessed midfielder leave earlier was something he never expected.

'Is he sick? Maybe someone is bothering him? But, he would have told me that, right? He would have told Sae at least.' The Spaniard mused as he watched her run out of the stadium while telling the rest of the team goodbye. Luna looked over his shoulder at Sae, only to find the younger have the same confused expression while looking at the exit. So, that's when he decided he would give Sae the job to check this out. Sae was closer to (Y/n), so having him ask her all these questions wouldn't be all too weird.

Meanwhile, (Y/n) was happy for a few reasons the two men would have never guessed. The first reason being that she found a few cute dresses she could wear on Saturday, she finally found a wig that would suit her better than the last one, and the third reason being that Chigiri's sister will be visiting Madrid this week, so she will finally have someone who knew her secret to talk to. Life was good, for now.

Right now, (Y/n) was in her apartment, rummaging through her closet to find something to wear for her trip on Saturday. She had her day off that day, and those days she would spend shopping and visiting cafés in Madrid.

"Hmmm? This pink dress looks cute, maybe putting this white blouse underneath it would be nice! Oh! And these heels as well. Hmm? But, which bag should I pick." She smiled and put the clothes on the bed and then went to look through the box that had her bags in.

'Hmm... I need to contact Chigiri-san later on as well. She said she wanted to stay at a hotel close by, so I need to check if they have free rooms.' (Y/n) yawned.

Meanwhile, Sae was in a video call with the people he least expected to call, Manshine's trio and some of (Y/n)'s closest friends.

"So, he didn't tell you people anything either?" Sae raised an eyebrow as Reo shook his head.

"No. As I said, he was talking to us 2 nights ago, and he looked and sounded normal. Why are you even asking?" Reo raised an eyebrow as Nagi chimed in.

"Is there something we should know?"

"Yeah, aside from him being happier than usually, you didn't say there was anything weird about him." Chigiri said in boredom as Sae sighed.

"He has been leaving practice earlier than usually."

"Earlier? How early?" Nagi wondered.

"Like, right on the clock. The moment the coach announces that practice is over, he drops everything and leaves." Sae answered. Now this was something that caused the trio to look at each other in concern. They knew (Y/n) better than anyone else did, and she wouldn't just leave like that. They remember how they always had to drag her away to sleep while they were in Blue Lock. Heck, Ego would threaten her with punishments I she didn't listen and go rest.

"How long has that been going on?" Chigiri asked, looking directly at Sae now.

"Since Monday."

"That's odd... Did he have a recent interview or match that he was disappointed by?" Reo inquired, only to earn a negative from the redhead.

"No. We don't have any matches this month, and he didn't have an interview that went bad to my knowledge. But, he wouldn't be that cheerful if there was a bad incident." Sae argued, earning a nod from Reo. Nagi chuckled a little as he laid his head on the table.

"Maybe our captain found himself a girlfriend."

There was a silence for a moment before Reo and Chigiri busted into a laughter.

"Please, he is married to football. There is no way." The redhead argued.

'He better only have eyes for football.' Was what he actually thought.

"Yeah, and even if he had any interests, he has no idea how to flirt." Reo added in.

'Thank God for that.'

Sae kept quiet as he watched the trio, frowning at the thought of (Y/n) possibly liking someone, let alone dating. The midfielder was his, and he won't be sharing him with anyone. It was annoying enough that he had to fight off the former Blue lock team at times.

'He wouldn't let some random woman get between him and football. There is just no way.'

It was the next evening on a Thursday that Sae decided to visit (Y/n). Practice ended earlier, and the redhead was sure she already rested enough.

"Hm? Sae?" The woman blinked when she saw the man outside in the hallway.

"What are you doing here at this time?"

"Can't I be here?" Sae raised an eyebrow in confusion, causing her to quickly shake her head.

"Not at all! I am just surprised you are here. Come inside, I am in the middle of making dinner. Want to join?"

Sae chuckled at her nervous reaction and pat her head.

'Cute. There is no way this guy has a woman.' He thought in relief and nodded his head before taking his shoes off.

"Sure. I will use your bathroom first, ok?" Sae said, earning a nod from her.

"Yeah, sure. You know where it is." She said before going to the kitchen. Sae watched (Y/n) leave before quickly walking down the hallway, not to the bathroom, but to the room across from it.

'It looks tidy... as expected from him.' The Itoshi thought as he looked at the bedroom, not finding anything off or anything. That was until he found a odd pink bottle on the bedside table.

"Hm?" Sae mused and slowly walked towards it and picking the bottle up. The man read what was on the bottle, only to freeze up when he realized what the words said.

'A...a woman's perfume? Why does he have it?' Sae took in a few sharp breaths as he slowly took out his phone and took a picture.

'This has to be a coincidence... Maybe he didn't read what was on the bottle. He can be careless after all. He wouldn't... he wouldn't let some woman into his home like this. He isn't like that.' Sae argued to himself and looked at the wardrobe. He hesitated for a moment, but as he looked back at the bottle, he grew more and more agitated. So, he simply opened the wardrobe, as silently as possible and started looking around. There was nothing unusual there. Just some shirts, pants, the two uniforms from Re Al, his underwear- Sae's eyes widened when he saw something that is out of place for a wardrobe from a man.

'A... a bra?!'

Rage slowly subsided as a feeling of numbness came over him.

'Why is that here? Why would he have it? That perfume and now this... this thing! Is he serious with someone? He has to be if he let's her leave stuff like this here...' Sae's eyes narrowed as the anger slowly returned but he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. He quickly took a picture of the item as well and quickly left the room. He needed to calm down, he couldn't lash out now.

'I will find that chick and set her straight. There is no way a nobody will get in my way, or in (Y/n)'s football career.'

On Friday evening, Sae called (Y/n) and proposed to hang out the next day. He had to find out more about all of this. But, to Sae's surprise, she rejected the idea, quite nervously as well. Quickly saying she had some other plans and to maybe do this next week. Before Sae could say anything else, she ended the call, leaving the player even more concerned.

'Is he meeting her today?' Sae wondered. Tomorrow he will visit (Y/n) and finally see what was going on.

The next day....

Now, Sae had expected something to happen. Maybe seeing (Y/n) nervously leave her apartment, looking like a nervous wreck. He expected to see (Y/n), but not some random woman leaving his apartment.

'Who is that now?!' Sae's eyes widened as he hid in a corner and watched the woman lock the familiar apartment door. The man clenched his fists as the woman happily skipped down the hallway and talked on her phone.

"Hey? You are already at the hotel? Good. I will be there soon, we can go shopping then. I have the card with me." She said to the person, oblivious to the redhead being nearby.

'She is treating that place like it belongs to her. That's (Y/n)'s place! Is she trying to take control of him? And who let her have his card?!' Sae felt anger bubble up inside of him as he slowly followed after her. He stopped when he saw her wait for the elevator, cursing a little because the woman worse sunglasses and a mask. He quickly took his phone out and shot a picture before she could leave his sight.

'He isn't dating... there is no way... Maybe it's his sister? Does he have a sister? Why did he give her his key?' Sae felt his whole world spinning as he decided to take a moment and sit down on the ground. This was all too much for him. Where did he go wrong? He made sure (Y/n) stayed back and practiced with him after the regular hours. He even kept an eye on all the fans during interviews after a game.

'So how did that woman get to him? What tricks did she use? Is she just using him till she finds some new player?' Sae clenched his fists.

"This has to be a coincidence... a joke. There is no way..."

A few days later...

"Sae, are you doing ok? You have been glaring and pouting the whole day." (Y/n) asked in worry as she handed him a bottle of water. But, instead of being told an answer, the midfielder sent her a sharp glare and looked away.

"Why would you care? Why would I tell you even?"

"Aren't... aren't we friends?" (Y/n) blinked in confusion as Sae huffed, reminding her more of a toddler than anything.

"Just leave me alone." He said coldly. As much as she wanted to argue, she didn't. Simply putting the bottle on the ground, (Y/n) walked back to where Luna was as the man had some suggestions on her improvement.

Sae turned to look back at her, the same hurt and anger still present on his face.

'What does she even have to offer to you? I will need help here...' Sae sighed as he thought back about the Manshine trio.

Present time...

"YOU TOLD CHIGIRI, REO, AND NAGI ALL OF THAT?! COULDN'T YOU HAVE TALKED TO ME FIRST?!" Now it was Luna and Adam's turn to hold (Y/n) back from lunging at Sae, who looked like all of it was no big deal. Loki and Pablo stood in front of Sae, not wanting to witness a murder. Silva was standing to the side, whistling at how much everything escalated.

"You would have just denied everything!" Sae argued as (Y/n)'s glare intensified.

"Besides, it's just the 3 of them who know." Sae shrugged.

"I have a hard time believing that..." Silva commented as the rest of the World 5 team nodded in agreement. And the Brazilian man was really not prepared to find out how right he was... Nobody was, to be honest.

[dangermousie]

I saw a post where you analyzed some details in Flower of Evil (particularly the relationship between the lead couple) and your analysis was super interesting.

I dropped that drama ages ago somewhere in the second episode because it just felt like things had already gone so horribly wrong that there was no possible way that it could be brought back to a story that I'd enjoy. I was wondering if you might be able to explain how that isn't the case so I should give it another chance, ideally without spoiling anything too huge? Or do you think my first instinct was right? If I couldn't stomach the first two episodes it probably just isn't the drama for me? My original interest in watching it was for the romance more than anything else.

I would love to analyze (always game for FoE freakouts) and address the issue but I think I could do it better if you clarified a little what you mean by "it just felt like things had already gone so horribly wrong that there was no possible way that it could be brought back to a story that I'd enjoy."

Is it a worry that there would be no happy ending (and one that feels earned/logical not tacked on) for the couple and/or ML (or FL), or that the progression of the relationship would not be anything you like or not given sufficient importance? Or something else?

If it's the former, while I can't say whether you'd like it or not because it's very hard to predict what clicks and doesn't for another person (I have like two mutuals where I automatically know if they like X, I am guaranteed to do so) but I can answer that:

(a) This drama has a happy ending that felt right and justified and not tacked on for me - in terms of both characters individually and the ship. They both go through hell but emerge into sunshine on the other side; by the end of it, Hyun Soo knows exactly how much he's both known and loved by Ji Won (and it's huge for a man who believed on a deep level nobody could possibly love someone like him nor should they) but also he's accepted that he himself is not a monster but is capable of love. And Ji Won loves her husband as much as she did at the start and has proven exactly how much and this time it's based on true knowledge of all of him - because before that she loved him for what he was (his characteristics were all true even if his background was not) but now she knows exactly the traumas and events that shaped him and the issues that haunted him and...she still sees the slightly odd, quite introverted, very caring man she fell in love with. It's a process, she thinks things through and it takes her time to get there, it is not linear but it is so thorough and glorious. She basically goes with her whole behavior: I see you fully and I know you fully and because of that sight and knowledge I love you MORE. And he processes that but also, in an even huger emotional shift, he realizes that he loves HER, that he's always loved her, he just had no vocabulary for it and no ability to process that this is what he felt due to all the trauma and gaslighting and what not.

(b) This is a romance drama. Oh, it has a good plot with its share of mysteries and mini-mysteries, and it's a great character study and has a lot of other interesting things to say. But ultimately, it's a romance. It is centered not really on the mystery of who Do Hyun Soo actually is, or who was/is committing various murders, or when Ji Won would figure stuff out or w/e - it focuses on a relationship between husband and wife who desperately love one another. This drama had an INSANE fixation with shots of their wedding rings and it was for a reason because this is the story of their marriage more than it is anything else.

It actually features a trope that is very much my catnip and narratives (outside of Gong Xinwen novels) don't do often enough - where the woman is the rescuer and the white knight and the savior and the man is this beautiful, oddly fragile (despite being competent and potentially deadly) being in need of rescue. And I don't mean just in the metaphorical sense - she is the reason DHS still has his sanity and found happiness and healing - nah she rescues him in the most physical way possible, from drowning, from various other acts of harm. In a way, Ji Won and Hyun Soo are a noir couple with genders reversed - a tough pragmatic detective and an alluring romantic partner with a mysterious past and ambiguous in terms of morality vibe, a homme fatale. But who (which also happens in some noir), turns out an abused, gaslit person who needs saving and who has honestly is owed by the world for all the hell it put him through.

Once again, I can't say if you'd like the drama - but the above is why I love love love love LOVE it and thank you for letting me have a chance to rant.

[classicanalyzer]

Star Wars Acolyte - Night Thoughts

"Freedom. The freedom to wield my power the way I like. Without having to answer to Jedi like you. I want a pupil, an Acolyte. But this one...went back on our deal. She exposed me. So, now I have to kill every single last one of you. I don't make the rules. The Jedi do. And the Jedi say I can't exist. They see my face, they all die. Aw, look at you two. Right back where you started." "Qimir"

HOLY SHIT, THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD.

I love how badass Jecki was against both Mae and "Qimir"...sadly she didn't survive "Qimir" (I was not expecting how fucking brutal her death was and I was so sad). She managed to not only take down Mae who took down a Jedi Master in combat but hold out for a good while against a Rule of Two Sith (even breaking his Cortosis helmet!). She was simply too badass to live with her amazing dual blade stance. Jecki is truly Sol's Padawan.

I know I thought "Qimir" couldn't have been the Sith but I love this show's execution of him being the Sith. He's so jacked, I guess we know why he chose to be a seemingly carefree chemist. I love how he comes across as a psychopathic manchild with how he wants the freedom to do what he wants...which is killing Jedi. "Qimir" is definitely the Sith Apprentice (or rather Acolyte) and not the Sith Master. I think he wants an Acolyte to overthrow his master.

I'm also so happy that the show didn't try to make the Sith sympathetic. That was one of my biggest worries going into this show. We see the insanity of "Qimir's" "reasoning" for hating the Jedi and their attempts to stamp out the Sith for good.

I think what's going to happen is that the Jedi think "Qimir" is the Sith Master and not the Apprentice. Then after they kill him, they'll not tell the rest of the Order and Republic about this little incident. Since they're sure this time the Sith are truly extinct, and they don't want to cause any unnecessary panic.

I love how "Qimir's" armor and helmet are made out of Cortosis, a material that can temporarily shortcircuit Lightsabers.

Poor Jecki and Yord, the two Jedi were trying their goddamn best but it wasn't enough against the Sith. Jecki did an amazing job in this episode despite being a Padawan. Yord also grew on me as the show went on, and it was surprising how brutal he and Jecki's deaths were. Their deaths also show how unnecessarily cruel the Sith are. I'm also thankful that Bazil and Pip survived this episode given how murder happy this show is.

It's sad to see how far the twin's relationship fell apart. Mae truly wanted to be with her sibling again, even willing to abandon her Sith master...but Osha will always see her as irredeemable which one can't blame her for. I was screaming when Mae posed as her sister and even more so when Osha was left at the "mercy" of her former Master. I really hope Mae backs out of her presumed plan to kill Sol.

Everything about Sol in this episode, the panic and heartbreak in his voice and face when asking Yord to bring Osha to safety and Jecki's death shows how much of a father figure he is. Sol truly saw Osha, Jeckil, and even Mae as his children. It's truly a case of what if Obi-Wan died in TPM instead of Qui-Gon and we see that good is not nice at all. If it wasn't for Osha, Sol might've done something he would've regretted. I wonder if he figured out by the end that Mae is impersonating Osha.

ALSO THE USE OF KYLO REN'S THEME NEAR THE END. His Knights of Ren-looking helmet might actually hold more than we thought. Perhaps "Qimir" founded or inspired the Knights of Ren.

I hope Sol can help Mae and perhaps redeem Mae. On the other hand, I really think Osha might fall to the Dark Side. It would be a nice subversion of what we thought Osha being the Light Side Twin and Mae being the Dark Side Twin. Great darkness has the possibility of being just as bright while great light has the possibility of being just as dark. I wonder if "Qimir" will tell Osha of the Sith version of the events at Brendok that make the Jedi look worse than they are. However, perhaps Sol would tell Mae the actual version of events which shows that while the Jedi are flawed, they weren't responsible for the deaths of her Coven and even tried to save some, even if some (Master Torbin) believe it was their fault that it came to these series of events.

This is an amazing episode and my favorite episode of the show. Once again I felt this episode was 45+ minutes rather than under 30 minutes. Truly the definition of all killer and no filler. I love this show so so much.

[operationslipperypuppet]

1: Baggin’ it with Balnor: Loud Libraries, Questionable Drug PSAs, and Staying Fit w/ Pendergreens (NADDPOD Aug 5, 2020)

2: Clash of the Corn Cuties (Fantasy High, Ep. 2)

3: “…AS ANY OF YOU” Blast from the Passed (Fantasy High: Sophomore Year, Ep. 15)

4: (finishes with “Only thing that could take us out was a trip to the zoo.”) Rolling up the Hill (A Starstruck Odyssey, Ep. 2)

5: (he misspoke, had to walk back everything, and didn’t remember what it was from. this was after 10 unrelated off topic minutes on the Flintstones.) D&D Court: Bonus Cases - King Robert Can Klump (w/ Ally Beardsley) (NADDPOD Short Rest Jun 24, 2022) [this is a Patreon-exclusive but it’s so unhinged i needed to include it]

6: (including writing a letter to his former wife and expecting her to read it while he watches, then ending the conversation with this song) Leap of Faith (Neverafter, Ep. 15)

7: Everyone else gave a number that was less than 5. Murph thought they were all crazy for saying numbers so low. He said sixteen. Hearthside Chat Q&A: What’s Your Clown Tolerance? (NADDPOD Short Rest, Oct 1, 2021) [this is also a Patreon-exclusive and it’s soooo goddamn ridiculous]

8: Cult of the Trident, thinking a child was named Nana, there’s literally too much to name Trinyvale x Bahumia Mini Arc: Eps. 1-3 (NADDPOD Feb 10, 17, & 24, 2023)

9: Donkey Kong One-Shot: A Bananksgiving Special (NADDPOD, Nov 27, 2019)

10: I’m literally so sorry there are so many moments, the man is insane. if you choose this, tell us what moment, and include the episode title/source/date so we can all enjoy the unhinged moment.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

Only got Ultimates last week and didn't feel like making a post just for that especially since this was another light week.

Absolute Superman #5 - Seeing Kal cut through the Peacemakers like butter felt good. Got strong Golden Age and New 52 vibes from how he was beating the hell out of them in a rage (Aaron really emphasizes Superman's Wrath as a flaw this issue which of course makes me happy!). Brainiac must have Smith at his base, and he's outright sent an invite for Kal to come see him. Obvious trap of course but now I'm excited to learn more about what his deal is. Why is he working for Lazarus? How did he get to Earth? What does he want from Kal? Damn so none of the Klerics made it off planet? Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of guys. Yes I did get some small pleasure from seeing all the elites bite it, the whole plotline of the upper class destroying the planet and planning to leave the lower classes to burn while they bail out hits too close to reality for comfort. What does this mean for Absolute Zod? I'm counting on him showing up somehow, perhaps Aaron wrote Kal specifying that no ships from the cities made it off, as a way to set up Zod and other elites making it off of ships in remote locations, or maybe they used the Phantom Zone to escape? Could Jor and Lara have made it off, we don't explicitly see their ship get destroyed. Hopefully Krypto made it off, if Diana can have a pegasus then Kal can have his space dog.

This is the first origin that really drives home how depressing and sad it is that billions of Kryptonians don't make it off-world, Aaron did a great job humanizing them no pun intended. I thought that blonde girl was going to be revealed to be Kara. For this issue Aaron does something interesting: he ties Absolute Superman’s heroic mission to the destruction of Krypton. That page where Kal is staring out as Krypton burns, swearing an oath to make the next world better, read exactly like Bruce kneeling in Crime Alley as his parents bleed out after being shot. Usually this isn’t the case. Instead the Kents moral teachings or their deaths are what prompt Clark to become a hero, but Kal makes the same kind of child like oath about not letting Earth go the way of Krypton that Bruce does about eradicating crime after his parents are shot. It’s still different from Kara because her trauma doesn’t typically manifest as a need to save a different planet, if anything it tends to prevent her from being able to connect with Earth since she’s so afraid of losing another home. Justified the emphasis placed on Krypton in these early issues for me. Where does that leave the Kents' role in shaping Superman then? Perhaps they were the ones who taught him not to kill since I don't think Lara at least had any qualms about killing.

Another good issue. Next one ought to be a hoot, based on interviews it seems like Aaron will be tackling the uncomfortable fact that a "realistic" Smallville would 100% be MAGA. Doubt Kal will be finding a warm welcome from this small town when he arrives.

Ultimates #10 - Camp's been talking about how this series is all about the way symbols can be repurposed or reborn and this issue is entirely about that with Punisher's skull, Nazi iconography, and even comic characters themselves. Making Bucky of all people into the new Red Skull is insane, I need to know what the hell happened to make him become a Neo-Nazi. Maker had him marked as dead, is this a clone or was Maker mistaken? Bucky and Jason Todd came back from the dead around the same time, and both came back as villains for their former mentors. Parallels are even more blatant here with Bucky using the mantle of Cap's former archnemesis, and in red no less!

[marreddream]

Housamo Fic - Two Dog Warriors Walk Into A Cafe

Ding-a ling~

Shinya Tennoji is picking up empty cups and plates from the tables when he sees a small pink and a large brown Therian enter his cafe. Hazelnut strawberry and matcha dark chocolate. They make a rather charming pair, he thinks.

“Oh my, Tanetomo and Yasuyori! It’s so nice to see the two of you again!”

Yasuyori beams. Tanetomo scoffs. 

“We’re just here to use the coupons you gave us. We happened to be close by, so we figured we’d scope your place out.” 

Shinya’s glad to see them, and glad they hadn’t shown up until a good amount of time after the Valentine’s Snowball Fight Shinya had met the two at had passed. Days after an absence of his at the cafe were always busier than normal, to speak nothing of a missed Valentine’s Day shift. 

“Aw, I’m happy to hear that! Yes, see what on the menu you’d like, and order at the front when you’re ready.”

“Shinya Tennoji. I hope for your sake that what you just said was a simple case of you automatically rattling off whatever generic customer greeting phrases first popped into your brain when you saw us, and not you assuming me to be so moronic I never learned how to order from a cafe.”

“Ahaha, it was most definitely a case of the former, Tanetomo.”

“Well, perhaps Yasuyori might have needed the assistance, so good on you for being such a diligent and attentive employee.”

“Counselor! You have seen me function perfectly well at the plenty of other establishments we have been to together before!”

There are some minimally subdued rumblings from the regulars about the fresh faces who have entered the cafe. 

“At least...not fawning…Shinya, but…” “Treat… more respect…holes…” “...think they’re …type?” “… are pretty cute…”

Tanetomo’s ears twitch at the last comment. He does a hair flip and a whimsical 360 degree twirl for the crowd as naturally as he draws breath, which is to say: effortlessly yet with intention, before returning to scanning the menu. 

Taromaiti is at the cash register. She observes this action without judgment or reaction. Hermes isn’t here today, but it’s what you could call a slow day, so Shinya doesn’t particularly mind. Kalki is busy preparing food and cleaning dishes in the back, so he does not get to witness this 10s-across-the-board maneuver.

Cafe Asterism’s patrons tend to get upset when Shinya isn’t the server or cashier, but he wishes he could be on cooking duty during cafe hours more often sometimes. Oh well. He wishes for a lot of things that can’t come true. He returns to what he was doing before hand, and Tanetomo and Yasuyori make their order.

“Iced coffee. Grande. And a bread pudding.”

“Could I have… a venti sized matcha frappuccino? Five Monte Cristos, and two shortbreads, please.”

Yasuyori pays for them both, and they take a seat. 

“Oh, 1 hour seating?” “Well, we won’t be staying long. Anybody who could find something in here even remotely interesting enough to justify spending over an hour in this place (aside from the presence of yours truly, of course) would have to be quite the simple minded kook.”

It’s a subtle dig at Shinya, and the corners of his lips curl up a little. But, for somebody whose goal was to win over Shinya’s “adoring throng of fans to show them who was truly worthy of their love”, as Tanetomo had put it, Shinya wasn’t quite sure if…ah, what was it called? If, “negging”, was the right direction to take.

The people seated nearby Tanetomo and Yasuyori smile upside down. There are definitely some unsavory feelings to be felt in the air, but romantic rival nor direct threat to Shinya’s life/ego (it’s the same thing to them really) Tanetomo does not yet appear to be, so they keep to themselves.

Shinya drops off crockery in the sink, and Kalki has already completed the preceding order for Shinya to serve. Kalki’s insane multi-tasking skills are one thing, but that combined with his four, rugged, heat-resistant arms puts him on a whole nother level when it comes to cafe work. Shinya could sing his praises about Kalki all day long, but not out loud. Kalki would explode the world from embarrassment before any of Shinya’s fans could do it for him in a fit of an envious rage. So Shinya settles for a simple ‘thank you Kalki’ and serves Moe-chan her order, who smiles and says thanks.

When Tanetomo and Yasuyori’s orders are completed, Shinya brings their food over.

“Wow! It looks so good! Thank you, Tenn-”

“Taste test for poison.” Tanetomo spoons a scoop of pudding into Yasuyori’s mouth, and then a strawful of iced coffee. 

“Gulp. Delicious! No poisons identified, Counselor.” 

Shinya wonders if this is Tanetomo’s roundabout way of sharing his food with Yasuyori, some sort of twisted display of dominance, or if poisoning attempts really are frequent enough to be something they actually needed to watch out for. Regardless, it’s a somewhat endearing scene, in a darkly comedic sort of way. 

They are in dangerous territory too after all, Shinya acknowledges. He smiles at the two and leaves them to go attend to the other customers.

Yasuyori takes a small sip of his frappe before setting it down on a coaster. The drink is now already half empty. 

“Give me some of your drink.”

Tanetomo has already snatched it before his sentence is even finished and tries some. He drinks a quarter of it, and Yasuyori nibbles on one of his cookies before giving it to Tanetomo.

The two of them efficiently dine and chat. As Tanetomo consumes the bread pudding and his drink at a surprisingly fast yet visually refined pace, Yasuyori piles three Monte Cristos on top of one another to impressively bite down on all at once, and then hands the remaining two to Tanetomo who proceeds to do the same.  

Wow. Shinya can already feel his jaw locking from just looking at them, but it also kind of makes him want to try it out as well.

Yasuyori finishes his sandwiches and cookie first, and then stares at the one he had given to Tanetomo. Tanetomo purses his lips and tells him to go buy some more for the both of them to-go. Yasuyori complies.

To Shinya’s surprise, Tanetomo calls out to him.

“Don’t think I haven't been seeing you side-eye us the entire time, Shinya Tennoji.” 

Oopsies. Looks like Shinya Tennoji got caught. He wasn’t bombastically ‘side-eyeing’, as Tanetomo had verbally interpreted it as, but he really thought he was doing good about not being that obvious observing them. He hopes the other customers haven’t been as perceptive and paranoid today as Tanetomo is in general, but he’s been pretty good about personably interacting with everybody so he thinks it’ll be okay. 

“So was the entertainment of our dining in your establishment to your satisfaction?”

“Aha, sorry, sorry. It’s not like I wasn’t looking, but the two of you seemed like you were having a lot of fun. I always want to see my customers having a good time at Cafe Asterism.”

“Hmph. Is that so.”

Well, yes. That is so, Shinya thinks. He most certainly does not like to see people having a bad time at Cafe Asterism, when the reasoning for most everybody gathering here tending to be because of him.

“Ahhh… could it be that... that wasn’t the case for you two today?” 

His hands come up to his chin. It’s an endearing pose that he finds tends to quell agitated customers, but it only serves to scrunch up Tanetomo’s expression even more. Shinya holds back a smile.

“The atmosphere here is not to my standards. The interior design doesn’t help either.” 

Shinya’s proud of his quaint little cafe, but he knows it’s just that. A quaint little cafe. That also attracted a lot of… rather strong-willed habitué . So he can acquiesce to that opinion. And besides, Tanetomo was not saying Shinya’s decorating was making the atmosphere worse! He can take that part as a compliment.

Anyways, the only opinion on his cafe that truly mattered was Retail Food Health and Safety Code’s opinion, and Cafe Asterism was up to snuff.

“Aww…. Tanetomo, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’d love for you and Yasuyori to come again sometime… but if you’ve lost all interest in returning to Cafe Asterism, then I completely understand.”

He doesn’t want them to never return again. But it’s not a bad thing to let people run while they still can either.

“I’d be significantly more incentivized to return if I had some more coupons to use at a next visit. The food is up to par, I can at least say.”

“Hehee. At least that can be arranged.” He pulls some from out of his apron pocket. “Here you go, Tanetomo.” 

He smoothly plucks them from Shinya’s fingers and looks them over. 

“You just give these out to whoever asks?” “When I feel like…I have extra, I guess.”

Shinya feels a presence behind him and turns around. Oh, it’s Moko.

“Sh…Shinya… sorry, cuz’ I overheard…but could…. I have a coupon, too…?” 

Moko gets the words out just audibly enough for only Shinya to hear, but Shinya knows it’s only a matter of time before people will begin to gather round, and Tanetomo seems to sense this looming phenomenon as well.

“My, one’s heart can't help but be tugged at by such pitiful displays of desperation…”

Yasuyori returns with a paper bag of confections in hand, and Tanetomo gets up to leave.

“I’m off.” He spins, his hair elegantly following in a curve, and heads to the exit.

“Farewell Shinya!” Yasuyori gives a friendly wave goodbye, and Shinya turns around to reciprocate.  

When he turns back to respond to Moko, and Sumael, Amon, and Rue who have also begun to crowd around Shinya, he hears the bell of the exit door ring as it is opened and Tanetomo calls out from behind.

“Customer service wasn’t bad either. Give my regards to Miss Taromaiti and the chefs.”

The door closes shut. 

“I was still right here to give regards to, you know,” Taromaiti remarks amusedly from the front register. 

Shinya proceeds in the distribution of coupons to his patrons who have circled around him.

[sonicboomrevisited]

НІНІН!! I adore your comic! Im a huge bugger for Sonic angst so i went insane when i first saw your comic!

I was extremely happy to read the small fanfic of Sonics thoughts so we could see further into his

POV! I was suspicious that'd be the case, especially because of the scene in Mecha Madness where we get a small panel of a red visor with read outs and stuff, supposedly Sonics view as he attacked Knothole!

Now for my ask(s)! If Robo-Sonic could make one decision completely of his own what would it be? ... and did Orbot and Cubot ever figure out what they could get Robo-Sonic?

Hello, Rvffled!

@mama-qwerty will be happy to hear you liked her mini-fic!

As for your questions... The former answer depends on what you mean by "completely of his own". Meanwhile, Orbot and Cubot have barely begun their search, but they've taken all your suggestions to heart! They'll return when they're ready! ;)

[trafficblrpositivityproject]

I wish this was just mcyt in general because OH MY GOd YALL ARE INSANE <3 <3 <2 <3

Do you want to know a secret? I have not been fact checking to make sure that each blog that you all send me is in fact a trafficblr blogger.

I’m fine with people submitting hermitblr or empiresblr bloggers, too, since those are fairly closely related to trafficblr. There is currently a small collection of asks sent by one anon who all mention the recipients’ Xisuma designs—I’m not picky enough to delete hermitblr or empiresblr asks. Any current or former trafficblr or trafficblr-adjacent blogger is perfectly fine with me.

If you submit bloggers from any other mcyt sphere—DSMP, QSMP, singleplayer servers, speedrunners, Lifesteal, whatever else—I am not likely to notice unless you specifically mention it in the ask or mistype their URL and I have to look for them. If I do notice, I am not likely to call you on it, since sending other MCYT bloggers is a harmless “mistake” in the grand scheme of things. (I will, however, draw the line if you all start sending me bloggers from entirely different non-MCYT fandoms and I notice this. See if your other fandoms have these blogs and submit to them! Or send them an ask directly!)

If I am honest, the main reason I did not open this blog up to MCYT in general (besides the fact that I am only one person running this) is specifically because I do not really look closely at the accounts of people I have not heard of (except in the case of typos in URLs to try and find the right person). I used to be into DSMP before I was into the Traffic Life Series, and I am fairly aware of the state of many of the CCs right now being outed for abuse. I was somewhat worried about accidentally posting positivity for extant wilbur soot bloggers or something, which I did not want to do. Additionally, the amount of arguing and being mean to each other in DSMP fandom when I joined had me a little worried I would post a nice message about one blogger and receive a follow-up ask by someone who did not think that person should be posted because they disagreed with their opinions. I did not fancy the idea of accidentally becoming a discourse blogger.

These concerns were probably a little silly, but they did leave me to keeping my scope narrower. That said, if anyone would like to make their own blogs which are for other parts of mcyt fandom which are not trafficblr or trafficblr adjacent, such as QSMP or DSMP, I would be happy to post the URL here.

Sorry to derail your positivity post, Anon, but I wanted to make my, we shall call it, “slightly broader than advertised” stance clear!

[miyasofzi]

Back from a mini break, let's overanalyse this and be delusional!

MAIN SUBJECTS; Rimuru, apple, flags (Tempest, Blumund, Dwargon, unknown likely Sarion (?))

Flags

Flags feature, as I said before, Tempest, Blumund, Dwargon, and likely Sarion. In my eyes, the only other option for this fourth flag would be Farmenas. However, that is a vassal state of Tempest, and the flag of Farmenas has been seen within the anime, looking nothing like the fourth flag featured.

Blumund, Dwargon, and Sarion are, at this point in the manga, Tempest's largest and only allies. This panel is placed just after the founding festive — within the chapter itself, it features each ruler of their respective nation discussing and having a meeting. It's likely why the flags are featured.

Rimuru

Rimuru is depicted wearing casual attire, one he had worn to the meeting with the various other leaders. Earlier in this chapter, he had worn his typical demon lord clothing during his battle of wits with the duke. This places the panel, time wise, between the two meetings.

Rimuru would've been relatively happy with himself, and he had successfully resolved the issue without losing face for himself and his budding nation.

Apple

!!CREDS TO @ijney ON THE ANALYSIS OF THIS APPLE — SUCH A BIG HELP I LOVE YOU!!

The two primary objects in focus are Rimuru and the apple. Your eyes flow or travel from Rimuru's face down towards the apple before exploring various other parts of the panel. This is a very common technique used by artists to put emphasis on certain objects — in this case, the mangaka likely wanted to emphasise the apple alongside the main subject; Rimuru.

The apple can be a symbol for many different ideas — temptation and the fall, innocence and knowledge, immortality and death, love and sexuality, fertility, and decay, etc.

From mine and my friend's (thank you so much) interpretation.

The apple, mostly the perceived good traits, represents Rimuru's past self. This panel takes place at a very important time in Rimuru's life. This point in time was a complete turning point for both Rimuru and his status as a ruler.

What is seen being depicted is Rimuru looking down (?) towards the apple with a bittersweet but almost accepting expression. Maybe even be described as solemn. He appears to have been bending in the direction of the apple before he stood straight up, fixing himself. I interpret this as him either standing up from putting the apple down, almost as if leaving the apple or him bending towards the apple.

I imagine this as him finally accepting that, how he was in the past, is in the past. He is no longer thinking of himself as a 'monster with a human mind' but a 'monster with human experience'. He is a monster before a 'former human'. As opposed to how he viewed himself before. Of course, ever since he had been reincarnated, Rimuru was always morally grey, but at this point in time, he had begun to accept it — enhanced by the Falmuth incident and his accession to Demon Lord.

OR

I'm insane and delusional.

OR (theory made by my beloved wife who is not on tumblr)

He just likes apples

[saltiestgempearl]

Today is the day! At long last, I can talk about my absolute favorite headcanon about Dr. Seward with you all.

I'm writing a new post about it instead of just reblogging my post from last year because that post is not spoiler free. That is, I posted October 22 of 2022, so it does mention things from entries that have not happened yet in the 2023 Dracula Daily.

That said, most of it is still fine now that the September 3 entry has arrived, so I have put together a slightly edited version that does not touch on anything that happens after the September 3 Dracula entry:

It starts out with this passage from today's entry:

How can he'—and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as that with which once he pointed me out to his class, on, or rather after, a particular occasion which he never fails to remind me of—'know anything of a young ladies? He has his madmen to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love them.

The thing is, that's not exactly the wording in the original book. In the original book, it says “He has his madams to play with, and to bring them back to happiness, and to those that love them.” Many people write this off as a typo to the point of changing it to “madmans” or “madmen” in some versions.

But what if it wasn’t a typo?

The word “madam” implies an older woman, like anywhere from middle-aged to elderly. And at the time, it was not at all uncommon for women in this age group to be sent to asylums to recuperate. Sometimes it was just a way to get female relatives you didn’t like out of the way, but sometimes it wasn’t.

You see, many Victorians (men and women alike) unironically bought into the “delicate woman” narrative. People really, genuinely thought women were just psychologically more predisposed to mental instability.

Anyway, the headcanon is that Seward actually started out as a relatively low-level psychologist at an asylum, primarily working with middle-aged to elderly women. And being the inquisitive man he is, he interacted with the patients in a less-than-conventional way, letting them talk about things that would normally be considered signs of imbalance by the contemporary medical community (e.g., “sometimes I wish I’d never had my children,” “sometimes I just want as little to do with my husband as possible,” “honestly those suffragettes make some good points,” etc.). This isn’t to say he was some feminist icon mind you; he didn’t even necessarily agree or legitimize these ideas. But he didn’t shoot them down either—he just listened. And by engaging with the women in this way, he was essentially exploring some of what we now call talk therapy, which was very much not a thing at this time. He may have also tried to be supportive of their hobbies, which while not unheard of (institutions like Bedlam set a precedent for this), was not the most common thing either.

So he did this for a while, and surprise surprise, it actually helped these women quite a bit. He quickly got a reputation for being someone who was unusually gifted in turning around cases of “nervous disorders” that were so common with these delicate womenfolk.

But then some higher-ups decided “oh, well if he’s good with this, he must be good with insane people too.” So despite being a 29-year-old budding psychologist in a very young field, he suddenly found himself the head of an asylum with a very different sort of population to treat.

Given why he was put in this position, Jack naturally continues using the methods that helped his former patients recover so spectacularly. The issue is, of course, that people who are dealing with psychosis or other more serious conditions generally need a different approach than neglected women with anxiety. Basic talk therapy isn’t going to cut it with someone like Renfield.

But again, this field is very young, so Seward is actually relatively limited on how much he can research this. So he continues with his talk therapy, but then adds things like straightjackets into the mix when his patients have meltdowns because that was also a relatively accepted solution at the time (though not universally so; even in Bram Stoker’s time, there were some professionals in the field who had figured out that this type of manual restraint was not helpful and honestly not humane.)

It’s also possible that Jack might have had some criticism early on for not being firm enough with his more “difficult” patients, so he might have overcompensated for that by using the straightjacket solution more often when things got out of hand.

And finally, Jack also has his mad scientist tendencies that he openly grapples with in his diary—you know, the sort that caused him to make wildly irresponsible decisions like “let’s let Renfield escape, but supervised, and see what happens.” And since Jack was the head of the hospital, no one shot down this obviously ridiclous idea because they probably didn’t have the authority to.

TL;DR: The headcanon is “maybe Van Helsing did mean ‘madams’ because Jack started off wildly successful in treating older women with anxiety, and as a result was catapulted into a much more powerful position he was neither properly trained for nor mentally ready for.”

[barokvanziekscumeater69]

Twisted Karma and His Last Bow

The first part of a excellent conclusion

My thoughts on the final case(s) are kinda scattered because for obvious reasons the 4th chapter isn’t self-contained as the others. It’s only the first day of the trial, with the conclusion coming afterwards. I don’t know why they chopped it considering it would work more or less the same way  (I mean, they half-assed the opening for the final chapter and didn’t even bother to make a proper title card, just opened Canva, chose a fancy-looking font and typed final chapter the cis resolve of ryu)

Interatcting with Kazuma feels uncanny. He is just standing on the office of the person he swore getting revenge on while being a little rude to his “best friend” (im a fan of asoryu on fandom/paper but in canon/pratice Kazuma is just a prick, reacts badly even when Ryu tries giving his armband back)

The whole crime scene makes way to another bigger story. For sure the crime couldn’t be more simple than it looked. For the first time in AA history it makes a lot of sense arresting Barok because everyone down there heard the gunshot after he entered and there was a pistol  laying beside him (Jigoku having the exact same model is stupid tho, couldn’t they have issued another different model in this span of years?)

Considering Jigoku again, the witnesses are being stupid again. Weren’t they shown a picture of the victim in the first place? Anyone with a brain could see the obvious difference between Gregson and the judge, who is way bulkier and taller than him. The wig managing to confuse three whole people, one of them being a former prison warden with a keen eye for detail, is another silly plot point. Doesn’t ruin the fun for me, but it makes the whole logic trip on its feet rather quickly.

I shouldn’t be that happy on having jurors return as named characters, but i liked the yaoi woman from the last trial way too much for her to be forgotten. They're repeating the jurors almost make sense economically wise considering they’d have to make five new designs for one-off characters on each chapter. 

The Vigil lady is very stupid. How did she not notice her husband was slowly becoming poorer overnight? They could’ve at least sat down and talked about it, but this would take the magic away from the case, and she accepts him and his weird friends in the end, so I guess that doesn’t really matter

It’s order from above this, order from above that. If you didn’t realize that Stronghart was the big bad in 1-3 you probably had a lobotomy, twice. Even I (stupid with capital C) noticed it.

Gina didn’t deserve losing the probably single parental figure she had so soon. I’ve said it before and will say it many times as needed, but her journey of an untrusting girl to accepting that there are people out there that want to help her is beautiful.

The small room in a fucked up corner of London vibe is awesome. For final cases we usually get those very memorable places that just scream finale (the Bigg Building/Grand Tower from AAI2, the Embassy from AAI1, Dusky Bridge and in a lesser scale the tomb from 6-5) but here we have a key character that gets dispatched in someone’s flat. I love it

The red-headed league are on my “annoying as fuck witnesses” but their dynamic is alright. Not bad for the Skullkin brothers because their cheering doesn’t have sound. Just wish they got a little more involved in the case rather than just mauling Dailey Vigil and getting arrested for massive fraud.

The whole Vigil reveal is kinda insane. He was made a scapegoat in his last job and never knew the whole extent of everything that went down in his last execution. Pieced together with the suicide attempt and the fact that the prison director didn’t give a single fuck about him. It also amazed me how did he manage to make such a perfect lip made from whatever fatty material he had his hands on. How did Venus not notice?

Also, it’s the first time I was empathic towards a witness. Sandwich made me feel bad, considering the bus driver just wanted to make a little more money on the late night rides, and now he’s fucking homeless. Had to do a double take the first time I saw him on the stand, but holy shit, unemployment hit him hard. Also, why was his previous boss a photographer for the Waterloo hotel?

Maria Gorey is also interesting. Her mother was pretty much a one-off character like she is here (she only gives some testimony at the start of the next chapter) but she already shows the resolve to be different from her mother and do stuff her own way. And I’m pleased she has something more to her personality rather than just being the gothic Victorian girl that likes dead bodies way too much. Also, how fun is that Gregson would have his life indirectly saved from the fish in his coat pocket? He really clenched like his life into the fish like his life depended on it lol

The Iris’ father situation made me stumped a little. Considering we had bigger stuff to deal with, I’m surprised they shoved the matter of Mikotoba having read the Baskerville story before in the end of the case rather than the beginning. 

[kawaiichan67]

Happy Holidays @clearwillow

I’m your IYSS! I hope you enjoy!

pairing: InuKag

Modern AU Fluff

For a second, she thought it was an intruder. Slowly, though, a pair of sheepish white dog ears emerged from her hallway. Even against the beige tones of her walls, the ears stood out.  It wasn’t just because she loved them, no. It wasn’t because they were absolutely adorable. And it most definitely wasn’t because she had dreamed of petting them, (stroking them..oh boy) or spent days with her fingers twitching slightly whenever she saw them move.

Her voice trembled a bit since he wasn’t coming completely into view. “In- Inu Yasha-san?” She was surprised that he was still not emerging from her hallway. “Is everything ok?” She gulped for a moment, wondering if this was some weird dream that she was having. Especially after how terribly her hints and flirting had gone over at Miroku’s holiday party.

“Yeah. Ev-everything is ok.” Kagome wondered why he was still hiding most of his body. His voice soothed her even as it didn’t answer her question. “I’m sorry for surprising you, but I wanted to give you something special for Christmas.” 

Kagome placed her bag down in her kitchen and moved cautiously towards her bedroom. Inu Yasha was standing in her hallway, looking, well, odd. His expression was nearly unreadable but, like his ears, he seemed a bit sheepish? 

His voice, so velvety and rich, trembled slightly as he motioned towards her bedroom. “Sorry, I didn’t want to leave it in your living room. Just in case.” He stood to the side as Kagome walked in and then—Did he just sniff me? 

Gasping, Kagome surveyed her bedroom, bedecked with mistletoe. There was mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, draped along the walls and tied to the headboard of her bed. A piece of mistletoe was lying on the bed and Kagome barely controlled a shiver as a breath seemed to rush over her shoulder and her heart started beating faster.

She turned, every nerve in her body tingling and her heart racing and then—then!  Inu Yasha took her into his arms just as she had wanted him to at Miroku’s party; only this time, it was real.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t understand,” Inu Yasha said, his golden eyes sparkling as he took in her joy. 

From one breath to the next, Kagome was back at the party. How silly she had been, basically bugging Miroku to have it in the first place. He’d been as supportive as he could be, even while the former charmer had refocused on his ‘true love,’ Tsubasa Sango. 

“Kagome-chan,” he’d said one day at lunch, “I realize that you are interested in Taisho Inu Yasha-san, but it really seems like he isn’t interested in anyone. Are you sure that you want to try for him? He can be so terribly grumpy.”

Kagome had a difficult time taking her eyes off of said grumpy and standoffish inu hanyou. She turned to look at Tsujitana Miroku and blinked, trying to shake off the mesmerizing effect that Inu Yasha had on her. It was dangerous to her sanity!

“Yes,” she answered resolutely.  A new gleam appeared in her eyes and she reaffirmed her devotion for the grumpiest employee to Miroku. “I have already made some headway,” she reported happily. “He took the ramen that I made for him!”  

Miroku stared. That seemed out of character for the department grump. “He did? Really? What did he say? Did he like it?”

Kagome sighed and nodded her head sadly. “Not really.” At Miroku’s shocked look, she rushed on, “OH! He said thank you, but later when I asked him if it was good he only said that it was ok.”

For a moment, silence settled in between the two of them; even the noisy background didn’t dispel the slight feeling of disquietude. The air swirled around them as people moved, laughed, and chatted. Miroku shifted uneasily and wracked his brain for something funny to say, but gave up. It wouldn’t really help to provoke Kagome. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder at the grumpy object of Kagome’s affections. 

“I’ll help,” he said slowly, wondering how insane of a plan this would be. At Kagome’s tiny twinkle, he shook his head. He was practically in love with this girl and yet, it wasn’t romantic in the slightest. A foreign and protective feeling overtook him. “Yes, Kagome-chan, you can thank me later,” he added with a laugh. Maybe the good karma from helping her would give him his own karma boost. 

The lovely Sango would be an interesting, but difficult challenge. 

And so began the wooing. 

Friend wooing, that is. 

Most days, Miroku knew where to find Inu Yasha. All he had to do was track down Kagome who seemed to have memorized his schedule and had multiple people spying on him and reporting his activities.

Soon enough, however, he managed to befriend Mr. Grumpy Pants (seriously, she wrote that as his nickname?!) on his own. It didn’t take much. Ramen and bonding over pool worked their magic and soon Miroku forgot that he’d had ulterior motives for befriending Inu Yasha. 

And then, one day while they were having lunch and chitchatting about the latest Tigers game, Miroku met the pining gaze of Kagome. He grinned and then double checked his calendar. Perfect timing. He could easily have a get-together. 

“Hey, Inu Yasha, I was planning on asking Tsubasa-san and a few others to hang out at Kaze Anna on Friday night.” His violet eyes gazed at Sango’s lovely…loveliness, —Behave, Miroku-kun, he could practically hear Kagome-chan chastising him!—but he turned back when Inu Yasha snorted. Raising his eyebrow expectantly, he waited in silence until Inu Yasha spoke his mind.

“Keh. Are you sure you wanna try that?” Inu Yasha replied, his golden eyes focused on Miroku. He seemed to be in a particularly bad mood today for some reason, although Miroku had no idea why.

Ignoring his negativity, Miroku continued. “I think Hojo-kun might come, and there’s also Kino-chan, and Higurashi-chan.”  He paused a moment. Had Inu Yasha made a small noise? Miroku hid his smirk. Maybe this wasn’t hopeless! “Anyone else I should invite? I wasn’t sure about adding Yamamoto-san or Takayama-san.” Miroku looked at Inu Yasha who was staring at Kagome! 

Was he growling? Let’s test this theory. “Oh! There’s Kagome-chan! Maybe I should ask her now?” The conniving hentai stood up and stepped towards the table with a smiling, but watchful Kagome, Sango, and —oooo!— Hojo. Maybe that’s why?

“Keh! You shouldn’t bug people during lunch, ya know,” Inu Yasha stated, suddenly in between Miroku and the other table of their co-workers. “We-I mean, you, could always ask them later.”

Miroku smiled. Kagome was in luck! “Sure. I’ll see Hojo-kun later anyway and I can always stop and chat with Kagome-chan later.” 

It was no surprise at all when Inu Yasha bristled a fraction. “Keh, I’ll tell Hobo when I see him after lunch. We sit near each other.” The inu hanyou’s ears were twitching like mad but Miroku didn’t acknowledge his heightened state. Clearly he was zooming in on Kagome’s conversation. But why offer to invite Hojo-kun? The affable young man was clearly in love with Kagome, so it seemed counterintuitive to invite him. 

Miroku had his answer that Friday night. The izakaya was mostly full, but he managed to get a private table with Kagome’s assistance. The atmosphere was lively and buzzing with the sounds of office workers looking to blow off some steam. There were even a few foreigners, practicing their Japanese. He nodded at the server who came by and dropped off their drinks. It wasn’t long, however, until Sango approached and sat next to Kagome, giving Miroku every chance to chat her up. 

Miroku was a little surprised when Inu Yasha pulled back the hanging to admit Kino-chan. The excited look on Kagome’s face was replaced by a firm, happy smile, slightly different from the overjoyed look that had flashed across her face when he’d first appeared . As he turned to greet both Inu Yasha and Kino-chan, Miroku caught a knowing look in Sango’s eye and he gave her a raised eyebrow. 

Happy greetings were exchanged as Inu Yasha slid next to Miroku and Kino-chan joined Kagome and Sango on the other side. 

“So, Kino-chan, how is work?” Kagome asked gently. 

"Oh, its been really nice!” Kino’s lavender eyes sparkled and her white bob shook with her enthusiasm. “Inu Yasha-san has been so kind, showing me how to handle so many of the projects.”

Sango glanced at Miroku briefly as a small, sad sound escaped Kagome. Miroku raised both of his eyebrows and turned to Inu Yasha, his violet ones meeting Inu Yasha’s gold ones. Inu Yasha raised his own eyebrows and then turned away, a slight blush on his face. 

“Oh! Shiori-chan, Inu Yasha-san is very good at explaining things,” Kagome said quickly. Miroku didn’t know where to look first: at Kagome’s embarrassed blush, Inu Yasha’s twitching ears, or Kino-chan’s twinkling and sneaky smile.

“Really, Kagome-chan? I didn’t realize he was so kind until recently. Inu Yasha-san acts more like a big brother than a senior employee.” Her entire statement was directed at Kagome who nodded in agreement.

Inu Yasha gave his typical response. “Keh. It was nothin’.” He glared at Miroku. “What are you grinning about, hentai?”

Miroku nearly choked on his beer as the women all giggled. He put Kagome and Inu Yasha out of his mind, however, and focused on the lovely Sango. “Tell me, lovely Sango-san, how much longer before we have our first child?”

The table burst into laughter as Sango blushed and said firmly, “Never, hentai-san!”

Miroku shrugged and then smiled mysteriously. Kagome gave a little giggle and then leaned forward conspiratorially. “Did you hear that Hojo-kun accidentally spilled coffee on Sesshomaru-sama?”

Inu Yasha guffawed joyfully as the others all gasped and the entire tone of the night shifted. Kagome sparkled for most of the night and Miroku and Sango traded knowing glances. 

After a few hours, the group stood outside, gathering themselves. Miroku stood close to Sango, but forced himself to pay attention to the others. Kagome seemed a little tipsy and her cheeks glowed softly. Inu Yasha seemed torn, standing in between Shiori and Kagome when a sudden call for Shiori made them all turn.

“Shiori-chan!” a handsome young man called as he walked up. “I’m so glad you texted me!”

As one, the other four turned to a blushing and grinning Shiori. “This is one of my college friends, Nakayama Ken-san. He works nearby and we haven’t seen each other for a few months.”

Nakayama greeted each of the group and then turned expectantly to Miroku. “I hope you don’t mind, Miroku-san, but I owe Shiori-chan a dessert. If its ok, I think we’ll go to a cafe nearby?” 

The group turned to Miroku expectantly, although Kagome wobbled a bit until Inu Yasha righted her with a soft pull on her arm. 

With a chuckle, Miroku agreed heartily.  "Of course, Nakayama-san. I’m not her father, y’know!” The group chuckled and turned back to each other, but Miroku caught an ear wiggle from Inu Yasha and another blush with a quick glance at Kagome. 

“Um, which-which way are you going, Higurashi-san?" Inu Yasha asked quietly, looking at the ground. 

Kagome giggled and then responded, “I’m heading for the JR line. How about you?” 

Before anyone else could respond, Inu Yasha rushed, “Me, too. I’ll walk you, if that’s good?”

And with barely any goodbyes, Inu Yasha ushered Kagome off to the JR line. 

“Quick question, hentai-san,” Sango said. “Which way on the JR line are they going?”

Miroku paused, then looked at Sango and started chuckling. “I didn’t even think of that. He seemed in a bit of a rush, didn’t he?” The two shared a knowing look then parted for their own homes. 

It was only a few weeks later that Kagome cornered Miroku at lunch, a desperate look on her face. 

“I’m so sorry, Miroku-kun, but I definitely need some help! I have no idea why but I invited Inu Yasha to a party at your house for the holidays! I was trying to explain the Western idea of mistletoe and suddenly it just popped out of my mouth. Please! Please can you help me?”

Miroku sat, overwhelmed at first, then caught a glimpse of Sango, staring intently. Hmmm, so the lovely Sango is invested in this. Two birds, one stone? He paused, smiling and nodding at Kagome as he finished his bite of spaghetti. Yes. This will be good for both Inu Yasha who blushes every time Kagome looks in his direction and Kagome who loves this grumpy guy with a soft side. 

“Yes, that sounds wonderful, Kagome-chan. I hope that you will help me plan and organize the party? Let’s say for next weekend?” Miroku almost laughed at how Kagome seemed to be vibrating with happiness. Apparently she had picked up one of Inu Yasha’s traits. 

For a moment, his eyes met Sango’s and he saw her give a slight nod, which gave him another thrill.  He winked and nodded at her. If my lady approves.

Kagome whirled around Miroku’s apartment, adding mistletoe at strategic spots and planning how to maneuver Inu Yasha underneath one of them. Or all of them!  Carefully, she moved the mistletoe from the middle of a doorway to closer to the side. No need to trap everyone underneath this western custom. It could cause some serious awkwardness. 

She smiled as she ran through her list of things to do. Miroku already had all the glasses and drinks out and Sango was putting out the snacks and setting them on a few different places around the main room. Kagome stepped back and grabbed some of the extra coasters she had purchased. They were a cute novelty gift that changed their message when they heated up.  Carefully, she pulled the few ‘special’ coasters which would change to “I really like you” rather than the more Holiday themed ones that she had already put out. 

A quick hug from Sango helped her calm down just as the first person knocked on the door. 

Miroku’s voice put both the women on alert. “Welcome, come in! Happy Holidays, Hojo-kun, Ookami-san.”

Sango and Kagome groaned and headed for the drinks. 

Kagome and Sango sighed and then laughed. So far, Miroku had managed to kiss both of them on the cheek, although Sango had lost count after 5 kisses. 

“How did it go?” Sango asked in a hush, her head slightly tilted towards Inu Yasha, currently drinking some Asahi with Miroku and Ken-san. 

Kagome grimaced but then stood up and nodded. “We did have a nice chat, but he completely missed out on the fact that I was standing underneath the mistletoe. 4 times!” she added in frustration. “4 times, Sango!” She paused and they walked closer to the kitchen for more privacy. 

“I have to admit, Kagome-chan, I was very impressed with how you dodged Kouga-kun. How did Hojo-kun sneak attack you, anyway?” Sango brushed her hair over her shoulder and added some more ocha to her cup. 

Kagome added more ocha as well and then leaned in. “I was busy staring at Inu Yasha’s—umm, his…” At Sango’s knowing giggle, Kagome relented. “Ok, yes. I was staring at his butt. Oh my kami! Sango! Its like a perfect peach!”  The two women shared a look, then glanced at the man they were discussing. The giggles continued until a sudden male voice surprised them

“Who has a perfect peach, my dear ladies?” the host asked and then waggled his eyebrows, provoking even more giggles and a reprimand from Kagome. His eyebrows shot all the way up, however, when he felt a little pinch on his butt. He grinned and leaned in to kiss Sango again.

Kagome sighed as Miroku kissed Sango’s cheek. Somehow, Inu Yasha had managed to maneuver her under the mistletoe every time she got close to it. But no kiss! She had thought they were getting closer. Especially last week and this week when he had stopped by to discuss something. It was clear that he was just there to see her, but he ignored her hints about grabbing dinner or drinks after work. She’d even bought him a Christmas present but it seemed foolish to give it to him now. 

With a quick look at her watch, Kagome started packing up her things. Most of the attendees had left and she was happy to have avoided Kouga-kun several more times. He had managed to kiss her hands once but she had carefully made sure to always have something to drink or snack on if she wasn’t trying to woo Inu Yasha. Maybe after the New Year Mr. Grumpy will finally notice me. 

Even her special coaster hadn’t worked! Inu Yasha had used it, the message had shown up, and while Kagome stared at it pointedly, Inu Yasha seemed oblivious. Resigned, she had given him a weak smile and left to avoid Kouga-kun again. 

She caught Miroku’s eye as she headed for the door and he met her in the genkan. He helped her put on her coat and then gave her a wink. She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. At his surprised look, she replied, “Mistletoe,”and left. 

Miroku headed back to the living room but nearly ran into Inu Yasha. “Hey, was that Kago- Higurashi-san?” Miroku caught Sango’s eye and nodded, a sneaky smile drawing up his mouth. 

“Yes, she left. It was getting late. Too bad; you could’ve walked her home again.” Inu Yasha gave a small nod and looked at the door. Miroku moved closer to Sango. “It’s a bit strange, though. I could’ve sworn you lived in a different district. You don’t take the JR, right?”

He chuckled and followed Sango into the kitchen. She’d promised to help clean up tonight and they were already making some good headway.

“Hey muttface,” Ookami Kouga said from right behind Inu Yasha. “Did Kagome leave?”

Inu Yasha didn’t bother responding, but he stopped when Kouga grabbed the cardboard coaster from his hand. 

“Oi! What‘s the deal?” Inu Yasha responded grumpily and snatched at the coaster. Normally, he wouldn’t care, but well, Kagome had given it to him. No one needed to know about his Kagome collection, anyway. But he’d get the coaster back somehow. Smelly Ookami.

“Hey! Yours is totally different from mine!” Clearly they both had Kagome collections; otherwise, why else would Kouga still have his coaster, too?! 

The two stared at the coasters. One clearly said, “Happy Holidays!” in katakana and the other said, “I really like you,” in hiragana. The two stared at the coasters, then at each other. 

Inu Yasha worked hard to control his blush, his ears, even his heart. When Miroku cleared his throat, Inu Yasha swiped the coaster from Kouga and pretended to throw it away.  “Very funny, hentai,” Inu Yasha said to Miroku. He gave Sango an inscrutable look, then palmed the coaster and gathered up some of the leftover beers for the recycling.

When things had calmed down and it was only Miroku, Sango and Inu Yasha, he pulled out the coaster and showed it to Miroku.

“Something I should know?” His voice was low but serious and Miroku could detect a hint of curiosity mixed in.

“Why would you ask me?”At Inu Yasha’s unhappy look, Miroku added, “You should probably ask the person who ordered them. She made sure that you got one of those and no one else did.”

Inu Yasha blushed and then raised his eyebrows as Sango slid into Miroku’s arms and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She smirked at Inu Yasha and pointed over head. “Mistletoe. Wonder who put that up?” 

“No…” Inu Yasha couldn’t help it this time. His ears wiggled and his heart began beating faster. He was definitely adding this to his collection! It would look great next to the cute notes she wrote him and left with his ramen. He looked back over Miroku’s place, thinking about the events of the night. He could remember each time that he spoke with Kagome. Her voice was so soothing and electrifying, and her smile made him giddy. Her eyes…he was ashamed to say that he’d had to physically move to keep his mind on whatever she was saying. But…Kagome had kept talking to him underneath the doorways.

For the first time that evening, he examined the doorways and ceiling. In nearly every place Kagome had spoken to him, there was mistletoe. He reached up and pulled it down. Hmmm, he should definitely take these and then…what should he do? 

He was such a baka! Kagome! This whole time Kagome had been interested. IN HIM! the ramen-Oh I was just trying a new recipe-the cute notes! She had even asked him out for dinner! He was so stupid! Why did he think his feelings were so one-sided! She always smelled so nice it was hard to think clearly around her.

Well, he would just gather up the mistletoe and plan a nice surprise for her tomorrow!  

So here he was, like a deranged stalker, hoping she would understand that he was only trying to keep things private. He was not…she smelled so good! His brain short-circuited.  

Kagome looked into Inu Yasha’s eyes. They were warm and shining, but only for her. 

“Thank you,” she whispered and rose to her tip toes for a quick kiss on Inu Yasha’s cheek. He smiled at her and kissed her softly on the forehead, then moved further into her room and kissed her right cheek, then her left. 

Kagome’s giggles almost overwhelmed her, but she reined them in to gaze into Inu Yasha’s eyes. “Are you certain this is all for me?”

Inu Yasha grinned and gave her a light kiss. Her lips were soft and warm. They tasted like sakura and vanilla, the same as her smell. 

“You’re so sweet. I knew you were just a big teddy bear,” Kagome whispered against his lips.

“Sure. Sweet,” he gave a short chuckle. Kagome pulled back and made a funny face at him, so he leaned in and said, “It’s kissy time. Not chatting time.”

Kagome erupted into laughter. “Kissy time!”

“Yes, first we make the kissies.” He kissed her again, but with more passion, leaving Kagome a bit breathless. 

She nodded. “Yes. The Kissies,” she repeated, now under his spell.

He smirked dangerously and pulled her even closer.  “First, we make the kissies. Then we make the babies.”

Kagome smirked back and pulled Inu Yasha into another kiss. Happy Holidays, indeed.

tag list: @liz8080 @clearwillow @iyfss @inusecretsanta