#I'm just ace though- well ace spike

[kiki-thekaktus]

[educatedsimps]

— bonus headcanons, iwaizumi hajime

≪ back to fics masterlist

iwaizumi hajime x gn!reader

a/n: idea dump based on this iwa request (main fic) so this is basically just everything i wanted to put into the fic but i kinda lost the energy and the bandwidth to write everything up to the standard i wanted so now this exists HAHA hope u like this and tysm for reading! :)

headcanons under the cut!

You remember asking him once, "Hajime, why do you do that?"

And he replied "Do what?" with deadass the most confused look on his face.

"Kiss my wrists and palms all the time," You clarified.

"Oh," He stopped. "Yeah, why do I do that-"

ok so basically, Iwa finds the wrists a very delicate part of the body, and given his experience as a volleyball player, and the nature of his job, he takes extra special care of them.

he remembers his coaches always reminding him and his teammates not to injure their wrists during training, which translates to "YOU BETTER HAVE GOOD FORM WHILE SPIKING, SERVING AND SETTING, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

anyway, i think he started noticing wrists when he was in high school, especially since he was seijoh's ace and had to use his wrists a lot to spike. he probably injured his wrist(s) once and has always listened to his coaches ever since.

now that he's a professional volleyball trainer he makes sure that his athletes don't injure their wrists either.

so i think all of this adds to why he pays extra attention to your wrists especially.

bonus if your job requires you to use or rely on your wrists a lot, eg. musician (like me), athletes, surgeon, author, artist, etc... idk.

YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME THAT HE DOESN'T GIVE THE BEST 👏 FKING 👏 MASSAGES 👏 ON EARTH 👏 and at the end of the massage he'll always kiss your hands and wrists and idk why but it just feels so chivalrous. like ofc it feels intimate when you hold his face in your hands and he plants kisses on your wrists/palms and but sometimes it just feels so chivalrous and gentlemanly ykwim?

OMG WHEN HE PROPOSES TO YOU like after he slides the ring onto your finger AND THEN KISSES YOUR WRIST/HAND AND IT FEELS LIKE YOUR HEART COULD EXPLODE 'cause i know mine would actually explode if he did that.

anyway some instances i thought of adding to the fic (but couldn't cuz i don't have the ability or capacity to write them out well) include:

waking up in the morning together or when you hold his face and kiss his forehead (these two are in the main fic linked above!)

when you're cuddling on the couch after a long day and just watching a show together or napping. if you're laying on him and touch his face he'll 100% kiss your wrists/palms

when he hugs you from behind and you reach up to run your fingers through his hair (like when you're cooking dinner together or something) and he'll pull your hand down to kiss your wrist

when you hug him with your arms around his neck and he catches your wrist before you pull away

when you shower together (SFW, DON'T WORRY) and you're facing each other and he's tilting his head / bending down while you wash his hair or massage his scalp and when you're done washing it he'll give your wrists a gentle kiss before returning the favour

BONUS: when he holds your face in his hands and you decide to give him a taste of his (very sweet) medicine. you’d twist your head to kiss his wrist and then his palm and he'd be BLUSHING because he's usually the one who does that AND HE'S SO CUTE he's like, "hey... you can't do that. i'm supposed to be the one doing that for you." while blushing and smiling and getting a lil shy and everything and HE'S JUST TOO CUTE FOR MY HEART 😭😭💕

a/n: ok that's all for the iwa brainrot ... i'm kidding, the iwa brainrot will never end. THANKS FOR READING THOUGH and thank you anon for sparking my two week long obsession with iwa once again

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[takes1]

omg if ur requests r still open… let me start off by saying i ate your tsukki series right up it scratched my needy loser itch SO WELL 😭😭 so much so im coming to you as a woman and begging you to do a needy oikawa scenario headcanon fic ANYTHING!!!! like i’d love a pathetic loser oikawa whos like perchance… crushing on one of the members of the girls team of seijoh…? 🫢

i’ll literally take anything u write atp that tsukki series was so fucking good that i literally put off studying for my finals to wait for ur updates instead 😭 i hope u know ur an excellent writer n wish u a very well day!!! 🤍🤍

god this request made my damn dayy!! ilysm. you're the best. i'm so glad you liked the tsukki series!! i've been waiting around for people start requesting! i love writing needy men, they're so dynamic

warnings. none. sfw, but hard-on mentioned so minors DNI info. hq fluff / yearning / needy!oikawa / loser!oikawa / volleyball team!reader / ace!reader / kind of popular!reader / oikawa getting hard talking to you / oikawa crushing / seijoh losing a match / iwa being a good friend / 1k words 🤍haikyuu collection. more of my hq here more links. my ao3 / masterlist / request box is open and empty, so give me some ideas pls!

"Come on, dumbass- the bus is here," Iwaizumi reached out to grab Oikawa's wrist to keep him from lingering any longer at the entrance to the gym floor.

"Give me two seconds," Oikawa spat. He swatted away his teammate's attempt to haul him from his vantage point.

Iwaizumi sucked his teeth and muttered something under his breath.

For once, Oikawa didn't pay it any mind. He had to see you spike. He had to watch you win.

The ball spun up, perfect and slow for your setter- his clammy hands clenched at the soaked number on his jersey. You leaped up for it. He froze that moment in time, your perfect form, perfect body, perfect force, all sculpted for this sport you both loved and dedicated yourselves to. It was a frame he could worship until the end of time.

You gave a brutal and strong slam, clean and cutthroat, that connected to the linoleum on the other side of the court.

"YEAAAAHHHHH!!"

The cries of the audience, your team, a double whistle, and the pounding of his own heart for you filled his ears. He couldn't hear the reinforcements Iwaizumi had sent to drag him away so they could leave.

It didn't matter now.

None of them were in the mood to entertain his sensitivities, since they hadn't had as much luck as you against Karasuno.

That being said, he wasn't the only one who was happy the girl's team had managed to make it. It made their group jogging back to catch the bus just a bit less out-of-sorts.

Though his plan was to speak to you first thing that next morning about the match, it never worked that way.

You were the epitome of untouchable, surrounded by many friends and always smiling at something they said to you- he couldn't stomach the possibility of you not smiling at him the same way.

But you were magnetic; as soon as he gave up on the line he prepared for you, he would watch your perfect smile light up the room and have a brand-new, better one.

Yet, a mere, "Hey," Was all he could manage on his best days when your teams switched for practice, between his own admirers never leaving him alone, and your always-occupied attention.

He wasn't enough to catch your eye.

That alone stumped him, because he never had a problem with this before you.

There was a noisy little songbird outside the window, right next to him on the other side of the glass, practically egging him on.

His gaze flitted from the bird over to your desk for the final, innumerable time that class. The heavy head in his hand tilted, studying the way you played with your hair, in hopes to replicate it.

God, if you were his, you would never have to worry about brushing it. He'd be at your beck and call, anything you needed, he would search Heaven and Earth for it.

He sighed through his nose, hand over his mouth.

There was a pain in his eyes.

You copied the last few pieces from the textbook to your notes and brushed away some eraser marks from your desk. A steady, cute, focus on your brow.

The bell rang for lunch.

A fluttering of wings and the bird he was watching was far away now, soaring through the partly cloudy sky. He turned back to you and his heart sank.

There were already guys at your desk congratulating you on your win.

You grinned and mentioned your team's hard work, casual and cool, and took your lunch out as they walked away.

He couldn't let himself be forgotten. With a bit too much enthusiasm he stood and his chair scraped the floor, loud.

Only a few people turned to look and you were thankfully not one of them.

No time to think-- just going for it, he belted out at the side of your desk,

"I saw you win the match."

What the fuck did he just say?

You glanced up at him. He didn't mean to say that, exactly. He should've just said congrats. His face filled with struggle.

"Oh!" You wiped your mouth, "Yeah, I saw you guys walking out, I wanted to talk to you!"

He stumbled over his words, unable to think clearly enough to take a second to breathe, "Y-eah, the bus- was there--."

"The girls watched you guys, too. I'm sorry about what happened."

His face was starting to get warm, and just his luck, two of his most common groupies were stalking you with dark looks at the door. He was fumbling so bad. Of course you watched him lose.

You looked down for a moment, "That was a tough match."

In doing so, you remembered that monster serve that made you jump out of your seat.

You giggled, "Oh man, but that serve of yours!!"

His chest puffed up, filled with a newfound pride that mended every lackluster attempt he ever had at getting your attention.

"That was so fucking cool!"

Heat crept up his neck, goosebumps all over his arms so bad he had to cross them. He was blushing ear to ear.

A choked sound preceded his uneven voice, "You saw that?"

"Y-eaaah, I mean," He was making it worse already, but you were grinning up at him. How could he not keep trying to impress you?

"-They're better way better at practice, ya know."

"Oh, yeah?" An unwanted, deep voice egged on from his side.

He jumped away from Iwaizumi, whom he made plans to meet with for lunch, now standing with his arms crossed and an unimpressed brow line.

You both shared an amicable wave before he slapped a broad hand on the back of Oikawa's neck to direct him away and let you eat in peace.

It was arguably in his best interest, but Oikawa scrambled out of his grip as soon as he was in the hallway, pissed that he was abducted just as it was getting good.

"The fuck?" He snapped, rubbing the hot spot just under his hairline.

Iwaizumi, not about to tolerate his attitude like he did yesterday, rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. He started walking towards their usual spot with a smirk that his friend couldn't see.

He called over his shoulder, "You should really tuck that, dude."

The few students in the hallway watched his back, some in amusement, some in carnal curiosity, as he panicked for a moment, faced a corner -beet red and muttering-, and did just so.

my masterlist.

please send requests!

thanks again anon for the send, hope you like!! <3

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: Previously On X-Men... Gambit

It's time to talk about Gambit! The nice thing about Gambit is that he was, at the time, a relatively new character, having only been around in the comics for about a year. Which means there is way less to cover! Boy, are we going to have to deal with some questionable art, though.

The Basics:

Name: Remy Etienne* LeBeau

*Okay, so, this is the funny thing about the name Etienne. Apparently, it started out as fanlore, and - as so many things that happen in fandom - gained popularity as fanon from a particularly well known piece of fanfiction from way back when. I believe it's actually been used in canon at this point. It is on Marvel.com - which is the official site. I'll keep a look out for it to show up.

Also, in case you didn't know (and I'm sure you did), Le Beau is French for The Beautiful.

Backstory: Just like Rogue, Gambit's backstory is shrouded in mystery. He's a thief. He's from New Orleans. He's Cajun. That's all your getting for now. Don't worry, we'll peel back the layers. ;)

Power Set (via uncannyxmen.net):  interkinetic power allows him to produce bio-kinetic energy within his body and use it to convert any inorganic object's potential energy into kinetic energy on contact, making the object highly volatile and explosive on contact, internal energy also grants him heightened agility and creates static interference that shields his mind from detection

I should also give the obligatory comment of - these powers are toned down from his full abilities because of /reasons/ which we'll get to eventually. He had Mr. Sinister give him a lobotomy and, we've all been suffering the consequences sense.

Alright, let's dig into Gambit's pre-Rogue run...

Uncanny X-Men 266-267

Uncanny X-Men #266

I have to start by appreciating the fact that Gambit is a thief who wears bright pink and metal boots. It's a bold look.

Anyway, the funny thing about Gambit is that the character he turned out to be ended up being a lot different from creator Chris Claremont's initial ideas. Apparently, he was supposed to be, ultimately, a villain and, while he was supposed to be a love interest for one of our characters, it wasn't Rogue, it was... Kitty Pryde. He was also supposed to be a Mr. Sinister creation and a third summers brother. Yeah, I'm kind of glad Claremont left before any of this stuff really came to fruition.

Also, I once read that Claremont claim that original artist Mike Collins made Gambit too pretty. Which is funny, because ngl, I really am not a fan of the look in his debut, and it will be a while before he really earns his name.

Uncanny X-Men #266

I also want to note that Gambit's powers were a little different back then. He didn't have playing cards yet, and instead used metal spikes as throwing devices. The powers were designated in green. And were charged from his eyes. Also, interesting to note - his eyes aren't red on black yet, either.

There's also 'hypnotic charm' thing that was kinda used in the early appearances. He does use it in his first appearance to tame some of the Shadow King's Hounds.

Uncanny X-Men #266

He's gonna be calling her 'Stormy' for years. She's gonna love it. ;) (Btw - he calls her Stormy 4 times in this issue alone.)

Okay, so... Gambit shows up, crossing paths with Storm at a mansion of some rich person. Storm is de-aged (for... reasons) and is running from the Shadow King and his minions. He's busy stealing art from the rich dude (who apparently is not home and has no security, lol).

And thus, one of my favorite comic book friendships is born. And really, this first appearance is a lot of fun as Gambit and Storm play off each other's strengths to get away from the Shadow King.

Uncanny X-Men 267

Jim Lee is going to add some of Gambit's more iconic features -- such as throwing playing cards (Gambit's Ace of Spades shows up in this next issue) and using some kind of staff (hilariously, it's a broom in this issue).

Storm and Gambit's adventures continue. He takes her to New Orleans for a while so she can recover from the Shadow King. They go thieving -- playing Robin Hood -- stealing from rich people because they can. And then the Orphan Maker comes along, who makes Storm a teenager? (Idk - the whole thing is weird - she'll become her real age again in the next story arc.)

Uncanny X-Men #267

And then Storm is like, hey, I have a crazy idea....

Uncanny X-Men Annual #14

Fun fact: Because of release dates and such, Uncanny X-Men #266 wasn't the first comic released to have Gambit in it. The Annual technically came out first, though it clearly takes place after Uncanny 266-267. But this is the first time we see Gambit among the X-Men team. Not that he does anything remotely interesting during this whole thing. He doesn't even speak, kind of hides awkwardly in the background.

X-Tinction Agenda (Uncanny X-Men #270-272; X-Factor & New Mutants)

Uncanny X-Men #270

Welcome to the X-Men, Gambit! Hope you survive the experience!

He's in the credit roll now, must be official. ;)

Gambit joins the team just as the mega X-tinction Agenda crossover starts. (Uncanny X-Men joins New Mutants and X-Factor for this one) And, I'll be honest, this isn't one of my favorite crossovers. The whole thing revolves around the nation of Genosha, how they're using mutants for slaves, and how all the teams come together to change the status quo. And of course, mutants get capture and tortured and a few killed. Fwiw X-Men: The Animated Series did do this storyline.

Uncanny X-Men #270

Gambit and Cable don't (won't) get to cross paths very often, so I found this an interesting panel. Anyway... Gambit really has very little to do during this crossover. When Storm gets captured, he is really concerned for her (as he considers her his partner at the moment) but he's not really vibe-ing the whole team dynamic yet.

Uncanny X-Men #272

This is arguably the coolest thing Gambit's done as of yet. Dude pulls a spike out of his leg to use as a lockpick and gets himself rescued. I'm glad they give him this, because, again, for the most part he's just kinda hanging around in the background not doing much.

I will say - he and Jubilee get to cross paths, which is going to be a source of fun in the next arc.

Space Shenanigans (Uncanny X-Men 273-277)

Uncanny X-Men 273

Some of my favorite issues are when the team is regrouping. Post- X-Tinction Agenda, it's clear that things in the X-Office were changing. Claremont is at this point sort of being pushed out, while Jim Lee and Co are becoming more the driving force behind the books. On panel, the teams are kind of merging. X-Factor's first era is drawing to a close, and the X-Men are resolidifying after being in flux for so long.

We're about to get a Space Soap Opera, as Claremont so dearly loves, but this issue is a bit of a breather between the arcs. And we get this bit of tension between Storm and Gambit - where Gambit is ready to move on, but Storm is back on solid footing again. They don't explicitly state why Gambit sticks around, but he definitely does...

Uncanny X-Men 273

I swear, this is Chris Claremont's favorite joke. He's used it before this moment, and he'll do it again. It's impactful the first time, but it does get old the more Claremont does it. However, we get the first highlight of the dynamic between Gambit and Wolverine -- which will be antagonistic for a while, but is fascinating.

Uncanny X-Men #274

Doesn't Gambit look sexy in his yellow team uniform?? ;)

Btw - as I mentioned earlier, this is the first issue Gambit and Rogue appear in together. Though they be miles and miles and miles apart.

Uncanny X-Men #275

The whole crux of this arc, that I've been kind of ignoring, involves Xavier being brainwashed in space (or something) and of course the X-Men get involved in space politics (again). Honestly, space stories are Claremont's favorite trope, so it doesn't surprise me that the end of his run are filled with a couple of them.

Anyway -- if there's one person impervious to Gambit's charms - it's Jubilee. They get to hang out a lot during this arc, and it's really delightful since they team up to kind of figure out what is going on with Xavier acting weird and all the odd space kool-aide people are drinking.

Uncanny X-Men #277

I actually really like this cover. Gambit's got a sword and a spear! Plus, he looks like his 90s cool self now. The blue and yellow uniform doesn't suit him AT. ALL. But we don't have to deal with it too much longer...

Uncanny X-Men #277

See... I told you Claremont was gonna do this again, lol.

Uncanny X-Men #277

The nice thing about this whole space arc is that Gambit really gets to come into his own. He now looks cool (note the red eyes are here!). He's doing fun stuff. He's taking on Wolverine and holding his own. He's being smart and tactical and an asset. They've paired him with some great X-Men to start off with, and it's paying off.

Meanwhile, we don't really know much about him. As many of the other characters state, his background is shrouded in mystery... (whether you like what it actually is can be debated as we get to it). But for now, he's intriguing as a new comer.

And this is where we're at as two story lines come crashing together and our two romantic leads get to meet for the first time.... off panel.

But I'll get more into that next time when I discuss... The Muir Island Saga!

[seawater-aurelia-writing]

Broken { The Break; Chapter 2}

Pairing(s): Fem!MC/Yuu/Reader x TBD

Summary: MC awakens after her fall but the reactions of others make her spiral worse - but not all is as it seems.

WARNINGS

I am not the best at labeling warnings or triggers but I can say that this story is laden with neglect, self-depreciation, self-neglect, anxiety, possible depression and attempts to justify the above. There could be more labels that I can add but i’m unsure how to word them - so please exercise caution.

I liiiiiiiiiiiive! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I restarted this SO many times and yet I could never get it to feel...'right'...So I hope this lives up to yall's expectations! Sorry for the bad summary lol

One last disclaimer though! I have not seen the entirety of Chapter 6 and I have avoided pretty much all content for Chapter 7 as far as i'm aware. So I may not have everyone exactly in character in new things were revealed for them.

When M/C awoke, she half expected to be in the infirmary as she was when she was knocked unconscious during the Magift Tournament. But the other half of her? 

She didn��t expect much. Be it the stillness of the void around her, or the library floor if Professor Trein left her where she fell – there wouldn’t be much difference. It's what usually happened anyway; She could handle her injuries herself if that was the case. However, she supposed there was some form of upside to being in the infirmary. 

If she was left in the void, how else would she know firsthand how she burdened and upset those around her.

‘It’s so late…’ She thought to herself, gazing out of the window across from her bed. She could barely make out the faintest shape of the moon – a crescent. Even the moon was smiling at just how pathetic she had to look at this moment.

“-C. M/C!” 

Why was it so hard for her to hear? Even as she turned her head slowly, moving her eyes to gaze up at the headmaster beside her, it was as if someone had placed her in a tub of mud. She moved so slowly, without much feeling other than a sharp pain as she tried to rest the side of her head down onto the pillow.

“…Hng..”

“Thank goodness, you’ve finally awoken! It’s been two days already! What on earth did you drink to cause you to create such an awful mess of the library?! You know very well that you cannot ...poultices as other students do because of ... Furthermore, I believe I ...use it for research not as ...a playground!” He ranted but his voice faded in and out as he spoke. But why? Why can't I hear him?

Only an idiot would zone out at a time like this.

Crowley sighed, clearly exasperated when she didn’t attempt to speak.

‘He hates that he let you stay here. Who can't do simple chores?He wishes he never helped you.’

“Once you are ...leave, you are to clean up ...the library. Luckily, ...the matter with you ...I can see.” He continued after a moment, his arms folding over his chest as he gazed down at her. Slowly, it became easier to focus but the ringing in her ears never  "Actually...Our nurse is ...but I see no reason ...release you myself."

“…Y-yes…sir.” She rasped, voice dry and hoarse from lack of use.How long had she been unconscious? But again, did it truly matter? But what did that matter? Clearly, the pain in her head wasn’t real and not a sign of something worse. Why should she expect something else?

'He wants you gone.'

'You're taking up space.'

'Stop being selfish.'

'Because you think you're worth more than you are.'

Ace, Deuce and Grim came to visit her that day at lunch just before her release but the visit felt hollow. They laughed and teased her for her clumsiness, even Deuce smiling a bit at the dramatics of Grim, but none seemed to notice the forced smile that M/C put on her face. None noticed how her eyes twitched at the sharp, spike of pain that formed when they grew louder. 

‘They’re only here because they’re forced to be. Stop thinking about yourself.’

'Just smile. Don't make a scene.'

When M/C had been released earlier that day, she was urged straight to attend the final class of that day rather than go straight to Ramshackle. 

‘Please let this go by fast…’ She thought to herself, letting Rook lead the way to their class as the pain in her head continued to grow. M/C closed her eyes for a moment, missing the way Rook glanced back at her and shifted his body to walk closer to her. 'Please...'

Yet it did not. 

MC felt as if she was on autopilot as she sat in class, sluggishly marking notes where needed and nodding along with the lecture but nothing seemed to sink in, no matter how many times she willed herself to focus in. Rook would boisterously comment on things, his voice jolting her to the present long enough for her to gaze at him and then the teacher before her focus waned once more.

‘You’re so needy.’ Why couldn’t she just move past her little incident? Everyone else already had moved past it, so it clearly wasn’t very important. She had no right to wish that others worry about her. They had bigger things to worry about, more important things to focus on.

Right?

‘Why can’t you handle this on your own?” Why couldn’t she? It was only one day just like the others! It wasn’t even hard! Ruggie had gone without meals more than she had! So obviously, she was just exaggerating. Vil had more things to worry about than she did including an actual career! What right did she have to complain about doing a few favors?

‘You’re pathetic.’

‘A waste of space.’

‘What good is someone who screws up a simple thing?’

‘No one cares.’

‘You’re replaceable.’

‘Forgettable.’

As class ended, MC prepared for her cycle to begin once more and so it did. Rather than go to  dinner, Kalim latched onto MC the moment she was out of the classroom. The pain in her head returned full force with his boisterous volume right beside her ear but she still smiled. 

He offered to help the next time she went to the library since he knew ladders were tricky. 

‘They aren’t tricky. He’s pitying you’

“Kalim, leave her alone. She needs to rest.” Jamil finally said after a few minutes, his eyes not leaving her  as he spoke. He almost seemed to study her before adding, “She isn’t looking well.”

‘Pathetic.’

“Huh,? Oh right! I’m sorry! Go, go rest up! We can plan a group dinner later!” Kalim practically beamed before ushering her away from the cafeteria despite Grim’s many protests and her own stumbling feet.

“B-But -” 

 But they were already on Main Street by the time MC attempted to speak. Why was she always so hesitant when it came to these things? She barely uttered a word in the entire conversation and despite Jamil’s eyes on her, it was as if she wasn’t really a part of the conversation. Just a figure meant to listen but not contribute. 

Always there but never meant to fully be there.

MC didn’t register her body moving as she went towards the direction of Ramshackle, her form practically shrinking in on itself as they went. Grimm was rambling on and on as he floated beside her, while she let her body guide her on a path she had now memorized. 

“…Just…pathetic…” She mumbled, one hand coming up to grasp at the other elbow. That’s what she was, wasn’t she? She didn’t stand out other than being magicless but even then people seemed to forget. No one cared that she couldn’t magically make a situation better, but they expected her to do it anyway. Just like no one seemed to care about her wellbeing but they expected her to always be okay. Thoughts of Riddle, Leona, Azul, Kalim, and Vil drifted into her mind - how each of them experienced their own breaks during the Overblots, how they opened up about what hurt them, how everyone listened and tried to help them. She thought about how Crowley actually brought in special healers and therapists just for them for weeks after their incidents and how they still have check-ins with him to ensure they’re on the right track. 

Where was that for her? Her body couldn’t produce magic, she couldn’t  Overblot to make others realize how badly she was hurt mentally, physically, emotionally. She couldn’t voice her worries because who would listen? Even when she tried to warn her friends about the smallest of dangers, they simply brushed her off. Her words didn’t matter; so why would her thoughts matter.

‘Is that it?’ She wondered, a sudden cold feeling filling her form. What if she truly was the issue? Why was she so focused on having her thoughts and feelings acknowledged when she knew that all others wanted was for her to help them? They are all more important than her pathetic emotions, right? They have a life and future here in their world and it’s clear she’s just an anomaly who may never return to where she was once from. Was she - overvaluing herself? Was it all-

“It’s your fault, you know!” Grimm yelled suddenly, directly in front of her.

MC stopped suddenly, a cold chill rushing through her body at the words. Her fingernails slowly began digging into her skin as she looked into Grim’s eyes. “W-what?”

“It’s your fault!! You know, I had to do cleaning duty!” He complained, his little paws resting on his hips as he scowled. “I wanted to pick up some of that discount tuna before Ruggie got all of it but I was roped into cleaning! Not to mention those creepy twins came at me about something you forgot! And you forgot the library today! I'm not cleaning that just because you're lazy and took a fall! You’re my henchman, not the other way around! Don’t be selfish! ”

M/C this. M/C that. Clean the weeds. Fetch my things. Deliver this. Talk to this person. Clean this, clean that. Keeping busy, always busy.

'It's for the best. They have other things to focus on-'

She stopped walking, her head hurting more and more, as if a little thing was smashing cauldrons over and over against her brain. Her heart joined the rhymed pounding so hard, she gripped her chest in a vain attempt to calm it.

"Stop-" She gasped but couldn't say more as she stepped back, her throat clenching.

'They are more important. Don't deny it'

'They will never care about you.'

'You don't belong here.'

“I know as the Great Magician that I am, that I need to carry the both of us since you're useless without magic but you need to watch it with the - huh? MC?!” Grimm continued, his tone shifting to something MC didn’t want to hear – something she couldn’t hear.

She backed away, one step and then two before rushing off towards the entrance gates of the College. Not once looking back.

Her surroundings blurred as she ran, not taking into account where she was truly going - just knowing that she had to get away, far away. From the Grim, from all of the others, from Night Raven College, from everything.She just wanted it all to go away!

'Useless.'

'Magicless.'

‘Selfish’

"Stop! Stop it!" She sobbed, her breath catching in her throat. Her chest began to hurt more than her head caused her to stagger in her stride. M/C felt herself tumble down and crash down a slope, the brush scratching her as she went down before she hit something hard and frigid. 

She sobbed as the thoughts continued to repeat in her head; Every overblot, every chore, every demand, every reprimand, every expectation, and every sign of disappointment. Why was she truly like this? She wasn’t good for anything but menial tasks due to her lack of magic and still she can’t do any of that right. 

“Make it stop, make it stop, makeitstop…”

She didn’t know how long she laid there, nor how long she was sobbing, begging and screaming for the pain to go away, for the thoughts to go away. The pain in her head only grew the more she cried, and as it grew  - so did that pain and tightness in her chest.

‘Useless.’

‘Useless!’

‘USELE-’

Until the darkness took her under again.

But unlike before - the chill of the darkness grew stronger and more intense until it was the only thing she was able to feel. Just as the voices were the only thing she was able to hear. Repeating their words over and over, in a hell that she couldn’t wake up from.

After what seems like ages, a gradual warmth began to seep into  the darkness around her. A spreading, far reaching feeling spreading across her body but oddly focused around her back and under her legs. 

‘What is…’ She wondered as another sensation came to her slowly, a rocking kind of motion accompanied by a lightness. It reminded her of the gentle swaying of the waves of Coral Sea but was swiftly ruined by the sound of harsh thunder reigniting the pain in her head. A flash of brilliant light flashed across her eyelids, causing her to whimper.

“Are…-ake, dear?” A familiar, deep voice crooned, not loud enough to hurt her head any further but enough for her to hear it clearly.

‘This voice…I know it…I..Why is he-’

‘You’re wasting his time.’

“Shhh, your heart…racing again. You…it’s Lillia…Focus on my breathing, little one.” Lillia’s voice soothed, as the rocking motion slowed - was she being carried? M/C registered the warmth tightening around her slightly as her breath quickened unintentionally.  “Shhh, focus…. You can do it. Think of nothing else but my voice and deep breaths.”

It took what felt like ages before M/C was able to focus on the steady rise and fall of her head in time with Lillia’s breathing. The ache in her chest lightened but the pain in her head did not, only worsening as she attempted to open her eyes. Another flash of lightning, red eyes and furrowed brows.

“It’s best if your eyes remain closed. The storm will only worsen the pain of your concussion.” Lillia remarked, just before more thunder rumbled. “ You worried us all, dear. Especially dear Malleus.”

“C-concussion? B-but I…don’t have a-” She mumbled, turning her head to hide from the storm before a thought flashed through her mind. “T-The library! I didn’t clean i-”

“You will not be cleaning anything nor doing any chores for the foreseeable future, little one.” Lillia cut her off quickly, his soft voice containing a firmer tone than she was used to hearing. “You are injured and have been pushing yourself too hard. Far harder than you should have.”

‘He knows you can’t do it. That’s why he said that.’

‘He knows you’re pathetic.’

“No, n-no I’m not. It’s fine. If anything I need to push harder, heh.” She forced out a laugh, attempting to lighten the atmosphere but Lillia merely sighed.  “I-It’s nothing really!”

“You’ve barely been eating, little one. Silver told me as such and I witnessed it myself; We were going to ensure you ate this evening but you didn’t show. In addition, you’ve been having more accidents than usual and have been unfocused. You. Are.Exhausted.”

“No, it’s fine. I just, if I just finish this one thing then it’s fine. I-I can clean the library super fast and it’s all okay!” She pressed, fighting the urge to cry once more. Had her screw ups been that apparent? She didn’t mean to; She was doing her best!

“But it’s never just one thing, is it?” M/C faintly registered the sound of his shoes upon cobblestone, were they back on campus?  “After this, then there’s another favor that’s asked of you, another assignment, another mess to clean. But – have you had time for yourself, little one?”

“…I-I do at night I have-“ The words trailed off as she tried to think of something. She did have time to herself at night but it was never for long, especially when her thoughts would become so loud or she would get those odd dreams of things she swears she’s seen but can’t fully remember. 

“But you live with Grim,yes? Who boasts about how tidy you keep your shared room…so I can only wonder how much alone time you get in there at all.” He hummed,and for a brief moment MC felt the brush of something soft and silken brush her face. Lilia seemed to shift slightly, curling into her  before the gently swaying became an airy sensation, like she was adrift but his warmth continued to steady her.

“…”

“And let us not forget that Malleus often takes his nightly walks in your area; Often alongside you, yes?  He’s told us that he’s seen lights on in Ramshackle as late as the early morning hours even after he’s escorted you home.”

“Ramshackle…isn’t my home.” She mumbled, her eyes growing hot and tears welled within. “This isn’t my home, I don’t belong and that’s why this doesn’t matter. I don’t know why you’re wasting your time with me; you have better things-”

“Do you know what’s the scariest thing in the world?”

“Huh?”

Lilia���s voice was low as he continued to speak, “Asking for help. You have to open yourself up and admit to yourself and someone else that you need help. That you need someone there to help you stand until you get your footing once again. There’s not many people who can open themselves up to doing that. Magically inclined or not.”

MC thinks of everyone who asks her for help. “No one seems to have that issue here…”

“They do love to ask you for things but not for those matters that are oh-so  troubling to them. Most would rather keep to themselves and allow their thoughts to consume them before they incite their pleas. Does that sound familiar?”

MC bit her lip, her eyes opening partially as her tears finally began to fall. She vaguely noticed the dim setting around them, but nothing was truly familiar as her tears blurred her sight. “All of you already have so much to worry about and futures to plan and…it’s just…better if I don’t ask.”

“And what, praytell, about your future, little one?” Lilia pressed as MC shakily used her hands to wipe her tears away.

“I…don’t think I have one. I don’t have magic so I can’t really….. I’m a magic-less student in a magically-based academy – how am I even going to use what I’m being taught? I’m just pathetic and worthless-.”

“Enough. I refuse to listen to you slander yourself in such a way, Child of Man.”

MC tensed as Malleus’s voice rang out firm from somewhere in front of Lilia and herself. She slowly parted her fingers, blinking so as to get a clear peek between them but quickly came to wish she hadn’t. She wished she could go back to that unknown area where Lilia had taken her from and just melt there where she wouldn’t have to deal with what was in front of her and the implications it all held.

Standing before her, in the main room of Ramshackle Dorm, were the Dorm Leaders , Grim and Sam with various expressions across their faces. -----------------------------taglist-------------------------------

@mamushroomoracorn | @sailor-pom | @secondb0rn | @honey-deerling-oc | @valerieelizablack | @hanafubukki |@houseoftitans | @butterscotch-babie | @thai | @alextheknight707 | @starshiningsirius | @vanrougette | @valerieelizablack | @cherrysamasama | @over-active-daydreamer | @tanspostsblog | @pineapple-coco | @silvsilvysilver | @diu0sanr | @amoresdarlene | @alankorex | @thehomosexualsupportingcast | @formerstands | @yourunsearc | @twst-rui | @StarryOne23

[leavemebetosleep]

This is more for my own reference, but like here's my outline/ general facts for my OC Minx and what I imagine as her story arc if I ever do something with it:

-born the youngest of the main 6's kids. Aside from Cheesecake, I've designed 2 Appledash kids who I'll try to post eventually I see Twi as ace, so she never has kids, and Rarity...maybe I'm deciding. I like Rarity with AJ and with Fluttershy so she might join a polycule lol.

-doesn't have full powers when she's little, but still pretty powerful even compared to some adult ponies. Hypnotism especially is as natural to her as walking.

-communicates through sign language which she learns around the age of 3. Discord teaches it to her, as well as teaching Fluttershy and the rest of the main six what the signs mean, even if they can't return it. Spike learns as well, and it gets him a lot of babysitting duty since they can communicate better, as he also has hands. He likes Minx alright but he's not thrilled by the position.

-aside from lil Cheese, doesn't really make many friends when she's little. Aj and Rainbows kids (Zap and Spiced Apple) don't take to her, and the adults don't try to force it. Though AJ especially tends to scold the kids if they drift into just being mean territory.

-Adults and other kids in general tent to think she's scary. They might play nice for Fluttershy's sake or for fear of Discord, but she's always kept at arms length by other ponies.

-Minx ends up having mostly animals as friends, which if she minds, she doesn't say so. Plus Cheesecake likes her, and they're besties. She sees him like an older brother.

-Has a lot of trouble when she starts school, thanks to her needing accommodation to communicate. Discord gets her first teacher fired after finding out she's not being accommodated.

-If it's not obvious already, Minx is autistic.

-When she gets around middle school age, Twilight offers to make her a personal student. This is for a lot of reasons, to round out her magical education, to offer her better accommodations, but also to hopefully help her make more friends.

-She accepts. Twilight is her favorite Auntie after all, and she adores her. Plus aside from lil Cheese, she doesn't have much to miss at home. (Discord's powers mean Fluttershy and him are always available to see her, and it's easy for her to come home to see the animals too.)

-Minx very slowly starts to use words more often as she gets into her teenage years. Not always, but being in an environment where she's less stigmatized really helps her feel relaxed enough to try on her own terms.

-Spiced Apple, who I'll elaborate more on eventually, is AJ & RD's youngest daughter, and didn't like Minx when they were little. She's a bit of a spitfire, and is very mouthy. Often in trouble for it.

-When Minx moved away for schooling, she didn't care. But when Minx came home to visit, and she was dragged along by her moms to see her and the rest of the 6 and kids, she develops a huge crush.

-Minx is oblivious when Spiced develops a crush on her. Spiced is regretting every moment of her life until now she's down so bad. Minx doesn't know why Spiced suddenly wants to hang out so much. The adults are amused.

[yuri-is-online]

Congratulations for your 500 followers! I hope I'm not late, if you don't mind I would like prompt number 2 for the first year.

Since there're only 3 characters to choose from. I'll specifically choose them, it's Deuce, Jack and Sebek.

Hope is okay.

2. "Someone" decides to ask you for your opinion about "their friend" and you decide to have a bit of fun and tease them.

My dear you are a very lucky listener, between you and another friend I have all the usual first years for this, so I am going to go ahead and swap out Deuce for Epel on this post. The others can be found here. Though if we are being honest, I probably would have gone ahead and done all five of them anyway, there's just something about them that makes you not want to separate them you know?

notes: they/them used for Yuu, Jack doesn't handle embarrassment well, Epel is a brat, and Sebek is canonically easily flustered. The other event requests can be found on my masterlist here.

Jack

He has yet to think of a good way to talk about this. Jack has always been in tune with your movements, since long before he realized what it meant; no matter the size of the crowd he could drown it all out and find your heart beat. The sound draws him towards it out of habit, though he remembers himself enough to shy just short of invading your space and making introductions. Your heart is at rest, enjoying the sights and sounds of the ball, only spiking briefly when you notice him. Is it wrong, he wonders, to wish for it to have remained elevated? Moon knows his can never keep it steady around you.

"Hi!" You sound so happy. It's enough to make him scowl, jealousy clawing it's ugly way towards his throat keeping his mouth tightly closed. "Are you enjoying the festivities?"

Jack nods, doing his best to keep his tail from flinging the cape Crewel had so carefully pinned to his shoulders across the room. Jealousy cannot dull his happiness to see you, and your kindness is seldom denied to strangers.

"That's good to hear." You say without a hint of irony, and then you turn to leave, pausing when he moves along to follow. "Are you ok?"

"I'm trying to find a friend." Jack wants to hit himself as soon as he says it. Sure, Ace had suggested it as a joke but he had insisted it was a bad idea. A terrible idea. An idea that disrespected both yours and his common sense, and yet here he was asking you anyway. "Have you seen Jack?"

Now Jack had always had your interest, but now he had your attention. "Who?" If he didn't want to die before he definitely did now. His broad shoulders sag, only slightly they're much too muscular to do much more. "Oh you mean the Savanaclaw freshmen! Right? What do you need him for?"

"I'm just... looking for him." Jack sucks at lying, he's too uptight and too strict to his own code excel at it.

The tie he feels to you screams at him every time he does, lying does not protect the pack, it hurts them. And who is more vital to the pack than-

"Just to look at?" You have your arms clasped behind your back and are smiling? "I'll admit he is very pretty but I don't think you need to be looking at him."

"I shouldn't look at him?" How cute, the poor baby is confused. You move to stand right up against his chest, watching happily as he doesn't so much as flinch a single inch.

"No no, you should keep your eyes on me. Because," you press your finger against Jack's lips as if to shush him "I'm his one and only, the only way you are allowed to admire my Jack is if you see him reflected in my eyes." One second passes. And then two more, three draw themselves out as you see Jack's teeth grind faster than the gears in his head.

You have been toying with him, he realizes as the last of his embarrassment is swallowed up in the fire that lights up in his eyes.

"Oi, don't you remember what I said las time?" Your eyes widen as Jack breaths in the scent of your excited shock. "I told you-" his arms wrap around your waist to lift you up in the air, he tells himself it's just to make leaving easier, "if you keep yanking my tail, there's going to be consequences." As if he didn't know that's exactly what you wanted.

Epel

"Well, you seem awfully lonely, are you sure you're alright?" Epel doesn't think he has ever put this much effort into Vil's ettiquite speech, but he needs to tonight. He knows he's short, he knows he has this damnable cute appearance, and he knows Rook is hovering somewhere just off screen waiting to swoop if he sees something mildly amusing.

But he just has to know, he's tried asking Deuce how you talk about him when he's not there but he had just spluttered and refused to say anything meaningful. Ace had been worse "Oh? Wouldn't you like to know apple boy-" well yeah no shit that's why he'd been asking. Jack and Sebek were denser than brick and weren't able to tell him much beyond that you thought "highly of his achievements." Great. No really that was just great. But maybe not as great as Sebek further adding that Yuu "thought he was just as capable as anyone else." That had crushed him for the better part of a week until Vil had accused him of pouting which wasn't cool guy behavior at a-

"You noticed." Yuu smiles, and his thoughts are once again derailed. It's not like their usual smiles, this one is sad. "Formal events like these are just a bit too much, I'm not used to them."

"I think they're sort of fun." It's the truth, Epel likes a good party. Really this isn't so different from home, the clothes are just less practical and more expensive. "But my buddy," that was too informal but you aren't giggling, so that has to mean he's in the clear "Epel, he used to have a real hard time with these things." You sit up just a bit straighter at the mention of his name.

"Oh, you're Epel's friend?" Silly Yuu, you thought you were talking to the man himself and excited he had been the first of your friends to come and check on you. There were some things you wanted to talk to him about, Vil was absolutely no help when you had asked if Epel talked about you when you weren't around. The hell sort of answer was "Obviously?" Not a workable one that's for sure!

"Yeah, I was wondering if you've maybe seen him around? I promised to help him with something tonight, but he's been hiding from me." As if the person speaking to you could be anyone but Epel, no one else at this school expresses his disappointment quite so beautifully as this.

"He's hiding from me too, sorry." You allow your genuine disappointment to shine through, trying to read how Epel reacts. He... doesn't exactly, instead allowing an awkward silence to fall over you that just cannot be allowed to stand. "It's really cute of him honestly."

"What?!" At least that's what you think Epel says, it's hard to hear over the angry gargle starting to brew.

"Seriously cute." You make sure to give an exaggerated dreamy sigh so he knows that he is being teased before you continue. "Really, he says all sorts of sorts of sweet things about me when I'm not around and then expects me to not know! It's adorable." Epel still doesn't budge, so you unwisely decide to press forward. "And those puffy cheeks he gets when embarrassed-" you've got a real good view of them right now "it's so sweet I could just eat him right up!" Speaking of up-

"Shut the fuck up." If there is one thing Epel is constantly reminding people of, it's that he's strong. But the force with which he guides, because a real man would never push, your back to the wall, caging you between two strong arms isn't surprising to you in the slightest. The glimmer in your eyes screams that he's been made a fool of, and that just won't do. "Well darling you think you're reaaaal funny don't cha? Well howabout youse sit your pretty little ass against that wall and let me show you something hilarious." He makes sure to kiss you slowly to make sure you are good and shut up before he continues. "Taste real nice, don't it?" And it must have worked because you nothing in favor of throwing your arms around his shoulders to pull him closer.

Sebek

Sebek is not a very self aware person. You have had several conversations with Lilia about this, his tone filled with fond amusement and yours with infatuated attraction. No one outside of maybe Rook or Cater would accept being called cute, but there was no real other word for it. Sebek was cute. Too cute, horrifically painfully adorable in a way that just made you want to eat your fist to keep from screaming and kiss all over his cheeks. And this little stunt he was trying to pull really wasn't helping.

"I am conducting a survey on Lord Malleus's retainers." Bless his heart, Sebek is trying to use his inside voice. "How exactly would you rate their performance?"

"Could you be a bit more specific?" You do not have to try very hard to sound interested, you are extremely interested in just how far this lie goes.

"Of course." Sebek sounds almost proud, he must have anticipated this line of questioning. "Have you had any problems with any of Lord Malleus's retainers?"

"Yes I have." You nod seriously and Sebek fumbles.

"O-oh. Um could I ask why?" He doesn't think to ask who, which does tug at your heart strings a bit. Poor boy might accuse Silver of being a slacker, but when someone implies there is a problem he almost always assumes it's with him. Well that just won't do.

"Certainly. Sebek Zigvolt was supposed to meet with me tonight but he seems to have forgotten that." You nod seriously enough to make Sebek choke.

"Yes." You sigh making sure to toy with your mask, flirting with giving Sebek the view of your face he wants so badly and breaking the rules of etiquette he feels honor bound to follow. "He promised me," he most certainly had not, that he would dance with me all night. I was really looking forward to it."

"WHAT? NO, I WAS- ahem." What Sebek had actually said was: "if Lord Malleus allows me I will show you how to dance so you don't embarrass the young master, human, but dont expect me to prioritize you over protecting him!" But that didn't matter to you. And clearly not to him if he was allowing Malleus to stay under Silver's inferior protection on the complete opposite side of the ballroom. He coughs into his glove as the other students around you barely budge; it's Sebek, of course he's yelling, but said boy still seems to think he's well disguised seeing as he returns to trying to lower his voice without a hint of irony. "Please continue, you said, Mr. Zigvolt was supposed to... meet with you?" You nod, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing any more from you just yet as you imagine the three act play currently showing underneath his mask. "Well. Since he is not here-" You barely stifle a laugh "would you care to allow me to escort you instead?"

"No."

"NO?!" That yell does get everyone's attention, some out of fear others out of pity assuming Sebek just got rejected hard. The boy himself certainly seems to think so.

"Well of course not," you make sure to lower your mask just so he knows, and cannot deny, the meaning of what you say next "I said I wanted to dance with Sebek, not someone he's pretending to be."

"Hmph." Sebek once told you fae don't blush, but that was either wishful thinking or a bold face lie with how red his entire body seems to have decided to turn. "It seems you don't quite understand the purpose of a masqurade, human. Very well, as my lord's retainer, I shall educate you." He gently, with a smile just as kind no matter how much he fights it to settle into professional indifference, pushes your mask into place and guides you towards the dance floor.

[suckishima]

hi guess what i'm still not done yelling about chp 298 and the serve and block, so let's talk about the actual volleyball of it and how it contributes to the impact of the moment and solidifying it as a thing that they earned together

yamaguchi goes up for his second serve in the match, after having just gotten an ace, and this time kai bumps it relatively easily

and yamaguchi is already thinking about the serve and block, bc for him that's his next goal if he can't get another service ace. he sees it as his job to disrupt the first pass so that the setter can't make as good of a set—and that's what those little flashbacks depict, botched digs from tough serves leading to the setter having trouble getting under the ball/to it in time so the hitter is limited and then gets stuffed

so yamaguchi is disappointed, he think because kai got the ball up and to kenma in a perfect arc, that he didn't do his job well enough

and while it's true that kenma does get to set off of a good pass, there's more to it than that, and tsukki knew it before the ball even left kai's hands

tsukki sees it as more than just disrupting the ball's path to the setter, it's also about taking away options of hitters to make tsukki's job easier as a blocker. and we can see in the first panel i posted what tsukki has already seen, that yes kai got the ball up, but also he took a knee, he had to get low so he likely won't be back up in time for an approach, and yamaguchi aimed it between kai and yamamoto so yamamoto also is hunched and kind of stuck behind kai and in a bad position to get going for a run up

something which, furudate takes a moment to show us again here—kai and yamamoto are nowhere near in position to spike the ball, the rotation has yaku on the court so he's not an offensive option, meaning that it's only kuroo and fukunaga that the blockers need to worry about tracking

and we get to see tsukki think about all of that on the next page too. i like how kind of quick and staccato these panels come across, you can almost read tsukki's inner dialogue even though we don't see it: "yamamoto and kai are down, not contenders. fukunaga coming for an approach on the right, kuroo coming for a quick right down the middle, kenma already in the air, which of them will he choose?"

furudate is really trying to emphasize to us that yamaguchi's worth as a server isn't just in getting aces, or making the ball wobble perfectly to botch the opposing team's receives—yamaguchi is also getting better at aiming and disrupting the court in other ways. and that in turn compliments the ways we've seen tsukki's skills improve over the series too, this type of reading the court and the players (one aspect of "total defense" as the series calls it) that he's gotten better and better at as the matches go on

and the ukai reiterates it for us too so we can read it in addition to having just seen it. "a level-headed, disciplined shield," is exactly what you'd call tsukki's style of blocking, it's why he's so consistently effective and scary as a blocker on his own, "and its bes possible partner, one that makes its decisions easy," perfectly sums up yamaguchi here too, his serves have come far enough that he can disrupt the court in multiple different ways and narrow the path for tsukki so his job can be easy.

but what i also think is important here is that neither of them started here, it took a lot of time and practice to reach this point and they both had to work hard in order to be someone that could be of use to the other and pull it off. if yamaguchi hadn't gotten better at serving he wouldn't be helpful to tsukki's blocking decisions, and if tsukki hadn't had both the aptitude for calmly reading the court and following kuroo's advice about having less wussy block form, then he wouldn't be any help to yamaguchi's serves when the other team does get a hand on them.

and because furudate makes sure to let us know that they both earned their way here with their hardwork and dedication, it makes the emotional impact of the moment hit even harder because we know and feel that it didn't just come from nothing

it takes a strong shield and a sharp spear

[dazzlingqwq]

sillly lil Pokémon trainer au

Edit: wtf you guys r going feral over this 😿🙀

Sorray if my writings a little messy LMAO, but honestly I think I'm loving this idea. Like they could just be trainers you see in the wild.. Noah could be a trainer you could see in the wild. Last I checked, no trainer has held items... Besides Cynthia in BdSp? I haven't finished the games though

for the outfits, I took from their regular ones (Cody's striped shirt & whatever Noah has), but made sure to mix it up a little so it didn't look like I was just giving TD characters pokemon. I wanted to kinda get that Pokémon trainer clothing vibe w/ these, not sure how successful I was though

I put a bit of brainwork into the teams, and made them kind of based off personality. Since Noah is.. Yk.. Smart, I made his team center around strategy. Gollisopod is a spikes setter (idk if it still has the move now but oh well), then u-turns out to get some chip damage off. Then togekiss switches in, and uses calm mind once or twice then baton passes into his ace, malamar & sweeps (writing this, I realise malamar is more physical... And I'm not sure if baton pass ignores malamar's ability that swaps all stat changes).

Cody's team is kinda just me putting pokemon I think he would like, although like all of them are bipeds.. Woops.. I did go a little insane on the items, though vgc players would look down upon my team building skills still.

Close ups :

[aceofbooks-creative-anthologies]

Here is the beginning of the end for Ace x Chigiri (can you have an end without a start?)

It's been three years since the tear.

Three years of developing an actual friendship. I might even call him my best friend at this point. Lord knows that the girls on my team have started to resent me, which bleeds into my friendships in the classroom. So even if I don't call him my best friend, he's the closest thing I have.

Three years of carefully measuring myself against the Japanese Olympians. Three years of mediocre training that I have to compensate for elsewhere. Three years of biting my tongue about my potential because I don't want to remind him of what he's lost.

Three years of hiding my growing feelings for him. Childhood cooties turned into a pre-teen crush over a boy I knew next to nothing about. Well, besides his shoe size, his height, his stride length, his speed range, his favorite color of shoelaces, his preferred electrolyte mix, the faces he makes when he's breathing hard, the way his heart beats in the jugular vein when I out pace him..... Those childish fancies blossomed into real romantic yearnings and aspirations. But I'd never act on them.

And now we tell each other everything. Well not everything. I don't tell him about the doodles of our names in a heart. Or that the girls at school make fun of me for my "girlfriend" whenever they happen to catch a glimpse of my camera roll. I don't tell him that I don't tell them the truth because I want to keep him all to myself. If he met any of the girls on my team or in my class, he'd want to—

The news comes over text message:

Red: i've been invited to trial for an exclusive soccer program Red: can i call you? Red: actually can we meet up? Red: i want Red: no i NEED Red: to talk with you about this in person

He's never asked to meet up outside of our time at the park before.

Blue: yeah sure Blue: when?

My phone pings, an alert to a high priority email. I clear it from the activity log.

Red: now? Red: i know it's before dinner Red: so i'll see you in a couple hours Red: but

The blinking ellipses taunt me as he types and erases his message over and over again. They settle as his message finally comes through.

Red: please? Red: *GIF of Puss in Boots pleading*

Blue: fine Blue: omw

Down the stairs and into the front hall. "Hey mum?" I call over my shoulder as I lace up my running shoes. They're looking pretty beat up, will probably only get a couple more meets out of them at this rate—if I'm okay with running without any soles. Maybe I should ask for an advance for my New Year's money from Gramma.

"Yes dear?" Comes my mother's call from inside the kitchen.

"I'm going out to meet up with Red for a bit. I should be back in time for dinner."

"That's odd. You'll just see him after dinner." I can almost hear the furrow in her brow.

"He got some important news earlier. Wants someone to talk to about it."

"He can't talk to his parents?"

I'm halfway out the door as I call back, "I don't know, mum. But this will probably be the first and last time, yeah? Love you." Her response is muffled by the door as it latches into place behind me, but there's a ninety-five percent chance it was about my homework, which is finished anyway.

After a few static stretches in the yard, I take off down the street at a (relatively) slower pace of eight min/km. I don't need to run at my training or race pace when I know he's going to take longer, even though he lives considerably closer.

Unless he's already there and was just hoping that I would agree to show up.

With each stride, I can feel the pavement pounding its way through my shoes. Thump, thump, thump. Doesn't quite match my heart rate yet, but it'll get there. There's a trill from my watch, noting the sudden spike in my heart rate and decrease in my oxygen levels. But no threshold alerts, so I'm all set to keep going.

The high priority email vibrates in my pocket four times before I reach the park.

Deep breaths. In through the nose. Count to five. Out through the mouth. Count to seven. In. Count to five. Out. Count to....

Hands over head. Keep the chest open.

It's like my trainer is in my head. I can almost see his mustache ruffle as he breathes, muttering about how I'm training too hard.

Dynamic stretches to keep the blood from pooling.

Five minutes into my cool down, and he still hasn't arrived. I check my phone, hoping that I don't see a text from him saying that he fell twenty minutes ago.

Nothing from Red, but there is that pesky high priority email. Might as well check it while I wait for him.

From: The Japanese Olympic Athletics Team

To: kyori.ace@joshi-kou.edu

Dear Miss Ace Kyori,

We are pleased to notify you of our interest in your performance at your recent meets and at our informal training camp last month.

Pending the status of your next few meets, we'd like to extend an invitation for you to compete at our —

"Hey Blue!" I almost drop my phone at the sound of his voice behind me. And then I do drop my phone as I turn around, because I've never seen him not wearing athletic gear. I mean, we've sent a couple of silly selfies at like school or whatever, but this is genuine casual clothing in person. It's just a navy sweater and jeans, but it's still so out of the normal that my heart and brain stutter for a second.

I can feel my face heating up as he reaches down and grabs my phone for me because I haven't moved. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long." The smile on his face seems somber, like something has made him upset in the almost hour since we last spoke.

"Only an eternity." I sigh dramatically, using an old joke to try and lift his mood. He had good news earlier, and I have some now too! We should be celebrating.

"Right, sorry that me and my handicap—" I wait quietly for him to finish his line in this exchange, a script that we've used hundreds, if not thousands, of times at this point. He lets out a breath after a moment and then, "Sorry. I'm not really in the headspace to joke about it right now."

"Oh. That's fine! Do you want to go for a walk or—"

"No, this shouldn't take long. We can just stay out here."

"Right."

Minutes start to tick by as he wrings his hands and stares at his feet.

"Look, Red. I told my mom that—"

"Right, sorry." He's running a hand through his hair now, trying to pin it back so it's out of his face. I silently offer him my spare hair elastic, but he waves me off with his other hand before letting the first hand, and by extension his hair, fall. It shrouds his face in a way that I know he despises, but I resist the urge to step in closer and brush it away. He takes one, two, three deep breaths......

[trainer-ace]

YO!

My name is ACE! I'm an Ace Trainer! That's why that's my name!!

I heard that there were some strong trainers on here, like Elite Four members, which means that I can get an advantage for when I challenge them! Sooo, I've made my own blog!!

I've got four Pokémon, and we've been training to become CHAMP! We'll do it some day. These are my buddies!

Spike: Sylveon, Male- My partner!! He's also my strongest.

Knight: Absol, Male- My OTHER partner!!! He's a big goober, even if he doesn't show it!

Fang: Mawile, Female- She's a sweetheart with a big appetite!!

Rocks: Sableye, Female- Silly. She's a sableye. They're just kinda weird. SLASH POSITIVE!!!!!!

And this is ME!!!

And this is SPIKE!!!

Currently I'm travelling in HOENN! Which is my home region!

You can send me asks, or chat, or we can battle!!

Hello Hello! This is the mod behind @the-drayster. (That's the main for my pokeirl blogs, so any follows/likes will be from there)

The art is by ME!

I've decided after much deliberation to make this blog.

Ace is a sixteen year-old Ace Trainer, currently travelling around the Hoenn Region. He's from Slateport city.

Said parents are in fact the Rocket Executives. They fled from Johto after the disbanding of Rocket and landed in Hoenn. While I haven't decided exactly how Ace was acquired (as of me writing this), Proton is his ACTUAL (as in the one responsible for him) parent. He considers the rest of the group his parents as well, but they're really just helping raise him.

Brief guide to Parental Names-

Dad is Proton. Father is Archer. Pa is Petrel. Mom/Mother is Ariana.

I also have a PROTON blog! It's set in the past (Between the events of the Kanto games and the Johto games), but it is the same character! @exec-proton

Pelliper mail is ON!

Pelliper malice (Unless it's joking) is OFF!

Magic Anons are OFF!

Sentient Pokémon are free to interact, though they may be considered from a separate part of the Rotomblr multiverse!

ALWAYS feel free to send an ask about whatever. They keep me motivated, and I don't mind whatever random question or babbling you throw at me!

[an-au-blog]

hello! a different anon interested in the unclenapped au here! (and other aus where buggy is with the strawhats i guess)

not to bring PLOT into a mostly character-focused au, but with extra strawhat crew aus i'm always curious where the author would have kuma send the new guy(s) post-sabaody. basically, where would you send your au buggy to learn & grow over the time skip? is he learning new skills somewhere, or landing on the red force (or wherever luffy & rayleigh ended up) and learning about his past?

thanks!

Hello other anon! Can I call you Difan (get it? because different anon (I'm so funny ik))

And no, no, no, don't worry, I LOVE plot! And I was actually recently thinking about the whole Kuma situation. Because he sent each one either to a friend/somewhere to make connections with the revolution, or to help them train/help with personal growth.

At first I thought maybe I should make up an island that would fit this version of him. Something that would maybe make him conquer his fear of being trapped and claustrophobia, or maybe something to better help him use his powers.

Maybe something like an island where everything is small and all the inhabitants live in dark holes in the walls (picture something like the kindergarten from Steven Universe). And Buggy is freaking out because he can't live in the whole in the wall, he just can't! Not again! Not to mention the food, there's so little food for the small people there, what would he eat - as someone probably two times their size?

He just wasn't ready to go back to not having anything. So he starts helping them grow their farms and defend themselves from wild beasts and in return they help him reach inner peace and face his trauma. Maybe he'd even have a Sanji moment where he finds out that the people can teach him fighting skills he didn't know they had?

idk...

But I also started looking into places or different arcs and two specific ones actually seem pretty fitting. (can you tell I've actually given this quite a bit of thought hahaha ':))

The first place I thought of was Impel down. It would also cross with the canon timeline and events. Think about it: he'll get over his fear of imprisonment, make connections with the revolutionaries living in the walls. It would be just like in canon for the exception that Buggy is willingly helping Luffy and he's been in there for a shorter time.

Not to mention that on the ship when they tell everyone that he used to sail with Roger, he would be finding out something new about himself. Maybe even remember something.

(And here I go pushing my shuggy agenda again) And that way Shanks's return would be have more weight as well. It would impact both of them so much because 1. Shanks not only lost Ace but now he finally found Buggy and 2. Buggy went through so much trauma and then some greasy redhead claims to know him??? And what's more, he doesn't have this spike of anxiety upon meeting him?? (but maybe I'll make a separate post about that specifically)

Although I don't know if after that I'd want him to go back to Amazon Lily with Luffy and meet Rayleigh (because again: revealing past and all that fun stuff), or if i want him to be taken in by Shanks and his crew instead of Law (and he'd still have the reveal of the past but differently that with Silver...)(idk just food for thought)

Anyway though,

The second place I thought of is a bit of a stretch. I thought of Arabasta. It's a bit of a stretch because, why would he be there?

Well they're alleys of the straw hats and had recently gotten out from under Crocodile. Also if I'm not mistaken the revolution army had it's foot in there as well right? Also I'd absolutely love seeing Vivi and Buggy interactions. I feel like she could teach him a lot in just general. Also he'd love the sun so much.

I'm also thinking maybe he could train and learn quite a bit history there. But I hadn't had that much time to think about this option to be honest...

[xx-lemon-drop-xx]

Warnings: Ooc Idia, Fem reader, Cringy confession.

Request: Yes.

Words: 590

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"I- I really like you."

The words came out of your mouth, all in one big rushed blurt to the blue haired male in front of you. Both of your cheeks burned a bright red, and you'd noticed his hair growing a bit red as well.

"I-I'm sorry- This was... supposed to be easier for me- I wasn't supposed to mess up-"

You panicked, swallowing hard. You were shy, that's how both you and Idia got along so well. Sure, it was awkward the first few times you'd try to hold a conversation which eachother, but when you'd both discovered you liked a certain Genre of Video Game, you linked like a puzzle piece.

You cleared your throat, patting your reddening cheeks to calm down- a habit you'd had for most of your life, before looking up at your first long term crush.

"Idia."

"[N-Name].."

He knew what was about to come, after all he said he'd give you another chance, since you messed up the confession the first time apparently.

You swallowed hard, and you blinked in surprise when his hand slipped into yours, meeting eyes with him, Idia looked away, more blush forming on his pale face.

"Don't think anything of it... it's.. It's just to help you um- with you're thing. Yeah.."

The smile that bloomed on your face had his heart spiking, heat rushing to his cheeks. You looked so happy, simply at the fact he was holding your hand. Watching you turn, Idia felt your other hand slip into his.

"Idia."

"[Name.]"

"I've loved you since I met you. I've seen flowers and thought he'd like this, I've listened to music and thought he'd love this. And I've played games I knew you'd love. Every thought that runs through my body leads back to you, Idia. And everytime I'm alone I think about how warm every night we spent together having fun and doing dumb stuff made me feel. And I want that everyday. I want you everyday."

Idia's mouth fell open, agape from shock. He pointed at himself, like an idiot. A cute idiot.

"Me?"

"You. I want all of you."

"A-Ah.. I see. Heh- You can have me."

He said with a smile, that slowly spread into a grin, showing off his sharp teeth. You knew that grin from anywhere, he was getting snarky.

"Now I can tell those dumb twerps to back off."

"Uh... dumb twerps?"

"Those Heartslabyul boys that think they're all that and more."

"Ace and Deuce? Idia- we... We're just friends."

You stifled a cute little laugh, and shook your head almost in disbelief.

"Uh-uh. You don't understand the way most of the school looks at you. You're the only girl at our prestigious little school. The amount of attention you get is insane."

"Huh, I never noticed that.."

You muttered, blinking in surprise.

"Hey, do you want to go to your dorm and maybe.. Watch Pumpkin Hollow?"

"Pumpkin Hollow?"

".. Th-That is the Halloween movie you're a big fan of, right?"

You inwardly panicked you'd gotten it wrong, swallowing thickly. How embarrassing of you-

"No, that's the one. Hehe.. A peaceful village enveloped in mist.. Disturbed by a series of mysterious incidents."

He went on and on about the movie, arm hooking around your waist and walking back to the dorm he barely left with you. Though, you wouldn't want to have it any other way. Life was perfect with Idia.

[karahalloway]

Sleepless in New York: Chapter 8 - Minutes to Midnight

Series: TRR

Pairing: Drake Walker x F!OC (Harper Gale)

Synopsis: What if Drake met Harper on the first night of Prince Christian’s New York bachelor party? A stand-alone AU written from Drake's POV.

Masterlist: Sleepless in New York

Chapter Summary: Drake makes several phone calls... and goes for a ride as he tries to track down Christian.

Word Count: 5,100

Rating/Warnings: M (tons of swearing, massive amounts of angst)

Chapter theme song:

Chapter 8 - Minutes to Midnight

Gale startles at the intensity of my outburst, nearly falling off the kitchen counter.

I flash her what I hope is an apologetic look as I resume my focus on the call that’s rapidly deteriorating into my worst nightmare.

"What do you mean you 'lost his signal'?" I demand — still in French, so Gale didn't accidentally overhear something that she had no clearance for. "We have a tracker in—"

"His phone, jacket and shoes," confirms Schweitzer. "But the signal for all three has been compromised."

"Compromised?" I ask in disbelief. "How?"

"We cannot locate any of them."

"What the f—?" I shake my head in disbelief, trying to make sense of what I’m hearing. "Are you sure it's not a glitch on our side?"

"We've already ruled that out," comes the dispassionate response. "Our systems are working as expected."

"What about his carrier signal? Have you tried triangulating that?"

"Yes. But his phone appears to be turned off."

Double fuck.

"Okay..." I rake a hand through my hair as I continue pacing, trying to stay calm, even though my blood pressure has already spiked through the roof. "Have you checked the obvious places? The bathroom. The terrace. The service corridors. Maybe you just missed him somewhere...?"

I know I’m grasping at straws, but I don’t have much choice. I need to make sure we've exhausted every possibly, no matter how inane.

Because the alternative — that Chris has been grabbed by a highly-trained and exceptionally well-equipped strike team while I'd been busy chasing tail — is too nauseating to even think about.

Christ, what the hell had I been thinking...?

"Moretti and Sanchez already did a triple sweep," grits Schweitzer, interrupting my self-flagellating thoughts. "And we've received independent confirmation from two separate staff members that they saw someone matching his description leaving the premises."

"Was he alone?" I ask, forcing myself to swallow down the bile that’s threatening to spew out of me.

"We were not able to confirm."

"Fuck...!" I roar, slamming the heel of my hand into the wall in front of me in frustration, making the suspended photo frames wobble.

But the momentary act of violence does eff all to temper the raging inferno of panic, guilt and helplessness that’s roiling inside of me, threatening to overwhelm me completely.

If anything, it makes me more desperate to beat something until my hands are raw and blood because maybe that way I can—

I nearly crash into Gale, who's suddenly appeared in front of me wearing her 'I ❤️ NY' t-shirt again.

"Jesus fuck, girl!" I snap, switching back to English as I pull the phone away from my ear. "You blind or something! Can't you see that I'm—?"

She reaches silently up, the warmth of her palm brushing over my cheek...

...and the fight is yanked instantly out of me.

My shoulders slump, the tension in my jaw unravels, and my head bows to rest against hers with a deep exhale, as I feel myself slide into the solace of the unexpectedly soporific gesture.

"Fuck..." I groan, eyes shuddering closed like I've fallen under a spell.

Her honey-wildflower scent washes over me, coating me like a cocoon, soothing my frayed nerves like a balm...

...and everything stills.

My heart. My breath. Even my mind.

It all comes to a stop, as if someone’s pressed pause on the world.

And it's beatific.

Like watching a silent sunrise.

I have no clue how long I stand there, suspended in time and space, just breathing her in. Maybe just seconds, but it feels like hours.

Either way, it's nowhere long enough.

But eventually I become aware of the fact that Schweitzer’s still on the line, shouting just-discernible obscenities at me.

And as peaceful as this unexpected reverie is, I know it can never be more than momentary.

Because I still have a massive pile of shit sitting on my plate.

I heave a resigned breath. "I really need t—"

"I know," she replies softly, feathering her lips over my brow.

I lean into her, wanting to savour the moment, to make it last...

...but when I open my eyes, she's already turned away.

"Harper."

She stops to look back at me, the wayward locks of her golden-caramel hair framing her face like a caress.

"I—" I pause to clear the suddenly hoarseness from my throat. "Thanks."

Her face sparks into a smile. "I know."

A wry snort escapes me as I lift the phone back up to my ear.

This girl...

But I don't have time to try and untangle what kind of magic she just pulled on me because Schweitzer's still cussing up a storm.

"—écoute, tête du con, tu dois te reassasir, et—"

"J'suis ici," I assure him.

"Are you?" comes the deadpan response. "Because it sounded like you were otherwise occupied..."

"I was thinking."

It’s more or less true. Gale's unexpected intervention had thrown the breaks on my runaway thoughts, allowing my brain to drop back into a more productive a gear.

"Thinking?" scoffs Schweitzer incredulously. "The only thing you should be thinking about is calling—"

"And I will," I assure him. "But first I need to know who the last person was to be seen with him."

"His brother. But—"

"Thanks," I cut in, already pulling the phone away from my ear. "I'll keep you posted."

"Walker, you're wast—"

His voice cuts out as I end the call.

"Everything... okay?"

Glancing up from my phone, I note with more than a lick of regret that in addition to her t-shirt, Gale has now also donned a pair of PJ shorts.

"Furthest thing from," I reply sourly as I turn towards the door, pulling up my contacts as I go.

I’m fuckin' cursed...

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Not real—" I pause in the narrow entranceway. "Actually, could you call a cab?"

She nods quickly. "Yeah. Sure."

"I'm sorry," I sigh, thumbing forcefully through the names and numbers. "This wasn't what I had in mind."

"I know," she says with a dejected shrug, as I locate the entry I need. "But it sounds like you have a crisis on your hands."

I scoff ruefully as I reach for the door handle. "That's putting it mildly..."

"Will... you be back?"

"I wouldn't hold my breath," I admit tightly, opening the door.

"Maybe I want to."

Her words pull me up short in the doorway.

But as much as I want to turn around, to look back at her, I know I can’t.

Because if I do, I know I'll never leave...

...and I'll never be able to forgive myself for staying.

I squeeze my eyes shut. "Bye, Harper."

"Bye, Drake."

The tautness of her voice echoes the stricture of my chest.

But I'm already over the threshold...

"Wait! Don't forget your—!"

...and have closed the door behind me.

Heaving a tight breath, I press dial as I double time it towards the stairwell.

Christ, this call'd better be worth it...

The line connects as I hit the first step.

"D-Dawg!" Leo's voice rings jubilantly out through the speakers. "'Sup, my man! Have you finally—?"

"Cut the crap, Rys," I snap. "We have a serious situation."

"Is that right?" he says, dropping the stupid accent as he jolts to attention. "How serious?"

"Pretty fuckin' serious," I grit. "So, I'm gonna need you t—"

"Did you rip your last rubber...?"

I nearly trip on the stairs. …the fuck?

"...'cause you know you can always just roger her up the rear, right?"

I lift the phone away from my ear to stare at the screen incredulously. Is the son of a bitch for real right now?

"Didn't cross your mind, did it?" he continues gleefully. "Though if she's not game for that, then I guess you can French her trench while she—"

"Jesus fuck, Leo!" I exclaim. "I don't need your Sex Ed 101!"

"You sure...?" comes the deliberately elongated response. "Because it sounds like you got yourself into a bit of a pinch. And I've got a trademarked technique that's guaranteed to—"

"Chris is AWOL, you jizz stain!" I yell down the phone. "That's the situation!"

Leo snorts down the line at me. "That's hardly a 'situation', mate! If anything, it's kind of the expectation! It is the bloke's stag 'do, so—"

"It's a fuckin' situation when we have no clue where he is!"

"Probably back at the fair lady's digs, getting ready to sheathe his sexcalibur in—"

"Mention sex one more time and I'll sheathe your head up your ass, Rys," I growl.

"Wow. Things went tits up that badly with Swifty, huh?" he muses prosaically. "No wonder you're in such a strop. But, you never did take rejection very well, so—"

I force myself to draw breath. "What happened with Gale isn't important, you dipshit. Finding Chris is. So, quit sidetracking the topic."

"And what makes you think I know where he is?"

"Because you were the last person to be seen with him," I grit. "And this entire disappearing act has your signature written all over it. So, if you ever want to fuck anything with that blackguard, royal prick of yours, you better—"

"Ex."

I frown. "Huh?"

"Ex-royal prick," he spells out. "If you're going to threaten a bloke's Crown Jewels, you should at least have the decency to—"

"Rys," I growl with barely suppressed irritation. "I swear to motherfuckin' God, I'll—"

"Oh, ease up, Walker!" he laughs. "I'm just taking the piss!"

I resist the urge to reach down the phone and choke out the puerile piece of shit. "Start. Talking."

"I gave him a signal jammer."

I nearly drop the phone. "You fuckin' what?!"

"A signal... jammer," he repeats, like I’m stupid or something. "It's a small, pocket-sized device that—"

"I know what it is, you dick-weed!" I snap. "What I don't get is what the fuck possessed you to give one to Chris!"

"Brotherly love?"

I pray for deliverance. "How in the hell—?"

"Are you questioning my choice of coronation-cum-engagement gift?"

"Yes!" I cry. "First off, those things are fuckin' illegal, especially here in the States. So, you better pray to God that he doesn't get caught with that thing on him, or we're looking at a diplomatic shit-storm! Second, Chris is — thanks to your fuckin’ abdication — the Crown Prince of Cordonia! Flying under the radar in a foreign country! Did it not — even for a goddamn micro-second! — cross your ever-lovin' mind that, in the course of using a jammer, he could get mugged, kidnapped, or — Christ-fuckin'-forbid!— assassinated, and we'd never fuckin' know?"

"Your years as a King's Guard have really upped your latent paranoia, huh, Walker?" muses Leo.

"That's not the fuckin' point!" I snap. "The point is that you've put Chris' life on the line with your reckless, hare-brained—!"

"Or," comes the balky counter, "I've finally handed him a long-overdue chance to live life. And what better place to do that than in the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps?"

"He's lived life!" I protest. "He's gone to uni. Travelled. Fucked. Got his heat-broken. He—"

"—doesn't even know what he's missing!" Leo heaves a frustrated breath. "Everything he's ever done has been within the suffocating constraints of the gilded cage he's been trapped in since birth!"

"He's not you, Leo," I sigh. "He doesn't have this obsessive-compulsive need to kick over the traces."

"Which is why he's always been the better choice to succeed Father," he affirms. "But before he becomes King and his life turns into an endless slog of speeches and Council meetings, don't you think he should have the chance to have one night where he is free of supervision, judgement, consequence and all that other shite that's constantly holding him back? One night where he can just be Chris? Instead of a Prince? Wasn't that the entire reason for this trip?"

"So, what?" I demand sarcastically. "This is your twisted way of making up for the fact that you fucked him over when you gave up the royal ship?"

"I prefer to think of it as a long-overdue fulfilment of my previously neglected big brotherly duties."

"You could've done literally anything else," I grumble with a roll of my eyes as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

"Probably," he concedes. "But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun, would it, Walker?"

I heave a breath.

But as pissed off as I am at Leo for pulling this crackpot stunt, I understand where he’s coming from.

Because he’s right.

Thanks to the (un)lucky accident of his birth, Chris' life has been scheduled, structured, and arranged from the moment he opened his eyes. What he ate, what he wore, how he looked, how he spoke... even who he spoke to — it’s all regulated with a precision that would make even the most OCD micro-manager jealous.

Because even though he’s the spare, he’s still a Rys. And that came with expectations. Expectations that carried the weight of 800-plus years of heritage, legacy and tradition. Expectations that he couldn't escape. Especially now that he’s the Heir Apparent....

...except maybe for one night in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave where nobody knew — or cared — who he was or what he got up to.

"Whatever," I grunt abrasively. Just because Leo’s right does not mean that I’m gonna give him the satisfaction of admitting that to him. Nor is it gonna deter me from doing my job. "So, where is he?"

"No idea."

I stumble to a stop in front of the doors. "What?"

"Mate," he chuckles. "I'm just the fixer. I supply the tools and the opportunity. What Chris ends up doing with them... That's not my business."

"So, you're telling me," I grind out slowly, so there’s no room of misunderstanding, "that you let the Crown Prince of Cordonia — your future King — loose in the largest city in the United States... without a plan... without any way to get hold of him... mere hours before we're due to fly home for the start of the season?"

"'Bout right," confirms Leo cheerfully.

"Sweet fuckin' Jesus..." I rasp, running a trembling hand down my face as the sum total of my miserable life flashes before my eyes. Because unless I’m able to somehow pull a goddamn miracle out of my ass, I’m as good as dead. Bast is going to disembowel me with a blunt spoon if — when — he finds out that that Chris has pulled a fast one on my watch.

And I'll deserve it.

Because I've broken my word.

And there’s no atonement for that.

"Oh, ease up, Walker!" chimes the miscreant Rys from the other end of the line. "It's not the end of the world! Chris is a smart bloke. He'll—"

"I gotta go," I cut in. "And you better pray to God, Jesus and all the saints that Chris is on that plane before scheduled departure, otherwise you'll be explaining to Katie why she's suddenly married to a eunuch."

"Oh, com—!”

But I've already hung up.

Lifting the phone away from my ear, I drop my head with a low exhale.

Christ, this is a clusterfuck...

Of all the contingencies I planned into this trip, 'manhunt' had not been one of them. Because while I'd expected Chris to cut out halfway through the night with a girl — or two — the possibility of us being left completely in the dark as to his whereabouts had never even crossed my mind. Probably because I hadn't factored the massive wildcard that was Leo into the equation.

Sure, I expected that the elder Rys would try to pull some kind of prank, as per his usual MO. Hiring a surprise stripper. Spiking drinks. Staging a fake kidnapping attempt.

But actually making Chris disappear?

That, I had not seen coming.

...though I guess now I know how Leo always managed to skip out on his Guard detail without breaking a sweat.

Not that that helps me with my current predicament in any way... which is figuring out a way to locate Chris in one of the most densely populated US cities while flying blind in terms of tech, leads and planned destination.

Finding a needle in a fuckin' haystack would be easier...

But I know that I can’t let the seeming impossibility of the task daunt me. I have to find a way, come hell or high-water. The fate of the Rys dynasty — shit, the fate of the entire kingdom! —depends on it.

Yes. There've always been people who disapproved of the monarchy — it’s undemocratic, a relic of the past, and a massive sinkhole of public funds. But there’s a reason why the institution has survived, despite all the odds.

And that’s constancy.

The Rys are part of the very essence of Cordonia. Its history, its culture, its very identity as a people are all intimately wound up with the family that has held the reins of power since the time of the Five Kingdoms. A family that has steadfastly steered the country through innumerable wars, political strife, and social unrest, beating the odds that toppled the neighbouring monarchies of Europe.

But that doesn’t mean that the institution’s invulnerable.

The country’s still reeling from the aftershocks of Leo's abdication and Chris not showing up for the Masquerade Ball would only dump fuel on the anti-monarchist flame that has always simmered with varying intensity beneath the surface.

Because if the Rys can’t keep their own house in order, how can they be trusted to run an entire kingdom?

And the last thing we need right now is for that discontent to spark into an all-out call for abolition... or an another assassination attempt.

An involuntary chill runs down my spine at the thought...

...and that makes me even more determined to rise to the challenge.

Not because I’m some diehard royalist. But because the Rys are — for all intents and purposes — my family, and I’m not gonna let one ill-advised cockup put their lives in danger.

Setting my jaw, I lift my head back up.

It’s all down to me...

Pushing my way out of the building's doors, I see that the cab that Gale must've called is already idling by the curb.

...but where to start?

Making my way over to the car, I rack my brains for the optimum strategy.

Should I head back to the club to try and get hold of any CCTV footage that can shed light of when, how — and in whose company — Chris had left?

I shake my head. Assuming that the bouncers even let me back in (unlikely), there’s no assurance that the security staff would grant access to their recordings, given that I have no jurisdiction and no legal way to compel compliance. And even if — by some miracle — I get hold of the tapes, there’s zero guarantee that they’ll contain useful data that can help narrow the search. So, that option — while initially attractive — would just be a massive exercise in futility and a waste of my time. Especially since Schweitzer probably has that angle covered already anyway.

I lay a hand on the door handle.

I could call 911 and get a city-wide BOLO issued...

Or do I need to go higher — to the FBI — because we’re dealing with the disappearance of a high-value foreign national? In which case—

"Where to, pal?"

The driver's voice cuts through my thoughts.

"Err..."

But before I can formulate a response, my phone buzzes in my hand.

Looking down at the screen, I see that it's Schweitzer again.

"Oui?" I ask, answering the call.

"On a une touche."

I nearly drop the phone. "Where?"

"On his credit card..."

I heave a relived breath. There’s a fuckin' God, after all!

"...someplace called Len's Papaya?"

I raise a brow. "The hell is that?"

There's some muffled chatter on the other end of the line. "Seems to be a hot dog stand located in the Whitehall Ter—"

"How long to the Staton Island ferry terminal?" I bark at the cabbie, yanking the door open.

The guy shrugs. "20...30 minutes?"

I freeze on the way onto the backseat. "That's too long..."

"Look, pal," huffs the driver. "I get you wanna hurry. But geography's geography. So, I can't do nothing 'bout—"

"Je vous rappellerai," I tell Schweitzer, hanging up. Reaching for my wallet, I extract a fifty and hand it to the driver. "For the trouble."

"Thanks, but—"

"I got a back-up," I assure him, slamming the door back closed as I hit speed-dial on the one number I'd hoped never to have to use on this trip.

The guy shrugs at me unconvincedly as he throws the car back into gear. "If ya say so, pal."

The call connects as the cab pulls away.

"O'Sullivan," I greet without preamble. "It's Drake Walker. Yeah. Listen... I'm gonna need that bird."

"You’re lucky I was on the graveyard shift tonight, Walker," Derek O'Sullivan shouts at me ten minutes later as I clamper into the back of the unmarked Bell 412 helicopter that had just touched down in front of me. "Otherwise you'd've had a hell of time getting sign-off for this."

"Appreciate the short turn-round, man," I reply, slotting on the heavy aviation headset as I settle into the hard seat. "I wouldn't have called if it wasn't an emergency."

Back on the street, I'd realised what Chris' game plan was... and that I'll never get to him in time via any conventional mode of transport. So, rather than risk losing him in again (the credit card charge having been a massive, luck-o-the-Irish fluke) I'd decided to go straight for the ace up my sleeve — Deputy Inspector Derek O'Sullivan of NYPD's Special Operations Bureau.

Because even though we may be here unofficially, I'd made sure to give our long-time liaison on the local force a heads-up. Partly for the sake of courtesy (nobody needed any nasty surprises, especially when foreign security is involved), and partly because you never know when you're gonna need an assist if things went south.

Like they have tonight.

And every time a Cordonian delegation has shown up in the Big Apple — be it for a UN summit, a charity gala, or New York Fashion Week — O'Sullivan has always pulled through with squaring away any last minute paperwork or security arrangements.

And this time is no different.

...the yearly donations by the Crown to the New York City Police Foundation certainly help.

"No sweat," he grins back at me as he signals the pilot to take off again. "It was my turn to do the donut run anyway. Though I gotta ask... What's with the Elvis look, huh?"

I raise a brow as I pull the cabin door closed. "What Elvis look?"

He holds up his hands. "Hey. It's fine if you don't wanna put a label on it, but—"

I turn to look at him. "The hell you on about, O'Sullivan?"

By way of response, he tugs on the front panels of his shirt with a suggestive whistle.

My eyes narrow suspiciously...

...before widening in sudden realisation as I glance down to catch sight of my bare chest.

Oh, shit.

I'd been so caught up in the fallout from Chris' disappearance that I'd forgotten that Gale had ripped the buttons off my shirt... and that in the course of my high-speed exit, I'd ended up leaving both my jackets back at her place.

My head drops back against the headrest with a groan. Fuck my fuckin' life...

O'Sullivan's laugh crackles over the headset. "Threw on the wrong shirt, did we?"

I shake my head. "Just... just don't ask."

"Hey, Hendricks!" he calls to the pilot. "You got any spare shirts stashed in this bird? Walker packed for Miami instead of Manhattan!"

"Fuck you, O'Sullivan," I grunt, folding my arms over my chest in a vain attempt to pull the front panels of my shirt together as we flit over the city.

"Hey, nothing to get embarrassed about, pal," he grins, turning back to look at me. "Shit happens!"

I roll my eyes. "No shit..."

Nothing's happened on this trip, but shit...

Straightening back up, he asks. "So, what's our heading?"

I heave a breath. "Last known location was Whitehall Terminal. But he's probably on a boat by now."

"Boat?" queries O'Sullivan in surprise. "Where's this guy going in the middle of the night?"

"To see the Statue of Liberty," I sigh, watching the kaleidoscopic glow of the Manhattan skyscrape whizz past below us.

To be fair, I should've guessed Chris' destination from the get-go. Where else would he go, but the one place he's been hankering to see since we watched the original X-Men movie late one night when we were kids? The place that was No. 1 on his list to hit up on this trip? The place he'd been cheated out of seeing by Tariq's motherfuckin' incompetence (and the weather)?

And the fact that he's also taken the opportunity to grab a greasy hot dog on the way? Well, hats off to the guy for managing to cross two items off his bucket list in one fell swoop.

...though he could've seriously done all this without a fuckin' signal jammer in his pocket.

"You're joking..." scoffs O'Sullivan. "We're chasing down a guy on a sightseeing tour?"

"Long, fucked-up story," I grumble. "The punchline of which is His Royal Highness ditching his detail and going dark in a foreign city."

"Must've picked up a few tricks from his brother," observes O'Sullivan. "Heard he was quite the Houdini."

"Tell me about it..." I mutter dryly, spotting the iconic silhouette of the Chrysler Building flash past on our left as we thrum towards the tip of Manhattan island. "This entire disappearing act was orchestrated by his brother."

"Then I guess we have our work cut out for us," surmises O'Sullivan. "Any idea which boat he's on?"

"Best guess is the Staten Island Ferry," I reply. "It's free, runs 24-hours, and the latest one left the dock five minutes ago." At least, that's what the official schedule had said when I'd pulled it up on my phone while waiting for my pick-up.

"Wouldn't he have booked a water taxi? Being a royal and all? It's more VIP..."

I shake my head. "Not Chris. He wants the run-of-the-mill experience. Plus, there was no additional charge in his credit card."

"Could've paid cash..."

"Trust me," I reply, flicking O'Sullivan a sidelong glance. "He didn't."

He shrugs in response. "Okay, Walker. You're the one running this show... But we have limited flight time, so you better be right."

"I am," I assure him, watching the edge of the city curve away as we head out onto the black expanse of the Upper New York Bay.

And this time of night, it doesn't take long for us to spot the lone craft steaming past Liberty Island.

"Got any binoculars?" I ask.

"Got one better," he grins, pressing a few buttons on the control panel. “State of the art HD camera. You can zoom in so close you don’t even need facial rec.”

"Glad to see those anonymous donations are being put to good use," I deadpan, leaning forward so I could see the monitor.

“You know it!” affirms O’Sullivan. “Now let’s see if your hunch is right.”

Adjusting the focus, he zeros in on the large orange watercraft I laid eyes on a moment ago... and begins methodically scanning the decks.

"Any luck?" asks the pilot after a few moments.

"Nope," I reply tightly. "Can we circle back 'round to the starboard side?"

"He could be inside..." O'Sullivan points out. "Might have more luck radioing the harbour and—"

"No," I reply emphatically. "If he's gonna be anywhere, he's gonna be out on one of the decks. He's not gonna miss this chance to see the Statue of Liberty."

O'Sullivan eyes me for a long moment before turning back to the pilot. "Hendricks, you heard the man. Make a pass over the starboard side."

"Roger that."

The chopper banks to the side and soon we're drawing abreast of the ferry again.

"Anything?" asks O'Sullivan.

"Not yet..." I reply, roving anxiously over the decks of the large, orange craft as I feel my chest start to tighten up again.

Shit, maybe this was a bad idea... Maybe I jumped the gun... Maybe he isn’t on the boat... Maybe he just got a glimpse of the monument from the harbour and was now in the wind again, with no way for us t—

“Wait! Go back!”

O’Sullivan spins the camera back around.

And sure enough, I catch sight of that tell-tale lick of blond hair again that’s whipping wildly in the breeze...

...as well as something that makes me do a double take.

I narrow my eyes, just to make sure I’m not imaging things.

Harper's friend — Hayley — is stood next to Chris, wearing his jacket, an arm wrapped around his neck as she leans into him, kissing him while snapping a selfie as Lady Liberty looks impassively on.

"Fuck..." I mutter under my breath, running a hand down my face.

"Did we strike out...?"

"No," I sigh. "We got him. But we've got another problem..."

"What?"

"His cover's about to be blown."

"By who?"

"By that girl he's with. She just snapped a photo of the two of them."

"And that's a problem because...?"

"Because if she uploads that photo to Twitter, Instagram and Christ-knows what else, then it's only a matter of time before someone realises that the person she's with is the Crown Prince of Cordonia, who's not at the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France. And the last thing we need is the paps getting hold of those photos to run a sleazy, front-page story about Chris' NYC fling, days before the start of the social season where he's supposed to choose a bride."

O'Sullivan sucks in his teeth. "You're right... That could be a problem."

"Need to get that phone..."

"Well, lucky for you, Walker," he grins, "we're the NYPD. We can make that happen."

I cock a brow at him. "Pretty sure that's illegal... Especially since you don't have a warrant for search and seizure... or grounds for a stop and search."

"I never said we'd get the phone," winks O'Sullivan. "Just said we can make it happen."

I run a hand down my face. Christ, this night just won't end...

“What's your plan?"

The story continues in Chapter 9 - Edge of the Night

A/N1 — So, you may have noticed that unlike in previous chapters (where I had entire conversations in French), for this chapter, because there was (a) quite a lot of dialogue between Drake and Schweitzer, and (b) the content of these convos was rather critical to the events of the chapter, I've decided to just do the start of the relevant convos in French, and the rest in English to assist the reader experience 🤗 Translations for these snippets of French (in chronological order) below:

Schweitzer: —listen, you shit for brains, you need to pull yourself together and—

Drake: I'm here.

[...]

Drake: Yeah?

Schweitzer: We have a hit.

[...]

Drake: I'll call you back.

A/N2 — In relation to Derek O'Sullivan's presence in this chapter specifically (and the NYPD's in general) I have been advised that it is common for VIPs (especially those who bring their own security team to the host country — who would have weapons and surveillance tech that may or may not be legal / require special dispensation to operate) to have a local police liaison to assist with paperwork, security, authorisations, etc.

To what extent these local liaisons have the power/ability to commandeer a helicopter (or other 'expensive' resources), however, is open to question (I couldn't find any direct reports of this happening), but for the purposes of the story, Drake needed a helicopter, so that's what happened. I guess I could've just as easily had him call on a resource from the local Cordonian consulate, but I decided to go with the NYPD route partially because (a) that's how Derek O'Sullivan popped into my head, (b) the NYPD definitely have helicopters, while the consulate probably wouldn't, (c) Drake probably wouldn't want news of this SNAFU filtering back to the Palace via the diplomatic back channels, and (d) there really have been situations where police officers have taken the chopper out on a donut run, as O'Sullivan jokes in the chapter 😅

All that said, this is ultimately a work of fiction, so I am allowed to some artistic / creative liberties 😇 But the reference to the super powerful camera is correct.

Also, in case anyone is wondering, FC for O'Sullivan is Richard Madden 🤗

Permatags

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Sleepless in New York only

@bebepac

Picture credits

Ferry - Drake - Kiss - Nightscape - Statue of Liberty - O'Sullivan - Helicopter - Buildings

[stepswowdsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne AU: Maid Kuroha plays the roleplay game with Ene (NSFW)

KuroEne AU: Kuroha uses Awakening Eyes to tease Ene

(CW: NSFW TEXT)

Kuroha uses Awakening Eyes to tease Ene.

(He uses it to change his body into whatever he wants and uses his long forked snake tongue to tease her.)

Mr. XXX certainly wants to tease her

The Ene is based on this bunny meme 😂 Drew it in like 5 minutes and I started laughing to myself

Looks like the pleading face emoji 🥺

Ene's twintails look like bunny ears 🐇🐰💙

Evil parasitic snake bf x computer virus bunny gf... 🐍🐇

Anyways. Kuroha/Saeru with a long forked snake tongue cuz this man is a freak /pos /endearing

If you wanna see more of this scenario, I'll put it under the cut!

KuroEne AU: Maid Kuroha plays the roleplay game with Ene

KuroEne AU: Maid Kuroha plays the roleplay game with Ene where he acts as her Maid/Servant. The reverse scenario of the one with Kuroha and Maid Ene that I wrote before.

I love writing their dialogue and banters with each other sm!!!

So, I wrote a NSFW scenario before where Kuroha and Ene play a roleplay game while Ene wears a maid outfit <3 Ene wants to be spoiled and pampered and Kuroha teases her <3

Competitiveness in sex is hot. And I love seeing how Ene's feisty and competitive side comes out when she's paired with someone like Kuroha/Saeru :)

So this time I did another version where Kuroha serves Ene in a maid outfit <3 Both scenarios are soooo fun to write about.

Basically, these scenarios are just me writing out my gay fantasies of my wife <3 These are so sexy.

I didn't get to draw maid Kuroha and maid Ene yet but hopefully soon...

I'll put my Dialogue scripts for my scenario ideas under the cut.

Along with my previous ramble posts!

Kuroha uses Awakening Eyes to tease Ene

Maid Ene and Kuroha play a roleplay game

Dialogue Scripts (8/12/2024)

Dialogue Scripts (8/13/2024)

Rambles

Basically Ene wants to get "revenge" or "payback" on him for getting teased by him last time they played the roleplay game together (since she gets easily flustered/embarrassed and competitive with him)

Well, I also wanted to draw Ene face sitting Kuroha/Saeru while he holds her thighs and eats her out, but that might be a little too ambitious for me right now.

I'm trying to think of the easiest way I can draw it

Better put the long ass forked snake tongue to good use, my guy!

Remind me I need to write and draw more of sub bottom Kuroha/Saeru too

I thought of them taking turns in this one, but I didn’t get to write all of it yet

Both submissive and more assertive top Ene fuels my gay side <3

Ene face sits Kuroha and he eats her out with his long forked snake tongue → Ene pegs him → He fucks her

Wait I'll write down what I had in mind

Ene face sits Kuroha while he eats her out

Ene uses one of those vibrating massager sex toys on him while she fingers him. Once she's done preparing him, she pegs him

Kuroha tells Ene that as her maid, he should please his Master and claim his “reward”

Also I'm gonna be honest. KuroEne sex is hotter than ShinEne sex (though I'd be open to writing that too). I still wanna write KonoEne sex before I do, though. KonoEne's a very gentle and tender ship

When it comes to the charas that can be paired with Ene, Kuroha/Saeru is literally the only character that can pull these kinds of scenarios off. I think he makes a good match with Ene ^^

I prefer meow meow mf charas who are deranged (insane) freaks, it makes everything more interesting! Including the sex. Generally leads to kinkier and fun sex ^^

I imagined Kuroha wearing black thigh highs and spiked high heels. That'd be fun

I imagined shoes like these but not as tall otherwise I swear he'd have an added 5 ~ 10 cm next to Ene 😭

182 cm and 157 cm. He's already tall af next to her

Or they can just be normal spiked high heels.

KuroEne AU: Other Rambles

I used a line break to separate different scenes (as a reminder for myself so I know what to add to)

I wrote some initial dialogue scripts 2 days ago, and then I wrote more refined dialogue scripts yesterday. I like both these ones and the ones I initially wrote. I'll combine them eventually.

So basically, Kuroha/Saeru messes around with technology enough to make an android body for Ene to be able to transfer into and move around in the real world in (for limited amounts of time). Each Route, he gets better at making it (improving the battery life and such)

With the start of a KuroEne AU, I imagine that at some point, Ene eventually realizes that Shintaro and Momo are going to worry about her with her absence (since she had been living in Shintaro's computer)

Ene goes like, "AH! I got so caught up dealing with this guy (Kuroha) for the past couple days, I forgot to send an e-mail to Master (Shintaro) telling him that I'm fine!!! What should I tell him? I can't tell him what I've actually been doing! I'll just say… I've just been… exploring the cyber world for a bit… Yeah, that should do as an excuse."

Oh and I also imagined that KuroEne in this AU live in an abandoned building or something (cuz it's more convenient for him if it's in a place secluded from people so they won't get interrupted). Either that, or a nice home/real estate he gained by using Kenjirou's resources (who he previously possessed before Konoha)

When I originally wrote the scenario of Kuroha teasing maid Ene back in June, when it comes from Kuroha, the teasing is just merciless...

It's not surprising that Ene is much gentler about her maid roleplay game with Kuroha.

I think Ritsuka (FGO) has such huge Switch energy in terms of bedroom roles imo. My wives like Ritsuka and Ene are like… When they're dominating, they're gentle/tender doms. Firm but loving.

That's why I have an HC that whenever Ene doms Kuroha, she always reaches for his hand and intertwines her fingers with his. Handholding during sex is so sexy. It's so tender and intimate… Wahhhh

And at that moment, Kuroha knows & reaffirms the proof/confirmation that she's not unaffected by him (and despite her claiming she hates him), she still cares about him (in a way) enough to cater to his pleasure.

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Scripting: Canon Aversion Attempts

(Shadows in the mockups by @becdoesthings)

Dimension EV-2019 - Memorial Park, Calteron

One day following the full memory restoration of Team Sonic, Nitro and Amy were just out by Calteron's memorial park to pass the time together.

Amy: Ahh... Such a wonderful day today!

Nitro: Heh, yeah. And it's definitely more wonderful with what happened to change our dimension to be better.

Amy: I agree. Is Melanie doing okay, by the way?

Nitro: Yeah, he's getting there. It's just gonna be a couple more days until the seizures he's been having die down.

She sat on one of the park's benches.

Amy: Wanna have a sit down?

She noticed Nitro was a little worried about something.

Amy: Nitro? Are you feeling alright?

Nitro: Amy, I...

Nitro: I think it's about time I admitted something important to you while we're alone together. It's related to the whole timeline shebang.

Amy: Oh?

Nitro: You know those alternate versions of myself we've come across before? Well... most of them ended up being of my OWN making.

Amy: Huh? How?

Nitro: I'll explain as best as I can to you. So, following the whole reset, me, my family and Amelia retained our memories of the old timeline, and I wanted to do what it took to ensure all of us could live through that fateful attack that cost my dad his life. However, it seems to be a locked-in "canon event" for me... Nothing I did could keep him safe; only my mom and siblings made it through again to this timeline. However, with each alteration I made, something changed each time; where I went in each alternate universe.

(MLP cast sprites by urimas on DeviantArt; custom Nitro Platinumheart sprite by me)

Nitro: One iteration was when I ended up in Equestria, which became my home after I befriended the Mane Six. Nitro Platinumheart mentioned that he was found by Twilight and Spike in a storm, and after she and Princess Luna uncovered the harsh past, Twilight phased through into my world with NP following, in a bid to ensure those close to him were alright. He didn't take long to settle in as his new self, however, when he took time to get used to Equestria in general, alongside the adjacent human world Twilight had visited before.

Nitro: The second one I remember most was a counterpart of myself ending up in an alternate Philly. I think I remember his nickname became "Nite-friend", since, in that universe, Daddy Dearest managed to kill Boyfriend, though he passed on his mantle to the guy before the finishing blow, which caused DD's family to drift apart from him. I'm happy they were able to take him in for safety, as he would've been homeless otherwise. Ever since, feelings began to blossom between Nitefriend and Girlfriend, and, well, the rest is history there.

Nitro: The third one I remember was a version of myself who ended up in a binary world of horrors, Sonic.EXEs included, thanks to Toxinfect almost stopping his escape. Having been infused with dark matter energy, he developed an immunity to regular lethal attacks from monsters like an alternate version of Exault he came across, but it came at the cost of giving him a glaring headache every time. Nitro.DLL, as he became known, was out to help survivors from other realms, including alternate Earths where Sonic.EXE was conquering the land and claiming people's souls, with all survivors being taken to an out-of-bounds space base for medical care and accommodation.

Nitro: I know there's many iterations of me in alternate universes, but there was always a few things in common between them:

The places of residence me and my siblings camped at before the split were Royal Woods, a town where Isabelle (AC) lived, and the WNA Academy in Eagle City.

My father, Marc Smith, was always doomed to die, no matter what. The only timeline he DIDN'T die in was that one where the attack never happened to begin with, and the one where me and Amelia started our family.

All of my counterparts except my adult self contracted EXE blood at one point, either from a sustained injury or following a first EXE encounter. It... must be why I'm able to sustain energies like the Sacred Ring without my body breaking under pressure.

The two had been having a small walk while discussing this, stopping by the park's sunflower field.

Amy: To think this all happened because you miss your dad so much... Oh, I'm so sorry to hear, Chris.

Nitro: Yeah, I really appreciate your concern for me. It's just... trying to play God to find a definitive happy future is just so hard for me. I really wished we could've had it all completely worked out before this point, but it's just so difficult...

Amy: Hey, look at me. If anything, your self-awareness of the old timeline actually did a LOT better than you may have realised.

Nitro: Wait, you really think that?

Amy: I don't think it, I know it. I mean, think about it. You coming into my life helped me see myself in a new light, and gave me a chance to just step back and not intrude on Sonic's love life. Plus, even in this timeline, you saved all of Mobius from Toxinfect's tyranny, and we all remain grateful to you for that!

Nitro: And... what else?

Amy: Well, the fact your actions in this timeline snapped Seak out of his insanity, kept Wade and all his newer friends out of that sentient virus's grasp, and even ensured we still have an Eggman to take on at the end of it all. Besides, no matter what iteration of yourself you may be, there's one thing I know you've always maintained.

She stepped closer to him with a smile on her face.

Amy: The kind heart you've always had, which I'd never trade for anything else.

Nitro smiled back.

Nitro: Thanks, Ames. I... I'm really happy you're here for me.

Amy: No problem.

The two shared a quick hug with each other.

Amy: You know, why don't we head to the Fish-n-Chips place after that talk?

Nitro: Heh, that's a wonderful idea!

Amy: Brilliant! Let's get going!

They started walking off.

Nitro: You know, I'd really like one of those jam and cream doughnuts for dessert.

Amy: Sure! We'll see what we can do about that.