#I'm so glad to finally post this. It has been tormenting me for over a week.

[ravendruid]

Game Night

This fic is part of the Critter Genfic Bingo to fulfill the Game Night and Modern AU slots, and is set in my Gamer AU. Read on AO3

Vax’ildan rarely gets to spend his own money on games these days as they are often gently covered by his subscribers, but a new game caught him unaware, so he didn’t have time to set up a donation goal or even make a poll to ascertain interest from his followers. The plan was simple: Vax was going to record his first playthrough of the game in solo mode and finally give YouTube a try. If it got a good response, then he would ask a friend or two if they wanted to play with him on stream. However, as his plans are wont to do, everything went down the drain when he mentioned buying the game on his next stream, and chat begged him to play live. 

“Well, I guess that answers it,” Vax jokingly replied to everyone’s requests. “Let me talk to some friends and see if anyone is up for it. Hopefully, I’ll have a group for the next stream. How does that sound?”

Vax’s chat went wild with names and requests of other streamers he could ask to play with him, but the main name in common was very clear: Keyleth. It took him a while to cede to ask her, but he made no promises that he would be able to convince her to play the game. In the end, it was easier than he thought. All Vax had to do was tell his girlfriend that she could customize her character and show her the different options for races and classes, and she was in. The next challenge was finding two more people to play, which Keyleth also fixed by asking Percy, who in turn asked Vex’ahlia. So a party was formed, with Keyleth and Vax squad streaming so their viewers could watch both their points of vision.

“What are you guys playing,” Vax asks as he starts building his character. His is an easy choice to make, and he starts customizing a half-elf rogue to look slightly like him as his chat flies in approval and suggestions. 

“I think I might try a ranger,” Vex’ahlia replies. Because she’s not streaming today, the audience will have to wait to see the reveal of her character, but on Vex’s screen is a female half-elf with a ponytail braid.

“Are you going to get a bear companion and call him Trinket, dear?” Percival teases his girlfriend. Everyone in Vax and Keyleth’s audience is familiar with Trinket, Vex’s large Newfoundland dog. At almost 70 kg, Trinket’s massive form and shaggy brown hair make him resemble a bear, which is where the joke came from one day during Vex’s first streams.

“Don’t tempt me, Percival.”

“What about you, Freddie?” Vax leans back on his chair, admiring his character. 

“I’m playing a human fighter, of course.”

“Chat is asking if you’re going melee,” Vax leans in to read the questions on his screen.

“No. I’ll be ranged.”

“Keyleth, darling, what are you playing? You’re so quiet.” Vex mutters, adding piercings to her character.

“Oh? Sorry, there are so many options and hairs. It’s a lot,” Keyleth sounds and looks overwhelmed. She’s not used to playing this type of game, especially for the first time on stream. 

“It’s okay, darling. Take your time.” Vex’ahlia reassures.

One of Keyleth’s biggest insecurities about streaming a game that is so out of her comfort zone was related to how her regular audience would react to the change. She usually streams cozy games that a lot of people use for body-doubling, and she loves providing everyone with a safe environment where they can go to escape from their daily lives. An adventure roleplaying game with a lot of action, dialogues, and possibly fights is not what her target audience usually looks for. However, Keyleth was pleasantly surprised—and relieved—when the poll results came in favor of her playing the game on stream. It turned out that a lot of Keyleth’s followers were avid players of tabletop roleplaying games or were generally interested in the game itself.

Although she felt better about how her audience would respond to the new game, Keyleth was still worried about stepping out of the bubble that shielded her from trolls. With a much more popular game being streamed—adding the fact that she is a woman with her camera on—Keyleth still couldn’t shake the fear that something bad could happen during the streams, which is why she recruited her best moderators, Pike and Grog, who were more than happy to stay on the sidelines and keep everyone on track.

“Okay, I think I’m done. Sorry, it took me so long,” Keyleth finally announces an hour after the stream starts. On her screen is a female half-elf druid with space buns and braids almost as red as Keyleth’s hair. She quickly reads the chat and smiles at everyone’s compliments about her character, most saying how fun her hair looks.

“No problem, love. Is everyone ready?” Vax asks. Everyone agrees, so they quickly name their characters after themselves before they move on to the next screen.

“We have to make another one?” Keyleth shouts, raising her hands to her head. On everyone’s screen is another character whose race and appearance can also be customized.

“What the fuck is a guardian,” Vex’ahlia asks, going over the different races available.

“I think it’s someone who will protect you and keep you alive,” Vax explains, quickly building a generic male elf. “You don’t have to fully customize them if you don’t want to. Just pick a race and whatever you want them to look like, I guess.”

“Yeah, right…” Keyleth looks distraught at her screen. “You know what… Chat, pick a race,” Keyleth asks. Her chat window quickly fills up with people firing races: there are a few elves, some asking for a dwarf, and a couple of people asking for a Githyanki, but the majority of the requests seem to be Drow, which is the preset anyway. It doesn’t take everyone a long time to finish building their guardians, and finally, the game begins. 

A lot of fun is had for the next few hours: Vax steals everything he can get his hands on (and flirts with the vampire NPC), a wizard is saved from a portal, and the group goes through their first dungeon, the overgrown ruins of an old temple where they find a sarcophagus in a dank crypt.

“Guys, I found a sarcophagus. Do you think it has a treasure inside?” Vex’ahlia asks. 

“We should investigate,” Percy crosses the threshold and waits for Vex to join him before he continues. 

For some reason, neither of them notices the notification in the corner that says they failed several perception checks, so once Vex’s character is by Percy’s side, he opens the lid to the tomb, making several explosions go off and fire erupt in the chamber.

“Vex’ahlia!” Percy screams in real life, jumping out of his chair so fast it tumbles back and hits the wooden floor with a loud thud. 

“I’m alright, darling,” Vex reassures him from the room next door, cackling at her boyfriend’s reaction. Her and Percy’s portraits on the left side of the screen are gray with a skull symbol next to them, indicating both characters are dead.

“What the fuck happened? I was gone for thirty seconds,” Vax shouts, sitting on his chair. He had just gone to the kitchen really quickly to grab some water for himself and Keyleth when he heard Keyleth’s screams.

“When was the last time you saved, brother?” Vex manages to ask, still laughing. 

“Right before we walked into this room.” Vax shakes his head, unamused. “Are you okay, Freddie?”

“Ye–yeah, I think so. That was—” Percy draws a long breath and releases it slowly, and when he speaks again, his heart has slowed, and his voice is back to normal, “—unexpected.”

Once Vax reloads the game, he goes through the room ahead of everyone to make sure he disarms every trap before they loot the sarcophagus. “Let this be a lesson about greed, everyone,” He jokes once the valuables are successfully stashed in his inventory.

Because one tragedy doesn’t come by itself, not long after, the party is suddenly ambushed by undead skeletons, making Keyleth scream in panic as her character gets knocked unconscious by one before she gets a turn to do anything. 

“I don’t think we’re strong enough to defeat these guys,” She cries.

“Yeah, we are, look.” Vax’s character appears next to Keyleth’s and stabs the skeleton that attacked her twice, leaving it with two HP. “I’ll always be here to save you, Kiki.” Vax’ildan being cheesy with his girlfriend on stream is not news, but it still manages to send both their chats over the edge. This will surely make the next fanmade supercut.

“Alright, lovebirds. Shall we kill these assholes, then?” Vex teases them. 

The battle doesn’t draw long once Keyleth’s character is back up—still at one HP, but up nonetheless—and this time, when they find another sarcophagus, the group allows Vax to spearhead the party.

“Well, that was fun, right, everyone?” Vax asks a few minutes later, once they get a new NPC ally and discover an arcane book that they put away to ask their wizard friend to check later. 

“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting it to be so fun,” Keyleth admits, leaning back in her chair and pulling her hoodie up. She can feel her battery draining fast. They have been streaming for a few hours longer than what she usually streams for, and her body is already reacting to it. 

“Even when I died,” Vex’ahlia jokes, petting Trinket’s head on her lap. She’s glad she’s not on camera today. Her hair is a mess and she’s wearing a stained t-shirt she stole from Percy’s drawer. 

“I did not like that part at all,” Percy chimes in, combing a hand through his shock-white hair and making it messier than it was.

“Just be glad I saved right before you two dingus went and set all the traps off,” Vax rolls his eyes at his sister and her boyfriend. His gaze darts over his screen to Keyleth’s stream, and he sees her bury herself in her hoodie and pull her knees up to her chest. For others, it might look like she’s just cold and getting comfortable, but Vax knows she’s overwhelmed and overstimulated, and she needs to relax, so he seamlessly brings the stream to an end with the promise of another one very soon.

More adventures await this group of chucklefucks, many mistakes and perception check failures that lead to not-so-good results, a lot of flirting with NPCs—Vax finds himself torn between the Vampire and the Wizard—and even a few not-safe-for-work unexpected scenes that make Keyleth slide down her chair and hide under her desk. At the end of the day, there is no denying that game night in general, and the new game in particular, is a huge success overall, and that everyone has plenty of fun playing and watching it.

[ozzgin]

Hello!

🌟 here again! I'm here with another request for our lovely bodyguard yandere.

Have you ever seen videos of fans jumping up onto stages with kpop idols? Then get carried away by security behind stage?

I'd love to see how our lovely violent baby girl would react to not being able to react with immediate violence as a reaction given all the eyes and cameras on him. Would he be stone faced just carrying the stage crasher by the collar like a cat? Or would he be dragging him by the legs into hell?

The reactions of fans to the bodyguard would be interesting too, I could see Reader being jealous over people thirsting over bodyguard on Twitter or something lol. Or bodyguard confused on why people would say stuff like "he could snap my back like a twig and I'd say thank you" about him.

Hope you are taking care, and I have my fingers crossed to hear from you eventually

Sincerely

-🌟

Long overdue and I'm terribly sorry about that! I had the ideas for a while now, but I could never find the proper words to assemble everything. ;-;

Yandere! Bodyguard x Idol! Reader (III)

Your bodyguard has gained sudden Internet fame after dealing with a crazed fan on stage. Naturally, he couldn't care less about anyone else, but that doesn't stop you from trying to make him jealous in return. Someone will have to be the sacrificial lamb to his murderous possessiveness.

Content: female reader, obsessive behavior, violence, death, reader and yandere are both psycho

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

The screen of your phone lights up again and you only need a quick glance to know what it is. Another post about last night’s event. About your bodyguard. You sink your nails into the leather chair and look ahead towards the mirror, exchanging a smile with the hairstylist.

“Oh, it looks lovely! You always do such a great job.” You compliment the woman as you tilt your head both ways, admiring the gentle curls. Now get the fuck out already.

“I’m so glad! Is there anything else you’d like me to-”

“No, that’s all. You can go”, you respond curtly.

The stylist collects her products and waves at you, exiting the room. The phone vibrates once more with a new notification, and you promptly throw it against the door. It scatters in large chunks of scrap across the plush carpet.

The whole ordeal happened within seconds. You were performing the final song of the evening when a fan hurled himself over the security barrier and onto the stage. The people standing at the very front began screaming and some took their phones out, scrambling for a good angle to record everything.

“Please, (Y/N), I’m your biggest fan!” the man pleaded, approaching you with shaking hands.

You froze in place, observing his actions with the same indifference of watching a TV ad that goes on for too long. Before the stranger could even reach your proximity, your bodyguard effortlessly and speedily threw him over the shoulder, giving you a reassuring nod and retreating backstage. He had that smile on his face that signaled he was pissed, and your mouth hung open in realization: You wouldn’t be able to witness the massacre.

You knew that expression all too well. That man would never see the light of day again, and under normal circumstances you would be right behind your bodyguard, cheering him on and suggesting ways to further torment of whoever dared to get too close to you.

And yet, your little ritual had been interrupted. You stood there on the stage, baffled, as the other idols gathered around you with worried looks. You poor thing. That must’ve been terrifying. The audience was shouting words of support, encouraging you to continue as if nothing happened. With pursed lips, you tightened your grip around the microphone and reassured everyone of your well-being. The show had to go on, regardless of your bloodlust.

This morning, you woke up to hundreds of posts online about the incident. Or rather, the way your bodyguard dealt with it. You scrolled through photos, videos, and confessions regarding the mysterious stranger who protected you from harm.

“I need a man like that in my life!”, “I know, right? So cool!”, “Imagine how easily he’d pick you up”, “The broad shoulders! I’m in love <3”

You don’t even have time to be properly upset about it. Your schedule for the day is packed with interviews and photoshoots. You glance in the mirror one final time and exit the room. The bodyguard has been waiting for you, resting against the wall with crossed arms.

“I need a new phone”, you tell him in a casual tone.

“What happened to the previous one?” He inquires, somewhat confused by your sudden request.

“Just do it!” You snap at the large man, rushing past him without providing any window for a reaction.

Ideally, you would very much like to tell him that the sudden influx of attention irritates you beyond comprehension. Then he’d reassure you that his indifference towards everyone else has not changed whatsoever, and thus your worries are entirely unfounded; but, if you need an outlet to release all that stress, he can easily find an empty changing room and service you like he always does.

Unfortunately, there is no time for that.

The bodyguard follows your movements with raised eyebrows, perplexed. What could’ve gotten you into such a sour mood? Has someone caused you to be upset? Are you still pouting after the missed playtime? He ponders the possibilities as he searches for an assistant.

The employee is visibly startled upon hearing his deep voice calling her. She turns obediently and nods, flashing her best customer-facing smile.

“Can you get (Y/N) a new phone?” he asks plainly.

“Huh? Sure…Did she specify any preferences? What was her previous model?”

He stares in confusion.

“…Can’t you guess?” she insists.

“I’m not good with these things.” The bodyguard rummages through his pocket and pulls out an old, cracked device to prove his point. “I don’t use phones much.”

Why would he? The only time he needs a phone is when he’s apart from you, which hasn’t happened since the Christmas incident. He previously considered a more modern option, so he could stalk your social media and make sure you don’t have any perverts sliding into your messages. That proved to be unnecessary, as you frequently leave your phone unattended or involve him in the process: most of your photos posted online nowadays are actually curated by his truly.

“Oh, so you don’t know about the recent craze?” The woman chuckles and takes out her own phone, speedily tapping on the screen before presenting it to the man. “See? You’re trending!”

He scans the multitude of messages. Ah, so that’s what it was. His lips curl into a grin. To think he’d witness his spoiled idol struggle with jealousy.

“That will be it for today!” the photographer announces, gesturing with his hands and guiding his helpers with the expensive equipment.

This was it, the last photoshoot. You unscrew the cap from your water bottle and take a healthy sip from it, wiping the sweat off your forehead with your other hand. The only good part about the continuous work was that you couldn’t check more of those annoying posts drooling over your bodyguard. Remembering it is enough to increase your heartbeat. The male model you were paired with for this campaign walks in your direction.

“Say, do you have anything planned after this?” He questions smugly. “You could come back to my place.”

What a ridiculous idea, you think with a grimace. Does this asshat think he’s worthy of your company? After a second of contemplation, you’re flooded with the same disappointment you felt back on the stage, watching your fan being carried away like a mere piece of cardboard over the much larger frame of your bodyguard. You might just consider the stupid offer. Why not? It’s not fair to be the only one plagued by jealousy.

“Sure. I know a better place, though.”

Your eyes narrow in a bright smile and you lead the young man towards your backstage room. As you pass by your bodyguard, you remember to mention in a low voice: “Make sure no one disturbs us.” He doesn’t answer, merely gazes at you with an empty expression.

“Man, that guy is scary as hell”, the model remarks as he throws himself in your vanity seat. “Are you not afraid to be alone with him?”

“Not really, no”, you respond idly. “You, on the other hand…”

“Excuse me?”

Now then. To set the scene, you gingerly climb into the man’s lap and adjust your arms around his neck. What a frail little human in comparison to your bodyguard. You blush in anticipation and begin counting in your head.

“H-hey, what did you mean-”

The young man is interrupted by someone’s abrupt intrusion. Your bodyguard throws you a quick glance before turning to close the door behind him. Alright, he can’t be too excited. He must pretend he’s furious, baffled, out for the hunt. You went all the way out for him. He even checked his watch to make sure you had enough time. He can’t let his enthusiasm betray him.

You jump out of the model’s hold with a gasp.

“It’s not what you think~!” you exclaim with feigned surprise. “He started flirting with me and I…” Your words trail off and you rub your arm nervously.

The bodyguard approaches the other man with monotonous movements and grabs him by the collar.

“Wait, you can’t possibly…he’s a well-known model!”, you protest with a fake cry.

Sweet little darling. Worry not, he won’t disappoint you. He’ll put on the best show for your sake. Anything to soothe your innocent heart.

“Could be the President himself”, your bodyguard confesses with a dash of theatrics, “and I’d still break his fucking neck for touching you.” He pulls out his pocketknife and looks at you. “I’ll deal with you in a moment, Miss.”

Your knees weaken and you have to rest against the vanity table. Among the screams and pleads for mercy coming from the poor butchered model, you can only focus on one thing: the violent fucking you’re about to receive.

Your bodyguard truly knows you best.

[soapymansuds]

Eternity and counting

Pt 4

(Pt1, Pt2, Pt3)

(Ragggggh!! Actually remembered to post on a Tuesday this time lol.)

Obey me! X Angel!MC (They/Them Pronouns)

TW: Suicide, depression, self-deprecation, death, big feelings, lots of sad.

MC just can't handle anything anymore and takes their own life. Imagine their dismay to find even death isn't the end for them.

~/\~

I catch a whiff of fresh lilies as I continue to the castle. Curious. The castle has always smelled like roses. They were never Lord Diavolo's favorite, but they reminded him of his mother. But the closer I get, the stronger the smell, until it finally comes into view. Bushes and vines covered top to bottom in every species of lily I've ever seen in the human realm run elegantly up the walkway, over the entrance, and across the windowsills. I can't help staring in awe as I approach the front doors, I've never seen the entryway so decorated, even for Diavolo's parties or festivals. I wonder what the occasion is.

Within thirty seconds of my knuckles connecting with the door, it's opened with a flourish. Barbatos grins that trained grin I learned to detest in my time here. Nobody ever understood how I did it, but I could always tell when Barbatos was simply smiling for his Lord's image and when he was smiling for his own enjoyment. Part of me was always nervous he could see the same in me, but if he ever noticed, he never brought it up.

"Welcome to The Demon Lord's Castle. Please, Come in." He bows, sweeping his arm to welcome me.

"Thank you." I nod, stepping inside the frame and to the side of the door. Before he can even close the door behind me, I'm offering him the paperwork I was tasked with bringing.

"Ah, actually, if you don't mind following me. Lord Diavolo has requested to meet you. When he heard that Michael was sending a new angel, he insisted on meeting you. I'm sure you know the importance of those papers. It is quite unlike Michael to entrust a task of this magnitude to an angel we've never even met." He explains as he leads me down the hall.

I nod. "Of course."

I shouldn't have nodded. Why would I agree to this? It was instinct, I'm sure. Babatos could ask me to follow him straight into wild seas and I would, without a second thought. And now I've agreed to follow him to my own torment.

He moves silently as he leads me upstairs and out onto the balcony. My heart squeezes itself shut as I see Lord Diavolo, leaning over the balcony to admire the flowers below. He doesn't turn to greet us immediately, but something about the sag in his shoulders and the tension in his knees begs me to hold his hand. Soothe his worried thoughts until he has no choice but to sleep it off and start anew the next day. Something must be horribly, horribly wrong with me.

But the feeling is fleeting as he turns to us, standing tall as ever with that cover photo smile.

"Ah! You must be Michael's new angel! He seems quite fond of you." He strides towards us, clasping my hand firmly in his own. "Though, I admit he never gave me your name."

He poses the question so simply, and I have to fight the gut instinct to answer him honestly. But it burns, bitter and angry in my stomach as I summon the name Michael had given me for the sake of my privacy in the Celestial realm.

"Well it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He nods, but his wording gives me pause.

"Finally?"

"Of course! Michael has brought you up nearly every time we've spoken in the last several months." He laughs. God that laugh. I've dreamt of it. It makes me wonder for a brief moment if the cloaking spell expresses my growing blush.

But I disregard the consideration for the thought of Michael and the absolute hell I'd be giving him when I return. He's been plotting this for months, that bastard.

"Well, I'm glad to hear he speaks so highly of me." I bow lightly, presenting the paperwork to him. He takes it quickly, tossing it onto the table next to him.

As I stand back up, I wonder what to do with the sudden silence.

"Well, It's been a pleasure to meet you." I grin, wings flicking quickly. A nervous habit I've picked up since sprouting them.

"Right! I'm sure you have some important business to attend to." He claps his hands together. "Give Michael my best." He turns back to the railing and Barbatos moves to usher me out. But before I go, a question was lingering in my mind. "If I may, why lilies? Michael always tells stories of your grand rose gardens."

The balcony grows cold with the fall of Diavolo's gaze. Something unsettling burrows itself in my skin, burning like ice in my mouth.

"Lilies were MC's favorite." He mumbles. Practically whispers it into the wind.

But the sound reaches me anyway, and despite the gentle tone, it feels like being punched through the chest. "What?" I heard him, he knows I did. And he's right. Lilies are my favorite. Always have been. But I ask the question anyway. Because I simply can't comprehend why that would matter. It's been over a year now, they should have gotten over it. And yet, here he is. Mourning, right in front of me.

Barbatos places a tentative hand on my shoulder, whispering to me. "MC was a dear friend of ours. They... passed, some time ago." There's a pitch in his voice I don't recognize. Regret?

"And so, we maintain the garden, to show to them when they are reborn." Diavolo adds, smiling softly at me over his shoulder.

Something in the view of it all chokes me. Like swallowing a cotton ball.

They're still waiting for me.

Are they all still waiting? Lord Diavolo is one thing, but the brothers? Do they expect me to come home? Do they want me to? Why would they want that? After all I've done.

Before I can even consider it, I feel the familiar warm slip of tears down my cheek. Emotions I haven't grappled with in some time burn in my throat, clawing at my vocal cords and squeezing my airway shut. I hate this. I hate this feeling so much my hands shake with it. I never should have come here. It's selfish to say, but I could have gone on not knowing this. Had I stayed in the Celestial realm, I could have gone on for eternity, selfishly unaware that I was still wanted.

I swipe pathetically at my tears, wings flicking as I straighten my posture. "I'm, uh, terribly sorry for your loss." It's barely above a whisper but I know they can hear it. "But I... I should be getting back now."

They can tell something is wrong, of course they can. But rather than stick around for questions, I take off, sprinting through the halls of the castle and out through the front door.

I'm running on instinct as I navigate the streets of the city. I don't remember where I'm going, all I know is I need to get there fast. I should just return to the courtyard and wait for Michael to send the portal back to get me. But something in the idea of going back to the celestial realm brings bile to my throat.

So I follow my subconscious blindly, feet slamming against pavement and heart nearly shaking with the effort of it all until I come to an abrupt stop. My eyes, bleary as they are, recognize the sight before me like I had last seen it yesterday. The House of Lamentation looms over me, glass eyes challenging me from within the gate. The elegant iron rods of the gate twist around themselves and each other like a den of snakes. And I feel the same warm comfort from them as I always have. I pointed out the striking serpentine similarities between this gate and himself to Levi once. He was offended at first, but was quickly struck dumb when I pointed out how much I liked snakes.

The urge to press the gate open burns like fire in my hand, but I know that if I do, I won't be able to go back. There's no way I'd leave on my own once granting myself entry, and there's no explanation for my presence if I'm caught.

But if I turn around now, I will never come back. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

(UGHHHH I hope y'all are still enjoying!! As always, comment if you'd like to be added to the taglist)

-Your friend, The Author <3

*tags*

@spffldlbrnf @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf @seraphlies @averageradstudent @sasa-mya @ayshela @miracl3d

[sh1-n0bu]

feeling angsty and had a sudden wild thought

so we all know balladeer aka scaramouche would be such a toxic lover right? i mean the guy is constantly tested and experimented on by dottore - one of the cruelest mfs to ever exist - so of course his heart and mind would be screwed up and shut tightly to avoid himself getting hurt more.

even in his voiceline as a wanderer he still carries some of that toxic ways of thinking that if he doesn’t become of any use and pay u back for even a small compliment u threw his way then he’s of no use and that got me thinking.

fatui scaramouche! with an assistant or a close bodyguard assigned to him by pierro even as he whined and grumbled about being strong and dependable enough by himself.

fatui scaramouche! who reluctantly accepts reader as his right hand helper with a long mutterings of curses under his breath.

fatui scaramouche! who soon got used to your constant presence - someone who’s calm and steady like a mountain unlike his harsh and cruel attitude like the merciless electro delusion he wields.

fatui scaramouche! who soon becomes incredibly possessive over his right hand person reader, constantly wanting to be with them, have their attention on him him and only him!

fatui scaramouche! who soon becomes verbal in his possessive nature. dismissing every reason and excuse you have to be away from him even for a little while. calling you untrustworthy and unreliable due to his past 3 betrayals.

fatui scaramouche! who over time slips into physical abuse. punching you, breaking your nose, cutting away at you with his katana, angry shouting and mental breakdown following after as he has his meltdown on the floor of his office while you put pressure over your newest wound.

fatui scaramouche! who has an absolute meltdown when you said you would be deserting the fatui while holding your casted arm - broken by him during one of your physical fights.

fatui scaramouche! who after trying and failing to become a god realizes just how important you were and how much he actually genuinely cared for you as he’s being treated by the dendro archon.

post fatui wanderer! who after successfully erasing himself from the irmunsul goes to nahida first to ask her of any information about you. he just wants to see how you’re doing and apologize for all that he has done. all the beatings, all the manipulation, all the scars, all the emotional neglect and torment he put on you.

post fatui wanderer! who after recieving news of your whereabouts from nahida, happily rushes there. finally he can see you again!

post fatui wanderer! who knocks on your little cozy hut’s wooden door holding a bouquet of flowers - who allows a relieved smile to slip into his face when you opened the door - alive but with a horrible claw shaped scar over one of your eyes. clearly a work of capitano while you where running away possibly. apologies readily sitting on the tip of his tongue.

post fatui wanderer! who asks you “my assistant! it’s been a while” before he lets out a crushed “…huh?” when you replied “sorry… do i know you?”

post fatui wanderer! who only remembers then and there that he erased his memories as kabukimono and the balladeer from irmunsul completely.

post fatui wanderer! who lets out a defeated sigh, handing you the flowers with tears welling in his eyes - hiding them with the brim of his hat.

post fatui wanderer! who gives you a choked "no. i'm sorry i got the wrong person" and leaves with dragged steps yet a small part of his non-existent heart feeling glad that you're still alive and doing well.

[slashthrashandcrash]

I've been looking at the slasher x final girl oc's (and I love all of them) I was wondering if you'd give us anymore details about them, their first interactions and basically any thing interesting you'd be willing to tell us?

(I'm obsessing over your characters and knowing what little I do about them is making me mentally ill, especially the stranger, he reminds me of my favorite slasher (Jason) quite a bit)

I'm so glad you're enjoying them!! It's been a while since I've used 'em so it's been fun dusting them off from time to time--

Ashley and the Stranger are meant to be a homage to 80's horror in general, both the classics and the cheesy. The first time they met was during freshmen year at a frat party, although Stranger had seen her around campus a few times prior. She was drunk, but still friendly and wanted to get to know him a bit, even warning him to be careful because frat hazings these days were getting so ridiculous and she'd hate to see him get hurt.

By the next day after she sobered up, she completely forgot about the interaction and probably didn't even bother to get his name. The fact that all records of him being a student disappeared shortly afterwards didn't help, it was like he never existed to her after that night. But he never forgot their brief time together, that pretty little cheerleader who was the only one ever concerned for him...

Constantly dying and coming back as a vengeful killer only worsens his insanity with each "sequel", including his warped obsession for her. Each time, he's more hellbent on having Ashley, convinced they're meant to be for no other reason than she was nice to him for like 10 minutes years ago. He doesn't even register her fighting back or stabbing him or setting up traps, he's so blinded by his infatuation despite Ashley having no clue that they've met before.

Francine and Ripper are newer OCs, but they're a lot of fun because my girl is just so great to torment (:< I've braindumped so much about them to Blob--

They met while Francine was working on the scripts for that latest series of a semi-popular true crime podcast about the unsolved slayings of the Northshire Ripper (about 3-4 episodes). She started getting these emails from an anonymous account that was praising her writing and storytelling, so impressed with her level of research and details and how well she wove everything together, especially the observations she made on the murders. It was genuinely her first piece of fanmail, some actual recognition for all the hard work that goes into being a weekly ghostwriter that's often overlooked. She's thankful and beyond appreciative that someone would take the time to send her a thoughtful email, how sweet! (:

And of course, eventually the segment about the Ripper ends and the show moves on to cover another killer or disappearance or solved case, and Francine is back to researching at the whims of the cohosts. Her favorite fan starts emailing her again, asking why she's stopped writing about the Ripper when there's still so much more she could cover, more things she could go in depth on. These new cases are so overdone. The podcast hosts butcher her show notes half the time anyways (she posts the full version on their blog which is the only place she has a shred of credit listed), can't she just write more episodes for the Ripper instead? Please? No?

Well...good news, little lady! You know that serial killer you covered a while back, the one who was never caught, the one who seemingly disappeared after years of bloody terror? Wouldn't ya know it, he's finally come back after a near decade hiatus, creating human art pieces with newfound inspiration! Isn't that great, now there's so much new material Francine can work with to write show updates about him, especially while it's such a hot topic in the media. Now write. What's holding you back? Is this not good enough? Do you need more inspiration of your own? More personal? A demonstrative interview?

Anything to help out his favorite fellow creator~

[sixty-silver-wishes]

Okay, Finally getting around to posting my dracula thoughts because I've been busy all day and have just gotten to finish listening to the podcast episode:

God, Mina goes through so much emotional labor. I found it incredibly interesting that the narrative punishes the men for leaving her alone even though she wants to help, although she's the one who ultimately suffers for it when Dracula bites her. She tries to stay helpful and keep her emotions in check, when she's been literally bitten by a vampire in a way that's clearly analogous to sexual assault. It's also so heartbreaking how she blames herself for being bitten, and when the communion wafer burns her- again, because she was bitten by a vampire through no fault of her own- she feels that she's been rejected by God because she was a victim of assault. I'm so glad Jonathan was quick to assure her that it wasn't her fault, and that he also held Van Helsing accountable for his insensitivity. And that Mina said she wouldn't forget Van Helsing's remark about Dracula having "just fed"- she's a sweet, intelligent lady and a beacon of hope, but she also won't accept her trauma being dismissed. Van Helsing is a fascinating character in his own right, but I love how Mina consistently displays her agency by putting him in check when he dismisses her intelligence and her feelings, as we saw her do earlier when they met.

I also found it interesting how Mina pitied Dracula- not because she's just so sweet and forgiving and too good for this world, but because she recognizes that if she were to turn into a vampire, she'd want someone to pity her, too. Jonathan's feelings are incredibly justified- Dracula has tormented both him and his wife, so of course he wants him to burn in hell. Dracula is an abuser, a murderer, and analogously, a rapist. But Mina offers a compelling question- what is Dracula actually living for? Does his constant hunger and desire for power over vulnerable people actually offer him any happiness? Perhaps I wouldn't exactly pity him as she does, but it's an interesting philosophical point that those who want to dominate other people and insatiably crave power are often miserable, themselves, and this abusive behavior stems from their own misery.

Yall I feel so bad for Renfield. Both Dracula and Seward took advantage of him and his mental state for their own gain. Not much else to say here, but his character does pose a seriously fascinating examination of the morality of our protagonists.

It's really interesting to me that Dracula's plan mirrors ideas seen in eugenics- feeding on people (and therefore forcing them to reproduce more vampires) so that he may create his own "superior" race. The character of Dracula can be read as both xenophobic (a malevolent foreigner whose character contains many tropes associated with anti-Semitic canards and disrupts English society) and as a rebuke against the ideas of racial supremacy and colonialism. And considering Stoker was an Irishman writing this book in the 19th century, these colonial and intersectional themes take on another layer of interest regarding Britain's colonization of Ireland.

Quincey Morris. No notes

[the-yuri-librarian]

Love Thy Neighbor Episode 41 reaction

So I haven't talked about it here because it has been in hiatus, but Love Thy Neighbor is one of my absolute favorite yuri stories, and this week the official English translation of Season 2 began to release. With that being said, I am going to be posting week to week reactions as the chapters come out (Bloom Into You analysis series starts this Monday). These will be less craft analysis and more reacting to what is happening in the chapters and talking about where I think the season is headed

I am so glad that S2 is finally coming out, and I am excited to go on this journey. If you want to catch up, or read along, you can find this series on, well, the internet (DM me if you want to know where I read it, I won't say here). But, as always, please support the official release if you can. This series is pretty toxic on multiple fronts, and it is high in psychological drama, so read with caution.

With all that being said, lets start! Spoilers beneath the cut

so, lets say first and foremost that I DO NOT trust Jin Joo's husband. this asshole disappears for months, lets his wife be tormented by loan sharks and then what....everything is suddenly fine?

especially since the loan sharks are still threatening Doyeon. they literally whispered to her "watch your back," but this guy fixed everything?

I am absolutely convinced he still owes them money, without a doubt. I'm sort of wondering if his way out of debt was to sell his wife to them so they could take sell her organs on the black market or whatever (as they suggested to Doyeon when they were pretending to be the police), and then he found out Doyeon was in the picture and told them "take her instead."

meanwhile, the toxicity between Doyeon and Jin Joo continues to grow....

(this are Doyeon's thoughts if that isn't clear)

so hours after Jin Joo makes Doyeon swear to God that she (Doyeon) belongs to her (Jin Joo) in a church, Doyeon is reflecting on the fact that she is so scared Jin Joo is going to abandon her that she is in a constant state of anxiety and also missing Jin Joo. I think we're building up to a spiral and it isn't going to be a happy one. This is of course made worse that the final panel seems to be implying that Doyeon's concern over Jin Joo burning her hand is suspicious to her husband

all in all, things are not good.

But, where do we go from here? I think the real mystery is Jin Joo. I absolutely expect (as Doyeon herself thinks outright earlier in the chapter) that she has not only been expecting his return, but planning for it. I expect she is going to have a way for her and Jin Joo to see each other. The real question is: does Jin Joo even want that? In Season 1, it was shown over and over again that Jin Joo does not love Doyeon, and that she is doing this because she doesn't know what else to do. Not only that, but there has been several times where Jin Joo has realized/thought that her relationship with Doyeon may have been an instance of biting off more than she can chew, like the bathroom sex scene in the last season (which is also the relationship at its most toxic, as we found out later). I can definitely see Jin Joo trying to cut Doyeon out at this point. It would be incredibly in character, especially since Jin Joo thinks her marriage is all she has (and she doesn't seem to see Doyeon as a way to get out yet). And Doyeon, being head over heels in love but still reasonable, will try to respect this. The question is, will Jin Joo be able to stick to it? When and where will they run into each other again?

I could totally see Doyeon showing up at Jin Joo's church later because she can't stand not seeing her anymore. Or, they leave their apartments at the same time and have an awkward encounter maybe? both?

The idea that Doyeon could be a way out for Jin Joo, especially consider what Doyeon said in the church at the end of last season (we'll move, find a new place, I'll take care of you, etc.) is an interesting one, but I don't think thats what Jin Joo needs. Jin Joo needs freedom, the ability to be her own person and pay for herself, autonomy that she hasn't had in a long time, and, depending on how bad her parents were, maybe never had.

And Doyeon....I am not entirely sure what Doyeon needs. Someone to love her unconditionally, and not see her as a way to get in life, probably? we don't know what happened to her original parents, but it definitely seems like her adopted parents adopted her mainly for the social capital that comes with doing such a good deed.

Side note: I really love this shot of Doyeon

all of last season, we were shown that Doyeon scratches at the back of her neck when she is stressed, and when Jin Joo went missing at the end of last season, she was doing so incessantly, like multiple times a chapter. Its just a nice detail that the damage she has done to her skin is there, just below her hair

[sunnytastic-and-the-olympians]

Wooohooo!!! I just finished The Sea of Monsters!!!

Man, this book is such a fun read. I love, love, love that the plot had Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson traveling through water because it really gave Percy's nautical powers a chance to shine. None of the other books return to the sea as much as The Sea of Monsters does, which makes sense for the over-arching plots, but it is a bit of a loss. Placing the Son of the Sea God in a Sea of Monsters really just is the perfect setting and it makes for a really fun plot.

Reading The Sea of Monsters is definitely the most fun I've had with reading in a long time. The last time I felt this excited to read was a couple of months ago when I reread Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by oldpotatoe on AO3 (it is an absolute banger of a fanfiction. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially Zukka fans, but truly, it's good enough for anyone to enjoy). Before that, I hadn't picked up a book in months.

But now? I feel so excited to keep reading that it's taking everything in me to not immediately dive into The Titan's Curse. But alas, I have school and responsibilities, etc. (Blah, adulthood is the worst. Please transport me back to the time when I was so eager to read, that I would constantly get in trouble for reading in class).

But the important thing is, my love for reading has returned. Reading is pure magic. There are words on paper that transport you to a different realm where there are rainbow fish-horses who can talk, sirens waiting to tempt you to your doom, and a magical golden fleece powerful enough to bring a girl back from the dead.

I realized in my blog post about The Lightning Thief, that I didn't mention Luke. While this was just forgetfulness on my part (I was writing it at 5 am. This time I am writing it at the very reasonable time of 11 pm), I'm actually glad I didn't write about him because Luke has a much more active role in The Sea of Monsters.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Luke is the definition of a sympathetic villain. Every time he's in a scene, I can feel the hurt radiating off of him, and I understand how he was so easily manipulated by Kronos. The Olympians have done nothing but torment Luke. How can he be expected to resist the temptation to replace the Olympians with a new reigning power- one Luke has been misled to believe will be fair?

I suppose this is where the hero aspect comes in: Percy has every reason to hate the Olympians as much as Luke- Hades held his mother captive as bait, Ares tricked him into possessing Zeus' Lightning Bolt, Poseidon fails to show up for him- but Percy stands strong against Kronos' evil anyways.

However, Percy's automatic refusal to consider if the Olympians are worth fighting for is naive, and it fails him as a protagonist until The Last Olympian. If I remember correctly, Percy doesn't truly understand Luke's perspective until the final battle, but when he finally does, he is so moved by it, that he finishes advocating for Luke's cause when he demands the gods take responsibility for claiming their children.

The reason Percy is unwilling to consider Luke's point of view is because of Luke's betrayal, and yet without Luke's betrayal, there wouldn't be a serious point of view to consider. Though, this is where I am going to end my discussion on Percy and his relationship with betrayal. I have decided I will analyze it after The Last Olympian, and then again after The Mark of Athena, specifically so I can talk about Nico's betrayal because I believe Percy's interactions with Nico afterward provide the best material for understanding Percy and his attitude towards betrayal.

Oh, and speaking of Nico, I miss him so goddamn much. I didn't notice in The Lightning Thief, probably because the story focuses so much on world-building rather than character development, but I did notice Nico's absence in The Sea of Monsters. Perhaps it is my affection for him (he was the first character who made me feel like it was okay to be queer), but the Percy Jackson World feels a little incomplete without its gay brooding anti-hero. The good news is he shows up in the next book, The Titan's Curse!

Speaking of side characters, Annabeth is a much more fleshed-out character in The Sea of Monsters as compared to The Lightning Thief. In particular, I think the Siren's Bay scene is a major turning point for her character. She now has her own motivations, beyond just wanting to do good and help Percy, and the audience learns about her fatal flaw. She feels real, not just a prop to help Percy on his adventures. I'm very excited to see her character continue to grow and develop.

Another side character I really liked is Clarisse. I will always empathize with a character who is pressured by her parents to succeed at all costs. It was very satisfying to see her get her hero's ending.

Ok, I definitely think this counts as a blog post about The Sea of Monsters, even if there was a fair bit of future The Last Olympian analysis too. I'm excited to continue my adventure of reading the Riordanverse. The Titan's Curse is next!!

As always, TLDR: The Sea of Monsters is fun, Percy and Luke are narrative foils, and Annabeth and Clarisse have great character development.

Oh, and in case anyone is interested, this post is about 950 words. Brain zoomies will have you doing the silliest things sometimes.

Links to the other posts in the Isa Rereads Percy Jackson series:

The Lightning Thief

The Titan's Curse

[now-we-say-c0ral]

August 23, 2023

Woke up at 9am today. X/6 attempts on Wordle today. After 26 attempts I finally failed. Kinda sucks. I was feeling kind of bored to go to Cathy's son's christening but then I already confirmed and I can't flake out last minute. The bed's calling me and the travel from home to Kingston'll be an extra long one because the sun's so scorching today.

*deep breaths* This'll be the last day of my 6 day offs and I'm having a panic attack in my head because I'll be tormented with work when I come back. I have to press on today because I already said yes. I took a shower and wasn't really happy with the shirt that I was wearing because it doesn't really fit me but I didn't have any other white shirt so I had to suck it up.

The train ride was torture. The weather was so humid and hot that it was physically making it harder for me to reach my destination. I finally arrived in Norbiton Station and it's as if I never left the place. Everything looks and feels the same. I was a bit late for the mass and I initially sat at the back until the christening actually started. I was so glad to see my old colleagues and friends. The treatment was essentially the same and I haven't really talked to many of them in over a year! I'm so glad to be able to reconnect with them.

Along with seeing my friends, the Filipino food was to die for. They had lumpia, kare-kare, pancit, chopsuey, mango ref cake, estopao, everything! I had so much I was able to eat three plates-worth of food! I don't usually go to these invites so I'm taking advantage of it all. I was also happy today because I was able to receive communion and it was like a year ago since I've last attended mass.

I went to DSU before catching the train back home. I bought some pastries in Sainsburys and caught Kuya Luigi and asked him to let me in. People were so welcoming in the unit. Everyone was telling me how I look fine and asking me how I'm doing and if I love the work. Everyone's been so welcoming and it's nice that they haven't forgotten about me. Everyone from the scrub staff, the ward girls, and the recovery gals, they were so genuinely curious about how I am and they seem happy that I payed them a visit. I'm so lucky to be able to be a part of such a fine community.

Ed called me around 5pm right when I was walking home and he told me he got the spot for his new post in Newham! I couldn't be happier for him. I bought him some chocolates on my way home.

We had some bangus and the leftover nilaga that I made. Ed bought some Sprite and some ice per request because it's so damn hot today I can't even function.

Spent the night playing Pokemon Unite. It's been such a lovely day. It really has.

[bengiyo]

Love in the Air Ep 13 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Trigger Warning: sexual assault, intimate partner violence, rape, physical abuse

We've come to the end of the road with this show, and I generally think it's for the best. It's been a fascinating experience watching a MAME show again, especially one well beyond my comfort zone. Still, there's always something yikes happening.

When we last left off, Prapai and Sky were making a lot of good progress (despite the losses in the sartorial struggle) before a major misunderstanding reared its head. I'm not exactly keen on Prapai's method for reconciling with Sky, but we did get to see Rain be protective of Sky and I love that. Today we can expect Gun to show up, and I hope Rain murders him.

Man, after six episodes, I'm still not into the second intro song. I usually like to give a final listen on finales but I'm skipping.

Damn, Rain is manspreading so wide.

Tonnam is so entertaining. I'm looking to more of him next year.

I'm going to miss the Rain and Sky friendship.

Ugh, a flashback of how Sky ended up with Gun.

The amount of teenagers drinking in Thai dramas is really just so worrying for me.

I have a permanent cigarette burn scar on my hand. Fuck Gun.

I don't enjoy seeing any of this happen to Sky.

I am glad Sky has someone he can call when he's upset now.

A post-coital wipe and the phrase "drained you out." Is BL finally acknowledging our precious bodily fluids?

MAME and her teams are great at getting the most out of actor chemistry.

This guard at the race is like, "I do not see it," with Prapai trying to get with Sky right in front of him.

I hate Gun so much. I also hate that they tricked Prapai into giving them access to his apartment.

I want to hear from some Thai speakers if Sky was directing reassurance at himself in the equivalent of second person.

Why the horror sounds as Rain appeared before Sky?

Rain is a good friend. He knows something is wrong with Sky and is determined to look after him. I just wish he'd called or texted Payu.

Ah, the friend faked being a guard. This is sad. I don't like Rain being tricked into handing his best friend over to his abuser.

Hm, this is vile. The psychological torment is so targeted and cruel.

That's right, the whole squad rolled up on the condo.

Oh, this is upsetting. These guys gotta suffer.

I'm sorry, that ass whooping isn't enough. Rain also hasn't gotten his licks in.

Very glad they didn't stay in the condo.

I sincerely hope it helps Sky to finally tell someone about what happened to him.

And here I thought we'd avoid mics rubbing against fabric sounds.

Prapai has to race forever at the cost of a dead rapist. I'm sure we'll have thoughts about the trade.

So Sky met Prapai's whole family OFFSCREEN???? Why didn't we get to enjoy that??

Well we ended on an amusing note.

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended with Reservations. I genuinely think this is a difficult show to enjoy without an appreciation of MAME's kinks, her specific quirks, and the way she writes stories about survivors. I enjoyed the overall cast chemistry, even if there are moments that didn't always track for me.

[harringrovsonsworld]

So I mentioned it in another post but who wants to hear my horrific angst for aus or season 5? No one? TS this is my blog

Long post under the cut

Ok so my thought is very much around how vecna has his victims lined up as trophies in his mindscape. They can't JUST be trophies right? Vecna is a loon but he's too pragmatic to be so vain. They must serve a purpose. He needed 4 of them to open the gates so they must have some significance that his other victims don't.

Which brings me to my theory. Vecna needs his s4 victims to power the gates, like uh totems or human battery packs, that's why he needs them close to hand in his mind and not buried in some forgotten hole like the ones he killed in the lab. So he can keep them trapped in bad memories, keep tormenting them so their misery keeps the gates open. That's why he tormented them first. We know from Kali fear and anger are powerful emotions but from el and Mike we know love is stronger. Henry doesn't understand love, so he's basically using scare power like he's in monsters inc.

SO HERE IS MY HIDIOUS ANGST IF THAT WASNT BAD ENOUGH

Once vecna opens the gates, he's got his first set of 4 victims powering them, but it's not enough. We know El has a longer range wither her powers and even she needed to piggy back on max to reach him. My idea is that to keep his influence spreading he needs to piggy back on others too, more victims to act as human relays. Think some sort of torture based radio tower or the shield of Morty suffering from Rick and Morty.

My idea is that he has people sort of strung up to towers made of flesh like the mind flayer, being kept alive and 'protected' by demogorgons like Will with the tube down his throat in season 1. Vecna is using their nightmares, their mental scapes as pitstops for his abilites. Jump from the upside down where he's safe ,like the creel house scene, into their mind scapes and from then onto whoever he wants.

Next question is, who would he choose as victims? Well I'm glad you asked:

Eddie(maybe)

disclaimer, im more on the side of kas eddie than this but lets just run with it.

Fairly self explanatory, Eddie was a choice of convenience, there's a person, might as well use them. Dying in the upside down, vecna is sure he'd agree to anything to live. Imagine his suprise when Eddie pulls a fuck you and fuck your plan too out of his flack jacket. Now vecna is determined to keep him alive out of spite. If he'd just been good and done as vecna asked maybe he'd give a nice dream to his little human relay but no, now Eddie gets to watch Chrissy and Dustin die over and over until vecnas finally done with him or his body gives out under the strain. i guess if u wanted kas eddie, this could be punishment from vecna for disobeying him . maybe doesnt have the same effect since kas eddie is already dead but hey ho its still not pleasant.

Jason

I think Jason's death was bullshit. Not in the way Eddie's, bobs, or Billy's was bullshit but bullshit all the same. So I'm bringing him back in the worst fuckin way possible. the gate opening doesnt rip him in half so much as it swallows him whole. he lands face first in the upside down creel house just in time to miss steve nancy and robin leaving. hes hurt, thats no short fall he just had so hes kinda stuck there. obviously when hes done licking his wounds vecna comes home and finds him. Jason has zero fucking clue what's going on in Hawkins so for him to be strung up and tortured by vecna just has so many layers to it. Jason would think he'd died and gone to hell and that's a whole new kind of angst for me to work with. Vecna wouldn't even need to make him hallucinate to get the kind of suffering he needs to boost his powers. Just keep him awake and watching and Jason would be out of his mind in minutes. Bonus points for any body horror he might bring to the table: vecna has those vines in his back , maybe he could put some in Jason and turn him into a human security system with tendrils and eyes all over Hawkins. Forces Jason to watch the horror unfold AND when Jason inevitably reacts to the party, cries out to lucas or his friends to help him, vecna will know instantly.

Billy

Ok we know for a fact that billy is still around in vecnas head somewhere. See my other post for proof. Tldr billy is the only hallucination who seems to have real eyes or a soul and consciousness. Susan's eyes go white, Chrissy's moms eyes go white, freds accusers eyes are all white. The reason Billy's aren't is BC vecna has him, he can use the real billy in the hallucination to torment max. I imagine the reason he does this is 2 fold. To scare max yes but moreso to punish billy for daring to stand up to him, for beating his mind games in season 3. When max is in a coma neither vecna or el can reach her, she's safe. So what does vecna do? Take his frustration out on billy by forcing him to help spread the upside down around Hawkins. I see this 1 of two ways.

1. Billy has give up. He is too broken, he doesn't care what happens to him, to Hawkins, to anyone, even max. He is just too exhausted and can't bring himself to fight when he suddenly finds he has a body again. It just means more pain and he just cant take it anymore. i do love me some angst but i think this is a little ooc for Billy.

Or

2.Billy is too tough for vecna to break. He tried it once and it didn't work and all its done is pissed Bills off. Billy is fucking mad so there's no sense in trying to hallucinate him into compliance because hes already gazed into the abyss and spat in its face with the double middle finger salute. Further more, billy doesn't give a fuck about Hawkins, so making him watch shit hit the fan doesnt work either. But what does work, is threatening max. She's the only thing he gives a fuck about and he can't help her like this. "Do as I say and I won't touch her." Vecna says "you could run but you'll never get to her before I do" the noodly bastard is lying through his teeth and praying billy doesnt call his bluff. Nancy did a number on him, his brisk walking days are over. He's just praying billy doesn't find out max is in a coma and essentially untouchable in everything but the physical sense. So billy complies, for now, plotting to grind vecnas face into the concrete with his boot heel. He'll behave for now.

For max.

And since we need 4 I've got 2 choices.

First one is Nancy. Not that I don't love Nancy, even despite her flaws, i still canon that Karen wheeler is Alice creel which would make Henry, Nancy and mike's uncle. There has to be some reason why he picked her to show those visions to. Also I want to see Jonathan robin and Steve panicking BC Nancy is the only one holding the braincell and they all love her deeply. Bonus points if they get half way though saving her and she walks past having saved herself. insert i fear no man but that thing scares me meme of vecna with nancy.

Second one might lose more people but

You know how stranger things is inspired by silent hill? I think the last relay tower human/ victim should be Henry. Or at least, some part of the original Henry creel.

Think about it. Silent hills Alessa separated herself into "dark" and " light" sides. Og alessa stayed in the otherworld/ upside down and Cheryl/heather escaped. No powers but free from the darkness of alessas mind and the other world .why wouldn't vecna try that if he could? He's got trauma, he's got weakness, he may not look human anymore but hes still fallible . imagine if he found out he could just split himself down the middle and send that weak half packing some place else? become the apex predator he clearly wants to be? he'd jump at the chance...well, hobble at the chance. id like to see vecna treat this "weak" part of himself terribly. 'henry' gets the worst treatment from vecna and its just delicious angst and self loathing.

side note i had a thought about vecna using 'henry' as a human blood pouch for vampire eddie. henry using his 'talk to kids in the lab' voice to try and keep eddie calm, eddies sobbing and apologising as he drinks from henry but hes so hungry and in pain and has no control over it, henry just telling him its ok even though its agony.its nearly whumptober lads no one can stop me.

i am a sick and twisted individual. i may rewrite this thought into an actual fic with mungrove or munver, havent decided yet.

so yes, there are all my thoughts tm . i need a nap, maybe if i daydream up anymore suffering for my favorites ill let you all know

[awakeshedreams]

sugar and spice ( 1 )

pairing : resident bad boy!jjk x model student!reader

setting : highschool!au x stepbrother!au

summary :

a messy highschool!au x stepbrother!au where model student reader who has quite a few dirty little secrets sees her world take an unexpected turn when her mother comes home one day with an engagement announcement, to the father of none other than the school's resident bad boy.... Jeon Jungkook.

genre : smut, for laughs, kinda pornish, slow burn with collosaly overwhelming sexual tension

rating: soft m ( for now ) due to adult content

warnings : unconventional relationship of sexual nature, tropes and clichès, teenagers partaking in porn-esque activities, made up things with made up people happening in a made up world, don't like don't read XD

wordcount : 2.3K

a/n : i've been fighting in a long standing war and I have lost. the man known as jeon jungkook had his foot on my neck for years and today, I have finally submitted to my fate and surrendered to his reign.

yes. after a hundred years, i'm writing again. specifically, writing for bts. particularly, writing for jungkook. its been a long time coming.

life just took over and I transitioned into an adult and kind of grew out of the state of mind I was in before. but. sigh. jeon jungkook has been tormenting me the whole time. it was only a matter of time before i relapsed honestly.

so here I am again. in mind, body and spirit, a different person from who I was before but still the same in the sense that with the way bts have my whole heart, jk will always be the demon in the corner of my room that I invite to bed for a cuddle even though it's (probably really) not good for me.

do not misconstrue. I love him more than I can say. but. sigh. he has me in a chokehold, loves. please try to understand where I'm coming from.

anyways, enough with this ranting. you all came here for the nitty gritty so let me not hold you hostage with my dilemma rambling any longer. here's to the first bts fic i've posted in literal years. introducing- sugar and spice.

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Unless they told someone, no one would have been able to guess it.

At school they were complete strangers.

She was the nice head girl with a clean record, all smiles and straight A’s. He was the mysterious bad boy with a track record, all tatted up with bruised knuckles.

She wore plaid skirts with neat pleads in them and pastel sweaters with bows at the collar. He wore jeans with rips in them and leather jackets with studs.

They couldn't have been any more different.

As far as anyone was concerned, they existed on two extreme ends of a vast spectrum.

What they didn't know was that they shared a dirty little secret.

.

You were a girl with many dirty secrets.

For instance, you used to sell nudes online. It was a side hustle you did.

Not because you needed money.

Your mom was a renowned doctor so there was more than enough of that in your life.

Not because you needed validation from people online either.

Even without the constant compliments and the praises you knew you were visually blessed with a pretty face and a nice body too.

All things considered, you simply thought you had a nice pair of tits and you took pictures of them sometimes.

Posting the shots you snapped online came much later when you heard about this website where people were getting paid crazy money for posting racy things.

‘It’s just so degrading…’ It was one of your friends, June, who sneered, pretty nose scrunched up. She fixed her long ponytail and rolled her brown eyes while looking in the mirror at her locker. ‘Who would do such a thing, am I right?’

She said this, but June was the girl who has slept with more boys than she could count on her two hands. And those were the ones she told you about.

Like every other time, you said nothing. Even when it carried on to lunch with the rest.

‘Pretty desperate if you ask me.’ Mei the stellar track runner shrugged casually as she stretched her limbs like routine.

‘Where are their parents?’ Nina the library nerd shook her head in disapproval as she fixed her glasses so it sat right on the bridge of her nose.

‘Um… I don’t think it’s … appropriate… to talk about ….’ Kiko the one who always carried a cross and bible around mumbled into her sleeve.

All your friends spoke of it in derision and repulsion of course. This was a school for proper children so they were proper girls. At least they were supposed to be.

Regardless the conversation sparked a curiosity in you.

So you made an account and uploaded your first picture. Nothing bizarre. Just your tits in a pretty lace bra.

You made sure to keep your face out of the frame because that was the smart thing to do and you were nothing if not the smartest student in school.

In all honesty, you weren’t expecting anything out of it. In fact, in between work with student council and tutoring your juniors with finals right around the corner, you even forgot about it for an entire month.

It was by a complete whim that you decided to open the app while you’d been unwinding at your desk following a tedious day at school.

To say you were amused by the response you found waiting for you would have be a grave understatement.

You were staring at the four figure digit that now sat in your bank account.

Reading through the comment section was even more interesting.

There were all sorts of people there who had all sorts of things to say. Ranging from honestly sweet to downright dirty.

You had never been brought to tears laughing in her life before until then.

It was just so funny to see people misbehave and lose their minds over a pair of tits.

From then on it just sort of became a thing.

.

But that wasn't the worse of your secrets.

You were making a name for yourself on the crude web months later.

The next step was naturally to move from making taking pictures to making videos. Since you was already in too deep you didn’t see why not.

So you upgraded and opened another account. An amateur one where your touched yourself for an audience.

You were no prude.

You might have never been touched by a boy before but you had touched yourself plenty times. Stress and frustration came hand in hand with being head girl. Since you couldn’t quite vent it out at the annoying troublemakers at school, this was your second best option.

Third was watching porn, but that was mostly when you were extremely bored.

But that wasn’t where that little endeavor ended.

Later on it became a lot more risqué.

.

It all started when your mom hit you with a marriage announcement.

She met a guy on her business trip who she really liked and she was convinced he was the one.

Your mom had a tragic history of being a bad judge of character.

You’ve had this conversation at least five times since you became old enough to understand that boys and girls who were just friends didn’t kiss and sleep with each other.

Most times, it felt like she was doing it because she thought you needed a dad around.

You might have once, when you were younger and your mom was too busy with work to be there. But she worked from home these days and you were soo busy with school to worry about things like that.

This time it was like she was doing it for her. You were glad.

Your mom looked genuinely happy when she spoke about this guy.

Who were you to get in the way?

.

She spent almost the whole weekend in the kitchen. It was the longest you’ve seen her in there in your entire life.

She was excited for the dinner on Sunday.

Mr Jeon was the name of the chosen man.

He was coming over with his kid. A son, his only family. His wife passed away years ago.

You wore the dress your mom picked out for you, something cream in color and off the shoulders that brushed your knees. She looked pretty in her champagne dress. It was different from the office slacks and loose blouses you were used to seeing her in.

You stood by her at the door while the guests came through.

Lifting your head from a polite bow, you found herself staring straight into an achingly familiar pair of glinting dark eyes and went completely still.

‘Sweetie,' Your mother said sounding delighted, a soft hand on your stiff shoulder. 'This is Mr Jeon and his son Jungkook.’

Ah. Fuck.

‘Jeon dear, this is my daughter. Isn’t she lovely?’

.

Dinner was a mild affair, with small talk and the occasional clinking of cutlery on fine china.

From the outside looking in, you probably looked the picture perfect family already.

Only if no-one looked close enough.

Arms crossed, tongue in cheek. Your discomfort could be detected from miles away.

The two adults were oblivious.

The dark eyed boy with the slightest wave to his nape touching, brow grazing, ear covering onyx hair sat across you though; he took note of this with a passing glance and wordlessly returned to his food.

Jeon Jungkook had a countenance that betrayed his reputation.

Even though you’ve never talked, you knew plenty about him and you were sure he knew a lot about you too.

You went to the same school.

Dressed as he was in a crisp white dress shirt buttoned at the wrist and dark tailored pants with a fine belt on, it might have been hard to tell what kind of person he really was.

You lifted her gaze from your plate to look study him wordlessly, idly twisting the noodles with your fork.

People either called him the black sheep or the dark cloud but for you, Jeon Jungkook was the school’s resident lone wolf.

He smoked in the secluded areas on campus, sometimes playing his guitar. Beat up people who got on his nerves, sometimes using his guitar. Slept in class the rare times he was there, many times on his guitar.

Being his senior, you had never seen any of any of that for yourself. But you received plenty reports weekly to come to a sound conclusion.

There was no way people hated him enough to join hands in solidarity and make this all up.

It was quite the contrary actually. He had an alarming number of fans.

On the surface level you couldn’t see why. Most times you saw him, he looked bored out his mind and honestly, intimidating.

Maybe it was the tattoos. Or the ripped skinny jeans. Or the leather jackets with studs.

Maybe it was the domineering height and fit frame and structured face.

Maybe it was the intense dark eyes or the silky ruffled hair.

Even then, you failed to see the irresistible appeal in him. All those things that made him up only added to his unapproachable aura.

Bottom line was, he was bad news.

.

You didn’t want to be a spoil sport.

But how much of a thug your mom’s boyfriend’s son was shouldn’t be something that would make her like him less.

They were both their own people. Right ?

It was just that you just didn’t want her to be shocked and devastated if something happened later. When it happened.

Yet it seemed the serious conversation would have to wait.

After dinner your mom suggested you head to the living room to chat over wine and cheese.

You stayed back to do take out the dishes.

Earlier, your mom had stood to do it instead at first.

‘Don’t bother with that, dear.’ She reached for the plates in your hands. ‘Let me do it.’

‘It’s okay, mom.’ You smiled a little. ‘This is your night. I’ll meet you in the living room.’

'Sweetie...' Your mom looked close to tears. ‘But there’s so much of it…’

‘Jungkook,’ his father's voice had cut through the moment. He was a serious man in a crisp suit with a stoic countenance. His voice was just naturally authoritarian without him trying ‘Give her a hand.’

Jungkook stood, almost robotically.

‘It’s fine.’ You said. Politely. Nicely. Tightly. ‘I can handle this much.’

You left without another word.

That had been moments ago and now you were done with cleaning.

You stood at living room entrance for a while, taking in the scene.

The two adults were exchanging moon eyes and whispering in each other’s ears at the love seat.

Jungkook was sitting on a solo seat, but he was on his phone, completely unbothered by what was happening.

Your mom seemed to think it was the perfect time to pull out the photo album right then and there upon seeing you.

It was embarrassing but at least you knew you didn’t have to worry about the pictures spreading at school.

Jungkook was looking, picking up a picture occasionally to rove over, but he wasn’t the type to do that.

He also wasn’t the type to stare but you felt his glance shifting to you and lingering multiple times.

Once, you caught his eyes and he just stared at you across the coffee table wordlessly with a curious tilt to his head, idly flipping a picture of you dressed as a knight in glitter shining armor for Halloween at eight in his hands.

Honestly, it was starting to get annoying.

But you endured. For your mom’s sake.

.

Your alarm went off at exactly ten.

As subtly as you could, you excused yourself with an apology to the guests, saying you weren't really feeling well.

In hindsight you probably should have used a better excuse.

Your mom was notorious when it came to worrying, especially when it comes to your health.

Also, you probably should’ve locked the door before undressing just for good measure since people were over.

But in the moment, you were too busy setting your camera up where you were kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed to be concerned about that.

That day you were testing out a new toy.

.

Distractedly, you took note of a couple of people asking you if that was your boyfriend’s shirt you had lifted over your tits.

You ignored them.

Couldn’t a girl own an oversized tee without getting any flack?

Trivial comments like that aside, a good majority of the audience are fawning over how wet you were and how perfect you bouncing tits look being played with.

Your head fell back and your eyes fluttered shut.

You were sitting there, knees raised to your chest and legs splayed, your gushing pussy in full display where the toy was stuffed deep into her tightness, vibrating pleasantly.

‘I’m close…’ you mumbled throatily, squeezing your tits and pinching your stiff nipples in between your moving fingers. You moved your hips move faster, feeling the toy buzz against fluttering walls. You took a hand off one of your tits to rub at your engorged clit. ‘Fuckfuckfuck…’

Deep in your high, you didn’t hear the door open and close with a foreboding click.

You only heard your name being called by a deep, smooth voice through the heady haze.

Instantly you stilled.

When you snapped your head to look over her shoulder Jungkook was there, hands in his pockets, leaning against your doorframe with his sleeves drawn up to his elbows, muscle roped, inked skin on full display.

When he tilted his head to the side a little, appraisively, you dared to say as a quaking chill ran down your spine and your entire body felt like it was about to burst into flames, a bit of his hair fell over his face.

His eyes were like two black in the dark as he took you in, dragging his gaze up and down your exposed body languidly.

In the back of your mind, you wished the ground would part and swallow you whole.

‘Your mom,' he starts, capturing your attention wholly, dark gaze finally flickering to your face, his voice suddenly lower, hoarser. ‘She sent me over to check on you.’

It took you a moment to realize where you were, who you were, who he was.

It was like a bucket of cold water had been dropped over your head.

Jeon Jungkook, the school's resident trouble maker, soon to be your step brother, just walked in on you fingering yourself in in front of a recording camera.

Well. Yeah.

You gulped.

You were royally fucked.

depending on the response I get I might ( most probably will ) delete this. not because I'm ashamed of my work. because I'm embarrassed of myself. I really swore to never write again and here I am. sigh. yes, I have seen my previous works and noticed just how terrible they were and this is a big reason why. so sorry for putting you through that. a million apologies.

also, that's right. I have adopted a new style which might not be to everyone's liking. another reason why.

anyways, if you liked this filth ( i know it seems mild but I can tell you it's very likely gonna get worse ) please idk uh... fuck this isn't ao3. hm.

like and drop by in the ask box if you liked it and want to see more. it makes me happy. its like serotonin fuel to me.

have a nice day. see you next time ( maybe ). stay fresh. yeah. 💜💜.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1051 - Initial Thoughts

So the battle is over, now the fallout begins

Wano doesn't know it yet, but their plight is over, a new era has begun So let us see how it unfolds

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release also!

And Germa had to do the rule of cool escape, cool people walk away from explosions...something tells me however that this isn't all there is to it, at least I hope not

And Kin'emon is alive! Good! I know people were set on him dying but since he was the person who kickstarted this whole Wano-based saga I thought it was fitting he survived

Naturally, the people of Wano are shocked

Kiku's also alive! So Usopp's actions and Izo's sacrifice wasn't for naught. Sadly it does imply that Izo's dead though which is sad. Also brief Shinobu appearance

Surprised Raizo's there though, I feel like a full bodied burn would take more than a bandage to the head

Mini Onimaru appearance too, feel like he could've been used in the main fight

And the crew finally meet Yamato, and are of course on guard because they're Kaido's son

So, this is what people were going crazy about? Yamato insisting they're going to be sailing with the crew? It's not exactly confirmation I'm with Jinbe on this

Also someone really needs to tell Brook and Sanji...

Also also Tama's face is priceless

Chopper's hard at work healing Luffy and Zoro, we still need to know about Zoro though but if he's being treated he's clearly still alive

Kaido's men are doing a runner though, despite Yamato's protests

Huh, so Tama's DF does have a time limit, after a month the animals can return to the wild if they choose

And Speed is gonna stay tamed, Tama even wants her to be the new mother

It's cute, but I feel like this came out of nowhere a little, maybe if we had more time establishing Speed being protective and motherly towards Tama. Tama calling her Horselina-chan doesn't help either

Nami also shocked, maybe she wanted to be the mother

Momo slowly comes out of the smoke now too, making a good speech

Aw mini Komachiyo, and of course sad Tama past; her parents died working in the mines, and Hitetsu took her in to keep her spirits up. Strong kid for sure, but the tears can come - embracing Nami rather than her new 'mother'

Oh crack a smile boys, Kid you weren't there for the alliance but you did your part, Law just let people be grateful to you

Carrot appearance finally too

Almost faltered at the end but thanks to some telepathic encouragement from Kin'emon he lands on his feet

The age up did Momo good, long hair's definitely a keeper. Glad he's not exactly like Oden too, he's his own manchild

He also gets to reunite with his sister at last (would've been funny as hell if she dropkicked him)

And Oda telling us off the bat that he'll be one of Wano's greatest leaders, so Wano's going to be all right

I liked this chapter, it is the cooldown period of the post-raid stuff. I can see a lot of people not liking things because it didn't go their way though:

I know a lot of people were set on Hiyori becoming Shogun, using this as a reason to put Momo in the crew, but frankly I never saw it. It's the Sansa Stark problem, if you're familiar with Game of Thrones (and if you aren't you must've avoided it with intent to not see it) you know Sansa Stark suffered a lot of shit through the series, but when it came to the final season I always felt like she didn't deserve to be 'Queen of the North' simply because she suffered a lot. Enduring torment doesn't equate to being a good leader; Hiyori may've suffered, but she also lived pretty cosy in Denjiro's Yakuza-protected Flower Capital-endorsed brothel, she was a national celebrity and all she really had to do was play coy on Orochi's advances and fleece a bunch of sickos out of their money. Nothing from this arc has demonstrated that Hiyori had any ambitions or qualities of being a leader, in contrast to Momo who is making decisions and declared that he would become Shogun even when beaten and about to be executed.

I'm happy to see Kiku and Kin'emon alive too, but I understand that people wanted them to die so we had a higher death count. We still lost Ashura, and likely Izo, and we've yet to see Drake or Hyou either. I will say though I did expect one of the mink leaders to die though, mainly because we've not actually seen someone peter out from Su Long, and Raizo, but I'm content with Oda not killing people off for the sake of it either.

So then we get to Yamato. I'm probably gonna get a lot of heat for this but I don't think they should join the crew. Now, put those pitchforks down please and let me explain! I really like Yamato as a character, and yes I'd enjoy seeing more of them, but there's a but I cannot shake and it's that normally prospective Straw Hats go through a process, it's not just 'Befriend Luffy, claim to join', if it were then what stopped Bartolomeo? Most Straw Hats fulfill certain things Yamato's yet to cover; a role on the ship, a rapport with another Non-Luffy Straw Hat (Zoro and Usopp didn't have this granted but that's because the options were slim, also Robin really became a Straw Hat after Enies Lobby), and Luffy calling them by their actual name. Meanwhile, Carrot achieves all these things; like Yamato she has ambitions of seeing the world, has a unique transformation, a powerful fighting style, has suffered loss, and is slightly naive, but unlike Yamato she's fulfills the role of the crow's nest, she has rapport with Chopper, Sanji and Nami, Luffy calls her by her name. I know Carrot hasn't featured a lot in Wano, but she's been with us for 3 arcs now, so I find it slightly unfair that Yamato can just strut in ahead of her without doing some of the key things Carrot has achieved during her time. In addition to this, Luffy doesn't need a 'Kozuki Oden', Oden was on Roger's crew because he could read Poneglyphs, Luffy has Robin for that. I know Yamato fans are on a high and this sounds like trampling, but I feel like until Luffy says it, it's not happening, he's the captain after all it's his decision. Of course if Yamato does join the crew I'll get over it but I'll be sad that Carrot missed out despite doing everything right, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Luffy told Yamato to either go out on their own - since the fleeing Beast Pirates implied to Yamato that some didn't want to work for them - as a Grand Fleet member or fulfill Oden's promise to Whitebeard - about returning to him after his voyage with Roger - by going with Marco.

Right, now that's done lemme pull out one or two pitchforks from my stomach and talk about Tama. Tama was a strange one because I did like she got payoff and that her DF has limits, but the Speed stuff is also something that felt like it needed more fleshing out. It's nice for her to have a new family though, I could easily see her and some tamed Gifters becoming Momo's Oniwabanshu with Raizo and Shinobu, but I also could've seen her becoming a pirate. Not with Luffy, but like how the Tontattas became 'pirates' but mainly operate in Dressrosa. She is the Queen of Beasts after all.

And finally Momo, I think we still have much more left of Wano, Luffy and Momo are likely to say goodbye to one another once he awakens and of course there's the whole Zoro thing we've left unchecked for AGES LIKE GODDAMN ODA! Like I said before I like that Momo looks different to Oden, he still has the eyebrows but his character arc has been about not being his father; Oden didn't want to become Shogun, he wanted Wano's borders open, and he often tried to do things himself, but Momo has become his own identity by acting against his Father's intentions, and that's what will make him a great leader. I understand people will worry because he's still 8 years old, but he's matured a lot and he has a lot of intelligent people around him with good intentions.

The fallout will continue of course, but for now we can close the book on Toki's Prophecy, a new day begins in Wano.

[miss-smutty]

The Destructive Secret

Chapter 3

A/N- The secrets out! Well to you guys anyway 🤫

Summary- You've got a secret to hide and it's going to cause complete and utter destruction. It's only so long until your lies are going to catch up to you.

Word count- 3,258

Warnings- Swearing, lies, deceit, cheating

Pairing- Chris Hemsworth X you / Liam Hemsworth X you

18+ only!

Disclaimer: This is an entire work of fiction/AU and has no affiliation to real life what so ever! This is a fictional story about fictional characters who happen to share names and faces with some real people.

Posted: 25th May 2021

Taglist-: @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @mostly-marvel-musings

Chapter 1 + 2

"Morning babe, I tried to let you have a sleep in. I didn't wake you did I?" He asks, preoccupied with the washing up.

"No, I actually had a good sleep for once." You say nonchalantly while searching through the kitchen cupboards for a mug in a half asleep haze. "That's not going to last long when I have to spend the weekend in a hotel bed though."

Finally finding your favourite mug right at the back of the cupboard, you slam it on the counter a little more aggressively than you expected, startling you out of your daziness. Your boyfriend raises his eyebrow at you questioningly and you just shrug your shoulders back at him. It was definitely going to be one of them days, those days where nothing goes right. You would question what you'd done to deserve it but you already know the answer to that.  You were just going to have to put up with karma kicking your ass at any given moment for the rest of your life.

"Aww I know babe, at least it's only two night's though." He comes up behind you, resting his chin on your shoulder and wrapping his arms around your waist. "You've just reminded me -" He presses carefully, the way he shifts his composure telling you he's uncomfortable with what he's about to say and your heart begins to beat a little faster. " - I know you're going away tomorrow and I really wanted to have the night alone..." He pauses again.

"Just tell me, what is it?" You ask, trying to keep the annoyance from your voice.

"My brother called this morning, he sounds in a bad way so I said he can come over and hang out tonight. You don't mind do you?" Now your heart stops beating completely, what the hell is he playing at? 

 "I'm worried about him, he's not been right lately and he's going away for work tomorrow night too so it's the only time I can see him really." You're angry with him for saying he's going away too, how more fucking obvious can he make it? You're just both suspiciously going to be away with work at the same time. You can't protest about it now, you don't want to raise any more questions.

"No of course not, babe." You agree reluctantly, still seething with anger on the inside. "Right, I'm going for a shower and then I better start packing." You sulk.

"Do you want some help?" He ask as you kiss him on his cheek while you're passing. 

"It's ok babe, you know how meticulous I am with my packing." You say smiling softly at him.

"Gotcha, I am not getting involved with that. Give me a shout if you want a coffee." 

"You're the best." 

                         ****************

Using the tap to muffle the sound of your voice while you make a call. This was starting to become a habit now, the sound of running water in the background whenever you speak to him, a memory that you will never forget. Whenever you run your bath or fill the sink you're going to be reminded of your lying and cheating. Great! Just another thing to add to the list of things to look forward to in the future.

You never thought you'd be a cheater, especially to someone you loved and cared for so deeply. You'd always despised people who cheated, could never understand how people could have multiple lives and cheat multiple times. Naively thinking that if they weren't happy they should just tell the person they are with and stop all the hurt but it doesn't always work that way. You didn't suddenly think 'hey I'm not happy, I'm going to go fuck someone else'. You certainly wouldn't have chosen his brother if that was the case. Over the years it just happened and you hated yourself for it. You weren't even unhappy in your relationship, so that throws all your theories of 'cheaters' completely out of the window. The sound of the dial tone snaps you from your thoughts.

"Hi babe." He answers almost immediately, leaving you with no time to regain your composure. "Hello?" 

"Oh erm.... Don't 'hi babe' me." Not a great start, you have to admit.

"What's wrong?" You can tell that Chris is amused with your tone of voice and it makes that anger resurface.

"You know exactly what's wrong, why the fuck are you coming over here tonight?" 

"Erm to s-" you don't even give him time to speak before you interrupt him. You don't believe that he's just coming to see Liam, you know he's coming to see you no matter what he says.

"As if it's not awkward enough without having you both in the same house together... You have to cancel." The thought of them both being together with you filled you with fear. How were you supposed to act around them both? The idea of it fills you with chills.

"I'm not cancelling. I haven't seen him in a while and he invited me. It'll be fine, I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise. I get you all to myself tomorrow anyway." 

"Exactly so why do you need to come over here and make everything all awkward?"

"Babe I'm coming to see my brother, you get me to yourself tomorrow. Don't be selfish" you could hear the amusement in his voice, you're sure he enjoys this.

"Pfft." A huff is about the only thing you could manage right now.

"You get to have both your favourite people in the same room, at the same time... Hey maybe we can have a threesome?" 

"Fuck off." You murmur, although you have to admit the thought of it does turn you on slightly. In a perfect world that would be the best possible outcome but it's not a perfect world and that most definitely would never happen.

"I'll see you tonight, wear something sexy." He laughs.

"This isn't funny." You reply before hanging up the phone and you're left alone with the tormenting sound of flowing water.

This is going to be a disaster, you can't help but think that tonight is the night it all comes out. Surely this isn't what he has planned, he wouldn't want to hurt his brother in such a viscous way. To announce at dinner that he's fucking his girlfriend and that they've been going behind his back and fucking for years. Surely not?  You're pretty sure you're being paranoid but know you're going to be on the edge of your seat all night, frightened everytime he opens his mouth to speak.

                                 **************

You're sure you've downed almost a full bottle of wine before he's even arrived, you try to remember how many glasses you've had when you finally hear the dreaded chime of the doorbell. Your head is dizzy with bubbles already, your stomach churning at the thought. It wasn't the cleverest of ideas to drink so much already, not when you need to be sharp and aware of what you're doing and saying. Fuck.

The way Chris' eyes light up when he sees you reminds you exactly why this is all worth it. You feel your nerves settle slightly now the first step was over and it wasn't so bad was it? You don't know what you were actually expecting, him to walk through the door and kiss you passionately sounds about right though.

"Chris! Hi, how you doing?" You act, standing on your tiptoes to hug him. It's so hard acting like he's your brother in law and not your... Boyfriend? Lover? You don't even know what to call him.

"Hi, beautiful." He whispers into your ear, making your stomach flip when you feel his lips graze against your neck. "I'm good thank you, how are you guys?" He says louder, moving away from your arms reluctantly and standing against the counter. The glint in his eyes and the smirk on his lips make him look sexy as hell, you bite onto your lip as hard as you can. Hoping to draw blood so you can concentrate on the pain and not the fact you want to rip your boyfriend's brothers clothes off.

"We're great" Liam replies.

"I'm sure you are." Chris says sarcastically under his breath, luckily Liam didn't hear him. You give Chris the glare, reminding him to be on his best behaviour.

"But how are you? You didn't sound too good the other day." Liam asks, opening a bottle of wine.

"I was probably just tired bro, you know how it is. I don't get much sleep nowadays." 

"Oh yeah, is a woman involved by any chance?" Liam asks, laughing to himself.

"Yeah, something like that." Chris subtly grazes your hand as you walk into the kitchen to help Liam. You freeze on the spot, looking into his eyes you see a desperately pleading look. You know this is torture for him, that he just wants to grab you and hold onto you. Even though he tries his best not to, he hates his brother for it, he hates that he gets to have you.

"Anyway, it smells great in here. What you making?" Chris says locked in eye contact with you. 

"I've just thrown together some dinner." You say casually, although deep down your heart is tugging and your hands are shaking.

"Her food is fucking amazing, I probably should have made sure you hadn't eaten first though?" Liam puts his arms around you and kisses your cheek as you carry on stirring the food on the stove. You're glad you have your back to Chris because you dread to think of his reaction. How you have to pretend you don't know each other on that deep level. You had tried to warn him that this was a bad idea.

"Yeah, no that would be awesome. Thanks" You can tell by the way his voice broke that this is causing him pain and there's nothing you can do about it. 

                              **************

"Do you want a beer or are you ok with wine?" Liam asks Chris as you sit down at the table ready to eat.

"I'd love a beer bro" Chris replies. You watch from the corner of your eye as Liam heads to the fridge, your heart beating a little faster now he's out of sight. Looking to Chris nervously.

Chris takes the opportunity while Liams back is turned and grabs your hand under the table. Stroking your palm with his thumb he mouths the words 'love you'. You can't help but feel sorry for him, this horrible situation you're all in. You mouth the words back to him before he lets your hand go when Liam comes back into sight.

All the way through the meal Chris can't take his eyes off of you, you're worried Liam will notice but he's paying no attention. Obviously he has no reason to doubt his loyal girlfriend and protective big brother, why would he? Which makes your betrayal even more unbearable.

"This is great Y/N." Chris says after tasting your food and moving your dress a little higher so he can place his hand on the top of your bare thigh under the table. The shock makes you jump and you hit your knee on the top of the table.

"Are you alright?" Liam asks looking slightly confused.

"Sorry, yeah. I just burnt my mouth." There's a slight hint of amusement in your words, you're a bad person but the situation is just too much not to find it slightly funny. The feel of Chris' hand on your thigh makes you feel butterflies in your stomach at the same time as the deep sick feeling of dread, your mind in a giant conflicted turmoil of feelings.

You can see Chris is also trying to hide his laugh as he takes a sip from his beer, one hand still on your thigh. Why the fuck am I sat in the middle? You hadn't thought about it when you'd sat down but now realise it was a massive mistake and also subconsciously the perfect place for you. The playing piece in a match against brothers, only one player is unaware there is any contest at all.

Chris finishes his beer and puts it down on the table loudly, filling the awkward silence between you all. You can understand the awkwardness between you and Chris but why is Liam not speaking? He wanted to see Chris to figure out what was wrong with him but he's not asking any questions. Has he figured it out? Did he see Chris touch your hand earlier? Had he seen you both whispering? You wriggle in your chair, feeling deadly uncomfortable and hoping Chris would move his hand. He didn't take the hint.

"Do you want another?" Liam asks Chris, already getting up from his chair and not waiting for an answer. Something is definitely wrong. Chris's hand moves further up your thigh, grazing the lace of your panties with the tip of his long finger. He's also completely oblivious to your awkwardness, drinking too much is numbing his senses and becoming dangerous. He's playing with fire. 

You fling your chair back from the table, standing abruptly, your cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and nervousness.

"I'm just gunna get some more beers from the basement." Liam announces, Chris sat cooly in his chair with not an ounce of nervousness.

"It's ok I'll go, you guys have a chat." You say, desperately needing to escape for a minute to catch your breath.

"Don't be silly, it'll only take me a minute." Liam says, already walking towards the door.

Chris takes his cue again, standing from his chair and moving over to you. Standing closely so he can whisper in your ear, his arm pressed to the small of your back while he holds you against him.

"I can't wait to have you in my bed again tomorrow Y/N. I've waited too long." 

"Chris, shh." 

"No, you shh. I wish I had you now, right here. I could just sit you up on this counter and fuck you right here -" He moves his hand up your skirt, gripping your ass in his big hands. "- You want that don't you? Tell me." His teeth graze the skin on your neck, making your head hang back loosely. You want it so bad, all your tension melts away as your muscles relax in his arms.

"We've got all weekend Chris, we can't do this here. It's too risky." You sigh, carefully wrapping your arms around his neck and listening for any sign of Liam.

"Fuck I know but it's so hard being here with you and not being able to fucking touch you." He moves away from you, running his hand though his hair in frustration.

"I told you how hard it'd be." You say.

"How hard what would be?" Liam asks breathlessly. Fuck. You hadn't heard him coming back, how much more had he heard? 

You're lost for words, completely frozen in shock. If he hadn't heard or seen anything it was still way too close for your liking.

"To shoot this ball of foil into that bin from all the way over here." Chris replies hastily, you're incredibly impressed with his quick thinking.

"Let me have a go then." Liam says, taking the foil from Chris. Typical competive brothers. Chris turns to you and winks devilishly, you're perfectly aware of how desirable he looks but you try to push that thought aside. You can't be thinking about that, the things he had just been saying and the thrill of almost being caught, all at once. 

"My turn." You say raising your eyebrows at them both as you swing your hips, confidently over to the fridge. Chris bites his lip as he watches you walk over. "Watch and learn boys." This is quite possibly the strangest situation you've ever been in but you might as well make the most of it.

You shoot your shot and land the foil ball straight into the bin. Turning around and bowing, you're wide eyed when you straighten back up. They both moved towards you as if they were going to kiss you, luckily Chris stopped himself in time.

"Only you could've landed that shot." Liam says, picking you up in his arms, leaving you with no choice but to wrap your legs around him while he kisses your lips deeply. 

You risk a glance at Chris over Liam's shoulder and he's seething with anger, you can see it written all over his face. 

"I'm gunna go outside for some air." Chris announces blankly while Liam sets you back on the ground, a look of concern on his face.

"You alright bro?" Liam asks with no reply from Chris as he walks out of the door.

You get on with the cleaning up, distracting yourself and hoping Liam hadn't noticed Chris' reaction. You can sense Liam behind you, stood on the spot thinking. He's working it out, he's putting together all the pieces and finally working it out.

"I've worked out what's wrong with Chris." He comes up behind you, emptying the plates into the trash. Fuck, here we go.

"What do you mean?" You ask gently, not really wanting to hear his conclusion.

"You know, the reason why he's been moping about all the time." You don't turn around, you just listen, hiding your face and any reaction you're showing. "Well he's quite obviously jealous of us." He adds. There we go, he's worked it out or he's definitely worked out Chris' part in it all.

You felt your stomach drop, Chris was so obvious it wouldn't take a genius to see something was wrong.

"What makes you say that?" You press, carefully. Your back still turned to Liam while you clean the surfaces.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice how he just acted when I kissed you." Of course you noticed, you just hoped Liam hadn't. It won't be long until he puts all the pieces together and figures this all out, if he hasn't already. You pour the last of the bottle of wine into your glass, gulping it greedily. Lord knows you're going to need it.

"He needs a girlfriend, can't you fix him up with one of your friends?" You can't describe the relief you feel right now and a small twang of jealousy at the thought of Chris with one of your friends.

"I'm sure your brother isn't short of admirers Liam, he doesn't need me to fix him up" Your tone of voice was a little too short. Pull it together.

"I suppose you're right but he doesn't have the best taste in women does he?" You can feel your cheeks burning, you're fighting the urge to defend yourself. Telling Liam his brother had the same taste in women when it came to you, wouldn't go down quite so well would it? 

"I'm seeing someone actually Liam." Chris says, overhearing your conversation as he came back in after finally composing himself.

"Oh really? You never said." Liam asks curiously.

"Yeah, we're keeping it to ourselves for now... Until she tells her boyfriend." What the actual fuck? You can't believe he's just said that, he looks at you defiantly, completely over this whole thing.

Liam nearly spat his drink out and you're sure your cheeks are beetroot red, you don't have a clue what to do in this situation. 

"Is she married? Do I know her?" Liam questions further. You're hoping and praying he stops with the questions, Chris is ready and willing to come clean, you can tell by his expression.

"No not married but you do know her. You know her really well actually." Chris says while avoiding your gaze purposefully...

[oikawaplssteponme]

𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖

“It’s always been you. Has it always been me?”

pairing: Tobio Kageyama x fem!reader

rating/warnings: E for everyone :) [if there ever are warnings, they will be posted before reading]

synopsis: You liked him. He liked you. Easy right? Well, maybe not as easy as you thought.

a/n: hii💓 i can’t believe that im finally posting this. this is the first two chapters but it is in one post. ive been writing this for a while so im super excited to share it :)) enjoy XX

•

one: sweater

“You do realize you have to talk to her in order for her to notice you, right?” said Tsukishima. Kageyama turned to him and growled.

“Of course I know that!” huffed Kageyama. He couldn’t help but stare at you. You weren’t even doing anything. Just standing there, talking with your friend seemed to be interesting enough for him.

“I can’t just go and talk to her. What would I even say?”

“Just ask her out!” squealed Hinata. Kageyama rolled his eyes.

“No one asked you,” he said. Tsukki chuckled.

“Well I hope you enjoy staring then, because that’s all you’ll be doing if you don’t grow a pair and talk to her,” Tsukki chimed in.

Kageyama has liked you since he laid eyes on you. There wasn’t one thing he didn’t like about you.

“Give her your sweater,” said Yamaguchi suddenly.

The group turned to him.

“What?” questioned Kageyama.

“Look at her, she’s cold.” Kageyama turned to look at you again.

You were only wearing a short sleeve button up with a skirt and uniform socks. You rubbed your hands up and down your arms to warm yourself up. It was fall turning to winter and the school’s AC has been full blast all day. You didn’t remember it was going to be colder out.

“Uh...” Kageyama looked down at the sweater he was holding. It was his club one.

“That’s a great idea Tadashi!” said Hinita, practically jumping for joy.

“So what, I'm supposed to just give her my sweater and leave? That’s so stupid,” Kageyama grumbled, trying to think of any excuse possible not to go over to you.

“If you go over to her, I won’t bother you during practice,” Tsukki said. This sparked Kageyama’s interest.

“Just do it,” said Tsukki, pushing Kageyama.

He stumbled on himself, but surprisingly kept walking towards you. Your friend had already left so you were alone by your locker. He walked slowly, practically starting to shake in his shoes. He could hear Tsukki’s laughs behind him, only making him more nervous. Kageyama swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Uh... h-hi Y/N,” he managed to stumble out. You jumped, as if you were startled.

“Oh hi Kags!” You smiled.

You had the most beautiful smile Kageyama had ever seen. Kageyama was so tall, you looked small as he looked down at you. You were the only person in the world that called Kageyama ‘Kags’, and that made him like you even more.

“I saw that- well I don’t mean that I saw, I just happened to notice- that um, you looked cold. So um, here.” Kageyama reached out his sweater. You looked stunned. Your shock turned into a smile.

“Oh my gosh, thank you. I was so stupid and left my jacket at home,” you chuckled. You took the sweater with care, lightly brushing against Kageyama’s hand with your own. You put the sweater on. It hit almost to the end of your skirt and the sleeves passed your hands, so you pulled them up, holding them in the center of your palm, like sweater paws. Kageyama couldn’t help but smile. You looked so perfect in his sweater, as if it were made for you.

“I-I wouldn’t want you to be cold,” said Kageyama. Even he was surprised he could form a sentence.

“That’s so sweet of you,” you smiled. Kageyama started to drift off into his own world just by looking into your eyes.

*RING*

Kageyama snapped back into reality when he heard the final bell ring, signaling the end of the day.

“Well nice talking to you see you later,” Kageyama spoke, a mile a minute, as he rushed back to his friends as they headed to practice without him.

You stood there, with a confused smile on your face. You sighed, realizing you REALLY were wearing his sweater. You hugged yourself, smelling the sweater. You grabbed your backpack and headed to the locker room with an overwhelming smile.

two: backroads

“Aw, little Kageyama getting flustered over a pretty girl!” laughed Noya. Kageyama grumbled to himself.

“I never said I wouldn’t tell everyone,” said Tsukki, enjoying this torment of Kageyama most of all.

“I didn’t know Kageyama could like anything as much as volleyball, let alone a girl,” Daichi chuckled.

“Oh I’m pretty sure Kageyama is in lo-“ started Hinata, before Kags threw him across the gym with full force.

“Shut up Hinata, you moron!” The whole team laughed before getting shushed by Ukai to start practice.

Kageyama couldn’t focus at all. All he could think about was you in his sweater. He wasn’t in sync with Hinata, he couldn’t score with his usual line shot, and he even missed 2 serves.

When hitting lines started, he asked Suga to start. Kageyama went over to grab some water and outside for some air. Little did he know that right there was the cheer team practicing.

“Omg Y/N, isn’t that Kageyama?” said Koi, the friend you were talking to earlier. Your head did a 180, seeing that it really was Kageyama. He stood at the foot of the steps of the gym, drinking his water. You felt your face start to get hot.

“Uh yeah it is,” You said. You were still wearing his sweater, since it was chilly out, but now with leggings.

“Hey Ka-“ began Koi, before receiving your hand over her mouth.

“Say another word and I’ll kill you,” Koi laughed under the pressure of your hand. Kageyama looked up before spotting the scene before him. His eyes widened, before rushing back into the gym. You sighed.

“The last thing I need is for you to embarrass me in front of him.” You said. Koi smiled.

“Kageyama is so hard to read sometimes but one thing is for sure. He likes you.” replied Koi, giving you nudge. You smiled.

“I’m not so sure. I think he was just being nice with the whole sweater thing. I’m sure anyone would have done the same.” Koi shook her head.

“But not anyone did. He did.” Those words felt like a slight punch in the gut to you. Kageyama might be a scary and slightly unapproachable guy but he still was nice. You shook off the comment, putting your focus back on practice.

•

“Come on Kageyama! Get it together!” yelled Coach Ukai, after Kageyama shanked his second ball in a row. Kageyama has been off all practice. You clearly were the only thing occupying his mind.

“Sorry Coach,” said Kageyama, as he finally passed a ball right to target.

“Alright, shag up balls and go home,” said Coach. The team replied with a strong “right” and cleaned up.

“Wow Kageyama you really sucked today,” cheered Hinata. Kageyama sighed, knowing he was right.

“He was occupied with other thoughts-” Tsukki started before getting cut off with a punch from Kags.

“Whatever. See you guys tomorrow.” Kageyama grabbed his things and headed out the door. This was probably one of the first times he actually left practice early instead of practicing hitting with Hinata. Kageyama started to walk home. Now he was the one who was cold. His sweat cooled him off, causing him to shiver as he walked home.

“Kageyama?” He heard a voice call behind him. He turned around and there you were. His heart stopped.

“Oh, hi Y/N. What are you doing here?” He asked, trying to keep his cool. You ran towards him to catch up. You still were wearing his sweater.

“I thought I’d take this route to get home,” you replied. That was a total lie though. You knew that Kageyama always took the back roads to get to his house, which was on the street next to yours.

“Oh...” he smiled. You two walked together in silence for some time. Neither of you had the guts to say something. All your bubbly energy had left your body due to being so close to Kageyama. He was the only thing in the world that made you nervous. Suddenly you remembered.

“Oh Kags, do you want your sweater back?” you asked. You of course wanted him to say no. If you could, you would keep the sweater forever. Plus, you were cold.

“Oh uh, no, you can keep it for now. I don’t want you getting cold,” he replied. Kageyama didn’t know what else to say. He loved seeing you in his sweater as much as you loved wearing it.

“Thank you, I’ll wash it and give it to you tomorrow,” you said, unsure what else to say without professing your love for him. You could feel your cheeks getting hot, not just because of the cold breeze. Kageyama smiled, nodding his head.

You two walked for another five minutes in silence. It wasn’t an awkward kind of silence, you were just glad enough to be in his presence.

“Well um, this is my stop,” you said, pointing to your house. Kageyama gave you a shy smile.

“Oh okay. Uh, goodnight Y/N,” Kageyama said, giving a small wave. You smiled.

“Goodnight Kags.”

[bridgyrose]

how about z for ladybug? i'm a sucker for dream soulmates

(This is a bit of a longer post)

Ruby smiled as she sat down in a meadow, relaxing in the view of a small village below her. She leaned back, feeling the grass on her back and the sun on her face… only for a shadow to cover her. She opened her eyes, chuckling a bit. “If you wanted to see me again, all you had to do was ask.” 

Blake sat down next to Ruby, pulling out a picnic basket. “You know as well as I do that I cant choose when to see you.”

“I know, but… maybe one day we can meet each other.” 

“Assuming you remember this.” 

Ruby nodded and sat up, reaching for her bag. “Oh, there’s something I almost forgot.” She pulled out a small parcel wrapped in twine. “For you. Happy birthday.” 

Blake slowly took the parcel, smiling softly. “You remembered.” 

“I couldnt remember the title of that book you liked, so I hope you like this one.” 

Blake unwrapped the book, looking it over. She smiled and held it close. “Faunus fairytales. Havent read a few of these since I was a kid. This means a lot Ruby. Thank you.” 

Ruby laid back again. “I’m glad you like it.”

Blake leaned back with Ruby, laying close to her. “I know this is just a dream but… I cant help but feel we have a connection.”

“I understand what you mean. Maybe we could-”

Blake put a finger on Ruby’s lips before sitting up and moving to straddle Ruby, looking down on her. “I think I can make an exception this time.”

Ruby smiled and closed her eyes, leaning in for a kiss-

-------------------------------------------------

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* 

Ruby groaned as she woke up to the sound of her alarm going off. She reached for her alarm, snoozing it so she could go back to sleep. She hated being interrupted by a good dream and this one… this one was great. She couldnt remember all of it, but she at least remembered a date and a face. 

Yang came up into Ruby’s room, sighing and shaking her head. “Come on Rubes, you need to get up. You’ll be late for your first day on the job.” 

“Dun wanna.” Her voice was muffled as she pressed into the pillow. She curled up more in her blanket, trying to get warm. “Sleep…”

Yang walked over to Ruby’s bed and jerked the blanket off her sister and then went to open the blinds. “Rise and shine sis. You know dad isnt going to be happy if you’re late.” 

Ruby slowly got up, yawning and glaring at Yang. “It’s too early…”

“And that’s what you get for staying up all night playing games. I reminded you that we had to be up early and what did you say?” 

“I’ll be fine…” Ruby sighed and got up to get showered. “Nora, Pyrrha, Jaune, and Penny needed me. We had to finish up the raid and stop the Demon King’s armies.” 

“They could’ve had you later today.” Yang started walking out of the room, straightening her apron. “Breakfast is ready when you finally get downstairs. We’ve got to leave in an hour.” 

“Alright, I’ll hurry up.” Ruby groaned as she started her shower, sighing a bit. “Today’s going to suck.” 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blake held her book close, not remembering when she had gotten it. She didnt remember going to sleep with one and she certainly didnt remember having a book with faunus fairytales. At least, not since she was a kid. She smiled a bit as she opened up the cover, seeing the words “Happy Birthday Blake” written inside. 

Kali knocked on the door. “Blake? Are you up?”

Blake nodded and sat the book down on her nightstand. “Yeah, I am.” 

Kali walked in, smiling softly and pulling Blake into a hug. “Happy birthday dear.”

“Thanks mom.” 

Kali pulled away a bit. “You seem happier today than you have in a while.” 

“I… had a great dream. My soulmate has to be near, I know it.” 

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and see her in town.” 

Blake smiled a bit. “W-wait, you mean it? We can go into town today?” 

“I dont see why not. It is your birthday and we have plenty of time to do whatever we need today.” 

Blake practically threw herself onto her mother, hugging tightly. “Thank you mom!” 

“Alright kitten, make sure you’re ready so we can go soon. And we can stop by that bookstore you like.” 

“And I can get any book I want, right?” 

“Within reason.” Kali smiled at her daughter. “You may be eighteen now, but you need to start thinking about your future.”

“I know mom. And I will.” Blake pulled away and got up to start getting dressed. “Really think I might meet my soulmate today?” 

“Stranger things have happened.” Kali started leaving her daughter’s room, lingering a bit by the door. “Oh, and breakfast will be ready soon. We wouldnt want it getting cold today.” 

Blake nodded, getting herself ready and putting on a bow to cover her ears. “Dont worry mom, I’ll be down soon.”

Kali started heading back downstairs to finish breakfast for her daughter. 

Blake smiled at herself in the mirror before fixing her bow a bit. “Today is going to be a great day.” 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruby slowly walked into the bookstore, sighing as she sat her pack down behind the counter. “Sorry I’m late dad.” 

“Try to be on time tomorrow.” Tai came out from the back with a large stack of books, setting them down on the counter. “I’d rather you not make a habit of coming in late.” 

“I know. I… misjudged how late I was staying up last night.” 

“You really should quit playing those games. If they’re going to consumer your life or enable you to make the wrong choices-” 

“It was one time dad.” Ruby sighed and started picking up a few books to put away. “I wont make a habit of it. Besides, waking up today wasnt easy after the dream I had.” 

Tai shook his head and started helping his daughter. “What was your dream this time?”

“I… saw that girl again. I think we were in a meadow of some sort? I dont know, most of the dream seems fuzzy now. I just remember today’s date being important.” 

“If you’re starting to see your soulmate that frequently, maybe its getting close to time to meet them.” 

“Yeah, but… how will I know?” 

Tai shrugged. “There isnt exactly a way to tell. I know I met your mother a few years after I started seeing her in my dreams. And it was like we had known each other for all that time.” He sighed and looked at the picture on the counter, sighing. “And I know she’d be proud of how you’ve turned out. And I bet she’s missing out on trying to torment you about meeting your soulmate.” 

Ruby nodded a bit, starting to feel a bit saddened. “I wish she was still here. It was easier to talk to her about these kinds of things.” 

“I know sweetie.” Tai hugged his daughter, pulling her close. “I know. I miss her too. Things…. Havent been the same without her.” 

Ruby nodded and silently put a few more books away.

A few minutes after the shop opened, Ruby heard the bell chime for the door opening. She smiled and made her way to the front. “Welcome to the Long Rose bookstore. How may I…. help…” she stopped for a moment, looking at the girl that had just walked in. “You… You’re from my dreams.” 

The girl smiled at Ruby. “And you’re from mine. My name is Blake. I’m… I’m your soulmate.”