#No you are not cool quirky or different for saying you would “beat it with hammers” you are sick and cruel

[artthoufruity]

I am on my hands and knees BEGGING people who are saying they would kill/hurt/abandon the eraserhead baby to understand that the eraser head baby is a METAPHOR!!!! for a baby with colic from the perspective of his sleep deprived parents, he's not actually a monster, his dad is so worn out that he starts to view the baby as an evil monster even though the baby is also suffering. everyone saying the baby is actually an evil ugly monster has absolutely zero media literacy skills and also probably shouldn't have kids if they view all "ugly" and/or physically disabled children who scream and cry as evil.

[hertenskylarks]

More 2 Cents on S3

So, I know there’s already a lot of talk going around. Here’s my 2 cents. 

In light of the recent news, I keep hearing a lot of “Oh, I hope the third season doesn’t get canceled,” and “Oh, I hope it does. Fuck Gaiman,” and “Oh, what about Terry’s vision? What about the fans? What about closure?”

I have absolutely zero control as to whether or not season 3 is made. Many arguments for and against it have already been made. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I will offer this perspective from my own personal experience. 

I’m a swing dancer, and my rapist was my teacher and one of the first people who ever taught me how to dance. One of the things that made me hesitant to come forward was that he was one of the most likable characters in my scene. He was the funny, goofy guy who wore funky printed shirts, he was sooo nice, he couldn’t possibly be a rapist, right? Right?

Seeing people praise him, hearing people talk about how great he is when I knew what he did to me… It drove me absolutely mad. I just wanted to shake people and say, “No, you don’t understand! You don’t understand who he is!” But I felt like I just couldn't. I felt his reputation was too iron-clad to say anything.

Coming forward was one of the scariest things I ever did because I was so sure people either wouldn't believe me or wouldn't care. And, as predicted, that was the case for some. You can only imagine how I felt when someone I used to call my friend went on to have him officiate her wedding. You can only imagine how I felt when the response from the organizers of the dance scene was to ask me to avoid mentioning Y-Town Swing in social media posts (Oops) to protect their reputation. You can only imagine how I felt when they continued to have him as a teacher, or when they updated their safe space policy to say they are not responsible for anything that happens “outside a Y-Town swing event.” 

Oh, so if he raped me in the bathroom at the event instead it would have made a difference? Right, sorry, didn't realize the location or a rape mattered that much.

Anyway…

This was all in the confines of a small dance scene, in a small city, in a very niche hobby. Now, imagine how it must feel when your rapist and abuser is a fucking best selling author, praised as this ally to women and LGBT people, he’s the quirky guy who has a Tumblr and actually responds to his fans and he’s so cool, he’s one of us, he can’t possibly be a rapist, right? Right?

I can only imagine how fucking mad it drove his victims to know who he really is and see him put on such a high pedestal. 

So, however this all unfolds, I will say this. The people I care about most are the victims. I say this as someone who loved and still loves Good Omens, I say this as someone who was torn up about the final 15, as someone who rejoiced when S3 was originally announced, before all the allegations came to light. I care about the victims. 

But what about the fans? Listen, it’s a fucking TV show. Do you really mean to tell me the ending of a fictional fucking story is more important than the very real people he’s hurt? Not having an ending to your favorite show does not hold a candle to the trauma of being sexually assaulted. There’s no comparison. Not in the same ballpark. Not even in the same galaxy. 

But what about Terry?

Terry is dead and in his grave. I am sorry to say this, but whether his vision comes to life or not, he will never be the wiser. It makes no difference to him. If I could wave my magic wand and have Terry alive and well and Gaiman dead and in his grave, believe me, I definitely would, but that is not the hand we were dealt. 

So please, all I ask is this. Before you go spouting shit like, “I hope we don’t lose S3,” or “I just need to know how it ends,” put yourself in their shoes for just a second.

Imagine you are Claire, or Scarlett, or any of his other victims. Imagine you are sexually assaulted by someone whom the world just puts on a pedestal. You have to sit there and listen to him get praised as being “such a great ally to women and minorities” and “he’s one of us,” and “he’s so brilliant. He’s so cool. He really listens to his fans. Look at this quote of his I got tattooed on my body.” And for years you just sit there and take it, because you’re so fucking afraid that no one will believe you if you come forward, you’re told your story “isn’t enough,” you watch him get richer and richer while you’re stuck with the therapy bill for everyting this “great ally of women” did to you. 

Now imagine that you finally come forward. You finally muster up the will to speak your truth, and tell people what he did to you, and you find that you’re not the only person he’s hurt. The world is finally hearing your story and learning what a manipulative monster he is. 

And now, I want you to think very carefully about what it means if we still get S3. 

S3 means press tours. It means more reviews praising him as a genius. It means certain people being contractually obligated to say nice things about him, or at the very least, not say negative things about him. It means, once again, seeing his fucking horse face or his name everywhere, on Amazon, on billboards, on busses, on posters, in adverts. Only now, it's AFTER the world heard your side of the story.

Just imagine how that would feel. 

So, if it wasn't obvious by now, my stance on S3 is… I don't really want it to happen. Not out of spite or some deep seated hatred for Gaiman (although, ya know, fuck that guy) but out of consideration for the people he's hurt, as someone who knows exactly how it feels to see the person who hurt you get put on a pedestal. 

I understand that production is paused and people think he may be getting removed from the project. I'm not going to comment on that because "paused” can mean a lot of things and there's so much we don't know yet.

There will be other shows. 

There will be shows that DO have satisfying endings. 

Media and shows can be replaced. 

But there is no such thing as being un-raped. 

[encrucijada]

PÍA RAMBLES #8

you might have seen this post or this wip intro. i'm here to talk about this book because i think it's really cool @teddywriting and i wrote almost 40k words by simply playing dolls with our ocs.

(yes i will be using screencaps of before sunrise, 1995 for any and all subsequent updates regarding this project thank you very much)

what's weird about this book in particular is that, despite maripaz and theo taking up way too much space in my brain, it's also incredibly hard to talk about them?? i know every single detail about them down to what they might order to eat at a mcdonald's, and yet i feel no one outside from teddy and i really knows these characters. their lore is weird and a bit convoluted and explaining it feels like i'm trying to explain the plot of a television show with like 18 seasons of character development you just had to be there to witness to understand even a fraction of it.

but first some basics about the actual book

title: babylon boy (book 1 of the home habitat duology)

genre: literary fiction

category: i say adult because there will be no censoring of topics but in this first installment our protagonists are around eighteen years old. you might consider that ya but i wouldn't

a small summary: having independently run away from home for their own reasons, theo and maripaz meet while homeless on the streets and form an alliance of convenience to survive. while theo vehemently denies the drug addiction he’s nursing, maripaz tries to deal with the way both want and revulsion seem to exist in her at the same time. falling in love is probably the easiest thing they do.

teddy and i are co-authoring, as in we both write the words. they will be primarily working on theo's chapters and i will be primarily working on maripaz's chapters but we'll both be involved in fully crafting this story.

talking about your book is hard when all that happens in it is character work so even whether someone gets sick at one point feels like a spoiler you want people to be surprised by.

we created mari and theo in 2020 on a whim. i can't even remember what prompted it exactly. we wanted a new pair of characters to play with and we decided to make two assholes to bicker and be mean to each other. this iteration saw three reincarnations before we put the characters on the shelf and almost resigned ourselves to them being a miss... if not for one important detail... i really, really believed they should have kissed. this first version of them would eventually be known as the homeless au.

looking back it's Wild thinking about how different mari and theo used to be. we moved onto new aus to play around with, landing on a superhero-type beat that became their new canon for a while. we had fantasy and sci-fi and musicians and hadestown and the raven cycle (that last one did so much for us it's insane). every new thing we tried shaped them more and more until they were unrecognisable from their original versions. one day i really want to go through their threads from start to finish and look at that change in real time.

there was a new thesis to their characters and it was no longer "what if two awful guys with issues were forced together and tried to bite each other's heads off". instead we were looking at two characters that through every new incarnation became more sincere and gentle. they had meta-narrative character development.

(every new au also gave us more characters to populate the world including but not limited to theo's twin sister, maripaz's seven siblings, alex, philip, a whole lot of parental figures, a quirky cast of friends... but i'll talk about them some other time)

then i did it again. in the 2.0 version of the homeless au there was one scene i loved beyond words where an argument between our two protagonists resulted in maripaz punching theo right on the mouth. when she tried to swing a second time he stopped her hand and warned her that if she wanted to hit him he would hit back. they fought and the scene ended. i said to teddy: they should have kissed. we laughed and imagined how homeless au would go now that their characters had changed so much. we started thinking about it more and more until we were moving the pieces of their cinematic universe around to fit this new idea... and suddenly we had plot for a book that would revamp that original homeless au... and a sequel too! (but more on that second one another time)

teddy started a rp thread of what came right after the opening scene of babylon boy, where theo and maripaz would shoplift and he would steal the angel necklace she wore (<- this is important)... and we just kept going... and going. we'd already had a few keys scenes to work towards, one those being that punching scene that started it all, as well as the ending. teddy added two new scenes we began calling the halo scene and the church scene, and we moved something we called the pool scene into this book from another au. we just had to fill in the blanks... fill in the blanks we did.

these right here are the names i gave each individual thread of the roleplay-ification of babylon boy. their purpose is not so much to be chapter titles but to make specific scenes easy to find for future reference. though obviously i had to be a bit artistic about it.

i don't know if babylon boy will have chapter titles, and if they will have some sort of theme going on (usually i like just putting two words together to create some imagery). "angel face" is probably what i would title chapter 1, but i also hesitate on that decision because i think i would like to save angel for later.

these threads are less of a draft and more the skeleton of a draft, that's why i called it a draft 0. its purpose is to give teddy and i direction and reading through them i already know how i want to shift the timeline and how i'd rewrite some of the scenes to make them a lot better, but it did give us a great cause and effect look of things. the way teddy and i approach our roleplay threads is more loose than what i do with @on-the-river-lethe (with whom i'm currently roleplaying draft 1 of our book lupine trail and also a giant hunger games au). fluffy and i write responses between 1k-4k words, they are basically chapters. teddy and i instead do a quick call and response, mostly focused on dialogue, we build on top of each other and neither of us really knows where a thread will go when we start.

there are no actual non-roleplay words written for babylon boy thus far. teddy is in charge of chapter 1 as we open with theo's pov but we are both busy or focused on other things. right now we're enjoying the playing around stage of the process (which i don't see going away even once we start seriously writing, i know for a fact we'll probably do various roleplay-type passes to babylon boy).

you've probably noticed the christian imagery is rampant here. it happened kind of by accident and the already mentioned halo scene is entirely to blame for it. like i said, teddy and i have this very "yes, and," approach to storytelling together where we kinda build on top of what the other puts down. teddy gave me the description of one (1) scene where theo sees a halo of light around maripaz's head and i decided "well, this is now i thing that is here to stay". church scene really brought it all together and there is a scene in book 2 adeptly nicknamed the angel scene that is kind of the culmination of this.

the imagery is almost exclusive to theo's pov as mari is more the subject of the imagery than the one pushing it forward. teddy and i will be doing our most to fill this book with visuals: characters lined with stained glass windows, lights shaped like hearts, signs and graffiti that say meaningful stuff.

babylon boy, as the title suggests, is more theo's book. both he and maripaz have meaningful arcs but theo's is really at the core of it, mari takes centre stage in book 2 (titled gossamer girl). i think i talked about this somewhere before but the titles just kind of... happened. gossamer was relevant for that superhero au and it's just a word i really adore so i wanted to use it on the title. you can't go wrong with alliteration so gossamer girl it is. and because i love when books in a series match i had to do something with boy. like gossamer i adore babylon for some reason, and so we got babylon boy. i wasn't sure about that one because while gossamer girl made sense with the theme, what did "babylon boy" even mean, exactly? teddy came in clutch and analysed the title for me. they connected it to theo's drug addiction and now i can't think of any two titles that are more perfect for this series.

like i said, there are no actual words written for this book so sadly i cannot share any excerpts. but i will share

Festival was very much the result of teddy and i having just watched before sunrise, 1995

we watched before sunrise, 1995 because the mannerisms of the two leads reek of maripaz and theo

"until a miracle happens" became a recurring thing said in the draft and it wrecked me

Our Fears is probably my favourite thread both thematically and visually. followed closely by Church Angels, though that one is mostly visually

The Pool is the longest thread with about 90 responses and all of it is beautiful. i would probably consider it the companion to Our Fears

"mutual pining they're both just idiots"

the closing image is probably my favourite one of the book

the core themes are very much trust, love, and communal help. we've got such an array of npcs who simply... help. i love the human race.

i'll probably do another update before we start properly writing talking about maripaz and theo as characters specifically. a bit of a crash course on who they are, really.

anyway. i'm giving you a golden star if you read all of that ⭐ do ask me or teddy about this story!! we'd be happy to talk about it. or even just about the characters.

cheers, pía

[luimagines]

Hahaha y'know I'm gonna come back for part 2 😈

But also get this, this is the story of how they first met, they met in the middle of a forest, more specifically in an enemy monster camp, it goes like the chain fighting the monsters and then decided to investigate their camp(the enemy monsters camp) and they see Philomena Cunk!Reader near a camp fire and just poking the fire with sticks their hands are chained looks like they were captured and they had clothes and stuff that are not native nor familiar to the chain

Poking at the fire with sticks and clad in a mishmash of unfamiliar attire, Philomena Cunk!Reader seemed lost in a world of their own as the Chain stumbled upon them in the heart of the forest, after engaging in battle with the monsters.

"Oh, hello there! A bit tied up, are we?" quipped PhilomenaCunk!Reader. "Just having a bit of a campfire soirée, you know! Though these shackles are a tad restrictive for the ambiance. Would you mind lending a hand—or rather, a sword���kind sirs?"

The Chain exchanged perplexed glances, realizing that Philomena Cunk!Reader seemed utterly unaware of the situation they found themselves in (reader is fully aware they just decided to not give a darn because new cool world woohoo). Cunk!Reader, ever inquisitive, continued their offbeat commentary without skipping a beat. (pfft)

"Say, you lot have a rather impressive collection of shiny pointy things! Fashionable, I must say! Are these fashionable doohickeys for fighting off the woodland creatures or for dramatic marshmallow roasting? I've heard it's all the rage in the Narnian countryside!"

The chain, is now slightly amused by the quirky remarks and unassuming demeanor of Cunk!Reader, and exchanged bemused glances. Philomena Cunk!Reader carried on with their whimsical observations, half aware & unaware of the assemblage of heroes from different eras of Hyrule's history.

...is reader from Narnia? o.o

That would be too much I think. XD

They seem like the type of person to never stop talking (it's me) and to travel with the people who hardly ever talk is going to be quite the venture.

....I think Legend would partake in it though. He just likes the sass.

[mothwingwritings]

I hope I’m not the only one here on your blog just for the Tokyo revengers content because I never watched Baki should i thought??

I have been very Baki focused as of late, huh? ^^; You are def not the only TokRev fan though, I assure you!  My first really sizable chunk of followers came from my Taiju fic, and though I have been slacking a bit on posting anything TokRev related, I promise you much more is planned/being written currentl. A large chunk of bigger fics I am working on are actually mostly TokRev, I just wanted a lil break and so I focused on smaller stuff for a bit, and pretty much all of that happened to be Baki.

Now, as for if you should watch Baki…

Short answer: Yes!  :D

Thoughtful answer: I think Baki is a very interesting take on the fighting genre, and I do highly recommend it. The saga of the Hanma family is as engrossing as it is entertaining, and there is a colorful cast of characters that support the series that you can’t help but love, hate, or love to hate. I have been kind of waiting for a Baki renaissance for a while now-I feel like other than in Japan, it really isn’t a super popular series and that’s a bit of a shame because it truly is an entertaining watch/read. The Netflix adaptation I think has helped the series a lot (and we are all grateful for it, to see our lovely boys animated so beautifully :)) and put it on the map for newer audiences to enjoy, but I definitely recommend the manga too. It’s a pretty fast read because a large chunk of it is action, but it’s pretty cool to see how Itagaki’s art has changed over the years and also how he has grown and changed as a story teller. Earlier Baki is much different than newer Baki, and some of the characters feel a bit foreign when you go back and reread some of the earlier stuff after being immersed in the newer content.

 Baki also has some very bizarre and downright comical aspects as well that kind of put it on par with JJBA  while making it very charming. The mangaka def adds some quirky flairs to his story telling, which while sometimes I can get a little annoyed/bored/confused with them, I feel like overall they make the experience of watching/reading the series its own unique and fun experience.

And if you love delinquents, Kaoru Hanayama is like… one of the best and coolest delinquents. If you put that man in Toman he would be running the whole gang within days and 90% of the bullshit everyone had to go through in Tokrev probs would have been resolved fairly quickly, if it even happened at all. This man would grind Kisaki to paste in the blink of an eye and I would pay to see it happen. :)

THAT ALL BEING SAID: Not everyone likes Baki, and that’s fine too. I know personally a lot of people are turned off by the art/how the characters look and honestly… That’s valid lol. I remember I once showed my friend a picture of Biscuit and her direct response was “Why does he look like he’s made out of balloons, like a clown constructed him?” LOOOL and often times if my friends mention weird body proportions in comics/manga someone inevitable asks when I am gonna chime in with a Baki manga panel. ^^;  Most of the rest of my friends don’t really have any desire to partake in it though, and a few that have just really weren’t in to it. It’s very heavy on fighting and martial arts, and though the fighting is rather fantastical in a lot of cases, it (usually) doesn’t have supernatural elements or magic involved. So if that seems kind of bleh to you, you may want to avoid it.

Horny answer: Incredibly sexy men who are at least half naked a large majority of the time beating the shit out of each other is very fun, nice, and fulfilling to watch. :)

So I say give it a try if you are interested at all. At the very least, some of the fics on here may make a little more sense.

REGARDLESS THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!!! Please stay tuned for more TokRev in the future, I have at least one more alphabet ask that is for a Tokrev chara so that may be the first thing I post, but bigger stuff is coming soon too~ <3

[henrike-does-writing-sometimes]

chocolate ganache, caramel, white chocolate, fluff filling 🥺💛

I'm choosing to be quirky and use three wips for this one. The Divine, because of course, A Guardian's Tale, and Realm of Mirrors, because they've been on my mind lately

Chocolate Ganache: what made you start writing this wip ? was it a trope ? a vibe ? a character ?

I initially got the idea for The Divine back in I think 2019, when I was watching Go Princess Precure. I've always loved magical girl shows, but like I've said had trouble identifying with it. And so I thought, why don't we just make them boys ? And here we are today !

AGT came about in 2015. I was watching some show with toys that came alive, and there was some talk about how they each represented one of the elements. I found that really cool and so made a story were four kids were given small animal figurines that gave them elemental powers. Then it spiraled lmfao

RoM can about mainly because I wanted to try and write a cast with more girls than boys pffft

Caramel: tell me a bit about your favorite scene, and why it’s your favorite.

Ooooo this is a hard one. I think as of right now, it's a tie between Andie's kidnapping, the encounters with the Messangers, and the Abyss Trials.

Andie's kidnapping is very neat because if The Divine was a show then that scene would be the ending of an episode. It goes from hopefull, with the boys undoing their locks and getting their Aetherium restored. And then Arahmen arrives, breaks the key before Andie can use it, and then just disappears with them.

The scenes with the Messamgers are all cool, because they're the only times we get even close to Cosmia and Ome. And they're all set in alternate planes, the space between divinity and mortality. Their first time with the Iri Wolf is also funny because the boys are calling it names for killing their Lumens and the Wolf is just like ??? I was doing my job ???

The Abyss Trials are fun because I get to torment the boys but also give them euphoric realizations about themselves lol

There are a lot of cools scenes in AGT, but the most iconic one has to be Robin killing Eden. It's a very intense scene that functions as Robin's absolute lowest point in the series. As well as a way for him to get out some pent up anger, because boy's been through a lot. He didn't do anything wrong tho, Eden is an inconsiderate asshole who basically triggered Robin's psychosis so, yeah.

My favorite RoM scene is the climax of the second book. There's a lot going on that I can't really mention because spoilers. But yeah, it gets really heavy.

White Chocolate: tell me a bit about the happiest moment in your wip.

While I don't think it's the happiest over all, the boys realizing that their Lumes are back is up there. The post battle scenes are more soft, but I'm still going to count them.

Definetly the post final battle scene. It's a very intense and emotional scene with a lot of crying and hugging, and it's this overwhelming understanding of "It's over and we're alive." that brings it all together.

Funnily enough, the happiest scene in RoM is the first scene in book one. It's downhill from there. That's not me saying there are no happy moments, but the first scene is of Emil returning to his hometown the the gang being back together again. Kinda hard to beat even without the bullshit about to come.

Fluff Filling: tell me a bit about the softest relationship in your wip.

The relationship between the main boys, no doubt. While the dynamics differ between them, they're brothers and should not be separated. Like, again the post battle scenes where they patch up each others wounds and talk about anything and everything besides the battle. I'm very weak <3

For AGT there are many but I'm giving it to Amber and Louise. Just two neurodivergent girls slowly realizing they're in love and then panic because how do you flirt ?? Like most of their interactions are them fumbling around and trying to impress each other. Trying to be cool and not stim too much because that might be wierd, and they think they're failing so hard but are actually making each other fall in love even more. I love then lots <3

Softest relationship in RoM is most likely Emil and Tess. They've known each other the longest, they're both never in charge of the group's braincell, they're both in awe of everything they see. And spoilers, but Emil's final 'speech' is between him and Tess. So yeah, they <3

[yhrkcnrk]

Tainted Hearts

Chapter 3: A Glimpse of Something More

Riko leaned against the lab counter, watching Tsushima-sensei as she tidied up her desk. The afternoon light poured through the tall windows, casting a warm glow over the room. Their regular meetings had become something she looked forward to, a small escape from the chaos of her classroom and the constant demands from her classmates.

It had been a few weeks since she first approached Tsushima-sensei for help. Each meeting, they’d start with small talk—about school, about Riko’s attempts to set boundaries, and then about life beyond their teacher-student roles. Yoshiko, while composed and professional during class, had an unexpected warmth in these moments.

Riko didn’t know why, but she found herself wanting to stay longer every time, drawn to Yoshiko’s mix of calm authority and hidden quirks.

“So,” Yoshiko began, glancing over at Riko with that characteristic smirk, “how’s it going with your classmates? I hope you’ve managed to stop being their personal homework service.”

Riko chuckled softly, her fingers playing with the hem of her uniform skirt. “Well, kind of. I’m trying to say no more often... though I’m not always successful.” She let out a small sigh, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “It’s harder than I thought it would be.”

Yoshiko straightened up and crossed her arms, her eyes softening. “It’s not easy to change something that’s been part of your routine for so long. But you’re improving, and that’s what matters.”

Riko smiled, feeling a sense of relief at her teacher’s words. “Thanks, Tsushima-sensei. I think it’s because of your advice.”

Yoshiko’s lips curled into a half-smile. “Well, I did say I’d help. And besides...” She looked away for a moment, a small blush creeping up her cheeks. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to after school.”

The room grew quiet, the soft hum of the air conditioner the only sound between them. There was something about these moments that made Riko’s heart beat a little faster. It wasn’t like the usual admiration students had for teachers; this felt different. Something about the way Yoshiko spoke to her—without judgment, without expectation—made Riko feel... noticed, in a way she never had before.

“Sensei,” Riko began hesitantly, her voice quieter now, “you mentioned once that you had a... a nickname? Outside of school?”

Yoshiko blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in conversation. Her blush deepened as she realized what Riko was referring to. “Ah, that... yeah.” She scratched the back of her head, suddenly a little awkward, which was a rare sight for Riko. “It’s... kind of a silly thing. I used to call myself ‘Yohane’—you know, like a fallen angel.”

Riko tilted her head, intrigued. “A fallen angel?”

Yoshiko nodded, her gaze drifting away as if recalling an old memory. “Yeah... It started as a bit of a joke when I was younger, but I kind of embraced it. I used to believe I wasn’t meant to fit in with everyone else—like I was meant for something more... something darker.” She paused, then laughed lightly. “It sounds pretty ridiculous when I say it out loud, huh?”

Riko shook her head quickly. “No, not at all. I think it’s... charming.” Her face flushed slightly as she said it, but she meant every word. The idea of Tsushima-sensei, the cool and collected teacher, having this quirky, imaginative side was... endearing.

Yoshiko glanced at her, clearly a little taken aback. “Charming, huh?” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I never thought of it like that.”

There was another pause, longer this time, as they stood there—Riko with her arms gently folded in front of her, and Yoshiko leaning against the desk, her usual smirk replaced by a more thoughtful expression.

“I don’t really talk about Yohane much anymore,” Yoshiko admitted, her voice softer. “But... I guess in a way, I still feel like that sometimes. Like I don’t really belong anywhere.”

Riko’s heart ached at the admission. The idea of someone like Tsushima-sensei, who always seemed so sure of herself, feeling out of place... it was almost unimaginable. Yet, at the same time, it made sense. She was so different from the other teachers—closer in age, more approachable, and yet somehow distant.

“You do belong,” Riko said quietly, her eyes locking with Yoshiko’s. “At least... to me, you do.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air between them grew heavier, filled with the weight of unsaid things, unspoken feelings. Riko wasn’t sure what possessed her to say those words, but as soon as they were out, she knew she meant them.

Yoshiko’s expression softened. She gave a small, almost shy smile and pushed herself off the desk. “You’re... interesting, Sakurauchi. I think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Riko felt her face warm under the compliment, a flutter of something unfamiliar stirring in her chest. “Thank you, sensei...”

“Yohane,” Yoshiko corrected, her voice teasing but gentle. “At least, when we’re not in class.”

Riko giggled, the sound light and genuine. “Alright... Yohane.”

The conversation hung in the air between them, and for the first time, Riko felt like they weren’t just teacher and student anymore. They were something more—something undefined but growing stronger with each passing day.

[maruflix]

“DO YOU THINK TENDOU PLAYS BETTER THAN ME?”

SYNOPSIS:The Super Ace of Shiratorizawa overheard a conversation between his teammates and his crush… and he did not like it.

FEATURING: Ushijima Wakatoshi x f!reader

WORD COUNT: 2.0k

The first time Ushijima Wakatoshi met you was when you went to the gym to return Tendou Satori’s book.

Apparently, the two of you had gotten your books mixed up. After profusely apologizing, Tendou had asked the stoic captain to accompany you while he ran to the locker room to get your book from his bag. 

Awkwardly, Ushijima carried out his mission, making small talk with you (the small talk was asking for your name and class, then proceeding to stay silent).

His first impression of you was that you’re quite shy and polite. He felt pleasantly surprised when you didn’t show an ounce of awkwardness even when the two of you stood silently. His teammates would always say that he’s bad at socializing and can often seem intimidating because of his quietness, but the silence that engulfed the two of you was comfortable and natural.

So imagine his surprise when Tendou returned and a switch in you immediately flips: there are not a lot of people who can match Tendou’s energy, but you easily adjusted yourself to his quirkiness, laughing along with his jokes. You waved to Tendou casually before turning to him and bowing slightly, bidding him goodbye with a “Well, see you around, Ushijima-kun.”

As time goes by, he starts to notice how you seem to appear more often. Sometimes you accompanied Tendou to the gym before going somewhere else, other times you arrived after the team finished practice, walking off with Tendou. The Shiratorizawa team has also gotten to know you as ‘(Name), Tendou’s friend’, as you’re really the only person they have seen Tendou hang out with.

To say that he is curious is an understatement. He can’t deny that he really wants to know who you are. Since when did Tendou have such a pretty friend? Why didn’t he ever tell him about you, when he would yap about anything and everything? Were you dating?

“Oh, she’s my seatmate. She’s a really cool kid, so we kinda vibe.” Was Tendou’s answer when he asked more about you. Truthfully, he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. But he kept quiet because he felt weird asking questions about his friend’s friend.

And then, that thing happened.

It was just another afternoon. The team just finished practice, everyone was chatting amongst themselves, and you were there again to pick up Tendou. Lately Goshiki and Ohira had also joined your conversations with Tendou, and the four of you were chatting away happily.

Ushijima pretended to drop his towel near the four of you and took his sweet time to pick it from the ground, shamelessly eavesdropping on your conversation.

“So, you’ve watched our matches, right? Do you think we did just as well as when we practice?” Goshiki asked curiously.

You hummed, “I don’t know much about volleyball, but… I think so, yeah! It’s always fun watching you guys play.”

“Then…” Ohira looked at you, “who do you think plays the best?” He asked, half jokingly.

“That’s an easy question, senpai,” Goshiki interjected, “Of course it’s gotta be our ace, right?”

“Yeah, that’s not fair! You should’ve asked for second best.” Tendou begrudgingly agreed.

Ushijima’s ears perked up as he pretended to wipe his forehead, turning around to look the other way with his feet still rooted to the ground. His heart started beating a bit faster at the thought of you complimenting him. ‘Logically speaking, I usually score the most points, so it can be said that I play the best, right?’

“Actually,” You grinned, “I have a different opinion.”

“Ehhh?? Really?? No way!!” Goshiki exclaimed excitedly, “Senpai, you think I’m better than our team’s ace?!”

“Hey now, she didn’t say that…”

“Maybe soon, Goshiki-kun. But now, I think… Tori-kun plays the best!” You cheered as the three boys cried out in surprise.

“Tendou?! Really?! Umm, no offense to you, Tendou..”

“Well, I have to admit, the Guess Monster is terrifying when he gets all pumped up…”

“Ehhh, (Name)-chan, you’re making me blush!”

Ushijima’s skin crawled.

“I’m not lying! The way your hand suddenly changes directions and BOOM! Blocked! I’m like, how the heck does he do that?!”

“Damn, Tendou, it must be nice to have a friend who hypes you up like (Name)-san.”

“Oh, but you’re really cool too, Reon-kun! I mean, that’s not even up for debate! And you too, Goshiki-kun! I think one of these days you can become the new ace!”

“Ehhhh!??! Senpai, I like you!”

“Don’t feed into his delusions.”

Ushijima knew that you were a kind person, and maybe you weren’t that familiar with volleyball, or you were just trying to make your friends happy, but…

He gripped his towel.

Hard.

BAM!

The ball went flying through Tendou’s outstretched arms at such a speed that he thought it would blow his head off with it.

Tendou was used to Ushiwaka’s spikes. He was the Super Ace’s teammate, after all, but… He looked up, his heart nearly stopping when he saw the expression on Ushijima’s face.

Like he was going to swallow him whole.

“Don’t mind, Tori-kun!!”

Upon hearing your cheer, Tendou raised an eyebrow at how his captain’s expression twisted even more. He put on a wronged face as Ushijima gave him a glare and turned away.

‘What did I do?!’

Next to him, Ohira Reon was gasping for breath. He had been running around, digging balls and sending spikes, trying to win the 2v2 against Ushijima Wakatoshi and Semi Eita. But it was just not working. Of course it wasn’t working, the game was rigged! Whoever got Ushiwaka on his team is playing with cheats!

On the other side of the net, Semi glanced at Ushijima in hesitation. Ushijima had played like a cannon, receiving the ball perfectly for him to set and missing no beat in jumping and spiking the ball, sometimes right into the hands of his teammates on the other side, only for the ball to immediately bounce away. He could’ve aimed it elsewhere, but… to aim it towards Tendou and Ohira’s hands was like highlighting that even if the ball made contact with their hands, they couldn’t receive it anyway.

Well, it wasn’t that hard to guess where Ushijima would spike the ball. To be able to receive those spikes, though… now that was a skill on its own. Especially when he was playing like he’s trying to impress an Olympics coach.

To no one’s surprise, the practice ended with Ushijima-Semi’s win. Well, it was more like Ushijima’s win, with more than half of the points being his service aces. On any other day, their opponents would put up more of a fight, however Tendou had said earlier that he was feeling a bit under the weather.

Pretending like he didn’t hear anything, Ushijima insisted on playing against Tendou and Ohira, choosing not to cut Tendou any slack, spiking balls to his direction like he was trying to hit him on purpose. Ohira was no better, getting almost no chance to spike since receiving Ushijima’s unusually harder-than-ever spike serves was a real struggle in itself.

Tendou and Ohira regrouped with Semi and exchanged glances with the rest of the team, wondering what on earth caused their captain’s horrible mood. Ignoring their stares, Ushijima walked towards the person he had been focusing on.

“(Name).” Towering above you with a height of 189cm, Ushijima addressed you stoically, causing you to gasp in surprise.

You looked up at him. “Y.. yes, Ushijima-kun?”

“Did I do well?”

Flabbergasted, your mouth hangs open. “W-well, I..” Your eyes flitted at your friends but they only returned your glance with their own shocked silent stare.

“Well? Do you still think that Tendou plays better than me?”

You did a double take, your breath caught in your throat, the conversation you had with Tendou, Ohira and Goshiki a few days ago replaying in your head. “W-well, Ushijima-kun, it’s just that… Tori-kun is my friend, and-”

He bent down, gazing down at you in curiosity. “Do you think he plays better than me?”

“I-is there a wrong answer?” You breathed out at the close proximity between you two. Ushijima held his gaze, his eyes shining in amusement. You blushed at Ushijima’s confidence and obliviousness, thankful that Coach Washijo wasn’t in the room. “I-I-I think you play better than Tori-kun, sorry Tori-kun!” You yelled out, flustered.

Your friend could only give you a thumbs up, his mouth still hanging open.

“What about Ohira? Do you think he plays better than me?”

Gaping at him in shock, you stuttered out a “N-no, Ushijima-kun..”

Ushijima hummed, “And Goshiki?”

“No, you… you’re the best..” Horrifically embarrassed and confused, you finally gave him the answer he was looking for.

The entire Shiratorizawa team gaped at this hilarious interaction.

“I thought so as well.” Ushijima nodded, “But it still feels nice to hear it from you.” Satisfied, he rose up to his full height and turned to look at his team. “Why are you just standing there? Do you want to go for another round?”

Quickly, the team dispersed, no one wanting to be the victim of Ushiwaka’s spikes, all the while muttering about what the HECK just happened between Ushijima Wakatoshi and Tendou’s friend.

You sat, frozen in shock, not expecting that your crush would ask you a string of shocking questions while keeping his face so close to yours, as if challenging you to give him the wrong answers. Of course you thought he was the best, but you couldn’t admit that in front of your friends and his teammates!

Your cheeks still continued to burn even after Tendou plopped down next to you in confusion. “Well… that was something. My hand hurts.”

“Tori-kun, did I.. did I offend him somehow?!” You whispered to him in a panic.

“Honestly, that guy is a mystery. He usually doesn’t care about these things, though.” Your friend replied with a knowing look in his eyes, “But just to be sure, talk to him, I guess?”

After the practice, the rest of the team headed outside while Ushijima busied himself with his bag, as if waiting for you to talk to him. After saying goodbye to your friends, you took determined steps towards the tall male, your heart beating out of your chest.

“Ushijima-kun!” You called out as he instantly turned to look at you, “I-I’m sorry if I offended you! I don’t know much about volleyball and aces and stuff, so I was just yapping about Goshiki being the new ace and-”

“Oh, I don’t really care about that.” Ushijima cut you off, staring blankly at you.

“H-huh?”

“That won’t ever happen, at least not while I’m still on the team.” He stated as-a-matter-of-factly, “I am the country’s top three aces, after all.”

You had to admit, his confidence was hella attractive. “But then… why were you angry earlier, Ushijima-kun?”

“Wakatoshi.”

Your heart jumped out of your chest once more.

Ushijima didn’t seem to notice your flustered state. “Call me Wakatoshi.”

“Well, then.. Wakatoshi-kun, why did you..”

“I’m not angry.” He cut you off again, before placing a hand on your shoulder. “Did I scare you? I apologize.”

“No, you didn’t scare me! But… it’s more like… well, your face was so close, and I…”

Tilting his head, he leaned down to gaze at you, his face dangerously close. “Like this?”

“W-Wakatoshi-kun!”

He hummed, looking away. “What to do, I’m still not satisfied.” You blinked up at him owlishly, waiting for him to continue, “You always call Tendou so intimately. I wonder why, but I’m not satisfied with you just calling me by my first name.” He stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, catching you off guard.

For a second you wondered if Ushijima Wakatoshi was flirting with you, but the way he said those words so stoically made you unsure. “Then!” Gathering all your courage, you bravely met his gaze, “Is Toshi-kun… okay?” You offered shyly, feeling your ears start to burn.

Ushijima tilted his head to the other side, his eyes widening slightly. “Say that again?”

“Toshi-kun?”

“We’ll go with that.” He placed a hand on your head, a smile ghosting his lips as you hide your face behind your hands.

And that day was the start of your friendship(?) with Ushijima Wakatoshi.

[snowhiss]

Sigma's Game Recommendations

Hii, here's some of my game recommendations with a lil blurb on why.

Games are ordered relatively neutrally, except for this first section...

Life Altering

Undertale - Multi Platform - RPG - Oh, Undertale. What is there to say about it that hasn't been...I played this day one because a friend lent me a copy from their steam. I had never heard of Undertale beforehand, but my god, would I know of it. It is a quirky little game about making friends (unless...?) and has excellent music, storyflow, and characters. I am admittedly...not a fan of the battle system, but it is unique and fits the game, so *shrug*. I acquired a permanent brainworm in the form of Gaster from this, so there's that too.

Sonic Mega Collection - Collection - Look, Sonic was my first fandom, and when the smoke clears, it will be my last fandom. Mega collection is great to dip your toe in every major sonic game made before Adventure. I'm a big Sonic 2 fan, but don't mind a little S3K as well.

Sonic Unleashed - Wii/Xbox 360 - This may be a rose tinted glasses thing, but Sonic unleashed is apologetically cool and fun to play. Especially the werehog stages. Solid story, solid gameplay, solid music. I love this game and I will kill for it.

Spore Creatures - DS - Spore, but only the creature stage as a little planet exploring game. You evolve your critter as you travel and make friends and enemies. Its a fun little ditty that I love revisiting to see my favorite biomes and aliens. I go crazy for this game ngl

PC, Windows

Golden Treasure: The Great Green - Visual Novel/Point N' Click - I picked this game to play because you can play as a dragon, but was kept playing in by the game play depth. Has very good replay-ability, some very interesting story beats, and some different walks of life you can take. I like the art style and the difficulty as well. Admittedly a bit spiritual, with some very flowery language that may be a bit difficult to digest sometimes, but I think it's truly worth it for a new spin on dragons.

Purrgatory - Visual Novel/Point N' Click - Wonderful thoughtful short game with great music and humor, and stories to discover. Emotional at times, but its a game literally about purgatory. And it DOES have a nice neat ending instead of leaving loose ends.

How to Raise a Dragon - RPG - Short pixel game about growing a dragon. Has 3 paths you can take, and you can customize your color and breath power :3 I always make my dragon blue or white!

Deltarune - RPG - Goofy ass game, but very solid. By the same people that brought you Undertale and more! Currently a demo with only 2 chapters, but looks very promising so far. I love the battle system and overworld sprites. Spamton specifically fucked up my perception of this game so now i see it with rose tinted glasses forever.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - Visual Novel/Platformer - Short, cute little game that showcases some character personality of some of the Sonic cast :) Very very goofy.

Spore - Its spore. - Ngl, I only play up to the creature stage and then start a new save.

Portal 2 - Puzzle/Platformer - Its a valve game, what's not to love. Funny, Nice atmosphere, goofy characters, lesbian romance, confusing puzzles! It has it all!

Dragon Creek - Pet? Game? - Horse game, but dragons. Fairly light in gameplay, but solid. I'll occasionally spend 30 minutes to take of a dragon.

A Little to the Left - Puzzle - Organizational game. It probably has a story, but i like puzzle :) Cute art style and has puzzles with multiple solutions.

Deponia - Point N' Click - Decently long game that's definitely made in 2014. Has a few lel edgy humor moments (i know for sure r slur is said at least twice), but for the most part is a pleasant play gameplay wise.

Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside - Point N' Click - Oh man, I was a huge fan of all Humongous Entertainment games as a kid, but I think the dark, "mature" aspect of this pajama sam game drew me in. And sam is also a snarky little kid lol. Juvenile, but honestly still a fun play. Solid game to play if you wanna see if you like point n clicks.

Web

Flight Rising - Pet Game - You can dress up dragons, train them to fight, breed them, change their appearance, and collect hoards of items and familiars (lil pets). Your dragons CAN NOT die! PLEASE PLAY FLIGHT RISING WITH ME PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

GPX Plus - Pokemon Clone - The only pokemon clone I've actually stuck with playing. Fairly easy to get into. I mostly play just to hatch eggs, but there are battles and quests you can do. I really like the layout, and I like that I dont have to get on the forums to play.

Rescreatu - Pet Game - I don't actively play this game, but i have to recommenced it on gameplay alone. You can find eggs to hatch pets, and while your pets can die, getting food to keep them fed is fairly easy. There's a ton of pets with all kinds of life stages you can collect. You can play by yourself, but its easier to get pointers from older players on the shoutbox. Its. Ok. I spent a good chunk of my childhood on here so it might be a nostalgia recommendation.

Felisfire - Pet Game - Its about breeding alien cats, with some other spaceship lore tossed in. I've been playing this on and off for a long time. It takes a hot minute to get into, as its breeding system is a little involved, but its a nice game to have in your back pocket for an hour of so on a rainy day.

Khimeros - Pet Game - Besties idk what goes on here tbh, ive been opening this game once a year for 10 years, breeding things and then leaving <3

Console

Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 - Gamecube - Funny monkey balancing game. Difficult, keeps me entertained with some cute graphics, music, and fine motor controls.

Spyro, Enter the Dragonfly - Gamecube - This game fucking sucks, but that's the fun of it. Was my one and only Spyro game for a long time, so I grew to love it. I like the idea of it.

[3lys4b3th]

I hate canon marauders and Lily. I understand loving their fanon version, I do it, too, but antagonizing Severus? Bro, he was literally just a traumatized child.

In atyd, I think, Severus made fun of Remus because he was poor and had a bruise on his face, when Severus was poor and his father used to beat him and his mother up. Like, he would never. And in a lot of ff, to make the marauders look better, they make Severus a bitch.

The worst thing is that not many people know it's not canon, like, they think the fanon version of the marauders is the canon one. And a lot of people forget the levicorpus scene, I did it. Because I saw the film a long time ago and in just ONE ff I read, they wrote it. I thought it was fanon!

I'm not saying to love Severus (I, for example, hate adult Severus, but love young Severus because he did absolutly nothing wrong), but just don't treat his little version like a jerk and then describe the marauders as angels because it'd be a fucking lie.

And people asking are you a bambi stan or a Severus stan? Bro, I don't fucking stan any of them. They are bullies just in differents periods. And don't say James changed, that he was a better man because we know he became a little less arrogant, but nothing else. I'm not saying that he'd harass Severus again, but does he feel guilty? We don't know. But most important thing, does it change the past? No. His actions, all the marauders' actions, were horrendous and feeling sorry won't change the past.

(yes, Remus' actions, too. Because he didn't do anything to him, but he didn't stop his friends. Even if he did it because he was afraid of losing his friends, this doesn't make him less guilty. He's a complice for fuck's sake, just because you like him and he sucks less than his friends doesn't mean that he's good. He's guilty like his friends)

Another thing that makes me angry is that when I first understood the reality of the marauders and Severus, I felt so fucking ashamed to like his younger version. Because the majority of the fandom hate him, so I felt like I couldn't disagree with them (because some of them cyberbully you). And it's fucking wrong and I know I am not the only one. I love this fandom, but you're safe just if you agree with the majority and don't want to gave importance to the girls!

Plus they changed the characterization of some characters (especially the girls) to make them cooler. And I'm not talking about giving them personality, but to make them all bad bitches. Like Pandora, she was an outcaster, now she's a slut (I don't mean slut as an insult, but as description, and sometimes I've used it as a compliment). Why can't we like quirky or/and shy people? I'm not saying that you can't like them, but way make everybody like that? Why make them all cool? Quirky characters are more funny in my opinion.

Sorry for my vent and I think I misspelled some words. The resume is that you can like any fanon version of every characters, just don't be hypocritical and remember what's fanon and what's canon.

(I'm writing a ff with fanon marauders [and the others characters] and canon young Snape. I don't know if there'll be the prank and there won't be the levicorpus scene because is too fucking cruel. The only thing I know is that the Black cousins, yes, Black sisters, too, will defeat Voldemort. And probably no one believes in blood supremacy because I don't understand racism, so I can't write about an important character (secondary characters are important, too) that's racist. Anyway the question is would you like if I translated it in English?)

I need to say something that I don’t hear anyone talk about

TW: Child Abuse, Child Torture, Swearing, Sexual harassment/abuse, Child sexual harassment/abuse.

And is that people like to hate on Snape a lot and love The Marauders and Lily, they like to point out all the things Snape did, as an adult I remind you, but ignore all the things they did to him, like it never happened.

So I will remind you

First James tied him up so he wouldn’t fight back and when he swears at him he choke him with soap and sexually harass/abuse Severus. And if you think someone stripping someone else of their clothes and humiliate them in front of everyone is not sexual harassment we are going to have a very short conversation. There is the thing that this wasn’t the first James did this to him. Which it would be sexual abuse.

After James leaves Severus in his underwear, Lily smiles at that, Snape calls her a mudblood in a moment of heat without any textual reason. Snape being sexually harassed in front of everyone, and Liliy contains her smile.

She tought sexual harassment was funny, who does that? Who is enough of a shit of a human being to smile at someone who is being harassed publicly, especially to a friend, because in her eyes she was a friend of Severus, what would Harry have done if Ron was being harassed? or Hermione? He would certainly not smile, I can tell you that much.

Lily even has the nerve to scold him for having called her a mudblood and being friends with Death Eaters, after she contained her smile, and Severus was aware of this fact, since all that was in Severus’ memory.

I almost missed to mention that she walked away while her “friend” was still being stripped from his underwear, all because he said a slur. If a friend calls you a slur you have all the right to stop being their friend, but you don’t walk away from that and let that happen, that’s just heartless and shows you never really care for them.

Some people think that Snape actually deserves that, because of his actions, actions that happened when he was an adult.

How exactly do you deserve something that happened to you before you act wrongly? I still wonder, because that’s not how this works.

You don’t get punished for something you unlikely would do, you just don’t mix these things either. If you do something, you should be punished fairly for what you did, If someone did something wrong to you, you should have the right to have this person being punished for what they did to you, fairly. Pain and abuse aren’t tradable.

None of these things happened to Severus or Lily or The Marauders. And a child is never at fault of their abuse, never.

And I focused on Lily because she is viewed as someone gentle and kind, instead of a hypocrite.

When Harry wonders why she would marry someone like his father, it was possibly because she was like all the audience Severus had when he was being abused, the difference is that she pretended she wasn’t.

And for all the people who love the Lily and James relationship or think it’s lovely, James threatens to hex Lily when she pulls her wand out, and trying to manipulate her into date him by torturing her “friend”. We already knew of his abusive behavior by not taking a no for an answer , and well… Everything else he did.

If these things didn’t have happened to Severus he most likely wouldn’t turn out the way he did, people aren’t born evil, they could be born without empathy, which is not the case of Snape.

James was a mentaly healthy boy, he was also privileged with a wealthy wizard family (and feel superior by it) with loving parents, there is no reason for his behavior more than that, this is weak writing by JKRowling, but that is not a surprise. It could be that he was jealousy of Severus for being “friends” with Lily, but jealousy dosen’t make a minor sexually harass/abuse another.

(I just reread the book and it was in fact because he wanted to get Lily attention, not exactly by jealousy.)

He also bullied other people and hexed them, anyone who would bother him.

Sirirus grew up in a house of Death Eaters and, again, it doesn’t explain what external influence made him hate the doctrine his parents tried to give him, and it wasn’t his friends since he hated them, their doctrine and Slytherin House before going to Hogwarts. Weak writing.

Sirius send Severus to Remus while he was a werewolf, with the intention that that would kill Severus and make Remus a murderer, for the people who still don’t have it clear, Sirius atempted to kill Severus, and wasn’t a loyal friend.

18 years old Regulus black did realize how bad the situation was when Voldemort killed people, Regulus felt that wasn’t right, and sacrificed himself trying to stop him.

He would not get along, much less have a relationship with James or Sirius, he was a Slytherin, James and Sirius hated Slytherins, didn’t matter their beliefs or personality, they bullied anyone weak who couldn’t defend themselves, in that case Severus.

It’s said that James saved the live of Severus (like that would make amends for all the abuse he give him, It wouldn’t), when it could be that he simply was saving his friend from becoming a murderer.

We were shown a Peter excited when his friends tortured Severus, which make sence his then future actions.

What did Severus do to them? Just existing according to James.

The list of things that we know James and Sirius did to Snape (they probably did more since they started bulling him since first year)

Tied him up

Hang him upside down

Choke him and make him gag with soap

Hex him and caused him bleed

Tried to make one of his friends to kill him

Sexually harass him publicly

Stripped him naked

Hang him upside down

Verbally abused him

Physically abused him

Physically torture him

This lasted for a period of seven years. Psychologically, being abused for years, and the most important years of human brain development do affect it, deeply, which could lead to developing all the trials and mental illnesses that Snape has been shown/implied to have in his adulthood.

But putting all this horrible things aside, the one who is the most to blame for how Severus turned out, and then makes fun of him, when he is an adult for joined the Death Eaters, for letting James and Sirius did this things, and even help them have more authority, was Albus. He was the adult, the director that supposed to protect the students, and fail by his own decision, he didn’t guide them, he genuinely thought that if a kid is being bullied or harassed they should know how to defend themselves, that they were responsible of their own safety, he is childish and irresponsible, neglected and abused his authority and students, and the character to have the most blame for everything that happened in Hogwarts. And he did know very well what they were doing to Severus.

So my point is, you can hate Snape, you can even hate Draco, who, correct me if I’m wrong, never did the most extreme things that James and Sirius did, and changed before he reached adulthood, I wouldn’t give you shit for that. But if you like Srius and Lily and James and Albus then you are just being a hypocrite and you don’t hate the Slytherins because they are bad, that’s just an excuse.

Source: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[atarashii-gakko]

Natalie.mu Interview

Part 3

SOME EXCERPTS

MIZYU: "Pineapple Kryptonite" started when Mark brought a pineapple with an instrument at the session. We burst into laughter and said, "Why pineapple!" I put it on a beat like that and called it "Pinapo Pinapo". We have very little experience writing lyrics, and we can't rap in freestyle, so we used to say it for fun at first. When I first met, Mark, who saw the performance video of "Koi Geba", said "I like the scene of hitting", and there was a story that I wanted to include a fight scene in this song as well. That's why I decided to put in a painful sound, but since it is impossible to actually break the bones, Mark broke a wooden stick and SUZUKA decided to record with a microphone. However, the sound was louder than I expected, and SUZUKA was surprised at it and screamed. Instead of breaking sounds, screams will be used.

KANON: As I think about songs and music videos, my delusions grow more and more in Mark's head, and he explains in English with a laugh. Then, various things such as aliens came out, and we also came up with a lot of ideas and the world view was born.

MIZYU: Originally I was planning to make only this one song, but Mark said, "Let's make a few more songs." I was very happy.

──So your stay period has increased from one month to two and a half months.

RIN: When I was shooting the music video for "Pineapple Kryptonite" and making other songs, it was two and a half months before I knew it

──How did you come up with the second song, "Free Your Mind"?

MIZYU: First of all, Mark suggested "How about making a rock song?" That's why we suggested that the theme of the lyrics should be something like, "I want to dance when it hits the sun, I want to release my heart and sing and dance together." In America, the hours of sunshine were very long, the sunshine was strong, and it was very bright until about 8 pm.

SUZUKA: I had a connection with the director of MV and JESSE, so I was able to shoot at the Togoshi Ginza shopping street where JESSE lives.

RIN: It seems that everyone in the city knows JESSE, and he was talking to the male students walking around that area like "Oh, go home!". He was a very nice person.

KANON: The third song "CANDY" started when Mark told us that he wanted to make it on the theme of desire. Then Mark had so much knowledge that he talked about candy experiments.

MIZYU: He didn't tell us what kind of experiment it was, but when he made a situation where there were various people in the waiting room where many candies were placed and observed whether they would take the candies or not, the richer people would eat more. , I put it in my bag and take it home. And the people who don't have money, the more they carefully they eat one grain. The difference in desire. So candy and candy are sugar, aren't they? Sugar is the first drug that humans take, and when it is taken, the blood sugar level rises and becomes high, and then the blood sugar level drops and makes you feel depressed. Mark also told me that there are such sugar highs and sugar crashes, and when the theme of the lyrics was created, we suggested the sound.

SUZUKA: I want to make a crazy big sound that everyone goes crazy to. I want to make everyone high with this song, and I really like it.

Actually, it's a completely meaningless song, a song I want you to make into a yakiniku restaurant theme song

──The 4th song "Fantastico" and the 5th song "Happy Hormones" are also quite quirky and interesting songs, aren't they?

RIN: It's a song that makes it sound like you're singing Italian, but the lyrics don't really mean anything.

SUZUKA: In the old days, I didn't understand the meaning of the lyrics of English songs, but I still danced to them because they were cool, and I think that kind of feeling is correct! It's nice to feel the atmosphere.

RIN: In "Happy Hormones" we wanted to sing about happiness, and when I searched the internet, I found an article saying "Three hormones that come out when I'm happy!". There were pleasure hormones / dopamine, relief hormones / serotonin, and affection hormones / oxytocin.

KANON: No. 1 is really singing about happiness, but No. 2 is squeezing wisdom to put in the hormone part of yakiniku. "Ki (Mino) do your best".

SUZUKA: "Korikori! Omasum! Shimacho!" Has already been said normally, but I would like to say it with a nuance of "motivated! Energetic! Iwaki!"

──It's a work that really seems to be packed with the days in LA. Did Sean have any opinions about the production of this work?

RIN: It felt like Sean trusted Mark. It's not "Give me your leaders", but it was like that, so I was able to do it.

[ak8shi]

FWB HQ Boys: In which you beat the player at his own game!

warnings: Time skip spoilers, mentions of sex(all characters are 18+), alcohol, stupid people in love

a/n: ahh I’m sorry I’ve been a little MIA!!! But I’m back with this pls enjoy ! I think the fandom really make germaphobia his only personality trait sometimes which makes me sad because I think he’s actually a quirky/classy dude and very functional in social situations,, I hate to say it but ya’ll would get played by him… sorry.

━Sakusa Kiyoomi

Some of you may be like ???? Omi fucks around ?? how ?? BUT he definitely does in his own way

He probably doesn’t do much in high school to be honest, he’s mostly focused on improving as a volleyball player and achieving his goals

Once he reaches pro level though,,, it’s a different story lmfao

I can see him being picky as hell about his hookups, but just because he’s a bit of a germaphobe doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel attraction or doesn’t have needs…

….He’s so hot too… girl

His hook-ups are always taken seriously though… like he’s the type that feels like he has a professional image to upkeep, so he always arranges things beforehand; he’s definitely not messy about it and sets clear boundaries

I think what makes him kind of a player is how standoffish he can be…and he doesn’t really give anyone a chance because he doesn’t think they what it takes to deal with his lifestyle lmao

He’s just like, its easier to call the uber right after, get into the shower, and wait until he can hear the front door of his apartment shut I’m screamingg

Sakusa also isn’t one to kiss and tell, even with the boys… he doesn’t think its tasteful and would rather not have Atsumu up his ass about his flings

ANYWAYS,, let’s get into this, so you know Atsumu through mutual friends and met during college, and the two of you just instantly clicked since you also were a part of the same sports medicine program as him

Atsumu signed with MSBY and you were so happy for him, but you were bummed because you were busy with PT graduate school and couldn’t really attend any of his games

A year passed and you found yourself texting Tsumu to see if he could meet up and grab coffee since you were on winter break!!

You: hey I’m back in town wanna grab coffee sometime?

Him: who is this

You: I see you haven’t changed ❤️

LMFAO, so you catch up with Atsumu and he talks about his new career and his teammates, he seems so happy :(( we love to see that!!

He invites you to MSBY’s game the following weekend, and you’re pumped to go!! Tsumu got you great seats, and he meets you before warmups to make sure you’re okay finding your way around

Atsumu: don’t take yer eyes off me <3

You:

He’s so…

You’re enjoying the match and you even go to grab Onigiri from Osamu’s stand, but you can’t seem to look away from number 15 on Atsumu’s team

He’s .., scrumptious to say the least 🥴

Like he’s so composed and calculated on the court, and you find it so funny how he rolls his eyes whenever Tsumu says something to him and how Tsumu gets so heated about it 💀

The match ends and you go down to meet Atsumu near the lockers, showing the security your family/friend pass 😌

You walk through the halls trying to locate the setter, but you can’t seem to figure out where he is

The only person in the hall is the tall, dark haired man that caught your eye earlier; he is already walking towards the exit with a mask covering his face, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder, sweats embroidered with “Sakusa” adorning his body we’re all looking..... respectfully

He’s truly so intimidating but you’re like….highkey lost… so you don’t really have another option

You catch up with him, poking his shoulder gently; he turns around and his attention on you is almost STARTLING.. like his eyes are SO dark

Him: can I help you

You: sir… if you don’t rail me, I’m gonna have to intervene‼️😈😹

After getting over your initial shock, you hear multiple footsteps rumbling down the hallway towards the both of you

Sakusa lets out an annoyed sigh, muttering about how he has to go, but before he can escape you hear Atsumu’s loud voice LMFAO

“OMIIII, where are you goin’? Its team karaoke night remember?”

Tsumu sees you and slings an arm around your shoulders, “Oh-? So I see you’ve met our outside hitter Omi?”

You glance over at Sakusa, his expressionless eyes glued to your face, then slowly trailing down to analyze the way Atsumu casually has you tucked under his arm

Atsumu nudges him, and he grumbles that he’ll meet them after changing at home before walking off in the direction of the private parking garage

You meet the rest of the MSBY boys in the uber, and find them super friendly and welcoming; Bokuto and Hinata buy the first round of drinks at the karaoke bar, but you only have one because you have work to finish the next day WE STAN

Atsumu already has a pink glow setting into his cheeks when you see the boys turn their attention to Sakusa walking through the front door, looking as handsome as ever in his dress pants and fitted white t shirt

They all shout out incoherent hello’s, and he takes the only open seat next to you with a glass of gin and tonic in his hand he smells so good god

You’re unsure what comes over you, but you find yourself turning towards him, and you just start asking him about himself and his career, and surprisingly he’s very polite and much more animated than you previously thought

His voice is like…so alluring and he never looks away from you when you talk, its like he’s absorbing every word

Meanwhile, Atsumu is stumbling over the stage with Bokuto belting Love by Keisha Cole LMFAOO😭

Tsumu kind of ‘warned’ you in the car ride over that Sakusa was a germaphobe, but you know that Atsumu tends to invade people’s personal space sometimes and it probably wasn’t as dramatic as he made it out to be

However, you weren’t expecting the outside hitter to lean over from his seat after checking the time on his phone, whispering in your ear, asking you if you wanted to meet him at his place later than night WHEW

Girl I would be sweating… and you say yes ofc because who’s going to pass up this type of opportunity-

He gives you a charming smile and is like,, okay cool, I’ll see you later then 😊 I’m dead

Ya’ll exchange phone numbers and he’s like if you need any help with my idiot teammates let me know before he takes off

You don’t tell Tsumu about your little… entanglement plans dsnjaknda but honestly he wouldn’t even remember based on the way he’s slumped against you in the uber he owes you big time

You get home after dropping off Tsumu at Osamu’s, and operation dick appointment with the professional volleyball player is put into action 😈

He sends an uber over to get you ladies do not settle for less please, and you’re BIG nervous but in a good way as in you know this dick is about to be bomb af

SO you’re standing in front of his apartment door, and when he opens it, he’s still in the clothes he wore to the bar and its like 1 am he’s so powerful

Um I feel like he would get straight to it honestly, probably starts with a little convo on the couch and then…

YOU WEREN’T AWARE HE WAS SO DIRTY,,, it was SO good too like after getting home that night you’re going through a crisis… like you had so much chemistry together for having just met, and you wonder if he feels the same way🥺

You caught yourself in sleepless states some nights, kept awake by the thoughts of the way his hands felt against your skin, the way his five o’clock shadow gently rubbed against your face when you kissed, and how he would hold you(only after a thorough shower together of course)

As it happens more and more, he lets you into his life little by little, and you notice and remember small facts about him and he often remembers a lot of the things you tell him about you, its really enjoyable for both of you

Its weirdly domestic to a point but that’s why its so good for both of you???it adds a bit of spice ??

Sakusa: can you come over tonight

You: sorry the retainer is in already <3 no dick sucking for me tonight <3

Him: I bought pastries from that cafe you like

You: say less✈️ I’m coming💃

AND he HAS jokes okay, like he’s funny as hell and very witty when his true self comes out; but he’s also a HUGE tease and he’ll say something completely straight-faced that someone else might take offense to like “you look ugly,” but you just know he’s kidding from being around him long enough and from seeing the little glint in his dark eyes

It becomes a routine thing while you’re home honestly, and you try your best to hide it from Atsumu because you just KNOW you would never hear the end of it; for all he knows, you met him that one time at the bar and that was that

Everything is going smoothly until you slip up at one of their games

You were sitting in the waiting area with the team (mostly talking to Atsumu), when he just says something that makes your short circuit

Atsumu: what kind of animal do ya think omi would be? An octopus maybe?

You: yeah I mean with those flexible wrists it makes sense

Atsumu: what the fawk🤠

He’s like… how do you even know about his flexible wrists IT TOOK ME 6 MONTHS TO GET TO THAT STAGE WITH HIM-

Oops, lmfao so you kind of tell him about everything and he’s literally shocked for you, mostly because he doesn’t want you to get hurt :(

Atsumu: So I see he’s just sleeping with ANYONE anyone

LMAO noo he definitely thinks you’re too good for him and he kind of lectures you, telling you that he had a hunch that he messes around with girls like that, but also you’re an adult and you can take care of yourself, and it isn’t like it’s a serious thing!!

Meanwhile, Omi is like going through a bit of a crisis all alone because everything around him reminds him of you or something you said when you were together

He got with people who were compatible sexually often, but he never had the urge to have them stay over after the deed; he usually immediately called them an uber and wouldn’t speak to them again

He found himself thinking about seeing you in the stands at his games, wishing you were there to cheer for him only, and he adored the way you respected his boundaries unlike many of his hookups

Atsumu probably notices something is off with him at practice

Atsumu: hey…if ya ever want to talk about somethin’-

Sakusa: no

Girl… he doesn’t disclose any of this to anyone

Its nearing the end of your break, and you head over to sakusa’s for probably the last time before you go back to school

You’re kind of at the point where you don’t think anything will happen and you know you shouldn’t get your hopes up, and it goes how it usually goes? Except he kind of hugs you goodbye and your heart goes: 🦋🦋🦋

You go back to school, occasionally texting Tsumu about your graduate program, and before you know it, like 5 months pass by and you’re back for summer!

Tsumu texts you and is like… sorry but I’m forcing you to be my plus-one tonight for this dinner thing I have to go to

So you dress up and he comes to pick you up, and you’re really not sure why you were surprised to see Kiyoomi sitting at the table when you arrive you give Atsumu a nice smack on the back of the head for not warning you

You sit down at the table after greeting everyone, trying your best to not act awkward when you shoot sakusa a small smile that he returns politely (but you don’t see it because of his mask)

Atsumu sits weirdly close to you the entire dinner with his arm around the back of your chair, and he’s just acting strange in general??? Like he’s bragging about your degree program and about your accomplishments, you just know he’s trying something funny; but you don’t really say anything because you don’t want to disrespect him in front of the team’s staff as a guest

You almost choke on your wine and you catch on when Bokuto starts making comments after Atsumu says something,

Atsumu: …so yeah, pretty much she should be our next president in my humble opinion

Bokuto: 🙈WOAH. WHAT?😍 HOW COULD SHE GET ANY BETTER⁉️🙄 OR HOTTER⁉️💪🏼💋

You, sitting there: 🧍‍♀️

He’s so bad at acting I’m crying..,, it becomes so obvious that they’re trying to make Kiyoomi jealous

(the boys plotted beforehand, trying to get Omi to ask you out officially; after you left, he literally would never shut up about you whenever Atsumu mentioned you, and it was just obvious he was in his feels when it came to you)

Atsumu: she’s studying at a café tonight for finals

Sakusa: Yeah so I’m glad you brought it up, because I’ve been thinking about it for days. Fine I guess I’ll say it. Her favorite coffee blend is French roast and she only likes a dash of sugar with a lot of cream, but it has to be hazelnut creamer or else she doesn’t like any-

Everyone in the gym: 🗿

LMAO ANYWAYS ITS LOWKEY WORKING you look over at him and his face is like stone.. girl..

The dinner is almost over and Atsumu gets up to go to the restroom with a wink I hate him, and you get up to catch a breath of fresh air outside

You sit on a bench for a minute, calming yourself down after the eventful dinner, but then you see the door to the restaurant swing open, Sakusa looking around the corner before spotting you

Your heart pounds in your chest as he walks over and asks if he can join you, inspecting the bench before sitting down, pulling his mask down as well

He eases into a conversation by just asking you how you’re doing, basic stuff, but then in the middle of you going off on a tangent about your stupid professor, he stops you

“I missed you.”

He crosses his legs, not looking at you as he takes your hand, intertwines it with his, and places it in his lap

You gaze at him, taken back at his confession, noticing the slight pinkness tinging his pale cheeks

You say you missed him too, and then he’s asking you if you would like to go on an actual date with him

You: wait are you asking me out officially?

Him: Yes. No I’m not. Yes I am❤️

SKSLD Please he’s awkward help him a little, you agree and then you hear a tap on the window behind you, you turn around to see Tsumu, Bokuto and Adriah behind you with big grins on their faces LMFAO 🤡

Kiyoomi rolls his eyes, but you don’t miss the small upturn of the corners of his lips as he hears Bokuto happily scream through the glass

[sannylity]

This can go both ways, and both are fun concepts!

If Charlie is Spiderman… Mariana is Venom

— actual buff nerd. Charlie is literally a buff nerd in irl who plays D&D and has a degree in film. It’s easy to imagine him as Spiderman

— a gunky goopy green Spiderman design would actually go so hard. He’s a version of the hero with extra gunk on his webs, plus there’s probably so many quirky things to add with slime

— instead of Green Goblin, imagine Mariana as Venom! Like, let’s say he’s best friends with Charlie and they’re secretly madly in love with each other. Mariana’s obsessed with uncovering some secrets from their university’s science department. When he broke in, he was right about the theory that they’ve been keeping highly dangerous parasites in the labs. A symbiote that soon took claim of him and that’s how he became Venom! So much potential for different tropes between a Spiderman Charlie and a Venom Mariana!

— since Mariana likes to wear black clothes in real life, it’s just so perfectly fitting for him as Venom. Dark and mysterious and a little boy crazy obsessed with Charlie and uncovering their school’s secrets

— the drama of Charlie discovering that Mariana is Venom and vice versa. The fun thing with Slimeriana is how they are wild cards who can react in different ways when that happens

If Charlie is Spiderman… Mariana is Mary Jane

— it’s obvious how fitting they are like this. buff nerd Spiderman Charlie and cool popular guy, loved by everyone Mariana. Charlie thinks it’s one-sided but Mariana has been secretly pining over him too!

— there could be a play in Mariana’s name to become MJ. Like, he can have a second first name or something. “Mariana Juan” or “Mariana Javier” or something and people just call him MJ for short

— imagine how protective Charlie would be if Mariana gets in danger!

— we need Charlie trying to impress Mariana with when he discovered he has superpowers. Except, since he’s cringefail, he doesn’t succeed at all. But Mariana thinks he’s funny and that was enough

— Mariana finding out that Charlie is Spiderman. Something romantic like Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker pulling Emma Stone Gwen Stacy by his web and kissing her, but Slimeriana version!

— short king Spiderman Charlie webbing around New York with his tall civilian boyfriend mounted on him. I just remember Tom Holland’s story of how Zendaya’s taller than him and it felt nice being carried even for just a second whenever they have to land. THAT! IS! SO! SLIMERIANA!

If Mariana is Spiderman… Charlie is Green Goblin

— Mariana as Spiderman is fun, I imagine his character similar to Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker and Charlie’s character being Dane Dehaan’s Green Goblin

— it would be a nice and fresh change for Charlie to be the cool and rich character with successful parents. Even make fun backstory references of having stone cold parents and seven other siblings fighting to become heir. A badass but dark turn for Charlie is if he killed his siblings to become the heir and that’s what made him the Green Goblin

— I strongly believe that Spiderman Mariana and Green Goblin Charlie would have so much sexual tension… Argue with the wall if you think otherwise!

— rich boy Charlie spoiling his middle class upbeat best friend Mariana rotten with gifts his money could buy just because he can. Their school actually thinks they’re a couple lol

If Mariana is Spiderman… Charlie is his best friend/sidekick

— love triangle moment. Charlie and Mariana have been best friends since they were children. Charlie has been in love with him around the same time, but Mariana has a crush on popular guy Foolish (who happens to be the MJ in this AU)

— Maybe Mariana and Foolish gets together at some point for some Fooriana content and Charlie angst

— Mariana realizing his feelings or developing feelings for his best friend while already dating the boy of his dreams is such a good trope for them! A “he fell hard but he fell harder” type beat!

— the potential angst of Charlie trying to date and be with someone else vs. Mariana being confused by how much he cares (jealous) that his best friend is dating

— the fun twist of Charlie having figured out that Mariana is Spiderman when he saved him one time. That one scene from Far From Home when MJ told Peter he’s Spiderman. A Slimeriana version would be so funny! Mariana being a terrible liar and bad at denying it and Charlie knowing all his tells when he lies but also understanding why Mariana would keep it a secret from him

Feel free to add on my insane brainrot. I didn’t think I have so many thoughts about this yet here we are!

u know i may make a spiderman slimeriana au. just gotta figure out who i wanna be spiderman . i love you mary jane

[sunjaesol]

serendipitous encounters

juke | human au | fluff

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"I think I met my soulmate!" Luke shouted as he barrelled through the front door, announcing his presence.

Alex, cuddled up with Willie, groaned from his place on the couch. "Not this again. Luke, soulmates do not exist!"

"Well, I'm curious," Willie joked. "What happened?"

Bouncing through the small living space, he propped himself on the coffee table. His eager lips spouted everything he knew so far. "Her name's Julie and she's beautiful and she drinks lattes with caramel syrup."

The two boys blinked at each other, an amused smile growing on Willie as the scowl deepened for Alex. Yeesh. How did these two work?

The blonde tried keeping composure. "You think... you met... the person you want to spend the rest of your life with... in a coffee shop?"

Luke nodded. What was his point?

Luckily, Willie was on his side. "Did you talk to her?"

Sighing, he slumped to the floor. "No. But I'm telling you, it's her."

"This oddly feels like that Zooey Deschanel movie," Alex mused.

"No! She's not some fantasy! She-I can't explain it." Dreamily looking up at the ceiling, he added. "She's it. I'm calling it."

"I think you're horny," Alex deadpanned. Willie snickered.

He rolled his eyes and swatted their legs. "Very cool, you guys.”

The doorbell rang. Jumping up and saving himself from further embarrassment, Luke went to open it.

And it was her. Holy shit.

She smiled up at him, holding up his trusty songbook.

"Hello. You left this journal on your table at Starbucks? It has your address inside."

Gobsmacked, Luke stared at her. Holy fucking shit. Because of his whole daydream about her in Starbucks, he forgot his book and then she took it upon herself to find the rightful owner. That was fate, right? Take that, Alex!

Stammering vowels, he plucked it from her grasp and let out a breathy laugh.

"Y-Yeah, thanks, that's- yup."

An amused smile pulled on her lips, nodding. "No problem. Have a nice day!"

Her goodbye snapped him out of his stupor, calling out for her with a raised hand.

"Wait! I didn't catch your name!"

She turned around, the girl looking so foreign in the grimy hallway of the apartment complex.

"Why do you need my name?"

Cause he knew it already and didn't want to seem like a creep.

He shrugged. "I want to thank you."

"It's Julie," she said after a beat.

"Thank you, Julie." His grin must've been comically wide, heart beating a mile a minute as he was still convinced she was his freaking soulmate.

And then she left. He was certain he'd see her again. In a non creepy way, that was.

— — — — — —

It was wholly coincidental once more. 

It was an early Sunday morning, Luke donned in sweatpants and a ratty cut-off and bedhead, as he meandered in the the shop of a tailor. Reggie owed him for this. 

The bassist loved buying vintage clothing, but never stuff that quite fit him. Hence, a tailor. His name was Peter and basically Reg’s best friend at this point, based on the disappointed look the man gave Luke as he handed him the the slip. He could hear the question on his tongue - “Where’s Reggie?” - and was happy when he didn’t ask. 

One, cause that was fucking rude. 

Two, cause Reg was currently fighting for an exclusive comic book on the other side of Los Angeles with a hurdle of other nerds. 

As Peter was sifting through the clothing racks, searching the order, the bell jingled behind him. 

“Oh, Journal Boy?”

He stilled. Holy shit. 

Whirling around, he came face to face with Julie. Just as beautiful as a week ago; maybe even more disarming in sandals and her curly hair up in a messy bun.

“Hi,” he breathed, unsure if he wasn’t just imagining her. It was a pretty hot day. It could easily be a sun stroke. 

Her smile widened. She was probably amused by his goofy behaviour, but he couldn’t help it. What were the odds he’d see her again, in a different location, this early after the first encounter? What was the statistical probability of meeting his soulmate twice? 

Before he could say anything else, Peter appeared from his rack and placed a leather jacket on the counter. Their attention diverted, Luke couldn’t help but feel heat travel up his back from having her so near. 

— — — — — —

No, he didn't want to go to silent disco.

Alas, Willie and Alex were that quirky type of couple that always liked to do the weirdest shit, including the most impersonal activity ever: a silent fucking disco.

They told him to bring a date, as Reggie was bringing his Tinder match Kayla, but he wasn't feeling it. One, because he still couldn't believe he saw Julie again at the tailor-

("It's Luke, by the way," he added.

She smiled and tasted the name. "Luke. Haven't lost your journal again?"

His name sounded heavenly on her tongue. Keeping the blush at bay, he nodded with a grin. "Yup. Uh-"

And then the man came back with her stuff, and that was that.)

-two, cause he wanted to win from Alex. Soulmates did exist and he hadn't lost hope it was her.

So there he was, in some old factory turned disco, with hundreds of idiots wearing headphones as they danced in a frenzy to whatever song was playing. The whole point of art - connection - was lost. Luke wanted to die.

Until he saw Julie from across the space. Again. And she saw him.

They smiled and waved and suddenly, this whole thing wasn't so bad anymore.

— — — — — —

There were about a 130,000 people living in East LA. It had sprawling neighbourhoods and hundreds of communities and subways that connected it to the other parts of LA. She could’ve been anywhere. 

And yet, he found her again. 

Even though he was still sticking to his guns that Julie was someone special, he also had his own needs. Which was how he found himself slipping out of a redhead’s bed at seven in the morning, dazed from being in an unknown place, and pulling his clothes back on. He was pretty sure her name was Meredith, though that could also just be entirely false. It was a weird, albeit good night. 

She mumbled in her pillow he could let himself out, waving half-heartedly and rolling on her side. 

Softly closing the door behind him and cracking the knots in his neck, he didn’t notice how he bumped into a person. 

Into Julie. 

His eyes widened in shock, the two letting out a surprised yelp. Her hand clutched her chest and took a step back. 

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Sorry!”

Her mouth opened and closed in confusion, about to say something, when her gaze trailed past him to the apartment he just left. She cleared up. 

“Meredith? Good choice, she’s nice.”

Luke flushed red. What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? 

Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, he drawled, “Uh, yeah... what’re you doing here?”

It was then that he noticed she had athletic wear on, duffle bag around her shoulder and keys dangling between her fingers. She confirmed his suspicions when she replied. 

“I, uh, live here.” She laughed. “So... have a nice rest of the day?”  

He wanted to say a lot. He wanted to ask if she wanted to grab breakfast, that Meredith wasn’t his girlfriend, that he had this crazy feeling they were always meant to meet - again and again and again ‘til they got it right. 

But he couldn’t. He’d sound insane. Hell, it was insane. Instead, he wished her a nice day as well and scurried out the hallway. He didn’t look back, but he did wonder if he was imagining he felt her eyes on his back. 

— — — — — —

Luke was typing on his laptop, the hustle and bustle of Starbucks at three in the afternoon and the methodical tap tap tap of the keys lulling him into a fast-paced trance. As always, he procrastinated some work for Pitchfork and had to get it done in two hours or else his boss would be yelling in his emails.

The bell jingled, Luke looking up automatically and almost rolling his eyes at the sight of her. This was getting insane.

Julie saw him too, changing her course from the register to his round table with a confused grimace twisting her features. As always, she looked pretty; the girl never looked bad and it was kind of messing with his head.

"Alright, fess up," she exclaimed, slipping into the seat opposite of him. "Are you stalking me?"

He snorted and leaned forward with a wry grin. "I can ask the same about you."

Her lips pursed, assessing him for a beat. With a sigh, she mellowed down. "I guess... we live in the same neighbourhood..."

"Still kinda crazy though," he mused. "East L.A. is big."

She nodded, pensive, and then looked over her shoulder to the menu board. "Is it okay if... I sit with you? I was going to grab a latte to go, but since you're here..."

But since you're here - rang in his ears, a careful smile blooming on his lips. Fuck, he really needed to work, but Julie wanted to sit with him, hang with him, be friends with him, outside of all the coincidental meetings they've had.

He wouldn't call it a date yet. He wanted to properly ask her when that day came.

"Sure," he mumbled, biting down the smile from becoming bigger.

His reply satisfied her, the tendrils dancing around her bright eyes as she matched his smile and stood up to make an order.

— — — — — —

Weeks passed with quick meetings here and there, Julie slowly bleeding into his life with laughs and smiles and whirlwind stories about her life. She was always on the go, always bright-eyed and easily matching his energy. He knew his enthusiasm could put people off, but she was never taken aback.

Wit against wit. Snark against snark. A dumb joke met with an amused roll of the eye. It worked. For a while, he even settled on the fact that hey, they might be platonic soulmates. Julie was a great friends and sometimes he felt his emotions fleeting. If they remained friends, he'd be perfectly content.

But then she closed gaps and barriers that had pointedly been kept before. After they got boba, her hand wrapped around his bicep, stretched on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. Before he could register it, she was back on her feet waving him goodbye. Luke had a dopey look on his face for the rest of the day.

She kept up cheek kisses, he let his warm embraces linger, their short hangouts turned into hours.

Then one night, she kissed his cheek after they got ramen and he shifted his face 'til their noses brushed. Julie held her breath. Tentatively, their fingers curled together - the simple touch sparking lightning up his arm.

"Is it weird that I've dreamed about you?" he asked, cautious, looking at their joined hands.

Luke wanted to tell her about his initial gut feeling; that he saw her and he knew. But it was too insane and he didn't want to scare her off. But he knew. He's always known.

"No..." Her mouth ghosted his. "I've dreamed about you too."

Luke closed the little space between them, lips slanting together and instantly deepening as one hand came up to cradle her cheek. His heart was bursting with euphoria. It felt as if his body sighed in relief, like it had finally come home. And then he did: he sighed and grinned and giggled when her arms wrapped around his neck.

Oh, man... he might already love her.

— — — — — —

Nothing definite happened afterwards. Though this is what he wanted, he felt weird confirming their relationship when he had always somehow ‘known.’ It had to come from her side, the more level-headed person in this situation. 

So, it was casual, even though he was anything but casual. 

It was pretty great though, walking past Meredith’s door towards Julie’s, having her yank him inside and kiss him like she’d been waiting for years. Kissing Julie was fucking heaven. 

Besides that, they were the same Luke and Julie as before. They got boba or ramen or any new spot that opened up like weeds. She listened to new music with him, sharing earbuds, for his Pitchfork articles. He watched her sing and play the piano at music clubs, becoming more and more enamoured each time simply by the sound of her angelic voice. He built a shelf for her. She taught him how to make friendship bracelets. He met her best friend Flynn. She stayed over for dinner with the guys and got drunk on white wine, giggling along to the jokes.

They fit. But they weren’t exclusive. He had no clue if she was also seeing someone else. He presumed she didn’t, the two constantly revolving around each other, but he couldn’t be certain.

Alex was gobsmacked the first time he properly met her. Stunned that Luke had been right, that it worked out, that East Los Angeles was apparently nothing more than a small town. Luke reckoned he was just jealous he didn’t have to meet his person by getting maimed on the street - ha! 

His finger trailed along her sleeping silhouette, gently and drowsy, observing in awe how a smile subconsciously quirked on her lips and shifted closer to his touch. He closed his eyes and pressed his nose in the back of her neck. There were worse ways to wake up. 

— — — — — —

Eventually, Julie simply decided for him.

She was moving apartments and he was helping her pack, move furniture, throw shit out, the whole nine yards. For one person, she had a lot of stuff, her cabinets an endless supply of decor, souvenirs and memories.

They were whirling around each other like clock-work, never bumping and smoothly handing things over. Rap music was playing from the stereo, its sound drifting from her opened front door into the hallway.

One of her neighbours popped their head in.

"Oh!" The old man perked up, surprised. "You're moving, Julie?"

She looked up from rummaging through her CD collection to shoot him a tired smile. "Yeah," she puffed, "my lease is up, so..."

"Change of pace, I get it. That's wonderful," he nodded, gaze shifting to Luke walking out of the bathroom. "Hello!"

Luke smiled at him, waving with the box of oddly shaped soaps Julie had for some reason. "Hi."

"This is Luke, my boyfriend," Julie introduced, Luke freezing in his tracks all at once as the words utter from her lips. Boyfriend. Holy shit. It didn't faze her, smoothly babbling more than he wasn't processing.

Boyfriend. Which meant that she was his girlfriend. Which meant that now, he had to threaten the guys to not say a fucking word about how mentally deranged he was the first week after meeting her. This wasn’t planned. This was fully her. This was past fate and serendipity - this was by choice. It felt better than he thought. 

The man bid goodbye and left. Luke dropped the box on the coffee table, sliding towards her with a shit-eating grin.

"Boyfriend," he drawled exaggeratedly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. ‘Cause you are. I know you well enough to know you can only do exclusive."

"Can you?"

"I said you were my boyfriend, didn't I?"

His smile widened, leaning in to kiss her. She met him halfway, loose curls tucked behind ears before her arms were slung around his waist. I love, I love you, I've loved you forever.

And then the truth tumbled out. Part of it, at least.

"I, uh," he gulped, looking at her through his lashes. "I saw you, that first day, and I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Her face turned tender, a pout jutting from her lip as she gauged his reaction, like she was waiting for him to make a joke. He wasn't.

"Really?" she whispered, voice so small it took him aback for a beat.

His thumbs gently caressed her cheeks, withholding himself from saying anything more. This was enough. It was the truth without the crazy - being with her was crazy enough. Luke settled on a simple nod.

Her head tilted, shy amusement lilting her tone. "Good thing I'm moving closer to your neighbourhood then."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

@blush-and-books​ @bluefirewrites​ @willexx​ @pink-flame​ @constantly-singing​ @unsaid-emily​ @ourstarscollided​

[anonymous-tals]

Oops, I projected my mental health issues onto a fictional character that is similar to me.  Time to write fanfiction, I guess!

TW: Eating Disorders.  If you are struggling or are in recovery from an eating disorder, here’s a big ol’ trigger warning.  There are no numbers or specifics about anything but it does center around Brad Bakshi of the show Mythic Quest struggling with his eating disorder.

This is not in an attempt to glamorize eating disorders(not that I wrote anything that would but just in case someone misinterprets this).  Eating disorders are not cute or quirky.  They are serious illnesses that lead to death.  If you are struggling with an eating disorder, you deserve recovery.  Please reach out for help to a trusted adult.

National Eating Disorder Association 1-800-931-2237

One last trigger warning for eating disorders before we begin!  I hope the writing isn’t trash.  If you have any critiques, feel free to comment them.  I hope you enjoy the story(if this is cringey, future me, you have permission to murder me right now):

Brad’s eyes opened, squinting as he tried to adjust to the harsh lights.  He looked around the room, confused as to where he was.  After a couple of seconds, he identified the room as a hospital room.  There was a lady sitting on a chair by the door reading a book.  Adjusting himself, Brad slowly sat up, his head aching as he did.  The lady perked up as she noticed Brad had awakened.

“Oh!  You’re awake!”, she said, calmly, putting down her book.

“Where-Where am I?”, said Brad.

“You’re in the hospital, sir.”  Brad looked around the room.  The walls were a cool green.  Typical nature photos shuffled through on a tv that was mounted on the wall in front of his bed as it waited to be used.  There was a thin door that he guessed was either a bathroom or a closet.  Brown cupboards lined the walls.  He moved his arm only to notice there was a tube attached to it.

“What the hell happened?”, he thought.  The previous day, or what he presumed to be the previous day, had been foggy.  Well, pretty much everyday lately had been a blur.

“I’m going to go tell a nurse you’re awake so we can do weights and vitals.”  A pang of fear struck him at the sound of the word weight.  Someone else was going to see what he weighed.  His thoughts were racing.

“Just take a deep breath.”, he thought.  He tried to calm himself down by looking around the room.  He noticed there was a card on the counter beneath the cabinets.  Curiosity got the best of him and he stood up.  Stars popped into his vision and he steadied himself before making his way to the counter.  The tube was just barely long enough for him to reach it.  The cover read, ‘Get well soon!’.  Brad walked back to the hospital bed and sat on the edge of the mattress.  “I wonder who it’s from?”, he thought, opening the card.  “I can’t believe you are in the hospital!  You appeared so healthy.  Get well, soon, motu.”

“Brad Bakshi?”, a nurse called from the doorway.  He looked up, tossing the card into a trash can by the bed.  The lady who had been sitting in the room with him walked in and sat down again, opening her book.  “Hello, I’m Amanda Armstrong and I’ll be your nurse today.  Do you know why you’re here?”, she said.

“No.”, Brad replied, shortly.

“Well, you were brought here by…”, she looked down at a clipboard she was holding.  “...Ian Grimm?  Does that name sound familiar?”

“Yes, he’s my boss.”  Brad kept his voice calm but his heart was starting to quicken.  Memories from the day previous began to surface.

“Well, he said you had fainted while walking up a flight of stairs.”  Brad’s calm demeanor cracked as the memories flooded back.

“Oh...yah.  I remember that.”

“Yes, well, you got a concussion.  Thankfully, it isn’t too bad.”

“When will I be getting out?”, Brad said, shaking away his feelings of anxiety.

“Well, let’s take your vitals first and then we can discuss that.  Come with me.”  Brad followed Amanda out into the hall.  They didn’t walk for long but the environment made him feel uneasy.  There was something surreal about it.  Or maybe it was the fact that he felt a little light headed that made everything feel a bit off.  “We’ll be in here.”, said Amanda, opening the door.  Brad entered the room, surveying his surroundings.  It looked like a typical room for check-ups.  Amanda made her way to the computer sitting on the desk and started logging in and opening a file.  “Ok, let’s do your vitals.  I’m going to ask you to lay down and stay still, please!”  She walked over to the wall where a weird machine stood.  “I’m just going to put this on your arm, if you’d roll up your sleeve for me.”  Brad rolled up his sleeve and she velcroed what appeared to be something relating to blood pressure.  “Ok, I’m going to need you to answer honestly.  Have you had any feelings of depression or sadness?”

“Excuse me?”, said Brad, startled, sitting up.

“Please lay down, Mr.Bakshi.  Begrudgingly, Brad lay down.

“Why on earth are you asking me this?”, said Brad, frustrated.

“Well…”, she hesitated.  “Ok, I’m going to be direct with you here.  Your boss reported that you hadn’t been eating much and you have been appearing to be quite fatigued and dizzy.  Right now, we’re doing your vitals to see what we’ll need to do.”

“Are you implying that I have an eating disorder?  I’ll tell you right now that I don’t.”

“Well, the lanugo is telling a different story.  Now, please, let’s go through the questions.”  The nurse asked the questions while doing the vitals despite Brad giving short, passive aggressive answers.

“Ok, time for weight and height.”  Brad's heart quickened.

“Do we have to?”

“I’m going to have you turn around.  You won’t even see it!”  He stepped onto the scale as he tried to hide his growing panic.

“You fat idiot.  If you restricted more, maybe you wouldn’t be so anxious right now.  You wouldn’t even be here, I bet!  You fat, stupid, fatty-”

“Ok, you can step off!”  The nurse's voice interrupted his thoughts and he stepped off the scale.  Ok, let’s do your height.

She measured his height and then went over the computer and input the information.

“Ok.  So, here’s what we’ve got going on here, Mr.Bakshi.  Your vitals are showing symptoms of anorexia and so is your BMI.”

“BMI is garbage.”, Brad said dismissively.

“Well, that doesn’t disregard any of the other information.  I can’t force you to do anything since you’re an adult but I would highly suggest going into inpatient care.”

“For the last time, I don’t have an eating disorder!  Sorry, I care about my health!  I thought losing weight was a good thing!”  The nurse sighed before closing out of the tabs on the computer.

“Well, you can think it over during the next couple days.  You’ll need to stay here to make sure your head is okay.”  Rolling his eyes, Brad scoffed.

“Fine, whatever.  My decision won’t change, though!”

They headed back to the room and Brad sat down on his bed.  He stared at the tv.  It had just faded to a picture of a monarch butterfly on a purple flower.  His gaze travelled across the room until it fell onto the card he had thrown in the trash can.

“I bet I wouldn’t even get diagnosed with anything.  I’m too fat.  I need to be thinner.  I’m not even that bad.  I need to be that bad, though.”  Just then, a sharp knock on the door halted his thoughts in their tracks.  Brad looked up to see David standing at the doorway with a balloon and a gift bag.

  “Great, just what I needed.”, said Brad, sarcastically.

“Nice to see you too, Brad.”  Brad rolled his eyes in response.  “The office was really worried about you!  You sure took a tumble.  Anyways, here’s a balloon!  And a gift!  Courtesy of your friends at the office!”

“Interesting.  I didn’t consider you guys as friends.”, Brad replied coldly.

“What do you want me to say, then?  Huh?  Courtesy of everyone you annoy and pester?”  Brad looked away, not responding.  He was finding it harder and harder to keep his emotions hidden underneath.

“Listen, David.  I don’t care about you guys and you guys don’t care about me and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“I’m sorry we’re decent enough human beings to care about other people.”

“Pshh, you don’t care about me.  You just want to feel good about yourselves so you can feel like you’re a decent human being.  So you can stop pretending you care about me because you don’t, ok?  No one does.”  His emotions were slipping through.  He could feel his eyes welling up but he wouldn’t allow the tears to fall.

“Come on, Brad.  Of course people care about you!  Your brother for example!  He’s a great guy!  He threw you that awesome birthday party, remember?”  Brad sat still, not responding.  “Earth to Brad, anyone in there?”, David said, giving a small laugh.

“Shut up!”  Brad shouted loudly, causing David to wince.  “My brother is a horrible person.  He has gone out of his way to ruin my life.  In fact, he is ruining my life right now.”  His voice cracked as a tear broke through.

“Brad, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-”

“Just leave, ok?  Please just leave.”  Brad’s heart began to beat faster.  “You idiot.”, he thought.  “You let him see that you’re weak.  You are weak.  You’re just a fat, weak, pussy.”  His breathing was getting quicker and quicker.  The room started to spin.  It felt like everything was happening all at once.  Just then, he felt a hand on each of his shoulders.

“Take a deep breath, ok?”, said David.  Brad hesitated before taking a deep breath in and letting it out.  “In, 2, 3, 4.  Out, 2, 3, 4.  In, 2-”  Slowly Brad began to calm down.  He opened his eyes, not even realizing that he had closed them.  “Better?”, asked David, taking a step back.  Brad looked towards the window, avoiding eye contact, wiping the tears from his face.  He tried to think of something witty to say but he was too tired.  They were both quiet for a bit before David broke the silence.  “Well, I have to go but I-”

“Stay.  Please.”  Brad didn’t break eye contact with the window.

“I...I guess I could stay.”  David pulled up the chair that the lady had been in earlier.  They sat there in silence for a while before David grabbed the remote for the TV.  “Are you good with me putting something on?”  Brad stayed quiet.  “I’ll take that as a yes!”  He scrolled through the small selection of movies before choosing something and relaxing into his chair.

…

They sat there for a while.  Movies played while David talked about what had happened at the office that day.  Poppy and Ian created an obstacle course to see who was better.  Not better at one specific thing.  Just better in general.  Brad didn’t respond but every once in a while, a small smile would crack through.

“Well, it’s getting late so I think I should actually get going.”, David said, standing up and started walking out the door.  Just before he left, Brad spoke.

“Thank you...for staying and all.”  He, once again, wasn’t making eye contact.

“Of course, man.  It’s no big deal!”  There was a pause before Brad spoke again.

“They want me to do an inpatient program.”

“Oh?  For…”  David trailed off.

“Yah…”  Brad started fidgeting with the corner of the blanket on the bed.  “I don’t know what to do.  Whether I should go or not.”

“Well, I’d say you should do what you think would benefit you best.”, said David, taking a couple steps towards him.  Brad was silent.

“...Thanks, David.”

David gave a small wave as he walked out the door.  Brad sat there awake for a while, unable to sleep.  He sat there, listening to the sounds of the hospital through the door.  A woman, presumably a nurse, poked her head in the room.  “Would you like to order dinner?”  Brad shook his head and the nurse left.  He then spotted the gift bag that David had brought.  He picked it up and removed the tissue paper stuffed in at the top.  Inside there was a pig plush and a card.  The plushy was adorable and very soft.  He pet the pig plush, enjoying the soothing texture, before placing it in his lap and moving onto the card.  It was your typical get better soon card.  On the inside, there were either signatures or little get well messages from everyone.  It seemed like the pig plush was Jo’s idea.  Brad leaned over and placed the card on the side table next to his bed.  He looked at it for a minute before grabbing the pig, getting under the covers and falling asleep.

[chaoticrumii]

A LITTLE MORE THAN FRIENDSHIP

summary : kazunari seems odd, and although he denies it, you see right through his lies. the falsehood of his own existence is eating away at him, and as a good friend, you do your best to try and assist him.

genre : fluff

perspective : second person pov

pairing : kazunari miyoshi x gn!reader ( they / them pronouns )

word count : 1.5k

warnings : spoilers for kazunari miyoshi’s backstory

“ director-chan~ ♪ ! looking forward to work today too ☆ ” - kazunari miyoshi ( introduction voice lines )

You had always believed that Kazunari had something to hide. Not in the shady sense, but something was definitely off about him. It wasn’t in the way he laughed, nor in the way that he would grin and wave at almost all the people walking down the street.

Those were just his quirky qualities, weren’t they? Yet again, maybe not. It was hard to tell in the midst of all his hellos and goodbyes whenever he would meet up with you, and the constant texting to other friends on his phone. The way he would act was normal for someone with connections like his, but something was itching in the back of your mind.

It’s strange, it’s strange, it’s strange.

It bothered you immensely, although you had told yourself you would leave it alone. One day when the two of you were hanging out in a cafe, you just couldn’t keep all the questions in.

“Hey Kazunari, are you okay?” You asked.

He looked up at you from his phone, and cocked his head to the side questioningly.

“What do you mean, Y/N? I’m completely fine! Thank you for worrying about me though!” He said, grinning with that smile of his.

“No. There’s definitely something you’re hiding from me.” You pushed, crossing your arms over your chest.

Kazunari’s face morphed into one of confusion, his brows furrowing as he brought his cup up to his lips and sipped on his drink. He placed it back onto the small coffee table with a tiny clang, looking you dead in the eyes.

“I’m really okay, Y/N. There’s nothing wrong with me, and I hope you don’t continuously worry about me like this.” He said quickly.

You didn’t believe it for a second, but then again, you couldn’t really describe how weird he had been acting ever since you’d first met. It was still an enjoyable experience though, and you thoroughly wished you could get to know him even better than you currently did. Hopefully one day you’d be able to gently tug that secret he was hiding out of him.

“Anyway, do you wanna go anywhere? You promised me a day of friendly fun together, right?” You asked, slumping back into the soft armchair.

“You can decide! I’m good with any place you want to head to.” Kazunari said, typing on his phone again.

“But like, do you wanna go anywhere? I don’t really have anything in my brain right now, but I want to go somewhere exciting.” You said, waving your fist in the air, imaging a large rollercoaster that you and Kazunari could ride together.

“Well, it would be cool if we... you know what, you can make the choice. It’s me who invited you to hang out, and I really don’t mind where we go to!” He said again, waving his hands in front of him, shrugging it off.

Like you had thought previously, his behavior was only getting increasingly strange by the second. It was still worrying, and since you didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with what you were attempting to do. Instead, it seemed better to take a different approach. You pushed yourself out of your chair, grabbing your bag and slinging it over your shoulder.

“Well, I think I’ll head home for today. It was nice seeing you!” You said, walking out the door, leaving Kazunari dumbfounded as he sat there in the cafe.

Of course, before leaving you slipped a few bucks into his jacket. It wouldn’t seem right to leave him to pay for your drink as well. It wasn’t that you wanted to stand him up like that, but if you wanted him to open up about what he was hiding, he’d have to do it on his own, and willingly so. Maybe it just wasn’t the right time for it.

First thing the next morning, you had received a text from the one, the only  Kazunari☆. He had asked you to meet him in a few days at an arcade. It was slightly strange, since he never showed a large interest in playing games at all, other than the occasional Mahjong game with some of his friends he’d invite over. You couldn’t really remember any of them other than one called Citron, who seemed to wrongly pronounce and speak a lot of Japanese words. It was hilarious though, and you’d enjoyed conversing with him when the Mahjong sessions would occur.

You couldn’t stop thinking about how Kazunari had acted in the few days between when you were going to see him again. What was he hiding? From how he was acting it was plainly obvious that something was going on. It was just a matter of what it was. Of course, you planned to accept it regardless of what he told you, and as time ticked by, you silently hoped it wasn’t something illegal.

The day had come for when you were going to meet Kazunari at the arcade he had sent an address to on your phone. It was a rather old arcade, and a lot of the games seemed to come from a decade ago. At least that was what you could see from the outside of the shop. Who knew Kazunari was into this kind of stuff?

“Boo.”

You turned to feel arms wrapping around your middle, hands squeezing tightly around your waist and a familiar chuckle emitting from the tall, green eyed boy behind you. Kazunari was wearing his hat and classic THREE THREE THREE shirt, and he was wearing a small smile on his face as he grabbed your hand.

“Come on, we’re playing Mario Kart.”

“Is there any reason why you brought me here? Didn’t know you were into this kind of stuff, and even if you were, you never told me.” You asked, tilting your head to the side as he dragged you through the aisles and aisles of arcade games, to stop at the large Mario Kart set-up.

“I used to really like these back in middle school, but I stopped for a while because I was bullied for being a nerd.” He said, a sad smile etching across his features.

“Wait, Kazunari-”

“Regardless, let’s play a few rounds. If you can beat me, I’ll tell you the full story.” He said, smirking mischievously as he placed his hands on the wheel in front of him.

“You’re on.”

And so, the fight ensued. After multiple rounds of intense mushroom consumption and shell throwing, you had won two out of five matches. You sighed to yourself, feeling the failure sink in slowly. You wouldn’t even be able to hear about what he had to say this way. You were only a few seconds off.

“I really was thinking you were going to beat me, Y/N. Still, I’ll tell you all about what happened.” He said, tapping you lightly on your defeated figure, which bounded up the moment he had said that.

“In short, I fabricated a lot about myself, and my own life to fit the people I wanted to impress. People just thought that was my personality, befriending others and being an overall very popular person. I didn’t think anyone would ever pick up on the fact that I was lying to all of my friends. Some of them, to an extent, aren’t even my friends. Certain relationships I have are quite shallow, to say the least, and I can’t help but feel guilty that they are so. Still, I was able to grow close to you.” He said, looking towards you with a grateful smile, one that made his eyes twinkle as he gazed at you.

“It was something strange that had urged me to become closer to you, and I didn’t really know what it was. I guess now I know. You were able to see through the facades I had put up and see me for me. And I thank you for that, truly.”

Kazunari leaned his forehead onto yours from where he was seated on the machine, his hat in his hands, fiddling with it slowly as he closed his eyes and simply felt you next to him. Your heart was beating at 200 miles per hour, and you let a smile spread across your face.

“No problem...?” You mumbled, unsure of what to reply with.

He laughed, a hearty laugh that echoed through the silent arcade, only faint grunts and the clicking of keys in the background. 

“I want to get to know you better, Y/N.” He whispered, grasping your hand in his.

“In the friendship kind of way?” You stuttered, silently letting loose a slew of curse words that you had managed to stutter while talking to him.

“Mm, maybe a little more than friendship.” 

::

written = 20.07.2021

proofread = 23.07.2021

© chaoticrumii 2021 ; all rights reserved ; please do not copy / reference / utilise my works without credit