#OH AND ALSO YOU FIND OUT THEY GREW UP IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD

[letruyuread]

Little thoughts about about Twisted Wonderland characters and you (yuu)

Riddle loves having the first slice of tarts, strawberry ones especially. So I think that, for holidays or even if you're just feeling down, he gives you the first slice of his strawberry tart. No explanation, please don't mention it- you'll fluster the poor boy. But it means a lot to him, and he secretly hopes you understand that.

Yes, Ace is a teasing prick, most of the time, anyways. But the second anyone brings up how he might possibly feel for you? Absolute tsundere. Denying it to the high heavens. Insults you a lot, too. "How could I ever like the perfect?! They're so- so-" Yeah, no one's falling for it. Give him time. He'll get comfortable with the idea soon enough, and then you have a whole other problem.

Deuce loves to talk to his mom about you. Rants about you- the incredible magic-less human that stole his heart (No, get out of here Ace-). You don't even care that he used to be a delinquent! How amazing is that? His mom is overjoyed that her son met someone who sounds so nice and keeps trying to give him advice to ask you out. She also tries to convince him to bring you home during break- you're not even dating yet.

Cater, of course, posts about you on his Magicam. It's the usual- oh, they're so pretty today, look my partner gave me food 😍. But there are also things he doesn't post, surprisingly. He doesn't post the picture he took of you, laughing against the sunset. That one's private. Too perfectly you to be seen by everyone. No, that's just a moment for the two of you, he thinks.

Trey loves baking you things, baking with you, but he always finds himself flustered when you bake something for him. He taught you the recipe, he remembers, a few weeks ago, and here you are standing with a small platter of cookies. Some are burnt, some taste a bit salty (you didn't add the oyster sauce... right?) and yet he eats them all and loves them because you made them. For him.

Leona, I think, takes very good care of his hair. It was worse before he came to Night Raven, his attendants tried to take care of it, but he always managed to hide away (he was taking a nap). On the first day, though, Vil couldn't stand such a pretty face with such horrid care and taught Leona a routine. Leona now follows that routine strictly. He takes pride in it, as much as his smarts and strength. You know he's having a bad day when it's unkempt and tangled. You also know how much he trusts you when he teaches you the routine, when he lets you help him with it on those bad days or weeks or maybe months.

Ruggie gives you things. It's always random- a bit of his food, a dandelion in the field, a ribbon floating in the wind. He grew up with little- so naturally, he hoards everything he can get his hands on and keeps it for himself. One day he might need it, or his grandma, or the kids in his neighborhood. He's very protective of his growing stash. So when he gives you these things, it's him telling you that you're part of his family now. Ask for anything, he'll find it. Just like he would for the people back home.

Jack adopts a lot of cacti (I nearly spelled cactuses) with you- very silly, right? A lot of cacti. He waters them appropriately, a strict schedule for each, and keeps them at Ramshackle dorm. You have a whole room for them, very bright from large windows and only tables for the plants to be placed on. It's common in his family that you only have one person, your whole life, to stick by. He's hoping it's you- he's hoping you'll fall for him if he keeps coming around, day by day, taking care of your plant children (plant army).

(oh God there's so many but Im on a roll)

Azul, Azul... Oh boy. He really wants you to make a contact with him. Doesn't matter what kind- you want it, you'll get it (even if you don't agree to his offer, honestly). He always seems to want the same thing, though: (no it's not marriage) a friend. That's what he says, that's not really what's in the contract, though. The exact wording is 'companion.' Someone to talk to, someone to trust. Someone who calls his merform pretty and him intelligent. Someone who doesn't make him feel insecure.

Floyd. What do to with you? He's very touchy. Very touchy. Once, he skipped all his classes and just grabbed onto you, having you carry him around on your back and not letting you go. Yes, he put a spell on himself to make him light as a feather, no one could carry that tall of an eel. He's very clingy and doesn't understand how he feels about you. It confuses him, he has no clue what this is, he just knows he wants to be around you and why shouldn't he be?

Jade knows. You have weekly tea parties. Don't worry, everything's free of charge... Except that, you have to pay for that. Oh, you didn't bring any money? Well, a kiss would do, but... Oh, no, that was a joke. Please don't look so worried. Jade may know what he feels for you, but he's still working out how to deal with it. The twins kind of never thought this would happen.

Kalim is such a sweetheart! Give him all the love in the world, he'll reciprocate tenfold! Whatever you want. He can buy it, if not, his family has the connections to get it, surely. But don't be mistaken- he'll adore you if you make something for him. If he can, he'll always have it on him. Plus, he tries to make stuff for you too! It might look bad, or taste weird, but he's beaming at you and the thought is there!

Please give Jamil a day off. No, really- drag him as far away from Kalim and any responsibility as possible. Do everything. Cook for him, cuddle him, tell him he's amazing and smart and very very cool and it is HIS DAY OFF. Take care of him, please? He needs this. He needs you. He'll do the same for you, if you ever overwork yourself or have a bad day. Trust him, and ask him to trust you.

(I haven't gotten beyond book 4, so I don't know enough about the other characters to feel confident writing them. Maybe Idia, Malleus or Lilia, as I really like them and have done some research on them, but for now this is what I got. Enjoy?)

[dollmini]

ㅤ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ never really moved on ⟢ ot5

SYNOPSIS you’ve been told many times before that feelings never go away—specifically romantic ones. that crushes simply go dormant until something rekindles the spark in your heart. unfortunately for you, all five of your prior crushes make their grand return in your life at the same time.

WARNINGS all fics contain sexual content. individual warnings will be placed for each individual fic. each fic is set in present with flashbacks and back story added in.

GENRE nsfw, minors dni, “to all the boys i’ve loved before” au, university au, american au

NOTES i am going to take my time writing these fics, as they will likely be long fics. at the same time, i will also be trying to multitask other projects. please be patient with me and don’t hound me for updates. they will be posted as soon as i finish them. thank you.

FEATURING CAST belle shim, yang jungwon, byun euijoo, oh haewon, keum donghyun

PROLOGUE

TO THE BOY WHO WAS MY SEATMATE

SYNOPSIS first day of tenth grade, high school, english class. that’s where you met taesan. your high school was rather large, and your english class was on the furthest end from your previous class. you were running late that day, and the only empty seat was in the back next to the reserved boy with black hair, who you came to know and love as dongmin—taesan, he preferred. the two of you were one in the same, but he moved away the following year. you never expect to see him again, let alone be as close to him, until your university teams up with another for a summer-long camp for teens, and you both end up being counselors there.

WARNINGS tba

POST DATE tba

TO THE BOY WHO WAS MY FIRST KISS

SYNOPSIS back then it was seventh grade, only just thirteen years old and just now really getting interested in crushes. park sungho was a friend of a friend—one you’d always thought was cute. it was just a quick kiss as a dare at a friends’ birthday party. now, it’s university, twenty-something years old, the group meets up again, and sungho is as beautiful as ever.

WARNINGS tba

POST DATE tba

TO THE BOY WHO WAS MY FIRST DANCE PARTNER

SYNOPSIS your best friend begged you to sign up for a dance class with her, claiming that now that you were transitioning into secondary school, you couldn’t be lame now and not have a hobby. the only problem was that you couldn’t dance and never had an interest in it. that was until you were paired with lee sanghyeok, at least. it was fun, but you and your best friend quickly found out that it wasn’t for you, and ended up quitting. sanghyeok, though, continued and that’s how you find yourself watching his performance years later after being dragged out by your friends.

WARNINGS tba

POST DATE tba

TO THE BOY WHO WAS MY FIRST LOVE

SYNOPSIS donghyun was your everything. the two of you met through mutual friends—namely taesan—and it blossomed into something more. it was your first serious relationship, and you were almost certain he would’ve been the one you married. however, toward the end of your senior year, the both of you grew apart and eventually decided to break up. it was hard, but ultimately it was for the best. you had made peace with it. that is until you run into him again in the fall, much like when your relationship first started.

WARNINGS tba

POST DATE tba

TO THE BOY WHO WAS MY NEIGHBOR

SYNOPSIS most of the people living in your quiet neighborhood were elderly with adult children or new parents with young children. myung jaehyun was the only one close to your age. in turn, he became a close friend—one you often spent most of your time with outside of school. but when your parents divorced in your freshman year of high school, your bond and subsequent crush on jaehyun fizzled out until it was scraps of what it used to be. however, it felt like nothing had changed when you step foot back into the neighborhood when you were on winter break. nothing at all.

WARNINGS tba

POST DATE tba

EPILOGUE

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

I CAME AND I SAW THAT U WERE ALSO INFECTED WITH THE SILLY PUPPET THING,WELCOME..TO THE COMMUNITY! (Get it?)

May I request some headcanons of Barnaby,Sally and Wally meeting a Very Old Goose Puppet Y/n? Just this worn out,Raggedy and Intimidating Goose Grandparent who then absolutely babies them and teaches them self defense tricks,making them soup,maybe they worked as some sort of guard or security! Just pepaw/granny goose caring over these silly puppets.also like they could be going round the forest and a feral bear pops up,Pepaw Goose just turns around and hiss at it and the bear scampers off while Pepaw is like “Anyways-“ (Thoight would be funny because Geese are used as Guard animals)

Have a nice day! ^^ or night if it’s late!

Yeah!! I was genuinely surprised at the amount of Wally x Reader stuff here but I'm all for it!

Also ngl I've been playing a lot of Untitled Goose Game recently so,,, this ask couldn't have come at a better time /pos

........

Barnaby

Honestly, when this lad first saw you emerge from the woods...he was about to run back home with his tail tucked between his legs. You gave him quite a fright!

You were a goose who was about Poppy's height--if not taller--with ragged greyed feathers and [e/c] eyes that look nearly bloodshot, your legs and bill having stitches, and some loose stuffing falling out of your main body.

All in all...you had a very intimidating disposition.

But when you approach Barnaby, it turns out you're just returning one of his juggling pins that he accidentally flung out into the forest.

"You best keep an eye on your juggling kits, dear." You speak in a gentle, raspy voice.

"Th-Thanks...are you from the barn too?"

"A different one. I used to be a guard for the little gooselings and other farm animals in my prime years but---oh..how about we walk and talk, hm? Do you live close by?"

And that's how Barnaby got to know you! He felt bad for judging you by your appearance, as while you look scary..you're just a sweet ol' geeser (yes he's made that pun a few times and you love it) whose kind heart and soul haven't gone anywhere.

You've come to care for everybody in the neighborhood, especially the big blue dog who sometimes gets into accidents while performing stunts.

In those cases, you always know how to nurse him back to health.

At some point, he and everybody else start to see you as a grandparent, calling you [Pa/Ma]...which makes you especially happy.

Sally

When you were younger, you saw her descend to earth, thinking it was just an ordinary shooting star.

You made a wish that you'll be able to find some good friends to spend the rest of your days with. Being a geese guard was a lonely job sometimes..

Many years later, you see that same star--now one who walked and talked--strolling through the forest near your barn. And you were ecstatic, wanting to introduce yourself!

Even though Sally's never met you till now, she's flattered to learn you wished upon her....and even happier to know she made that wish come true!

Your initial appearance surprised her, but she's eager to run back to town and introduce you to everyone!

So that's where you two head to, though as you're both talking (which is mostly her rambling about the next play she's performing tonight), an aggressive bear suddenly leaps out and roars, frightening her-

Until you hiss at it, extending your wings in a threatening manner, which immediately drove the beast back into the woods.

Then you turn back to the gawking star with the sweetest, most apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that, dearie..do continue."

And she does for a little while, but you end up using that bear encounter as a teaching moment, showing her (and the others once you meet them) how to best defend themselves against possible bear attacks (or any wild animal attack in general). You made it your mission to keep these young folks safe.

Sally would definitely incorporate these lessons into her plays, which you grew to adore, refusing to miss a single one.

Wally

It was actually Poppy who introduced you to the gang, since you've watched over the barn she's lived in since she was a little baby bird. She basically considers you her parent.

You helped her out with her anxiety issues and baking mishaps over the years, so everybody warms up to you quick after learning your ties to each other.

Wally's no different. He's not too intimidated by your height nor raggedy feathers (man knows to respect his elders).

If anything, he's impressed that your felt and stuffing are still keeping you together, but offers to help you get patched up.

"Oh thank you, sweetie!" You croon. "You know..this town is blessed to have such a kind and handsome gentleman like yourself here."

Hearing that instantly melted his heart.

Soon enough, you get acquainted with the others and take care of them if they need help with anything.

Within the neighborhood, you ensure no wildlife breaks into the grocery store and makes off with any food (especially apples), always keeping watch.

Wally admires your nurturing and protective nature, knowing you're a very wise bird who offers the best advice..

Whenever he's lost on inspiration for art projects or just...feeling stressed over whatever, you're there to help him how ever you can.

When he got caught out in a rainstorm and got sick one day, you made him some delicious soup that helped him feel better within hours.

And of course, Home's happy to see you taking care of their owner. So you're always welcomed inside.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Oh look, it’s the echo mouse Musse.

…you know, I don’t think I ever explained why I call him that. It’s because the swedish name for Mickey Mouse is Musse Pigg. That’s it. But hey, he gets to have one last appearance, pulling a Cinderella alongside Bat-Queen’s kids. I mean, that has got to be a deliberate reference to the Disney animated Cinderella, right?

Steve’s here too, of course, and he’s cutting into a cake. As someone who likes to bake but isn’t that good at it, I like to say that I’m not very good at making things that look good, but I can make things that taste good.

This is the exact opposite of that.

And with King growing older and stronger, he’s beginning to generate his own magic and his own glyphs! Hmm… it looks like his glyphs have a different design, but i assume they’d be the same four elements.

(also, while rewinding the scene, I noticed Eda’s wearing Raine’s earring. cute)

The crew, who know and love me, gives me just a few more pretty lights to look at with big wide eyes, drawn to them like a moth. The Collector’s in the neighborhood and decided to put on a big ol lightshow.

On this last good bye, they threw in a few more characters, just for funsies. We’ve got Salty the boat captain, Willow’s parents, a couple of faeries, Gus’ dad, Tibbles, and that little kid from Separate Tides.

So… this is the end, huh?

What do I even say? What do I even say? What can i say about this show?

This liveblog exists because of The Owl House. At the time, I was in a creative rut and trying to find some way out of it. I figured maybe getting into a new series might help. I was also a fan of several liveblogs, and so I thought, why not try it? I figured it might get me back to writing.

My journey, as my loyal readers know, has not been always been a smooth sailing. It’s taken me a long time to get here; I finished this episode over a year after it came out for crying out loud. There have been times when I’ve been beat down and unable to create. But never did I lose my love for this show, to contrary, it only ever grew greater.

So yeah, good show, 6/10.

…

I’M JOKING! I’M JOKING, THAT WAS A JOKE! P-please put that down, it was only a joke!

Jeez luise, you people… ahem.

No, I love this show. That much should be clear, no matter how much snark I inject or how many sarcastic quips I sprinkle into my text, the time spent with this show has been genuinely good. And I joke about things, how we never got Bat-Queen’s backstory for example. But, well… there’s a good reason for that. This show deserved so much better, and the amazing crew deserved so much better. Still, they delivered a fantastic story, and I will undoubtedly return to this again and again.

So what comes next?

As I’ve already mentioned, I am going to watch and liveblog, or at least make some post about The Owl House pilot episode which was leaked a while back. i don’t know what the timeframe is on that, but hopefully not too long.

I’m also gonna keep working on that Vee fic. Speaking of which, I linked it earlier, but just in case you missed it, the first chapter (and a prelude) is up on AO3 right now. I’ll continue to post updates on here, so stay tuned for that as well. I don’t know how long it will take for that to get done, but I’m really excited to work on it, more excited than I’ve been for any creative work in a long time. I’m beginning to feel like maybe I’m not a complete and utter failure and a talentless hack.

Will I continue posting incorrect quotes? Maybe. I’ll continue as long as I get new ideas and I’ll stop when I run out.

But the real question is, what is the next liveblog? Well, I’ve said that already as well, but for those who weren’t paying attention…

The next liveblog will be Amphibia! I’ve bene looking forward to that one for some time now.

My aim right now is to get started with Amphibia in July. Why July? Because that’s when I go on my vacation.

I should probably also do some tidying up on this blog, do some upgrades. I also wanna clean out my askbox, cause, uh… I’ve got a couple of unanswered asks… some of which have been sitting there for a long time now… I should really get around to that.

For now… this has been The Owl House, I’m The Lampman, and I would like to thank you for reading. Take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!

Our lives became a fairy tale Without rules or laws But is there anyone who knows? If the journey has an end?

The End… for now

[heyteenbookshey]

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Goodreads summary:

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. [W]hen she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. [I]n the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

I first read this in 2023 and thought it was EXCELLENT and this time listened to it as an audiobook and it was EVEN BETTER. Read by the author, her cadence creates a hypnotic rhythm that makes you not want to stop reading. I like poetry more than the average person but a lot of spoken word sounds the exact same, treacly and demanding. This audiobook was three hours of fresh.

X lives in the zinging vibrant world of New York City, but under the control of her frightening mother you can almost feel the walls closing in on her where just getting to an after school club requires a high degree of secrecy. The writing makes this heavier as it goes on, so when things reach a crescendo we are almost as tired and desperate as X is.

Every character is drawn so specifically and clearly, even side characters like the priest and an associate of her brothers feel as real as X herself. Writers looking to lean into more sparse detail rich writing will do well to read this.

Having read the book book and listened to the audiobook I recommend the audiobook first, HOWEVER my only, only complaint is one choice they made in the production. Four minutes from the end of the book the author breaks character and interrupts the story to inform the reader as herself what the poem she's about to read looks like on the page and how someone reading the poem on the page might choose to read it. Then she gets back into character and reads the poem, then shortly after the story is over.

There is no reason to tell people who are only listening how someone READING the poem could read it, and because it came at the end I though oh is this the end? Is this the authors note? But no, the moment before the climax just got interrupted to no benefit of mine so all the tension that she worked so hard to build was ripped up right when it could be more rewarded.

But you know what? It's still a 5/5. I still recommend the audiobook--but just be ready for that and try to keep the tension with yourself even though production bizarrely decided to break it for us.

I also recommend this for young people (or any people) who want a non-intimidating introduction to poetry. As a story told by a young Dominican woman in Harlem it also centers a voice and setting not defaulted to in todays YA landscape that needs to be heard and is heard so beautifully.

Date Published: March 6, 2018

Date Read: May 6, 2024

Rating: 5/5 verses

[biteofcherry]

Oh, no! You poor thing. You were picked up on your way home, tossed in the back of an SUV, and now you're locked in some gaudy manor room. It's been hours and you have no idea why the mafia grabbed you.

Lucky for you though, their rivals were already on the way to take them out. Imagine their surprise to find a sweet little bonus like you locked away. Which three made men walk in through that door—and which hole is each one claiming as a "thank you" for the rescue. Not that they're going to let you go home afterwards either.

Oh no, poor me indeed! 😏

You know who instantly came to mind? Steve, Bucky and Curtis. They are really made men. They grew up in the same poor neighborhood and stuck together, helping each other out through hell. They also did what was needed to survive, including on minor jobs for a mob boss. They even respected him, because he had certain rules. But then his idiot of a son took over and they were not happy with that piece of useless shit, which drove them to slowly build their own strength and numbers and then going against him.

It may be Steve, Bucky and Curtis, but it doesn't mean they are all sweet, soft and harmless. Oh no, you've gotten yourself into protective hands, but controlling and demanding, too. And they share everything, which means they will share your sweet body as well.

Bucky gets your mouth; he's gonna tell you how beautiful you are as tears stream down your cheeks while you choke on his cock.

Steve gets your pussy and takes it in missionary, because he enjoys the way your eyes widen and mouth falls open as he stretches you on a size you've never experienced before.

And Curtis gets your ass, driving you insane with how actually slow and patiently he's taking it, all the while his hands are rough and harsh and his words so filthy.

[floralcavern]

My ATLA ocs!

This takes place a couple of lives before Yangchen.

......

In this time period, tensions between the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads are high. The Earth Kingdom has begun to discriminate against the Air Nomads, who now no longer feel safe traveling through.

One day, however, an Air Nomad caravan had to pass through the Earth Kingdom town of Bafinj. The people of the town had been staring at them hatefully and eventually, a riot broke out, where a group of people in the town began to chase them out violently. In the chaos, a baby of the Air Nomads was left behind.

A kind couple of this town finds her and take her in to keep her safe, raising her as her own daughter, naming her Mokin.

Mokin spends her whole life thinking she is a member of the Earth Kingdom. But she always did find it weird how she wasn't allowed to cut her bangs too short, keeping them in her face. The reason for this was because her parents didn't want anyone to realize that she is an Air Nomad. Growing up, Mokin hears many awful things about the Air Nomads, but her parents would quickly try to shut down any hateful thoughts she might have.

Meanwhile, the Air Nomads are freaking out, because they CANNOT find the Avatar..

One day, after school, Mokin's teacher shows up with her, saying that she had an awful seizure. Her parents decide to homeschool her after that. Feeling isolated and with no friends, one day when she was 16, she decided to go play a game with some neighborhood kids.

"Can you even earthbend?" they asked. Mokin panicked, and desperately wanted to be included, so she lied, saying yes. She studied everyone's movements, and, when the ball starts flying toward her, she instinctively throws her arms up, Earthbending!

She continues to play the game, getting better and better as she goes on. Some adult neighbors see and go to Mokin's parents with a good natured smile. "I thought yer daughter couldn't bend! But she's incredible!"

Her parents, horrified beyond comprehension, pull her inside. Eventually, they tell her the truth of who she is. An Air Nomad... and with this new information on her earthbending, possibly the Avatar. Mokin feels like her whole world has been turned upside down. No longer feeling safe in a town that would hate her, the family leaves, travelling to the nearest Air Nomad temple.

There, Mokin's parents explain the situation. The Elders assign her an Air Nomad teacher. A boy who had recently gotten his tattoos by the name of Lembe. Lembe is a bit like Tenzin, but much more good natured and a good sport. But he is huge on their culture. But since Mokin grew up in a very Earth Kingdom culture heavy town, she cannot comprehend being something so different.

"Why can't you just be like us Air Nomads!?" "Because I never knew I was one!"

Eventually, her and Lembe begin to have an understanding. But she has a huge identity crisis on whether she is of the Air Nomads or the Earth Kingdom..

But after meeting two kids named Voi, a waterbender, and Lua, a firebender, her perspective changes. She meets them while travelling to look for waterbending and firebending teachers. Voi and Lua are orphans in the Fire Nation, but both were born in and spent the first few years of their lives in the North Pole. And they lay it out to her simply. "We're both."

I think she would begin to have that same mindset, and with it, bring peace between the Air Nomads and Earth Kingdom.

But, The Earth King (who has a pet badgermole in his throne room) is not very pleased. Sure, Mokin grew as an Earth Kingdom citizen, but she still has that 'passive blood.' Out of anger, she does what Lembe had advised her not to not to do. She had a burst of rage.

I don't know what would happen beyond all of this, buuuuut.. ya.

Also, her and Lembe I think would have a very cute love story. Like, after she gets her airbending tattoos, this is the first time he sees her face, not obscured by her hair, so he just mutters, "Beautiful..." And she just says, "Oh, I look good with the tattoos?" And he just panics, completely forgetting about her tattoos, and just goes, ""O-Oh, ya! The tattoos! They, uh, look great!"

And Lembe ad Voi develop a very big brother-little brother relationship. (He is very annoyed by Voi, but would do anything for him, and Voi looks up to Lembe). Lua and Mokin get along very well, like a big sister-little sister. They're both super tough and independent because of the way they grew up.

[neurodivergent-multishipper]

Pens and gears chapter one: The meeting

(also on my ao3) general fic summary: What if, in a universe where there are no quirks and All might is fictional, Katsuki and Izuku meet as young teens, and end up going to the same schools for the rest of their teenage lives. While Izuku is getting better at art Katsuki struggles to find what he wants to do, as he grapples with the fact, he might have a crush on his best friend

It was a normal summer day for Katsuki. At least at the start, He grabbed his All might backpack in the morning just like always when he woke up. He filled it with his normal snacks just like always too. They were the only snacks he’d ever eat honestly, a crab onigiri with spicy mayo in the middle, kept in a small glass Tupperware cube. Two packs of Goldfish, some fruit snacks, and a ham sandwich his mother made him pack. He took his noise canceling headphones, and his phone as well. He roughly shoved his phone into his pocket and carefully put all his food into his bag to avoid anything getting squished. His headphones were placed around his neck for now. The Allmight stickers adorning them matching the rest of his outfit, littered with pins, bracelets in his homage. Katsuki has started all his mornings in a similar fashion to this since he was a small child and was still being walked to the park by his parents.

Katsuki was 13 now, he was just about to enter his last year of middle school. He could walk to the park alone by now and honestly preferred it. He loves his parents but he always struggled with small talk since he was a small child if it wasn’t related to the things he liked, mainly Allmight. He was seen as rude or brash as a kid most of the time so he learned to wing it by himself from a young age.

Once he finally got himself out of the door he slipped his headphones on, on occasion he’d stop to admire a cool art installation or a nice car. He grew up in a nice neighborhood since his parents were fashion designers before he was born. The air was hot and humid, summers in Japan were always like this ever since he was a little kid. He’s always hated the feeling of humidity on his skin so he does his best to cover up as much as possible without getting heat stroke in this weather.

When he got to the park he went straight to his spot, there was an area underneath the main play structure where no one would bother him. He slipped under the metal base of the play structure and sat in the mulch. He set his backpack down next to him, making sure not to drop it to protect his snacks.

For a while he sat there watching all the merch collection tours on his phone. That was until he heard a soft but excited voice. It seemed to be a boy his age.

“I like your Allmight backpack!!, i really like Allmight too! he’s like…the coolest ever!” The boy said. He had messy green hair and freckles that dotted his face like stars in the night sky. He seemed to be slightly shorter than Katsuki.

“May i sit here with you?” The boy said quietly snapping Katsuki out of his trance. He nodded quickly.

“Yeah…what's your name?...I’m Katsuki, nice to meet another Allmight fan in the wild” He chuckled slightly, he rolled up his sleeves to show off his Allmight themed bracelets.

“Oh!, i forgot to introduce myself shoot, I’m Izuku, nice to meet you too!...and woah your bracelets are awesome!” Izuku said, with the way his eyes lit up you’d think he’d just seen the most amazing thing in the world. Bakugo chuckled at the reaction.

Izuku moved to sit across from Katsuki, when he sat down he picked up a piece of mulch and began to flip it back and forth in his hand as they talked. Izuku broke the silence after a bit, grabbing a sketchbook from his small backpack.

“Wanna see my Allmight fanart?...its not the best but i really like how they turned out!” Izuku said, seeming to get shyer.

“Hell yeah I wanna see them!” Katsuki said, chuckling slightly. He watched as Izuku flipped through the pages of his sketchbook. The art was actually beautiful, the lines were messy but in a stylistic way, and the expressions and posing were immaculate.

“Woah! you've got some real talent, these are awesome!” Katsuki said with a big smile. Izuku blushed slightly hiding his face behind his sketchbook.

“They really aren’t all that special…but thanks anyways” He flips his sketchbook shut and slides it into his small bag.

Katsuki just chuckled at this, shaking his head.

For the rest of summer they continued meeting like this, they’d discuss their opinions on new manga updates, Izuku would show off his art, and Katsuki would talk about whatever plans he had.

After a while they grew closer, Izuku beginning to call Katsuki “Kachan” Katsuki normally wasn’t a fan of affectionate nicknames but for some reason he didn’t mind this time,

When the end of summer was nearing, they were discussing what school they went to and realized they’re in the same school but have always been in different classes. Katsuki was amazed and slightly annoyed the two hadn’t become friends sooner.

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

because i am sad, don't have my nina meds and have the personality of tissue paper rn, will you take pity on me, pretty girl, and pray tell what the locations look like in ur fics? like how you imagine south park looks, maybe stan and kyle's old bed rooms, the sp survivor haus? starks pond, the vibes and stuff -- you can be as hyper specific as you want i really like detail and visualizing things <3 also you

Melda Tâe I sincerely hope this is a bright spot in the Sadsack!!! This is such a great ask too like what does the HWB elven palace look like? The train station in WGSIES? The Broken Bottle Quartet apt complex? Heidi’s coffee shop in ATLCTS? The bistro where ojv Craig and Kyle have Nerd Boy Time? The TWITR bunkhouse?

And I’ve said on multiple occasions that I suck an unfathomable amount of ass at actually putting setting descriptions into my fics. Not because I’m picturing scenes playing out in a blank void, or bc I’m not picturing things clearly, but 1) I fully convince myself that no one wants to read my boring drawn out descriptions, which is stupid and I’m aware of that bc I LOVEEEEE vivid imagery when I’m reading 2) I often forget that no one is envisioning what I am without visual explanations lmfao it’s just so There to me I forget my readers don’t live in my cursed brain 3) I have such a habit of getting too into Witty Banter™️ and I’ll write so much dialogue with the occasional action and realize I haven’t said shit about what the setting looks like

But boy oh boy do I have specific pictures in mind! Especially regarding settings. (God I need to make a fuckin Pinterest omg the OJV board alone would go stupid)

I’m gonna be so fuckin fr right now, I have way too many AU’s and I will be unhinged abt a lot of them, so, below the cut!

So, as a surprise to absolutely no one, I’m starting with the OrangeJuiceVerse!

That bizarre town our kids grew up in is very typical suburbia, with neatly arranged near identical houses and blacktop roads that the snow plow goes through the same time every morning. Downtown holds the major businesses and across the tracks, not even a block over from the main neighborhoods, is the handful of “ghetto” houses, right by the woods. And through those woods, with a small single lane street that is far too narrow and winding to be safe? Stark’s Pond. The clearing in the tree canopy that the parking lot provides is the best stargazing spot, far enough away from the minimal light pollution that a tiny mountain town emits. It’s not just a pond, more of a park, with a field next to the water that’s a well traversed snowball fight battleground and a single bench under an ancient oak tree. The pond freezes and that’s how you know winter is truly underway. Kids slipping and sliding on the ice with no adult supervision is the standard here. In the summer, the water is still so cold, fed by mountain runoff. The surrounding shore is rocky and the m5 regularly compete to see who can find the coolest stone in the gravel.

There’s an elementary school, middle school, and high school, all in the same block and sharing a parking lot. Makes it easy for bus drivers and parents dropping off their kids. The high school is WAY bigger than is warranted for how small the town is, and there’s a separate building for band and av club. The football “stadium” isn’t much, the bleachers are only a few rows high and the field house is little more than a locker room, the concession stand is tiny and only run by student council members, and the cow painted into the turf over the 50 yrd line is lopsided. The gym where pep rallies and volleyball and basketball games are held has better seating, but football is a big damn deal in sp and the whole town is crowded around the track fence if they don’t get a seat, cheering on the hometown boys on cold October nights with nothing but fireball and ridiculous amounts of school spirit in their systems.

Stan and Kyle practically live at each others houses growing up. They each have a “Super Best Sleepover Drawer” in the others rooms and when they were younger and still the same size? No one could tell who actually owned what clothing. Like, y’all dear god you are more intertwined than your fingers holding hands. Stan’s room is a messsssss! Especially when he’s not doing well mentally. And he holds on to every stray item so his dusty shelves are cluttered as hell. His pillows are flat as shit. Nothing in his closet has been folded properly in years. The only organized thing in that room is the record collection, the sheet music folder, and the dnd character breakdown. Kyle has stress cleaned Stan’s room before. And (think You Belong With Me music video) THEIR WINDOWS FACE EACH OTHER!!! Kyle’s room has so much of the same kind of decor as Stan’s, with the posters and the figurines and the wall of nostalgic Polaroids, but he’s so much more organized. Both the boys have Kenny Paintings, (Stan is the one mentioned in this and Kyle’s is one of him as the elf king when they’d play as youngsters) and Kyle’s is hung level on the wall and Stan has his propped on his desk.

Ohhhh man the SP Survivor Safehouse, I described it some here and it really is such a College Kid House!!! They found the cheapest place to rent close to campus that would fit the 5, and it’s a SHITHOLE! It’s old as fuck and falling apart, the foundation is crooked, the blueprint must’ve been drawn by someone with severe distraction problems because for a place that’s not all that big, it’s labyrinthine in its random layout and the out of place way too high to reach ledges and the fireplace but no chimney and the ridiculousness of the narrow backyard, doing laundry in that house is a NIGHTMARE like the washer is downstairs and the dryer is in a separate room upstairs that logistically should be a bathroom. The kitchen tile is so old and cracked, and there’s this weird half wall facing the living room with a window? Also the walls are thin as hell and that staircase? Good god. Steep as fuck, tilted to the left, no railing, everyone has fallen on the Widowmakers multiple times. The garage door doesn’t work. The water heater is older than god. But this is their house, and they make it work.

I also want to describe the waterfall from How We Began, as specific and random as that is lmao. Think Multinoma Falls in Oregon, with a long trail to the top and no man made bridge over it. And it freezes like that one waterfall in narnia. Completely solid, snow and frosted trees on both sides at the summit, just the perfect place to meditate and reflect, because the reflection off the ice is like a rippled mirror. (Actually and so fr I need art of chapter 12 so bad rip) that place is BEAUTIFUL with the mountains in the background, the icicles refracting light, pine trees with needles dusted with snow, large rocks overlooking the edge of the cliff and the forest surrounding it!!!

Oh damn also the Big House in The Webs In The Rafters is the most eerie looking house of all time. At the end of that twisting gravel drive, to the left of the western pasture, sits this giant black mansion. It looks wayyyy too gothic to be on a ranch. And most of the rooms are unused, that place feels cold and dark even when the farmhands are in for dinner at that huge table in the dining room. The upstairs office has all these strange carvings in the wooden walls, Craig’s massive granite desk is right in front of the window that sees the whole front part of the land. And both that house and the bunkhouse are ancient as the “haven” itself. The walls have crawlspaces big enough for a full grown person to fit in. Like there’s a maze in the walls. The upper pasture isn’t visible from the master bedroom at the back of the top floor, and there’s a tree by the pond that Butters’ ducks live in that’s the first thing the morning light touches. That spot, where Ken and butters had their first kiss in chapter 16, is the only place that doesn’t feel stifling on the entire land.

Dude the haunted house in In The Truly Gruesome! It is legit the most cheesy haunted house of all time, set up in what is essentially a double wide trailer, no bathroom, no kitchen, barely a tiny breakroom at the back, the decor is the cheapest spirit Halloween shit imaginable and just lame shit like a bowl of peeled grapes that are supposed to feel like eyeballs in the mad scientist area. That front office with its plywood walls and plastic door is the most unromantic setting for a love confession, but Stan and Kyle made it work. The breakroom “furniture” is a random hodgepodge of booths from a closed McDonald’s and tables someone found on the side of the street. The mini fridge has nothing in there but a moldy jar of pizza sauce and a single half drank mellow yellow. This place is absurd. I love it.

AND I loved this ask! You always send me such great things my beloved omg never stop! <3

[candie-bar]

Headcannon post because yes

I just feel like it. I would like to share my takes. Spread information. Keep in mind Half my reasoning for anything is thinking it, going "yep that's funny" and incorporating it into my worldview.

-First off, the world itself. After the whole Black Mesa Incident, they basically got put into a big "sandbox" type world to live in. There's basically two types of NPC's in the world: "Filler" NPCs (Think the entire US Millitary. They have no purpose other than to shoot and die.) Filler NPCs exist to make the world feel more populated or serve a very specific, simple purpose, and generally can't be interacted with. The other type of NPC is interactable NPCs. These are AI more similar to the cast, and have more personality. These are the NPCs that have the ability to become more aware, if the oppritunity arises. They're few and far in between, but have a tendancy to flock to each other. I like to think that the Science Team aren't the only "Interactables," Like there's Joshua obviously but I'll get more on the others later.

-The whole player thing basically works the same as it does for Kris Deltarune but more subtle. That was unintentional. I explained it to my friend and they went "Oh so like Kris Deltarune?" and I went oh. At least Gordon didn't really notice it until after everything was over. He just thought it was the whole traumatic situation thing. Haha now whenever he dissociatates from PTSD he also has to worry about if it's a sequel starting. fun :)

-I've seen the headcannons about Benry being experimented on by Black Mesa, and while those do make for good stories, I raise to you that he grew up on a cow farm with the rest of his family (Chronicles of Benry go Brrr), and just thought it would be really funny if he went to work at the morally bankrupt science facility. Like really funny.

-Since we're on Benry's family topic, I personally find it hilarious to think that they're also non-humans. I just think it's funny. The few fics I've found that mention Emmet and Moola (spelling contested) make them human and that's funny too imo, but I want to go with this so. And I'm basing thiss off of my own interactions with my sibling, but I think "Forzen and Benry being siblings in the middle of an insanely petty argument" is also funny. Like if I was mad at my sibling and someone asked me what my relationship with them was I'd absolutely go something along the lines of "Well we Were friends :/" and also shoot them. I think Emmet's the oldest, with Benry having diagnosable middle child syndrome, and then Forzen's the youngest.

-The deal with Tommy is that he was kinda spawned in by the G-man in the early days of the game, but G-man had to go do something in another program for a bit so he left him home alone because it would be quick but Oops! Time progresses weird and it's been six years! So yes, Tommy technically is an orphan and uses this fact to his advantage to avoid explaining that his dad is a time god/that he's not human while also not lying.

-Tommy and Benry grew up in the same area and were childhood friends :) They both also had special intrests on legal things, but Tommy went the OSHA route and Benry knows everything about every legal paperwork ever. They'd be lawyer hell if they went that route but they didn't want to.

-So after the ResCas, The Science Team crashed at Gordon's place for a night. And they never really left. Joshua was delighted that he not only got a dog, but said dog was large enough to ride on. The neighborhood was already chaotic, they don't mind the additions. I keep imagining Joshua coming home with a family tree assignment and it just. does not make sense.

-At first, Tommy and Benry try to hide the fact that he's back but eventually they get found out and Benry gets slowly reintegrated back into the Team. He technically lives on his mom's dairy farm for a good while but spends a lot of time at the house.

-Speaking things into existance is real! If someone says something, it is true and fact. The exception is if it would be funnier if it was false (IE, Bubby lying about what his job actually is, see below). However, the universe will always take the "easiest" route to make it true while keeping in mind previous statements. This is why Joshua exists, yet there is no trace of an other parent, as it was deemed easier to make one child with uncertain origins as opposed to two people. It doesn't always have to make sense, but it is very real. This works better for some than others. Gordon refuses to acknowledge this facet of life.

-Bubby just. continually lies about what job he gets after the rescas. Technically, nobody needs a job but yknow, it's something to do. Nobody knows what he actually does all day. However, Coomer gets a job at a university, and Gordon's a substitute teacher there for a bit before becoming a twitch streamer. He subsitutes for Coomer's class Once and tells stories about him. None of his students beleive him. Nobody knows what Tommy does, but in a different flavor from nobody knows what Bubby does. Benry has a podcast where he "reviews Video Games" (does whatever he wants for about 30 minuites and breaks the game a la let's game it out). Darnold also opens his own options shop!

-Alyx Vance started babysitting Joshua in her teens on recommendation from Eli (He and Gordon are work friends) and never stopped. She was babysitting when the ResCas happened and knew about it from her father. Luckilly, he made it out alive too, just took a different route than the Science Team. She and Gordon are very good friends, but Gordon is a chaos person magnet and she likes to harass him in the same way that really close friends continually bully each other. Alyx met Benry one time and they both instinctually knew it was in their best intrests to team up to harass Gordon. He regrets introducing the two.

-I've mentioned there being other ppl in the neighborhood and so now I'm going to talk about them. I really like to imagine the other notable neighbors being Chell, Gladdos and Wheatley from portal in one house, and Stanley and the Narrator from The Stanley Parable in another. Like, Portal happens in actual half-life so why not also have it happening here (I do think there are a few slight differences tho cuz this is just my take on how those events would play out in a universe like this), and TSP has pretty similar themes imo.

-The deal with Tommy is that he was kinda spawned in by the G-man in the early days of the game, but G-man had to go do something in another program for a bit so he left him home alone because it would be quick but Oops! Time progresses weird and it's been six years! So yes, Tommy technically is an orphan and uses this fact to his advantage to avoid explaining that his dad is a time god/that he's not human while also not lying.

-Tommy and Benry grew up in the same area and were childhood friends :) They both also had special intrests on legal things, but Tommy went the OSHA route and Benry knows everything about every legal paperwork ever. They'd be lawyer hell if they went that route but they didn't want to.

-Benry ran away once because yknow. Edgy preteen years. And met Gordon for a bit. Cut to a few years later and "Oh it's that guy again! Neato!" and remembers perfectly whereas Gordon just. Does not. at all.

-Subnote: My take on Portal but the AI is Even More Aware is mostly the same, as it is very silly goofy game. However, I'd think Gladdos is more of a virus infecting technology across the lab instead of being made intentionally, wheatley was made to stop her as in the original games but they both just see each other and bluescreen and that's how they realize that reality is a video game so portal 2 is just dealing with the chaos of these two ai that have realized they do indeed have controll outside of the technology and figuring all that out. They just kind of follow Chell home and she has to live like this now. I also think it would be funny if Gladdos stole one of Chell's old TTS voices that she used to use to communicate.

-They say if you pass by one of the houses late at night on tuesdays specifically, you will hear Stanley and The Narrator arguing about whether or not to put up a painting of a shrimp in the living room. This is the only time anyone has ever heard Stanley speak.

-Anyways I think that HOA meetings would be sheer chaos. It is the only time Benry is allowed in the kitchen. He, Gladdos, and The Narrator are all trying to casually kill each other. Glass pie. Cyanide in the cookies. Deadly neurotoxin in the punch. Everyone else steers clear of the baked goods table. Nobody's demands make any sense and nothing ever changes.

-everyone in the neighborhood knows that the Science Team has robbed a bank. Several banks, in fact. Nobody cares. They might as well be the government as far as they're concerned.

-The reason Benry and Bubby are never allowed in the kitchen is because once they almost set the whole place on fire and made radioactive brownies. Dr. Coomer ate them afterwards.

-Benry drinks shampoo but supposedly hates conditioner. Yes he says that last part specifically to irritate Gordon.

-Occasionally, Darnold has everyone taste-test potions he made. It always ends in chaos.

-Physical board games are banned after The Incident, except for one night a year dubbed "fuckopoly night" where they play all of them at the same time. The winner gets all of the coins that have been accumulated in the swear jar (which gordon originally set up as a way to get his son to swear less but just kind of. expanded to a household thing.)

[whatwouldmickeydo]

Quick headcanon challange-

Where do Ian and Mickey live 5 years after canon?

What do they do for work?

Does Fiona come back to Chicago? Does Mandy? Do Vee and Kev?

How are the Gallaghers react to Frank's death?

A cute little head canon you feel like sharing?

Feel free to send it to your favorite blogs 🖤

Ooh headcanons, I love headcanons!

1. I like to imagine them back in the south side with their own house. Maybe they actually fix up the Gallagher house and make it their own or they end up buying a new place with a yard for their dog and room for Ian’s veggies, plus space for the family to stay over

2. We’ve talked a bit about different types of jobs they might have, and I really like the idea of Ian doing something related to healthcare again - it was SUCH a good fit for him and I love the thought of him becoming a sort of Vee for the neighborhood with more official knowledge and resources to help (ok but now I’m thinking of him opening his own clinic and I’m loving this idea??). For Mickey, I picture him running the security business and collaborating with the grow houses and dispensaries and hiring on a team to boss around all day. He switches out those camo outfits to something more him though.

3. I like to think they all do! Family reunions become a thing, and there’s always a big summer blowout that everyone comes back for.

4. I always pictured a lot of mixed emotions. I think it might hit Liam and maybe Debbie and Ian the hardest - Debbie just because she always had such a tumultuous love/hate relationship with him and I can see her acting like she doesn’t care but then realizing she’s an orphan now and being really sad about it. I kind of think the same for Ian, just because he tends to get sentimental about people in his life even if they aren’t/weren’t good for him. Lip and Fiona I don’t think would really care at all tbh.

5. I got LOTS of cute headcanons, let’s see which ones I actually remember from my daydreams 😂

- Mandy and Ian rekindle their friendship when she comes to visit for the summer and Mickey gets annoyed at how much time they spend together. Just picture that s1 scene with them on the couch except Mickey doesn’t have to hide his affection and Mandy yells at him for practically sitting in Ian’s lap when they’re trying to play Mario Kart.

- They adopt a dog from the shelter and then also find a stringy looking cat in the alley next to their house that ends up following them home. Mickey refuses to let it in the house but flash forward a month later and Ian’s taking pictures of the cat curled up on Mickey’s chest sleeping

- Mickey gets his GED without telling anyone and just throws the certificate on the kitchen table one day while eating a sandwich. “Oh yeah, forgot to mention I took some classes and finally got this bitch.” Ian proceeds to stare at it then tackle him to the floor.

- Despite moving back to the south side, the west side helped them discover a lot of really good restaurants and cool places to go, so now they can enjoy being comfortable where they grew up while also enjoying fancier burger joints and fun date night activities like axe throwing and the more expensive movie theaters with the nicer seats

[jlilycorbie]

Current WIP List

Just to get them somewhat organized in front of me, here’s a list of my current WIPs, roughly in order by stage.

Currently writing:

Untitled Fantasy WIP: fantasy novel, Zaya has a map with a country no one remembers and knows she loved someone she can’t remember, so she’s gone looking for answers. This time, she won’t only find answers, but she’ll help heal a wound in the world.

Bad Fences: horror novel, Barbara’s family helped found her neighorhood generations ago, and she’s the last remaining descendant of any of those founders. She considers it her duty to protect her neighborhood, so she’s horrified when a huge family moves in next door. She’s positive they’re Satanists planning to sacrifice their baby, but really they’re a happy poly family she’s terrorizing.

The Care and Feeding of This House: horror short story, in today’s market, the only way most people can afford a house is if it’s haunted. What if this haunted house has a manual...but it didn’t get passed to the new owner, who has to figure out how to live in harmony with her new home on her own?

Other People’s Stories: fantasy novella? Lim has always lived with one foot in a different world, and it feels like she’s always on the edge of other stories without having one of her own. Then she finds herself in the middle of her own story and it isn’t as fun as she thought it would be.

Untitled Short Story: fantasy short story, when Amelia dreams, sometimes she dreams so deep and true it changes the world.

Back Burner, waiting to finish something else/work out some details:

Magic School Dropouts: fantasy novel, Imogene’s been on the run since she and her best friend snuck away from magic school. She doesn’t want the magic police to realize she’s an untrained magician loose in the world. Except there’s no such thing as magic police, the school she escaped largely isn’t known in the actual magic community (there’s a magic community? And they’ll actually welcome Imogene and help her out?), and her best friend died years ago and now her daughter is trying to escape that same school.

Escape Velocity: science fiction novel, Della grew up in an isolationist, anti-tech cult, but she escaped and went to space.

Heartland: science fiction, maybe ya novel, Dice lives outside of Heartland, an arcology, and she dreams about becoming a teacher and getting to live in Heartland instead of its shadow. Her best friend, Media, actually lives inside it, though they’ve never gotten to meet in person. And together, they’ll undercover and thwart a plot to bomb Heartland. Weird how easy it was to stop it, though.

Still researching/need to start researching:

Untitled Science Fiction WIP: science fiction novel, it’s time to unionize the asteroid belt. Countless people have been lured out to mining colonies on the asteroid belt with promises of big pay. Turns out when they arrive, they’re in dept to the company for the cost of their transport into space, and also the company has to take part of their pay to cover their rent. Oh, yeah, all the businesses in each colony are owned by the company, and your pay can only be converted to an earth currency on earth. And the company won’t pay to send you back to earth, but if you lose your job, you can’t stay in the colony. Captain Petra Quill and her crew pilot a freelance ship on the belt, and when news about what’s really happening in the colonies gets out, they and the other freelance ships are the only hope for the burgeoning union and their fight against the company.

Untitled Horror WIP: horror novel, Unnamed Creepy Dude was moderately well known among the prepper community, and he lived off-grid in a decommissioned military bunker. Sure, he was preparing for the world to end, but also, he needed somewhere private to stash the bodies. Until some of his victims refused to stay where he put them, and now he and the crew from a YouTube channel are all missing.

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Thirty: The Arrival of Haiba Lev

Summary: Shōyō Hinata loves volleyball! There is no doubt that all he really thinks about is volleyball. His sister, however, isn’t the same way. Sakura is ready to start her first year of high school at Karasuno with her twin brother and doesn’t really want to do anything, unlike Shōyō. Though she can’t help it when she gets dragged into the antics of the volleyball club.

Word Count: 8012

Blog Masterlist | Red Herring Masterlist | Last Chapter | Next Chapter

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NARROWED GREEN EYES STARED DOWN AT THE console screen displaying a seemingly difficult video game. With a scrunched up nose, Yua watched her younger best friend play his game in fascination. She's never really been one for video games, but it was impressive to watch Kenma play his. After all, she's spent most of her childhood watching him play and beat many games like this. She’s not that much of a gamer, though she does find it quite impressive.

Kenma, Yua and Kuroo were headed to their school on this lovely Sunday morning for volleyball practice. The trio were strolling through the surrounding neighborhood after just getting off the train. It wasn't that much of a walk through the nice warm morning sun. If anything, Yua quite enjoys it when she journeys to school with her best friends. The walks can be silent but not uncomfortable, or full of laughter and teasing. She just loves her best friends, what can she say?

Kuroo was also glancing down at Kenma’s screen with his own hazel eyes, “Kenma. That looks pretty tough.”

“Somewhat." The pudding-head commented, "But I’m getting the hang of it, so if I play for about thirty more hours…”

"And not sleep?" Yua scoffed, "I thought we talked about this, mister." Honestly she has no idea how he can run on such a small amount of sleep. He usually complains about being tired and she'll reprimand him for not sleeping, like a mother hen would. He needs a healthy amount of sleep for volleyball and school, after all!

Kenma grunted, not taking his eyes off his game, "You talked. I wasn't listening." Yua's right eye twitched at that. He can be so rude sometimes.

Kuroo chuckled lightly at his friends, “I’m surprised you don’t get bored. If you have that much time on your hands, let’s practice volleyball."

“I am, though.” Kenma lazily said, “That’s why we’re here at school on a Sunday morning, right?”

The trio then came up upon the school entrance for Nekoma Municipal High School. Kuroo grew serious, “Well, we did lose the Inter-High prelims. The Spring Tournament prelims are just around the corner.”

Kenma didn’t even take his eyes off of the game, “You never get sick of volleyball, huh, Kuroo?”

“He’ll never get sick of it, like you’ll never get sick of your games.” Yua commented with a giggle. 

Eventually the trio got to the school and entered the gym to find their team already setting up. Inuoka noticed their arrival, “Ah, Kuroo-san, Kenma-san, Yua-senpai, good morning!”

Yamamoto waved over at them, “Morning!”

“Mornin’!” Kuroo greeted them.

Kenma did the same, but in his normal lackluster way, “Morning.”

Yua jumped over to the group enthusiastically, “Good morning, boys!”

“Is everyone already here?” Kuroo asked.

Inuoka sighed, “Well…”

Yua looked around trying to find who was missing. Mentally, she checked her list on who was who, and noticed only one person missing. She clicked her tongue, “Oh, the giant isn’t here, what a surprise!”

“I always tell first-years to show up early.” Yaku commented as he started to squeeze the volleyball in his hand, it seemed like it was going to pop. “That little bastard.”

“He’s not a little bastard when compared to you Yaku!" Yua snickered at her jab at the libero. She certainly did get a kick out of annoying the short guy. Though she seems to forget how scary he can be afterwards. She spotted the dark look on his face and knew she was fucked. So Yua started to run for cover, which included using her friends as human shields. "Ah! No! Kenma save me from the gremlin!”

While the team watched as Yaku started to march after Yua and she tried putting Kenma in between them, Yamamoto said, “Well, it’s actually pretty quiet and nice when he’s not around. I’m sure he’s slacking off again somewhere.” The others glanced at him for saying that it was quiet and nice, then stared at their libero chasing their manager around. Maybe just a little but quieter, they thought.

After eventually grabbing Yua and now sitting on her back, Yaku commented, “He’s like a stray cat.” Yua flailed around in an attempt to escape, but the libero is surprisingly strong despite his small stature. Though she should learn by now that she’ll end up like this every time she messes with the libero.

So without their underclassmen, everyone started to get ready. Yua changed into her gym clothes and grabbed her supplies. That supplies being her notebook and clipboard, now she meant business.

Eventually after a bit of time, their missing teammate actually showed up. With a soft meow coming from the entrance, the japanese-russian boy had finally arrived. Lev Haiba, the tallest member on the team with silver hair and bright green eyes, was smiling in the entrance. “Mornin’!” Along with him was a orange and white cat in his hand, for some reason.

Kuroo sighed and looked up from tying his shoes, “The bigwig finally shows up.”

“Haiba Lev has arrived!" The silver-haired boy shouted,  "Yeah!”

“Oh my,” Yua gasped as she gushed at her underclassman, hearts in her eyes. She quickly pushed Yaku off of her and scurried over to Lev, “How adorable!”

Growing flustered and blushing, Lev stuttered, “Wah, Yua-senpai!” Obviously, he figured that she had to be talking about him, and of course he was getting flustered. Yua’s quite a pretty girl and Lev sure finds her to be a cute manager!

“I didn’t mean you,” Yua said, which caused the poor boy to deflate. The girl then grabbed the cat out of the beanstalk’s hands and started to fawn over it. “I meant this little guy, hi there.” The team watched as she started giving the cat scratches and cuddling it in her arms,  to the poor cat's dismay. 

---

Practice was in full swing by now as the boys were in a mock game with each other. On the side lines, Yua was scribbling things down every once in a while in her notebook. Though she took her time from writing to pet the orange and white cat that was resting in her lap. The cat was now enjoying some of the attention the girl was giving him.

“They all seem ready to go,” Naoi commented as they watched the boys in their scrimmage game. 

They watched as Yamamoto jumped up to spike the ball over the net and got his side a point thanks to Lev’s inability to receive it. “You dumbass!” The ace roared at Lev, “I told you not to try and get that with your arms, you beanpole!”

“I’ll get the next one!” Lev exclaimed, more than pumped up to try again, “One more time!” 

Naoi nodded his head, “Haiba Lev’s got good instincts. He’s half-Russian and so has been blessed with height, long limbs, and excellent athletic ability. Any of those things would set him apart from the Japanese players…”

“Bring it!” Lev dove with cat-like reflexes to receive Inouka’s serve, it was quite impressive. He was more than overjoyed with his accomplishment as he stayed laying on the floor with a large smile. “I did it! I did it! See? I did it! Did you see that?”

Kuroo grunted while running up to block, “You dumbass! Keep your eyes forward!” Though his warning didn’t do much as the ball was spiked back towards him and he certainly wasn’t ready to save it at all.

Yaku slid over more than annoyed with the first-year, “Lev!” Yeah, he was about to chew out the boy for that.

“But he’s got that personality,” Naoi sighed heavily, “and he’s still learning the basics. There’s plenty we have yet to teach him. But we’re dealing with the Spring Tournament prelims. Things will probably get very interesting.” 

Who knows what will happen when they add Lev onto the team roster for games? Yua would like to think that the team would be elevated with such a player like him on the team. Perhaps not a starter, since he is still really new to the sport, but he could make a spot for himself. He still has a lot to learn as a player, but she wants to have faith in him as a player. Hopefully he gets there eventually.

Nekomata grunted after staying silent for so long, “This ain’t good.”

They continued on with practicing and it was blatantly clear that Lev and Kenma were not lining up properly. It’s happened time and time again. Kenma would set the ball for Lev but it would be off by a few inches. It’s not that Kenma wasn’t a good setter or anything like that, it was most likely just because the two weren’t lined up yet. After all, Lev’s arm length was a bit longer than Kenma is used to. Add in Lev’s inexperience and the two were not working that well together. They tried once more and Lev missed the spike again with the ball completely missing his hand.

“That was close, right?” Lev asked while looking at the setter like an excited kitten.

Kenma deadpanned, “No.”

He gasped, “Whoa, really?!”

“That wasn’t close at all.”

“Really?! Can we try again?”

“No.” Kenma droned out.

“Why not?!”

Kenma grumbled, “Because you’re just going to miss again.”

Yua laughed at the pair’s banter. She could tell that Kenma was more than annoyed with Lev. The younger boy does have a personality that does not mesh well with Kenma’s, basically at all. Beside her, Nekomata grunted as he appeared to be contemplating something. Yua glanced over at the older coach with furrowed eyebrows, “What’re you thinking, old man?”

Nekomata just glanced at her with his aged eyes before calling out, “All right, that’s all for today.”

So everyone worked together to clean up the gym after a somewhat productive practice. Yua helped Kuroo with the net and took it down as they chatted lightly. Yua hummed, “I feel like Kenma is going to have a lot of fun with Lev.”

Kuroo glanced over his shoulders as Lev challenged Yamamoto. He chuckled, “Obviously.”

“Let’s just hope they can work together eventually.” She shrugged her shoulders, “it would be a bit upsetting if they couldn’t work it out, you know.” Having a team that worked well together on the court is obviously important. If the setter couldn’t even work with one person, well, things might fall apart. She wasn’t sure, but Yua also didn’t wanna find out.

Her friend hummed next to her, “give it some time.” He ruffled her hair, to her chagrin, “they’ll figure it out at some point.”

Once everyone finished their jobs of cleaning up, their coach called out, “Gather round!” So everyone did just that and surrounded their coaches to hear what they had to say.

Nekomata started by saying, “Two Saturdays from now, we’re going to welcome our neighbors, Kunihira High School and do a practice match.”

“At this time of year?” Yaku asked in confusion, “But our training camp with Fukurodani is coming up, too. That’s rare.”

Nekomata nodded his head and continued, “And… Lev, you’re going to play in that match.”

Everyone was in shock at that bit of news, “What!?”

“That’s what you were thinking!?” Yua exclaimed at the coach with her mouth agape. How the old man thought this was a good idea, Yua wasn’t sure. Yea Lev was a decent player, but he has a long way to go before he could be considered a starter. He’s a first-year, and while first-years can be starters, Lev was still new to the sport and needed to learn a lot more.

“Really?!” Though Lev was over the moon about this turn of events. He smiled widely, “Just leave it to me!”

Naoi leaned down to the older man, “Er, but coach, Lev’s still having problems getting tosses, so I’m not sure if he’s…”

“Kenma.” Nekomata didn't even seem to be listening as he just turned to the teen, “Make some time and give Lev some tosses.”

Kenma pursed his lips, “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?!” Lev gasped.

“That’s all.” Nekomata smiled, “Do your best.”

All the boys plus Yua bowed, “Thank you!”

Everyone was still in a bit of shock over the news. The only one who really got over it quickly was Kuroo who shrugged his shoulders, “You heard him.”

Lev stood tall over all of his teammates and had a bit of a smug expression on his face. “Should’ve seen this coming.”

Yamamoto just stared at him with his hands on his hips, “You’re so cocky.” Right, if anyone was going to be cocky, it was going to be him! After all, he is the ace of the team!

Yua shook her head at her underclassman, “You can be arrogant when you’re actually a starter, stringbean.”

Lev just continued to smile, “You’ll see, Yua-senpai, I’ll be a starter soon enough!”

“Sure, sure.” She won’t hold her breath over that just yet.

---

The next day, practice was going pretty normal. This time though, everyone was keeping an eye on how Kenma and Lev were working together. It was like everyone paused in their own training to watch whatever was happening. After all, it was more than interesting to see if the beanstalk was going to actually succeed this time.

Lev was pumped up as usual, “Let’s do this!” There was next to nothing that could get his spirits down.

They lined up for Lev to spike the ball. Kenma set a perfect toss for him, hoping that he would hit it. As there was no way that he could mess this up. Though that wasn’t the case as Lev still missed it and it just ended up hitting the top of his head instead. While Lev appeared to have confidence and power behind his moves, it was nothing but a farce. He still has so much to learn about volleyball.

“Hey, it went in,” Inuoka blinked and was somewhat impressed.

Yamamoto just laughed at the failure, “Nice headbutt!”

Lev wasn’t affected by the teasing though as he just turned to them, “That was my personal time difference attack!” Everyone just stared at him in disbelief. There was no way that he just used that kind of excuse…

On the sidelines, Yua just shook her head and wrote down some bullet points in her notebook. After being the team manager for a while, she’s grown to be really good at making her own notes and such about the boys. They’re definitely not the neatest or most comprehensible, but she can translate them easily, so who cares. Lev was obviously the one she was writing most about now. 

She keeps track of their strengths and weaknesses, their relationships with the other boys, and any other tidbits she thinks the coaches could use. It’s all important things to take note of. Though she’s known all these boys for quite a while and knows a lot about them, Lev is the newest one. So she has quite the learning curve when it comes to figuring out how the newbie will mesh with everyone else. She sighed heavily while finishing up her scribbles in her notebook, hopefully she can get it down eventually.

“Yeah, he’s definitely some kind of special…” Yaku commented in uncertainty. 

Naoi shook his head, “All of you, stop gawking at him and get to practicing!”

“Right!”

---

 The whole team had gone about their normal routine after practice which meant heading to the local 8-Eleven for snacks. Yua’s chip bag crinkled as she munched on her snack which was provided by Kuroo. She leaned over Kenma’s shoulder to watch his screen as he played the same game from that morning. Even still, she couldn’t understand what he was doing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t watch him. Which was just watching him fail and fail again.

Kuroo also was glancing over every once in a while to watch, “That’s gotta be hard, you’ve been stuck on the same level.”

“I know.,” Kenma grunted while mashing the buttons.

Besides him, Yua pursed her lips, “Even the great gamer Kenma can’t get past it, it must be impossible.” Kenma’s eye twitched at Yua’s comment as he focused on the game. He’d prove that he can get past this level, just so he can avoid his friends teasing.

“It’s gotta be rough dealing with Lev,” Kuroo commented to Kenma while eating the popsicle Yua insisted on buying him. There obviously was a parallel that could be made between Kenma’s difficulty with this game and also his ability to work with Lev. After the past few days, both of these scenarios have caused him a great deal of issues.

Kenma didn’t look up from his console as he replied, “Yeah. I haven’t dealt with him much ever since he joined.”

Kuroo nodded, “I can imagine. You two are like oil and water. It’s hard to see you two meshing together.”

“We don’t even have to imagine,” Yua chuckled. It’s evident to everyone, except maybe Lev, to see how difficult this was for the setter. Sure, Yua knows how it can be a bit difficult for Kenma to get along with certain people but this just seemed extra difficult.

Just as they were saying that, the other boys, including Lev, all came out of the shop with their own goodies and made to sit down with them. They all started to dig into their after practice meals and snacks and talk idly about things.

Lev seemed to be energized just as he was at the beginning of practice. Which is a feat since most of the boys are usually tired beyond belief after a long practice. “Just watch.” Lev said excitedly as he cracked his chopsticks apart, “I’ll be ready by our next match.”

Yaku sweatdropped, “Seriously, where the hell does your confidence come from?”

“That’s one of life’s many mysteries,” Yua hummed which got a chuckle out of some of the guys.

“I’ll work even harder so I can become a starter!” Inuoka declared strongly. Yua cooed from her seat at how adorable the middle blocker is. He has to be one of her favorite first years, he’s just so full of fire and cuteness, in her opinion.

Lev leaned into his personal space with a smirk, “Well, I’m gonna be the ace, not a starter!”

Yamamoto, the actual ace of the team, called out, “You don’t call someone who can’t play any defense an ‘ace’!”

“But if I work hard these next two weeks with Kenma-san…” Lev looked over to their setter for approval, “right?”

Kenma boredly replied, “It’s hard to set the ball for you because you’re so sloppy. It’s not like I’m Karasuno’s setter.”

Yua shook her head, “I don’t think anyone could be like that monster.” Kageyama still haunted her thoughts with how pin-pointed his sets were. Yua has a running theory that he must have given up his soul to have such skill. It’s really the only explanation in her mind.

Lev tilted his head in confusion, “Huh? Who’s that?”

“They’re our eternal rivals I talked about yesterday.” Inoka explained, “You know, the Battle of the Garbage Dump.”

He brightened in remembrance, “Ah, Karasuno or whatever from Miyagi.”

The team all started to reminisce in the game they played against the crows. The lasting friendships that they also made were in their minds. Those crows sure were something. Yua likes to believe that she made some friends, especially with Hinata Sakura. Oh, that first-year sure is interesting to her, as well as her brother. The little demon who could keep up with Kageyama’s tosses. Both of them were quite scary.

“They have some insane first-years there.” Yaku broke Yua at her thoughts, “A middle-blocker shrimp that hits with his eyes closed and a setter that can perfectly match him.”

“Huh…” Lev blinked.

“That shrimp doesn’t have any of the basics down.”

“Is he shrimpier than you, Yaku-san?” Lev asked innocently. Though all that did was end up with Yaku getting annoyed and hitting Lev over the head… again. 

Yua laughed at the display in joy. She leaned over Kuroo and flashed Lev a smile with a thumbs up, “Good job, Lev!” This first-year really is learning quickly about making fun of their libero. One of her favorite pastimes, honestly.

Lev rubbed at his bruised head, “But if that guys a starter, then I can…”

“I think you suck more than he does, Lev.” Kenma cut him off and commented.

“Huh!?”

Kuroo smirked, “I wonder how they’re doing.”

---

Meanwhile, in Miyagi, the Karasuno team was hanging out at Sakanoshita Market like they usually do after a long day of school and practice. Endo was munching on a meat bun that he had bought in his coaches shop. Currently, he was watching as Tanaka failed and failed again at a video game that he had brought. Endo doesn’t play video games, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t find entertainment from watching his friends rage at the game.

“Damn it!” Tanaka shouted in despair, “I lost again!”

Asahi, Kageyama and Shōyō came walking up to the second-year after getting some food from Sakanoshita Market. Shōyō tilted his head and asked, “Whatcha doin’, Tanaka-san?”

He explained in frustration, “Playing the game I borrowed from my sister.”

“Oh, that super popular one,” Asahi said. Endo leaned onto his shoulder and offered to share his meat bun, which Asahi accepted.

The rest of the boys came over to see what was going on.  “Come on, Tanaka.” Daichi shook his head at his underclassmen, “Someone who works at the school is right in front of you. Put the game away.”

“Huh?” Ukai grunted from behind them, “As soon as practice is over, this doesn’t concern me.” So he just continued on with his work and let the boys continue with their shenanigans. Not like he really cared about the teens playing some video game, so long as they stayed quiet.

Shōyō blinked in recognition as he leaned down to see the game, “Hey, this is the game Kenma was talking about.”

“I keep losing to this thing no matter how many times I play.” Tanaka groaned.

Endo chuckled, “just get better then.” That earned him a heated glare from the slightly younger boy.

“I’d like to see you try rich boy!” Tanaka raged at him. Though the blond just laughed at his misery. Not like he’d actually play the game or anything, since he doesn’t like games all that much.

“Ryu!” Nishinoya exclaimed while standing over his best friend with determination emanating from him. He smirked proudly, “I’ll get revenge for you!”

So Nishinoya took a turn to play the game, though with the same outcome as Tanaka. Despite his best effort, Nishinoya was still met with the defeated screen. His ego was just slightly hurt after that defeat. So that was 0-2 for the boys, and it didn’t seem like there was any end in sight. 

“He got hit with every single attack,” Tanaka blinked.

Shōyō nodded his head, “That’s actually sort of amazing.” 

“Way to go, genius libero, I guess,” Asahi chuckled.

Kageyama placed his hand on his hip and stared boredly, “So you just have to cut down the enemy without getting hit, right?” To the other’s it almost sounded like he thought he could do it easily. Though Kageyama can have a tendency to be cocky sometimes.

“Heh.” Tanaka scoffed, “Easier said than done, my friend.”

Though Kageyama took that as a challenge with a large smirk. He was then next up to take a crack at the game. It became apparent that he was having issues with it just like the other two. He was becoming far more irritated every time he messed up until he finally ended up just losing to the game. Which certainly hurt his ego a bit as he started to yell, “You jackass! Who the hell do you think you are?!”

Tanaka was just about ready to take the game from him in case he broke it in anger. Which wouldn’t be all that surprising. The older boy stared in worry, reaching for his game, “Hey! I just said I was borrowing that!”

Suga said, “I guess the same thing that happens in volleyball happened…”

“So this is Kageyama’s true nature,” Shōyō smirked at the other boy’s demise.

That definitely didn’t help the situation as Kageyama raged, “I’ll kill you, Hinata!” The poor orange-haired boy jumped in fright.

“Come on, now, Kageyama. You know you end up the loser if you get mad.” Daichi said wisely, “Give it here.” So now it was Daichi’s turn to try out the game. However, his defensive take on the game was not giving him any sort of advantage, it was basically a stalemate. “You see that? It’s my impregnable defense!”

The other boys all just blinked at him. Well, besides Nishinoya who was still frozen over his loss and Kageyama was sulking off to the side. The two of them were not going to get over this loss so easily.

“Well, yeah, you’re not going to lose, but…” Suga trailed off as they watched him still playing. The game was now deadlocked with Daichi’s tactic, and there didn't seem like there was going to be an end. 

Tanaka blinked at the strange play-style, “Is that even fun?” While Daichi wasn’t dying… it just seemed boring to just stand there.

So now all the boys were giving the game a try since Daichi wasn’t getting anywhere with his “impregnable defense”. Next up was Asahi who was definitely not enjoying the game. Instead of going with a tactic like Nishinoya’s attacking or Daichi’s defensive take, he decided to just run away. “Stay back! Please!” Asahi screamed in fear, “Get away! Stay away!”

“It wouldn’t be much of a game if it didn’t,” Suga shook his head.

Daichi sighed, “Yeah, I knew this would happen.”

Endo chuckled at the frightened boy, “You really are just a scaredy cat.” Asahi just continued to scream until he eventually was caught by the boss and killed. Endo ended up patting Asahi as the ace caught his breath after all that screaming. 

“Hey!” Shōyō shouted eagerly, “Can I play next?”

Now it was Shōyō’s turn to try out the game. He was jumping around while playing it which was a bit of a strange sight. Tanaka blinked at the boy, “What are you? A five-year-old that just got his first game?”

Eventually, Shōyō lost, which certainly ruined his mood, “This is so hard…”

Nishinoya then placed a hand on Shōyō’s shoulder, “It gets your blood boiling… because it’s difficult, right?”

“Yeah!” He exclaimed, now pumped up again, “One more time!”

Tanaka slid over quite annoyed, “Hey! It’s my turn next!”

“You get to play at home, Ryu! Let me get my revenge!” Nishinoya shouted.

Diachi crowded around them as well, “No, leave it to me!”

Asahi joined in, “M-M-Me, too! Me, too!”

“Wait! I should get a turn!” Kageyama jumped over, ready to try again like the other boys. All the boys were now huddling around each other, all of them desperate to try to play the game again.

“You’ve got no chance, Kageyama-kun.” Shōyō snickered.

“Hinata, you little jerk!” Kageyama shouted as he started to attack Shōyō. Though the little shorty was ready for it and ran away, “Stop dodging me!”

Due to all the commotion, Ukai came out of his shop more than annoyed with the group of rambunctious boys. “Shut up!” He shouted at them, “Hurry up and go home for dinner!”

“You heard the old man,” Endo commented as he easily took the gaming console from the others, to their annoyance, “time to go home!”

---

Yua brushed aside some of the strands of hair that escaped her ponytail. It was a bit of a strange day, after all, the boys told her that Lev had arrived to practice first. Lev of all people! The one who was usually the last one to show up to practices was actually there before anyone else. How strange.

She just supposed that he must have been excited to practice. He really is much like an excited puppy. After he had been told by their coach to work closer with Kenma, Lev seemed to be more than eager to take advantage of the demand. Kenma seemed to be the one in the pair that wasn’t so happy with it. He didn’t say it in so many words, but Yua could tell just by his expressions. She’s a Kenma whisperer in that aspect.

Though now in the middle of their current practice, Yua was watching as the boys were working on their spikes. “Hell yeah!” Yamamoto shouted after his own strong spike.

“Nice kill!”

Lev was up next and he was just as energized as usual. His eyes were alight with a childish glee as he stepped forward and shouted, “Get me the perfect toss!” Kenma was visibly a bit more annoyed now that he had stepped up. Yua could see that from a mile away. So the silver-haired boy ran up for the toss, but it completely missed his hand, once again. Lev just stared at the ball that was now rolling away. “Huh? That’s weird.”

“Lev, you’re putting too much force into it.” Kuroo advised him, “Keep your eye on the ball.”

“Okay!” So they tried again, but with the same result. Though Lev didn’t seem all that deterred, if anything he looked more than excited to keep trying his best. “Kenma-san! Could you do the tosses a bit faster?” From her seat on the sidelines, Yua could see that Kenma was far more annoyed with this situation.

She sighed under her breath, “This isn’t going anywhere.”

---

Swaying from side to side, the Nekoma trio were riding the train back to their homes after an extremely long day at school. Yua was just about falling asleep on Kenma’s shoulder while watching him play his game. The intense battle that he had been engaged in over and over again was keeping her awake though. Every once in a while he would exhale hardly through his nose when he failed his objective, which kept Yua from falling asleep completely. Meanwhile, Kuroo was watching them with a small smile as he took in Yua’s exhaustion and Kenma’s determination and frustration over his game.

“Well?” He asked, breaking Kenma shortly from his concentration.

Kenma just continued his attempt at defeating the boss, “What?”

“Lev’s pretty interesting, huh?”

“Well, you don’t have to actually deal with him.” Kenma grunted as he explained, “His timing when he jumps is different every time, so is his point of impact. I have no idea what kind of tosses to give him.”

Yua hummed tiredly, “Now that’s surprising. You adapt pretty quickly to just about everyone.” Which is true, it only takes Kenma a single practice or two to usually get used to someone and their abilities. Seems like Lev is just a special case.

Kuroo leaned down to watch Kenma continue to struggle with his game, “You still can’t beat that enemy?”

“Its attack is super strong and he takes me out instantly,” Kenma grunted.

“But once you beat it, it’s all over, so don’t you get more fired up when it’s an enemy you can’t beat?”

“But it’s no fun if you can’t beat it, either.”

“Can’t you just attack it before it attacks you?” Kuroo asked, “They say offense is the best defense. That thing’s tail was glowing right before it attacked.”

Kenma blinked in surprise, “What? No way.”

“What? You didn’t notice?” Kuroo smirked, “I figured you’d notice something like that. I guess even you can’t see when you get worked up.”

He huffed and turned back to his game, “I’m not getting worked up.”

“You are, though.” Kuroo smirked.

Kenma grunted in denial, “Am not.”

“You are.”

“Nope.”

“Both of you shut up,” Yua groaned loudly and flopped herself onto Kuroo’s shoulder this time, “I want to nap.” So the two boys just quieted down, for their own sakes after all. A grumpy Yua is not a Yua that they would wish to deal with. So they just continued to travel home in content silence.

---

The same thing seemed to happen the next day. While the boys were going about their normal practices, there didn’t seem to be any progress with Kenma and Lev’s ability to sync up. Yua was making notes in her notebook on all of the boys, but certainly kept a close eye on 

“Those two are having a hard time getting in sync.” Naoi commented to himself, Yua and Coach Nekomata.

Yua grunted in agreement, “Kenma is usually able to get use to anyone’s rhythm, Lev is a special case it seems.

After yet another failed toss, Lev just stared at Kenma. He stared at the setter from different angles, getting strange looks from everyone else. His eyes brightened, “Kenma-san’s noticing me! That must mean he’s finally acknowledging my talent!”

Yamamoto deadpanned, “He’s just mad that you’re not progressing at all.”

“Huh!?” Lev exclaimed in shock, “Are you mad, Kenma-san?”

“Yeah, half of it’s anger,” Kenma softly said.

Yua and the two older men stared at the interaction. Nekomata seemed more than pleased with the developments, while Naoi was slightly concerned still. “Is he really going to be okay?” The concerned man asked.

“No need to rush.” The coached said wisely, “He’s progressing like he should. Now, we just have to make sure it sticks.”

Yua nodded her head, finishing her scribbling with a slight smirk, “which means practice, practice, practice.” She then shouted out across the court, “oi Kenma, toss 20 more to Lev!” Kenma groaned at the order, though he knew better than to argue against her on something like practice. Lev was over the moon with it though. He seemed ready to do 100 more if it meant he could get to practice with Kenma more. Though they’d stick to just 15 for the time being. Yua stood up and made sure her ponytail was tight, “I’ll toss to the others, you two work together for a short while.”

“Whatever,” Kenma grumbled.

Yua’s brow twitched at his disrespectful tone, “What was that?”

He just grumbled something else under his breath, making sure that she couldn’t hear him this time and responded back to her with a “Yes, Yua.”

---

The boys had gone off of their usual running route. This usually gave Yua time to organize her notes, talk with the coaches and help them with any sort of practice routines she thinks would work best. Just like any other of the boys, she’s a valuable member of the Nekoma team. She isn’t a player, but she has the athletic mindset and comes up with good routines and workouts that she suggests them to do.

Or during this time she would take her own little break. Sitting outside the gym doors while waiting for them to come back let her think to herself. Volleyball certainly wasn’t the only thing that she thought about. She has other interests… It just so happens that volleyball is a big part of her interest at the moment. 

Her mind wandered like a lost child to topics such as her homework assignments to the new clothes she wanted to buy. Or even what she was going to make for dinner to whether she thought Kuroo or Kenma would wanna hang out at her house. They’re basically an inseparable trio after all. If you find Yua, Kuroo and Kenma will no doubt be right behind, and vice versa. They’re her best friends after all. Though there was the sad realization that Kuroo would graduate soon and the trio would become a duo. She knew she was going to be sad about it, but it wasn’t like they weren’t going to talk anymore. Yua would make sure of it. Besides, her cousin would definitely make sure that it wouldn’t happen. He’s used to corralling a certain rambunctious boy to do what he needs, so he’d keep an eye out for Kuroo too, even if he was younger than Kuroo. That reminds her, she should really call him soon, they are having the camp soon! Oh, she can’t wait to see everyone there.

Though thinking about the camp, she wondered if Kenma and Lev would starting being able to sync up by then. Sure it would be a while before the training camp, but still. She couldn’t help herself but wonder. Still the struggles that they were having at the moment were slightly amusing to her. Kenma hasn’t really faced a challenge like this in quite a while. Seeing him try to get through it is interesting to her. His frustration over it was quite a bit of entertainment for her.

Breaking out of her thoughts, Yua watched as the group of boys finally came running back towards the gym. As soon as they got in range of the door, a couple collapsed to the ground to catch their breath. She got up and started to hand out some stuff to them. Kuroo just walked up to a smiling Yua smirked at her as she got some things together.

“You guys took longer than usual,” Yua commented as she handed out some towels and water to the boys.

Kuroo took the offered towel and whipped off the sweat from his face, “It’s because of those two.”

Finally seeing the stragglers coming up after them, she got a good look at their appearance. “What the fuck!?” Yua screeched as she saw the blood residue on Kenma and Lev’s faces. “Why do you two have bloody noses!?” She rushed over to them to check them over for injuries. How they ended up like this, she didn't know. Though her aggressive mother-hen attitude took over now as she started to look over their injuries.

Kenma grunted as she fussed over his face like a worried mother, “It’s Lev’s fault.”

“Hah?!” She blanched as her expression became gloomy. Her darkened features were now pointed at the tall first-year, who bristled at the menacing look now focused on him. 

Lev jumped and waved his hands around in panic, “Yua-senpai! It’s not what you think!”

“What the fuck did you do, you bitch!?” She screeched as she cradled Kenma close to her, “How’d you hurt him!?”

Kenma rolled his eyes and sighed. He whacked Yua in the stomach, stopping the girl from continuing her rampage, “Yua, calm down. It was an accident.”

Yua groaned slightly and held her stomach in pain. Though she quickly straightened herself as her expression did a 180. She smiled like normal, “Oh. Well, let’s get you two cleaned up and checked out!”

Lev was trembling as he stared at his senpai in fear, “You’re quite scary, Yua.” Her quick change in emotion was just slightly unsettling.

She just continued to smile blissfully, “I know.”

Back in the gym, they were lining up to do their spike practice once again. The boys needed to warm up a bit since they were having their practice game today. They went down the line through everyone and eventually they got to Lev. After a little bit, it was decided that Kenma and Lev would work together for the time being. Yua once again took up the roll of setter for the others, just so they weren’t sitting around doing nothing.

After yet another pathetic miss, Kenma grabbed another ball from the cart next to him, “Here’s the next one.”

“Hey, our match is about to start!” Naoi tried to intervene, but was stopped by Nekomata. Just from his expression, those around him could tell that he knew something was going to come of these practice spikes.

Handing a ball to Yua, Yaku shook his head, “He’s selfish and impossible to understand. But…”

“Let’s do this!” He jumped up and it was like everything was in slow motion. Unlike the awkward movements of Kenma trying to set the ball to Lev and the tall boy reaching for it, the ball was near perfect. It left everyone in shock! They finally did it! Kenma and Lev finally synced up! After the thunderous sound of the ball hitting the court floor, Lev turned to look up, “The ace…" His green eyes shined just the light as he turned to his teammates, "has opened his eyes!”

“Holy shit,” Yua breathed out as she shared a look with a smirking Kuroo. “Looks like they figured something out.”

“Okay.” Kenma said, in his monotone voice, “One more.”

Lev was over-excited about the prospect of another awesome spike, “I’ll hit as many as you like!”

They tired once again, but it didn’t seem like they lined up like before. As all the ball did this time was bonk Lev on the head and was nowhere near his palm. So was it a fluke?

“So it was totally luck!” Yamamoto laughed loudly.

Though all that did seemed to light a fire in Inuoka, “I can’t lose! Kenma-san, can I go next?”

“Hey, no fair!” Yamamoto seemed to whine, “The senpai gets to go first! Kenma, toss to me since I’m the ace!”

“Hey!” Lev exclaimed, “This is my practice!”

“No, me!” Inuoka joined in on the bickering.

Naoi seemed to be a tad bit annoyed with the arguing, “Guys! We’re about to do a match!”

Yua watched them all fight over getting a toss from Kenma with a chuckle. “Looks like they finally got somewhere.”

Kuroo nodded his head, “seems so.”

The two looked like a pair of proud parents as they watched Lev gush over his amazing spike and the others fighting over getting a toss from Kenma. “Greetings!” The collective voices of a bunch of boys called out, “Thanks for having us!” It was the team that they were meant to have a practice match with. So they all got set up for the game. Yua made sure that everything was set up with the water bottles, her notebook, and towels. This will definitely be an interesting practice game after that revelation from Kenma and Lev. Hopefully they could

“All right, let’s do this!” Kuroo exclaimed, after giving the team his usual peptalk.

All the boys agreed, “Yeah!” Yua smiled widely, she was definitely ready to see just what her boys would do with this game.

---

With the murder of crows, They were still bickering over the video game. No progress was made in the game even though they have tried multiple times to get somewhere with it. It was just impossible!!! Currently, it was Kageyama’s turn again, and he was just getting the same result as he was beforehand.

“You dumbass!” Kageyama grunted as he aggressively played and still lost, “Damn it!”

Tanaka sighed in disappointment, “I guess it’s no use. I don’t think we’re gonna beat it.”

Passing by the group of his teammates, Tsukishima snidely laughed at his failure, “I guess you really do suck at everything other than volleyball, Your Highness.”

Yamaguchi praised his friend like he normally does, “Tsukki’s great at video games, too!”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“My bad, Tsukki!”

“Oh, really?” Kageyama’s eyebrow twitched, “Then let’s see just how good you are.”

Shoyo jumped up, “Hey, hang on. It’s my turn next. I get to go first.”

“You just played!” Kageyama sassed.

“We already went through everyone again! And your turn is done!”

“I’m not done yet!” The two then proceeded to fight for the game.

Tanaka watched from the sidelines, more than concerned for the safety of his sister’s console. “Hey, stop that, you two!”

Though they just ignored him as they continued to fight each other for the game. “Huh!?”

Shoyo exclaimed, “You just died!” 

“This turn doesn’t count! Tsukishima got in my way!”

“Damn it! I told you I’m borrowing that!”

“Nuh uh! You just died! Let go, jackass!”

Behind them, Daichi was slowly growing annoyed with all the shouting and fighting. It was really starting to get on his nerves, which was shown by the gloomy expression that came over his face.

Endo cringed in amusement at the familiar look, “someone’s pissed off daddy Daichi.”

“Hey, stop!” Asahi advised the others, noticing the scary expression on their captain’s face, “Daichi’s gonna lose it!” Though Endo just laughed at the warning, knowing that they were too far into their argument to notice. That’s usually how Kageyama and Shoyo got.

“You let go!”

Then it was like slow motion, the video counsel having slipped from Shoyo’s hands and flying from their grasp. Everyone stared in shock and horror as Tanaka’s life flashed before his eyes. No doubt his sister was going to kill him for this! As it flew through the air, it surprisingly was heading straight for an unsuspecting Sakura, who was heading over to meet up with her brother. Her club had just ended and she really wasn’t too surprised to hear that the boys were arguing with each other over something. Though she wasn’t expecting to find a console flying right towards her. She had quick enough reflexes to at least try and catch it, which was successful. She then caught the console, albeit somewhat clumsily, before it could crash to the ground and most certainly great.

All the boys stared at her in amazement, as if she was an angel from heaven after saving the game. She blinked at them and then at the gaming console in her hand before raising an eyebrow. “Do I even want to ask?”

“Imouto!” Shoyo just about cried as he ran up to cling to her, “you’re a hero!”

Nishinoya and Tanaka joined in on the crying and tried to cling to her as well. Though she sidestepped the duo and let them fall to the ground. The only ones she’d let cling to her like this is her brother and sister, no one else.

She just blinked at his over dramatic behavior and looked to the other boys, “Why?”

“These bozos were fighting over this game since none of them could beat it.” Endo explained to her as he leaned down to her height. He clicked his tongue, “And you just saved them, most likely being yelled at by multiple people.”

“What game is it?” She asked as she looked at the console. She tilted her head as she stared at the game over screen and recognized it. “Oh, Kenma was talking about this.”

“I’m sure just like your brother you would be able to beat it,” Tsukishima said, completely unprompted but that’s usually how he is.

Sakura’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. The wide brown irises shined in the light as she saw the smirk on his face. So she took up the challenge. Sakura parked herself on the ground and started to play the game. All the boys huddled around her, even Tsukishima, but he tried to seem like he didn’t care. She made it look like child’s play. They exclaimed shouts as they watched her have a few close calls. They were basically biting their nails, more like just the troublesome duos were, and cheered when ever she got the upperhand.

After a short while, and encouragement from the boys around her, Sakura smirked in satisfaction. Tanaka gaped at her, “Y… You beat it!” Everyone was silent for a moment as they processed it, the screen clearly displaying her win. Then they all simultaneously bursted out into cheers over her success.

Shoyo’s eyes sparkled for what seemed like the millionth time, “WAH! AWESOME!”

Kageyama was both slightly impressed and annoyed over her win. After all, he was certain he was the one who was going to win it. “You were just lucky,” he ground out.

She just shrugged her shoulders and smirked smugly at Tsukishima who seemed surprised that she had won the game. “I don’t get why it was so hard,” Sakura scoffed as she gave the console back to Tanaka. She then waltzed away, leaving the impressed and bewildered boys behind her.

---

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[princessbettina]

Beautiful Lady: A Liam Shawcross x Female OC Reader: Episode 1 Part 1

Introduction notes: It's your day off from work and it just so happens to be a Friday. What better way to spend your night especially then being outdoors in the beautiful city that I called my own. Along the way, I met up with some girlfriend's from work and I all go into a comforting little jazz bar. All is groovy, especially when I see him (Liam Shawcross) singing onstage. I become drawn to him and want to make myself known to him, at least say hi.

I do not own any of the characters in this, except for Theresa because she is me.

How will the meet up go? What's in store for the night and future? Let's find out together, shall we?

This story is inspired by the 2020 show, "High Fidelity" with Zoe Kravitz and Thomas Doherty (as Liam Shawcross)

*

Today's the best day ever. Wanna know why? It's my day off. Yeah, I like my job and all but business has been pretty busy lately and I think I deserve a break and today is just what I need.

My day was spent by running multiple errands here and there and that kept me busy for the majority of the day. Once the sun was setting and it slowly became darker outside, I knew that it was party time.

I changed out of my daytime outfit and put on something more relaxing but cute,(which was this comfy cozy and soft to the touch white fleece, my favorite plaid mini skirt, and knee length boots that completed the look) for my night on the town.

Where I was going, I have no clue. Hopefully it'll all be one thrilling and groovy adventure.

When I was ready, I leapt out of my apartment and let the adventure begin. I left my quiet neighborhood and entered the loud and busy night life of my city. I've been walking for a while and low and behold, I ran into some of my girl friends who also worked with me.

I totally wasn't expecting to meet up with them but it was groovy and I really enjoyed their company. They were all very excited and happy to see me.

"Ooh oh my gosh is that Theresa I see?" My first friend, Lizzie said sounding flirty and funny at the same time and widened her eyes soon after seeing me from excitement.

Hearing her say that made me chuckle as I walked closer to them. "Heyy Theresa! How are you girly?" My second friend, Felicity squealed while waving at me.

"Hey girls! What a surprise seeing you both out here!" I smiled and said to them cheerfully.

The three of us giggled and hugged each other for a few moments. After that, we chit chatted for a little bit longer and then came up with the groovy plan to spend the rest of the night together.

"Would it be cool if I hung with you two?" I asked and immediately the two girls agreed by nodding their heads with bright smiles on their faces.

"Why of course you can, girly" Felicity softly whispered and gently rested her hand on my shoulder, and as Lizzie nodded with a smile.

"It gets lonely and quiet at my apartment these days, especially after the whole breakup between Cole and I. I need to feel alive again and spending time with my two favorite gal pals makes it so much better" I smiled softly and they both were really supportive, even though I only knew them for about two weeks after starting my job.

Lizzie and Felicity were so welcoming and are the best of friends I ever met.

They're like family to me.

"You're more than welcome to hangout with us anytime, Theresa. You make everything fun and we both enjoy your company." Lizzie winked at me and Felicity nodded her head with a smile more.

I couldn't stop smiling. These girl's were too kind and sweet.

My smile grew bigger and bigger by the minute.

"You girls are the best! I seriously don't know what I'd do without you two. Thank you!" I thanked them and we all smiled more at each other.

Just then, Felicity whispered, "Don't worry! I bet you'll feel alive again sooner than you think. Trust me, girl!"

I widened my eyes and blushed as Lizzie giggled because she over heard what Felicity told me.

I knew exactly what Felicity was talking about, and I really hope that she is right.

"Come on girl's! I'm ready to party!" Lizzie squealed as she raised her arms up in the air and began to confidently strut a few steps just before laughing after realizing what she did.

Felicity and I followed and giggled more and began to walk with each other down the sidewalk and enjoyed the outside downtown night life.

After a few more minutes of walking through town, the three of us found a perfect resting spot.

It was this cute and cozy jazz bar. Lizzie, Felicity, and I entered and immediately had to walk up a few stairs that had a bunch of vintage like photographs on both sides of the walls as you made your way up.

As soon as we all made it up, the stairs led us up to the main part of the building which was this pirate themed jazz bar/club.

There were pirate decorations that covered the back wall and a bunch of round tables and chairs filled the room as people sat down on them.

I really enjoyed that already. Starting to feel like home already. People were sitting and they were also walking in and out of the building as they wished and the room echoed with people chatting it up with each other.

Live music was heard that slowly traveled the room as people continued to talk.

Lizzie and Felicity looked at me with big smiles on their faces which made me smile too.

We all looked around the room and could already tell that we loved it here. Felicity gave Lizzie and I two thumbs up, that meant she liked this place. As did Lizzie and I.

The three of had a table and continued to enjoy the atmosphere. We ordered some appetizers for our table, mozzarella sticks and crispy onion rings.

*

As that was done being ordered, I turned my head so I was looking at the stage where the live music was being played.

Seconds after my eyes adjusted from the different colored strobe lights that covered the room and the bright light being shown on the singer on stage, my heart started to beat really fast.

I widened my eyes and my heart started to beat really fast as my ears started to pick up some of the words that was being sung on stage.

I fell back in the chair carefully that was behind me after seeing who's on stage.

The singer on stage was of course and in fact a guy. A really cute and handsome guy at that. Dark brown floppy hair, kind and mega sexy facial features and one amazing and soothing voice, which I think he has an accent. Even groovier!

I had no idea who this singer is but I need to find out now.

After I fell back in my chair, Lizzie and Felicity glanced down at me and giggled softly and then kneeling on the same level as me in the chair.

"Are you alright, Theresa?" I quickly nodded my head and tapped the chair with my fingers, trying to relax my emotions.

I looked up at the male singer and then back to my two friends.

"Who is that, girl's? Do you know?" Felicity smiled while glancing up at the young man.

"That's Liam Shawcross. Extremely talented singer songwriter who's really popular." My eyes couldn't keep off of him.

I brought my thumb/fingers up to my lips and rested them there to hide myself from blushing.

I was falling madly in love with Liam already and I just found out what his name was. Interesting start so far.

Both Lizzie and Felicity knew right away what was happening to me.

They glanced over at each other for a moment and then back at me.

"We know what's going on. You have a crush on Liam!" They both squealed in unison and hearing them say that made me blush even more and giggle non stop.

They smiled and giggled more after seeing my reaction.

"You're absolutely right, girl's! I have a crush on a guy who I literally discovered moments ago. Is that normal? What does that say about me? Don't actually answer that you two haha"

I teased them by giggling which they did too. We continued listening to Liam's songs.

Why was I feeling the way I was every time I looked up at Liam? Was it because of his charm? His voice? I don't know but what I do know is that Liam just might be the distraction or new man in my life that I really need. Anyone's better than Cole.

*

Just like that, Liam was finished. I have to get a way to talk to him. He thanked everyone for coming out tonight and listening to him sing.

The crowd cheered and Liam packed up everything that he had on stage, like his guitar.

"You should go up and talk to him, Theresa" Lizzie bubbled with giggles. I covered my mouth with my hand and quickly shook my head as Felicity giggled too.

"Oh no no no! I don't think that's a good idea. Come on let's go-" I quickly tried to move out but Felicity stopped me.

"Relax,lovely. Just walk up to him and tell him that you enjoyed what he played tonight. There's no harm in doing that, he might like that"

I really liked the sound of that. Lizzie nodded and agreed with Felicity. After whispering curses to myself, I got the courage to strike up a conversation with Liam.

I walked up to the stage as Lizzie and Felicity followed behind me. When I got closer to Liam, my ears began to feel warm and my heart started beating really fast again.

I tapped my fingers against the stage floor and called out to Liam in a polite way.

"Excuse me, Hi Liam!" To my surprise, I got Liam's attention because he looked up and smiled brightly as soon as he saw me.

"Hello there! Thank you for coming tonight and supporting the show." Liam greeted which made me smile and blush a lot.

"You're welcome. I really enjoyed your set tonight. Very groovy songs and voice." I winked at him which made me blush even more and he smiled brightly at me.

His smile is off the charts adorable and I'm already melting.

"Cheers, thank you very much. I appreciate that and am really honored that you enjoyed it. Oh! I'm Liam by the way. Who might you be?" He asked curiously.

I widened my eyes which made Lizzie and Felicity giggle from behind me.

I smiled and continued to feel all the love effects but tried to cool down my emotions but failed.

"I'm Theresa" Liam nodded his head and smiled more at me.

"It's an honor to meet you, Theresa. Hey, if you're not doing anything later tonight, would you like to get together for a drink or something? If that's okay with you and your friends?" Liam suggested.

*

I looked back at Lizzie and Felicity with a bright smile and they both nodded their heads and signaled that I agree to make that plan with Liam.

I turned back to face Liam and nodded my head as he smiled.

"It's a date! I'd love to join you" Liam smiled and the two of us agreed to meet back up with each other, and Lizzie and Felicity in a few minutes in a more calmer bar that was open later than the pirate bar was.

I couldn't believe what was happening and what was about to happen.

I got myself to talk and have a conversation with Liam Shawcross. The Liam Shawcross and now he wants to spend time with me.

I'm head over heels excited about this. I really hope this turns into something beautiful, if you know what I mean haha.

-end of episode 1 part 1

Hello friends! I hope you're all enjoying my new stories. I absolutely and truly adore Thomas Doherty and his characters. I've wanted there to be fanfics of his character when he was on the show called, "High Fidelity" back in 2020 with Zoe Kravitz when he played Liam Shawcross, but unfortunately there's no stories of his character.

I decided to give it a try and write my own and this is it. I really hope you all enjoy this and I'll see you all in the next episode / chapter. As always, your feedback and suggestions are always appreciated :)

[missellaneousworks]

La Loteria - Bella BIOSHOCK AU - Audio Dairies

(During the Locate the Reporter quest line, Bella's audio diaries can be found during Subject Romero’s search. Some of these will give hints to her whereabouts or supply caches throughout the map. It also gives some insight into Bella's character. Pardon spelling errors.

Disclaimer: Bella is the only character I own and this is just me having fun with an AU.)

Diary 1- Sea Food

"If I have to take meager threats from another chef who went to culinary school in Paris, I'll show him what it means to be al dente! It's not my fault my review said that his bisque had the same exact flavor palette as the last three restaurants I reviewed! 

(Sigh) The point of Rapture was to exceed the limitations that men have been placed under on the surface, but when you're at the bottom of the Atlantic, there are only so many fresh ingredients you can get before you end up having the same meal three times a day!

Never thought I'd get tired of lobster bisque of all things..." 

Diary 2 - Investigative Journalism

"My editor-in-chief saddled me with an anonymous tip that was dropped off in our mail slot this morning, something about folks around our neighborhood disappearing. Said if I was so pressed for writing real news, I could do the leg work. I'm sure that hijo de puta was doing this as a punishment for refusing to write more reviews– (clears throat) 

Anyway.  It's not my usual field of expertise, but I can't deny there's definitely something going on around here. And if no one is touching this, well, who am I to refuse a challenge?"

Diary 3 - Meeting a Mermaid

"Bibles, rosemary beads, and other religious articles have been appearing in Rapture, which means there's a smuggling operation right under Ryan's nose! It’s not my place to judge anyone’s practice, but people are getting scared or attacked around the docks.  Now that is something I will judge. The chatter is pointing towards Fontaine, but if he hasn't been arrested yet, that means there's no legitimate evidence.  I may have poked my nose in the wrong crate last night… but as luck would have it, I had a guardian angel named Xochitl.

One of the singers at La Sirena caught me running in the back rooms. She could have told me to scram, but she actually pulled me into her dressing room and then made a loud enough ruckus to get the bouncer to notice.

Note to self: Buy Xochitl dinner sometime as a thank you."

Diary 4 - Deal With the Devil

There is someone down here whose motivations allude to me out of everyone. My mysterious informant, El Diablo. Well, that's what I'm calling him for now.  His parcels always come with a print of El Diablo from the card game I grew up with. How dramatic. But, his information is good. A lot of it has been centered around good folks going missing, or if one of the elite brass is shoving their boot where it shouldn’t be. It’s brought attention to the issues: good and bad. 

I tried asking Jaime if he’s heard anything about this… man… but for once in his damned life, he clamped up!  I'm going to try to leave my radio frequency at the next dead drop, behind Montoya's workshop. Maybe I can contact him to find out if this Diablo is truly a friend… or just an opportunist."

Diary 5 - Interview with El Diablo

"Tell me something, Diablo."

"I can't guarantee it'll be what you want to hear, but go ahead."

"Hmph. Despite the fact that we've technically never met, you entrust me with very confidential information. Isn't it odd to work with someone you don't know?"

"I know you plenty."

"Oh? How interesting, because apart from a few fleeting rumors, I don't know much about you. Weeeelll, I know you've been in Rapture for a while. The community simultaneously knows of you but prefers not to speak of you. And as soon as someone stirs up trouble within your district, it vanishes just as quickly. Fontaine avoids you, which is surprising.."

"Sounds like you've been busy. And nosey." 

"I don't need to remind you about my line of work. It pays the bills to be nosey and ask the right questions."

"Or dangerous. Especially in your case. You've hit a nerve with Fontaine. Others are taking notice as well."

"Yet I'm still here.  I'm a big girl, Diablo, I can take care of myself."

"...sure you can.  (Pause)  Don't forget to feed the cat."

"I– what did you say?"

"The stray that hops on your balcony every night. Next to the cosmetics store sign."

"H-how did you–?"

"(chuckles) I told you, I know you plenty.  Goodnight, kid."

Diary 6  - No Good Deed

(Sounds of chatter and clinking of glasses can be heard in the background, Jaime’s muffled laugh is heard in the background, too.  Bella sounds intoxicated.)

My last article was a magnificent success.  So much so that – (pauses to sip drink) some spliced up jockeys tried to get into my place. I can only guess who sent them because I pissed off their boss. I seem to be good at that (giggles).

Mama wants me to–hic!--wants me to stop. She said, “You’ve done enough good, surely you can stop now!”

‘Good.’ Heh. I don’t know about that. I got into being politicians’ and businessmen’s pain in the ass because I was bored to death with reviewing lobster bisque. I don’t believe that is a good enough reason… to be considered good. But… now I can’t unsee it.  I catch wind of little girls going missing and I can’t help but think is it Ryan’s people? Fontaine?  Or is someone else just as bad? How can I stop when I can’t unsee what Rapture is doing to its citizens?  I don’t think I can.  Not now.”

Diary 7 - The Last Headline

“Here’s the latest headline: Rapture is… it’s done. Diablo was right… he– he warned me something big was coming, then he went dark. He could be dead or– 

Could I… could I have even done something? There had to have been something more I could have done. Otherwise, this was all for nothing!  Why–

(Sound of distant gunshots, followed by screaming and a booming explosion)

–I can’t stay here. There will be time to contemplate how big of an idiot I am later.  I think there’s a safe room in the basement of my father’s office. Hopefully, he’s been too much of a lazy bastard to change the combination from my fifth birthday party.

…Mama, I’m… sorry we couldn’t make up with Dad like you wanted. Hopefully, you’re in the safe room already.  I’ll see you soon. 

…Xochitl, Jaime. If you can hear this, I’ll contact you as soon as I can. But if you are able to, head to Athena Tower as soon as you can, I’ll be in the basement. 

…Diablo, if you ever get a hold of this. You better not die, you smug bastard.”

(After listening to this audio diary, Subject Romero will find a picture of Bella as a young child, ‘Happy 5th Birthday, Bella!  XX/XX.  This number combo will give SR access to the bunker Bella is holed up in.)

[sakaiyuji234]

Roses in the Mirror

Chapter 3

*MTL*

　Her brother was too reliable and she wrongly blamed him. She looked at the photos a few more times and found that she couldn't get enough of them no matter how much she looked at them. He is obviously a man with handsome features, and his face is expressionless, but it always gives people the illusion of a slight frown. She married this man because of his distant and regal temperament.

　　The housekeeper also saw her satisfaction and smiled slightly: "It seems that the lady is quite satisfied with Mr. He."

　　"His surname is He?" Xie Xinqi straightened her back.

　　"Yes, miss, didn't you even look at his name?"

　　Seeing the housekeeper making a flipping motion in a book, Xie Xinqi turned the photo over and saw a single English word below:

　　King

　　Her hands shook and she almost dropped the photo: "...Oh my God."

　　This man is King.

　　Why didn't you think of searching for King's photos before, and he actually looks like this? What my brother said is literally "a man of the highest quality"...

　　Everyone living in Gongzhou knows that in the city's upper-class circles, the most affectionate man is Mr. Xie, and the most ruthless man is King. Mr. Xie can make any woman dream about it, and King can make any woman just want to be with him. Able to think wildly.

　　"King" is a special code name. Since the rise of the gambling industry in Gongzhou, Zhenji Royal City has emerged. The ruler of the royal city, the chairman, is known as "King". Last year, Zhenji’s royal city changed hands. It is said that the new King is under thirty, but his tactics are no less ruthless than the old King's. He once made his fortune in diamonds, but later shifted his business focus to jewelry and antiques, cracking down on dissenters and monopolizing the industry. His influence can be described by the allusion of "Atlas Shrugged" - the Titan Atlas shrugged, The whole world shook.

　　Under the influence of this huge change, graduates are rushing to interview, and it is as common as breathing. This is also the main reason why Lovi is looking forward to her career indefinitely.

　　On this idle sunny day, she drank a cold drink with Little Pepper and couldn't help but sigh: "Oh, the jewelry industry is so difficult to get into now. It's all our fault, Sakura, for being ungrateful and leaving us. Otherwise, I would have been a His rhinestone designer."

　　Xiaoying, Luo Wei, Xiao Chili, and Su Jianian are childhood sweethearts, and they are also the boys Luo Wei is trying to find in every possible way. They grew up in the same neighborhood. The Su brothers and sisters lived in a villa, while she and Xiaoying lived in a civilian community next to them. The two buildings were facing each other, so they were also neighbors. She has always liked sparkling things, and she loved playing with her mother's rhinestone jewelry when she was little. I remember she once said to Sakura, you should become a rhinestone dealer when you grow up, and he agreed. When she mentioned him, she originally just wanted to make a joke to make her unemployment look less embarrassing. Unexpectedly, Pepper stopped talking and looked at her solemnly: "Actually, Weiwei, do you know about the new King?"

　　"I know."

　　"It turns out that you knew, and we all thought you didn't know. Alas, this is really a pity. We have also lost contact with Brother Sakura. However, I know the scope of his activities, and I can try to take you to find him tomorrow. "

　　"Okay, okay."

　　I don't know why, whenever Sakura is mentioned, she gets excited easily, but she feels a little awkward and can't be frank.

　　Pepper has always been a man of action. She sneaked home, drove out her SUV, drove out with Lovi like a big bison, went to a high-end custom clothing store, picked up two large bags, and stuffed them into Lovi's arms through the car window. When she opened it, she saw two evening dresses inside. Luo Wei was confused: "Are we going to attend some formal occasion?"

　　Little Pepper nodded, with a solemn look on his face: "When we arrive later, please remember to talk less and just follow me."

　　"good."

　　"Over the years, my brother and I have actually met in private with Sakura-nii, but I don't know if the new environment put too much pressure on him, so he turned us away. I just hope that if we meet you, he can Change back a little bit."

　　"He has been with you longer than I have. If it's useless for you to talk to him, it's even more useless for me to go."

　　"No, it's useful." Pepper pondered for a moment, "Although you two had such a quarrel later, I always felt that you were very special to him."

　　This sentence made Luo Wei think for a long time.

　　An hour later, the night grew darker, and magical lights illuminated the world outside the car window. Pepper wore a silver clown mask and handed Luo Wei a golden queen white feather mask. The building in front of me stands on the side of Miyashu Bridge, covering most of the seaside avenue. More than twenty small doors are inlaid with artificial jewelry, which are shining brightly by the rotating lights. The main building is forty-five stories high, standing like a deep-sea iceberg, with a huge hollow heart inlaid in the center and a fully transparent afternoon tea restaurant. High in the sky above it, a helicopter with the "Herson Group" logo printed on it hovered around the building, and was hit by lights from time to time. There are yachts and speedboats coming and going at your feet, transporting billions of wealthy guests from all over the world.

　　This is a masterpiece that combines classical and modern art, integrating leisure, entertainment, casinos, hotels, restaurants, and clubs. After eight o'clock every night, the fountain at the main entrance is replaced by a model of a volcano, which erupts every ten minutes, burning the ice-blue building red. Here, there are as many dancing girls as the birds migrating south. They wear rich makeup and walk in and out on the marble steps. This is the first entertainment center that comes to mind when anyone mentions Gongzhou - Zhenji Royal City.

　　Luo Wei's dress was a floor-length aqua blue dress with bare shoulders and an elegant flower on the chest. And Pepper wore a white suit, which looked a bit like a gay Hollywood diva. After entering Zhenji's Royal City, they deposited their coats and bags. Xiaojiao held five banknotes between his fingers and handed them to the depository girl as a tip.

　　Seeing that the face values ​​of the five banknotes were all one hundred, Luo Wei looked calm and calm on the outside, but actually she had fainted a hundred times in her heart. She knew that Xiaojiao was a rich second generation, but was she planning to send express delivery to Abu Dhabi by spending this money?

　　However, what surprised her even more was that it turned out that Pepper's weird expression when he mentioned Sakura was because he fell into trouble in the casino.

　　The Sakura in my memory is a beautiful boy with a beauty mark. Before entering elementary school, she always thought he was a girl, and mistakenly thought that the "英" in his name was written as "Ying", so she called him "Xiaoying", and even Little Pepper also called him Xiaoying brother. After studying, she learned that the "school belle" and "school bully" of their school were both Sakura. She felt a little unreasonable - Sakura should be the "school belle". But now, the "school bully" has really turned into a gangster addicted to gambling like all the bad students in the school...

　　Thinking of a gangster smoking a cigarette, playing mahjong with a shiny face and shouting "goo", and then thinking of Sakura who had a snowflake complexion when she was a child, Luo Wei felt bad.

　　The transparent elevator soared in the center of Zhenji's Royal City, and they could see the scenes on each floor from inside: in addition to a large number of roulette, Baccarat, slot machines and other gambling and entertainment facilities, there were also cocktail banquets, art exhibition halls, and boxing matches broadcast live around the world... ...She even saw live sharks and tigers at the entrance to a certain floor, but before she could see clearly what was going on inside, the elevator passed by them.

　　Finally, the elevator stopped at the forty-fifth floor. There is a revolving restaurant with a transparent ceiling. The stars above are shining down, making people mistakenly think that they are walking in the Milky Way.

　　After getting off the elevator, Xiao Laojiao took her to swipe her card into another door, walked up the stairs, and whispered: "Zhen Ji's Royal City actually has forty-six floors. The top of the forty-fifth floor uses the most advanced technology to refract light." The starry sky can only be seen from the 46th floor.”

　　After reaching the forty-sixth floor and passing the security check, the doorman in a tuxedo saw Pepper's invitation and opened the leather door for them. Inside this door is a gambling hall, and the sound of shuffling poker cards can be heard. The floor is made of black and white marble, like a chess board. There are a large number of red and white roses placed in the corner, as beautiful and prosperous as the female guests coming and going.

　　There is a white clock hanging on the wall, so big that it takes up half of the wall. The curved black hands seem to have the magic power to reverse time and space. The Baccarat table in the center was surrounded by gamblers in costumes, and the bookkeeper was shoveling cards on the table with a long black flat spoon. Lovi also discovered a curious detail: opposite Baccarat's table, there was a cage. There is an oversized turtle in the cage. It looks like a hunchbacked old man, with the shell on its back arched high.

　　She felt like Alice had wandered into Wonderland: "Pepper Pepper, what on earth is this place?"

　　"A casino with secret transactions. Only people with special invitations can enter."

　　It turns out that this is a special casino: every guest will spend a huge amount of money to buy chips and selectively participate in an elimination competition. The winner can exchange all chips for cash or a rare commodity - the current trading commodity is the turtle in the cage. His name is written on the front of the cage:

　　Pinta Island tortoise (Geochelone nigra abingdoni)

　　It has been reported in the news that this animal once lived on Pinta Island in the Colon Islands, west of Ecuador and in the east Pacific. The last Pinta Island tortoise, named Lonesome George, died in 2012, and no purebred individual has been found since. So, this...is this an extinct animal?

　　They waited here for a long time and saw that they sold extinct tortoises, and then sold the Isain Island in the North Indian Ocean, the eggs of the late superstar Mable Leanne, Dominican military secrets, Titian Wei Chelio's undisclosed oil paintings of the Son... these things opened Lovi's eyes, but she was more concerned about what Sakura was doing here.

　　Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder and whispered, "Why are you here?"