#OH GOD I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH STUFF I COLLECTED

[sparking-steps]

Sparking-Steps' Acquisitions Log, entry 2: A far too exciting entry into Skyrim.

Much less precedes this passage than the last. This time a reddish, circular stain adorns the top of the page, inside the circle in small handwriting "The scaled one forgot to close their book! All will know the Fey Lux was here!" is written along with a small winged stick figure that seems to be laughing.

Well, shit. My little trip over the Jeralls was far, far more eventful than I was hoping it would be and it turns out that I might have accidentally fallen face first into a major historical event. I wasn’t intending to use these entries to talk about events like this, but honestly this is justified.

To start the story from where I left off, it turns out the route I was taking wasn’t as safe or unpatrolled as I thought it was. I knew it was a risk to cross the border without proper paperwork, but delaying the trip for the month it would’ve taken to actually get all of that filled out, signed and paid for would have been excruciatingly boring. So I was caught by an Imperial patrol and, well, they didn’t take any excuses. To make matters worse I had run into a group of them that were just about to hold an execution due to one of their prisoners being the damned leader of the Stormcloaks himself!

So there I was, unable to successfully bargain with the somehow handsome soldier with my fate in his hands, about to get my head chopped off, when the worst possible miracle happens and a DRAGON ATTACKS THE TOWN WE WERE IN!!!! A FUCKING DRAGON! THE FIRST DRAGON SPOTTED ON MUNDUS IN MILLENIA AND IT PREVENTED MY OWN DEATH BY MERE MOMENTS! Is some god playing a prank? Is Sheogorath laughing it up on his throne? Was Mephala soaking up my fear in that moment? Gods.

So I was able to escape with the help of the previously mentioned somewhat handsome soldier, kind one he is, I hope he does well in his war. I can’t say the same of most of that town, Helgen it was called. I went through the place later, it’s just entirely ruined. Gods above though, dragons are back after all this time. Beasts gone for so long that some people thought they were myths. I’m fairly certain there’s a prophecy from one of the elder scrolls on this happening, so it’s probably very likely that we’re about to start living in very, very historically interesting times. Gods damn it.

Well, none of that matters though, I still have a job to do and current history has only a little to do with it. The possible end of the world at the hand of an ancient draconic tyrant isn’t going to fucking stop me from doing the job I’ve been wanting to do for years! I AM GOING TO BE A PROFESSIONAL ARCHEOLOGIST AND NOTHING CAN STOP ME! Take that damned overgrown dragonlings.

So, besides my near execution and the possible start to the end of Mundus, I have actually had a nice time here in Skyrim so far. The people have been kind enough, I’ve even found a traveling partner, a fellow scholar named Lucien. A rather charming fellow, if a little unprepared for the exploring lifestyle. Of course, I’d be a hypocrite if I dismissed him for that, I’m not exactly too prepared for actual life and death combat either. Fortunately my dueling skills are carrying me so far. Regardless, Lucien seems eager to learn and I’m eager to learn with him.

Lastly before I actually get to what this journal is supposed to be used for, I have made it to the Auryen’s museum and, I have to say, the old Mer has outdone himself. This place is magnificent! It’ll take years to actually fill this place, it’s absolutely massive! Even the housing that he arranged for me in the place is immaculate! I genuinely don’t know what to say in regards to all of this, this is perfect! The fact that I’m getting this living space and an actual pay is more than I could’ve ever dreamed for! Goodbye loud sleepless nights in university dorms and inns, hello COMFORT!

But, well, on to what I’m actually writing this damned thing for, the log.

ACQUISITIONS LOG #1:

Alcoholic Drinks, Various: For a display on the more unique types of alcohol native to Skyrim. Most of these are various regional liquors and meads from the holds I've visited. One of them is a rather odd magical alcohol by the name of "Daedra Drink” that can render the imbiber invisible. Not sure who made this or where, bought a bottle of it from one of the inns I visited. Bit of an odd one.

Amulets of Birthsigns: A small collection of amulets found amongst several of Skyrim's standing stones that represent the various birthsigns. They seem to be enchanted in ways that match the signs' blessings. I might keep the Mage stone's amulet on me for the time being, it's not my sign but the enchantment is useful.

Amulets of the Nine: Amulets showing devotion to Arkay and Stendarr. Not to my taste in terms of gods, honestly. I don’t have time to worry about death and Stendarr’s devotees are completely overzealous in their pursuit of putting down Daedric cults.

Amulets of Ancient Nordic Make: I'm fairly certain these don't have to do with the Dragon Cult specifically, but they do match certain etchings in Dragon Cult barrows. Before the creation of the Dragon Cult there were cults dedicated to the veneration of these various other animals, so likely these were cultural holdovers from that brought into the Dragon Cult's beliefs.

Ancient Nordic Boots: Unfortunately this was the only armor I could salvage from Bleak Falls Barrow's draugr. The rest fell apart upon being removed or were fused to the undead cultists' skin. Still, a good find.

Ancient Nordic Weaponry: Fortunately (or not considering they were swinging them at Lucien and I) the weapons the draugrs were using were far more intact than their armor! Despite their age, these weapons retain much of their ornate embellishments. Nordic culture commonly adding embellishments to its weapons and armor seems to be a trait that has carried over the ages.

Art Pieces of Various Types, Style and Origins: This is a very broad category, but I simply don’t have much to say about the things within it. What can I really say about a fancy drinking horn, a wine glass made of emerald or a statuette of a sabrecat? Ugh, if my mother was here she could go on for hours about these things, I never did inherit the family’s mind for making or critiquing artwork. I suppose there’s one notable thing in this, a statuette of a dragon. Remarkably accurate given that dragons only recently came back, I’ll have to see if there’s any way of finding the original creator.

Backpacks, Various: Not sure why Auryen wanted these. Some of them have interesting enchantments I suppose.

Battleaxe of Hatred: Alright, the first (possibly of many) artifact I've collected! Not a very prolific one, though its status as such has been magically verified. Based on the records I could find of it in the museum's library, the earliest known appearance of this axe was at a store selling weapons and armor in the Imperial City around the time of the Oblivion Crisis. I'm not sure how a group of bandits came into possession of this item, though their proximity to Skyrim's border with Cyrodiil implies it likely came here via conventional means (aka being carried). The appearance of the weapon has changed from that of a Cyrodilic battle axe of that time period to modern Skyrim's style of battle axe, though the iron is now colored red as if stained with blood. Notably the enchantment has changed entirely, originally sapping one's vitality, it now creates a potent fear reaction in the people it strikes. Strong enough to send summoned entities back to their plane of Oblivion. Despite the name, it seems this axe has become somewhat pacifist, scaring people away rather than fighting them.  (Note: see if we can find out if The Fighting Chance still operates, they might have further information on where this weapon originally came from.)

Books, Various: A big batch of books that I’ve picked up for use in the museum’s library. A good chunk of these were donated from the Jarl of Whiterun’s own collection, generous man he is. I’ve skimmed through a few, but I didn’t have the time to sit down and read any during my travels. Not yet at least. There’s no way in Oblivion that I’ll be able to spend enough time to read through the entire library, but hopefully time will permit enough to read some of them. For now though a good few of these can make good reference material when researching new artifacts.

Capes and Cloaks, Various: Matching ones to be used in the various armor displays. Others are just ones I've collected because I quite like capes.

Cheeses of Various Kinds: Just a whole lot of cheese, both local and foreign varieties. Also a few cheese-based dishes. These aren’t for the museum, collecting these is a personal hobby. Don't ask why.

Dagger, Possibly From Oblivion: First off, I have no real proof of the claim of this dagger’s origin. It was told to me by the donator, the priest of Arkay that runs Whiterun’s hall of the dead. He did not explain where he acquired it from, however. The most notable thing about this dagger is its enchantment. It can trap souls, but unlike other enchanted items it does so without needing to ever be recharged. It is an oddly shaped dagger, having twin blades that curve towards each other. A design that seems remarkably inefficient, so along with the soul trapping enchantment, a ritualistic purpose seems likely. If I was to make a bet, this might’ve come to Whiterun during the Oblivion Crisis. Possibly being left there by cultists or Daedric invaders. Possibly an artifact, though that’s hard to prove without further knowledge on it.

Denstagmer's Ring: One of several artifact rings found on the body of an explorer at Silent Moons Camp. The exact origin of this ring is a total mystery, even the name “Denstagmer” brings up no leads whatsoever. The first notable records of its locations were when the Nerevarine found it a bit over 200 years ago in the Falas ancestral tomb in Vvardenfell, so it's possible that the family had a history with it. The last living Dwemer, Yagrum Bagarn, mentioned the ring in his book, Tamrielic Lore, though there wasn't much he could say about it. No changes to the ring’s enchantment or its appearance have been noted. Best guesses for how it made its way to Skyrim are either that a refugee from Morrowind or that this dead explorer, this Malrus fellow, must've been brought into the province.

Dolls, Enchanted: A pair of dolls, one a blacksmith and one an executioner. The both of them are enchanted to enhance skills relevant to the doll's occupation. Using a forge and wielding large weaponry respectively. Odd little things. Auryen mentioned he believes they're part of a larger set, which makes me wonder who made and distributed them.

Doll, Unenchanted: A completely unremarkable doll to be used in the enchanted doll display. I can’t say I like the look of this toy, it’s cute I suppose but the design is a bit lacking. Perhaps some tiny clothes could improve the look of it.

Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow: A map of various dragon burial mounds throughout Skyrim carved into a stone tile. This must’ve been made in the late days of the Dragon Cult, after the (apparently temporary) defeat of Alduin. I'll have to visit these sites at some point! The actual artifact has been requested by the Jarl of Whiterun, so unfortunately the museum will have to make due with a replica. I don’t know why the Jarl’s court mage couldn’t just take a recreation of it, but I suppose this is going to be used for something tactical so he likely wants the information to be exact.

Dragon Claw Key, Golden: An interesting artifact of the Dragon Cult. They used ornate claw shaped keys like this to seal the innermost sanctums of their burial tombs, typically along with an ornate door locked with a puzzle. Some theorize that these keys function more as a way to lock whatever is on the other side of the door inside, however, due to Bleak Falls Barrow having an alternative exit to that chamber I feel that theory falls flat. The current owners of this key did not want to part with it, so the museum will have to make due with a replica.

Elven Style Armor, Modified: Elven armor previously owned by a member of a now disbanded gang of bandits called the Crimson Dirks. The armor itself seems like a more practical variant on Skyrim's normal style of elven armor, including leather sleeves and pouches.

Faeries (!!!!): FAIRIES! By the Hist, I don’t think I’ve ever actually met Fey before! What fascinatingly pretty little things they are! Specifically, these ones are Nixads, a small humanoid insect-like being with a pair of wings on their backs. Absolute joys to be around they are, pranksters though. One of them stole my pen while I was taking a break from writing earlier and it took me an hour to find the damned thing again. The little bastard was giggling the whole time, said they thought my break should be a little longer. Why exactly they are coming to the museum is an interesting point. There’s a superstition amongst Skyrim’s sailors and fishers that having a Fey with you is good luck, that you’ll either have safe travels or good hauls, respectively. This has led to a tradition of caging Fey in modified lanterns, as they also shed a small amount of light due to some sort of magical aura. The museum was only looking for the lanterns for an exhibit on that cultural practice, but upon letting these two out of their prisons and telling them about the museum, they seem to have found the idea of coming here interesting. I’ve spoken with Auryen and after discussing it, we’ve decided to make a space for them in the Natural History Hall. They’re free to leave if they wish, but we’ll give them safety, food and a space for themselves if they want to stay. Plus, it gives us a chance to educate people on Tamerials’ Faeries on those Fey’s own terms! Side note, as an unfortunate side effect of the Nordic superstitions around them, I have found a Fairy’s corpse in the wreck of a sunken ship in Lake Ilinalta. We’ll ask the other Fay how they should be given a burial.

Fish, Various: To be added to the Natural Science Hall's aquarium. Side note, I can see why some people enjoy fishing, it's quite relaxing. I might have to participate in it more.

Fishing Equipment: Not sure why this was asked for, to be honest. Fuck it though, if Auryen wants a fishing pole I’ll get him a fishing pole. He’s the one paying me.

Fossils, Various: Found while digging through a few veins of ore found throughout Skyrim's landscape. A record of Skyrim’s history set into stone. None of these ones are too interesting by themselves from what I understand, though one depicts a fish eating another one, which is somewhat rare I think.

Gauntlets Made for Fist Fighting: An eccentric customization of the usual styles of armor in Skyrim. Probably better to use than a normal set of gauntlets given they are just as sturdy and can still hold an enchantment just as well. I will be honest though, I can’t imagine myself actually resorting to punching someone. Close ranged spells are far more effective.

Guard’s Armor (Whiterun and Falkreath): Donated by the Jarls of those two holds. Nothing too interesting here but I felt they were meaningfully different enough from the other sets of armor to justify their own entry. Hopefully I can get sets of armor from every hold as easily as these two.

Gemstones and Minerals, Various: These are being collected for a large display of Skyrim's various minerals within the Natural Science Hall. This is not my area of expertise, though they are very pleasantly shiny.

Lunar Weapons: A unique set of weapons made at an ancient ruin called Sleeping Moons Camp. The forge seems to channel some sort of power from the two moons to enchant what would normally be mundane weapons. What a unique ruin it is! The forge itself seemed like a recent addition and the bandits around the ruins did as well. However, despite the book near the forge documenting the creation of these weapons and the presence of those weapons as proof that it does work, I find myself unable to actually make this thing work. I’m unsure as to why. This place requires further investigation.

Magical Oil Lamp: An oil lamp that seems to contain some sort of entity that grants minor boons upon request. Doesn't seem to want to leave the lamp, nor does it seek payment. Not sure what exactly the entity is, though I feel it's unlikely for it to be a Daedra. Honestly it is fully possible that it isn’t inhabited at all and the entity itself is just a trick made up through a bit of enchantment. I asked it for "Knowledge" and it gave me a pile of books, useful little thing. A donation from Solitude's Temple of the Divines.

Magical jars: A small group of magically sealed jars with what seem to be enchanted toys inside. Things like a tiny ship or flying dragon. Odd little things these are. Not sure who made them or where they all came from, but the common design of the jar itself implies a singular source. An oddity that hopefully will be figured about eventually, but isn’t too much of a priority.

Mundane Weapons and Armor of Various Styles: Primarily these are made of iron or steel, though a few other kinds are in this pile. There's something to be said of the ornate style that the Nords of Skyrim add to even their most mundane armors. I quite like the horns they add to their helmets, perhaps out of my own vanity. My horns are quite nice and honestly I should say that more often. Preening aside, I quite like the steel armors I've seen. There are a few more notable examples amongst this list, those will get their own entries.

Orcish Style Armor, Modified: Another set of armor from that aforementioned disbanded bandit gang. Apparently this one was made by the gang’s resident smith, who had fallen in with another gang after the group split up, though she seemed to dislike her current circumstances. This set of armor was, once again, modified from the normal style. Replacing some of the orichalcum metal with leather and fur, seemingly to keep the wearer warmer in Skyrim’s cold climate.

Raven Statuette Made of Ebony: At a glance this seems mundane, but this seems to have some connection to Daedra worship. I couldn’t sense any actual enchantments on it, but something about it feels just slightly odd. I know that’s not exactly a professional way to see these kinds of things, but that’s just the way I feel about it. I’ll ask a few others what they think of this statuette before I turn it in though, just to make sure. My first instinct is to assume it was made to honor Nocturnal, though ravens and ebony aren't symbols unique to her. It would be a perfect fit for Ebonarm, while his animosity for the Daedric Princes is well known it’s not exactly known for sure where he falls amongst the pantheons so this could have been made in honor of him.

Reconstructed Tapestry of Ancient Nordic Design: I was able to recreate this from fragments found within Bleak Falls Barrow (I need to find a shortening of that name). It's remarkable that the fabric stayed mostly intact over the centuries.

Ring of Transmutation: Another of the artifact rings found alongside the body of the explorer, Malrus. This one is less historied than the other though, similar to Battleaxe of Hatred it made its first known appearance in Cyrodilic store during the Oblivion Crisis, specifically one in Bravil. No major changes, though the gemstone set in the ring is larger than previously recorded. No known history before that time, similar to the battleaxe. I'll have to see if the store it was recorded as being in, The Warlock's Luck, is still around so we might be able to check their records. As for how it got here, the explorer Malrus is the most likely reason that I can think of.

Severed heads: What? Who made these little display cases for these severed heads? Why have I found several of them? Why did Auryen ask for them?

Shells and Corals: Another collection of things for the Natural History hall. Nothing much to say here, though the fact that I found coral in the stomachs of a group of slaughterfish in Lake Ilinalta is probably odd. Once again, not my area of expertise, but I'm fairly certain coral doesn't naturally occur in freshwater. Do slaughterfish swim upriver like salmon? I suppose their presence in both fresh and saltwater implies so.

Taxidermy Supplies: Various animal hides and other bits and pieces to be used in to make some taxidermied animals to display in the Natural History Hall. Auryen is pretty skilled at making taxidermy, I wonder where he learned it.

Varla Stone, Flawed: One of the Ayleids’ star stones, a small fragment of Aetherius itself fallen from the heavens down to Mundus. These minor magical miracles that were used for, of all things, lighting a room. I’ve been in a couple Ayleid ruins and honestly I do have to admit that the light from these is certainly very pleasing. Perhaps the wild elves had a decent idea there after all. This specific stone is a bit clouded, making it not as useful as a more perfect specimen, but that’s not to say it isn’t useful, these little things are perfectly capable of containing and releasing souls, for example.

Weatherward Circlet: Another artifact ring, though this one was a donation from Whiterun's hall of the dead. How did that crypt manage to come across two separate artifacts? I suppose this ring might have just been on one of the deceased and no next of kin claimed it. As for the ring's history, it isn't the most storied but it was owned by the Hero of Kvatch! Apparently she had been given it as payment for a job, the exact details aren't recorded so I assume it must have been something someone didn't want known. Interesting, though that unfortunately means that researching its origin is likely a dead end. As for appearance and enchantments, there doesn't seem to be any recorded change.

Welkynd Stone: As with the previous entry on varla stones, but much more powerful. These things were used all over Ayleid cities of the past for all sorts of purposes, not just lighting. In the modern day these things are amazing tools for magecraft. A magically inclined individual can draw upon the power within one of these and be filled to the brim with magicka. A shame that the method of growing these was lost with the Ayleid civilization, the feats of magecraft that could be accomplished with a large amount of these would be incredible.

Whiterun silver proof coin: For a display on Tamriel's various currencies. Look, I am not a numismatist, I have very little room in my head to be interested about coins. They are shiny and can be spent to acquire nice things, that's about the end of my thoughts on any coins minted in the last half millennia. I suppose this one has a nice design, very swirly and pleasing to the eye. Definitely nicer than a septim.

[luludeluluramblings]

Conner Kent's Obsession with Smalltown!Reader

A/N: I saw a few people liking the Superfam stuff and finally went nuts attempting this Conner bit. I tried. I tried so hard. I added dialogue. I'm used to the YJ Conner, but this is my attempt at Comic Conner. If he's OOC, oops. Yeet. (I attempted to research, I swear.) Might edit this some later.

A/N: I write Reader with an accent. One, cause that's how I talk. Two, cause I like it like 'dat.

A/N: I'm also almost done with Part Seven, but I'm adding dialogue to that too to make the breaking point a tad bit more impactful. I've never really written dialogue before.

Warnings: Slight Yandere themes. Romantic Yandere. (Very subtle.)

Conner’s run-ins with Reader always seemed to piss Tim off. Especially after Tim started researching into Reader. He would occasionally always beg Tim to invite Reader to hang out. And, he would find himself rejected every single time. Before it was probably due to Tim being dramatic. Now, he certain of this, it's because Tim dramatic and jealous overprotective.

On other occasions, he'd just by pass Tim, leaving him to his cases (and creeping) so hecould sneak and bother reader. They’re kinda cute, in his opinion. Of course they call him a big city boy and said he clearly lived off of his daddy’s money. Which was only kind of wrong. But, they way they said it made his a trail of heat crawl down his spine.

After some time had passed, he knew that Tim and the other members of the family were suspicious about him coming to the manor so much. He never tried to hide his reasons There was no point in hiding behind weak excuses. He respected the Bats too much to even think he could fool them. Plus, lying to the Bats was a good way to get stabbed with a kryptonite knife. Even though they had made it pretty clear that they disapproved of him coming around so often, He was still going to keep visiting. Could they really blame him? It wasn’t his fault he was enamored so easily. 

He kept his distance just a bit. Like he was silently (commanded) requested. He could tell he made the newest addition to the family a bit uncomfortable. And, he understood. The clone thing was kinda freaky after all.

Well, at first he had assumed it was because he was a clone. That would make any normal person feel a bit weird. But, then he heard them keep call him that nickname. City boy. The way it rolled off their tongue and how often it was said was clearly a sign. They weren’t bothered by the clone thing. They just didn’t like his personality. He could fix that. That wasn’t that hard. He was adaptable.

So when he approached them again, for the million time, he tried to play up the cool and collected act. Going as far as to emulate the Batman. Which, surprising made the ice break. When they laughed at him.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

"No, seriously why are you acting like that?" You're still giggling at how hard he was trying to play up the serious act. Cause that's all it was. You don't doubt he could genuinely be serious for a moment, but this wasn't one of those moments.

"I'm just letting you see a different side of me, is all." Conner replies, trying to keep it up even though he had been quickly caught.

"You mean the imaginary side, city boy? I didn't realize you liked to play pretend." Another teasing snort. God, how you needed that laugh.

"I'm not pretending."

"Yeah, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah."

"No."

"Yes, you are. Don't be lyin' to me now. Or, Imma start gettin' upset."

"Okay, okay... How could you tell?" He conceded after a moment. The way he scratched the back of his head suited him much more than that little Oscar performance he was putting on a few seconds prior.

"I'm observant." Comes the mock arrogant reply. It was hard to give him a cold shoulder when he just made you laugh so genuinely in the last few weeks.

"Oh, look who's playing pretend now." The snark on his tongue doesn't have any heat, but it does bring you some relief. A bit of much needed normalcy.

Maybe it's the fact that the loneliness has slowly crawled into your chest and burrowed it's self deep in that hollow part of you, but it's easy to let your guard down around him for once. You had noticed his efforts to get to know you before, and maybe you let those preconceived notions cloud your little head. But, there was no need for them anymore. The twinge of glee he sparked was enough to burn them away and make you pause before you would rebuild those walls of yours.

"Are you saying I'm not observant?"

"Yep."

"The audacity!" The outrage nothing more than a sham. A simple way to fill the air between them. Cause even if the talk was small, just the hint of it filled something in you. That didn't make your curiosity fade, however. "But, seriously, why are you impersonating Bruce? And in his own house, no less."

The brief silence that washes over you both has you already regretting this. Had it really so long since you've had a proper conversation that you were this out of practice?

When he finally speaks again, it is gives you relief and more regret.

"I just wanted to finally get your attention."

Well, doesn't that make you finally fit in with the rest of your family?

Your tongue brushes over your teeth in an attempt to get the lead coating that made your words weigh heavy in your mouth off of it.

"I'm sorry, Conner. I- I've been smallminded haven’t I?"

"No, I get it. The whole clone thing is freaky." He starts, a light flush on his cheeks. He wasn't expecting an apology, and especially one so soon and so heartfelt.

"Oh, yeah, that... Really it didn't have anything to do with it. I kinda just thought you were a typical concrete jungle flirt. Momma warned me about men like you." You try to hide your sheepishness by adding humor to your voice, praying he catches your sincerity under all the different layers.

He catches something, judging by the beaming smile Conner gives you.

"Really? I had hoped it wasn't, ya know, that."

"Nah, nah. It wasn't. Still, I am sorry." You assume silence is about to befall the pair of you again, but he doesn't let it happen.

"My family owns a farm out in Kansas, you know?" The cheeky grin on his face screams that he's going to be getting his revenge in the form of mild bullying.

"No!" The resounding smack of your palm hitting your forehead nearly echoes in the halls. "I feel even worse now."

"So much for being observant, little detective."

"I never claimed to be no detective. But, I might be more... oblivious then I initially implied..."

Now, it's Conner's turn to guffaw at you.

"The audacity."

"Don't you throw my words back at my. I can't handle it." You can't help by click your tongue. There's hardly any annoyance from your words. "I really misjudged you."

"It's fine! I figured you might still be adjusting to Gotham and the whole Wayne lifestyle. Tim mentioned you're from a pretty small town when I started bugging him about you." He's clearly playing up the charm, but you let it work on you.

"More like I'm still suffering from culture shock." Slowly, you can feel this conversation starting to shift to something deeper than surface level. Things that haven't been allowed into the open air start to ripple underneath.

And, he takes that chance to draw it out.

"Still?" Empathy mixing into his tone. Those icy blue eyes looking incredibly warm. You'd never really taken the time to look at him. Sure, you knew he was attractive. Hell, everyone that seemed to show up at the manor was attractive. But, now you were finally looking at him. Too focused were you in taking in his appearance for the first time, that you completely missed the way those eyes shined with opportunity and desperate want.

"Yeah, still. It's... different."

"Different as in the food's a little weird or different as in the people are a little weird?"

"It's all a little weird, and it's... kinda... lonely?" You can't help the wince. You really don't wanna trauma dump on someone who you had initially misjudged. He didn't deserve that.

But, as he moves closer you can't help it. That desolate part of you longing for comfort when you haven't had it in such a long time and the way he's giving you all this undivided attention when you can barely catch Alfred in the halls these days fills that acute craving in your gut.

"Lonely?" God, the concern in his voice doesn't make you want to cry, but it does make you want to choke

"I... I think it's not here that's different. I think it's me that's too different." The way he sucks a breath in after the words leave your mouth makes you want to backtrack immediately. "I'm so sorry. God damn, am I mess right now."

"No. No. No. You are fine." The reassuring words oddly sound more like a purr, but they capture your attention all the same. "I get it. I really really do."

Why does he have to give you such a disarming smile. He's practically beaming at you now. There's a festering tension blooming around them like spores.

"You are really not helping me fell less like a jerk to you now." The click of your tongue attempting to defuse the budding blooms.

"Hey, if you're feeling guilt... you could, maybe... let me take you out for dinner sometime? Just to make it up to me."

After a stunned moment of thought, you finally find the words to reply.

" Honestly, I'd-"

"CONNER!" Tim's sudden interruption sends the words crawling back down your throat.

"Tim." He calls back in a cool greeting, but he strangely doesn't step back from you. Which is nice. You haven't had anyone close to you other than Dick and a few of your remaining friends at Gotham Academy. And Damian, Cassandra, and Duke get a bit huffy, or in Damian's case murdery, when they are within an arms reach of you.

"Sorry, am I interrupting anything? Conner and I had plans for the day." Tim's pleasant voice sends a wave of unease over you. He's not staring at you when he speaks. Just Conner. It's annoying how he's ignoring you despite you being right. In. Front. Of. Him.

But, then he does finally look at you and his dark grey eyes soften ever so slightly. You're not too mad. Clearly he's exhausted, judging by the bruises under his eyes. There's still a slight reflection in them as he's gaze meets yours, despite how dry the appear. Probably from looking at a computer too much.

"You really shouldn't bother with this guy. He's not worth it." The words are clearly meant to be joking. Casual banter between two close friends. But, you can't help thinking they come off a bit strong.

Conner seems to bristle at them, but he does brush them off.

"That's right, we are hanging out today. Can you blame me for getting distracted, though?" That cocky smirk of his is back, and he actually touches your shoulder. It makes you feels warm, but like a prize at the same time.

All Tim seems to do in response is twitch, but giving nothing away. His grey eyes going steely as they drift to Conner's hand.

When the moment finally passes, Conner lets his hand fall. You can feel it grazing down your back as he pulls away. Slow, like he's trying to strike a match and light something inside you.

"I'll see you later, sweetheart. Just think about my offer and get back to me on it!" Conner calls out as Tim storms behind him. Both heading in the direction of the library.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

As soon as their in the Batcave, Conner can tell he probably pushed it too far. Not that he has any regrets. He finally got somewhere and confirmed all of his previous theories about Reader. They were so adorable apologizing to him, and so deliciously sweet about it too.

He should've realized Tim was watching them, though. Dude was a creep. He maybe his best friend, but he's still a damn creep.

As expected, the rest of the family is also giving him the patented Bat-glare when he sees them. But, as he stated, he has no regrets. He's not stupid enough to stick around, though. He saw Jason loading a suspicious looking green bullet into the chamber of his gun. And, while he knows Tim wouldn't kill him, he's not so sure about the rest of them.

He's confirmed what he's wanted, what he's already suspected. They're absolutely perfect for him and ripe and raw.

[heeliopheelia]

𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄-𝐔𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊-𝐔𝐏𝐒

part 1

genre: hurt/comfort, hurt/no comfort, angst, fluff

word count: 3.2k

warnings: curse words and fuckload of tears, breaking up in some

masterlist

LEE HEESEUNG

"Fucking hell, pick up," Heeseung mutters under his nose as another one of his calls goes straight into the voice mail. He's been sitting on the edge of the couch, nervously picking on his nails ever since you left the apartment.

It's way too late for anyone to be walking outside alone. Heeseung's well aware of that, so the second that his call gets declined again, he jumps up on his feet and leaves your house, not even bothering to lock the door behind him. The only thought present in his mind is to find you and make things right. He can't believe he would hurt you like that with some reckless words he didn't even mean. You always told him he was way too hot headed for his own good and now the time has finally come for your words to be proved right.

As he turns the first corner, he finds himself crashing into another person, their startled gasp echoing through the empty street. He doesn't even need a second to recognize your silhouette and without thinking much he pulls you closely to him, heart nearly beating out of his chest from relief.

"Oh my god, I was so worried about you!" He says, voice breathless as he holds you closely. Your small sniffles nearly break his heart in two. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so cruel with you earlier. I'm sorry."

But you keep silent, only let your tears drench his t-shirt. Heeseung swallows nervously, feeling like he's losing you already. And, fuck, he was not ready for that to happen.

"Please just say something," he whispers, pressing his lips to the top of your head a little desperately, yearning for any sort of an answer from you. "YN?"

"I'm sorry, Heeseung," you say quietly as you finally pull away from him, finally allowing him to see all the damage he's caused written all over your face. "I just don't get how could you even say all of that to me so easily? Comparing me to your ex, really? And you've literally said you don't love me anymore."

Biting his lips hard, almost painfully, he listens to your broken rambling. "That's not true. I do love you." He feels his heart stuttering slightly as he notices the uncertainty in your teary eyes. "I love you, YN."

You step away even farther from him. "It's kinda hard to believe after today."

"I know," he can barely hold back the whine mingling at the back of his throat. "I know that I don't deserve to be forgiven so easily but just- Please, you can't break up with me now. Not like this. I didn't mean it, darling. I'm sorry."

The desperation in his voice nearly makes you give in. Nearly, because no matter how hard you try, you can't push his cruel words out of your mind.

"Look, Heeseung. I love you," before you can see the hope starting to shimmer in his dark eyes, you continue, "I really do but I just can't imagine how this relationship would work anymore. There's way too many wrongs to only focus on the rights, don't you agree?"

"No, I-"

"Let's just go home for now, okay?" You interrupt him, feeling tired from the long day. "I'll pack my stuff up in the morning."

PARK JAY

How could he forget about the one day he's been looking forward the most to for the whole month?

Jay closes his eyes and lets out a heavy sigh before quickly calling his boss to cancel the meeting. Swearing under his nose, he reminds himself of all the thing's he's had prepared for you today. And now his stupidity has ruined it all for you.

He thought he would give you a moment to yourself for collecting your thoughts, but after another minute of listening to your sobs coming from behind the door, he let go of that stupid idea and walked into the bathroom. Seeing you sitting by the wall with face hidden in your hands makes him realize that he would give absolutely everything to somehow invent a time machine and go back in time, only to make you happy again.

You don't even flinch when he takes the spot on the floor right next to you, arms wrapping around your middle and pulling you to his lap. You let him do all of that because no matter how much he's hurt you, his touch will forever remain the one thing that instantly brings you comfort. You know that that feeling won't evaporate so quickly as he's been your support person for such a long time.

"I'm sorry I forgot," he says into the silence after a heartbeat or two. Your traitorous heart instantly melts the second he brings his hand up and starts stroking your hair softly. "And I'm sorry I put my work first without thinking of you."

"It's okay, it's not that big of a deal anyway. I don't even care about my birthday that much," you mumble into his shoulder.

"Don't do that. You deserve an apology," he scolds you softly. His hand slips lower to your cheek and he pulls your face up to look right into your bloodshot eyes. "It's not okay and it is a big deal. And I'm sorry for being the worst boyfriend you could ever ask for."

You let out a small huff. "That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"But absolutely deserved," Jay sighs before lifting one of your hands to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to your fingers. "I'll never dismiss your feelings like that again. That's a promise I'll keep forever. I love you so much, honey."

"I'm glad to hear it," you hum, wiping your nose with the back of your sleeve. A sleeve of his hoodie, actually. "I hate fighting with you."

"Will you forgive me?"

His question doesn't linger in the air for a long time unanswered, because as soon as it leaves his mouth, you're leaning in and pressing your lips to his. Jay quickly responds to your kiss as he nearly engulfs you in his arms, pulling you as closely to him as it's possible. His fingers are caressing your cheeks gently, almost as if he's afraid of causing you any more damage.

"Do you still feel like celebrating your birthday?" He asks, following his words with few more kisses to your tear-swollen lips.

"Absolutely. As long as you buy me Starbucks today."

SIM JAKE

"You didn't answer my calls," Jake says as the two of you walk inside your apartment.

"I think the reasons for it are pretty self-explanatory," you respond, directing yourself straight to your kitchen with Jake following you closely, nearly stepping on your heels. You lay the grocery bag on the counter and start unpacking its contents.

"I'm sorry I forgot about our date again, it just slipped my mind, I swear. I'm sorry."

"Good to know I'm so forgettable to you," you huff, not looking at him even once. "Well, you never forget about your friends, that's for sure."

"I shouldn't have done that," Jake admits, moving closer to you and reaching for your shoulder. "It was wrong of me to lie to you about it."

"Yeah, no fucking shit."

"Will you just let me apologize?" He raises his voice, losing his patience with you quickly.

You turn around and send him a pointed look, eyebrow raised as you finally meet his eyes. "Damn, that's bold of you to be yelling at me like that in your position, Jake."

He immediately lets go of you and rubs his face with his hands. "I know, I know. I just- fuck, I'm sorry."

"I only have one question for you," you say as you stop unloading your groceries for once and lean back on the counter, bracing your hands on each of your sides. "Why are you even in this relationship when it's clearly not even in your top three priorities?"

"Hey, that's not really fair, is it?" He backs away as his tone raises defensively. "I've been a good boyfriend to you most of the time, YN. I've just missed a couple of dates, that's all. I'll make this all up to you, I promise."

"Oh, come on, Jake! Do you really expect me to just forgive and forget? You can't be serious."

"I mean, that's how relationships work. You fight and you make up," he says, nodding his head as if he's looking for your affirmation, "We're not gonna break up because of a stupid argument, are we?"

When silence is your only answer, Jake's eyes widen at the realization.

"You're joking, right?" He scoffs. "You really wanna end a perfectly fine relationship over some petty bullshit like this?"

"The fact that you think we're having a perfectly fine relationship even though we've just been arguing about you blatantly lying to me, says more than enough. I've already made up my mind, I'm sorry."

You watch as a scowl makes its way on his face and he crosses his arms over his chest. "Fine. Do as you want. Just don't come crawling back to me when you finally grow up."

"Oh, don't hold your breath, babe. Goodbye, Jake."

PARK SUNGHOON

You jerk in your place when you feel Sunghoon's warm hands on your knees. You didn't even notice him walking into the bedroom, way too absorbed in crying a goddamn river of tears. He's understood his mistake merely couple minutes after you've left him in the living room.

"YN," he starts quietly but quickly gets shut down when you shake your head, hiding your face in your hands as another sob leaves your throat. He swallows loudly before trying again, "Baby, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Please, leave me alone for now," you whine out through a clenched throat. You pull away from your hands to look at him kneeling down in front of you.

Sunghoon lifts his hand up to wipe your wet face with his sleeve. "Just hear me out, okay? I didn't mean it, darling. I shouldn't have said that."

"Then why did you?"

"I- I don't know. I was just having a tough time at work and I just let it happen," he tries to explain, to defend himself somehow but even he can see that the excuse is just simply not enough. "I know I went too far and you don't even understand how sorry I am about that. I really didn't mean it."

"You made me feel the most unloved I've ever felt in my entire life. Do you really think that's how a relationship is supposed to look like?" You choke out, watching as his face scrunches up with pain.

"I love you. I know I don't say it often but I do. More than you could ever imagine," he confesses, running his thumb over your cheek. "I hate myself for making you feel like I don't."

"I don't know if I can forgive you yet, Hoon," you say, trying not to show any emotions as his face visibly drops. "I need some time to think it all over."

"I understand." His voice gets quieter and he backs away from you slightly, giving you some space. You try to ignore how you instantly start missing the warmth of his touch on your skin. "Take all the time you need. I'll wait for as long as I have to, love."

KIM SUNOO

A knock on your door wakes you out of your thoughts. With a sigh, you go to open it, already knowing who's standing outside.

When your face shows up instead of the wooden surface, Sunoo finally allows himself to breathe again. "YN," he starts, straightening his posture a little. "Can I come inside?"

You shake your head, clenching your fingers on the door. "No, I don't think so."

"Look, I'm sorry for not believing you. It was wrong of me, I know that. I haven't slept all night because all I could think about was you."

You press your lips tightly at his confession. "Do you know what's my biggest issue with this entire situation? The fact that even after I explained myself, you still wouldn't believe me. You still chose to believe her words over mine. That hurt the most, you know?"

"I'm sorry," he repeats with guilt written all over his face. "Let me fix this, please. I swear I'll stop hanging out with her. Just don't leave me."

"But it was never about you being friends with her, Sunoo, don't you get it?" You run your hand through your hair in an attempt to not blow up on him right there and then. "The problem isn't you having a girl best friend, it's you not trusting me! I couldn't care less that you spend time with her because I never doubted your loyalty to me. You accusing me of some stupid shit with Sunghoon only proved that you don't feel the same way about me."

"That's not true."

You let out an unamused snort. "Oh but it is. I'm sorry but I just can't see this going anywhere from here."

"How can you be so okay with ending a year long relationship just like that?" Sunoo asks, upset with your solemn behavior. "Looks like I must've meant nothing to you."

"Why are you trying to turn the tables again? God, you're unbelievable!" You finally raise your voice. "Stop trying to make everything about you, when it's clear that you're the one who fucked up the most, Sunoo. You're not the victim and I'm not the villain in here!"

"Stop shouting at me," he scowls at you.

"I wouldn't have to yell if you weren't so goddamn infuriating," you bite back harshly. "I think we've said all that needed to be said now. Go home, Sunoo."

You shut the door right in his face and walk back to your living room, not looking back even once.

YANG JUNGWON

"Hey, are we okay?" Jungwon asks you quietly as you sit side by side in a train, the both of you going back from school.

Even though you haven't spoken to him much ever since the two of you met up at the train station, you didn't shy away from any of his touches or other forms of affection. You haven't mentioned yesterday's argument either which only sent Jungwon's mind into an even bigger havoc.

Your head is pressed against the window as you nod, lazily tracing some pattern on the glass. "I think so."

He sighs and finds your fingers with his, intertwining them together hesitantly. Your lack of displeasure encourages him a little more, so he starts caressing the skin on your hand with his thumb.

"It was never my intention to upset you, love. I didn't mean to hurt you like that," he finally addresses the problem.

Turning your face to his, you look right into his sorry eyes. You sigh, feeling a little better about the argument after spending a whole night thinking about it. So you smile at him weakly and say, "I know."

"Can you forgive me?"

"I know you meant well and you only want the best for me but some of the things you said really hurt me, Won," you admit, looking back down at your lap.

You feel Jungwon shifting in his seat and moving closer to you, raising your intertwined hands up and pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.

"I'm so so sorry," he apologises, remorse nearly dripping from his voice. "I know it was uncalled for. I don't actually think any of that about you, I just let the frustration speak through me yesterday, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," you whisper.

"No, it's not. I was cruel and unfair towards you." You take a glance at him again and notice how his eyes are looking for yours desperately. "I just love you a lot and it hurts me to hear somebody speaking to you in such way. And yes, you said she's always like that and she doesn't mean to be offensive but I still think you should talk to her about that, love."

"I will," you reassure your boyfriend, squeezing his hand slightly. "I've thought about that a lot yesterday and I admit that she can get pretty out of line sometimes. I'll try to tell her that the next time I see her."

Jungwon smiles down at you, feeling proud of you finally taking a step forward into becoming more confrontational.

"I love you so much," he says again and you get lost for a second in his sparkly eyes. "And I'm really sorry for what I said."

You lean your head on his shoulder and sigh in content. "Apology accepted."

NISHIMURA RIKI

It took couple good hours before Niki's stubborn mind finally allowed him to realize his mistake. With a heart heavy with guilt, he quietly closes the front door behind him and takes off his shoes. Passing the living room to go to the bedroom, he stops dead in his tracks as he notices the TV being still turned on silently. Niki turns around and his gaze instantly falls on your sleeping figure on the couch.

He crouches down in front of you, heart dropping the second he spots your glistening from tears cheeks. Niki lets out a heavy sigh as he snatches the folded blanket laying on the headrest of the couch, and engulfs you with the plush fabric securely. Then he slides into the empty space behind you and sneaks his arms around your middle, pulling your back into his chest closely.

You wake up by the feeling of his warm lips pressing right below your ear - the place that's always been your weak spot.

"Niki?" You ask quietly as you turn around and lay chest to chest with your boyfriend.

He swipes your hair away from your dim eyes. "You shouldn't be sleeping on the couch, you're gonna hurt your back."

The silence doesn't last long as the both of you speak at the same time, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

You look at each other in confusion before Niki chokes out, "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong, I know you're just worried."

"Yeah but maybe I shouldn't have pushed you this much either. I never meant to be overbearing," you stumble out, looking everywhere but into his eyes.

Niki scoffs quietly and pulls you closely to him, kissing your forehead. "You know that's not true. I've been really frustrated with work lately and it was stupid of me to take it all out on you. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."

"It's not the first time you've done that, you know?" You mumble into his t-shirt, sniffling slightly as you feel you're starting to get emotional again. "You always push me away once something starts bothering you."

"I know," he whispers as he slips his fingers underneath your shirt and caresses your back soothingly. "I feel like an idiot for blowing you off like this. I'll try start talking to you more from now on, I promise."

You hum and lift your head to press a kiss to his jawline. "I really only mean to help you. We'll work on your communication, alright?"

"Together?" He breathes out.

'Together."

a/n: guys the way i almost folded and wrote them all happy endings 💀💀 i literally couldn't decide if i wanted yn to forgive hoon or not so i left the ending kinda open so that you guys can handle him the way you want to lmao

permanent taglist: @bambisgirl @arizejkt19, @l0ver1ki

taglist: @byu @hwabang @choclate32 @kkawsomeness24 @nobodyshallenter @sunsunl0ver @hiqhkey @mimimovv @iraa567 @nes-caf @maybemiko @neptunetododeku @aureliaxuuu @1004bangchan @tobiosbbyghorl @rosie-rosem @kiroosan @ramenoil @wonwushu @redfieldposts @lunacrtk @marvelahsobx @opheliaas-stuff @dylanswifeyp @hydroyakshaluvr69 @ranieannbalean14 @haechxnnie @heeseungssidechick @lolilkkk @hoon0logy @iadorenaki @chaechae-23 @jhopesucker (so many of you guys won't tag no matter how much i try so im sorry but idk what im doing wrong help :/)

[kkenma666]

(방찬) bang chan.. my dear

gender neutral reader

angst w happy ending, messy break up, miscommunication

the door opened slowly, blonde hair peeking in. chan came home expecting to see you waiting for him on the couch as always but was instead greeted by a dark room and cold silence.

weird.. he thought to himself. maybe you were just tired and went to bed. yeah, like you would always do lately..

he can't lie, he missed you waiting for him on the couch, a blanket draped over your body as you tried your hardest to focus on whatever was playing on the tv.

the way that your sleepiness would instantly disappear the moment you saw him, you immediately springing from your laying positions to greet him with a warm hug.

in fact, he noticed how your hugs had become shorter as if you were forcing your arms to wrap around him. the warmth you used to radiate is now gone.

he also noticed how your kiss which was filled with love and passion was now nothing but a quick peck on his lips.

it can't be.. can it?

chan splashed his face with water, trying to rid himself off of the negative thoughts. it's normal for every relationship to have its ups and downs. this will only be a temporary obstacle in your relationship.

or so he thought.

lately, he's been forced to work overtime causing him to come home later than usual. his work also has been piling up, from one piece of paperwork to another.

chan let out a loud sigh as he shut the door closed, wanting nothing more than to lay in bed and sleep all day long.

he wasn't expecting you to be there waiting for him, yet a small part of him still expects you to be there waiting for him.

he walked through the cold hallway, his hands twitching to get hold of you in his arms. god, he missed your warmth.

yesterday you were suddenly so.. loving with him. his fear was proven wrong as he realized that maybe he was just being overdramatic.

you even gave him a sincere and long hug after weeks of seemingly insincere ones, spouting about how much you love him, to the moon and back.

however, he was shocked to not find you on the bed dozing off. weird.. its fine, you're probably just in the bathroom right? he stormed off to your shared bathroom to find you also not there.

where could you be?

he tries not to overthink, his hand immediately grabbing his phone to dial you up. maybe you just went to the nearby convenience store.

only for his fears to worsen when he saw how he had been blocked by you.

he immediately searched the whole house for you, just now noticing how most of your stuff is already gone. " no no no.. oh god. i fucked up. "

⊹₊⋆

the grandeur hall was filled with people with status and wealth. their clothing and their mannerisms already proved that they were a level above.

each of them all held their bidder number, hands itching to take home the next prize that was soon to come.

finally, a big painting rolled out, all eyes focused on it.

" ladies and gentlemen, this is out last item of the day. this is one of yn ln's precious new work! with this being the last one sold for this specific collection. "

the massive painting revealed an abstract drawing of two figures hugging, one's face was buried into the other's neck, with his broad shoulder facing the viewer.

you watched from the balcony above, swirling your champagne. a sad look in your eyes as you think back about the inspiration for the painting.

it was an abstract depiction of the last hug you and your past lover shared. he was also your very first and last lover.

the painting was mainly blue and white, to resemble the somber mood. though you added in a few golden touches.. a sense of hope that one day the two of you could start over.

after the breakup, you still very vividly remember how he asked you for one last hug before you went. he clung to you like a koala, knowing if he let go he would lose you.

you originally didn't intend to sell the painting, wanting to just let it rot in your studio. though you couldn't handle seeing that massive painting every time you were in your studio.

so you auctioned it off.

after that breakup you decided to move back to australia, opting to focus on your painting career and building a name for yourself.

and after blood, sweat, and tears here you are. wealthy scums all itching to buy your painting, no matter how overpriced it was.

you took a sip from your glass as you watched your favorite part, the bidding.

" 3.5 million! ", it started off strong.

" 5 million! " one chimed.

" 8 million! " another.

" 10 million! " and another.

today was a bit more competitive than the other days, every one of them determined to get that painting of yours.

the biddings went on till a woman bid 50 million. moments when on, no other bidders put up a fight as if they feigned defeat.

" 70 million. "

gasps and murmurs could be heard from around the room. you nearly spat your drink out when you heard that.

no way was someone willing to spend 70 million on a random painting that only you and maybe your ex would understand. unless..

" ..then it's sold to mr. christopher bahng for 70 million! "

applause filled the room but that was all muffled as you could only focus on the man down below. your mouth was agape as your champagne glass slowly started slipping from your hand.

after all these years you never expected to see him again. much less buying a painting about both of your tragic endings.

the sound of glass shattering shocked the audience as they all clutched their pearls in fear a thief broke in.

but soon they began clapping again once they saw you, the artist themself, standing above them with a shocked look.

you quickly composed yourself and tried to play along, giving courtesy to the crowd.

yet your eyes were locked onto one person only. the very man who bought your painting.

he also applauded you while giving you that same gentle smile he would always give to you.

you quickly exited the room, needing a breath of fresh air to refresh your cluttered mind. he was back in australia and had just purchased one of your pieces.

the very man you've been avoiding.

after all this year of you healing and focusing on yourself, just for him to show up again. but were you really healed?

your mind still wonder back to him no mater what. no matter how long time passed his face kept appearing in your head. the bittersweet memories of your relationship replaying like a broken record.

" ugh fuck. do i have to attend the after party with him in it..? "

⊹₊⋆

christopher banhg was the only thing on your mind that night.

you dreaded coming to the after-party in general. the thought of having to entertain thos rich snobs for hours on end just did not seem appealing at all. and add your ex into the mix and congrats, your head feels like it's about to burst open!

but you can't lie about how your heart beats faster whenever you think of meeting him. just the sheer thought of stumbling into him gets your heart racing and you dont know if its in a good way or the bad way.

you tugged on your clothing, sweat already starting to form from how nervous you were. you fixed your hair and fixed the makeup on your face.

you can't believe this.

you usually never really tried this hard when going to an after party but here you were. all dolled up just because your ex was here.

' it's okay. you're just doing this because someone paid 70 million for your work.. that's a pretty high price for something you originally wanted to throw away. '

a stuffed smile plastered on your face as you conversed with random people. the ladies' hands touching you all over without consent.

all you wanted to do was go home and lay in your bed. yet you know you can't go back because you haven't seen hum yet.

" today's auction was another successful one, yn! " you bowed your head in response. " of course. with loyal bidders like you all my works are bound to sell with a high price. " laughters was shared among the patrons from your comment.

" yes yes, we will loyally wait for your next bid. "

your cheeks were starting to hurt from straining a smile all night long, maybe he didn't even come to the after-party. maybe you were just delusional.

an all too familiar laughter was heard behind you.

your head spun around way too fast for your own liking.

your eyes intertwined with his after god knows how long. you took in his features and realized he looked all the same. the only thing that changed was his hair and how he looked older and somehow more attractive.

" oh mr bahng! i didn't take you for a bidder. especially on that would spend 70 million in a night alone. " one of the men spoke. he chuckled, his dimples showing while shrugging. " pocket change. "

you were standing before him and the rest of the group, the random ladies still latching onto you. you tried to take this chance as an escape.

you nudged their hands off of you, " well, i will get going now. still have others to entertain. " a nod of understanding were sent to you. you tried to rush past him, only for him to hold onto your wrist.

" a word with the artist? "

⊹₊⋆

you guided him to the second floor that's only accessible to you and some of your staff. you presented him with your favorite spot in there, the balcony.

it offers a breathtaking view of the night sky, with stars sprinkled in the dark blanket. below it was the city lighting up the night. further proving how the city doesn't sleep at night.

he stood behind you, gathering up what to say to you. you yourself didn't even know what to say to him. all those countless nights spent thinking about him just for you to not be able to look at him in the eyes.

" i see your career's going well.. i've always known you'd make it big. " a soft smirk crept up on your face. god he's still the same, isn't he?

" well look at you now mister big shot. " you finally had the courage to turn around to look at him in the eyes and oh, you might get lost in them. the breathtaking view of the night sky could never compete with his eyes.

bang chan stared at you in silence, his dimples poking through his milky white cheeks. he never forgot what you looked like since the day you left him, clinging onto whatever's left of you as if his life depended on it.

the two of you stared at each other, anticipating breath. both of you were twitching to ravage one another but you knew it was so so wrong, yet so tempting.

that is until you crashed your lips onto his, perfectly molding into his. it was as if it found its long-lost home again, so foreign yet so familiar.

his hands immediately found their way onto your waist, your hands snaking around his back and onto his neck. you gripped him as if he would disappear if you were to let go. who knows maybe he might.

time went by so slowly, as if the earth stopped spinning just for this moment alone.

you pulled back first, drowning yourself in oxygen. you didn't even know what to say to him, only holding him close as you breathed in his scent.

" i miss you, my dear. "

please read!!

so this might be my last kpop fic on this acc but idk yet since i still have one last one in my draft that i might post but here's a sneak peak to my writing for the new followers uwu

[starsfic]

Fluff 49 is someone jealous

Mei (could be taken as platonic, romantic, or QPR, hell it could be dark)

while I'm not sure if Eastern dragons display hording/possessive tendencies like there western counterparts. But I wanna think Mei due to her dragon instincts gets somewhat possessive over things and people she highly values. From objects like her bikes, and stuffed animal collection to living people like her parents, pigsy and tang who may of been like second parents to her at this point and of course her best friend for eternity MK.

So when red son joins there friend group shes happy at first when him and mk start getting on surprising well. But starts to grow jealous when redson starts cutting into her personal time with mk. Heck at times she feels like he's deliberately trying to hog mks attention.

As much as she loves red she feels the need to assert some boundaries, and remind him or even both of the boys who was here first.

Long Xiaojiao felt sometimes that there was a great big fat divide between her and Qi Xiaotian sometimes.

It wasn't a divide that couldn't be crossed. But it was there. Between her and Red dealing with the Samadhi fire and Xiaotian dealing with the whole "Harbinger of Chaos" stuff with Wukong, there was stuff that they couldn't share because the other wouldn't understand. It sucked, but there was still things to talk about. Especially when Red started tagging along!

Red, like she thought, was a great friend when he finally relaxed a bit. He knew cool demon spots to hang out with and could rattle for hours about different topics. He was fascinating. Xiaojiao's favorite hangout was when he led her and Xiaotian to a secret demon fighting ring and they spent most of the day placing bets (with food) on fighters. Then someone got the bright idea to challenge her to a fight and Xiaojiao enjoyed watching Xiaotian's eyes darken with desire as she fought the guy barehanded.

Xiaotian was her best friend. Hers since the day they met at the park, playing in the mud. Red was also hers, although the desire to hoard him was much less due to the new nature of their friendship. They were happy, all three of them.

And then Red tried to make that divide wider.

At first, she didn't notice. She had been delighted when Red suddenly had a free night on Saturday night, an old tradition of hers and Xiaotian where they had a movie marathon. It was nice to have something that was just them even in the craziness of their lives now. She thought it would only be once.

Except "one free Saturday night" became "every Saturday night was free". It wasn't a problem, not at first.

Not until she looked over to realize that Red had wrapped an arm around Xiaotian to cuddle close and realization struck her like a fist on weird behavior she had noticed from Red. The ability to remember Xiaotian's favorites, the insistence on sitting next to him, oh my gods all the touching.

She loved Red, really. But she loved Xiaotian more.

Her breaking point came when they were at a bar, drinking in congrats for Xiaotian's webcomic finally being published. Of course, most people would be interested because it was the Monkie Kid writing it, but Xiaojiao knew his art style and storytelling would win.

Red leaned close, smiling at Xiaotian like pure sin. "So, Noodle Boy..." The nickname was sweet as sugar, no longer containing a disgusting note. "I had to notice some things about the love interest. They mentioned knowing how they kissed. Unfortunately, I don't think I've won something like that from you before..."

"Oh," Xiaojiao said before Xiaotian could answer. "It's because of this." She patted her lap and Xiaotian stood up, a sweet smile forming across his face. Red raised a brow and then his hair floomed into flames as Xiaotian straddled her, the motion easy.

"Hey," her best friend cooed.

"Hey," she cooed back, her fingers settling in their favorite spots before Xiaotian leaned down and kissed her.

For a few glorious moments, it was just him and her. She didn't need to steal him or lock him away. He gave himself to her, his best friend in the whole world, willingly.

Finally, though, air had the nasty need of being needed and Xiaojiao pulled away. Xiaotian instead settled his chin on her shoulder, sighing contently.

Red stared at them with wide eyes. Then his eyes narrowed.

It was a secret challenge. Xiaojiao answered it back.

(Xiaotian hid his smile in his best friend's shoulder. Hopefully, she and Red got the worst of the instinctual possessiveness out of their systems before his preparations were done.

He intended for them both to be his.)

[matenrou-fan]

Ooh! I have a funny request!

Could I request Lucifer, Mammon and Diavolo's s/o calling them "The most handsome demon" before running up to hug them in public?

Lucifer, Mammon and Diavolo's NB!s/o calling them "The most handsome demon" in public

ahhh this one is so cute..! >O<

NBreader, fluff, teasing, just wholesome stuff, something like a spoiler for Devilgram 'The Escorts' in small bonus;;

-Well.. he does like PDA with you, but sometimes the way you show your love for him can be so confusing.

-It's not a secret that he, as an avatar of Pride, loves when you compliment him or show your love in general, but he prefers to do all sweet things in private, where he also can show you all his affection.

-So when he hears your cheerful loud voice screaming something about the most handsome demon Lucifer gets kinda alarmed. There were too many strange accidents and stories with you in Devildom so his first thought was that you get into another goofy story somehow.

-Yet when he notices that you are running right in his direction with open arms it is too late. You already jump and embrace him, nuzzling your face in his chest.

-"Oh! And I was wondering what you were up to this time.. S/o, you do know I'm really busy right now..?" - Lucifer scoffs, trying acting cool yet actually feels tingling warmth spreading in his chest. He can't help but pat your head with a little smirk. - "Be more patient and wait when I will be free, so we can get quality time together, okay..? And don't you dare trying something like that with my brothers now.."

-He values his status as a strict collected demon so all these lovey-dovey things in public are not for him. If you want some affection from him right in front of everyone so badly, then Lucifer prefers more mature ways to show his love for you, touching your waist or holding your hand tightly, thumb caressing your knuckles.

-"If you want something more than you should ask nicely, darling.." - he smirks, noticing how you cling to him more. - "Or this is too much for you right now? Embarrassed to say it out loud?"

-Do you want to kill this man?!

-Mammon absolutely loves your affection, yet it's so hard for him not to actually admit it, but even receive, as he quickly starts blushing and giggling, getting too excited.

-And now you try to show your love in public? God, please send him some strength..

-He was just standing in the crowd, sending your message one after another, asking where you were fooling around without your great boyfriend, when he suddenly heard your voice. The most beautiful demon?? The hell you talking about?!

-Then when he sees you running to him with such a playful face. Mammon didn't even get time to realize something as you already knocked him down with a tight hug.

-"Huh!! S/o, y-you're crazy..! Scaring me like that.." - he mumbled, looking away, feeling as heavy blush started creeping on his cheeks. - "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today and will forgive you.."

-You can't ever imagine just how happy he is to receive such clingy affection from you in front of everyone. Yes yes, that's it! Everyone, look here and see that this precious human is just for a great Mammon..!

-But remember, darling, he's an avatar of Greed, after all.. So that means he will never let his most valuable treasure from his arms now, understand?

-"Come on, take my hand now..!" - he commands, trying to act harsh and dominating yet you can still see this blush on his cheeks and even on his ears. Did his neck get a little bit reader too..? - "I need to show everyone that you're my own human! It's natural, after all, I'm your first man anyway..!"

-Ohh! He's always in his silly goofy mood, he absolutely adores these little games!

-It doesn't matter at all if he's talking with someone or even discussing some serious business, if you walk to him and just take his hand he would never push you away or tell he's too busy.

-How can he? Your hand is so soft and warm.. Oh and if anyone who was he talking to at that moment would even try to say something about your persistence.. The Lord doesn't mind showing his more serious, strict side to them.

-Diavolo knows your voice well so he immediately hears your sweet tone as you call the most gorgeous demon in the world. Ooh, are you talking about him?

-Of course he will turn to your side with open arms to catch you in his hug, pressing you to his big chest with all his strength. Well, actually now with all, as he would just crash you in this case.. But strong enough to make you gasp a little..

-"Ahh, s/o..! You wanted to surprise me today?" - his loud chuckle thundered across the whole corridor, as Diavolo kept squeezing you in his hug. - "Then the most gorgeous demon is glad to greet the most precious human..!"

-He loves to play along with your teases and flirt, as it always lights up his mood after a long day of paperwork.. Or when he wants to relax after a council meeting.

-"Oh, I just remembered..! Why don't you pay a visit to my castle today? You know this little hug is not enough for me now.." - Diavolo laughs again, this time in a more soft and gentle tone, as blood rushes to his face. - "I'm sure brothers would complain too much if you told him you have some urgent personal business with me today, hehe..?"

+a small bonus? I didn't know if I should have written it in hc so I added this here. Another reason why Lucifer is more emotionless to you outside is Maddie. He is ready to tolerate her pushy clingy behavior toward him due to her status and strength yet if she would try to have a beef with you, Lucifer afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself. This lady gave hard time to Lord Diavolo himself when wanted to marry him, which means she's really bold in her actions and even thinking about her trying to hurt you makes Luci's blood boil.

When Diavolo, actually, is absolutely not afraid, even if it will attract the wrath of a powerful witch. Not because he's airheaded, but because he doesn't want to tolerate her debauchery anymore. Sorry, Maddie, the one who will marry Lord of Demons is s/o and after that she can't even think about hurting you as you would belong to a royal family.

[phyrestartr]

Simple Things [3] - Miguel O'hara x Male!Reader

# Mild NSFW, fluff, comfort, flirting, light angst, male!reader, dad!reader, spider!reader, implied depression, mentions of trauma, mentions of past relationships, mentions of manipulation, old men just doing their best, miguel is a sweetheart and a nerd, multi-part drabble collection

[ 1 ] Smoke Break | [ 2 ] We Change Like the Seasons | [ 3 ] Meet the Kids

Notes: Covid is still kicking my ass but I wanted to finish this part off so I can make the reader and Miguel fuck in the next part wahoo \o/

-- Meet The Kids --

A girl walked into the lab. Miguel thought maybe Gwen or another spider had come to ask something of him or to steal one of the cookies from his desk console (wouldn't be the first time), but the lazy scuff of shoes on polished floors sounded too clumsy to be one of his agents. She wasn't wearing a suit either, Miguel realized after sparing a glance over his shoulder; she did, however, sport a day pass on a small wrist. 

"And you are?" Miguel asked before turning back to his screens. He wasn't really in the mood for conversation while he tracked the next anomaly, but he couldn't say he wanted some random kid to be touching his stuff in his lab. 

"I dunno. Who're you?" Ugh. 

The clattering of something hitting the floor made Miguel's eye twitch. He took a breath. "I'm the guy running the show here." He closed screens with gruesome scenes of destruction, hiding them from the prying eyes of the innocent in the room with him. "And I'm the one who's about to call your guardian." 

She scoffed. "My guardian?" 

"Whichever spider dragged you into HQ and let you off your leash with a day pass." Miguel spied her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't have the decency to face her. "Lyla. Scan her." 

"You got it, buddy." 

"Woah, wait–!" The girl gasped as a warm orange light washed over her, flickering across her entirety before vanishing. "Dude." Despite the attitude, her voice trembled faintly. Miguel almost felt bad. But she touched his stuff. Not his fault. 

Lyla whistled and adjusted her sunnies as she leaned into a tiny screen of her own. "Oooh, you're gonna love this, Miguel–" 

"Miguel?" The girl repeated. "Like…the guy Dad talks about?" 

A clairvoyant feeling overwhelmed the spider, probably the same way spidey senses hit the normal spider-people around him. Somehow, he knew who she was, who her dad was before Lyla even said it. 

"Yep, that's (Name)'s kiddo," Lyla chirped. 

Miguel looked at the girl. He really looked at her this time, feeling some sort of stupid with how much she looked like you; her hair was fluffy and unkempt in the same shade yours was, the shape of her nose was like a smaller, cuter version of yours, too. Then there were her eyes. That same hazy hue of uncut gems, a colour of protective dullness that hid something brilliant and effervescent from the outside world. 

"(Name)'s kid," Miguel repeated. Your name felt comfortable on his tongue these days. "Kid, I–what're you doing here? Where's your dad, huh?" 

The girl, very clearly looking around the room to try and spot the elusive Lyla, shrugged. "I 'unno." 

Colour Miguel unimpressed. "Oh, you don't know. Good. Great." He tutted before running a hand through his hair. "Lyla, call the kid's dad–" 

"He's sleeping!" She blurted. "You can't just, like, wake him up; Dad never gets to sleep." Her arms crossed tightly over her chest as her cheeks puffed. "And my name's Isabella, y'know." 

Miguel's dark brow raised in question. "Isabella." Said with a Latin accent. Interesting. Miguel's chest felt tighter. "If your dad's asleep then he probably left you with someone." He looked at her expectantly. 

Isa shrugged again and scuffed her worn soles against the floor. "Mr.Parker didn't notice. He's watching Natalie and Nico and May 'n whatever. So. Yeah." 

Mr.Parker? Oh. "Hm. He babysit you a lot?" God, Miguel should stop asking questions, but curiosity and that damn attention deficit had him by the throat. He turned around and folded his arms over one another, too, before leaning back against the stage console to speak with Isabella properly. 

"Ugh, why are old people so–so freaking annoying? I'm not a baby, I don't need anyone to watch me." Ah. Of course. 

"Oh, wow, ah-huh, yeah. Sure. I'm sure your dad agrees." Her amateur glare wrought a smirk out of him. Would he have argued with Gabi like this? 

Miguel cleared his throat and turned back to the console, reaching for another cookie absent-mindedly. "Look, you can stay here until your father comes to get you, but you have to stop touching things. Got it?" But Isa only grumbled and scuffed her feet again. "Isabella." 

"Uuugh. Fiiine." The girl plopped down into an old rolling chair. Miguel tried not to twitch. He would not snap at a child for breaking his chair, he would not do that. Absolutely not. 

Not even one minute of silence passed before the kid rolled closer to the centre stage Miguel stood at. "Sooo you're, like, my dad's boss or something?" 

"Guess that's the easiest way to put it." Miguel peered at the girl from the corner of his eye. 

"Okay, but what's the hardest way to put it?" Isabella wiggled and sat backwards on the chair, hugging the backrest as she scooted around the lab. "Are yooou…friends?"

Miguel shrugged. "I'd say so." 

"Hmmmm. Are you more than friends?" 

His eye twitched again. "Do you interrogate every adult like this?" 

Isabella huffed. "Uh, he made you cookies. It's sooo not weird to ask if you're, like, a thing." 

"A thing." 

"Like boyfriends–" 

"Santa Muerte, I know what you mean, kid." 

"Okay." Silence fell for all of ten seconds. "I'm just saying–" 

Miguel groaned. "Can you stop talking for five minutes–" 

"--you'd be waaay cooler to have for a step dad than all the people Dad's been dating." 

"Yeah, well, I'm hard to beat." Oh, wow, did he just say that about himself? Christ. Miguel took a deep breath and tried to relax his shoulders with all his might. "That came out wrong. I–look, you need to just–he's dating?" Miguel cringed. It's not that he was interested in you like that, just…he was nosy, that's all. But he was incredibly aware of how that must have sounded to an equally nosy tween. 

Isabella perked up. "Uh, yeah. But everyone he dates ends up being suuuper crazy and weird. Like, it's reaaally bad." 

He shouldn't pry. He really shouldn't. "...Bad how?" Ay, Miguel. 

"Like, they're always super clingy or don't like kids or something. And, like, Nico and Nat had moms who had dads who super hated dad, so they gave him money to make him go away." Isabella nodded matter of factly. "That's what Dad said. He's super sure he's cursed or something. Granny was a bruja y'know." 

Miguel shouldn't be listening to this. He shouldn't be prying into your life through the conduit of a chatty kid. Asking you would be the better option, but this way was so much easier. It felt like he could finally get a grasp of what you'd been through, and maybe catch a glimpse of who you were behind the scenes. 

"Then what about your mom?" Miguel asked, crossing his arms and flicking his gaze back to the monitors. "That didn't happen with her?" 

An offended gasp burst from the young lady. "No! My mom was so not like that. She was Dad's girl!" 

"No kidding." Miguel hummed. He wasn't about to ask what happened to her. Spiderman never had an easy romance, never had an easy life. 

"Yeah! They fought in the war together, and her name's–" 

"Isabella." Your voice cut through the air like winter rain. Miguel almost got chills, and Isa squeaked before hopping off her chair and scrambling on the stage to hide behind Miguel. 

"Oh, look at that. Someone's in trouble," Miguel mumbled, mean smirk quirking the corner of his mouth. 

Isa glared up at Miguel. "Jerk."

"Isabella, quit bothering the boss," You groaned tiredly. Miguel's ears perked as the coo of a little one fluttered through the air. He turned and found you holding the littlest baby in one arm, and a toddler in the other, both incredibly K.Oed.

"M'not bothering him!" She protested. "I'm just hanging out!" 

"Cut the crap, you're probably complaining about school or about my love life or how I wouldn't get you a new phone or some shit." Miguel had to fight back a laugh. He'd never heard you so exasperated nor animated before. "And why the hell did you run off, huh? You had Pete freaking the fuck out." 

"I got bored! I just wanted to go look around!" Isabella pleaded with a puppy-level whine.

"Isa, this place, it's–it's not meant for people without powers. You could get hurt, alright?" You adjusted your grip on the two little ones in your arms. "And the lab is a whole 'nother story, Christ–" 

"It's fine, (Name)," Miguel cut in, turning to you. "She was fine." 

But the worry lines creasing your forehead didn't smooth quite as much as he wanted. "'Ppreciate it, Boss. But, I…" you trailed off, sighing softly. "Yeah. Just. Thanks. I'll, ah, get her out of your hair. Bet you've got work to do." 

Mija, let's go is what Miguel swore he heard come out of your mouth before Isa pouted and ran after you.

Mija. That word brought a world of hurt and comfort to his chest–the coincidence of Spanish on your tongue felt too…perfect, like you'd learned it just to shove it in his face. But Miguel knew better. 

Isabella. 

Mija. 

Your girl, Isa's mother, must have taught you. He liked that, for some reason. The idea of learning something new for a partner. What would you teach him if you were– 

Woah, woah, stop, Miguel. Stop. His ears turned hot. He worried at his bottom lip with fidgety hands before shaking his head free from such dangerous thoughts. 

Focus, he chanted to himself, you've got work to do. 

--

You decided you were sick that day. No, you weren’t really, but the headache chipping away at your skull suggested that, hey, maybe staying home for a day wouldn’t be a bad thing. You could use a break from dragging yourself around New York, searching for the next big scoop, the next tragedy to document and earn a living off of, too. 

So, there you were, in bed, with the tv in the front room playing some sort of movie that you’d heard a thousand times but never learned the name of, while your littlest, newest addition to the family starfished in a laze, his tiny tummy pressed to your broad chest. Your fingers lazily rubbed circles against his little back as he snoozed and drooled on your shirt. Somehow, the giggling and chattering of his sisters didn’t wake him up. Maybe the drumming of your heart, or the safety of a warmth he hadn’t known until now, drowned all of it out. 

He didn’t even stir when his sisters screeched.

You closed your eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. God, please just let it be a spider, please just let it be a spider. You sat up, holding your baby to your chest as you plucked a gun from the side table. You carefully set Nico down into the warmth of where you were laying before stalking to the door and whipping it open, gun poised and ready for–oh. A big spider.

“What the fuck, Miguel,” you hissed, beyond exasperated as you lowered the gun. “Why the–what–I could’ve shot you.” 

Miguel looked beyond bewildered, though some would say entirely bamboozled. He had his hands up like the police had them in his sights, his face was a combination of embarrassed, shocked and annoyed, and his claws had popped out in his flustered panic. His spiderman suit was still on, but he had that white hoodie thrown on top like it’d hide the fact he was spiderman. Hopefully it did. 

“I–” Miguel started.

“Ah-ah.” You cut him off like a dog misbehaving. “Girls?” Their heads popped up from behind the couch and you sighed in relief. “It’s alright, he’s a friend. From work.”

One of your daughters gasped. “It’s the weirdo that’s suuuper into dad!” Isabella cried, jumping out from behind the couch and pointing an accusatory finger at a very unamused-looking Miguel. 

“For the last time, I’m not–”

“You so are!”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are!”

“Yeah!” Natalie joined in, hopping up and down by her sister excitedly and pointing at the man they deemed guilty. “You are, you are!”

Miguel, probably halfway to an early grave, looked to you for help. But you flashed him a tight-lipped smile that said more than words could offer: perish. 

You let the girls hound him while you turned on your heel, heading back into the bedroom to sooth your stirring little boy. The gun found itself back in the drawer, safety on, magazine removed, before you scooped the tiny being into your arms and smooshed up against your chest. Your son quieted and clung to you. You left a kiss on the top of his head to welcome him.

"So," you started as you came back to the scene of the crime, "the hell're you here for, Boss?" You asked, completely unfazed by how the girls had corralled him onto the couch and had his hands in their own, their curious fingers pushing on his tendons and making his claws pop in and out. Honestly, you were pretty tempted to do the same. 

Miguel pursed his lips and ignored the gremlins on him as he looked at you again, something distant softening his features. 

"I, uh. I heard you were sick," he confessed with a small shrug. "Just thought…y’know." 

You hummed as you rubbed your son's back. "Huh. How'd you find that out?" 

"Peter mentioned it." 

"Pete doesn't know I'm sick." 

"Must've been Jess, then." 

"Jessie doesn't know either." 

Miguel was caught. His ears grew red before his cheeks did, and you smirked. Cute. Way too cute. 

"Lyla told me," Miguel grumbled, finally. 

"Ah. There it is. Not so hard to tell the truth now is it, Miggs?" You said with a Cheshire smile and a wink. "Good to know you've got your confidant spying on me." 

Miguel freed himself from the children and stood up quickly. "It's not--I'm not spying on you, I–you–" Miguel pursed his lips. "I don't need to explain myself." 

That made you laugh. "Relax, tough guy. I don't mind ya swinging by. Or, hm, guess I don't mind ya portal-ing in." Miguel didn't seem to think you were that funny, but thankfully Nico, in his haze of dreams, giggled at the right moment. "Nicky thinks I'm funny. You should take notes."

It didn't take much convincing to get Miguel to stay for dinner. You made him take a shower, though, and leant him some clothes to lounge in while you cooked everything from scratch. From scratch. Miguel couldn't remember the last time he had a home cooked meal. 

"Yeah? That's sad as shit," you remarked nonchalantly as you diced vegetables. "Tell ya what, you make it a habit of coming around, and I'll make sure I make extra for you, yeah? It's important to have that home cooked goodness for your soul 'n what not." 

Miguel felt his chest fill with something fluffy and warm. "Good point." But it wasn't, really. "Guess I'll have to make it a habit." He leaned back against the counter as he watched you prep everything. "Wouldn't want you putting in all that extra effort for nothing."

You twitched a bit of a smile and nodded. "My thoughts exactly." 

You spared a glance at Miguel. He looked calm, at ease, like the threat of the dimensions collapsing wasn't at the forefront of his mind for once. You thought, maybe, this might be the first time in a long time that he had his mind off work. Maybe he was doing that whole human thing and enjoying the present for a change. Jumping to conclusions wasn't really your style, though. 

Crimson eyes flickered, then, gazing towards the crib settled in your bedroom. He must've heard your little man stir. He must've wanted to do something about it, if his sudden shiftiness told you anything. 

"You mind checking on him?" You asked softly, knowing that, maybe, this was a big ask for a man who only had a phantom to tuck in at night. "He's fussy. Likes to be held." 

"You're sure?" The other man asked, brows furrowed in concern. 

"You kidding? If there's any guy I'd trust with my kid, it's you." You fiddled with the wrapper of the packaged chicken meat before ultimately stabbing it with a knife. "Go on. Before he starts crying." 

And Miguel wandered off to the little one. His voice had that sound to it when he spotted him, that kind of gentleness a man unlocked when he felt what it meant to be a father, a protector of a smaller soul. You listened hard for Miguel's smile, and felt your heart throb when you heard, "Hey, mijo. ¿Estas bien?" leave his lips. Your little boy cooed, and Miguel made a noise that sounded so frightfully domestic and dad-like, you thought you might perish on the spot, or fall in love in a second. 

Get it together, get it together. A deep breath steadied your blitzing nerves when Miguel came back to the kitchen, Nico in his arms, smooshed up against his chest. You stole a glance, smiling to yourself when you caught Miguel mooning over the lazy bundle of joy. 

You worked fast, feeling a weird, undeniable desire to talk after you had your army of children fed and sent to bed. Miguel didn’t leave your side, nor did he deign to put Nico down, not through soup and sandwiches, not through 20 questions hosted by Isabella and Natalie, and not through the moments alone where you herded the young ladies off to wash up before getting them to bed for the night. 

“Y’know, you’re gonna spoil that kid,” you said with a smile when you came back to find Miguel on the couch with your son. You sat down by him with a dad-like sigh and peered at the little one snoozing away. “He’s gonna demand you hold him every time you come around.”

Miguel huffed a laugh. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.”

“Hey, with arms ‘n pecs like that?” You pat one of Miguel’s impressive biceps to prove a point. “I get where he’s coming from. Lots of free real estate with good foundations.”

“Oh? You want me to hold you too?” Miguel offered, some sort of impish lilt lifting his voice as he looked over at you.

You fought back the urge to swallow. “Sure. If you’re offering.” But Miguel looked a little caught again, a little unsure of how much to tease and how hard to press, so you let him off the hook with a laugh. 

“Man, you really remind me of her.” You rested your head against the couch, maybe a little bit on Miguel’s shoulder, as you watched your boy sleep. “Liliana,” you amended, “Isabella’s mom.” 

Scarlet eyes flickered to you. Seems you caught his attention. “Liliana,” Miguel tested the name on his tongue slowly, thoughtfully. “Isabella’s mom.” And after another pause, he asked, “I guess she’s gone?”

“Gone. Yeah.” You blinked slowly, and let the words rotting in your lungs breach the surface: “I killed her.” Ah, maybe you said that with too much nonchalance, you worried, but Miguel’s low hum seemed to suggest otherwise. 

It felt good. You couldn't stop yourself from talking. “It was an accident, I guess. She was a scientist. Geneticist, I think. Made me into, well, whatever I am now.” You flexed your hand and looked it over, like the blueprints of your design were still hidden under tired skin. “‘Cause, y’know, I was a soldier, she said I was gonna be the next Captain America, but… that doesn’t matter. Anyway, side effects were bad, really bad. I freaked out, then--then, y'know.” You took a breath. “Killed my little girl’s mom.”

You chewed the inside of your cheek as you stared at nothing, sucked back into a daze and a trance you’d long forgotten about. But you remembered the blood, the screaming, the way you and those webs ignited and how the white lab coats all howled and screamed and popped. The scent of roasted flesh should have disgusted you, it should have knocked some sense into you and dragged you out of whatever episode you were having, but instead–

Your stomach growled, and you cleared your throat. 

“Yeah. That was a bad day.” 

“I get it,” Miguel said, and sounded like he meant it. “Guess something like that happened to me.” 

You peered up at him, glimpsing his conflicted, troubled look. 

“Yeah?” Thought Spiderman had a boring, normal story. Because, in totality, you were something more demented than just Spiderman, so your story was more fucked up than the rest. Maybe you were wrong.

“Yeah. I was–my research killed someone when I was trying to make them into, well, Spiderman.” Miguel sighed and shook his head, admonishing himself from the past. “I didn’t want to. I got pressured into it. Drugged when I wanted to quit. It was a mess.

“Tried to rewrite my DNA, and then a colleague shocked that up for me, and I ended up with the claws, the fangs, the–the everything. Slashed his throat by accident, got some other people killed when they tried to help me, killed some baddies when I didn’t mean to.” 

Miguel’s gaze turned to you. “So don’t think you’re alone.” 

“Huh,” you said astutely. “Guess you really meant it when you called us ‘miserable bastards.’”

“Takes one to know one, I guess.” Miguel’s shoulder shifted slightly, easing down so your head could rest more comfortably against him. Your chest swirled with errant embers, but you tried not to think too hard about it. 

“You said I reminded you of her. Of Liliana?” Miguel asked, quiet and tentative. 

You hummed. “Yeah. The good parts.” You smiled (when had that gotten so easy?) and reached over to brush some dark hair from Nico’s tiny forehead. “She was smokin’ hot.” 

“...Huh.”

“Way too smart for her own good,” you continued. “It's always the smart ones that get me, y'know? Anyway, she was sly 'n funny in a mean way, but hey, I like that shit. Maybe I'm a masochist." 

"So," Miguel started, shifting slightly to face you more, "let me get this straight. You think I'm 'smoking hot,' 'too smart for my own good,' and 'funny in a mean way'?" The grin on his face was too much for you to handle. Why did you feel so hot suddenly? Why was he so close suddenly?

"I think that sums it up." 

"Huh. Anyone ever tell you you're an asshole?" 

"Ouch. Okay, what if I throw in 'she was born to be a bangin' mom','' you offered, feeling a long-forgotten rush of excitement as you sat up and leaned in close, so close, your hand coming up to cup the side of his strong neck as you kept talking, "and that she made me feel somethin' for the first time in a long time?" 

You could feel Miguel's breath hitch in his throat as he measured the gap between you two, his eyes flicking down to your lips and back to your eyes in debate. You wanted to close it. With every inch of your being you wanted to take the plunge and crash your lips against his. 

But, with every fibre of your soul, you didn't want to fuck this up. You didn't have words for what this even was, but you cherished it. Sauntering down this line of friendship, of companionship, was better than taking the dive back into that world of icy yearning and wilting roses–this type of love, the platonic sort shared between brothers and men, was meaningful in and of itself. It was good enough.

Wasn't it?

You looked over his face, in disbelief with yourself. "Who am I kidding?" You whispered, letting your hand fall from his neck like a glacier shearing away from its home. 

A small, tired laugh crawled from your chest, and you rubbed your face. "I, uh, think I oughta call it a night. I'm gonna–I gotta tuck Nicky into his crib." And carefully, gently, you scooped up your monkey and whispered quiet thanks into his hair–your little man was the perfect scapegoat. 

What're you thinking? Careful hands pulled up the banana-patterned blanket over Nico's tiny form after you'd set him down in the cozy crib that he loathed so much. You thought it was nice and comfy. Hell, if you could fit, you'd probably snooze in there all day. 

"Good work today, Nicky. I think you made the big guy relax a little, y'know?" Your son cooed sweetly in his sleep, and your spirit lifted just slightly. It almost gave you the strength to go face Miguel after coming onto him so hard. 

Finding the last bit of courage yourself, you gave your boy one last kiss on the noggin and quietly snuck out, closing the door with utmost caution behind you, only to be pressed up against it a moment later, and smothered with a kiss. 

A bolt of lightning kicked your pulse into triple time as you kissed Miguel back. His hands caught you by your hips, and your arms hooked around his shoulders and pulled him in closer. The simple thing was exhilarating. He was exhilarating. The embodiment of strength and resilience, of power and intelligence, was crushing you up against a door and taking the air from your lungs with such ease. 

"Fuck," you gasped when you parted with a wet noise that sounded far too Hollywood. "You're not half bad." 

"You've got a talent for ruining the mood." Miguel scoffed and tilted your chin up. His half-lidded eyes drank you in as soft breaths left his parted lips. You wanted nothing more than to be eaten whole by him (was that weird?). 

"I got a few other talents, too," you purred, voice swirling with velvety dark chocolate. "But that might be too much for an old man like–" 

Your squawked indignantly when he scooped you up and hoisted you over his shoulder like you were nothing but a petulant child. Your hands scrabbled against his back, and a shocked bout of laughter bubbled up from your core as he slapped you on the ass hard. Was this real? Were you seriously getting manhandled and spanked by Miguel O'hara? 

Miguel almost threw you onto the couch, but you guessed the children snoozing in the next room over hampered that decision. 

"If there's one thing I'm never too old for," Miguel murmured lightly, almost condescendingly as he set you down on the couch and got on top of you, "it's sex." 

Your eager hands flitted across his taut muscles, too excited and undecided as to where to land first. "Thought you were too old to sleep around?" 

"I don't sleep around," Miguel corrected, letting you fill in the blanks. 

That helped you relax a little. "Yeah?" 

He looked so conflicted, a little embarrassed, too. But that was becoming more and more common these days, thanks to you. "Yeah." 

You nodded and reached a hand up to his cheek, and he leaned in graciously as a needy cat might. "Okay. Then I don't either." 

Miguel hummed, and turned to mark your palm with a little kiss. "Alright." 

"And maybe…we don't fuck tonight." His sleepy gaze found you again with one dark brow raised, surprised. "I'm, uh, I think I'm down pretty bad for you, Boss. I don't wanna fuck this up." 

And, truth be told, you wanted to give him some respite. Maybe you wanted to give some to yourself, too; Liliana and Dahlia danced through your mind so much these days, no thanks to the burgeoning fondness growing for Miguel. He reminded you of both of them, of Winter and Summer, of snow and flowers. But it wasn't fair, not to you or him, to compare him to the epitome of cold and the apex of warmth. You needed time, too. Time to learn how to compare him to no one.

Miguel smiled, small and sincere. You admired the fine lines crinkling the corners of his eyes. He looked so handsome when he smiled. You wanted him to do it more. Were you enough to make him smile more?

"Yeah. I don't want you to shock this up either," he said, and your brows raised, incredulous. 

"This is what I get for trying to be mature ‘n romantic, huh?” Your fingers drummed against the arms caging you in. You thought about chancing a finger-taser to his ribs, but with those damn claws of his, you were a little too worried about your couch cushions getting demolished.

His handsome smile turned into a punchable smirk. “What? I’m agreeing with you.” 

“Ah-huh, ah-huh, that’s all, hey?” You leaned up and kissed Miguel again, slower and tamer this time, but still burning with want. Ugh. Why did you have to try to be all mature and romantic? “You’re just being a good boy?”

Miguel’s hips twitched at that, and it was your turn to smirk. Oh, how the tables turn. 

“Lay down,” you ordered, sitting up to get out from under him. “Come on.”

“I–what?” He grumbled, looking a little befuddled and frustrated. Cute, cute cute. “Thought we agreed on–”

“Heavy petting’s not off the table, right?” You cut him off. Miguel perked a little bit at the suggestion and did as he was ordered, his hands finding your hips again as you took your turn straddling him. “Luckily for you, I’m an expert at the clothes-on experience.” You winked and Miguel sucked in a breath. 

“Show me.” He ordered, voice deep and gravelly.

And you did.

[skayafair]

Ep 1 Rewatch Notes

So I'm rewatching the 3rd time and want to note a few things I didn't realize before:

This:

where Edwin seemed so sure he won't need these self-defence techniques is followed by this ↓ the very same episode. No wonder it ends not well. Should have listened to ur mate, Edwin!

Edwin identifies the era Emma is from by her hairstyle and details of clothing and purse. Someone's been studying historical fashion huh~

When the boys banish the demon from Crystal in the underground, Charles looks mostly alright despite taking the most damage (apparently ghosts can very well feel things inflicted by other supernatural beings and forget that material hindrances like floor or a wall or a door shouldn't be an issue for them), while Edwin seems to be alarmed and breathes fast as if trying to calm down from panic. I guess it's not "as if".

Table soccer line on the wall is such a cute detail reminding they are still teenagers.

I didn't understand the bridge scene with "Like, I'm being mean to you. - What? Am I supposed to get mad?" properly before. I do now though. Chaaaarles 😭 I believe it's a mixed bag of him keeping up his "sunny" facade, being able to communicate to another teenager who's alive (as a connection to being alive and regret that he's dead) and liking Crystal. Damn, that's too sad(((

Charles knows Edwin sooooo well. I can't with this huge smile after "You're really gonna let a little american girl die?". He was 1000% sure Edwin would cave in.

"Edwin this woman has a big cleaver-" WHY are you asking Edwin about it Charles?! 🤦😂

Ooooh no oh no oh no. The first case they take is a missing girl one. Crystal is crying while reading the mother's mind. Of course the woman can think only of her lost daughter. And THEN we learn that Crystal's own mother didn't give a damn. DIdn't even know her daughter was missing. My turn to cry 😭

Wow Edwin looked like he was on the verge of tears when Crystal confessed she let David in willingly. Heavy stuff.

Gods the whole "our deaths didn't matter" scene is. Idk how it can hit harder the 3rd time - maybe because I'm paying more attention to the details and have already processed some of their meanings - but it does. A moment of involuntary vulnerability, a true connection, reluctant as it was, and. Edwin is not collected in the slightest. It's not just that his emotions blew up - he just can't control them at all. This whole case with David the Demon became a very strong trigger and Edwin simply could not handle it at all. Crystal can't handle it either, she has her own trauma in full bloom. It's such a fragile moment between them when they decide to set this issue aside, even though it's very much urgent for Crystal. And poor Charles who's used to being a fixer is so lost the whole time because his words don't work and he has no idea what to do. Say what you want but the 1st episode is CHARGED with emotionally strong scenes.

Charles had a beef with Monty from episode one I just can't- 😂

"Keep mocking me, crow. I'll make you my friend eventually. Everyone likes me". Oh well, he sort of succeeded!

[bonesandthebees]

It's fine I perservere through everything bc I am just that cool

Also yeah, wtf has happened since I've been gone??? Like? Last I new was the Wilbur stuff and know there's talk of the French Union threatening to sue Quackity (I think? I'm a little confused on the whole thing)

oh god sammie you have missed. so much.

um. ok. nutshell summary. this is gonna be long. (tw: talks about more abuse and SA allegations being brought against other ccs)

other mcyt cc allegations after wilbur:

you know what happened with wilbur. after all the support shelby received, another streamer caitibugzz (another brighton cc) came forward with her own story about being sexually assaulted by a cc at vidcon while she was 18 and he was 26. she didn't name him but like with wilbur it didn't take long for people to figure out she was talking about georgenotfound. anyway, uh, that spiraled into a thing. george said a lot of shit, dream involved himself way too much, it was a mess.

immediately after that, punz's ex girlfriend, andi, came forward and discussed how toxic their relationship was and detailed a time they had sex while she was blackout drunk, which is SA. punz did respond insisting he didn't realize how drunk she was, it turned into a whole thing, andi's response basically boiled down to read both sides of the story and form your own opinion.

also then punz jumped in on whatever the hell was going on with dream and george with george's own allegations and discussed how in his entire friendship with dream he's felt very intimidated to speak out against him and often thought of him as a boss more than a friend. along with that he also brought up a point regarding his ex girlfriend andi, but I'm not going to go into too much detail on that because I don't believe andi wanted all that information to be made public and punz later deleted the posts.

at the same time another thing happened. another cc in the brighton group, lexie marie, had spoken out multiple times about how her ex was emotionally abusive to her and the day before wilbur posted his 'apology', she and shelby even did a whole stream together discussing abuse and their experiences. anyway, lexie's abuser was publicly named as wisp, so yeah he responded with an 'apology' of his own.

NOW AS FOR QSMP:

like a week or two after wilbur's 'apology' was posted, a former admin of one of the qsmp updates accounts came forward on twitter and discussed the terrible working conditions she and all the other admins have been having to deal with working for quackity studios. we learned that the updates accounts and the egg admins were unpaid, and were often pushed to pulling more hours or doing extra work they shouldn't have. this blew up in the community and quackity ended up doing a stream to say he basically has to do an entire restructure of the server because the finances for the server were being severely mishandled and he was under the impression most of these people were getting paid when they were not. (also, during this stream quackity made a quick aside to say that wilbur was going to be removed from the qsmp)

since then, more admins have left the team (agent 18, ramón's current admin) saying they haven't received communication and aren't sure what's going on.

one of the issues the initial whistleblower brought up was that pomme's admin had just recently been removed from the whitelist for the server and kicked from the discord server without being given much of an explanation. the french cc's all collectively said if pomme was not given back her role they would not continue on the server. today pomme's admin revealed herself and made a post saying she still hasn't received any communication with the team and is quitting entirely. dapper's admin resigned in solidarity with her.

then today quackity did another stream discussing how things are taking time because they have to work out a lot of internal legal issues and because it's legal stuff he can't give that many updates. he's also been hesitant to update people because he doesn't want to make false promises, as right now the qsmp does not have enough money to pay the egg admins and they won't return unless he finds funds for that because he's ending all unpaid positions. also, as people have left the project, some have been posting private screenshots from the qsmp discord or from communications with the qsmp team and quackity has said these leaks have been causing issues with the legal stuff they're dealing with, and also what's going on has been misconstrued as a result of these leaks, so that's another reason he's been keeping quiet about things. but he's determined to work this all out and to keep the qsmp going, but he completely understands if people don't want to stick with the project or if people who have worked with it wish to leave.

as far as the union goes, the initial whistleblower was a french admin for the updates account and so when she left the studio she contacted a french union about the unfair working conditions. the union has posted on twitter calling out quackity studios saying they're in violation of french labor laws and that if quackity refuses to communicate with them they will pursue legal action. except today we also learned from one of the union guys on twitter that they have not attempted to email him at all. they made their posts on twitter and said it's quackity's responsible to contact them. for the record, quackity deleted twitter a while ago so he's not on that platform right now. as you can see this raised some eyebrows.

so uh yeah. I'm missing a lot of details I know but I was trying to give as much of a summary as I could hitting all the major points. you have missed literally the most insane past few weeks.

[roses-dreams-andthorns]

May I request Lilia, Leona, Azul and Jamil with a reader who's got the ability to make her art come to life?

Writing a word creates that word (writing basket of cherries makes an actual basket of cherries come to life), drawing a picture makes whatever she drew real, etc.

Magic art? absolutely.

F!Reader (bc she/her pronouns used in request, but anyone can interact)

Leona

He doesn't really care at first, the only thing he really cares about is using you as a pillow for when he takes naps. But then there came a time you got tired of being the pillow and your legs going numb because this sleepy lion insists on using you as one and refusing to get up until he's done his nap. So you drew a pillow on your sketchbook, and boom, now he doesn't have to use you as a pillow, because now he has one of his own. He now constantly asks you to draw him up a sandwich so that he doesn't have to wait for Ruggie to get one for him.

(Sorry Trey didn't have many Ideas for this guy)

Azul

Azul has most likely tried to throw you into a contract multiple times to try to take your magic, using propaganda like; "I can get you anything you desire in exchange for your precious magic abilites..." but little does he know, you can do that yourself. Need money? Draw money and poof! you're rich! Need food? You could draw yourself an entire meal! See a plushie you like but don't feel like spending your money? Draw the plushie and you'll get it for free! Need a fancy outfit like a suit or dress? Get creative and draw it! He then falls into a pit of embarrassment and frustration when he realizes that his propaganda isn't going to work on someone who can already obtain anything they desire themselves for absolutely free just by drawing it. But despite his frustrations, he is quite amazed by your magic, and believes it would be insanely useful for business purposes, but what do you decide to use it for? Personal needs and wants, and for the sake if others as well. and he envies that.

Jamil

So... you can just draw anything you want? And you'll get it for free? Impressive. You could conjour up anything. plants, animals, money, plushies, collectable limited time items, furniture, clothes... Even a house?? You could draw yourself a whole castle, and make it a reality, It wouldn't surprise him if you can create your very own worlds filled with animals, castles, monsters and stuff like that, turning that world you created into the imagery in your head... You're letting your god complex show too much, Reader, let's calm down a bit... But besides using your magic for personal wants and needs, you also tend to use it for others as well. You use your magic to help him out quite a lot, like drawing up certain ingredients that he's missing for a certain dish, he's very greatful for that.

Lilia

"fufufufu... letting your god complex show, are we? Being able to create anything you desire...~ fufufufu... Your magic surprised me at first, oh but I have gotten used to it... Mind making me a few things, Reader?"

Lilia-san... you're breaking the fourth wall-

"I'm aware, Writer-san. But it doesn't hurt anyone.~"

Okay... have your wattpad moment, Trey supposes...

"Your magic, so unique and powerful... and how selfless you are to use it to help others as well... you never cease to amaze me, reader. I'm sure Malleus is also very impressed with your magic..."

Lilia-san... this is about you, not Malleus.

"Just saying, Writer-san.~"

...Trey would perfer it if you stuck to their script... but oh well...

Trey will have to keep Lilia-san from breaking the fourth wall next time...

[yuseirra]

***Onk spoilers***

Vague spoilers alert but I have no idea what actually happens myself yet either. I have little idea of what happens in the last chapter but uh. I'm just getting the idea that nothing really happened. Why am I unamused...

I mean... The clues have been already there in the songs. AND within their OWN story. They should use it. I'm actually worried. Oh but there is no way huh? But why were those things there then??? What was this story trying to accomplish and say through its writings?

I'm really going to believe in my theory in an earnest sense, this story DOES NOT WORK unless that's how it is. There must be a reason why the anime team announced a third season because it WILL NOT SELL if nothing gets resolved. Who'd.. Watch and buy knowing the ending is like this? Anime prodctions are COSTLY and it takes a lot of effort. Aren't they the studio which animated gekkan shoujo nozaki kun and it STILL didn't get another season(I never watched it but I heard it was really good-) then this piece must have a point, right? Some insight to give out?

I can still manage to draw things if things are a status quo because it's NOT the worst scenario for me(aka: if it's still AMBIGUOUS that Kamiki's the one that's harmed Ai if that's still going to be how it is BECAUSE, I DON'T THINK HE'S THE ONE WHO TRIED TO HURT HER! I'M GOING TO BELIEVE HIM HAVING SAID WHAT HE SAID ABOUT AI!! THAT HE NEVER WANTED TO HURT ANYONE BUT JUST WANTED TO SEND A BOUQUET!) but they SHOULDN'T KEEP IT THAT WAY TILL THE VERY END. or do they? Is Kamiki sooo evil? What the heck??

This piece doesn't deserve an underwhelming finale. I genuinely wanted it to be good, so that's why I feel so baffled and startled.. And really sad over it,

I'm going to believe in what I think it is. How isn't THAT it? I think that's really what's been going on;

Like...it hasn't been refuted once hasn't it? How CAN Hikaru do all these stuff? That guy is the black star god. It does all add up. Where do these stars come from, what are they doing in people's eyes. Why was his company's name EYES. He be goin around collecting pieces of his girlfriend THAT'S WHAT, they gave two songs to this guy. Do something about it omygod. I see it actually being a pretty decent story, if it is but they still'd need to bring Aqua back.

I'm just going to...believe in this. Then I can understand and figure out just what this piece was supposed to make out. But if they really just.. Define the dad as the serial killer and blame him for every single bad thing that's happened in this piece as the mastermind(even if it's so, he's NOT WRITTEN WELL TO BE LIKE THAT) then this piece doesn't deserve to have a place to talk about the nature of the industry!!

Oh 154 was my favorite chapter!! I wish it had some kind of meaning to it. I really liked it. Because it had me open my eyes and realize that they can't build a character like Kamiki and make him into a flat-out monster. I was ready to take him as one if they were going to before that but the more I thought of it, I understood it's so rude. It's hazardous to the message. I recognized of it that point or so I thought, so I had an idea that this piece was going to be turn out to be really clever and pretty meaningful.

I can draw a better ending, I'll do it before I move on if I have my love left upon reading the final chapter because this piece had its charms. If.. I'm too lost or lose my passion then.. That's such a shame. It's not something I can control. I never want my love to dissipate myself so let's see how it goes.

Also, Kana does not deserve any of what's been happening to her after the helfway mark of the story, I feel so bad about how they used her character because I find her really precious. As much as the other girls of this series. Since Aqua and her feelings were mutual, it'd have been great if they could be happy with each other.

I really care for Kamiki...ugh.. At this point, can I say I've ACTUALLY been writing him more carefully than the authors themselves(but the songs were so good???? Weren't THOSE intentional? Written with intent~~???) I just...I'm going to give him justice as a character. I refuse to have him take all the blame and I'm really not convinced(unless the last chapter somehow does it for me) BUT AQUA COULD'VE JUST DUNKED THE DAD AND WENT TO JAIL. Just stay a few years there and reunite with everyone right?? The reason why I think he COULDN'T have done that's because Kamiki's something that cannot be constricted with human laws. It really seems like it. How else would this guy "ruin Ruby's future". He really doesn't do ANYTHING. Just him standing there could bring havoc because he's a broken god, I swear that has to be it and why Aqua had felt the need to give his life because!! They say Aqua wanted to live right!!I SAY THIS OVER AND OVER BUT HIS DAD HE TRYIN TO KILL TOLD HIM TO LIVE TOO but he had to go through with it because the man's too broken and became a walking disaster!

Aqua had a "mission" assigned from the gods!! He kept talking about it you know?? So gods ARE involved. They have to explain what that is about-

Okay.

I'm.. Really sure what I made out earlier should be... Right. If they do end up making things vague?? Then this might as well really be it. It holds everything together but why do I have to do the work without the piece telling me about it?

If all things remain pretty much status quo in the last ep, I'm sure I'm..just right. Or this piece is beyond saving, I don't mean it in a sarcastic way at all. I just won't understand what it is.

[rosepetalkitty]

Oh also just because I love watching you infodump about stuff and equally love learning more about people: 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21, 22, 26, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44 :)

link to the questions so you can follow along

11: @mnmurmur

13: if you mean kinks, hypnosis and pet play probably but the latter kinda fluctuates. if you mean "things people can do to fluster me", putting a finger to my lips and shushing me or trapping me (like pinned against a wall for example) and forcing me to listen while you mess with my brain

15: a really close call between the first four pirates of the caribbean movies (didn't like the direction dmtnt tried to take things), but i think i have to go with dead man's chest

16: you respect my boundaries, give good aftercare and don't expect dominance from me, even if i get to show it sometimes.

19: i take notes about people! i don't think that's weird though tbh. i have "people cards" in my pkms to keep track of birthdays, who's taller than who, which people are in relationships with each other, etc. and it makes keeping up with social interactions wayyyy easier for me.

21: ooh that's tough... probably the fact that im good at comforting people when they're scared/anxious. or at least im pretty sure that's the case...

22: well, career wise im going into systems administration, but also i wanna pass as a woman, i wanna be fully able to support myself financially, i wanna make more friends who i can actually hang out with instead of just people who come to me for help on coding assignments, and i wanna get more comfortable being at parties and stuff because i love social interaction and just kinda don't know how to get into situations where that happens. sorry for this one being so long lmfao

26: people telling me to do things im already trying to do oh my god it drives me insane. yes, mom, i am actually capable of remembering to do the thing i just told you i was frustrated at the difficulty doing. "well, make sure you do x" is not a helpful response to "im trying to do x and it's a pain"

33: being told im pretty is nice but like honestly, being told that people actually enjoy interacting with me is my favorite compliment because i have a lot of self doubt around that.

36: somewhere urban and walkable, but not stupidly silly expensive. alternatively, puerto rico, see also 41.

38: at first i wanted to be a marine biologist (i really liked dolphins) but then i realized i didn't really like biology, so i decided i was gonna build robots and found out i didn't like all the math involved, and then when i was like. 11? i settled on coding and that evolved into systems administration by the time i was in high school. now it's my major in uni!

39: cookie dough. although i would enjoy it just as much without the ice cream part (i loooove raw cookie dough, some brands make cookie dough that's safe to eat raw and it's everything to me), so i guess uhhhhh tough call between mint and coconut

40: i wish i passed, i wish i was shorter, i wish i had a job, i wish i didn't have anxiety and depression and all the various executive functioning issues, i wish i was the kind of person people would invite to parties, and i wish all the trauma ive collected from my childhood hadn't made a lot of the things i want to enjoy terrifying to me.

41: god, honestly i wish i could move to puerto rico (where my dad is from) because it's a beautiful place and im really emotionally connected to it. i haven't been to the island since i was a kid and i just want to go back :(

44: as of somewhat recently i am an ordained minister. the church of the flying spaghetti monster will ordain you for $60 online, and i can legally marry people as long as i'm dressed as a pirate in (i think?) most states (pennsylvania can't take a joke but afaik the rest won't stop me). i did this on a whim and myrrh and i have agreed that it's probably the best $60 i've spent to date.

[fangaminghell]

Okay so, I’m an idiot who’s obsessed with Zenith.

What’s he like in your AU?

Hi :)

Oh Zenith, there's a lot going on with him, and hopefully I remember everything cause I haven't touched his stuff in a while.

So basically - Zenith was born and raised in the Infernal Cult. The infernal cult has been around for. A loooooong while, not exactly around the time that the region was created, but definitely somewhere along the line there. Zenith's story actually takes place in the 19....20's? Yeah the 1920's. Details aren't fully realized, but at that specific time, he was the head of the infernal cult, right after his mother. And at that specific time, he had a rival- the chosen of meloetta, Riya. There was a confrontation between the two, and Riya took Zenith's life ....in exchange for her own. With Zenith dead, the infernal cult pretty much crumbled without it's leader, despite the efforts of it's even most devoted followers. The story would have ended here, a tale of a hero dying to rid the world of another evil.

Would have ended.

See, Zenith did die. And he honestly thought he was a goner until he got a visit from none other than Nyx. And Nyx had a deal for him. She would bring him back to life, even give him a bit of power akin to his old rival, in exchange for his service to her. He would collect the crystal shards for her,and then give them to her when the time comes. Zenith agreed without even thinking. So then and there, Zenith was able to crawl back up from the dead, and revive his cult from what little it has become. Oh and he's also basically immortal. This deal was really enticing you can see why Zenith didn't even think before agreeing. That's the backstory.

In modern times, Zenith is still a librarian.....in his spare time anyway. But his main cover up is actually being the Torren regions most beloved idol. Turns out Zenith had a knack for singing and showman ship- something that actually caused his rivalry with Riya I bet- she was a singer dancer in the 20s. As for the power that Nyx given him, like I said it was essentially a bit of Riya's. He had the power of voice. While he couldn't fully mind control people, he could still slightly influence them/suggest to them via his voice. Hence why he honestly has such a big fanbase. The details are iffy for this part, but his biggest goal is to use the crystal(?) to amplify his voice powers to the masses. Taking it from subtle suggestion/ influence to full blown mind control. Also he most likely doesn't use his real name lol. I imagine Zenith had plenty of fake names over the years, hence why he was able to stay underground for so long. That and just being sure to keep his looks hidden unless he can hide it well, like as Zachary or whatever his idol persona name is.

Zenith in my au is also pretty loyal to Nyx, seeing her just as much as a god as Groudon. That being said.....if he were to be able to get the upper hand on her and take her out, he probably would. The guy really likes power, and if he can no longer be on a chain to someone else, he would. Still, I see him as being pretty devoted....even when Nyx hardly gives him anything after that lmao.

God, can I talk about him and Jaern for a second? They both are so similar but are so different in one big way. Both have this public persona of someone that is beloved and kind and charismatic and has the public's best interest at heart. But even with that persona.....Zenith knows who he is. He knows he wants power, he knows he enjoys the feeling of having people under his thumb. He knows that. But Jaern is convincing himself that what he is doing is in the name of justice, in the name of making the world a better place, when the reality is, he just wants to feel powerful. I haven't fully figured out how they would interact in the plot, if at all, but if they did, it would be so interesting bc I know Zenith sees the right through Jaern's bullshit. It's why he both kinda Jaern amusing and an insult. Because he's not owning it. Being a cult leader, to Zenith, is owning what you want while fooling the masses. If Jaern doesn't believe that what he wants, simply put, is power,then what is he doing. Who is he trying to fool, himself? Please. So as his idol persona, Zenith loves just picking at the guy whenever they have the chance to meet. I don't know if Jaern knows that Zenith the idol is Zenith the cult leader, I haven't fully fleshed that out, but man, I just love to imagine the power dynamic they have. Zenith has been a cult leader for a long time, so while technically, Jaern has the power of law by his side, he is honestly pretty helpless to the raw power that is the Infernal Cult,and they both know that. It's just. Fbghftbjvedhyg, I hope I'm making sense here.

But yeah. That's Zenith from what I can remember. If I didn't make it clear, I think he's a little fruity. He lived too long to give a shit about gender norms and who likes who, he's literally going to take over the world, who cares ( spoilers: he still dies bc lol Nyx never mentioned his immortality was linked to how much she needed him, so once he failed, he was good as dead).

[mchlgayser]

✸ it wasn't intended ft blue lock men

synopsis: An argument broke between you and them, but it was most definitely (un)intentional for them to shout and throw spiteful words your way.

─── ୨୧ warning: angst + no happy ending, languages, arguments, and slight toxicity

─── ୨୧ notes: I will do this very first part with my favorite characters first (I'm biased) and then will continue with the other characters, you guys can comment on any specific chacs you like and I'll try to do it no promise (I might do this up to two or three parts only lol)

ISAGI YOICHI:

It's rarely happens, the time you both got into a fight. Isagi is rather composed, and collected most of the time but these days - all thanks to the facility that's been doing nothing but feed his ego, he is rather the opposite.

Not 360° all the way but you can see the change of demeanor, he is maturing since the last time you saw him, which is before he got into the facility. That's good news but it made you lowkey missed the old Isagi. You could try and spend some time with him but it's hard because his mind will play a loop of new strategies and techniques he's building for his next game. It was bearable, at first.

But the more his mind is occupied with it, the more you felt left out. You try talking to him about it once or twice but as always, it fell in to the right and and fell out of left.

That is until one day, you decided you had enough! He calls you for accompany, shouldn't he at least make up time for you? Even for a minute? No, he decided to still be the villain and ignored you, hands occupied to a bullpen, mind for ways to suppress everyone.

"You shouldn't bother texting me to come you know?' You suck in your teeth realizing that you've been ignored, once more

'For God's sake, I'm talking to you!' The sudden outburst noisily interrupted him 'Should've declined my offer, then.' He barks back, eyes glued to his front 'Oh, my God! You've turned from a complete nice guy to a jerk, a total big jerk.' You half-yell at him, and finally, the long-awaited attention is towards you

'Can you shut the hell up, I need company not a mother to nag me all around but since you decided otherwise maybe you can leave and stop bothering me.' That, that hurts.

'I can't believe you, you know that? I've been here all this month rooting for you and your sickening dream and this is how you repay me? I'm not asking much, just simple attention from you yet you can't afford that but instead, you lashed it out back at me like I'm the one at fault.' Hot, and warm tears begin accompanying your cheeks, you try your best to keep them away from plunging but it kept falling like an endless rain.

For a wink, you could see a twinge of regret in his eyes but his actions and his words never flatter 'Fine, leave and stop bothering you? I will.' He watches. He watches as you pick your stuff up, he watches as you slam his bedroom door open and he watches your hand slip him with a mere inch. He watches you leave and stop bothering him.

OLIVER AIKU:

How many times has it been? First at the mall, second at a private karaoke bar, third at one of his matches, and this? the fourth, perhaps the fifth, worst of it all inside your Goddamn house. Your one-year-old month boyfriend is caught cheating with you. They were playing games at your Nintendo switch. As a person who could not tolerate getting your stuff snoop around, you didn't waste another second throwing your heavy bag to her head eliciting pain screaming.

Aiku shot from his seat dropping the woman in the process and your Nintendo fell to the hard ground. You throw a dagger at the slightly shorter woman, pointing out to the door 'Get. Lost.' She picks up her scattering stuff and leaves with a screech when you do the slapping motion her way

'We need to talk.' You grumble he could barely make it, he hums legs man-spread waiting for you to speak further 'Why?' It was inaudible, below a whisper, had he not paid attention to you he would miss it but the eat-shit grin never wipe off his face knowing he'll get out of this mess sooner or later.

He loves you, yes but wasn't enough to make sure he won't cheat. You are nothing like the girls he's with, you are different in your ways but the urge to always never be faithful laces behind him - but you are always kind enough to never push him off even after countless times he cheated on you and that's why, right now he is not scared. Not scared of losing you, the only one who can love and understand him.

'I don't know...' That three words are enough to completely shatter every last dignity in you and to finally stop being an idiot and get your heart plays every time.

'I've done nothing but forgive you, yet you still cheated on me with another girl-' You rambles

'Not another, it's the same girl-' Your body moves before your brain could digest, and your hand place right on his cheek leaving a red print that his bottom lip bleeds slightly from the harsh impact.

'I hate you.' His grin drops from his face, and the smug smirk on his face fell effortless at your words, the words he's familiar with to other women but so strange from you. That simple but harsh words indicating him that he's fucked up, badly this time.

His whole form jolted your way but your eyes remained to the ground 'I'm leaving.' You finally said after a moment of intense silence.

You get up and try to leave but the firm grip on your wrist prevents you from doing so 'Where are you going?' You swat his hand away 'Fuck you, Aiku. Fuck you, fuck your girls, and fuck this stupid relationship.'

BAROU SHOEI:

You don't exactly remember how this argument even started. You remember arriving home, taking shower, and doing your work when Barou slam the door of your private study room, all angry, veins popping out at the side of his temple.

And you do remember your boyfriend being an absolute clean-freak.

'Was it so important? I just asked you to take the fucking trash out, God damn it!' Ah, you remembered now, that morning he had asked you to take out the trash when you got home after work but you forget 'And I said I forgot! Seriously, what's wrong with you?! It's just a fucking trash, go and take it out yourself!' More veins popping out of his face.

'You are so useless, you peasant. It's just a simple task but you can't do it. All you do is lie down all day and procrastinate like a fucking turtle. Seriously, is there anything you good at?!' His words are harsher than he intended. It was spiteful and sharp like a knife. The form of the act to look tough just as much as he did fall crumble to the palm of his calloused hand.

'You are so mean. What do you mean by 'procrastinate'? I've been stressing over deadlines and working all-day, do you bother asking?' You feel the desire to kick him, punch him and slap him for saying that but you fight every bone and fiber in you not to as to not make the situation worse.

'I'm tired enough playing slave at works but not at home too..' You sighed, your head throbs in pain and agony but you composed yourself with exhales and inhales.

'But maybe if you desire someone to do everything you asked for, you should go and hire a maid not a girlfriend, you selfish idiot.' You purposely bump your shoulder on him, leaving him in the room to himself.

NAGI SEISHIRO:

Hassle. Another hassle. More Hassle. Is it even a hassle anymore? more like a burden. A burden you had to carry. A burden you lift off to save this pointless relationship.

At first, you find it cute, anyone would but after months of living together, it became sort of like a responsibility. A responsibility you aren't ready to commit. Each day becomes worse, so worse that you sometimes became doubtful if you can go through the day, alive.

'Seishiro, why is everything scattering around?' You implied to the scattered chips, cans of sodas, and the CDs of games 'Eh, it was a hassle to pick it up.' He mentioned, hands continuing to type in the controller 'Sei, we've talked about this. You shouldn't turn the house upside down.'

'But it wasn't upside down though...?' You had to stop your words to take a long breath to compose yourself from cursing out at him 'No matter what it is, you shouldn't mess stuff around. Clean it.' You put your bag down and take a towel to bath 'Make sure everything's done when I finished showering.'

Indeed not. The boy won't listen, no matter how loud you shouts at him, no matter how hard you are on him, he will never budge

'Seishiro, what did I tell you about-' You notice the headphone on his head, you can even hear the song he's playing knowing how loud he just set his volume to. You snatch the headphone off his head with an angry look 'Pick up the mess you made.' He rolls his eyes at you, the faint 'K.O' sound from the television heard not long after he set down his controller.

'Why don't you clean it yourself? It's a hassle for me to do it. There's so much...' He complained, legs crossed with his eyes on you. His sharp eyes bore into you, probably creating a dagger of a bullet if you hadn't spoken any further to switch his attention to 'Listen, it wasn't me who go around and did this mess. It's you, and that's why you should do it.' He clicks his tongue in annoyance, well that's new coming from him

'You are such a hassle. So annoying...' He scratched his head in attempt to reduce his annoyance 'I'm annoying. No you are. You are a hassle. I am not your mom to go and clean up after your mess Seishiro. Think wisely before you speak from the idiotic, and lazy mouth of yours.' You pointed out, your point finger merely an inch from his face, ready to stab his face with it.

'Until you clean this whole a lot of mess you've done. Don't call me, I'm staying at a friend's.' He wanted to call for you but something is holding him back - it wasn't a hassle he felt, for once.

EITA OTOYA:

He wasn't like this at first. He is pretty calm, relaxed, and laid-back when you both first dated but nowadays - he is still the way he is but not with you. With everyone else, yes but not with you. With you, he changed. He's becoming cold, and sarcastic all the time. But this minimum change in him never succeeded to make you hate him instead, you grew worried. Is there something you've been doing wrong? Is it your appearance that made his change? Why won't he say anything?

You know how risky it is to date him, after all, you knew him from way back. Otoya is a playboy, a guy who dates half of the girl population in school. But was that enough to stop you from taking a liking to him? No. It's sicker when you confessed to him and he accepted you right away.

It's even sicker when he told you he's been eyeing you for quite some time. That's why you are in this relationship with him now even though it's secreted from the public eye.

You snap out of your thoughts when a controller is pushed your way, your sibling who had just finished their show giving the remote to you 'Your boyfriend is doing an interview today right?' You thank them with a smile as you switch the channel to sports ones. It shows that the media is now preparing for a press conference with the Barcha's FC man of the match, which is your boyfriend. You could spot him at the back, his green strand stood out from the rest as he began treading to his table and sat down, ready to answer the media's question.

It was going well, they were asking your boyfriend - well questions that related to football but not until a female reporter came and ask him about you - technically, your relationship 'Is it true that you've got yourself a girlfriend?' The reporter asked, 'Is she coming today? Would you describe her and what she's like?' She continues further on, adding fuel to the fire.

You began not feeling comfortable in your seat, anticipating the answer your boyfriend will prepare 'No, no I haven't got myself a girlfriend, with my career that is important ta' but ta' have a girlfriend is just not it, it's too tiresome. So I'm pretty much available right now.' He winks to the camera earning a few laughs from the audience. But, was it funny? It wasn't funny to get your heart stomped on like that by the person you trust with every molecule in your body.

You decided that it was enough and switched off the channel. On cue, your sibling got out of the bathroom 'Can I stay overnight?' You watch them giving you a suspicious look 'What happened?' You shake your head at them, dismissing the idea completely to talk about this, right now.

'I'm just too tired to drive,' They step closer to you plopping down on the couch 'I can call Otoya to pick you up?' You rapidly declined the idea, giving them a small believable smile before you - leisurely, got up 'I'm gonna go and have a bath.' You thank them for indirectly letting you stay for the day and tread to the guest room.

Your sibling watches as your figure disappears inside the room, shrugging to themselves.

It was late at night, strike twelve yet you were still up, eyes wide like a fish. Your hands cross on top of your stomach tapping a rhythm to find the need to doze off but your mind decided to play tricks on you by looping the interview you watched that evening. Your mind is hazy and your eyes are teary. Otoya never left a message after the interview ended. Is he not scared you might watch the interview, how come he didn't update anything? Can he at least say that it was a lie?

But nope, you don't know what happened to the boy after the interview.

You keep tossing around to sleep when out of nowhere the bedroom door of the guest room burst open. You jolted in bed, thinking the possibly worst of all but upon seeing the stood-out green strand and white hair, your whole form relaxed but then, you realized why you are in this state at the first place.

You spot your sibling by the door doing the 'what's going on?' gestures with their hands 'You can leave...' You encourage them, watching as they are reluctant to leave but leave nonetheless.

'Close the door, I don't want them to hear us...' Otoya is in disbelief not liking the way you are talking but obliged.

'Why didn't yer' come home? I was waiting fer' ya, thank God yer' sibling called me...' You sighed, sitting down at the edge of the bed and feeling the mattress dip under your shape 'That's rich coming from you when you told the world about how having a girlfriend is 'tiresome'.' You watch his eye twitch in irritation.

'I did what I was supposed to, I don't want them ta' know about us?'

'Why not? No, really, why not? Why didn't you want them to know? I mean it's been a while since we are dating so don't you think it is finally time or is it because you are bored of me now? Because that explains why you've been ignoring me these past few weeks.' His Adam's apple bops up and down gulping down a huge lump at the back of his throat.

'I...'

'Don't you dare lie to me, Eita.' You point a finger his way in a threatening manner 'Yer' right. I don't know Y/n. I don't think I see any future heck even a tomorrow in this relationship. My career is so important ta' me, I don't see myself can focus on anything else but football at this time. I don't want to hurt yer' by breaking up witcha but I just don't feel it anymore... M' sorry.' You scoff, feeling the urge to choke him so hard he loses consciousness.

'Don't apologize if you didn't truly mean it. It still doesn't justify your actions to treat me like one of your exes. I'm hurt Eita, hurt because I know you meant what you said during your interview. At least try and be a little nice with your way of talking shit about me.' You huff in disappointment

'So I think we can end this now, get out!' He flinches at the sudden spurt but he stays under composure 'I said. Leave.' You pointed out at the door gesturing him to walk up which he did after a moment of hesitation.

'I hope I can see you around. My sibling will walk you to the door.' You close the bedroom door, immediately creating a barrier between him and you.

MICHAEL KAISER

One thing about Kaiser being in a relationship is he always thinks men are superior. He's the 'woman stays in the kitchen to serve men sandwiches' type of guy and that didn't make any difference with you. Of course, at first, you obliged like a good girl of his, after all that's what he wants in a girl, an obedient girl - and you fit the spot just perfectly. But after months you think it becomes sort of like a master and maid kind of relationship minus the fact you two eat, sleeps, shower, and get intimate. It was something you can bare for a long period of time but within time, he became overly comfortable with the way you are.

And that pissed you off. Kaiser is sweet at a time, but most of the time he is his usual self, arrogant, rude, and vain. The way he talks to you sometimes also adds salt to the wound.

'And what exactly is my job, Kaiser?!' He shrugs, his looks staying unbothered 'To serve me, take care of me,' He swirls the wine inside the wine cup before he takes a sip. You scoff in disbelief 'I am not your fucking maid. I'm your girlfriend for fuck's sake!' He sighs putting down the wine cup 'Look, why do you suddenly complain? Why now, I thought you are fine being my maid-girlfriend' He emphasized the word 'maid' with one brow cock 'You are an asshole, you know that?' A deep chuckle slips his lips in pure amusement 'Tell me something I don't know.' He challenged, one hand now propping to his knee and his chin, looking at you with a mock confused look

'You never change, do you? Always thinking you are superior to anyone else but... I'm your girlfriend, Kaiser. Can't you at least be nice, even for a little? It's that little I'm asking for you.'

'What can I say, Y/n? Am a narcissistic fuck and that won't change even for you, I mean who are you?' He laughs picking back up the wine to drink it in one go 'You are not different than the rest of that mediocrities I'm with, just identical.' The way those hurtful words coming out from him like it cost him nothing brings instant tears to your eyes

'You are so ignorant.' You push the urge to break down in front of him as you turn your heels around to walk away 'Where are you going?' He asked gripping your waist and hugging you from behind 'Let me go,' He tighten his grasp on you so close you can feel his head shake a no.

'Not gonna happen,' 'Kaiser, let me-' A broken sob left your mouth, and that's when he finally lets go to turn you around so you are facing him 'Y/n...' You finally get the chance to push past him and huff 'Don't call my name,' You strut to your room and close the door, locking him behind.

[linesonscreens]

Let's Read Peanuts (Yup, still at it) – May 1954

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

May 3, 1954

~tugs collar~

Yeah... About that.

May 9, 1954

Aw yeah, here we go! I was wondering when this would pop up.

May 15, 1954

1) That's not a joke

2) Yes, Violet. I got that from him kicking the radio.

Also I hope you enjoyed this strip because “Charlie Brown doesn't like coconut” is now a running gag.

May 16, 1954

This definitively proves that adults exist in the Peanuts Cinematic Universe, they just happen to be 20 feet tall for some reason. Or maybe the kids are like 2 feet tall? It depends on how you look at it I guess.

May 23, 1954

Oh man! What's going to happen!? I'm freaking out!

May 24, 1954

Lucy is so unbelievably awful to Linus in these early years. Granted, she's literally four(?) years old so I can cut her a bit of slack but god damn do these kind of interactions not endear you to her.

Weirdly enough though, I actually like that the strip doesn't punish her for doing stuff like this. Others have made this observation long before I came along but the fact that Schulz is willing to just sort of... let bad things happen without immediately having the universe make an example of the perpetrator or teach them a lesson is one of the things that sets Peanuts apart from the competition. Life just kind of be like that sometimes and it's OK to show it.

May 30, 1954

(No, really. That's the last one)

Thoughts:

The golf tournament arc is kind of notorious and nobody really knows what the hell is up with it. You have continuity in the Sunday strips (very unusual due to how they are made), weird off-model art, the cast acting out of character, and of course, on-screen adults. Then it all just kind of... stops. It's very odd.

I've heard people speculate that this might actually have been ghost drawn (is that a term?) by another artist but I'm not sure if I buy that. The art is a bit different but it still very much feels like Schulz to me, particularly in how he draws his backgrounds. I ~do~ think there might be something to the idea that this is a repurposed experiment from another project though.

What this feels like to me is Schulz experimenting with “bigger” stories, perhaps something intended to be sold as a proper comic book rather than just a collection of strips. The art looks different because he's trying to set it apart from the strips by adding more detail and action (kind of like when an animated TV sitcom gets a theatrical movie).

As for why it just ends like that? Well that's a sort of punchline Schulz does in a lot in his daily strips so it's not actually that weird if you think about it. I think he just didn't realize that this kind of anticlimax punchline works with a 4-panel strip but not a 4-page event comic.

There's no official word on the matter though so your guess is as good as mine.

[real-sun-wukong-fan01]

Novel WuKong but he’s singing ‘I dont take insults lightly’, know I said this before but I want to go in depth a little bit.

Since Lmk changed stuff about the journey(and probably some stuff about WuKong too), I think this song would kind of show how Novel WuKong and Lmk WuKong personalities are opposite of each other.

The song also makes me think about the fact that book WuKong REALLY don’t take insults lightly at all (I mean those demons who did insult him died), while Lmk WuKong would be highly offended (and angered) but we see the demons that did pretty much insult him still alive unlike their book counterparts.

I’m also getting inspiration from that one fanfic on Ao3( love that fanfic, book WuKong is a menace we all love)

It's too early you can't do this to me

novel wukong wasn't a bad person, he was just highly traumatized and his response was fight.

He was stubborn and he thought of himself high, he had an ego, if he didn't had that already (who wouldn't after becoming a god and unstoppable?)

He never reacted lightly to things, in general. but especially in anger. Whenever he got insults, yes, they didn't exactly strike and hurt his pride, but yes, they did anger him.

One time, he got called a coward? A coward by a demon? wukong didn't even care about Tripitaka at the moment, he just wanted to prove that demon wrong, by killing them.

and it was that demon that comes after the first time wukong gets sent away by Tripitaka (with lbd) if I'm not wrong.

Lmk wukong is the opposite, same guy, same trauma, just decided to express it differently.

He's still stubborn, but he got turned down so many times, he got dehumanized, tortured and laughed at so many times that he himself believes all those comments we see with the scroll ("Bad monkey!")

but instead of trying to prove them wrong, he just takes it. Yes, most time it probably doesn't even matter to him what others say, he's a literal god, he likely dosen't even listen to mortals anymore. But whenever you say it to his face? Whenever he did something wrong? Or something wrong he didn't even realize it was wrong? Oh he shuts up. He takes it. He acts exactly like he does with Tripitaka, and hopes for the fillet not to come back.

He's traumatized, and instead of fight, he takes it, because in the end he understands those mistakes, but if people keep screaming at him of how he's a monster because of those mistakes, of past things that should have been left there to collect dust instead of getting brought up whenever he's not the perfect hero, of course he won't be able to recover. Every single time someone comes, SOMEONE, and has to force people to see what wukong USED TO BE. They HAVE to shove it down wukong face that he's hated by someone new (adding it to the list), they have to KEEP themselves thinking that wukong is incapable of change while the actual guy is the one who had the most change and is the nicest guy we can ever see on the show aside from the main crew and some of their alleys.

It's very ironic how, YES, novel wukong wasn't the nicest and he likely, almost definitely did not care about others unless it affected HIM personally, but now? Now that he HAD his change, now that he is finally to BE a good person? NOW. NOW. that he decides that he will not fight, but rather do anything he can just to keep everyone safe, alive, even the enemy?

They have to come and bring up who he used to be. It HAUNTS wukong at this point.

I would get pretty sick of it. Finally changing for the better and finally being seen in a better light just for people to never acknowledging that change, they just think you're still that monster to them.

Lmk and novel are opposites, clearly are, but they fit with each other like no one would because they are two sides of ONE coin.

A better side, and a less better one, but both have motives and are awfully human (human interpretation of the mind.) Who are only trying to do what they think is right.

it's too early and I'm sleepy you shouldn't have done this now idk what i just said