#So obviously more experienced writing comes with each new one

[rainypebble07]

My Byler Fanfics (and a short introduction to each one- so you can find your perfect match)

Hello! I'm trying something new because I feel like my prior fic masterpost with my honest opinions was too many words to look at, so I'm just gonna list the best parts of each of my fics and you can see if you're interested!

It Wasn't a Bad Thing- Don't read this. It was my first fic and it's bad. I did write a rewrite though, which comes up later in the list.

How To Handle Your Love Life and the Apocolypse at the Same Time- Takes place after season four, TONS of Nancy and Mike stuff, Will and Mike in the Upside Down, Mike might sing, MIKE AND NANCY GIRLS' NIGHT, one of my earlier fics but still decent! (46k words)

Much Ado About... Something?- High school theatre AU, they put on Much Ado About Nothing, Mike's a theatre kid, Suzie and Dustin in tech make me happy, very angst at the end, MURRAY'S THE DIRECTOR SO YOU KNOW THAT IT'LL BE GOOD, my most kudos-ed fic. (54k words)

The Unwanted Return of Everything (And How it Finally Ends)- Long, possession stuff, everyone's in college but they have to come back to Hawkins bc the Upside Down is back, decent plot twists, Will has a boyfriend so JEALOUS MIKE, there's like three different conflicts, angsty angst sometimes (76k words)

Shady Business- My fav, Superspy AU, Will's working for the evil corporation and is secretly trying to take down the agency Mike works at, Mike writes a poem, suspenseful plot, gala gala dancing dancing, just my favorite thing ever idk what else to say (54k words)

Mike Wheeler's Guide to the Undead- LITTLE BABY MIWI, Will died in the upside down and comes back as a zombie, cute cute cute, the little baby party, Nancy Wheeler, Miwi again, heart-to-heart on top of a crypt, we get REVENGE on Troy Walsh, it's younger Mike so he's sweet (31k words)

It Wasn't A Bad Thing (REWRITTEN)- Mike's a florist, Will own's a tattoo parlor, El and Mike and Will all have POVs as they try to figure themselves out, my aro/ace Eleven agenda is showing, Mike and Nancy, Will and El!, Mike's an absolute disaster, the zoo, Robin and Will friendship, Mike and Will get matching tattoos, the angst very much agnsts (52k words)

If Time Runs Out- Pirate AU, Mike's a royal and he gets kidnapped by pirates, Jonathan's the captain, so Jancy's also there, Will teaches Mike to sword fight, Mike teaches Will to waltz, Mike has internalized piratephobia, Murray can tell the future, Steve has a ship called the toddfather (70k words)

Alright! That's all! Hopefully, you found something you are interested in!

[foxy-eva]

Spencer Reid x Reader Headcanons - Mutual Pining

(requested by anon and @khyleereads for my New Year's Celebration)

The first time Spencer lays eyes on you he is absolutely blown away by your beauty. With every day passing it becomes harder for him to form coherent sentences around you.

Whenever you're sitting close to him or casually touch his arm his cheeks take on a lovely rosy shade and his heart almost jumps out of his chest.

He pays attention whenever you mention details from your personal life. Even though the team agreed to not profile each other he can't help it when it comes to you.

More than anything in the world he loves to see your smile. Whenever he manages to make you laugh he couldn't be happier himself.

He notices instantly when you're having a bad day. Even though he has a hard time articulating his feelings he deeply cares about you and always tries to show you that he is there for you.

He makes it a habit to bring you coffee and little treats on long work days. Sometimes he even takes a couple of your files to help you with your paperwork.

The whole team notices long before the two of you that you are perfect for each other.

The issue is that even though Spencer is nice to you, you notice quickly that he barely ever talks to you and often looks away when you try to make eye contact. It takes you a long time to realize that the usually so eloquent doctor seems to be shy around you.

Even when you very obviously start flirting with him he still doesn't get the hint. Somehow he convinces himself that you're just being friendly.

The truth is that Spencer is terrified of ruining your friendship if he confesses his feelings. It becomes clear that you'd have to be the one to take the first step.

When you finally get a moment with him alone and take your chance to kiss him, it takes him almost too long to reciprocate the kiss because he is so shocked. But when he finally does, your kiss turns into the best thing you have ever experienced.

Masterlist

Please like, reblog and leave a comment! I need your lovely words to stay motivated to write more stories.

Taglist: @nomajdetective @reidsbookclub @gspenc @samuel-de-champagne-problems @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @malindacath @reidselle @alexxavicry @frickin-bats @spencersprettyslut @sebs-oxygen @happymangospot @cynbx @melifluorei-d @hotchandspencearedilfs @emiliaserpe @thenerdthatwrites @velvetthunder93 @saturnstringz @missabsey @guacam011y @hugyourlungs @reiderwriter @enamoradax @hales-17 @cham9ions @loaksulluyswife @ecneremili @xserenax-13 @grumpyy-bearr @luredwithpretzels @castiels-majestic-wings @super-nerd22 @pleasantwitchgarden @yeonalie @r-3dlips @evvy96 @torigorie @khyleereads

[starlightkun]

⏯ word count: 13.7k ⏯ genre: band au, punk band frontman!shotaro, venue manager!reader, shotaro is whipped, reader is emotionally unavailable, is it a slowish burn or is it angst?, whatever it is ur reading a starlightkun fic so there’s a happy ending :), ft. eunseok/sungchan/wonbin as shotaro’s bandmates welcome back boys & wayv as reader’s coworkers ⏯ warnings: some blood/violence (shotaro gets punched once), not necessarily a warning but since i do generally avoid describing the reader’s appearance in my fics, i wanted to give a heads up—reader works at a punk/alternative concert venue and is generally in/around that scene. reader is mentioned and/or implied to have some tattoos and piercings (other than earlobes) ⏯ extra info: set in the same universe as filler episodes, but u don’t need to read that in order to understand this one, filler eps!sungchan and sugarcoated!shotaro r just in the same band! also the title is from a 5sos song lol ⏯ author’s note: sooo after writing filler episodes and experiencing bbb/lucky shotaro, i couldn’t get punk band frontman shotaro out of my head… i fear the trajectory of my life has been altered ⏯ now playing… empty wallets – 5 seconds of summer | apathy is boring – bears in trees | dreaming girl – xdinary heroes

“You’re not stupid. I know you’re not.” He stood up, stepping closer to you. “You always stop yourself right before… I’m sure you think you’re not leading me on or whatever, but I know you know how stupidly head over heels I am for you, because I don’t try to hide it.”

Flipping through your keyring, you selected the right key by touch in order to unlock the rear entrance to the venue. Despite the sweltering summer heat outside, the basement was cool as always. You flipped the AC and lights on as you disabled the alarm that wasn’t actually connected to a security company, then descended the stairs. Venue:Hell, your home away from home. Actually, you were pretty sure you spent more time here than your apartment some weeks.

Your phone buzzed with a text as you crossed the threshold into the back office, and you opened it as you flopped into the creaky office chair.

[kun: attached image]

[kun: new schedule for the month. y/n, don’t forget that you’re covering the new weekly act starting today]

It was your manager, and you read over the list of events for this week with mild interest. The two of you had already discussed that you’d be taking over being point with Venue:Hell’s weekly spot. The venue had a recurring local act come in every week to perform, typically a smaller artist, to help them build a base among your regulars. These guys had recently opened for one of your previous weekly acts on a national tour and your manager liked them enough to ask them to fill in the weekly spot when the tour made a stop here. You’d had that particular night off, so this was going to be your first time meeting the band.

As you went through your usual opening checklist, other employees filtered in, starting on their tasks. The venue usually provided all the staff and equipment for the weekly act. They just needed to show up and perform.

You were with your sound guy Yangyang by his equipment when you heard your name being called from elsewhere in the building.

“Yeah?” You yelled back, walking out from behind the curtain to look around for whoever it was.

Ten, who worked the front, was approaching with four guys in tow, instrument cases in hand. Must be the new band.

“New weekly is here!” He called out.

You hopped down off the stage to meet them on the main floor. “You guys are early.”

The band looked at each other, obviously worried. One that had a guitar case on his back spoke up uncertainly, “Is that a problem? We weren’t sure—”

“No, it’s fine. I’m pretty sure it’s a first, though,” you snickered.

“You got them?” Ten asked you. “Kunhang said he needed help.”

“Go for it,” you nodded, dismissing your coworker from the group.

Looking back at the four guys that you were left with, you started your spiel. “So, I’m Y/N, assistant manager at Venue:Hell. If you ever have any questions, need anything, let me know. I’m sure Kun already explained how our weekly spot works, but you guys will perform here every Thursday at 10:00 and have a forty-five-minute slot. It’s not exactly primetime, but it’s consistent and we have a good pool of regulars. You’ll also have priority for inclusion on lineups for any special events we host. If your weekly slot ever needs to be moved or canceled, we’ll give you as much of a heads-up as we can, but sometimes it will be very last-minute. If you ever need to miss a week, we ask the same from you, tell us as soon as possible. Make sense?”

You got four hasty nods in return.

“Great, let me show you to your green room.” Just as you were about to turn around and head off, you realized something. “Ah shit, I completely forgot to ask your name. Sorry.”

The guitarist that had spoken earlier offered you a big smile. His ears were adorned with metal, and you spotted some jewelry glinting from his nose, lip, and eyebrow too. His hair sort of reminded you of a dalmatian, a light blonde base with spots of dark black streaking through it. Overall, fit right in with the scene, except for his smile, which seemed to be made of sunshine and rainbows or something cheesy like that. You swore you needed sunglasses just looking at him.

“I’m Osaki Shotaro, uh, guitar, and I sing!” He informed you cheerily. “It’s really nice to meet you.”

“Jung Sungchan, drums,” the tallest one nodded. “And our band is called Roses for Eyes, by the way. Since Taro here forget to mention that.”

He slapped his friend on the shoulder, making Shotaro wince.

“Right…” Shotaro rubbed his neck. “You-You can also call me Taro, too, by the way. Everyone does. Like boba tea!”

“Cool.” You nodded, looking at the other two expectantly.

“Eunseok, I’m the bassist,” another introduced himself. “Sing a bit, I guess.”

The last one, with dark black hair save for a single hot pink streak in his bangs, gave a small wave. “Park Wonbin. Guitar and I sing too.”

“I like the pink,” you commented, then pivoted on your heel. “Okay, I’ll show you your green room.”

“So what do you think?” Yangyang asked you as he fiddled with his equipment, and you helped him go over his checklists.

“I think it sounds fine,” you replied, checking that step off.

“I meant about the new weekly.”

“Oh, they seem fine,” you shrugged. “You worked the night they were here last time, right? What did you think?”

“Their sound’s good.”

“And Kun obviously liked them.”

“Do you think they’ll be a pain to work with?”

“Hm?” You thought on your sparse interactions with the members of Roses for Eyes, the introductions, and then Shotaro had asked you where the restroom was. “No, I think they’ll be fine. I don’t know, Yang, it hasn’t even been their first day. There’s time yet for them to turn into assholes.”

Footsteps approaching made you glance over your shoulder. It was the drummer… Sungchan, you were pretty sure. He seemed to be heading straight for you, and you looked at him with your eyebrows raised.

“Do you need something?” You asked him expectantly, listening to Yangyang call out that the next step was clear.

“Not me, but yes,” he answered sheepishly.

You held his eye contact, arching an eyebrow.

“It’s Taro,” the drummer continued. “He’s good, I just wanted to give you a heads-up that he kind of uhm, loses things a lot? Especially his in-ears.”

“Has he lost them already?” You checked your watch. “Your soundcheck is in five minutes.”

“Yeah…”

You sighed and held the clipboard out towards Yangyang, “You got this?”

He saluted you, “Yes, ma’am.”

You turned back to Sungchan, “Where’s the last place he saw them?”

“I told Sungchan not to tell you, I’m sorry,” Shotaro apologized as the two of you retraced his steps starting from the van they had arrived in.

“I told you guys—If you need anything, let me know,” you grunted, climbing over a spare amp in the back to look under the seats.

“This is just so embarrassing,” he complained, rifling through the glovebox.

“Hey, it’s your first performance as our new weekly, it’d be weirder if it went over perfectly.”

“I meant you having to search through our nasty van with me for them. Just being a few minutes late to soundcheck, I could deal.”

“It’s fine, Shotaro, I’ve done worse, promise.”

His big eyes peered at you inquisitively over the headrests of the front seats. “Like what?”

“I think we’ve scoured every inch of the inside of this thing,” you declared, wiping sweat off your brow with the hem of your shirt. “Have you checked under it?”

Shotaro was still staring at you.

“I’ll look.” You sighed and hopped out of the back of the van.

“No, I’ve got it!” He suddenly scrambled into action, dropping to his hands and knees on the gravel next to the vehicle to scour the ground underneath it.

You, meanwhile, kept your eyes peeled for the immediate vicinity of the parking lot around it. Finally, off in the direction towards the building next door, something caught your eye. You wandered over, picking up a square, black case. Flipping it open, sure enough, there was a pair of in-ears, one bright green and the other bright purple.

Walking back over to the van, you stopped next to the guitarist, who was still looking under it. “Shotaro.”

“Huh?” Thunk. “Fuck!”

“Watch your head,” you said dryly as he carefully extricated himself from under the van this time. You shook the case at him. “These yours?”

He lit up as soon as he saw the equipment. “Yes! Oh my god! Where were they?”

“Over by the neighbors.” You jerked a thumb at the building.

“Ohhh, right! There was a cat over there that I took a picture of when we got here. Do you want to see it?” He was already digging around in his pocket for his phone.

“No. Focus.”

“Right.” He reached for the case, but you snatched them out of his grasp before he could touch it.

“I don’t think so.”

Shotaro’s face turned endearingly confused. “What?”

“We’re not doing this again,” you declared. “These are mine now. When they are not inside of your ears, they’re mine. You will come get them from me before every performance and return them to me as soon as you get off the stage. If you do not need to take them somewhere else before next week, they’ll stay here with me the whole time. Deal?”

“So, Sungchan mentioned this isn’t the first time I’ve lost them?”

“Uh-huh.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Deal!”

Roses for Eyes wasn’t half bad, from the bits and pieces that you heard while you were running around doing other stuff. You could easily understand why your manager chose them for the weekly spot. Your regulars seemed to like them, too. They had an infectious energy, kept the crowd engaged, and had good chemistry with each other on stage. After the debacle with Shotaro’s in-ears, the rest of the performance went over relatively smoothly, then you just had an open bar and dance night until midnight to deal with. Easy.

It was Yangyang’s turn to have his playlist hooked up, so you were planning on mingling to get some feedback from your regulars on the new weekly.

“Y/N!” A voice yelled out your name from elsewhere backstage, and you turned around.

It was Shotaro running at you, his guitar slung over his back. You held out your hands both in a gesture for him to slow down, and also to protect yourself in case he crashed into you. He managed to skid to a stop just in time, breathless and with a wild smile.

He held his hand out towards you, something crumpled up in his fist. “Here!”

You opened up your palm, letting him drop two familiar neon objects into it. His in-ears. “Ah, right. Thank you for remembering.”

Taking out the case that you still had in your pocket, you tucked them away, snapping it shut again. “You’re sure you won’t need these again before next week?”

“No, we don’t have anything planned.”

“Well, if anything comes up, I’m here most days. I’ll keep them in the office, so if I’m not here, you can get them from Kun or someone else with a key.”

“So what uh, what did you think?” His teeth played with his lip ring nervously.

“About what?” You checked the time on your phone.

“You know, our set?”

“God, I told Yang during soundcheck that Wonbin’s mic should’ve been turned up, but he didn’t listen to me, so we could barely hear him. But we’ll fix that next week. Is the guy always so quiet?”

“Yeah, yeah, he is.” Shotaro was still looking at you expectantly.

“Did you need something else, Shotaro?” You asked. “I was going to go talk to some people.”

“No, uhm, sorry for keeping you.”

“It’s fine.” You patted his shoulder. “And hey, we’re open until midnight tonight. You guys are welcome to stay and hang out. Staff gets half off at the bar, that includes you.”

He nodded and flashed you another smile. “Cool, thanks, Y/N.”

The next week, you were in the back office when there was a knock on the slightly ajar door, and a familiar head poked in.

“Hi.” Shotaro beamed at you. “Kunhang said you were in here.”

“Hi, Shotaro.” You minimized the window that had been up on your screen as he wandered around to your side.

“What are you doing?”

“Payroll. Which you can’t see,” you informed him, opening the top right drawer of the desk.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” You handed him his in-ear case that you had just retrieved. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” He accepted the case, but didn’t leave the office.

“Do you guys need something else?”

“No, uhm, finish your work,” he started towards the door. “But I uhm, is that new? The septum piercing?”

You touched the ring absentmindedly. You’d gotten it done over the weekend, you’d forgotten that it was new by now. “Yeah, it is.”

“I like it. Looks good on you.”

Before you could even say thanks, he had darted from the office.

Done with the payroll, you went out to the main floor, taking down the stools from the few high-tops scattered around the perimeter and setting them up at the tables. Roses for Eyes were just starting their soundcheck, providing background music of the sounds of them tuning their instruments.

“Hey, Y/N,” Eunseok’s voice came over the speakers.

“Yeah?” You called back over your shoulder as you continued setting up.

“So, did you like our set last week? Anything we can do better?”

You swore you heard snickers, but when you turned around, they were all standing at attention. “Everyone generally liked your sound. Good music to dance to. But you need some more variety in your setlist. Have a vibe-shift or two. Show people you can do more. If you can.”

Sungchan laughed as he spun a stick around with his fingers. “Is that a challenge or what?”

You shrugged. “It’s only a challenge if it’s hard.”

They all erupted into incredulous laughter, and you couldn’t help but grin too, glad that they didn’t seem put-off by your comment. You were genuinely trying to give them advice, not put them down. The band returned to their soundcheck, and you went back to your own tasks. You figured they were done when you heard a long stretch of silence as you were doing inventory of your in-house merch behind the merch counter.

“Hi.” It was Shotaro again, peeking at you from over the counter as you squatted down to count the t-shirts stacked up down there.

“Hi, Shotaro.” You held up your hand expectantly, and he deposited his in-ear case onto it. You tucked it into your jacket pocket. “Thank you.”

“Need any help?”

“This isn’t your job,” you pointed out, tapping a few buttons on the tablet balanced on your knees.

“You’re really good at that.”

“Counting shirts?” You snorted. “I’d be a lot better if I wasn’t talking while I did it.”

He chuckled. “I meant not answering the question you’re asked.”

You looked up from the shirts at him. “Hmph.”

“Did you hate our set that much?”

“Why does it matter what I thought?” You asked him frankly.

“You’re still doing it.”

You took a closer look at what he was wearing today, a neon pink longsleeve under his black t-shirt. “Your shirt matches Wonbin’s hair. Cute.”

He looked down at his sleeves, pulling them over his hands. “Ah, yeah, I guess. Do you like it? I—Hey, wait a minute!”

You laughed to yourself as you stood back up. “If you really want me to answer your question… No, I don’t need any help. I’m done now. Thanks, though.”

After Roses for Eyes’ set, Shotaro didn’t even have to find you, you were waiting just off-stage. He couldn’t hide his surprise, eyes going wide. “Oh, Y/N! Hey!”

“Hi.” You held out your hand expectantly, the case already open atop it.

He stuffed the in-ears back into it. “Thanks.”

“Thank you.” You snapped it shut and pocketed it. “And good set. I’m glad I got to actually see it this time.”

His face lit up. “Wait you—Is that why—? Thanks! You really—?”

“Hey, Taro, come on, we got places to be,” Sungchan grabbed his arm. “You got your in-ears?”

You arched an eyebrow, taking the case back out from your pocket. “You need these?”

Sungchan shook his head as Shotaro took it back from you. “Thanks…”

“Don’t lose them before next week,” you warned.

“I won’t.” He beamed.

The next day, you were at the venue early putting up some new decorations when you swore you heard the back door open.

“Ten?” You yelled out. “That you?”

“No!” An entirely different voice called back, right as the owner had descended the stairs into your view, propping his silver sunglasses up on his dalmatian hair.

���Shotaro.” You tilted your head at him curiously. “Pretty sure I haven’t been here that long. It’s not Thursday yet.”

“Not quite.” He grinned as he set a familiar case on the counter that you were currently standing on to reach the ceiling. “I didn’t lose them.”

“I’m very proud of you.” You pointed in the direction of the back. “Office is unlocked, you can put them on the desk before you head out.”

“What are you doing?”

“Decorating. We’re doing a Y’allternative Night tonight.” You held up the paper cowboy boots that you were prepared to hang up. “It’s all deejayed, no live music or we would’ve offered you guys a slot, sorry.”

“Can I help?”

“You really want to help me decorate?”

“Yeah.”

You sighed, looking down at the stack of decorations on the counter, and the others haphazardly strewn on the stage. “Ten was supposed to help but he hasn’t shown…”

“Is that a yes?” He asked hopefully.

“I can’t pay you for this,” you warned.

“That’s fine!”

“Put your in-ears away first.”

“On it!” He grabbed them off the counter and dashed away.

“So how long have you been working here?” Shotaro asked you as the two of you worked to decorate the venue.

“Few years.” You handed him the next cutout. “Mm, to the right. Yeah, good, higher. There.”

Shotaro was easy to work with, attentive, loved even the smallest bit of praise, and followed directions incredibly well. Kinda like training a dog, you figured. Though, you’d never had a dog.

“How long have you been with your band?” You asked.

“Oh, I’ve known Sungchan since I was like, seven,” he explained, scooting with you along the counter. “I used to be taller than him, you know.”

You snorted at that, genuinely trying to picture little Sungchan and Shotaro, the latter just a smidge taller.

Shotaro was grinning as he continued, “We spent like every day after school in middle school playing Rock Band. Begged our parents for real instruments for Christmas in high school. Then Sungchan met Eunseok in gym class, and I met Wonbin in art. So I guess it’s been… almost ten years? At least since we took over Eunseok’s garage after school for our first band practice.”

“That’s cool,” you replied genuinely, handing him the last decoration. “I like hearing that sort of stuff from the acts that come through here. Everyone’s got such unique stories.”

“Uhm—” He cleared his throat. “Is this good? For the-the thing?”

You looked at where he was holding the paper lasso. “Ehh… Turn it to the left a little? …Perfect, tape it.”

Shotaro hopped down from the counter and the two of you stepped back to admire your handiwork.

“Not bad.” You held your hand up for a high-five, which he eagerly accepted. “Thanks, Shotaro.”

The back door was thrown open then, Ten yelling into the venue, “I’m here!”

“Finally,” you scoffed.

“Sorry, sorry, I had to take Louis to the doctor,” your coworker rambled, obviously flustered as he rushed in. “Stupid asshole ate my charging cable.”

“His cat,” you informed Shotaro quietly, taking in the guitarist’s concerned look. Turning back to Ten, you asked, “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, one super expensive vet trip later, he’s fine, of course.” Ten seemed to notice Shotaro then. “Oh, hey, Taro. Are you guys performing tonight?”

“He was just dropping off some equipment and was nice enough to help me with the decorations,” you explained. “Speaking of—You remembered to pick them up on your way in, right?”

He pointed over his shoulder to the back entrance. “Yes, they’re in my car, will you help me with them?”

“I think we’ve got it from here, Shotaro, thanks again—”

“Uhm, do you remember how long it took last time?” Ten interrupted you pointedly.

You sighed ruefully, recalling very well. Clasping your hands together in front of you, you turned to the frontman, “If you’re not busy, would you mind helping us fill hundreds of balloons and also assemble a few cardboard cutouts? Please?”

Only one person could operate the balloon inflating machine at a time. One person would fill them with helium, then hand them off to another to tie them and release them to float up to the ceiling. Getting them back down would be hell. The third person was wrangling the custom-ordered cardboard cutouts out of the packaging and assembling them. That person was of course you. You had lost the rock-paper-scissors, and never had it in you to just pull rank when it came to this kind of stuff.

“What the hell?” You muttered, trying to cut the package open for the third time, barely crinkling the tape instead. Yanking on it, you cursed, “I swear this fucking tape is made of fucking Kevlar! What the fuck?!”

“Let me try?” Shotaro offered, abandoning his post tying balloons to join you. You huffed and let him gently take the box cutter from your hand, moving over to grant him access to the end of the box that you were struggling with.

“It’s probably that box cutter! Blade’s too dull!” Ten called out as he continued filling and tying balloons. “I think it’s older than Kun!”

Shotaro had just tried to slice upwards along the tape, but as soon as the box cutter hit resistance, it stopped, and his hand recoiled with the force. His fingers flew back down along the blade, and he dropped both it and the box immediately, letting out a long string of curses.

As soon as you saw the red welling up on his finger, you yelled out to Ten, “First aid kit!”

“Shit! Oh my god, you’re going to get fucking tetanus or something and die. Or lose your hand!” You panicked, latching onto Shotaro’s elbow. You dragged him into the nearest bathroom—the women’s room—and started running water in the sink. You yanked up his hoodie sleeves then yours, sticking both his hands under the stream. They were both bloody messes at this point.

Shotaro lit up as he looked at your inked forearms. “Cool tattoos, what—”

“So not the fucking time for a tattoo tour?!” You gestured to his own hands incredulously.

Ten brought the first aid kit in, and the women’s room that only had two stalls anyway was starting to feel cramped now.

“Go see if there’s any blood on the floor or something,” you shooed him out probably too harshly.

With him gone, you focused on washing and drying Shotaro’s uninjured hand before taking a look at the other. Only one of his fingers was cut, thankfully, but you knew the state that box cutter was in—old, rusty, and had probably never been cleaned once.

“I’ll be fine.” Shotaro was surprisingly calm as he watched you.

“You know there’s no cure for tetanus, right? Fuck, Kun’s going to kill me if our weekly can’t perform because I gave the frontman tetanus and he died.” You stressed.

“Oh, I thought you were just worried for me,” his voice was teasing, and if you hadn’t watched him injure himself and flinch in pain with your own two eyes, you would’ve wondered if he had any pain receptors, as he didn’t seem to be bothered whatsoever by you squirting soap onto the cut in that moment.

“Yeah, that too.”

“As an afterthought,” he snickered.

You pushed the shoulder of his uninjured hand. “Shut up and clean your cut.”

“Really, I’m touched.” He was still smirking as he obliged, gingerly running the tip of his thumb over the area to work the soap around the cut, the water finally running clear. You turned the sink off then grabbed paper towels and his hand, starting to dry the cut off. “Will it make you feel better if I tell you I’m upped on my tetanus booster?”

“Are you?”

He shrugged.

“Then no, that does not make me feel better,” you scoffed, inspecting the wound now that it was dry. On the bright side, the box cutter being as old and dull as it was meant that the cut wasn’t very deep. The bleeding had already stopped. As you went to grab the band-aids from the first-aid kit, you realized Shotaro was still watching you, this time with a funny smile on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re always so… cool. In like this unreachable, detached way. Is it bad to say I’m kind of enjoying seeing you like this too?”

“Panicking and pissed off that you’re not taking tetanus serious enough?” You shot him an unamused look, ripping open a band-aid. “Yes, I’d say that’s a strange thing to enjoy.”

“Strange,” he repeated happily. “Not bad.”

“I suppose that is what I said.” You wrapped the band-aid around the cut. “There. All better. Unless you get tetanus and die.”

“I pinky promise I won’t get tetanus and die.” He held the pinky finger of his injured hand out to you.

You eyed his hand. “I super don’t think that’s how this works.”

Shotaro shook it more insistently. You sighed, linking your pinky with his. “If you get tetanus and die, I’m going to kill you.”

“I super don’t think that’s how that works.”

Thursday rolled around, and you were actually grateful when a spotted head of hair poked into the back office that evening.

“I’m alive!” Shotaro announced cheerily.

“So you are.” You smiled, taking out his in-ears from the desk drawer, as well as the brand-new bag of Sour Patch Kids you had tucked in there. “For you. I can’t pay you with money for helping out, but I really do appreciate it, Shotaro. And I’m sorry that you got injured helping me, too. If Sour Patch aren’t your thing, let me know what you do like and I’ll pick some up for you next week.”

Anybody else would’ve thought you’d just given him a handmade sweater the way he clutched the bag of candy to his chest and looked at you with big eyes. “These are my favorites! How—Did Sungchan tell you or something?”

“Took a wild guess.” You finished up the online order you were placing for restocking your in-house merch. “Also, do you guys have merch?”

“Huh?” Shotaro was looking right at you, but clearly hadn’t heard a word you’d said.

“Merch. Shirts, CDs, stuff for people to buy. Do you guys have any? We can keep it in stock here.”

He blinked, finally processing your question. “We sold out of all our shirts on tour… and we were talking about getting new designs the next time we got some made anyway. We’ve only got a few CDs left now. So… no…”

You clicked your tongue, logging out of the computer and standing up. “Well, whenever you get to it, we can keep them stocked here for you guys. Oh, and I know a few good artists who do that kind of stuff, if you’re looking for someone.”

As you talked, you had started ushering Shotaro out of the office, shutting the door behind you. He stopped in the narrow hallway outside it, made even more cramped by the cardboard boxes of miscellaneous props, merch, and decorations stored back here because you had run out of room in your actual storage closet. He was so close you were certain you could accurately count the piercings on his ears and face if you were patient enough. You tried to take a step back, only to hit your head on the office door that you had just closed.

“Fuck!” You hissed under your breath, clutching your head. “Shotaro, you mind? Don’t you have a soundcheck to do or something?”

“Sorry! Are you okay?” He winced sympathetically, still not moving away, if anything, getting closer as he tried to check on you. “That didn’t sound good—”

“I’m fine!” You insisted. “Soundcheck! Go do it!”

“Right!” He gave you a thumbs-up, then shook his giant bag of candy. “Thank you again!”

After he had sprinted away, you let out a relieved groan, leaning back against the door and looking up at the water-stained ceiling.

“Is that sanitary?” Eunseok’s voice announced Roses for Eyes’ arrival that particular afternoon, as you sat atop the bar counter, scrolling on your phone in one of your few moments of peace and quiet around Venue:Hell.

“Kiss my ass, Eunseok,” you replied without even looking up.

“Yeah, I’ll get in line,” he retorted, making Sungchan and Wonbin laugh.

That finally prompted you to slide your gaze up, just in time to see the three of them laughing over by the stage as Shotaro flipped them all off over his shoulder, making his way towards you. He had two cups in one hand, one with a bright green straw in it, and the other without a straw, and you saw that the other three band members each had a plastic cup with a straw sticking out of them as well. You silently watched Shotaro approach, raising an eyebrow at him once he’d stopped in front of you.

“We were getting boba on our way here, and thought we’d grab you one, too.” His cheeks were a bright pink as he held the unopened cup out to you, and fished a packaged purple straw out from the front pocket of his black jean jacket.

“Who’s this ‘we’ that you’re talking about?” You asked humorously. “They all apparently think getting me boba is kissing my ass.”

Shotaro straightened up, puffing his chest out. “Actually, yeah. Fuck ‘em. I got you one because I thought it’d be nice to get you one too since you do so much for us every week. It’s uh-It’s honey milk tea, because I didn’t know what flavor you liked.”

“Thank you, Shotaro.” You accepted the cup and straw from him graciously, to a chorus of snickers from the spectators on the other side of the floor. “Honey milk tea is more than acceptable.”

“But it’s not your favorite?”

“I don’t have a favorite.” You set the cup on the bartop beside you to stab the straw into it.

“You—Hey, are those mine?” He seemed to have finally noticed the sunglasses perched atop your head.

“What? These?” You teased, tapping the plastic accessory arm on one side of your head.

“I was looking for those today!”

You took them off, offering them out towards him. “You left them here last week.”

Shotaro took the glasses just to turn them right back around, take a step closer to you, and place them back on your head, a fond smile on his face as he did so. “I think you look better in them, actually. You can hold onto them for a little longer.”

You swallowed, your chest suddenly feeling too tight for your heart, and six eyes suddenly feeling like way too many to be in the room with you two right now. You chuckled, trying to keep up the congenial tone as you once more pulled them off. This time, you folded the arms and tucked the sunglasses into Shotaro’s jacket pocket for him. “Thanks, Shotaro, but I can’t take your sunglasses. They’re really rockstar sunglasses anyway, not for someone like me.”

At that moment, you grabbed your boba tea and hopped off the bar, scooting out from between him and the counter. You avoided looking at the others, beelining for the back office.

When Shotaro had to come get his in-ears from you just a few minutes later, you gave him the same pleasant smile as usual, handing him the case. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” He tapped the case against his palm, the sound dampened by the fingerless gloves he was wearing that day. “What did you mean? When you said someone like you.”

“Wh—About the sunglasses?” You’d hardly expected him to confront you about that comment at all, much less alone now, just you and him in the office, no peanut gallery. While six eyes had felt like too many, this felt far too intimate. You somehow felt more exposed than before. “Like I said—They’re cool rockstar sunglasses, that’s what you are. You should wear them you know, up on stage, being all cool and stuff. I’m crew; no point in me wearing them while I’m sitting back here where nobody can see them.”

He frowned, but thankfully didn’t try to give them to you again. “I think you’re cool, Y/N.”

With that, he left the office.

“Hey—Woah.” Yangyang stopped midsentence, blinking at you from the office doorway.

“You’re losing your ears, puppy,” you snickered.

“I’m not a—!” He whined, catching the wolf ears that were sliding off his head just in time. “I’m a werewolf!”

“Sure,” you snorted, spinning your desk chair around to face him. “So what did you need, Yang?”

“Ten has a question about how we should set up the line out front.”

“Alright.” You stood up, smoothing out your long black dress. Today was Venue:Hell’s Halloween event, Hallowfreaks, so the whole staff was dressed up. You didn’t have time to think about a costume this time, so you just took out your Morticia Addams costume from last year.

Meeting Ten out front, you couldn’t even compliment his own “werewolf” costume, as he immediately tilted his head with interest upon seeing yours. You looked down at your dress, wondering if you had somehow spilled something on it unknowingly.

He didn’t leave you in the dark long, though. “You did a matching costume with Taro?”

“What?”

“Shotaro.”

The singer whipped around at the sound of his name. And there was no doubt as to who he was dressed as: His spotted blonde and black hair was slicked back and it looked like he had even used some kind of spray to make it fully black, he had donned a pinstriped suit and dress shoes, and drawn on a mustache to finish off the Gomez Addams look.

The initial recognition at his name being called turned to excitement as he realized what your costume was as well.

“Wait, seriously?!” He laughed, jumping up and down with elation. “That’s awesome!”

“I thought you guys would’ve done a group costume or something.” You crossed your arms.

“We were thinking about it, but Sungchan wanted to do a couple’s costume with his girlfriend. We thought it would look weird onstage if the three of us had a group costume without him, so we just all did our own thing.”

“Sensible.”

“C’mere, we’ve got to show them!” He grabbed your arm, and you let him drag you elsewhere backstage, into the green room where his other three band members were waiting around before their soundcheck. “Guys!”

“What’s this?” Eunseok grinned, pointing between the two of you.

“Taro, you didn’t mention you were doing a couple’s costume with Y/N,” Sungchan teased.

You rolled your eyes. “Not planned, you little shits.”

“Kinda weird that it happened, though,” Wonbin pointed out through a yawn. “Like, you know? What does it mean?”

“It means I was too lazy to buy a new costume and wore my one from last year, and Shotaro… I don’t know, something.”

“I like the movies,” he added quietly.

“He likes the movies!” You repeated triumphantly.

But the others were long gone, laughing and joking among themselves. Shaking your head, you turned back to Shotaro. “I’ll grab your in-ears.”

“I’ll come with.”

The venue was buzzing with excitement for the holiday, but the back office was quiet as always. You passed Kun in the hallway, giving him a quick nod as he rushed off to do something.

“Your in-ears,” you handed him the case, and a small bag of candy, “and Happy Halloween.”

“Sour Patch Kids!” His face lit up.

“Some place on my way to work was handing them out to people walking by. They’re not my favorite, so I figured I’d give it to you.”

“You don’t like them?” He questioned, ripping open the small package.

“They’re fine.” You shrugged, leaning back against the desk. “But you love them.”

He smiled as he grabbed a gummy. “Thanks.”

“This is Roses for Eyes’ first special event here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.” He confirmed. “Sungchan’s really excited.”

“Why’s that? He really like Halloween or something?”

“This is the first performance since we’ve had this gig that his girlfriend is going to be here for,” Shotaro explained. “She’s been on the road for the past two months.”

“She’s in the industry too?”

“Yeah, she does tour management.”

You bit the inside of your cheek, trying to keep your voice as neutral as possible. “Good for them.”

“Yeah…” Shotaro looked at you carefully. “But why’d you say it like that?”

Not neutral enough, apparently. You purposefully avoided meeting his gaze. “Like what?”

“Like… I don’t know. Like you had another opinion.”

“I meant it. Good for them.” You hoped at least that much came across as genuine. “I’ve been around the scene for long enough to see plenty of relationships like that end badly. Especially ones between talent and crew.”

His big eyes watched you carefully as he chewed, swallowed, and cautiously asked, “Personal experience?”

“What did I just say? I’ve seen it. Not had it happen to me,” you replied firmly. Pointing to the door, you said, “Now go do your soundcheck, Shotaro.”

You were waiting backstage for Roses for Eyes after their set. The stage was being prepared for the next live act, and the band was still energetic.

“Good job, guys,” you congratulated them as Shotaro handed over his in-ears.

“Thanks.” Sungchan patted your head as he hurried by, apparently with somewhere to be.

“He’s got to find his girlfriend,” Eunseok informed you, wiping his face with his shirt, and taking half his No Face facepaint off in the process.

You narrowed your eyes at Shotaro. “Missing something?”

“I gave you them!” He defended himself.

“Your guitar.”

He patted his front and back, eyes going wide. “Shit!”

Wonbin and Eunseok burst into laughter as Shotaro darted back onto stage, apologizing to the staff and band still setting up. The other two wandered off, presumably to put their own equipment away. Shotaro snatched his guitar from the stand and ran back over to you, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

“Okay, that’s the first time that’s ever happened,” he promised.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“I saw you in the back, during some of the set,” he was absolutely beaming at you.

“Yeah, with Kun here tonight, I can actually get some breathing room. I was able to stop and watch a bit.” You patted his arm. “Like I said, good job, mon cher.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling down at his feet. “Thanks, cara mia.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, covering your mouth as you did.

“What? What’s so funny?” He asked with a chuckle.

“It is pretty funny that we accidentally did two halves of a matching costume. Everyone had a right to be weirded out.”

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed. “Weird coincidence, right?”

“Anyway, you should put your guitar away before you lose it again and I have to confiscate that as well, okay?”

“Okay, okay.”

“I’m going to put your in-ears in the office. If you guys don’t have anything better to do, Hallowfreaks is going on until 2 a.m.”

“Don’t tell me you’re working that whole time?” He asked in disbelief.

“Where else would I be?”

Winter rolled around, and you were once again crouched behind the merch counter doing inventory. Seasons change, but the pain of doing inventory never does.

“Nah, it’ll be Taro,” Yangyang insisted.

“I think it’ll be Sungchan trying to embarrass Taro,” Kunhang replied.

“Mm, could be Eunseok trying to piss Y/N off while simultaneously embarrassing Taro,” Ten gave his input on whatever the hell they were talking about near Yangyang’s sound equipment.

You poked your head above the merch counter now that you’d heard your own name. “Hey! What are you guys talking about?”

Three heads peeked around the black curtains. Ten answered your question, “We’re betting on which one of them will say something first when they get here today.”

“And none of you said Wonbin because he’ll probably be half-asleep anyway,” you guessed.

“Yep!” Kunhang nodded.

You just sighed loudly and went back to your task. A few minutes later, the back door opened, followed by the overlapping voices of Sungchan and Shotaro in a quiet but heated argument about… something indistinguishable to you. It was ended by an alarmingly loud smacking sound followed by dead silence, which prompted you to peer over the counter, a little concerned. The guys would playfight or bicker sometimes, but it always devolved into laughter.

The four of them were silent, but the angry tension was choking. You tried to quickly duck your head back down, hoping nobody saw you. But of course Shotaro did. It was only a few minutes later, after they put all their stuff down in the green room, that Shotaro was leaning over the merch counter on his elbows to talk to you.

“Hi, Y/N.” He offered you a smile, but you noticed it seemed a little strained this time.

“Hey, Shotaro,” you greeted him, not addressing the band’s entrance. Having just finished up with inventory, you stood up, groaning with relief.

The singer’s smile turned genuine then. “You’re wearing our merch.”

You looked down at the front of the hoodie you were wearing. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry, I paid for it.”

“I wasn’t worried about that.” His eyes shined as he looked at you. “I’m—I didn’t think you’d…”

“I’ve gotta rep the home team, right?” You gestured to the building around you. “It’s super comfy, too. Come on, let’s get your in-ears.”

In the office, you grabbed the case from the desk, watching Shotaro fuss with his lipring with his front teeth, bouncing from his heels to his toes.

“Look,” you sighed. “You don’t have to tell me what it’s about… but is everything okay with you guys?”

He pulled at his fingerless gloves. “You didn’t hear what Sungchan was saying?”

“No, nothing.”

“We’ll be okay,” he reassured you. “We’ve had worse fights. I mean, not since I was like, twelve, but it’ll be fine.”

You let your uncertainty be visible on your face. “Alright, you know him better than I do. Like I always say, if you need something, let me know.”

“Thanks, Y/N. I appreciate that you’re concerned about us.” Shotaro held a hand out for his in-ears, and you placed them in his waiting palm.

A little while later, you went out to start setting up the stools to find Shotaro alone on stage tuning his guitar. You went about your business as he seemed absorbed in his own task.

“I looked it up,” Shotaro called out to you before he played a chord, then adjusted one of the tuning pegs. “There’s no cure for tetanus.”

You looked at him over your shoulder, pulling a stool down from the high-top. “I know.”

Another chord. “I know you know.” More tuning. “You said that when I cut myself with the box cutter.”

“And…?”

“How did you know that?”

“My sister’s a doctor,” you answered simply, continuing to set up the furniture.

The guitarist stopped completely, staring at you. “Wait, really?”

“Why do you look so surprised?” You chuckled, leaning against one of the tables. “Can’t believe I’m related to a doctor and work in this place?”

“No, not that.” He shook his head as if trying to shake himself out of a stupor. “You just never tell me about that kind of stuff.”

“We both lived at home when she was in med school. I helped her with flashcards and stuff when she’d study.” You shrugged and went back to setting up. “Random stuff stuck.”

The other members of Roses for Eyes came out on stage then, cutting the conversation short as they started their soundcheck.

Poking your head into the band’s green room that particular evening, you were surprised to only find one member. Sure, a couple might be out on a food run, or wandering around the venue distracting your staff, but more often than not they were all in here between soundcheck and their set.

Regardless, you really only needed one of them at the moment. “Shotaro.”

“Yes!” He immediately shot up from where he had been sprawled out on the tiny couch, facing away from the door. His dalmatian hair had finally faded, and he was now completely platinum blonde with a shorter, spikier cut.

You quickly shot your boss a text back as you also flicked through the upcoming events spreadsheet for the venue. Not even looking up from your phone, you asked, “Got Valentine’s Day plans?”

Something collided with the edge of the table as Shotaro fell off the couch at that exact moment. You glimpsed the tail end of him scrambling to his feet, rushing to answer you, “No! Not at all! Uhm, what were you—”

“We’re putting on an Anti-Romantics Event for singles that night,” you explained, reviewing the details for the event on your screen. “Mix of live stuff and deejayed. Some games, raffles, that kind of stuff too. The headliner slot is yours if you guys want it.”

Shotaro nodded fervently. “Yeah! We can do it!”

You raised an eyebrow, looking around the empty room pointedly. “You’re not going to ask the other guys? I figured at least Sungchan might be doing something, you know…”

“Right. I’ll uhm, I’ll double-check with them.”

“I’ll pencil you guys in. Just let me know as soon as possible, okay?”

“Y/N?” Shotaro’s voice echoed as he yelled your name from the main room, obviously just wandering around shouting for you. Tonight was Venue:Hell’s Anti-Romantics Event, and Roses for Eyes had ended up accepting the headliner spot. Apparently, Sungchan’s girlfriend was really chill.

“In here!” You yelled back from inside the women’s bathroom, hunched in front of the mirror with an eyeliner pen and pile of used makeup remover wipes.

“Shit, sorry! I mean, uh—Never mind!”

“I’m doing my make-up,” you snorted. “You can come in.”

The swinging door opened hesitantly, and as soon as he was able to see that you were telling the truth, Shotaro entered fully. You wiped off your latest fail with a groan, grabbing all of the used wipes and tossing them in the trash.

“What are you doing?” He asked curiously.

“I’m trying to draw a broken heart on my cheek,” you explained. “But I can’t draw on my own face for shit.”

“Can I…?” He reached for the eyeliner. You handed it over, leaning back against the sink. He gently tilted your chin up and away from him to give him better access. You looked off to the side to avoid staring directly at him as he leaned in. “So you didn’t have any Valentine’s plans?”

“Nope.”

“Me neither.”

“I figured.”

He chuckled, his warm breath washing over your cheek. “Ouch.”

You rolled your eyes. “You already told me you didn’t have any plans.”

“Right.”

“I like your necklace.” You picked up the heavy chain from where it was sitting on his chest, several miniature heart lockets hanging from it.

“Thanks,” he murmured. “I think your makeup is nice.”

“I’m a sucker for a theme.”

Shotaro took a step back to look at his handiwork, nodding proudly. “Not half-bad, I think.”

You turned to check on it in the mirror, lighting up when you saw a much more legible broken heart than all the ones you’d attempted. “Oh, that’s so much better! Thank you, Shotaro!”

“You’re welcome.”

Eyeing the rest of his outfit, you were struck with an idea. You grabbed him by the shoulders, spinning the two of you around so his back was to the sink. “Your turn.”

“Hm?” He watched you with interest as you took the eyeliner pen from him and tossed it into your makeup bag, rooting around in there for something else. Finally, you secured a compact of blush and brush, holding them up eagerly.

“Trust me?” You requested.

He smiled fondly, relaxing back against the sink. “Go for it.”

You dusted the bright-colored blush across his cheeks and nose, focusing the majority of it in the center. When you were done, you had a victorious grin on your face. He now looked like a perfect little pop punk Cupid. The rest of his outfit was his usual mishmash of black and bright neon colors—this time solely hot pink—accessorized with more black, spikes, and metal chains. The blush was just the icing on the cake, especially when you saw that he had put a teeny, tiny silver heart stud in his nose piercing.

“Perfect,” you announced with finality, putting the makeup away.

Shotaro blinked his eyes open uncertainly, and you gestured for him to look in the mirror. He laughed, nodding his approval. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought you were doing.”

“Let me know how many numbers you leave with at the end of the night,” you quipped.

“What?” All the humor was drained from his features as he looked from the mirror over to you.

“Uhm, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re the frontman of the headlining act at an event for singles on Valentine’s Day, and I just made you look ten times more edible than usual.” You patted him on the shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

“I don’t want anybody’s number.”

You were slightly alarmed at the rate that this conversation had taken a nosedive, quickly trying to gloss over the tense moment. “Of course. Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“You really think I’m edible?” He asked with a knowing smirk.

“Mm, I guess I did say something like that,” you answered noncommittally, grabbing your makeup bag. “I’ll go get your in-ears for you.”

“I’m not them.” Shotaro’s biting words stopped you in your tracks before you could even grab the door handle.

“What?”

He was still leaning back against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest as he held your confused gaze. “Whoever you’re comparing me to in your head. Whoever you think I’m going to end up being exactly like. I’m not them.”

“Shotaro…” You breathed out his name, unable to think of a quick deflection this time, hoping he would just let it go.

“You’re not stupid, Y/N. I know you’re not.” He stood up, stepping closer to you. “You always stop yourself right before… I’m sure you think you’re not leading me on or whatever, but I know you know how stupidly head over heels I am for you, because I don’t try to hide it.”

You winced, your stomach dropping to the floor. So he really did want to have this conversation. “I’m sorry. I should’ve said something. I thought… I don’t know, that I needed better words before I said anything. But saying something would’ve been better than doing this to you. I’m so sorry, Shotaro.”

“Tell me. Whatever words you do have, even if you think they’re bad,” he insisted.

“Why?”

“Because I still want to know everything about you, even if it’s the reasons you’re rejecting me,” he chuckled cynically, his eyes still shining as he looked at you.

You sank your teeth into your bottom lip as you tried to think of where to start. You knew you owed Shotaro this much, at least. Finally, you decided on, “I dated the lead singer of a band a few years ago, when I started here. I was young and stupidly in love with him and really believed him when he told me I was special. He was cheating on me the whole time.” You watched Shotaro’s eyes go big. “Every time he went on tour, even at concerts here. I think the worst part wasn’t even how many times he cheated on me, but how many times I caught him doing it and believed him when he said it meant nothing and he’d never do it again.”

“Y/N—”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Shotaro. Really,” you reassured him. “I-I don’t know if I can trust myself to not… realize when something like that is happening again. To not realize when I’ve lost myself like that. I’m sorry.”

You rushed out of the bathroom then, unable to bring yourself to hear what he said next, whatever surely sweet, reassuring, reasonable thing he would say. You couldn’t hear it, not now. You were stuck, and now you’d gotten Shotaro stuck too.

Grabbing the in-ears from your office, you were glad to almost immediately catch Kunhang in the hallway. “Hey, give these to Shotaro for me.”

He thankfully didn’t question it, and you set off to keep yourself even busier than usual. Which wouldn’t be hard, as Kun wasn’t in that night, meaning that you were overseeing the whole event on your own. You didn’t even see Shotaro again until he was on stage performing with the rest of Roses for Eyes. You were helping out behind the merch table, as the limited-edition event merch you’d gotten was apparently very popular and the bunching up of people around the counter was clogging up the small area.

“They’re killing it tonight,” Ten commented loudly to be heard over the crowd and the music, nodding towards the stage.

“Yeah,” you agreed mildly, watching the performance out of the corner of your eye as you straightened up the stock.

“They’ve been doing really well with the weekly slot, too.”

“Mhm.”

“I heard they’re planning a mini-tour in the summer, though.”

“Cool.”

“Taro mentioned anything to you about that?”

You flashed him a sharp look. “Why would he have told me anything?”

“Because you’re their contact for the slot here?” He gave you a bewildered look back. “They’d have to tell you so you could tell Kun and find someone to fill the slot while they’re gone?”

“Right. Yeah. No, nobody’s said anything to me.”

“And also, he’s got a huge crush on you.”

“God, shut up,” you groaned.

“What? It’s adorable to watch him follow you around like a lost puppy,” your coworker snickered. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed?”

“I’m telling you to shut up about it.”

“Come on, taking the theme a little too literally, Y/N?”

You rolled your eyes, opting to not engage with the conversation at all since he apparently wasn’t going to move on. The presence of the headliner on stage was finally drawing some of the crowd away from the merch line.

Giving Ten an unsympathetic smile, you started backing away from the counter, “Alright, I think you’ve got it from here.”

Ten was still grinning and shaking his head as he let you go without a fight, helping the next person in line. You continued running around the venue, helping with anything that popped up.

As Kunhang was announcing the winners of some of the raffles later in the night, you had eyed trouble at the bar. Sicheng, your bartender, was obviously trying to decline service to an insistent patron while a line of other guests bunched up around the bar.

“Is there a problem here, Sicheng?” You asked, stepping into the situation.

“Oh, Y/N,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s had too many, can you—”

“I’ve got it, you keep serving people,” you reassured him. With his attention on the next people, you turned back to the other man. The guy had clearly had too much to drink, pink-faced and swaying in place. “You’ve had enough, man. How about we get you a water, okay? Or a soda?”

“No, I want another beer!” He insisted.

“No can do, sorry,” you informed him firmly. “Water, soda, or nothing. Alright?”

“Who the fuck are you to tell me no?”

“Manager of the building you’re in right now.”

“Well, manager, tell him to get me another beer.”

“No,” you repeated. “Look, dude, I know tonight can especially suck, but there’s other things to do besides drink. You are cut off. Let’s get you a water, hm?”

“No.”

“Did you come with friends? I can help get you back to them.”

He got up in your face then, and you stepped back, unwittingly jamming the bartop right into your own ribcage. “I said no, bitch.”

“I’m going to ask you to leave if you don’t calm down and get out of my fucking face,” you informed him through gritted teeth. “Come on, dude, don’t make this a bigger deal than it has to be.”

Before he could say anything else, someone grabbed the guy by the shoulder, pulling him away from you. At first you hoped that it was come friends of the guy, finally caught on to what was going on, but your blood turned cold when you saw who it really was.

“Hey, get out of her face,” Shotaro told him, rather calmly, but firmly.

In the next second, the drunk guy had swung, his fist impacting with Shotaro’s face and making his head jerk back. The crowd around you three gasped and backed up, and you felt both anger and panic flood your veins.

“You’re done!” You announced loudly. “Out! Get the fuck out! Sicheng! Call security!”

Your bartender was already on it, his walkie-talkie up by his mouth and his request for back-up coming through your own earpiece very clearly. You watched the venue’s guard who very rarely had to leave his post by the front door lumber up, grabbing the guy by the collar and pulling him through the crowd.

Shotaro was stood in the same spot, slightly hunched over as he held onto the edge of the bar, cradling his cheek. You sighed, grabbing his arm. “Come on.”

He let you guide him away from the crowd, the din of the music fading as you took him into the back office, shutting the door behind you. You gestured to the desk chair for him to sit in, and he obliged. After getting out the small first aid kit that was kept in here, you leaned back against the desk, pulling his hand down from his face to inspect the damage.

“We have security, you know,” you said quietly, cracking a cold pack and massaging it in your hands to get the reaction going.

“Didn’t seem like they were helping you,” he replied.

You grabbed a couple tissues from the dispenser on the desk, pressing them to where blood was welling up from a cut on his cheek. “Because I hadn’t called them.”

“Why not?”

“Because I was handling it.” Tossing the bloodied tissues in the trash, you applied a band-aid to the open wound before holding the cold pack out to him.

He accepted it, looking down at his lap guiltily. “I’m sorry.”

“C’mere.” You stood up and stepped closer to him, reaching for his face with both your hands.

“Hm?” He looked up at you curiously. You turned his head so you could gently press your thumbs against his cheekbone and the area around his eye where he’d been hit. “Ow…”

“Sorry. I don’t think he broke anything. You’ll probably just have some bruising for a while,” you declared softly, pulling his hand that was holding the cold pack up to his cheek. “And a nasty cut from his ugly rings.”

He chuckled a little, and you smiled back. “Learn that from your sister?”

“No, just had to break up a few fights here before.”

“Really?”

“We weren’t always such a classy establishment,” you joked, sitting back down on the edge of the desk in front of him. “We’re called Venue:Hell for a reason, and not just because we’re underground.”

“Here I thought you guys were just trying to be edgy.”

You were still replaying it in your mind, of how quick it happened, from Shotaro grabbing the guy to him getting punched. “You thought that guy was going to hit me or something, right?”

“He was getting up in your face…” He hissed and pulled the cold pack down from his face for a moment, then put it back up, wincing. “Even if he didn’t, he shouldn’t have been yelling at you like that.”

“Occupational hazard,” you shrugged. After a beat, you added sincerely, “Thanks, Shotaro.”

“Why do you call me Shotaro? To keep me at a distance?” He asked, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Everyone calls me Taro, I even told you to call me Taro. But you never have.”

“I’m pretty sure you said that I can call you Taro, not that you wanted me to,” you pointed out. Seeing the distress on his face, though, you said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it meant so much to you.”

“It doesn’t, really. But when it’s you… it hurts. Everything feels like the best thing that’s ever happened to me and the worst at the same time.”

“I…” You trailed off uncertainly. What were you even supposed to say to that?

“Like, I make you laugh and I’m fucking on Cloud Nine. And then I somehow take it too far, or say something that makes you run away and I kind of feel like I’m literally dying.” He slumped back into the desk chair with a sharp laugh, still pressing the cold pack to his face.

“That sounds awful, I’m so—”

“No, stop it. It’s not awful, and I want you to stop apologizing to me.”

“Okay.”

Shotaro sighed, looking down at his free hand as he futzed with his jewelry. “That guy’s rings were pretty ugly.”

You let out a sputtering laugh, happy for some of the tension in your chest to dissolve in that moment. “Yeah, they really were.”

That night, you got home from work in the wee hours of the morning, not even bothering to turn your apartment light on, simply tossing your backpack in the direction of your couch and shuffling towards your bedroom. You got ready for bed on autopilot, exhausted as you always were after work.

Wiping off your makeup in the mirror, you hovered over the broken heart on your cheek, recalling just how fast that conversation had gone downhill, then Shotaro getting punched later in the night. Letting out a deep breath, you finished up in the bathroom and shut that light off. After changing into your pajamas, you lay in bed alone, staring up at your ceiling. Alone. You’d be going back to Venue:Hell in less than ten hours. And after that, you’d come home again. Alone. Then go back to work. Then come home. Then go back. Then come home. Work. Home. Work. Home. Work. Home. Alone. Alone. Alone. Alone. Alone.

The line rang, and rang, and with every ring, your urge to hang up grew. Of fucking course he didn’t want to talk to you—

“Y/N?” Shotaro’s voice was foggy, and it was apparent you’d woken him.

“Taro, hey,” you said quietly, already regretting this. “I woke you up, didn’t I? Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he grumbled, and you heard the sounds of him rolling over and readjusting in bed. “Is everything okay? You’re not still at work, are you?”

“No, no, I’m home.”

“Okay, good.”

“Uhm, I just—” You were cut off by a very loud yawn from him. “Sorry, it’s really late and you’ve got to be tired. We can do this later.”

“No, go ahead. You apparently thought it was important enough to call me at fuck you a.m. in the morning,” he chuckled sleepily. “We can do it now. I won’t interrupt again. Promise.”

You took a deep breath, still staring at the inky dark expanse of your ceiling. “I just was thinking… some more… And I do really like you, and if you still… want to… Do you have plans later?”

You heard something thunk, and a loud clunk right by the mic, making you wince away from your speaker, then the distant sounds of him cursing as he scrambled around.

“Sorry, dropped you,” he apologized, sounding much more awake now. “You mean like, not for work?”

“Yeah, like, hanging out. Not at work,” you confirmed. God, is your heartbeat always this fucking loud?

“Yes, absolutely. Yes! Fuck!” He agreed giddily, and you couldn’t help but grin too.

“Okay, uhm, I have to get the venue set up for a show at seven tonight, but we could do lunch before or something? If that works for you?”

“Totally! Yes!”

“Cool.” You smiled at your screen as you checked the time. “It is way too fucking late. Just text me when you wake up and we can sort everything out then.”

“I will. Absolutely.”

“I’ll talk to you then.”

“Yes.”

“Thanks, Taro. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

After some much-needed sleep, you slowly got up, sitting at the edge of your bed, letting your feet graze the carpet below. You were home now, alone, and later you’d be going to work. But before that, you were going to be doing something else. Going somewhere else with someone else.

Speaking of, your phone rang, an incoming call from Shotaro. You picked it up, still rubbing sleep out of one eye. “Mm?”

“Was it real?” He asked in lieu of a greeting.

“What?” You chuckled. “What are you talking about?”

“Do I need a lobotomy right now, or are we actually going on a date?”

You burst into laughter, holding your phone away from your mouth as your laughter devolved into a coughing fit, blindly grabbing for your water cup from your nightstand. After recovering enough, you finally answered, “Hold off on the lobotomy for now.”

“Oh, it was real,” he let out a sigh of relief. “God, I seriously woke up and couldn’t tell if I had dreamt that whole conversation or not.”

“No, I really did call you at ‘fuck you a.m. in the morning’ last night, sorry.”

He snickered. “I said that?”

“You did.”

“Well, you’re more than welcome to call me at fuck you a.m. any night, especially if it’s going to be something that good.” His grin was audible through the phone. “So what time should I pick you up?”

“We haven’t even decided where we’re going?”

“Lunch,” he said confidently. “I’ve got it. You did the hard part, let me do the rest.”

You looked at the time on your phone. “Two hours?”

“Done. Send me your address.”

“Hey—Oh my God,” you cut yourself off laughing, covering your face as soon as you saw Shotaro standing there with a bouquet of flowers. “You seriously—Oh my God.”

“What? What is funny about this?” He held them out to you even more insistently.

You accepted them, still shaking your head. “Nothing. Come in so I can put them in water.”

He obliged, quietly closing your door behind him.

“I just honestly don’t think a man has ever brought me flowers,” you admitted, opening your cabinet to try to find some kind of vessel. “I was caught off-guard. I didn’t mean to laugh in your face, I’m sorry. You’re very sweet, Taro.”

“Seriously?” He watched you bring down an old empty water jug and fill it up from your sink, then plop the flowers in there.

“Seriously.” You paused in front of him, eyes focused on his left cheek, where a bruise had blossomed out far beyond the edges of the bandage you’d applied last night. Frowning, you delicately touched just under his cheekbone. “How is it?”

“I’m fine,” he reassured you, letting you continue to inspect the wound. “Barely even feel it.”

“Liar.”

He beamed. “Maybe.”

“You know that I’m going to be kind of bad at this, right?” You asked in a lull in conversation at lunch, picking at your food with your utensil.

“At… eating?” Shotaro asked in turn, his cheeks full with his own food as he looked at you with wide, confused eyes. “You seem to be doing pretty alright to me.”

“No,” you chuckled and shook your head. “At… this.” You pointed between the two of you. “It’s been a while, and I didn’t have the best experience last time.”

He swallowed and nodded, offering his hand out across the table, palm up. “I know.” Hesitantly, you put your own hand in his, and he squeezed yours gently, a soft smile on his face as he gazed at you. “Like I said, you already did the hard part, that’s why I’m taking care of everything else today. I get how difficult it must be for you to be doing this right now.”

“Thanks.” You squeezed his hand back.

“You really don’t have to do this,” you sighed as you and Shotaro walked down the sidewalks together after lunch.

“What are you talking about? Of course I have to make sure my girlfriend gets to work safe,” he scoffed, elbowing you.

“Hey hey hey!” You smacked his arm. “We’ve been on one date, kinda. What’s with the g-word?”

“‘The g-word,’” he repeated with a snicker. “If it makes you feel better, you can call me the b-word.”

“Bitch?” You blinked at him innocently.

He elbowed you again. “Rude!”

You laughed loudly, clutching your stomach as you had to stop to catch your breath. “Come on, you walked right into that one.”

“Yeah, I did.” He agreed, watching you with a fond smile on his face.

“I’m serious though, you can’t just be throwing words like that around after one kinda-date.”

Shotaro grabbed your hand, lacing his fingers through yours as you kept walking. “And what is the difference between a date and a kinda-date?”

“I don’t know. We were just like… hanging out. You know?” You shrugged. “I don’t know, I told you I was going to be bad at this!”

He laughed. “I brought you flowers, paid for your lunch, we’re holding hands… I’m failing to see how this isn’t date behavior.”

You looked down at your entwined hands, skin heating up. “Point taken.”

You’d made it to Venue:Hell and approached the back door, taking your keys out of your pocket.

“You know what else people do on dates?” He asked slyly, tugging on your hand so you’d turn around and face him. “Kiss goodbye.”

“Talking like I’ve never been on a date ever,” you scoffed, hooking your fingers in his belt loops and pulling him closer. You smiled when you saw his cheeks turn bright pink—no blush necessary this time. Shotaro’s hands landed on your waist as you grabbed the back of his neck and slotted your lips together. The cool metal of his lip ring pressed against your skin, made even colder by the crisp weather outside. He met you beat for beat, never taking over, following your lead until you finally broke apart. The kiss was sweet, reminiscent of the boba tea you’d grabbed after lunch.

“Ah, shit,” he chuckled, hanging his head.

“What?”

“Now I don’t want to go.” He snuck another kiss to your cheek, just grazing the corner of your mouth.

“You’re a menace.” You sighed, in a similar predicament. With warning in your voice, you said, “You can hang out—”

“Yes!” He cheered.

“—until somebody else gets here,” you finished your sentence pointedly, turning around to unlock the door. “Because some people actually work around here, and you’re not performing tonight.”

“Pretty sure you’re the only person who actually does any work around here,” he teased.

“I know, which is why I can’t have you distracting everyone else even more.” You unlocked the door and disabled the alarm, leading Shotaro in by the hand.

“I’m not a distraction!”

“All you’ve been doing for the past six months is distracting me.”

“I help you!”

You clicked your tongue. “And get injured in the process.”

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, following you into the office. “It’s the thought that counts?”

“Let me change your band-aid, while you’re here,” you offered, pointing to the desk chair. “You’ve still got the same gross one on from last night.”

Shotaro peeled off the old bandage and tossed it in the trash while you grabbed a new one from the first aid kit.

“I’m going to have to tell Kun,” you said carefully, opening the new band-aid. “About this.”

He stayed still as you applied the new bandage, then asked, “Me getting punched or us going out?”

“Both.” You groaned and rubbed your face. “Ugh, I don’t even know which one I should start with. Don’t say anything until I tell him, please.”

“I will not tell anybody else until you talk to Kun,” he promised, the phrasing making you narrow your eyes.

“You already told all your bandmates.”

He folded immediately. “Can you blame me? I was excited!”

“The whole building is going to know by soundcheck on Thursday,” you lamented, covering your face.

“I’ll tell the guys I was kidding.”

“They’ll think you’ve lost it.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”

“As much as I appreciate your willingness to have your best friends think you’re an absolute weirdo loser who would lie about something like that,” you patted his shoulders, “I won’t ask you to do that.”

“I appreciate that.”

You heard the distinct clang of the back door closing, and sighed regretfully. “That’s your cue.”

“Fine, fine.” He stood up, pecking your forehead. “Pick you up later?”

“I get off at midnight?”

“So?”

“Don’t be late,” you hummed, grabbing the door handle.

It was Kunhang who had arrived, clearly surprised to see Shotaro there. “Oh, hey Taro. What are you doing here?”

“He forgot something.” You used the most reasonable excuse.

“Maybe we should just start stapling stuff to you, man,” Kunhang laughed.

“Great idea.” You grinned, patting Shotaro’s arm as you continued ushering him towards the door.

In the stairwell, concealed from your coworker’s gaze, he leaned in, whispering right next to your ear. “I did almost forget something, actually.”

You arched an eyebrow at him, and he cupped your cheek, rings cold against your skin. Your eyes fluttered shut on instinct as you let him tilt your chin, connecting your lips. Your blood roared in your ears as you scrunched his t-shirt in your fist.

The back door opened, and you couldn’t reel back quick enough. To your horror, it was Kun standing there, blinking at you as his keys dangled in one hand.

“Excuse me,” he cleared his throat, scooting right between you and Shotaro in the narrow space of the stairway. He looked back, speaking directly to the singer with you, “Nice shiner there, Taro.”

Shotaro touched his bruised cheek on instinct, giving your manager a thumbs-up with his other hand. “Thanks.”

Kun said nothing else, whistling to himself as he walked further into the venue. You looked at Shotaro with wide eyes, practically shoving him out the door as he burst into laughter.

“Goodbye, Taro!” You said loudly over his cackles.

“See you later,” he whispered back, shooting you a wink right before you slammed the door in his face.

As you turned the corner, you were alarmed to see Kunhang peering at you from his station. “What?”

“Since when do you call him ‘Taro’?”

Upon entering the back office, you saw Kun sitting at the desk, working on something on the computer. He held a familiar pair of silver sunglasses out to you without even taking his eyes off the screen. “I think Taro left these here.”

“Yeah, those are his,” you confirmed, accepting the frames from him. “Uhm, a patron at the event last night had too much to drink, and ended up punching him, by the way.”

Kun looked over at you at that information, lifting both his eyebrows in disbelief. “Taro got into a barfight?”

“He didn’t hit him back, or start it, really. Sicheng and I were trying to cut the other guy off, but he was getting pissed off.”

“Ahh, he thought he was helping you.” Your manager nodded in understanding.

“About that, we’ve only been on one date, and—”

“I don’t need to know all the details. I just don’t want to have to enter the building like that ever again, okay?”

“Heard.”

He cracked a grin then. “I will say—I like him a lot better than the last one.”

“God, don’t remind me,” you groaned and shook your head.

“And that’s the last time I’ll ever bring him up. I’m glad he’s gone.” Kun held his hands up in surrender. “Now go find something to do.”

“Ten’s not scheduled for tonight, so I’m on the front.”

“Go do that.”

“Heard.” You clicked your tongue and gave him a casual salute, heading back out of the office.

Kunhang found you again setting up the barricades for the queue out front. He squinted at you, then laughed, “Oh, those looked like Taro’s sunglasses for a second.”

“They are,” you answered nonchalantly, pushing the frames back up where they were sliding down the bridge of your nose.

“Why are you wearing his sunglasses?”

“Because he forgot them here, it’s bright as hell out, and I don’t have another pair on me.”

“That’s… reasonable.”

“You said that weird.”

“Well, here’s the thing—” Your coworker stopped where he was rearranging the barricades, facing you. “I don’t think you’ve noticed but I’m like… 99% sure the guy has a huge crush on you.”

You kept a straight face. “Really?”

“Yeah, the poor guy is like… so down bad it’s not even funny anymore. Kinda a bit sad, actually.” He sighed. “So I just think that you wearing his sunglasses… it’s gonna mess with his head, you know?”

“You think so?” You scrunched your nose, pretending to think really hard about it.

“Yeah.”

You eventually shook your head. “I don’t know, I don’t think he does…”

It was ten till midnight, and you looked between the time and the back door.

“If you’ve got somewhere you need to be, you can go,” Kunhang nudged you with his knee.

“Yeah, you’ve been checking your phone every ten seconds,” Yangyang snorted, scrolling on his phone. “Seriously, we’ve got it. We’ve done a bajillion dance nights, and Kun is here in case something goes horribly wrong.”

You ignored them, instead looking directly at your sound tech. “Hey, Yang, weird question: Do you think Taro has a crush on me?”

He burst out laughing, grabbing his sides as he keeled forward, barely catching himself on Kunhang’s leg. Still giggling, he sobered up enough to say, “Well, duh. Y/N, oh my God, I never pegged you for an idiot. What the fuck? Did you seriously not—”

The back door opened then, and you immediately spotted Shotaro descending the stairs, looking around the crowded room.

“That’s spooky,” Yangyang muttered. “Do you think he like, heard me somehow?”

“He was here earlier to see Y/N,” Kunhang said pointedly. “See? He totally—”

You simply raised your hand and waved until Shotaro saw you, immediately perking up and making his way across the venue. Your coworkers had half a mind to shut up as the guitarist stopped in front of you three.

“Hey guys,” he smiled at the other two, then pointed at the sunglasses perched atop your head. “Those are mine.”

“You forgot them here,” you informed him smugly, leaning back in your seat and taking them off. You let them dangle by the arm off the tip of your finger as you held them out to him.

“I told you I forgot something,” he teased, taking the sunglasses back. He turned the shades around, leaning in as he tucked them back into your hair. “They look better on you anyway.”

You left them there this time, grinning up at him. “I think you’re right, actually.”

“You good to go?”

“Yep.” You got to your feet, tossing your dumbfounded coworkers a goodbye over your shoulder. Shotaro’s hand found yours, keeping you close as you weaved through the crowd.

It was Thursday again, and you were backstage, monitoring the band as they got ready to go on. There was a hustle and bustle like usual, and right as they were preparing to step onto stage, you called out expectantly, “Taro? Forget something?”

“Oh, right,” he grinned and shook his head, jogging over to you. He held your face with two hands, kissing you right there backstage, his lips still sugary sweet from the Sour Patch Kids he’d been snacking on moments prior.

After he’d pulled back, you held up his in-ears and pack, which he’d given you when he needed a very last-minute run to the bathroom. “I meant these.”

You could hear the snickers from his bandmates as he took the equipment from you, rushing to put it all back on. “Yeah, that too, I guess. What if I said I’ve been losing things on purpose this entire time as a genius ploy to—”

“Go perform already! I’m sick of you!” You rolled your eyes dramatically and pushed him away, back towards the stage.

“Fine, only because you asked so nicely.” He winked, dashing back over just in time to run out on stage with the rest of the band.

“What the hell?” Ten was just off to your side, staring at you, accompanied by Sicheng. You didn’t want to know who was at the bar right now.

“What?” You tilted your head innocently, walking over to them.

“Taro just kissed you?” He looked around, bewildered. “Sicheng, that was crazy, right?”

“Huh?” Your bartender glanced between the two of you, seeming just as lost. “Have they not been dating this whole time?”

⤷ masterlist

[vytels]

So, I've got a new idea for an au... not an original idea by any means, but I just have been thinking about it for awhile now lol

Basically, Luke gets raised by Rex.

At some point, very shortly after Luke is born and Obi-Wan's like shit, I have to get this kid to Tatooine, said Master Jedi gets injured on the way there. Rex is the one that finds him, luckily, and discovers everything that happened (except for Anakin's fall lol). He decides to help Obi-Wan take Luke to the Lars, but when they get there, the Lars are long gone.

At this point, Obi-Wan is too self-loathing and guilty, so he asks if Rex will raise Luke. This starts an argument about who would be better off raising Luke, but eventually Rex gets Luke.

(Obviously, once Rex and Cody are reunited, Rex sicks Cody on Obi-Wan to "get him to come to his senses")

So begins my "semi-writing" spree, where I wrote out just a bunch of little scenes from his AU.

For more from this AU: NEXT

Here is one, beneath the cut:

Luke’s hair grazed his palm, a soft and a slippery stubble that tickled the pads of his fingers. Even his fingers glided over the baby’s skin, cupping the small warmth behind his head and holding him up in his protective fabrics.

Each moment, experiencing the weight in his arms and the soft breaths sniffled into the air, carved themselves into his memories. 

The back of Rex’s mind shot to the long corridors deep within the Kamino Facilities, to the rooms that vode had never been allowed to venture into. The rooms had been full of clones too young to be cadets, yet too old to be in their growth chambers. They had been taken care of droids and a very select personnel, Kaminoiian officials that had watched for any defects or ailments. 

Despite having never stepped foot in those rooms, Rex could figure that they were like any other space in the Facility. They were likely as in-organic and harsh walled as other rooms, with white bright enough to blind and dull enough to bore, and the temperature set to a disparaging chill. All of it had been built to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of their product, but at the least amount of cost possible. 

Rex hated Kamino. 

He would do everything to ensure Luke never experienced such a nightmare.

Then blue eyes slid open and blinked up at him, accompanied by a growing smile and hands squirming in their blanketed confines. Warmth flooded Rex’s heart and he held Luke up, ducking his head to hover his face closer. 

“Su cuygar, kar’ika,” Rex whispered. 

Luke smiled again and broke his prison, raising a hand to press against Rex’s nose.

[deerboybreeder]

Imagine a college roommate that you vibe with implicitly, someone who gets you on a level that no one else seems to. It's pure luck of the draw that you ended up rooming with someone studying something so similar to you that also thinks the same way as you, and who doesn't judge you for your strangeness. In fact, he matches your eccentricities in his own way.

You don't expect to fall for this guy, spending long nights studying together, ignoring party invites together in exchange for nerdier pursuits like a D&D campaign. Eventually he opens up to you that he's recently discovered that he's gay, and he's scared how his conservative country family back home is going to take the news if he ever comes out. And despite you being stealth in every area of your life, you tell him that you're trans, and that your parents did NOT take it well, but you made it here despite all that. And you tell him that even if his family doesn't handle it well, you'll always have his back.

He asks you, quietly, how long you've known, and you answer since you were very little. You ask the question in return, and he goes a little red in the face, stumbling a little over his words. He answers that it was probably the day you first met, being the first person since he left home to take him seriously and the only person ever to really get his little quirks. Your own heart skips a beat, and you look like a deer in headlights. Your roommate tries to backpedal, but you stop him with a kiss. Cliche, but effective.

He wraps his arms around you with a gentleness you've not experienced before, and you melt into him with a sigh. You already knew you were into men, it just was a hard sell to find one that saw you as one too. That night, you spend the time exploring each other's bodies, making each other see stars. He cums deep inside you a small handful of times, the two of you lost in the euphoria of knowing each other and being known in return.

The two of you start dating, secretly to keep from outing your roommate, but you don't mind. You're stealth, you understand the need for privacy. You are a more private person anyway. The sex is amazing, and he genuinely sees you as the man you are, even as he fills your cunt every night.

You don't notice right away, your clothes getting tighter. And when you do, you think it's just the freshman 15. You've been on testosterone long enough that there's no period to miss, and the thought you might be pregnant doesn't cross your mind until you start throwing up in the morning, much to your now boyfriends concern.

When it comes back positive you're nearly hysterical, asking how you could be so stupid and careless, how your life was ruined now, and all sorts. Your boyfriend just holds you close, listens to you cry, and when you tire yourself out, makes an offer.

If you wanted, he could marry you. Take responsibility, and if you could pretend just for the wedding day he wouldn't have to come out to his family about it, either. He wasn't hugely rich, but he did know that he had a house that would be his if he was the first in his generation to get married, so he could offer you the stability you needed on top of it all. And obviously, he'd help you raise the baby- you could be a real family together. Once the house was in his name, you could come out together, and even if his family cut them off then, they couldn't take the house. You'd have it all!

It was a hard choice, that took a few days to think on, but the growing pressure in your abdomen urged you along. You agreed. And it's not like you hadn't already been daydreaming of a life together with this strange and brilliant man- it was just more thoughts of co-writing groundbreaking research together more than co-parenting a child you didn't expect.

You were lucky- the timing of everything lined up so that you could finish your year barely showing and able to hide it, just thanks to lucky genetics keeping you from showing much in the first two trimesters. Once summer break hit, you were married within the month, and by then you were obviously pregnant. It was a shotgun wedding, everyone assumed, and in a way it was, but you didn't mind. Even if the dress made you miserable and so did the well-meaning and only slightly condescending "you're lucky he's making an honest woman out of you" comments. Your now husband tended to you the whole night, deflecting questions about your deep voice and broad shoulders as you got married under a name you hadn't used in years, but after you kissed the man you now married, he whispered in your ear that he loved you, and called you by your real name.

The baby came with just enough time before the start of your second year that you could recover fairly well, and you knew you wanted to keep going with your education. Your husband, the sweetest man you knew, said to go for it- his family could watch the baby in the daytime so he could work, and support all three of you. He said he would take night classes at a reduced credit plan- you'd graduate a year before him now, but he could make it work. You offered to drop out, but he insisted you keep going.

You do. It's difficult, but you make it work. With the stability of having a home, you're able to take more risks, focus hard on your academics, and when you get your bachelor's, end up going with a scholarship for your masters, then a PHD on an accelerated track. He goes slower, but your husband gets his own masters while you're working on your thesis, and your daughter is learning how to read.

During this time, when your little girl is spending her mornings in school and doesn't need a babysitter in the daytime, you come out together. It goes... Poorly. As expected, his family rejects the both of you, and your daughter along with you. They want the house back, but there's nothing they can do.

By pure luck, once you've both finished your education at long last, you both score high paying jobs in your shared field, across the country out where no one knows the two of you. You both jump at the chance, of course, offering to sell the house back to the unsupportive family and disappear from their lives forever. They take the offer, and you, your husband, and your daughter all move out to this tiny little town for this incredible job opportunity, and you build a life there.

For once, in out of all of the realities that you believe exist out there, you get a happy ever after.

[hypostatic-oath]

OVERSEER BRAINROT

(This is like. Me rambling. This is poorly explained and my grasp on the canon lore is iffy but this is just how I imagine/will write the Overseer - aka the player - in SAGAU. This perspective will likely change as I understand more of the lore, but for now, here's some crumbs.)

Overseer whose role is, more than simply observing, to keep the canon going.

Experiencing the story, and that includes collecting characters and learning of their lore, exploring the world, building our teapot, etc is our reward for playing our role - and our role is to push the story forward. It doesn't progress without us. We're not Teyvat's creator, but we are the one making each of our worlds move (we're the mover we're the shaker we're the headline maker). If we did not take action, the twins never would've been separated - they would've stayed forever in that choosing screen, held permanently in that moment. If we had not chosen to walk forward and touch the statue, the Traveler would never have gotten the Anemo elemental powers. Would've never helped Dvalin. Signora would've never taken Venti's gnosis. Rex Lapis would never have "died". Every single other major event wouldn't happen.

The player is the being that makes the Canon Events happen - not directly, but through making sure that the story progresses. (Miguel O'Hara theme plays in the background.) And this can happen at whichever speed we decide.

Now, while the fact that we are the ones making the story go by could be used to argue that the Overseer would be the one to make the passage of time, that is not quite true. The days in Teyvat do not depend on the story progression. Months can pass before those two Fatui in Mondstadt (I love them) have any new gossip to share about current events, or they can pass through five new topics in a span of days, depending on how fast the player runs through the quests. Time is not the deciding factor in these characters' fates. It doesn't matter how long it's been since Signora died - Viktor (the Fatui guy at the Cathedral) will not be stationed at his new post unless the player finishes his comission. Teppei's condition won't worsen with time, either. If we don't continue the quest, we can stand next to him for weeks in game before he passes. Thus, I propose that the Overseer is more of a god of Fate (not to mention, the god of time position is taken). To add to this, the things we use to pull for characters are called Fates. Intertwined Fates, Acquaint Fates, both circle back to the same idea. Hangouts can be seen as a sort of exploration of this power - with the ability to choose one of five or six fates for that character (if only Character Quests had that too). It is, however, one of the few times we have control over which version of the story is told. Otherwise, we are mostly the energy that moves it along.

It's not just that it's a canon event and we cannot interfere - it's that it is literally our purpose to make sure it happens, even if we don't like it. We're here to witness and progress the story - and bad things can happen in stories, regardless of what the characters in it want. So right now I am having some Villain Overseer brainrot, not because they want to be evil on purpose, but because some character decides to pull a Miles Morales and say "I'mma do my own thing" and mess up the story's flow. For someone trying to change the course of the story, the force that pushes events forward is obviously Not Good. I can see Fontaine characters seeing the Traveler's arrival as an ill omen, a sign that the prophecy will come true. They're divided, because on one hand, the Traveler has a good reputation, someone helpful, kind, a hero. But the Overseer's attention signifies that events will inevitably unfold. So Lyney invites them to be part of a show. Furina threatens to arrest the Traveler. Navia asks them out for tea. As long as they can keep the Overseer's attention on other matters, the event they dread won't happen. (I won't talk much abt Neuvillette rn becayse spoilers)

Enter eventual Arlechinno boss fight (it hasn't happened yet, but I do hope we get one) - she's the one who tries to fight the Traveler head on, to personally put a stop to it once and for all. Perhaps the Overseer has no ill will, but that doesn't matter. Not when their presence means that the clock is ticking faster and faster every day.

Now for a more lighthearted thought, Isekai'd Overseer who doesn't really have a concept of urgency. No important event will occur without them present, so they have no qualms in arriving on the day after the scheduled date, confident that as long as it is between 18:00 - 23:00 the reservation will still be placed and people will be at their seats as if it was always meant to be that way.

So the Overseer walks into a bar, with a face too fresh for someone who hasn't slept in what the people of Teyvat percieve to have been months, just coming in from the Spiral Abyss, and asks the bartender where their friends are.

"I don't know? Master Kaeya usually shows up at this hour, but the rest of your usual group is probably tending to their affairs."

"Odd. They were supposed to be here by now. We had a big dinner planned." The person in front of him, who Charles is more and more sure definitely looks somewhat off in a way he can't quite pinpoint, seems confused. "There was a reservation and everything. In Kaeya's name, I believe."

"Well, I'm sorry, but the last reservation Master Kaeya placed here was a month ago."

"Again, weird. He said he was going to place one. Oh, well. When the others get here, just let them know I'll be on one of the big tables upstairs, alright? And you can put everything on my tab."

[artbyblastweave]

My sense of what Crossovers are for, conceptually, the thing they do that other works can't, was entirely formulated by my early-childhood exposure to Kurt Busiek and George Perez's seminal 2004 Marvel/DC crossover JLA/Avengers. Like most stuff Busiek writes it's a love-letter, and part-and-parcel with its status as a love-letter was that he took the time to render the horror and bewilderment that the respective teams had upon encountering the status-quo of their counterpart's setting. The JLA encounter the anti-mutant hysteria, the supervillainous fiefdoms like Latveria, figures like Hulk and Punisher being allowed to roam free, all those tonal hallmarks of Marvel, and they come to the conclusion that the Marvel Universe is hanging on by its fingernails and that the Avengers are somewhere between in over their heads and actively negligent. Meanwhile the Avengers explore the shiny, forward-thinking, optimistic DC universe, encounter the ubiquitously positive reactions they get from people on the street just for visibly Being Superheroes, see things like the Flash Museum and the Hall of Justice, and Captain America comes to the conclusion that the Justice League obviously must have led a fascist takeover of America. Then they hit each other a lot. Anyway, if you're writing a crossover between two works and you want me to care at all, you need to meet the JLA/Avengers Bar. When a character from one work is placed in the context of another work's setting, what commentary on the original work is that character in a position to provide through their outlook and worldview? What insight, in turn, can their commentary provide on on the assumptions and conventions of their native narrative? Have all characters involved experienced enough of the events of their own work that they've actually got something to compare and contrast with, or is the crossover occurring so early in one or more of their respective timelines that you're basically dealing with OCs due to the butterfly effect? Are you actually acknowledging the different properties as discrete narratives that are abrading each other in interesting ways, or are you for the one millionth time reimagining Izuku Midoriya as a native resident of some other setting (seemingly decided via roulette wheel?) And of course, are you correct in your assessments of how these are bouncing off each other? How many times am I getting hit with "They would not fucking say that/react like that/understand their new surroundings in that way/go five minutes without trying to disembowel this fan-favorite character from the other work that you've decided they're getting along great with?"

[sasquapossum]

On my mind: why has there been such an increase in adulation and loyalty toward obviously defective people like Trump and Musk? Have people become more gullible than they were when I was younger? Seems unlikely. We internalized all sorts of stupid shit too, but it wasn't so focused on personalities. Then it struck me: the problem is that we've lost faith in institutions and personalities are what's left. Consider...

Politicians: believe it or not, we used to trust that they were at least sane and working generally for some vision of public good, even when we disagreed. Not since Nixon, Reagan, Dubya, etc.

Journalists: we used to trust them to report the facts in a reasonably objective way, even when that isn't necessarily what they were doing. Then came Fox and that all went out the window.

TV/radio media became all about engagement, a form of entertainment, not actual reporting. Now it's all podcasts and TikTok or YouTube, but basically same. There are some who believe one particular favorite speaks the truth, but few who would say these folks in general are trustworthy.

Print media failed in a different way, partly by being partisans for the establishment (e.g. NYT and the Iraq war) but mostly by totally missing the boat on going online. They could have agreed on a single shared subscription or micropayment system, but they each had to be greedy with their own paywalls etc. So their lunch got eaten by social media (who bear their own share of blame for eroding trust), and the press got even more unhinged about it.

Science, engineering, academe: we used to believe promises about new miracle materials, chemicals, drugs, etc. Even before anti-vaccine lunacy became a thing, a long string of disasters - microplastics, DDT, thalidomide - changed that.

Unions: they've experienced a resurgence very recently, but that's almost a "dead cat bounce" after being moribund for decades. Some people would blame Reagan and PATCO. I think the collapse of major union-heavy industries - auto, steel, mining - had more to do with it, but the result was the same.

I could go on - there's a whole other post I could write about the mixed role of churches in this context - but you get the idea. The fact that in many cases there were good reasons to withdraw our trust doesn't change the fact that such a general withdrawal creates a vacuum which we've filled with hero worship instead. That's where people like Musk and Trump come from.

Here's the kicker: it's not an accident. Undermining trust in institutions has been part of the authoritarian playbook since forever. Julius Caesar is the earliest example that most people would be familiar with, hence the silly illustration, but the phenomenon goes back much further than that. Creating that vacuum is central to authoritarian strategy. Remember Reagan's "nine most terrifying words"? Some people think of that as a libertarian statement but, with the so-called Moral Majority and various militia groups (then as now galvanized by immigration) behind him, that misses the mark. It was part of an authoritarian strategy, demeaning the administrative state and permanent civil service (i.e. institutions) in favor of raw executive power (i.e. personalities).

I'm all for unions, co-ops, mutual aid, etc. but they can't stand alone. Never have. Without a government enforcing rules (including against itself), anarchy will always evolve toward autocracy. If you think the role of government should be minimized, then congratulations, you're part of the Reagan Left ... or worse. A red hat with a hammer and sickle on it is still a red hat. You are effectively supporting authoritarianism whether you mean to or not. Also, since there's no significant left-authoritarian element in US politics - no Stalin or Mao and thank FSM for that - that means you're supporting right-authoritarians. You should stop, especially if you're a member of a group that would suffer most under such a regime.

[honeycreammilkshake]

SUKUITA is so good I hate when Gege keeps interrupting yuji development! I also don't want Gege to give Sukuna a pathetic humiliating death just to please the obnoxious gojo fans. I wanted to see sukuna past and Yuji to see it as well

Personally I want both of them to survive and Sukuna to learn about love

Hi, anon! Sorry for the late reply.

I definitely want both Sukuna and Yuuji to survive together, somehow. They're both such opposite extremes, but I think Gege's hinting at the possibility they can coexist and even balance each other out. He's referenced them being being yin and yang by their different color schemes (Sukuna dressed in white and Yuuji often in black) and he's even mentioned the concept of Manichaeism — or the dualism of two very different concepts. Gege's approach to this seems to take a more monistic point of view, which suggests that things are more alike than they seem. There's also that scene in the Culling Game arc where Kenjaku claims that so long as Yuuji and Sukuna keep coexisting, there won't be an end to the "cycle of curses" — which I take to mean that neither can really exist without each other at this point, and if they are separated, it could potentially altar the flow/balance of cursed energy and spirits as we've seen it.

Sadly, Yuuji's story and self-development is usually offset by other characters, who take up more of the focus. One interesting thing I'd like to point out, though, is that of all the people Yuuji's ever met, Sukuna is the only one he's confided in the most. No one has ever gotten to see Yuuji so open — he literally told Sukuna his whole life story and preceded to extend an offer of mercy to the King of Curses himself, all in a very personal setting that is just the two of them.

The fact that Yuuji really is invested in teaching Sukuna how to love and even wants a potential peaceful outcome for Sukuna too — even though he's killed so many of the people Yuuji cared about — just goes to show me that if anyone can "save" Sukuna, it's Yuuji.

After all, the brat has done a lot more damage to Sukuna's ego and self-absorbed philosophy than anyone else ever has. Sukuna has been changed by his experiences with Yuuji, perhaps not so obviously but still it shows. Which makes me think that if Yuuji can manage to get Sukuna to tell his side of the story, the both of them might just have a chance at resolving this without having to destroy each other.

Another sukuita fanatic pointed out to me that the official art where Sukuna has the Mahoraga's wheel behind his head like a halo could be a potential reference to enlightenment. If that's the case, then the symbolism of the wheel (which represents "perfect cycles") along with the association of haloes with enlightenment could very well mean that Yuuji and Sukuna can find a way to coexist together at the very end. As I pointed out earlier, the references to them being like yin and yang means that sometimes these traits blend together. If Yuuji manages to teach Sukuna how to love, then he's successfully merged these two elements together.

Yin and yang both exist in each other even though they're essentially opposites, because they can be complementary or even parts of the same whole. This suggests that Yuuji and Sukuna, while seeming to be polar opposites (good vs evil) on the surface, are actually far more interconnected and dependent on each other than you might think.

I think that if Sukuna does get to show his story to Yuuji and explain all that led to him becoming the King of Curses, Yuuji will see how, despite being very different in their philosophy, they've experienced many of the same hardships and challenges. Their approach to this is radically different, but is much more complicated than simply being extreme opposites. Through this, maybe both of them will come to an "enlightened" understanding of how they can continue to exist together.

I hope that makes sense! I'm really new at writing meta, so I'm just throwing different ideas (usually from those who write better than me) and my own research all together.

Overall, I definitely agree with you. Gege has shown investment in Sukuna as a character, and I'm hoping he doesn't give in to fan influence to abandon the progress he's made so far.

Sukuna and Yuuji have by far the most interesting dynamic of them all (at least in my opinion) so an ending that focuses on them is only natural seeing as how everything began with them too.

[unnecessary-dinosaurs]

Ok! I watched Chaos Theory! I have a lot of thoughts! There were things I liked a lot and things I wasn’t a fan of. I generally liked it but came away slightly underwhelmed. If you haven’t watched it yet please go do so!!! Support the show and the wonderful crew that put it together!!!

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

WHAT I LIKED:

-MATEO!!! I literally loved him so much. A fantastic, simple character that doesn’t overstay his welcome or detract from our main characters. Great motivations and realistic backstory. Yeah. I really liked him. Yeah.

-Yasammy! Obviously they were amazing. They got to be cute and bubbly and gay but also their argument was so real and believable. Neither one of them is completely in the wrong. They are just two flawed people who’ve been through more than they can handle on their own. They need each other but not always in the way they might think. They were such a highlight this season. Can’t wait for more of them.

-This whole show just feels like a dramatic step up in visual storytelling from CC. The sets are beautiful and intricate, the lighting and textures are fantastic, and the directing is just really great. There are some really creative shots and transitions, and overall it just feels like more confident directing and storyboarding all around. (I specifically remember episode 7 being really great visually. Super fun stuff.)

-All the dinosaur action was great. Like next level shit. The way they keep finding creative ways to use these animals for action and suspense is very impressive. The raptors are genuinely scary. The Allosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus were personal favs.

-Unlike Dominion, they actually showed what living in a world with dinosaurs is like- how people are adjusting to this new way of life, adapting to the presence of these animals, and keeping themselves safe. Totally what I wanted to see from Dominion, and Chaos Theory did it better within a single episode.

-There was some very well crafted suspense throughout this season. The mystery does a great job of constantly keeping you pulled in. Every time a question is answered, five more are asked.

-The darker tone is definitely welcome. The characters are older and they’ve experienced a terrible loss. The weight of the new world weighs on them and the audience in a very tangible way.

-This one isn’t really constructive but like. I just love Darius so much. He’s so perfect.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

-Unfortunately I thought the character writing was significantly weaker than any season of CC. It was genuinely impressive how they were able to make me not care much about these versions of Ben and Kenji, my absolute favorite characters in CC. Before the characters felt like real, living people. Now, they just feel like fictional characters to me. Really good characters, yes, but still just characters. Maybe I’ll go into further detail about this in a future post. But yeah, overall it felt like the characters took a backseat this time around.

-I’m so sorry but I absolutely could not stand the new VA for Kenji. I’m sure he’s trying his best but he sounded uninterested and half-assed most of the time. Brooklynn’s new actor was… fine? Didn’t care for her either but she didn’t bug me the way Kenji did. Let’s start a GoFundMe to pay for Ryan to come back.

-Ok. Yeah. Not a fan of Darius being in love with B. Like, ok. It makes sense and it fits the plot well. But it just seems unnecessary. Darius can be devastated by her loss without it. Ehhh maybe they’ll handle it well in future seasons but. No. Not for me.

-Also didn’t like Daniel Kon’s death. I liked that they brought him back, but killing him felt undeserved. Like, he was the main antagonist for the first show, but you just kill him off in a random episode six years later? I think he deserved a little more reverence rather than reintroducing him for one episode and then quickly killing him for shock value once he’s served his purpose.

-WHY DID THEY GIVE BEN A GIRLFRIEND THAT BOY IS GAY AS HELL NOOOOO

[right-there-ride-on]

For me the key to understanding SBR was to read it as a narrative instead of a jojo part. I feel like with the rest of jojo you can almost read each part as less as a narrative and more as a series of fights with a loosely connected story. When I first read Part 7, I was reading it through the same lens I do other parts; namely, the story occurs around the fights. What I mean is that I feel with most of the previous parts, the story was a vehicle for the fights, not the other way around.

It’s easy to say SBR is a fresh start / reboot but I think I just so strongly associated it with the rest of jjba that it took forever to me feel like I actually ‘got it���. With other jojo parts I feel most everything is surface-level (I don’t mean this in the bad way, just that, like the rest of the series, it’s very ‘in your face’). But Part 7 is unique to me in that it’s a narrative where I can keep digging and finding new things.

All this to say that it took me several re-reads to feel like I actually caught on to some of the subtext and other things going on. For example, while there’s blatant references to religion throughout SBR, I hadn’t realized how ingrained it was in the story proper until I went back and did the religious analysis of the text, which in turn better informed my understanding of the characters. So much flies over your head the first time you read it. For another example, it took a lot of time and revisiting the text for me to even begin understanding the True Man’s World, and I hadn’t even thought to seriously consider the cultural context of SBR’s setting until someone else pointed out how Ringo’s ideas would have tied in with Jeffersonian rhetoric about American Individualism. Maybe that was my problem: I wasn’t taking SBR on its own terms, and frankly I think I might have dismissed a lot of what Araki was trying to say with this piece by considering as Part 7 instead of Steel Ball Run.

Parts 1-6 are very enjoyable for what they are, but to be quite honest I don’t think they had a larger message besides fate and possibly abuse of power. They had themes, obviously - family and legacy as an overarching one; love comes to mind for Part 1, friendship for Part 2, the journey / friendship for Part 3, etc - but I don’t think Araki had something he was trying to say with them. He wrote Parts 1-6 because he had ideas he wanted to express, and most of those were action-oriented stand battles. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just an observation. The story functioned around the stand battles.

In contrast, with SBR I feel the fights are part of the story, and help inform the greater whole. Lucy’s whole character, as a non-combatant who does important things to keep the plot moving, reflects this change in approach. Sugar Mountain is dedicated to highlighting Gyro and Johnny’s evolving relationship. Compare Bohemian Rhapsody with Diego & Hot Pants vs Valentine. As a narrative SBR demands consideration of values and reflection on what we hold important. It encourages you to think deeply and pull it apart to see what it’s trying to say.

Again, this isn’t to dismiss any of the other Parts, and in no way is this an attack on them. Furthermore, SBR is longer and was afforded a monthly publishing timescale; perhaps there’s an argument for Araki simply having more time to do things. However, I also think the comment from Araki about feeling as though he’d hit his creative limit with Part 6 is reflective on his mindset at the time of writing Stone Ocean. Steel Ball Run was his chance to start fresh as a more experienced writer with a message he wanted to share.

This post is mostly just a reflection for how I want to approach other works in the future.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

I’m newer to tumblr but an Arcana Veteran so coming across your account is a blessing 😭 your hcs are really good and I look forward to your posts!! I had an idea that I never executed on my own and i thought I might as well share it, so here goes nothing 😋

How would the M6 react to MC changing something drastic about themselves?

To be more specific, say MC always had long hair, more of a coolheaded attitude, or were always quiet and polite. And then out of the blue they’re shutting everyone out, slowly erasing almost every trace of their presence and being off the radar for a few months.

The LIs are worried because not a single soul has seen them. And then they suddenly return, and it’s like a new person, but very obviously still themselves. Shorter hair or other physical differences, soft-spoken personality, etc. But they come back to the M6 regretfully, never saying what *did* happen.

Assuming what they had was some strive for change, depression, or something else, it may be hard to explain to their dearest, but they eventually will. All they want is to be home.

just a silly idea of mine ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ



The Arcana HCs: M6 when MC changes without them

~ thanks for the ask @vegaspng! Sorry it took me so long to get around to but here it is. I'm writing this to be similar to what it's like in the recovery stages of PTSD or chronic depression, because I live for that kind of bittersweet hope. To anyone experiencing ot hoping to experience this, best of luck! You're not alone! - brainrot ~

- a little backstory-

The Devil is defeated. Vesuvia is safe. And your loved ones are building a new life with you that promises to be better than anything you can remember. Which is why you have to leave.

You've learned so much about yourself, your past, even the body you have now, and you're not sure what to do with it yet. That aside, you took on responsibilities and accomplishments the likes of which no single person could reasonably hope to carry, and you pulled it off. You didn't have to do it alone either. But now that things are going back to normal, you're stuck drifting in your own brain because you have no idea what normal is supposed to be like.

Your beloved has been wonderful. They've shown more patience than you ever asked for, listening to you process for hours and doing their best to help. You've worked through who you were after being brought back from the dead, you've worked through who you became through your fight against the devil, but you still know nothing of who you started out as. Which means you're not sure who you're supposed to be now. And you don't want to build a new life without knowing who you're building it for.

So one fine morning, you pack a bag, arrange for your absence, and kiss your beloved goodbye with the promise to return.

The journey is difficult, but rewarding. You travel across realms both magical and human, collecting traces of your past and encountering moments of who you used to be. You don't recover all of your memories, but you get the important ones. You find out who you used to be. It's less than you thought, but it's more than you had, and it's enough to move forward. So you set your sights for home and return to Vesuvia.

Your loved one is overjoyed when you return. They have a little adjusting to do, you have some mannerisms you didn't used to and they can't predict your behavior in the same way. But they're quick to recognize that it's all still you. Slowly, they get to know all the pieces you're building yourself with and fall in love with each one. And as time goes on, you get to hear about the whole thing from their point of view as well. What was it like for them, when you left? And what does life look like now that you're back?

Julian

The hardest part of you leaving was trying not to take it as a rejection of his love for you

He knows in his head why you need to do this, hell, the reason he ended up in Vesuvia was because he needed his own journey of self discovery

He just has to fight off his own inner demons telling him that you're going to realize you're better off without him and not come back

Which, for someone who found the drive to keep his own life because it had you it, can be quite the struggle

And because he's actually quite intelligent, he recognizes that it's not good to stay dependent on you to be his sole purpose in life. That's not your responsibility to carry

So he keeps faith in your promise to return, and puts all of his energy into becoming a better man for you to come home to

He spends time with Portia, getting to know her as an adult and becoming the kind of brother she says she wants and not what he assumes she needs

He seeks out time with Nazali so he can continue his medical studies and get more mentoring

He reconnects with Nadia and puts his knowledge of public hygiene to use with her plans for Vesuvia

He even manages to build a healthy friendship with Asra (who also misses you) and resolve their past toxic situationship

It's not easy, but he wakes up every morning a little more ready to face the day

When you come home, he's over the moon. Nothing and nobody can replace the happiness you bring him

He notices your changes right away, but he's too relieved to know that you actually came back to focus on them

Once you're settled back in with him and it's more apparent, he has a raging battle of opinions in his head about whether he should ask you about it or wait

He ends up asking you extremely vague, open-ended questions just in case you want to talk about it, but not letting himself pry

As time passes, he gets to know more of who you are and you begin to tell him some of the things that happened on your trip

He's fascinated, asking questions whenever you're in the headspace to answer them and connecting dots with you

He's never had the zest for life that he does now. Every night that he goes to bed with you, he's already looking forward to what the next morning will bring

And the best part? So do you. The future has never so been so desirable as it is now

Asra

They completely understand where you are coming from. In fact, they were the one who suggested the trip

He didn't suggest you going by yourself though

In the end what they care about more than anything is your happiness and wellbeing. So they'll give you every piece of advice and connection and helpful item they have, and promise to watch the shop while you're gone

But oh, he misses you desperately

When they gave up half their heart, it was in the form of their ability to have connections with other people. You being in their life covers for that

The only person he had a strong connection with before you was Muriel. And when you died, he went into the darkest, most twisted headspace he'd ever been in and did things he couldn't later comprehend

Their decision to bring you back, and the way they did it, is something you two have talked about once or twice, but there isn't much else to do besides try to forgive them and make sure it doesn't happen again

But this time, you're not alone. Which means he isn't either

Every day for the next week, someone new drops by the shop at your request to check on them

First it's his parents. Then it's Nadia. Muriel. Julian. Portia. Selasi, the baker. Natiqa on her way through town. Even Lucio at one point, with an apology letter that took months to help him write

Every time they feel like packing up and taking off until you return, they remember their promise to stick it out for you

And slowly, he begins to stay for other people too. It doesn't hit him until one month in that for the first time in his life, he's a part of a community because he's wanted there and wants to be there, not because he's with you

You're still their anchor, but now they have ties apart from you that give them a semblance of home, family, and belonging

The moment you return he's dropping everything. He will maintain some form of physical contact with you for the next 48 hours

They're one of the only people who remembers you before the plague, and seeing glimpses of that in who you are now makes them so proud and happy for you

You don't have to tell him everything right away. Though he is going to apologize profusely for every time he left you for a long trip with nothing to do but watch the shop and wait for his return

For every piece and memory you're ready to talk about, they will give you their undivided attention and then lavish the new discovery with all the affection they have

Nadia

She's torn. On one hand, her greatest joy is providing for you, so seeing the way you have an unmet need and can't come to her to fix it is hard for her

On the other hand, she perfectly understands the need to get away from it all to find yourself

And she's perfectly aware of how dominant her personality can be. You having access to your own space is very important to her

So she'll make sure you have everything you need and offer every available resource to you, and let you go

It's hard at first. You had been the one to wake her from her sleep, you had been the one to bring back her faith in herself

So without you around, her old insecurities begin to resurface. She didn't grow up in Vesuvia. She wasn't even the active ruler until several months ago

There were literal demons serving as her courtiers and she didn't do anything about them until you called them out

How is she supposed to speak with confidence if she doesn't have you to back her up?

And that's when, slowly, people start to drop by, and she's finally ready to accept their support

First it's Portia. Then it's Asra. Even Muriel drops by briefly. Julian makes a couple of calls as well

And then, it's her sisters

First it's Natiqa, crashing her lonely dinners and making her laugh with her wisecracks

Then it's Nasmira, quietly sweet talking the more stubborn courtiers into compliance

One by one, and never more than two visitors in the palace at a time, each family member stops by, taking their cues from Nadia and being her backup

And little by little, every childhood memory that haunts her gains a new light

She still gets tired of them and feels stifled every now and then, but she doesn't feel alone any more

It soon becomes known that Vesuvia doesn't just have an incredible Countess, their Countess has an army of loving supporters

When you return, she takes the next few days off and trusts her support system to handle the city for a bit

She'll ask questions, but as soon as she senses hesitation she'll give you space

She sees all these new flashes of personality in you, and as much as her heart aches for your trials, it flutters as you become more yourself

She already knew you were a worthy companion, but as you share more and more she's left in awe of who you are

The world is not ready for the power couple you two are going to make

Muriel

He understood what you needed to do right away. Going on a trip in search of his roots was exactly what ended up saving him

And getting to know you in the process was a delightful bonus

But when he realizes you're going alone, he's undeniably hurt. He's not the type to be selfish, but you went with him on his journey. He was vulnerable with you and it brought you two together

So why don't you trust him the same way? Why won't you make space for him in your life the way he did for you?

It's tricky to answer, because he makes a fair point and because he's never asked you for anything like this before

You're eventually able to explain the difference, how your trip is about finding out who you are on your own terms, when everything you've gotten so far has been on somebody else's

It's still painful for him, but he'll agree and let you go. He's not afraid of being alone

Until, for the first time in his life, he gets bored and starts wondering if someone's going to come bother him

Which is completely new. He's never had that train of thought before in his life

The closest was when Asra stayed with him and he wouldn't know if they would be back late or not

But now the hut is almost too quiet. The bed is too big. The forest is too peaceful. The eggs are too bland

And so, after two weeks of trying and failing to fall into old habits, he goes into town, grumbling under his breath the whole way

The panic that Asra greets him with when he walks into your old shop is almost enough to make him turn around and leave

Muriel? In town? By himself? Without being summoned? The world must be ending!

When he's finally able to mumble something about just wanting to visit and pick up some spices, Asra shatters a teacup

He's never been the one to surprise them before. It's fun. He could get used to this

And so, visits to Vesuvia get more frequent. Usually to the shop. Often to the palace. Several times to the community theatre, without needing to hide in the rafters

He's so relieved when you get back. You can hold a conversation with other people much better than he can

He notices the changes immediately, but he doesn't address them at all. His only desire concerning you is to be your safe place

He's come to appreciate the beauty of human complexity, so seeing new layers like this in you is heartstopping

You never have to worry about opening up. If you do, he'll accept you. If you don't, he'll accept you. He just loves you for you

Portia

Not gonna lie, it triggered her a little

She knows how this goes. You get tired of your quaint little life, you go off on an adventure without her, and you leave her to rot where she can't reach or help you with letters full of empty apologies

The conversation you facilitate between her and Julian after that rant is one of the hardest things you've ever done, but it's worth it

After things have settled, she lets you leave and holds onto the hope that you'll be back

And while you're gone, she distracts herself with work. She's got boundless energy, she needs to put that to use so she can't think too much

And so begins the craziest three weeks of her life. From the moment she wakes up to the moment she falls asleep, she does nothing but work

Normally, you're her reason to take a break. You put her back in the main role of her own life so she can let her hair down and live the adventure she's destined for

But without you around, the only role she's used to playing is support. So that's what she does, to the point of completely forgetting about herself

It takes a burnout induced three day fever to make her pause. Especially when she begins to recover and sees the sheer number of worried faces in her cottage

Nadia's spending every free evening with her. Julian's sleeping over most nights. Mazelinka's covering the daytime with her mysteriously perfect soup and brandishing a wooden spoon to keep her in bed

It makes her realize two things. First, that while it looks different, she has her brother's tendency to take on the world's problems to avoid taking care of herself

And second, that you shouldn't have to be the solution to that

It's rough, but she learns self care. Not just an extra step in her skincare, but letting herself do something just for fun. Putting herself first

Learning to sit and do nothing without feeling guilty because nobody can make some kind of profit from it

When you get home though, it's like she can fully relax again. You give her an importance that she has to fight to hold onto otherwise

She has the hardest time giving you space. All the changes you've made are so exciting to her, she wants to hear all about your adventures and growth!

You'll have to tell her plainly that you're not ready to talk about it right away, and she'll be very understanding even if it's hard

Every time you open up, she'll hang on your every word. You two are the main characters in her story, and she can't wait for the plot to develop with you by her side

Lucio

He doesn't make it easy for you to leave

He doesn't mind you going on a trip! Trips are fun! And even when they're serious and scary, like what he had to do with you in the Arcana's realms, they're always better with a loved one!

So why are you trying to go without him? Who's going to protect you?!

And equally important, who's going to be with him?!

He's thoughtless sometimes, but he's not dumb. He knows he's a better man because of you

And he also knows that he's not perfect. Deep down under all that bluster and ego, he's still a kid who never learned to love

You helped him with that. You unraveled every tangled oopsie with him, you didn't flinch when you saw the worst of him, and then you picked up his forgotten heart and filled it up with love

So why else would you be leaving except because you finally realized that he's not worthy of you?

You're able to explain it to some extent. You need to go on a journey similar to his. Only you need to do this by yourself because it isn't about fixing oopsies, it's about finding out who you used to be

He'll let you go because it's what's best for you. And he believes you when you say you'll come back. But what he can't bring himself to tell you is how afraid he is that who you used to be won't be able to love him

When you kiss him goodbye, he resigns himself to it being the last he'll ever get

At first he sulks. He crashes people's parties and picks fights with every bandit he encounters

But when he has the option to get blackout drunk? Take all the goods from the bandits for himself on top of the bounty money?

He can't

You taught him the importance of taking responsibility for his actions. Well, you made him a good man. So you're going to have to take responsibility for that and give him the chance to prove himself worthy of you

Which he does. He wakes up early. He moderates his drinks. He does the jobs he finds. He saves the money he earns

When you get back and fling your arms around him, his knees buckle from relief

He can tell you've changed, but it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. He can tell you all the ways he's changed instead!

If you were worried about his reactions when you do open up, you quickly realize you don't have to be

He doesn't expect you to be perfect. All he wants is for you to be you, for you to be happy, and for him to be the one you choose to do that with

[adrealucia]

New Beginnings

tags: post Blood Brothers ending, Sean Diaz x Reader, might contain smut in future chapters, lots of fluff, romantic fluff, overall just fucking wholesome, obviously mentions Daniel quite often, sfw in the beginning, maybe nsfw in the future idk, definitely slow burn, female reader

chapter summary: you make a surprising discovery

Chapter seven

The next morning, you wake up on the couch feeling surprisingly refreshed, despite the drinks from the night before. You stretch and look around, realizing that Sean and Daniel are already up and about.

Sean comes into the living room, carrying a tray with coffee and breakfast. “Good morning, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?”

You sit up, rubbing your eyes. “Morning. I’m actually feeling pretty good. Thanks for the coffee.”

Sean sets the tray down and sits next to you. “No problem. Daniel’s already made himself scarce. I think he’s out and about somewhere.”

You take a sip of coffee, enjoying the warmth. “I hope he’s okay. Last night was really fun.”

Sean smiles, his eyes twinkling with a mix of affection and amusement. “Yeah, he enjoyed it too. He was just asking me some questions before he went off to do his own thing.”

“Oh? What kind of questions?” you ask, curious.

Sean chuckles. “Oh, just about us, really. He’s a bit of a matchmaker at heart.”

You laugh softly. “Well, I hope he’s not planning any surprise proposals or anything.”

Sean grins, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “No, nothing like that. But he does care a lot, and he wants the best for both of us.”

As the morning progresses, you and Sean enjoy breakfast together, talking about your plans for the day and reminiscing about last night. The connection between you deepens, marked by the ease and affection that has developed over the past weeks.

The day stretches out before you, filled with possibilities and the promise of more shared adventures. The future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: you and Sean are creating something special, one day at a time.

You leave the Diaz house with a sense of warmth and excitement, the memory of the night’s festivities lingering in your mind. As you drive home, the familiar streets seem to take on a new sheen, reflecting the hopeful and slightly anxious feelings you’re experiencing.

Back at your place, you take some time to reflect on the growing connection between you and Sean. The evening had been magical, and you can’t help but wonder where this path might lead. The way he looks at you, the ease of your conversations, and the genuine care he shows—it all feels so right. Yet, there’s a flutter of uncertainty. Is this too good to be true? How will this relationship fit into your life?

Sitting at your desk, you pull out your notebook and begin to jot down ideas for one of your ongoing writing projects. The inspiration flows effortlessly, spurred by the emotions and experiences you’ve had recently. Each word you write feels like a step towards something new and exciting, and you lose yourself in the creative process, feeling more connected to your work than ever before.

The next day, a spark of excitement and newfound inspiration drives you to visit the Diaz garage unannounced. You’ve been mulling over some new business ideas, eager to discuss them with Sean. The desire to see him again adds a spring to your step as you make the spontaneous visit.

As you pull up to the garage, you notice the doors are open, and the familiar sounds of tools and machinery hum from within. You park and walk toward the garage, your thoughts racing about how to present your new ideas to Sean. The anticipation of seeing his reaction and sharing your progress fills you with a sense of purpose.

Stepping inside, you see Sean working on a car, deeply engrossed in his task. You take a moment to admire his focus and skill, the way his hands move deftly, his brow furrowed in concentration. Just as you’re about to call out to him, a strange, soft rustling sound from the corner of the garage catches your attention.

Turning your head, you’re stunned to see Daniel standing near a workbench. His hands are extended toward a pile of tools, which are floating in mid-air, suspended by an unseen force. Daniel’s eyes are closed in concentration, and he seems completely absorbed in the display of telekinesis.

Your breath catches in your throat. For a moment, you think you’re dreaming. The logical part of your mind struggles to process what you’re seeing. This can’t be real—people don’t just move things with their minds. Your heart races, and a wave of panic surges through you.

You back away slowly, your mind whirling with confusion and fear. Just as you turn to leave, Sean looks up from his work, noticing your sudden change in demeanor.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sean’s voice is filled with concern. He walks over, his brow furrowed. “You look pale. What’s wrong?”

You can’t find the words to explain or even process what you’ve just witnessed. The only thing you know is that you need to get away. “I... I’m sorry, I need to go,” you manage to stammer, your voice barely above a whisper.

Sean’s face falls, and he reaches out a hand as if to stop you. “Wait, let me explain! This isn’t—”

But you’re already rushing out of the garage, your footsteps echoing on the concrete floor. You fumble with your car keys, your hands shaking as you start the engine. The drive home is a blur of erratic thoughts and a growing sense of disbelief.

Back at your apartment, you pace around, trying to make sense of what you saw. The excitement of your visit has turned into a knot of anxiety. You sit down, trying to calm yourself. Is this some sort of elaborate joke? Did you imagine it? What does this mean for your relationship with Sean?

The quiet of your house does little to soothe your frazzled nerves. The normalcy of your surroundings feels alien and distant compared to the whirlwind of emotions you’re experiencing. You question your own sanity, the sight of Daniel’s telekinesis playing over and over in your mind.

You sit on the couch, hugging a pillow to your chest. The familiar comfort of your living room feels strangely uninviting. Your thoughts are a tangled mess of fear, confusion, and a deep sense of betrayal. How could something like this be hidden from you? Were they planning to tell you? Or were you never meant to find out?

You recall every interaction with Sean and Daniel, scrutinizing every detail, searching for any signs you might have missed. The weight of the secret presses down on you, making it hard to breathe.

As the evening approaches, you feel more isolated than ever. The discovery has left you disoriented, and the only thing you’re certain of is that you need some time to figure things out before confronting Sean again. The shadows lengthen outside your window, mirroring the shadows of doubt in your mind.

You try to distract yourself with a book, but the words blur together, and you can’t focus. The sight of Daniel’s telekinesis keeps replaying in your mind, each replay heightening your anxiety. You wonder if you’re losing your grip on reality.

The day ends with more questions than answers. As you try to unwind, you find it difficult to focus on anything other than the strange and troubling discovery. You drift into a restless sleep, the shadows of uncertainty hanging heavy over your dreams.

The next morning, you wake up with a heavy heart. The events of the previous day weigh on you, but you know you can’t avoid the truth forever. You need to understand what’s happening, and more importantly, you need to decide how you feel about it.

You decide to take a walk to clear your head. The fresh air and the sound of birds chirping help to calm your nerves. As you walk, you think about Sean and Daniel, the bond you’ve formed with them, and the potential for something more with Sean. But now, everything feels uncertain.

You sit on a bench in the park, watching the world go by. You see families playing, friends chatting, and couples holding hands. It reminds you of what you want��a sense of normalcy, of connection. But how can you have that when the world you thought you knew has been turned upside down?

After some time, you stand up, feeling a newfound determination. You need answers, and you need to hear them from Sean and Daniel. You need to understand what’s happening, and you need to decide if you can accept it.

With a deep breath, you head back to your house. You know the conversation ahead won’t be easy, but you also know that you can’t move forward without it. The future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: you need to face the truth, no matter how unsettling it may be.

The next morning, after a restless night filled with fragmented dreams and unanswered questions, you wake up feeling determined. You know you can't avoid the truth forever. The sooner you understand what’s happening, the sooner you can decide how to move forward. Taking a deep breath, you get dressed and head out to your car, driving back to the Diaz house with a mix of trepidation and resolve.

As you pull up to the familiar garage, you see Sean outside, working on a car. He looks up and immediately notices your anxious expression. Concern flashes across his face, and he sets down his tools, walking toward you with a cautious but hopeful look.

“Hey,” Sean says softly, his voice filled with worry. “I’m really sorry about how you found out yesterday. That wasn’t how I wanted you to learn about… all of this.”

You nod, swallowing the lump in your throat. “Can we talk? I need to understand what’s going on.”

Sean gestures toward the house. “Of course. Let’s go inside.”

Once inside, you both sit down on the couch. Sean takes a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before he begins. “It all started with our dad’s death,” he says, his voice heavy with emotion. “He was shot by a cop, and everything just… spiraled out of control from there.”

He pauses, looking at you to gauge your reaction. You nod, urging him to continue.

“After that, Daniel’s powers started to manifest. It was terrifying and confusing for both of us. We didn’t know what was happening or how to control it. We were scared, and we felt like we had no one to turn to.” Sean's eyes glaze over as he recalls the harrowing experiences.

“So we ran,” Sean continues. “We left Seattle and started moving south, trying to find a place where we could be safe. We had to lie, steal, and do things I’m not proud of just to survive. But through it all, we’ve had each other.”

Daniel appears in the doorway, having overheard part of the conversation. He steps into the room, looking both nervous and determined. “I’m sorry you had to see that yesterday,” Daniel says, his voice quiet but sincere. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You nod, taking in the gravity of their situation. “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you two. I’m really sorry for everything you’ve had to go through.”

Daniel gives you a small, appreciative smile. “Do you want to see my powers? I can show you in a less… scary way.”

You hesitate but then nod. “Okay. I think that might help.”

Daniel looks around the room and spots a small, decorative bowl on the coffee table. He focuses on it, his eyes narrowing slightly. Slowly, the bowl rises into the air, hovering gently before floating over to you. He sets it down softly in your lap.

Your breath catches as you watch, a mix of awe and disbelief flooding your senses. “This is… incredible. But I don’t understand how it works. How can this be possible?”

Sean reaches out, taking your hand in his. “We don’t fully understand it either. But we’ve learned to accept it and live with it. Daniel’s powers are a part of who he is.”

You take a deep breath, trying to process everything. “I’m going to need some time to digest all of this. It’s a lot to take in.”

Sean squeezes your hand gently. “Take all the time you need. We’re here for you, and we’ll answer any questions you have.”

Despite the whirlwind of emotions and the mind-bending reality you’ve just been exposed to, you realize that your feelings for Sean and Daniel haven’t changed. If anything, you feel a deeper connection to them now, knowing the struggles they’ve faced and the strength they’ve shown.

“I’m really sorry for everything you two have been through,” you say, your voice filled with genuine compassion. “You didn’t deserve any of that. But I want you to know that I’m here for you. Both of you.”

Sean smiles, relief and gratitude evident in his eyes. “Thank you. That means a lot to us.”

As the conversation winds down, you feel a sense of tentative peace. There are still many questions and uncertainties, but you know one thing for sure: you’re in this together, and that makes all the difference.

After a moment of silence, curiosity starts to bubble up within you. You take a deep breath and decide to ask more questions. “How did you make it past the border? And why did you choose Mexico?”

Sean nods, understanding your need for answers. “It wasn’t easy. We had a lot of close calls, and there were times when I didn’t think we’d make it. We crossed the border with the help of some kind people we met along the way. It was a risky move, but staying in the U.S. wasn’t an option for us. We needed to find somewhere we could start over.”

You listen intently, hanging onto every word. “And why Mexico?”

Sean leans back, glancing at Daniel before answering. “Our dad was originally from Mexico. We thought coming here would give us a better chance to blend in and find some sort of stability. Plus, it felt like a way to reconnect with a part of our heritage. Our journey here wasn’t straightforward, though. We had to adapt and survive in ways we never imagined.”

Daniel chimes in, his voice soft but steady. “We’ve had to keep a low profile, but we’ve also met some amazing people who’ve helped us along the way. Like Mrs. Perez, for example. She’s been like family to us.”

You nod, absorbing their words. “It’s incredible how resilient you both are. It sounds like you’ve been through so much.”

Sean looks at you, his expression earnest. “We have, but we’ve also grown stronger because of it. And now, we have you. That means a lot to us.”

You smile, feeling a mix of emotions—compassion, admiration, and a growing sense of connection. “I’m glad I can be here for you. And I want to help in any way I can.”

Sean’s grip on your hand tightens slightly, his gratitude clear. “Thank you. It feels good to finally share this with someone who understands and doesn’t judge.”

Daniel nods in agreement. “Yeah, it’s been hard keeping this a secret. It’s nice to have someone else we can trust.”

You take a deep breath, feeling the weight of the situation but also a newfound sense of purpose. “Does anyone else know about Daniel’s powers?”

Sean shakes his head. “No one here in Mexico, except for you. Back in the States, a few people found out, but we had to keep moving to stay safe. That’s why it’s so important to keep this a secret.”

“I understand,” you say. “It’s a lot to take in, but I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

Sean and Daniel both smile, the tension in the room easing. The bond between you grows stronger, forged by honesty and mutual support. You know there will be challenges ahead, but you’re ready to face them together.

The day stretches out before you filled with possibilities and the promise of more shared adventures. The future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: you and the Diaz brothers are creating something special, one day at a time.

authors note: *jazz hands* SUPRISE!! hihi uhm yes Daniel has telekinesis and this story very much follows the end of the Blood Brother ending :)

[kavtari]

DWC Nov 2024: Day 3 - MOROSE

@daily-writing-challenge

TW: Drug References | Sexually Suggestive | Self Deprecation

(Song Inspiration: "Novacaine" by Key (SHINee) )

-

A kiss here, a touch there. Kav had always lived with the flow of things, never staying in one place too long, rarely letting anyone close enough to know her true, raw feelings. The elf made sure her life was visibly obviously - keep the drama out and the drinks coming.

Then he came, a body hot to the touch and a personality that shown brighter than any star in the night sky. It took them months to realize they were mutually interested in each other - years for them to say how much they mean to each other - and a decade for them to admit they were not meant to be.

She knew where she went wrong, even if she didn't want to admit it. All in all it was her being selfish that kept her from being what he needed, but she didn't allow herself to feel that. She could simply explore all the things that made her carefree life easy and simple; every bit just a little more dangerous than the one before.

Then he would show up suddenly and remind her of the comforts of love. He'd find her right when she was about ready to have another fix and find another's sheets to be in. And there he was, holding her instead, and suddenly it was as if they never had a day apart.

Kav tried to push away the thought of him falling for someone else so completely as they loved each other. Even in their separate pains and lives that rarely overlapped they would seek each other out over anyone else. It was clear they just needed the right moment, a little more time, to grow and be ready for each other.

So they lived for decades, exploring others but always coming back to each other as if they were always the one. When Kav wouldn't hear from him she'd pick up a new vice. At some point she was completely unable to be contacted for months and when she returned to society she acted as if it were nothing.

What Kav wasn't prepared for was meeting his lover and just how similar that person was to her, except without the constant struggle of hard addictions. Suddenly Kav was learning things about him from just watching him with someone else. The little quirks Kav and him had were no longer just theirs. There were places and foods and drinks and jokes and songs that Kav didn't realize she attributed to him until he was sharing them with his lover.

That's fine, she'd think. She'd drink a bit, enjoy a little of her current drug, and continue with her life. Soon enough Kav had a collection of new and returning interests, experiencing things she had thought she always wanted.

They would continue to catch up with each other, but it soon became a group thing instead of just them. Out of no where, he's married on a whim, unable to contain his love for this person that barely knew him a year. Kav was happy for him - she knew how much he wanted a life she wasn't willing to give him when they had a chance.

Her mind faltered, though. Regret set in. Kav wanted to go back. Her thoughts would flood with memories, missed chances, and failed moments. She could have just said yes back then. When he wanted to go sailing with her she could have dropped what little she had to go with him. When he struggled with the invasion she could have been there for him. When they mentioned they were practically married she could of suggested they might as well be. When he mentioned wanting a family she could have stopped her birth control. When he mentioned having a home base she could have helped him pick so they it would be home.

Their home.

"Stop. Just stop. You love him and you love them for him. You can't expect him to just pass them up because you are an option that doesn't give him everything he wanted. Stop sulking. You're loved by them. They want you to be in their life. They don't want you to be alone. They are thinking of you even now while they have so many other things to worry about. Stop, Kav. Let go of this. You don't want to change it anyway, you just don't want to hurt anymore."

Another drink, a little pill, and fingers on her guitar. The guitar he gave her.

[coffee-colored-hopeless-romantic]

If you could, could you write a fic about Octane and (fem or gn) reader going to an arcade where he wins the reader a plushie from a claw machine then later proceeds to fuck her whilst she holds the plushie?

Sorry if this is too much. Feel free to ignore if you don't want to do it 💚

OOoOoOo naughty naughty… I love it 😈

I’m still not super experienced with writing smut so I’m sorry if it’s not what you wanted!

Warnings: smut obviously, swearing

——

Hermosa - Beautiful

Mi Vida - my life

Princesa - Princess

también te amo - I love you too

Dating Octavio Silva is incredible. He’s never boring to say the least and he always takes you out on the best dates. This time it was another time at an arcade, a common date for the two of you but that didn’t make it less fun. You two played most of the night laughing and racking up those digital tickets to trade in later. You guys didn’t get to always go out, him being busy with the games and you not being a legend, so any time you guys could go out and do something you did. It was very rare that you stayed in and relaxed, which was perfectly fine for Octavio. After winning countless games and grand prizes you look over at your green haired lover and smiled. “Taaavi~” immediately his eyebrow quirked and he looked over at you, “yes, Princesa?” You looked at him and gestured over to the crane games, “think you could win me a prize to take home?” You gave him a playful pout and he laughed. “Just one?! I’d win you all of them!” He said confidently as he rushed over to the machines. “No!! Pick just one! The best one!” You laugh as you attempt to catch up to the speed demon. He groaned hearing you say you only wanted one, so now he was looking in each and every machine they had in this damn arcade finding you one.

After a few minutes of quickly looking he found one. It was a big soft bunny plush with extra long ears. He looked at you for approval and he got to work, it was a heavy one so it took a few turns to get it to grab right and lift it to the winning slot. Hearing the plop of it on the bottom he pulled your new buddy out and held it high. “Haha! I’m the best!” He announced, not that you could disagree. Octavio held the plush out of your reach and he looked at you. “What do we say hermosa~?” He asked with a purr in his voice. You blush and roll your eyes. “Thank you, Baby.” You cup one of his cheeks and place a sweet kiss on the other. You felt his smile grow, man did he adore you. You decided to be playful and leave a kiss on his neck before you pulled away, he gave you a smirk and you knew all too well. Looks like you were gonna show just how thankful you were when you got home.

Octavio in a playful rush to get going now was getting (more) restless. He grabbed your hand and asked “Ready to get out of here?” He wiggled his eyebrows and winked to really lay the message on thick. You laughed a bit and nodded. With that you two quickly made you way back to your place. It wasn’t immediately to sex, you two had some snacks or dinner and cleaned up for the evening, getting ready for bed. With the occasional tease from Octavio saying you were taking too long to get ready for bed. You had already placed your new bunny friend onto the bed, Octavio waiting for you with it in his hand.

When you walked in you saw Octavio shirtless, holding the bunny. He looked up at you with those eyes of his and he gestured for you to come close. “C’mere babygirl.” You felt the heat already rising in your core, when he wanted to he could get you going without even touching you. The mixture of not seeing him often and the fact he was so good in bed that got you excited. He bit his lip and his eyes are you up from head to toe. “Get undressed.” Without hesitation you strip, giving him a little show as you did so, soon enough you were in front of him with nothing on your body. You heard him growl lowly as he himself was getting excited just from the sight of you. He loved your body, the way it looked. Your imperfections that made you, you. Drove the man wild.

He grabbed your hip and tugged you close smashing his lips into yours, you immediately wrapping your arms around him and tangling your hands into his hair. It got hot quick, body temperature rising and the heavy breaths to accompany it. He flipped the two of you over, laying you down onto the bed. He kissed down your jaw and onto your neck, finding you special spots that drove you crazy, your soft moans and breathing telling him that he was nailing it. As he made his way down your body, leaving a trail of kisses and marks here and there, his hands beat him to his destination, touching your almost dripping core. He chuckled lowly, sounding almost victorious on how much he effected you. “My God you’re so wet for me, princesa. He spoke against your skin. His fingers slid inside you, massaging your walls and sending pleasure through every inch of your body. Moans escaped your lips and your breath hitched when you felt him speed up. We all know Octane has fat legs, that wasn’t the only thing that was incredibly fast. His fingers were much faster and he loved proving that to you.

With his fingers not even going full speed you felt your climax coming quickly and you felt it shot through your body as he finger fucked your through your first hard orgasm. He only added his tongue after you were over that hill, not letting up on his pace. It was so much but you both had a love for overstimulation. You moaned through it and you instinctually went to grab something to muffle your lewd noises, you grabbed the bunny he just won you. You hugged it close and moaned into it’s fur. It didn’t take long for you to get to a second, leaving a mess on his tongue and fingers. He pulled away, a trail of cum connected from his lips to you. He wiped his mouth and smirked seeing how dazed you already were.

He finally undressed himself, revealing his hard, leaking dick “You ready for me?” It was mostly telling you he was about to get started for real but wanted to warn you.

You felt your wrists get grabbed and pulled you up, he grabbed that bunny from your hands. “Wrists together now.” He commanded and you look at him confused, complying. He took the bunny’s ears and tied your hands together. Making you hold it close. He pushed you back down to the bed and lifted your legs, inserting himself in slowly, a pleasured groan leaving his throat. “Fuck…” He breathed out, clutching your thighs as you wrapped around him, ready for the ride about to come. After a couple of slow thrust the man didn’t take long to go an insane pace. It was like he was a machine with just how fast he could go, yes his legs helped but from you could tell, Octavio was always this way, just had a little boost now.

Pornographic sounds being absorbed by the walls from the both of you, the new bunny friend getting the best seat in the house, your moans being muddled still by its fur, biting onto its arms or head to help with the intense pleasure being given to you. Nails most definitely being clawed into the poor thing. Octavio was getting drunk off the sight of this alone, the prize he had won you not even an hour ago was being used to hide your filthy noises paired with your eyes rolling back from what he was doing to your soaked pussy. It got him so excited, he didn’t need his stun to get an extra boost of speed, that image was plenty. With this new pace you couldn’t keep still, your body was moving on its own to back away from the overwhelming pleasure building up within you. The tip of his dick kissing your cervix at such a rapid pace would be the death of you.

“T-Tavi-!! I-I.. I’m gonna-!” You could hardly get words to properly form, he kept this pace up, grunting and groaning as he saw your body be filled with euphoria as you had yet another orgasm, cumming hard. It was so much that you squirted, you didn’t know you could do that. Making a mess all over his dick he kept pace, riding this orgasm out with you. “Shit- yeah I’m gonna cum baby, you feel so fuckin good.” He had a trail of curses in Spanish as he finally reached his climax, pulling out of you and making a mess all over your body just to return the favor you gave him.

Both of you panting, getting air back into your lungs seemed to be a chore currently but it was so worth it. You felt high, you hadn’t ever felt that good before. This feeling was addicting, “oh my god Tavi… that was…” you said between breaths. “Fucking awesome?!” He plopped beside you and laughed. “That was amazing Mi Vida, I didn’t think you could make that big of a mess.” He chuckled and he looked over at you and then to the bunny, untying your hands. “Whenever you look at that guy I want you to remember this~ just so you can miss me more.” He winked and you blushed a bit because that’s exactly what you would do. But only it wouldn’t just make you kiss him, you’re gonna crave him. You playfully hit the speedster and roll onto your side to face him, ignoring the obvious mess on the bedsheets.

“I love you Tavi.”

“también te amo, y/n”

[funficwriter]

A Wolf and A Snake (Wriothesley x Reader)

Letters' Interlude - 2

Warnings: Yandere themes, a bit graphic in the second letter.

Taglist: @yue-caelum @reyy-chanx @mis-disaster

From: Duke Wriothesley of Meropide - Fortress of Meropide, Liffey Region, Fontaine

To: Baron E. Balthazar - Balthazar Manor, Court Region, Fontaine

To the most esteemed Baron Balthazar,

I feel honored for the chance to be able to write this letter, even more so if you're reading it now. I'm sure you know why I am doing so by now, with your daughter's social success and coming-of-age as a fine young woman.

While I wasn't born a Duke, I have been one for a while. I saw quite a few virtuous young ladies, but young Lady Balthazar shines in the depth of her knowledge, culture, and trueness. As a noble, I'm sure you know how dull our conversational space can be; Everyone is well-educated and knows much of culture, but it often hits a ceiling where that ends. I would argue that they're all repositories of goodness with a cap. But Lady Balthazar is no house or repository with limits; She's a never-ending well of virtue, one that goes beyond instruction and basic fact. Each time I thought I saw it all with her, she amazed me with a new level of tact, kindness, or wisdom. She has certainly been blessed to have you provide such great education, but I must say you are also fortunate for Celestia to give you a daughter with her own penchant for continuously seeking virtues as a noble and as a person. I think that is what sealed the deal in my love for her.

I'm certain many nobles will liken her to doves or flowers. I would like to be honest about my feelings, even if I deviate. In that one night, I felt that Lady Balthazar is much that I love; She's my favorite type of dark chocolate. She's unearthed tomes holding the secrets to Spantamad's unresolved questions of ice and thunder. She's the soft operatic melody that rings out in sole nights not for human fame or money, but an impetuous desire to be heard by the stars. Her laughter's is Mondstadt's festival winds. Her steps are Liyue's clinking of good charms. Her speech is my cup of tea reflecting the full moon upon which I was born. Even beyond the borders of Fontaine, where I spent most of my life, Lady Balthazar spans upon my entire world and I'll never lead a joyful life if I have only experienced this once.

Obviously, a presence as electrifying as hers only deserves the best. I myself have long wanted a wife, so I made sure that by the time one made me as lovestruck as your daughter, I can be the best husband possible within my arsenal. When I became responsible of the Fortress, I made sure I used my power to assure Fontaine would be a place of safety and fairness. I want to wonder our beautiful avenues with her by my side, while she enjoys herself, free of any fears of danger. In a way, I feel that much of what I do is for the citizens I love, and the first on that list is your daughter.

I thank you for your time and attention, as well as the grace you granted me to meet the loveliest of ladies.

With all my regards,

Duke Wriothesley.

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From: Duke Wriothesley of Meropide - Fortress of Meropide, Liffey Region, Fontaine

To: Lady Y/N Balthazar - Balthazar Manor, Court Region, Fontaine

To my beloved, deserving of happiness alone,

I'm hoping that the appearance of Frosty cheered you up a little, especially after tonight. Deep down, I knew your father would try to use my being a wolf hybrid as a weapon against me. He's not the first, and certainly won't be the last.

I spent the last few hours praying to Focalors that something, anything good could happen before Frosty and lift your spirits a bit. Ever since I became infatuated with you, I felt like you're mine. Your emotional extremes - both positive and negative - have become mine as well. Even if I didn't cry, your tears were mine, too. And that is part of loving a person, whole, which I believe that in its tragedy, holds something beautiful. In you being mine, you'll never have to face another storm alone. You'll never have to stare down the uglier part of life with your hands shaking, begging to hold another and stay with you in the midst of that chaos.

Learn this well if you wish to know your real lover (that self-righteous Archandelle idiot is not it, even if your father says otherwise); Throughout my life, as a prisoner and as a warden, I have handled humanity's scum. Many nights I thought: "There can't be people worse than what I have just imprisoned.", then came another bastard to astonish me. Over time, I grew jaded about it until last night, when you poured your heart out to me. The lifer criminals I have, in my eyes, could never hold a candle of cruelty that he who made you cry has.

Your tears are the greatest injustice I've witnessed. Your sorrow (especially when you didn't ask for it) is the most urgent of tragedies to remediate. So I swear upon my honor and love, I will end it. I will run, fight, bribe, corrupt, maim or kill whoever dares to trespass upon our happiness, our coupling, our fate to be together forever. Many of our Archons have decreed it: "Whoever stops fate from running its course will see great punishment.". Except here, this punishment will come in the ice beast that they feared, who will roar at them but only ever purr for you.

Please hold on and be assured that you will not belong to that idiot, or that bastard you call a father. Keep in mind that my anger towards him is not yours at all. You didn't ask to be born to him, you did nothing wrong. On the contrary, he saw the gem that was his daughter, and yet decided to make her unhappy. With time and my own plans (That you will be made aware of soon. A bit radical, but will guarantee our ending up together), you will belong to the one you should belong to. Until then, let's keep each other in the loop of what is going on.

You will belong to me,

Duke Wriothesley.