#ahhh first gift posted out of five

[v1neyy]

MCYT Halloween Exchange! Yay!

I’ve created a gift for the lovely @chrysochroma !

A ranchers apocalypse au, my first time writing an apocalypse au despite how much i enjoy them :D

It’s been posted here, to my ao3!

Thank you @mcyt-halloween for organizing this amazing exchange! <3

[4th-make-quail]

Big Bang anon here! I was just looking for some challenging event to participate this winter, and wanted to know your opinion because you have a lot of fandom experience! And YES I also noticed that a lot of Big Bang challenges currently are like "minimum word count is 5k words", and no shade to mods but that's not a challenge skdjdhdjl

Do you have a favorite fandom event type? Care to share your best fandom event experience?

Good morning nonny! Ahhh I see, okay I getcha!! There are quite a few longer word count fandom exchanges if you're into those, but the winter ones are already well in progress iirc!

One good place to check for events like this is fandom calendar on dreamwidth - people advertise their stuff on there regularly (no need to make a dw account to look at it either).

If you want a longer event, I have a few friends who do the three longer minimum word count exchanges and they have fun, so here they are;

- Fic in a Box (fiab): a fanwork exchange with a large minimum gifting requirement and several unique features - this one is complicated, so check out the comm link! Unfortunately this one is well and truly over now, but it's there for next year - schedule is around August to September!

- Five Figure Fandom Exchange (fffx or fandom 5k): a multifandom gift exchange for fanfic of 10,000+ words, and for comics of least 10 pages or at least 40 panels. Currently ongoing, but there are pinch hits in need of picking up! Deadline is January 18th, so if you can write a pinch hit fandom, you could try that!

- High Adrenaline (previously Heart Attack): two weeks to write 10k (or draw a 25-panel, 10-page comic) and one week to edit. Noms open in January!

Completing all three of these makes you eligible for Triple Crown, which is a prize raffle for all three of these 10k exchanges.

For the next few months, most people will be doing Yuletide which I've talked about a bit here before, but it has a 1000 word minimum so might be of less interest to you if you wanted a challenge. Pinch hits for yuletide are being posted here this year, but there aren't any available rn, and as yuletide is for rare fandoms, ymmv as to how possible this is for you anyway.

The next thing I will personally be participating in is Candy Hearts, which is a valentines day themed low word count (300 words) exchange, schedule usually starting with noms in December. This replaces chocolate box which used to run at the same time, and it's really fun!

Others I usually do regularly:

- Seasons of Drabbles: new to me but very fun, has a new round every season! For strict drabbles specifically, currently in its autumn round so there will be a winter one to come I imagine!

- Goreswap: an exchange for gore etc, with genre type tags to pick. Schedule starts with noms in January usually! Not one I've done, but I have friends who love it and do it every year.

- Phoenix Down Exchange: my own full Final Fantasy franchise exchange, set to start noms in Feb as last year

- Rarepair Exchange: as it sounds, for rarepairs! Check the comm for definition of minimum fics required to be eligible. Usually starts around April

- Rare Male Slash Exchange: as rarepair ex above, but for m/m ships only and again with specific minimum fic number eligibility. This is older than rpe, but as it tends to run on a similar schedule (noms in May last year) I've not done it for the last two years

- Relationshipping: for incest ships! The last round was July to August, but it conflicted with other fan stuff for me so I didn't do this for a bit as well. Run by some very good people

Some others I know about from my exchange crew participing but have never personally done: kids come first (underage themed), consent issues (dub/noncon themed), trauma exchange (as the name suggests), trick or treat (complicated, I think halloween theme?? Unsure), nonconathon (dub/noncon, but with very fun freeform tags to pick and nominate), and then there are usually a hell of a lot of flash exchanges around as well, which run on quick turnarounds - you could try joining the Exchanges After Dark discord server, which is an 18+ nsfw server for exchanges. It's very big and has a channel for every exchange, so the best thing to do is mute them all apart from what ur interested in ime! It also has a fandomcalendar rss feed channel which could be relevant if u wanna see what's coming up!

As for your second question, my favourite fandom event experience is probably Unconventional Fanworks Exchange, which is unfortunately didn't run last year and I'm not sure if it will again 😭😭 its an exchange for, well, unconventional fanwork mediums, and I've had so much fun challenging myself in the two rounds I've participated in! They had things like newspaper articles, in universe academic documents, blueprints, paper dolls, all sorts! I'm hoping someone might take it over tbh, if the mod can't run it again.

Also, this year I did Small Web September for the first time and had sooo much fun! It's for working on any smallweb projects you might have; personal sites, neocities, coding etc. and it had a really great vibe, plus it was super fun seeing everyone's smallweb projects! Very inspiring!!

This ended up very long, but as u can see I am very passionate about these things! I run my entire fannish calendar around exchanges mixed with event weeks and I find it very rewarding - I'm always happy to introduce anyone to exchanges and talk through how to participate etc. so anyone can ask me about this at any time!

[happy-beeeps]

so I'm obsessed with your echo fic like almost got me crying. I NEED MOREEEE I WANNA SEE WHAT HES LIKE AS A HUBBY AND DAD PLSSSSSSS YOUR WRITING IS AMAZING AND ILYSM 💙🖤❤️

AHHH YOURE SO KIND THANK YOU😭❤️🫶🥰

I’m actually working on part 2 of the echo fic! So as to not give too much away I’ll give you some of my headcanons on husband!echo!! (Also this is my first headcanons post I’m so sorry if it’s awful)

First and foremost, this man would work himself into a tizzy making sure your proposal is PERFECT

he’s got all these plans because you deserve them, but then the second he’s gonna start he freaks himself out, like he’ll get ready and then be like,,, wait ahaha ha ahaha ahaha

He still has a lot of self worth issues but everyday they get better and better because of the love you and his brothers send his way!

Because of this, even though by the second time you know what’s happening, you try and be gentle with him, it’s very endearing

When he finally asks you, it’s so spur of the moment

Y’all are on some ridiculously beautiful system after a mission and he just looks at you and is like “yep. This is it.”

And that’s basically what he says! (You say yes obviously)

You guys don’t have a super blown out wedding ceremony, in fact, you guys exchange some vows right then and there and he comms Rex over to officiate it (that feels like something a captain can do?)

Afterwards, you guys go on an impromptu mini honeymoon to Pabu to see the rest of your family (and because omega would kill you if you didn’t celebrate with her)

Pabu is perfect, and you spend your days eating fresh caught dinner and fruits and lounging on crystal clear water

You’ve always been a part of Echo’s family, but there’s something warmer about being officially a part of it

Echo is like the most supportive and doting husband

He’s the guy who’s like “yes!! Fuck them up honey!!! That’s my spouse!!!” And then the second things start going south he jumps in

He’s going to protect you with every fiber of his being, but he respects you enough to know that you’re a tough cookie

He’s suchhhh a cuddle bug, like, holoflic nights on the couch are his love language

Dad!echo

At first he’s apprehensive about having kids

Let’s be so real, you’ve already begun mothering Omega, and this isn’t really the safest time to be bringing kids into the world

If you’re having biological kids, I feel like the baby would be a ✨welcome surprise ✨

Otherwise it happens quick either way, there’s a little baby in Pabu who needs parents, and you and Echo just know it’s the perfect situation

He’s all in the second it becomes reality for him

Like… baby bjorn every day, painting the nursery

You cannot separate this man from his child

You know how Din brings Grogu everywhere? Echo vibes.

Like this man is walking through Pabu in the most dad outfit ever and the baby strapped to his chest

Omega looooves having a little baby to hangout with, and she plays with the baby any chance she gets

One time you caught him going through old holos of his brothers, he’s so ready to tell your child stories about Uncle Fives

BONUS: Uncle Rex comes over all the time when you’ve settled on Pabu, and it’s really not uncommon to see the two of them standing around the house with their hands on their hips trying to figure out new DIY projects

At the end of the day, Echo see’s you and the baby as his second chance, his gift at a new life. He doesn’t waste a day and wants to shower you both with all the love he can (which you happily reciprocate)❤️

[stylishdemon]

How to survive in a post Nuclear War

-A Journal By StylishDemon[Part -1]

26/9/2023

It was just an any other normal night with one expection being my birthday, I was never really such of a party person.

As usual I was warming up my bed so that it won't feel cold at night, as I get up to chug in some water so to clam my churning stomach..."BOOM"

My ever so seemingly strong roof crumbles down, "Wtf man!?" Suppressing my surprised tone, a huge wave of air as if released from a hot oven bursts through the huge hole and gifts me with first and second degree burns.

"Ahhh!!" Fortunately, the full sleeves struck on my body saved most parts of the skin however the bare structures immediately become red with light swelling.

"Water! I need a cold shower!!"

Scrambling my way in now ruined house I swung open the refrigerator's freezer then broke the bulked up ices, "Haa... haaa...!"

'What's happening!?'

I was fast, at least my hands were, the premonition I felt was no good. Quickly unlocking the vibrating phone with messages I read a few.

[Emergency! An nuclear explosion has occurred in several places including San Antonio! New York! Chicago! Los Angeles! Survivors are recommend to stay hidden...]

'There is no time!'

As a student of major from science, I was fully aware of the seriousness.

The time was clocking out, moving my weak limbs I dressed myself with a trecking suit, "I can't stay here for too long..."

It wasn't just dangerous, one would die if were to stay more than 10-15 min out in the air after a nuclear explosion.

Grabbing whatever left on my emergency medi kit, I stuffed the few rations left inside my jacket and the rest into a nearby backpack.

"Let's head to the basement!"

"It's dangerous to stay out on the open! Follow me to the underground basement with whatever you could grab!!!"

On the way, I yelled at the people of my apartment but only a handful of them were in their right mind to listen my words.

The rest were too dazed or too panicked for acting at present, with no help to be done I shut off the basement shutters then tightly locked them with heavy structures that could be found here.

The survivors with me were too stunned for a rationalizing thinking, as the five of us huddle together in the darkest chamber.

I fell asleep due to mental and emotional exhaustion.

[works-of-magic]

bees (halloweengiveaway@bees.com) submitted to works-of-magic

{{ A/N: The following quote was submitted to this blog literally actually years ago and was promptly incorporated into the blog’s canon, but it took this long for me to write out the response well enough to consider it worthy of posting! This takes place approximately 3 years after the official founding of the breeding center. }}

Well.

Does that washing machine seem to have a face? Sure looks like it does. That’s pretty… not normal. In fact, a lot of appliances you pass by seem to have faces and be acting rather. Oddly, let’s say. What’s up with that?

If you happened to inspect your Bag, it would look like someone snuck a cherish ball in there! It’s used, but most definitely empty. If you tried to call back whatever belonged in there, you would find the explanation for your mischevious electronics— you’ve been gifted with a ROTOM! Like many other Ghost types, this one enjoys playing pranks, but most of them are quite harmless. It just likes surprising people by possessing their appliances and doing unexpected things.

Congrats on your Rotom!

The oven’s timer was beeping when there were still five minutes left, and the poffins were quite obviously NOT yet cooked to perfection.

But the moment Jess noticed these strange things consciously enough to inspect them: static glowed and burst upwards to form the plasmic body of a Rotom.

Xir gasp was immediate and xir smile erupted under wide eyes. A ghost?! And a Sinnoh native at that!

Oh Arceus, the elation!

“Hello, hello, you wonderful surprise, you!"

Jess texted xir best friend immediately.

SONIA. SONIA, LOOK! 8DDD

[Here xe sent a picture of the little guy.]

This one found me somehow…~

HA! I knew I was fated to have a Rotom, but nooo, you didn’t believe me~

The gloating was playful of course. It referenced something that had happened years ago, when Jess and Sonia explored The Old Chateau, one of Sinnoh’s most haunted features with the eerie absence of human presence and prolific presence of ghostly Pokemon alike: Jess was as intrigued by rumors of the haunting as ever.

Mistress had found a Rotom, they’d battled it, and Jess and Sonia threw their Pokeballs at the same time. There was a rather impassioned debate; Jess specialized in ghosts, after all, but Sonia specialized in electric types! In the end, Sonia had pleaded her way into ownership of the spark-bearing poltergeist, and though it had been with Jess’s explicit blessing, today xe still took no small pleasure in finally having one to call xir own.

And perhaps there was some satisfaction in petty revenge. Sonia would never let Jess live down the moment xe was wrong about a ghost. Jess claimed Rotom was primarily classified as a ghost. Sonia later discovered that electric is not, in fact, Rotom’s secondary type.

Ahhh, but now there was a Rotom right here, right in xir hands!

Mistress groaned a note of dread. That first Rotom had been too much to handle when she was energetic as itself! But now she was older, and she had much more particular taste in her play and pranks. And with all the chaos already present in the breeding center…

The Rotom buzzed happily, quite proud of itself for causing these reactions. It only had to show up, and already the residents were lavishing it in attention!

“How do you think we’ll–GHHHK!”

Jess’s extended hand was zapped with a flicker of bright energy, and Jess jumped slightly.

“Hey, that hurt!” Xe was suppressing a giggle though; the Rotom zipped about in the air, away and then back, like canine Pokemon did to initiate a game of chase.

Xe figured the zap was a show of play. Xe was particularly patient with these things; you’d have to be to play with fifteen other ghosts in the breeding center!

But already, xe could see this guy was so energetic…

Before Sonia could send a single reply, Jess added another text:

I could sure use your help with handling him. @.@ He’s peppy. Any advice?

Jess mused to the new ghost, “I’ll have to figure out what to do about these zaps of yours. Shadow ball? Been there. I’ve even been Shadow Sneak’d by a friend’s Gengar! But I’m not used to electric energy--“

The Rotom had clearly lost interest because it buzzed right off, rebounding off the cupboard where it had come a little too close to a cleanse tag but then zigzagged down the hall.

Jess let the laugh out that time. “Okay, not one for lectures. Got it.” Xe watched, smiling, as a Misdreavus at the end (Sheera, Jess thought) bleated a startled note, but after the Rotom danced in the air a bit, she started chasing it.

For a moment Jess wondered if xe should step in. Sheera had a temper at times, and if the Rotom played too rough...

Ah, but it was only throwing out little showers of sparks, and Sheera was delighted when she started play-Astonishing the newcomer and it whirred out a little yelp.

What a strange sound! Jess had missed most of the fight with the first Rotom they'd encountered, but from what xe'd seen, it hadn't sounded like THAT! That must be a happy sound, xe decided. Because while it backed away at her first yelp, it came right back for more.

And xe also decided, while xe wouldn't object to Sonia's expertise... xe also wouldn't mind simply letting Sheera wear it out.

[sgwrscrsh]

winter days: underneath the tree

☁️a/n☁️ this made my heart very warm to write even though i pulled an all-nighter to get it done because my time-management has gone to shit after finals. requested by @sachirou-senpai​. thank you, ellie, for giving me a reason to bring back my boys. i’ve missed ‘summer on you’ so much. this can be read as a stand-alone or as a spin off of ending b, my fave. either way, merry christmas to my babes who celebrate! i have one more christmas fic for tmr and then i’m hiding away to plan + write an smau.

includes: female!reader, poly!seijoh four, post-timeskip (very minor manga spoilers), lots of domesticity, a little suggestive bit, a lot of eating and sleeping now that i realize, a christmas tree, matching pajamas, a very special christmas gift, makki slapping your ass once, a lil teary moment w tooru, homemade curry + pancakes (but not together), lots of cuddling, lots of love, happy holidays, 4.35k words

☁️masterlist☁️

shivering slightly, you unlock the door to the rather spacious apartment you shared with your four boyfriends later into the evening than you would’ve liked. 

yes, four boyfriends. whom you love very much and are loved by in return.

living with four towering hunks has it’s ups and downs, but you wouldn’t trade tooru’s extensive skin care regiment sprawled across the bathroom counter; hajime’s bag of protein powder that he always forgets to put away; issei’s boots that you always tripped over when you came through the front door; or takahiro’s costco-sized box of cream puffs in the freezer that he insisted he would finish by the end of the month, almost half a year ago, for the world.

you made sure to stomp off the snow stuck on your boots before entering the building, but you couldn’t help but sigh at the warmth that greets you once you toe them off.

“ahhh,” you think. “thank goodness tooru convinced us to invest in heated floors.” another perk of having four boyfriends was that two of them brought in enough bank for you to seriously consider becoming their cute little housewife. snorting, you shake your head, though the idea of prancing around in a maid outfit to tease them seemed very appealing. “maybe we should make hiro dress up and clean the house since he still hasn’t found a new job yet.” 

“what’s so funny, sweets?” speak of the devil. makki’s head pops out from the bathroom nearest to the front door, steam rolling out and droplets falling from his hair, signifying that he had just taken a hot shower. wordlessly, you stare at him, lost in thought imagining the water caressing his toned body, but a second later, he gets a better look at you and laughs. “you look like a wet dog!” your glare loses some of its edge when he takes in your own damp strands. 

“did someone say something about a dog?” tooru comes bounding round the corner, and you could’ve sworn he drooped a little when he realized it was just you in the hallway sans dog. turning your icy glance on the setter, you open your mouth to complain about how mean the two of them were being to you when your prince charming comes in to save the day.

“you two, stop bullying the poor girl and let her take a warm bath before she gets sick!” iwa chides as he helps you unbundle the layers that protected you from the snow and sharp winds of the winter. pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead and promising to pick out comfy clothes for you, he ushers you into your spacious en suite where a steaming tub full of rose petals awaits you. hajime chuckles at the starry eyes you give him, heart warming at the love and appreciation shining clear as day on your face, before he leaves to grab a clean pair of underwear, one of issei’s t-shirts, and a pair of his own sweats, knowing you much prefer to wear their clothes at home.

submerged in the bath, you exhale contentedly, eyelids fluttering shut as you enjoy the product of iwa’s consideration and foresight. letting the stress of work and the chill of the outdoors melt from you, you stay in the water until it cools and your fingers prune. a lone thought of how much more you would’ve enjoyed the bath if the boys had joined you flits through your mind, but you jolt when you open your eyes and find issei sitting on the counter with a towel and your robe in his lap, some of the water sloshing over the side of the tub. 

“oh thank god, i was scared you fell asleep and would drown or choke on a rose petal.” you giggle while he wraps you up in your robe before gently toweling your hair dry. “you can’t leave me to deal with the three of them alone.” 

rolling your eyes, you retort easily, “if anything, i’d feel bad about leaving hajime to deal with the three of you alone. the poor man puts up with enough from his team, he doesn’t need you guys ganging up on him, too.”

“well i’ll have you know, sometimes he really enjoys us ganging up on him.” his cheeky quip paired with his wiggling eyebrows earns him a smack on the chest but regardless, you let him sweep you up into his arms and drop you on the massive bed the five of you shared. “get dressed, babygirl. as much as i’d love to spend more time with you naked, i gotta help haji finish dinner.” with a quick peck on your lips, issei leaves you to do just as he said. 

emerging revitalized and relaxed, your mouth waters at the smell of homemade curry, distracted enough to not notice tooru’s arms wrapping around your shoulders and waist. 

“hey, cutie, i’ve missed you,” he sings, face snuggled into the junction of your shoulder and neck. you spin around in his hold to slip your arms around his slim torso, relishing his firm lines against your soft curves. 

“‘ve missed you too, tooru.” and you really did, grateful that all of you were able to take time off work and he was able to come home a week before the holidays, giving the five of you a whole month to spend together before he had to jet back to argentina for his next bout of training and practice games.

“hell yea! group hug!” makki comes running towards you guys, only for you to twist out of his reach at the last second, sending him straight into the sofa behind you. “oof, that was cold, y/n.”

you stick your tongue out at the strawberry boy. “yea, well that’s what you get for laughing at me when i got home. sucker.” still entangled in tooru’s embrace, you feel his body shake with mirth and bite the inside of your cheek to prevent yourself from dissolving into giggles when you see a pout take over hiro’s pretty face.

“dinner’s ready,” comes iwa’s call, beckoning the three of you into the kitchen before you could antagonize each other some more. once you all got your servings of curry, you settle into your proclaimed seats on the large sofa, your body comically small compared to their tall frames dwarfing the cushions. noting the way tooru threw his long legs over iwa’s and how mattsun and makki leaned against each other as they ate, you fold your legs to tuck your feet under takahiro’s thigh and dig in to your meal with some trashy reality show lighting up the tv screen, completely certain that the warmth in your chest was from the company of your loved ones more so than the piping hot potatoes in your stomach.

during breakfast the next day, you blearily rub the sleep out of your eyes before taking a sip of your coffee, a satisfied “ahhh” escaping your parted lips as you lean against the kitchen counter. slowly peeling your eyelids open, you notice all of their gazes were focused on you. “yes? can i help you?” you ask amusedly, awake now that caffeine had be introduced to your tired body.

“how are you still so gorgeous in the morning?” you blink at the dreamy look on iwa’s face propped up in his hands with his elbows on the surface of the island. looking around, you see the other three matching the athletic trainer’s pose and expression next to him. thinking over your messy bedhead, mysteriously stained pajamas, and almost impressively dark eyebags, you want to scoff, but the unfairly handsome men giving you their undivided attention despite all of that (“because of all of that, y/n-chan,” tooru would argue) make you blush instead.

“you’re one to talk, haji,” you opt to remark, hoping to divert their focus from you and your rosy cheeks. “and don’t look at me like that,” your pointed finger swinging wildly between the four of them like the needle of a compass. “you already know you guys are way outta my league, you don’t need me to tell you that.” with one last flourish, you wave your hand dismissively before grabbing your mug with both hands, palms warming against the ceramic.

“as wrong as you are, you can’t blame us for wanting to hear the love of our lives compliment us first thing in the morning as we admire her natural beauty,” mattsun grins once he sees the success his words have at deepening the flush on your face. tooru nods gravely in agreement, but it’s makki’s one-two combo of a wink and an air kiss that breaks you. you roll your bottom lip between your teeth to stifle a laugh but release it immediately when the playful atmosphere takes a heady turn. clearing your throat, you pay no heed to their hungry expressions, knowing full well that they all noticed your little action and how they would react to it.

“a-anyways,” you stutter, “i’m gonna go get ready ‘cause i have things to do today so-” you try to slip by, leaving your empty cup in the sink, only to get caught in your tracks by hiro’s long arms. 

“ah, ah, ah, princess. and where do you think you’re going?” soon enough, you find yourself surrounded by your smoking hot boyfriends and heat up in anticipation of their next moves. 

“this so isn’t fair,” you complain aloud, though you were just as eager as they were to get you out of your worn sleep clothes. 

“tough shit, babygirl. guess you’re just gonna have to add four more things to your to-do list, huh?” 

naturally, you leave your errands for some day later in the week when you’re able to walk properly again.

the opportunity comes when you rise earlier than the rest of them, a rare occasion where you found yourself graced with the freedom of sleeping on the outside instead of being sandwiched in the middle of the bed. tiptoeing about, you brush your teeth and get dressed, somehow managing to not wake any of the sleeping beauties. you scribble little love-filled messages on post-it notes and stick them around your apartment on your way out, but not without one last soft smile in the direction of the bedroom, the sight of the four of them cuddled together through the door left ajar renewing your motivation to accomplish your tasks and come home sooner. 

with your laptop bag in tow, you set out for your first destination, settling into a corner booth at the coffee shop with a full cup and a pastry. once you finish your breakfast, you pull out your laptop and get to work, scouring the internet for the perfect gifts for your lovably imperfect partners. you rack your brain for any recollection of any moment where they would’ve let a potential present slip into conversation and light up when you come across volleyball print pajama pants. you check the availability of the sizes you needed and upon realizing that they were all in stock and would be delivered before christmas, you place your order without a moment’s hesitation. satisfied with your progress, you pull up the animal shelter’s hours before heading out of the cafe, the barista’s greetings and the jingling bells echoing behind you. 

by the time you return home, it’s late in the afternoon and you’re greeted by a wall of warm bodies as soon as you step through the front door. 

“where’ve you been, babe?” once again, takahiro is the first to meet your return, but this time he plants a sweet kiss on your lips with his long fingers encircling your waist after his inquiry. 

“oh, you know,” you sigh, dazed from the saccharine embrace. “out and about.”

“busy day? hope it was productive.” you nuzzle into tooru’s chest, feeling the timbre of his voice through your skin, and nod.

“as a matter of fact, it was.” their eyes soften at the proud grin stretched across your face. but your grumbling stomach just had to ruin the moment, making the three of you stare at each other before bursting out in chuckles.

“you skipped lunch?” oiks asks, wrapping each arm around yours and hiro’s waists and guiding you into the kitchen. you rub the back of your neck sheepishly.

“i guess so? i didn’t really notice i was hungry until now.”

“good thing we saved your favorite from that chinese place down the street for you,” mattsun comes up behind you and lands a kiss on the crown of your head. you beam gratefully up at him and skip over to the fridge to retrieve the takeout.

“welcome home, love,” iwaizumi emerges from the bathroom to complete the set and gives you a once over. “you look tired.”

“gee thanks, hajime.” he rolls his eyes playfully at you while you wait for your food to heat up in the microwave.

“what time did you get up this morning?” 

“uhhh,” you start, mouth full. at iwa’s stern glare, you swallow before answering, “seven-ish? earlier than i would’ve like for a vacation day but it was worth it.”

“hm, well i’m glad you had a good day at least.” you shuffle over to kiss his cheek before dropping yourself on top of where tooru and hiro were cuddling on the sofa, eyes drifting around the room to take in the holiday decorations adorning the space.

“thanks, haji. but you’re right, i am sleepy.” suppressing a yawn, you lean back against the broad chests behind you and tuck back into the paper container. “can we take a nap once i’m done?”

“sure thing, babygirl.” the innocent smile mattsun sends your way turns mischievous with his added comment. “we really tuckered ourselves out while you were gone.” you nearly choke but makki’s hand thumping your back helps you dislodge whatever food got caught in your throat. iwa shakes his head and looks to the side in an attempt to hide his face, but the reddening tips of his ears give him away. meanwhile, oikawa catches your eye and winks.

“how else did you suppose we keep ourselves occupied when our baby wasn’t home?” you get up to toss your now empty container, shaking your head as you go. 

“i’m glad to see you at least got the christmas tree up before going at it. god, you’re all insatiable.”

“i mean, it’s hard not to be in this relationship,” hajime grumbles.

“aww, iwa,” makki pushes his lips into an overexaggerated pout. “you make me hard, too.” full-bellied chortles escape the four of you, ignoring iwaizumi’s indignant huffs.

“whatever,” comes his miffed reply, but you know he takes all your antics in stride. soon enough, he returns to the living room with a stack of blankets and finds you and issei added to the pile of limbs tooru and hiro founded. somehow, hajime situates himself to fit perfectly in your cuddle fest, blankets sprawled about to keep you warm.

one last yawn leaves your mouth before you mutter a sleepy, “night, guys. love you,” barely registering the quiet “love you”s you get in return as you drift off, the lights adorning your christmas tree twinkling above you.

christmas day, you wake up before the others again, this time more than willing to feign sleep and revel in the warmth of your shared bed. luckily, you don’t have to wait long for your boys to stir. sitting up, you stretch your arms above you head and begin to climb out of bed only to be caught by the wrist and dragged back down.

“haji, please,” you draw out. “we can finally open the presents under the tree!”

“i don’t care, it’s too early for you to leave me, princess.” you hum as he pulls you closer to him, revisiting your mental note that iwa is much more openly (and selfishly) affectionate in the mornings. 

“oi, the rest of us are still here you know.” face buried against tooru’s back, mattsun’s muffled complaint gets hajime to loosen his hold on you. 

“yea, yea,” he props himself up on his elbow to lean over you and kisses the former middle blocker’s temple. “unfortunately.”

“so mean, iwa-chan,” oikawa pipes up, stretching his arm across you to caress your boyfriend’s toned arm before lacing his fingers with makki’s. the pink haired man himself, still half-asleep, squeezes tooru’s hand before sitting up.

“hey, wait. it’s christmas, isn’t it?” takahiro’s question reminds you of the package you received a couple days prior, prompting you to spring out of bed before one of them could reel you back in. the four watch you rifle through the closet and resurface with the pajama pants you ordered.

“merry christmas!” you cry excitedly, tossing each boy their respective pair and eagerly awaiting their reactions. “they’re matching pj’s! look, i got one for myself, too.” thankful that you chose to go to bed in just one of iwa’s godzilla t-shirts and underwear last night, you rush to slip on your volleyball print pants. the boys take in your childlike joy, chests tightening at how precious you are. “hurry up, i want you to try them on so we can match!” at your insistence, they roll out of bed and dutifully don your gifts. 

“oh these are actually really soft,” tooru murmurs thoughtfully, fingering the fabric on his thigh.

“right?” you pipe up, nearly bouncing off the walls. “i wanted to do something to commemorate our first christmas together in this apartment and i thought these were really cute since volleyball is what brought us together in the first place.” eyes meet each other as you all reminisce that special summer, grateful that you stayed close despite your individual journeys after graduation.

suddenly, the doorbell ringing catches your attention. a brief glance at the clock on the bedside table tells you it’s much later in the morning than you though, but you’re quick to answer the door.

“who could that be?” the boys are left wondering, wandering out into the living room in time to see you wave goodbye to whoever it was with a large gift-wrapped box sitting on the floor next to you. 

“babe? who was it?” tooru is the first to ask the question on all of their minds. 

“oh, just my best friend. they wanted to drop this off on their way to their parents’ house.” you gingerly pick up the box and bring it to where your boys were waiting for you. “go ahead!”

“go ahead?” hajime parrots. 

“yea! open it!”

“it’s not for you?” takahiro ponders.

“well yes and no. c’mon just open it already!” you’re bouncing on the balls of your feet at this point. tooru finally takes the initiative to remove the lid of the box, eyes widening when he sees what it hid.

“oh my gosh,” he breathes. the other three nearly knock heads with how quickly they lean over the opening.

“is that-?” a furry little head pops up over the edge of the box, round eyes peering up at the four of them.

“a dog! yes!” you squeal. “he’s a shelter dog!”

“he is?” hiro is in awe, slowly reaching out to cradle the little guy in his arms.

“i met him the other day when i woke up early and ran errands without you guys. isn’t he just the cutest?” big hands dwarf the small pooch as they gently pet his head and stroke his fur.

“does he have a name?” tooru has the good sense to ask. 

“mhm, the lady at the shelter said his previous owner named him ponyo.”

“ponyo…” issei whispered, eyes shining. 

“i know we’re nowhere near ready to start thinking about kids,” you start, the topic of the conversation instantly drawing their attention. tooru even ignored ponyo’s little tongue lapping at his fingers. “but i thought we could use an addition to our family.” 

“y/n, princess, we obviously all love him already, but we’re busy with work- well, most of us are. who’s gonna take care of him?” hajime questions, almost reluctantly.

“i mean, hiro is home all the time since he’s still unemployed (“i said i was looking, damn!”), but i actually got promoted so my schedule is way more flexible and i can work from home most of the time.” your voice trails off bashfully, but they give you no time to be embarrassed, swallowing you up in a huge hug. 

“why didn’t you say anything sooner, baby? we’re so proud of you!” now you know how the dog felt being smothered by their affection, not that it was anything new for you.

“uhh, surprise?”

“fuck yea, surprise! god, you’re incredible. lemme make a list of things we’ll need to get for ponyo once the stores reopen tomorrow.”

“actually…”

“you didn’t.”

“i did, with help from my best friend.” going into the lowest cupboards in the kitchen, you show off the bag of dog food and water and food bowls you bought soon after visiting the shelter. “his bed and crate are in the other closet by the washroom.”

“how did we get so lucky?” takahiro asks aloud, making you blush as the others nod in sync, all of them blown away by your thoughtfulness.

“this is nothing. i just wanted to show you guys how much i love you.” you play with your fingers, a little overwhelmed now that the initial excitement has worn off. “oh wait!”

“there’s more?” tooru asks, shocked.

“but wait, there’s more!” mattsun and makki chime in simultaneously, making you laugh as you retrieve the last present. you hop over to where tooru was sitting on the sofa with ponyo on his lap, scooping the dog up and locking the two of you in the bathroom. a couple minutes later, you open the door to let ponyo scurry over to his dads, who coo softly once they see him come around the sofa.

“when did you have time to do this?”

“my pants were a little long, so i hemmed them one night after you guys passed out on the sofa watching your old volleyball matches. i kinda guessed ponyo’s measurements based on standard info i found on the internet, but it fits perfectly so i’m glad!” looking at the little sweater you made for your new family member out of the extra fabric from your pj pants, you couldn’t stop the pleased grin that broke out on your face. “now even ponyo matches with us!”

while your gaze was trained on the tiny dog that was exploring his new home, theirs were stuck on you, your resemblance with a proud mother struck something in them, giving them thoughts of you with their children. yes, children. but for now they shoved those images to the backs of their minds, meeting each other’s stares to confirm they were all in silent agreement.

“we’re gonna make breakfast, you just sit there ‘n look pretty while you watch ponyo, yea?” issei announces before pulling you into a searing kiss as he walks by. 

“not that that’s hard for you,” iwa tags on, kissing your cheek and ruffling your hair following mattsun into the kitchen.

“but i’m always hard for you.” you yelp when hiro playfully slaps your ass, flipping him off as he trails after the other two with a loud hoot. tooru comes up behind you and rubs your sore cheek, spinning you around so that you were face to face.

“why’d you do this to me, y/n-chan?” you meet his frown with a confused look of your own. “now it’s gonna be even harder for me to go back to argentina.”

“oh, tooru,” you wrap your arms around his neck, standing on your tiptoes to bring him close. “you have the next few weeks to spend with us and our new baby.” as if he knew you were talking about him, ponyo pads over to sit by your feet, tail wagging. oikawa sighs melodramatically.

“a few weeks is nothing compared to the months i’ll be gone!” 

“oi, shittykawa, you better not be complaining after everything this morning,” hajime hollers from the kitchen.

“love you, too, iwa-chan!” tooru calls back instinctively then he looks back down at you, his eyes giving away how much leaving will hurt him and it nearly makes you tear up with him.

“tooru, baby, it sucks every time you leave us, but you’re following your dreams and doing what you love. and we want to support you all the way, even if it means doing so from across the world. but with my new work schedule, i’ll be able to call or text you pretty much whenever. and just think how much sweeter it’ll be the next time you do come home to us. so don’t be too sad, okay, my love? we’ll all be here waiting for you.” 

as the last words leave your lips, tooru has you pulled flush against him, arms wrapped tight around your body. his face was hidden, but you could feel the sobs in hot breaths against your shoulder. you guided him over to the sofa and let him cry, petting his hair and peppering kisses on his tear-streaked face until he tired himself out. 

issei, hajime, and takahiro come out of the kitchen with stacks of pancakes and all the fixings, setting them down on the coffee table in front of you once they see tooru snoozing in your lap. iwa picks ponyo up before he could get a bite of your breakfast while you gently shake your boyfriend awake. mattsun and makki set up ponyo’s crate and bedding, leaving him with a toy to keep him occupied while the five of you filled up your plates.

sitting in the living room of the apartment you shared with your four boyfriends on christmas day, stuffing your face with fruit and whipped cream topped pancakes that they made, in matching pajamas with your new rescue dog scampering about, you couldn’t ask for a better gift underneath the tree.

taglist: @lovemeafterhrs​ @sachirou-senpai​ @honey-makki​ @kenmaki​

[spiked-tea-writing]

and they were roommates?!

SapnapxFem!Reader

Summary: Imagine being in love with your roommate, couldn't be you.

Pronouns: She/her

Warning: Swearing

Word Count: 2.3k

A/n: I don’t watch or know anything, I just like these people and I had a concept. Also, he and Dream aren’t roommates in this for the sake of I can’t figure that out. Also also, my timeline is probably fucked but who cares

The dynamic in the apartment was...interesting to say the least

In the two years of living together, it had shifted a lot

In the beginning, you and Sapnap had been... less than cordial to each other

Both eighteen, fresh out of high school, off to college thinking that you knew everything.

There was lots of fighting, to say the least.

All of the “No it’s your turn to vacuum”, and “I swear to god Sapnap I will punt you halfway across the world if you eat my pineapple again”

The only reason you didn’t slit each other’s throats was that if the other person was dead, who would pay rent?

It was the summer before college started at the time, and you were working long hours minimum wage so coming]’/ home to an annoying prick caused a crap ton of conflict

After a few months of being little bitches to each other, y’all got piss drunk in the apartment and it all just sorta fell apart

Got that good drunk therapy, spilling your deepest secrets

(y’all were underage but shhh)

So by the time college started, the two of you had become actual friends and started enjoying each others company

A few months into the friendship, you encouraged him to post the video of “Minecraft, but it’s Raining Cats and Dogs” on a whim

Lmao little did you know what you had created (we’ll get to that later)

You mocked his train of thought constantly, laughing at the timing of it all.

“Ahhh yes, I am Sapnap, the genius who thought it’d be great to become a YouTuber while in my first year of college.”

He’d always just laugh and roll his eyes, playfully shoving you while stealing your chips.

The next few months were a haze of studying, work, and him.

It was truly a friendship of convenience since you guys were so busy, him starting his youtube career, and you working restaurants, then school on top of that, it was just easy to find friendship in your roommate.

Of course, he had his close friends which he spoke to over the internet, and you had your friends from back home, but as for college, it really was only him.

You guys had a fun time just hanging around the apartment, and it became so easy to be friends with him

And it WAS truly platonic (we’ll get back to that as well)

The best thing he brought to the friendship was his animals

You got on fabulously with Cash and the cats

They were all so cuddly and honestly loved you more than him lmao

You guys were just trying to get degrees and not be too stupid, was that too much to ask???

Well to a certain 2020, it was

The beginning of that year was great.

He was sorta realizing that he liked putting himself on social media, but on top of that, it seemed like a great start to a year.

February brought him to twitch, which you loved

You found it hilarious how he would just sorta play games and have people watch him live.

But you were incredibly supportive, as a friend, of course

He really liked it so, you tried to ignore the shouting at three am, and the loud anthems at night

Sure you’d give him hell in the morning, but why kill his fun?

March started great, as it was his birthday.

You got him a glittery lighter as a gag, but it was the perfect gift for a broke-ass college student

Then a certain pandemic came a-knockin’ on y’all’s door

It was a hard hit on both of you.

An executive decision was made that you two would stay put, but being away from your families was incredibly tough.

That spring was the birth of The SMP.

It brought him so much joy, which in turn made you happier.

The rest of the school year was a blur of zooms and test

Nick nearly killed you on multiple occasions when you made fun of the fact that he was learning computer science over the computer or made him help you figure out what the fuck zoom was since it was tangentially related to his major

“SAP HELP ME YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS ITS YOUR FUCKING MAJOR!!!”

“NO, IT’S- AHHHHHHHHH”

Yall got more than a handful of noise complaints shhhh

That summer was fill was spent trying to fill the time in weird ways

Note to self, he can’t cook (which you learned the hard way)

Yall spent so much time trying to cook and bake, then sweating off the calories working out with The Fitness Marshall lmao

As sucky as the situation was, that summer was so incredibly fun for the both of you, and truthfully the only arguments were about what music to blast

“Y/n I swear if I listen to Cosmicandy one more time I will drown you.”

“Well if I hear American Idiot one more time someone’s knee caps are getting harvested.”

(that argument was settled with Elton John.)

When school started up again that fall, something shifted

After a year of actual friendship, you guys were no longer just friends, and the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife

You had watched every single one of his streams since day one, but within 2 seconds of his Love or Host, you felt the need to hurl for some peculiar reason

It was bizarre because there was no way you could ever like him, of course not.

Within the apartment, you guys suddenly got a lot more touchy, but only because it was getting cold with winter and all that jazz.

It wasn’t because yall were secretly in love, what is this, a romcom?

The number of times you guys woke up on the couch, definitely not cuddling was too many to count

You started sitting in his room while he streamed, definitely not watching him with heart eyes because of how excited he got

He always had a pot of coffee full and a 6-pack of monster in the fridge since he knew you ran on spite and caffeine, and definitely not so that he could spend more time with you in the early hours of the morning.

The laundry started getting all mixed around, resulting in just sharing any sweats, hoodies, or socks.

The same thing went for food.

No longer was anything labeled with a name, if it was in the fridge, it was fair game (unless there was a post-it because come on, yall weren’t monsters)

But no, y’all were just roommates, not dating, lets make that clear.

Feelings? We don’t know her.

This entire time, his friends have had to hear about you rip.

But they got front row seats to your relationship development

“OMG my roommate is the worst she ate all of the frozen strawberries”

“Y/n kidnapped Storm all day while she studied and I thought I lost the fucking cat asjvdk”

“I had to run down and talk to the landlord because we dropped a pot of pasta sauce all over the carpet and couldn’t get the damn stain out.”

“She is so nice in preparation for a family dinner zoom, she ran out to the local Filipino food place and pick stuff up.”

“Sorry I’m late I overslept and didn’t want to wake up Y/n.”

They weren’t stupid, and could clearly see how whipped he was.

Dream and Geroge teased him about it constantly.

“Woah, calm down Sap, you should probably tell her you love her before you propose.”

“Yeah Dream’s right, it’s kinda weird that you’re living together before ever dating.”

He always flushed and denied it with a shake of his head.

He wasn’t into you, are they crazy?

Quackity and Karl messed with him in more unorthodox ways

There are a solid number of clips where they are fake crying over how he’s cheating on them, and even more tweets to match

It only got worse when you met them accidentally.

He was chatting post-stream on a video channel with George, Dream, Karl, and Quackity, and just his luck, you came into his room.

Like of all the times you could walk in, it was the time he was with his five closest friends but I digress

“Yo I got some extra tips yesterday so I picked up some extra Red Bull if you want to do one of your weird all-nighter streams.”

“Y/n I’m on channel.”

“Oh shit sorry my b. Catch.”

All the guys heard was a thud and a groan from Sapnap as the six-pack hit him in the chest.

Dream was the one to recognize your name.

“WAIT IS THAT Y/N I WANT TO MEET THEM!”

You could hear Dream’s voice through his headphones

“Sap… who is that?”

“No one. I’ll be out in a sec to help with dinner.”

You could hear a British voice come through.

“Oh so we are no one now, huh.”

Another voice piped through.

“Common... ¿Qué intentas ocultar?”

You cut in.

“Your headset it shit my guy. I can hear everything. I’m down to talk to them.”

He let out a groan.

“Fine. But you’re gonna have to do the dishes tonight.”

“Deal. Now move.”

“What? No.”

“Fine bitch.”

You collapsed onto his lap, plucking the headphones off of him.

“Hello, Sapnap’s friends. I am Y/n. A pleasure to meet y’all. Can you hear me?”

You heard a series of laughs through the headset, and a voice came through.

“Yes, we can see you too. I’m Karl, it’s so nice to finally meet his girlfriend.”

A blush rose on both of your faces, and another voice came through.

“Yeah, we’ve heard lots about you. Plus we can’t see your face in that picture Sap sent us. I’m Quackity”

That remark stopped your embarrassment in its tracks.

“What the fuck? How do you guys know me? I’m not even his girlfriend? And what picture?”

Sapnap grabbed your arm to calm you down as another voice cut in, but his one you recognized as his friend Dream.

“Hey, it’s okay. He just talks about you a bit, and the picture I believe was of you holding like three cats with like a red bull can on your head.”

“Jesus fucking christ why do they have that photo??”

He looked guilty but chuckled.

“Because that photo is a damn masterpiece.”

Karl’s voice came back in with a giggled.

“Soooo, Y/n we’d love to hear about you. Specifically anything funny or embarrassing that you have learned by living with him.”

Sapnap let out a groan from behind you as you went off.

“WELL lemme tell y’all, he has no cooking knowledge, well I mean, now he does, but one time, about a year ago, I had I been keeping a pot of water boiling for about an hour, soft boiling eggs, cooing noodles, blanching bok choy, etc. but this fucking genius is like ‘oH tHe HaNdLe Is StIcKiNg OuT. LeMmE mOvE iT wItH mY bArE hAnD.’ Needless to say, he burnt the crap outta his hand and kept the bag of frozen blueberries on it for the entire night. It took me like a solid five seconds to actually help him because I was laughing.”

By the time you had finished that story, you had seen Nick roll his eyes like 5 five times while the rest of the guys were wheezing.

“Yeah, well remember the time you were trying to imitate Rapunzel after we had watched it over Zoom with my sister, and you swung the edge of the frying pan into our head and got a nasty bump on it? At least I moved quick enough to put some ice on it.”

“Ice? It was the damn leftover Slushy that I had been freezing.”

“True, but you got to drink it after, so it was a win-win situation.”

“Sap, I had a bump the size of a golfball coming off of my temple. There was no winning.”

“Fine, you’re just making me sound like such a shit roommate.”

“No that’s not true, you do all of the talking to the landlord, and you at least tried to muffle the noise when you stream.”

“I guess that’s true, but you do like 80% of the cleaning.”

“Yeah but only because you’re working. Plus in the past 6 months, you’ve made coffee every morning, AND made sure I was taking my meds.”

“Those things aren’t that hard and I do it to make sure you don’t die because I lo- care about you.”

“What?”

“What?”

You heard Dream’s wheeze laugh and remembered that you guys were still on call.

“Smooth.”

You both went red, and Sap moved his arm around you to leave the channel.

The next few moments were complete torture, the two of you just sitting in silence.

You were wondering if he meant what he was about to say and he was scared that you had heard it.

He was the one to break the silence. (mind you you’re still sitting on his lap lmao)

“I’m sorry about that.”

You weren’t sure how to respond. Should you ask him if he meant it? Because that wouldn’t be that bad. Or just pretend it never happened. Nah that’d be hella awkward. Or-

“I love you too.”

“You what?”

Wow, okay your brain is being a little bitch rn, but fuck it. Balls to the walls baby.

“I love you, and I have for a while now. I just want you to know.”

You finally looked him in the eye, and he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Thank god. I love you, and nearly fucking told you for the first time in front of my friends accidentally. Damn, I’m smooth.”

You laughed and he smiled wider.

“Can I kiss you?”

After a quick nod he swooped in and holy hell his lips felt great. His arm wound around your waist and your hands made their way to his jaw as he pulled you closer to him.

The only thing playing in your mind was “and they were roommates”

[journey-to-the-attic]

since tomorrow is Christmas I wanted to ask, how would the JTTA cast celebrate the holidays?? :D

anyway happy christmas dear author <3 I really hope you are having an amazing day :DD

ahhh sorry i started writing a response and then saved it to my drafts and totally forgot about it

but anyway! thank you and merry (late) christmas to you too, and a happy new year!!! i'll put a couple of notes about a post-jtta christmas under the cut ^^

there's no lead up, ik just looks at her d.d.d. one day and goes 'oh hey it's christmas!'

and (in the jtta version of the devildom), none of the demons have a goddamn clue what christmas is, so ik has to explain it to them

and they are not very enthusiastic about the concept

i mean, xmas traditionally celebrates the birth of GOD'S son, and we all know those demons do not like god

at some point diavolo gets his hands on like this old-fashioned vhs video telling the nativity story - the sort of thing teachers would show to five year olds to 'teach them the meaning of christmas''

satan is intrigued by the history aspect of it and the logistics of a virgin getting pregnant, and asmo seems to have a crush on the guy playing joseph, but other than that everyone else hates the experience

but then ik's like: "the xmas story is weird but it'd be kind of nice to celebrate it, but if you guys don't— beel where are you doing"

beel, sprinting out of the house of lamentation: "I'M GOING TO FIND A CHRISTMAS TREE"

he ends up bringing back this eleven foot tall tree with leaves sort of resembling a pine, with the right sort of spread out branches for decorating

the purgatory hall folk come over to help decorate it and it takes literally two hours

diavolo enlists the help of the little ds and brings over like three full crates of various christmassy decorations they found in the castle, for some reason

(the theory is that a previous ruler of the devildom left them there)

luke and ik are sitting around the base while diavolo, beel and lucifer are in charge of the top levels, and everyone else just kind of has to find room in between

mephisto somehow hears about this decorating business and arrives at the house of lamentation to suggest hanging a giant ornament shaped like his face on the tree

ik agrees before anyone can stop her, with the further suggestion that bauble-mephisto should be hung above the dining table

mephisto LOVES this and goes to do this immediately

everyone else? not so much. but this is the hardest they've seen ik laugh at anything in a while, so in the end they just let it slide

so now bauble-mephisto is staring down at everyone as they tuck into the sort-of christmas dinner that luke, barbatos, ik and simeon have all hurriedly slapped together

it's not really a traditional christmas dinner - it's a mixture of celestial realm and devildom-style dishes, a range of signature sweets from barbatos and simeon, this GIANT chocolate cake that's taller than both of the beings that made it (ik and luke), and a mixture of human world cuisine that ik's just picked out at random

nearly nothing from a traditional western christmas dinner is here - apart from, inexplicably, a bowl of brussels sprouts

mephisto eats them all because no one else will touch them and he enjoys the 'respectfully, what the fuck' looks he gets from everyone else

(ik invited mephisto to stay for the celebration and he agreed immediately, because of course he did)

(several of the others disagreed with this decision but, since they're mainly doing this whole christmas for ik, they opt to let him stay. ik wouldn't invite him in the first place if she didn't enjoy his company, after all)

this whole mini christmas thing happened too short notice for anyone to get gifts ready, which solomon seems a little worried about

he hasn't been in close enough quarters to human society for so long that he hasn't really celebrated a modern christmas before, but what he does know is that there are meant to be presents

he brings this up, and the little exchange that ensues is so cliche but also so so so earnestly sweet (and heartbreaking) that several of the others straight up start crying

ik: "it's fine, you don't need to get anything for me."

solomon: "are you sure? i could run out and get something, it's a special occasion—"

ik: "i'm sure! i think everyone being here to celebrate is a good enough present already :)"

(the :) isn't just her expression, it's part of the WAY she says it)

anyway diavolo, luke, simeon and mammon are now in tears

but you know these jtta pals!!! can't be emotional for too long before devolving into crack

for example: satan and ik spend like forty minutes sitting by the fireplace and cackling furiously with each other, and at first everyone thinks they're planning some kind of trick, but then it turns out that they're just taking it in turns to compose the lines of a stupid christmas poem

here's the first verse:

'tis the night before christmas, and all through the house ten bombardier beetles are hunting a mouse hear the patter of his feet, but then a harsh SNAP oh no! his leg is caught in a mouse trap!

it only gets more ridiculous from there

at one point mephisto pulls this giant christmas cracker out of nowhere and gets diavolo and lucifer to pull it together

it comes apart with a caterwauling wooooooOOOOAOAOAOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, accompanied by a large cloud of purple smoke

then everyone realises that mephisto's the one going wooooooOOOOAOAOAOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and making the smoke with magic

(the 'christmas cracker' is just a bunch of tinsel and colourful paper that mephisto stole and tied together)

okay i think there was something else i was going to mention but i've forgotten what it was

so i guess that's all ^^;

[eurydicees]

favorite fics :D

thank you for the tag @favesblog !! this was really fun to make….. a list of five favorite fics i've written & my thoughts on them, in the order they were written: 

1. a reflection on being empty, being whole, & being in love

ohshc / tamakyo / 5,302 words. this fic is incredibly personal to me, and it’s, like, my heart put into fic form. like, the level of projection here is kind of insane. it’s so important to me, and tbh if you want to understand my experience with race, just read this fic. apparently it also resonated with other mixed people, which is rly cool lol. also, it was the second half of the first ouran fic i ever posted (first part is here), and it got so much love that i kept writing for ouran and tbh that changed absolutely everything about my online life. i’m really proud of this fic for the writing and also for how vulnerable it gets.

2. all of you, and all the universe, too

haikyuu / kuroken / 7,061 words. this was the first haikyuu fic i wrote! i’m still really proud of it, which is fun because i do think that my interpretations of characters and i as a writer have come really far since then. but i’m still really into the plotline, and i still love this kuroo. i think that the emotional arc in general holds up and works really well for this pairing. tbh i reread this again every now and then when i get bored lmfao. 

3. clean hands to hold him with, a clean house to love him with

haikyuu / gen / 4,070 words. i really love the way that this fic turned out, especially considering that it came out of a random prompt generator one shot i posted on tumblr. this was the first (and only, so far) time i wrote from osamu’s pov and i actually had a lot of fun with it. miya twins hurt/comfort is actually something that is so important to me and it was really fun to try my hand at it. 

4. nocturnes (& other ways he loves you) 

ohshc / tamakyo / 18,673 words. ahhh this is my tamakyo magnum opus and i’m so obsessed with myself for writing this. it was a gift fic from a prompt that i took and fucking ran with. i’m really, really proud of how this turned out. i think that the characterization worked out really well, and i love the tension of the entire story.

5. fever dreams; or, love in the time of heatwaves

haikyuu / kuroshou / 17,121 words. i’m highkey really proud of this one. it’s not my best characterization ever, but i’m just so into the emotional arc that i don’t care! i’m proud of it anyway! the ao3 summary of the fic came to me in a post-sleep haze and then i went insane and wrote 17k based on that alone. it was SO fun to write, and it got me out of a kinda writing funk that i was in for a bit.

(no pressure but) i’m tagging @beatricexbenedick @selkiecoded @livepoultryfreshkilled and anyone else interested in doing it !!

[unfortunatelycake]

Fic writer meme

Tagged by @anonymousedward! Thanks Ed! 

1) How many works do you have on AO3?  131

2) What’s your total AO3 word count? 2,430,852

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?  MANY! OPM, Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE!/Happy Kiss!, Tokyo Ghoul, BtVS, LOTR, Kuroshitsuji, OHSHC, Gravitation, Lost Souls, YOI!!!, Good Omens, M DZS, Seikaisuru KADO, Gundam Wing, Double Decker!, FFXV

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 

Anon (OPM, Genos x Saitama)

100 First Kisses (OPM, Genos x Saitama)

Found in Silence, These Things Unheard (OPM, Genos x Saitama)

Begin Again (Tokyo Ghoul, Hide x Sasaki, plus others)

Counterfeit Boyfriend (OPM, Garou x Mumen Rider)

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?  Usually! I appreciate when someone has taken a moment to comment, whether it’s a paragraph or keymashing or a simple ‘ahhh!’ type of comment! 

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?  Probably Last Call (Tokyo Ghoul, Hide x Kaneki). 

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? Most of them have happy endings! 

I’ll say Love is Glimpsed in a Magic Mirror (Boueibu LOVE!, Akoya x Arima, Fairytale AU) Because it’s a fairytale AU, and so far nobody has noticed the absence of something significant across the entire fic (which sort of becomes a plot device in the sequel).

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?  Sometimes! Craziest is probably A Tweed Slipper (Good Omens/Lost Souls; Aziraphale x Crowley & Steve x Ghost). Though it’s not the crackiest. 

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic? Someone once waited an entire five chapters of a fic to tell me they like the ship but the fic was too OOC? Don’t think I’d call that hate though, just an opinion.

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?  Sometimes. Either as gift fics for smut-loving friends, offshots of things implied on @vote-sensei, or when it suits the plot of a bigger fic/series. Not overall a smut fan and don’t feel I’m that great at writing it, but big respect to the people who can write it endlessly and always manage to make it fresh and new!

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?  Not as far as I know!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?  Not as far as I know!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?  Yes

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?  Hnnn no this one is too difficult.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?  There are too many! 

16) What are your writing strengths?  I have lots of ideas and will work my ass off until the fic is finished

17) What are your writing weaknesses? More ideas pop up when I’m writing and what starts off as a sweet and unassuming one-shot in my head becomes an eldritch horror of a multichapter with side-plots and side-ships I never dreamed of, all because I have no self-control. 

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?  Sometimes reasonable (e.g. character having no clue what other characters are saying) and sometimes unnecessary (e.g. all the characters speak that language but they’re speaking in a different language to the one they normally use to communicate)

I know there’s classic novels where a character will randomly come out with something french/latin/greek and honestly it drives me up the wall because all too often there is no translation. 

So I guess I’m mostly against it, though I’m probably guilty of doing it in old LOTR fics ^^;

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for? Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?  There’s a few that I’m particularly pleased with! Restricting myself to only one per fandom and avoiding repeating ones that were already mentioned...

Nightmare for all Seasons (Lost Souls, Steve x Ghost) 

A Place of Healing (OPM, Genos x Saitama, Garou x Mumen Rider, War AU)

Love is Sung in a Minor Key (Boueibu LOVE!, Io x Ryuu & Akoya x Arima, post-canon/ Bandman AU) 

My fics: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakera/work

Tagging: @rayadraws​ @mostlikelytofangirl​ if you please, plus anyone who wants to do it!

[kiyoo-omi]

from my love to you

Hello moots and followers! I just want to say happy new years and heres to 2021 treating us right. I’m not too good with words tbh but here I go!

I really can't believe I'm in a position to know so many great people on here! I’m so thankful that each and everyone of you are so welcoming. Every little likes and reblogs mean so much to me as as artist. But interacting with me makes my day so much better and brings such the biggest smile on my face! I’m so grateful that you guys even bothering interacting with me. I wouldn’t have continued this blog have it not been you guys!! I appreciate it so much and it means the world to me. You guys makes me strive to me a better artist (and writer)! I want to be able to make you guys happy and I hope whatever I do on my blogs bring u guys joy as much as it does me!

I hope to be better moot for everybody (cause I’m just a little too shy to interact with you all) Thank you so much for giving me a place in this community and I love you all!

To my lovely friends!

@lavenderpisces

JEN! MRS. BOKUTO! MRS. AIZAWA! MY BABY MY LOVE MY ANGEL CAKES LIGHT OF MY LIGHT APPLE TO MY EYEE! BOKUJEN AND SHOUJEN SUPREMACY UP IN THIS THIS BITCH 🤪! Aaaahhhh bby I don't know what to say but I love you so much!!! I know I don't show my appreciation as much lately or its been a while! But you are literally a light to my life and I value our friendship so much! I remember our baby talks on here and can’t believe here we are today! I'm counting five/six years girl and I want to celebrate every new year together until we are old as hell. I love when we fangirl, I love our little movie nights, I love getting you gifts, I love daydreaming about our future together and I hope you do too??? Please know I'm literally here for you, I would fight the world and book a ticket there for you if u ever need me to too. Just say the words! Please don’t ever hesitate to hit me up if you ever need to. I hate whatever you you are experiencing that makes you sad, I wish I could be there to fight it away for you! I know this year hasn’t been too nice, but please know that I’m literally just a text or call away! You are my priority. I can't wait for the day where we can see each other one day! I love u so much!

@coralpeachcalm

MIMI! HI!! Asdfghjjkkll sorry if this is a little awkward but I'm so glad you were one of the first person I have had the pleasure to meet! I don't remember who reach out to who but I’m so glad one of us did. I remember us fangirling so much back then! Thank you for being so supportive on my art and literally anything, and I’m so glad to have found you again! Here's to 2021 treating you right! I value you so much and I love you!

@seijuroww

Hi cameron! I hope you’re doing well lately! I just wanted to say holy shit! Im so proud of you and what you’ve done an accomplished! Just seeing you’re growth and journey has been so awe-inspiring. I hope you’re happier lately and im just so happy for you! Please know I’m here for you if you ever need help! I love you so much! 

To my lovely close mooties! 

@chibishae34

Hi SHAE!! Thank you for being one of my biggest supporter back on dinnachusart and just constantly liking and reblogging my works. You don’t know how much it meant to me being a small as artist and trying to scramble for a crumb of notes (XD lol). Sorry if I don't have much words to say I'm just so thankful that you were able to see me grow as an artist and i hope you still do!! Thank you for also being my penpal and please expect something hopefully this month! Here to 2021 treating you good and spending it together!

@datech

HI DIANA!! It’s the way you have my heart! You’re so sweet and adorable, you interaction in anything can brighten up anyones day. I'm still so surprise that were moots! It blows my mind cause I really admired you and your writing and I was intimidated by you!! Now look at where we are now! I’m ur disamu art dealer asddghhjkklldd.Thank you so much for your support on my art! It really does means the world and your comments are absolutely everything. Thank you for being one of the reason I stay on here! Cheers to 2021 love you and you deserve the best!

@sanriobimbo

HI PLUMMIE! PRETTY PLUMMIE SOULMATE!!! I'm so happy and glad we were able to hit is off so well! You’re one of the person I can feel so at ease with! I love our interactions and me just joking around with you lol! Just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you! Don’t ever doubt your writing please! Its the greatest and the world to my eyes! Make sure you take breaks and don't ever force yourself to provide or write! You simple being here is the greatest thing to happen to everybody you’ve come across! You deserve the world and imma fight 2021 if it ever crosses you! Love you lots plummie!

To my mooties who I'm so thankful that you even follow and interact with me!! I be fangirling and get so happy when you do! just know I love you all and appreciate you so much! I hope to see you all grow andsucceed to the absolute best in your life! Love you lots! Cheers to 2021. 

(In no particular order! I’m sorry if I sound repetitive. I’m sorry if you don't considered us moots ill take u off if u don't wanna be on here!)

@tsumtsumland : hope you doing well! Love you lots and ahhh im so thankful for you!! I love interacting with you! thank you for being my penpal and I hope to see more of eachother! I hope 2021 can be kind to you! 🤲🏽🥺💞💞💞

@midnightweeds: hi weeds! I just wanted to say im so grateful for you! Thank you for being so generous and lending a hand when i needed it the most! Thank u for sending me sakusa pictures as well! 🥺💞

@atsumuse: hi lay! ur such a cool person and I admire u so much! I hope 2021 treats you well! I love ur writng please its the best. 🥺💞

@tsukkis-crybaby: hi felicity! ur so beautiful and thank u for our interactions togther! I love seeing you on my dash and inbox! I hope 2021 is a good year for you! kisses for you!😘

@amberalisa hi alisa!! I hope ur doing well! I really love ur suna fic and can’t wait for your other one! happy New Years and I hope this year is a good year for you!!

@hisoillusandwich: hi Mae!! 🥺💞 ur sakusa fic is one of my favs and omg the fact ur interact with me at all my heart! here to 2021 being good to u beautiful!

@prettysetterbaby: hi jj!!! *screaming* you are so beautiful and deserve the utmost best in life! I love seeing you on my dash! thank you for being such a great person and supporting my art! you are so loved and I’m wishing nothing but the best for you! 2021 better treat you right!

@bucketofforks: hi hi bof! I’m so grateful for your interactions! they bring such smiles and laughs, I hope 2021 goes good for you!

@hq-trashies: hi kaley!! love seeing u on my dash sorry if we don’t interact as much! But you are such a beautiful person! Thank u for your book recs! send more my way haha’ I hope 2021 goes well for u!!

@velvesagi: hi jem!! Love seeing u on my dash!! thank u for ur interactions they mean a lot! Here’s to 2021 being a better year for you!

@sunaswife : hi knifey! I found you through ur suna series and I really love it!! I hope 2021 is a good year for you! Thank u for even interacting with u, pretty sure I was fangirlibg! Lol

@lovingnekoma: hi artimes! thank u so much for your interactions! they really do brighten up my day! I hope to be a better mutual to you! I hope 2021 can be ur year!

@inxriyama: hi bunny! 🥺🤲🏽💞💞💞really love ur writing and really enjoy our small interactions together! Here’s to 2021 being a good year!

@kurooblesse: hi tesh! I hope ur doing well and ughhhh please ur writing!! 😩💦 🥴 gives me the hots! Here’s to 2021 being good to you!!

@kenmasbb: hi tia!!! gaawwddd ur writing!! Please give me room to breathe! I really love our interaction and I hope u doing well and happy 2021!

@rintarhue: hi Kopi!! ur smau series are the best and ur rin one is so creative!! such a great writer and I hope to see more from you! here to 2021 being a good year to you!

@shoyosun: hi Marta!!! your art is so cute and can’t wait to see more of it!! thank u for being such a sweetheart and I hope we can interact more! cheers to 2021 being a good year!

@omijime: hi nini!! your so adorable and omg thank u for interacting with me! It means a lot! I hope you Samu, and suna have such a happy 2021 together!

@dxddykeiji: hi Sammy!! I know we don’t interact as much!! but I enjoy seeing you on my dash! thank you for being my moot and I hope 2021 is the best for you!

@radiantful: hi Martha! I’m so thankful for your interactions they brighten up my day! I hope 2021 is good to you!

@ukeishin: hi Celeste! thank u for poppin in my inbox here or there! I love our little interactions and hope we can interact more! I hope 2021 will treat you right! U deserve it!

@ladyrenart: hi Lena! I love your popping in my inbox! they make me smile so much! I appreciate you so much! cheers to 2021 being good to you!

@toniiihime: hi toni!! your so beautiful and your drawings are so cute! I can’t wait to see more! Can’t wait to see you grow! 2021 is ur year!

@aiiishiiiteru: hi nona! I know we don’t interact as much but I looove ur writing!! I’m screamed when u followed back XD! Cheers to 2021 being a good year for you!

@mi-yams: ren wifey!!! I love our interactions together!! you’re so fun and cute! I hope 2021 treats u well!

@darlingoshiki: hi saint! I hope 2021 is good to you! Thank u for popping in my ask here or there and I enjoy seeing on my dash!

@helloaisabelle: hi aisy! I love ur writing!! ur national team got me 🥴🥵 thank u for your interaction and I hope we can interact more! I hope 2021 is the best for you!

@onefortyninecm : hi Danielle! I’m grateful for interactions together m! Your art is amazing!! and you deserve all the love coming your way! you’re very beautiful and I hope I can be a better moot! here’s to 2021 treating you good! 🥺💞

@picassho-18​: hi Kate!! just wanted to say thank you for your support and I love seeing you inbox abs post! Wishing 2021 the best for u!

@inarizakicafe​: hi ni! I know where new moots. But I absolutely love your writing! I hope to interact more with you if that’s okay! cheers to 2021 to be a good year for you!

@itzdaichi​: hi lovely!! I just wanted to say your so sweet and adorable! Your interaction bring so much joy to me! I hope 2021 treats you right!

@tsukkikou​: hi kou! I really love our interactions and thank you for popping in my inbox for a while! It makes me really happy and I hope your doing well!

@suhkusa​: hi hi guys! Just wanted to say I love your writing and I hope 2021 is good to the both of you!

@sunseteyes​: hi gel!! ur so beautiful and I know we don’t interact as much! but I love when we do! I hope 2021 is a good year for you!

@alto-march-of-death​: hi al!! I appreciate our interactions and thankful that you even do in the first place! I hope to be a better moot and wishing 2021 is good to you!

@churochuu​: hi chuu!! I love our first interaction together!! you're art is so cute and adorable! 2021 better treat you right!

to my lovely anons and character interactions whoever you are. you guys absolutely have my heart. im so thankful that you guys even do this for me?? i feel like i dont deserve it. you guys make my day so much and i hope 2021 treat you so good. you dont know how much you guys are appreciated by everyone! love you! 

thank you to everybody for making the remaining month of 2020 one of my best! i love you all! 

[sodalitefully]

Santa Slash is coming to town...

This fic is the Christmas-themed spiritual successor to my Easter Bunny AU.  Special thanks to @slashscowboyboots for supporting all my holiday nonsense! 

Four snapshots from Slash’s Christmas prep marathon through the years:

🎄🎄🎄🎄

Jingle bells.  

Fucking jingle bells.

There were FIFTEEN of them on the stupid-fucking-candy-colored costume he had to wear at this godforsaken excuse for a seasonal job.  “Earn some extra cash,” they said.  “It’s easy, you barely have to do anything,” they said.  "You'll be perfect, you already look the part!" they said.  

"They are about to find a size-ten jingle-toed bootie up their ass,” Axl said – to himself, as he rushed into the storage room turned "dressing room" and buttoned up his itchy red and green vest with one hand while sipping an Orange Julius from the food court with the other.  

“Hey, Axl! You’re barely late today, awesome!”

And then there was this weirdo.

Axl could not for the life of him explain why a shopping mall in Indiana elected to hire a skinny dude in his 20s with a dark complexion and a nose ring to portray Saint Nick himself, but whatever the reason, Axl was stuck working with this fruitcake until Christmas Day.  Sure Slash was nice enough (oh yeah, and his name was Slash, or at least that's how he introduced himself without offering any explanation or even a last name), but he was way too enthusiastic about getting paid minimum wage to let strange kids sit in his lap at a grimy old shopping mall.

Uh, not in a weird way, Slash was good with the kids, really.  But sometimes... it seemed like he was taking his role a little too seriously.  

"How come you don't have a beard?" the first customer of Axl's shift, a little girl in a Tweety bird sweater and blonde pigtails, asked suspiciously.

"That's a good question,” Slash said, scratching at his bare chin. The neck of his Motörhead Beyond the Threshold of Pain Tour T-shirt was visible over the faux fur collar of the Santa costume, and his shiny black boots clearly came from a military surplus store. “I get asked that a lot but the truth is, it just isn't a flattering look, trust me.  I tried it once, and the elves could barely look at me in the eye." To Axl’s incredulity, the girl actually accepted that answer.  "Now tell me, what would you like for Christmas this year, sweetheart?"

As usual, Axl tuned out at this point.  Fake a smile for the overprotective parents, take the painfully awkward commemorative photograph, try not to look like he would rather die than hear Slash try to gently explain that Santa will probably not be delivering a pony this year one more damn time, rinse and repeat – until about an hour later, when the unthinkable happened.

The less said about about the incident, the better.  Suffice to say, one of the darling angels tossed his Christmas cookies, and some of the resulting mess wound up soaking into the front of Axl’s elf costume.  As if he needed another reason to hate his job; this was just adding insult on top of injury (that is, the injury to Axl’s pride as a result of being forced to wear the most ridiculous-looking costume he’s ever had the misfortune of laying eyes on). 

“That’s it. I quit.”  He grabbed the elf cap off his head and slammed it on the ground, then stormed through the exit gate past the sign wishing customers a "Holly Jolly Holiday Season," the bells on his costume ringing merrily as he stomped his feet.

“Hey, wait!”

“No,” Axl growled, but he did turn around to look back at Slash, still sitting in the plastic candy-cane throne unbothered by the mess or the sniffling child now mostly placated by a peppermint candy.  "What."  

Slash offered him a bright, beguiling smile.

"What do you want for Christmas, Axl?" 

-----

Nothing said "holiday cheer" like wandering the tinsel-adorned labyrinth that was a Walmart superstore a week before Christmas, with Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" echoing through the tinny PA system and surrounded by other last-minute vultures hopelessly scavenging the picked-over aisles.  

In Izzy's defense, he actually finished all his shopping early this year, for once.  But then his two little brothers begged him to drive them around town to find the perfect gift for a girl at school that they apparently both had a crush on, and like a fool he agreed. 

He was regretting it now.  Anything would be better than subjecting himself to nearly an hour of top-40 Christmas music.  The jingle bells were jingling, the carolers were caroling, the B-list pop stars were spitting out god-awful covers of Christmas classics, and don’t even get him started on the commercials. 

He wasn't about to walk around in public with his fingers shoved in his ears (at least, he wasn't that desperate yet), but he did squeeze his eyes shut and pinch the bridge of his nose, trying to force himself to relax.  Just take deep breaths and think of The Rolling Stones... 

"Hey, uh, you doing okay?"

Izzy opened his eyes reluctantly.  In front of him was a young man wearing a concerned expression and a Santa hat, stuffed onto a massive pile of dark curls.  

"I'm fine.  Just finding out if it's possible to die from overexposure to Christmas music."

"Ahhh."  The man nodded in understanding.  "It's not, unfortunately.  I've tested it, trust me."

"Do you work here or something?" Izzy asked.  A leather jacket and ripped jeans didn't look like an employee uniform, but his hat matched the store decor and he didn't have a cart or shopping basket.  

"No, I'm actually a seasonal distributor.  Just checking in to make sure everything's in place before that last holiday rush, you know? Shit always gets crazy at the last minute."

"Tell me about it," Izzy responded, as if he knew a thing about marketing as a cynical 16-year-old.  But he had first-hand experience with last-minute crises, and as if to prove it, his brothers came running up to him at that moment.

"Jeff!  We can't find anything good, what should we do?"

"What's the problem?" the stranger in a Santa hat asked, looking genuinely concerned.  

"We don't know what present to get for a girl at school," the boys explained.

"Hmm..." He tapped at his chin.  "Why don't you just – oh wait, you're underage.  Well, how about you bake her some cookies or something?  That's what everyone does for me and I have no complaints."

Desperate to remove himself from this musical hell, Izzy jumped on the idea.  "Yeah, you could do sugar cookies!  And decorate them like horses, she likes horses right?” The boys had only mentioned that a dozen times; Izzy was starting to wonder if this girl even had any other personality traits.  

To his relief, a spark lit up in his brothers' eyes.  Cookies were a perfect idea, and suddenly they were dragging him away to look at cookie cutters and sprinkles.

Izzy turned around to shoot the helpful stranger a grateful look, but when he looked back, the man had disappeared with no trace, leaving not even a furry white pompom behind.

-----

Slash glanced out the window and grimaced – it was cold as a witch’s big bouncy tit outside, nothing but snow and ice as far as the eye could see. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders and took another swig of hot Irish coffee.   Damn the North Pole, there was a reason he took his summer vacations in Malibu.

But despite the miserable work conditions, Slash was nothing if not dedicated to his job.  In front of him was a sack overflowing not with toys but with the most recent letters to Santa, straight from the North Pole's post office.  With Christmas only a few days away, his daunting task was to go through the whole mountain of letters as quickly as possibly in order to take their special requests into consideration before it was time to start loading up the sleigh.  

Well, there was no time like the present to get started.  Slash stretched his back and got comfortable in his coziest armchair (by throwing his legs over one armrest and slouching until his head rested on the other), absentmindedly tapping the end of his peppermint stick on the edge of an ashtray.  He grimaced when he brought the stick back to his lips and realized his mistake. 

With a sigh, he dropped the peppermint stick back in the ashtray already full of cigarette butts and ruined candies, and unfolded the first letter.  In barely legible green marker, the message read: 

Dear Santa Claus,

My name is Steven and I'm 5 years old.  Please give me a skateboard for Christmas.  My brother has one and he won't let me borrow it to learn tricks.

Hmmm.  Five years old was a little young for a skateboard.  Knowing Steven, he'd probably knock his teeth out by New Year's...

...Slash shrugged.  Why not?  All things considered, he would have killed for a skateboard when he was five, so who was he to say no?

-----

Duff was seven years old when his older brothers cornered him in the backyard and gleefully informed him that Santa Claus was a fraud.  It was all a lie made up by parents to convince their children to behave during the year, they explained, and the toys were made on factory lines not by magical elves.  Their mother gave them a hell of a scolding afterwards but it was too late, the deed could not be undone. 

He tried to play it cool, but the truth was, Duff was very distraught as Christmas Eve inched closer.  Could his siblings be right?  He didn't want to believe it, but if he was being honest with himself, he'd suspected as much for some time.  He braced himself to accept the hard truth come Christmas Eve – but only if he was presented with definitive proof.

When the fateful night finally came, Duff and two of his brothers laid out their sleeping bags behind the couch, where they'd be hidden from view if anyone tried to approach the Christmas tree.  They all swore not to fall asleep, not even for a second until Christmas morning... And it wasn't until his brother started snoring that Duff realized he was the only one still awake and silently anticipating the moment of truth.  

It was imperative, of course, that he stayed hidden and didn't make a sound, or else risk giving their plot away.  But... it was past midnight, dinner was hours ago and Duff's empty stomach was starting to distract him from the task at hand.  He couldn't stop thinking about all the food he would get to eat with his family on Christmas Day: the glazed ham, mashed potatoes, apple pie and Christmas cookies... 

In the dim light, Duff could just barely make out the plate of cookies for Santa, waiting in front of the tree.  The cookies were still there untouched, all six of them... Surely no one would notice if Duff ate just one?  

He tiptoed over his sleeping siblings, as silent as the snow falling outside, making his way around the sofa to the plate on the coffee table.  But just as he reached out to pluck a gingerbread man from the assortment, he saw a shadow of movement out of the corner of his eye.  There, beside the Christmas tree in the flickering glow of multicolored string lights, was a mysterious figure in a fur-lined coat and a red cap.

Duff stared at the intruder, slack-jawed.  The cookie clattered back onto the dish, and at the noise the stranger whirled around to face him. 

"Duff!  What are you doing still awake?" he demanded.  Duff took a breath to answer – or more likely to ask how the man knew his name – but before he could, the man peered over the couch, narrowed his eyes and frowned.  "Oh I see what this is. You thought you would catch your parents pretending to be me!" he accused.  "Well, here's the real truth: adults are always wrong and you should never do what they say!" 

The man – could he really be Santa Claus? – he planted his leather-gloved hands on his hips as he scolded Duff.  "And don't even get me started on teenagers..." he griped, casting a stare over Duff's shoulder where his older brother's leg was sticking out from behind the couch, tangled in a blanket.  

Tears started to well up in Duff's eyes.

"Please still give them Christmas presents!  I know they said they don't believe in you, but they've been good, I promise!" he begged.  Santa's expression softened.

"Aw, I know, kid.  I promise they'll still get their presents, alright?  Let me just finish up here and then maybe you can help me out with those cookies, sound good?"

Placated, Duff sniffled and nodded, scrubbing his eyes with his sleeve. He hopped onto the sofa, swinging his feet and watching with awe as Santa pulled beautifully wrapped gifts out of seemingly nowhere and stacked them around the tree, one after another until all eight of the McKagan children were represented. He took a step back to take in his handiwork, made a few minor adjustments, then turned back to Duff: “Voila! That’s the magic of Christmas. Now pass me that plate, would you?”

Santa sat down next to Duff and propped his boots up on the coffee table. When Duff held out the plate of cookies, he selected one decorated to look like Santa Claus, white beard and all, and promptly bit its head off. 

“I love my job, but delivering presents is exhausting,” he sighed, accepting a glass of milk from Duff’s outstretched hand. “I’ve already covered Asia, Africa, Europe, and most of the Americas, so I’d say I’m due for a break.  Cheers, Duff.” He held up his glass and Duff tapped it with his half-eaten cookie. 

“To a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!”

🎄🎄🎄🎄

[jamielea81]

When We Were Young

Chapter 6

Description: Leaving the only home your daughter had ever known wasn’t part of the grand plan. But then again, sometimes taking chances can change your whole life. And you should know that, you’ve been doing that since the start.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: Cursing maybe. Over use of the word goodnight. Fluff. Alcohol consumption.

Word Count: 3,926

A/N:  I’m sorry this took so long! I’ve been battling major writer’s block. This chapter is a little long than the normal word count I post with this series, so I hope you all enjoy. As always, this is strictly for fun and I mean no harm to this actor. Please let me know your thoughts as I love to read them. Likes and reblogs give me life.

*Italics are internal thoughts*

Catch up with Chapter 5

**

“Great job, Carmen!” you yelled then immediately cringed at the volume of your voice.

In your defense, a bowling alley on a Saturday afternoon was not a quiet place. All lanes were in use and frankly it was hard to hear yourself think. Carmen gave you a friendly wave before taking a seat next to Ellie.

You were supervising six fifteen and sixteen-year-old kids as part of Ellie’s sixteenth birthday. This was technically celebration two of three. Being that her actual birthday was on a school night, just the two of you went out for crab legs and root beer floats. Her pick which you were perfectly fine with being that you loved seafood. Root beer floats were an afterthought as the two of you window shopped down the busy street from the restaurant. Cookies strategically placed in a window display drew you in, but ice cream sounded better. When Ellie ordered a float, you followed suit. This afternoon she wanted to go bowling with her friends followed by pizza at your place. It had taken a good hour picking up the five other kids in your trusty Cherokee, but you didn’t mind.

“Mom, are you sure you don’t want to play?”

“Nah. You kids have fun.” You stood, reaching for your purse resting on the empty seat next to you and looped it on your shoulder. “Do you guys want something to drink? I can grab a pitcher of Coke or Sprite.”

“Could we get both? Please mom,” Ellie asked.

“You got it,” you said with a smile before turning away.

They were old enough to bowl by themselves, so you really just wanted to give them some space. None of her group of friends drove yet, so rather than having everyone get dropped off, you volunteered to pick up. Ellie insisted that you stay rather than driving home just to turn around to come get them. According to Ellie, you had been dubbed the “cool” mom. You weren’t quite sure what you did to deserve that title. Sure, you were always willing to drive one of her friends home and you always had snacks at your house, but none of that made you feel cool.

Most of the kids you knew except for Aaron. You heard Ellie mention his name a time or two and heard her on the phone with Carmen mentioning his name again. Your sneaking suspicion was that she had a crush on him. He was a polite kid that was a bit on the tall side and a little lanky. Ellie had never approached the subject of dating with you, but if she wanted to do it in a group setting, you were more than fine with that. She was sixteen now, so even if she wanted to do a non-group date, you probably wouldn’t fight her on it.

As odd and surreal as it was, Chris was currently at your house setting up the bonus room for Ellie. You had caved and decided to make the first floor of your row home a bonus space for her. When you discussed it with Chris, he had asked to split the cost with you. It threw you for a minute, but he argued that he wanted to give her something for her birthday and didn’t know what to buy her. He threatened to buy her a car when you initially told him no, so you agreed to split the cost of the room. Chris had recently purchased a new couch for his home, so he was giving you his old one. The large space was also getting a table and four chairs for school work and craft projects with friends. A flat screen tv was being mounted to the wall and a couple of bean bag chairs were being added to the space. You’d let Ellie pick out some knickknacks and framed art to finish out the space the next time you two went shopping.

Things had gotten better after your heated conversation with Chris. He felt bad and the poor guy wore his heart of his sleeve. He was beyond sweet and timid with you the two times he was over at your place after that day. You actual had to pull him into the kitchen with you and tell him to knock it off. You were fine. The two of you were fine. Families could be difficult and you knew that from experience. It was over as far as you were concerned and you just wanted to move forward. Chris had started to reach out to you more by texting every few days to see how you were or send you a meme or two. It was nice. You couldn’t argue with that.

**

Chris had made himself scarce by the time you brought the kids back to your place. Only Chris’ family and Gwen knew about your family situation so he couldn’t just be hanging at your house when you arrived home with a group of teenagers.

“Oh, my goodness! Mom! This is amazing!” Ellie exclaimed once she stepped through the door. “How?” she asked, throwing her arms around your middle.

“Happy birthday baby girl,” you whispered into her hair. “Chris and I did it.”

She pulled her face back, wide eyed. “Chris did this too?” she whispered.

You nodded your head yes. “It’s our birthday gift to you. We’ll go shopping next week so you can decorate the space a bit. Sound good?”

“Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she cheered pulling from your embrace and stepping into the room.

“I’ll order the pizzas,” you shouted as you walked up the stairs.

You sent Chris a quick text letting him know that Ellington loved her new hangout spot and was currently entertaining her friends in there.

Chris: Glad to hear that sweetheart

Whoa. That’s new.

You hummed to yourself before quickly exciting your text thread to order pizza. Once that was taken care of, you poured yourself a glass of wine and waited for the pizzas to arrive. Gwen had sent you a string of texts confirming that she had her flight booked for her trip in July. She was staying with you for a week and wanted to do all the touristy stuff. That was fine with you because you hadn’t gotten around to doing that yourself.

Your phone rang and you quickly clicked the accept button without paying much attention.

“Dude, yes, we’ll do the freaking tea party thing.”

You heard a chuckle that most certainly did not come from Gwen’s mouth.

“When do you want to do the tea party thing?”

It was Chris. Of course, it wouldn’t be the friend that had been non stop texting you for the last twenty minutes.

“H-hey! H-hi Chris,” you said, promptly clearing your throat. “What’s up?”

He chuckled again. “I’m trying to figure out what tea party you’re talking about.”

“Oh! Oh, I was just making plans with my best friend for when she comes to visit in July. I thought you were her calling.”

“Well, that still doesn’t answer my question. A tea party?”

“You know. The famous one. She wants to see all the Boston things.”

He chuckled again and if you were being honest, you really liked the sound of that.

“Ahhh. That one. Of course,” he said and you could hear the smile in his voice.

“Yeah,” you drawled out. “So, what’s up?”

“I was just calling to ask that you call me when the kids are gone for the night.”

Your heart rate picked up. You could feel it thumping wildly in your chest.

“Call you?”

“Yeah,” he answered lamely. “I want to help clean up.”

Oh. That.

“Plus, I still have your spare key, so I want to return that,” he added.

“Ye-yeah. Sure. You don’t have to clean up though. It’s just pizza and cupcakes.”

“We’ll see...Give me a call or shoot me a text and I’ll stop by.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later then,” you said softly

“Bye Y/N.”

“Bye Chris.”

**

Ellington was gone for the night as she was sleeping over at Carmen’s house. The other kids had been picked up by another parent shortly before. The house was in relatively good shape considering you had six teenagers over for the better part of four hours. You had failed to pick up paper plates and cups, so you had dishes to do in addition to a table that needed to be wiped down as well as a floor to be swept. Chris was on his way over and he made it abundantly clear that you were not to start cleanup and until he got there. He was really trying to do his part as a parent. Or whatever he was. It was still too new and your mind hadn’t fully figured it out yet.

Not wanting to smell the pizza any longer, you took the three boxes outside and stuck them in the trash can just as Chris’ headlights hit you. Rather than dashing inside and looking like a weirdo, you stayed put and waited for him to exit his SUV.

“You don’t listen, do you?” he said, warning tone in his voice as he reached you.

“I couldn’t take the pizza smell anymore. I’m pizzaed out.”

“Likely story,” he teased. “And pizza? Thought she wasn’t a fan of cheese.”

“Only in some circumstances. Unique kid, remember?”

Chris hummed at that, following you into the house. “What’s the damage?”

“Surprisingly not bad. I think the older they get, the less of a mess they make,” you answered, as the two of you surveyed the room. “Plus, I think the fact that there were only two boys-”

“There were boys here?” Chris asked, cutting you off.

“Yes, Christopher. Ellie has boys who are friends. Although, I do think she likes one a little more than a friend.”

“Isn’t she a little young for that?” he asked.

“She’s sixteen! I’m surprised she hasn’t had a boyfriend that I at least know of, sooner,” you replied, carrying the six plates up the stairs to the kitchen. Chris was behind you, with the glasses stacked into two piles.

“Yeah, but, still.”

You chuckled at his response shaking your head.

**

Chris was currently lounging on your couch with a beer in his hand. You rarely drank it, but with him over at least once a week, you started to pick up a six pack every other week to have some on hand. Wine was more of your forte, although you weren’t particular about it. Ten dollar bottle, thirty dollar bottle, it was all the same to you.

“How old were you when you first had a boyfriend?”

“Hmm. That’s tough. I mean when I was a kid, like ten or eleven, I had what I thought was a boyfriend at the time, but of course that was like for a day or two and then you forget about that kid,” you laughed softly. “But dating was different for me. My parents had very particular standards, so I really only dated the sons of my parents’ friends. Kind of arranged courtships if you will. Even though I had a couple of boyfriends in high school, it wasn’t all that exciting or great for me. I dated in college, but nothing terribly serious. But I would consider those real boyfriends because they were with guys I wanted to be with.”

“Your family is pretty uptight?”

“Oh yeah. Getting pregnant wasn’t really in their life plans for me.”

Chris offered you a soft smile. “You went all Girls Gone Wild in college then?”

You ducked your head and covered your mouth as you snorted a laugh. “Hardly. I may have had my independence, but I didn’t go crazy. I was just able to be me for once.”

He nodded his head. You noticed his cheeks were bright red.

God, he’s good looking.

“Sorry!” he chuckled out. “Well, I’m glad you were able to find yourself in school.”

Each of you took a drink, you from your wine glass and Chris from his bottle of beer. It was quiet, but it wasn’t awkward. The comfortable silence was welcoming.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, of course,” Chris replied.

“What made you donate sperm?”

Now it was your turn for your face to heat up. You honestly just wanted to know, but damn if it wasn’t a weird question to ask someone.

Chris chuckled and shook his head. “Money,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “I was eighteen and interning in the city. Needless to say, I was making next to nothing,” he sighed. “A buddy of mine had done it a few times and talked up the cash he was making.’

“Understandable,” you said.

“I only did it once. I was scared to death my mom would find out, so it only ended up being a one and done for me.”

You gave him a soft smile. “Well, thank you for doing so,” you said, lifting your glass in salute. “It brought me Ellington.” Chris’ eyes went soft and he raised his glass to you.

After a moment you chuckled and Chris perked up.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just,” you giggled again. “Your file said you were a pediatrician who acted in theater for fun.”

“I swear I never said that. I wouldn’t do that.” His plea was a bit panicked but sounded sincere.

“I believe you! I’m sure they beef up those files. Ellie is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“She is. We can agree to that.”

**

“El! Did you borrow my earrings again? The white gold hoops?” you yelled from your bedroom.

Tonight, was Ellie’s third and final birthday celebration, but this time it was just going to be her and Chris. He was over at your place making Ellie chicken enchiladas per her request and you were finally having a much-needed night out with your co-workers that you now considered friends. This was the first time the two of them were spending time together without you there. This was also the first time you were having an adults’ since you moved to Boston months ago. It was fine. You were fine. You weren’t freaking out at all.

Ellie came running into your room. “Sorry!” she said dropping the hoops in your open hand.

You pecked her on the cheek. “No problem.”

“You look great mom.”

“Thanks, baby.” You ran your fingers through your hair and took a deep breath to calm your nerves. “How’s Chris doing out there. Hasn’t burned down the kitchen yet, I hope.”

She giggled and shook her head no. “He says he’s a great cook. I’ll let you know.”

“You better.”

Amy, your manager was picking you up in fifteen minutes. A group of ten or so were meeting at a restaurant that had live music on Fridays and tonight was a nineteen eighties tribute band. The plans were dinner, drinks, and dancing. You weren’t sure on the dancing, but you weren’t about to poopoo that plan to your manager. She had become a close friend over the last few weeks, she didn’t need to know that you did not dance. You weren’t bad per se, you just weren’t all that coordinated. Get a few drinks in you, and you were pretty out of control on the dance floor.

“You don’t think I’m overdressed?” you asked.

“No, this looks really good.”

The restaurant was a little on the nicer side. So, even though you were there mainly for the music, you didn’t think jeans were the way to go. Looking in the mirror attached to your closet door, you pulled down on the waist, making the red wrap dress reach your knees. The fabric had a tendency to bunch up, making it hit a couple of inches above your knees. You liked your legs, but your conservative upbringing never really left you completely.

“Any boys going to be there tonight?” Ellie asked, wiggling her eyebrows?

“Boys? Ellington…really?”

She chuckled softly. “Just asking.”

“Yes, there will be men there. It’s a work thing and I work with some men. Plus, it’s a restaurant, so there’s bound to be a few more.”

You started to walk from your room to the living room, shoes in hand.

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

You turned around surprising her as she jumped back a step. “Hey! Who’s the mother and who’s the daughter?” A fake scowl on your face which Ellie easily picked a part as she started laughing, throwing her head back.

“What are you two ladies going on about?” Chris said, stepping out of the kitchen with his hands on his waist. His eyes met yours and his mouth parted. “Wow,” he said softly.

You bit your bottom lip and turned back toward the couch taking a seat so you slip on your shoes.

“I was just teasing mom about her night out.” Ellie said, not catching on to the tension in the room.

Chris nodded but kept his eyes on you. “You look great.”

“Thanks,” you said with a soft smile.

“Are you getting ready to head out?” he asked.

“Yep. My ride should be here in a few.”

“Good,” he nodded his head. “Dinner’s about ready. Want to set the table for me El?”

“On it,” she said, moving into the kitchen passing by Chris and giving him a slight hip check.

“Smells good. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.”

“Funny. I’ll have you know, my ma taught me to cook and I do just fine thank you.”

“Ellie will be the judge of that,” you replied, standing up now that your shoes were securely in place.

“I guess so,” he grinned.

Your phone chimed, so you quickly dug it out of your purse.

“That would be my ride,” you said to Chris who nodded before turning back to the kitchen.

“Ellie, Amy’s here. I’m heading out. Call me if you need anything.”

Ellie jogged out of the dinning room through the kitchen. “We’ll be fine. Have fun. Meet boys,” she said wrapping her arms around your waist.

“Yeah. Yeah.”

**

You couldn’t get the damn key to work. It was your third attempt, missing the lock all together on your first two tries. Amy’s car was still parked in front your house running with the lights on.

“Need help there girlie?” she called through the open window.

You laughed louder than you meant to. Drinking two more drinks than necessary was really getting to you.

“I got it! I got it!” you yelled back. The key was in the slot, all you need to do was turn it and you were home free so to speak. “Go home! Love y-”

The door opened causing you to fall forward but before you could hit the ground, strong arms caught you by the biceps.

“Whoa,” you whispered.

“You okay there, Y/N?” Chris chuckled helping you to stand on two feet.

“I’m-I’m fine. Thanks for catching me.”

“You good?” Amy called out.

You stepped back out the door and away from Chris’ arms, blowing her a kiss. “All good!”

Amy waved and drove off down the road. Turning back to your door, you stepped inside walking around Chris who closed the door behind you.

You had a permanent smile on your face, mostly due to the alcohol but partly due to the night. You had honest to goodness fun and it had been awhile. Your co-workers were a hoot. The food was good and the drinks were great. The band was high energy and talented. Half way through the set, you were forced out on the dance floor by some of your new friends and you actually had fun. Everyone was dancing too close for you to be too uncoordinated, so your secret was still safe.

“You didn’t have to stick around,” you said climbing the stairs.

Chris jogged up the stairs to catch up to you. “I know, but I wanted to clean up and didn’t want to leave Ellie home alone. She’s in bed already. Aaron called,” he said, giving you a look.

“Ah, Aaron. The boyfriend not boyfriend.”

“Yeah. Whatever that’s about.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “He’s a nice boy.”

“I don’t trust sixteen year old boys,” he said, leaning against the island and crossing his arms.

You smiled at him before reaching into the fridge to grab a bottle of water. You lifted it and waved it but Chris shook his head no.

“Not that quiet and studious boys can’t be punks, but I just didn’t get that impression of him. Besides, Ellie is a smart girl and we’ve had the sex talk.” The last bit was said in a hushed voice.

Chris raised his eyebrows, a small grin playing on his lips. “I didn’t quite hear that.”

Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the word sex, but suddenly you were beyond flustered.

“The talk. You know. Not the birds and the bees, but birth control and waiting until you find the right partner,” you said. “Sex,” you whispered.

Chris threw his head back and laughed loudly. “I love that you feel the need to whisper the word sex.”

You shrugged your shoulders and lifted the bottle to your mouth taking a long drink. When he didn’t look away, you just kept on drinking, refusing to continue this side discussion.

He finally chuckled and looked down. “Did you have fun tonight?”

You set the bottle on the counter behind you and pulled that smile back on your lips. “The best time. It was hard moving away from friends. It’s nice to have friends here now.”

“Good. I’m glad sweetheart.”

There was that word again. You belly flipped and you had to grip the counter behind you to stay on your feet.

“I’m going to take off. I’ll call you.”

“Ye-yeah. Sounds good Chris,” you replied.

He started his decent down the stairs and you took a moment to yourself before you followed. Chris was slipping on his boots when you made it to the first level.

“Drive safe.”

“I will,” he replied softly but made no move to leave.  

The two of you stood motionless, soft smiles on your face. It almost felt like a game about who would look away first.

“Well.”

“Yeah,” you replied.

Chris chuckled and pulled you in a hug. It was unexpected as the two of you hadn’t hugged before.

“Oh.”

“Have a goodnight sweetheart,” he said into your hair.

You started to pull back, but his arms were still around you. “You too. I mean, you have a goodnight too.”

He smiled brightly at you, nodding his head slightly. It’s then when you lost your mind. Leaning in, you brushed your lips against his. You quickly dropped your arms forcing him to do the same. Your brain was at a loss as to what to do next. Chris’ eyes were wide but he still had a soft smile on his lips. When neither of you moved to take a step back, you decided to end the night before you made it anymore uncomfortable or tried to kiss him again.

“Okay, goodnight,” you said.

“Goodnight?”

“Yeah, goodnight Chris.”

“Okay.”

He opened the door, took a step outside and turned back to face you. “Night.”

“Night,” you replied.

You shut the door and flicked the deadbolt. Pressing your back against the door, you closed your eyes and took in a few calming breathes.

I kissed Chris. What was I thinking?!

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[cheri-translates]

[CN] Cancelled Moments - Kiro

🍒These Moments are unlikely to come to EN or any server as they are from the cancelled CN Dream Heart Lake event back in 2018🍒

Kiro’s Post: Looks petite, but is actually very strong!

MC: My massage techniques are pretty good, right?

Kiro: It’s true! I feel especially relaxed now, and all I want to do is lie down flat...

-

Kiro’s Post: Looks petite, but is actually very strong!

MC: Ahh, why didn’t you tell me that it was painful?

Kiro: I was in pain, but happy.

-

Kiro’s Post: Looks petite, but is actually very strong!

MC: I thought massages require one to exert more strength...

Kiro: I was just teasing you. Actually, it’s almost the same feeling as a cat scratching my shoulders~

-

Kiro’s Post: It’s the first time I’m trying the role of a scumbag in the new movie. Anticipating the feedback.

MC: I think the next time I see you, you might have a bit of a shadow...

Kiro: I’ll ask the director if it’s too late to cast me as a good character... 

-

Kiro’s Post: It’s the first time I’m trying the role of a scumbag in the new movie. Anticipating the feedback.

MC: You went out of character in the cinema hahaha.

Kiro: Can’t scumbags eat chocolates?

-

Kiro’s Post: Oh my god! I want to say something which will leave people shocked!

MC: What’s the story?

Kiro: Aren’t you already shocked?

-

Kiro’s Post: Oh my god! I want to say something which will leave people shocked!

MC: ...and then?

Kiro: I’ve already finished.

-

Kiro’s Post: Oh my god! I want to say something which will leave people shocked!

MC: This was a game we’d play five years ago.

Kiro: This is called the Renaissance. 

[Note] Kiro refers to the Renaissance because it’s known to be a time of artistic rebirth, where there was a promotion of rediscovering art. It’s just Kiro being extra LOL.

-

Kiro’s Post: I’ll obtain snow from the highest point of the snow mountain, fill it up with the brightest gems on the beach, and it to you.

MC: I think that’s a really amazing gift! 

Kiro: Collect the gift from me quickly!

-

Kiro’s Post: I’ll obtain snow from the highest point of the snow mountain, fill it up with the brightest gems on the beach, and it to you.

MC: You’ve surpassed the romantic index~

Kiro: Really? I simply want to give you the best things I see.

-

Kiro’s Post: The clouds are soft, the sugar is sweet, happiness is carved on my heart~

MC: Do you really have to be this professional? You can think of lyrics even while eating cotton candy?

Kiro: I’m just illustrating what I see and how I feel!

Agent: It’s okay to find inspiration, but don’t eat too much!

[Note] It’s more obvious in Chinese that Kiro’s post are lyrics because every clause ends with a rhyme - 绵 (mian), 甜 (tian), 间 (jian).

-

Kiro’s Post: The clouds are soft, the sugar is sweet, happiness is carved on my heart~

MC: What comes after that?

Kiro: I haven’t thought about it. I wanted to say “Your childhood face.” What do you think?

Agent: It’s okay to find inspiration, but don’t eat too much!

[Note] As mentioned above, every clause ends with a rhyme - 绵 (mian), 甜 (tian), 间 (jian). “Face” is 脸 (lian).

-

Kiro’s Post: The clouds are soft, the sugar is sweet, happiness is carved on my heart~

MC: When I look at the same cotton candy, I can only think about eating. Sigh... the difference between us!

Kiro: Mm, there’s indeed a difference. For example - apart from eating, I also think of you!

Agent: It’s okay to find inspiration, but don’t eat too much!

-

Kiro’s Post: Good medicine often tastes bitter. But with a scalded hand, your greeting works even better. 

MC: ...if you want to alleviate the heat, the “bitter medicine” is to add even more hot water!

Kiro: Hey hey hey, I really didn’t feel the scalding heat after we spoke!

-

MC’s Post: With such a face, how could I say no...

Kiki: Completely agreed!

Willow: So the two of you can only pinch the rolls on your stomach and sigh about your weight.

Kiro: Don’t say no then~

[Note] Willow is twisting an idiom here. The proper idiom is 望洋兴叹 (“wang yang xing tan”), which refers to a person lamenting his own insignificance

However, Willow says 望秤兴叹 (“wang cheng xing tan”), which loosely translates to a person sighing while looking at the weighing scale :’D

-

MC: Same world, same troubles. 

Kiki: Especially when you realise he’s writing in English but it’s completely unreadable...

Willow: Frantically pressing the ‘like’ button! These things really get on my nerves!

Savin: A familiar trouble...

-

MC: Even as an audience, he is the most serious + experienced!

Agent: No matter what performance he watches, our Kiro will appreciate it seriously and applaud.

Director: Speaking of being serious and experienced, the high standards Kiro sets for himself are amazing!

Kiki: Calling you frantically! Ahhh how could such a perfect person exist on earth!

⭐️

More cancelled CN content: here

[normadeathmond]

the spanish princess ep 2 thoughts

I’ve been enjoying all the reaction posts so here’s mine (spoilers included):

- I’ve had kind of a revelation this week regarding The Spanish Princess. This show is basically the modern day version of those dubiously accurate medieval historical chronicles.  Not only do we have extra supernatural elements (the cuuuuurse, prophetic dreams), but we also have the contemporary authors’ personal biases inserted all over the place, and the addition of mythical stories about the heroes (Catherine fighting at Flodden this week). For some reason, this has made me a lot more forgiving towards the show. (it probably also helps that my fave Maggie B is dead now, so I don’t have to worry about them shitting all over her anymore, and I don’t have a particularly strong attachment to any of the other historical figures depicted)

- erm wtf, did anyone else catch that scene with Maggie and Edmund de la Pole in the previously on that we’ve never seen before?? I guess this plotline was supposed to be included in episode one as well, which probably would’ve helped it feel a bit more developed and less like something they suddenly remembered had to be tied up from last year. The whole sequence of Edmund being reintroduced and killed off in less than five minutes was very rushed.

- I’m glad baby Henry’s death hasn’t been totally forgotten, but do we really need so many grief-stricken sex scenes between these two? These are supposed to be the years they’re deeply in love, let them have some happier sex

- ehh I’m not sure that Catherine’s big reveal to the council actually changes much. A very early pregnancy, possibly with a girl, doesn’t really make the line secure. I think the focus should have been on Henry’s own desire to prove himself in battle, which would also have added to the humiliation when Catherine successfully defeats the Scots while his military exploits fizzle out.

- I really like General Howard, Peter Egan is fantastic (albeit a bit too polished for a grouchy, uncouth soldier type)

- “and now this book is closed” - god I hope so, bc I hate Maggie’s plotline from last year. It was interminable watching her whinge about how unfair it was that the Tudors suspected her of plotting against them because she had always been the most loyal person ever, as though she was suffering from some kind of selective memory loss about literally being a spy for the Yorkist rebellion in The White Princess. ffs Maggie can be either a completely innocent woman unfairly maligned by the Tudors or she can be a badass Yorkist rebel, not both. 

- it seems her memory problems are back this episode because she goes storming off to complain to Catherine about Edmund de la Pole getting his head chopped off, conveniently forgetting than she was also heavily involved in his plot and her family is only out of the Tower thanks to Catherine interceding for her with Henry. Catherine was 100% in the right here, Edward of Warwick was innocent whereas Edmund de la Pole was a fully cognisant adult who spearheaded a revolt to take the throne (and likely would’ve had both Henry VII and Henry VIII killed if he had succeeded), so the idea that she’s suddenly heartless because she apologised for the former’s death but not the latter’s is ridiculous. The whole scene, including Maggie’s kids’ ‘whoomp here she goes again’ reactions, unintentionally have her coming off as rather hysterical.

- hopefully the rest of her story this season focuses on her mending her relationship with her sad silent son instead and possibly getting her leg over Thomas More

- ahhh Lina’s face when Catherine bitchily says she’ll be having a girl. Catherine’s not going to be able to stop herself from lashing out at her now that she has twin boys.

- first the clothes comment last episode, now they have Ursula saying Charles may not be good-looking but he’s rich as fuck. I guess she’s being set up as a gold-digger.

- is it just me or does the Anne Boleyn’s actress look a little bit like Charlotte Hope? The dress they had her in when Henry returns even looks like something Catherine would’ve worn in season one. I’ve no idea why they’ve brought the Boleyn girls in this early though – are they going to be sent to France then come back later? Henry still has to make his way through Anne Hastings, Bessie Blount and Mary Boleyn before he gets to Anne. The episode summaries make it look like his infidelities won’t start until episode four so he’s going to have to have a new girl every episode to get through them all.

- I’ve kind of come around on the whole Catherine-in-armour thing. Frock Flicks wrote an interesting article this week where they pointed out that while historically battle armour for women did not exist and women very rarely wore armour, depictions of women in armour have been around for a long time and would have existed in the Tudor period. In this pseudo-historical retelling of Catherine’s story mythologizing her as a warrior queen, it does make sense to carry on that visual tradition and have her armoured up.

- Unfortunately I think they did kind of undermine the visual impact of the armour on screen by focusing on it so heavily in the promos for the season. Possibly it wouldn’t have affected a casual viewer so much, but anyone who’s followed the show’s promo cycle has been seeing pictures and clips of Catherine in the armour for weeks now, and when she entered stomping down the corridor in her full battle gear it didn’t blow me away like the first look at that outfit should have done.

- I know this series is never going to have the budget of Game of Thrones, but Flodden was a disappointment, from the rousing speech (“mothers are warriors too, amirite ladies?”) to the battle itself. You can tell they really wanted this to be their big epic action sequence and unfortunately it felt underwhelming. I remember the battles in TWQ/TWP being much more impressive, for what was probably a similar budget.

- as soon as I saw how heavily pregnant Lina was this episode, I knew a  birth/battle juxtaposition was coming. I get what they were trying to do with the whole ‘childbirth is women’s battlefield’ theme, but the attempt to fake-out Lina’s death fell flat - there’s no way they were killing her off. (I’m not sure why she was giving birth in the hallway, with apparently no midwives, but it was inadvertently hilarious watching Maggie - the only one with any childbirth experience - try and talk her through it while the other three were basically no help at all.)

- also everyone being like “omg Princess Mary you can’t possibly be at the birth” felt so out of place given that Meg and Catherine were both hanging around a battlefield at the same time

- on the one hand I did like that Catherine didn’t end up being some amazing warrior just off instinct; she’s almost immediately pulled off her horse, staggers around looking confused as fuck and then is shocked when she actually kills someone. But on the other, what was the point of all the warrior queen build up if she barely even does anything useful on the battlefield? (also why did they have her kill someone who looked so much like James?? I’ve seen several people think she killed James herself and I thought that too until he was shown being taken down afterwards - it was needlessly confusing)

- JAAAAMES. I’m so sad he’s gone. Georgie Henley knocked it out the park this episode, especially in her big mourning scene. Although given how sweet he and Meg were this episode, and her comment about him being her best friend, it just makes the punch last episode seem even stranger.

- I’m so sad we were robbed of seeing Catherine try to send James’ corpse to Henry as a victory gift and have to be talked into sending just the coat. If you’re going to make her ride out in armour let her keep her savage penchant for gruesome war trophies!

- oop, Catherine absolutely fails to sell the lie that she’s pleased about Lina’s two boys, and Lina can definitely tell.

- with Maggie B gone, Wolsey is the new evil religious cockblocker in town!

- I would like twenty more scenes of Lina and Oviedo being cute and bitching about their work days thanks

- I like Catherine defending Howard to Henry. It would have been nice if there was more time to show the development of a begrudging respect between those two.

- overall I found this episode disappointing. The big sequences weren’t impressive in the way last week’s were and there weren’t enough character moments to make up for that. I’m still looking forward to the rest of the season though, especially Meg, Mary and Maggie’s storylines. 

[cxmetery-gates]

SURREPTITIOUS - DRACO MALFOY

CHAPTER ONE: PLATFORM 9¾

SUMMARY: Arriving at Platform 9¾ , Leslie and her father exchange words with an old friend. WORD COUNT: 3.02k NOTES: Ahhh the beginning! Make sure you read the prologue first! I hope that the next few chapters start creating questions and theories about what happened and what’s to come involving the Greyscale and Malfoy families. If you want to be added to a taglist, please let me know! Thank you for reading! WARNINGS: mentions of death

MASTERLIST

AT PRECISELY 10 O'CLOCK ON the first of September, sixteen-year-old Leslie Greyscale maneuvers herself through the flocks of non-magic people to get to a specific platform at a very popular train station in London, England. Her mind is as clear as she can make it, only focusing on the location to direct her cart towards. Relatively not too long ago, the girl enjoyed listening to the thoughts of Muggles, seeing how differently they live their lives and what sort of problems they have in comparison to her. However, she lost interest in reading the non-magical people when she turned fourteen, their lives all too similar to each other. Where the common Muggle may worry about what's for dinner or whether their boss is mad at them for not meeting a deadline, Leslie and other people like her are looking over their shoulder every minute in case of danger, as the wizarding world is not the safest place to live in as of recently. If the newspapers weren't enough to drill in this message, there is one other who took it upon himself to remind her every day during her summer holiday.

Right behind her is the man who continuously cautions her of the dark times: her father, a middle aged man named Janus Greyscale, who couldn't be more proud of his daughter and her gifts, though hidden.

Leslie loves her father dearly, but her time at Hogwarts always felt more like a vacation, more so now than ever. For weeks at a time Janus insisted on staying indoors, even considering pulling Leslie out of Hogwarts after the infamous mass murderer Lord Voldemort apparently rose from the grave. Fifteen years prior he was vanquished by a mere one year old boy whom Leslie happened to be friendly with at school. In no time at all, the news spread like wildfire across the globe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned, alive and well. Janus and his daughter may have survived the First Wizarding War, but there is no telling what could happen this time around.

"And you're sure you have everything? All your robes? Books? Oh, what about—"

"Dad, if you ask me if I've forgotten anything one more time, I will surely find a reason for you to head home before I can say goodbye." Leslie turns her head back, her long brown hair held in a loose swinging braid. On her lips is a loving smile to her father, coaxing him to let her be. She's sixteen, after all. Next year she'll be an adult in the eyes of the wizarding world. Despite this, Leslie knows she'll never be anything but a young girl to her father.

Janus smiles at Leslie, placing an arm around her shoulders to hug her tight. This causes Leslie to skid to the side, her whole cart wobbling and her scops owl Perry caws fussily.

"Watch it, old man! Could have tipped the whole thing over," Leslie laughs lightly, angling her cart towards a platform entrance once again. This platform, however, isn't the same as the rest at King's Cross Station. Merlin's beard, no! Wizards are a secretive people, living among Muggles in hiding, some in plain sight yet still maintaining secrecy. Everything they do has to be kept a secret from the regular world, from their government to using a spell to reach something high on a shelf. Platform 9¾ is just the same.

Arriving at a specific brick column is the entry to the Hogwarts Express, a beautiful red steam engine that carries all Hogwarts students to their school. One side of the column reads a black printed "9" and on the other side reads "10." Between the two posted signs is Platform 9¾. This train isn't on the same tracks as the rest of the trains at King's Cross: there is no door, no wand waving, not even a secret staircase. In order to get onto the platform, all Leslie has to do is run straight into the brick barrier. Simple enough, she tells herself every year. It never gets any less nerve wracking, running into a brick wall, especially after hearing how it once closed on a couple students. Leslie couldn't imagine the embarrassment or bruises after taking a hit like that.

Janus places one hand on the small of Leslie's back while the other wraps around the handle of the cart. "Together?"

"Really?" Leslie asks, humored by his over-fatherly mannerism.

"It's not every day I get to drop you off at the station," Janus replies, half heartedly.

Leslie rolls her eyes in a very teenage fashion. "Why's today any different? I figured next year would cause a bit more sentimental tears. It's not like this is the last time."

Janus goes to argue, wanting to mention that fate works in many ways, but Leslie beats him to the punch. "Together, then."

With a bit of a run, Leslie and Janus aim her cart straight towards the brick column, a moment being caught in darkness before emerging on the other side, a warm light flooding the magical platform. Spinning the cart a one-hundred-eighty degrees, the Hogwarts Express gleams in all its glory, steam rising from the train as if to welcome Leslie back.

But the train is the only thing manifesting a form of joy. Across the platform, mothers, fathers, and guardians alike share a look of solemn, holding their children close and whispering softly in their ears. This was like no other time Leslie boarded to head back to school. The past five times she walked through, there were spits of laughter and shouts, goodbyes and love-calling. Now, the station is uncannily quiet. Not quite silent— of course, her gift never lets her actually experience silence in a crowded room— but deafening in comparison to memories. A deep disturbance settles in her gut.

Dark times lie ahead, Leslie notes, remembering all that she read in the Daily Prophet over her summer. While she tried to make sense of the wrongs going on, she couldn't. The evil Dark Lord Voldemort is back and there's no telling what he will do this time to rule not only her world, but the entire globe as well. Shivers run down her spine when she passes a mother who thinks of regret sending her only son to Hogwarts.

Breaking her concentration, Janus patiently pushes the cart towards the dock where a man is seen in a red uniform helping students lift their trunks onto the steam engine.

However, it isn't long until Leslie notices her father is distracted by something in the distance. Turning her head, Leslie doesn't see any face she is familiar with but the pleading in her father's eyes causes her to break the silence. "You seem a bit preoccupied, dad," she says softly, waiting in line to load her belongings.

Looking back down at the case in his hand, he shakes his head. "No, no. I just thought—"

"I don't have to look to see there's something you need to do," she reminds him. Janus, after discovering his daughter's talents, proceeded to learn Occlumency, learning how to magically hide his mind from any nosy witch or wizard. Leslie used to wonder what her father would be hiding from her, but her small mind as a child rationalized that she didn't want any spoiled surprises on her birthday. And since, she never felt the urge to question nor try and prod at his mind. After all, he would know if she were. "Go on, I got this," she tells him.

Janus leans to press a kiss to her forehead, pointing a finger lazily at her before setting her suitcase down. "Just a single moment, darling."

"I'll be counting." And with that, his dark cloak blends into the crowd, his body gone from her sights.

It's all a matter of lifting and handing off her items to the young man in the uniform, but to Leslie, it felt like a real workout. Her trunk is by far the heaviest even though Janus put an undetectable extension charm on it. How it never seemed to lose weight is beyond her. Janus would tease that eventually even the charm won't be able to hold all of her belongings. Leslie couldn't help but partly believe his word.

Leslie hands off Perry to the man. The sweet bird squawks and ruffles his feathers as if saying "see you later." Leslie smiles at the small bird. "See you, Perry," she says softly. Perry makes another sound in return.

Turning on her heel, Leslie goes back to find her father to say goodbye. Glancing at her watch, there's just short of thirty minutes before the train pulls itself out of the station, enough time to say goodbye and to find a seat.

"Every year, there's more and more," Leslie acknowledges to herself so no one can hear, sliding between cracks in the mob. Once she is digested out, Leslie straightens out her coat before looking up.

Leslie never considered herself a lonely outcast, a weirdo, nor strange. She had her friends, some close and some distant, and even managed to earn the heart to a funny red-headed twin. Leslie Greyscale just preferred the silence of isolation. This has always been the case for the young mind-reader, but unfortunately, her favored posse made others have extremely loud thoughts on the girl. Her gift, though immensely rare and potentially powerful, was not always her friend. Sometimes, Leslie was not given the option to use or not to use her gift, the girl's gifts having a mind and thoughts of their own, picking up tidbits or full backstories on random people. In time, this only became more common. She had no control over her gift on one tragic day, the sudden influx of thousands of voices frightening her beyond belief. While Leslie has attempted to regain control, she hasn't experienced as much luck as she hoped, her mind flooding with people's thoughts constantly, though now at a dull roar. In this moment, it was no different.

It isn't like Leslie wanted to see that Narcissa Malfoy thought that the daughter of Janus and Barbara Greyscale was odd, but it simply happened.

Awkwardly shuffling up to her father's side, Leslie approaches the duo as the pointed-faced woman looks from Janus to his only daughter. Her blue eyes widened in surprise, taking a look-over at the sixteen-year old girl. "Oh, Leslie! You have truly blossomed, I see."

Truth. It is also true that she had not seen the rich woman nor her husband in many years. Narcissa had not had a chance to see how charming the girl had become, her round edges and untamable mousy hair evolving into sharp corners and neatly straight brunette. A flash of two children playing together pulls Leslie out of Narcissa's mind immediately, not wanting to linger in the past.

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy. You are looking lovely yourself, as always," Leslie responds politely, but meaning every word. She hopes she will age as gracefully as the woman, especially given what has happened to the Malfoy family in recent months.

Mrs. Malfoy smiles kindly. "Your father says you achieved O.W.L.'s for all your courses."

Leslie nods, but remains neutral. Her scores were high amongst her peers, but she wasn't one to boast. "Thanks to weeks of studying, yes. I--"

"I'm very proud of her. I know I did not get nearly as good marks when I was in Hogwarts. Too busy pulling shenanigans, I'm sure you remember." To her annoyance, Janus interrupted what Leslie was about to say. This act was not uncommon, though. While Leslie appreciates her father's worry, it is beyond frustrating that she could never get more than a sentence in when they converse with others.

It appears Narcissa took notice, her gaze lingering on Leslie's frown. Her head nods slowly. "Well, I was too happy to see Draco had passed his O.W.L.s. Perhaps you two will find yourself sharing a couple classrooms this year."

Leslie forces the tight line her mouth instinctively formed into a smile, hopefully one that passes. A white scar across her right hand burns a memory. She forces down the flinch trying to break free from her stone exterior. "Perhaps."

There came a pause in the conversation. It was heavily introduced by Narcissa Malfoy, the woman's thoughts shifting fast, wondering if her words would be appropriate or taken well, or perhaps neither. Of course, Leslie knew what the woman was about to mention. But, she still braced herself, though not well enough as her hands begin to shake and her eyes turn red from irritation.

Looking down to her clasped hands for just a moment, Narcissa sent the girl before her a caring, yet sorrow-filled smile. "I'm also sorry to hear about Ms. Amin. I heard you and her were very close."

Her mouth dries up, all words evaporating off her tongue. Leslie nods, swallowing the air that kept her from responding verbally. "Yes," was all she could croak out.

Narcissa's face flashes a look of sorrow, conflict, and, most importantly, guilt. The woman knows who screamed the curse and she knows them well. Leslie did not have to look to know this fact. While the culprit's identity is hidden just by a mere flash of images, the young mind-reader refrains. She does not have the heart nor mental capacity for such truths at the moment. Perhaps she never will.

"It was good to see you, Narcissa. Please write if you need anything. The Greyscales are always generous to friends." Leslie didn't have to read her father to know he spoke in half-truths.

"Thank you, Janus. I appreciate your concern. Now, if you will excuse me, I have matters to attend to." Before waltzing away, Narcissa paused to briefly smile at Leslie, as if reminiscing in some flashback. "Take care of yourself, Leslie. Have a wonderful school year."

And with that, the witch departs from the pair, leaving a loud silence.

When Janus looked back to Leslie, her eyebrows are raised, questioning the motivation he had to speak with the wife of his old best friend, maybe the wife of her friend's killer. "Don't give me that look. You know what's become of them."

What he is referencing to is a story no one has escaped from. It wasn't like the same story filled all the papers: "Lucius Malfoy: Death Eaters Are Among Us!" You'd have to be hiding under a rock to miss out one of the biggest scandals of the decade. The reporters were eating up the case like chocolate frogs. Part of Leslie felt some remorse for the family, considering it was her friends who helped put the man in prison. But one of those friends includes a girl Leslie will never see again. Lucius Malfoy was working alongside the Dark Lord, along with other Death Eaters like himself; it's only just that he would pay for his crimes. And still, part of Leslie felt for Narcissa, the woman who helped raise Leslie and treated her with kindness and a nice smile.

To this, Leslie nods in some understanding. The Malfoys and Greyscales had always been somewhat close over the past couple centuries, both maintaining a presence where the other may go, until just over twelve years ago. While Janus removed himself from the Malfoy family's relations, it is clear Narcissa still holds a place in his heart, remembering her just as Leslie does. Besides, one once said it's wise to have friends close, but enemies closer. It just appeared Janus wasn't open to letting all of them in.

The rather slightly uncomfortable silence was broken by Janus creating a smile, lightly tugging his daughter towards his chest. Leslie exhales a sigh, finding herself calm in her father's embrace. Sometimes, it felt like he was using his shielding abilities to ease the ones entering her head, to which she is thankful for in this moment.

"And you're sure you still wish to return? No one would blame you," Janus tells her softly, knowing the pain of loss all too well. Part of him hopes Leslie would change her mind about going back to Hogwarts this year. After all, these are dark times and so far, she was one of the unlucky to taste its bitterness.

Leslie closes her eyes, still embracing her father. "Yes, Dad. I wouldn't if I thought any different. I'll be okay. Promise."

A smile forms on Janus's lips, pulling away from his only daughter. He sighs lightly, pressing his calloused hand to the side of her head before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Make it a good year, darling."

"As you wish." As she pulls away, her thoughts trail off, then become vocal. "Let me know if you hear anything about Zee, please."

There is a tight smile upon his face at the mention of the elder child who disappeared out of spite a year ago. Neither Leslie nor Janus had seen him or heard from him since. Dead or alive, Leslie does not know and part of her does not want to. Zelos Greyscale was always talented in the art of starting fights with the family (or anyone, really), but before he would start his last year at Hogwarts, he left home. For what reason is something else Leslie is unaware of, as her father told her it would be too painful for him to relive. She had simply nodded her head and did not ask any questions ever again.

"As you wish," Janus replies, though it felt forced.

Leslie steps up on her toes to give her father a goodbye kiss on his cheek before walking towards the train. Right before merging with the crowd of students, Leslie waves her hand, sending a grin.

With a loud roar and a puff of steam, the Hogwarts Express departs from Platform 9¾. Inside, Leslie made for a compartment, luckily finding some friends to aid her search. Outside, her father watches as the train slowly disappears from view, knowing his daughter will be out of harm's way. At least for now, he hopes.