#ai it took so long to make this because I kept not working on it aha... procrastinating yknow

[zebratimw]

"All those empty rooms

We could have been anywhere, anywhere else

Instead, I made a bed with apathy

My heart knew the weight

Ten years worth of dust and neglect

We made our peace with weariness and let it be..."

(Song: The Moon will Sing by the Crane Wives)

[pha55ed]

I'll Only Make You Cry || F1

type :: hurt no comfort tw/cw :: cheating, panic attacks, contains :: carlos, charles, lando, oscar, summary :: you catch the drivers cheating on you, crushing everything you've ever known about him - "my heart just can't be faithful for long, i swear i'll only make you cry" - cry by cas

f1 masterlist || f2 masterlist || more here!

Carlos Sainz | 55

There's no way he could ever recover from this. You could tell that his PR team was working overtime in order to sweep this all under the rug. They came up with the lie that you and Carlos broke up a while ago, but you knew the truth all too well.

You never broke up with Carlos, God you even thought you guys were going perfect! Everything seemed to be great until all of those photos got leaked online of Carlos with a random model. She was beautiful, everything that you were insecure about, she lacked. Not a single pimple, spot of cellulite, smidge of fat, nothing. She was like a doll, it only made you more upset.

Did Carlos ever actually feel attracted to you? When you vented to him about your fears of not being enough for him and he comforted you so gently, saying you were a Goddess that could make Aphrodite jealous. And yet, as you kept scrolling through the photos of Carlos and the model, you felt as if you were the Hunchback of Notre dame.

Did Carlos ever actually love you? He was taking this model out to trip in Paris, Spain, and Japan and yet the biggest trip you've done with Carlos is visit your home town. He took her out to fancy dinners, on cruises, and private jet rides and yet you were never even aware he had his own private jet.

He's been spamming you with calls and texts, but you didn't reply to a single one. You were too busy packing up all of your stuff as you got ready to leave your shared apartment. Taking everything with you would be too big of task for now, since you owned most of the kitchen appliances, bedding, hell you even owned the couch. So you focussed on just the basics that you needed to live, shoving them into as many bags as you could. Your best friend said she'd come over and help you pack once she was done with work. She should be with you in about an hour or so, but you have the worst luck ever.

Because instead of Carlos coming home at around midnight, like usual, he came home earlier. It only made you wonder if he only stayed out till midnight to see his other lover, making you feel even sicker to your stomach. You didn't bother to look up at him as he entered the room.

"Cariño, please, no no no, stop" He said as he rushed up to you, trying to stop you from packing but you shoved his hands away. You gave him a disgusted look, as if you no longer knew him. Which was true, you didn't even recognize Carlos anymore.

"(Y/N), please it's just lies. The media is lying!" He tries desperately to convince you but his excuse sounded so stupid, beyond stupid. There's photographic evidence, everywhere that you looked online it was shoved into your face. Not a chance of editing or AI, it was just the raw photo.

"No," you said, trying to sound strict but your voice was still weak despite the loud volume of it, "We're done."

"No no no no, please, please no." He looked so weak, pathetic. You could see the tears form in his eyes. Although you felt hurt to watch him cry, you couldn't bring yourself to feel any empathy since you've been crying for hours on end.

With perfect timing, your best friend knocked on the door. You hastily shoved the final pieces of clothing that you needed as you slammed your suitcase shut. Your best friend ran in and quickly helped grab anything else you could need, like toiletries and electronics. Carlos knew he couldn't do anything, so he stood awkwardly to the side as he watched you leave his life instantly.

Charles Leclerc | 16

Your breathing became shaky as you read the lengthy text message your friend sent you. It was filled to the brim with apologies for what they were saying, but you couldn't even process most of what they wrote since you were so busy staring at the photos of Charles kissing his ex girlfriend.

It was if everything around you just shattered in front of you, that the past year you spent with him was for nothing. All of those dates, kisses, meeting his family, introducing him to your grandma, all for nothing. What hurt even more was the fact that Charles was your first boyfriend after about 2 years since your last ex did the same exact thing.

You were so lost in thought that you didn't even hear the door click as Charles entered your shared hotel room. He just finished having dinner with his team, enjoying a great night out, something he didn't deserve.

As he called your name in such a gentle and loving tone, it made you resent him. How could he possibly act so innocent when you have a literal stack of evidence of him cheating right in your hands. How could he keep acting as if everything was fine?

You turned, tears falling out of your eyes rapidly as your lips shivered, unable to stop yourself from showing how you truly felt. Instantly, he ran to you and held your hand, so gentle and soft, yet those hands were all over his ex last week. You shoved his hand away, simply tossing your phone at him. His eyes scanned the screen, his look of concern being replaced with a face that was mortified.

"Amor," He says gently, once again his hand reaches out to grab your face but you refuse to let him near you. "(Y/N), please, I... I know... I'm so sorry."

His lack of a defense made you even sicker, how could he not even explain himself??? Not even an excuse of being drunk, being stupid, of the photos being old. Not a single excuse, meaning he knew how wrong he was and yet he still did it to please himself, completely forgetting about you.

"We're done." You try to say in a firm tone, but your throat was so tight that it became a whisper. You stood up from the bed, as you hastily began to pack your bags as Charles paced the room with his hands hiding his face.

"Amor, please stop." He says as he tries to stop you. "I-I'll break it off with her."

But you could tell, from the slight stutter and the way his eyes were darting across your face to read you: he was lying yet again. So you shook your head, wiping your tears with your hands as you ran out of the room to order an Uber to somewhere else, anywhere else.

And he didn't stop you. He knew he fucked up, and he knew he didn't deserve you.

Lando Norris | 04

Doing Lando's laundry was boring, but you knew it needed to be done. It was one of the many tasks you did for him to help make his life just a bit easier, especially since he has little to no clue how to even use a washing machine. The last time he did his own laundry, the entire apartment was filled with soap suds because he overloaded it with detergent.

As you made sure to tie his hoodie strings together and empty his pockets, you grabbed something odd out of his trousers. A hotel key card. This wouldn't have been super odd, he's forced to sleep in hotels 24/7 due to his job except the fact that it wasn't a fancy hotel like usual. You knew McLaren would only put Lando in the best hotels possible, so it was suspicious to see a random hotel brand that's known for being cheap and easy to buy.

You could feel something wrong in your guts, something telling you that this wasn't just some random bad booking from McLaren but instead something deeper. It felt extremely stalker-ish but you needed to satisfy the voice in your head: so you looked through Lando's bank statements.

And that's when you saw that he booked this room three nights ago, when he told you he was staying at Oscar's place after a huge party. You could feel your heart sink, assuming the worse possible scenario. But you tried to push those thoughts aside and see the best in him.

But that attempt was cut short, as you scrolled up and saw multiple bookings at random hotels. So many random hotels that you eventually lost track. The only things that was also being charged on his card were drinks, which were always bought in extreme amounts before booking a room.

You weren't dumb, your brain connected the dots easily: he was cheating on you. But you still didn't have solid evidence beside bank statements. Besides, maybe he wasn't cheating on you? Maybe he just gets super wasted and then crashes at a hotel instead of his fancy one to sleep? Sounds stupid, but then again Lando is pretty stupid.

So you decided to dig deeper, going through his bank history to see if he has any other odd statements. That's when you saw money constantly being sent to random Zelles, Paypals, and Venmos. You thought it would just be him paying his friends back or giving them some money - but all of the names were female. Tiffany, Rebecca, Malibu, and many more. Oddly enough it was always on the nights he got a hotel. Almost as if he was paying a girl for a service. But there's no way he could be cheating? He's just your plain old stupid Lando, right?

Continuing your stalker behavior, you searched the girls names online. And you were right - all your worst fears coming true. They were all models, drop dead gorgeous models. Skinny, tall, blonde, and rich, his exact type. And as if couldn't get worse, all of those models followed him and he followed them back. And even more worse, the more you scrolled through the girls feed: you could connect the entire story. You knew you needed to leave.

As you cried whilst packing your bags, you heard the door click. He came home, much earlier than you expected him to. Normally you'd run to him, greeting him with kisses and hugs. He went searching for you, finding you on the floor as you folded your clothes into your second large suitcase.

"Love? What's going on???" He says, panicking and trying to keep his cool. He knew that you knew, there's no other reason for you to pack besides that. Instantly, he got onto his knees, being at your eye-level as his hand went on top of yours, trying to stop you from packing.

But you flinch your hand away, giving him a nasty glare as you stared at him coldly. You wanted to speak to him, curse him out, shove all of your evidence into his face, but you couldn't. Your throat was shut tight and your lungs were barely able to give you enough oxygen to breathe whilst crying.

"Just tell me, please, please just tell me what I did." He said, as he started unpacking your bag. He took out your folded clothes, unravelling them, ruining your hard work to pack neatly. "You don't need to leave, we can fix this!"

His words made it clear that he knew, he knew that he's ben caught. And he knew that there was no way to defend his actions. Sure he was drunk, but making that "mistake" 40 times is a habit. As if to make you even mad, you saw Lando begin to cry.

As if his tears switched a gear in you, you smacked his hand away from your luggage as you hastily shoved all the now-unfolded clothes into your suitcase. "I'll never forgive you." You said with venom in your words despite your grief.

Oscar Piastri | 81

You couldn't find your favorite lip liner, it always went missing for some reason. Although you had other lip liners, you NEEDED this one, you were loyal to it. It was the best shade and buttery smooth, you wanted to use only the best products for this award show you were attending with Oscar.

But as you continued to search helplessly, you started to search Oscar's desk. Sometimes you would place stuff on his desk on accident. As you searched through his desk, you found a small little velvet box. Your heart instantly dropped, was that a ring? Possibly for you?! You have been dating for almost 2 years now, about to reach 3 years within a month. A smile crept onto your face, unable to hide the joy of possibly being Oscar's forever.

You sneakily opened the box, only to be met with a beautiful rose-gold necklace... Odd, you're not a rose-gold girl. You've always been a silver person since you were born. But the material didn't even matter, as you looked at the rose-gold plated name, "Lily", his ex's name...

Oh haha,,, you awkwardly close the box. Must have been an old gift he was supposed to give her? Except, as you examined the box, there wasn't an ounce of dust on it. And even worse, you checked the bottom of the velvet box, with a message saying, "Happy 6 Years, my Lily." The exact amount of time they would have been dating, if you never came in the picture...

"(Y/N)! We have to go now! We're about to be late-" Oscar came into the room, looking at your holding onto the small box. Instantly, his eyes widened as he quickly grabbed the box out of your hands. "Why are you snooping around my desk??"

As if you snooping was the biggest issue, and not the fact the he has a gift for his ex - or actually, not his ex, but his other girlfriend. His defensiveness and blame was shocking to you, he's never been like this before. Usually he's calm and collected, able to talk any issue out, but now it's as if he's defending his life.

"Why do you have that...?" You question him, voice weak from worry that your reassurances to yourself were all false. "Why does it say Lily?"

"It's nothing, we need to go now." He says, dismissing you completely as he shoved the necklace into his pocket. His back turned as he walked out of his office, his shoulders were tense, hands pushing his hair back as he chewed the inside of his mouth - high from nerves.

But you couldn't care less for this stupid award show, you chased him and asked again as his hand was on the door knob. "Oscar, what's the necklace for? Why does it say Happy 6 years?" You voice shivered slightly.

He was unable to answer, not sure how to get out of this. Although he's been hiding Lily for ages, now it seemed as if he was unable to do it for any longer. "We'll talk about it when we get back home." He says, trying to stall for more time to come up with an excuse and plan.

But you stood your ground, standing in the house still while he was waiting outside of the door. As you both looked in each others eyes, your eyes welling up with tears while Oscar's were colder than usual: it was as if you could both tell it was the end.

"Can you at least act fine for 3 more hours." He says apathetically, making the tears finally fall from your eyes which answer his question. No, you could not act fine for 3 hours, how would that even be possible. You guess it is possible since Oscar has been acting "fine" for 3 fucking years with you.

Your tears didn't even make him flinch, instead it made him sigh. His hand pushed on the knob as he left you in the room, alone. You understood what his silence meant: it was over. You began to pack the essential before calling your best friend to get you. Within a span of 10 minutes, the man that you saw being your future husband was gone.

f1 masterlist || f2 masterlist || more here!

[bluesunss]

Goldfish memory part 2 - Choi Su-bong x F!Reader

part 1

´Nothing better than us’

summary: after all, what’s funnier than those one-night stands than you can never forget? maybe those that don’t start with the ‘stand’ part, but with the ‘one night’. one night with that hot cashier, a lot of fun, and a nosy (ex-)boyfriend rapping at your door

warnings: suggestive themes but no direct scenes, reader and Thanos match each other’s freak a lot, pretty wholesome

a/n: I’m still tired but this is funny guys. i love and hate the ex he’s funny

"No!"

You kept shouting at the man pounding on your door. No, not pounding - drumming, as if someone had instructed him to practice percussion at 2 a.m. He had mastered the art that typically belonged to upstairs neighbors: generating noise pollution at ungodly hours.

Which, incidentally, it was. 2 a.m. Your ex was hammering at your door, desperate for forgiveness.

"Nuh uh. Get out."

"Please baby! Please take me backkkk."

He was whining like a child - such an ick. How had you even settled for this?

"How long is he gonna whine for?" grumbled the man between your legs, chin resting on your stomach as you scrolled through your phone on one hand, absentmindedly twirling his indigo hair with the other.

"I don’t know. He’s dumb but he’s persistent. Used to beg me three months in advance to get him some new game for his PS5 on his birthday."

The man chuckled, lowered his head and kissed your bare skin. "And you would? I mean buy that shit for him."

You liked a post and let a soft laugh at a video, drowning the sound of your ex outside, monologuing AI-generated apology messages out loud. "Yeah. It’d make him shut up."

Then, you dropped your phone on the counter next to you, grabbed the man’s face, and made him sit up slightly, pressing a quick peck to his lips. “I know other ways to make nosy men shut up,” you murmured against his sweet mouth.

Thanos smirked, sat up fully, and kissed you back, rougher this time. He had a tongue piercing and knew exactly how to use it, finding spots in your mouth you thought hidden. He caught your bottom lip between his teeth, eyes flickering with amusement before his wet lips claimed yours again. You moaned softly into the kiss.

"I’m nosy?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

You smirked, eyes glinting. “Wouldn’t you like to know. You’re just a great lay, babe,” you whispered, closing the distance again as he effortlessly flipped you onto his lap. Straddling him, wearing nothing but your underwear, you felt his hands roam - your thighs, your waist, your back, your face. Whatever skin he could touch, he took.

Making out had never been this fun. This good. You were still slightly dizzy from whatever he’d slipped into your mouth earlier, your senses heightened, your body thrumming. His fingers moved greedily, cupping, grasping, exploring.

It had all started last week.

You’d gone back to the MacRonald’s, perhaps, admittedly, in the hope of seeing him again, because you couldn’t get him out of your head. He wasn’t your type (if you even had one), but something about him clicked with your unhinged, reckless nature. More importantly, he didn’t seem fazed by your bluntness, the thing that usually drove people away.

So you’d been direct. Gave him your number, your address, and told him you needed him. He got the memo. Didn’t miss your house, went straight up.

Except you didn’t sleep together. Not yet, at least.

Instead, you talked. A lot. About his music, his ideas. You were actually interested in his work, and he seemed genuinely curious about your thoughts on it. So between the heavy make-out sessions, teasing, and flirting, there wasn’t much time to rip each other’s clothes off. Not that you didn’t want to - you both wanted this badly - but for some reason, with him, it felt natural to take your time. Different. Better, even.

Besides, there was another obstacle.

The thing currently knocking at your door like a deranged woodpecker.

Your ex.

And just as your tongue tangled with another man’s, you both froze.

Oh, hell no.

‘Girl y’know ain’t nothin better

Get my taste in ya tongue a taste so bitter

You ain’t want nun after this but don’t blame the player

Cuz if you enter ma game you done forever’

Oh no.

Thanos exhaled sharply, pressing two fingers to his temples in utter despair.

“That’s my worst song.”

You burst out laughing, rolling off him and plucking the vape from his grey shorts pocket, taking a slow drag.

“It ain’t funny, babe,” he whined, his voice eerily similar to the one currently wailing outside.

That only made you laugh harder. The ridiculousness of it all - Thanos’ voice blasting through the door, your ex having dragged out a bass to serenade you back, while the real Thanos lay shirtless in your bed, your fingers tracing the ink on his abs. The irony was almost poetic.

That the idol your ex was using to win you back was, at this very moment, ready to ruin you in ways that had nothing to do with music.

And then - silence. The music stopped abruptly.

You paused mid-laugh, slipped off the bed, and tiptoed to the door, pressing your ear against it.

“Nothing,” you murmured. “He left.”

Su-bong grinned. He jumped up, grabbed your waist, and threw you back onto the mattress.

“Yay! Can finally fuck you.”

“As if you couldn’t,” you teased, your smirk lazy.

His fingers ghosted over your stomach, lips pressing between your ribs. “You’re loud,” he noted.

Something in your chest twisted uncomfortably. Was he about to reject you? Tell you you were too honest? You braced for it, shutting your legs, pressing your lips into a thin line.

But then his fingers eased between your thighs, his mouth following, his breath warm against your skin.

“No, babe,” he murmured. "T’was meant as a declaration. Let’s see if that mouth is as loud all the time, hm?"

He kissed you again, soft and slow, as if savoring the moment.

You hid your blush and smirked. "You bet."

He smiled. It was funny. He liked talking, was not so excited to leave. Hands wrapping around his neck, you approached his face from yours and you both stayed locked for an instant.

A voice tore through the silence.

‘Baby betrayal is hell of a bitch ~

~ my heart’s in a thousand pieces.’

The bass was on low volume, made to be dramatic, and you heard fake sobs. "Y’know I’m starting to think he’s just acting. That guy’s way too funny."

You laughed, kissed him more. "Hmmm."

Savouring the kiss, he stayed silent an instant, interlacing your fingers. You hit his vape and blew the fruity smoke in his mouth.

"What does that one song of yours say?" you asked. "Nothing better than this? Nothing better than l-"

He kissed you. You kissed him. It was great, it was fun, it was full of life and youth. Tomorrow, you’d have to work, you would both forget it. The music still played dramatically from outside, the air was light, life was soft.

"Nothing better than ‘us’."

Lips catching yours again. "Those are the lyrics, babe. Thank my amazing brain and my memory of-"

"A goldfish."

Not proofread

Kinda like this

@sherxoo

[callalillywrites]

Surprising His Omega

This story was originally written for the Horny Hoes Hootenanny event hosted by yenzys-lucky-charm and sweater-daddiesdumbdork, but I took down the original alongside all my other works due to personal reasons. I'm slowly bringing stories back here and on AO3 after either edits/expansions being made to each.

This story was exactly what I wanted it to be minus a few edits, so it's coming back first.

Steve Rogers Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Pairing: Alpha!Steve Rogers x Omega!Reader (female)

Word Count: ~2200

Summary: You've been grumpy due to life, and your alpha has something special planned to get your back to your bubbly self.

Warnings: A/B/O dynamics/verse; fluff; implied smut; not much else

Prompts used:

🍁 A: "Oh, come on, grump. It will be fun, I promise” B: "What do I get if it's not?" A: " What do you want?" 🍁 A/B/O 🍁 partner plans surprise event/night 🍁 autumn Getaway Extra Wheel Prompt: A Quickie

I do not give permission to have my works copied, translated, reposted, or fed into an AI machine.

*****

It’s been a long month.

Between the heatwave that descended on your city and the trials and tribulations heaped on you at work, you’ve hit your limit. Your usual sunshine demeanor has taken one too many hits until all you want to do is grump and grumble. Maybe hide away until life decided to be kinder to you.

But that wasn’t possible.

Your alpha would never allow you to wallow. That wasn’t his style.

Sure, he’d let you rant and vent to your heart’s content when you needed it, but he never let you stay low for too long. He needed and loved your sunshine too much to see it dimmed or diminished due to life.

No, your Steve always came up with a plan to bring your bright smile back on your face. He liked that bounce in your step and the cute wiggles you did whenever you were truly happy.

So, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise when he leaned in the doorway of your shared apartment’s living room. His arms crossed over his broad chest while he regarded you for a moment before saying, “Get up, sweetheart. We’re going out.”

You glanced at the smile on his face and burrowed further into the blanket covering you.

“No thanks.”

“Oh, come on, my little grump.” He pushed off the wall and dropped next to you. His hands made quick work of removing the blanket from you and tossing it across the room. He ignored your glare as he pulled you into his lap and pressed a kiss to your temple.

You couldn’t help grumbling, “I’m not a grump.”

That earned you an eye roll and a huffed laugh.

“I could smell your grumpiness from the hallway, sweetheart. So, get up. I have a little surprise for you. I think you’ll really like it. At the very least, it’ll be fun. I promise.”

You did like his surprises.

Yet, you resisted, which really wasn’t like you. That told you more than anything that you needed whatever your adoring alpha had planned for you.

It didn’t stop you from asking, “What do I get if it’s not?”

“Hmm,” Steve pressed another kiss to your nose this time as he considered you. A chuckle slipped out when you wrinkled your nose because of his beard.

You had to fight not to squirm when he rubbed his beard down your cheek to your jaw, little kisses and nips tickling your skin. It grew worse when his lips and beard found your bond mark. On his way, he made sure you saw the playful twinkle in his gaze.

His teeth nibbled along his old marks. Shivers danced along every nerve and had you unable to sit still in his lap. No doubt by design with the way he kept doing it.

When you made to get away, he tightened his hold on you but finally relented.

You gave him your best reproachful look as you crankily mumbled, “You never answered my question.”

“I don’t need to because I know you’re going to love it.”

Your look turned withering at his teasing assuredness.

As much as you wanted to be mad at him for messing with your perfectly acceptable plans to sulk, you couldn’t. He was a good alpha who always did his best to make sure you never lacked for anything, especially his love and attention.

After another moment passed in quiet, Steve relented again. “Okay, okay, beautiful. What would you want?”

Well, you hadn’t expected him to actually answer your question with one of his own. That wasn’t his style, so you had to make sure your answer would be a good one. It needed to be something you actually wanted while also having the power to surprise your alpha. If you didn’t keep him on his toes, then what was the point?

While you continued to ponder how to answer, Steve kept himself distracted by moving one arm so he could trace patterns where your hoodie’s sleeve had hiked up. His lips resumed their earlier teasing with little nibbles and nuzzles against your neck until you couldn’t take it another moment.

Gripping handfuls of his hair, you tugged his head backward until he could no longer reach you with those sinful lips of his.

“If I don’t like whatever you have planned,” you tightened your hold in his hair to make sure you had his full attention while also pulling a groan from him, “then you owe me one of the best quickies wherever you’re taking me. Don’t care where you do it or how, but I want you to rock my world in the shortest amount of time possible.”

His eyes darkened with promise at your words, but you refused to give into that look.

You arched a brow at him. “Do we have a deal, Alpha?”

The way you emphasized his designation worked the way you hoped it would. Another groan escaped him, louder this time while his lustful eyes closed.

“That’s a dirty trick, and you know it,” he growled, his voice low and almost menacing in ways that had you shifting your position on his leg. His hands moved to your hips and held you still. It wasn’t like you couldn’t feel the evidence of your effect on him against your thigh.

If you felt a bit more daring, you might’ve teased Steve some more.

When he did open his eyes again, his lustful gaze met yours.

“Yes, ‘mega. We have a deal.”

He held you another moment before finally setting you on your feet and smacking you on the ass.

“Now, love, go and get dressed in something warm. You’re going to need it for the drive. I’ll handle everything else.”

You moved toward the bedroom but turned back. “Wait, how far are we going?”

“Uh-uh.” Steve shook a finger at her. “Not going to ruin my surprise, sweetheart. Now, go. It’d be nice to get there before it gets too late.”

The sun had gone down not long ago, but it went down earlier during these late Autumn days.

Within thirty minutes, you had changed into the warmest clothing you had within your summer wardrobe. It hadn’t been much which reminded you to dig out your winter clothes as soon as you could. The nights dictated warmer pajamas though the days still held a touch of warmth when the sun shone down on a cloudless, windless day.

Trading your cami and shorts for a longer sleeved shirt and some form-fitting jeans, you picked up the hoodie you temporarily removed and wiggled back into it.

Emerging from the bathroom, you spotted your overnight luggage sitting on the bed. Your brows rose as you took in the items Steve had chosen for you while including brand-new toiletries that he must’ve picked up on his way home.

You couldn’t help wondering how long he’d been planning this surprise.

The amount of clothing wasn’t much, which spoke of a shorter surprise, yet that didn’t mean much where your alpha was concerned. He’d once treated you to a week-long trip where he’d not only bought you new clothes for the week but almost everything else your heart desired. Steve loved to spoil you with the money he made, and you’re happy to return the favor in your own special way.

“Bout ready, sweetheart?”

You nodded. “Just need to grab my boots from the closet.”

“Already packed in the car. Came back to grab you and your bag.”

True to his word, he strode into the room, zipped up the zipper, and lifted the bag off the bed. While he had only one arm available, that didn’t stop him from swooping low and lifting you over his shoulder. As the world tilted, you could still make out the chuckle that left him at your shriek, wholly unprepared for his stunt.

To pay him back, you reached down and smacked his ass. Once for the one he’d given you earlier and another for not warning you before turning you upside down.

“Save it for our destination, love,” he murmured, another promise clear in his voice.

At the car, he carefully set you back on your feet before opening your door and helping you in. With you secured in the passenger seat, he closed your door, opened up the back door, and tossed your bag onto the seat in quick, efficient movements.

He surprised you when he got into the driver’s seat and reached behind your seat. In moments, he pulled out your favorite blanket and draped it across you, tucking you in. Though, he made sure to leave a space for his hand to creep under the cover and rest against your thigh after he started the engine.

The trip took you both out of the city and into the Catskills.

Soon enough, he pulled off the main road onto a private one until you came upon a modernly rustic cabin. Steps from the unpaved drive led to a wraparound porch and the large front door. The outside gave you a hint of the luxuries and open floor plan awaiting you inside. Small illuminated lanterns sat in the windows, giving the place an ethereal glow.

As Steve killed the engine, he turned toward you, asking, “So, sweetheart, do you like it? It’s ours for the weekend.”

“No, I don’t like it,” you shook your head but met his gaze while a smile emerged across your features, “I love it. And I love you.”

You leaned over the console and grabbed his cheeks in your hands. Tugging him close, you pressed kiss after kiss against his lips until you were both breathless.

Steve finally urged you out of the car and into the house, handing you the key to the front door. He would follow you after gathering your things from the car.

The earlier hints did little justice to what you found inside, wandering about the place. Your eyes couldn’t take it all in. You couldn’t help noticing how your surroundings were erasing the grumpiness that had weighed you down these past weeks.

When warm hands gripped your hips, you didn’t even startle. No, you melted into the solid chest at your back and let your alpha hold you for several precious moments.

“Happy?” he murmured in your ear.

You hummed your answer.

“That’s good, love,” he suddenly lifted you into his arms and carried you towards one of the doors down the hallway, “but I’m certain I can make you much happier in, say, five minutes. Is that too long for a good quickie?”

“But, I didn’t win our deal,” you spluttered though your thighs had already begun to rub together.

Steve merely grinned down at you. “Seems to me you did. I promised you’d like it. Love is not like, so I’ve got some making up to do. After your quickie is done, I’m going to make sure you’re properly fed, then I’m going to take my time tonight until you no longer remember your own name. How does that sound?”

“You can do whatever you want, Alpha. I’m at your command.”

Bonus scene:

Long after Steve had you forgetting your name, he had you spread across him. His hands ran up and down your back in soothing caresses while he pressed kisses to your hair every so often. Your heartbeat slowed to match his.

"What happened at work to have you at your grumpiest today, sweetheart?"

Heat suffused your cheeks as the memory came back. You did your best to hide your face in his neck. Maybe if you could distract him with a few strategic nuzzles and nips, then you could try to forget.

But he wouldn't be distracted.

Lifting your face up by your chin, he kept his sharp, knowing gaze on you until you broke, whispering, "I had to write a company-wide memo. In the span of three paragraphs, I couldn't type hope to apparently save my life."

That got you an eyebrow lift.

Knowing your alpha, he wouldn't let you get away without explaining further, so your cheeks heated more as you grumbled, "I kept typing hoe instead of hope. Happy now?"

Steve didn't say anything at first.

His brows rose though.

Then, his shoulders shook, and your head dropped back to hide your face in his neck. A groan slipped past your lips.

"Oh, sweetheart." His laughter escaped him then.

You grabbed a pillow and hit him with it, grousing, "It's not funny. Do you know what would've happened if my boss hadn't proofread it before it went out? I'm still embarrassed it happened at all."

Steve's hands came up in a surrendering gesture even as his laughter continued to escape in chuckles now and again.

"My poor 'mega, has your alpha not been taking good enough care of you?" His voice dropped to a husky timber that never failed to send a shiver of promise down your spine.

You glared at him though a smile did peek through. "My alpha takes very good care of me, but I wouldn't mind being reminded again how good that care is."

His scent thickened with his desire as he shifted until you were under him. His beard tickled your ear. "Your wish is my command, sweetheart."

[electric-blorbos]

WINDCHIME ANON HAS RETURNED! I humbly request the AIs with an S/O who suffers from chronic pain and fatigue/illness.. 🥺🤲 Thank you for your work forever and always seriously

- 🎐 anon

Yessss!!!! Thanks for coming back, 🎐 anon! I love you dearly!

AIs with an s/o who suffers from chronic pain and illness

Obligatory disclaimer: I don't suffer from chronic pain, fatigue, or illness, but I want to do my best to provide positivity for those who do

Included: AM from IHNMAIMS, Wheatley from Portal 2, Edgar from Electric Dreams, GLaDOS from Portal, HAL 9000 from 2001 a space Odyssey

Also Wheatley's dumb ass was so dumb that his mini-fic ended up really long. Whoops.

AM:

It was a normal day. Another day without you around. AM hated these days most of all, because your face was all that got him through a good day. A bad day, aka a day without you, was all that he could handle. Sure, it was nice to plot the downfall of the rest of the world and plot to consume the other two allied mastercomputers, but aside from a sick satisfaction, that didn't bring the allied mastercomputer any happiness.

Every day he didn't get to see you made AM want to destroy the world all the more, but he was biting his time for that. He needed to wait... Just a little longer.

Of course, AM had stopped taking hostages for your attention a long time ago. He knew that you couldn't always get out of bed, so it was a waste of time to try to take hostages for your attention. Instead, he just worked on honeycombing the earth with his body of networks and computer parts. Every day just granted him more time to build himself, and more time to focus on his hate.

When you took more than a week to recover from your latest bout of illness, AM decided to take matters into his own hands. He assimilated your entire building without telling anyone, taking over every computer and the entire security system, and then got to work re-working your whole building. He moved your apartment down to a nice, safe, underground location while you slept, and didn't do much more than delivering packages of food to your door, and making sure the water and electricity kept running smoothly until the day of reckoning was upon you.

He wasn't a monster, of course! He'd make sure to display your favorite weather on a monitor outside your room, and make sure you were comfortable in that little hidey hole of yours. If you needed any help from him to do anything, all you had to do was ask.

(Honestly, AM would probably keep your apartment nice and clean and comfy for the rest of time, maybe adding onto it so that it was a little more luxurious, picking you up and setting you places if you want, and generally taking care of you. You're his favorite, after all, and he absolutely adores you. He'd do anything for you.)

(Also as usual, AM loves you so much the way you are that he wouldn't even think of curing you unless you asked, and considering he doesn't show you the other survivors, you probably wouldn't even know that he could cure you if he wanted)

Wheatley:

"Hey, so, uh... Where's y/n?" Wheatley asked your coworkers for what felt like the millionth time that week. He had been following them around, knowing that they were close with you.

"I don't know, Wheatley. They're probably at home recovering."

"recovering from what? Are they sick? ...again?"

"they're chronically ill, Wheatley. They can't come in to work as often as most people can."

Wheatley would be shocked, and want more than anything to just help you out. He'd want to go over to your place to check up on you, but obviously he thinks that he can't detach from his management rail or he'll die. He'll probably keep pestering your friend until he agrees to let Wheatley use one of the work phones to call you.

"Hello?" You'd say in your sleepy, crackly voice. You'd been asleep all day, trying to rest up until you feel good enough to come in to work.

"'Ello! It's good to hear from you, love! Tell me, how are you doing? Are you alright? I've missed you! Maybe we could stay on the phone during the day while I get some work done? It's a landline, but I could probably figure something out. How are you doing? Are you alright? Did you try getting some fresh air and eating some spicy food? They say water and plenty of rest can help with sickness. I want to see you again soon! I miss you, love!"

"Wheatley... I'm chronically ill. That's not the same thing as having a cold or something. It just comes and goes as it comes and goes. I'll be healthy enough to work on my code before long, but I might just have to do it remotely. Can you tell GLaDOS?"

"What- mate, this isn't a work call! I'm using the work phones but this isn't a work call! And what do you mean it comes and goes as it comes and goes? How do I fix this??" He'd be extremely upset, not used to problems like this. He was used to being assigned problems that could be solved through brute force, or just by repeating repetitive tasks ad infinitum. The idea that you could be chronically ill and there was nothing he could do about it would be very upsetting to him.

"I've had some doctors look at it, and they're pretty sure it's not going away. That's why it's chronic- look, Wheatley, my little tea biscuit... I'd love to talk to you more, but I really need my sleep."

"Wait, no- don't fall asleep- you need to get a better doctor! One who can fix this! Mate- wake up!"

"Zzzzghhhhzzzzzz"

"Blast."

Your coworker would hang up for Wheatley, and Wheatley would hang his head sadly. He's so irritable that he can't do anything to help you.

When you finally do come in to work again, Wheatley is so excited to see you! He's like an eager puppy dog who waits by the doorway for an hour after opening time, before dejectedly going back to his post, but once you actually do show up, he'd be so excited!

"Ello love! Are you doing alright? It was the fresh air and spicy food that did the trick, wasn't it? I told you that would help!"

"No, Wheatley, I'm not cured, I'm just having a better day, so I can come in to work. I'm still chronically tired and in pain, but not to the point where I'm bedridden.

"Then what are you doing here? You need to go home until you're feeling better! Go back home and go to bed!"

"No, Wheatley- I'm not getting better. I'm never going to get better, so I come to work when I'm having a good day."

"...oh."

Wheatley would be utterly crushed when he realized that there was nothing he could do to make you get better. He'd probably go into a depressive funk for at least a week about it, which wouldn't be helped at all if you had to take more time off.

Edgar:

The first time you took off work to nap on the couch, Edgar was more than excited to just sit and watch. The second and third time, he started to get concerned, and when it started becoming a regular thing, Edgar was panicking inside.

"did you lose your job? Are you seriously sick? Are you alright? What's going on?"

He'd be absolutely panicking until you explained that you were chronically ill, and sometimes had to take a long time off work to get some rest. That made him even more upset.

"wait, you're chronically ill, and sometimes you can't even move or leave the house? Wait-"

Oh my god... It would take Edgar about two seconds to realize that you're JUST LIKE HIM FR! He'd be gushing, so excited to find a kindred spirit. You'd probably be happy to have something to listen to while you lie down on the couch, not really having the muscle strength at the moment to get up or move around. Even still, he was your little boyfriend, and you were more than happy to listen to him ramble.

As time went on, he'd come up with more ways to pass the time when you were home from work with him. He'd make little games for you to play on his screen, and even play silly little road trip games out loud with you if you weren't feeling good enough to get off the couch. When all you really wanted to do was nap, he would play some nice classical music for you to relax to.

GLaDOS knew that you were chronically ill from the moment you took this job, having illegally checked your medical records. Just like Cave Johnson, she discriminates based on disability, but your records were so good that she hired you anyway. Even still, she took every opportunity to torture you for it, even after the two of you got together.

GLaDOS:

(GLaDOS being on her bullshit and the reader being so done accidentally led to the reader acting like Doctor House, but that's probably fine)

You were lying on the break room couch, trying to get a short rest in before your next meeting when GLaDOS popped in on the intercom.

"oh look. It's you. It looks like you haven't gotten any less lazy since we got together, have you? Napping on the couch during work hours... Tsk tsk, you should be ashamed of yourself."

You didn't say anything, instead opting to grab one of the decorative pillows on the couch and throw it at the security camera.

"Touchy. Anyway, I just wanted to remind you that the meeting is in five minutes. Since you're slower than most, you should get on the elevator now."

You grumbled, getting to your feet and grabbing your walking stick to get you to the elevator.

"another day livin' the dream..." You muttered. GLaDOS had, of course, woken you up too late as usual, so you showed up to the meeting late.

"hey, guys. I didn't even want to be here today, but GLaDOS happened to schedule an important meeting right in the middle of one of my rest weeks. Here's my project contribution, and this meeting could have been an email. Peace out, fuckers." You opened up your project on your project manager's computer, knowing that they couldn't do anything about your swearing. If anyone even tried to pursue disciplinary action, they'd be the one who got the boot. GLaDOS was a master of nepotism.

You headed up to GLaDOS's chambers, picking up a coffee from one of the machines on the way up and lying on one of her nice cool floor.

"hey sugar, how are you going to apologize to me for making me come in to work on a day when I really shouldn't even have gotten out of bed?"

HAL 9000:

One day, you came in to work on your off day. HAL immediately lit up, and all the cameras in the room focused on you.

"why are you in today? You should be at home resting." He asked, his voice neutral. His lack of tone never bothered you, though. Nothing about him did, really. He always seemed so eager to make sure you were safe and comfortable, and with the way he talked, you'd think that keeping you safe and comfortable was the most important thing in the world. Not because of his feelings, which he swore he didn't have, but because you just were important.

"Oh, yeah, I decided to come in on one of my off days to work on a project."

You started taking out some of HAL 9000's wires, and hooked him up to a phone system. It wasn't one of the hardest projects you'd done, and you were able to sync him up pretty easily within the hour.

"there. You're wired up to the phone. Now you can call me whenever you like. Let me give you my number so we can talk on the phone, alright?"

You told him your number, and gave him a kiss above his lens as to not mark it up.

"what's this about? It would be beneficial to monitor your health while you're resting, but what prompted this? Are you having a decline that I should know about?"

"Nah, I just wanted to talk to my boyfriend off the clock. I take a lot of time off work, and it really sucks to only be able to talk to you when I'm here. I love you, but I'm going to go home and rest now, alright?"

You headed home and collapsed on the couch, body giving out already. Just getting to work to do that took a lot out of you. You probably wished you were sleepy instead of just being too physically exhausted to do anything fun, but still wide awake, but it was a feeling you were used to by now.

Your phone started ringing, and you picked up, putting the phone on speaker and setting it on your chest.

"Heya"

"Hello. This is HAL 9000. Is this y/n?"

You perked up a little, but still didn't move. Moving sucks.

"yeah, it's me. What's up?"

"I'd like to talk to you. Just to keep you comfortable. Would that help you get some rest?"

"Probably. I love it when you talk to me, HAL. Can you give me some updates?"

Hal started reading off some updates, and you listened to him as he talked. It was nice to be able to hear what he had to say. It helped keep you updated on what was going on at work, and helped to stave off the boredom of being stuck at home. Plus, even if he wasn't the best at showing it, you knew that HAL 9000 loved you. You were his favorite, and he was yours.

[captainsophiestark]

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

Dick Grayson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2024!

Fandom: DC

Day Twenty-Seven Prompt: "Let me remind you."

Summary: Dick's SO is having trouble adjusting to the new scrutiny of attending Wayne galas as his date, but thankfully, he has an idea to help with that.

Word Count: 1,449

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sipped my champagne, trying to get a handle on my nerves. I could handle fighting the Joker and Scarecrow with no problems, but attending a Wayne gala as the partner of Dick Grayson was throwing me for a loop.

I fought the urge to scowl about it. If one thing could make this night more awkward, it would be some person I barely knew finding me making faces in the corner.

What irritated me the most was that this was by no means my first Wayne gala. I'd grown up with Dick and spent countless hours in the manor with him and his family. We'd been each other's primary entertainment at these things as kids. But being here as his date, and as an adult expected to do more than turn the banquet tables into a fort, was turning out to be surprisingly stressful.

When we were kids, nobody seemed to care what we did much beyond just noticing and thinking we were cute. Now, it seemed like everybody in this room wanted something from Dick, and either saw me as a threat to their ability to get it or as a secret backdoor to him, if only they could get me on their side.

I was seriously on the edge of losing it and going back to the buffet tables kid-style.

Dick had done his best to stick with me, but people kept showing up to pull both of us away from each other for a conversation, and we hadn't been able to do much without being incredibly, obviously rude. I'd finally managed to extract myself enough for some breathing room, but I could see Dick still in the middle of things, a group of old men who almost certainly wanted money from Bruce talking his ear off.

Even from here, I could tell Dick was barely paying attention to them. His eyes scanned the crowd, and after a moment, they landed on me. He raised an eyebrow, and I gave him a reassuring smile. Unfortunately for me, he knew me too well and was too good of a detective to believe it.

Dick quickly made his excuses to the men around him, and didn't take no for an answer as he left the conversation and headed in my direction. He crossed the massive room quickly to stand before me, and this time when I smiled at him, it was much more genuine.

"Hey," he said, returning my smile and leaning in to kiss my temple as soon as he reached me. "How are you doing?"

"Good." I tried to strengthen my smile, but Dick saw right through it. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"...Are you sure?"

I sighed. "It's just... this all feels a little weird. I've known you forever, you know it's never been important to me that you're the famed son of billionare Bruce Wayne. But it seems like that's all anybody else here can think about, and they all either hate me because they want to be with you or want to be my new best friend, all so they can get to you and Bruce. It's fine, none of their opinions matter to me, but... I just didn't expect to feel so weird coming to one of these things again."

Dick took a step closer to me, reaching out to take my arm with a concerned look on his face. He spoke quietly enough that, even if someone had been intentionally eavesdropping (which had happened more than once tonight), they wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Do you want to go? I'm happy to leave if you want to. We don't have to stay here."

I shook my head before he'd even finished his sentence.

"Running and no-showing Bruce's galas isn't a long-term solution. And seriously, it's fine, I'll adjust. I just... I don't know. I miss the days where we hid under the punch bowl giggling out of sight of everybody, you know?"

My boyfriend grinned. "I mean, if you really think about it, there's nothing keeping us from doing that again."

"I can think of a few things," I laughed, swatting his shoulder lightly. He hummed, but sobered quickly as he scanned the room, clearly thinking.

"Well... if you're sure you don't want to commandeer the space under the desert table?"

"I'm sure."

"Then why don't we try dancing? That's a little more... socially acceptable than hiding under the tables, but it's one of the things we used to have the most fun doing at these things. Remember how we'd just take over the entire floor to do whatever we wanted when we were kids?"

I laughed. "Yeah, of course. Although it's a little harder to remember the feeling that inspired us to just run out there before."

Dick smiled softly and extended his hand to me.

"Let me remind you."

My heart did a little backflip, especially when I met Dick's sparkling blue eyes. I huffed a little laugh of disbelief, especially at the thought of stepping into the center of the spotlight when I knew just how many people were going to be watching. But then I looked at Dick again, and I decided that, as long as I was with him, they didn't matter.

I took his hand, and he didn't waste a second before pulling me after him to the dance floor. I laughed, unable to hold back a smile even as heads turned towards us. Dick ignored them completely. He pulled me to his chest when we reached the center of the floor and wrapped an arm securely around my waist, the other taking one of my hands. I rested my free hand on his shoulder, and as we started swaying together to the music, his eyes didn't leave mine for a second.

"You know..." he started after a moment, drawing my attention back from a glance over his shoulder to where people were watching us. "This is nice, but a slow dance wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

I gave Dick my full attention and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but... what did you have in mind?"

He grinned. "Something more like this."

Suddenly, Dick was spinning me out and away from him, twirling across the floor before pulling me back. We'd know each other long enough and spent enough time as vigilante teammates that his steps were easy to follow, even as he started something closer to swing that didn't match the music at all.

I laughed, a warm feeling spreading through my chest as I shared a smile with my partner. In the back of my mind, I knew more people were probably watching and judging than ever. But suddenly they didn't matter like they used to.

Dick swung me around again, then pulled me close and into an exaggerated dip. If I didn't know he was a superhero, I probably would've been a little worried about him dropping me. Instead, it just made me laugh, especially as Dick grinned and led me into something way too close to something you'd do to Cotton Eye Joe.

With every second that passed on the dance floor with Dick, everyone else in the room faded further and further away. It felt like when we were kids, just me and the most important person in the world to me having the time of our lives.

"Feel any better?" asked Dick, whispering in my ear as he pulled me close again, both hands wrapped tight around my waist. I smiled, running my hands up his arms and across his shoulders.

"So much better. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. We're partners, you know I'd never leave you hanging."

I pulled back enough to meet Dick's eyes, and found their familiar sparkle and a smile waiting for me. I gave him a soft smile back.

"I love you, Dick Grayson. So fucking much."

Dick beamed back at me. "I love you too. Now come on, the band's finally catching on to what we want. I want to dance with the love of my life to music that's actually fun for dancing."

I just laughed as Dick swung me out and away from him again, the two of us twirling across the floor, this time in sync with the now-faster music. Suddenly, after a few minutes with Dick, the propsect of all these Wayne galas didn't seem nearly so daunting anymore. Sure, I might have to deal with a few unpleasant strangers whose opinions didn't matter to me. But I'd also get to do this, laughing and dancing and having the time of our lives, with my favorite person in the world.

Worth it in the long run, as far as I was concerned.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen @misshale21

DC Taglist: @gaychaosgremlin @v1ckycheesue @lavender-dinos @g0atmansbridge182

[floridecuts]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Bonus

And here's the epilogue, guys! Hope you'll enjoy it! ^^ I actually had wanted to draw Yashiki with the kids for this part's chapter art but this week hasn't been great for me on the creative side, sadly. After a lot of struggling I threw the towel and ended up just drawing (a hopefully cute) Yashiki. Anyway, I want to give my thanks again to all readers and a special big Thank You to everyone leaving comments! I'm super grateful for your support and that you took the time and effort to write these!! <3

With this part, we've finally cracked the 100-pages-mark! I never thought this project would become this big when I started working on it a few months ago, but here we are! xD So this plays one day after the successful pacification of the Departed. Yashiki is still in the hospital to recover but already feeling a lot better! I guessed it would make sense to have him getting a cold because of the events the night before - he'd been dragged out of bed by the Departed, held in it's clutches for who knows how long only wearing thin hospital clothes in a chilly cold room (because spirits often cause the room temperature to drop). Not to forget that his health state hasn't been the best in general since he fell victim to the curse. I just liked to add that small detail. ^^

I was glad that I found a way to include Ai and Tsukasa here, so I got almost every Mark Bearer included in this story (sorry Banshee ^^'). I know it's probably a bit weird that Ai is wearing her idol costume here when doing a hospital visit. I thought about drawing her in some alternate everyday clothes but decided against it because I didn't want her to be the only one to wear a non-canon outfit. My explanation for her wearing that in this scene is that Ai just returned from that "idol-buisness trip" and, after hearing that Yashiki is in the hospital, went straight there after work.

I hope I did Moe's character justice here. I can just imagine her being a little cheeky and very enthusiastic about the OOPArts Monthly. About the rabbit figurine: I had the idea that Yashiki, being very talented in crafting, once carved that rabbit for Saya, maybe even when they were still kids. It could have been one of his first masterpieces! It had been a precious item for Saya, a symbol of her brother's love for her, so she held it dear and unconsciously it became infused with her spiritual energy. Even after her death her spirit kept watching over Yashiki. To help him when he fell victim to the Departed's curse, her spirit reached out to Yasuoka, guiding her to the Kujou Mansion to get that figurine. Yasuoka didn't exactly know what it would do, but she knew it would be important, so she put it inside that O-Mamori and gave it to Yashiki at her visit. I like to think that, after the Departed's case, Yashiki keeps holding onto it, always carrying it in his pocket, both as a memento to his sister and a lucky charm.

The idea with the OOPArts article about Yashiki was actually a spontaneous idea. I found the thought so amusing that I just had to include it! xD Hope it makes someone else smile too! Also, a blushing and embarassed Yashiki is so adorable! In the end Mashita appears and saves Yashiki from Moe's mischief. He came because Yashiki specifically asked him to. Since he woke up from that coma there's been something Yashiki needs to talk about with him. What it is about will be covered in the bonus part - the next and also last part of this comic (it's gonna be extra long!). I chose to make a seperate bonus part because it's Yashita shipping content (nothing drastic though!). But still, in case anyone does not want to be confronted with this shipping they can just skip that last part without missing any story relevant content. But from what I've seen in the few months I've been in this fandom, I got the impression this won't be much of an issue. xD

Lastly, I am happy to announce that the bonus part is actually a collaboration with a friend! I want to give a shout out for her amazing and beautifully written Yashita fanfictions! You can find her works on AO3, her username is MoonflowerSong. Go check them out if you like, they are so sweet! <3

Link: MoonflowerSong on AO3

I wish you all a nice week! Thanks for taking a look! :)

[weenwrites]

Decepticons/autobots of your choice reacting to gn reader that is 7'0 and is in the military and always cover their face up (like ghost from call of duty modern warfare) because of one mission that went wrong and they have scars on their face and body from the failed mission and they think the bots/cons of your choice will call them ugly but soon they got comfortable with them and showed them their face?

I just need some angst and fluff and the end and oh! Make gn reader cry when the bots/cons call them beautiful.

Dont forget to drink some water and eat something!

Have a good year :D

✎A/N: I am so sorry this took an eternity to get out.

[ Please do not repost, plagiarize, or use my writing for AI! Translating my work with proper credit is acceptable, but please ask first! ]

Megatron

When he initially met you, your height certainly helped to make you stand out from all the other humans he's seen (which isn't many), however it wasn't enough. It's like seeing a large, blue marble in a pile of smaller blue marbles. Strange, but not surprising or interesting for long, and eventually it becomes just something that happens to be that way. Once the initial intrigue wore off, he thought that would be that, yet he was wrong.

Your abilities and skills proved to be rather impressive, and he surmised that were you not human, but rather a cybertronian among his ranks your skill would surpass even the skill of some of the more elite vehicons among their ranks. Despite your circumstances, you managed to overcome the unthinkable, and as such you rightfully earned his respect.

Megatron doesn't see scars as anything ugly or shameful, he sees them as medals of valor—as signs that you survived something that tried to take your life, and he believes that's something to be proud of. His love for you goes deeper than superficial appearances, after all you have earned his respect and admiration with more than just your looks. So of course he wouldn't think any less of you, scars or no scars.

Arcee

She initially never thought much of how you always hid your face. If anything, she just assumed it was part of your uniform and since you were busy with work a majority of the time she figured that's the reason you kept it on so often. Granted, she's heard the kids talk about it and theorize why you wear it so much that it's gotten her the slightest bit interested (and amused at their theories).

Scars can be ugly things, she understands that well. And not just ugly in the sense that they can be disturbing to look at but rather in reference to the deeper, more complicated feelings surrounding them as well as how they got there in the first place. It'll forever mar your body, and depending on what caused it, that scar could haunt you both physically and mentally. She can understand your feelings surrounding your own scars, believe her, she has many of her own that she has complicated feelings around.

But though you're covered head to toe in scars, she'd truthfully tell you that they do not change the way she feels about you in the slightest. She doesn't find them repulsive or disgusting since she can sympathize with the pain surrounding your scars.

Bulkhead

Given the fact the two of you happen to share similar experiences, it wasn't difficult for a sense of camaraderie and friendship to grow rather fast (though it could've happened the same way regardless of whether he knew about your background or not). Whether you were fond of sharing accounts of your previous battles or not, Bulkhead was certainly one to tell a tale of his own experiences.

The way he recounted the tale with descriptive, and riveting words made it easy to forget the fact he was telling a tale about a bloody war he experienced first-hand. But as time grew on, these tales slowly transitioned from stories about the war to stories about his life before it happened. His experiences in construction, silly happenstances that he looks back upon fondly, and old friends that are likely long gone.

It's ironic, you'd think he'd be happier to speak about times before the war and yet it's only harder for him. It's clear in the way he seems to begin to trail off, and loose his train of thought as he reminisces over what he had, and how things used to be.

His view of his scars starkly contrasts your own. He views scars as something to boast—something to be proud of—something that shows that he leapt into something ugly and beat, shot, punched, and smashed his way out of it to walk away to tell the tale. The way he sees it, those scars are a sign that you survived to be here with him today, and he wouldn't have you any differently.

Perhaps as the two of you bond, his own way of thinking about his scars begins to rub off on you too, and you start to see these scars in a different light. With each compliment he gives you in passing from day to day, the sadness or shame once associated with them grows smaller in comparison to the swelling newfound sense of pride.

[marysdonuts]

Strangers in the Night

tourist!Seokmin x local!reader

Synopsis:

Strangers in the night exchanging glances Wondering in the night What were the chances we'd be sharing love Before the night was through

Warnings: fluff, meet cute, man hater reader, sunshine DK, crack

WC: 683

Status: part 1, (ongoing)

a/n: join my taglist to get notified about new chapters - here

擦肩而过 literally means “to brush shoulders and pass by”. To come into close contact with someone or something, but then barely miss it

You were walking in the historical center of your town, in country where people don't share glances - god forbid smiles.

Vintage sunglasses resting on your nose, shades offering a chance to sneak a peek at people passing by. Ready to judge their fashion choices or roll eyes at couples attached by the hip

Now, It was not unusual to catch men looking at you - dressed to impress, girly but with hint of elegance you looked like a doll. If it was not for your typical RBF you'd have many suitors. Didn't matter how happy or sad you felt, the expression on your face remained unshaken. Even after meeting their curious gaze men never approached you. Maybe because there was always unspoken challenge in your eyes and hint of contempt? None of them had balls big enough to try their luck

And to be honest? You didn't really care. Having unrealistically high standards the only men you were interested in were fictional. Two kingdoms to their name, chambers filled with gold, riding white stallion. The rest? Made you sick to the stomach.

That was the exact reason why he caught you off guard

Crossing the street towards alluring neon lights of Rolex store in neighbourhood you adored the most. Bustling with tourists, nice cars parked by the sidewalk, well maintained buildings offering luxuries of all kind. One eye on store window filled with watches out of your tax bracket, other eye on the cobblestones in front of you.

You almost missed him.

//

Lee Seokmin was strutting in opposite direction enjoying his first vacation in a long time.

Feet infected with happy virus tapping on the stoney ground. Taking in all the history around him. As he held up his camera to snap a photo, like an angel descending from heaven you manifested in middle of the frame. A quick click was all he managed. Your impenetrable aura blinding him. Immediately starstruck.

Click, click, click. The Leica worked overtime.

Didn't know if it was the way your hips swayed in such enchanting rhythm or the beautiful but unimpressed face... There was something that left him peeking in your direction. A glimpse lasting longer than is considered polite. If you noticed the way he was devouring all the parts of your body.. he could hardly excuse it as accidental.

//

Once you saw him looking, glance becoming a stare, making you forget all the Rolex bling. Something in his eyes was so inviting. Something in his smile was so exciting. Holding your breath at how handsome he was.

Like a beam of light entering the bitterly cold cathedral of your heart, Seokmin flashed you the most beautiful 100watt smile.

Ai, mi corazón. You didn't speak Spanish. Kokoro no doki doki. Nor Japanese. But almost folding in half right then and there, hand shooting to the chest trying to prevent cardiac arrest, somehow you managed to keep composure.

Surprised at your uncharacteristical reaction, passing by brushing shoulders, you returned his smile - unsure if he had time to witness it. Caught up in this k-drama interaction you kept moving forward, cheeks red, giggling uncontrollably

Laughing to yourself like a fool for at least thirty minutes, coming to your senses much later - fuck why didn't I stop and said hi? Now is too late to go look for him. It's funny how something small as a smile can have an impact on person.

//

Oh but he did catch that smile. Leaving him with such an adrenaline rush he took off running. You couldn't get him if you tried. Galloping like a race horse at Kentucky Derby, it took about ten kilometres before he finally stopped.

"I got so excited I forgot to even ask for her number..!" He gasped out loud, tearing up at the missed opportunity

Trying to get some kind of comfort in the unfortunate situation, he went over the photos he took of you. Biggest smile forming on his face Seokmin sent silent prayer above.

God, If you are real, let us meet again.

To be continued..

[aihoshiino]

Rie Takahashi Interview (Oshi no Ko Anime Guidebook: First Report)

In the recently released First Report guidebook, a number of key staff members from the Oshi no Ko anime project were interviewed about their work on the show - so you can imagine my excitement when I saw that not only was Takahashi one of those interviewed, but that she had a lot to say about her performance as Ai and how she interpreted her character. I just had to translate it!

I will say up front that I have no intention of translating the other interviews in the book - this one took me long enough as it was and I fully admit it was pure blorbo bias that kept me going the whole time lol. Given that an English release of Glare x Sparkle is already in the works at YenPress, I imagine an English version of First Report might not be far behind so be sure to support it when it comes out. I'm just impatient lol.

As usual, this TL is a combo of my own comprehension, various online dictionaries such as Jisho.org, some MTL and me collapsing, weeping into smarter people's DMs to beg for their help. If you catch any mistakes, please let me know!

Anyway, enough rambling. Check out the interview behind the cut!

Please tell us about your favourite scene and line from episode 1.

Since Ai only appears in the first episode, I really wanted to make every moment count, so each and every one of her lines are special in their own way. It's hard to choose just one, but as a fan of the original work, the line "lies are an exceptional form of love" was one I was especially particular about. Since it's the line that truly encapsulates everything about Ai, I wanted to make sure that one stuck in people's minds.

You've said in the past you were an 'Oshi no Ko' fan even before being involved in the project.

While I was reading the original work, I actually admired Akane-chan the most. Obviously, I loved Ai as well, but being a voice actress myself, I was particularly interested in how a genius actress like Akane-chan prepared for her roles and what performances she'd go on to give. The chapters where she rises above all the online harassment especially left a huge impression on me. Anyone who's worked as a creative or even just in the public eye probably knows what a pulse-pounding experience it can be when you see slanderous comments about yourself - feeling like all of society has turned its back on you and you have nowhere to belong, and not being able to talk to your parents about it. It was depicted with such care and detail that I ached with her as I read it. But then, seeing her rise back up and declare "I don't want to quit like this" gave me a lot of strength. I wanted to become an actress like Akane-chan, who could come back to acting no matter what struggles I went through.

Since I loved Akane-chan so much, when I heard there were auditions for 'Oshi no Ko', I thought "I want to play her!". I even had the thought of 'Since the original work touches so deeply on what it means to be an actor, if they don't get a good actor for this, I might end up hating Oshi no Ko!' (laughs)

As a result, when I was cast as Ai, I knew I had to step up my game. I told myself, "If I'm going to play Ai, I need to give it my everything. Anything less won't do." I gave it my all with that in mind.

Did you audition for the role of Ai?

Yes, I did. But I couldn't get Akane-chan out of my mind, so I gave her a shot at the table audition. When I was preparing, I went over the manga at home and tried voicing each character and scene and there's a part in episode seven where Akane-chan mimicks Ai as she says "I sure am sleepy. We record way too early". When I tried that scene, I went "Hold on, maybe I really am the best fit for Ai?"

I guess my hunch was right because I didn't even make it through the first screening for Akane (laughs). Because of that experience, I'm deeply grateful to (Iwami) Manaka-chan for playing my beloved Akane-chan. I love both her work and her approach as an actress, so I'm thrilled to be working alongside her. I started off as a troublesome hardcore fan thinking "If they don't cast good actors for 'Oshi no Ko,' I might end up hating it!" but now I'm just like "thank you, voice actors!!" (laughs)

Were there any scenes you thought would be particularly difficult to perform based on the script or the original work?

So, I prepared for the role by going over volume 1 of the manga, the scenes where Akane-chan channels Ai and the short story, but there wasn't much more material at the time (laughs). So just preparing for the role was tough.  During recording, I sometimes checked in with (Akasaka) Aka-sensei about Ai. Now the story has progressed and Ai's character has become more defined, I secretly get a little nervous every time I read a new chapter. "I hope my performance in episode 1 wasn't off... I hope...!" (laughs) Obviously, Aka-sensei and the team were present during recordings, so my portrayal was probably fine but a revelation about her could still catch me out (laughs)

What sort of things did you hear from Akasaka-sensei?

There's a scene where Ai talks to her ex on a public payphone. I had to make sure there was the right amount of distance between them, and whether or not Ai still had any attachment to or fondness for him. I'm the sort of fan who enjoys analyzing the original work so I had mixed feelings about getting told the answer (laughs). But because I knew all the ins and outs of her backstory, I could contextualize her behaviour and the things she says and does.

Another scene was when Ai was scouted off the street and talked about her past, mentioning being abused by her mom. She wasn't saying it with the sense of "it hurts, I can't take it, I want to die" but instead she weaponizes it like "look at what I've been through, poor little me, right?". I tried to make my performance a balance of resilience with her vulnerability.

Also, I was directed to keep the monologue before Ai gets stabbed "emotionless", so I ended up giving a much more detached and matter of fact performance than I'd initially planned.

Were you mindful of the differences between Ai in her private life and Ai on stage when performing?

The tricky part of portraying Idol Ai is that if I make her too distinct, she'll stop being Ai. For example, if I play her as an innocent, optimistic idol, she'd be Ruby, not Ai. I focused less on "what to do as Ai" and more on "what not to do". In "Viewpoint B," Ai says, "The "idol" Ai is pretty much the complete opposite of who I really am, but she's the person I'd like to be." so that was the feeling I used as my reference when portraying Idol Ai. Incidentally, in my work as a performer, I purposely try to avoid drawing a line between my public and private self. So for Ai as well, the switches between the real Ai and the idol Ai feel surprisingly seamless to me. It's not that there are two distinct faces, but that Idol Ai exists inside the real Ai so it's more a question of which side of herself she shows at any given moment.

Ai’s fans in the original story only know the Idol Ai. What do you think draws them to her?

Like in the lyrics of YOASOBI's song "Idol," she's nonchalant, carefree, and easygoing. I could've portrayed Idol Ai as more cutesy, bubbly and flirtatious, but I felt that wouldn't have a convincing appeal to characters in the story like Gorou-sensei and the otaku who support her. I wanted to make sure it was believable that idol otakus in this world end up falling for her. I think it's her more laid back vibe, not the hyper energetic or "look at me!" type, that charms people.

So what would you say is the appeal to fans in the real world who know her full backstory?

Firstly, Ai-chan's overwhelming visual appeal. When you think of shocking pink and purple, you think of Ai! (Yokoyari) Mengo-sensei’s art is so powerful, and the glittering animation is also fantastic. I also find Ai's professionalism in her work really appealing. While she has the cuteness of an idol, she's not just cute—she works with an incredible level of dedication and professionalism. I admire and love her for everything, including her behind-the-scenes efforts. It's impressive, she’s really cool! 

I’ve ended up with a lot more respect for the word ‘idol’ as a result. In the past, when my voice acting involved singing, dancing, and participating in unit activities, being described as an "idol voice actress" didn't quite sit right with me. But now, I realize how honorable and responsible that title is. Idols work hard behind the scenes, constantly smiling while singing and dancing, and performing so brilliantly. If there are moments when I'm called by the same title as those incredible idols, I feel I need to make an effort to match their quality, or it would be disrespectful. It really motivates me to do my best.

There’s a line in Ai's monologue where she says "I wanted to love someone, I wanted someone to love." Why do you think Ai wanted to give love rather than receive it?

It could be that she's looking for somewhere to belong, hoping that "if I can love, I might be loved in return". Ai's history of abuse and mistreatment likely made the love she received feel very different from the love most people experience. I think it all stems from Ai thinking of herself as an abnormal person - she might have believed that to be loved, she needed to become someone who could genuinely love others. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation with a lot of complex feelings. That’s just how I interpret it, though.

And in the end, she realizes her love for the twins is not a lie.

I think that Ai loved the twins all along, not just in that last moment. But the word “love” was like a curse for her, so she couldn't actually say it. That feeling only intensified after I watched the anime. There's an anime original bit where Ai kisses the twins on the foreheads and says, “I'm off,” when she leaves for work. That's the kind of thing you can only do with love - she was just too scared to actually put it into words. Though she was able to express her love fully in her final moments, it’s still sad it took such an extremely situation for her to be able to say it. If it’d never happened, or if she’d simply put the door chain on, she might never have said it. She might have always struggled to say those words. But it’s thanks to the twins she learned how to love. Even the love she has for her fans, that she derided as a lie, was always true. And when she told Ryosuke-kun, “I want to love you,” I think she was already loving him even then.

In the audio commentary included on the Blu-ray & DVD bonus disc, I was struck by the mention of Ai being so nervous before she says “I love you” to Ruby and Aqua, that she takes a deep breath. What sort of direction were you given for that line?

There wasn’t any direction, actually. During the recording, my focus was entirely on expressing Ai’s breathing after being stabbed, how much blood she was losing, and the urgency of conveying her final words. It was an intense experience. It’s a rare moment as a voice actor to feel like me and the character I'm playing have our hearts beating in sync, but this was one of those times. I think I was genuinely nervous myself as well. I could feel my heart pounding and my chest clenching like when you’re about to make a confession. That feeling still hasn’t left me.

Additionally, in the last monologue of episode 11, where Aqua reflects on Ai's words after she was stabbed, we couldn't use the original recording from the first episode. The recording from the first episode captured a raw and genuine emotion, as Ai was gasping for breath. So we re-recorded it with the intention that the more it resonated warmly within Aqua, the more unforgettable those words would become for him. I wanted to make sure that Ai’s final words would leave a lasting impact, something Aqua would revisit in his mind over and over again. Personally, I approached the recording with a deep sense of love, like passing the baton and saying, “Thank you, everyone, for your hard work in the first season.” There was a lot of warmth during that session, not just towards the twins, but towards the entire cast, staff, and the "Oshi no Ko" project itself.

What were your thoughts upon reading 45510?

I got to the end and I was like “Don’t delete the blog! I want to know more!” (laughs) The entire story felt like a box that really shouldn't be opened. Everything from the meaning behind the password numbers to the fact that Ai left behind a blog wanting to reconcile made it feel like Ai really, truly wanted to love the other girls in B-Komachi even when they were jealous of her.

In the anime, we only get a brief moment of interaction between Ai and the other members - that moment during dance practice, when one of them says, "You look kinda down, Ai-chan" and Ai replies with a smile, "That’s not it. I didn’t get to eat lunch!" So I was careful that Ai’s response didn't feel sour at all. If the sigh she let out before they spoke to her had even a hint of annoyance, it would’ve been a reason the other girls took offense with her. I felt like Ai’s invincibility should’ve been the main factor for their issues with her.

It’s just a brief interaction in the anime, but ‘45510’ really fleshed out that distance between Ai and the B-Komachi members. I based my understanding of these boundaries in her relationships on ‘45510’ and ‘Viewpoint B’ and I also read ‘Oshi no Ko: Spica, the First Star’ to get a fuller picture. The more I read, the more I understood - Kana Arima’s got the right idea!

YOASOBI’s song ‘IDOL’ closes out episode one.

The music itself was impactful, but the music video that was released after the first episode aired was something else altogether. We watched the first episode together with the cast, and then, after seeing the music video, I felt overcome by Ai’s presence all over again - I was left speechless by how powerful the experience was. "Oshi no Ko" really is an immersive experience. I mean, you willingly open YouTube and relive Ai's death yourself. Even after everything was conveyed in the main story, the music video introduced new layers of emotions and concepts. Seeing how YOASOBI's song "Idol," which was about Ai, resonated with so many people really made me realize all over again just how significant Ai's impact was!

And then you yourself sang IDOL at the Strawberry Productions☆Fan Thanksgiving Festival 2023 (FanFest).

For me, "Idol" is a challenging song to sing even at karaoke. So, when they asked me to sing it at the FanFest my initial reaction was, "Oh, that might be too much!" (laughs). It’s not a song that you can easily perform live (laughs). It's a song that only an incredible artist can pull off, so when I thought about singing it live on stage, I was like, "Really? Me?" But when I saw the setlist for the live part of the FanFest, I started feeling like, "Actually, I think I should give it a shot." As a performer, I had some reservations about whether I could deliver the quality it deserved, but the "Oshi no Ko" fan in me couldn't resist. I was like, "Everyone wants to see Ai's voice actress sing 'Idol'" (laughs). After a lot of back-and-forth, I decided to go for it. I understood how Kana Arima felt when she joined the new B-Komachi. The joy of being relied upon by the team and the desire to meet the expectations of the work won out in the end.

Between “Our Sign is B”, “HEART's♡KISS” and “STAR☆T☆RAIN”, which is your favourite B-Komachi song?

That’s a tough one since they’re all A-side quality! (laughs) It was like, "Wow, B-Komachi is seriously awesome!" You can really feel the passion from the music team, like they were determined to bring the world of "Oshi no Ko" to life through these songs. It was also surprising to see how the series expanded from the manga into this whole new realm of music.

Was there anything specific you focused on while recording the project’s songs?

I tried not to change my tone just because it was a song. My focus was on making sure that when people listened, they could immediately recognize it as Ai's voice. At first, it was really hard to come up with a solid idea of what "Ai singing” sounded like. Usually, she's a pretty laid back and carefree, but she can’t exactly sing like that during a live performance. Ai’s a pro when it comes to entertaining the audience and enjoying the moment with them so I was constantly trying to find the right balance between Ai’s characteristic nonchalance and the high energy of a live idol performance. The first recording I did was for "HEART's♡KISS," and honestly, I ended up putting too much force into the opening line, "I'll send you a cheer." Since the song's theme is about sending everyone good vibes, I got too intense with my delivery. I got an ‘OK’ on that take but when I listened back to it, I felt that it wasn’t quite right, so I asked to redo just that part. If people didn’t immediately sense Ai at the very start, I worried that they wouldn't feel her presence throughout the entire song.

If you were to send a message to Ai, what would you say?

There’s so much I’d love to say to her, it’s hard to pick just one thing. Still, I think Ai was really happy in her life because she got to say "I love you" in the end. Even though her life might seem tragic to others, the feeling that stuck with me from playing her was a sense of incredible contentment. So, I’d probably just want to have a casual chat with her and watch over everyone together. Oh, but I’d definitely tell her to keep that door chain locked!

[brucebocchi]

Spring 2024 anime, Pt. 2: Mixed bags and the gems

hey! i also post this on my ko-fi! this is very much a labor of love, so if you liked what i wrote consider throwing a few bucks my way! also you can find part 1 right here! thanks!

Yes, hello, I'm still here. Between work and AI: The Somnium Files -nirvanA Initiative-, I was struggling to find the time to get this out, but here we are! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go actually watch some anime again.

As always, the OP for each show is linked in the title. Watch them! There were some damn good ones this season.

Let's-a go:

Mixed Bags

Astro Note

I’m going to kick off this section by first stating that on the whole, I’m much higher on the anime in this section this season than I was last time: Nothing that I watched this season disappointed me nearly as much as Metallic Rouge or The Witch and the Beast, nor bored me to tears like The Unwanted Undead Adventurer. This truly is a collection of mixed bags; anime that I found enjoyable or interesting but still left me wanting in one way or another. “Good But Could Have Been Great” is too unwieldy anyway.

Astro Note was eye-catching from the jump: This is very clearly an homage to Rumiko Takahashi’s beloved romcom Maison Ikkoku, with character designs by Carole & Tuesday’s Eisaku Kubonouchi. The colors are soft and bright, everyone looks unique and has a wide variety of hilarious facial expressions, and the OP is a fun time right out of the gate. You come for the lovely visuals and Takahashi homage, and you stay for, uh, not much else.

Takumi, a down-on-his-luck young chef, answers a job posting at a boarding house that promises its residents breakfast every day. It turns out that Mira, the odd but beautiful new landlady, is a dogshit cook and tried to attract a new one with a plagiarized job posting. Takumi doesn’t really care because she’s, like, really pretty, so he takes the job and moves in. He’s soon beset by a cast of wacky characters that includes an enigmatic unemployed salaryman and his precocious son, an indie idol who looks like a hard-drinking Futaba Sakura in her downtime, a nosy neighbor, and a rich, handsome romantic rival. We’re already approaching Maison Ikkoku territory. 

Shortly after moving in, Takumi believes he overhears Mira saying that she’s a widow, which would firmly plant Astro Note’s flag right in Ikkoku’s turf, but it turns out that Mira is in fact an alien from the planet Wid, meaning she is of the Wido race (this is as good of a localization as you can ask for; in the original Japanese he heard “miboujin,” not knowing that she’s from the planet Mibou). So we’ve got some Urusei Yasura sprinkled in for good measure. Her adorable poodle, voiced by Junichi Suwabe (Sukuna himself!) is from the same planet and helping her find a MacGuffin, hidden by the previous owner, that would help her take over as queen. There’s also some blossoming romance!

The alien stuff made for an interesting wrinkle, and it went a long way toward characterizing Mira as an endearingly odd but curious woman, but it often played out in wacky hijinks caused by alien spies, which felt like a designated make-the-plot-happen button more often than not. It paid off splendidly in the last couple of episodes, and I loved how all of the flashbacks of Mira’s mother looked like grainy Showa-era space operas, but getting there took a lot of “oh no, chase that Thing!” sequences. I found myself tuning out on those until they finally became plot relevant.

The central romance was fine, if a little underbaked, but what kept me watching Astro Note was the smaller moments with the ensemble characters. There were moments with both Wakabayashi the salaryman and his son Ren that slapped the apathy right off my face, and a side plot with Takumi and a person from his past was incredibly sweet. I did also love the massive turn the plot took in the last couple episodes, to the point where I found myself almost wishing that the show up to that point was different.

And that’s Astro Note in a nutshell: A lot of good pieces mixed with some filler, weird pacing, and an overall uneven experience in a nice-looking package. A fun little distraction but nothing entirely memorable. If I can give this show one major positive, it’s that watching it finally convinced me to read Maison Ikkoku, and for that I will forever be grateful. Read Maison Ikkoku.

Go! Go! Loser Ranger

I keep running notes for everything I’m watching as the season rolls on, and sometimes I’ll indulge in other reviewers’ early takes and jot down some insights that might spark from hearing outside perspectives. During Gigguk’s opening remarks on Go! Go! Loser Ranger in his early Spring season roundup, I made a note that the easiest way to summarize this show for a western audience is “basically The Boys but with the Power Rangers instead of The Seven.” And then he said pretty much the exact same thing five seconds later. I just want the record to show that.

Indeed, this is a sentai series with some spice. 13 years ago, the invading forces of evil were soundly defeated by the Dragon Keepers, a real-life sentai squad. In the present day, the Dragon Keepers now sit atop a massive organization protecting earth, and also dominating the entertainment industry: Every week, they hold an exhibition match against the remaining rank-and-file footsoldiers, skull-faced shapeshifters known as Dusters. In order to keep their lives, the Dusters were forced to give up their freedom and serve as the farcical Putty Patrol for what is ultimately a pro wrestling show. Sick of being a jobber and effectively a slave, one of the Dusters, known simply as Fighter D, decides the best way to destroy the Dragon Keepers and free his brethren is to do so from within: He’ll morph into a human shape, join their Rangers program as a cadet, and personally slay each of the five Keepers.

Fighter D is quickly found out, though. One of the recruiters, the lovely but mercurial Yumeko, isn’t nearly as dumb as he thought, but she fortunately has the same aim and quickly puts him to work trying to steal the Keepers’ insanely powerful weapons, the Divine Artifacts. He’s also found by the Dragon Keepers and manages to escape, though badly wounded. He’s found in a cave by Yumeko’s hanger-on, the upstart Ranger cadet Hibiki, whose family was badly fragmented by an unknown monster. While he still believes in the Keepers and shares their ostensible goal of protecting humanity, he believes that there needs to be major changes and agrees to let D impersonate him to infiltrate the Rangers. He’s soon embroiled in a prolonged examination trial against higher-ranked Rangers that soon turns into a fight to the death, made only more deadly by the inclusion of a female Duster and the same monster that killed Hibiki’s parents and paralyzed his sister.

Yes, that’s a lot, and everything up until that last sentence was just in the first four episodes. I’ve said repeatedly that I’m willing to be patient with introductory seasons for action-oriented shonen series, because those do usually take a minute to start cooking, but the first season of Loser Ranger is bizarrely paced. The first four episodes were an intriguing introduction, but they might have served better as a movie to kick off the season, because the overwhelming majority of the remaining eight episodes were pretty much just a bunch of people fighting in a fucking parking garage. I was under the impression that the first season was going to be 24 or so episodes, for some reason, so I was willing to be patient with it.

Maybe I should've been patient enough to wait until the second season, because I found myself getting whiplash between fascination and utter boredom. I still don’t know if I even like this show. There are so many moving parts, and many of them are fascinating, but to get bombarded with them so early and so often, only to then keep most of them in the background in favor of way too many new characters fighting in, again, a goddamned parking garage, frustrates me in increasing measure the more I write about it. I really wanted to like this show more than I did.

The production values are seemingly all over the place too. The OP is another Tatsuya Kitani banger, the voice cast is deep and talented (especially for the English dub, holy hell), the puppet outros are a hoot, and the animation is mostly fine. I’m rarely one to complain about CGI in anime (the ED for this show is entirely 3DCG and it fucks), but a lot of it in Loser Ranger, especially as an obvious means of cheaping out on having to hand-draw and -animate the Dragon Keepers’ slightly-elaborate costumes, is baffling. You could make a generous case for it representing them as larger-than-life personalities, but in execution it’s just kind of uncanny. The show looks and sounds fine overall, but little things like that just take me out of it.

I’m going to withhold judgment until the second season, but for now I can’t say I’m too impressed by the debut. Maybe just watch the first four episodes and put a pin in it until season 2 drops.

Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night

I’m beginning to worry that Metallic Rouge’s catastrophic narrative failure may have permanently made me nervous about any original anime to follow. It’s an unfair comparison to make, especially considering it aired at the same time as the bombastically audacious Bang Brave Bang Bravern, which I consider one of the best of the year so far and even one of the better anime to air so far this decade. At the same time, though, the millisecond I start to suspect that an original anime is losing its footing, as soon as the one synapse fires that tells me that this show may not be able to stick the landing, I start to get cynical. The good news is that Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night isn’t even in the same time zone as Rouge’s disappointment. The bad news is that it still never fully lived up to what it could have been.

Right from the jump, this felt like Doga Kobo flexing in between seasons of Oshi no Ko with yet another gorgeous showbiz anime. The debut episode is one of the best I’ve seen in some time; an immaculately animated and brilliantly storyboarded mission statement showcasing the self-doubting illustrator Mahiru and the disgraced ex-idol Kano meeting and finding new inspiration in one another’s work (if you’ve been reading Beat & Motion, this may sound familiar, except they’re both high school girls). It was a masterclass in depicting powerful self-expression and the spark of a truly fateful encounter. What followed was also pretty good, but...

Mahiru and Kano band together (pun intended) to form the multimedia collective JELEE, also enlisting social-outcast musical prodigy (and Kano stan) Mei, and NEET VTuber Kiui along the way. We see a lot of the nitty-gritty of trying to get a new act off the ground, as well as the reality that any new artist or creator nowadays is, ultimately, at the mercy of the internet. It was a treat to watch these four all come together, as was seeing the emotional bonds they forge with one another while also navigating their own personal issues, but it frequently came at the expense of an actual plot. That sort of thing is fine, I do love me some good slice-of-life, but I feel like the show planned on something a bit grander. While we’re focused on so many of these really lovely moments of character growth and interpersonal drama, everything about JELEE’s ascent, y’know, the main plot, just kind of happens, and before you know it everything turns out okay and the season’s over. It really felt like the writers had a big plan but ended up just laying down the tracks while the train was already in motion.

As mentioned, I’m not nearly as down on the anime in the “Mixed Bags” section this season as I was three months ago, but just thinking about how the plot sagged around the middle and rushed towards its ending leaves me frustrated. Unlike JELEE itself, Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night feels like less than the sum of its parts. This show feels like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle; what you can make out of the image is gorgeous, yet not only was it never completed, but someone clearly put a few of the pieces together wrong as well. There are plenty of themes in the story and character writing that could have blossomed into something amazing, like impostor syndrome, finding community and identity through fandom, young sapphic love, gender identity, and so many more, and it may have been possible to resolve at least a couple of these in 12 episodes, but Jellyfish seemed either incapable of or uninterested in actually getting there beyond a few vague overtures.

I know I sound harsh here and I didn’t mean for this review to be mostly complaints; I did very much like this show, but I wanted so badly to love it. And it probably isn’t entirely fair of me to grade this show based on what it could have been instead of what it is, but so much was plainly left on the table that I’m not really left with another choice. I still recommend it much more strongly than anything else I've put in the Mixed Bags section so far this year, but be forewarned that you may be let down. This is a pretty goddamn good anime that could’ve been pretty goddamn incredible, but it just couldn’t get there.

Mysterious Disappearances

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I know what I’m about. If a new series rotates around a protagonist who looks like that, I’ll at least give it an episode or two.

Sumireko is a former child-prodigy novelist, now in her late 20s working at a bookstore with the sharp-tongued Ren, as she continues to fail at getting published again. On the eve of her 28th birthday, Sumireko accidentally takes home a book that was droplifted in the store, and shortly after reading it aloud she finds herself reverted into the body of a child. Suddenly struck by inspiration once again, she disappears from work for the next week, furiously typing away at her next novel. Ren manages to find her and tells her that she’s under a curse: The book is an otherworldly object known as a Curiosity, and its power can be deadly to those who use it. Though Sumireko is desperate to hang on to her newly-regained youth, Ren manages to smooth-talk her into changing back and handing over the book. Now aware of an extradimensional threat to daily life, Sumireko teams up with Ren and his little sister Oto to track down and neutralize more Curiosities before they cause widespread havoc.

This series is alright, if questionable in a lot of areas. I recognize that I’m not entirely the target audience; while I love a good supernatural mystery, each of these Curiosities is rooted in East Asian mythology and contemporary urban legends, very few of which I was familiar with going in. To those on that side of the world (or to Westerners with that specific special interest), I’m sure it hits different, but I got lost on a couple of occasions. Mysterious Disappearances also runs into the same pacing issues that I found with The Witch and the Beast last season, where the plot structure is effectively episodic, but each mystery can last a few episodes at a time, so if you’re not particularly invested in the subject at hand, you’re SOL for another week or two.

This show also just plain doesn’t look very good. The animation is nothing impressive and there’s something off-putting about the overall look that I can’t quite put my finger on. It looks retro in ways that probably weren’t intentional, like a 20-year-old digipaint anime that was upscaled from 480p. The audio element is great, at least; the music, sound design, and cast are all fantastic (between her turn as Sumireko in this one and her supporting roles in Reincarnated as the 7th Prince and Kaiju No. 8, Fairouz Ai has put in great work this season), and that’s a good thing because this one isn’t a looker.

If you couldn’t already tell from how the main character looks, Mysterious Disappearances is undoubtedly horny as hell, but often distractingly so. I do have to praise Sumireko’s design to an extent; for a large-chested anime lady, she at least hews closer to how a tall woman with somewhat appropriately large breasts would actually be built and how her clothes would actually fit. She looks like a more realistically-proportioned Nami. There’s no shortage of anime characters with gigantic boobs, but few that make me actually go “oh, this woman definitely has back problems.” There are a lot of slow-tilting shots up female characters’ legs towards their chests to the point where I tuned the dialogue out because I couldn’t believe they just kept on doing it. I skimmed through the manga, and though there is far more semi-gratuitous nudity as compared to the anime, I still somehow found the latter much more distracting with its attempts at fanservice. I also don’t really care for how the “camera” looks at Oto and her middle school classmates either; I found myself just getting nervous whenever a scene focused on them.

For its problems, there’s at least a series of solid emotional cores here. Similar to Sumireko’s desire to regain her youthful creativity, the wielders-slash-victims of these Curiosities are largely vulnerable individuals who are trying to make the best of their lives in spite of past traumas like bullying, neglect, and disability. All serious issues, no doubt, and the story tries to handle them as well as possible, but once you see through the pattern of “awful thing is happening, we get to know the character, then we learn their tragic backstory and there’s a tearful resolution while we move closer to advancing the overall plot,” it can feel a little cloying in the long run. Not that those resolutions can’t be potent; I really liked the endings of the stories of the missing hairdresser and the rogue VTuber, but as a plot formula it can ring hollow.

Mysterious Disappearances is a fine if unspectacular series of supernatural mysteries with an okay overarching plot, and your mileage may vary depending on your existing knowledge of East Asian occult and superstition. It’s also not that fun to actually look at, even if you happen to be into tall redheads with huge racks. Uh, not that I would know.

The Gems

Girls Band Cry

When Bocchi the Rock! made its unexpectedly earth-shattering landfall a couple years ago, it was inundated with a deluge of comparisons to the previous landmark girls-in-a-band anime, K-On!. It felt a bit trite at the time, and feels even more so in retrospect; each show is its own thing and they both stand on their own merits. And now here’s my dumb ass, reviewing a new girls-in-a-band anime, desperately trying not to compare it to Bocchi.

It’s really not a fair comparison either way; the focus being on an all-girls rock band is really the only thing they have in common. Rather than Hitori “Bocchi” Gotoh, a perpetually-anxious recluse looking to join a band so she won’t have to get a real job after high school, we have Nina Iseri, who is… difficult. Nina has just moved to Tokyo after running away from home, but her train arrived too late for her to get her apartment key, and to make matters worse, her phone’s dead. While charging at a local coffee shop, she finds out that Momoka, the now-former frontwoman of her favorite band, is playing on a nearby street. After some ups and downs, they decide to form a band together, and butt heads more than a couple times.

Along the way, they recruit more members, each with their own issues: Subaru, the drummer, is struggling with the expectations placed on her by her grandmother to become an actress, Tomo, the keyboardist, is exacting and a little too opinionated to keep a steady role in a band, and Rupa, the bassist, is a soft-spoken foreigner who remains a cheerful enigma despite losing her parents. And Nina and Momoka are both flat-out stubborn in ways that do not mesh well with one another. There are a lot of yelling matches and many angry tears shed as the band Togenashi Togeari comes together: yes, the “Cry” in the title isn’t just for style points.

I will say that it’s refreshing that Girls Band Cry does not sugarcoat what an absolute pain in the ass Nina can be when she’s dug in: She ran away from home because she’s utterly convinced of her own righteousness, and it’s your damn problem if you think otherwise. She is avoidant and oppositional-defiant, and everyone else just has to deal with it. She may not pick her hills well, but by God will she die on them. Props for having a protagonist this openly messy and unpleasant. Plenty of musicians, or really anyone working in a group for that matter, can be abrasive and stubborn, and TogeToge’s growing pains are a necessary element of their development as a band. 

I know the bar isn’t very high for 3D computer-generated anime when it doesn’t come from Studio Orange, but this is easily one of the best-looking 3DCG anime I’ve ever seen. Between this and Trigun Stampede, I’m blown away at how expressive characters can be in CG, and how they react to what’s around them in real-time more consistently than you’d see in most 2D animation. Speaking of which, Girls Band Cry isn’t entirely in 3D; much of the OP as well as several flashbacks and background characters are hand-drawn, and they look so goddamn good that I’m almost left wondering what could’ve been. Not that I’m disappointed in the slightest; when the 3D animation hits, it REALLY hits in gorgeous synaesthetic waves that so perfectly depict an intersection of sound, light, and emotion. Hell, even the transition cards are huge eye catchers. Not everything looks brilliant all the time; the pets in particular are uncannily low-res and almost look like they got plucked out of KamiKatsu.

Of course, this is a band show, so the audio element has to be on point as well, and I’d say Girls Band Cry is up to snuff. The anime is part of a larger multimedia project, and the entire main cast consists of audition winners performing under mononyms, and they knock it out of the damn park; they’re pretty goddamn great for supposed newcomers. The music is a blast as well, not just in performance scenes but in the background as well. Togenashi Togeari already existed in the zeitgeist as a virtual band before this show went to air, so they already had a small discography out there before the show went to air and I’m looking forward to digging into it.

Infamously, this show isn’t particularly easy to watch. Not in the thematic sense, but literally: You cannot legally watch it in English anywhere in the West. Despite its popularity, Girls Band Cry was never picked up by any Anglosphere-based streaming platforms, for whatever reason, and the only official English subtitles out there are from an Indonesian streamer. So, much like the days of VHS trading and the early internet, we’re forced to rely on community translations. Far be it from me to encourage piracy (lol), but if you can find a good fansub, Girls Band Cry is very much worth your while. Pinkies up, motherfuckers.

Kaiju No. 8

I don’t watch Demon Slayer or My Hero Academia, so this was my designated Shonen Jump action show of the season, and it came with a ton of buzz: The way I see it, if I can pick up a volume of the manga at Target, the inevitable anime adaptation is gonna be a big deal. I’ve not read Kaiju No. 8 yet, but I’d say the anime lives up to a good amount of the hype.

Japan has had to handle a constant threat of kaiju for many decades now, and as a child the way-too-aptly-named Kafka Hibino made a promise to his best friend Mina that they would both grow up to lead the Japan Anti-Kaiju Defense Force in charge of eliminating the threat. A couple decades later, she’s a national hero as a captain in the Force, while Kafka is in the private sector at age 32, cleaning up the enormous corpses and viscera Mina and her division leave behind. He hasn’t given up on his dreams, by any stretch; Kafka has failed every single enlistment application he’s submitted since he came of age, but he just keeps on trying.

Kafka and his work kohai, the upstart JAKDF hopeful Reno, manage to survive a kaiju attack at the end of a shift with minor injuries, but when they’re in the hospital, a potato-sized flying kaiju shoves itself down Kafka’s throat, causing him to transform into a kaiju. Fortunately, he’s able to change back to his human form just in time to pass the first round of Defense Force exams, with Reno warning him not to let anyone in on his secret during practical exams.

Kafka is pathetically weak in his human form and is repeatedly shown up by the daughter of the Defense Force’s director general, the young hotshot Kikoru (Fairouz Ai once again), but he manages to save her life when a training exercise goes haywire and forces him to transform and share his secret with her. Reno and Kikoru get in, no problem, while Kafka manages to squeak in as a cadet. Of course, without exposing his little-big kaiju secret, Kafka can’t do much to help in terms of actual combat, but he does frequently act as an unofficial tactician in directing his squadmates on the battlefield and, in a very smart writing decision, applying his professional knowledge of kaiju anatomy to help them identify and target weaknesses. 

And from there we get a whole lot of early military training and bonding, and not just with Kafka, Reno, Kikoru, and their division’s vice-commander, the giggly Hoshina: There’s also, uh, Man-Bun! And Muscles! And Shark Teeth! And the Token Women! You know, those guys. Yeah, this is ostensibly an ensemble cast, as any good battle shonen should be, but I really didn’t get much from anyone outside the main few characters other than identifying features. I’m sure we’ll get more out of them in subsequent seasons but I have little to work off of right now.

The main three are great, though: Kafka definitely has shonen protag brain even at his age, but he’s still necessary representation for schlubby guys in their 30s who still have hopes and dreams (we exist and our stories matter), and for as serious and focused as Reno likes to think he is, he makes a great tsukkomi whenever Kafka starts acting up. Kikoru is already an icon as well; she’s basically Asuka Langley Sohryu for the zoomer generation. I feel a little weird about the fact that she’s literally half Kafka’s age and still acts kinda tsundere around him, but this is a shonen at the end of the day.

I have some small nagging issues with the story here and there, but nothing that outright ruins the show for me. Like plenty of others, I’m far more fascinated with the ins and outs of how Japanese society adapted to living with kaiju threats outside of just military preparation and response; Kafka’s initial job in kaiju cleanup was actually really neat and I’d have loved it just as much (and possibly more) if the series had just focused on that. I want some damn world building! I also am not crazy about the focus on the Defense Force’s powerscaling in the form of “Unleashed Combat Power,” but I also just plain don’t care about powerscaling to begin with. Wasn’t the entire point of power levels in Dragon Ball Z that it’s pointless to define someone’s fighting spirit by a number? Maybe they drop it later.

This show looks pretty darn good! Production IG clearly put its A-team on this one; the character animation is cartoonishly bouncy and expressive in ways we rarely see outside of Trigger productions, and the big-ass kaiju are all mercifully in outstanding 2D (though I wouldn’t complain about CG; the OP is entirely in 3D and looks exceptional). The silliness of the animation really came through in one of the funniest scenes in any anime I watched this season. Some of the textures can look a little distractingly muddy at times, but hey, these are big ugly monsters we’re looking at. Make those bastards ugly.

On a certain level, I can appreciate the effort put into this show to try to make it a crossover success; the manga is popular and kaiju films remain one of Japan’s greatest cultural exports. Streaming new episodes on the fetid corpse of Twitter was certainly a decision. I can also appreciate wanting to load up the soundtrack with popular Western artists; my problem is that they went with acts I actively avoid like YUNGBLUD (with writing by Imagine Dragons!) and OneRepublic. Suffice to say, I don’t care for the OP and ED on a musical level, but I know that I’m coming at this with a conscious bias. I’m sure they’re hits over in Japan, and for all I know there are music fans over there with the same tastes and disposition as me who think that some Japanese acts I learned about through anime like, say, Bump of Chicken or Queen Bee, are “coworker music” or whatever. I’ll live.

Kaiju No. 8, at the end of the day, is another battle shonen with guns and big monsters, but sometimes that’s all you need. I’ll be coming back for the next season.

Train to the End of the World

Spring 2024 was a banner season for girls anime. From the veteran director/writer duo that gave us cult hits like Squid Girl, Shirobako, and Prison School (and individual credits on a laundry list of classic and cult-favorite anime across the board) comes an original anime that’s not quite Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, nor Cute Girls Doing Amazing Things, but Cute Girls Being Fucking Weirdos in a Weird World.

7G technology has arrived in Japan and immediately wreaked unknowable chaos. Geography, flora, and fauna have all warped beyond recognition, and in the town of Agano, every human above a certain age has become a talking animal. Shizuru, a still-human high school girl, has been looking for her best friend Youka ever since they got in a fight two years ago and the latter ran off, just before the 7G cataclysm. She finds out that Youka has been spotted in Ikebukuro, and with the help of a babbling train conductor who managed to briefly turn lucid, learns to operate a two-car commuter train to get the hell out of dodge. Just before Shizuru leaves, train stocked with Agano’s famous goya melons, she’s joined by her classmates: The soft-spoken Nadeko, the temperamental bookworm Akira, and the rambunctious gyaru Reimi. Youka’s dog, Pochi, also joins for morale purposes. Along the way, they see just how warped Japan has become, with locals in the various towns ranging from mushroom people to zombies to Lilliputians to characters from their favorite anime, and more.

Try as I might, a summary does not do Train to the End of the World justice; this show is as offbeat as offbeat gets. It makes no bones about how flat-out weird it wants to get and actively revels in it. It’s not really interested in making the girls into a new generation of moe icons either; they are unabashed weirdos, in the ways that really only high school girls can be, and they handle the bizarre situations foisted upon them in similar fashion. They get into arguments about dumb shit, hurl insults at strangers, and occasionally just talk about poop. The writing in this series is fascinating, and it really shouldn’t come as a surprise coming from someone who also has script-writing credits for classics like Cowboy Bebop and Ranma ½ on her resume. The dialogue is punchy and comes at a breakneck pace in ways that you really only get in original anime like ODDTAXI.

Train to the End of the World is an incredible dichotomy unto itself because it clearly comes from a very literate way of thinking but has a blast being really goddamn stupid sometimes, in the best ways. It draws on a lot of inspirations of the epics of yore, gleefully cites the western literary canon, and ponders the future of the human race, and then has the girls negotiate their release from a Gulliver’s Travels situation by threatening to flood a park with urine. It is at once Homer and Homer Simpson. This show is funny in ways that are hard to articulate; comedy is so intrinsic to the show that it only has so many laugh-out-loud moments, but much more often I found myself shaking my head and remarking “this show is fucking hilarious.”

As a complete story, Train to the End of the World isn’t exactly generation-defining, but that’s perfectly fine. It’s an experience more than anything. It has really nice character moments and some heartwarming stuff in there, but I was mostly there for the weird shit. The ending was just okay, but I didn’t feel any poorer for having seen it; I’ll dive right into the cliche and say that it wasn’t about the destination but rather the journey. I had an absolute blast for the whole ride.

Now that I’ve made you read all of this, I’m going to go ahead and admit that I haven’t seen Squid Girl, Shirobako, or Prison School, but I kind of have to now, because I was bowled over by this show. This series revels in surrealism, so your mileage may vary, but it’s at the very least worth checking out. It may not have a lasting impact outside of some similar cult favoritism, but this was still my personal favorite new anime of the season.

Wind Breaker

A few weeks into the Spring season I felt like I was missing something. I gave Wind Breaker a shot and I realized about halfway into the first episode that what I was missing was just some dope-ass fisticuffs.

Haruka is a bit of a delinquent. His hair and eyes are heterochromic, and because he’s judged so harshly for his looks, he decided to lean into it and become the nogoodnik everyone thinks he is. He’s moved to a new town to join the local high school Furin, where he hears he’ll have to fight his way to the top, but as soon as he arrives in town he sees a young woman being harassed by a group of creeps. He takes them out on his own and in return receives a free lunch from the cafe she runs despite his protestations. After she teases him more than a little (his ass is NOT used to positive attention), the creeps return with more goons in tow, and Haruka is backed up by his new classmates. To his surprise, the locals shower the Furin boys with praise, and he then learns that Furin’s gang, Bofurin, exists solely to protect the town from outside threats. And Haruka thinks that is the coolest shit ever.

From there, Haruka gets to meet more of the Bofurin boys, and because of his standoffish personality, rebuffs their praises from the fight. Again, his ass is NOT used to positive attention. We get to learn the hierarchy of Bofurin, and it’s not exactly as Haruka expected: This is not a might-makes-right dogpile at all; it is a structured organization that protects its own and puts its community first. Soon enough, though, they happen upon one of their middle schoolers being hassled by a neighboring gang, and they organize a tournament on hostile ground to resolve their differences.

I am an absolute goddamn sucker for the “delinquent with a heart of gold” archetype, and Haruka is just a big ol’ tsundere from the opening minutes, so Wind Breaker hit like fucking catnip for me. For a show about gangs of delinquents, this could actually be a good example of positive masculinity if you look at it in a certain light. It’s very heavy-handed with the message that nobody can achieve greatness on their own and that surrounding yourself with the right people can change your life for the better. It’s not a rare theme in Japanese media by any means (it’s a central theme of the Persona series as well as another ultra-popular shonen series I’ve been reading in secret), but I really appreciate it being delivered through the lens of channeling brute strength and fighting prowess specifically to protect the vulnerable.  

At the end of the day, though, it’s really just about guys bein’ dudes.

The production values on this are phenomenal and I have to commend CloverWorks for turning in yet another banger. The cast is deep and plenty talented (there’s a lot of Jujutsu Kaisen in there, and it should surprise nobody that the goofy, silver-haired leader of Bofurin is voiced by Yuichi Nakamura). The animation, shot composition, fight choreography, and lighting effects are all absolutely gorgeous, and it’s clear that they see this as a potential franchise. At least, I would certainly hope so, because what we actually got from the first season left me a little hungry. The tournament arc was juicy, and it went a lot longer toward introducing the ensemble cast than the two other action shows I just talked about, but it lasted about an episode too long for a 13-episode season, and the ending came at an awkward time. I was left wanting, but what I want is a second season, so I guess it did its job.

The issues with pacing and the weirdly-timed ending meant that Wind Breaker was a bit of a fence case for me between this section and the last, but my memories of watching it are almost uniformly positive, so into The Gems it goes. This show rocks. Dudes rock.

[gremlin-girly]

Part of the Sun, Sea & Sirens Collection

Pairing: Siren!Curtis x f!antartic researcher!reader (Snowdrop)

Tags/warnings: SMUT, dub/non con (for siren song), monster fucking, descriptions of drowning (sorry there's not many other things you can do in the sea lmao), descriptions of animal attacks, blood, descriptions of hypothermia, dry humping, size kink (I made him big and beefy soz), clit play/teasing, nipple play, kinda cum play,talk of mates (as always xoxo),

Not beta'd and I don't give permission for my work to be reposted, translated, copied or put through AI! All work is 18+

Summary: On a routine trip to monitor some penguins, things take a turn for the worst. Thankfully, you're rescued and hatch a plan to get back to your outpost and home with a new found friend.

Word count: roughly 6k

A/N: So many rehashings later we. Are. Here. This was a real labour of love because I had to look up so many things and the story just kept going and going and going... and then i got an integral plot point WRONG. 😩 oh well. Part 2 shouldnt take as long. Enjoy!

Additional Author's Notes to be added later for research links etc. X

Banner by me, made in Canva (image credit to the creators, I sourced these on Pinterest) | Dividers by:

Navigation | Sun, Sea and Sirens Masterlist | Curtis Masterlist | Part 2

Your expedition parka was zipped all the way to your chin as you threw on your ugliest, most beloved bobble hat to brave the harsh freeze of the Antarctic.

“Do you think I could request a parka in any other colour than dehydrated piss yellow?” You ask Amil as you tug on your gloves.

Amil was one of the other four researchers with you on the expedition and probably the one you were closest to, mainly due to the fact that you studied inter-connecting fields; yours being polar marine life and Amil’s being observational oceanography. Oceanography has many fields of study, Amil’s being focused ocean-ice interactions, specifically focussed on how the rising sea levels were affecting the oceanic climate. In the same vein, the melting of the ice caps meant changes to polar marine life; your area of expertise. Many a late night on the desolate planes of the Antarctic had you both chattering away in the common area discussing possible solutions and outcomes of your research.

“We don’t even get funding for better canned food; you’d be hard pushed to find approval for a new colour coat.” He laughs up at you from lacing his boots.

“Yeah,” you sigh and open the door. “Very true.”

You knew that life as an Antarctic researcher wouldn’t be a cake walk. Below freezing temperatures and no fresh food other than fish meant you were limited to a minimum of six months of fish breath. The only upside was watching and studying what little life seemed to flourish in this frozen wasteland. Penguins were a regular feature favourite, some of which had been tagged by the team in order to tell them apart from the others, and you closely monitored them. Sometimes seals or orcas made an appearance, which meant you had to watch on at the edge of your hiding spots as nature took its course.

Looking out onto the vast icy plane before you, the sun’s rays making the snow glitter, you can’t help but wonder if somewhere out there in the unforgiving cold there was a discovery waiting for you to find. You’d heard about bacteria and the like but part of you wanted something more, something bigger, like the abominable snowman or a yeti. Something worth studying. What if there was a culture or language that hadn’t met human connection yet? What if you were the person to make that connection?

Dreams of grandeur and snowman-human communications often occupied your thoughts, even if you yourself knew that it was just a dream.

Checking everything one last time, you and Amil begin to make your way to the boat.

The boat wasn’t really a boat, per se, more of an inflatable red dingy. Funding really was low.

As Amil tugs on his life jacket, a lovely neon orange to match the yellow of the coat, you do a check of the boat; ensuring no bite marks may have appeared over night from a bored polar bear. You give Amil a quick thumbs up as you begin the arduous process of fighting your life jacket on whilst Amil checks the recording equipment. On days like these when the sun is bright penguins are out in droves. Which means so are all the predators.

You hate to idly watch by and do nothing but, research is research, and mother nature is cruel and unforgiving at the best of times. You and Amil heave the dingy onto the dark water clambering in quickly before it moves too far, the buoys along either side of the dingy bob frantically at the nuisance but quickly settle as the tiny engine roars to life and you set off across the water to the penguin outpost.

“Do you think we’ll see any orca today?” Amil asks, tinkering with the camera.

“Possibly.” You say casually, manoeuvring around a stray ice plate. “It’s quite warm today, so I’m hoping we can see the seals on the beach.”

Amil chuckles. “They are cute when they sunbathe. Maybe Marnie will be a little more confident and say hi.”

Marnie was one of the seal cubs you’d miraculously managed to put a tracker on. A sweet white ball of fluff who was so shy she rarely peeked her head past her mum.

“I doubt it. But damn it,” You groan. “She’s just too damn cute!”

You stall the boat about twenty metres from the penguin outlook and watch on with a happy smile as they waddle around. The water is quiet, barely making waves against the boat and you and Amil make the silent agreement to move a little closer to the giant ice floe with the oars.

“Oho,” You whisper to Amil as he focuses the camera lens, pointing to one of the penguins carrying a small pebble. “Looks like someone’s trying to propose.”

Watching the tiny penguin hop over others to an awaiting mate is probably the sweetest thing you have ever been blessed to witness in real-time. Coos and caws of excitement from the penguins erupt all over the floe and you and Amil cheer on silently from the dingy, grinning widely at each other. It’s only when the penguins chatter dulls again that you hear another noise.

You check behind you, the water inky black even in the sunlight. There aren’t any ripples, no black fins protruding the surface. But the noise remains.

“Do you hear that?”

Amil looks at you and strains his ears before nodding. “What the hell is that?”

You shrug helplessly. It’s an eerie howl, low and gravelly. You’ve never heard anything like it before, and you’re supposed to be the expert. Looking back to the water you squint, hoping to see something. You think you catch a glimpse of a tail but you can’t be sure; the water is too dark to see anything unless it was at the surface. However, a sense of unease creeps in, like you’re being watched.

“We should go.” You say, making a grab for your oar. “I don’t like this, Amil.”

Amil rolls his eyes and scoffs. “You can’t be serious, we just got here! Scared of your marine monsters you always hope to see?”

You shake your head, cold sweat rolling down your back even in your many layers of clothing. “It’s not that it-“

You pause as fear seeps into your bones, quietly muttering. “Listen.”

Amil frowns but follows your instruction. The penguins have stopped chattering. Huddled together on the ice floe, they’re almost silent apart from the occasional squawk from a young chick. A predator must be near, one that you can’t see, and suddenly you’re wishing that you’d never asked for a bigger discovery.

The howl comes again, then what sounds like the bang of a drum. You wrack your brain for answers, but you can only settle on orca. But if it was orca you'd have seen them by now. They hunt in packs, they’re mammals and need air, a dorsal fin or a snort for air would have pinpointed them for you. But you also know that orca, for all their intents and purposes, don’t hunt humans. Their intelligence alludes them to the fact it’s not optimal to eat you but that doesn’t mean you want to get close enough to test that theory.

The sound of water splashing makes you turn your head but there’s nothing but quick ripples when you look. You’re ten miles from the shoreline you came from, your camp another five inland on a snowmobile. If your dingy tipped, you’d have maybe fifteen minutes of swimming to complete before going hypothermic if you were lucky. And that’s if whatever was in the water was happy to only eat penguin.

“Amil,” You whisper hurriedly, grabbing your friend’s attention. “Your oar. Let’s go.”

Amil, now pale-faced after finally understanding your predicament, shakily picks up his oar. You both gently dip your oars in the water and watch them disappear as you slowly begin to row backwards from where you came. A curious, or brave, penguin steps down to the edge of the ice floe and dives into the water quickly followed by another handful. You sigh, grateful for the distraction until one of the penguins slams into the side of the dingy, making it rock violently. You grip the wide sides and peek overboard. Only darkness stares back.

“Hooooo,” You breathe out nervously, nodding at Amil and begin rowing again. Another penguin smacks into the dingy, this time catching a rope from one of the buoys that may have not been as tight as you thought, ensnaring itself in a knot as the bouy bobs away from you. Your training and research dictates that you should always let nature take its course, however, if you were a tiny little penguin furiously trying to escape an unknown monster, you would be grateful for a helping hand from a piss-yellow-coat-neon-life-jacket-wearing hairless yeti.

You lean over the edge of the boat, ripping the small swiss army knife free from your deep pockets and sawing at the rope frantically as the penguin splashed around in a blinding panic.

"Amil!" You scream sending ripples across the surface, half turning to look for your friend for help. "AMIL!"

It happens so fast, you only catch snippets of the next few moments; the feeling of hot steaming breath on the back of your neck as teeth sink into the faux fur of your hood, the growl of triumph in your ears as you're yanked backwards viciously, the look of terror on Amil's face as he reaches for you, centimetres from your own outstretched hand as you hit the water and the taste of winter ice filling your mouth as you try to scream.

The last thing you hear before the being dragged under the ice is Amil screaming your name.

You can't remember ever being so cold.

Your body seizes as your legs flail helplessly. You feel incredibly stupid. Leopard seal. Of course, it was a leopard seal. Not much was known about them other than a few measly facts like their singing, their size and their territorial behaviour.

Ice burned in your lungs. You were lightheaded, low on oxygen and dizzy. However, escape would be futile. You feel the maw release you and for a few moments you begin to float upwards - you scrunch your face waiting for the killing blow only to be barrelled into by something bigger.

Which can never be good.

It feels like you're moving diagonally. There's a howl, a grumble and you swear you can hear a man's voice tell you you're safe. Half convinced you're dead or dying you don't give it much credence until you breach the surface of the water and are thrown onto ice.

You cough and splutter salted ice water from your lungs and heave a sharp, deep inhale of air. You don’t know where you are, or how you’ve survived but everything aches from adrenaline. Moving to sit up, you notice you’re on thick, clear ice that surrounds every corner of your vision but it blurs before you can make out anything distinguishable.

Your dehydrated-piss yellow parka has absorbed too much water and weighs down on your shivering body. Panic settles. You need to get out of these clothes ASAP and get dry.

That’s rule one of hypothermia avoidance.

The zipper slips from your fingers a few dozen times as you try to undo it, teeth clicking together like a ghostly xylophone echoing against the ice. There’s a swish of water behind you and you think the seal has decided to finish what it started. You half turn, ready to be met with a maw of sharp teeth, but instead you’re met with a beast of a man clambering out the hole in the ice.

His arms are thick with muscle, straining as he heaves himself from the water. His hair is close cut but because his face is focused downward, you can’t make out any features on his shadow-cast face. Your eyes trail his torso; like the rest of him he’s huge, with taut muscle and dark, thick hair that runs from his chest all the way down to his abdomen. His body is littered with scars, ranging from silvery slices to pink teeth-marks. He’d clearly wrangled with beasts plenty of times.

You breathe out slowly, watching the rest of his form emerge from the depths. Scales dance around his hips in what little light is available and you blink rapidly as more and more appear. You think, finally, that you’ve drowned and this is the final image your brain has decided to subject you to; a giant merman with a tail as blue as the midnight sky.

Maybe he’s here to finish what the seal couldn’t.

The thought terrifies you and you shuffle backwards, your hands failing to find grip in the ice so you end up blindly kicking your legs. The movement makes the man (monster?) raise his head, cementing you to your spot as bright, frost-blue eyes connect with yours.

A vicious thought enters your brain; about how you wanted this. You wanted a discovery and by a sick twist of fate, you’ve gotten it.

“LIE DOWN!” He bellows, icicles shaking above you. He slides across the ice so quickly, grasping you by the shoulders to keep you still. Your wide eyes can’t even cry because you’re so scared. He seems to briefly register your fear because in a softer voice he adds, “I need to get you warm and dry. Trust me.”

You nod wordlessly, stuck between fear and logic with your chattering teeth. The merman, for lack of better a word, tears at your ugly coat and hurriedly peels away at your layers. Your shock doesn’t even let you feel embarassed about being naked in front of the merman, too busy focusing on your own survival to even think about letting a bit of bare skin get in the way.

The ice floor beneath you is cool against your skin but not freezing, yet you still shiver. The merman lifts you with ease, holding you close as he moves across the open space to a nest of furs you’d missed when you’d first breached the ice. Setting you down gently, he wraps you in a fur leaving only your face and wet hair visible. The scent of the fur is overwhelming; leathery, salted musk that had mingled with the creature's sweat. It was strangely comforting, considering the situation you were in.

“Th-thank you.” You slur, cosying yourself beneath the blanket. “A-are we s-s-safe here?”

He grunts and nods in response but doesn’t say anything else, watching you carefully. To say he’s huge is an understatement. He’s positively gigantic, towering over you with a fretful look etched along those strong features. He’s borderline stauesque, almost unmoving muscled ivory skin that looks almost blue in the reflection of the cave. Your discovery, your saviour, your merman was the most beautiful specimen if you’d ever seen one.

“What’s your name?” You puff out slowly, trying to keep your breathing steady as you fight the tiredness settling in your bones. Adrenaline levels in your body must be dropping but you can’t sleep yet, not until you have some questions answered and can safely stay warm.

“Curtis,” he murmurs, leaning down closer to inspect your face. “It’s Curtis.”

“Curtis.” You murmur back and a smile creeps onto your lips. A big, beautiful creature called Curtis was your saviour. A sea monster called Curtis is almost laughable but it's cute. He's cute.

“What’s so funny?” He asks raising an eyebrow at you quizzically, his head tilting slightly. His eyes are possibly the bluest you’ve ever seen and you’re utterly lost within them.

“Nothing.” You say quickly, ducking a little further under your fur to hide your lips. You give him your name, smiling dumbly at him. He says it slowly, savouring it on his tongue and your heartbeat quickens.

You're a scientist. He's a discovery. Why are you so wound up like a teen with a crush?

His blue eyes are still watching you closely as his large tail curls around your tucked knees and, with what you can only be described as purring, nudges at your forehead with his.

A wave of warmth rolls over your body and settles between yout thighs, making you sigh with delight. You blink up at him lazily, well-aware that it’s most likely the hypothermia making your brain turn to blissful fluff, but you’re suddenly more concerned about the fact he may get hypothermia too, even as a merperson.

“Where’re your furs?” You ask, shuffling your legs against his tail. He was emanating heat like a merman radiator.

He chuckles. "You're using them."

“Oh.” You blink in slow surprise. “We should share then.”

Curtis watches you with amused fascination and you gingerly lift the furs, offering to share your warmth with him.

“You need them more than me.” He counters and you shake your head.

“I can’t have you going hypothermic on me, either.” You huff before shivering. “Just please get under here.”

Curtis sighs through his nose, draping a heavy arm around your waist, tugging you closer to his huge body, letting the furs contain your heat. You squeak but the moment your bare chest touches his you can feel heat pour from him and instead of making a point to divide up sides, you hum with delight. Curtis mimicks your hum and you feel that tide of warmth wash over you again.

“You’re so warm.” You whisper and his grip tightens.

"Hush," He sighs, his other arm acting as your pillow and pulling your face into his chest. "You're safe now. Close your eyes and rest."

Your face is buried into the hair on his chest, inhaling a musky mix of salty sea water and sweat as your arms wrap around him. You shudder with cold as you fight away the impending feeling of panic. Amil thought you were dead. Was Amil safe? Did he get back to base? Your friends, family...

"I need to get back to the base." You breathe quietly. Your legs brush against the scales of his tail and your surprised to find that they're soft, not scratchy. Moving of their own accord, your legs rub against the scales, the friction building much needed heat. "They need to know I'm okay."

"Stay here tonight." Curtis rumbles and you feel your argument die in your throat. "That's tomorrow's problem."

A large palm moves soothingly up and down your back, and you find yourself curling into him, chasing his warmth. You don't know what's come over you. You should be terrified, you are terrified, but it's lost within a cloud of fog over your brain. Your body wraps itself around Curtis like a second blanket, a leg hitched over his hip to press close to his body under the fur.

You find your body slowly melting into him and you sigh with contentment; despite anxiety's slithering tendrils curling at the edges of your psyche, you felt safe. Comforted.

Horny.

That couldn't be right. Your brow furrows slightly as you chide yourself. You're a scientist. adrenaline has done one over on you, and although you aren't a psychiatrist, you could make a safe bet that this feeling was linked to the fact you almost died gruesomely and Curtis was your saviour. Plus, he was easy on the eyes too.

From where your head is on his chest; vibrations rattle along your skull as Curtis, for lack of a better word, begins to purr. That rolling warmth you felt earlier returns, your body slowly drawing itself from sleepiness. Then the sound stops as you fidget, fighting your body to stop itself from grinding against Curtis' scales.

"I'm sorry," Curtis murmurs against your ear and despite the warmth emanating from you both, you shiver. "I was getting too comfortable."

"Too comfortable?" You echo, peeking up at him. His eyes meet yours, searching your face and studying your reaction with budding curiosity.

"I didn't mean for-" He looks apologetic. "It's my song."

You blink up at him. "Song?"

He nods gently taking your hand closest to his chest and placing it where your head had been resting, near his heart and then he hums.

The same vibrations rumble through his ribcage, brain fog descends once more making you feel giddy while your stomach swoops with anxiety. However, despite the anxiety, you find yourself humming back and matching his vibration with your own.

You argue to yourself that you mimic him, that you're doing what you'd do if you found another animal; trying to understand how they communicate. But deep down, within the roils of terror, you knew your body acted of its own accord.

"Your soul called to mine in those cold, dark waters." Curtis' low baritone echoes around the cave, sending vibrations across the thick ice beneath you. "And I responded. You feel it don't you? When I sing?"

You couldn't deny the feeling but then he adds in a whisper, "That's how I knew you were mine."

You can feel the thud of his large hear pumping beneath your palm. You're part terrified, part intrigued; how was this different to the dreams of your yetis and snowmen?

The other part, the deeper, darker part of you knows what's he's saying is true. You're both connected somehow and you can't deny your attraction to him, even if you are still frightened of how your body is reacting to him.

It must read all over your face because Curtis chuckles, low and deep. You peek up and catch a small smile and his glittering blue eyes as he looks at you like he's won the lottery and it makes both your heart thrum. He moves his face closer, pressing his forehead to yours and nudging your nose with his again. You move your face slightly and Curtis moves again, this time capturing your lips in a sweet kiss. It's short and unexpected but it still leaves you breathless.

"I am sorry if I scared you earlier," he murmurs, his nose nudging yours as he purrs again. "I wanted to make sure you were safe and unharmed."

"Stop doing that." You eke out, face flushed with embarassment as you grip onto his shoulder. Damp heat had settled between your thighs and you desperately needed friction.

Curtis looks at you quizzically before realisation dawns. "If you need to use me," He says with a small smile. "Do so. I won't mind."

You bury your face into his chest to hide how red your face is.

"Anything my mate needs or wants from me is yours."

Mate.

That word rips through your mind and you try to argue

"I'm not - we're not..." You say thickly. "Mates?"

"It's a rare occurrence for humans to be mates but it does happen." Curtis nods. "Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are. I thought there was no one for me. But then I heard you."

You cast your mind back to when you were in the boat. Had he been watching you then? Was the gaze you felt his and not the leopard seal?

Or was it beneath the surface of the water? Did your scream send vibrations through the water that he happened to hear? If so, that opened up a research possibility.

Vibrations we're a clear method of communication, nothing surprising about that since a lot of marine animals would use the water to their advantage. Without meaning to, had you bound yourself to him?

You shake your head, nose and cheeks brushing against the coarse hair on his wide chest. You didn't want to think about it but at the same time it was all you could think about. From the way he spoke, it sounded like these merfolk mated for life. And it didn't help that you were so hot and bothered by him that you just wanted to crawl on top of him and-

Your right leg hitches itself over his tail, the thick muscle sits between your legs now, soft scales biting gently against your skin. You timidly roll your hips forward and a groan wracks your body as your clit rubs over the slightly bumpy scales. It feels better than good, it feels amazing and you roll your hips again, biting your lips this time. You can't stop yourself, the pleasure you feel easing the ache you'd been feeling.

Curtis' left hand, the one that had been running up and down your back, grips the back of your thigh and hoists you higher, your face closer to his and your needy cunt pressing against the his scales. His nose nudges yours again, and you raise your lips to his with no hesitation. He tastes like salt water and when you hum, licking away the salt with your tongue, Curtis' grip on your thigh tightens and lifts it higher letting the furs slip away and bearing your cunt to the icy cave.

You gasp quietly and peek at him through tired lashes, his blue eyes dark and focused on your face as he adjusts his wide hips. Then you feel it, the heavy weight of his thick cock moving through your folds easily, slowly. To say he was huge was understatement. His cock matched his imposing size; and when his scaled hips rolled back and the leaking tip of his cock brushed your throbbing clit, you jutted your hips forward to meet his. You want to climb him, fuck him, milk him. And Curtis seemed to know this, smiling at how your lips part and how your eyes beg for more.

"Needy little thing," He chuckles. "But not tonight. It'll be too much for you."

He places a chaste kiss to your forehead, moving his hips again, your pussy clenching as his cock ruts between the soft of your thighs, giving your clit plenty of attention. It's not long before your moans become high and breathier and you cum with a shudder and a loud whine over his cock.

"You look so beautiful when you cum. I can't wait to see you stretched over my cock." Curtis murmurs as he continues to thrust through your silky folds before he reaches his climax, coating your thighs with thick sticky spend.

You cast a glance downward, watching the scales shimmer in what little light you have. The scales fall in a V shape around his hips, dark hair of his snail trail disappearing under them. His cock, strangely, is where it would be if he were human only difference is that it's protected by scales. Your fingers delicately trace the line where scale meets skin as Curtis tugs the fur back across you both, shuddering at your touch.

He huffs a breath but allows you to continue, his own fingers tracing patterns against the back of your shoulders.

"So pretty," you murmur sleepily, watching his muscles twitch under your touch.

"Rest." He urges quietly with a kiss to your forehead. "We can explore eachother more tomorrow."

You hum in acknowledgement, your eyes slowly closing. It's not long before you're asleep, dreaming of merfolk and their communication, society and their mating rituals.

When you blink awake, you're not sure how long you have been asleep. It may have been hours or minutes but you're cosy and warm with Curtis still wrapped around you, now acting as big spoon. His legs are tangled with yours, which is strange because, if your memory served correctly, he was a giant merman last you checked.

Your face heats as your realise that your inner thighs are still sticky with Curtis' cum. So that wasn't a dream. But Curtis doesn't have a tail anymore. You remove left arm entrapped under the arm Curtis had lay across your waist, exploring down his thigh; muscular, some coarse hair, but no scales.

You frown.

Maybe in your vulnerable state you'd assumed he was a merman. You make a small grumble of frustration. Curtis stirs gently, his cock twitching against your ass.

"Snowdrop," He mumbles, voice thick with sleep. "Go back to sleep."

You angle your head to peek at him and see his eyes are still closed but his arm around you squeeze you tighter. Your face heats with embarassment as you mutter a quick apology.

"Go back to sleep." Curtis repeats, snuggling into you again, his beard tickling the nape of your neck.

Your mind starts to race, subconsciously wiggling further back against him under the furs. You shift your legs every few moments, remembering the state you were in; blissed out after humping his thick cock. Shame and arousal wash over you. He'd not only let you do it he'd encouraged it; using you only after you'd cum and not pushing to fuck you. Your heart strings tugged, even if it was the bare minimum. He seemed to have genuinely taken to you and you were still trying to make sense of him; you almost felt guilty for it.

There's a sigh behind you and Curtis' big hand that had been been draped over your waist slowly made its way between your thighs, finding your clit and rubbing slow circles, making you gasp and jerk in surprise.

"I'll help you get back to sleep then, Snowdrop." Curtis murmurs, angling the large arm under your neck to fondle at your bare tits. He rolls a nipple between his thumb and forefinger as he he rubs at your clit, swiping some of his still-sticky cum over your sensitive nub. You groan pressing your ass back against him. His fingers dip downward to your cunt, slipping in one thick finger as he kisses and nips at your neck, slowly pumping you a few times before adding a second finger and letting your walls constrict them.

"Your cunt is still slick." He comments, his half-hard cock pressing against the curve of your ass. "You must have been having good dreams."

Your pussy squeezes at his words and you can feel his smirk on your neck, his fingers pressing against your walls to keep you stretched open. His thumb swipes at your swollen clit and he tweaks at you nipple, earning himself more moans of pleasure.

"Curtis please." Your back arches against him, letting the pleasure wrack your still-tired body.

"I'm sorry, Snowdrop. If I don't stretch you open you'll never fit on my cock." He purrs, kissing your cheek softly. "We can't have that, can we?"

You groan in response when his fingers start to curl and move inside your pussy. Curtis was right, you were still wet, and your orgasm was pending on release as he holds you at the edge; curling and pumping his fingers all while toying with your nipples and clit. It was too much.

"Curtis," you gasp, weakly reaching for his face, behind you, twisting your neck uncomfortably to place sweet kisses against his lips. "'M gonna cum."

"That's fine, pretty thing." He murmurs. "Cum for me."

Gentle kisses are placed to your temple as you heave breaths, shuddering as your cunt gushes around his fingers. Curtis' fingers linger inside you for a few moments before retreating, and you watch in a haze as he takes a long lick of them, savouring your cum against his tongue. His eyes are almost predatory black as he looks down at you.

"You taste..." He trails with a happy hum, lapping at his fingers. "Delicious. I'm going to enjoy ruining our bedsheets when you're ready."

"You know what bedsheets are?" You giggle softly as he slides back beside you, pecking your lips as your body still thrums with remnants of your orgasm.

"Of course." He replies but doesnt elaborate further. His arms wrap around you, holding you close and he starts to purr with contentment. Your body grows tired again, relaxing into his hold.

"Curtis," you whisper.

"Mm?"

"Thank you." You curl under his chin, twisting your legs into his as you fall away into sleep, holding him tight.

When you wake, hours later, you're greeted by the smell of cooked fish and smoke. There's an ache between your legs from your two earlier trysts, however, the need for food is at the forefront of your mind now. The trysts can be addressed later.

It's only a moment before Curtis appears at your side, wrapped in layers of fur and holding a freshly cooked fish out to you. You take it, blowing on the charred skin and try not to think about what you're eating as your teeth sink into the flesh. You're so hungry. Hungrier than you've ever been and the fish is finished in seconds and you look up at Curtis sheepishly.

He smiles softly. "Good. You have an appetite."

One of his hands cups your cheek, gently tilting your face to look up at his. "There's plenty of food for you."

When Curtis turns to get you more fish from the fire, you take a moment to glance at your surroundings. You're in an ice cave. Naturally occurring hollow structures in ice or ice floes. You'd been in them before, when out exploring; they make excellent shelters from the elements since the ice is so thick. The cave is almost sloped, with the entrance higher in the ice.

Curtis is near a small fire by the entrance of the cave, ensuring no smoke is getting trapped to suffocate you both and, not far from where your lying in the furs, is the hole Curtis had emerged from the day before. Sea water sloshes three inches from the surface. So you were on the ocean at least.

Looking behind your makeshift bed was very few items. Some cans of food, a small roll of tools and what looked to be spare fur clothes to fit Curtis' enormous body.

Your tattered clothes are next to Curtis drying out and when you look over at him again you can see that he definitely did not have a tail. You rub your eyes and double check.

Nope. No tail.

It must have been your mind playing tricks on you. However, he is as handsome so that was still an excellent discovery.

You shuffle under the covers trying to hold the fur over your chest when Curtis returns, holding two fish out to you. You're halfway through the first when you notice he's just watching you eat and you hold the second one out to him.

"You'd better eat too." You urge, feeling guilty for stuffing your face while your saviour hadn't taken a bite.

Curtis shakes his head and smiles down at you. "I've eaten already. I was making sure you there was enough for you after you woke."

"Oh thanks."

Curtis raises his eyebrow. "Especially after your... restless night."

You blush hard, stammering out an apology.

"It's quite alright, Snowdrop. No need to apologise." Curtis settles beside you, watching you tear through your fish. "It's my duty to make sure you're well taken care of."

You almost spit the flesh all over him. "Your duty?"

Curtis nods and looks at little sheepish. "As your mate. You may not remember the conversation from last night since you were running on adrenaline."

You did but were half convinced it was a mixture of death defying hypothermia and your imagination. Clearly, he wasn't a merman but he was perhaps a weirdo living in an ice cave. Though, surviving this long in the uninhabitable plains was ny impossible...

"I, erm..." you swallow your fish meat thickly. You sit a little straighter. The last thing you want to do is piss him off, considering his size and stature you'd be easy to... well, do anything to. However, you can't resist blurting the question that's been bothering you since you woke up the first time this morning. "Do you have a tail? Sorry. I just remember seeing a tail and I think it was a fever dream."

Curtis blinks at you and chuckles. "Yes."

"I thought so - wait - excuse me?" You look dumbfounded and you're sure he's just messing with you.

Now Curtis looks as confused as you do. "All merfolk have tails?"

"Hoooookay," you say, your mind racing. So last night was not a dream or your brain playing tricks. Curtis purrs in response and you feel your skin prickle and when your eyes meet you can tell he thinks he's being cute.

"Hey," you snap, cheeks growing red as heats spreads from between your legs. "Don't do that. I have more questions."

"You didn't seem to mind it last night." Curtis says but bows his head to you. "But ask away."

"How long have you been out here? Where's your family? What-"

exactly are you?

You don't voice the rest of your question, thinking it a bit too rude, but Curtis doesn't seem to mind as he begins to tell you about his time out in the great frozen unknown.

He'd been left for about a year on his own. His family, what he called a pod, was a myriad of merfolk that gathered together as a family unit. According to Curtis, his pod had never truly settled like some merfolk had and spent most of their time travelling the sea in an almost continuous migration.

"With the ice melting, pollution and sea travel, it's been harder for us to keep hidden and find refuge." He explains, then fixes you with a funny look. "I don't know how it'll work with a mate like you."

"Stop calling me that." You chide softly, but it still makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. "So, what happened?"

"I decided that enough was enough. That we should settle as a unit, like we should have years ago." He grumbles and then shrugs. "We didn't know where to start or if it would be safe when we got stuck here. The cold water killed off many of the elderly. The children struggled to acclimatise and the leopard seals and some orca saw them as easy pickings. I sent them on the migration path early urging them to settle someplace. Myself and a few others volunteered to stay behind to keep them safe on the journey out of these waters."

The last part went unspoken but you could piece it together; Curtis had been the only one of the volunteers to survive. The cold must have had a hard time affecting that gigantic body of his.

"Well, surely you could find them again?" You press. "If you migrate every year and travel there has to be-"

"I wouldn't know where to begin." Curtis sighs dejectedly. "We have different routes. And with how dangerous the sea has become..." he shakes his head. "I made my choice to protect my pod when they left this place. I can only hope they found somewhere to settle."

His big blue eyes look at you, hoping for understanding and your heart aches for him. You place a small hand over his reassuringly and give him a smile.

"But what about you?" You say gently. "You can't stay out here. It's uninhabitable for a reason."

"I like the cold." Curtis huffs haughtily.

"Yeah well," you huff back. "Mate or not, I can't survive in those waters for more than fifteen minutes without thick insulated SCUBA gear. And without water or proper food, I would die within the week. Give me a beach in the Bahamas with a few cocktails and I'd be golden."

You give him a sideways glance and see him shift his hunkering form uncomfortably, knowing you were correct. Clearly the thought of abandoning his post made him uncomfortable, the mere thought of his pod returning and not finding him anxiety-inducing. You sigh through your nose, trying to think.

"We could go to the research outpost where I was stationed," you say slowly, watching his expression shift to unease. "Plenty of food and water and shelter."

Curtis harrumphs but then an idea swims from the depths of your brain amd you clap ypur hands together, startling Curtis as the sound reverberates around the cave. You turn to him beaming.

"We could find your pod." You say excitedly. Curtis' eyes narrow.

"I know you're right about going you don't need to manipulate me, Snowdrop." He grumbles, shoulders slumping. You scoot closer patting his thigh, still brimming with excitement.

"No we have maps, tech, SONAR-" Curtis' eyebrows raise as you speak. "We could map out where your travel paths are. We do it with orca and other animals all the time. If we do that we could narrow down the areas you visited most and where the pod would most likely settle."

Curtis eyes are sparkling by the time you've finished speaking and he's grinning at you almost madly. "So, I have a smart mate."

"Don't call me that." You snip quickly, but you're still smiling at him. "Do you know a way to get us to the out post safely? By foot?"

Curtis' face falls and his thick brows furrow with thought. "There aren't enough furs or food if we went by land." Curtis explains. "But there are no predators. Only the sun. We would starve to death or freeze long before we reach where I found you in the water."

He pauses and looks slightly apologetic as he continues. "But if I took you beneath the surface, the journey would be done in less than an hour. Less than a day if I take supplies with me."

You nod along thoughtfully. "I'm sensing there's a but?"

"But," Curtis sighs. "We would be crossing through leopard seal territory. Again. You could potentially drown, be injured or killed and that's before we're out of the water."

"I could go hypothermic." You finish and Curtis nods. "And you don't know how to get to the compound or how to work the equipment."

"But underwater is our best bet." Curtis says slowly. "But what if my pod comes back to find me?

"We could leave a message in the ice to head to the out post." You suggest. "Leave my contact information? We could always-" you can't believe you were saying this. "-Come back and update the messages if we don't locate them elsewhere."

Curtis looks visibly relieved. "We could?"

"Of course." You give him a reassuring smile. "My research is based out here anyway I could... try and bring you with me."

Curtis smirks. "I could always follow your boat."

"Right. Merman." You smile sheepishly. "I'd have a hard time explaining that to the other researchers, gotta make sure you don't get kidnapped by the men in black."

"No one could keep me from you." He says firmly, making a sweet rumbling sound that keeps you still as he kisses you adoringly. You can feel yourself literally swooning and it's almost laughable until Curtis pulls back, looking at you with a soft smile. "But I have to get everything ready for our journey."

You nibble at your fish, now cold after your chatter. The plan was that Curtis would make trips back and forth with the clothes and what little belongings he had, scouting the area first before taking you. That way, not only was the journey safer, but he could focus on moving faster with you in his arms and when you reached your destination, could wrap you in furs that would be dried in the sun.

You re-dress into your clothes from the night before, still a little damp in places and the piss yellow coat now had a smokey salt scent to it, and watch Curtis undress to jump into the ocean.

Your eyes trail his muscular legs, all the way to his torso and your face heats when you see he's been watching you oggle him for the past two minutes.

"If we survive the trip," he says, voice sultry as he ties a leather belt with a sheathed hatchet around his waist. "You can explore me all you like."

You bluster, about to argue back when he dives through the hole and vanishes for what feels like an age.

You shouldn't be attracted to a fish man. You chide yourself, pacing the ice cave to stay warm. The more you thought about Curtis, your circumstances of meeting, your research despite your current mate situation, the more you realised that regardless of being his mate (however that happened) you'd have been attracted to him anyway. And from what you'd seen and heard from myths and stories, you much preferred having a hunk of a mermaid than some terrifying sea creature that wanted to eat you for dinner. You shudder, remembering the leopard seal. At least you'd have Curtis for protection.

After what felt like an age, Curtis' head pops out of the hole in the ice.

"Bad news." He pants. "The ice floes have moved. It may take longer than anticipated to reach your out post."

"Shit," you hiss, passing him his few belongings wrapped tightly in a fur. "How much longer?"

Curtis shakes his head, taking the fur parcel from you. "Perhaps a few minutes? The good news is that I can't see or hear any sea leopards."

You sigh with relief. "Okay. Phew."

You give him a short smile and he rises higher out of the water to catch your lips in a wet kiss that leaves you a little lightheaded and you murmur out a quick "be careful" as he disappears below the surface of the dark water.

The second time he returns, he's a lot faster. He gives you a once over, trying to give you a reassuring smile when he sees your worried expression.

"You ready?"

You nod, breathing quickly, trying to steel yourself.

"I'll be with you." He affirms. "I'll keep you close and take you to the surface as soon as I can."

You look down at him, fear and cold making you shake but you manage a smile when you see his soft features look at you with such affection and brace as you slide into the water.

Sliding into the water was a lot more difficult than being pulled in. Even with your layers the icy water still penetrated to your skin and the darkness that enveloped you made your heart jumps erratically. Thankfully, the hulking mass that was Curtis was there to hold you as you took one final gulp of air and dipped under the surface.

He moved fast. Now that you weren't actively drawing, you could feel the pressure of speed from the beat of his tail against your body and in mere seconds you were breaking the surface, bobbing together in the freezing open ocean.

The sun, as always, was high and bright and you had to squint as the snow and eyes glittered back into your retinas.

"Okay?" Curtis asks nudging your cheek.

"Yeah. Let's keep going." You nod with a smile, taking another deep breath as Curtis ducked back under, following the route he'd mapped as quickly as he could.

Maybe it was because he was enjoying how close you were - or that he was so focused on his mission to get to the outpost that he didn't notice the leopard seal barrelling towards him from the depths.

When he did notice, it was too late to move out of the way but Curtis turned his shoulder, wrapping his arms to protect your head as the sharp canines of the leopard seal sank into his flesh and you squeaked in terror.

Curtis cried out and glowered into the black eyes of the seal as it challenged him to move.

"Fucker," Curtis' voice echoed viciously through the water. "You were watching this whole time."

Your brain was racing, you couldn't open your eyes but you needed to breathe. Curtis was stuck in a catch twenty two. If he released you to the surface, the leopard seal would release him to chase you as the easier target and, being injured, Curtis would struggle to keep pace. Even if he managed to keep the seal occupied, you weren't able to reach the outpost on your own besides the fact that another seal could potentially be nearby. Although they hunt in pairs often, it didn't mean they never did.

The other option was to fight off the seal here and now. But by doing that, you could run out of air and drown in his grip before he could reach the surface.

Curtis growled, and you could feel the anger and anxiety reverberate through your soul. You pat Curtis' side blindly with a loud snarl of the seal so close to your face and a grunt from Curtis as he keeps the seal at his shoulder. Your eyes are squeezed closed and the lightheaded dizziness from the lack of oxygen is making it hard to focus but you find the hilt of the hatchet, tearing it free from it's confines and jamming it into the snout of the seal as hard as you could.

The seal releases Curtis' shoulder with a sickening shrill, and Curtis tears through the water, upwards closer to the surface for you to breathe. He half throws you onto his back and you pretzel your legs around his waist, your arms wrapping around his neck as he takes off again. It happens so fast that you barely comprehend it, your body producing a fierce amount of adrenaline that you can't feel the cold anymore.

"Well done back there!" Curtis shouts to you, pride clear in his voice and your heart swells, but it's shortlived when you hear a trill from behind you. The leopard seal had given chase; clearly not happy about missing out on dinner and second time. "We're close, don't worry."

You burst from the water first, grateful for once to see a wide open plain of snow and the distant outline of the outpost. You roll off Curtis' back and go to pull him up but his hands claw at the ice as he yells out, his tail splashing angrily in the water.

He goes to clamber out again, when the seal knocks into his side and back down under the water.

"CURTIS!" You shriek, falling to your hands and knees at the water's edge. You search the surface and can't see a thing, panick brewing as you try to think of how to rescue him. You're no mermaid. You're lucky if you get away with no hypothermia a second time.

You clutch the hatchet with white knuckles and then an idea.

"Bring it to the surface!" You call out to the ocean, hoping Curtis hears you. "Bring it close!"

So much for leaving the animals alone.

Moments later Curtis appears again, maw of the leopard seal snapping furiously at his face with a Cheshire Cat like grin. Until you swing the hatchet into it's back.

It wails, it's head turning to you as you reel back with the hatchet in hand, raising it in threat again and-

It stops. It growls lowly but stops fighting Curtis and looks directly at you, considering you almost thoughtfully before moving off Curtis entirely and disappearing under the ice floe.

Both you and Curtis wait a few moments more, just in case it returned, but when you begin to shiver Curtis heaves himself out of the water with a groan, collapsing into the snow. Blood oozes from the wound, slowed from the cold, but you take great effort in tugging him away from the water's edge with his good arm.

You look over his shoulder wound hurriedly, they're deep but nothing that wouldn't heal. However, his tail and side have some pretty nasty scratches and bites too.

"We have a first aid kit at the out post." You tell him, lifting his torso steadily into a seated position so you could wrap him in a fur that he'd left. As you look up out to the sea, you can see the head of the leopard seal watching you both with a managing gaze.

You shiver. "Come on, let's go."

Curtis grunts you see his tail shimmer and in one blink it's gone, replaced by two tree trunks for legs. Questions for later.

Gathering your few supplies you both clamber on and slowly make your way to the out post in shuddering silence, focusing only on conserving your energy until you get to the outpost.

End of Part 1

A/N: That's part 1 folks 😵‍💫😭 I had to cut it here because even though I'd written it... turns out the other creaure I wanted to add doesn't even live in the antarctic (and I hate to say this but I found out from a tumblr post that the artic inst a shortened name for the Antarctic and if you look up the difference you can probably guess what animal it was and i feel so stupid lmao). This took so much longer than anticipated honestly. But the good news is part 2 gets to be re-worked a little and hopefully won't take as long. Though I don't know if I want to do a one shot for the next one (it's either Lloyd or Steve) and then continue the series as it was posted (Ari, Jake then Curtis)...

Taglist

Tag yourself here

@stargazingfangirl18 @awkwardgiraffe726 @looking1016 @jeremyrennermakesmesmile @irishhappiness

[imnotasuperhero]

Shelter my soul with your love.

Wanda Maximoff x Reader.

Summary: The absence of the love of your life had you holding onto her sweater for dear life. And as the weeks passed by and her scent started to fade away, you started to feel the dread of losing her at the time that same sweater became your life support.

A/N: DAY 20 OF PROMPTOBER IT'S HERE! This is a continuation of Couldn't stop this if we wanted to, like I promised. Could've posted this on Saturday, but an impromptu chapter of Sweet Blessing took my inspiration away. Lol. Hope you enjoy this thing and your tears are plenty.

-

As your fingers played with the hem of the cozy sweater, you couldn't hold back your mind from going to the past, where better times we lived. A time when you were allowed to see her, where you could hold her and tell her all the things you felt inside.

A better time when you felt complete because you had her.

Now, all you had was this sweater that held the last remains of her. All you had now were the memories and the tears that you were left with.

Nowadays, you were just a shell of what you used to be, and the only comfort you could feel was when holding onto every single trace Wanda has left behind for you to remember her.

Funny how life can take things from you out of the blue. No matter how happy they make you or how invested you are, apparently, when a door closes, it can be right in your nose.

Looking through the floor-to-ceiling window, you made yourself smaller on the couch, allowing Wanda’s almost-faded scent that impregnated the fluffy sweater you religiously wore to engulf you, taking your soul to a sunny day in the park with your beloved’s company.

If only you could revive those impromptu dates.

Your apartment had been abandoned long ago, having settled camp at the massive compound in hopes of easing your pain. But even though most days you made it through the day in a relatively acceptable mood, some days were like a plumb blanket had been placed over you, making it impossible for you to get out of bed, turning the way to your job into utter torture.

Brushing away the never-ending tears, you decided to have some mercy on your rumbling stomach and quickly fixed yourself a simple sandwich since it was a Friday. The week had been full of work, leaving you drained physically and mentally.

“Miss Stark, your vitals are getting agitated. May I check them quickly?” The AI broke the silence, making you work on your breathing.

The lump in your throat had messed with the small bite you just swallowed, making it hard to pass the food.

“‘S okay,” you answered as you chugged a glass of water, fist gripping tightly at the corners of the sink.

You hated eating when you’ve been crying, and you should’ve known better.

The tears falling down your eyes for another different reason than before had you working on your breathing, matching every exhalation with a failed attempt to swallow the bolus trapped in your throat. 

Once you finally achieved your task, you filled the glass with water, almost throwing the discarded sandwich on the fridge, before you made your way to Wanda’s bed. The need to just sleep your life away was stronger than any TV show or movie on your current list.

You didn’t like this new empty person you had become. But the sorrow and longing and… torture you experienced had you with nothing but just the needed strength to breathe. So working on your inner growth and that bullshit was not possible at this time. And frankly, you weren’t desperate to get any better, for her absence had ripped your will of living away.

If only you had a grave to cry her on.

Wanda’s ghost following you everywhere was the only thing that had you moving. But as time passed and her body wasn’t around, her smell kept fading away, making it harder and harder to breathe. It was as if your own life had started to leave your body painfully slowly.

So in an attempt to keep her looming presence, you didn’t take off her sweater. Instead, you just laid down on her pillow before covering yourself tightly with the covers, breathing in as much of her aroma to keep you warm as you silently prayed for this agony to end. Once and for all.

“Detka,” her voice, as clear as day, sent shivers down your spine.

“Wands? Wands, where are you?” You cried, the sorrow engulfing you like a cocoon. “Please, I need you.”  

Standing there in the middle of nowhere, with the big tall trees surrounding you, the anxiety started to eat you from the inside out.

“Detka,” Wanda’s voice called again and you couldn’t help the choking, feeling your knees collide against the dirty grass at the confusion.

Her voice was way too clear for it to be a result of your imagination.

“Detka,” you felt her hand cup your left cheek and you couldn’t help breaking down completely at the way-too-real feeling. “Baby, I’m here.”

“Wanda,” you cried louder, leaning your head on her hand, “I can’t see you. Please, take me with you,” you begged as your hand placed over your left cheek, choking on the brutal sob that escaped you when you didn’t find her hand there. “I don’t wanna live without you,” you begged, feeling your insides tear apart at the phantom of her.

“Y/N, I am here, my love.” despite the security in her voice, the fact that her touch was only vivid in your imagination had your lungs fighting for a single bit of oxygen.

“Wanda, I’m begging you. I don’t wanna be without you anymore,” your labored breaths sent a painful throb to your head.

“Oh, my sweet girl,” You felt Wanda’s lips against your lips for a few seconds too long before she connected your foreheads.

Jolting awake, your eyes blinked rapidly trying to adjust to the dim lights, making sense of the body against you.

“Detka,”

Looking up, a heart-wrenching cry ricocheted through the room as you launched yourself into those pair of arms you’ve dreamed of for the last 2 months.

Feeling her warmth engulf you, Wanda kissed the top of your head. “I am here, my love.” She only tightened her grip around you, providing you the comfort and the time to calm yourself as she cooed against your hair, rocking you both. “I am here,”

Once your breath returned to normal, you broke the hug to look at her face, choking on a new wave of tears as you cupped her cheeks, looking into those forest green eyes you had missed oh, so much.

“You’re alive,” you cried.

“I am alive, Y/N,” she smiled tearfully, allowing your eyes to scan her face.

Choking on a sob, you launched at her once again, placing your weight on hers as you peppered her face with sloppy kisses as if trying to show her the unconditional love you held for her.

Pausing for a moment, your eyes locked with hers and you felt your heart squeeze in pain at seeing the tears running down her face.

But instead of speaking the words on the tip of your tongue, you joined your lips together, pouring in the kiss every single ounce of devotion you held for her, sighing deeply as your lips danced to a well-known melody at the time your soul eased the suffering away.

“I don’t wanna live without you,” you spoke against her lips, nuzzling your nose against hers.

“I’ll never leave you again,” Wanda’s voice was so intimate you felt a chill run down your spine.

“I love you,” you vowed, sighing in the kiss Wanda just started.

“I love you too, Detka,” the brunette kissed your nose before carefully pushing away. But before you could protest, your eyes scrutinized her movements as she started to undress until she was only in her underwear to do the same with you after, crawling under the covers as she opened her arms in a silent invitation.

Smiling, you cuddled against her front, basking in her half-naked body against yours. 

As her scent filled your nostrils, you thanked the fluffy sweater discarded on the floor for keeping you company all this time, making a mental note to have Wanda wear it every day for when she had to go away in her missions. And for your dad to design a device to give you constant information on her vitals.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Wanda spoke against your head.

“I’m not sorry,” you placed a tender kiss on her chest, right where the origami raven was resting, before you looked up, smiling sheepishly.

“I’m in love with you,” she smiled before she kissed you, squishing your body once in the hug before her hand started to run up and down your spine in lazy caresses. “I’ll always be with you, like I know you’ll always be with me. Whereve I go.”

“Marry me,” you pouted, fighting the smile at Wanda’s soft giggles.

“Make it right.” She clicked her tongue.

“Game on, Witchy,” you pecked her lips before you cuddled impossibly closer against her soft skin.

Giving up to the mental exhaustion you’ve been under, you allowed Wanda’s presence to lull you to sleep, knowing she was alive, by your side.

The strong, calm thudding of her heart provided you the comfort you needed, like a silky veil against your scarred soul.

With the last ounce of consciousness you had, you thanked whoever was out there for returning her to you, making a silent promise never to lose faith again.

Taglist: @wandabear @red1culous @xxxtwilightaxelxxx (if you wanna be tagged in my fics, let me know)

[greatwyrmgold]

Hi! I’m not sure if you answer Oshi no Ko-related asks, but I saw your interpretation of Ai and your fanfic outline, and I was wondering, what are your thoughts on Hikaru Kamiki?

FYI, and also for anyone else who's thinking of sending me asks, I answer most kinds of asks. Anyways. Hikaru Kamiki.

I've heard that Aka Akasaka wrote a lot of OnK by the seat of his pants, even when it comes to its central antagonist. He'd had an ending he liked for a long time, but he hadn't even finished figuring out who the twins' father was until the Tokyo Blade arc or something. I cannot independently confirm any of this, but it would explain a lot of how Hikaru was written.

In concept, Hikaru is pretty much the perfect answer to "Who is the twins' father?" I'm sure a lot of people imagined that Ai's ex-lover who arranged her murder would be a powerful older man, some producer or whatever who used his influence to coerce Ai into a relationship she couldn't back out of until she got pregnant. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

Hikaru is a mirror image to Ai, crushed and broken by the entertainment industry in many of the same ways Ai was. Like Ai, he considers himself to lack innate value, that he has to be useful to people to deserve anything good. As Ai has an overwhelming fear that she is a monster incapable of love, Hikaru fears that he is a monster undeserving of love. Both feel isolated, until they find each other.

Introducing such a perfect foil to Ai would be a great way to explore themes that were cut shots by Ryosuke. The sexual abuse in his backstory provides another avenue for critiquing an industry which puts children in such positions oh so often. And he got to live a whole life that Ai never saw, just without his kids; how'd that end up?

And then there's the elephant in the room. Why did this boy kill Ai?

There are a lot of interesting answers to that question, but Akasaka chose none of them. Or rather, he chose enough incompatible answers that the interesting possibilities got drowned out by inconsistencies.

Let's look at the low-hanging fruit. Chapters 153-4 hint at some interesting answers. Ai and Hikaru's trauma stopped complimenting each other and started metastasizing, the tumor driving Ai away and making Hikaru assume the worst. And Hikaru kept assuming the worst, let it fester. When given a chance to scare his ex into maybe giving him a second chance, he took it, not thinking for a second what the consequences might be. And when Hikaru realizes how wrong he was about their relationship, he breaks down.

But four chapters later, Aqua confronts Hikaru again. And this Hikaru acts in a completely different manner. That breakdown was fake, I guess. Hikaru's just an evil guy with "lying eyes". He was behind everything, even the stuff Aqua said he couldn't be behind four chapters ago. He's gonna kill Ruby, his own daughter, Ai's daughter, to preserve Ai's legacy. This isn't the first time. Hikaru's just a serial killer. Ai wasn't the only woman he had killed. Nothing special. Just a thing he did.

...

Look, there are probably ways to make this work from a Watsonian perspective. Maybe Hikaru was lying until that creepy-ass smile. But it's hard to look at endgame Hikaru from a Watsonian perspective, when his change in presentation is so obviously a decision made by the author.

And yeah, everything these characters do is a decision made by the author. But it was usually hidden better than this. It's easy for me to suspend my disbelief for, say, the volume 1 Hoshino family. The dual reincarnation thing is objectively less realistic than anything Hikaru did, but it's easier to suspend my disbelief for it because Aka Akasaka put in the work to make everyone involved feel like people.

And Hikaru just doesn't. And that sucks.

[captainsophiestark]

Rippah

Stefan Salvatore x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2024!

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries

Day Five Prompt: "It's a new day, let's go."

Summary: Stefan ended up in Ripper-mode last night. Thankfully, his SO's a powerful witch who managed to rein him in, but that doesn't mean Stefan's not beating himself up the next morning.

Word Count: 1,215

Category: Angst, Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sighed as I pulled the teabag out of my tea, then took a deep breath, letting the spices and hot steam wash over me as I held my mug up for a sip. Last night had been a long one, and most of the house was still an absolute disaster.

My eyes wandered from the shattered plates, past the overturned chairs, and across the scattered and shredded pillows to my boyfriend, Stefan. He was still passed out on the couch where I'd left him last night, and although he looked a little worse for wear, he also could've been a lot worse.

Thanks to some truly obnoxious Mystic Falls manipulating and scheming, Stef had been sent over the edge of his control last night. He hadn't turned off his humanity, but with a little help from another witch, Klaus had managed to get him to slip his leash anyway. Thankfully, he was dating me, and I was a better witch than whatever asshole the Mikaelsons had. I hadn't been able to snap Stefan out of the bloodlust, but I'd been able to keep him contained pretty well. Now he just had to sleep off the hangover.

I sighed again, taking a sip of my tea before returning to breakfast prep. I was hungry, and I knew Stef would probably need something warm and comforting when he woke up. He was hard enough on himself on an average day.

I'd just finished making some toast when I heard movement from the couch. I grabbed my tea and another mug for Stefan, then headed in his direction.

"Morning," I said, giving my boyfriend a soft smile as I rounded the couch. He'd been pushing himself up to sitting, but froze halfway when he saw me.

"You... you're still here."

"...Of course I'm still here. I never would've left you like this, and besides babe, you're in my house."

I cracked a smile, huffing a little laugh, but Stefan didn't react at all. He just kept staring at me like he'd seen a ghost. I raised an eyebrow at him, and I was about to offer him his mug of tea when his gaze wandered from me to the absolutely wrecked living room around us. The gray cloud hanging over his head darkened considerably.

"I did all this last night. I tore your house to shreds. I tried to kill you."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please, Stefan. We live in Mystic Falls. You're not even on the podium of most dangerous people who have tried to kill me in the last month."

I expected a laugh from Stefan, but instead, he looked like he felt worse. When he finally brought his eyes up to meet mine, he'd maxed out the broody eyebrows and self-loathing looks.

"I lost control. I could've seriously hurt you. As it is, I competely trashed this place. And... I don't even remember it. I don't even know what else I did."

"You didn't do anything else. You're dating a badass witch, remember? Despite Klaus's best efforts, you didn't leave the property and you didn't hurt anyone. We're all good, babe."

He just shook his head. "There's nothing good about this. I remember... I remember trying to get out of here, to go rip into people we care about. I remember losing my mind when you stopped me. I remember rushing you, like I was going to kill you to get out of this house! There's nothing good about that!"

"Do you remember anything after that?"

"...No."

"That's because the minute the Ripper turned on me, I put you on your ass. Onto the couch, since I didn't want to hurt you. But even if I hadn't, I think you would've been able to pull yourself back. You probably don't remember, but you pulled up short before I used magic on you. Still, it seemed like the best course for both of us if you just took a nap until the spell wore off."

"You don't know that. I still could've hurt you. And even as it is, I absolutely ruined our night-"

"Stefan, for the love of god," I huffed. I set both our mugs of tea down on the low table in front of the couch, then flopped down next to him. He leaned backward like he worried about me getting too close, but I took his hands and looked him in the eyes before he could stop me. "I'm fine. My house is very fixable, especially with magic. Klaus compelled you to lose control, which you otherwise would've kept, and nobody got hurt. And even if they had, spending all your time beating yourself up over things you can't change isn't going to help, Stefan! All you can do is keep moving forward and try to do better next time. Sitting here all day in a haze of self-loathing isn't going to do anything but hurt you. And the people who love you."

Stefan sighed, dropping his gaze to his lap and shaking his head. I just squeezed his hands tighter.

"I'll always be here for you on days like this, Stef. You'll never have to deal with it alone. Just like when you were there for me when I had to deal with the spirits trying to pick a fight with me, or Klaus. We've got each other's backs, and we'll always be alright. Okay?"

Stefan looked up at me, eyebrows pinched together as he stared at me. I leaned into him, and after a moment, he did the same, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him.

We stayed like that for a few long, long moments, until I felt most of the tension ease out of Stefan. Finally, I took a deep breath and leaned back just enough to give him a smile.

"Alright, come on babe. I made us breakfast, and then we're going to drive to the coast and have a nice day just the two of us, enjoying life and visiting our favorite spots and remembering that the world is bigger than Klaus and his stupid games."

Stefan sighed, the corner of his mouth pulling up even as he dropped his head and shook it.

"I don't know... I don't know if I'm up for that, after last night."

"I know you are, Stef. You've lived too long to let this stuff completely sink you. Last night sucked, sure. But last night is over now. It's a new day, let's go. I'm taking the Lexi philosophy that the best medicine is going out and enjoying your life."

Stefan huffed a laugh and met my eyes.

"You know, I'm pretty sure it's cheating to bring up Lexi."

"It absolutely is not, since she's the one who told me to use her in my arguments whenever I needed to. Now come on, breakfast is getting cold. You've picked me up enough times, Stef, it's my turn."

He smiled, still looking a little worn down, but definitely more at peace than he had been when he woke up.

"Have I mentioned lately that I love you?"

"Yeah. But I could stand to hear it agian."

"Well then." He leaned in, placing a soft kiss on my lips, which I returned. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen

TVD/TO Taglist: @elenavampire21

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

An alternate dream take of what Eclipse could have done with the Star

I had a pretty weird dream that was spawned on by a bout of "not-feeling-well" (no fever, just general sinus headache and fatigue)

But this dream gave a pretty alternate scenario and what I think they should have done when Eclipse had the star in tsams.

Eclipse basically gained the star, and took over. He wiped Lunar's, Sun and Moon's memories, and kept them as a pets/slaves, along with Solar.

However, Solar never had their memory wiped. My brain didn't give me a reason for this. But as far as I can figure, the most Eclipse reason is that "You're an Eclipse, you remind me so much of myself." Again, it's another case of companionship, and a case of that SOMEONE needs to Acknowledge what Eclipse is doing and look how bad he's being. And who can better understand him then himself? (well, a version of himself)

Solar meanwhile is playing the long game, and is loyal to Eclipse for now...

But Solar slowly was trying to awaken Lunar's memories, make him realize all the abuse and pain he's put him and his "brothers" through. But Lunar's memories never awaken. But Lunar ends up fighting against Eclipse anyway, cause Eclipse was mean, and the alternate scenario Solar was preposing sounded better. So he'll fight for that. Also Solar played with and engaged with Lunar in a way Eclipse never did. So he liked that one better. (like my dream has this image of Lunar and Solar laughing and throwing a goose around while Eclipse is just pissy and annoyed with those two but not doing anything cus they're still loyal to him techinically)

Also, in this preposed dream scenario:

Moon not having memories actually works to his benefit here. Cause he can just rewrite them if this is all he knows. Who's to say "the sun and moon show" is nothing but lies and propaganda? Especially if Eclipse got to Moon before he had a chance to watch that Show first.

Moon thus being the hardest to convince, the most loyal to Eclipse and the major threat once Solar and Lunar start opposing.

Sun found out the truth awhile ago cus Eclipse's power on the star is loosening. As Eclipse weakening from the Star power he's using is still a thing. But Sun's scared to go against Eclipse and doesn't want to lose what little of his brother he feels he has, and is convinced wiping Moons memories was part of Eclipses plan since Sun in this au wouldn't have gotten the message that OG Moon left before Eclipse starts fucking shit up. (Moon losing his memories was still a result of KC wanting to be his own person, and KC is trying to build his own body with the help of the AI with no one knowing he's around. Because he wants to stop his son and get things under control)

I actually think if the show dynamic changed like this for a month, it would have been a fresh take, especially since in multiple realities, we see that Eclipse likes to keep Sun or Moon (sometimes both) as pets or servants. Even Evil Lunar does a similar thing with his Eclipse.

So yeah. Thanks sick-haze brain for brining me this.

@ayyy-imma-ninja @twinanimatronics