#allergic to success i suppose

[ferallymine]

Watching YGO5D restrospectives/analyses to both feel alive and dead inside

Yusei Fudo is the best protagonist Konami ever dared to write

[hbyrde36]

Inspired by this TikTok

I wrote this instead of everything else I should be working on, enjoy! 😂

Rating: G | WC: 2494 | AO3

Eddie took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for the night ahead as he walked up the street towards the place he was supposed to meet his blind date.

He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to this, but it wasn’t like he was having any luck finding love on his own. 

After several failed long-term relationships with fuckboys that weren’t worth his time and heartache, who ran the second things got real, he joined the apps—quickly realizing that most of the guys he found on there were only looking for sex. Which was fun and all, but Eddie wanted more. 

He was looking for romance, a spark, someone he could see spending his life with, who was also looking for a partner. Someone who wasn’t allergic to commitment. 

So, he’d quit the apps. 

And when Chrissy told him she had a guy she wanted him to meet he figured, fuck it, he’d tried everything else. 

Steve Harrington. 

He was a friend of Robin’s, Chrissy’s new girlfriend who Eddie hadn’t had the chance to meet yet, but apparently the three of them had gotten together last weekend, and now Chrissy was convinced the man and Eddie were perfect for each other. 

“On the surface it’s giving opposites attract,” she’d said, “but under the carefully styled hair and button down shirts, Steve is not at all what you’d expect. He’s kind, funny, a little weird, and way different than the guys you usually go for—but in the best way. Just give it a chance. I promise at the very least you’ll have a good time and maybe make a friend.”

Eddie wasn’t so sure that’d be the case, but he was here, willing to give it a go, and he had a trick up his sleeve. A little idea he’d stolen from a TikTok video that had, so far, a 100% success rate for exposing duds.

He reached his destination and pushed open the door, entering the warm dimly lit restaurant, and before he’d even reached the hostess stand noticed a man rising from his seat, smiling and waving—waving at him.

And oh, oh Chrissy had better count her days because Eddie was going to fucking kill her. Steve, assuming this was the guy, was quite literally the hottest man he’d ever seen in real life. 

She couldn't warn a guy?  

Eddie raised his hand, absently returning the wave as he continued to stare a little dumbstruck at his date. 

Get it together, Munson. 

Mercifully, Eddie was able to snap out of it enough to put one foot in front of the other again and make his way over to their booth.

There was an awkward moment where Steve couldn’t seem to make up his mind between shaking Eddie’s hand, or hugging him in greeting. 

Honestly Eddie wasn’t sure of the protocol either since it was his first blind date. He supposed this was to be expected. Not only were they about to embark upon the supremely awkward adventure that was every first date ever, but they were also meeting for the very first time having never seen or spoken to each other before.    

In the end it became one of those half-and-half bro hugs with the little pat on the back, before they took their seats opposite one another. 

Steve was the first to break the silence. “It’s good to meet you, Chrissy told me a lot about you.” 

“Wish I could say the same.” Eddie muttered under his breath. 

“Oh, um.”

“Sorry, it’s—I didn’t mean,” Eddie shook his head at himself. “Ignore me.”

“No, I'm sorry.” Steve raked a hand over his face. “It’s weird right? This is weird. I tried to tell Robin—I mean, who even goes on blind dates anymore!”

It surprised a laugh out of Eddie that he couldn’t have held back if he tried. He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. 

Great job, Munson, laugh at the guy—great way to make a first impression. 

But then Steve was cracking a little lopsided smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling ever-so-slightly with it. He didn’t seem offended, or mad. 

Fuck. 

He wasn’t just dangerously hot, he was cute too. 

Eddie tugged lightly on his shirt collar, and cleared his throat. “It’s a little weird, sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

Their server chose that moment to arrive and introduce herself, taking their drink order—some local craft beer Eddie had never heard of for Steve, a Jack and coke for himself—and Eddie used the temporary distraction to try and regain some composure. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t already hoping this would go somewhere, that Steve would be different from all the others.

But when the server had gone and it was just the two of them again, Steve opened his mouth and Eddie instantly flashed back to every bad first date he’d been on.

“So, what’s your favorite—”

Steve hadn’t even finished asking his first question before Eddie was interrupting, raising a hand to tick off each response on his fingers as he went.

“Black, metal, D&D, the 1999 cinematic masterpiece The Mummy starring our lord and savior Brendan Fraser, The Silmarillion, cheeseburgers, Halloween, aaaaand—a dog.”

Steve blinked at him. “...What?”

“My favorite color, genre of music, hobby, movie, book, food, holiday, and of course the classic—if I could be any animal, what animal would I be and why?” 

Eddie let his hand fall to the table with a soft thud. “Dog—hands down. And I know I look more like someone who’d say black cat or something like that, but I enjoy attention and physical affection far too much to be an aloof feline. Shaggy lovable mutt seems way more my speed.”

By the end of his speech, Steve was grinning from ear to ear, nodding in understanding.

Eddie gave half a shrug, blushing a bit under the full force of Steve’s dazzling smile. “Thought I'd save us some time and speed-run the same old, same old.”

A moment later their drinks arrived and they both sat up a little straighter reflexively as the server set each glass down on cocktail napkins in front of them before scurrying off. 

They’d been leaning in towards each other without even realizing, it seemed. It was Steve’s turn to blush now, Eddie noted with delight as he raised his glass to his lips, grateful to have something to do with his hands.

“I take it you’ve been on a lot of first dates?” Steve asked, taking a long sip from his own drink.

“A few.” Eddie said, tilting his cup to swirl the ice around. “You?”

Steve made a waffling motion with his head. “A few.” 

Eddie took another sizable swig from his glass, focusing for a moment on the burn of the whiskey and the tingle of soda bubbles in his throat as he swallowed, and carefully set his cup down on the table between them. It was almost empty already—should have asked for a double. 

“Okay, my turn, “ he said.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “You wanna know my favorite color?”

“No, there’ll be plenty of time to find that out later.”

“Presumptuous of you.”

Eddie hummed noncommittally. “More… hopeful.”

Steve let out a breathy laugh. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

Here goes nothing—

“What would you do if we moved in together and I started seeing ghosts and told you that our house was haunted?”

Steve tilted his head to the side, giving Eddie that soft crooked smile again, and damn if it wasn’t becoming one of Eddie’s favorite things. Can you be obsessed with something you’ve only seen twice?

Steve was quiet for a long moment, nearly draining his beer as he thought it over, but eventually set his own drink down beside Eddie’s and looked him dead in the eye. “Is it a nice ghost or a scary ghost? Are we talking banging on walls and rearranging furniture at 3am? Or a cold yet comforting presence in the corner.” 

Eddie put on a show of thinking about it, rubbing his chin and staring off into space as he tried desperately to contain his excitement. He’d never had the question go over this well before. 

Then their server was back, asking if they wanted another round—yes, of course—and if they were ready to order. They hadn’t even cracked open their menus yet, too distracted with talking. 

“Do you know what you want?” Steve asked him.

Eddie swallowed hard. 

You.

“I-I’m not picky. Order for me? Chrissy said you come here a lot so I’m sure you know what’s good.”

Without hesitation Steve ordered them a burger each, and a plate of some sort of fancy fries to share, apparently they had the best fries. 

It hadn’t been another test, honest. Eddie really didn’t care what he ate, this was already turning out to be his best date in far too long—and It could have been a coincidence, maybe Steve ordered burgers there all the time, but Eddie chose to believe it meant Steve had been listening. Test or not, he’d passed with flying colors.

When they were alone again Eddie smoothed his hands along the table, drawing invisible patterns with his fingers and finally answered Steve’s question. 

“Let’s go with scary ghost, but remember you have no proof, you haven't seen it with your own eyes, just my word.”

Steve waved him off as if that was inconsequential, upending his glass to get the last dregs of the beer, and wiping his lips on the back of his hand.

“Okay, well then it depends on how hands on you want to be. We could consult WitchTok, try and cleanse the house ourselves, ask the spirit to leave, that kinda thing. Or maybe find a priest who’d be willing to help us out? That might be a little more difficult since the church isn’t usually our biggest fans, but I could deal with a little homophobia to make sure you were happy and comfortable in our home.”

Eddie’s stomach flipped, heart beginning to race. He wasn’t surprised exactly, Steve had been blowing past his expectations at every turn already, but there was no more perfect answer to his admittedly insane first date question.

So naturally, he had to push. 

“What if I wanted to move?”

Steve shrugged. “Then we’d move.” 

Eddie stared at him incredulously. Steve said it like it was nothing, like uprooting his entire life for some crazy shit was akin to changing his socks. This was all hypothetical, Eddie knew that, and Steve could just be telling him what he wanted to hear, but Eddie had a feeling he was telling the absolute truth

“But we’d be out, at minimum, a month’s rent and security deposit, and what if the landlord won’t let us out of the lease?!” Eddie threw his hands up, suddenly taking his own game much too seriously. “Or godforbid we’d bought the place, then we’d have to sell it and all our money would be tied up in it, and—”

Steve reached out and took Eddie’s hands with his own, gently stroking his thumbs along the back of them. “Baby—baby it’s okay. No amount of money would be worth you feeling unsafe.”

And Eddie was simply going to pass away, because what the fuck—how was this man so perfect?

“Why—how are you single?”

Steve flashed a sad, self deprecating smile. “I’ve been told I can be a little… intense.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Well, historically speaking…”

Eddie leaned over the table, pressing a kiss to the back of Steve’s hand. “I happen to like intense.”

Steve sucked in a breath, cheeks flushing again with the most glorious shade of pink. “Good to know.”

They stayed hand in hand talking for a long time, taking turns asking each other the most random questions they could think of. 

“Favorite episode of The Twilight Zone?” Eddie asked. 

“Oh, easy. I don’t know the name of it but it’s the one where the kid is lost and her parents can hear her in the house panicking, but they can’t see her?” 

Eddie nodded his approval. “Little Girl Lost, good choice.” God he was falling more in love by the second. 

“Favorite Abba song.” Steve countered. 

Eddie grinned. “How do you know I even have one? Mean scary metalhead like me.”

Steve rolled his eyes, and shot him a look that clearly stated he found Eddie neither mean or scary. “Everybody likes Abba.”

“Well played.” Eddie bit at his bottom lip. He felt like a teenager with his first crush all over again. “Fine—while Dancing Queen holds a special place in my heart, and maybe this makes me a gay cliche, but Gimme, Gimme, Gimme fucking slaps.” 

It went on and on like that until eventually their food arrived, forcing them to separate. They still spoke as they finished their meal, and settled their tab, but Eddie missed the warmth of Steve’s hand in his already. 

He suddenly understood why some couples chose to sit together on the same side of a booth. He’d happily look like a dork right now to have the opportunity to be pressed up against Steve’s side, to be able to slide a hand along his thigh and maybe—

“Eddie?” 

Steve’s slightly raised voice found him in his daydream, snapping him out of it abruptly. 

“Wha..?”

“Did I lose you there for a second?” Steve asked, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

Eddie rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, sorry, um—you were saying?”

“I said, I'm having a really good time, and I know we already paid the bill but I really don’t want this night to end, so—” Steve slid out of his seat and moved to stand in front of him, holding a hand out—which Eddie took immediately, of course, and let Steve pull him to his feet. 

“I was wondering if you’d want to take this back to my apartment? Y’know, so we can plan a second date?” He finished with a smirk.

Jesus Christ. 

Warmth shot through Eddie’s body at the implications but he found his heart skipping a beat too, because as much as Steve was teasing, Eddie knew somehow that he meant it about the second date. 

He couldn’t believe his luck, Steve was everything Chrissy had made him out to be, and so much more. He was going to send her the biggest bouquet of flowers tomorrow, and maybe an edible arrangement. Were those still a thing?

Eddie leaned in, letting his lips brush along the shell of Steve’s ear as he spoke. “It’s not haunted, is it?” 

Steve shivered, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and pulling their bodies flush. “No, but if you’re interested I can think of a few other ways to make you scream.”

Thanks as always to the lovely @penny00dreadful for everything😘😘😘

Permanent taglist(open): @penny00dreadful @pearynice @hitlikehammers @bookworm0690 @wonderland-girl143-blog 

@goodolefashionedloverboi @themagicalari

[joelsbunnyboy]

𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖 ₊⊹⁀➴

while patrolling with Joel, you find out he’s never caught a snowflake on his tongue before.

tags: SFW, Joel knows no joy nor whimsy, grumpy/sunshine duo, Jackson!Joel, age gap (20's, 56), gn!reader

wordcount: 743

the cold was near blistering. you could feel the cold snow sinking under the weight of your shoes. your breath was coming out in small puffs of chilled, white air.  “damn, yer freezing...”  Joel commented.  “shut it. I'm fine,”  you snapped, wanting to appear tough.  but Joe knew better.  all he did was smile and shake his head, continuing to walk alongside you. 

the snow was soft under your steps, crunching and leaving a crisp noise that was audible even through earmuffs.   “this snow is really loud,”  you chuckled, a little weak. Joel hummed, acknowledging your words. then you noticed some snow on your shoulders. you looked up, and saw some snow falling from the sky above, the clouds pearly white as they covered every inch of the sky.  “Joel! it’s snowing!”  you cried, happily holding a hand out, hopeful to catch some.  “so? ‘snows all the time here in Jackson,”  Joel said, not amused whatsoever at the snow. he kept himself professional at all times. he was only soft around Ellie, and possibly Tommy if he wasn’t being a little bitch. you were supposed to be patrolling the area, not playing in the snow like children.  

ignoring Joel’s blatant attitude, you stuck out your tongue, hoping to catch a snowflake.  “what the hell are ye doing?”  Joel asked, disgruntled.  “yer damn tongue’s gonna freeze off.”  you shut your mouth, and turned to look at Joel. did this man not know any whimsical joy? no happiness? I mean, sure it was the apocalypse, but was he allergic to fun or something?  you cocked your head, confused.  “c’mon, don’t tell me you’ve never caught a snowflake before, Joel!”  you laughed. the look on his face told you everything you needed to know.  “Joel! you’re shitting me, right?!”  you laughed, suddenly very cocky.  “hey, knock it off, kiddo. we’ve got work to do, y’know?”  Joel said, crossing his arms. but he had set his gun down, wanting to tag along, even if he didn't want to look too enthusiastic about it.  

you quickly grabbed Joel’s arm and brought him out from under the huge trees. “so, you just stick your tongue out and wait, huh?” Joel asked, his left brow thick as it quirked upward. you nodded, your own tongue out, awaiting a pearly snowflake.

your big eyes were warm and soft, your lashes and hair having some snow in it. your shoulders were dusted with the lamb-colored nature essence as well, making you seem… really pretty. Joel took a deep breath, turning away, needing to recollect himself. fuck. you were barley in your twenties. he’d look like a pervert if anyone knew just the way he looked at you. you were successful as you caught a snowflake.

the snow burned your tongue a little, the icy fragment fresh and near crumbling just from the warmth of your breath. you closed your jaw, your tongue feeling the ice melt and become water in milliseconds. you swallowed, content.

you heard Joel let out a long, hard sigh. “one…” he grunted, holding the sleeves of his heavy jacket. “just one, alright?” Joel said. the smile on your face made him inevitably smile, and he felt his cheeks warming up under his silky chops. damn you and your stupid charm, your stupid smile, and those stupid eyes…

Joel felt dumb holding his tongue out, whirling around like a dog trying to catch his own tail. when he got a snowflake, he choked and barked, “fuck! why does it burn?” he asked, disgruntled and a little embarrassed. “oh, yeah… the snowflakes can hurt sometimes. sorry Joel,” you said timidly. Joel narrowed his eyes at you, but swallowed the chilled water leftover from the ice anyways. “was that fun?” you asked excitedly, bounding behind Joel when he started to walk away. “not really. it hurt, and i looked like a damn dog waitin’ for that stupid snowflake.” Joel said, trudging through the snow, eyes sharp as he patrolled the area. “but you did it anyways.” you remarked, timidly walking closer to Joel. he didn’t seem to mind much.

Joel looked down at you, stopping. he brushed some snow out of your hair, his gloved hand rubbing your cheek affectionately. his touch was so soft, even though the glove was rough. swallowing, Joel stammered, “you’ll need a bath when we get back…”

₊⊹⁀➴

[gundamthey17]

Payneland Prompt Fest 2024

Day 1: “This was supposed to be fun.”

“This makes no sense,” Edwin muttered testily.

“Have you not been paying attention?” Crystal asked, her tone equally irritable.

“I have!”

“Then what part of this is confusing to you?”

“All of it! There’s no logic, there’s no rationale. It is entirely devoid of sense. It strains credulity to the breaking point.”

“Uh-oh,” Charles grinned, “he’s using big words. Now you’re really in trouble.”

“I fail to see the purpose of this exercise.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. This was supposed to be fun. My bad, I forgot Edwin’s allergic to fun.”

“I am not, I merely prefer narratives that have substance and cohesion. Not… whatever this is.”

“Guys! I can’t hear,” Niko complained.

Crystal paused the movie and leaned around Niko to face Edwin. “What exactly is your problem with it?”

“The narrative is not believable in the slightest. She has a lucrative and successful career in the city. Not to mention a fiance who is waiting for her! Why would she abandon her fiance, her career, and her home, for a man she only just met?”

“They didn’t just meet. They knew each other when they were kids. See? You weren’t listening.”

“That is entirely beside the point. She is engaged!”

“But this guy made her realize that she’s not really in love with her fiance.”

“She realized that in three days? How?”

Crystal threw up her arms in exasperation. “I don’t know, the magic of Christmas! It’s just a movie, Edwin. It’s entertaining.”

“It’s inane. Once this - this infatuation wears off, she is going to regret leaving her entire life behind to live in the small town that she was dreading returning to in the first place.”

Niko leaned back, looking past Edwin to catch Charles’s eye. “I knew we should’ve watched Elf.”

“You’re impossible! I guess falling in love was so much easier back when you were alive.” Crystal stood up. “I’m going to get more popcorn. And when I come back, there’s going to be no more talking during the movie.” She rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath as she walked to the kitchen. “You’re just lucky you died before dating apps were invented.”

Edwin's brow furrowed, his annoyance temporarily forgotten. “What are… dating apps?” he asked, enunciating the unfamiliar words carefully.

Charles shrugged. “Beats me, mate.”

“They’re a way to meet new people who might want to date you. Or kill you. Or show you their creepy doll collection,” Niko said seriously.

“Ah,” Edwin said. “That sounds… awful.”

“Mm-hm.”

Charles stretched, wrapping an arm around Edwin’s shoulders. “Well, then. Like Crystal said, it’s a good deal you found me before dating apps existed.” 

“I do not think ghosts can use dating apps.”

Charles snorted. “Not the point, mate.”

“Oh?” Edwin frowned. Then his eyes widened as the realization hit him. “Oh! You were flirting.” If he was capable of blushing, he would have.

“And the penny drops. Don’t worry, you’ll get better at it.” Charles nuzzled Edwin affectionately.

The sound of Crystal’s feet preceded her return, and Charles reluctantly let go of Edwin, who still wasn’t too keen on public displays of affection. (Though for some reason he was less self-conscious around Niko.) The boys were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the couch, with Niko on the other side of Edwin. Crystal returned with the bowl of popcorn and sat next to Niko.

Niko gasped, her eyes wide. “Maybe ghosts do use dating apps, and that’s where the word ‘ghosted’ comes from!”

“What are you - you know what, never mind. I don’t want to know. And Edwin, since you hate this movie so much, you can pick the next one - as long as you stop complaining. Deal?”

“That is acceptable.”

“Good. Now everybody shut up, I’m pushing play.”

[thepixelelf]

prompt: “I’m allergic to roses.”

notes: uni au, implied e2l; recast fic

[fatal floral flaw] “Remind me again why Chan’s sending roses to his, and I quote, ‘mortal enemy’?” Vernon asks as he sits down at the cafeteria table.

Seungkwan swats him over the shoulder. “Ever heard of reconciliation?”

“Ow...” Vernon rubs his shoulder, frowning. “I thought they hated each other.”

Chan isn’t really listening. Instead, his eyes follow the Valentine’s day event committee as they walk around the cafeteria, handing out the rose-grams. The grams are supposed to be one rose each, but Chan splurged and bribed the committee so he could send you a whole bouquet.

“Are you dense?” Seungkwan asks Vernon. “Chan is just arguing with them all the time because he doesn’t know how to flirt.”

Vernon chuckles, stabbing a straw into his chocolate milk. “So basically, you’re so bad at liking someone that you made them hate you?”

Finally tuning in, Chan scowls. “Shut up.”

Across the room, you look up at one of the committee members, who holds out the bouquet of roses he sent you. Chan watches as you take the roses, a confused look on your face when you read the attached note -- the one with nothing but his name attached.

He thinks it’s a success, and he almost smiles before he sees your expression twist in anger.

...Huh?

You stand up from your table and traipse over to him, the bouquet clenched in your hand at your side. Eyes wide, Chan can only gawk up at you.

Throwing the bouquet on the table in front of him like a sack of potatoes, you cross your arms. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“...What?”

“Who told you, huh?” you ask, accusation clear in your tone. “Tell me.”

Chan glances around, eyes pleading Seungkwan or Vernon for help, but both of them are just as shocked. (Although Vernon looks like he’s holding in laughter.)

“Who told me what?” he finally says.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Lee Chan. I know you did this on purpose to mess with me.”

“What? I--”

“So,” you interrupt. “Who told you I’m allergic to roses?”

[lightlycareless]

An almost 10k piece but it's finally here, the toji fic continuation/conclusion. Ngl I'm really excited because after this I can literally write anything domestic with him—not that I needed to do so, but it kind of made sense in my mind lmao.

Anyways, I do recommend reading these two works (how it all started) (prior to this) (and an alternate ending.) beforehand to understand a bit more what is going on. Also, this is the official opening of a Toji category in my masterlist hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Sorry for breaking the Naoya streak 🥹 I'll be back to him soon enough :)

Now, the warnings: angst. mentions of infidelity. self-harm. tiny mentions of naoya/reader. y/n is very miserable and toji pitiful. sorry :( and I apologize too if there are errors in my writing 🥹 or if Toji seems too ooc. It just needed to work this way.

Happy reading!

You never officially accepted Toji into your apartment, but you’ve long given up trying to push him away. Because whenever you thought yourself successful in doing so, he’d simply come back… more persistent than ever!

But it wasn’t all bad. In fact, the notion that he hadn’t become a burden since he arrived is something that elates you, for the last thing you needed was more problems pertaining to the Zen’in, a family you had strictly barred from being spoken of in your house…

Which Toji was more than happy to oblige to; he wasn’t too fond of them anyways before you came into his life, so this was the perfect agreement.

It didn’t mean there wasn’t moments where your curiosity got the best of you, where your mind wandered to your ex-husband, to the man you swore to love ‘till the rest of your life, wondering what he was doing, if he was missing you���

“You’re not allergic, are you?” Toji asks, snapping you out of your thoughts and back to the plate before you, his attempt of setting up the table.

“To what?”

“Mushrooms.” He says. “They’re in what we’re eating today.”

“…No. Not that I know of.”

“Good, then eat as much as you or the baby want.”

One of the main things you rarely worried about as of lately was food. Toji simply… decided it would be his responsibility, and has been doing a god job at that, even if most of the time it was just take out—cooking isn’t one of his strengths, but you suppose you couldn’t complain considering your precarious situation.

…

…

He didn’t need to do any of those things. Anything, really. There was never a necessity for him to seek you out and pretend to care for you. The relationship the two had back in the estate was practically nonexistent, whatever there was it was simply established out of convenience, what one could get out of the other… and you intended to keep it that way: your husband was the one you wanted.

But then, Toji was the only one to reach out to you after hell broke loose. Suddenly so interested in your and the baby’s well-being, without any apparent reason, was… eerie, to say the least. Almost too good to be true.

Yet, above all, it was painful. Because his actions only served to constantly remind you of the one you lost.

Question if you had perhaps… overreacted to Naoya’s cold words.

It wouldn’t be the first time the love of your life was pressured by his family to do things he didn’t want to. Say things he wouldn’t normally say to you.

That… that would make sense, wouldn’t it? It was simply more logical to assume that he’d never throw away all the years the two spent together… willingly, that is. That had to be the undeniable truth!

Or perhaps… not? Maybe he did believe that, wholeheartedly; and now desired to stay away from you for good—

Because if he thought otherwise, don’t you think he would’ve contacted you already? Try to make amends?

Oh, but how could you think that if you essentially disappeared? Hiding in some remote place of Japan in hopes of never being found…

There’s only one way to get the answers you desperately sought, and that would be contacting him. Reaching out for Naoya and giving him a chance to explain himself. Maybe it was all an misunderstanding, the foils of people that had always want nothing but your downfa—

“What are you thinking about, Y/N?”

You blink, once more being pulled back to reality and to the somewhat unwanted presence of the man before you.

You notice a prominent frown on his face, one that makes you believe he was trying to read your mind, as if that would ever be possible.

However, your assumption wasn’t that far off. In the short time the two have lived together Toji has gotten increasingly better in discerning whenever you were getting too deep into your own thoughts, and subsequently get you out of them before it got too… serious.

He could only imagine what went through that mind of yours—once a cheerful woman that brightened any room she walked in, now dimmed down to nothing less than a shadow of who she was.

Toji doesn’t question that whatever it is that you might be conjuring up isn’t good. Unfortunately, he won’t find out once you decide to postpone this train of thought to another day.

When it’s too late.

Toji doesn’t like pressuring topics. He’s always been the kind of person to not bother with trivial matters and just let things flow their natural way; if they end up biting him back later, that is something his future self will deal with.

However, that is not a privilege he can afford with your pregnancy, which you’ve profoundly refused to discuss with him. He doesn’t know if you plan on keeping it or not, and he supposes his opinion doesn’t really weigh in on your consideration, but that doesn’t mean he’d leave you to your luck.

Toji does not falter when it comes to keeping up with your growing needs. If you need a new blanket, or if there’s a new craving he needs to consider this time around, he’s on top of the situation as soon as it occurs.

Just because he didn’t have the same financial liberties as his annoying cousin doesn’t mean he wasn’t creative. He’d find a way, he always did, to get what he wanted.

Except when it came to convincing you into taking it easier. In other words…

“—you’re pregnant. You should spend most of your time resting.” He’d urge you once more, but you—still not keen on his presence around your modest home—take your work as your only means to escape your reality. “Or at least take lesser shifts… too much stress will harm you and the baby.”

“I’m fine.” Is the response you give him every single time the topic is brought up. Paying him no mind as you continue to do whatever it is that you enjoyed doing during your leisure time: reading, watching tv, or a simple nap.

Perhaps if the context behind your pregnancy was different, Toji would’ve found your stubbornness quite endearing. He might’ve even gotten to enjoy the fact that he was to become a father too! The idea never thrilled him in the past if he was being honest, but after getting a small taste of a domestic life with you, alongside the feeling of being wanted, he ended up liking it.

And what wasn’t there to like about having a home to return to? With people that look forward to see him, although the mother didn’t seem to appreciative of his presence yet… it was definitely an upgrade from the estate that cruelly demeaned him.

“Do you need anything from outside? I’m leaving soon.”

“No.” you respond curtly, he sighs. Well, at least you responded this time around.

“I’ll be back, then. Don’t do anything dangerous—and if you need anything you can always call me or Shiu. But I made sure everything is restocked beforehand.”

“Where are you going?” you ask, and this would be the first time he doesn’t openly indulge you, because he supposes you wouldn’t like the answer.

Why?

Because he’s going to the Zen’in estate.

As it was stated before, just because he was a man of limited resources, doesn’t mean he didn’t have options to go through. And one of those options led him to his old home. The Zen’in riches were vast, surely they wouldn’t notice the absence of a few things here and there, like clothes, cleaning supplies, even food, amongst other things he could still get a good mileage out of.

His visits there were always short and straight to the point. Toji’s hatred for them would continue to exist as long as he’s alive, more so after the horrible things they’ve done to you.

Yet, he never thought it possible for his disdain towards them to grow even stronger until he was proven wrong that very same day, after one of his relatives approaches him, handing him a white envelope that takes a lot of his willpower to not laugh at their ridiculous attempt of courtesy—

Or snap upon reading its contents.

“What is the meaning of this?” Toji breathes, his fingertips crumpling the edges of the paper.

“Is it not obvious?”

“Did you really expect me to care?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, it was only a formality.” The other responds. “Though no one really expected you to come since there’s rumors of your new… occupation.”

“If you dare do anything with that information, I’ll personally deal with you.” Even when being the black sheep of the family, the punching bag for their frustrations, there are still some that recognize his true power and do well in keeping their distance—just the right amount to keep instigating him but never to the point of crossing him. Toji often wishes they’d stop all together, but he supposes he can’t have everything in life. “Whatever, this is just garbage to me.”

“As I said, it was only a formality.”

“Yeah, right—whatever.” Toji says, quickly stowing away the envelope into his jacket with intentions of throwing it away once he got out of that wretched place, which he did so soon after, hoping to leave all this behind and get it done with.

But he wouldn’t be able to do that quite yet, not when the burden of the enveloped inside his jacket still weighed heavy on his mind. Toji had no interest in the affairs of the estate, on what the members decided or not to do, but… really? And so soon too?

It was clear to him that this is something you should never learn about. Not about his visits and certainly not about this.

He’ll take it to his grave, it’s the least he could do to preserve this small happiness he’s found.

Though it’s not what receives him once arriving at your apartment. There, just a few steps away from the entrance, you are scowling at him, arms crossed as you prepare to reproach him about his prolonged absence—all that was missing was the impatient tapping your foot and you’d be the epitome of an anxious wife.

How… endearing, he chuckles. At his unamusing response, your frown deepens.

“Where were you?” you ask once he begins to perch his coat at the nearby hanger. Toji barely had time to remove his shoes when you were already bombarding him with more questions. “At what time did you expect to return? Midnight??”

“What, worried about me?” Toji teases back, taking a deep sigh before looking up to you. You were already in your pajamas, it somewhat explains your behavior.  “You know I can take care of myself.”

“That’s not what I meant, you’re just later than usual. If you’re going to live here then you must at least let me know if you’re going to be late, I was about to lock the door.”

“I’ll just make my way in if you do.” Toji responds, attempting to thread back one unruly strand of hair behind your ear, stopping him when you move away. “Or you can give me a copy of the keys.”

“I’d rather you not, the last thing I need is the neighbors becoming even nosier than they already are.”

“Sounds like a good reason to give me keys.” He insists once more, like he’s always done after the few first days of living with you.

But you’ll only continue to reject him, briefly twisting your lips before turning around and heading back into your bedroom, effectively terminating the conversation and leaving Toji on his own—as these situations often went by.

A part of him wishes that by now your… behavior towards him might’ve eased up a bit. He’s not asking you to do a 180 and act as if the two were best friends since forever, but at least give him some consideration when it comes to all he’s done for the apartment and you…

It’s disheartening to see that everything remains essentially the same since the first day, if it hadn’t worsened already…

And yet, just when he was about to give up, hope is rekindled withing him upon seeing the small plate set up on the table, served with food that is undoubtedly cold by now, but its intentions still remain clear. It was for him.

You had put aside a plate for him in case he returned for dinner. The first time you’ve ever done so.

No wonder you were angry, he essentially stood you up!

And the thought alone of your attempts to get along is enough to have all silly ideas of your rejection thrown out the window, taking the plate to the microwave as he giddily reflects how you’ve grown a soft spot for him. Because small as it was, it was still there.

«All that, and she actually likes me, doesn’t she?»

Maybe. Might be more of tolerating that actual enjoyment, but it’s an advancement he’s willing to take to heart, enough to have him in a great mood for the rest of the night as he sits down to enjoy his meal and watch some tv—forgetting all about his visit to the estate, that dreaded envelope he’s forgotten to throw away before arriving to the apartment, and instead, inspire him to do something different.

Something involving the two, for a change.

Consider it as a token of his appreciation.

Or the calm before the storm.

Toji spent quite a lot of time shaping out everything. It was very surprising in fact to look back on his intricate itinerary knowing he was the one who made it. But it shouldn’t come off that shocking, he’s always been the type of person to achieve whatever he sets his mind to.

Guess it really boils down to being capable of putting aside his needs in favor of others. Yours.

All he planned for the day was with your enjoyment in mind, though mostly because of his ignorance when it came to your preferences. One would think that considering the time he’s spent living with you he ought to know something.

But reality was that he barely knew anything—like the places you like to frequent, if there are any restaurants you considered your favorites, or parks you’d like to take a stroll on from time to time…

What little he knew came from your time at the estate, when you were still in the good graces of Naoya and in the receiving end of his fortune. There was not a day where an expensive gift didn’t grace your attention, high end brands alongside names he’s never even heard of that Toji could only dream of affording.

So yeah, it was intimidating. But he tried his best anyways, so the program ended up going something like this:

First, he’d pick you up from work. It’s his day off so it’s not like he has anything else to do, but beyond that, he wants to do it. It’s… quite a nice gesture to do, right? Besides, he’s always wanted to see where you actually worked.

From there, get something to eat. He always ends up starving after work so he supposes that for a pregnant woman that must be no different. There are a few options he’s set aside near your job, but if you wish to go somewhere a bit further to disconnect, he can also do that.

Later on is when his options branch out more. The two could either go to a park to wind down, watch a movie, or even go to the mall. Do some shopping he thinks you might enjoy… or even start looking into a nursery.

Your current apartment is quite small, having only 1 bedroom and a somewhat humble living room/kitchen he’s transformed into a bedroom of sorts, which would’ve been more than enough for one person, but for the family of 3 you were to become, that was not appropriate.

Which is the other thing he wished to go through today. After a series of side jobs there’s no real need for you to know of, he’s gotten enough for a deposit in one of the new places he’s set his eyes on.

Sure, moving onto a much nicer apartment might demand a few restraints from both when it comes to financial decisions, but ultimately the benefits outweighed the sacrifices; by doing so, you’d be in an area where your commute wouldn’t take up to 30 mins before seeing the faintest semblance of urbanism.

What you have right now is certainly not what he’d consider ideal for the mother of his child. In case of an emergency, there’s only some family-owned pharmacy to rely on. The nearest hospital is all the way down to the city!

But even if the places were not up to your expectations Toji would still make it work.

Because he’s been in your shoes, he’s got you under his skin: understanding all too well what it is to need help and have everyone turn their back on you.

It’s a dreadful, empty sensation he never wants to experience again, less on woman he’s slowly become more and more fond of by each passing day.

Ironic to think that the man many considered ruthless had become putty in your hands. And how could he not, after having a taste of what it is to be… needed? Alongside your small attempts to get along with him, or so that’s how he perceives the moments you’re not outright rejecting him.

The same ones that motivated him to keep doing his best, as well as be more approachable in his posture. Toji’s aware that his façade isn’t quite the softest one out there, but at least he’s not ugly! That ought to amount to something, right? More so if he plans to win you over like that too…

Either way, regardless of what is to happen down the line or now, Toji gets thrilled at the prospect of spending time with you. Hoping to finally see one of those adorable smiles he always loved to catch when no one was seeing—

But unfortunately, his expectations would stray off in a completely different direction once arriving at your work to learn that you weren’t there anymore. You hadn’t been there, in fact, for quite some time now. Apparently, there were days where you’d leave early just because. Naturally your workplace wasn’t to disclose that kind of personal information to anyone, less to a complete stranger in their eyes.

Seems you hadn’t bothered to tell them about him… but it’s fine. They’re not people he cares for either, so he doesn’t let it affect him much.

Your early departure instead makes Toji wonder where you’ve gone. He never really noticed your little habit since you always came back to the apartment at the same time, but he can’t help but hopefully assume you were ok. Already on way to home, actually. If he’s quick enough he might even catch you at the train station—which he better do if he hopes to continue with his carefully detailed itinerary.

Yet, as he arrived through all possible places where you could be, scanning them only to realize you were nowhere to be found…

Toji grows a bit worried. Anxious as he rushes back to the apartment, where he finds the door open but the premises void of your presence.

It’s a small place, there’s no way he’d miss a spot—it’s not like you were hiding underneath the bed or in the closet. Too silly, that doesn’t sound like you either way.

But what does sound like you, however, is the necessity to have everything neatly organized. From the cabinets to the few plants outside the window, you always made sure that everything was to your visual liking.

Such as his so-called bedroom, apparently having folded his clothes and set them on the edge of the couch to make use of it, he assumes.

… Even the jacket he wore that day to the estate, the same one that harbored that damning envelope he had forgotten of in favor of thinking about you.

Which now laid open, crinkled, on the living room floor, with its contents available for anyone around to see.

Just one second of observing the scene, just one moment was all that Toji needed to understand what had occurred. What your curious nature had unwittingly pushed you into, his heart dropping to his stomach once the gravity of the situation finally hits him.

Soon after, he turns around, sprints past the door and begins to scour for you. Exasperatedly calling for your name, looking from one side of the neighborhood to the other, even asking the nearby unsuspecting passers of your whereabouts in hopes they’d have a lead, only to remain empty handed.

Each second that passed his worries just grow stronger, like a ticking bomb, his mind was only conjuring the worst scenarios your knowledge of that situation could evoke—

But none could compare to the one he concluded after a neighbor gave him his much-needed answers.

Or more like torments.

“I think I saw her—the woman you’re talking about.” They said, Toji’s heart quickens. Clenching his grasp as he swallows. “She looked very agitated while going to the nearby pharmacy before heading to the forest—”

No.

Nononononono

No.

“To the hills?” Toji scowls. “And you didn’t stop her?!”

“I—I didn’t think I needed to! She’s always been… reserved, you know? She doesn’t even salute us when passing by; so, I just thought she wanted to be alone—”

Toji didn’t have time to waste trying to make sense of a selfish fool that couldn’t see what you were horrifyingly planning to do. Instead, he cuts through their conversation and rushes to the forest, following the small trail which he hoped you took and find you before it was too late.

Before you took one more step towards the cliff, which he could easily see you were still determining to do or not given the fixed gaze you had upon it, and the tight grip you had on the small boxes of medicine.

The only two options you had to deal with the dreadful news of the estate. The only ones your broken heart could think of.

“Y/N—Now, let’s not do anything irrational—” Toji begins, stopping just a few feet away to not startle you, but close enough to react in case…

“How long have you known?” you breathe, eyes still on the edge.

“I don’t think it matt—”

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!” You shriek, snapping your head back to him. He already imagined so, but the look of your reddened eyes and soaked cheeks only shows how much pain you were truly in.

How much love you still harbored for the one that wronged you.

And how little importance he had in your life.

“How long have you known that Naoya is getting married?”

Toji swallows, he had to be extra careful with his words because at the minimal miscalculation this could very mean your decision. But at the same time, to see you so afflicted by his ungrateful cousin… he…

“You weren’t supposed to.” Toji responds honestly. “I… didn’t think it was necessary considering all that happened.”

“And who gave you the authority to decide that? What made you think I needed your consideration?!”

“I just thought it would be the best for you, you are pregnant with my—"

“Oh, the best for me.” You mock with a laugh. “Of course you’re only doing the best for me! How could I forget the way you essentially forced your way into my life when I didn’t even want you near me! It was all because of your miserable self that I got—I got stuck with you!”

But even if your words hurt him far more than any pain he’s ever experienced by his own family, he pushes through the ringing of his ears and seeks for your safety first.

“Y/N, please, let’s—let’s have this conversation in a… safer area.” Toji cautions upon seeing you take a step closer to the cliff, so his paranoia made him believe. “It’s cold, and you’re probably hungry too, let’s come back hom—"

“You never really cared for me, did you? All of the things you’ve done… it was only because you want to get revenge on Naoya, isn’t it?! It’s always been that, since the very. First. Day.”

“That doesn’t even make sense, Y/N. You know I rarely had contact with him, he was the one always looking for me like a stray dog!”

“Don’t insult—”

“And you knew too how much I loathed that place.” He continues. “If I could, I would’ve left a long time ago.”

“But you didn’t anyways, right? Because you were searching for the perfect way to get back at them!” you gasped. “And you—you found that opportunity in me!”

Toji should’ve felt great offense at your accusing words, more so since they were incredibly one-sided and void of any semblance of truth—his truth.

But instead, all that he felt was an inundated sense of sadness at the realization that the preconceived notions of his family had made way to you too. Completely overruling your once sweet demeanor with the cruelness he had been all too acquainted with throughout his whole life.

Was he cursed to never do anything right?

Never be happy?

Did it even matter… to try anymore?

…

…

…

“Is that what you think of me?” he softly asks, you frown at his incredulous belief. “I would never do that to you. Not you.”

Not once he’s realized how much he’s changed for you.

But his words only served to further stir the fire within you.

“It’s because of you that I’m stuck with this damned—thing!”

The crude way you refer to his unborn child hurts his heart in inexplicable ways he doesn’t believe he’s ever experienced before; but yet again, it shows that not even his offspring is safe from the torment he was promised since the moment he was born.

His steel front begins to chirp at your indifference, as felt in the knot in his throat at the tears slowly forming in the corners of his eyes. And the shatter of his heart.

“Because of you—Naoya is… Naoya is going to marry that woman.”  The one from a prestigious, powerful clan; the type of person that while you never imagined the Zen’in would like as future Lady of the House, it’s clear by a quick comparison that she was a much better candidate: rich, strong, beautiful…

You could never hold a candle to her, much less in your current situation, that much is obvious now.

Officially, heart wrenchingly so, you’ve lost your husband.

Forever.

And all because of Toji’s selfish desires—

“Please, let’s just go home; you can do anything you want to me. Scream, cry, hit me, hate me, anything you want.” He pleads.  “Just get away from the edge, please."

“I have no home.” You respond. “I lost it the moment I… I got involved with you.”

He knew their relationship had been rocky since the very beginning, but he never thought it was this bad. Maybe because a part of him hoped that after all the time the two spent together you would’ve… softened up a bit.

Perhaps not to the same extent as his, but at least… be careful enough to not spew all those poisonous words that only inched the knife of your indifference deeper and deeper into his heart.

Guess that was all on his mind.

“I hate you.” You suddenly declare. “I really do.”

“You don’t mean that.” Toji responds immediately after, his last attempts to gather the pieces of his ruptured heart before they completely disappeared. “You’re just angry.”

“No.” you double down. “You don’t know how much I hate seeing you around the apartment, doing all those stupid things just to appear a good person when we both know you aren’t! When because of you I’ve become worthless to— to my husband…! Because of this thing that I’m carrying!

…

…

…

If I—I could only get rid of it then maybe—then maybe Naoya will want me back. If so, I will do whatever it takes so it happens.” You begin to spiral, suddenly revealing your intentions in this place and making Toji’s eyes widen.

“What are you planning to do, Y/N?” He breathes. “You don’t—you don’t have to do anything. Not like this. Not when we can still talk and figure it out!”

“I can get my old life back with this thing out of the way, my marriage, my house, my—my love—" you begin to tremble, the faintest possibility of being back in Naoya’s arms is enough to put a smile on your face, if just for a moment.

Live in the fantasy that he hadn’t moved on from you. Like he hadn’t set eyes on someone else as soon as he made ease of his turmoiled heart.

Even if it had been by force, through matters of his clan that he was tasked to get married again, the truth remained the same: Naoya didn’t seek you out. He didn’t put up a fight to stop you from leaving nor defend your honor. He didn’t even try pushing his family’s overbearing ways back.

He simply took what was given to him, showing that he cared little next to nothing for the marriage he supposedly sacrificed a lot for, and leaving you at the lowest point of your life to fend for yourself.

But if you were already rock bottom, then that meant your life could only improve from there.

A small risk to take to get back the love of your life.

The same one Toji needed to do in this precise moment, if he didn’t want to lose you either.

“Y/N, Naoya… he doesn’t want you back.” Toji suddenly says, hoping that his words would snap you out of your delusions. “And getting rid of the baby will not make any difference.”

“How would you even know that? Someone—someone as despicable as you couldn’t know a single thing about love!” you reproach. Toji swallows, taking a step closer just in case you—you… “What would someone like you know about how I feel?! About the pain I carry?!!”

Much more than you imagined.

Much, much more, since he’s become clear in his thoughts. Of his feelings.

You weren’t alone. You didn’t need to, not when he was there to support you,

When he was there to—

To…

“—love you.” Toji suddenly declares, and for the first time that evening, your thoughts come to a screeching halt, blinking as you try to understand what he just foolishly said. If he even knew what it meant. “I—I love you, Y/N.”

But you only took his words as another baseless jest to get you right where he wanted. A manipulation tactic it didn’t surprise you he’d use against you—in your most vulnerable moment too… has he got no shame?!

“Do not lie to me, after all you’ve done, after all you made me lose—the least I deserve is your honesty!”

“But I am telling the truth.” He persists. Toji has never considered himself to be quite the nervous type; he was quite the opposite, really…

Yet, when it came to facing the love of his life in attempts of saving her life…

He’d rather face a thousand curses than go through this painful ordeal any longer.

Nonetheless, he pushes through. Because a life without you is not a life worth living.

“Since our days intertwined for the very first time, you’re all I cared for.”

“Stop it, you don’t mean—you don’t know—”

“I fell in love with your smile. With the way you laughed.” He continues, taking a step closer to you at every word he professes. Toji expected you to back away, but you only stood there petrified as he began to list all your virtues, much to his elation. “With the way your eyes seem to glisten whenever eating sweets. How you play with your hair whenever deep in thought. How you like to sleep on your right side but don’t do it because of the lights coming from the window, keeping you awake.”

“I don’t want to—I don’t want to hear any more of how you’re a creep—!”

“With the way you always reproach at me, and then… still put up a plate for me on the table.” He chuckles at the memory, how bothered you looked that one night, and yet… “I’ve always thought your pout was cute, but it wasn’t until I became the reason of it that I completely fell in love with it.”

“Why are you even telling me this? What do you think you’ll get out of me?!”

“I don’t know, nothing, maybe. I guess. Besides reminding you that you’re not worthless.” Toji says. “Because to me, you’re everything.”

“That’s not—"

“It’s the truth. All of my words, every single one of them, I meant.” Toji murmurs. “You have no idea how desolate my life was until you came along. How you brightened my days with just one word; and even less than that. You just had to smile my way, and I’d stop feeling like the disgrace of the clan. Just one smile, and I’d feel human. Worthy. Like I mattered.”

You wished to snap back, but the shocking, genuine nature of his declaration keeps you speechless.

“I won’t deny that my actions back then were made with a jealous intent. A craving to have what my cousin did—to have power over those that wronged me, one way or the other.

But I guess the more I spent time with you, without him, the more I began to sink. To let my thoughts unravel and wonder what it would be instead, to be cherished, loved, needed by someone as gentle as you.

I never intended things to end like this. You’re a delicate flower amongst that ocean of thorns. You, of all people, don’t deserve to go through all this suffering.

It’s why I swear to you again that I will do everything to make you happy. To give you what you need. Whatever it is, whatever you want, it’s yours, just—

Just don’t leave me.”

It’s only when he instinctively lets out a sob that he realizes how much he’s been crying, the two, in fact. Both yours and his cheeks soaked with tears at the presence of his undying love. Of his desire to be with you, through good or bad, better or worse. It didn’t matter if the two ended up in the street, barely making it through the day, and hated by everyone in the whole world…

Because as long as the two were together, that was enough to make Toji happy.

It’s what you always sought for a partner, what you always dreamed of…So why…

Why do you keep rejecting the things your heart so desperately desired to have once again?

“You can ignore me, hate me, treat me like I’m the worst person in the whole world, I can take it. I’m used to it. But don’t leave me.” He breathes, voice trembling as he finally reaches out to you, mere inches away from touching you... “If you leave me, I’ll…. I’ll do it myself too. I’ll jump down that cliff, or take whatever pills you take, to be with you. Because a life with you is… a life without meaning.”

…

…

…

“But you don’t believe me, do you?” Toji fearfully asks in response to your overwhelming silence, your refusal to acknowledge the heart he’s poured out to you. “You don’t believe anything I say—why? Why don’t you?”

Was he… was he truly that despicable? So unthinkable to believe that a man like him was capable of loving too?

Did he not go through enough punishment already?

How much more must he suffer, for the gods to leave him at peace?

Not much longer, because unknowingly to him, his words served to break you free from all that was holding you back. The refusal to accept the pain has inflicted on you, on your marriage and new reality.

On the fact that your heart has been shattered, probably in a million pieces, an occurrence that would probably take a lifetime to fix, if you ever do.

And if you somehow manage, you don’t want to risk it. You don’t want to endanger yourself;

All because you don’t—

“—don’t want to —I don’t—I don’t want to get my heart broken ag—again…!”

All the painful words you cruelly used against Toji were only results of your anger, and not your true sentiments towards him, that much he could understand once he quickly and tightly held you into his arms. Pulling you as close as he could into his embrace as you begin to cry, letting all that you’ve been holding in since your departure of the estate out.

The tears you never shed. The cries you never made.

It was all coming out. Washing over your body as it finally allowed your heart to heal for the first time.

“I won’t do that to you, I swear.” He breathes against your hair; you sob once more.

“Please—please don’t do this to me.” You beg. “I can’t—I won’t be able to take it again!”

“I won’t.” He repeats. “I will never let any pain hurt you ever again.”

And thus, your new life begins.

It took some time and great effort, but with enough patience and understanding, your perspective of him finally began to change.

Now, while you still had a long way to go to completely welcome him into your life, at least you no longer treated him with disdain.

Your mornings would begin with greetings to him, simple questions of if there’s something he desired to eat while you got breakfast ready, as well as good wishes wishes on his commute to work—if he didn’t accompany you to your own job, that is, which you eventually left once your pregnancy symptoms (and Toji’s endless persistence) were too much to handle.

But perhaps the most important improvement was your willingness to give him a copy of your apartment keys—or more like your keys, but the intentions were still the same, nonetheless. Toji almost pinched himself at the moment, if you hadn’t scolded him for being too silly.

“Really? For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Toji teases, you frown.

“Just take them before I regret it. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to use them anyways…”

It happened so when you decided to continue with your pregnancy.

Regardless of how it came to be, and after much consideration… there’s no use in hiding the fact you’ve always wanted a family. A little baby to call your own, in a house you can decorate to your liking, with someone that would always be by your side to support you.

And everything seemed to be aligning just where you wanted. Not only for you, but for him too.

Toji had gotten a better job, one that afforded you a calm, work-free life, as well as a new apartment, one that promised to ease all of your constant fears of someone breaking in, as well as the proximity of all services you might come to use now with the baby.

You still couldn’t believe how it happened. That it even did.

Just one day, coincidentally the last one you were to work, Toji decided to pick you up and bring you along for some errands—little did you know, he was planning on showing you the new place you’d call home.

“Toji, this is—but the things—”

“They’re already here. I moved them all while you were at work.” He explains, your mouth falls wide open. “Nice, huh? Definitely an improvement.”

“Yeah...”

“And it’s all ours.”

It was hard for you to keep acting coldly as you always had towards him; definitely so after the gift he’d just given you. It just… wasn’t right for you to remain motionless, you needed to repay him for all his kindness!

But what could you possibly give a man as mysterious as him? Toji was… enigmatic, to say the least. And what little you knew just made your confusion regarding him grow even bigger.

Yet, if you listened carefully, remained attentive enough to his actions, you’d soon discover that he wasn’t as rough as he appeared to be. In fact, he was quite the softie when it came to be, and with the most unsuspecting thing too.

Yes, he had normal pastimes, like hanging out with that one friend of his, Shiu was his name? Though he seemed a bit more of an acquaintance, or even a coworker, than anything else. Gambling was another, or so you learned from Shiu, though it seems he’s stopped according to the same man. “—thanks to his new responsibility.”

Which circles you back to the first point.

Beneath that intimidating, cold exterior he always professed, Toji genuinely liked the prospect of being a father. From the way his gaze lingered at the baby department whenever passing by, or how he was always attentive to your needs…

There was not a person that eagerly awaited this baby more than him—you even overheard it so during the moments he thought you asleep, on those nights when your discomfort was too much to ignore and such, Toji remained by your side; keeping you company until slumber finally took over. Or at least distract you.

He carefully placed his hand over your protruding belly, sighing as he began to talk to the baby, the still nameless life he never expected to become so fond of, as if it could respond. Well, he just needed to wait a few months if that’s what he wanted, but he’d probably regret it when the kid turns out to be nothing short of a babbling mess.

Until then, he’d confide in his child his deepest desires, one in particular catching your attention and what you ultimately pursue to show just how much he’s begun to mean to you.

“The baby—it’s a boy.” The nurse soon declared once you’ve gone through all the strenuous, agonizing endeavor that arrival of your baby was.

You thought you were prepared for it, took endless classes and courses for it, mentalized that it was going to hurt… just never to this extent. The moment your water broke all that you had learned was wiped out of your memory, anxiety soon taking a hold of your emotions—

However, if it weren’t for Toji’s presence, his attempt of comforting words you unwittingly dismissed by shrieking at him.

“Shut up! You’re not the one pushing a goddamn baby out of your body!”

To which he laughs in response, because he finds your words amusing, or because he needed a way to take out his stress before he turned delirious with concern…

You wouldn’t have made it. You wouldn’t be where you were right now, exhausted, sweaty, but with your child in your arms.

An adorable baby boy that just by a glance you could already see whom he’d look like the most.

“Y/N.” Toji calls. He spent hours and hours daydreaming of this moment, of finally seeing the child he made with you—but when it finally came… he couldn’t lift his gaze from you. From the breathtaking sight of the family, his family, he’s sworn to cherish and protect.

From the love in your eyes as you admired the little baby boy he just knew would be a troublemaker, yet, still inheriting your kindness. Probably the only thing he’d get from you as you noted.

“He has your hair.” You say, cutting through his thoughts. “And… your eyes. Your face too.”

“I’m sure he has something of you.” He chuckles, leaning closer to you to get a good look at his child, realizing you weren’t lying. “You did well, Y/N. I was so afraid that something would happen to you, but you were brave and strong, like I always knew you were capable of”

“Toji…” you murmur, voice trembling at his words. Maybe you were just sensitive after all you endured; or perhaps… you’ve opened up to him, finally. “I was so, so frightened…”

“I know, but it’s over now. You can rest.” He continued. “And once you wake up, we’ll be here, waiting for you. To go home.”

Your lip spreads into a small smile, giving him a quick chuckle before sighing.

Finally, all of it, the sleepless nights, the random cravings, the unbearable aches, were over.

Kind of, the real struggle was only beginning.

But none of it mattered once you looked back at your lovely boy once more and realized it had all been worth it.

Your life with Megumi—a name you chose to show your appreciation for Toji, which he was elated to hear as seen in the twinkle of his eye—alongside his father, is one you couldn’t wait to see.

You knew Megumi was fated to look just like his father the moment he was born, but his growing similarities were simply ridiculous. Was it fair that he was an exact copy of him, after 9 months of carrying him?

Probably not. But you only excuse him because he’s too darn adorable! Though your amusement didn’t go without precautions, which Toji always denied.

“You should stop scowling around Megumi, Toji.” You begin. “He’s picking up your bad habits…”

“Scowling? I don’t scowl.” He retorts, a smile on his face as he does the same thing he refused doing. “Whatever the brat does isn’t my fault.”

“Don’t call him that.” You pout. “He has a beautiful name you should use more often.”

He does, he silently agrees. Heart fluttering whenever hearing you call him the miracle he was always meant to be. Or when remembering you’d given him such honor.

…

It’s these little things that always have him questioning where he stands in your heart.

And while he promised to always be with you, beyond what he feels for you simply because that’s what a real man does, a part of him still hoped that maybe, just… maybe, you’ve grown fond of him. More than the father of your child, like a possible partner to rely on too.

But he won’t push you. Because he understands that you’ve been through enough emotional turmoil for him to simply barge in and demand an answer from you.

Was it too much to ask?

No. Because you were very aware of the wrongdoings you’ve committed at the beginning of your story with him, plaguing your mind every second of the day, trying your best to make it up to him but failing to find the right way to do so.

Or more like the courage, for your shame often rendered you speechless in the quiet, private moments between the two when it would’ve been the perfect time to do so.

But it comes. In the most unexpected way too, on Megumi’s first birthday, which he coincidentally planned all by himself—by overshadowing your attempts, a spirit of competition ignites that day, but that’s a story for another time.

“The brat likes that weird show… the one that airs early in the morning, doesn’t he?” Toji asks as soon as you enter the apartment, helping you with the bags in your hands, filled with decorations and balloons for the small birthday party you planned to throw for your baby—though that was no longer necessary given his efforts.

“Toji…” you murmur, he quietly apologizes. “But yeah, he does.”

“Good, ‘cause that’s the cake I got him.”

“A… cake?” you blink, startled to see the big white box on the table, Toji opening it soon after and revealing a cake inside—themed of Megumi’s favorite show of the moment, just as he said.  “Isn’t that… much for just the three of us? And Megumi can’t even eat that yet—and did you do all this??”

“Seems more than enough for us, wouldn’t you agree? Or are you no longer a sweet tooth?”

But you don’t respond, still… trying to take in what was happening before you.

“…I just thought it would be nice for the kid’s first birthday. To celebrate it. Though most of these things early on in his life only tend to matter to the parents since they don't even know what their name is.” Toji adds. “…What I mean to say is that if you don’t want it, we can still—”

“No, no. I… I’m just thinking of all the things I have to return now that you... won me at it.”

“We can use them next year or spend the cash on something else.”

“Gambling?” you raise an eyebrow.

“You know I don’t do that anymore, princess.” He chuckles. “Maybe that family photo session you wanted. Or something nice for you.”

“You need new clothes.” you quip back. “We could start there.”

“That wouldn’t be the case if you didn’t steal all of them when you7 were pregnant."

“Ah, so now it’s my fault?”

“No, of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it.” He smirks. “Would a slice of cake make up for my insulting mistake?”

“…maybe.”

“Then get Megumi ready while I take care of everything else.”

“Yeah, I’ll… I guess I’ll do that.” Yet, as determined as you seemed to be on picking up Megumi, a soft smile on your lips as you cooed at him, telling him if he was ready to celebrate his first birthday and oh, how exciting it was going to be with all the presents he got…

Your mind was nowhere near him.

It remained on Toji. On what his actions had stirred inside you once more since the moment he gave you the new apartment.

Since he held you close the day you decided to end it all. After he comforted you after a rough night of cold tears and never-ending aches, never leaving your side even when you continuously pushed him away.

Once he gave you the last piece of pizza, the one he always ate, just in case you were still hungry. Or how he didn’t mind when you stole his hoodies, all of them really, just because they were warmer and… because you liked his scent, how it calmed you.

How everything about him soothed you. Even those not so quiet snores you couldn’t sleep without now.

As you recounted these moments, the truth unfolded before you once again. What you always knew but denied out of fear of getting hurt again.

But you could no longer hide it anymore, not when your heart was demanding you to free it. Yourself.

Him.

So, after letting little Megumi propped up in his chair, you hastily headed to the kitchen, where the only other guest of the party was overseeing the last details on the cake (such as the candle) as well as getting more napkins—his son was quite the messy eater, so they could never be too sure— stopping when hearing your approach.

“Oh, Y/N, is there something you needed? Are you ok?” Toji asks. You seemed in a hurry, distressed even; naturally, he had to worry. “Is everything alright with Megumi?”

“Yes, he’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m… not here because of him.” You slowly confess, swallowing down your nerves before looking up to him and continuing. “I just… I just wanted to tell you something.”

“What is it?” he asks, you press your lips together.

It was hard, no one ever promised otherwise, but this was a very necessary conversation you could no longer ignore.

So, after taking one last breath, you begin.

“That I’m—I’m sorry. For the horrible way I treated you back then. I… I had no excuse to do so, even if I was going through a hard time in my life, that was no justification for the dreadful words I used against you, or the way I diminished all that you’ve done for me.

You were always, always good to me and I… I just didn’t care because I had my own issues that I dumped onto you.” You breathe, a sob trying it’s hardest to escape your lips, breaking through anyways. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry—”

“Y/N…”

“I guess what I mean to say is… thank you, for everything. And I’m sorry, for everything too.”

“You apologize too much, you know?” Toji says before wrapping his arms around you and pulling you tightly into an embrace. You silently sniffle, taking in his warmth before returning the gesture. “You don’t need to do that; I’ve long forgiven you.”

“Ho—How? When?” you gasp, raising your gaze to him. “…why?”

“Didn’t I tell you before?” He chuckles, looking down at you before giving you one last smile. “I love you.”

And while it’s not the first time you’d heard him say so, whether subtly or bluntly, whether through words or actions…

But it is the first time you’ve smiled at his words. Accepting them into your heart, which in turn, finally pushed you to take that step and admit what you desperately needed to do so.

At least openly to him, because deep within, you already knew.

“I… love you too. I—I think, no. I know.” You say. “I know I love you too.”

Alongside their little miracle, their hearts were never empty again.

🥺

One of my followers will know who Naoya married lol. I do plan to explore that idea later on, after I finish up other requests :> hehe.

Now, I hope you enjoyed this small piece 🥹 as always, things ended up chaing a bit when I got down to write it but the tragicness of it all remained. I wanted a naive Toji that was happy to be with YN while she was stuck with Naoya still, enough so to attempt doing that.

Also, I first envisioned them declaring their feelings for one another after the birth of Megumi, but decided to change that to his first birthday eventually. Thought it was nicely paced :) enough for YN to heal and such.

Well, there you have it. One of the many things I hope to write about Toji in the future :> Thank you so much for reading it.

Now, take care, and see you soon!!

[ladylooch]

When Lio & Connor Finally Talk

A/N: Took a few days to get this right, so apologies for the delay. This occurs between part 4 and part 5 of Lio's spiral.

A few days after Stella’s allergic reaction, Lucie texts Lio asking if he is free for lunch with them. The Rangers have a day off and Lio is still in Jersey rehabbing even with the Devils on the road.

But when Lio gets to the restaurant, only Connor waits for him at a table. He is looking up at a TV, signature brown curls wild while a mostly full beer sits in his left hand. Connor looks over when the door shuts behind Lio. Hesitantly, Lio continues forward, shrugging his jacket off his shoulders and tossing it into the booth.

“Hey.” Lio says, sitting across the table from him. 

“Uh, hey.” Connor says, rubbing at his eye for a moment. 

“Thought Luc was coming?”

“Stella isn’t feeling well today. We took her in. She’s got a lingering cough and sore throat from everything.” Connor closes his eyes, putting his hands on either side of his nose and rubbing aggressively. He blinks away weariness. “Lucie stayed home with her.” Lio nods, feeling bad for what the Wood family has been going through this week.

“I hope that clears up soon for her.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Connor agrees. He picks at his napkin under his beer glass. “She’s asking for you…” Connor murmurs. A heavy sigh drops Connor’s shoulders as he leans back in the booth. His blue eyes stare at Lio. As best he can, Lio holds his gaze. 

“I miss her too.” Lio says simply. Connor’s jaw tightens, making the bone protrude by his left ear.

Their blue eyes, similar but different shades, search each other. They’re best friends- brothers-  but neither of them really know how to fix this. Lio wishes Lucie was here. She would say something effortlessly funny and teasing that would break the tension. Lio brings a hand up, running it through his hair, pulling his gaze away first.

“I’ve…” Connor’s voice breaks a bit and he clears his throat. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about those first few weeks of Lucie’s pregnancy. When we knew… What it was like walking into my room after practice and seeing the ten different pregnancy tests on the bed.” Connor scoffs pensively. “Luc was so scared. I had never seen her like that before. And I made her that way, ya know? I was older. I was supposed to be the voice of reason when we started playing birth control roulette and talking about babies. It was dumb. I felt responsible for putting her in that situation, and I took that hard when she wasn’t around.”

Lio already knows this because he saw it. Connor only let it out to Lio- the thousands of questions, the moans of agony about how bad this situation was, and it was Lio who convinced him that Nico Hischier wasn’t going to hire the Swiss army to murder him.

“I didn’t handle those next few weeks well.” Connor admits.

“You went through a lot.” Lio reminds Connor. 

A baby, a trade, and a break up. The perfect recipe for success.

Connor nods slowly.

“So did you.” He responds quietly. “We were all really young and didn’t have the life experience that we do now.”

“Yeah. Look Connor, I was just trying to be there for you both. It wasn’t about picking sides or talking Lucie into anything. I just showed up the best way I could. Tried to be what you guys needed, but in the end she happened to need me more…” Lio trails off. 

The waitress comes over and the two men pause. Lio orders a water because doctors orders are not to drink right now. But damn he could use a whiskey or two. When she walks away, the silence continues for a few beats until Connor grunts out an exasperated sigh.

“What happened in Switzerland shifted my perspective of all that though.” Connor finally says. “I always though Lucie was with you and you were advocating for us. So I was safe in those conversations the two of you were having. I know it’s really not my business, and you two are the true soulmates in this world together, but…” Connor trails off, closing his mouth tightly so his jaw pops again. “I thought you and I were on the same page on what we were. Hearing some of the things that happened in those conversations I wasn’t in, it felt like you didn’t have my back when I wasn’t around. Like… you were telling me one thing and Lucie something different.”

“It really wasn’t like that, Woody.” Lio shakes his head slightly. “I never told Lucie to not have Stella. I never told her to raise a baby without you. I never said that she shouldn’t try to work things out with you. That all got messed up together that night in Switzerland with what was happening in my life, how it happened with my parents… you guys too. It was a mess. But I never advocated for anything specific with Lucie. I did talk out her options with her because she needed that, and I don’t care what that does to the two of us right here, I would do that again right now.”

Connor is still on the other side of the table. The waitress comes and goes again bringing Lio’s water. Lio takes a sip, thinking back to those conversations he had with Lucie. 

“You should know she wanted you the whole time though. She was just scared and upset.” Lio shakes his head. “She didn’t entertain anything else. She needed time. And that’s why I was telling you to give her time and space. It wasn’t about trying to separate the two of you or come between you. It was so she could get on the right track and be ready to face what was coming, which was a massive life change at 22.”

“I know. Her and I have been talking about this off and on since the summer.” Connor says quietly. “It’s helped with her and I, but not with us.” He motions between Lio and him. 

“What do you want me to say that makes this better? I can’t change anything about what happened.” Lio points out. “None of us can.” 

“I wanna know that you have my back. In all situations. That if something happened to Luc and I.” Connor pauses like a wave of discomfort wafts through him. “That I would still have you.” The last word breaks in his voice. “I’ve been there for you through a lot of shit, Lio. Shit Lucie doesn’t even know about. What you and I have is a bond different than anyone else. I need to know that we still stand in that together."

“Of course we do.” Lio sits up straighter, eyebrows pulling together sincerely. “You’re as much my brother as those mouthy twins in Switzerland are. It’s why this has all been so fucking hard, man. Like, yeah there is Luc and Stell. But if you’re not around, something is always missing.” Lio clears away the emotion settling in his throat. “I’ve got your back in every room, whether you’re in it or not.” He rubs at the side of his water glass. “And if you and Lucie fuck up your marriage, that’s on you two. I’m not bailing on any of you.” Connor starts to smirk.

“You know I’d be the one to fuck it up.”

“Yeah but I didn’t feel it was appropriate to say that right now.” Lio laughs. Connor joins in. Connor rubs at his jaw, big grin stretching his lips apart as he rolls something over in his mind.

“The other night she made a new recipe for dinner and she asked me what I thought. I assumed she really wanted to know because she asked, you know like a dumbass who hasn’t been married for years, and I said it was a little bland. You would have thought I told her she was fat. Stella has had smaller crocodile tears than my wife did that night.”

“Ooooof. PMS?” Crocodile tears are textbook period week Lucie. Lio figured that out at a young age.

“Yeah.” Connor widens his eyes, rubbing at the back of his neck. “When she told me, I doubled down and said I knew a 9 month fix for that. Good news is I’ve been in the dog house for so long that the renovations are coming along nicely.” Lio and Connor laugh loudly together.

“Have you thought about letting her tell you when she’s ready for the next one?”

“Yeah. I mean, of course it’s on her timeline, but I want her to know I am always ready.”

“She does. You don’t need to keep telling her.” Lio says, settling more comfortably into the booth. 

“Speaking of marriage and babies… Savannah?” Connor cuts right to the point.

“Nothing really to say there.”

“You see her every day tho?”

“Yeah.” Lio licks his lips. “But like, she’s super professional with me. She jokes around with the other guys and such, but with me it’s like, a wall is up. She’ll smile politely or wave or whatever…I don’t blame her, but…” Lio sighs, bouncing his foot under the table anxiously.

“Kinda tough when you’ve been inside of her huh?” Lio throws him a ‘don’t’ look. “Alright, alright.” Connor backs off. “I don’t need to tell you you’re an idiot about what happened with her because you know that. But don’t continue to be an idiot and not attempt to try again with her.” 

“She wants nothing to do with me.” Lio responds, biting the inside of his bottom lip to keep his outwards composure even though the pang in his chest makes him want to lay down in the booth to hide.

“She wants nothing to do with that version of you. Ya know, Lio Meier the Fuck Boy. That still who you are?”

Lio looks back at his brother across the table, soaking in those words. 

For the first time ever, Lio doesn’t think so.

[emberdew]

Be More Ghost Chapter 18: The Pants Talk

Summary:

A Be More Chill AU where Danny gets a Super Quantum Intel Unit Processor (or Squip) to help him become cool and win over Valerie, but things don't really go as planned.

Masterpost | AO3 Link | Word Count: 1,654

Danny-boy is in big bad trouble right now.  It’s a trouble that he can’t see  so I gotta help him somehow.

The next day, Danny walked into the kitchen and saw his dad tinkering with an invention at the table.

“Where do you think you’re going, Danno?” Jack looked up and tilted his screwdriver at Danny.

“Um… Ghost Hunting Club…” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He was on the fence about telling his parents about the ghost hunting club since he was pretty sure they would be embarrassingly over-enthusiastic about it. But this was the last club meeting, so he saw no harm in saying anything now.

“What! You’re in a ghost hunting club! That’s fantastic!” Jack jumped up and swooped Danny into a fierce hug. “I always knew you’d pick up the family business!”

“Yeah, anyways, I really gotta get going-” Danny tried to extricate himself from his dad’s grip but wasn’t very successful. Too bad it was too risky to use intangibility this close.

“Wait, I really gotta talk to you about something!” Jack leaned back to look Danny in the eyes but kept his hands on his son’s shoulders. “I know you broke curfew on Halloween. Did you go to that party that was on the news?”

Danny cringed. Of course his dad had noticed him missing on Halloween- that was just his luck! Danny looked around for his Squip for direction on how he should reply. Within seconds, it materialized next to Danny with its usual smug expression and sunglasses.

Disdainful denial.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Danny said as he looked back at his dad and rolled his eyes.

“I’m worried about you, son. You come and go all hours, doing who knows what, wearing these new clothes…” Jack’s brows furrowed in concern. “What is going on with you?”

Danny was honestly surprised his dad had noticed anything change about him since usually his parents were completely oblivious. But maybe his dad had more time to notice things with his mom still away at the conference? Whatever, there was no chance he would figure out what was actually going on with Danny. He looked to the Squip for advice again.

Tell him the truth.

Danny shot Squip-Phantom a confused glance before accepting that the Squip knew what it was doing and mentally shrugging.

“I took a pill-sized supercomputer called a Squip that’s in my brain, and it talks to me, and it’s made everything better!” Danny felt weird about being this honest to his dad. Ever since he’d become half-ghost he’d gotten used to lying pretty much constantly. 

Jack finally removed his hands from Danny’s shoulders to cross his arms. 

“If you’re not going to take me seriously-” 

“Why should I?” Danny snapped.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m supposed to believe you care? Look in the mirror! All you care about is ghost hunting and you can’t even wear pants like a normal person!” Danny’s jaw clenched. He had to try very hard to prevent his eyes from glowing.

“You know I’m allergic to any clothing other than jumpsuits!”

“I don’t care!” Danny frowned up at his dad for a moment before shaking his head. “Good talk.”

Danny stormed out of the kitchen and slammed the front door on his way out of the house.

___

Jack gave up on working on the Fenton Freezer 4.0 after he realized he hadn’t made any progress since Danny left. He got up from the kitchen table and went to sit on the couch in the living room. Maybe some relaxing needlepoint would help clear his mind.

“Danny’s in big trouble right now,” Jack sighed into his stitches, “but he can’t even see that he’s in trouble.”

Jack tried to focus on the needlepoint, but he kept messing it up when his mind wandered back to Danny. He threw the canvas down in frustration and leaned back against the couch.

“I gotta help him somehow.” Jack glared at the ceiling. Had that green stain always been there?

Jack shook his head and looked down. He drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch. An alarm started blaring outside, but it wasn’t a ghost alarm so he ignored it.

“I don’t know what he wants, but I know what he needs.” Jack heaved himself off the couch and stood up. “He’ll need a strong dad to help him not slip away.”

Danny was right, Jack had been so focused on ghost hunting he hadn't been there for his son for a long time. But that would change today. Because he loved his son, and he would do anything for him.

Even put on pants.

___

Tucker sat on the front steps of his house, a trash can filled with flickering flames in front of him. He had a pile of paper in a lot of different colors and sizes next to him. He grabbed two scraps from the top of the pile.

“Ticket stubs for the first Dead Teacher movie we went to together…” Tucker’s eyes glazed over for a moment before he tossed the small pieces of paper into the fire. “Burn it.”

Smoke rose up from the trash can and Tucker coughed. He grabbed the next paper from the pile.

“Blackmail I stole from Sam.” Tucker inspected the photo Sam had taken of him and Danny snuggling while they were both asleep. His heart lurched, but he quickly shook himself out of it and forcefully threw the picture away. “Super burn it.”

Tucker looked up when he heard thundering footsteps. He quickly spotted Mr. Fenton’s bright orange jumpsuit glowing against the dreary grays of the buildings in his neighborhood. 

“Tucker!” Jack boomed as he stopped next to Tucker’s house.

“Mr. Fenton, what are you doing here?” 

“We need to talk about Danny,” Jack said as he took a seat next to Tucker on the steps. Tucker was surprised at the serious tone since he didn’t hear that from Danny’s usually pretty goofy dad very often. 

Tucker looked back to the fire, where he could still see the photo of him and Danny burning at the bottom of the trash can.

“Sorry, Danny and I aren’t friends anymore-” 

“Do you love him?”

Tucker felt like he’d been slapped in the face. His cheeks started heating up as he desperately looked away from Jack’s piercing gaze.

“W-what?” Tucker finally stammered after way too long. How could Jack Fenton, one of the most oblivious adults alive, know about his crush on Danny? That just wasn’t fair.

“Sure, he messes up sometimes, we both know that,” Jack stood and gestured to the burning trash still crackling in front of them, “but that’s no excuse to sit around burning incense while he turns himself into a monster! It’s almost worse than if he somehow turned into a GHOST! I would know, since I’m Jack Fenton, and I-” 

“Yeah, I’m gonna go-” Tucker stood up too and turned to his front door but Jack moved surprisingly quickly to block his way. 

“I need you because I don’t have the tools to help with what he’s going through,” Jack sighed as he leaned against the door. It creaked under his weight.

“But I’m not what he wants…” Tucker looked down and scuffed the step with his shoe.

“But you’re just what he needs!” Jack put a hand on his shoulder and smiled when Tucker met his eyes. “I know it might be hard, but you gotta just suck it up and go.”  

Tucker had never seen Danny’s dad act so earnest. For as long as he’d known the man, Jack Fenton had only been focused on ghosts. Sure, the Fentons loved their kids, but their work tended to come before anything else. 

It was strange that Jack had noticed something was off about Danny now, when he hadn’t even noticed how much his son had changed after his accident. Tucker had come up with so many terrible lies for Danny that his parents hadn’t ever questioned and he knew Danny was even worse sometimes. Tucker wanted to not care anymore and keep burning the pile of ex-friendship memorabilia that was still on the steps but if even Jack Fenton had noticed something was wrong, this had to be serious.

“If a ghost fight gets bloody, you keep pushing through until the pain is gone! Because when you love somebody, you put your pants on for them!” Jack raised a determined fist in the air with his declaration. Tucker took a step back so Jack wouldn’t accidentally hit him.

“You’re here because you need… pants?” Tucker tilted his head. Jack might be pretty serious about helping Danny, but he was still Danny’s dad.

“Oh no, I need you to reach out to him," Jack rubbed the back of his neck, “Danny won’t listen to me, and I can’t blame him. But somebody has to watch his back.” 

“If I try harder to be his friend, you have to try harder to be his dad. You gotta stop wearing jumpsuits 24/7, dude!” Tucker gestured to Jack’s ever-present outfit.

“I can’t wear anything else! It chafes!” Jack whined. Tucker narrowed his eyes.

“I invented a cologne that smells different to everyone, so I bet I can make something that stops regular clothes from chafing so you can wear real pants for once.” 

He held out his hand and Jack shook it eagerly without a moment of hesitation. Tucker winced when he felt his arm nearly dislocate. 

“You got it! I can even help you!” Jack was practically vibrating with excitement and Tucker had to hold back a laugh. 

“Chill out, old man. But sure, why not.” Tucker opened his front door and gestured for Jack to come in. 

Tucker walked in after him with a bounce in his step. Jack was right- when you love somebody, you really do put your pants on for them. Sometimes even literally.

[reshirfuse]

surgery is a success! but every fucking turn was a left turns out. And every left turn took poison damage on me.

i actually had TWO tumors inside of me that were intermingled (so i would have had to get cut up anyway) one was tissue based adhered to my pelvic cavity and the other was the teratoma. The other tumor that wasn't the teratoma was very stuck and my insides are quite ravaged 😭

the teratoma had all the bells and whistles, cystic membranes, large sections of hair, fatty tissue and even teeth and remnants of eyes. (Unfortunately no pictures were taken)

My body reacts so strongly to IVs being in my hands that my arms and hands started swelling up and hurting MORE than the abdominal incision. no one wanted to take the ivs out but litetally as soon as they did the pain dropped down from sobbing and crying and begging to just normal ass abdominal pain. All the veins they poked are all bruised, especially the ones with the IVs. i could not do another blood draw anymore anytime soon there's no more veins in me to destroy. 😭

Hospital stayed longer cause turns out I have a very weird bladder with 1 and 1/2 urine tubes and they wanted to meet sure i'm not pissing into my stomach through the nonfunctional opening in my bladder! 👍 I had to get reopened after the hysterectomy cause they had to call a urologist cause they saw my bladder was weird as fuck!!! turns out everuthing is fine they did not damage a preexisting tube my bladder is built weird, hardly ever documented for someone to have 1 and 1/2 tubes. The surgery that took original was supposed to take 2 hours took 6 fucking hours. but i'm Fucking okay at least 😭

i'm allergic to contrast medium and most likely a few other things they pumped into me as well, went into insane itching fits, both hands that had IVs were swollen, life fucking sucked, bruised all my veins with IVs and finished the rest of my veins off with blood draws and there's not a single vein thats not traumatized. Go figure that as soon as all the IVS were removed the major pain loop stopped. IVs make me feel like i'm going into full body shock that causes my stomach to convulse which hurts the stomach i just had sliced open so i was in excruciating pain for like 3 days in a row and it SUCKED but i'm home and hilariously all problems are manageable when i finally have no tubs and IVs hooked up to me lol

[kharia-adarkim]

Erenville groaned and pinched his forehead. "Let me see if I have this right. You brought a Coerthan Dwarf Rabbit to Tural, and left it to roam an open air cabin unsupervised the entire time we were helping Lamaty'i with the Rite of Succession, and it did not occur to you at any point that this may have been a bad idea?"

"That's... yeah," Kharia replied somberly. "But you'll help me find him, right?"

"Of course I will, but I need to ask - why didn't you leave him with Fordola? Or G'raha?"

"Fordola's allergic to alfalfa, and he doesn't like Raha."

"The rabbit... doesn't like G'raha."

"He bit him on the tail once," Kharia stated matter-of-factly. Erenville groaned.

"Well, as an alpine breed, he probably went away from the shore," he reasoned, "and the western gate sees far too much traffic for him to have escaped Tuliyolal that way. Does this rabbit have any favorite foods?" Kharia pondered a moment.

"Beets, turnips, strawberries - wait, maybe that's why he bit Raha..." she mumbled.

"Beets? Good. They should have some at the alpacakeep. Pick a few up and meet me near the Resplendant Quarter aethernet shard. I'll see if anyone's seen him - or had problems with their gardens."

"Got it. Thank you hon'," Kharia said as she left the cabin.

"Once we find him, we're having a long discussion on proper animal care!" Erenville called after her. A moment passed, and smiled and shook his head as he began to head for the aethernet shard.

-----------------------------------------

"This is definitely the work of a rabbit," Erenville mused.

"How did one get into my garden?" the elderly mamool ja woman asked, "I thought they lived in Xak Tural." Erenville raised an eyebrow at Kharia, who declined to respond.

"Luckily, I'm fairly adept at capturing animals, and my partner here has some snacks to lure it out of wherever it's made its burrow." Kharia passed a sack of shredded beets to him, and he spread them loosely across the stone porch before pulling a vial from his pack and pouring the contents onto the veggies. "Low grade sleeping potion," he explained, "when the rabbit comes out to feast, he'll fall right asleep and we can get him out of your garden."

"Want to get a meal of our own while we wait?" Kharia asked, "My treat!"

"Oh! Why thank you dear! That sounds lovely," the mamool ja beamed.

------------------------------------------------

A few soft metallic clicks echoed through the cabin as Erenville fastened and unfastened the latches before he stood and wiped his brow.

"And there we have it," he sighed, "one rabbit-proof hutch for your little friend so he doesn't get out again."

"Thank youuuuu," Kharia said, embracing Erenville from behind. Erenville chuckled.

"You did most of the work, I just gave you the specifications. How did you learn to work metal like that anyways?"

"When I was living in Ishgard, I'd ended up joining the newly founded Machinists' Guild. We..." she paused, briefly. "A pair of close friends had just passed, one after the other, and I needed something to occupy my hands and thoughts."

"I'm sorry," Erenville apologized, shifting awkwardly to return Kharia's hug. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No, it's alright," she replied. The two held each other before a few moments more before a knock came from the door. Erenville toussled Kharia's hair as they released each other. "It's open," Kharia called to the visitor.

"Sorry this can't be a longer visit, my love," G'raha Tia apologized as he opened the door. "Y'shtola and I are busy studying the- Ah! Erenville! I suppose I should've expected to see you here." His gaze drifted to the hutch on the floor and his smile vanished. "Guisarreaux."

"Guisa..." Erenville turned in confusion to see the dwarf rabbit glaring at the miquote visitor, its fluffy coat puffed to its fullest size. It let out a few sharp grunts. "Kharia did your rabbit just bark at him?" Kharia sighed.

"I thought I was onto something with the beets, but I must've been wrong..."

[fromtenthousandfeet]

The fact that people only talk about Euphoria and still with you for JK but for Jimin every army knows the roster of lie, serendipity, filter and promise. I genuinely do not care which member is the "most famous" because for example currently Sabrina Carpenter is more famous than Olivia Rodrigo but OR will surge up again with her next album release and in the end I enjoy listening to them both. This comparison stuff is idiotic. But I genuinely laugh when people say JK is better than Jimin - because by what measure? Jimin has better songs and has more iconic performances. I guess people could say JK has better vocals but I'm gonna be honest that's highly subjective. It's not like we're dealing with a Beyonce or an Adele here. JK's level of vocals can be found in any SM groups vocalist. I'd say Jimin has the edge with vocal colour and JK's vocals are getting more bland with every passing year (why's his voice on still with you better than anything on golden?) while Jimin's getting better and better with vocal control which was the only area JK had a clear edge over him. Man is coasting by because he's the company favourite and has 11 years of company narrative pitching him as the main character but somehow Jimin's still keeping up with half the tools and half the support.

I suppose JK has a bigger army of femcels who want to f*ck him as fans and loser kpopies are also by his side. Poor Jimin missing out on that demographic of fans - very sad. But JK better hide his girlfriend better in the future because his crazy brood of fans may lose it if he ever decides to get into a public relationship. Ask kth on how quickly your fans turn on you for the cardinal sin of not being single or screwing your bandmate.

Old asks! This one is from August 5th.

Hmm. What to say? I don't like Jungkook's voice. I just don't. I didn't like it in Dynamite, and I don't like it now. When listening to BTS songs I find myself waiting for Jungkook's parts to end. I'm not sure what it is about the quality of his voice that bugs me, but it started long before I lost all respect for him during chapter 2. It feels too forced, maybe? He tries to use power to make up for a lack of emotion? A little too nasal? (Pro tip - address your food sensitivities to clear up your allergic rhinitis). My dream is for someone who is good with Garage Band, or another music app, to put JK and Justin Bieber singing the same notes side by side. I think the difference in quality and tone would be interesting.

I've said this a million times already, but the US is NOT lacking in exceptional singers. This country isn't suffering from a Jungkook deficiency, or a K-pop deficiency for that matter. What made BTS stand out in the first place was their original music and the impressive choreography/performances. Jimin's lovely, clear singing voice (plus the growls) and insane dance skills have always been central to BTS' success. There is definitely a precedent and passion for performers like Jimin, though. We love a good song and dance man!

Based on the few photos I've seen from JK's exhibition in Seoul and the upcoming I am Still, it looks like HYBE is leaning hard into the sex symbol concept. Lots on naked chest and abs. Lots of tatted, pierced bad boy stares. And what else is there? There's no artistry to focus on, unless you're super into his dancing style. I hope that works out for Jungkook and HYBE. Like you said, there's a demographic within the fandom that's completely down with lusting after him. To each her own, I guess.

Jimin will shine no matter what. He has integrity, artistry, sex appeal, and sings with emotion. Don't sweat Jungkook. He'll have his fans, of course, but I don't think he'll ever have the loyal, committed following, let alone the media attention, Jimin naturally attracts. Look no further than the difference in their birthday celebrations in Korea. One is a national holiday, the other is definitely not.

P.S. OMG, I can't wait for Jungkook's girlfriend reveal. A good chunk of the fandom will need psychiatric help.

[ribbonverse]

y u do dis?

Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57162358

I feel like by the end of the Soul Society arc, the Bleach universe already had plenty of width, and what it needed going forward was more depth. Instead it kept piling powers upon powers and retcons kept accumulating on top of reveals. And for what?

To use an in-universe metaphor, Bleach lost its heart and became a Hollow long ago, and has been haunting the people who loved it ever since. That's the case for me, at least. It's very frustrating to me that a great series with a ton of potential was completely squandered because the author is apparently allergic to relationships or something.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that along with just being Really Cool, Bleach until the end of the Soul Society arc had an emotional core that appealed to many people. It was pretty clear that Ichigo wasn't just saving Rukia because he felt it was his duty or whatever. He was saving someone who completely changed his life on multiple levels, including an emotional one, and he was saving her because he felt very passionately about it. This was clear because it was set up in the previous story arc, starting all the way in chapter 1.

But instead of what it was actually set up as, the story of Bleach until the end of the Soul Society arc became "boy meets girl, girl saves boy and his family by giving him her powers, boy and girl work together and become close, girl gets in trouble and is going to get executed, boy pushes himself to a breaking point and corrupts his soul to obtain the power to save girl, gets almost killed many times but finally saves girl (or thereabouts), boy and girl go their separate ways as friends."

A pretty ridiculous ending if you ask me, but it had to happen because it was in the script.

Hey, what's that on the ground there, is that the script? Let's have a look, shall we.

Huh? The main character doesn't get a moment's rest before being targeted by the Bad Guys and is now basically useless? And two seconds after obtaining the One Ring Hōgyoku that was supposed make his Hollow experiments a success, Aizen already has his own Budget Gotei 13, which is just the Captains and no other characters, and none of them are interesting because they're literally just self-centered and unhinged Bad Guys with no other purpose than being antagonists?

And when they're not out antagonizing the Main Character, they're just waiting for him in Budget Soul Society, a dimension that's literally just an empty desert with some simple geometric shapes passing for buildings here and there, like someone made their first 3D models in Blender and tried to create their own MMO?

And why's everyone got Spanish names all of a sudden? Where's all the cool Japanese stuff?

Wait, what's this? The girl that the boy almost destroyed his soul in order to save is back, and now she's grabbing him and shoving his face at the Budget Magical Girl and basically telling them to kiss? It's like she broke the fourth wall, saw that people were shipping her with the Main Character, and said "NOPE".

But I thought Bleach wasn't about relationships anymore, and now we're going with one of the least likely pairings in this particular universe?

Well, it's in the script, so it had to happen.

The so-called story really goes off the rails as time goes on. I don't even know how many people actually cared about Bleach past a certain point, because people don't keep reading/watching stuff they don't care about. And as a consequence, the fans that are left after a while are the ones who think the current state of the work is actually good for some reason.

Basically what I'm saying is, f the script, 'cause it's really dumb. I guess that's the essence of fanfiction a lot of the time.

In slightly less ranty terms

It seems to me that it became a less-than-generic, angsty series about endlessly fighting for some nebulous reason that everyone's long forgotten about, where Ichigo is stuck in an infinite loop of wearing a scared or desperate expression because he's failing, then getting a powerup, and either winning or losing before repeating the cycle. And the impressive part is that all of this happens without any major emotional significance or growth as a person.

It also didn't help that I found the attempts at Spanish influence that appeared post-Soul Society to be supremely uninteresting and strangely executed. It's basically just words that are entirely unconnected to the rest of the universe, making them feel really out of place.

The Japanese stuff, the characters and the exploration of certain aspects of the Shinigami world was what made things so fascinating. But then everyone put on these white Halloween masks and started playing Hollows, like someone was inspired by the least intersting parts of the first story arc and begun writing bad fanfiction (no offense).

The setting changed from an actual Society to a literal desert, the only purpose of which is to contain the Bad Guys that the Protagonist needs to defeat, like a cheaply made RPG where there's only one significant landmark in the entire game world and enemies just keep spawning on a flat field for the players to grind until they level up.

What's the point of an uninhabited place that's only populated by hostile NPCs with overinflated egos and nothing of interest to say? If I ever want to subject myself to that, I'll go play a Souls game (note: I'm not actually going to do that, so don't call the hotline. I'm not prone to self-harm).

Not that Soul Society was a masterpiece of worldbuilding either. Pac-Man, anyone? You could probably write a melancholy song titled The Walls of Seireitei in which Kenpachi laments how he can never find a worthy opponent in this endless maze, and if only he was programmed to have the ability to jump he might be able to escape this fresh hell. But the game only has quick-time events, so he can only jump at pre-determined points in the story.

I guess these days you could have an AI write and compose that song for you, and it would be pretty good.

But in any case, you can look at almost anything other than the empty environments in Soul Society and notice that at least an effort was made. Inspiration was taken, there was some really Cool Stuff in every volume, if not every chapter. And I don't mean the cosplayers-wearing-Hollow-masks kind of "cool" that things devolved into, I mean interesting things being said, characters/Zanpakutou shown, and events unfolding, putting the actions of our characters into a larger context.

In other words, worldbuilding. Now that was cool. And characters can only really be cool if the concept of "cool" is properly defined and established within the context of the fictional world they inhabit. Like the Bankai, for example. But who cares about seeing yet another one when everyone finds a Bankai under their seat and it becomes a requirement for participation?

It should also matter why someone attains a Bankai or any sort of power. Oh, what's that? The main character puts himself through training that amounts to torture and corruption of his soul, gets nearly killed in almost every subsequent fight he participates in, goes through yet more torturous training to attain the Ultimate Power, visibly ages during his journey to save a woman he has a very special relationship with, has some kind of evil demon take residence within his soul due to how far he went for her, and in the end they're Just Friends?

Sure, now tell me the one about the one-armed Shinigami and his rabbit-shaped Bankai.

All of this was probably said a million times over 15 years ago, but I don't particularly care. What I do care about is that great things were done and there was amazing potential for the future, but it was flushed down the toilet. Along with the Only Correct Ship™.

So I wrote a fic. It's an IchiRuki ship at its core, but I also added some things to the world when inspiration struck. I mostly wrote this as a form of emotional expression and to let out the ideas that came to me in the small hours of one morning.

So far there are over 70k 50k words that are mostly ready to be published, as well as some stuff for a possible follow-up series. However, some finishing touches need to be put on still, so it's not all going to come out at once.

Also, this is the first fanfiction (and really the first creative work of any kind) I've ever written. So keep that in mind.

It's also not going to be for everyone, because I've been heavily influenced by certain things (mostly David Eddings' Belgariad-verse and Harry Potter). And not everyone finds value in the same things. So if you find it long-winded, it's probably not just you.

[mk-writes-stuff]

Character Questionnaire

Rules: answer the questions as some OCs, then come up with new questions for the next people

Thanks @elsie-writes, @kaylinalexanderbooks, and @whatwewrotepodcast for the tags! I have a lot of questions to get through for this one, so I’m going to do two characters per set of questions instead of my usual three MCs and a guest

Do you have any allergies?

Belladonna: “I don’t believe so. There might be some foods I’m allergic to, I haven’t eaten a large variety of things.”

Cassie: “I sure fucking hope not. Haven’t found any yet.”

How many people have you kissed?

Belladonna: “None. I’ll probably have to kiss Narcissus eventually, but I managed to evade it by telling him it might smudge his lipstick.”

Cassie: “Uh… honestly, I’ve lost count. At least twenty?”

What is your favourite number?

Belladonna: “Seven, obviously.”

Cassie: “I don’t fucking know. Not six. I rarely use numbers in my daily life. I like zero.”

What is your favourite thing about rain? What is your least favourite thing about it?

Cassiopeia: “Remind me what that is again?” … “Oh, yes. It sounds pretty, although I imagine it would get in the way.”

Stellaris: “I want to see rain. It sounds spectacular. Water falling from the sky with no source… I know how it works but it still sounds like an absolute wonder. It’s too bad I’ll never be able to see it.”

What is something you don’t mind waiting a long time for?

Cassiopeia: “Success. Plans take time, if you’re not willing to wait, you’ll fail.”

Stellaris: “I don’t mind waiting at all as long as I know how long it’ll take. I only mind it when no one tells me how long it’ll be.”

Have you ever been punished for something you didn’t do?

Cassiopeia: “Not really. I’ve been lauded for things I haven’t done, though.” She laughs. (She isn’t joking.)

Stellaris: “Yes, all the time. I didn’t break any of the rules of conversation and yet I got taken out of the party anyway. I mean, I didn’t really like the party but I wanted to meet people.”

What’s your favourite treat meal?

Nellie: “I was introduced to something called mac and cheese recently, and I love it. I’m experimenting with add-ins.”

Rhys: “Nellie let me try her sandwich once. It was good. Does that count?”

What’s the thing you’ve done you’re most proud of?

Nellie: “Leaving Third Station. I was so scared when I told Cassie I wanted to go with her, but it was worth it.”

Rhys: “I… I don’t know. Lady Goldenrod told me I did a good job once, maybe that?”

If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?

Nellie: “Make it impossible for anyone to hurt anyone else like Narcissus did to me.”

Rhys: “Um, I don’t know. Clones aren’t really supposed to do things like that. I’d like to get a new job, maybe. Or try a lot of real people food with Nellie. That would be really nice.”

That was fun! I should start varying characters up more often I think, it was really fun doing more side characters. I do love my main trip though… we’ll see :)

@vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @rkmoon @nebula--nix want to play? Your questions are:

How would you decorate your room if you could choose anything?

How would you describe your style?

What kinds of music do you like?

[twistedworld101]

Chapter 2: An Important Event

Book 1: The Vengeful Teen

Chapter 2: An Important Event

[In the Mirror Chamber]

Crowley: Alright settle down everyone, on Saturday next week, our school is chosen for a very special event.

Riddle: And what is this event?

Crowley: I glad you asked, Rosehearts, I’ll explain. Children around the world are gathering to the annual “Youth Festival”, this year it’ll be held in our school, we must make sure it’s even better that last year with Royal Sword Academy!

Leona: (Annoyed) I know that we all hate RSA, but why should I have to?

Riddle: The children, that includes your nephew, Leona.

Leona: *shocked for a moment*

Leona: *moans* Alright.

Crowley: And according to law, we must make sure it’s also safe for the all the young ones, do you all have some good ideas for it?

Kalim: (Happy) Let’s put some animals, parades, fireworks and lots of food!

Vil: No Kalim, there might be some children who are allergic to animals, and their parents might sue us.

Kalim & Crowley: (Shocked) Wait, what?!

Azul: Actually they can, according to law, we must think things through and carefully.

Idia on tablet: I did read on the web that there’s a list for a successful festival for kids. 1. Be an early bird, 2. Hit the right age group, 3. Keep it short, 4. Lunch, 5. Keep a large team, 6. Safety and 7. Return gifts.

Crowley: Alright, we can do all of these, right everyone?

Vil: I suppose we could try Kalim’s suggestions too, but the animals should be in a petting zoo.

Malleus: As for the parade, we should have the floats resemble as our dormitories.

Azul: I’ll provide the food, from my Monstro Lounge, of course.

Idia on tablet: My dorm should provide the fireworks.

Riddle: I’ll have my dorm to make the return gifts that you suggested, Idia, and we all must be early like you just said.

Crowley: Then it’s settled, housewardens, we shall make the preparations.

*Leona stares at Malleus with a angry expression*

Leona: 💭(That Lizard, oh how I HATE him, I really thought he would get expelled for his Overblot and big chaos. I would’ve love for him to be expelled, but no, and Idia had to fix that Lizard’s mess for as his revenge.)

[In Ignihyde dorm, Idia’s room]

*Idia puts his tablet on mute*

Idia: Malleus, why couldn’t he just get expelled? He made a major disaster to the world, because of him, my Mom has seen everything on my computer! I don’t understand why is she allowed to see what’s on my computer, I had to clear the grudge against Malleus, I would never forgive him for the rest of my life!

[In Octavinelle dorm lounge]

Azul: Alright everyone, let’s prepare for the Youth Festival, proceed with the Monstro Lounge meals and drinks. Wait, where’s Jade and Floyd?

Jade & Floyd: Here.

Azul: Ah good, now I want you both to make sure the food that we’re preparing for the Youth Festival are very healthy and very good for the children.

Jade: Why of course, Azul.

Floyd: Ok!

[In Diasomnia dorm lounge]

Vil: Alright, Malleus, it’s time for your redemption lessons.

{To be continued}

[eyitzme]

ᵗᵒ ᵃᵛᵒⁱᵈ ᶜᵉʳᵗᵃⁱⁿ ᵈᵒᵒᵐ ;; ˢᵈʳᵃ²

Summary: The K-pop company Utsuroshima doesn't know what to do with their remaining trainees, Mikado Sannoji, Hajime Makunouchi, Emma Magorobi, Iroha Nijiue, and Nikei Yomiuri. In the end, it's been decided to debut them into a new idol group called Void. Typically, K-pop groups don't have members with different accents, different body types, different heights… Oh, and don't even get started on how it consists of three boys and two girls. Although, in all fairness, the members in Void are the best Utsuroshima has. Utsuroshima's CEO Utsuro and Void's manager Akane Taira don't have other trainees lined up and ready to debut or anything. And, hey, maybe Void will be successful. If they ended up being the final five, they have to be good, right? Even if they're not good, they won't be too bad—hopefully. Word Count: 1,224 Warning: SDRA2 SpoilersA/N: I feel like advertising this here because I should probably post more fics here. However, since this is a longfic, I'm not gonna post the whole thing here due to the way Tumblr works making the idea of posting longfics not the best one. The chapters posted here are the prologue and the first chapter, and you'll know when it switched to the first chapter by the POV switch. If you're interested in reading more, the links to where you can read it will be provided at the end! And don't forget your daily clicks!

Sometimes, Yuki Maeda listened to K-pop. It wasn't often; it didn't entertain him that much. When he did, there weren't a lot of idols or even songs he would say he liked. Really, all of them were okay, but he just wasn't a huge fan of it. He was an ordinary person, so his music taste was completely average, and K-pop, well... It wasn't that average.

He still sometimes listened to it. There was no reason other than because he wanted to listen to something. It kept him busy and focused on something that wasn't all the cats running around outside their apartment. Seriously, he couldn't leave the apartment building without seeing at least five. He actually didn't mind them, but he knew some of his neighbours were allergic to cats. Their landlord was made aware of the problem but wasn't doing anything about it. He knew something had to be done soon, though.

Yuki couldn't hear any of the cats' meows in his bedroom, but he was still listening to K-pop right now. He didn't know anything about all the groups there were, so he picked a popular song. Like always, it wasn't bad, but he couldn't see himself being a huge fan of it or the artist. There wasn't anything about it to grab his attention. Well, in all fairness, he wasn't too sure what would. He was ordinary, so whatever would get an ordinary guy's attention would be how an idol group went for him.

His mom screamed his name. It wasn't the first time that happened. She had a fear of cats, and when the cats sometimes entered the apartment building, she needed his help to get the cats out. He stopped the song and went out to find the cat that sneaked into his apartment building.

There, he saw no cat in their apartment. There was supposed to be a cat, but there wasn't. Not today. Today was special. Today wasn't so ordinary.

Yuki knew the second he saw why his mom screamed his name, he wouldn't be so ordinary either.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

Utsuro knew they were a lost cause. They didn't look like each other, they didn't have complimenting personalities, and it was debatable to say they had enough training. It was hopeless to think they could make it anywhere, let alone make it big. It wasn't like he had a choice, though. Utsuroshima needed someone. They were the best they had.

The five sat in his office. He didn't want to know their names. Utsuro liked keeping things simple. That was why his office's walls and floor were grey, the wallpaper was only a few shades darker than the floor, his desk was brown, his chair was brown, and his desk was empty. There was no other furniture, but five chairs were brought in for them. The less, the better. Having them here wasn't simple, and knowing their names would be too much.

Akane Taira stood beside him, waiting for him to say something. Utsuroshima was her idea, but he actually started it, making him the CEO. She was the assistant, helping him try to get the company more popular. It wasn't. The only thing they could do now was send them into the K-pop industry.

He could imagine what people would say if they saw them. It would make sense to debut a boy group, since three of the five were boys, but Akane wanted to include the girls. How many idol groups were there with two genders in the same group? None that made it big enough to save their company from bankruptcy. Their looks would also be used against them, with having someone tall with lots of muscles with someone so short and skinny. There was a blonde girl who might have the visuals to make it and some boy who looked like he hadn't left his room in over a month. He didn't have to mention the boy who always wore a mask that covered one side of his face.

Four of the five were looking at him with expectant eyes. The masked one wasn't. His exposed face always looked emotionless, but his mask had shifted to a comfortable face. He might as well say something to end this sooner rather than later. "You five are going to be in an idol group together," Utsuro said. "We'll call you Void. There's practice tomorrow. You're dismissed."

Immediately, the hopeful look in their eyes vanished to disappointment or confusion, except for the masked one, his face remaining the same. Utsuro could feel Akane's eyes on him like she wondered if that was all he was going to say. It was.

After some silence, the boy with the black bangs asked, "Are you not going to say anything else?"

"No."

Akane covered her mouth from the other five and whispered, "You're supposed to say—"

"I know what I'm supposed to say," Utsuro said in a voice not anywhere near a whisper, "but I'm not going to. If K-pop groups have to have a meaning behind their name, you will have a void of success. You're going to fail, and Utsuroshima will go bankrupt. It's best if you leave now, but if you want to stay, you have dance practice tomorrow at 6:00 A.M."

"Maybe you could at least assign the positions," tried Akane. "Leader, rapper—"

Utsuro pointed at the masked one. "You're the leader, Mask Face."

Akane hands clasped, unclasped, and clasped together. "His name is Mikado..."

"I don't care. No one will. Anyway, Mask Face, you're the leader. You can figure out the rest of the positions yourselves if you want to use them." Before anyone could get another word out, Utsuro left his office.

He waited for the sounds of shoes rushing to catch up to him. He heard them soon enough, and Akane's voice came too. "Master Utsuro, I think you should've been a little kinder to them. They're just kids who want to achieve their dream—"

"They're not 'just kids.'"

"But they're young and want to be idols. I think you should be a little kinder to them. Iroha just turned 20, and since they're born in the same year, they can't even fit the requirement of age to audition for most companies anymore, so we should at least give them a chance here."

"We are, and we're also giving them a chance to leave before everything gets ruined. Do you genuinely think Void could become a well-known idol group people like?"

Her silence was all the answers he needed.

"Be realistic," Utsuro continued. "If you want to be kind, don't lie to them. The chances of them becoming famous are very slim. The meanest thing you could do to them is give them false hope."

Again, she didn't reply. Utsuro was fine with that. Akane could be very naive at times, and he had to be the one to remind her that kindness wasn't something that could easily be done. If the five that were there—he would just call them Mask Boy, Buff Boy, Pale Boy, Short Girl, and Blonde Girl—used their brains and left, it would be good for them. Otherwise, if they turned out to lack the brains they needed for this, Void would carry on. At least it could be a bit entertaining while it lasted.

If you liked this, you can read it on Wattpad or AO3! Please read the warnings, though, mentioned in the tags on AO3 and in the blurb on Wattpad. If you would rather read more on Tumblr, just ask me for the next part. I won't constantly be updating this on Tumblr though, so it's up to you to keep asking for new parts. Still, if you got this far, thank you for reading! Love you!

[shivasdarknight]

so yeah, i havent watched either dawntrail trailer 🤷

idk im finding it kinda hard to get excited about it at the constant reminders that they fridged one of their best and relevant characters back in azys lla, the clumsy handling of the void, the rancidly misogynistic shit in pandae, the solely white examples for the new lighting engine, the telling lack of info regarding femhroths that just screams disinterest because women, how absolutely terrible this could go because No i Do Not want road to el dorado references because idc if you guys are endeared to it that shit was racist

like on a more serious note, how am i supposed to get excited about an expansion where our summer vacation is getting mixed in with a different nation's political affairs when we're mostly fantasy europeans (excluding the variable of the wol but even then most are white eorzeans) and tural is fantasy mesoamerica. how am i supposed to be excited about this touristy angle when tourism is a major facet of colonization, especially when it regards the cultures that this region is based in. so framing you getting mixed up in yet another rite of succession from a culture you - in all likelihood - are not affiliated with as a summer vacation is just. it's deeply uncomfortable and it's hard to feel excited about this - especially with their history, continued bullshit, and refusal to remove egregious stuff like the "new world" set or the far northern attire.

idk. i wanna be wrong, but it's hard to be excited when the continuation of stuff they're Saying they'll address is right in front of us. the au ra showcased were pasty with blond hair and im p sure blue eyes and it was raen, not xaela - are they really that allergic to anything darker than a light tan? locations gorgeous, but I still see gifs everywhere of meteor fighting that mamool'ja leader - what happened to portraying them as people and not as monsters to take down? i only know that mamool ja's station because i know who the mamool ja are and the significance of large, two-headed ones. to most, that looks like a run of the mill dungeon boss since there Is a mamool ja boss, and the framing is similar to any number of inhuman adversaries shown in previous trailers. but if they're doing better about cultural sensitivity, then why did they make a member of their indigenous stand-in group be the big enemy for meteor to showcase Viper combat against? i really hope that - contextually - it's not something bad, but out of context it really just looks like taking down a big reptile monster which isnt great when that's your indigenous stand-in that's been portrayed like SHIT since ARR and hasn't had the same redeeming grace as the majority tribes - because where the amalj'aa are characterized by military strength and the noble savage trope, the mamool ja are portrayed as spineless mercenaries and sexual creeps. if we're in the mamool ja reframing expac, why does the trailer showcase that.

god dammit. i want to be wrong!!! i want to be overreacting because this would suck if true but their history doesnt give much confidence that they'll do better, and their current actions - the tourism angle, the lack of info with femhroths, the lighting engine - arent much to be confident about either!!

i wanna be wrong so fucking badly but i dont trust this team as far as i can throw them.