#and I really feel like meeting new people is basically impossible as well

[hamburgerking]

I feel so fucking pathetic on how badly I crave connection but I'll never get it

[sarawayne0510]

ATE

pairing: Bangchan x fem!driver

summary: What if the worlds of Formula 1 and K-pop collided? Follow the story of a Red Bull rookie driver and Stray Kids' leader, Bang Chan

warnings: none?? just cute fluff basically, mention of Y/N

word count: 2.2k ish

Genre: SMAU/Fluff

The golden hour in Monaco was always breathtaking, casting a warm, soft glow over the city. I wandered into a small album store, tucked away from the bustling streets, hoping to find some new music to add to my collection. The scent of vinyl and freshly printed album covers filled the air, instantly putting me at ease.

As I scanned the shelves, a particular album caught my eye-Stray Kids' latest, ATE. My heart skipped a beat. I couldn't resist; my hand instinctively reached out, and I grabbed it. The cover was stunning, the colors vibrant, and I could already hear the tracks playing in my mind. It was impossible not to smile as I held it, admiring the print.

I was completely absorbed in the moment when a voice broke through the silence. "Stray Kids, huh?" The words were familiar, yet they startled me. I was sure I was alone when I walked in.

I turned slowly, my heart pounding, and there he was-Bang Chan, standing right in front of me. He looked just as casual and cool as ever, a cap pulled low over his forehead, but there was no mistaking who he was. My breath caught in my throat as I realized that Stray Kids have been on their European tour and decided to take a little break but In Monaco!?

For a moment, I just stared at him, too shocked to say anything, clutching the ATE album as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

Hi, by any chance, are you (Y/N)?" Chan asked, his voice laced with curiosity.

"Yeah," I said, trying to keep my cool. "And you're Bang Chan, right?"

He chuckled softly, nodding. "I didn't expect you to recognize me. These days, I'm just trying to get into F1, and when I saw you, I couldn't help but ask."

"Oh, really? Well, how could I not recognize my favorite band member?" I replied, feeling a mix of excitement and disbelief. "This is definitely the best day of my life."

Just as I was soaking in the moment, my phone buzzed with a message from my manager, calling me in for an urgent meeting. I sighed internally-of all the times, it had to be now. "Oh lord, I've never wanted to kill someone as much as I do right now," I muttered under my breath, feeling a pang of frustration.

I quickly excused myself, offering an apologetic smile to Chan. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go."

"Of course, no worries," he said with an understanding nod. "It was great meeting you."

With a heavy heart, I left the store, heading back home as quickly as I could. Once I got there, I opened my laptop, ready to join the meeting. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about him the entire time. Bang Chan-THE Bang Chan had recognized me, talked to me, and now, I couldn't get him out of my head.

The last thing I wanted was to attend another F1 party. After a long day, the idea of socializing felt more exhausting than exhilarating. But George had other plans, practically dragging me along despite my protests.

As soon as I stepped into the venue, I felt the familiar wave of reluctance wash over me. The music was loud, the lights were dim, and the room was packed with people -just the kind of setting I wasn't in the mood for. Before I could slip away to a quiet corner, Christian called me over, waving me toward a group of team principals. To my dismay, Christian was standing right beside Toto.

Oh lord, please don't tell me they're at it again, I thought, bracing myself for another one of their infamous spats that somehow always seemed to drag me into the middle of it. But to my surprise, everything was calm. They just wanted me to listen to their old man talk, reminiscing about races and strategies from before I was even born.

After what felt like an eternity, I managed to excuse myself. I needed a break, and the bar seemed like the perfect escape. As I approached, I noticed someone sitting there, casually sipping a drink. My heart skipped a beat when I realized who it was.

Bang Chan.

Of all the people, in all the places, here he was again. I couldn't help but grin. Maybe I was God's favorite after all.

I slid onto the barstool beside him, feeling a rush of excitement. "Fancy seeing you here," I started, trying to keep my voice casual but failing to hide my enthusiasm.

Chan turned to me, a smile spreading across his face. "Seems like fate, doesn't it?"

And just like that, the conversation flowed naturally, as if we'd known each other for years.

As Bang Chan and I continued our conversation at the bar, I could feel a few pairs of eyes on us. When I glanced around, I spotted a small group of drivers-Max, Lando, Carlos, and George-hovering nearby. They were clearly trying (and failing) to be discreet, whispering and exchanging wide-eyed looks.

I caught Lando nudging George, who nearly spilled his drink as he tried to keep his excitement in check. Max, usually so composed, was grinning like a kid who'd just uncovered the world's biggest secret, while Carlos had a look of utter disbelief on his face.

I couldn't help but laugh softly. "I think we've got an audience," I whispered to Chan, nodding subtly in their direction.

He turned to see what I was talking about and chuckled, shaking his head. "They look like they're about to explode," he said, amused.

Just then, George gave Lando a not-so-subtle shove, and the group erupted into barely contained laughter, causing Chan and me to exchange amused glances.

"Should we give them something to really talk about?" I joked, raising an eyebrow.

Chan grinned, clearly enjoying the idea. "Why not?"

We leaned in closer, pretending to be deep in conversation, which only made the drivers freak out even more. They were practically bouncing on their heels, trying to contain their excitement, and it took everything in me not to burst out laughing.

Chan pulled out his phone. “You know, we should definitely stay in touch,” he said, a playful glint in his eyes. “Let’s exchange numbers.”

I smiled, pulling out my own phone. “I’d like that.”

We quickly exchanged numbers, and I saved his contact under “Bang Chan <3". As we finished, I noticed the drivers watching us intently, their faces lighting up with barely contained glee.

“Looks like they’re pretty excited for us,” Chan said with a chuckle.

“Seems that way,” I agreed, trying to keep my composure. “I think we might have just given them a story for the ages.”

With our numbers exchanged and the excitement of the evening bubbling around us, it was clear that this was one night neither of us would soon forget.

The tweet was accompanied by a photo from the party where Bang Chan and I were chatting, and the reactions were immediate. Fans were abuzz, speculating and shipping us together. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sudden attention.

Deciding to lean into the fun, I posted a photo on Instagram

Playing Stray Kids-JJAM

"On repeat 🎧"

And posted a reel of me and Lily dancing to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.”

@(username)

"💃💖"

@lilymhe

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@Lilymhe: “@(Y/N) my wife 💖✨️

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@gnabnahc 💖

↳@lilymhe back off

@maxverstappen1 So THIS is what was happening in the hotel hallway last night?

@CarlosSainz55 I left you alone for 2 minutes!!!

The Monza GP had been a nightmare. The car was in its worst state, and there was a moment when I almost lost control entirely. It was a close call—too close. My heart was still racing from the near-accident, and the disappointment of not finishing not even in top 5 weighed heavily on me. All I wanted was to forget about the day, but the memories kept playing on a loop in my mind.

Just as I was about to curl up and try to sleep, my phone buzzed with a message from Chan:

Chan: “I heard about the race. Are you okay? Big hugs from afar 💛”

I sighed, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Y/N: “It was a disaster… I was so close to crashing, and the car was a mess. I could really use a hug right now.”

Moments later, there was a soft knock on my driver's room . Confused, I got up and opened it to find a figure standing there, in all black and in a facemask and sunglasses. It took me a second to realize who it was, but the familiar warmth in his eyes gave him away immediately.

“Chan?” I whispered, my voice cracking slightly.

He nodded, pulling down the mask to reveal his face. Without a word, he stepped forward and wrapped me in the tightest, warmest hug. I buried my face in his chest, the tears I’d been holding back finally spilling over.

“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled against his shirt, my voice shaky. “I almost crashed, Chan. It was so close…”

“Hey, hey,” he murmured, his hand gently rubbing my back. “But you didn’t. You’re okay, and that’s what matters. I’m here now, okay? Big hugs, just like I promised.”

We stood there in the doorway for a long moment, neither of us saying anything, just holding each other. His presence was calming, like a warm blanket on a cold day, and slowly, the tension in my body began to melt away.

“How did you even get here?” I finally asked, pulling back just enough to look up at him.

Chan grinned, a little sheepishly. “I was already in monza for promotion, so I thought I’d come see you. Had to go incognito, though—don’t want to cause a scene.” He gestured to the mask and glasses with a small laugh.

I couldn’t help but smile, despite everything. “You really didn’t have to do that, you know. But… I’m so glad you did.”

“Of course I did. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.” His voice was soft, sincere, and it made my heart skip a beat.

“Thank you, Chan,” I whispered, leaning into his embrace once more. “You always know how to make things better.”

“Anytime, (Y/N). I’ll always be here for you.”

And in that moment, wrapped in his arms, I realized just how much he meant to me. The world outside didn’t matter—just the two of us, here, together.

With two weeks until the next race in Baku, I finally had some time to relax. Chan and I decided to escape the spotlight and spend our break in Capri, Italy—a perfect getaway where we could just be ourselves, away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives.

Capri was everything I needed—crystal-clear waters, picturesque views, and a peaceful atmosphere. We spent our days exploring the island, walking hand-in-hand through narrow streets lined with colorful buildings, and taking boat rides around the stunning coastline. It was like a dream, and being with Chan made it even more special.

One afternoon, we found a quaint little café tucked away from the more crowded areas. The sun was shining through the vines that draped over the outdoor seating, casting dappled shadows on the cobblestone path. We settled into a cozy corner table, laughing over the silly adventures we’d had that day.

As we waited for our drinks, Chan suddenly grew quiet, a thoughtful expression on his face. I raised an eyebrow, curious about what was going through his mind.

“What’s up?” I asked, nudging him playfully.

“Just… thinking,” he replied, a small smile playing on his lips.

Before I could ask him what he was thinking about, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. Carefully, he started folding it, his fingers moving with surprising precision. I watched in fascination as the paper slowly took shape, until it became a small, delicate ring.

He looked up at me, a bit of nervousness in his eyes, and gently took my hand. “I know this isn’t much, but… I wanted to make something for you. Something to remind you that I’m always here, no matter where we are.” He slipped the paper ring onto my finger, his touch sending a warmth through me that I couldn’t quite describe.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked at the simple yet meaningful ring, and then back at Chan. “It’s perfect,” I whispered, touched by the gesture.

He took a deep breath, as if gathering his courage, and then met my eyes with a sincerity that made my heart melt. “(Y/N), I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while now… Spending these days with you, away from everything, has made me realize just how much you mean to me. I don’t want to hide how I feel anymore. I love you.”

For a moment, the world seemed to stop. My heart swelled with emotion, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. “Chan… I love you too. I’ve felt this way for so long, but I didn’t know how to say it.”

His face lit up, and before I knew it, he was pulling me into a tight hug. We stayed like that for a while, holding each other close, both of us smiling like lovestruck fools.

When we finally pulled back, Chan brushed a strand of hair from my face, his eyes full of warmth and love. “This is just the beginning, you know,” he said softly. “I want to be with you, no matter what.”

I nodded, my heart full. “I want that too, Chan. Wherever this journey takes us, I’m just glad we’re in it together.”

And as we sat there in that little café in Capri, the world outside seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of us, wrapped in the warmth of our newfound love.

@gnabnahc

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@lilymhe welcome home cheater

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@user143 MOTHER IS THAT A MEN WITH YOU!!!!

@gnabnahc love is patient. Love is kind. Love is slowly losing your mind.

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"I need a big boy😮‍💨"

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Posted a story!

"Sometimes big boys also need passengers princess treatment"

______________________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading my fanfiction! It’s my first time writing, and I really appreciate your support. If you’re interested in a part 2 or want to be tagged, just let me know. Thanks again! :3

@charizznorizz

[olderthannetfic]

Ayyy, there seems to be a lot of older people among the regular commenters of this blog so I'm gonna shoot my shot and ask for advice.

Idk if it's just the clinical depression but I can't help but feel like I'm never gonna find love as a straight girl. I don't hate men at all -- I've been very lucky to be surrounded by decent dudes growing up but shit. Lookin at the state of the world rn... Gen Z dudes chugging misogynist bullshit at alarming rates, women like Gisele Pelicot going through unspeakable shit from their own husbands... it's hard not to feel cynical. On top of that the decent dudes I know irl are all taken, I don't wanna go on dating apps, and as much as I wanna fuck an older man no decent one is gonna settle for a depressed young woman who's a 4 at best...

It's not that i don't have fulfilling friendships or that I don't value them, I just want to love and care for (and get dicked down by) a decent guy who feels the same way. I've always wanted that and I don't think it's changing anytime soon. Feels impossible though. I'm not sure if I'm the problem (I'm plain faced at best, no fashion sense or charm to speak of, though I do my best to be polite and kind) or there's just shit going on I've no control over.

--

People will give you a lot of placating nonsense, but the reality is that the supply of reasonably okay straight women is much higher than the supply of reasonably okay straight men. Finding a fulfilling long-term relationship is always hard anyway, but man... straight guys really need to step it up.

That said, a lot of people in general and straight guys in particular learn a lot from the breakdown of their first marriage/long-term relationship. Just because a guy is listening to godawful manosphere podcasts today doesn't mean he's never going to be dateable later.

Research on dating apps suggests that your average guy responds to pics where women have a lot of makeup on by looking for a hookup, passes by the ones with no makeup, and finds the ones with a little lipstick or something but not heavy makeup the most dateable.

While it would be nice if appearance didn't matter, if you're really worried about this, there are some basic things you can do where you'll get a lot of bang for your buck: Find one lipstick you can stand and learn to apply it. I like Bésame Cosmetics because I am a nerd and they sponsored a local film noir festival. Peggy Carter's lipstick was from them. They have the advantage of being intensely pigmented, so a quick swipe gives full coverage. I hate having shit on my face in general, so that's helpful. If eye stuff is less bleurgghhhh than lip stuff, learn to apply eyeliner instead. There are some liquid ones I really like even if it takes some practice to get decent at painting them on. You don't need a full face of makeup or really much of anything to read as Hot Girl™ to people who don't know anything about makeup and aren't paying much attention. Yes, even if you're a 4 and it's not just the depression talking.

Charm is hard. Some things can be taught, but a lot of that's innate. Fashion, however, is not. You don't need to be a fashionista to look better than a lot of the people around you. Save your money for fewer, better outfits. Buy things that fit well and get things tailored. Don't settle for ill-fitting clothes that don't make you feel good. Look for natural fibers and clothing that will last a long time. (And if you think you have sensitive skin that cannot handle natural fibers, you need to go up several price points on your cotton. Just saying.)

You can also increase your chances by doing activities where you meet more people who might be a good match. This means finding hobbies that actually have straight guys in them and going to in-person things where you meet new people. (This sounds obvious and pedantic, but I cannot tell you how many women I know who want a boyfriend but only do social things that are 95% women and 5% gay men.)

But the biggest thing you can do to stand out is... well... work on that depression. Self confidence and obviously being in a good place in your life are very attractive. Also, the good catches who haven't been snapped up tend to be the quiet, shy people. If you have your own shit together enough to detect and pursue them, you have a better chance of finding someone great.

I get that ~fix your depression~ is not helpful advice, but working on yourself in both important and relatively superficial ways is something you can control. Meeting the right person is not.

It might help to look at this as a 5-10-year goal and/or a lifetime goal, not a "Oh my god, my life sucks this year" problem. Yes, there's shit going on that you have no control over, but if that's your career and mental health and so on, you can work on that and be in a different place in a few years.

Frankly, I think a certain amount of cynicism is warranted, but that doesn't mean there are no decent guys or that you'll never find one.

[rom-e-o]

Manfred asking where babies come from.😅

Hey, he's a curious boy! You know he asks it with point-blank delivery, and 99% of the time, Emmrich is more than capable of providing a perfectly accurate and anatomically correct answer. He'll provide diagrams, all without so much as a blush. In his mind, there's nothing embarrassing about anatomy or procreation, and sexual behaviors are perfectly normal. Plus, I mean ... it's not like it's knowledge he has use for. It's not like he's a horrible boy

I can see the conversation starting in so many ways. Some humorous. Some somber. Some embarrassing, haha.

For example, if the team is passing through a town and Manfred sees a woman nursing her baby, he might point like:

"Tiny! Human?"

And Emmrich, after apologizing to the woman for Manfred pointing at her, gently corrects him, "That is an infant, Manfred. A newly born human! A baby."

"Baby? Baby! Cuuuute!"

"Ha! Very much so. Hmmm, that's right. I suppose you've never seen one before. No wonder you're curious! It's perfectly lovely to pay compliments to others, but please remember your manners and take care to not point next time, okay?"

"Okaaay!"

After all, Emmrich and Manfred mostly keep to the catacombs of the Necropolis, and there aren't many births there, haha. There are wonderfully staffed and clean medical wards, cozy homes, and other places for that.

Another possibility, albeit a macabre one, is that Manfred sees a baby for the first time when Emmrich is tending to the last rites of a group of victims after a terrible accident. Sad, but not impossible, considering Emmrich's line of work.

Now, the favorite option, imo? If Manfred asks at a completely inappropriate time.

Imagine Rook and Emmrich announcing to everyone that they're having a baby. I see them (him especially) favoring a more intimate approach, where they tell everyone the news individually.

When they tell Manfred, he just sits there for a moment before saying, "Baby?"

"Yes," Rook says, patting her belly. She's a few months along, but Manfred wouldn't have known what that meant. He just saw her tummy changing shape, nothing more.

"In a couple months, you'll have a new sibling! Isn't that exciting?"

Manfred leans forward, staring at Rook's stomach from a very close distance. Then, very gently, he pokes her. She laughs, and Emmrich encourages gentleness. "Carefully, my boy. Very gentle."

"Baby ... whereee?" he asks Another poke. "NO baby!"

"Well, it hasn't grown yet!" Rook says. "Well, not all the way, anyway."

"Growww?"

The realization hits both of them as Rook gives Emmrich an amused smirk. "Ah. You haven't had 'the talk' yet, dearest? That's surprising."

"Well, um ... why would he need to know?" Emmrich offers meagerly and with a little blush.

"Emmrich! Your own boy, walking around without basic anatomical knowledge? I'm positively shocked."

"He's a skeleton! He's never asked, and I'll confess, I had no reason to really think about it. At least not before meeting you."

"Aww, how sweet."

Meanwhile, Manfred is not satisfied. "Where? Howww?"

Rook lets out a delighted guffaw and Emmrich sighs, his cheeks now undeniably pink. He mumbles softly against his hand, "Oh, dear."

You see, explaining sex and procreation is all fine and dandy when they're concepts between to hypothetical people. But, explaining it to Manfred when Rook is pregnant involves a little self-admission. Something pretty much any parent could feel awkward about, I'd imagine, haha. It's already a big topic (so big that there are some adults that are even ignorant to how it all works, sadly) AND you add the caveat of Manfred knowing his parents did that deed. And Manfred isn't known for being timid or keeping secrets well, haha.

I imagine that's a LONG night of answering questions (lots of repetition) but ends with Manfred laying his head over Rook's belly and hugging her softly.

"New sibling! Yay!"

[prodbyton]

──★who’s that girl? chapter 6: trauma dump or bop lore ⁉️

half written, half smau. warnings: none wc. 400

that friday, you and the boys made your way to the party. you all were cramped up in sunghos car,somehow the boys had convinced jaehyun to come with and also convinced riwoo to come as well. luckily the ride there wasn’t long, because deciding to take one car here was not the best idea. 

this was your first real outing with your new roommates and you were a bit excited, wanting to use this time to get to know them better as well as get comfortable around a new crowd of people. you would have invited your own friends, but they invited you here and you didn't want to be only focused on them. 

but honestly, inviting your friends wouldn’t have been a bad thing since the moment you all walked in the boys were already mingling with other people that they knew, leaving you alone. almost alone, you and jaehyun seemed to be in the same boat, staying close to the wall and not really talking to anyone else. you thought it would be awkward hanging around him at the party, but after a couple drinks you both felt a little less tense. 

“you okay?” you nudge him when you see he’s not focused on your conversation, eyes focused on something in the distance. 

“yeah, i’m fine… i’m just nervous my ex will try and talk to me while we’re here” he smiled awkwardly. you turned your head so you could see who he was looking at exactly, but the room was too crowded to be able to tell. 

“how bad was the breakup? you still seem pretty bothered by it” 

he sighs hard, and that answers your question before he even starts talking. “she broke up with me out of the blue about a month ago, but i guess i should've seen it coming. our relationship wasn’t that healthy, but i really liked her and i wanted us to work out. the boys hated her because she made it basically impossible for me to do literally anything because it would just cause problems.” 

somehow you two turn the party into a drunk therapy session, ranting to each other about your recent failed relationships. think of it as some form of roommate bonding? he was the only one out of the 5 that you couldn’t understand, but now you realize he’s actually easy to talk to and you feel like you two would get along great in the future.

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a/n: when i remember this story has an actual plot and i can’t just make a ton of fun filler chapters… also who do u guys think jaehyuns ex is 🤫

synopsis: after an unfortunate event, yn needs a new place to stay. she finds a place listed for 5 other people in the apartment, where she meets riwoo, sungho, leehan, taesan, and jaehyun.

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[writingmeraki]

ribs — a rafe cameron series.

i. and the ocean is still the same. disgustingly blue and terrifyingly deep.

❝ In which your cousin thought it was a great idea to basically deceive you and here you are, spending one month at Outer Banks. Perhaps, meeting new people could interest you more into the 'beach' lifestyle? Well then, only one way to find out.

pairing : richboy!rafe cameron x tourist/newbie!gn!reader, brief one-sided enemies to acquaintances to friends to lovers. genre : fluff, humour, angst, romance, friendship, coming of age, realisations and epiphanies, contemplations and questioning, summer seasonnn!! also ft. rest of the obx characters and ocs too! chapter warnings : cussing, nothing alarming in particular but lmk if i missed anything! not proofread. series inspo : ribs by lorde. | series playlist : here

w.c : 4.2k | NEXT

“Are you being serious right now?!” 

You turned to look at your cousin as you stepped out of the car, immediately regretting it the moment your feet dug deep into the hot sand. Hissing in annoyance at the feeling of sand between your toes, you glared at your now sheepish yet delighted cousin. 

 Joshua or as you preferred to call him Josh and sometimes Joshie, just to spite the hell out of him, rolled his eyes at your dramatic antics. 

“Oh come on, we got this one chance to spend a vacation finally out of our damned hometown, of course it should be a beachy one!”

“I’ll show you who the real bit-”

“Please, try to think of it!”

Sighing out, you shut the car door and leaned on it. The sun was blistering hot as you looked ahead. Goddamnit. You knew you should not have tried to get some shut eye in the car. Perhaps if you stayed awake then you’d know you were in fact, not heading towards the chilly mountains as you’d have thought you were and then you would have disagreed with Joshie and went by your own. 

But no, he just had to be the only person you happened to be great friends with throughout your life that stuck to you like he was somehow etched to your side by fate since you could speak.

Hearing movement, you saw him come and stand beside you, looking at you with that look. The one that would always manage to get something out of you exactly how he’d want.

“Come on! This is like the only summer ever that we’re getting this chance. Do you really want to spend summer,  a season meant for sunny beaches and the vibrant ocean, in the mountains?”

Scoffing at him, you clicked your tongue and spoke in a sharp tone, “You know damn well, how much I hate the beach! The ocean in itself! It’s all so…so cliche and honestly a little terrifying, the ocean is scary.” 

If someone else would have heard you, they would have probably mocked you, but Josh was the one who knew you, he knew everything and yet he went ahead and did this.

“Okay how about this, we make a deal?” You raised your eyebrows at him in question, wondering what sort of ideas must be running behind his cunning doe eyes. Doe eyes that seemed to always somehow make you do as he pleased if he just as much flashed them at you widely.

“One month here, in Kildare and the rest wherever you want, okay? Besides, I already rented us a villa with half of our allowance as deposit and uh…yeah it’d be a waste.” 

Face palming yourself, a groan slipped past your lips as you rubbed the bridge of your nose, “You-how-wow just wow. I am not sure whether to be even more pissed or honestly slightly impressed you planned this out so well.”

Looking up, you looked back at the view that raised up more emotions, falling more to the negative side than anything, and thought about it. 

It had been a while since you smelt that familiar signature aquatic scent, since you saw just how truly blue water could be, just how much the sand always seemed to find itself into each nook of your feet, making it impossible to remove it. 

It had been a while since…since everything.

Maybe this was another chance. 

“Fine. One month. I’m counting and by the end, we’re out.”

[ A few moments later ]

The villa turned out to be nothing like you’d expected.

In a way, it was way beyond your zero expectations and if you had any, it was also above that. Other than the fact it was nearer to the ocean than you’d have preferred, it was simply heaven on Earth. 

“You can take the bigger bedroom.”

“Yeah you don’t need to tell me that.”

Josh scoffed at you but smiled when he saw you looking around in amazement. He was glad you agreed more quickly to this than he thought you would have. He was worried you would have gone back home instead of even thinking of going somewhere else. 

Then again, you would have likely gone even here than be stuck in the summer back there.

“Are you sure this was like what, only half the money we have?” You touched the antique vase that laid in the middle of your bedroom hallway. It was a mix of indigo blue and white that made it look like those fancy artworks you’d seen in expensive stores.

“Yeah it was! But also, this is sort of a friend’s too.”

“You have friends? Well other than me of course.”

“I do and also fuck you.”

Grinning in victory, you tugged your luggage to the front of your new temporary bedroom.

“Well, I am sorry “Mr.I can’t socialize for the life of me” I didn’t exactly think you’d have such friends, not ones who owned such villas at least.”

“Technically, it’s not hers but her father’s. She sort of hooked me up with the discounted rent.” 

Opening the door to your bedroom, you wondered if your jaw could drop any lower as your eyes took in the closest you’d ever get to living in an actual bedroom straight out of a magazine room in front of you. Oh wait, you were going to live in this! Only for a month, but it counted!

The large bed in the middle had the prettiest shade of blue sheets, with the same on the curtains that covered a large window which looked out into the sea. There were even those cool sitting arrangements in the far left before the window, with the two white sofa chairs and marble table between with a golden showpiece on top. You thought those only existed in rich people’s life but this seemed like your life for once. 

“Her?” Your brain snapped back to your cousin’s voice as you threw your luggage, a little carelessly to the side, and turned towards him.

He looked at you weirdly as he stood at your door, and raised an eyebrow in question at your tone.

“Yeah ‘her’, her as in Sarah, Sarah Cameron.” You still looked at him skeptically and asked,

“Well this Sarah…she’s real right?” Your voice carried mockery and you tried not to laugh. Even more so at the offended look on his face.

“Yes! She’s real, I- I can’t believe you’d think I’m making someone up-”

“My bad dude, your rep isn’t exactly again, the socializing kind let alone the romantic kind-”

“Sarah is just a friend!”

Raising your hands in defense, you gave up, “Jeez alright, alright!” 

He didn’t believe your words, he knew you and knew you were still doubting him.

“And I know your ass still doesn’t believe me but tonight you can meet her, there’s this bonfire party thing by the beach she told me that’s like a basic norm here, she invited me.”

“Great, have fun then.”

“And you as well.”

Your attention had gone back to your suitcase as you laid it down and opened it to find clothes that would help you rot away for the rest of the day because you were already drained, but upon hearing Josh’s last words, your head snapped towards him again.

“Me? Oh, oh no no no, I can’t- I don’t have the energy to function let alone socialize like a proper human being for today.” 

It was serious for you, with the whole fiasco of finding out your entire trip was a sabotage to the way the smell of the sea didn’t seem to comfort you but make you want to throw up every few moments with the thoughts you were having, it was draining. 

“Listen, we’re staying here for practically a month, if we familiarize ourselves, at least we can make the best of it from people who live here!” 

Deadpanning him, you went through the options in your head. In the end even though it was beginning to feel like this trip was more fun for your cousin than you, you reluctantly agreed. 

“I didn’t even pack suitable clothing for this type of place, see this is why you should have just told me beforehand!” Resorting to arranging your clothes, you retorted in annoyance when you thought of how all you had were clothes meant for cold weather and barely anything loose meant for such places. 

“I’ll ask Sarah to lend you some after we meet her?”

“And are you sure this ‘friend’ of yours will agree?”

“She will, she’s pretty sweet you know, give her a chance.”

Eyeing the look he had on his face when he talked about his ‘friend’, you realized there was definitely more to it than he said, but you wouldn’t intrude more than needed.

Finally, you found some suitable-ish attire for the night, it was still a bit on the warmer side but you figured you’d just avoid going in the general area of the bonfire so as to not end up overheating. 

“Fine, we’ll see.”

[ time skip to the night ]

It was not like you had any expectations but certainly it wasn’t this. 

This bonfire party was more lively than you thought, everyone chatting around, drinking concerning levels of alcohol and overall having probably the greatest time that would become a core memory for their future selves. 

You on the other hand?

The moment you saw where it was situated, you just stayed just at the back, not even wanting to go near the fire nor the sea. 

However, at night, you will admit the sea looked different. The moonlight reflecting on parts of it made it seem like a black sky full of twinkling stars. It felt less…less scary to think of it like that. But you know it was an endless void that could quite literally suck you up, never to be found again. 

“Come on,there she is!” Josh waved over someone and your attention turned to her. 

Your jaw slightly dropped but you kept it cool even though you definitely had a look of disbelief.

Her blonde hair flowed freely from the slight breeze that passed by, and her eyes seemed to spark from the reflection of the fire. Her face itself seemed lit up and you could tell, it was just how she probably was. A bright person. She was simply put in one word,beautiful. 

“Since when the fuck did you have such pretty friends and why do I not know about it-”

“Shut up.”

You were whispering to Josh as you continued to look at her, her smile also seeming to put you in a trance. She finally stood in front of you, you noticed she was shorter than you both. 

“Hey! You made it!” You already knew her name, Sarah said enthusiastically as her eyes darted between you both. 

“We just came a while ago, and oh also-, Sarah this is my cousin Y/N, the one I told you about and Y/N, this is Sarah.”

You did not know what to say so you just muttered out, “Nice to meet you.” and awkwardly smiled with a small wave of your hand.

A wave?? Who the fuck waves???

Internally, you hated how your social side basically had decided to ditch you. Normally, you would be able to make conversation easily but it seemed that it malfunctioned when you were surrounded by pretty people.

Josh snorted at your behavior and raised an eyebrow at you while Sarah’s smile seemed to have gotten impossibly wider. You swore your heart skipped a beat. 

 “Nice to meet you too! Joshua’s told me a lot about you!” 

“Good things I’m assuming.” You finally spoke normally, your voice finding its way back to your mouth.

She laughed at that, and you really wondered if you could be almost smitten by someone in the first few minutes of meeting them but you felt a small smile tug up your lips. 

“My friends are just around here and also feel free to have anything! In fact, some of my friends are helping out with the drinks and stuff, I’ll take you there.” 

Before you could even give an answer she turned around and began to walk towards the main area. Joshua began to follow the same but you stayed glued to your spot, your gaze shifting to the bigger background. It wasn’t like you could avoid it forever anyway.

You nodded at him to continue as you slowly began to follow. 

Turns out, pretty people came along with even more pretty people. They were like a package it seemed. Because the rest of Sarah’s friends were on that scale. 

There was John B with his messy hair, sun-tanned skin and freckles that was the definition of the typical island boy. Then there was Kiara, who was just as pretty with her warm gaze and smile, her curls seeming to have a direction of their own as they moved around her face from the breeze. Then Pope, whose eyes seemed to scrutinize you and a jawline you could probably cut your finger on and the fact that he was smart too? Cherry on top. 

JJ Maybank. He was something alright. His demeanor in itself was laid back but he was just as mesmerizing. His blue eyes seemed bluer than the sky in the day and just as bright as the ocean at the same time. He made you even more nervous than you thought you could get. And he was just as charming, slipping in compliments that made your face even warmer than the alcohol was making you feel.

It seemed this island was where all unrealistically attractive people stayed. 

But all the socializing that you’d done was making you even more tired, plus the unhealthy amount of ‘punch’ you’d downed along with beer did not help. Your senses appeared to have heightened and everything was overwhelming, your tolerance for being close to the one thing you despised thinning. 

“I-I’m just gonna go there for sometime, I-i need to breathe a bit.” You pointed to Josh as you poked his side to a place you could that was further from the sea but had rocks you could sit on. It was a good distance. 

“You alright?” Another voice came from your side and you’d forgotten how JJ was sitting to your right. You nodded at him as you stood up.

“‘M good. Just- just need some air.” His blue eyes shone with concern. Even if he’d only met you a while ago, it was like you’d taken his attention from then. He couldn’t quite figure out why but hey maybe he’d find out eventually. 

He decided not to follow you, so as to not overstep any boundaries considering you’d just met. The rest of the group were talking around, while Joshua also nodded at you in understanding when you glanced at him.

Stepping away, you stretched your body a bit, not realizing you’d been sitting around for so long in the same place and just talking. It was indeed true that time passed by when you were lost in fun. 

As you walked away, you noticed a figure sitting there already, wondering how you didn’t see them before but probably due to the darkness and the distance, they weren’t visible. You paused in your steps, contemplating if it was a good idea to go there when it is clearly pre-occupied. 

In the end, you just shrugged and continued your way, figuring there was enough space for another. 

The sound of sand crunching beneath feet snapped Rafe out of his daze as it shifted from the scene in front of him to where the sound came from. 

You froze when his eyes landed on you. 

From the way the moonlight shone, he wasn’t very visible but it was enough to give you a glimpse of the person in front of you. And if you thought you couldn’t be more surprised at how attractive everyone around here seemed to be, well you were proven wrong.

He had a surreal beauty, with piercing eyes that seemed to captivate you. His hair fell effortlessly and just like the others, the breeze seemed to tousle it around and framed his face in a way that was both perfectly tousled and impossibly neat with strands framing his forehead.  His features were sculpted with an almost ethereal precision, being highlighted by the moonlight : high cheekbones, a strong, straight nose, and a jawline that looked like it was carved from marble. He was the kind of pretty that didn’t quite seem real, as if he’d stepped out of a painting.

Yet what interested you most was the emotions that shone in his eyes. He appeared to be more annoyed than surprised along with another one you couldn’t quite understand and you really wished you didn’t assume it was right to come there. 

“Uh…can I like, sit here, if you don’t mind…?” Asking it felt sort of stupid, wondering if you were really going to go ahead and annoy this pretty guy even more. And even though his face didn’t twist in anyway, his eyes told everything as if they couldn’t hide his true emotions. 

He contemplated. For one, he came to that place to distance himself from others, making sure to choose a spot no one would easily find him at because it was as though everyone just wanted his attention, his presence everywhere and it got too much. 

Then again, another part of him was curious. He didn’t think he’d ever seen you anywhere. And Rafe Cameron, for all of him, didn’t like not knowing. 

Nodding, he turned his head back to the scene in front of him as he folded his arms above his propped knees. You seemed skeptical, but again, just followed your instinct and thought what harm could possibly be done anyway. You just hoped he didn’t turn out to be some serial killer. Otherwise it was probably okay. 

Sitting with a good distance from him, you looked in front of you. It was a nice scene, the night ocean really did seem more…better. In the day, it was disgustingly blue and all the more made you truly think about how deep it was. Then your eyes wandered a bit to the boy beside you, his body language intriguing you, more specifically his gaze that made him seem blanked out.

“You look like you’re more miserable than I am, right now.” Sometimes, the filter you had on your mouth momentarily disappeared even more so when you’ve had a little more to consume than you can handle. 

Rafe’s attention shifted to you fully, even though he was paying attention to you from the corner of his eye. He frowned a bit at your words, brows in creasing as well. You thought about the hell someone could do that and still manage to look attractive. 

Scoffing as he registered your words, he muttered under his breath, “Of course, another annoyance.”

“Hey! I wasn’t trying to be mean or anything, ‘just-just trying to make small talk or something.”

“Well I don’t want small talk, I didn’t come here for that.”

His tone and words shut you right up. You blinked at him in disbelief, but realizing what exactly did you expect from a stranger, plus your words were very…something. His attention on you made you even more nervous, feeling warm even more than the alcohol and clothes made you feel. 

“...my bad. I didn’t mean to say that.” You apologized and looked away, deciding if he didn’t want to be bothered, you would not even look at his way. You turned around, away from him creating further a distance and now faced completely away.  

It was silly to feel hurt but then again, your usual emotions were completely botched by the liquor in your bloodstream. You would punch yourself in the morning when you realize the level of idiocy you had the previous night. 

It was idiotic of him to feel a tinge of guilt as he heard your words. For fuck’s sake he didn’t even know you, he wasn’t the sort to feel sorry for people he knew let alone a damn stranger. 

Sighing out, he spoke a little loudly over the sound of waves to make sure you’d hear, “I-well yeah I do feel miserable, you’re right about that.” 

His voice was clear, considering you weren’t too far. You thought over if you should even reply to him after his…rudeness but hey, what’s another possible bad decision added to the already questionable ones?

Looking at him, you scoffed, “I think that’s obvious.” 

The way you said it, almost made him feel less miserable than he was, his lip twitching as he turned his eyes from you. 

“Sooo…fight with your girlfriend?” You wanted to throw yourself in the ocean…you just met the guy and you’re already asking personal questions as if you were friends. This is why you need to talk with people more and improve your people-talking skills. You failed to notice the guy next to you looking at you in amusement as he finally let himself smile for a brief second.

Wincing, you choked out, “Yeah no. Uhm you-you don’t have to answer, I don’t know why I asked that, sorry I tend to not know what to say and when to say and just yeah I’ll uh- I’ll shut up now.”

When you suddenly heard the sound of a chuckle, your eyes widened when your gaze met the sight of where it came from, Rafe just shook his head and spoke with amusement, “I can tell you aren’t much of talker.”

You couldn’t even look offended when he said that because you knew it was right so you just shrugged and agreed, “I think now this is more obvious.”

When you heard him laugh a little at that, you couldn’t stop your own smile and the way your cheeks seemed to warm up. You were unsure if it was from what was in your system or was it him. You hoped it was the former because for everyone’s sake, you did not want to even go near what would imply otherwise.

“I’m Y/N.” Randomly saying it was awkward but it made you realize you didn't even know his name. So throwing out yours like this was the only way you hoped would get him to say his.

“Rafe, Rafe…Cameron.” You turned your head in knowing towards him, the name familiar to you.

“Wait Cameron as in Sarah Cameron right? Is she related to you? You couldn’t quite make out his expression but it was as if a thought hit him and it instantly fell down. Of course, you’d somehow know his sister.

“Yeah, she’s my sister…unfortunately.” The last word was more of a mumble and you couldn’t hear it but upon knowing she was his sister, you raised your eyebrows in wonder.

They definitely did look the part of being highly attractive.

“Well it was nice to meet you Rafe, but I think I should call it a night before I eventually embarrass myself even more by passing out here.”

For Rafe, it had been a while since he’d heard someone feel nice to meet him, even though he knew you were a little out of it, he couldn’t help but let the smile on his face fully show.

Maybe he could forget why he came there in the first place for the brief moment, even if he’d have to face it soon enough.

“Are you sure you can handle yourself?”

“Pfft, you don’t know me Rafe, I’m perfectly capable of handling myself-”

With those famous last words, you stumbled as you stood up, nearly falling over because you forgot you have to balance your weight on both legs.

Following a concerned and amused look from him that you chose to ignore, also ignoring the fact that he now stood up and was closer, making you realise just how much taller he actually was compared to you, you cleared your throat as you finally stood straight.

“See, I’m good.” Your smile was wobbly and your eyes even more glossy, which only made you appear more sincere. It should not have affected him the way it did as his gaze met your own. 

And when he was closer than before, you could see the colour of them, bluer than you ever could imagine. Maybe even more than the very ocean you despised, yet somehow you could not manage to find that same distaste with his eyes. They were dreamy. 

Or it was just the beer, definitely the beer. You convinced yourself.

“Night. Rafe. Don’t be…miserable alone out here. You should head home soon.”

You miss the way he shook his head at you as you turned around and began walking back to the group. 

It wasn’t often that there was someone intriguing to catch his attention right from the beginning, so to say the least, Rafe Cameron was more than intrigued. 

And you for the hate of all things marine, could not get his deeper than the ocean blue eyes out of your mind. 

Perhaps, a second meeting would set you right.

a/n : well this is finally out!! i want to start of by saying i have been putting this aside for way too long and i still do feel like this could have been better but again it's an intro, so hopefully it makes sense. and yes reader's hate for the ocean is sorta...self indulgent i suppose. i mean i'm more terrified than disgusted but anyways, i hope you aren't sick of all the ocean/beach/marine etc references ahaha and do let me know if you wanna be tagged for other parts? i'll be uploading them soon as i'm motivated to write for this atm :)

well as images and edits (unless credited) belong to pri. do not plagiarise, repost, re-edit or claim as yours. pics mostly found on pinterest.

writingmeraki Ⓒ 2024

feedback is always appreciated 💌 ! links : main navi ! | obx masterlist | info !

[withlovenavi]

chapter 4: the pet name

pro!ushijima, who is triying for two weeks to schedule a date, is a busy man. that's why he doesn't do relationships, he is far too busy to even meet new people.

it doesn't help the fact you are also as busy as he can be.

both of you have tried to find a good date for weeks yet it's impossible. whenever you have time, ushijima has to travel to another city for a match. if ushijima has a local match, you have a project to finish or a work trip or meetings with others.

ushijima prieded himself to be a patient man but he feels he's loosing his mind.

he's getting quieter and quieter at your morning calls. and you obviously notice it. ushijima has never been the talkative type and that's okay for you. at the beginning, you weren't sure if you're being too much. you can pretty much talk and talk alone. and you didn't know if he was interesed in you that much to listen a 30 min rant about a change in the chairs at your office.

"i like to hear your voice."

ushijima rarely speaks over whenever you're talking. you stop in the middle of the street. it's only been a few day talking almost daily so you're still learning about each others, so everything is still new and unexpected.

"really?"

"you have a beautiful voice. calm and sweet. you basically have no accent, only when you're excited for something. my polish isn't as proficiency as yours so i'm learning everytime we talk."

a man almost push you to the side.

"oh, so this is just a free polish lessons? that's why you want to endure these calls, should i start charging you?"

you are joking and, if there's anyone else, they would get it. but lately you have come to realise that ushijima isn't like anyone else. and maybe that's why you are so interested. you also has learned that ushijima is the type of go quiet if he isn't sure what to say.

"babe? still there? it was a joke, you know. nothing serious."

on the other side of the line, the sound of some weights being dropped and a curse in japanese. you stop in the middle of the street once again.

"babe?"

did i say that out loud? oh. my. fucking. god.

"yeah, well... i mean, it just slipped but..."

"in japanese we don't use babe," ushijima's deep voice sounds even deeper while saying that word and your cheeks blush slighly at that. "we don't usually have endearment terms but if you use them, i could do it too."

"whatever makes you comfortable."

"whatever makes you happy."

you smile. how you could not be smitten by that man? for things like that, sometimes you feel like a teenager with her first love.

"okay, let's try what suit us best, right?"

"of course, darling."

masterlist

chapter 5: the date

🌸 @ultracheesesideboob 🌸

[leggerefiore]

I fear now we need all of the men navigating NNN. My beloved man Cyrus would see no problem with the challenge and would probably call it dumb

Cyrus is victorious by default. His low libido makes it no challenge, after all. Though, he absolutely is not actively participating. He finds the concept dumb and sees no reason to indulge it. He just wins because he does not ever really seek sex unless it's to appease his partner or to cope with horribly strong emotions. Basically, as long as you don't demand sex nor does anything make emotions run high, he's winning without trying.

Grimsley is dying but trying his absolute damnedest. The gambler has the highest libido of the group and is the resident manwhore (before settling down with his partner… who now has to deal with his sexual appetite). Despite this, however, he loves a challenge. If you offer a bet to him about making it through November like this, he will agree. The price you pay will likely be something insane. He is surprisingly resolute about it all. He has trained himself to hide his emotions, after all. Teasing him seems ineffective. Though, he can and may break. In truth, it is a battle of his love of gambling versus sex.

Colress agrees. Why? Well, for one, he believes he can do just fine without sex. But, also, because this is valuable data! How will your bond with one another change due to the lack of sex? How will you react? How will he feel? He has read plenty of studies on the supposed benefits, but he is eager to see if they truly are to occur. Basically, November becomes a personal study for him. Be ready to he observed (as usual).

Nanu grumbles and says no. He is not having his schedule and sexual proclivity dictated by some internet meme. He is too damn old for that. If you want to go in on it, be his guest. He has handled his own needs before, and he can handle them now. Will not participate and cannot be convinced.

Lear is bewildered, but it is a challenge. He scoffs and says that seems easy enough. A month without sex or masturbation? Nothing in comparison to his training to be king. Behold his kingly restraint! (He breaks down halfway in and demands that you stop, too. He is about to snap.)

N doesn't know what you're talking about. He just blinks. Going without nuts for a month? He supposes that some people with nut allergies deal with this for a lifetime, so a month should not be impossible. Do not try to explain further. It is not worth it. He can win by default, too, since he's not inclined towards sex. He mostly meets his partner's needs in that department.

Volo squints his eyes at you. Why are you proposing this to him? He feels as if you are messing with him. Even if you try to explain, there is little to do to convince him. Wager the Azure Flute or something, and he might agree. His willpower is quite terrifying solely towards Arceus. Otherwise, he is not giving up sex for some frivolous challenge. Even pulling the Arceus's Chosen card fails.

Maxie ponders what the hell you are talking about and agrees because you make some comment about Archie being able to do it. Of course, he can go a month without that! He is a man of science and restraint. He suffers endlessly, and his temper is flaring. Magma grunts will beg you to call off whatever you did to their boss. He gives up nearly at the end.

Archie is going to refuse since he doesn't really see how that could be fun or anything beneficial to him. It is only when you mention Maxie apparently being able to do it that he agrees. He surprisingly makes it through the entire month. His mood is barely effected. Maxie is mortified when he hears the news.

Giovanni thinks you're insane, laughs at you, and says no. Then, when you mention it being a display of his strength, he reconsiders. Suddenly, he devotes his entire focus to such a thing and proving you wrong. He will make it through by becoming extremely pissy and by the skin of his teeth. His prize is locking you away for a day and making up for the lost month.

Lysandre supposes he has heard of something like that before. Yet, strangely, nothing can convince him to participate. It simply cannot be done. He says it is a waste of time and energy. (In truth, he simply cannot deny himself pleasure and uses sex as a way to express his love.)

[aliorsboxostuff]

Trans Spidey reader and Miguel where the reader is really really into Miguel’s talons and muscles and everyone at HQ knows but Miguel (basically just sexual tension between oblivious people)

Imagine crushing on Miguel and being reciprocated haha couldn't be me FHSFHFJKDF I really do like this idea anon tysm! I love writing oblivious trope, its always so fun! I hope you all enjoyed this btw!

Exclusively Yours

Tags: Miguel O’hara x ftM,!reader, Spidey!reader, Miguel O’hara, Hobie Brown, Pavitr Prabakhar, Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, Margo (Spider Byte), Jessica Drew, Peter B. Parker, Mayday, Fluff, sexual tension, soft!Miguel, Maybe OOC, Miles’ group being a menace, a bit nsfw-ish maybe, kissing, humor, confessions, feelings realization

Maybe you're not the first Spiderman to notice Miguel's arms and claws, and maybe you're not the first person to fall in love with him because of those too. But you're certainly the first to make Miguel fall in love.

—

1st Month

“I can't be the only one seeing this, right?” The other tree turns to Pavitr, his eyes following the new guy that just got into the Spider Society, next to him stands Miguel. 

“I mean, he made Miguel walk outside his office for once!” The new guy laughs, a flash of a blush on his cheeks while Miguel says something the group couldn't hear. 

“Honestly a bit scary ain't it?” Hobie chews another chip. “Boss man never smiles, now look at tha’,” 

The group snickers as they watch those two walk past the cafeteria, before they turn a corner and disappear from their vision. Gwen takes a sip of her smoothie, her head tilted slightly. “You’ve seen how he looks at Miguel?” 

“I mean, I've only been on a mission with those two once…” She grins. “Pretty sure he kept sneaking glances at his arms,”

“There’s no way they don't like each other!” However, what Pavitr said made Hobie scoff.

“Miguel or new guy?” Pavitr tilts his head.

“I wouldn't bet on that mate, man’s so blind might as well be walkin’ to a pole,”

“Both to be ‘onest,” 

“Impossible! Did you see the tension? I can practically feel it,” The shorter boy grips at the edge of the table, his eyes sparkling.

“Y’know, yesterday, while me and Peter reported back to Miguel’s-” The group leans closer to their shared table. “He was showing the new guy his claws!”

“What?!” Pavitr shouts, the group erupts in laughter. “No way that's real!” 

“Wait wait, were they like-” Suddenly, Pavitr grabs at Hobie’s wrists, bringing them close to his face. “Oh! They are so sharp Miguel! Must you always be so dangerous!” 

Pavitr brings one hand to his crown, pressing the back of it to dramatize his impression of the new guy. Hobi snickers, before he plays into his friend's bit, one hand holds Pavitrs face while the other fists, pressed to his chest. “Never for you, my love,”

“Oh Miguel!” Pavitr turns his head to the side and Hobie closes his eyes, both of them making kissy faces at each other.

“Oh my god!” Gwen and Miles doubles over in laughter, the girl holding on to Miles’ shoulder while she holds on to her stomach, Miles already cackling over the table. Hobie and Pavitr join their laughs, Hobie holding his sides while Pavitr slapped the table repeatedly, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. 

Miles shakes as he brings his head up. “Miguel would kill you!” 

“Who would I kill?” The group halted, turning slowly to find Miguel standing beside their table, arms crossed, one dangerous brow raised. Gwen looks away, Pavitr and Miles audibly gulp while Hobie rolls his eyes, huffing. 

“N-nothing- No one! Nope, haha,” Miles shakes his head, a nervous smile on his lips. Miguel simply raises his brow higher, eyes narrowing.

“Oh! Would you look at the time!” Gwen glances at nothing on her wrist. “We should get going, right guys? We have that meeting, right?” 

“Oh yeaah! The meeting, yes,” Pavitr shakily grins, shaking Hobie’s shoulder. “Come on Hobie we should go, haha,” 

The team shuffles awkwardly away from the table, before they all booked it and ran in the same direction, Miles and Pavitr already jumping off the ledge and swinging away, followed by Gwen and Hobie who’s running behind them before also flying away. Miguel rumbles lowly, before he sees the new guy approaching him with his tray of food and joins him in looking for a seat.

—

5th Month

Gwen pulls off her mask as she enters Margo’s lab, the girl nods her head to the music she's listening to, her eyes on the monitors. She adjusts the files inside the small box she's carrying before walking towards her. “Hey Margo, Jessica told me you needed these?” 

“Oh yeah, just put them there,” Her hologram glitches as the headphones disappear. She stands, walking towards where Gwen set aside the box before riffling through it.

“What’s in those anyways?” Gwen perches herself on one of the empty consoles. Margo opens one and flips through it.

“Oh it’s actually from Miguel,” She closes the file, setting it aside, before looking through the others. Gwen hums, looking around the various screens, briefly at the Go Home Machine, before she turns to Margo again.

“Hey, speaking of Miguel, you’ve seen the new guy right?” 

“The one that sticks with Miguel, like, all the time?” Margo smirks, setting aside another piece of paper. Gwen nods, now intrigued. “Oh have I,” 

“They were here, like, a couple of weeks ago right, and lemme tell you,” Margo pushes the box away, sitting up where Gwen is also sitting, pulling one leg up to her chest. “His eyes were all over Miguel's body, I swear!”

“Holy shit?” 

“Im serious! Jessica was right there, by the way, and he was eating Miguel up,”

“Shut up!” Gwen giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. Margo laughs too, now her legs are crossed over the console. 

“Especially his arms, like boy get a room!” Miguel laughs, throwing her head back while Gwen holds at her side, almost doubling over from her own laughter. 

“You think-” Gwen tries to stifle her giggles. “You think Miguel notices?”

“I’d be surprised if he didn't! We both know he’s dumb about these things, but come on,” 

“Yeah, I’d feel sad if Miguel doesn't know,” Gwen sighs, leaning on her hands behind her. “Though, I’m pretty sure he’s also been checking out the new guy,”

“Don’t get me started!” Margo’s grin widens.

—

1 year

“So how’s Miggy been treating you?” 

“Really? Right now, Parker?”

You’re currently swinging through another universe's version of Brooklyn, chasing a rouge Doc Oct from another dimension. Peter was now running on top of a building while you swung under the elevated railway. Mayday giggles in her baby carrier when her father leaped off the building and joins to swing next to you. Your back aches a bit when you swung to another building, maybe wearing a binder today wasn’t your best choice, then again you didn't know the fucker was gonna run this long.

“Hey, we haven't got time to catch up ever since Mr. Dark and broody’s been stealing you,” He shrugs, sharply turning just as you swung above him, Doc Oct meter away, still running with his metal arms. 

“First of all, he hasn't been ‘stealing me’-” You made quotation marks mid-air. “And Secondly-” 

A car was suddenly thrown at you, at which you narrowly slide past the opened passenger and driver's window, before webbing it up so it doesn't hit the pedestrians below. “Miguel’s been treating me great, okay,”

“Has he asked you out to dinner yet?” He twips another web, swinging on it.

“What?!” Just as you said that, Doc Oct threw debris toward you, which you quickly swing away and secured that too. “Oh shit…”

“You’ll never catch me Spidermans!” He shouts and does that damn annoying meniscal laugh.

“Let’s wrap this up?” You suggested to Peter as he stops at the same lamp post as you.

“Yup, hold on to daddy, baby,” Mayday nods her little head as Peter adjusts her straps, then it’s off against Doc Oct. 

Peter swings behind him, effectively catching his attention as you landed a punch straight to his jaw. He shakes away the pain, imminently turning and letting his metal arms attack you, the sharp appendages reach towards you before Peter shoots at it, pulling it down towards the ground. Doc Oct hits concrete hard, at which you quickly tie up the rest of his appendages. He sharply turns to you before you could tie the last arm, sweeping you off of your feet, which makes you fall as he cages you on the ground, the sharp end of the arm almost slicing your next if you didn't duck quick enough. Peter lands meters behind Doc Oct, the hologram cage in his hand. He nods curtly, his eyes on you.

“Now!” You threw off Doc Oct with your legs, Peter throwing the cage just where he lands. When he went to chase after you, the cage clicks open, effectively containing him. 

You catch your breath, before deciding to lie on the concrete floor and covering your eyes with one arm. “Nice going man,”

“Thanks,” You say as Peter stands beside you. “You too,”

Peter shrugs before he releases Mayday from her carrier, holding her in front of him before he kisses her nose. “And you too young lady, very brave,” 

Mayday giggles, hands patting Peter’s cheeks. You huff, resting your arms on your chest while keeping your eyes closed. You can still hear Mayday's little voice, before Peter turns to you. “So he hasn't asked you out yet?”

“I really don't know what you're talking about Pete,”

“Oh come on! You’ve been with us for a year, probably longer with Miguel-”

You sharply sit up. “What?”

“I’m just sayin’,” He held his hands up, Mayday hanging on his hip. “You guys should be official by now,”

You scoff, crossing your arms. “And what makes you think he likes me?” 

“Oh my god, Jessica is right, you’re way too oblivious,” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You stand, brows furrowed while Peter laughs with his daughter. Clearly, your confusion is hilarious to him. “There’s no way thee Miguel O’hara likes me, okay,”

“Sure sometimes I feel his eyes on me, or how much he asks me to hang out with him, but I’m probably not the only one!”

“No, you are-”

“Plus, he’s busy okay, he only ever makes time to eat lunch with me, or to train, sometimes, if I'm lucky, maybe even a coffee break together, but that's it! He doesn't like me, he doesn't trail me with those sharp eyes, we don't accidentally make eye contact, he doesn't smile at me or laugh along my lame jokes, and he definitely didn’t blush when I asked about his claws- oh my god he does like me…”

“Bingo,” Peter snaps his fingers, followed by Maydays giggles as Pete holds her by her legs, red hair covering her face. 

Your face reddens, eyes blinking as you recall all of your and Miguel’s interactions for the past year. The first month you showed up, Miguel paired himself with you and you thought he was just being nice. He indulges in your curiosity, showing you his claws, a bit worried but couldn't help the steady red that appears on his cheeks when you leaned closer. He makes time for you, joins you for lunch, which had the teens curious. He only ever trains with you, letting you spar with him, those widened eyes whenever you managed to pin him down. The longing gazes that you sometimes caught, smiling at him when you do which only makes Miguel turn away. The way he lets you on his platform, hanging out with him where others usually had to wait until Miguel dramatically descends. When he encourages you, lingering hand on your shoulders, and back, the ghost of a smirk only reserved around you. 

And you have been eyeing him too. How could you not when a man that good-looking, that dedicated to his work, is right there?! But the idea of Miguel reciprocating your feeling…

“Alright, let's get you home buddy,” Peter moves behind you, pushing your shoulders and walking towards the opened portal. You’re still in a daze, confused and embarrassed with how many signs you missed from him. 

—

The next day, you're still clouded with the possibility of Miguel liking you back, making you hesitant to ask him to eat lunch with you. The activity has become a constant now, but ever since your revelation, you were second-guessing yourself. 

You take a breath, closing your eyes briefly, before pushing the doors open. You jog your way to where Miguel's platform is and swing your way up easily. “Hey Miguel, join me for lunch?”

“Sure, let me allow Lyla to take over,” He nods toward you before turning back to his screens. You hum, shifting your weight from one leg to the other. 

“Alright, let's go,” He turns around, stretching his arms above his head briefly, the sight of his muscles taut makes you gulp. Now or never…

“Wait, I have something I wanna talk about,” You blurted out, looking anywhere but at Miguel. He stops in his tracks, putting one hand on his hip.

“Sure, go ahead,” He nods, patiently waiting. You inhale slowly, and let your breath out.

“I hope I'm not reading the room wrong but- I’ve noticed the way you look at me, Miguel,” You meet his red irises. They widen slightly, Miguel stands straighter. “You follow me with your eyes, and I know what they mean. You make time for me and we train together, you let me up on your platform, hell, I’m the only one allowed to get close to you without you getting irritated!” 

You laugh nervously, swiping back your fallen fringe. “What I’m saying is, am I wrong to think that you like me?” 

A beat passes. Silence aside from the writing of cables and soft beeps from the monitors. Your hands turn to fists ready for the rejection, maybe a condescending laugh from the man you’re pining, until-

“No, you're not,” He sighs. “ I do. I like you a lot, but I didn't want to ruin what we had. You're so close to me, and I’m afraid that if I told you, you’ll…”

Miguel turns slightly, averting his eyes, which is unlike him at all. His blush is now prominent, which spikes your own blush. You gulp, slowly stepping towards him. Your hand reaches for his arms, your touch making him blink and meet your gaze once again. “I like you too, Miguel,” 

“If you couldn't tell, I’ve also been sneaking glances at you,” You chuckle, placing one hand on his jaw as Miguel also chuckles, his voice reverberating around the room. “God, they were all right, we’re so oblivious,”

“‘They’?” Miguel grins, his hand holding your wrist, tilting his head against your hand. 

“The others noticed before we did,”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah,” You giggle.

“Wow, okay,” He follows your laugh, bumping his forehead against yours as the two of you laugh. You close your eyes, breathing in the scent that is Miguel, Basking in his warmth as he holds you close. Slowly, as the laughter dies down, you open your eyes, staring into his bright reds. Your hand brings his chin closer, you felt his breath stutter. After months of build-up, Miguel's lips against yours feel explosive. His hands are on your hips, pulling you closer, the reminder of those sharp talons beneath them. One hand reaches to tangle in Miguel’s hair, making him grunt, deepening the kiss. You feel his large hands caressing your sides, sending shivers down your spine. When you two pull back, Miguel's eyes are blown wide while you smirk, licking the remnants of him from your lips. 

“That year-long pining?” You smirk, pulling his shoulder closer, your nose brushing his. “Fucking worth it.”

Requests are open! Reblogs appreciated &lt;;3 

[syndrossi]

I was going to leave this as a comment on the ask you just answered, but it was getting too long, so, new ask it is: As amazing as Jon and Rhaegar being twins is, there have been many ideas/thoughts on how to squish Dany into a Resonant AU just for fun. Do you have any you especially enjoyed thinking about or think are plausible? Her being their eight-year-old reborn triplet would obviously be fun. I do think her being from yet another universe where she hasn't met Jon yet makes the most sense, so that all three of them are on sort of an even playing field coming into their new circumstances. (Maybe even one where she hasn't hatched dragons yet, that way when she gets a dragon egg with Jon and Rhaegar, it's just as exciting for her as it is for them? Or a verse where she never meets Jon at all, and instead saved the world with Aegon/Young Griff and/or Rhaenys?) I like the idea of her being reborn into the younger!version of Nettles too, thus being their little sister instead of their triplet. I feel like the dynamic shift with a very pretty and Valyrian-in-appearance yet natural born little sister could get real fun and interesting in the Red Keep very quickly, especially since they really do need more girls in this family... All that said, I think my absolute favorite idea for Dany that has been suggested so far is probably the one with her showing up unexpectedly in an au of Reverberate AU where Daemon is shocked at receiving three babies instead of two. 😂 If you DO write a drabble with her in it, I'd vote for this one. I can just see Daemon's shocked pikachu face at being handed THREE babies when he was expecting two...

I think the Resonant set-up but with triplets is the most popular suggestion, but also the least plausible to me. A triplet live birth is so exceedingly rare that people are going to talk about it, and I feel like word would reach Daemon eventually and he'd put two-and-two together. Plus, they'd be an attraction any time someone visited the Gates of the Moon, and TWO Targaryen colored children out of three is going to be nigh impossible to keep under wraps.

So an "early Nettles" relationship (if you ascribe to the theory that Nettles his bastard) would work better for sure. Perhaps he has a dalliance with another lady in Rhea's court before Elys arrives, or perhaps it's with *gasp* a commoner, so she is baseborn. I think it's easier to "hide" a bastard if the mother is a commoner, but a noble lady would have SOME means at least. Perhaps Rhea learns of it as well and "handles" the matter, fuming, to further clean up Daemon's messes so as not to deal with the political inconvenience of her husband's outright infidelity.

So here, Dany would be slightly older than the twins, physically, but they'd be near enough in age to be basically triplets. Maybe on Rhea's deathbed, she's like "by the way, asshole, you have ANOTHER illeg--erm, I mean you have an ACTUAL bastard child living in Gulltown."

As you said, it's an interesting scenario because a) you have the tension of Viserys wanting a proper legitimate princess so he'll have to legitimize her (even if she's *le gasp* baseborn!), and b) the bastard-by-association fears with Dany and the Velaryon boys. And Jon and Rhaegar of course ready to spring to her defense for anyone who dares try to confront her about her bastard roots.

My preferred "which Dany makes the jump" is also a 14-16-year-old version. I think it's cleaner if she isn't the mother of dragons yet, as that's a rough (and complicated) set of bonds to have broken, and she gets to share in Rhaegar's wonder. Plus Jon gets to be double the big brother! Though in terms of maturity, a 16-year-old Dany who hasn't yet gone back to Westeros and has been struggling with the politics of Essos is also a fun midpoint between 14-year-old Rhaegar and 19-year-old Jon. She would feel more like the Dany people are familiar with than her very innocent/naive fourteen-year-old self.

I'm with you where my personal favorite would just be Daemon, all confident in his prediction of twins to the point of commissioning a double-sized twin-dragon-head cradle, getting flummoxed by triplets and spending the next three years terrified of something happening to Dany. (Once she survives their first year, his suspicion probably falls upon the Spring Fever that killed Elys.)

It's probably the least satisfying for people who want to read Dany-with-the-boys, since I'm betting they want the payoff of them being able to converse and seem more like their canon equivalents, vs the much more blended outcome you get in Reverberate, where the boys (and Dany) act somewhat more like their physical age, especially early on.

I'm definitely far more likely to write something along these lines in a oneshot, since the character relationships/dynamics get exponentially more complex whenever you add a new one to it. With the original Resonant trio, there are four main dynamics to follow: Jon+Daemon, Jon+Rhaegar, Rhaegar+Daemon, Jon+Daemon+Rhaegar. With Dany, on top of those four, we now also have Jon+Dany, Daemon+Dany, Rhaegar+Dany, Jon+Dany+Rhaegar, Jon+Dany+Daemon, Rhaegar+Dany+Daemon, and Jon+Dany+Rhaegar+Daemon, aka SEVEN more. It's not so bad in a oneshot, where you don't have to cover the development of all of those--it's generally just a snapshot of their relationship at a certain point in time.

[swarvey]

Enamored with Paper Rings right now. It’s written so, so well 🥺 Do you have any headcanons about meeting Harvey in college/taking over the farm years after that?

meeting harvey in college | harvey x gn!reader

summary -> after meeting harvey during college, the two of you hit it off right away, slowly growing to become more than friends.

a/n: ahhh tysm!!!! that means a lot <33 i hope you enjoy!! reader and harvey are at med school btw

harvey

the two of you met during freshman year of university while taking the same course

after being placed in the same group project together for the semester, you hit it off with him right away

harvey, though? it was pretty much love at first sight.

you best believe this man purposefully chose his seat near you because he thought you were cute. not that he'll ever tell you that

it didn't help that he was completely enamored with your personality

(nearly imploded the first time you laughed at one of his jokes)

knew he wanted to be with you pretty much right away, but he also didn't want to rush you

so, being the man that he is, he waited patiently until you were ready to express your own feelings before showing you how much he cares about you.

freshman year

"this is impossible," you groan, letting your head fall onto the mattress beneath you. "i quit."

harvey laughs, rolling his chair over to the bed and gently lifting you up by your hoodie. "unfortunately, you can't quit," he tells you, smiling at your frown. "the rest of our groupmates quit half a semester ago, so it's up to us to save our grades."

you sigh deeply as you force yourself to sit up, grabbing your laptop and pulling it onto your lap. as you begin to work — swearing under your breath about your "good for nothing groupmates" — harvey sneaks a look at you once in a while, admiring the way you bite your lip in thought and squint your eyes at the screen.

he wants to be with you, of course he does. he thinks any guy who doesn't should get schedule a check-up with their doctor, since they obviously aren't thinking straight. no, the problem isn't that he doesn't have feelings for you — it's that you can't seem to tell he does. while he knows he should use his time at college to explore and meet new people, he can't shake the fact that, to be frank, you're really the only one he can picture himself with.

"harvey, can you look at this? i swear this doesn't make sense."

"sure!" shaking out of his daydream, harvey sits beside you on the bed, trying not to pay attention to the way your arms are pressed against each other.

while others may move on after realizing their feelings aren't returned, harvey figures he doesn't mind waiting a little bit, especially if the reward is having you all to himself.

sophomore year

"how do i look?"

harvey turns to look at you as you emerge from your bedroom, bashfully showing off your halloween costume with a broad grin. you're dressed up as one of your favorite video game characters, your hair and make-up done perfectly by your friend. she stands next to you with a proud look on her face, eyes digging into his skull. he can basically hear her daring him to say you look bad.

"amazing," he voices, watching as she nods in satisfaction and walks away.

"honestly, harvs, you couldn't have been a little more creative?" you ask, tugging at his lab coat. "you realize we're in med school, right? so half the people we see tonight are going to be wearing this."

he shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck. "well, i couldn't think of anything else," he mumbles. "it's not like i'm trying to impress anyone, anyway."

you hum, nonchalantly fixing his collar and centering his stethoscope. "well, at least you look all cleaned up — maybe you'll catch someone's eye," you tease.

yet again, you don't notice how he stiffens, letting out a quick breath when your hands graze his neck. it's been a year now, and harvey has no idea how you haven't noticed his feelings for you. still, he's been patient, and he truly doesn't mind waiting; it's not like there's a downside, in his mind. the two of you have grown even closer since freshman year, even finding time to see each other during the summer.

"alright, ready?" you ask, grabbing the sides of his arms and laughing when he jumps. "geez, harvey, i know it's halloween, but you don't have to be so on edge. i'm here to protect you!" you cross your arms, feigning toughness.

"really?" he doubts, giving you a questionable look.

you nod, the air leaving your lungs when your friend pokes your side. "we're all doomed if you're supposed to save us," she jokes. you laugh as she starts pulling you to the door, calling for harvey to follow.

he barely hears her, though, hearing only your bright laughter and seeing only your amused eyes.

i can wait.

junior year

harvey is growing tired of this.

he watches helplessly as you talk to a senior — a senior who is clearly attracted to you, by the way — and allow him to pour you another drink. he scowls at the greedy look in his gaze, his eyes raking you up and down as you sip out of your cup. he knows you're clueless and remembers how excited you were to socialize at the formal, especially since this upperclassman is known to be at the top of his class, but truthfully?

he doesn't give a damn.

"oh, harvey!" you say, eyes brightening when he walks over. he doesn't even look at you as he grabs your arm, locking it with his. he can feel you staring at him, his ears burning with embarrassment as he faces the senior.

"what are the two of you talking about?" he asks, his hold on you tightening when the older student leans forward slightly.

"nothing of concern," he says, eyeing your hand clutching harvey's arm. "just some personal techniques i've learned over the years."

harvey's lips form a grim line on his face as he glares at him, the music playing in the background seeming to fade away. he can sense the intentions of the other student, knowing if he weren't there, he would be purposefully getting you drunk to do god knows what with you.

"we're leaving," harvey declares, "but thanks for sharing your insight with them. i'll be sure to ask all about it when we get back."

without another word, harvey drags you out of the room despite your small protests, focusing only on getting you away from the creep. he lets out a breath of relief as you make it outside, resting his hands on his knees for a moment before straightening to look at you with worry-filled eyes.

"what were you thinking?" he scolds, scanning you quickly as if checking for injuries. "can't you tell when someone is trying to take advantage of you? how much have you had to drink? here, take my jacket, it's getting chilly out—"

his words get caught in his throat when you lean forward and hug him tightly, your head resting on his chest.

"what would i do without you, harvey?" you quietly ask, pulling away to look at him with a gaze he's never seen before. "no one's ever cared about me like you, you know that?"

harvey clears his throat, looking away as he gently wraps his arms around you. "i think you had a little too much to drink," he says, attempting to pull you off. "i'll take you home, okay? we can talk more tomorrow—"

before he can finish his sentence, your lips are covering his, your arms now thrown around his neck as his hands find the small of your back. after a moment of shock, he's kissing you back, eyes shut as he pulls you closer to him.

when you break off, he looks at you with wide eyes, blinking as he registers what just happened. his cheeks are tinted red.

you yawn, grabbing his arm once again and leaning on him. "i'm tired," you mutter. "let's go home."

"r-right, let's get you to bed. we can talk about this after you get some rest." wordlessly, he begins to walk you home, hoping with his entire being that you won't forget this by the morning.

senior year

adrenaline rushes through harvey's body as everyone throws their caps into the air, celebratory horns blaring in his ears as everyone begins to file out of the stadium. he can hardly believe it's been four years already — it feels like it was just yesterday he was meeting you in class for the first time, already drawn in by your curious eyes.

after greeting his parents and taking some pictures with them, he promises to be right back before racing off to find you, his bouquet of flowers still in hand. he quickly searches the crowd, knowing you should be around this area, but is stopped in his tracks when you practically pounce on him.

"we did it!" you exclaim excitedly, swaying him from side to side. your family watches amusedly as he shyly waves at them. "we actually graduated, can you believe it?"

"well, i can believe i graduated," he teases. "i'm not sure about you."

"hey! i used my resources well throughout college, alright?" you defend, pushing him away lightly.

"i'm kidding." he pulls you to his side, quickly stealing a peck on your lips when no one's watching.

you sigh, looking down at the cap in your hands. "i can't believe it's over," you express. "it went by so fast."

he nods in agreement, watching as everyone celebrates with their families. "keep in mind, i spent nearly three of those years chasing after you."

"you never said anything!"

"did i need to? i'm sure everyone else knew except for you."

"and whose fault is that?"

"alright, enough fighting!" harvey's mom laughs, walking up to your family and greeting them. "let's take a picture of you two."

"ready?" his dad calls, angling his camera. "smile!"

after developing the photo a week later, harvey notices that, while you're brightly grinning at the camera, he's too busy smiling down at you, reveling in the fact that all his waiting didn't go to waste.

[rikeijo]

Yuri!!! on stage pamphlet, Kubo Mitsurou - Character comments

Katsuki Yuuri

The character of Katsuki Yuuri, previously still vague, solidified in the scene in episode 4 when he touches Victor's hair whorl. That scene is also one, where I managed to express an idea I've had in my head for a very long time - I wanted to show something like a moment not connected to the main story, when their relationship changes, but not in a logical way. The same thing can be said about the scene in the last episode when, even though Victor is crying, Yuuri pushes aside his fringe and says "So you cry too!" - Yuuri has this very primal (原始的) characteristic of putting his own curiosity first before feelings of the other person, that's a desire he can't suppress. I think it was our intention to use this characteristic to make the viewers expect that he is surely going to act in a way they cannot predict. Throughout the series, Yuuri's character was shaped by misleading the audience to think they know Yuuri's personality and then showing them in each episode that they were not right about him. That's why the character turned out to be much more complex that we thought he would be in the first episode and I think the viewers can sense that the creators had a lot of fun writing him. We sometimes say that the characters are acting on their own, but in this case I think we were writing the character while being bossed around by him.

Victor Nikiforov

Just as it was with Yuuri, I couldn't fully grasp Victor's personality in episode 1, and so his character also solidified over time as I was writing the show. Beginning with the scene in episode 4 when he told Yuuri "I'm not going to hold back" during their conversation on the beach, and then when he was "really hurt" after Yuuri touched his hair whorl, little by little the underlying kindness Victor possesses started to show up more, as even though he had no idea what Yuuri was really thinking, he wanted to get to know Yuuri better and Yuuri to get to know him better too. Actually, I also thought the fact that even staff members couldn't fully comprehend Victor's actions made him all the more charming. Because his actions were impossible to comprehend, the audience too has been watching the show without being able to form any strong assumptions about him and the sense of insecurity you've been getting while watching him was probably also a sign that you started to like the character... I've created Victor by trying my best to draw a cool and beautiful human being. I don't think however, that he could ever be mine. Yuuri also feels this way, but in Yuuri's case he was able to form a very strong connection with Victor thanks to skating. I was writing the show while thinking that I'd like the audience to enjoy the feeling that in every episode, together with Yuuri, they too get to meet Victor they've never seen before, as the relationship between Yuuri and Victor is forming - relationship that was only possible because Yuuri had skating as an excuse [免罪符, it means something like "get-out-of-jail-free card" - funny word choice, but Mitsurou really pushes here the idea that Victor was way out of Yuuri's league. ]

Yuri Plisetsky

In case of Yurio, his character as well as character design were very clear from the very beginning. He was very easy to write. He is my favorite type of character and based on my experience I was sure he's going to be popular. He is the type of a side character, who can outshine even the main character in terms of popularity, so I was careful not to make him "angsty" by e.g. giving him a tragic past or making him have a difficult family situation. With Yurio I didn't want his character to be someone who gets popular because people feel sorry for him, so I gave him family and coaches, as well as new friends, and wanted to show his strength by making him achieve even greater success while being in a relatively good place emotionally. I think I've managed to use the basic manga trope of writing about a strength of found family instead of real family without focusing on the tragic aspects of this trope.

Christophe Giacometti

Chris was born as an ultra sexy character, a character who is very aware of his "eros" and at the same time has the strength to not care when other people stare at him. I decided on the visual side of the character first - I gave him those curled and long, stunningly beautiful eyelashes because I wanted the audience to think: "How grateful we are that such a beautiful skater exists in this world at the same time as Victor!". I also wanted to show the gap between his super cute look with curly hair when he was a child and his present look and suggest that a lot of growing up happened there. While I was writing him, or I should say it was more thanks to the choreography and music we created, the charm that was radiating from him was neither masculine nor feminine, but simply Chris' charm. I personally wanted to make him a "skater who looks good naked" and was having great fun writing him.

Phichit Chulanont

With Phichit, I was aiming to create a pure and energetic person. I've actually heard Thai artists active abroad saying that they want to show everyone the new face of Thailand and also that there are certain aspects of Thailand they were only able to see after they went abroad. So, I felt that young Thai people right now are really making a lot of effort to reconstruct themselves, so I wanted to make Phichit a person who has the spirit to create new things. With the fashion he wears, I was aiming for something Harajuku-like.

Ji Guang-Hong

I've come up with this idea of a Chinese competitor, young but with good skills, as a counterbalance to the great number of overwhelmingly strong competitors who appear in the show. I wanted to make him a character who shows all the signs of becoming terribly good in the future if he continues to gain more self-confidence and experience. When it comes to his personality I was imagining him following the latest trends, like all the modern kids do, or maybe traveling to the USA off-season to train at the same rink with Leo, for example. I intentionally didn't make him really stand-out, because I think he is still at a stage before he can bring out his individual personality.

Jean-Jacques Leroy

Before we even started to think about the story, I effortlessly came up with lines like "JJ won't give up! He can't give up!", so JJ is the character who has already been well-defined even before he was created. We placed a very rough order for his song: a song which feels like it was written by somebody who could win a Grammy. The request we've made for the lyrics too wasn't all that specific but the finished lyrics were well... absolutely amazing! I wanted to make JJ into a character who would make the spectators sing that song while he skates his short program. He is too egoistic, so other competitors who can't get along well with him, simply can't get along well with him, period. He isn't the type who can become friends with everyone. However, he doesn't really care. I wouldn't say that he for sure isn't hurt at all by this though, if you look deep inside, but one of the incredible things about him is that he doesn't let it show on the outside.

Georgi Popovich

We aimed to express different kinds of love and here is the type of competitor who puts all the emotions he's experiencing after he broke up with his lover into his performance. I was thinking that maybe in a country like Russia nobody would have a problem with him doing something like that and so I gave him this kind of artistry, different than the artistry Victor has. And again, also compared to Leo, he's a different type of artist. Georgi is very serious about practice and listens to what his coach says too diligently. But I think he loves himself the most, more than anyone else. He is a narcissist, so he loves his lovers very much too, because they love him. I think that's why he reacts with this "I am the one who can protect you!" thing after he gets dumped. The ability to transform all these feelings into a performance is his strong point.

Nishigori Takeshi

Nishigori was created because I wanted to introduce a point of view of somebody who has gave up on skating. He is also a childhood friend of Yuuri and somebody, who has been watching him from a very close distance - so he's a character with a quite complex setting. He is the only married man [in the show] so I wanted him to be masculine and not somebody who fret over things a lot. I also was thinking that the reason why Yuuri didn't want to go back to his home town for such a very long time, is because of Nishigori and Yuuko. When it comes to Nishigori and Yuuko's relationship, I think Yuuko is the one who started it. She didn't confess her feelings directly but I think it was probably very clear that she likes Nishigori. Because men from Kyushu don't go after a girl who they know they don't have a chance with. They never try to reach a "flower that grows high on a mountain top [an idiom representing a unattainable goal] (laugh).

Leo de la Iglesia

Leo, who was looking up to Victor, is the only competitor who choreographs his programs by himself. He wants to leave no doubt that he is self-producing his programs - he wants to skate his own choreography to the songs he likes to truly bring out his own charm. When it comes to figure skating in the USA, there is a lot of strong competitors in different parts of the country and so there are also skaters of different races. I think there is that conviction that to be able to show your own strengths in these conditions, the most important thing is to express the "I'll be saved by the things I love" core part of you. Leo can't for example jump quadruple jumps yet, but instead he wants to find his other strong points and show them - I wanted him to be a strong person in this way.

Minami Kenjiro

A skater who just made his senior debut, Minami-kun, was created because, just like Yuuri looks up to Victor, I wanted other Japanese skater to look up to Yuuri and Yuuri to be aware that there is somebody who looks up to him. Yuuri had a very bad start at Nationals, so Minami has already won with him once, but I thought I wanted another active competitor to tell Yuuri that he wants Yuuri to continue skating. And so I gave him this pure personality, the kind that Yuuri doesn't possess, so he can yell "I will definitely win with you!". Because of that, he became a character like a classic shonen manga protagonist. And because he has the vibe of anime protagonist I also gave him a matching haircut. I created him feeling that "If Yuri!!! was a shonen manga Minami would definitely be the protagonist".

Otabek Altin

He is a stoic, rugged and serious skater. A type of man who doesn't go to gatherings with other skaters. He left his family and was moving from country to country throughout the course of his training, so he had to wait a long time for a breakthrough. While training, separately from skating, he was also making friends among local musicians, so he has a lot of companions, who are important to him not only in Kazakhstan. He is the type of person who you can trust. He doesn't talk much and doesn't use social media much. But somehow you feel that he can for sure make a lot of progress. He also has this idea to do things that other people don't do. That's why I think that [since he started till the moment we meet him in the show] he's been treating skating very seriously. Otabek is more of a warrior or a soldier than an artist. I see him as this kind of person, who respects competitors who aren't on a level playing field with him and he treats them like comrades-in-arms. That's why, after he met with Yurio at a summer camp and saw his strength, he decided to find his own style of fighting, other than ballet, and he never forgot Yurio, who also had a soldier-like dream.

Michele Crispino

I think Michele loves his sister too much and that's why he doesn't really want to change. He has the skills and skates very good. That's why he managed to get to the GPF and is a very strong competitor, but there's also something missing there and he can't really break through. I wanted to show that his love is of a different kind than the rest of the cast's. I think the kind of love he has for Sara is a little bit different than familial love, but well I think that in his mind Sara is the only person he can trust. But Sara herself thinks she needs to change. I wanted to highlight this change by making Michele a tough/traditionally masculine guy. I was thinking that I want him to use the emotions he has because of his sister to have the break through even if these emotions are not necessarily positive. It was fun writing him.

Lee Seung Gil

SeungGil says pretty harsh things and has the most athlete-like mind of all the skaters. The pressure he is under is huge so, as the real athlete he is, to protect himself from being influenced by this pressure, he doesn't do any fan-service. I think that he is simply a stoic competitor, but because during interviews he says things like: "Is it really necessary for me to answer questions like that?", people misunderstand him and tease him for being cold. The story that I was thinking about for him is that he competes with this stoic attitude, but he knows that if he doesn't become more expressive, he can't win, so he chose a song and costume with an element of surprise. I think this gap is where his charm is. I think he, in his everyday life, isn't interested in things other than skating and usually wears clothes his mum bought for him, or jersey.

Emil Nekola

There are a lot of characters who stand out, so I wanted to design one, who doesn't, and instead simply has a sunny disposition and is like a younger brother or the kid in a group. Skaters from Czech Republic are popular so I thought that it will be a good match to his personality if I make him Czech. The image I have for him is that he is friends with Michele and is the kindest person among European skaters. I was thinking to make him "a big guy who you can depend on". He is very good at physical activities, so I think if, in addition to skating, if he decided to do snowboarding or extreme sports he would be pretty good at them too. He himself isn't really fixated on skating and has a lot of other things he likes to do. But right know he is focusing on skating. That's why, unlike Michele who is like: "Skating is the only thing I have in my life", Emil has a very good way of dealing with the pressure - he is a clever guy.

Closing comments

The things to enjoy while binge watching all episodes

At the end of ep 10, it was revealed that Yuuri at the banquet actually asked Victor to be his coach. If you re-watch the show from ep 1, while having this in mind, the relationship between Yuuri and Victor will surely appear very different. In the beginning of ep 1, when Victor ask Yuuri "Do you want a commemorative photo?", to him Yuuri wasn't someone who really stood out from the crowd. But then, he watched the video of Yuuri skating a perfect copy of his "Stammi Vicino" program, while having some prior knowledge of Yuuri from the "be my coach accident" at the banquet. And as the story goes, because of that Victor's got certain ideas and decided to travel to Japan. If we look at the events from Victor's perspective, it must have been very weird for him, because Yuuri himself asked him to come, but after he came Yuuri met him with this "Why are you here…?" reaction. I think you should be able to enjoy the story even more, if you change the perceptive you watch the show from when you re-watch all 12 episodes at once.

To fans…

I think without both the fans who were supporting us and the staff members who participated in production, we wouldn't be here today. I can't thank you all in person, but we are thinking of doing something, so you can enjoy the world of Yuri!!! even more, as a thank-you gift. I'm looking forward to your continuous support of Yuri!!! on ice.

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

Jane Schoenbrun and the Screen Trilogy

Director Jane Schoenbrun’s “Screen Trilogy” seems set to define a period that feels deeply personal to those whose adolescence was shaped by the meteoric rise of the internet and the isolating comfort of technology.

Using a cohesive blend of glowing cool-toned hues, long, lingering shots, and scores and soundtracks that perfectly evoke teen ennui and lonely melancholy, Schoenbrun has used the allure of the screen to craft dreamlike meditations on identity, isolation, and transness that leave viewers feeling so seen.

A quick glance at the tumblr tag, letterboxd reviews, or TikTok videos shows one common thread: Thank you, Jane. And it's well-earned from the beginning. (More under the cut)

With the first installment of the Screen Trilogy, Schoenbrun tackles the questioning of identity through fears generated from unrestricted childhood internet access (something that usually gave the millennial generation something we can never unsee). we’re all going to the world’s fair follows Casey, a teen who partakes in the viral World’s Fair Challenge that leads to an ambiguous separation of self that leaves the audience questioning whether Casey was truly losing herself or merely participating in an elaborate, creepypasta-fueled MMORPG. When speaking about the film with The Hollywood Reporter, Schoenbrun says,

“It really resonated and reminded me of something I went looking for online in my own youth, which was an effort to remove myself from my body and my identity and exist in a space where I could express myself creatively, and perhaps even explore myself personally, outside of ‘the real world.’”

Casey mentions at one point that she can feel herself leaving her body, adding to the overarching theme of dysphoria.

This and many other vulnerable moments are shared through video which is really the only way the audience gets to know Casey, a key piece of information when JLB comes into play. Like us, JLB sees Casey expressing a number of concerning symptoms and thoughts. JLB reaches out to Casey, an adult man reaching out to “save” a teenager he knows nothing about. The adolescents of the internet age know this character all too well.

Between the unspoken disquiet of JLB’s “guardianship” and the time spent with Casey out in the barn in the middle of the night watching ASMR videos with her stuffed lemur, Poe, Schoenbrun’s work reaches out to the kids who, like them, found solace on the internet. We found a world that was bigger than our little towns, we found ways to self-soothe (visual stim videos come to mind as the new ASMR), and sometimes we found people like JLB (we basically made Chris Hansen the hero he is- we love Chris Hansen). For the first time, the isolated, sometimes trans or questioning, internet kid in us felt seen.

Schoenbrun slapped us with nostalgia again in 2024’s I Saw the TV Glow, a magenta-saturated amalgamation of teenage ennui and suburban melancholy that pushes through your ribcage, reaching for your heart without you even noticing until 2/3 of the way through, your frantically beating heart is ripped from your chest among screaming tv static and sparks, leaving you silent in the face of wails of unimaginable pain and need.

Soft-spoken 7th grader Owen meets 9th grader Maddy who’s reading the episode guide for The Pink Opaque- a Buffy-style 90s paranormal teen show Owen has only caught glimpses of, but that he’s totally fascinated with. The two watch an episode together, and as Maddy leaves Owen tape after tape to watch on his own, the pull of The Pink Opaque becomes impossible to ignore.

Schoenbrun is open about it- “I really did live and breathe Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I cared about Buffy more than I cared about my real life”. The same was true for a lot of us. Millennial kids weren’t quite the latchkey kids of the 80s but also weren’t yet the iPad kids of the late 00s. Parents were still learning how to parent and were either too controlling (like Owen’s parents) or too absent (like Maddy’s). Piggybacking on the theme of identity from world’s fair, the kids that didn’t see themselves reflected in popular media or the cliques at school would become masters of escapism, using books, movies, or TV shows like Buffy (it was Charmed for me) to create an inner world where they felt safe, wanted, seen.

Where world’s fair is about the loss and search for identity, I Saw the TV Glow tackles the question of “what next?” What do you do when you know time isn’t moving right, that life isn’t supposed to feel like this? When you learn exactly how to fix it but it sounds absolutely terrifying and insane?

Maddy has no hesitation. “I’m getting out of this town…I’ll die if I stay here. I don’t know how or when exactly, but I know it’s true.” Owen, like Isabel in The Pink Opaque, Maddy says, is afraid of what’s inside him. In Variety, Schoenbrun comments on their differences.

“What we experience through Maddy is this ultimate self-liberation: you have to destroy yourself totally in order to be reborn as who you really are. … Maddy knows that there’s somewhere where she can be full and it’s not worth staying in this place.”

The film encloses a number of deeply disturbing, viscerally upsetting scenes in monologues that connect the audience with feelings of dysphoria, of the disjointed way trans people experience time, and the fear of that time running out in conjunction with the fear of the future. Like world’s fair, the conclusion is ambiguous, but more hopeful in its way. It acknowledges the pain, the fear, the sheer exhaustion of transitioning, but proves it as a method of survival, and reassures the audience, “there is still time”, before leaving them with a cut to pink static where they can cry it out to some Frances Quinlan.

Not too much is known about their third installment, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, but Schoenbrun explains that it both pays homage to and critiques the lineage of trans and queer villains as sexual deviants. The New Yorker sums it up as follows:

“[Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma] follows a queer filmmaker hired to direct a new installment of a long-running slasher franchise. The director fixates on the prospect of casting the “final girl” from the original movie, and the two women descend into a frenzy of psychosexual mania.”

Slated to be gorier and funnier (thank God) than the previous installments, Schoenbrun is now turning to the aftermath of transition and the reclaiming of identity through sex, an important and often overlooked facet of transness. They’ve also sold a book, Public Access Afterworld, originally meant to be a TV show but now taken down in literary form. Schoenbrun hopes it will rival franchises like Sandman or Lord of the Rings in its scope, finally giving trans media an epic of its own.

All this fan can say is I can’t wait.

Sources:

Jane Schoenbrun Finds Horror Close to Home | The New Yorker

'I Saw the TV Glow' Director Jane Schoenbrun on A24 Film's Trans Meaning (variety.com)

How We’re All Going to the World’s Fair Grew Out of Internet’s Subconscious (hollywoodreporter.com)

[marysdonuts]

I've been thinking for some days about nerd hoshi who is always at the library studying and t/n who relieves his stress in the public bathrooms of the library.

old fashioned nerd!hoshi x bold!reader

What exactly happened to men along these years? Didn't they use to go to war, discover new lands, conquer continents? They built awe-inspiring structures, sculpted impossible shapes into slaps of marble, wrote letters that to this day make people's hearts ache. All this for what? To throw it away the moment women didn't need to be courted anymore.

Kwon Soonyoung was sitting in less than occupied library, surrounded by books, studious as ever. Working on his history project he suddenly wondered what brought mankind to it's current self destructive pattern. Was it the greed? The pride? Laziness perhaps. We became too comfortable to fight for what we love.

Browsing yellowish pages of thick textbook in front of him, couldn't help but shake head in disgust. Chivalry was not dead. He was committed to bring upon its renaissance.

So when you, not so subtly, slipped a note "meet me in the bathroom"... Swallowing hard, it provoked moral conflict between righteousness and basic instinct.

Hoshi's been sitting in that spot for hours, one eye on you, one on the scripts. Gentleman side of him planned to invite you for dinner long time ago, wine and dine you, sweep you off your feet, dance in the rain.. All romantic clichés he loved so dearly. However the coward side didn't allow him to make even tiny move on person so beautiful and pure like you.

Now, you can imagine just how dumbfounded your bold initiative left him. Heart sprinting 350 beats per minute, forehead covered with dew but most importantly - blistering sensation rising from below abdomen.

Feet shuffling faster than high principles. Before he knew it, Soonyoung was pulling you closer in restroom stall. Confined space making both hearts race. Hot lips exchanging secrets of feelings unsaid. He was melting under your touch as much as did you.

"W-wait a second! Why are we doing this? Not that I mind or anything.. You are just so beautiful, is it really okay?" Hoshi's rational mind finally catching up

"Well, saw you fighting your inner demons over there for about.. three hours? Though you might appreciate little boost of morale." mischievous look in your eyes, hands caressing each chubby cheek, squishing them together

Embarrassed by how easily you managed to read him, Soonyoung tried to cover his burning red face. To no avail.

"Ugh, I had lot on my mind...but by the look of it, I will have to fight the outer demons now" Doing his best not to meet your thrilled gaze, pointing at the growing situation in his pants

"Easy fix" the self assured tone of your voice, hands already working on his cock. You loved to please but what you loved more was making cute, nerdy boys whine. Pressing against him, hot lips silencing defenceless cries, those adorable whimpers only fuelling your determination, grip getting tighter.. Seeing him so vulnerable, completely at your mercy would be enough to take you over the edge.

Hoshi found himself in situation from his wildest dreams. Public setting, rhythmic touch working its magic, your tongue torturing his.. Seeing you so hot and bothered, getting off at the sight of him, absolutely refusing to yield until he was taken care of... It was too much for baby hamster. Getting caught up in the mood, leaving all his morals behind, he fully gave himself to the sensation.

Vision fading to black Soonyoung experienced his first out of body experience.

//

"Next time allow me to take you out for dinner?" Utterly ashamed by his inappropriate actions Soonyoung finally gathered up the courage to ask you out.

"I would like that"

[trashlie]

Love and Deepspace Thoughts

I promised some thoughts about Love and Deepspace and we're a week into the game and I think I can finally ramble about it for a while. I've been immensely enjoying myself and screaming daily with my friends lol and I think I've been able to formulate my thoughts pretty well! Idk how many people actually wanna read this, but I always love to have a record of my thoughts - especially something this early in game, because knowing papergames, there's going to be so much angst, so many twists and turns, and I'm already seeing a lot of threads of how things could play out and I like to be able to look back and see how wrong I was lol.

I play on the North American server and have completed chapter 7, so this will be full of spoilers for story content, as well as a lot of spoilers for anecdotes, tender moments, and some of the myth stuff - I'll try to denote where I'll mention certain spoilers in case you're trying avoid certain things, but it'd be impossible to write all of my sincere thoughts and capture all of what I really love and am looking forward to without spoilers, unfortunately.

Below will have a lot of thoughts on the current LIs as well as speculation about the 2 coming LIs, as well as their dynamics, and further speculation on where I think - or maybe just would like to see - the story could be going. To be clear, I have not cleared all anecdotes or myths, as I'm trying to savor things and good lord I cannot pull all those cards; a lot of this is compilation between my experiences as well as @poisonheart and further things I've read and discussed in the server. I will also be approaching this as a longtime player of MLQC, papergames' other otome game, because I cannot help but see the comparisons between the game and sing the praises of where I feel like they've grown and refined, but I don't think you'll need to have played MLQC to read this - you can honestly just ignore those bits lol >A<

What I can outright, sans spoilers, say is that I'm really enjoying Love and Deepspace so much and I think that it's come at a really good time for me, personally, as a MLQC player, because there's so much in game that's been completed and we're basically going through the motions doing our dailies, waiting for our new chapter events or participating in the occasional events (if you aren't hoarding resources for SP wish tree events) so it feels SO refreshing to dive into a new game that takes place in the same universe/world but have so much new stuff to uncover, so much new lore, new characters to meet and get to know. In MLQC I have a very clear favorite, but so far in LADS, I find that while I think I might have a favorite, I really enjoy all three LIs so much and I don't feel bad when I pull someone else's card, because it means I get to gobble all the lore! I don't feel like "UUUGGHH THIS GUY" when we get to X's chapter route. Perhaps it's just that LADS really caters to specific tropes and cliches in a way that I enjoy, but I feel so much like they've done these characters great justice! This goes for the MC, too, who doesn't feel at all like a cookie cutter MC meant to be a stand in for our own self-insert, but rather has a lot of personality of her own, is feisty and discerning.

Also, I gotta give a lot of props to the character customization features. I understand why people are upset that you can only change your hair and hair color in the photobooth function, but we rarely see MC out of that feature - so much of the game is in first person POV - and the times that we do see her, she's seen from the back, so maintaining the same hair for all characters allows them to keep something they can use for her stand in in such scenarios. But the customization is legit nuts! You can do so much with it, I spent so long tweaking mine the day before the game launched! I want to make side accounts I will never play just to play with that function lol

But let's get into the good stuff!

I really cannot sing the praises for the LIs enough, and that's going to be the bulk of what I'll talk about, because even this early in game, there's so much nuance to the LIs in both their characters as well as their dynamics with MC. Everyone brings a little something different to the table, and with what little we know of the upcoming LIs, I think even if for some reason the current LIs don't work for people, maybe the new ones might? But personally, I am so invested in all three of them! While I think I have a definite ranking in favor forming, it's not like it means I dislike any of them at all, and I'm always so eager to learn more!

One thing I'd like to mention before getting into it is that I love the inclusion of the myth cards, and though they are treated as alternate universes, I think it's more like they are previous or parallel timelines, but I'll try to get into that a little more as I talk about the characters!

From what I can see so far, I think Rafayel is one of the more popular fans with the North American/English-speaking fanbase - and it's not hard to see why! He's sassy, provides good comedy, he's fun to bully, and he's really pouty. I had a feeling he would be my favorite from the get go, just because I tend to have a thing for really pathetic men lmao and I have SUCH a fondness for him. I said I think I have a ranking forming, but it feels WRONG to rank them because that's how much I really like them, but if I had to, Rafayel's #2 position is really, REALLY close to #1! But the thing is, it's not just because of all of those traits above. I'd argue that he's one of the characters who has a lot of iceberg depth, as in there's a lot of depth to him that may get ignored or glossed over because of the sass and brattiness that accompanies, or even masks, it. As poisonheart puts it, the comedy hides the pain - and Rafayel comes with a LOT of pain! There's a delicious complexity to him where he is one part needy and clingy, but also one part resentful and hurt. MC made a promise that she doesn't recall - whether it was in this life or another - and you really get the sense that Rafayel wants to settle the score, but at the same time his feelings get in the way of those bitter, hurt feelings, and I really enjoy this complexity a lot! I think it elevates all of the sassiness, gives it a purpose and meaning.

Take his Nightly Stroll Bond: on the one hand it comes across as comedic and even manipulative -and it is! But when you get into it, you understand why. That's not to say if I think there's justification for manipulation because that's not what I'm here for; I'm just here for a good time and a good time I'm having. But when Rafayel says "It's been 800 years!" I don't think that's an exaggeration - he just isn't talking about just the day that he waited. Is faking an injury/illness and checking himself into a hospital overkill? Sure lol but that's what makes him so delightful to me. There's all of this hurt and unaddressed resentment, but as much as that, there's all of these feelings! Because even though he's hurt, he CARES about MC, SO MUCH. That's the problem! It would be easier if he didn't care, but he does. He's so needy, so clingy, he wants her attention because he's waited for so long while she was off, having forgotten him, living a life that abandoned and left him behind while he waited and waited and listen ;~; my stinky fish man I'm so sorry I cannot wait for her to learn the truth. I want to know SO BADLY what happened! When did they meet, anyway? He makes a comment on the homescreen when he's sulking lol about "See you in three months... three minutes, landlubber"

HOW LONG DID HE WAIT FOR HER IF ONE MINUTE IS ONE MONTH TO HIM?!

And listen, idk what anyone else thinks, but the end of chapter 7 had me in my FEELINGS, with the way he tried to leave her at the bottom of the ocean - but he couldn't, because of their promise, because he's unable to go back on it, because even though she forgot all about him and their promise and went about her life without a memory of him, he can't do that. It's the hurt! It's the resentment! It's the confliction between his feelings, because it seems like they take up equal space - his hunger for her attention, for what feels like she was so fickle to give and take away, the way she meant so much to him and he feels like it wasn't the same ;A;

(I've contemplated how possible it is that they met when she was younger, before she was attacked in the Wanderer incident 14 years ago, and if that could somehow have affected her memory, but I feel like it must be something greater, because seeing the fish glow in his heart means the vow they made was binding, so something strong must've caused her to forget. But that's also why I've contemplated if this was in another life? I'm less sure about this, because in Rafayel's second anecdote, he crosses paths with MC at university, though of course she doesn't recognize or recall him, and he specifically recognizes her voice. "Though her voice has matured, her pronunciation, enunciation, the rhythm of her speech, and even the emphasis in her sentences... Every word strikes like a drumbeat, awakening long-buried memories in his mind" It feels more likely that it happened while they were younger. Also I feel like this passage really encompasses her significance, that he can recall these details, to recognize them after so much time ;~; stinky fish you make my heart ache ;~;)

I appreciate so much that they've given Rafayel so much depth, that under the comedy of his pathetic, sulky exterior is so much reason for it, that there's an undercurrent of resentment and something dark - after all, we haven't actually uncovered what happened with the painting and Raymond. We saw the mermaid skeleton in his house - was Rafayel seeking revenge for his people?

But Rafayel also shows tremendous emotional sensitivity, in ways that sometimes catch me off guard. I distinctly remember lol sitting in shock after 4-3, and the text from Rafayel that pops up asking MC if she got the thing, telling her about how he asked a seagull to send a white seallshell why hasn't it arrived yet lol and I remember going "NOT NOW RAFAYEL READ THE ROOM ;~;" and then he goes on, telling her "if you draw on it and put it into the ocean the sea will carry the feelings you poured into the drawing to the soul you yearn for" and I just started SOBBING lol ;~; It was just so.... poignant but so simple. He didn't say I'm sorry for your loss or my condolences or anything like that - it was his own chaotic, weird method, but it was sincere. Likewise, he shows that similar sincerity in Ocean At Night, despite initially dismissing paper lanterns as silly human traditions - a lantern will be blown out why would you put all your hope in something so fleeting - coming around to using his own flame, that will never go out, to light a lantern for MC with the prayer that her hopes will never go out. ;~; Listen, I cried. I was TENDER my heart was soggy ;~;

And while I know people love a good pathetic man and enjoy chaotic sass and the fact that we really, truly NEVER know where his plots are going to go lmao - always an adventure with him - I hope they appreciate that depth and don't disavow the darker elements of him that give reason to those core elements of him. Rafayel is a character that carries his hurt and bitterness on his sleeve, rather than hiding it or shoving it away, and I really look forward to exploring it and all the messiness it has to offer, and how it will play out for MC.

On the very far end of the spectrum is Zayne. He's the character I expected to not be too fond of, so I was so pleasantly surprised as we got to know him to find myself proven wrong! I expected him to be... hm... I guess colder? More prickly? Than he turns out to be? And, admittedly, he is still rather aloof and cold on the surface, but I think it helps that he and MC have that history and that we are introduced very early to them through the A Frozen Promise Bond. It made it readily apparent that Zayne was not a cold and aloof person because he was too lofty or something but rather... it just seemed like maybe he'd been someone more awkward when he was younger, someone who didn't know how to connect very well with the daughter of this family friend, but he still tried. The snow seal took me out, you guys ;~; I never moved on from that!!!!!!

Despite seeming so cold, there's a certain kind of warmth to Zayne, just under the surface. He shows his care and concern in the ways he knows best, as MC's PCP, caring about her well being and health, but their Tender Moments are a collection of wonderful moments showing them growing closer, getting to know each other better as people, as friends and equals. For the record, Starry Nocturne hurt me so much, but it did two things I thought were so important. a. It showed that he was not infallible, which I think is very important, because often characters are written in their roles as geniuses who never fail, or else accomplish the impossible, and to see him lose a patient, while painful to read, made him so human but also b. It gave him that moment of vulnerability with MC where he could lean on her. It's so, SO important! for a MI to be able to lean on the MC, I feel, for them to be those equals, for him to be able to be vulnerable with her, but especially so for a character like Zayne who feels very reserved and closed off.

MC makes statements about feeling like there's distance between her and Zayne, especially when they first come back into each others' lives for the first time, so getting to indulge in these little Tender Moments of them taking little steps towards each other, closing that gap between them, is so satisfying! Having that history gives them a dynamic unlike Rafayel or Xavier's with her, because she has her memories of their childhood, of who he was when they were younger, and who they are now, and can compare the warmth of him opening up, of the chuckles and laughter she elicits from him. They also have this kind of flirtship I really enjoy - something very coy, not in an uwu so shy way just.... very coy, both dancing around the bush, before one of them calls it what it is - I thought the A Heartfelt Paradise Tender Moment a really good example of this!

It's so easy to read Zayne as being cold and aloof, but he really does have so much warmth, he just isn't good at showing it. He doesn't wear things on his sleeves like Rafayel or MC. But good LORD when he's in private....!!!!!!! The Business Trip Memoria TOOK. ME. OUT!!!!!! This is the game launch and they're already throwing this at us?! It was, to me, such a mature kind of date to give us? Two people who have had to grow used to each other's absence in their lives, and continue having to make space for those absences, as both are busy people - Zayne, a dedicated cardiac surgeon and MC a hunter - and what it means to grow used to the absence and to miss each other. But listen - when MC got in his lap?! She was touching his mouth? His face?! "What did you want me to do, in front of all those people?" he asked her? SIR?!

HELLO?! Girl. Listen.

I had to fan myself alfjkkfkjafjkafkjaf lmao

I looooooove them for that element of normalcy - for the people who have important careers and lives that they have to attend to, but still find the room for each other in their lives. The implication that Zayne rushed his way through school, took on grueling workloads and lacked a social life amongst classmates much older than him, not because he loved learning or even because he was so dedicated to his career - but because it was his way back to MC, so that he could return to stand in front of her? GOD. HOW DO YOU MOVE ON FROM THAT? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT? Knowing that he did it all so that he could stand in front of you again? HOWLING pls LISTEN.

Zayne may feel cold on the surface, but he is SO warm, he cares so much. And not just about MC, either. Thank God, too, because I'm not huge on the "Cold man only cares about the woman he loves" type, but Zayne cares so much about his patients, and making sure they feel seen, cared about? His first anecdote had me crying about seniors in hospitals with no relatives to accompany them to their examinations ;~; What a man.

I haven't had a chance to dig into his myth yet, which is a shame, but his third anecdote DID destroy me. I'm not even exaggerating, I was sobbing in my bedroom - and the worst part is I knew it would be painful going in and I still wasn't braced for impact enough! I mean, frankly, both his second and third hurt but nothing like the third! Parallel universe Zayne in a grim reaper role where he must kill humans turning into Wanderers - so very opposite the surgeon version of him who does everything he can to save people, both of them living parallel lives to each other, experiencing each others' lives through their dreams/nightmares. THIS HAS ME SCREAMING!!!!!

So much of MLQC has a lot to do with timelines - parallel worlds, some alternate universes, a whole timeline that's technically the same timeline reset but also still moving forward...... lol I can't help but think about where all of this fits in to LADS. Even though the Myth storylines are taken as alternate universes.... I think they're part of everyone's stories. We see echos of them. I haven't finished Rafayel's but even little moments, like making a break for it and having to run to escape attention echos a scene of Rafayel and the Princess MC making a mad dash in the market alley to escape the palace guards. It feels especially true for Xavier and MC, which I'll get to. But especially with Zayne - whose myth, again, I haven't been able to dig into, but seems to pose him as a sort of god, a forseer - we have two very different timelines/events now: his myth/Philos story and his parallel Grim Reaper self. How many timelines/parallel universes are we playing with, I wonder....?

I really want to revisit this in the future when I do get to dig into his myth, because I can see how Rafayel and Xavier's myths tie into their identities and their dynamics with MC, but I don't know yet how any of that works for Zayne and MC! I'm so intrigued, I can't wait!!!!

And finally, Xavier. God, I should have known lol in retrospect I should have realized Xavier would be my weak spot but listen..... sometimes I gotta lie to myself lol I love everything about him, the seemingly gentle eepy man who is also simultaneously a walking weapon of mass destruction but also so easily stumped by a UFO machine lol. Much like Rafayel, I'm especially fond of him because of the depth and dynamics, but also, honestly, much like Rafayel, he just checks all the boxes. Poisonheart puts it best when she says Xavier is the perfect middle-ground of the two - he's not as sassy as Rafayel is, but he'll still roast MC, he's very grounded and comes off a little aloof sometimes, but he doesn't seem nearly as aloof as Zayne, and he's also really unintentionally funny! He plays the middle-ground of them SO well. And where Zayne was working hard in order to show up in front of MC again and Rafayel has a score to settle but also so much neediness, it feels like Xavier has a LOT of karma to make up for.

Now, I personally don't have his myth cards, but poisonheart does, so everything I know I've experienced via her and all of our hours of screaming lol and the thing that really gets me the most about Xavier and MC is like..... okay it's the way he's clearly this really incredibly strong guy, but he plays the submissive prey role so well? lol He begs if she tells her to, he doesn't resist, he indulges her, he plays along - but when the mood strikes, he'll pull the dominant switch and flip the table and alkfjlFKJKAFJ ALKJFAF LAKJFAKFKJFAJ AFLKJD GODDDDDDDD IT GETS TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Xavier has that sense of like.... everything for MC, right? Like he's making up for a lifetime. There's implications that maybe he's been searching through space and time for her, trying to find her, that they've lost and each other countless times before - or rather, she's lost him - and his Shooting Stars myth supports this. Sometimes it's really subtle, sometimes it stands out so much I'm in agony. She remarks so often how he feels so distant, like he's as out of reach and mysterious as a star. She has nightmares about him disappearing and he is incredibly reassuring about staying, about not leaving. And maybe I'm reading into it, but he even talks about her hanging on tight, like maybe if she's strong enough, she can keep him from ever being taken away, keep them from being separated this time.

He's also the one who feels like he's actually endured all the years. Rather than separate timelines or parallel worlds it feels like Xavier has actually traveled through space and time, like he's the same Xavier from the myth himself, which makes him talking about the loneliness of stars so much worse. How long has he been alone, searching for her? ;~;

But their dynamic just really gets to me - it's those echos, the way MC subconsciously acts on them, and how indulgent Xavier is towards her. It's the playful teasing and the gentleness and how he plays so submissive and docile but when the mood strikes he can switch it up and catch her (and me!!!) off guard. It's the way he texts LMAO never writing out you or one lmao (which is marginally better than Rafayel's COMPLETE LACK OF PUNCTUATION LMAO ALFKAJFKJAFKJAFKJAFJK) It's the way he has that innocent baby face and could absolutely get away with murder.

Initially I had contemplated if it was possible he is actually a star and while maybe that isn't true I am still not certain he's human - at least he's not from our world (especially if he really is the very Xavier from the myth) but I still like to think of him as one, because he wears the star motif so well and likens himself to one so often. Also, look, I am a SUCKER for a star motif. I was doomed from the start lol.

There's just something about the agony and TRAGEDY in their past, in the echos, the subconscious fears, and the sheer indulgence!!!!! It's MC telling Xavier he might be her enemy later and the distress it caused him, prompting him to share his access privileges with her to earn her trust ;A; It's the way he's apparently spent DECADES, at the VERY LEAST, on our earth AND HE'S A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE COOK lmaoooooooo it's the stupid little lines he says because he's not as overtly clingy and pouty as Rafayel but an armful of plushies is a dreadful thing because then he doesn't have a free hand to hold MC's hand !!!!!!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS?! WHINES

I could write a whole essay about Xavier and I'm restraining myself and attempting to be really, really normal about him okay?

But yeah for him it's that depth of like... the guilt and agony he carries - because not only does leaving her hurt him, but it hurts himself, too. That unbearable loneliness, the endless wait, hoping, wondering, unsure of when, or if, he'll find her again, but refusing to give up - and when he does, endeavoring to make up for it. Like, as it is, there's something about strong men being submissive that is so lakkjfkafkjfkjaf alfjakfaf but it's the way Xavier does it with MC that is soooooo INDULGENT, so VERY "for you, because it's you" that makes me want to chew my keyboard and howl at the moon and every time he reassures her he won't leave I feel dread but also I want it to be true.

I know how papergames operates. I know Xavier may mean it, but I also know.... ;A;

And to think, this is all JUST THE LAUNCH STUFF! We haven't even passed chapter 8 yet lmao We don't even have all our LIs! We've (maybe?) yet to meet our antagonist? WHICH I'M EXCITED ABOUT BTW

Listen.

I have some thoughts and I'll try to keep them short (yknow, for me) because this is already long and rambly and maybe I can just expand on this later but: Sylus and Caleb are confirmed as LIs right? But are they the same person or not??????

If Sylus = Caleb it gives us a LOT of potential for exploring some really complex, grey morality. I mean, no matter what, Sylus is going to bring grey morality lol but especially if it turns out Caleb is actually secretly the leader of Onychinus, because it brings that whole "Who is this person I thought I knew?" and more so because Onychinus is poised as an enemy to the Hunter's Association.

But something Papergames has done in MLQC and I fully expect them to do here is explore grey morality, not only in Onychinus, but the Hunter's Association. Xavier's Tender Moments Garden of Secrets brings up the implication that some Wanderers are, in fact, intelligent, and while it's rare, it can occur. And with parallel world Grim Reaper Zayne having to kill people before they turn into Wanderers it begs the question of this world: can that happen here, too? And it gets into the moral conundrums. That's not to say the Hunter's Association are bad for killing Wanderers and protecting people but it starts to bring up questions, because in Grim Reaper Zayne's world, this is being covered up. What about this world? There's also the question of what is Onychinus even doing? I fully expect to find that whatever their objective is, it will be a question of the greater good and if the ends justify the means and the such.

Ultimately, an antagonist LI has to be sympathetic in some fashion, because how else are they going to write the story for them lol. Like they can certainly have Bond/Memoria/Tender Moments that are more about the combative element of their relationship meeting the chemistry that draws them to each other, but at any rate, there has to be something that draws them to each other and makes them care, right? So therefore, he can't be entirely bad, or at least MC has to be able to empathize with him and his objective, or the cause of it or something like that.

If Caleb = Sylus, that might be more achievable because of their history, but obviously that isn't a requirement, and that can also make it more complex, because again, that whole "this person I thought I knew".

I think there's a possibility for that overlap partly because we already have a LI with a history with MC - but to be fair, Zayne's history with MC is very different than Caleb's and has a different dynamic, so even if they didn't give him the villain route, it would still play out very differently and give them a significantly different enough dynamic that I don't think it would be a big issue.

If he's not Sylus, then there's still a lot of avenues to explore with Caleb. They've already implied that Caleb wants to take care of MC, wants her to lean on him and let him play that role for him, to stop being so strong in front of him, and I think that could very well affect his story and what has lead to his "death". Being in the airforce makes me wonder if it's possible that the military is associated in any way with Onychinus - after all, didn't he say that he does top secret work involving the deepspace tunnel, and isn't Onychinus interested in that? It wouldn't be the first time a government agency was written as being corrupt lol (and again there could be a lot gray morality here where Onychinus isn't necessarily inherently bad). Caleb could have gotten involved simply by his job.

There's the revenge angle, if he, too, was an experiment subject (which would make sense because why did Granny take him in as well?) and wanting to get back at? the people who experimented on them. Or wanting to be more involved? A spy case? SO many possibilities and I'm really excited to see where it all goes!

I think regardless of how Caleb is reintroduced to the story, I imagine there's going to be some kind of conflict - his "death" and then reappearance.... did he know that was going to happen? was it planned? was he involved? I don't think they'll bring him back and yay! now she has a family member back but I think there will be some kind of strife to work through, some good ol angst that really plays with the dynamic of feeling hurt and betrayed but wanting to return to the old times that can never be returned to, wanting to seek refuge in someone who maybe doesn't exist anymore, being drawn to someone you cared so much about and feeling so conflicted about it alfkjkfjkjafjkaf kj

I JUST HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS!!!!!!!!!!

This is such a rambling mess so kudos to anyone who made it this far. Maybe I'll manage to write some more bitesized thoughts later @___@

[oros-ash3s]

Character Intro: Odesa ★﹒₊‧ˎˊ- 〜

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Basics

Name: Odesa Alves

Name Meaning: Odesa is of Greek origin, more commonly spelled “Odessa”, and means wrathful. Though, many associate it with the hero Odysseus, giving it the meaning “one who receives pain”.

Age: 18

Date of Birth: February 14th

Gender/Pronouns: Cisgender (She/her)

Sexuality: Pansexual Polyamorous

Ethnicity: Filipina + Portuguese

Rank: A Noroi Hunter of the Seventh Division

Goal: Destroy all Noroi

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Personality

Odesa is a competitive spirit. She’s very ambitious, and has a strong desire to break out of the constraints of the Seventh Sector and reach her full potential as a Noroi hunter, saving people and stopping Noroi from ripping apart any other families. She can be very blunt and brash, and doesn’t usually think before she speaks, causing her to be disliked by most of her peers at the Sector. She struggles with connecting with people, and doesn’t really know what other “girls her age” like. It never feels like it’s the same things that she likes. Her fascination in becoming a Hunter and hatred to Noroi is a little off-putting to others, even at the Sector. She can be extremely stubborn, determined to follow through with whatever goal she’s set her mind to, even if it seems nearly impossible. But despite that, she’s compassionate and caring, and very talkative, always willing to try and make new friends.

Likes: Winning, her boyfriend (Ryuji), her girlfriend (Dior), training, animals, fashion, the outdoors, shopping, new people, praise, her cat

Dislikes: Noroi, the Seventh Sector, having nothing to do, meetings, reading, being stuck at the base, cleaning

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Baby, you’re a vampire / You want blood and I promised / I’m a bad liar, with a saviour complex || Phoebe Bridgers - Saviour Complex

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Appearance

Odesa has long black hair with chunky, hot-pink streaks littering throughout. Her hair is typically pulled up into two messy space buns, with lots of strands escaping loose. She has piercing, frost-blue eyes, that are described to be almost “unnerving” by practically all that meet her, and smooth tan skin with lots of beauty marks across her face. Her hands and arms are littered with small, faded scars from training, but her most noticeable scar is the triangular one that runs right underneath her left eye, almost like a third eye. She has two lip piercings, a labaret on her bottom lip and angel bites on her upper. She has a tall, curvy physique, with defined muscles that evidently shows how much time she spends at training. Her palms and fingertips are very calloused as well, and she can usually be sporting some sort of cut or bruise that she picked up while fighting.

When she isn’t off on missions or at training, Odesa likes to dress up in unconventional, eye-catching outfits. There aren’t many things that interest her out of fighting, but fashion has always been special to her — a way for her to express herself. She loves short skirts, layers, and accessories, anything to really make her stand out in the crowd. Her outfits usually have some sort of star pattern on them, although they tend to be less vibrant and colourful as her hair and makeup is. There’s never a time at the base where Odesa is in anything but an intricately-picked, striking outfit adorned by all types of accessories.

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Curse

Classification: Third Eye

Odesa is one of the Koîkhlos, like everyone else at the Seventh Sector. Her curse is a peculiar one, which gives her heightened senses, specifically with her vision. When her curse is activated, she can locate and track any creature she sets her attention on. The source of the curse is in her scar underneath her left eye, and when it’s active, the scar morphs into a literal third eye. With overuse, her body becomes more dosfigured, her skin growing hundreds of eyes. The longer she stays in the state, the harder it is for her to return to her past self.

Odesa uses two hand guns powered by the mystic energy of her curse to aid her in battle. She’s the best shot out of the entire Seventh Sector, and an extremely skilled sniper, making her good for all kinds of missions.

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Background

Odesa was born to Miguel Alves and Mayumi Santos, a couple that took up residence in a homey little shack on the outskirts of a small town. Mayumi’s pregnancy brought much excitement to the young couple; they couldn’t wait to start their own family together, it was their dream. Especially Mayumi. But with this excitement came many different complications the couple just wasn’t prepared for. In the end, Mayumi didn’t make it through childbirth, leaving Miguel alone with his newborn daughter and empty house.

Odesa’s primitive years were spent under the care of her grandmother. She was the only tie she had to her late mother, who was nothing more than a photograph, an empty gap in Odesa’s life that she couldn’t seem to fill. Her father, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with her. Reeling with grief from the death of his wife, he grew resentful of his daughter. The man who was once smart, caring, and gentle had turned into a shell of his former self; Miguel was angry and reserved, spending his days out who knows where — running from his misery, most of the townsfolk used to say. The times he was home he was violent, filled with rage that his only connection to the woman he had loved so much, was the very thing that had killed her.

Odesa spent the first few years of her life impossibly alone. With a hateful, absentee father and deceased mother, she didn’t have much to call “family”. But she had her grandmother, and that was enough. Her grandmother was the only person who had ever believed in her, who taught her things, who truly cared for her.

When Odesa was eight, a Noroi broke into her house. She couldn’t even properly register what was happening, before she was being shoved into a cupboard, watching as her grandmother - her only friend in the entire world - was massacred in front of her very own eyes. She screamed, terrified, and for a second, the Noroi turned to her. It was a gruesome creature, the most horrific thing she had ever laid her eyes upon. Monstrous. And it turned to her, picking her up with long, wicked-sharp claws, lifting her up by her head. She was frozen in fear, the smell of death burning her nostrils, staring into the creature’s hollow, empty face.

Yet, death never came.

As the Noroi dug its claw into her cheek, slowly beginning to rake its finger up towards her eye, the feeling of pain was reduced to a… strange burning sensation. The blood dripping down her cheek boiled against the Noroi’s skin, and in a long, agonizing screech, it let go of her. Odesa tumbled to the ground, the burning, withering remnants of the Noroi’s hand falling with a thump beside her.

By the time she looked up, the Noroi was gone.

Hours passed on the cold floor, surrounded by a pool of blood, when suddenly the loud, echoing footsteps cut through the deafening silence. Odesa was found, trembling and alone, by her father, returning from one of his disappearances. At the sight, he went ballistic. He screamed, yelled, and threw things. You’re a curse. He spit. A demon. Odesa was forced out of the only home she had ever known, and out onto the streets.

There was no rescue. Instead, Odesa was forced to survive in the harsh, dark streets on the outskirts of town, surrounded by dangerous people that provided no warmth or kindness. But still, she couldn’t escape her past. Soon enough, rumours began to be spread about a three-eyed demon child running through the streets, and it wasn’t long before she found herself in the clutches of paranoid townsfolk that had heard enough of the folktales about Noroi, worried what would be left of their town if they allowed one to run rampant. They set up a stake in the centre of the town, determined to sacrifice her and free their town from the looming darkness and disease, when a Noroi Hunter interrupted, saving her from the mob of terrified townsfolk and taking her to the Seventh Sector, where she then took up residence in.

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Fun Facts

✫ She was rescued by a teenaged Noroi hunter named Dasha, who was like an older sister of sorts, for a few short weeks. She quickly passed after the two arrived at the Seventh Sector, due to a Noroi attack.

✫ She has a white ragdoll cat that she lovingly named “Pickaxe”. She was gifted her when she was around 14, and since then Pickaxe has become her very best friend and closest companion at the base, always following her around wherever she goes.

✫ She’s best friends with Ryuji and Dior, who seem to be one of the only people that she easily gets along with. They’ve been friends for pretty much forever and are practically inseparable.

✫ Aster is like a mentor figure to her. They’re as close as family, and he always makes sure to pick her up her favourite sweets whenever he returns to the Seventh Sector for missions.

✫ She listens to loud hyperpop music while she gets ready for missions, saying that it really “sets the mood”.

✫ She has a massive collection of different flavoured lip gloss. It’s probably her favourite thing ever.

✫ She’s a big hugger. A lot of the time when she’s excited, she’ll just throw her arms around whoever she’s with and give a them one of her bear hugs (it’s usually Ryuji or Dior, who are 9/10 times not pleased about this fact).

✫ She’s a shopaholic. She loves going off on different shopping trips, but her favourites are when Aster, Ryuji or Dior come along with her. Shopping alone is quite boring to her.

@seastarblue