#aos one-shots

[aweirdbugcreature]

Blue flag basically

[xanderscollection]

episode 12 vs the manga

[doomedkts]

i love a religious katsuki family haushold so here's this idea:

katsuki, who grew up in a religious haushold but still liked a boy; his chilhood friend he bullied to be exact.

he hated himself for it and when he heard "take me to chruch" by hozier the first time, he had literal mental breakdown. after hearing that song, he confessed his feelings for izuku and he expected to be rejected but instead, izuku said "i love you." with teary eyes.

so that's why when katsuki said his favourite song is take me to chruch in front of the whole class izuku looked at him so soft.

[everyryuujisuguro]

[imagobin]

Could we get one of Ao Guang spending time with his child, Kaiju edition?

Aw yeeesss this is sweet! Apologies for taking a while (lol it feels like I always start my replies like this) I'm still baffled and pleased that I still get so many Dragon King requests- I have two more in my inbox DAYUM making this into a one shot cause hecc why not?

Genre: Slice of Life 🍃 Word count: 810

Playing with Dad

Being a Kaiju-sized dragon was hard, the Dragon King knew as much, but what he hadn’t taken into account was that even in this state he’d end up with a little mere-child to take care of.

Of course, his partner was there too to help him in most cases, but whenever it was just the two of them, Ao Guang was terrified about the possibility of accidentally hurting his own child, and he would’ve never forgiven himself if that were to happen.

Today was exactly one of those days; his partner was out with their friends, and he’d been left home to keep an eye on their child, which at that point in time was little more than a little toddler, and just like any other toddler, they were very mischievous and slightly pesky to deal with.

He was laying down in their massive backyard, looking on as his child played in the sand with an array of empty seashells and rocks, feeling a little awkward and keeping his distance, until his child began gathering a variety of shells and closed that distance themselves, swimming up to him and placing everything they were holding in front of him, sorting the seashells by size.

Ao Guang tensed up slightly, but kept looking, tilting his head as he tried figuring out what his child was up to. “W-what are you up to now?” He asked in a whisper, as he often did when talking to his family, knowing his voice was much louder now, due to his increased size.

“Let’s play store! You’re the shopkeeper, and I’m the customer!” The child instructed enthusiastically, before swimming back and beginning to play a scene out without waiting for their father to agree, because of course he’d play along! He was their dad!

They swam up to him again, “good morning!” They said, trying to make their little voice deeper to sound more like a grownup shopping for groceries.

Dragon King was a bit taken off guard at first, but this seemed like a fairly harmless game, plus, he’d always enjoyed acting and playing roles, so he went along with it. “G-good morning, (child/n)! What do you need today?” He asked, keeping his voice in a whisper, but making it more chirpy.

“I want- three… two big seashells and a pretty medium one!” The mere-child requested, pointing at each seashell individually trying to count them. They were still little so they didn’t really know or care much about numbers.

Ao Guang chuckled softly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “And what else do you need to say when asking things from someone?” 

His child thought about it for a moment, before their eyes lit up. “Oh! P-please?”

“That’s right.” The King replied softly. He was actually starting to relax a bit, things were going well, they were rehearsing numbers and he was reminding them about manners… perfect parent/child interactions!

He pushed the two big seashells towards his kid without too much trouble, but when it came to the smaller one… he accidentally put too much pressure on it while pushing it forward, which was way too easy to do given the size of his fingers, and ended up breaking it.

All of his tension came right back like a flood. Oh no, he’d really done it now- he’d broken one of his child’s shells!! He was so mortified that all he could do was freeze and avert his eyes. That’s why he didn’t play with his child, a kaiju like him was no good when it came to handling small delicate things, and that was proof enough of it.

Ao Guang was already bracing himself to hear his child cry, but instead… he heard giggles?

“Papa, you broke it! You’re so clumsy!” The kid chuckled, looking up at their dad. “Are you sad?”

“What? Oh- no no, papa isn’t sad-” he stuttered, trying to reassure them. “Aren’t you… upset I broke your seashell?”

“I can find more! It’s okay!!” The kid reassured him, taking the King off guard by displaying a level of maturity he didn’t quite expect from a toddler.

“I… suppose you can-” Ao Guang replied, feeling rather awkward still, until an idea came to him. “O-oh! Why don’t I help you find more? I could find you the BIGGEST seashell in the ocean!”

The child giggled, “as big as you, papa?”

The Dragon King chuckled bashfully, slowly lifting himself up from the seabed. “H-heh, maybe… we’ll only know once we start searching!”

“Yeah!!” The little mere-child excitedly gathered their seashells in their hands, and swam up, propping themselves on their dad’s shoulder. “Let’s find the biggest seashell EVER!!”

Ao Guang couldn’t help but smile fondly. Maybe he could learn to stop worrying so much about his kaiju-sized body… his child definitely didn’t seem to care at least.

The End

[meggiejolly]

Tea in America (Agents of Shield - FitzSimmons)

Word count: 3132 Tags: Coffee Shop AU, Meet-Cute, different first meeting, fluff Summary: FitzSimmons don't meet in the Academy, they meet years later in a coffee shop, bond over tea and complaining about their annoying co-workers. Until they discover who they are really working with.

Read on AO3

Fitz was sitting at his usual table, sipping his tea and editing an article an old uni friend had asked him to take a look at, when a voice with a British accent said: "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Fitz looked up and saw a very pretty woman looking at him expectantly. "Uh… yeah. Yeah. I  mean no! No, it's not. Taken that is." 

She smiled and Fitz cursed himself. "Perfect, do you mind if I sit with you?"

Fitz just shook his head and gestured to the chair, afraid he would say something stupid again if he talked.

"Thank you, it's just that my favorite tea shop closed and someone said this place made a pretty decent cup of tea." 

"Oh, yeah. It's better than most." Fitz agreed. 

“Based on your accent, I’ll trust your judgment on tea. I’ll go get myself a cup. Do you need a refill?”

“Oh. No, I’m good. Thanks for offering though.” 

She smiled and got up to get her tea, Fitz just looked after her, a little flabbergasted. He had been coming to this coffee shop for months and had never talked to anyone except the baristas and once a guy he almost ran into on the way to the bathroom. And now this woman showed up and had an entire conversation with him. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with that. 

The woman came back with a big cup of tea and sat down again. “I haven’t introduced myself, have I? I’m Jemma.” 

She offered him her hand and he shook it, maybe a little awkwardly. “I’m Leo.” 

Leo? No one ever called him Leo! Well his mom did. Why the hell had he said Leo?

Jemma smiled at him, oblivious to his inner turmoil. “It’s nice to meet you Leo.” 

Fitz smiled back. “It’s nice to meet you too. I hope the tea doesn’t disappoint.” 

“I’ll let you know,” Jemma said with a smile and pulled out a book. Fitz was thankful for the excuse to get back to work. He wasn’t great at small talk. 

continue on AO3

[moonsoupstar-ao3]

free requests?

hey guys so like, my muse is settling on my house for a while (dopamine and motivation are back in my brain), do you guys want some drabbles (100-500 or more if I'm in the zone) for aoex?

do/don't:

do: Wlw/mlm, hetero, poly, power imbalance, toxic, wholesome, platonic, queerplatonic, romantic, family, etc, whatever else is cool for me

don't: I'm not really good at writing smut (I don't do it often so I'm pretty rusty in that department, and I WON'T write incest (I don't consider the demon lords to be actually related, and though I don't ship them either, I'm willing to write about them) or child/teenage x adult!

anyway, I just thought I could ask just in case

[comment-exchange]

352. Tea in America (Agents of Shield)

Title: Tea in America

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59513956

Platform: AO3

Creator: MeggeiJolly

Work Type: Fanfic

Fandom: Agents of Shield

Rating: Gen

Pairing: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons 

Word count: 3132

Warnings: none

Number of comments: 3

Completion Status: complete

Short summary/description: FitzSimmons don’t meet in the Academy, they meet years later in a coffee shop, bond over tea and complaining about their annoying co-workers. Until they discover who they are really working with.

Snippet (max. 200 words):

Jemma nodded. “It is. It almost reminds me of the fancy high tea places my grandmother would take me to every time I finished a degree.” 

“Every time? Do you have multiple degrees?”

Jemma blushed prettily. “I have two PhDs, but she started to take me when I got my A levels, so we went more than twice.” 

“My uncle tried to take me to the pub for the first time when I got my A levels. That did not go well.” 

“Why not?”

“Well, I was way too young and they wouldn’t serve me no matter what he said. So he took me home in a huff and gave me a beer and some whiskey anyways. I was sick as a dog and my head still hurts when I remember how much my mum yelled.” 

Jemma laughed and Fitz joined her, glad his story had amused her. 

[super-unpredictable98]

Prank Wars | Back to 15 (De Volta aos 15)

Word count: 1,7k

Pairing: Fabrício X OC

Warning: Strong language, mention of (fake) blood

A/n: Hello everyone! As many of you know, this blog is going through a transition period. As the end of The Eighth Child nears (hopefully very soon with the last chapter), I'm starting to write for other fandoms I care about. A reimagining of Hard Candy is in the works with another AU and other fics are also coming for my second blog (my David Tennant blog lol). This is one of the fandoms I'll be working with from now on and I encourage you all to watch Back to 15 on Netflix if you haven't yet. Thank you so much to @jozstankovich for writing this fun piece with me and being my fandom buddy once again. Oh and I know Halloween is gone, but I was only able to get around to it now, so I hope you all enjoy it!

[Masterlist]

"Okay, Carol, Anita... GO!" Lydia said, closing her eyes tightly as she stood next to the shower in a pink dress and brand new ginger hair.

"Are you sure?" Carol asked, hesitantly. "This dress will never be the same."

"It'll be way cooler, just go!" Bruna growled.  

Anita and Carol then started pouring two buckets of fake blood on Lydia while she laughed a little and tried to get it all over herself.

"Here," Camila chuckled, placing a cheap plastic crown on her head. "Prom queen."

"Knock knock! You guys in there?" Fabrício called, pushing open the door to República das Imperatrizes and stepping inside. "Lyds, are you ready?" he exclaimed, checking his phone before slipping it in the back pocket of his faux leather pants.

"She's ready!" Camila came out of the bathroom giggling with fake blood on her fingers.

"Hey, baby!" Lydia came out leaving a trail behind her (which Rafa would most definitely make her clean in the morning). Her eyes were still closed, but when she opened them, she grimaced at the sight of her boyfriend's costume. "What are you wearing?"

"What am I wearing? What are you wearing?" Fabrício scoffed, his brows knitting in confusion. "I thought you were supposed to be that chick with the huge--" he trailed off, making off a huge boob motion with his hands.

"I said Carrie and Tommy!" Lydia laughed. "Oh please tell me you didn't actually dye your hair black," she came closer and started analyzing his look.

He wore black faux leather pants and a white wifebeater, big chain, double grommet belt, sunglasses, black hair, dangling earrings, and some drawn on tattoos. "Tommy Ross! Not Tommy Lee!" She laughed harder.

"How was I supposed to know?" Fabrício exclaimed, frowning petulantly, jerking his chin away from Lydia's amused gaze. "And yeah! It's only semi-permanent though," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"It's fine, the girls are getting ready, we should get to República Tcheca if we don't wanna miss the party," Lydia chuckled. "Did you bring the car? This blood doesn't stain, it's mostly dry."

"It better not, or you're cleaning it up on your own," he huffed, though he smirked at her. "It's kinda scary how hot you look covered in blood," he chuckled, taking her hand to head outside.

"You look pretty hot yourself," Lydia stood by the door, waiting for him to open for her. "We shouldn't drink too much tonight, I'd like to remember what we do."

"Aw, alright, just enough for a little buzz," he agreed, pulling open the door for her. As she settled in her seat, he slipped in as well, making the short drive back to República Tcheca.

"Just a couple beers then," she grabbed his arm, laying on his shoulder while he drove. "You know, I really didn't think about the practicality of having some alone fun after the party with this bloody costume."

Fabrício smirked, glancing down at Lyds. “I don’t mind getting a little dirty,” he teased, pulling into the drive and parking.

"I have to admit this costume looks a million times better on you than the one I had in mind," Lydia stole a kiss from him. "Let's go inside."

"See, I knew what I was doing," he teased, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they headed into the midst of the party.

As soon as the door opened, the music surrounded them and Fabrício nodded to his friends, grinning.

"You want something to drink?" He asked Lyds, leaning in so she could hear him over the music.

"Make a caipirinha for me, babe?" She smiled, waving at the other boys in the fraternity. "I'm going to your room, okay?"

"Comin' right up," Fabrício said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before heading to the kitchen. Grabbing a red plastic cup, he made Lydia's cocktail, smirking as he added an extra special ingredient.

"She's gunna kill you, you know that right?" Joel said, watching him slip the little rubber rat into the cup, his brows climbing.

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," Fabrício laughed, pouring himself a beer from the keg's spigot.

"You say that now..." Joel murmured, shaking his head, but Fabrício was already on his way to his bedroom with the drinks.

Lydia was waiting, trying to find the sexiest pose she could be in when he walked through the door. She kept moving around in his bed until she heard the door opening and settled on one of the poses.

"Hey, sweetie," she smiled, taking the cup. She initially didn't notice anything strange, but when she started drinking, she felt the creature hit her lips. When she pulled away to look, she screamed and threw the whole thing away.

Fabrício nearly fell over laughing. "Oh, I got you good!" he exclaimed.

"GO FUCK YOURSELF! Dickhead, you're such an asshole! How old are you? Five?" She gave him a shove to get out of the room.

"Whoa! Whoa, Lyds wait!" He exclaimed, hurrying after her. "It was just a fake rat! It wasn't real!" He cried.

"I know, but you know I'm scared of rats!" She cried as she marched back to his car. "Go back inside, I wanna be on my own!"

"Oh c'mon, it was just a stupid Halloween prank," Fabrício groaned.  "Lemme make it up to you," he said, pleading her with his eyes, his hands clasped together in front of him.

"How do you wanna do that?" Lydia folded her arms, tapping her foot on the pavement and trying to resist his cute puppy face.

Damn it... when he was like that, he looked exactly like he did as a little boy and he was the most adorable little boy in the history of Minas Gerais.

"I have my ways," he murmured, moving in closer, a hopeful grin tugging at his lips.

"Stop looking at me like that, you don't have the baby fat to make me melt anymore," she teased. "Without those round cheeks, you're no longer cute!" She lied.

Fabrício only pouted deeper, slipping closer, knowing she was lying. "You sure about that?" He teased.

"Hmmm yeah," she turned her face away in a petulant manner. "You were way cuter with that baby fat."

"Oh, I see how it is," he chuckled, holding his hands up. "I guess I'll just go back inside then, and leave you here all alone," he sighed, hoping she wouldn't actually let him walk away.

"No, wait!" Lydia groaned. "You are still cute..." she mumbled.

"Aha!" Fabrício laughed, pulling her into his arms. "I'm sorry about the stupid fake rat, okay? I didn't think you'd get this upset," he murmured, kissing her forehead and then her cheek and then the tip of her nose.

"Alright, this time, I'm gonna forgive you... if you make me another drink, a proper one," she smiled.

"Deal!" He replied, grinning widely before leading her back toward the house, his arm wrapped around her waist. "Wanna watch me make it this time?"

"Nah, I trust you," she kissed him quickly before rushing to his room. She had a plan to get him back. She used his old laptop and the printer every guy in the fraternity used to print their essays. She got a picture of the girl from The Ring with a black background and stuck it to the outside of his window, just in the corner, as if she was watching.

"One caipirinha for you, babe!" Fabrício exclaimed, holding up two cups as he pushed the door open with his shoulder, finding Lydia waiting for him on the bed.

"Thank you, sweetie," she took the cup. "Hmm you're the best bartender ever. Are you sure you wanna stay in law school?"

"Course, I can't make as much bartending. Just means you get my talents all to yourself," he said, plopping down next to her on the bed and taking a sip of his own drink.

"You should think of bartending part-time though, now that Cabra told me you quit the copy room again!" Lydia laughed, lying against the window.

"Ugh, he told you that?" Fabrício groaned. "Yeah, maybe it wouldn't hurt," he murmured, looking up at his girlfriend and frowning, noticing something dark on the window behind her.

"He did, it's the fifth time this month, your dad won't keep sending you money if you- what?" She asked, faking concern when she noticed the look on his face.

"Uh, I dunno, it's probably nothing," he said, shaking his head.

"Really? You looked like you've seen a ghost," she chuckled, still pretending to be wary.

When Lydia shifted slightly, tilting her head in concern, Fabrício gaze shifted fully to the window and he jerked back with a shout, nearly falling backwards off the bed, his heart leaping into his throat.

"What?" Lydia tried not to laugh, taking him in her arms. "What's wrong?"

"Don't see that?" He exclaimed, scrambling to his feet, his eyes wide as he stared at the window, his fear suddenly dropping off as he realized what it was. "Is that Samara?" he asked, frowning as he squinted at the photo taped to the window.

"Happy Halloween, my love," Lydia kissed his cheek.

"Okay, that's fair," he chuckled, turning to catch her lips.

"I just had to get you back cause there's caipirinha all over my dress along with the blood, but... you're a cutie," she said in between kisses.

"Nah, you're the cute one," he murmured, his hand squeezing her hip.

"Hmm I love how soft you are when we're alone..." she chuckled softly. "So so soft and whipped."

He groaned, pulling back to shake his head softly at her. "Yeah yeah, only for you," he sighed, grinning at her.

"Maybe before we get our private fun time... we could... get some of the others? I know for a fact your sister is terrified of spiders, we could steal one from the decorations, and slip it in her hair," Lydia laughed.

"Oooo, you're truly evil, I'm impressed," Fabrício chuckled, a mischievous grin stretching across his face. "Let's do it!"

[antigonenikk]

john egan was only 27 …. he should have been at the CLUB!!!!! NOT pining over his straight best friend in a POW camp!!!!!

[octahyde]

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

Season 2 Ramble# 8 - Sports!

As I hope you got from the title, this ramble focuses on sports in manga, but before I get into it, let me breakdown some things about how this is gonna go.

Firstly a little heads up for you and a little copout for me, the average sports manga tends to be a bit longer than other genres so I figured my usual sprint approach of picking up a bunch of titles and blitzing them wouldn't work. Instead I went for a kind of marathon type approach where I still read a bunch but didn't have completion on my mind as much as usual.

Pros and cons for this approach

pro - I was able to get in that much more diversity than I would otherwise. There's hella sports out there which makes for hella subject matter, each carrying its own unique perspectives that I'm really glad I got the chance to experience, and equally glad to try and share those experiences.

cons - I made the pro sound pretty grandiose but as I said, completion wasn't at the forefront of my mind as much this month, meaning there's quite a few titles I didn't get to finish, so with a lot of these reccs I'd have to say there's more than a grain of salt to keep in mind.

Second thing I want to get out the way are the elements I consider the most important in a sports manga, which I hope will give a little more context to the lists. In my mind the four most important elements for a sports manga are realism, teamwork, ego/drive to win & mindset/mentality. I speak on what those mean to me a bit more in the episode.

Moving on, the actual format of the episode is gonna have things I read this month in a triathlon type setup, meaning 3 categories/legs, closed out with a small award type ceremony thing, then after things read this month I'll speak a bit on my favourite sports manga read before this month.

And now without further ado, LET THE RACES BEGIN!

Things read this month

(first leg)

Uncompleted Incompletes {stuff I didn't finish reading and are still ongoing}

#3 Hajime no Ippo {by George Morikawa, read 49 out of the total 1434 chapters}

Seen this around for the longest time, usually see it called the top 1 boxing manga in more than a few circles, and again for more than a few I've seen it called the top 1 sports manga overall. All that being said the reason a self proclaimed aspiring holistic otaku like myself hasn't read it before now is due to its extreme length.. roughly 1.4k chapters and counting…. just couldn't see myself devoting all that time to what I figured could be summed up in one word, boxing.

That being said, I figured that even if I wasn't going to finish or even put a dent in it, now was the time to bite the bullet and as you can tell from its placing I'm glad I did.

The story follows ippo, a bullied highschooler who is one day saved by a passerby boxer. In awe of his strength, ippo decides to join his gym and try to get stronger. Simple and common enough baseline story, mainly driven by ippo's growth which is tied to his mentality, as ippo is naturally a timid guy but his earnesty towards bettering himself makes those around him, including me the reader, want to support him.

Cool cast so far from his gym mates to opponents, all contributing to a pretty good balance of serious and funny moments. So far the art has generally been pretty good, the only slight gripe I have at this point is I find the mc pretty meh.. like he's endearing but like in that way any kid trying out a sport seems where you just wanna tell em good job no matter what.

In any case I only read 49 chapters so huge grain of salt, though I imagine that both ippo and the cast must develop in a bunch of ways over 1000+ chapters

side note Kentarou Miura, creator of berserk was an assistant on this manga for some time, rip the legend one time every time

#2 Yowamushi Pedal {by Wataru Watanabe, I read 114 out of total 486 chapter count, btw in Brazilian it's up to 700+ }

Literally like maybe 1 or 3 people I know have ever mentioned this to me, 1 of whose taste I couldn't really trust, the second literally cycled everywhere n wore that bodysuit type thing to school which kinda put me off the whole thing and I'm pretty sure the third is a figment of my imagination.. so this series never really had any pull innate or otherwise + I figured it could be summed up into "dude rides a bicycle" which again unlike boxing doesn't really have any appeal with just that.

In any case I'm so so glad I picked this up, grabbed me from chapter 1 and honestly had a hard time putting it down.

the story here centers around sakamichi, a freshman highschool student who wants to make an anime club so he can make friends. This is a cycling manga so unfortunately for my guy that didn't pan out well for him but due to some plot I don't want to spoil he ends up in the cycling club and yes he does make friends.

Great mc but that's probably weeb bias, great main cast nonetheless, the teamwork stands out fr like I didn't know how cycling could be a team sport but it is, and I love that even though they're all on the same team most of them have a drive to be the best which works out in an iron sharpens iron kind of way. The mentality of a cyclist was also really cool like with boxing or more physical sports it's easy to grasp that you have to ready yourself to take a hit but in cycling they got into the flexibility and perseverance you need to keep pedaling no matter where you are and the sights you'll be able to see because of that. Great art, very scenic as they're riding all over the place and though I've only read about a quarter it's definitely something I'd highly and heartily recommend.

#1 Giant Killing {with Masaya Tsunamoto doing the story and Tsujitomo on art, read 84 out of the 514 chapters}

This is a soccer manga. Now you may have noticed a trend here where I haven't thought much of some manga and then ended up liking it, well that's because in general I don't like sports,, well I enjoy playing but not so much watching.. except table tennis and maybe basketball but anyways that trend pretty much continues here. straight out the bat I'll say I don't care for football or soccer or whatever you wanna call it but man this manga.

The story is that an already failing football club now finds themselves in need of a new coach after theirs left them, and so some managerial staff track down a former star player for the club who they heard now coaches small town football sides in England.

Kind of a slow start with them finding the coach and him settling in and everything but it sets solid groundwork which builds into great main and wider cast dynamics. This is one of my favourite things about this manga, it offers solid perspective and narratives from the coaching staff, managerial staff, the players on and off the pitch and even fans and journalist. Never seen a sports manga so thoroughly build out its world. The art was an interesting style but it does a great job of illustrating the dynamicism of play mixed with solitary key moments which makes me feel like I'm watching a slowmo highlight.

Very real feel in a lot of respects and I really appreciated that despite the name they don't just go around making upset wins. They win and lose their fair share but always kept me engaged. #1 on this leg but not something I think is for everybody, especially if you're not a sports fan but if you are a sports fan, especially a soccer fan, I think this will be one of your favourites.

hm: MF GHOST(initial d sequel), Ao Ashi(soccer)

(leg #2)

Completed Incompletes {finished reading but still ongoing or just not fully translated as is the case for everything here}

#3 SK8R'S {by Hajime Tojitsuki, read 9 out of the total 18 chapters}

This is all about street skating, not much to say with only 9 chapters but it just looked really cool

Anyways the story is that a kid happened to see a dude skating one day and he did one of those jump tricks and he was hooked.

Average art but it's pretty dope when they do full spreads and tricks. Again not much chapters so not much to say but I really hope the rest gets translated.

#2 Tsubame Tipoff {by Hiroya Watanuki, read 40 out of total 50 chapter count}

This pulled me in because women's basketball and I'm always a slut for new perspectives.

The story here is a tall but uncoordinated freshman finds her short but extremely athletic upperclassman cute so she joins the basketball team to get closer to her... Now I'm not gonna call her gay but she be blushing like crazy... In any case the art is pretty solid, really cool cast, not sure if I thought that just cause of the relative novelty of a girl's basketball team in manga but they were just pretty cool.

what I read was pretty good and again I would really love if the rest of the chapters got translated.. maybe I'll just learn Chinese idk..

#1 Break Shot {by Takeshi Maekawa, read 84 out of the total 152 chapter count}

This is a manga about billiards which I think is different from pool but I didn't look it up so I'm gonna play it safe and stick to billiards

The story here is that the student council wants to shut down the billiards club because they only have one member who is our mc, chinmi. He tries to negotiate and they tell him if he wants to keep the club he has to show some record of notable achievement or skill, so he enters a tournament with his club on the line.

The billiards pulled me in and as expected there was some unreal stuff to keep it interesting like a dude who has a special shot that breaks the cue ball on purpose and uses the force of the shratnel to pocket multiple balls… like come on… he's a highschool student for one like come on… but outside stuff like that I really like how they framed a billiards game as a puzzle where your skill is actually more a reflection of intellect, in being able to make a pocket or stop your opponent from doing so. also loved the art like it's old but it's the kind of old school charm that gives a Sunday morning cartoon vibe and I'm not sure if it's because of the subject being billiards but it felt really smooth and classy.

Billiards is a singles competition but they were able to create an element of teamwork through rivalry which was cool and I kind of already spoke on the mentality through their framing of the game as a puzzle. To solve the puzzle they really had to think on their feet. Ego and stuff was definitely there and again I really really want this to be translated. In any case I highly recommend this one.

hm: Dogsred(about hockey by the creator of golden kamuy), Mongrel (mma)

(and the last leg of things read this month)

Completed Completes {finished reading, finished publishing}

#3 moon land {by Sai Yamagishi, 98 chapters}

This is about gymnastics and I didn't think I'd be interested + I'd never even heard of it before but this was recommended to me by Jen who I had on last episode and from its placing you can tell I enjoyed it. This is why I trust Jen and even had her on the show, shout out Jen every time

The story is basically that the mc mitsuki is really good at gymnastics because of strong fundamentals but he had no flair. the main thing is that it presents gymnastics as an expression of self and mitsuki aims to be able to move his body the way he wants to, in other words freedom.

The art is kind of meh in general but ofc they step up in spreads and stuff, great teamwork, ego and mentality stuff, more of that iron sharpens iron effect I like, kind of felt like the ending was rushed but it was an unexpectedly nice journey. they really took the time to educate about gymnastics which i appreciated and I feel like I'm underselling but it really was cool.

#2 Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji {Nobuyuki Fukumoto, 158 chapter}

Had actually tried another manga by this guy called Akagi hoping to learn the rules for mahjong but they didn't care to explain the rules and it wasn't super well translated so I couldn't really keep up despite how cool the mc seemed.

In any case the quirkiness of his art style is what really drew me in so I picked up kaiji instead and it turned out to be really good.

The story here is kaiji, the mc is pretty much living a garbage life which gets worse when a debt collector comes and tells him a friend of his ran off on a debt kaiji was the guarantor on. the debt is in the tens of millions which he clearly doesn't have but the collector tells him there's a once in a lifetime opportunity happening soon, and offers kaiji a ticket onto a ship to play games and win enough money to clear his debt in one night.

I guess this is where the question of whether or not gambling is a sport would arise but 1) it's my list and 2) they are competing according to set rules for a prize so that's that.

Anyways this was closer to my preferred tastes with the darker, more critical view of #society and stuff, which is seen in how teamwork was kinda nonexistent or fleeting at best but the mentality needed to win or even just survive was strong.

Really liked the mc, lots of growth in a short amount of time but in any case I'd recommend this one for sure, especially with the recent wave of squid games and stuff like that… it's not squid games but just if you liked that you'll probably like this..

#1 One Outs {Shinobu Kaitani, 175 chapters}

I think the full title is actually One Outs, nobody wins but I which is just super cool especially as you see how the story unfolds but yh.

The story here is that tokuchi toua is a professional gambler that dedicates most of his time to a tweaked baseball game called one outs. In this game the pitcher must get 3 strikes to win but all the batter has to do is hit the ball past the infield for a win, yet in 499 matches toua has never lost. Due to some plot stuff I don't want to spoil he ends up getting involved with the main japanese baseball league and basically the owner of his team doesn't like him, so tokuchi baits him into a contract unfavourable to himself where he gets paid 50 mill for each strike out but has to pay 500 mill for every run scored on him. The owner didn't believe his 499 streak record held much weight so he accepts.

The people he's playing with or against don't know anything about this and they're all pros so his skills are definitely tested fr. It's hard to explain how mind games comes into play but just trust this guy basically turns a sports manga into a psychological thriller which was just amazing.

Highly recommend, I didn't really know anything about baseball, still don't really but man. nothing but praise tbh.

hm: aoiro ping pong, and **mighty girl(baseball)

{in the episode I mention some other stuff I was reading and would also recommend but felt they out would be too contrived or too much grains of salt due to how the small percentage of their total chapter counts I got to read despite how much I enjoyed them but you can check my anilist to see

{in the actual episode I name black box as the second honorable mention. but that was a mistake probably due to it and mighty girl having the same author idkidk but mighty girl was better}

}

if you're interested you can listen in to the episode for the small awards ceremony thing that would be here but in this writeup I'm just going to move along

Things read before this month

not as much detail as before cause spoken on most of these before plus nowadays in think more attention sound be given to newer reads but anyways

#3 Eyeshield 21{Riichirou Inagaki story and Yusuke Murata, read/333 chapters}

American football focused. really really good. has been in my top 3 sports manga for like a decade now.

#2 Ping Pong{created by Taiyou Matsumoto, 55 chapters}

Table Tennis focused. spoken on before in detail in Season 1 Ramble#10 and was #4 in its section + became my #3 read overall last year. So good I actually took the time to watch the anime this month.

#1 Rookies {Morita Masanori, 233 chapters}

Delinquents playing baseball. Top 1 in Sesson 2 Ramble#6, #2 in Season 1 Ramble#12 delinquency and #3 in the very first real ramble Season 1 Ramble#1 which is where I spoke on it with the most detail.

hm: Usugoi(peak gambling), HAPPY!(lawn tennis by naoki urasawa)

[the-faultofdaedalus]

listen. tahiti good.

[everyryuujisuguro]

[imagobin]

🌊 Dragon King x Human!Reader OS 🌊

I bring... food for all the monster lovers like me! This is just a little reader insert one shot cause I had this idea and needed to get it out of my brain. This takes place some months after the movie's events. Reader is Gender Neutral and works as a fisher and diver.

Genre: Fluff ☁️ Word count: 5.2k

Seashells

The first time Ao Guang had laid eyes upon them was when they dove into the sea to gather sea urchins and mussels from the underwater rocks. He’d seen many humans do that before, but none were quite as graceful as they were, their movements were akin to the ones of a sea creature, and they could hold their breath for so long, that the dragon nearly thought they had gills for a moment… until he saw them resurface with their catch of the day held inside a net, slicking their hair back and taking in big breaths of air.

That had somewhat displeased the King, who wasn’t a fan of ‘air breathers’ as he called them. But still, every action of theirs couldn’t help but strangely tug at his heartstrings, in a way nothing had ever done before, not even his own reflection. That troubled him, how could he… a near immortal being, be feeling that way for a mere human? Had the centuries spent in solitude, trying to regain his power softened his hatred for anything capable of surviving on land? No… that certainly wasn’t it- then what? Maybe… loneliness?

He tried to ignore those budding feelings, but he simply couldn’t, not when that person kept coming there to gather seafood, which he didn’t mind, since those little shelled mollusks were too small for him to eat anyways. They’d dive into the water, and then spend some time on the shore cleaning their catch, humming a song with that beautiful voice of theirs, beautiful enough to render Ao Guang innocuous as long as he could hear it.

He’d come to enjoy that daily occurrence, to the point of feeling like his day wasn’t complete if for any reason they didn’t show up. For that reason, he’d been tempted to stealthily follow them back on land, discover where they lived… so he could go and check on them whenever they missed a day, just to make sure it wasn’t because they were sick. But alas, his sensitive skin could never allow him to do that, especially not since he’d lost everything, including his servants, to that dreadful Sun Wukong, the Monkey King… 

He had nobody who could help him, who’d carry him in a bathtub so he could see what laid beyond the water. It had been so long since he’d seen the surface.

For that same reason, he’d never dared to even show himself to the diver, fearing his skin would get damaged by the light and air, and that the horrible sight would’ve scared off the human.

However, one day his hand would be forced.

The diver came back like usual, and the Dragon King observed them from his usual spot, hidden behind rocks… but that day, the human didn’t seem to move as gracefully as usual… he could tell something was wrong… maybe they were fatigued, or maybe they’d suddenly fallen ill. Still, they persevered in their duty, working with their small knife to detach the shells from the rocks and cutting some seaweed… he could tell they looked weak doing so however… really weak. What was going on? 

And then it happened, their legs stopped moving and they clung to the rock, trying to swim upwards, but lacking in energy and limbs to do so, since their legs weren’t responding and one of their arms was busy holding the net. 

Ao Guang panicked. They were going to drown… he couldn’t have that, absolutely not. They’d become the only light in his otherwise dull and repetitive days, he wasn’t going to let them die like that. He saw a few bubbles coming out of their mouth, and that finally prompted him to act. 

In just a second he’d caught up to them, being extremely nimble in his element, he took them and their net, swimming back to shore as fast as he could, and by the way their body had gone limp, he could tell they were barely conscious, which was… disappointing; he wanted them to know HE’d been the one to save them, but that wasn’t the time to think about that.

He resurfaced, placing them on the hot sand. He could already feel his sensitive skin drying as it felt the air and sunrays, but he didn’t care about that now. He had to check on them, knowing that humans could get damaged if they were to breathe in water. Luckily, as he checked on them, the human began to cough on their own, gasping for air and spitting out water, their limbs shaking.

They were alive! But as soon as they’d coughed out all the water, they briefly looked at him and then… they passed out again on the sand.

The Dragon King took that opportunity to dive back into the water, hydrating his skin and going back to watching them from a distance; they seemed to be simply asleep, and he took a sigh of relief. Still… that was his chance, he could’ve done something to make his presence known, to perhaps finally let the diver understand that someone was keeping an eye on them. 

He dove into the depths, searching for something that would’ve definitely let them know someone powerful had helped them, and then he found it, the most beautiful seashell he could find: a Venus comb, with blue and peach streaks, definitely something unusual, which was perfect.

After making sure the diver was still sleeping, he resurfaced and placed the seashell atop their net; he gave one last look at them, and then disappeared again into the water.

---

(y/n) woke up an hour later with a throbbing headache and sand all over their body. Their memory was foggy, all they could remember was suddenly feeling weak as soon as they’d entered the water, struggling to move and then… something scaly and smooth picking them up and dragging them to the shore.

“What the hell was that?” they muttered to themselves, brushing off some sand and looking to the side, noticing their net was safe and sound, half in the water so the creatures they’d caught wouldn’t dry in the sun, and on top of all that… a wonderful Venus comb.

Their eyes widened at the sight of that… Who could’ve left that thing there?

They shakily got back up, taking the shell into their hands, feeling it.

Suddenly, a memory flashed before (y/n), and they saw a blue dragon looking at them. Did it… save them?

That thought stuck with them all the way back home. How could THEY, a mere diver, have caught the attention of such a being?

“I’m home!” (y/n) announced, immediately being hugged by their older sister, (s/n), who was worried sick for her sibling.

“You’re late! I-I thought something had happened- I was about to come look for you I-”

(y/n) chuckled “Relax, sister… the sea is always on my side…” they replied with a small chuckle “I think… literally, today” they added, pulling back from the hug and placing the net on a straw mat before looking back at that seashell.

(s/n) widened her eyes at the sight “I’ve never seen such a large Venus comb…”

“I know! I… I had no idea they could get so big…” (y/n) replied, smiling “I think this was a gift from my savior…”

“Your… savior? So something DID happen!” their sister replied, sounding concerned again “I knew you shouldn’t have gone diving today… you’ve been working so hard- and you still insist on doing that almost every day too”

(y/n) looked to the side, really not wanting to tell their sister they’d nearly drowned, they shook their head “That doesn’t matter- I can’t just… Stop doing that, it’s my job…” the diver replied, looking back to their sister, then back at the seashell “I think… it was a dragon…”

(s/n) sighed deeply, knowing her sibling would never listen to her concerns, but soon her interest was caught again when (y/n) mentioned what they thought had saved them “A… dragon you say? But… there’s no other water dragons aside from… Ao Guang- but he tried to destroy us hundreds of years ago, why would he save a human now?”

(y/n) flinched, they knew the legend of Ao Guang very well: he tried to drown the world, envious of the people who could walk on land, but his plans were foiled by Sun Wukong, who defeated him before being trapped in a mountain for being too irresponsible with the powers bestowed to him.

“Well… I don’t know if it could truly be him- but… isn’t it good if it was? That means maybe he doesn’t wish to kill humankind anymore!” (y/n) suggested, wanting to stay positive “He even gifted this to me… so perhaps he’s truly changed…”

(s/n) nodded slowly, she did agree with her sibling, but it seemed a bit too risky to just let that happen without doing anything about it “Ao Guang is still a dangerous being, to leave his kindness unpaid could be dangerous… we should prepare an offering for him”

(y/n) couldn’t agree more, it was still best to be cautious with beings of such power, but what to bring him then? “I don’t think he’d enjoy fruits… and he definitely has enough fish in his territory that he can feed off of… we don’t own any cattle-” they began listing, unable to come up with anything that could even remotely pay back the Dragon King’s favor.

Their sister was thinking intensely about it as well, until she had an idea “You could bake something for him!”

“B-bake?” the diver asked. 

(s/n) smiled “Of course! You’re nearly as talented with baking as you are with fishing, if any pastry can satisfy a divine being that would be yours!” she cheerfully said. “You could make him some Tang Yuan, or some Dou Sha Bao! I’m sure he’d love them”

(y/n) looked a bit to the side, embarrassed by their sister’s kind compliments “But… those are all such simple things, would a dragon really be satisfied with them?”

“Well… it’s still better than nothing, or than something he’s seen time and time again-”

“Right- right… well, I’d better get baking then” the diver replied, chuckling a bit; they had to get everything ready.

---

The following day, (y/n) got back to the beach, but not to fish this time, rather, to carry a large offering of red bean paste buns to the Dragon King. They felt a bit nervous, wondering if he’d even accept that as thanks, but they hoped for the best.

They knelt down on the sand, placing a bamboo boat, containing a decent amount of Bao buns, on it.

(y/n) took a deep breath, and then spoke up.

“Great Ao Guang… I humbly offer you this food, as thanks for saving my life… I know this will never be enough to repay your gesture, but please accept it”

The Dragon King was shocked to see the human come back like that, carrying food offerings. He’d been waiting for them, and had swam closer as soon as he heard them call his name. That was a great surprise, and it nearly made him feel prideful that humans still knew of him, even after being gone from their sight for so long.

He looked at the diver, then back at the offering. Whatever those things were, they looked delicious, he just had to wait for them to leave, so he could try some.

But it was really difficult to hold back, not just because he’d been craving something other than fish… but because he wanted to finally show himself to the human being.

After some moments of hesitation, he finally decided to bite the bullet and emerge, only by a smidge, so that only his horns and part of his snout were visible, because one: he wanted to look mysterious, and two: he was afraid his skin would dry out if he stayed out there for too long.

Still, that was enough to make (y/n) gasp in shock, and kneel down in respect “Great Ao Guang… so it truly was you who saved me yesterday…” they muttered, unsure if they were even allowed to speak.

In the meantime, Ao Guang was having the time of his life, being revered by the human he’d been interested in for so long was feeding his starving ego, and he had to hold back from saying anything, not wanting to ruin a moment that most definitely felt mythical to the human.

“If- if I may be so… bold to ask… why me? There’s… so many people who die at sea, some leagues more important than me, but you chose to save me… why?” (y/n) asked, wanting answers above everything.

The Dragon King wasn’t expecting a question so soon, especially not something that would’ve laid his motives bare like that, but alas… he had to answer, if anything because he wanted to get closer to them.

“You… come to these shores seeking food for your family most days, and then you sit on the sand and sing, cleaning mussels and other shelled creatures. That singing… it pleases me, that is why I saved you” he replied, keeping his tone serious and cool, although inside he was blushing madly from embarrassment, he couldn’t believe he’d just openly admitted he enjoyed the human’s singing.

(y/n) was surprised that he’d saved them for something so… silly, frankly, but then they remembered, the dragon was selfish, and driven by desire, so him caring for (y/n) simply because of their singing made sense. “So… you saved me because I’m… entertaining?”

“Life is boring, when you’re thousands of years old and have nobody to talk to-” he bluntly replied, before realizing how honest and non-mysterious his words sounded, which prompted him to cover his mouth with his hands, in a rather comical way.

The diver widened their eyes, holding back a small giggle, trying to remind themselves they were in front of a powerful dragon and not just some… lonely fish. “Well… if my singing brightens your days so… I’ll keep coming here, Great Ao Guang” they smiled.

The Dragon King felt his heart flutter at those words, but he tried regaining a calm attitude, wanting the human to take him very seriously. “Very well… you’re free to leave now- so that I can… enjoy my offers in peace” he said, accidentally sounding more eager than perhaps necessary. He just hadn’t had anything but fish for the past centuries since his defeat, he was DYING for some novelty.

(y/n) flinched “Oh! Yes, of course… I hope my baking makes you as happy as my singing-” they muttered, turning around to leave the beach. As soon as they’d taken some steps away, they heard the sound of water splashing around, followed by silly, happy giggles.

As it turned out, the King had not, in fact, been able to hold back for long enough, and had started eating his offerings without waiting for (y/n) to leave completely.

That prompted the diver to look back, finding the ‘Great Ao Guang’ floating atop the water like a sea otter, while keeping the boat full of buns on his chest and savoring them with the happiest smile on his face.

At that sight, (y/n) chuckled, they couldn’t help it, he was just too cute not to.

However, the moment the Dragon King noticed them looking, he grew embarrassed. “Uh… you were not supposed to turn around…” he quietly muttered, his cheeks going purple, ashamed of himself for not being able to wait longer, now fearing that the human would’ve thought of him as ridiculous.

But (y/n) wasn’t thinking that at all “S-sorry, sorry… I just… well- I was worried my offering wouldn’t be enough, so- seeing you enjoy it so much is making me really happy… Great Ao Guang…” they replied, smiling.

The King was surprised… the human thought those delicacies wouldn’t be enough? Well, actually they were right… or at least they would’ve been, a couple hundred years ago, when he was still respected as the King of the eastern sea, a simple offer of sweets would’ve been laughable, but now? After he’d lost everything because of that cursed Monkey King? Not at all- that, in fact, was the best thing anyone had done for him in a while, and he didn’t even need to instill absolute fear in their soul to get them to do that?!

“You underestimate yourself… human” he spoke, recomposing himself, as if he hadn’t just been caught lounging in such an unflattering manner. “These are undoubtedly… worthy offerings for a king such as I~” he smirked.

(y/n)’s eyes lit up with joy “T-they are? Oh- oh w-wow… That means the world to me! I’m so flattered!” they replied, a big grin on their face as they tried to stop the blushing on their cheeks; it wasn’t everyday that they’d get complimented by a dragon after all. Then… an idea suddenly came to them; they could take advantage of this… to help their village “I-I could bring more… if you wish”

“You could?!” Ao Guang blurted out, immediately clearing his throat as he noticed how desperate that had come out. “I mean… that would be… uh…” he stammered, struggling to find the right words to convey that he would’ve loved that, without losing his dignity, but nothing came to mind, so he just floated there, awkwardly.

(y/n) couldn’t help but chuckle again “Yeah, I could! There’s just… a small problem-” they began, their tone getting a bit meeker.

“And what would the problem be?” the King asked. Whatever it was, he was certainly capable of doing something about it- honestly, he would’ve done anything to get more attention from the human he’d been looking at for so long.

“Well… droughts have been more frequent as of late… and we don’t have many resources to begin with, our rice fields are especially struggling” the diver explained. “But… I know from the legends that you, Great Ao Guang, used to be able to control the weather- if you gave us rain to water our crops… I’d have enough to make these and many other dishes for you-” 

The Dragon King listened. The human was asking him to do the thing that he’d always dreaded to do… control the weather to make humans happy. But… this time he could also gain from it; he’d gain the human’s trust, he’d FINALLY get to eat something that wasn’t fish, and maybe… something more.

“Ah, so I see you’ve heard of my legends… I am indeed capable of controlling the weather, and if you keep bringing me gifts and singing for me, I’ll bring you and your village rain whenever you’re in need, sounds good, little human?” he asked with a little smirk.

(y/n) couldn’t believe it… their plan had worked flawlessly! Maybe… a bit too much, was there a trick? Would the dragon expect something more every time? Had they just doomed themselves? It didn’t feel like that… but all they could do for now was bow “I thank you from the depths of my soul, Great Ao Guang”

The King’s smirk turned into a sheepish smile as he felt butterflies in his stomach, the feeling of that human revering him felt… beyond good; it took him on a full power trip, he felt like his old glory days would soon be coming back! And sure, he’d lost all his subjects, but this human’s attentions would definitely make up for it.

“What is your name… human?” he asked in a deeper, more confident tone.

“(y-y/n)…” the diver replied, and the dragon looked pleased.

“Very well, (y/n), expect some nice rain tomorrow~”

---

And rain it did. The following day, and then from then onwards at least once or twice a week. It was gentle rain, never windy, so that (y/n) could still come to the shore and look for mollusks, and clean them on the beach, singing. During the sunny days, Ao Guang would watch them from afar, but whenever it rained, he’d be able to come out of the water and enjoy (y/n)’s singing from closer, without having to worry about his skin getting dry.

Meanwhile, in the village, the crops flourished and produced more than they ever did, which meant the diver now also had enough variety of provisions to cook so many different meals for the King, the offerings never felt repetitive, and he always ate everything with great happiness, he was really living the life! And only at the price of some rain at that.

Still… the King had yet to find the courage to ask his human for more; the singing and offerings greatly appeased him, and their occasional chats were simply delightful, but something was still missing: touch. He craved it so deeply now… he wanted to hold (y/n), nuzzle up to them, he wanted to feel their hands on his skin, but there was no way he’d just crawl to them asking for affection, that was way too desperate, and as much as he would’ve loved to just use his position of power to order them to cuddle up, that didn’t feel right either.

He’d waited for the perfect chance: a rainy day, where he could stay out of the water without worrying about his skin. He’d looked at (y/n) as they gathered different kinds of shelled mollusks, something they’d certainly sell at the market, a little quaint human invention made to trade products between people, as the diver themselves had explained to him.

Then, once they were done, he followed them to the shore, sitting on the sand, using his long, scaly tail as a sort of pillow to recline against. His heart was pounding more than usual.

(y/n) sat down as well, beside Ao Guang, and began their usual routine of singing while cleaning up their catch on the beach, so that it’d look perfect and spotless when they sold it. But as of late… their routine position had gradually changed: at first they’d sit several feet away from the dragon, feeling like they’d be disrespecting him if they sat too close, but little by little, they’d began closing the gap, sitting closer and closer every day, until they were sitting within the King’s grasp.

Ao Guang smirked, noticing they’d sat close to him that day too; that was exactly what he was waiting for… he gently reached out with his hand and began to stroke their hair. “Hm… you’ve been sitting quite close by as of late, (y/n)...” he pointed out.

The diver blushed madly, not expecting to feel the King’s hand run through their hair so smoothly “I-I’m so sorry!” they quickly replied, lowering their head. 

He chuckled softly “No need for apologies… I never said I minded it… if anything, I can listen to your singing even better from here…” the Dragon King whispered, his breath feeling surprisingly warm on (y/n)’s neck.

(y/n) flinched, their blushing situation not getting any better when they could feel him so close “I-I… well- I’m glad you enjoy it so much…” they muttered, feeling too flustered to think of anything else.

The dragon smiled “Still, I can’t help but wonder… if you’ve been getting closer on purpose…” he continued, wanting to test the waters.

The diver looked at him in total disbelief, they could tell he was trying to tell them something. In truth, there WAS a reason why they’d found themselves drawn closer and closer to Ao Guang… after all those months of meeting every day, offering things to him, watching him eat with such a happy and giddy expression- their feelings towards the dragon had begun to morph into something they didn’t dare to speak of with anyone. (y/n) cared about him, deeply so, and they struggled to accept that; he wasn’t even human, for crying out loud! Why did he make them feel like that?!

They blushed, unable to come up with an excuse “I simply… enjoy sitting here… next to you…” (y/n) muttered, slowly leaning into the King’s touch.

That motion sent a shiver up Ao Guang’s spine, and he really had to hold himself back from pulling (y/n) into a hug right as he felt their head rub against his palm. 

“What a coincidence then… that I like this too…” he replied, trying to act cool.

(y/n) felt their whole body get warmer at those words, and slowly found the confidence to do something they’d never done before: they stopped cleaning their catch and turned to face the Dragon King, looking straight into his deep, red eyes. And then, (y/n) slowly placed their hand on his, running their fingers on his scales.

Ao Guang felt his cheeks warm up; (y/n)’s touch was so amazingly soft, up until that point, he never realized just HOW affection-starved he was, to the point where feeling that slight touch after centuries of solitude had his heart melt instantly, and he gently began to pull them closer and closer, until (y/n) found themselves leaning against Ao Guang’s body, which felt surprisingly squishy, though they should have figured, given how he was a water dragon.

“A-Ao Guang…?” the diver muttered, a slight gasp escaping their lips as the dragon wrapped his arms around them, the long sleeves of his robes covering (y/n)’s back like a little blanket.

He smiled down at them, “What’s wrong…? Is a King’s embrace so shocking you can’t even get your words out~?” he asked, the smile slowly turning into a little grin.

That smugness however, had sort of the opposite effect on (y/n), instead of further flustering them, they couldn’t help but chuckle “W-well… perhaps” (y/n) replied and gently booped his nose, which was just within reach now.

The Dragon King let out a small yelp, not expecting to get poked like that, but, not wanting to lose the ‘upper hand’, he poked right back, which only got (y/n) to giggle more.

“C-cease your chuckling!” he pouted, feeling like things weren’t really going his way.

“What? Don’t tell me you expected me to never tease back-” (y/n) giggled, looking back up at Ao Guang and finding him blushing purple; it seemed like they’d nearly forgotten the dragon before them was a King, and soon they  relaxed a bit, wrapping their arms around the dragon’s body, nuzzling up to his neck, which was covered in soft, teal fur.

For the second time in his secular life, the Dragon King felt himself tensing up and shivering, but this time, for a completely different reason. That closeness was simply driving him crazy- so much so that he ignored (y/n)’s little remark and let them cuddle up to him.

After a couple of minutes in comfortable silence, (y/n) spoke up again, still not completely certain that what was happening really meant what they thought it did “A-Ao Guang?” they whispered “Have you… wanted this for long?”

The Dragon King somewhat tensed up at that question, not wanting to admit just HOW long he’d been interested in (y/n), still, he couldn’t just stay silent- so he decided to repurpose their question “Hm… I don’t knowww, some time… but what about you?”

“I-” (y/n) blushed slightly, partially hiding their face into the King’s neck fluff “I-I admit… it was a few months into our agreement-”

The King couldn’t help but chuckle, trying to play it off outwardly, while inwardly he… honestly felt relieved his feelings seemed to be reciprocated.

“Ah, but of course, nobody can resist my kingly charms~”

(y/n)’s blush deepened at that silly statement “I-I really couldn’t-” they muttered, running a hand on his chest.

Ao Guang felt another shiver go up his spine and he smiled bashfully, really unable to stop enjoying (y/n)’s touch so much, and he tightened his grip on them, pulling them up; he was feeling more and more confident about this.

(y/n) felt so happy as well, it was absolutely crazy, not only that the Dragon King reciprocated their feelings, but that he did so with absolutely no hesitation. They rubbed their face against his neck and eventually found the courage to place a small, soft kiss on it.

The feeling of (y/n)’s lips against his neck got the king to let out a small squeak and flinch, the warmth from that kiss spreading all across his body as he felt compelled to kiss back- and he did, starting from the human’s neck, and slowly making his way to their beautiful face, closing his eyes while (y/n) clinged to him, pressing their body against him more, kissing back and caressing his fur.

The two slowly began to lose themselves in their feelings, and things could’ve gone on for longer, but suddenly, Ao Guang noticed his snout was starting to itch, and when he opened his eyes he noticed it had stopped raining! 

With a slight gasp, he reluctantly broke the hug and got back up, causing (y/n) to slide off him, looking more confused than ever as the Dragon King hurried back into the water.

Did (y/n) do something wrong? Were things getting too heated? No… that wasn’t it-

It was then that they noticed the King’s skin was looking awfully dry, and they walked into the gentle waves, looking concerned as the dragon frantically splashed water on himself.

“Ao Guang… are you… okay?” (y/n) asked softly, stepping into the water to check on him.

“YES! Yes… everything’s… gorgeous-” he muttered, still looking unnerved.

The diver gently took his scaly hands, looking serious “I saw… your skin… is-is that why you never come out of the water when it’s sunny?” they asked.

The Dragon King looked to the side, feeling beyond embarrassed that now (y/n) knew about his darkest secret. “I know- I know it looks freaky…” he said, averting his eyes.

But (y/n) shook their head “It’s- it’s not freaky! I mean you- you didn’t choose to be born with such sensitive skin it’s… it’s okay! I still love you-”

The sea dragon could hardly believe that they were actually fine with it… for centuries people had made fun of him for his frail skin, and now finally… someone actually wasn’t judging him for it! But then the human uttered something else that caught his attention way more “Wait you- you… love me?”

(y/n) felt their cheeks heating up, they didn’t mean to say that… not yet at least, but seeing Ao Guang look so distressed had just made it impossible for them to hold back! “I-... Y-yes, I do…”

The King looked at them in surprise, his cheeks quickly going purple “D-do you… actually mean it? I mean of COURSE you love me! … y-you do, right?” he said, going back and forth between disbelief and trying to act cocky like he normally did.

“Yes, I really d-do…” (y/n) reassured him, going to hug him again.

Ao Guang chuckled bashfully, picking his precious human up and cuddling them “Well since that’s the case… I do believe I reciprocate those feelings… quite strongly” he said, looking a bit to the side. He couldn’t believe things had gone so smoothly… but he had to expect it, nobody could resist his charm!

Or at least, that’s what he wanted to think… but in truth, he felt extremely grateful for (y/n)… without them, his life would certainly be much duller. Sure, he was no undisputed ruler… but he was finally loved, and for now, that was enough.

The End

[greatshell-rider]

!!!!! FUCK YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!