#but considering i'm usually lucky if i get even 10

[knifegremliin]

80 NOTES ON MISS PAINTI???

[loguetowns]

sweet dreams

roronoa zoro x reader

kiss me through the phone

1.2k words

a/n: this was inspired by this haikyuu fanfic (pls read if ur a sakusa enjoyer, i promise you it's worth the read!!). anyways, i feel like zoro is always the one i write for as my first fic back from a hiatus hehe

sleep usually comes to zoro quite easily, greeting him like an old friend. tonight, however, it evades him like he’s offended it. he’s restless, tossing and turning, back and forth, until he finally gives up.

he looks at the clock.

it’s been 2 minutes.

ugh, fuck it.

he sits at the edge of the bed, reaching for the snail sitting on his bedside table. the receiver rests between his ear and his shoulder as he dials, leg bouncing up and down as he waits for the voice he’s so desperate to hear.

purururururu-

“hello?"

your voice is a little fuzzy through the phone, and zoro presses the receiver even closer to his ear.

“hi.”

for a second, there's only silence and zoro frowns. nami did warn him that there was a storm hitting the island. it’s also really late.

maybe it wasn't such a good idea to call-

and then your laughter comes through, finding him like a ray of sun peeking through dark clouds.

“zoro, what even- i have so many questions!”

at the sound of your voice, he can feel a wave of comfort wash over him. he sinks into his bed and, instinctively, he smiles.

“oh yeah?”

“yeah!” you giggle. "where did you get a den den mushi? why are you calling? shouldn’t you be asleep?”

before he can answer, you gasp. “wait,” your voice drops to a whisper. “did you… did you steal a phone?”

you sound so horrified and zoro laughs — earnestly, truly, and oh-so easily. somehow, happiness is so effortless with you.

“zoro!” you chastise him, scandalized at his laughter. “tell me you didn’t!”

he nestles into his pillows. with you in his ear, it almost feels like you're right next to him.

“i'm a pirate, not a thief.” he huffs. “nami was hoarding a couple in her room and with a little - ahem - negotiating, she let me use one.”

“oh boy,” zoro can hear you shuffle in bed. “i hope you didn't trade the rest of your life savings just for a snail.”

“life savings? you mean the 10 berries i hold to my name?”

“uh, have you seen your bounty? you hold a lot more than 10 berries to your name.”

“you keeping tabs on me?“

"of course i am," you say it so matter-of-factly that zoro can't help but grin. he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror — god, he looks as lovesick as the stupid cook.

but he doesn't hate it.

“i know it's late but don't act like you weren't still up. i know you don't sleep.”

“maybe i can't sleep because i don't have my white noise machine here with me.”

he scoffs, “is that what i am to you? just white noise while i sleep?”

“please.” zoro smiles; he can practically hear you roll your eyes. “you're lucky you can't hear yourself snore. and you should consider it a compliment! it means it's useful to have you in bed.”

“just useful, huh? i feel like mind-blowing might be a better way to describe my performance in bed.”

you click your tongue and zoro laughs. it's truly amazing how you can still make him feel so weightless from across the seas.

“always so cocky,” you tsk. “is that a job requirement when you sign up to be a pirate or something?”

“if it was, chopper and usopp would've never made the cut.”

“don't pick on them!” zoro hears a soft thud! as you fall back against your pillows. “gosh, it feels like forever since i've seen them.”

“because it has been. they miss you."

after a beat, he adds, “i miss you.”

“i miss you too.”

for a moment, neither of you speak. all he hears is the patter of rain in the background and when he closes his eyes, he can imagine you cozy in bed with a window open. you always love the sound of rain at night.

“i'm excited to see you all tomorrow,” you say quietly.

“yeah, but me the most, right?”

“of course.”

he sighs, looking out the window at the night sky, moonlit and cloudless. he wishes that it was rain instead — because that would mean he’s not so far away.

“i wish i could see you right now.”

you laugh and zoro can picture the way your eyes crinkle when you do, “i think you can wait a few hours.”

“actually,” he says. “accounting for the storm, it'll take us another 16 hours. but who's counting?”

“definitely not you.”

“definitely not.”

“you're just always impatient.”

“correct.”

“patience is a virtue, you know.”

“i'm not virtuous.”

“no, you're ridiculous.” the affection in your voice makes zoro's heart ache. there’s more rustling, and he wishes for nothing more than to be under the covers with you.

tomorrow can’t come fast enough.

“go to sleep.” it's like you can read his mind. “i promise time will pass by a lot faster if you do.”

zoro stares at the moon, wondering if it knows that it'll never come close to outshining you.

“tell me a story first.”

“what?”

“tell me a bedtime story.”

“now?” you sigh. “but it’s so late. my brain cells stop working after business hours.”

“yeah, but i’m a vip client.”

“sorry, we don't do after-hours services.”

“if you do, i promise to give you a present tomorrow.” he reaches over to grab the aforementioned gift from his bedside, as if you’d be able to see it through the phone.

“a present?” curiosity colours your pretty voice. “wait, it better not be something lame, like a... kiss or a hug.”

“i dare you to call my kisses lame to my face.”

“or what, big boy?” you tease.

“oh, you don’t wanna know,” he warns. “i am a pirate after all.”

“ooh, so scary. i better do what the scary pirate says.”

and with that, zoro smiles to himself. he opens your present, playing with the contents as he gets comfortable, eyes closing as he waits for you to start.

you're not even halfway through your story before his snores travel through the snail, and you shake your head with endearment. your heart longs for him the way his wants you. you were only half-joking earlier; it really is that much harder for you to sleep without him.

there is nothing more comforting than the sound of zoro’s gentle slumber, the feel of his breath against your skin as he snuggles close, chest against your back, an arm snaked around your waist.

a sigh echoes in your lonely room. you should really take your own advice; tomorrow will come faster if you sleep.

you choose not to hang up. instead, you place the receiver next to your pillow and you pull up the covers, ready to join zoro in dreamland.

“good night,” you whisper to the rain, the moon, and your lover.

“i can’t wait to be with you.”

and from across the ocean, zoro sleeps soundly with starlight illuminating his room, catching the edges of a ring falling out of his hand — one with glittering diamonds, that he's spent days picking out, that he'll offer on one knee as he confesses,

i can’t wait to be with you,

for the rest of our lives.

[sugarandspisces-writes]

Dating Melissa Schemmenti Pt. I

Pairing: Melissa Schemmenti x reader

Summary: Just a few sweet scenarios outlining what it would be like to date Melissa.

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: Hello! This is my first time writing for Melissa. Hopefully you enjoy. Let me know if you'd like a part 2!

Early Mornings

For Melissa, teaching at a school came with the joy of waking up bright and early. Some days she even had to be awake before the sun came up. How she dreaded those days. While she enjoyed the days she was able to sleep in, she had become accustomed to being an early riser, so it didn’t bother her too much.

You, on the other hand, were not an early bird. No one could pay you to be up and out before 10 AM. Well, someone could pay you, but the price had to be right. You only woke up early if you absolutely had to, or if it was beneficial for your well-being.

So, when Melissa's alarm goes off at 6 o’clock sharp every morning, Monday through Friday, you do not appreciate it. At all. As a result, you always tried to keep her in bed for as long as you possibly could.

Your mornings usually went a little something like this: 

She’d wake up and press little kisses to the back of your neck while wrapping her arms tight around your waist. This was her signal to you that she wasn’t fully awake, but she was getting there. Due to this, you knew you had at least a few more minutes left with her. Once her second alarm went off, or her third depending on the day, she’d attempt to untangle her limbs from yours. This would lead you to let out a groan of disapproval. You would muster the energy to hold onto her tighter, in hopes that she’d stay in bed just a little bit longer. “Mmm,” she’d hum at the feeling. “I gotta get up, hon.” She would say in her raspy morning voice. “I know, but you’re so warm.” You’d whine as you tried to nuzzle further into her. “I'm sorry,” she’d say before placing a couple of kisses on your cheek. “Can’t be late.”  She would give you one last squeeze which was followed by her getting out of bed.

You’d lay in bed for a few more minutes while listening to her move around the room as she got ready for the day. Eventually, you would get up by the time she made her way to the kitchen. You’d complete your morning routine while she made her coffee and you usually made it to the kitchen in time before she left. She’d greet you with a hug and a kiss and if you were lucky, you’d be able to sneak a couple sips of her coffee before she noticed (by the way, she definitely noticed, but she never said anything). You always gave each other another hug, a couple kisses, and an exchange of sweet words to get each other through the day before parting ways. Your little ritual always left you feeling overwhelmed with love — in the best way possible, of course. You’d wake up early for her any day of the week. She always made it worth your while.

Lots of Affection

When you first met Melissa, you didn’t suspect that she would be as affectionate as she was. Due to her tough exterior, she often came across as standoffish and impersonal to those who didn’t know her. However, if you took the time to get to know her, you’d see that she was pleasant to be around. She didn’t confide in just anyone, and you had to prove yourself if you wanted to gain her trust. If she trusted you, you were special. You considered yourself extra special because she trusted you enough to let you see her soft side. At first, you were only allowed to catch little glimpses into the sweeter side of her. You knew she wouldn’t shed the hard exterior all at once, but she could only hold out on you for so long. Absolutely nothing compared to her affection, and she surpassed every expectation that you had for her.

In the beginning, she only seemed comfortable with light touches. She would brush her hand against yours whenever you handed something to her, or she’d give you a pat on the back and let her hand rest there for a moment before retreating. To her, there was something special about the intimacy of feeling the weight of a lingering touch, even after it went away. Most of the time, she would catch you off-guard with these gestures. She enjoyed seeing the (not so) subtle ways in which you reacted. It amused her to watch your poor attempts at holding back a smile or pretending you weren’t slightly flustered.

Over time, light touches progressed to more grand gestures like hand-holding, kissing, and cuddling. Holding hands was such a simple form of affection, but you both loved it. She wasn’t a big fan of PDA, but holding hands was an exception. It was a silent way of saying “I’m here” or “I’ve got you”. If she ever got worked up over a situation, you’d reach for her hand because you knew it instantly calmed her. You would intertwine your fingers with hers and it was almost like an automatic reset would occur. She often said she felt like her hands were made to hold yours, and you thought that was the sweetest thing you’d ever heard. 

Cuddling was your personal favorite pastime. There was something truly satisfying about being wrapped up in Melissa’s arms. In your mind, nothing compared to the genuine safety you felt whenever she held you. You were known to snuggle up with her at any given moment, and she would always allow you to seek comfort from her. Initially, Melissa wasn’t too fond of cuddling. Even though she loved physical touch, she always complained that it made her way too hot. That was until she realized how much she enjoyed cuddling with you. She found that her favorite thing to do (especially after a rough day) was to come home and have you curl up in her arms. She loved having you sit with your back to her chest and her chin resting in the curve of your neck, so she could place kisses along your jawline. She would debrief you about the events of her day and no matter how good or bad things had gone, her only focus in those moments was you.

Kissing Melissa was an experience that you could only categorize, for lack of a better term, as magical. She was never hesitant to kiss you, and she didn’t have a preference. It didn’t matter to her if it was a kiss on the lips, your cheek, your neck, your nose, or your entire face. Either way, she was going to give you all the kisses. Your favorite types of kisses were the passionate ones that left you both breathless. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” You’d ask with a nervous laugh as you glanced up at her. You could feel her intense gaze on you from all the way across the room. She’d steadily walk over to you and stand impossibly close. So close that you could feel the warmth from every breath she took. So close that you could see every line on her face and every eyelash on her eyes as she peered into yours. Your breath would catch in your throat as her hand came around to rest on the small of your back to close any gaps between the two of you. She’d lean in and brush her lips against yours, not quite touching them together. Just enough to leave you wanting more. “‘Cause I really wanna kiss you right now.” She’d say against your mouth before her lips widened into a smile. “Then kiss me.” You’d say, smiling back at her. Her pillow-soft lips would come into contact with yours, making your eyelids flutter closed. The kiss would be gentle, yet filled with so much passion that it almost made you want to cry.

Pet Names

Melissa was known for dropping the occasional “hon” in casual conversations. That word was naturally part of her dialect, but she used it a little differently when it came to you. You found that her tone was lighter and the look in her eyes was softer whenever she called you cute names. She knew what you liked to be called, and she always knew what to say, and do, to make you feel special.

“Hey, hon.” She’d say as she greeted you in the evenings after work. She would envelop you in a hug and speak the words softly into your ear.  “Thank you, sweetheart.” Was her reply when you complimented her hair and makeup or her outfit. Your words would leave her with a smile that reached her eyes and in return, she would cup her hand against your cheek and give you a kiss. “What’s the matter, gorgeous?” The question would hang in the air for a few moments as you tried to string an answer together. You’d look up to find her already gazing at you intently with her chin resting in her palms. Green eyes staring back at yours saying every emotion her mouth wasn’t. She’d bring one of her hands down and reach out to grab yours. You’d meet her halfway and once she grasped you, she would glide her thumb across the back of your hand and give you a light squeeze letting you know your feelings were safe with her.

Next Chapter

[sparklingsjy]

enhypen's reaction to you being smaller than them but stronger

note: requested by anon!

contains: fluff :D and you threatening to beat sunghoon up because that's normal LMFAO

heeseung:

when you and hee first started dating he always thought you would be dependent on him

considering how tiny you were, he didn't expect to see you carrying your new tv to the living room all by yourself

"who is that!? y/n?!"

heeseung runs over to you and pokes your side to make sure he isn't hallucinating

"can you move the couch a bit to the left so i can get through?"

heeseung is still surprised by the fact that your 5'2 self can even lift a heavy tv but then again, he learns something new about you every day

as you're setting up the tv on the table, he admires you while sitting on the couch

"i really am lucky to have you y/n . . ."

knowing that you're stronger than him just made him love you even more <3

jay:

we all know jay LOVES going to the gym

you enjoy working out privately but jay invited you to join him as his gym buddy one day

you both did your usual routines and before he started working on his arms, he heard you call his name

"jay! can you come spot me?"

jay cluelessly looks around for you until you turn him around after waiting for 3 minutes

"oh hey!"

"you took too long! come!"

you took him over to your already set up bench press and got ready

"y/n . . is this a joke?"

"no! hurry and spot me! can you make sure it's on 120?"

jay knew you were full of surprises but THIS was on a whole other level

"120? as in one two zero?"

"yess now hurry!"

as surprised as he is, he hurries up and spots you while admiring how your arms work so easily carrying something so heavy

once you were done, he gave you your bottle of water and patted your back

"i guess you really are stronger than me y/n.. shouldn't you be the one protecting me then?"

"in your dreams . . ."

let's say the night ended off with jay asking you a series of questions on how you're so strong and to help him gain muscle LOL

jake:

you and jake love teasing each other and had a thing for piggy back rides

one day you decided to switch it up a bit with him

"jake! since you're always giving me piggy back rides, why don't i give you one?"

"you're so cute y/n! i don't want to crush your tiny body though :("

"this tiny body is very strong though!"

"hmm i'm not sure"

"pleasee!"

jake couldn't handle your whining because he always falls for your puppy eyes

he ends up giving in and his facial expression when you're able to carry him successfully on your back is PRICELESS

"are you a robot or something? how is this even possible?"

"i told you i'm strong!"

"y/n you should be my body guard"

"noo"

"i'm being serious! you're like superman or hulk!"

"are you calling me big??"

"nonono that's not what i meant"

"i can just drop you right here right now"

"Y/N!"

sunghoon:

dear lord someone save me from hoon's arms

anyways sunghoon is always challenging you to an arm wrestle whenever he cans

it's either to show off his biceps or to tease you

HOWEVER

he will not be expecting you to beat him over and over again

"ARE YOU SURE THIS IS YOUR ARM? there's no way you're stronger than me . . . DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LIFT?"

"what you lift is a piece of cake hoonie!"

"who are you and what have you done to my little gremlin?"

"GREMLIN? DO YOU WANT TO GET BEAT UP?"

the day goes on with you teasing hoon for losing and him trying to not let it hurt his pride <3

sunoo:

you and sunoo are so cautious with each other once you got together

he also loved spoiling you with food so it wasn't new of him to ask if you wanted something made by him

"y/n do you want a sandwich? i bought this new peanut butter spread!"

"ooh sure!"

10 minutes passed by and you got curious considering he should've finished the sandwich by now

you walked over to the kitchen to see a sweaty red-faced sunoo and an unopened jar of peanut butter

"sunoo? what's going on?"

"y/n . . . this jar does not want to open AT ALL"

you walked over to him, took the jar, and easily popped it open

"not that hard love~!"

"HUH? HOW IS THAT . . ."

"is my sunoo not capable of opening a jar?"

"i swear that jar was super glued or something . . ."

"noo you're just weak~"

"y/n . . . how do you have room to hide your strength in that small body of yours?!?"

jungwon:

when you and wonnie are on a movie marathon in the living room, he is always picking you up once the movie gets too boring

he usually just brought you two to bed for a cuddle session or deep talks but this time the movie you guys were watching was actually interesting to him

on the other hand, you were bored out of your mind

so . . . why not surprise him?

"wonnie . . sit up straight!"

"hm?"

"please!"

"okayyy y/n~"

once he sat up straight, that's when you took your chance and picked him up

"Y/N!? WHAT AND HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

"i'm bored!"

you take him over to your shared room and plop him on the bed

"there is no way you just picked me up and dropped me in the same night . ."

"the movie was bad!"

"noo not really but . . . how did you carry me? don't i weigh a lot?"

"it's because i started working out more with jay and sunghoon!"

"you're so strong y/n . . . this isn't fair!"

"one day you'll be as strong as me . . . but right now i want to sleep!"

you guys get tucked in bed but jungwon is not able to fall asleep easily since he keeps thinking back on you carrying him

"stop working out with them . . . they're making you stronger than me" he says all pouty

"shh let's sleep"

"fine . . ."

niki:

you and niki love having small wrestling fights on the weekends

you always let him win to boost his ego until his teasing pushes your limits . . .

"you're so tiny y/n you can't even beat me if you tried!"

"yeah? rematch right now!"

"are you sure you'll be able to handle me again~"

"i should be saying that to you . . ."

of course you two ended up rematching and whew niki was shocked

when you overpowered him his ego SHATTERED

"you're cheating!"

"what? how can i cheat in this?"

"you drank something didn't you?!"

"noo i'm just stronger than you niki!"

"have you just been willingly letting me win?"

"would it be bad if i said yes?"

oh he was SAD

not in like a dramatic way but he always loved teasing you for how tiny you were

now that you showed him how strong you are, he's scared to tease you again in case you decide to beat him up LMFAOA

(⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡

ending note: thank you for reading !

[shuttershocky]

i was wondering if you could give some general tips for is3? i have a decently developed account but i still cant manage to even get to the first boss every run, let alone beat it. like most runs in is2 i could at least beat Lucian but here i feel like im hitting a brick wall

I've prepared something special for this ask today.

We will be doing a full breakdown of a squad I've run with restrictions. It's a run I just completed as I'm typing this, so I can go over my thought process on both team building and path taking. I also won a run on my first try with the restrictions in place (in fact my IS3 winrate is actually much higher than my IS2 winrate at this point), so I'm fairly confident my strategies are sound. If the massive text scares you, don't worry. I'll also make a TL;DR version at the bottom.

My Three Restrictions:

Ch'en the Holungday, Gavial the Invincible, Mlynar, Kal'tsit, Texas the Omertosa, Pozyomka, Horn, Ling, Goldenglow, and Yato x Kirin are banned - This is a combination of both CN's usual ban list for IS3 competitions, as well as the latest ban list on Lungmen Dragon's latest IS3 competition for Global. This is to show that I don't need meta ops to win that proper teambuilding is what wins runs

Must be Wave 5 - This means the difficulty is low enough to still be considered "low level IS3", but high enough to have the +1 hope cost, +10 RES, and +15% ATK and DEF on all bosses

CANNOT pick People-Oriented Squad - This means I've got to deal with the big hope costs.

And here is my results screen

Now I know what you're thinking. "What the fuck Shutters, your run got the -2 hope costs for 4 stars, AND for 5 stars, AND the 6 stars! Carried by RNG!" While it is fucking hilarious I got all three Hope cost reduction relics when I was trying to starve myself of hope, be assured I didn't get 6 stars - 2 Hope until late Floor 4 where it was hardly relevant. i'd actually rather have gotten combat relics since I still had Hope leftover by the ending.

Let's get into teambuilding and decision-making.

I started this run with 8 Hope (got the pre-run bonus for +2 starting Hope), which let me recruit one 6 star at the very start (I always go with As You Wish so I can get a 4 star for free). In this case, the random shuffle I got was a 4 star Defender voucher, a Vanguard voucher, and a supporter voucher. My starting squad was Gummy, Ines, and Orchid.

In both IS2 and IS3, a usual strategy is to have one core 6 star operator carry you through the early game until you grab more vouchers. Ines is an incredible starting core in this difficulty, since she sees through Invis, is a fast redeploy, is a vanguard, can block enemies, and has enough damage in S2 to get you through Symbiosis in the worst case scenario. I'm actually surprised she isn't considered ban-worthy.

Your biggest threats in the first two floors are Symbiosis, Sniper Squad (if emergency), and Malady. Always, ALWAYS try to have one operator capable of blocking enemies on the ground. If you get all ranged vouchers, bring someone with a summon such as Beeswax if Caster (or Amiya then change to Guard Amiya), an Artificer for Supporters, or Totter (to kill invis) or Rosmontis for Snipers. If you get Emergency Sniper Squad and have no way of blocking or killing invisible units, you autolose. Malady wants you to have either two melee blockers, or one melee with a medic and some ranged damage. Symbiosis is the biggest threat — One unit has to be able to block, and you need strong DPS to cut through the horde. There's no shame in losing to Symbiosis, you either got the operators you need, or you autolose, so I always make a starting team assuming I'm gonna get Symbiosis.

I got lucky with a medic voucher and got Pith (who is so damn good), and on my next defender voucher I got Spot instead of upgrading Gummy. This is because I wanted to get two sources of melee block-3 ASAP since I was lacking in AOE, and Spot is one of the best 3 stars in IS thanks to being Block-3, tanky, having a heal, and evasion. He's worth the 1 hope.

Once you get ground units and a heal, hopefully by Floor 2, you want to start preparing for Floors 3-5. In this case, I got a Sniper voucher and immediately got Kroos the Keen Glint. I consider Kroos the strongest Sniper in IS3 just behind Pozy herself, because she has two traits any IS3 team needs: a source of stun/bind/freeze, and strong anti-air. The Stun/Bind/Freeze counters two gimmick enemies, UFOs (I forgot their real names but you know which ones) and the hated Nethersea Predators from Stulifera Navis. Both enemy types get countered by crowd control.

So by early Floor 3, I had Ines (promoted), Kroos the Keen Glint, Pith (promoted), Spot, and Gummy. At that point I had pretty much everything I needed to make a run to Floor 5 (to reiterate: one fast redeploy, several ground operators, good anti-air, at least one source of stun that can also hit air units), so I began grabbing operators that synergized with my collectibles. Hand of Pulverization meant Rosmontis, uh, pulverized everything, Gnosis was a second source of crowd control in case I got unlucky with Kroos' stun crit RNG (protip: In IS, getting two different kinds of operators who have overlapping roles will carry you deeper into runs since it gives you leeway to make mistakes), and I got Firewatch for that mix of AOE burst damage, invis if need be, and for her incredibly high damage against ranged enemies.

I got two cursed relics on the way. - light per battle, and all operators start with -15 SP. I always try to pick a path with Fortuitous Opportunity since you can trade cursed relics for good ones. Luckily, I had two such nodes, one in Floor 3 and one in Floor 4.

If operators get cursed (which can indeed be instant losses if it's a bad curse very early on and on your core operator), I go for the node that lets you send units out for supplies, it removes curses and promotes operators. At Wave 5 or below you always start with 100 Light, so it's possible to avoid instant loss curses by playing well in Floors 1-2 and not losing any lives (so even if you roll a 1 you don't get cursed)

While you can start freestyling team building once you have your important roles all assembled, I personally like grabbing counters to Floor 4/5 stages that have the biggest chances of ending my run. For this run in particular, these are

Lin, for Out of Control - This stage is one of the most terrifying no matter how experienced in IS3 you are, simply from the sheer amount of Possessed and Bonethrowers coming at you. Lin hard counters this, since with her module active, Bonethrowers cannot break her shield, giving you a tank that doesn't need medics.

Franka for Ubi Bona Somnia - Those spear-zombies from originium dust have 2000 DEF and 80 RES (90 at Wave 5), Franka is there to kill the one that spawns in this stage specifically.

Pompeii (Territorial Tendencies) - I didn't need to grab a counter for in case I met Pompeii since I already had Firewatch and a hand-powered Rosmontis, but if I didn't, it's always a good idea to grab an anti-Pompeii unit like Jaye.

Then once I got to Highmore it was a simple matter of knocking down Highmore with Gnosis' freeze, pulverizing Phase 1 with Rosmontis S3, knocking down Highmore again with Gnosis, then killing Phase 2 with Ines. If you're aiming for Last Knight or Ishar-mla, your team needs will be different of course!

So! I hope that helped you understand how to think about approaching an IS3 run, but in case none of that made any sense and I wasted 3 hours writing this, here's a TL;DR

What do I generally need?

Floor 1

Ground units because you need to block

DPS to counter Symbiosis specifically

Heals

Floors 2-3

Strong Anti-air (IS3 has a lot of flying enemies)

One fast redeploy like Agent Vanguards or Executor Specialists (effective in a vast majority of stages in IS3)

At least one source of Stun/Bind/Freeze that can hit aerial units (to deal with UFOs and Highmore that need to be knocked down, Nethersea Predators so they stop fucking dodging)

You may realize that Texas the Omertosa has all 3 of these qualities. This is why she's considered an automatic ban in all IS3 tournaments

Floors 4-5

Specific counters to the stages that kick your ass the most

Specific boss counters if necessary

Specific operator combos with your collectibles (for example Cutter + Any spinach type collectible)

[enhashoutout]

Home to Me (Cobra x reader)

part 2 of Home to You please read the first part before reading this one

Genre: It's just fluff, domestic relationship

Warnings: sex is mentioned, typical H&L violence, other than that I don't think there is anything but let me know if I missed anything

I usually write with fem pronouns and descriptions because that is what is easiest for me. If those do not fit you, please feel free to change whatever needs to be changed to fit you while you read!

Italics are a character's thoughts

The one where Cobra is waiting for you at home and reflects on how he's happy you come home to him (takes place after the 3 movies)

In my dreams I come home to you and you come home to me, and for a split second every hardship I ever endured has meaning.

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Cobra sat on the couch, impatiently looking at the clock on the wall.

10:30. She should be back any minute now.

He continued to wait on the couch. He was tired but didn't want to go to sleep not knowing whether or not you were home. Cobra also liked being the one to greet you after a long day considering you were home after him 8 times out of 10. He couldn't understand how you were so patient waiting for him to come back when he was out on S.W.O.R.D business those very few 2 out of 10 times.

Cobra looked at the clock again.

10:35. It's only been 5 minutes?! It feels like I've been sitting here forever!

Cobra checked his phone to see if you had messaged him about coming home later, but the last text was still the one from earlier saying that you would be home by 10:30.

Just as Cobra was thinking about finding something to distract him, he heard the front door unlock. Cobra got up and quickly went to the door, opening it for you before you could even grab the doorknob.

"Hi babe! Sorry I'm a little late, I had to grab some things," you said as you were putting your bags on the kitchen table.

Cobra hugged you from behind. "As long you're home that's all that matters to me. I was beginning to worry, you usually come home right on time. What's all this?" He asked as he looked at the bags you had previously set down on the kitchen table.

"Well, I had an early shift at the hospital today and couldn't come home until late so I couldn't do anything for your birthday today. I bought stuff on the way home to make you breakfast and lunch tomorrow before I leave for my late shift tomorrow as a belated birthday present."

"You didn't have to ___. Having you is enough."

"You always say that! So corny."

"I'm being serious. The best gift is you, being here with me."

"That reminds me! Sit down please." ___ got out of Cobra's arms, gently pushed him to sit down in a chair, ran to the cupboard to grab the lighter, and pulled a box out of one of the bags setting it in front of Cobra. ___ sat down and opened the box, revealing a pink cupcake with a single candle put into the middle.

"It's 10:45. You have 15 minutes left, make a wish."

"I have no wishes, my dream already came true."

"As sweet as that is, I'm begging you to stop being corny and make a wish before the day is over."

"I'm being serious."

"In that case, make a new wish, and then you can tell me all about the wish that already came true. Promise I won't interrupt you."

"Okay." Cobra closed his eyes and made his wish.

I'm so lucky to have you. I thank whatever higher beings are out there that granted my wish the very first time we did this. I couldn't ask for anything more than what I have already been given because you are my everything. If I had to absolutely wish for something new, it is that this love lasts until the end of our days together.

He opened his eyes and blew out the candle. "I'm done."

"10:50. 10 minutes to spare. Are you sure you don't want to squeeze in a few more wishes while you have time?"

"No, I think that was good."

"If you say so. I will cook for you tomorrow and since I didn't get to spend your birthday with you today, I will spend all morning and afternoon with you tomorrow. We can do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want? Anything?"

"Anything."

"So what if we-"

"Scratch that I take that back. Anything but have sex all day. I work at a hospital I can't go to work with wobbly legs. I do have to be able to walk for my job."

"How about you call out for the entire day so you can just stay with me?"

"I had to negotiate a lot to even get half the day off. I would love to but I can't."

"That's no fun."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"It's okay I have tonight."

___ laughed as her fiancé led her to their bedroom.

(Yes they do have sex but no I will not be writing it because genuinely idk how 😂)

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Cobra sat on the edge of your bed as he waited for you to finish taking a shower. You had forced him to take a solo shower tonight, knowing that if you went together the rounds would never end.

You came out of the bathroom, night routine done and tackled Cobra onto the bed.

"I hate you Cobra, now I'm really tired."

"You weren't saying that earlier."

"Well now I'm tired and it's your fault." The two of you laughed at each other.

"Let me adjust us into a more comfortable position." Cobra maneuvered you guys to be under the blankets, with his arms around your waist and your head laying on his chest.

"You didn't tell me about your wish that already came true."

"You see my wish that came true every time you look in the mirror my love."

"Why are you being so corny today? You're never like this. Cobra, Hino Junpei, doesn't like talking about his feelings ever..... Are you an imposter?! Give me my fiancé back! What did you do with him?" you said dramatically.

Cobra laughed as he pulled you closer to him. "Do you remember the first year we ever met?"

"I do. I was a struggling college student, trying to make it by. Studying and attending classes in the morning, and working at Itokan at night and on the weekends. When I had first moved back I was scared to take the nightshift but after a while, I wasn't scared anymore."

"Why is that?"

"I had you. You would sit in the corner of Itokan all night. I came back in the mornings to still find you under the blanket I draped over you the night before and I would set a glass of water and a painkiller by your arm so that when you woke up you had it there. I thought that that was just something you did until Naomi told me that you didn't actually stay over at Itokan unless you felt like avoiding going home. She said it wasn't often considering you spent most of your time at the gas station and then home alone. She said that a lot of the times she found you there was because you were waiting for me to go home. You would wake up after I left to go stay at the gas station, and then come to Itokan early in the morning and pretend you never left so that you could wait for me and make sure I arrived safely."

"I did do that. A lot actually. I just wanted to see you even if I didn't talk to you much. Do you remember the first birthday you spent with me?"

"I do. It was right around the time when Sannoh was having issues with Iemura and Noboru was stuck in the middle. Instead of drinking that night, you had sat in the corner deep in thought, thinking about a solution when I had interrupted you. I set a cupcake in front of you just like I did tonight. I was almost late just like tonight also. Naomi told me you didn't like celebrating your birthday much but because of everything happening, I thought it would've been nice to distract you from it even if just for a few minutes. I told you to make a wish and you did. I also wished for your wish to come true."

"It did. They all did."

"What were they?"

"I wished that Noboru would come back, and he did. I wished for nothing bad to happen to Sannoh, and we've been alright. As good as can be for a gang. The last thing I wish for, was you. I wished that one day I would come home to you and would come home to me. At that point in my life, you were the best thing that had ever happened to me, you still are. Every day I am happy that I come home to you, and you come home to me, and for a split second every hardship I ever endured had meaning; because they led me to you. When we first got together I was scared. I was scared because I had never loved someone so much before. I was scared that my position as Sannoh's leader would put you in danger. I was scared that one day you would wake up and realize that there was someone better out there for you and you would leave me. I mean, what business did a girl going to college to become a nurse have with some guy who almost didn't graduate high school and fights other gangs for a living? But everything came true. It's been years since then and I still have my brothers and I still have you, I couldn't ask for anything more."

"I love you too much, I would never be able to leave you. You can't get rid of me Cobra."

"I wouldn't dream of it. I hope that you come home to me in every lifetime."

You two shared a kiss before cuddling and falling asleep in each other's arms.

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Ta-Dah! You made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading it all. I hope you liked this, it's a bit different from what I've published here so far.

I have a confession lol, I read a lot of smut but I still can't figure out how to write it myself. I don't know how you all are so good at writing it, no matter how much I try I just don't like the way I do it. I guess I am just destined to write fluff and angst for the rest of eternity.

Please don't take my work and repost it as your own on any other platforms. Writers work really hard on their stories so don't be a shitty human and take it.

Anyways..... have a good day or night wherever you are and I will see you the next time I upload ❤️

[imkittyjustkitty]

② are we dancing after death?

🔱 — i'd meet the sea ༄ ⠀finnick odair x gn!tribute!reader ⚔️ 🔖) [one] CHAPTER TWO [three] [four] [five] [six] [seven] [eight]

chapter synopsis; The Quarter Quell nears. warnings; blood & veins mentioned once or twice, implied/mentioned prostitution (doesn't happen to reader), reader imagines strangling someone, like one swear word A/N; paragraphs in italics are flashbacks, i got a bit excited about mentioning other canonical district 10 victors (plus an oc who may or may not show up later 👀), i'm also not too sure how mentors are chosen for the games each year? also i just want to say thank you so much for the support on the first chapter, it makes me so happy to know people are enjoying this series as much as i am!!

It's warm, as it always is in District 10. It may be winter and the temperature is noticeably colder, but you still find that walking around outside with a warm coat on does more discomfort for you than if you were to walk around in the vaguely-cold weather without it.

It's been almost seven years since you'd entered the arena and emerged from the other side a victor. Since then your life in 10 has been undeniably empty, a lonely existence that seems to only serve as a reminder that tiptoes dangerously on the border of a punishment.

You've even found yourself looking forward to the games, if only for the possibility of being chosen as a mentor that year and being able to see.. a certain someone.

You'd met Finnick a couple years ago, when some very enthusiastic 'fans' of yours had practically begged some rich public figure in the Capitol to invite you to a party they were holding. They'd said it was an invite you were free to decline (Though it would 'break their hearts' if you did), but when a group of peacekeepers showed up at your doorstep the morning you were expected to take a train to the Capitol, it was made very apparent you had no choice but to play along with the rich snobs who had demanded your attendance.

You couldn't bring yourself to care too much, very well aware that you were not special in any regard in this situation, victors don't get a day of rest if even one Capitol citizen decides they want you around. You supposed you could even go as far as to say you were lucky, considering they didn't ask for anything other than your attendance.

The Capitol is suffocating, though that should be no surprise. The lights are bright and music beats out of speakers like thick blood pumping through heavy veins.

Your surroundings pound against your walls, a heavy throbbing in your head as you try to seclude yourself to a corner of the giant roof-top party. Your outfit — a 'gift' from a particularly enthusiastic designer — is as ugly as it gets, a green shade that resembles animal faeces more than the it does the tree leaves in 7 that the designer was undoubtedly trying to replicate. It sticks like honey, clinging to every inch of your skin that it covers, almost like a portable prison cell as you try and fail to even lift your arm above your waist.

You calm your frustration by imagining a scenario in which you can rip this fabric prison right off your body and strangle the woman who practically forced you into it.

You'd never do it, but — as some bright red drink that you haven't taken a single sip of sits in your hand heavy like a a threat begging to be heeded, and the world around you is completely out of control full of people who view you as less of a human and more of an accessory, — it doesn't hurt to daydream a little.

You're aware of your resting facial expressions usually resembling that of someone planning a murder — which to be fair is rather accurate right now — so as you notice a shadow in the vague form of a person approaching you, you prepare yourself for the same overused ice-breakers that tipsy Capitol citizens seem to love so much.

What catches you off guard, is the when the figure simply rests against the same wall you're leaning on beside you, not yet saying a word. You blink quickly, trying to clear the fog in your eyes to see who stands beside you.

You think that maybe this stranger finds the silence comforting, maybe they're just trying to get away from the loudness and crowdedness of the party like you. But for you, the silence is anything but comforting, the fact this person has not said a word to explain why they're now standing with you, and you can't even make out who they are in the dim lighting and fog that's building up behind your eyes all night, only scares you.

It's a whisper straight into the wind — when the stranger finally talks — almost like a test to see if you care enough to listen. You do.

He says your first and last name quietly, not like a greeting but rather just a statement void of any goal.

And then he introduces himself, Finnick Odair. You can tell he's known since the moment his eyes landed on you that you're not a Capitol citizen, he says he doesn't make a point to remember the names of every victor that gets tossed aside and forgotten by the Capitol, but he recognises you.

You recognise him too, by name. He had been someone your mother had compared you to late one night, a boy who had won the games so young, just like you were meant to.

But now he wasn't a young boy you'd resented for less than a moment after being basically told he was everything you weren't. In fact, he was better company than anyone you'd met in your whole life.

You carefully make your way through District 10, the wide fields and twisting footpaths granting you a world where for a moment you can pretend you're the only one here, that beyond blades of grass and unstable barns sits only empty land and freedom.

And then your feet hit the pavement of the Victor's village, your silent bubble immediately broken as the sounds of life and activity echo through the rows of houses.

You can hear the sounds of footsteps hitting the ground, and slight conversation mixes with the wind as you watch your neighbours living their lives around you.

The house closest to your left is dusty and not well-kept — as it always has been — the only sign of life being the open curtains, which slightly reveal an old woman by the name of Tule standing with her hands leaning against a kitchen bench, and a slightly taller old man — Greir — sitting on a stiff armchair in front of a television, both undoubtedly preparing for what everyone else is.

To your right, is the Yule household. The houses in the Victor's Village are big, spacious in a way that makes you feel lonely, but in a way that has served yet another victor; Phox — and her family — very well. You can hear through the slightly opened windows that most of them must be gathered in the living room too.

Neighbouring Phox's home, is Karter Breer's, District 10's most recent victor. They won 3 years ago, a year which you couldn't remember anything about other than who won. You know very little about Karter — you've slowly learnt little things here and there about your other fellow victors purely from living near them for so long, and Karter's only lived here for a shorter time than you — but you expect that once their extents of self-isolation lessen and they leave the house more, you'll know just as much about them as you do about every member of Phox's family.

As you keep walking — your shoes hitting the uneven concrete rather ungracefully — you pass an empty house or two, Tule's home, and even the home of Alto; possibly the only other inhabitant of this row of houses who can compete against Karter for loneliest Victor.

You pass more houses — at least four — until you reach yours. It sits right in the corner of the tall fences that surrounds the community here, purposefully as far away from the entrance gate and all your neighbours' houses.

You unlock the front door and try not to wince as it creaks loudly. The inside of your house is undeniably yours. As much as you isolate yourself, you're still human, and you've still slowly made this place your own... and possibly in the process made it Finnick's too.

One of the details that makes it very clear that this house — while you may still be the only one who lives in it — is not yours alone, is the ribbons.

They're tied to chair legs and door handles, each one taking you back to all the moments in which Finnick had tied the different colours around your hair, or wrapped around your wrist like a homemade bracelet, or even daintily tied around your finger when you weren't looking.

They admittedly look a bit tacky, they make your house look almost unkempt to anyone else. But to you, they make this hollow shell of a building more of a home, or at least a reminder of a home you do have, even if it may not be right here.

"Someone is staring."

You don't want to say it any more than he wants to hear it, but the Capitol woman that can't be any more than a few years older than you and Finnick hasn't stopped watching the two of you since she's noticed you.

The ghost of his hand moves away from yours just slightly, an inaudible sigh leaving his lips.

"I should leave..” He whispers to you, making no move to actually walk away.

He’s right, there’s people everywhere, you may not be the only Victors in attendance — although you’re definitely the only ones who look like one of you is about to get down on their knees and ask for the other’s hand in marriage — but that doesn’t mean there's no eyes on you.

You’ve known this all night — known that you’re constantly under surveillance here — but you and Finnick haven’t seen each other in months, haven't been able to speak let alone hold one another. You can’t decide whether you regret risking it all like this or not, him just being close to you feeling like a good enough reason to risk it all.

You don’t answer him, you don't usually do, in a world where you could say so much but have so little time to do so, it grows overwhelming. So your solution is simply say nothing.

Finnick knows this, and loves you for it — not despite — but he also knows that though while you may not say it, you want him to stay with you in this moment where you'll pretend that all is well, even though you both know you shouldn't.

There is a whisper, one purposefully intended to only be audible to you.

"See you later."

Simple. To the point. No room for argument. But you can see, for the fraction of a moment that Finnick's eyes stay on yours and he smiles ever so slightly, there is something more left unsaid.

There's an 'i love you' within that phrase which holds such certainty that you can't help but believe he means it. There's a 'stay safe' almost as a light joke but also meant with full seriousness. And then, for only split second now lost to time, there's a flicker of a sorrowful reality, of something that tells you you both know that later could very well be years.

Later could be later tonight, it could be a moment where you run into each other leaving the party, where you get a chance to pretend no one needs to say goodbye again. Later could be within months, where you could both be chosen as mentors for your districts. Later could be within weeks, one of you could just drop dead at any moment, the other would have to beg and plead to even be allowed into the district where the funeral would be held.

Yet for a moment, it's like Finnick has walked back over to hold your hands in his again, as you mindlessly fidget and simply stare at nothing, your movements freeze when you feel something new around your skin.

And there, wrapped around your pointer finger, is a small yellow ribbon tied in a bow, no doubt the same ribbon that was wrapped around the glass Finnick had been holding not long before.

You may be reading into it too much — as you fiddle with the ribbon, refusing to untie it — but it feels like a promise. That while yes, later will come one way or another no matter how much you try to stop it, but maybe — for now — there is comfort in that.

You can't help but be excited for whatever parties that will be thrown in the coming days, if just to see him as soon as possible.

Your thoughts are only of the possibility of seeing Finnick soon as you walk through the echoing halls of your house, pulling your jacket off tiredly and laying it on the first flat surface you see, then moving to pull your slowly-falling-apart shoes off from your sore feet.

The mundanity of the ritual brings a sort of comfort, your house and dull clothes an unchanging factor in your life (No matter how much several parts of your outfits have been slowly unravelling from unkind weather and getting caught on fences).

For a moment you just stand in the foyer, not too far from the front door. Thoughts don't really cross through your mind as you stand there dully, your gaze simply zoning out where you stand.

A buzz and sudden music coming from your living room pushes you out of this state, your steps calm and un-rushed as you move through your house to eventually find your television showing you the beginnings of a Capitol broadcast.

You sit down on the couch in front of it, slightly leaning forward as to not miss what will soon be said.

Quarter Quells are scary, they're unpredictable, but something deep inside you says it will all be okay, because soon you will see Finnick again at whatever trashy party you're both invited to, and you won't have to give less of a shit about the games.

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[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

"get me a damned matcha" | Chapter 10: March I

{{ Chapter 9: February I | Chapter 11: April I }} Chapter Directory

the fucking feels i had while writing this chapter kdfskjf

also i used "aniki" for isabel's references to levi because the english translation is "big bro" and i like aniki better so i'm going with that lol

if you wanna get tagged for updates, fill out this form here!

✧ pairing ➼ levi ackerman x fem!reader, college x coffee shop x roommates!au ✧ summary ➼ After you find yourself plagued with misfortune due to struggles in your personal and family life, you find yourself needing to move last minute. As a junior in undergrad with little money and little social support, you considered yourself lucky when you found a sublease that was close to campus and was relatively cheap. Unfortunately, it seemed that your roommate did not seem to be so excited regarding your presence. ✧ content/warnings ➼ fluff, slowburn, mutual pining, idiots in love, mentions of floche being a dick, mentions of grief, graphic (ish) description of a fire, the one bed trope because i'm obsessed with overused cliches ✧ word count ➼ ~5.4k

It's been much too long since you went on a first date. It was at some point during high school when you had met Zack, but even that wasn't really considered a blind first date. The two of you had gotten to know each other through school and things just kind of happened. 

This case with Floche was different. You barely knew him other than the fact that he was persistent.

You were fumbling around your closet, frustrated because you felt like you couldn't find anything acceptable to wear. A part of you knew that what you wore at home when not in your pajamas was fine. Just wearing a t-shirt and jeans to a casual first date was more than okay, but something nagged at you to wear a blouse or skirt.

You were acutely aware of the fact that you dressed differently around others when compared to being around Levi or when you were at home. You were also self-aware enough to know that it had to do with a huge sense of shame. 

You remembered all the passive aggressive comments that Zack would make towards you unless you dressed and acted a certain way. That, plus the distasteful comments your aunt would always give you, meant that you were much too preoccupied with your appearance.

Levi glanced up at you with a disinterested expression as you ran out of your room for the fifth time asking if a certain outfit looked okay. 

He was currently sitting on the couch, pretending to be on his computer typing something, his eyes flashing up multiple times as you were running around the house trying to get yourself together.

"Are you seriously going out with him of all people?"

As soon as you had exchanged numbers with Floche, Levi had the suspicion that something was going on between the two of you, although you never explicitly said what it was. There was an uncomfortable and undesirable feeling building up in his gut, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. His mood had soured for the day as soon as he saw you getting ready for this supposed first date. 

It must have been because you were being more rowdy than usual. That was the only explanation.

"What is that supposed to mean?" you asked with a frown.

"Just thought you'd settle for better," Levi said nonchalantly with a shrug.

He figured the increased intensity of his grumpiness was due to the fact that he would now have to deal with you struggling with navigating a relationship on top of everything else that he had to deal with, especially if it was with someone like Floche.

Deep down, Levi knew that his logic was flawed and that there was an additional factor that contributed to his unease regarding your potential new boyfriend, but he really didn't want to spend the brain power thinking about it.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" you asked, your defensive tone increasing with each additional exchange. "He's been..."

It took you a second to figure out the proper words to describe Floche.

"...nice and sweet," you finally said hesitantly.

Levi looked up at you with a skeptical expression, immediately being able to tell that you were trying to convince yourself of that as much as you were trying to convince him.

He didn't know Floche personally, but Levi was generally good at reading people, minus a certain undergrad that decided to suddenly intrude upon his life a few months ago.

Floche was what he would call a stereotypical fuckboy, and stereotypical fuckboys had a habit or pattern of trying to woo someone before disregarding them as soon as they got bored—the "swine" of undergrad culture, as Levi would call it.

"What?!" you scolded, getting increasingly irritated with your roommate's judgy expression.

"You know he's just going to screw you over, right?"

You scoffed.

"And how do you know that?"

"He's a stereotypical fuckboy, what else is there to know?"

The frustration in Levi's voice was beginning to match yours.

Floche wouldn't leave you alone at the Rumbling despite you repeatedly saying that you weren't interested in him. The rational part of you knew that Levi's instincts were right. This date was a bad idea, but part of you wanted to give Floche the benefit of the doubt, as uncertain as you were about it.

"I can take care of myself," you finally mumbled after a few seconds of silence.

Levi stared at you before looking back down towards his laptop without responding.

He knew that. Of course he knew that. You were more than capable of taking care of yourself, but he couldn't shake off that uncomfortable feeling of you going out with someone like Floche. He legitimately did think that you deserved better.

He didn't know who exactly would fit that or what characteristics they would have, but it definitely wouldn't be someone like Floche. The fact that he was even thinking about this was increasing his agitation. He wasn't a matchmaker and it also wasn't his business.

He heard the metal of your keys clicking against each other and he glanced up from his laptop again, watching you open the front door and promptly step out without a single glance back towards him, shutting the door a bit more aggressively than usual.

It seems he wasn't the only one that was pissed at the situation.

~~~~~

"No _____ today?"

"What?" Levi responded sternly as he glanced over at Nicolo, sounding oddly defensive over the innocent and casual question. 

"Just wondering since she's usually in around this time," Nicolo wondered as he wiped down his pastry counter. "Was curious when I noticed you didn't have a Matcha waiting for her."

Nicolo's comment seemed to bother Levi more than he was willing to admit. Levi immediately averted eye contact and went back to quietly working at his station. 

Nicolo's comment wasn't wrong. Levi did develop a habit of prepping a Matcha for you every day. It was always waiting for you by the time you arrived at the café. He even stopped charging you for it earlier last semester. It was a blatant habit to everyone except for Levi. 

The frown on Levi's face grew more and more apparent. He was rarely in a great mood, but he was much grumpier than usual today. He barely responded to any comments and was in his own head for the majority of the shift. He was even being rough and slightly aggressive with his drinks, when he usually handled his teas with great care. 

Something had clearly set him off before coming in for work today.

He heard the door to the café open.

"Hey look, it's aniki*!"

"Quiet down, Izzy!" 

Two people walked into the café that weren't regulars: a highschooler with red ponytails and a blonde male around Levi's age.

"You'll end up giving Levi a stroke with all the attention he's suddenly getting."

These two weren't regulars to the café, but they were regulars in Levi's life. They were what he had effectively called his found family. He had met Farlan in undergrad when he was in the middle of struggling with his lack of financial aid because of his good-for-nothing uncle. Farlan had dealt with something similar the year prior and was able to help him get something sorted out. The two of them had picked up Isabel a year or two later, with Farlan officially adopting her as a younger sister to get her out of an abusive household.

Levi meant what he had said to you all those months ago: not having a "family" didn't have to be lonely. 

He glanced down at his watch and saw that his shift was about over. He made eye contact with Farlan and nodded before walking into the employee storage room to take his apron off and clock out. 

Hanging out with Isabel and Farlan made his mood significantly better. After calming Isabel down, the three of them walked over to a diner around the corner to catch up. It had been almost a year since he had seen them last. Levi was just busy with his studies and time got away from him. It was one of the many things that he wanted to work towards changing.

The last time that he had seen either of them was last year during spring break. Since then, Farlan had been saving up to hopefully move into the city, and to get an apartment to help support Isabel when she went off to college, if that was the route she wanted to take. When they asked Levi what his plans were after graduation, he simply scoffed and mentioned that he didn't even want to think about prospects that far out, given how early he was into his graduate career.

Although both of them had significant life updates, when it came to Levi to talk about what had changed in the past year, he found himself unsure of what to say. He still lived in this cramped town and he still attended the same university. 

The only thing that really changed was you.

"Not really anything of significance," was all he said.

~~~~~

It was already 10pm by the time Levi got home. He had spent the evening hanging out with Isabel and Farlan, electing to go to a local arcade after grabbing dinner. It was late for him. He wasn't necessarily tired, given the fact that he never really slept anyway, but he rarely stayed out past 8pm voluntarily. 

Since it was so late, he was surprised when he saw someone in front of the door to the lobby of your apartment complex. 

Upon walking closer, he recognized their figure. It was you.

You were sitting on the steps leading up to the door, with your face buried into your knees. Your body was tense and you looked like you were shaking.

"What, did your dumb ass lock yourself out again?" he asked in a disinterested tone as he walked up to you.

You flinched as he stepped up to you and you looked up at him with a somewhat dumbfounded expression. Your eyes were slightly swollen and your nose was red. Your hair was messy and disheveled. Your eyes were wide, as if you were surprised to see him.

"Shit," you whispered as you immediately wiped away any stray tears. "Thought you'd be home already."

You found yourself out here because you weren't ready to see Levi. You thought he'd be home already, so you wanted to take some time to sit outside and gather yourself and make it look like you weren't sobbing for the past hour.

You didn't have to say what happened. He could already deduce that your date didn't go well. 

Levi chose not to say anything and just sat down on the steps right next to you.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long," you said with a sniffle as you rubbed at one of your eyes. "Maybe like 45 minutes."

"Seems pretty long to me."

You slightly pushed against his shoulder with yours in retaliation for his retort. 

He was glancing down at you. Of course, he was curious over what happened, but didn't pry. He knew you. If you wanted to talk, you'd talk, whether he asked for it or not. It was incredibly annoying when the two of you first met, but it's one of the qualities he's come to appreciate about you. At least with him, you said what was on your mind.

"He blew me off," you spoke quietly as you looked down at the ground.

"Hmm?"

"Floche," you clarified, frowning. "He blew me off. And then not 10 minutes later, I find him on the phone, talking about I'm just-"

Your words trailed off as you felt your breath get caught in your throat. The tears were threatening to come on again.

Levi remained quiet but watched you intently, giving you time to gather yourself to form your words. Whether you were originally planning on telling him anything or not, he was there to listen. 

"-h-how I'm just a pity date," you whispered finally, burying your face in your knees again, almost as if you were ashamed to face Levi. "So I guess you were right."

Your voice came out muffled.

Levi wasn't surprised at this information. Those "I told you so" thoughts ran through his head. It had been less than 12 hours since he blatantly told you that Floche was going to do something to fuck you over—but he didn't voice that.

He watched you as you quietly cried, your face hidden underneath your arms. He felt an uncomfortable weight build up in his chest and he was almost tempted to even lift his arm in a vain attempt at comforting you. He didn't know if that would help or make it worse.

"I'm so fucking pathetic."

"What?" he asked after you finally spoke again.

"I couldn't even get this dumb sophomore to like me long-term. I don't know what I was thinking," you mumbled as you looked back up, using the sleeve of your jacket to wipe away the tears that had recently fallen. 

At this point, your cheeks felt sore and raw from how often you've had to wipe away the tears. You felt a headache rapidly approaching and there was so much pressure building up in your sinuses that you felt like your head was going to explode. 

"I think I was lonely and wanted to forget the shit that's happened in previous relationships," you muttered quietly. It was unclear if you were talking to Levi or yourself. "And of course that blew up in my face. It was dumb of me to think otherwise. It's just how things always are and always will be."

Levi didn't speak at first, but his eyebrows scrunched together at your comment as he looked at you with skepticism on his face. He wasn't sure what merit your comment had or what was going on through your head to make you want to say something like that.

Whatever you were referring to within yourself seemed irrelevant as to why your date fell apart to him. The only factor that contributed to that was the fact that Floche was a dick. Nothing that you did or didn't do was to blame. The fact that you spoke in such a fatalistic way confused the shit out of him.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone while continuing to look down at you. "Sit here all night?"

Your finger tapped on your knee as you remained silent, as if you were nervous to say what was on your mind. 

"Can you...can you stay by me?" you finally asked.

Levi scoffed.

"We live together, where the fuck am I going to go?"

"I mean here," you said with a frown. "Can you stay with me for a bit?"

Levi blinked at you a few times, as if he was genuinely surprised by the request. After a few seconds he cleared his throat and nodded.

You responded by shuffling a bit closer to him. Before you knew it, you found yourself leaning on him with your head resting against his shoulder. He was leaning back and propping himself up with his arms, which made contact with your back. 

Having him this close felt oddly natural. You just naturally leaned into him and he naturally drew you in. You didn't tense upon feeling him and he didn't pull away when you leaned into him. There was no tension or awkwardness. There was just...him—and that was exactly what you needed right now.

You took a deep breath, appreciating how unexpectedly nice it felt to be against him.

You mumbled something underneath your breath.

"What?" Levi asked.

"I wish more guys were like you," you mumbled as you twiddled your thumbs together.

Levi glanced down at you without moving, not really knowing how to respond.

"Even though you can be a bit of an ass."

He rolled his eyes and slightly nudged at you in protest. Given the fact that you were leaning on him, you were rudely removed from your comfortable position, although it was only for a moment, with you immediately falling back into your original spot.

If you weren't so caught up in your own head, you might've noticed just how closely you were leaning against him or the fact that he was leaning forward to be closer to you instead of leaning further back and away.

If you weren't so caught up in your own head, you might've noticed how comfortable you were around him, or how interacting with him no longer felt effortful.

If you weren't so caught up in your own head, then you might have been able to realize that you really wouldn't mind if you had someone like him be a bit more involved in your life.

Being around him was easy.

~~~~~

There was too much chaos around you. The smell of smoke and gasoline permeated the air. There was a ringing in your head and you couldn't actually hear anything. Your vision was blurry.

You vaguely heard your parents call out your name before everything faded to black. 

You took a sharp inhale and shot straight up in bed, heaving. Your pulse was going through the roof and you felt like you were drenched in your own sweat. 

You were in your bedroom. The lights were off and it was in the middle of the night. 

There was no fire. There was no smoke or gas. There was no one that called your name.

You looked forward with unfocused eyes as you tightly gripped onto the blanket.

It was the fourth or fifth time that you have had this nightmare within this one night alone. Every time you closed your eyes, you saw some vague scene that involved a plane crashing into a fire before everything rushed past you and left you standing alone. 

You weren't there for the scene of your parents' death, so the visualization was different every time. You could remember the dream in vivid detail every single time. You could barely control your shaking and you had lost track of when the tears first started streaming out of your eyes. 

Looking at the clock, you saw it was still early into the night: 1am. At this rate, you wouldn't last the night. You kept waking up every twenty minutes from the same nightmare and would wake up more and more distressed every single time. 

You didn't want to go back to sleep, but you didn't want to just be alone in your room the entire time either. While the nightmare had a weaker hold on you while you were awake, you still couldn't get it out of your head.

You sniffled and wiped away your tears for the millionth time that night. You weren't sure what to do. You couldn't focus enough to do any work or to even scroll mindlessly through your phone.

Someone shuffled on the other side of your bedroom wall and you glanced over towards Levi's room. He was awake. Of course he was awake.

Without thinking, you got up out of your room, grabbed the throw over blanket from the couch, and walked towards his room. You raised your hand to knock on his door.

You froze and hesitated. While you had gotten up from your bed and moved to this physical location without a second thought just a moment ago, now you were questioning why you were even here.

This is stupid. Why am I bothering him?

"What do you want?" 

You heard his voice and froze, realizing that he had heard and likely saw you fumbling around through the open crack in his door. You glanced inside and saw that he was sitting on his bed, reading.

You were kind of shy about what it was that drew you to his room and looked towards the ground, unsure of how to explain yourself.

Levi finally glanced up towards you.

"Spit it out," he said curtly.

"I..."

He had heard you tossing and turning throughout the past hour or two, so he figured it had something to do with not being able to sleep, although that still didn't explain why you were suddenly standing in his doorway.

"I don't want to be alone," you mumbled quietly. A part of you hoped that he didn't even hear you, but he did.

Levi blinked at you a few times, the frown disappearing off his face. Given the combination of the tossing and turning and how upset you seemed from just your body posture alone, he implicitly understood what was going on.

Even if it had nothing to do with the nightmares, you just weren't in a great state and he was able to tell.

"Come in," he mumbled and sighed.

You slowly scooched your way into his room.

Not wanting you to sleep in the chair, he scooched towards the edge of the bed and then patted his hand down on the opposite side. 

"Just don't get the sheets dirty. I just did the laundry."

If you weren't so distressed, you'd probably make some snarky comment regarding being careful to not get his sheets "dirty", but you instead just silently crawled onto his bed, wrapping yourself in the throw over blanket you brought over from the couch.

Seeing that you were settled, he shuffled and began to get up to go read in the chair to give you space.

However, before he could even throw his feet over the side of the bed, he felt you grab at his arm.

"Wait," you said quietly with uncertainty and a hint of fear in your voice, "don't go."

His eyes went from looking at your hand on his arm to your eyes.

"Please?"

An annoyed expression appeared on his face, although it wasn't directed at you for once. He silently cursed at himself as he laid back down, being pissed that he gave into you—but at the same time, he understood.

You just needed someone to be next to you.

It wasn't like you took up that much space anyway. He continued reading his book as you tightly hugged your blanket, struggling to fall back asleep. You were still scared to close your eyes.

His eyes flashed down towards your figure as he noticed you still shuffling restlessly.

"If you can't sleep, get up and do something."

He's fought with insomnia long enough to be able to tell when it was just a night where it was difficult to sleep and when it was a night in which he wouldn't be getting any sleep at all. Most of all, he knew it was no use tossing and turning in bed for the entire night—might as well get up and try to walk off some of the restlessness.

You buried your face into his pillow, frustrated. 

You were immediately hit with a mix of various scents: fresh laundry, the residual musky scent of his cologne from his clothes that smelled...smooth? You couldn't quite put words to it. It brought you a weird sense of comfort.

"I keep dreaming about my parents," you mumbled, your voice getting muffled through the pillow.

He glanced down at you.

"Yeah?" he asked, closing his book and putting it on his nightstand. 

"The way they died," you muttered, looking up from the pillow, although half your face was still buried. "I haven't really thought about it since high school, but the dreams kept on coming tonight."

You groaned.

"This has only happened a few times, but it's terrible when it does."

He watched as your eyebrows furrowed together into a frown. You were glaring at his headboard now.

"It's been years already," you grumbled. "You'd think I'd be over it by now, but I'm not and I hate that I'm not."

A part of you knew that the only reason that you were this emotionally vulnerable was because of the bullshit that had happened with Floche earlier in the night throwing your entire body out of whack when it came to emotional processing. Everything stung more than it would have otherwise.

Now that you thought about it, the few other times that you did have nightmares usually occurred right after you had a big fight with Zack.

"What have you done before?" Levi asked, nudging you.

"What?" you asked, finally lifting your face from his pillow.

"You mentioned this has happened a few times? How did you cope?"

You looked away from him, thinking for a few seconds over how to respond, or even trying to recall what you did previously.

"Nothing really," you finally said. "My...My ex didn't really want to deal with me when it happened, so I'd either sleep on the couch or just stay up for the rest of the night. Eventually it'd go away."

The frown on Levi's face returned upon hearing about Zack's behavior towards you when distressed. Not wanting to "deal with you" seemed like shit behavior at best.

"You said you lived with your ex before here?"

"For around two years," you said with a nod before pausing. "The more I think about it, the more I realize that it wasn't the best time."

"Living with them?"

You gave Levi a grim expression.

"He wasn't particularly the best boyfriend either."

An empty look appeared in your eyes as you recalled memories of your relationship with Zack. It had started out normal, but quickly evolved into a relationship that was controlling in which Zack was a combination of being a dick, negligent, jealous, and an unhealthy mix of other types of controlling behavior that could only spell out the word 'shitshow'.

"Whatever," you mumbled, your mood now considerably worse. You laid back down to try to sleep again.

"I journal."

Levi spoke up before you could fully lay back down.

You gave him a confused look.

"Or grab an ice cube. Worst case, I go on a drive."

It's been a while, but having recurrent nightmares wasn't an unfamiliar experience for Levi. He's dealt with them long enough and often enough that he was able to come up with some quick coping skills to help calm his mind down. It was similar to when he used box breathing to calm you down from an anxiety attack. He had learned all this through experience. He knew what you were going through—particularly when it came to the untimely (and to be quite frank, traumatic) death of a parent figure.

You remained silent as you laid back down, facing away from him, repeating what he said in your head as you drew circles with your finger on the sheets. Levi also happened to deal with the same thing. You weren't sure if it was just the universe playing an ironic joke on you at this point. 

You heard him get up to switch off the lights before coming back to lay down on the opposite side of the bed.

"Remember: if you can't sleep, go do something."

Despite the apparent persistence of your insomnia and the anxiety that would arise any time you closed your eyes, the knowledge of what Levi had told you, plus his consistent presence next to you, eventually did lull you into the calm of the sleep that your body and mind so desperately needed.

~~~~~

You were fast asleep and for once, so was Levi.

Levi's insomnia was generally relentless. This was the first time in months that he was able to stay asleep for more than 20 minutes, not to mention two hours. 

Even when he did fall asleep, he couldn't ever say that it was comfortable, but that's how he felt right now. He felt at peace for once and he found himself actively not wanting to open his eyes. He rarely got to fall asleep as well as he did just now and a part of him wanted to cherish it.

He was warm in a lulling and comfortable way that was cozy and pleasant. It was a strange sensation for him. 

He finally peeled his eyes open and completely froze once he realized there was another person in his bed.

Levi was momentarily confused as to where he was or who it was that he currently had his arm wrapped around. You were pulled up against him, with his arm wrapped around your waist. His face was buried in your hair, which smelled like your bodywash and the lotion that he usually got annoyed of smelling in the bathroom. It smelled oddly nice now.

His face flared up once he realized what was happening. He immediately pulled away, taking care to not accidentally wake you up. He cursed to himself, annoyed that he even let you sleep in his bed with him. 

He groaned as he began to sit up and get off the bed, rubbing his eyes with his hand to try to shake his nerves off. He should've just kicked you out once he decided to also sleep. 

He froze as you began to shuffle in your sleep, watching as you rolled over to face him. He looked at your face that was relaxed, with the stress from the former night and proceeding nightmares nowhere to be found. He held his gaze there for a few seconds.

Levi wasn't an idiot. He knew that he cared for you in some capacity now, although he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that development. It just brought complications in his life that he didn't need.

It also didn't help that he wasn't entirely grossed out by the fact that he had woken up with you in his arms. In fact, the only part that did gross him out was that he technically did it without you knowing or prompting for it.

He felt heat slowly rising up into his cheeks again while looking at you.

You actually looked quite adorable when you were able to sleep peacefully like this.

Levi immediately planted his face into his hand upon having that thought, holding himself there in frustration. 

He peeked at you through his fingers, confused and irritated over the thoughts swirling around in his head. He vigorously shook his head after a few seconds, as if he was trying to literally shake the thoughts out of his head. 

Levi rolled over towards his nightstand and tapped on his phone to check the time: 4am. He had fallen asleep for around two hours and it was too early for him to realistically get up if he didn't want to be absolutely miserable the next day.

He sighed and got up off the bed, picking up the edge of the blanket and bunching it up so that it was bundled in between his body and yours so that he didn't end up accidentally cuddling you again. 

His sleep for the next few hours felt more typical to his usual nights: simply drifting in and out every 20-30 minutes.

When you finally woke up, Levi had already gotten up. He was next to you, reading in bed again. There was a cup of tea next to him, indicating that he had been up for a while—or at least long enough for him to brew the beverage for himself. 

"About time," he grumbled without looking down at you.

"Hmm?" you mumbled groggily as you tried to rub the sleepiness from your eyes.

"You were hogging the blankets all night," he said with a frown, blatantly ignoring the fact that you had technically brought your own blanket into his room. "Barely got any sleep. Get out."

You turned to look at him, matching his frown.

"Liar. I heard you get up and lay back down earlier."

You weren't completely awake for it, but you vaguely remembered feeling Levi shuffle around before laying back down. You knew in some capacity that he had actually gotten some sleep.

Levi stared at you with a blank expression.

"...Whatever," he eventually mumbled. "Think what you want."

He was caught off-guard by your comment. He wasn't sure what disturbed him more: the fact that he had you pulled up against him or the fact that you were somewhat awake while he was having those conflicting thoughts.

He was beyond irritated at himself. He let you into his room and sleep in his bed next to him because he knew that you were scared to be alone, and what made it more distressing was that he did it because he didn't want you to be scared or to feel alone.

Levi Ackerman couldn't deny that he cared about you—and he absolutely hated that he cared.

#: @levisbrat25 @gothgril69 @sckerman @berrijam @notgoodforlife @meowjaa @averysmolbear @roseofdarknessblog @bejewelledd @hhighkey @ayame236 @sad-darksoul @velouria17 @kamyru @l1zk4 @layenacreates @lamees004 @whoami-72 @highgoon69 @chaotic-on-main @levishotgf @nube55 @chosos-mascara @heichoucleanfreak @svftackerman

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Would you do a pic based on the song “Do you wanna be friends?” By Leanne Firestone as a Ken x reader? Like I feel like this song really could work for them. Like kens super all like “Oh stereotypical Barbie is so amazing” and reader just is like “oh. Okay yeahb I’ll support you” and just follows the song. Idk lol

Ough the unrequited love goes hard here </3

.........

"So...I take it that it didn't go the way you hoped?"

"Sadly..it didn't." Putting on his best smile, Ken sighed quietly as you both sat on the beach together. "I forgot it was girls' night and...she didn't want me there. Period."

You blinked. "She seriously said that to you?"

"Yeah."

"And..it didn't hurt?"

"I mean..she wasn't wrong. She could never be wrong. It's not my place to intrude on her night and I need to respect that. I'm just happy I got to dance with her and...almost kiss her after the party." His attempts to sound upbeat were forced, although he didn't want to concern you too much. "Simply being in her presence is enough for me. She's just so...amazing and beautiful and so smart. I'm glad we're boyfriend and girlfriend."

'It doesn't sound like she thinks the same...' Is what you wanted to say to him, but you decided to keep that to yourself. Instead, your shoulders remained slumped as he continued rambling about how "awesome" Stereotypical Barbie was.

It was nothing new to you.

You and him have been good friends for a while, although roughly 90% of your chats consisted of him gushing over Barbie nonstop; the remaining 10% were either him complaining about Tourist Ken or rambling about Beach-related stuff.

Obviously, you didn't mind talking to him and wouldn't dare shut him down. You actually enjoyed every moment you spent together, even if he can be a bit dumb and showy at times.

You just wish he didn't bring up Barbie's name in every single conversation...considering that she barely mentions his name whenever you talked to her.

It was unconventional at best for a Barbie to not be interested in her Ken, but that's just the way she is and he doesn't see anything wrong with that.

He wasn't getting the hint.

When you found Ken sitting alone on the beach tonight--in the spot where you'd normally practice you guitar skills--he looked awfully dejected and lonely. You immediately knew he tried shooting his shot with her after the huge blowout party with planned choreography and a bespoke song..

And ultimately missed by a mile.

"You know what she said to me earlier after that Beach accident, [y/n]?"

"What did she say?"

"She said I was "very brave"." Stars were practically shimmering in his blue eyes, his grin growing wider. "She thought I was brave! Isn't that awesome??"

"Yeah, it sure is." Nodding in agreement, you turned your gaze up to the brightly-lit moon in the sky. "You're a lot of things, Ken. Brave, funny, cool...she should seriously cherish those and not just shut you out because of "Girl's Night". I don't think that's fair to you at all."

The words came out faster than you could think, and your body tensed up as you watched his expression falter.

Maybe you've said too much.

"I..um-"

"Wow, that's...nice to hear, [y/n]. Thank you." He put a hand to his chest, looking at you with a gentler smile. "You're a great friend, you know that?"

"...right, we're great friends." You reluctantly agreed, forcing you own smile for his sake. "Do you mind if I play some guitar? This is my usual spot but-"

"Ohh, I forgot you had that...thing." Then he pointed to your acoustic instrument. "If you want me to leave I can-"

"No, no, you can stay! I'd hate to see you roaming Barbieland all night by yourself."

"Nah, I'm not really "roaming" aimlessly." He brushed off your worries, smoothing his hair out as though it was tousled by nonexistent wind. "I just sorta...wander around till I find a cozy spot. Sometimes I get lucky, but other times I imagine myself in her dreamhouse. I bet next time she'll let me stay over. Who knows? Maybe one day we can call it Barbie and Ken's Dreamhouse. Haha..wouldn't that be awesome, huh?"

At the end of his rambling, he had that same lovestruck appearance on his face as he rested his jaw on his fist, gazing at you.

That's the kind of look you wish he'd give you instead.

"Yeah, that would be cool." Once more, you agreed, before taking your guitar out of its case and placing it across your lap. "Well..I'm just gonna start practicing."

"Right. Thanks for listening, [y/n]. I'm just gonna sleep over here and dream of our future." He stood up and walked about ten steps towards a baby blue towel somebody left behind in the sand, laying down and curling up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ken. Sleep well."

Despite how uncomfortable he seemed, he had no problems dozing off as you heard light snores mere seconds after he closed his eyes. You saw a content smile gracing his lips and gazed at him for some time.

He never looked more peaceful.

"This one's for you.." You whispered softly, fingers gliding across the guitar strings as you began playing a song you've recently memorized.

Then you began singing ever-so quietly, closing your eyes and feeling the music flow through you.

""Do you wanna be friends?" I mean I wanna be more. But if "friends" is how I get to have you...then..sure. I'll be quiet in my pining. I won't tell you about the pain. I'll be silent in the night when I know that you're asleep..but I wanna ask you if you're awake.."

You weren't sure where you've heard this song before. It just popped into your mind one day and resonated with you so deeply, filling your plastic heart with a foreign feeling.

That being...the feeling of longingness. Pining.

Love.

It reminded you of Ken, and where your relationship with him currently stood...and possibly will remain for as long as you both lived.

You knew that he'd always choose Barbie over you at the end of the day, even though you've seen her reject him time and time again. He still kept chasing after her no matter what, always hoping she'll one day say "yes" to him staying over at her dreamhouse instead of shooing him away.

Eventually, he'd have to wake up and realize the truth.

Maybe then he'll finally see that you were the only one who ever gave him the time of day. The only one who truly cared about where he slept, if he was okay, etc.

The only one who truly loved him.

Perhaps in another life, it can be [Y/n] and Ken.

But for now, you just continued playing the guitar at him, even though he was off in dreamland, blissfully unaware that you were speaking to him through this song you were singing.

If only he knew your genuine feelings for him; although that may never happen since he's always calling you his "friend".

And if that's what he wanted out of this relationship, then...you'll have to settle for that. For his sake.

You'd hate to lose him.

"So we'll be friends, and I'll be okay. The world won't end if you don't love me, even if it feels that way..."

[shatcey]

How I do collection events

If you cannot spend a lot of money on Cybird games like IkeVil and IkePri (it is quite difficult to resist such a temptation) and still wanna get something out of the events, you should be very careful about how you spend your resources.

I'll explain my method. It helps me a lot and maybe it helps someone else.

But before that, you have to decide for yourself, are you ready NOT to finish the story for several weeks or even months? If you've already read this route, it won't be a problem, but if it's new to you?..

So... that I'm doing

I'm not finishing the route. I stop BEFORE the last avatar challenge. Then the avatar selection window appears, I just go to the suitor's change page. Thus, you will officially finish chapter 24 (by spending tickets for it), BUT at the collection event you will still receive a reward for reading it.

For reading avatar challenge + 1 chapter (the 25th), you'll got reward for reading 2 chapters (the last one always gave you double of hearts) plus a reward for the avatar challenge. If you don't have a lucky time, you'll get 1,700. If there is a lucky time, you just multiply by 2 or 3. And for that you will spent only 5 tickets.

Secondly, you need to create a table for the calculation. It's pretty big, so I'll take several screenshots to make it easier to see. This one I made for the current event at IkeVil.

The pink is what I put by hand. Then and how much the multiplyer of the lucky time (1) (date/time according to my local time, your data may be slightly different), how much I used resurses (2) (it's just to monitor my current one), how many chapters I've read and how many time oproximatly i'll used at salon (3) (not then it's full, it's the number of 20 you used, it was easier for me to make calculations, maybe something different will be easier for you) and how much it turned out in the end (4). It's pretty difficult to take everyting into account, so usually numbers not exactly the same.

Why are there 0 tickets and more than 1 chapter? I'm watching an ad to get an additional ticket. So every day I read not 5, but 6 fragments. So… In 5 days, I will read not 1, but 2 chapters. If lucky time not at that day, I can use the extra tickets to finish the chapter earlier and get more bonuses. For example, on October 5th.

Why are there 3 chapters and not 2? Let's move on to the next part of the table for clarification.

...addition on the right.

I usually write some information to understand how I counted the number of chapters. We have a pretty convenient lucky time at this story event, you just need to pay attention to when this lucky time is to make the most of it.

If there is a bonus for early birds… I'll add it here to keep track.

...and addition on bottom

I put here some calculations and how much I need to get stories. Not always I can reach the top, so I keep track of when I should stop wasting resources.

As you can see, at this particular event, I received 20k for the first day and spent only 15 tickets, 22k gold and 10 (100 each) cocktails. I think it's not that much. And it wasn't the best lucky time.

I've checked different options and I could have spent less resources and got the same result, but… I'm impatient, I wanted to get Ellis's story as soon as possible.

This method doesn't make miracles! If you wanna get the most out of every event, you have to spend money on the game. Just consider this as a method to help you keep track of your spendings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🔝 Start page 🔝

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[psychologeek]

Epilogue

So. This happened.

The day I feared and longed for has come.

I posted the last chapter of "Some of Them (want you)"

Feel free to comment, ask, or make any "based on" fanwork (just send me a link, and link back to my fic.)

Thank you to all those who've been there through the journey, or just stopped by. For everyone who left a comment.

Special thanks to @byrambles for the original fanfic that inspired me. You are a great writer, friend, and I'm always exited to see a note about any of your new works :)

In case you haven't seen my pinned post, This Whumptober I'm opening my Ask box for requests and prompts! What do that mean? Well, have you ever wanted to read more about something? This might be your lucky day.

Here's part of the endnotes:

My main thoughts, as I started writing this fic, were "I need to talk about Dami's suicide". I refused to let it be, or mistaken as actual death. It's been a a draft in my docs since August 2023, as I wrote "Sweet Dreams". Eventually, the things I wrote - the things I NEEDED to (hear) tell - are in chapter 14. (you aren't a failure. You succeeded to survive.

It's not a bad thing.) ~ I didn't think I'll get so deep into trauma and suicidality in this fic. Especially not child suicidality.

In fact, I rewrote chapter 15 several times, to keep out the harder topics. But then I realised that, actually- (No one ever talks about it. ) We should talk about it. (Because it's there, and it's hard, and it's consuming). And so the whole situation with young!Damian. As I realised that, despite all differences, Dami and Damian do share some experience and major characteristics: their sense of honour, responsibility, violent upbringing. They both care deeply, but only those they consider "mine". They are very different, yes, but they both lacked stability and had lost their main caretaker more then once. They both had to grow up too fast. Taking more then they can handle.) They both experienced things no child should. (And I know it. I know how it feels. Sure, "they had worse". But suffering is subjective. Suffering doesn't care about others. You can't banish pain by telling someone "others have it worse! How dare you complain?"). And I thought - Dami had first tried to kill himself when he was 10, because he felt like there's no hope. That this was the only escape. Damian is 10/11. And he feels like a burden. (Suicide is one of the 3 leading causes of death in ages 7-24). Sure, it's different. But being a child is HARD. Adults usually don't think about it. When I was a teen, so many told me "this is the best time of my life" (If this is the best," I thought, "I don't want to see the rest of it". They lied, dear reader. My 20s are better, and so will be my 30s and 40s. I have silver hairs growing, and they reflect the lights when I look in the mirror. I have a crack by my lip and the start of crow legs by my eyes, that reminds me that I do laugh. I do smile. That things DO get better.)   The world is hard and chaotic, and trying to make sense out of it is demanding, frustrating, consuming job. We do it, slowly. It just takes time. ~ Dami had Alfred. Damian.... Doesn't even have Richard now. (And feeling lonely or isolated is a risk factor. Major life changes is a risk factor. Death of a loved one is a risk factor. Feeling like a burden is a risk factor. Damian had been screaming for help for a long time, in the only way he knows. He deserves to be heard.) ~ On a personal note: This fic (and series) had been a big part of my life in the last year. This brought me some stability and escapism in the hard times we've gone through (that are still happening). The writing process had been complicated and funny, hard and delightful, torture and pleasure. Thank you, reader, for taking the time to read it. Thank you for those who stayed here, who waited every week for a chapter (and waited patiently during The Big Crisis). Thank you for those who just found it, and might have read it in a single day. (Now go get some water!) Thank you, reader, for being here. I hope you enjoyed. (And good night, Dreamers. Good night.)

[fluxweeed]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

i've had so much fun reading other answers to these questions over the last few weeks!! thank you @nv-md and @sweet-s0rr0w for mentioning me in your posts!! i fear my answers drifted much too far into self-indulgence, but what's new for this blog eh??

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22, but one of them is 11 separate drabbles/microfics in a 2k-word jacket

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

293,865

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i'll only ever write hp on this username!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

all drarry:

the four doors (legilimency healer draco + memory loss)

adventures in truth and texting (advent texting fic)

all i have to do (draco thinks harry is a magical fantasy but whoops he's real)

eight o'clock, tomorrow evening (four doors sequel)

two to lie and one to listen (8th year fake dating, sort of)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i respond to everything on the final chapter of a fic! sometimes very kind commenters will say something at the end of every single chapter, which is SUCH a joy to receive, but i haven't yet figured out a way of saying "thank you!" 26 times over without sounding insincere

(i also don't usually respond to comments on fics i've co-written bc i don't feel like i have? the right? feels like i'm taking credit for something i did not really do!)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

also drarry: for lack of wanting, wherein harry thinks it's sexy when draco acts like an evil dick again, and draco is too in love with harry to tell him that makes him feel weird

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

man i think all the rest are pretty happy, all things considered? tho i guess two to lie and wrapped are the only ones that end with explicit i-love-yous?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i've been quite lucky, actually! i've had the occasional demand to change an angsty ending, or comments that have been quite mean about a character who isn't supportive of drarry. oh and i've had a couple of people get suuuper mad when draco malfoy, death eater and snotty spoilt brat, makes mildly immoral decisions. i've found all of those quite funny tho, which i'm sure i wouldn't if they were legitimate hate, so i don't think they count!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yep! the vibe of two characters wanting to fuck but knowing they shouldn't for some reason (uneven dynamic, magic stuff, they simply haven't had a fucking conversation about it) is my absolute favourite. will read it every time, will write it pretty much every time too 😅

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

the closest i've come to writing a crossover is say no to this, a fic vaguely based off the storyline of the song from hamilton. it was the first drarry fic i'd written in about 10 years!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yep! not any under this username (that i know of), but someone re-uploaded an old drarry fic of mine to wattpad – and honestly, i don't mind at all. i don't think the fic is very good lmao, if someone else wants to take the blame for it, that's totally fine by me

(the wildest thing about it is the combined ff.net + wattpad views of that fic now top 2 million i think?! but despite that u have almost definitely not heard of it!! i've only seen it mentioned, like, maybe 3 times since i properly re-joined fandom spaces in 2020)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes!!!! it's SUCH an honour!!! the four doors is in german, chinese, russian and spanish; thirst (drarry vampire fic) is in chinese; and all i have to do (the not-fantasy-harry fic) is in russian 🥰

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes!!! well, sort of – officially, i co-wrote per my last letter (i hope you choke on it) with @lastontheboat, but i really do think i was more like an alpha reader with knobs on. the workload split was at least 25/75, with j shouldering a great deal of the burden (and all of the brilliance)!

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

this is going to sound silly given that i'm definitely a drarry writer and only really hang out in the drarry sphere – but i don't have one! for hp, i gravitate towards ships with harry in them, but even that isn't a hard and fast rule for me

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

nothing that i've posted! but i have tons that are never going to see the light of day. three recent-ish hp ones i've written the most for:

a fic i call The Opus, which is a drarry auror partners fic – i have 16k words written; it was going to end up a solid 100k. i love the concept i have for this fic so, so dearly, but a 100k casefic is not happening.

a harry/ginny established relationship smutty oneshot that is really nothing more than ginny being fun and sexy and harry being horny but, like, self-deprecating about it.

a drarry little mermaid au that i wrote for nanowrimo in 2019. like i MIGHT come back to this one day? but it's unlikely. pros: i do have 50k of it written already and the first draft isn't too far off being complete. cons: i have almost exactly 50k words of it written bc i hit the nano goal and stopped in the middle of a sentence bc writing it was SO stressful (that november i had two jobs + one volunteering role, and also i was moving house, so. a lot going on.)

16. What are your writing strengths?

god knows. dialogue and characters come easiest to me, ig? and i tend to cut a lot in editing, so i don't think my stuff is? overly wordy? so it doesn't require much brainpower to read? that could be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i suck at caring about anything other than character dynamics, so my fics never have plot outside of something vague to put the main pairing in the same room

similarly, i'm not very good at describing locations – describing anything, really

bc i tend to focus on the "oh we want to but we shouldn't!" moment, i'm pretty bad at actually developing feelings in longer fics – that part always feels too rushed to me, but fuck if i know a way of fixing it that isn't just, like, write another 20k

i think my endings usually feel like a bit of an afterthought and often quite forced

the more i write, the more i realise i know, like, 5 ways of phrasing anything, and i just repeat the same things over and over

i'm trying to fix my lack of skills with plotting + pacing by planning extensively before i start drafting, but i think that takes a bit of the spark out of the final version? it becomes a bit predictable and samey?

em dashes every tenth word

i'm convinced ppl i respect are in group chats talking abt how annoying and bad at writing i am, and also lowkey (…highkey) i agree with them – so actually getting myself to write anything is super hard!!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

yeah man! i mean, i personally am not sufficiently confident in my skills in any other language to do it without help (and i'm not sufficiently confident in my skills in asking for help to do that), but it's fun to read imo

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i've dabbled in a few over the years, but the first was hp – it was a marauders era snape/lily/james love triangle fic that i posted on a forum on a hp roleplaying site – this was before deathly hallows came out, so i was very smug when my pairing theory (that i undoubtedly stole from someone cleverer than me, because i was 13 years old) turned out to be true

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

god. @decaflondonfog recently told me that drabbles don't really count, so i? don't know? perhaps still the pine-woods scent the moon (guilty remus/harry) or taste of țuică (established drarry bringing ron in as a third) are the ones i like best, but i don't love either of them enough to be able to confidently declare them my favourite!

u know the drill: i got too sad and anxious and unfollowed everyone so i have no idea who to tag. if u made it this far please know i do love you very much, i want to kiss u on the cheek at LEAST, and would love to know any thoughts u have about the things u make ❤️

[afh48]

Already asked other people those but I just love hearing peoples opinions on these!! (Bechloe and mby Staubrey? :D)

Who is the nightowl, who wakes up at the crack of dawn?

Who is the better driver (according to them AND their (un)lucky passengers?

Their coffee orders?

Their one guilty pleasure they'd not even tell their s.o. about (they tots know but pretend not to :D)

When did they figure out they are part of the LGBTQ mafia?

How/when did they come out (either their families or their Bella family?)

Who's the big spoon, who the small spoon (and no, Beca, knife isn't an option)

Their secret-not-so-secret celebrity crushes?

thanks for the ask!

i admit, even though staubrey is cute and i include it in the background of bechloe works, i haven't really read any fanfic for it or have any headcanons or opinions for it.

Who is the nightowl, who wakes up at the crack of dawn?

Is his even a question?

Beca of course is the night owl, staying up late to work on mixes or something. She gets restless around nighttime and usually scrolls on her phone for hours instead of sleeping.

Chloe wakes up early. She used to have an alarm clock that had a loud tweety bird alarm (which she liked because it was fun), but after Beca complained up it waking her up all the time he switched to using the default tone on her phone. Most days she doesn't even need an alarm, she wakes up with the sun.

2. Who is the better driver (according to them AND their (un)lucky passengers?

Beca's the better driver. Chloe actually didn't learn to drive until well into knowing Beca, preferring to bike or jog everywhere. If there was anywhere she needed to go outside of biking distance, well, that's what Lyft was for (and a very whipped girlfriend)

3. Their coffee orders?

Chloe gets something unholy and far too sweet, something decked out with whipped cream and sprinkles. Sometimes she admits she doesn't need all that energy and orders a hot chocolate instead. Beca either orders sine sort of tea or black coffee. (I only drink tea and also I'm broke so I know nothing about ordering coffee.)

4. Their one guilty pleasure they'd not even tell their s.o. about (they totes know but pretend not to :D)

Guilty Pleasure by Chappell Roan came on my bechloe playlist whilst I was writing this part.

Beca loves obscure 90's and 2000's MTV reality shows. Chloe bought 50 Shades of Grey at Costco when she was an undergrad and she's read an ungodly amount of porn since (Beca did ask her about it, after borrowing her computer to back up some photos and seeing so many Archive of Our Own tabs open. "Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's hot. Sometimes it's just pretty," laughed Chloe, pressing a wet kiss to Beca's cheek. "And I like pretty things.")

5. When did they figure out they are part of the LGBTQ mafia?

Beca saw Regina George in Mean Girls (2004) when she was 10. She ignored it and denied it throughout high school, and besides, she liked guys better (Right?). And then she met a certain beautiful and very touchy redhead.

Chloe never really considered her sexuality. It didn't ever matter to her. She loved everyone and she loved so much. If anyone asked, though, Chloe would shrug and say that she supposed she was probably pansexual.

6. How/when did they come out (either their families or their Bella family?)

Beca doesn't really talk to her dad much. He found our about Chloe at some point. She came out to the Bella's by stopping as she was leaving the living room where they were almost all sitting, saying "I'm bi," and locking herself in her room for the next ten hours.

Chloe never came out, because she was never in the closet. Her parents always had their suspicions, and the Bella's all knew she wasn't straight, but she only "came out" to her family by bringing Beca home to meet them and saying "this is my girlfriend" with the biggest smile on her face (her parents had already heard so much about Beca before the two started dating).

7. Who's the big spoon, who the small spoon (and no, Beca, knife isn't an option)

Chloe usually initiates the cuddles and spooning, holding a very grumpy Beca close to her chest, so she's usually the big spoon. (Beca loves it, though she would never verbally admit that.) Beca can always tell when Chloe needs some affection and needs to be held, and she'll gladly take on the duty of the big spoon when it's called for.

8. Their secret-not-so-secret celebrity crushes?

Beca adores Rachel McAdams. The only movie Beca will ever admit to have thoroughly enjoyed watching is The Notebook. She also has a thing for Blake Lively. And she would kill for Reneé Rapp.

Chloe loves Chappell Roan. She wants to be knee deep in that passenger seat so bad. She wants to put her canine teeth in the side of her neck. "If Chappell Roan asks me to be with her," Chloe told Beca, "I'm sorry baby, but we're over." (This was a lie.)

i hope these were okay!!! thank you for the ask, this was fun!

[downforthegas]

Ok but like sometimes I think about how Wa//lly in the context of the show needs some things explained to him, sometimes even very basic things like laughing and feeling certain emotions... so I imagine he maybe needed to be explained what farts are... uh, I'm... (long post, I'm ashamed lol)

Like I imagine he's with Ba//rn//aby at How//dy's bodega, when How//dy hands him a chili dog and Ba//rn taking it (and being the little joker that he is) says, "How//dy, I appreciate the chili dog, but I'm blaming you for when I get gas later." And Wa//lly just goes, "Gas? But you're not a car." And then How//dy and Ba//rn have a good laugh.

I imagine they explain the process to him, how someone sometimes just needs to fart, but Wa//lly's still lost, even though How//dy feels like he explained it good enough. Ba//rn's already thinking of (explosive) examples he can give himself, especially after eating that chili dog.

But instead, Ho//wdy gives him a nice big can of beans, on the house. Wa//lly stares into the can and blinks, eating what would be considered big spoonfuls of beans telepathically with his eyes. By the end, he feels his belly. It's swollen and putting pressure on the buttons desperately holding his cardigan closed. His two hands feel his belly, it feels weird for his normally flat stomach to feel like a balloon. How//dy and Ba//rn are giggling a little, but notice Wa////lly's having trouble. He knows he has to push but nothing's happening. Ba//rn gently squeezes his sides, which results in Wa//lly's backside finally making noise.

A loud, strong toot, rumbling for 10 seconds, sounding the same throughout those seconds, ending with a loud pop, so loud you could swear Wa//lly made a hole in his pants. He sighs, feeling less pressure in his belly. Then he smells the air. A ripe fart stink permeates the once clear air in the shop, which How//dy and Ba//rn notice as well. "Jeez! How did somethin so small make somethin so smelly?" and now Wa//lly feels a little awkward that he ripped something that smells so terrible. But this awkwardness doesn't stay once it's How//dy's turn.

How//dy's stomach rumbles audibly and he leans over, rubbing his mid section with two hands, the other two holding the counter. Ba//rn asks him what's wrong, and How//dy just says, "You tell me? You thought it'd be a great idea to eat at that *uugh!* new place!" How//dy would be so used to eating leafy greens like any caterpillar that eating greasy unhealthy foods for once totally turns his stomach upside down. He tries not to but a loud, bubbly fart rumbles against his pants, blowing the strings on his apron. Squeezing his cheeks together doesn't help and only amplifies the sound. Clusters of louder short farts keep erupting as How//dy can't help but give up and relieve himself. When he's done, Ba//rn and Wa////y are laughing while teal blush forms on How//dy's face. "Well, I'm lucky no one else is in this shop. Otherwise, they would've been running."

Ba//rn comments saying, "Those are worse than your usual farts!" Which only makes How//dy blush more. "But that's nothing. Watch this." He leans against the counter, slightly lifting a let before a monsterous fart escapes. The whole counter, floor, and walls shake from his huge bassy fart. What's crazy is that it wasn't even from the chili dog.

Wa//lly holds his nose and How//dy holds his shirt over his nose, fans the air, and sprays with a room spray (which you can get for a good joke from How//dy's Place, the home of everything you need and everything you don't). Ba//rn//aby plays it off as if it's just a small toot, waving his backside with his hand, and his little tail, saying, "Whoo! I don't mean to toot my own horn but... well, I just did. Hehehehe!"

Wa//lly seems to understand now, but he's not a big fan of the combined smells from everyone. How//dy's about to say they should open the door to air the smell out, but then another neighbor walks in and immediately passes out from the smell.

[sroloc--elbisivni]

questions for ao3 writers

tagged by @secretlystephaniebrown and @radishhqueen! thanks!

i will tag @bobtheacorn @kithnkin @spectralsleuth @decepti-thots @desdemonafictional, and if you see this and want to please consider yourself tagged!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 108!

2. what's your total ao3 word count? 895,129. (I started the year with vague hopes of hitting a million words--we'll see where I end up after finishing current major non-fic project.)

3. what fandoms do you write for? right now, I've got active WIP docs open for rottmnt, transformers, usagi yojimbo, and one piece.

4. top 5 fics by kudos? Deaged Batgirls, tried to raise you right, Universe Collision, words that it was forming, and Intelligence, or vision, or the truth.

5. do you respond to comments? I try to! Especially if I have something to say more than just 'thanks.' I love talking about my fics.

6. fic you wrote with the angstiest ending: Any way you go you lose, which was specifically written as a bad ending for a different fic.

7. fic you wrote with the happiest ending: Mmh. I write a lot of happy endings, but I think the most uncomplicated/least bittersweet one is probably Heart's still beating, guess I'm pretty lucky.

8. do you get hate on fics? almost never, fortunately!

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? yes, trending towards kinky.

10. do you write crossovers? sometimes! arguably all the turtles/UY fic I've written is a crossover, though I don't think of them that way because it's usually about blending the canons rather than crashing them into each other.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? not to my knowledge

12. have you ever had a fic translated? I've had requests, but nothing completed!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! A few different ways--written bouncing back and forth, trading off scenes, each person taking one half of a story, each person taking a scene that fits in a larger narrative. it can be really fun.

14. all-time favorite ship? ooooooooough um. hm. hard to say. i've got the most words written for leo/usagi, so i'll go with that even though drifting out of turtles fandom has kind of taken a hard turn into absolute disinterest for me.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hahaha uh. let's say The Days That Follow, which was part of what i consider my first 'real' major fic project, for Young Justice. maybe if i ever get around to watching the post s2 stuff i'll come back to it.

16. writing strengths: I'm good at worldbuilding and I'd like to think that extends to detail and description/immersion in general

17. writing weaknesses: i basically never edit on a macro level and i think i tend towards glibness in a way that leaves holes behind the main action.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? i used to, and stick the translations in the end notes! and now i probably wouldn't--I'd either indicate the language via dialogue or have the narrator say they don't understand. my priority has become making sure the reader understands.

19. first fandom you wrote for: there's a very old percy jackson oc fic somewhere in the depths of my hard drive from when i was like. 12.

20. favorite fic of yours: i recently reread 'Fathomless' and I'm still so fucking happy with it.

[oscurascout]

Y/N As A Doorman

From That's Not My Neighbor game

Part 3 (Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10)

I got to my house, ate a delicious meal. After that, I took a shower and started to think about today. I then smiled, “Maybe this won't be so bad,” I thought as I finished taking the shower and went back to the kitchen to make myself lunch for tomorrow.

After I was done, I went to sleep, preparing for the next day.

~●~1 Month Later~●~

I got up from my very comfortable bed, got ready, and then went to work. A few things had happened in these past 4 weeks. First, that damn Hoon Francis; he came every week, sometimes staying for very long. One time the real Francis came and saw the doppelganger, but the surprising thing is that Francis didn't care! He even allowed the doppelganger to continue dressing as him.

Another thing was that even some random doppelgangers started to come. They just looked, and if I was lucky, they would talk to me, but then they would walk away. The third thing is that some doppelgangers are getting cocky and aggressive. One almost attacked Mr. Cappuccin, thankfully nothing happened. Perhaps it's because I don't call the D.D.D and let them leave; mmm maybe it is my fault. Besides that, everything is going great. I'm on good terms with everyone, except Elenois and Selenne since I like to annoy them. But I do feel like I'm friends with Mia, Francis, Nacha, and Margarette.

I got to the apartment and entered the office. Francis was also the very first one to leave. I don't know why a milkman needs to wake up so early, but oh well, not my problem. He said goodbye and went on. I grabbed the list of people expected for today. “Ok, only 7—mm, Izaack, Anastacha, Selenne, Francis, Elenois, Steven, and Angus. Ok, please make this an easy day,” I thought as I put down the list and got on my phone. In the mornings nothing usually happens.

At 8:35 am, the first person came in. Mrs. Cappuccin walked in front of the window and greeted me before passing me her papers. I started to look over them, and everything was correct. Then, I looked at the list and saw that Mrs. Cappuccin wasn't on it.

“Hey, I mean Mrs. Cappuccin, you're not on the list. May I ask the reason?” I said, and suddenly Mrs. Cappuccin's eyes changed to an angry red, and some sharp teeth appeared.

'Rafttellyn' - *angry* “Dammit! Why didn't I think about that damn list! … You caught me. It seems you're not easy to fool, unlike the other doormen.”

I looked at her surprised, but then I relaxed. “I can't let this one go,” I thought as I pressed the red button, and for the second time since I've been working here, I called the D.D.D. After they confirmed that they were coming, I put the phone back.

'Rafttellyn' - *chuckles, talking through the metal shield* “So you consider me dangerous, ha ha ha. I've heard about you, all of us have. About the little dumb human who lets us get away and doesn't call the D.D.D unless we are truly dangerous. Ha ha ha. Be careful, little human. Make sure to always look behind you because if you don't, we will catch you,” *walks away*

I stayed frozen. “What?” I thought as I got off the chair and went below the desk. I needed a place where I felt safe, yet there was nothing in this darn office. Then I heard knocking on the window. I got out and looked; it was the D.D.D agent.

D.D.D Agent - *with a voice changer* “Are you ok?”

I nodded and got back in the chair. “Yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken up,” I said, putting on a professional smile.

D.D.D Agent - *nods* “Good work, agent. Unfortunately, we arrived late, and the doppelganger got away. But don't worry, we will patrol around the perimeter until it is deemed safe. You can continue working,” *walks away*

I breathed in and out, then relaxed and continued being on my phone. At 10, Mr. Gauss arrived and politely told me to be quick since he needed to attend a meeting early. Since he's not Selenne, I did my work quickly, and he immediately went up to his floor. A few minutes after I saw him running towards the front doors, I thought to myself, "Hmm, I wonder what he'll talk about in the news this time. Last time it was about the 'karen doppelganger' that once they were caught they threw a massive tantrum. It was honestly funny." As I got up and headed towards the kitchen for a snack.

I came back and sat down with my snack. As I was munching on it, a doppelganger walked in. It was pretty obvious they weren't human; they were expressionless, literally. They didn't have a face - no mouth, no eyes, not even a nose.

*Sighs* "Umm, papers please," I said and waited. They only gave me their entry request. "Umm, I'll also need your ID," I said, and I saw them shake their head. *Sighs* "Ok, well congrats! You are the first doppelganger of today that has gotten close to impersonating a resident of this building. Unfortunately, since I discovered you, let's do this. You can either leave, or I'll call the D.D.D.," I said as I smiled at it. They nodded and walked away, leaving the entry request, which I threw in the trash. "I seriously need a weapon, I don't want the same senerio to happen twice. Mmmm maybe a gun or something or maybe I should take some self-defense lessons, hmm," I thought as I looked at Mr. Ciprianni arrive.

Hours passed, and mostly everyone was inside their apartments, except for my good old friend Francis, who usually comes back at 10 or sometimes a little later. While I was on my phone, my other friend came - Francis's doppelganger, or how I like to called him, Hoon. He gave me his papers and waited. Every day he does the same, and every time I catch him, yet he always keeps on trying, ... or maybe it's something else that he wants.

"Buddy, your entry permit is wrong, but hey, that's the only thing," I said and threw the entry request in the trash. I gave him his ID back, yet he didn't looked happy, as he usually would. "To be honest, his ID and appearance are wrong, but I seriously don't want him to get mad at me like the first doppelganger, but it's weird why isn't he happy?" I thought as I noticed that he was not leaving. Usually, after I discover him, he leaves, well sometimes. The times he doesn't leave right away he makes "conversation" yet this time, he not only stayed but also didn't say anything.

*Confused* "Buddy, you know the deal after I caught you, yo-" *Interrupted* I didn't finish my sentence since what he said froze me in my place.

Hoon - "Beee, .. c-careeee, ful, … hoon."

After saying that, he left. "What?" I thought as I looked at him leaving.