#but if the two manage to overcome it should get along well

[lolottes]

Jazz and Mary from the Shazam family go to the same university on their scholarship. They register each other as a dangerous being without really knowing or understanding the why of the how

As part of their scholarship they must do an interdisciplinary project together (plus a distance student)

[wistfulcynic]

a non-izzy-centric reading of the events of season two

i didn't really want to get into this because it's so, so tiresome and i'd rather talk about the things i loved about this season. Poison, positivity, etc. But.

reading this post about people doubting their own judgement due to the overwhelming noise from Izzy stans along with a rewatch of season two from start to finish made me realise that i too had been influenced by a year and a half of being intensely frustrated by people insisting so loudly that OFMD was in fact the Izzy Hands Show. My initial issues with S2 mostly stemmed from overcompensating for that by resenting any development of Izzy on the screen because i did not want it to feed those people. Which meant that i also was centring Izzy in a way that he should not be centred! i was letting their noise lead me to read him as far more important than he actually is.

So i looked back at several points from the season that had me feeling uncomfortable and which, from a cursory browse through the Izzy tag i've concluded his stans see as a contradiction or a betrayal or something and re-evaluated them from the perspective of Izzy not being a main fucking character.

point one: "He's our dick."

When Archie (a newcomer and therefore a fairly effective audience stand-in for anyone not balls deep in fandom bullshit) asks Jim why they're going to so much trouble for Izzy, who she has immediately clocked as "kind of a dick", Jim gives this response. Which, if you think Izzy is important, may read as an expression of reluctant fondness. But then, Jim continues: "There was a time when life meant something on this ship. When we lived for each other, not just to survive." These lines are punctuated by a flashback to the famous Revenge crew found-family Renaissance-painting moment. Jim is nostalgic for the "good old days" of the Revenge under Stede's people-positive management style. It is out of respect for that (seemingly) lost way of life that they take the trouble for Izzy, not for Izzy himself. They'd have done the same for anyone, because they desperately want life to matter again. Izzy, as the person whose gamy leg is a direct result of his threatening Ed and bringing the kraken era down on all of them, is simply the one whose life happens to be on the line.

(honestly, i love this from Jim, who was one of Stede's boldest detractors in season one and still the crew member most likely to call him out on his bullshit. That's your "reluctant fondness" moment right there.)

point two: the new unicorn

apparently Izzy stans see the gift of the unicorn leg prosthetic as a symbol of deep love and respect from the crew to Izzy. Which is an absolutely wild reading when you look at what led up to it.

There's tension on the ship. Divisions. Lucius is chain-smoking and jump-scared by his own shadow. Jim, Archie, Frenchie, and Fang are overcome by guilt over their mutiny and frantically scrubbing nonexistent blood from the deck in what is a fantastically darkly funny Lady Macbeth moment for them. Izzy is sloppy drunk and yelling nonsensical abuse at the unicorn masthead. Roach, Pete, Oluwande, and Wee John make a well-intentioned but ill-conceived attempt to bring everyone back together (i say "everyone" but Izzy, significantly, is not included) which leads to them all being at each other's throats in the sort of mutually-assured-destruction configuration that starts world wars. It's a great scene. Izzy is not a part of it.

until he interrupts them, throws the unicorn legs at them and in his drunken clumsiness breaks his prosthetic. He then pointedly refuses their offers of assistance and drags himself away along the floor by his arms.

my friends. This is peak pathos. The crew do not respect Izzy in this moment, they feel sorry for him. They realise that he's worse off than any of the rest of them and that knowledge brings them back together. Making the unicorn prosthetic is barely about Izzy at all. It's about the crew coming together, repairing the rifts in their found family and as a bonus helping out their grumpy second cousin who doesn't really want to be there but has nowhere else to go. It's also a very generous offer of a new place on the ship--as the new unicorn--and a fresh start. Because that's what life on the Revenge is. For everyone.

point three: la vie en rose

much has been made of Izzy putting on drag makeup and singing at the Calypso birthday party, and fair enough. That's a big character development point for him. i don't hate it, though i wish there'd been more build-up to it, a longer conversation between Izzy and Wee John at least (insert obligatory "fuck Max" here) but regardless, if we accept Izzy's amputated leg as cutting off his old self and replacing it with the unicorn then we can arrive at a place where he's able to participate in a drag performance without too much cognitive gymnastics.

i've written before about the curious choice to have Izzy sing La Vie En Rose in French (after he initially sang it in English) at the very moment when Ed and Stede are having sex for the first time. On first watch i felt viscerally troubled by it, it felt like a validation of the obsessive psychosexual reading of Izzy's feelings for Ed. Looking at the season as a whole, it feels more like a (cringy, creepy, waaaay over the line) attempt on his part to signal approval for Ed and Stede's relationship. Especially when taken in conjunction with his (super creepy, like wtf who greenlit this) interruption of their breakfast in bed the next morning to make a ham-fisted innuendo. Weird but okay i guess, it's not like Izzy and social niceties have ever gone hand in hand.

many people point to the drag scene as the crew embracing Izzy and welcoming him as one of them. Again, i don't disagree. But, also again, this is not specific to Izzy. This is just what they do. They also embraced Archie with her snake-cult stories, they re-embraced Ed (who yes, they do love, refutations of arguments that they don't love Ed are a whole other essay though) and later they embrace Zheng and Auntie and also Jackie who once stole their savings jar and threatened to cut off their noses. That's what they do! They embrace people! That's what the show is about!

point four: the death scene

i have to be honest, i still hate this. i don't hate that Izzy died, i hate that he died in Ed's arms with Ed calling him his only family. That still feels unearned to me, and alas was probably another victim of the shortened season. But even with this extremely kind and forgiving death scene, the stans are not satisfied! They feel that the entire crew should have been gathered round, assuring Izzy of their profound love for him. There should have been weeping at the funeral, wailing and gnashing of teeth, rending of garments etc. It's what he deserves as such a beloved member of the crew!

except he wasn't beloved. He was accepted, yes. Welcomed, even. But acceptance is a far cry from love. Cheering as someone sings a song at a party does not mean you feel ready to weep at their deathbed or proclaim your undying affection for them.

yet even so, the crew are visibly distraught at his death scene. There are tears in many eyes! But effusive declarations of feeling from any one of them other than Ed would have felt (to anyone not convinced Izzy is the main character) completely wrong and very weird. You can headcanon what you like to fill the gaps in canon but on screen we have seen very few meaningful interactions between Izzy and any of the existing crew aside from Fang and Lucius and to a lesser extent Wee John. Izzy's primary relationship with another character is with Ed and so, as much as i still don't like it, Ed is the only one who has any real reason to be at Izzy's side as he dies.

as for the brevity of the funeral and the fact that they went straight from it to Pete and Lucius's wedding instead of having, idk, a prolonged wake at which everyone speaks at length about how important Izzy was to them, i mean. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. More than enough screen time had already been given to a side character who spent most of it either being miserable himself or making others so. It was time for the rest of them to find some moments of joy. As Izzy himself said, not moving on is worse.

in conclusion, i'd like to address the people saying that Izzy should have lived so he could continue his arc of self-discovery and sure, that would have been great--on the Izzy Hands Show. But OFMD is about Ed and Stede and Izzy had served his purpose in their story. i feel certain there will be copious fanfics to soothe anyone who feels Izzy was shortchanged.

on the show, though, he was treated in a very logical and foreseeable way as the antagonist who was able to see the light at the end but not necessarily to thrive in such a well-lit environment. Literature (by which i mean also films and tv) abounds with examples of this sort of character. They see the error of their ways but they are too stuck in them, shaped by them, to exist comfortably in any other way. They help bring about change to benefit others and not for themselves, that is the bittersweet beauty of their endings.

Izzy let Ed go. He embraced the softer parts of himself. He died surrounded by people who may not have loved him but at least accepted him as one of their own and felt genuine sorrow about his passing. That is a satisfying narrative end for a reformed antagonist! If you truly feel that he was shortchanged by it then you have forgotten what show you're watching and what sort of character he was.

Izzy Hands: not the main character, still an interesting one, absolute nightmare, what a guy.

[acrowwithakeyboard]

CVF fights and who seems to be able to beat who if caught in friendly fire

Putting a spoiler curtain over so it isn't taking up a huge chunk of screen unless you want to read

Basically what the tins got printed. While I try to rotate for a smaller group, sometimes my LDBs (mostly Ieama) has 8 people trudging along behind. When everyone aggros on a wolf the chances of someone NOT hitting a ally is never zero. There's been enough fights that I can figure who can beat who in a fight, tie with, or otherwise has a fluctuating score going. I’ve compiled more or less how the followers I currently have fare against each other in those fights. Now this is all based off of fights in my game, so if they are better in someone else's, I'll raise a glass for ' 'em!

Val: Spellswords are devastating. Pirates play dirty. Being both means he's not an easy opponent. He can take Redcap and Auri most times (unless Auri is far enough and has a clear shot she can take him out before his spells can reach her, while Redcap is a fast little friend and dodges his spells well). He hasn't fought Remi, though I think its just luck on that part, and it’s fluctuating with Tally and Xelzaz (I figure them to be a strategic lot, along with Nebarra), Gore has beat him down more than he’s won (their fighting lines really make for a scene) and he has yet to start shit with Nebarra, so we don't know yet if he would win or not. I'm thinking he'd lose though.

Auri: A very good archer indeed, she doesn't miss much, and constantly moves and creates distance between her and whoever messes with her. Can take down Nebarra and Redcap (the former usually isn't fast enough to get into close combat, and she has wicked aim when she's mad). She has not been in a fracas with Gore or Remi (by sentiment or luck I'm not sure) while Val, Tally and Xelzaz and can go toe to toe so the win/lose ratio is fluctuating. Generally, she fights the last three as an aid to someone else. Her taunts and fight lines about her eating her enemies hearts might also add a touch of fear into most of her opponents too. (Also, she keeps shooting me but I usually front line enemies, so, well call it an accident)

Gore: Generally, once he's set to beat someone's face clean through their ass he's not stopping, and will shrug off whatever is thrown at him to get the job done. He can and will fuck up Val, Xelzaz, Tally and Redcap if they hit him, (the first two have had wins, but Gore has beaten them more, the latter two... tried at least, but only managed once each) but he will get cut to ribbons if he pisses off Nebarra. He can adapt or overcome different opponents in close combat very well with his chosen weapon, and seems to have different approaches to each opponent. He will not hurt Auri or Remiel though. Not sure if he’s just never gotten aggro’d on those two or vise versa, if there’s a implemented code to keep him from going berserk on em, or he’s uniquely aware Auri will eat him should she kill him and just decided to Not Do That and Remi is, in his words, like a little sister so he wont hurt her no matter what, but he’s yet to fight them.

Remi: She generally gets people with a combo of skill and teamwork, and is pretty resourcful, Scrap helping out is also a given. Has beaten Xelzaz but apologized profusely, almost beat Redcap but stopped herself, and tried Nebarra but it, didn't go well. Most time if she is hit someone jumps in to help (Scrap automatically, but Gore also jumps in, and he can smoke quite a few folks in the party). She hasn't attacked Gore, Auri or Val, as of right now, BUT has had a near 10 minute long knock out drag down fist fight with Tally on a mountain in the Rift that ended in a tie and I’m waiting for round two to see who wins. They've yet to re-instigate the fight since. Scrap helped but she held her own very well without him after he was ejected quite suddenly from the fight.

Tally: He lasts a longer in a fight with people than other combinations, win or defeat. I chalk it up to him being used to close combat, working in and out of groups, and his experience in the Great war. Him and Nebarra are long time contenders and he’s won by both scrape of luck and strategy, has fought Xelzaz well and won more (only recently, not by much though). He got folded by Gore a lot when we first found him, still gets folded on the occasion, and he's only had one win against him. Auri has head shot him more than I can count but ultimately they are fluctuating, and Remi and him have had no winner but the longest fight I’ve ever seen between followers without one or the other falling. Neither were downed and I am waiting for the next one with concern and excitement.

Xelzaz: That Telvanni's stray firebolts have started a lot of fights. But as a good poisoner and a well taught wizard, he's got a good standing with most combatants. He has won some fights (Nebarra if he’s not right next to him immediately, Auri he has surprising good aim on though they are more or less equal) he can contend with Val and Tally for a bit, situational on who loses more, but apologizes to Remi and Redcap if he starts something with them, though he's been downed by Redcap. Gore I think has the drop on him with heavy steel and fast reflexes and the general bullheaded determination that affords pushing through being actively burnt and poisoned by Xel’s spells and weapons, so Xelzaz loses a fair bit more with him.

Redcap: Small body, big determination. He has beaten Gore, once. It was in Bleak Fall and he had 4 spears launched at him before he got close enough to hit Redcap, after which he made short work of the fight. He has had fights with him since but Gore is not an easy fight and gets the win now. Tally is his most recent win, (I got hit in the crossfire in that one), and he has taken Xelzaz down a few times but does stop the fight usually before that, same with Remi, if it happens at all. He’s been skewered by Auri, her aim is pretty damn good despite his small stature and speed, and he does damn well against Nebarra but ultimately loses (Nebarra usually gets him from behind first for some reason). Val can contend and win sometimes but hes small and VERY good at dodging Val's lightning. He also has skewered me and I and pretty sure I have died from a spear and low health combo once, so I’ll give that to him.

Nebarra is a vicious, embittered veteran of the Great war and it shows. Gore is often down in seconds, Remi taken off guard faster than you can say Dwemer, Redcap didn’t know what the Oblivion hit him, pretty sure Val hasn’t fought him only out of some begrudging respect for his skills. Regardless of these wins, him and Xelzaz have an Equal standing score more or less. Auri and Tally though are the closest thing to HR intervention to his not-so-appropriate comments on other races, but even then, those are hard won fights on their side. He's an old soldier doing whatever it takes to survive. This mer does not pull punches.

Finally, Scrap has taken down Gore, Auri, Xelzaz, Val, Redcap and a two of Xelzaz’s flame Atronachs, and they’ve all only fought him once ish to a completion. (the rest were stopped before his intervention) He attempted to aid Remi with her and Tally’s throw down but was blasted off the cliff by a well-placed ice spike. So, technically, Tally has probably the most wins against scrap in the group. But in conjunction with that, Scrap is the best fighter based on ratio of wins vs loses.

Ieama is one who has seen the most of these fights, and mostly let them resolve with a win before intervening. She is of the idea that beating the Oblivion out each other builds character and strengthens relationships. She is also a firm believer of 'talk shit, get hit' in Nebarra's case.

[pinkkittysaw]

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

featuring: clive rosfield (solo, featuring f!reader)

summary: while you and jill are sent off on an assignment away from the hideout, clive has to take matters into his own hands

word count: 1.1k

content: NSFW (minors + ageless blogs DNI you will be BLOCKED!) established relationship, male masturbation, unprotected p in v, pillow humping, scent kink

a/n: made myself ungodly horny thinking about clive jerking off. i truly am a woman of LUST!!!!! anyway, i was thinking of making a part two of this that includes mutual masturbation because the thought of that also makes me 😵‍💫 let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in!

dividers by @/cafekitsune & @/kimjiho1

"Stupid bloody hormones," Clive grumbles as he leans against the headboard in your shared bedroom. It was the first time he'd slept alone since the two of you started your courtship, and of course, it's on that same night that he's plagued with vivid erotic dreams. His stiffened cock bulging through the fabric of his sleepwear.

He's left with a conundrum—one that only leaves him with a single solution—taking matters into his own hands, literally. He very well can't walk around hideout sporting a massive erection.

He tugs down his bottoms just far enough so his throbbing length bobs out, hitting his stomach. A bead of precum leaks from his ruddy tip as he wraps his hand around the base, pumping himself slowly at first, just trying to relieve the urgency he's feeling—the desperation to sink himself into the warmth of your tight cunt.

"Of course, this had to happen while you were away," he grits. Of course, he'd wake up a leaky mess with no other means of taking care of himself than his hand. He continues fisting his cock, running his thumb along the slit. He gives a full-body shudder; it feels good, but it's not enough.

He needs more. He needs your scent. He needs you

The feeling of his hand perils in comparison to your warmth—your wetness—a feeling that he's become so spoiled with. How he ever managed to get himself off before meeting you is surely a mystery to him now.

It's then that he gets an idea—a nasty and perverse idea. He glances over at your pillow and a discarded sleepshirt of yours that he made into a makeshift case. Loneliness had overcome him the previous night, leaving him to rummage through your worn clothing, searching for an item that held any of your lingering scent. He'd pulled the shirt over the pillow so he had something to cuddle with while he slept. The smell of you brought comfort as he drifted off to the realm of dreams.

He tugs the shirt off the pillow, bringing the article of clothing up to his face and deeply inhaling your scent. It's a soft cotton material that your aroma clings to nicely. His cock twitches as the smell enters his nostrils and clouds his senses. He realizes what he needs to do, but by the fucking flames, if it isn't one of the most filthy thoughts he's ever had.

He removes the shirt from his face and sets it aside on the bed before moving to grab your pillow. He holds it in his hands, placing it around his cock and sandwiching it inside. He gives an experimental tug, holding the pillow the same way he'd grip your hips whenever you'd decide to bless him with the privilege of bouncing on his cock. He gives an open-mouthed gasp at the feeling, the material gliding along his nerve endings so exquisitely. He does so again and again, bouncing the pillow on his length as if it were a makeshift pussy. He groans in delight at the softness that encapsulates his weeping cock, biting his lip as a red flush spreads across his body, the weight of his actions catching up to him as he stares at the pillow. Its friction is so inviting, as the sensation makes him moan out in pleasure.

Though nothing compares to the plush feeling of your pussy, the soft fabric of your pillow will have to suffice.

It's dirty.  It's perverse, so much so that a former royal like himself should be disgusted with his actions, but the feeling is just too good for him to stop, despite whatever guilt he may have of tainting your pillow will his spend. He was never much of a saint, anyway.

He wets his fingers with his tongue, pumping his cock and coating it in saliva before affixing the pillow around it once more. 

His mind wanders to the many nights the two of you spent entangled together, the wordless confessions you've shared as he's brought you to the pinnacle of ecstasy over and over. All the ways he's taken you, and you've taken him, the grip of your cunt around his cock like a vice as he pulls orgasm after orgasm from your spent body.

His hips rut against the pillow faster, pre-cum soaking through the fabric, wetting his cock as it's coated in his own slick. He rolls his head back into the headboard. "Oh yes, feels so fucking good," he pants, the head of his cock poking out from in between the pillow with every thrust.

He thinks of you on top of him, your body taking care of him so deliciously, taking a point to remember how your breasts bounce so beautifully in front of him as you ride his cock. He can never resist bringing them into his mouth, enjoying them to the fullest as you writhe in pleasure. The image is so vivid in his mind, it's as if he's fully recreated it in his memory—the sight of your mixed arousal drenching the hair that covers his navel. You always get so wet and sensitive that it never takes you long to cum after the first time, after he's already broken you in. A thick ring of white coated his cock after every consecutive bounce you'd give while continuing to babble nothingness into the air.

His thrusts continue to gain speed as the memory plays out in his mind, his thumb coming out to rub smooth circles on your clit. The copious amounts of wetness between your folds caused it to glide against his thumb deliciously. Your body spasmed with pleasure, gripping onto his shoulders and forearm to steady yourself as he continued his assault on the twitching nub.

He calls out into the open air of his bedroom, hands tightening the pillow around his cock to simulate the grip of your cunt as much as possible. "That's it, sweetheart, cum on my cock, cum on my cock," he chants it like a prayer. Biting his lip, his hips buck relentlessly into the soaked plush of the pillow. "Oh, founder, oh yes, fuck-" He's quick to reach for your shirt once more, smothering himself with your scent as he climaxes, a sob of your name falling from his lips. His cum spurts out onto his stomach, getting caught in the hair that lines his abdomen as well as on your pillow.

His breath is shallow and ragged as he comes down, resting his arm over his eyes, his cock still twitching against his midriff. "Gods above," he heaves.

His heart nearly stops when he hears the sound of the bedroom door opening and the subtle tsk of your voice.

"My my, look who's been naughty."

[xuqijie]

miyawaki sakura x f!reader

# genre ; angst, slight fluff

# tags ; idols!exes to lovers(?), oblivious sakura, reader is suffering because they both have communication issues, mentions of iz*one disbandment, reader and sakura are same age

you never knew why sakura broke up with you before your second comeback. only when the two of you meet at a music show, then you find out the full story of your relationship.

note: stream cupid by fifty fifty like actually soty.

is love real? how could someone ever find their true love in a crowd of 7 billion people? was it even possible to find your soulmate and then somehow evade all obstacles of distance? you thought love could overcome anything.

miyawaki sakura was the love of your life, still is. a disheartening program like produce 48 had somehow given you the best years of your life; a family and a lover both wrapped in a big bow called ‘iz*one.’ when sakura had said, “we’ll stay together forever, as thirteen,” on the last week of pre-disbandment, you should have known she was lying.

when sakura said those three words to you on a night of hardship, you should have known. when she uttered her love and adoration, you should have known.

you should have known she wasn’t telling the truth. because if she truly loved you so, why did she leave? a question that had plaguing your thoughts more and more recently.

immediately after iz*one had disbanded, your then company, the black label, signed you to another contract, one that gave you more freedom in the studio, but restricted personal content. you thought nothing of it at that time, because how could they have ever known you were in a 3 year relationship with one of your ex-members?

the higher-ups knew that iz*one fans were still mourning and wishing for interactions between the members, so they took advantage and instantly you had to put out a song with choi yena, 2 months after iz*one had disbanded. all while sakura was still silent. you didn’t get many updates from her either.

and when your debut did amazingly well, you knew that your management would start to milk you as a member of iz*one.

“sakura didn’t reply to my texts, or calls,” you mentioned offhandedly to yuri and yena one day. the two looked shocked but yuri eased your worries by saying, “she’s probably preparing for her graduation in japan. she did text the group chat about it.”

yena nodded in agreement, but after seeing your body tense up, she quickly changed the subject.

“is the album coming along well?” your second comeback, only a few months after your debut. the hype was slowly dying down and your management was quick to act. this time, instead of having an iz*one member be featured, the title track would be co-written by eunbi and you.

“manager’s been forcing me to do some stuff, attend some parties,” you sighed, “but i don’t wanna spend my friday night shaking hands with men double my age.” yena looked as if she was about to respond, but then your phone lit up.

y/n🐼 [2.19pm]:

kkura i miss you

what are you doing now?

wifey 🐱💛 [5.54pm]:

hi i was recording ♪( ´▽｀)

i miss you too i wna go back to korea :(

you squealed excitedly, showing yena and yuri the text messages. yuri sent you a ‘i told you so’ look while yena faked a gag.

“you two are so disgusting,” she said, while yuri smacked her arm. “you’re just salty because you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“oh yeah? who’s fault is that?”

“what.”

after that day, you had thought your relationship skipped the strain and everything would be okay. it was only until sakura returned back to korea, you received a cryptic message from your then girlfriend.

wifey 🐱💛 [3.28am]:

let’s break up.

and all you could do was stare at the bright screen that greeted you in the wake of dawn until tears fell. of course, you had tried calling her and surprisingly, she picked up, but the phone call just made you more confused.

“why are we breaking up?”

will we stay together forever?

“i don’t love you anymore.”

you’re my favourite person in the world.

“tell me, why?”

are you sure? what if you find someone better than me? or you don’t like me anymore?

“i’m sorry, i don’t have an explanation.”

i would never do that. i swear.

“i hate you, sakura.”

i love you.

“i’m sorry.”

i love you too, y/n.

a beep sounding the loss of sakura in your life. your manager had found you in your room, under the blankets in tears. only a shake of his head and a sigh before he had to escort you to the van. because of course, even after suffering the worst heartbreak of your life, being an idol came first.

your members and especially the elder ones were reasonably upset. nako had threatened to beat sakura up if she had known that your relationship would end because of a phone call at the airport. you brushed them off, trying to display your hurt of your relationship ending as anger that sakura broke up on text with you.

“i’m fine, seriously,” you choked out, tears welling up but still maintaining a smile. the other iz*one members, mainly eunbi, hyewon, yena, yuri and minju, just stared at you blankly.

“i’m actually going to fight her,” hyewon nodded her head in agreement to eunbi’s statement. “i trusted her, to take care of you. instead of talking it out, she decides to break up with you?”

“eunbi unnie, i don’t want to talk about her anymore, okay? can we play mario kart or something else instead?” you pleaded, the mere mention of sakura piercing your heart tenfold.

the members looked skeptic but your insistence made them all resign to a night of mario kart.

at first glance now, anyone would think that you had moved onto bigger and better things. a year had passed and you had just put out your third album, cupid. most of the songs were written by you at 3am, and heavily centred on one japanese. you knew that once word had gotten out about your muse, the iz*one group chat, excluding sakura, would blow up and your messages would be filled with worrisome questions.

not only that, you were currently at a music show, where lesserafim were also at, without a doubt. their debut was a smash hit in korea, fearless charting number 1 countless amounts of times and you couldn’t help but feel proud at chaewon’s improvement as a leader, yet bittersweet over seeing your ex-girlfriend.

you sighed as the makeup artist brushed your cheeks with blush.

“i hope you don’t get too choked up when you win,” she winked at you. you shook your head, chuckling, “i mean, lesserafim’s here, fearless might win.”

“i still think cupid’s better.”

“of course you do, i’m your favourite idol!” your makeup artist finished up and you were good to go. you felt your heart speed up at the thought of seeing sakura in the flesh and silently hoped that you wouldn’t have to stand too close to her.

you got back on stage and met eyes with wonyoung and yujin, both who had returned with love dive as ive and they sent you a reassuring smile.

“i think she’s here,” you said.

“oh,” yujin shrugged, “unnie, you should stand with us then, iz*one reunion? maybe even invite chaewon unnie to stand with us.”

“that’s so mean, yujinnie,” wonyoung sighed, exasperated. “well, she shouldn’t have gave such a dumb excuse to break up with our unnie—”

the mcs appeared on stage and began the show, you caught chaewon’s wave and hesitantly waved back, not before accidentally colliding with the person behind you. embarrassed, you turn around and instantly lit up.

“yuqi!” you whispered excitedly. the g-idle member grinned, “hi! look, i think you’re winning.” you turned to the big screen, truly, if the current votes add up, you would be leading. but between lesserafim and ive, anything could happen.

“and the winner is…” you held your breath, “y/n with ‘cupid’!” the ive members turned to you and you heard yuqi giggle behind you.

“good job, unnie!”

as your song played, groups started leaving the stage but g-idle remained behind since as a soloist, it was incredibly lonely standing up on stage when in iz*one, you had 12 other girls singing and dancing with you.

while minnie and shuhua started their own rendition of your song, you laughed cheerfully, but you couldn’t help but notice the lingering shadow by the stage.

miwayaki sakura, the one woman you had been avoiding the entire night, staring right at you.

it was like time froze. you remembered telling her that those kdramas were all so cliché with the love interests meeting. the same songs playing in the back as the background blurred.

but it felt true now.

‘good job,’ she mouthed. you were about to respond when yuqi pulled you back for the chorus and the grip on your wrist was noticed by sakura, who frowned and glared at your same aged friend.

after a stage of giggles and funny dance moves, you headed back to your waiting room, ready to take your makeup artist out for barbecue since she had guessed correctly on the winner. your stomach rumbled and you took out the coins you had stashed in your jacket’s pocket.

heading to the vending machine, you gasped seeing the prices. “ten thousand won for a bag of chips? that’s crazy,” you exclaimed but your hunger came first and it wasn’t as if you were broke.

as you bent down to reach for the bag, a voice startled you. “y/n.”

you whipped your head back, gaping.

“uh, hi.”

sakura’s face was blank and expressionless but through her eyes, you could tell that she was feeling extremely awkward.

“congrats, uhm, for the win.”

you nodded. “thanks. anything else? i need to go soon.”

the japanese clenched her fists and her voice came out pained, “are you dating anyone?”

you paled.

“what?”

sakura repeated, more grit in her voice, “are you dating song yuqi?”

suddenly, all anger rushed to your head. all the sleepless nights she made you experience, all the tears you let out in the shower, all the pain you had to endure. it made you frustrated.

“sakura, what’s the point of asking that?” you snapped, gripping the bag of chips tightly which was a rather comical sight.

your ex scrunched up her nose and you had to pretend it wasn’t cute. “does that mean you’re dating her?”

“no. but why does it matter?”

“because… you,” sakura groaned, “you can’t…”

eyes filled with fury, you retorted, “can’t what? can’t date other people after we broke up? am i not allowed to find other people when you were the one who broke up with me? over text?”

“y/n, i regret it,” sakura mumbled, “i regret all of it. please.”

“please what? what am i meant to do? you broke my heart, you asshole. what is this conversation meant to be about? what are you trying to do?”

your ex looked down, ashamed, but your heart broke even further at the tears spilling out of her eyes.

“i’m sorry. i thought, when we disbanded, that we would just break up because of the long distance and… i thought i was saving us from each other. i was wrong, i love you, please let me try again,” sakura explained, her voice hoarse.

you debated. was it worth it? all the heartbreak? for sakura? you had loved her for years, but were you ready to trust her again?

“i trusted you. i don’t anymore,” you started slowly, sakura’s eyes dimming at every word, “let’s start out as friends again, i think the members miss you at our reunion dinners.”

[kywaslost]

Ciel Helps You With Your Anxiety

A/N: I started writing this while I was on my cruise, and just now got around to finishing it. I hope this turned out alright. Ciel is most likely OOC, since that’s how it works with most of my writings. But I guess it’s helping me out because I’ve been anxious lately and I’m not even doing anything. Please let me know what you think! Oh, and this is a female reader btw.

Rain beat against the windows of Phantomhive Manor as the storm outside raged on. Lightning flashed every few moments, followed closely by rumbles of thunder. You didn’t usually mind thunderstorms, more often than not you found them peaceful and perfect for reading or winding down for the day. Except today it did nothing but make you feel even more on edge.

You weren’t sure why you were feeling so anxious today. You had been doing so well the past week or so, being able to get through the day with minimal anxiety and worry. You were so proud of yourself, and so was Ciel and Sebastian, especially. The two had seen you through your worst and your best, and knowing that you had been doing so well made them so happy for you. So when you woke up with that tight feeling in your chest, your mood deflated almost instantly.

“Is something the matter, Miss L/N?” Sebastian asked as he prepared your morning tea. He noticed your mood change almost instantly. You had only been awake for a few minutes, so he was hoping it was just you being tired.

You snapped out of your thoughts at Sebastian’s voice, shaking your head slightly before offering a half-smile. “No, not at all, Sebastian. Thank you.” After serving you breakfast in bed, Sebastian listed off the day’s events as he picked out an outfit for you.

“Your schedule is quite clear today, Miss. Master has asked that you look over and sign a few documents before dinner. That is all that I have for you today.”

You heard the demon, and knowing that you had an easy day calms your nerves ever so slightly. So you went about your day with an optimistic mindset. After breakfast and being dressed by Mey-Rin, you made your way to the library. You didn’t feel quite ready to be around others just yet, and you knew that Ciel would notice your anxiety so you decided to relax in the library with a good book.

Except that didn’t work. From the moment you sat down you felt like you were forgetting something, or that you could be more productive. So, replacing your bookmark and setting your book on the side table, you stood and made your way to the small storage closet in the library. You pulled out a small hand-held duster and began running it along the bookshelves.

It wasn’t more than five minutes before Sebastian stepped into the room, sneaking up on you and causing you to jump when he gently stopped your hand from dusting the shelves. You gasped, whipping around to see the demon butler.

He only smiled kindly. “My apologies, Miss L/N. I did not mean to startle you. May I ask why you are cleaning the library? You should not be tasked with such trivial things.”

You bit your bottom lip, quickly glancing to the floor. You scraped your thoughts with some excuse as to why you were doing Sebastian’s chore. “Sorry, Sebastian. I just thought I’d help. I don’t mind cleaning.”

Sebastian gently took the duster from you, setting it down on the nearest shelf. “I appreciate your help, but I believe I can manage on my own.”

You nodded, then turned to go back to your chair. Your chest tightened even more and you were overcome with the feeling of crying. You opened your book and stared at the pages as Sebastian began cleaning the library. After a few minutes your leg began bouncing beneath your book. You couldn’t help but feel like Sebastian was upset with you. All you were trying to do was keep yourself occupied to push down your anxious feelings. Was he upset that you tried to do his job? Did he think you thought he wasn’t doing his work to the best of his ability? 

Deciding you had had enough, you stood and made your way to the exit. 

“May I ask where you are going, Miss L/N?” Sebstian asked as he put the duster back in the storage closet.

You avoided his ruby eyes as you passed him. “I’m just going to see Ciel.” You quickly left the room and made your way to the Earl’s office.

Ciel was sitting at his desk, looking over a small stack of papers when you slid into the room, silently closing the door behind you. Ciel only looked up from his work when he saw you sit down across from him. He immediately took note of your slumped posture, lack of eye contact, and the slight jerk of your jeg as you anxiously bounced it up and down in front of you. But the boy refrained from saying anything about it. He knew you’d speak when you felt ready, and if just sitting with him in silence is what you needed, then he’d let you.

Ciel knew all of your anxious signals or movements. He knew that depending how you moved your body showed how much anxiety truly was controlling you. So when you began shaking your hands for minutes without stopping, the boy finally set down his pen and looked up from his paper. He stood and made his way to the front of the desk, leaning against it as he bent over slightly and gently took your hands in his to stop your shaking.

“Hey,” he said softly, uncharacteristically of the Earl. But he cared about you, so he was willing to risk his reputation to make sure you were alright. “Stop. You will hurt yourself.” He turned your hands so they were palm up, running his thumbs over the center of your palms. “Y/N, look at me please.”

You hesitated before lifting your gaze to Ciel’s blue eye. He didn’t look concerned, more sympathetic as he tried to read your facial expression to find the reason for your anxiety. You muttered a quiet, “I’m sorry,” before averting your gaze again. 

“Whatever for?” Ciel asked. “What is on your mind, darling?”

You shrugged and took a deep sigh. “I woke up with this tight feeling in my chest, and…” you took another breath, “I don’t know how to make it go away.”

“And what did we say you do when you feel like this?” Ciel asked calmly.

“Stop, breathe, rationalize,” you answered back. 

“So why don’t you do that?”

You followed the Earl’s instructions, taking a moment to inhale and exhale to calm you down. Then you started to rationalize. “I have no reason to feel anxious. My schedule is free. I’m in the manor. I feel safe. Sebastian is one call away. I’m in your study, and you’re right in front of me.”

“Good,” Ciel praised. “How do you feel now?” Your hands were still in his, and his thumbs still traced over the palms of your hands. 

You nodded slightly, finally making eye contact with the boy again. “Still anxious, but manageable.”

“Can I let go of your hands now?” He answered with a nod. Ciel gently let go, then moved to sit back in his desk chair. 

White light lit up the room for a fraction of a second before a loud boom echoed throughout the manor. It caused you to squeal and pull your legs up to your chest. You had forgotten about the storm raging outside. Ciel was quick to rush back to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “Alright, it’s alright. You are alright, dear.”  Tears brimmed your eyes as you whimpered and buried your face into your knees.

“I’m sorry,” you whimpered again. “I shouldn’t be scared. I shouldn’t cry. I have no-”

“Stop.” Ciel’s voice was stern. “It is understandable. The storm is only making it worse. Do not apologize for something that you cannot control.” He rubbed your shoulder gently as he looked around the room. Ciel let out an agitated sigh. “I apologize, but I cannot step away from my work.” You immediately reached up and gripped the hand that was on your shoulder. Ciel’s hand rotated to give yours a comforting squeeze. “I can call Sebastian to sit with you. Perhaps he could take you to the library? He can light the fireplace, and you can read, or lay down and Sebastian can read to you. I’ll order him to stay by your side, and I promise I will come find you the second I finish my work.”

You took in a shaky breath. “I just want to go back to my room, please.”

Ciel gave your hand another gentle squeeze. “Of course, love. I’m going to raise my voice briefly to call for Sebastian, alright?” At your nod, Ciel quickly yelled out the demon’s name, and the supernatural being appeared in the doorway in a matter of seconds. 

“Yes, my lord?” Sebastian asked immediately.

Ciel looked from your trembling form over to his butler. “Take Y/N to her room, and stay with her until I finish my work. Provider her with any comfort she needs. That’s an order.”

Sebastian bowed slightly. “Yes, my lord.” He walked over to you and knelt down in front of you. “May I pick you up Miss Y/N?” You nodded shakily and slowly let go of Ciel’s hand, reaching your arms out to the demon. He let you wrap your arms around his neck before gently picking you up and cradling you against him. Turning to his master, Sebastian said, “I will take proper care of her. There is no need to worry.”

[sundaynightlive]

august of ‘85 (Steddie, Part 1)

Steve’s hands are shaking, which is not entirely conducive to safe driving. His legs, too—he’s trembling all over. He’s had (and seen) enough panic attacks to know what’s happening. He feels like he’s going to throw up. He feels like he’s going to pass out.

He drives.

He struggles to maintain an acceptable speed, struggles not to plow through stop signs and over curbs to take corners a little sharper, get there a little quicker. He curses his parents for building a house so far from Hawkin’s tiny little doctor’s office, stupidly wishing he could’ve run there, because maybe that would’ve gotten rid of some of this nauseating adrenaline. He can’t tell if he’s building or crashing.

He coughs. It’s half a gag. Now is not the time to be gagging.

Steve tries desperately to take his mind off it, but all he can think about is Eddie. Eddie.

And August of ‘85.

But first, the end of July—

“I’m sorry, pumpkin,” his mom is saying over the phone.

It’s not like he’s all that upset—he had expected this. At least this time his parents had had the decency to warn him they wouldn’t be joining him at their beach house in Maine. The last three years, it had been a crapshoot, and if they did show, they stayed a week, max, and left Steve alone for the majority of August. This would’ve been fine, if Steve had brought anyone down there with him, but he always chickened out of inviting people, false hope overcoming harsh reality each time.

Being alone wasn’t so bad. He had all the time in the world to watch movies, visit the sights, walk along the beach, and read old books (that he suspected were meant to be decorative) he found around the home.

And he cleaned. He cleaned and managed the upkeep. He hired people to paint and he moved furniture around sometimes or bought something new if he decided his mother’s tastes had changed—he’d be damned if he was going to let them sell this place, not when all his happiest childhood memories resided here, and not when it was his only real escape from Hawkins, Indiana.

No, the house would be kept and it didn’t matter if his entire trust fund went towards it. He wasn't going to college, wasn’t moving somewhere expensive, wasn’t buying sports-cars or a thousand-dollar engagement ring for a long-time girlfriend.

He was keeping this damn house.

It’s all he had left of them.

“I’ll still go down,” he tells her, “But, yeah, that’s alright. I figured.”

“Aw, pumpkin, have fun, okay? I know you love it up there. Maybe take Nancy?” Steve flinches. Had he forgotten to tell them? Or had she just forgotten? He can’t remember.

“Right, okay. Love you, mom.”

“Love you, too, pumpkin. I’ll talk to you later.”

And by later, she means sometime within the next few months or so.

Steve hangs the phone on the receiver and sighs, stretching a little bit and mentally shuffling through possible outfits. It’s almost noon, and he has plans. Well… half-plans. He hadn’t exactly agreed to meet Dustin and Munson for lunch, but Dustin would be expecting him, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to disappoint the kid. He’s pretty apprehensive about being seen in public with the local drug-dealer and town-pariah, but Dustin has been insisting for a couple months now (all summer) that Eddie is ‘cool’ and Steve should ‘get to know him.’

How did you even fall in with this guy? He’s, like, greasy.

Freshman orientation—and he is not. Greasy. He’s really, really cool and funny and I want my two best-friends to also be friends.

Why are both your best-friends full-grown adults?

Why’s your best friend a 14 year old?

Touché. But I’m not wrong about Munson—he’s sketchy. He sells drugs.

This sounds like ‘King’ Steve talking.

King Steve wasn’t wrong about everything, Dustin.

Yes. Yes he was.

And the argument had gone on, but Dustin is impossible to outsmart or convince, so Steve had ultimately been roped into this whole ‘coffee date’ situation.

Not date. It’s not a date. It’s coffee. He’s not sure why he put it like that.

In fact, this is so casual and so pointless and so stupid that Steve is going to wear his least-expensive pair of jeans, and a t-shirt.

That’s how much he doesn’t care.

He puts some version of that on, and then immediately decides against it. He’s not used to looking so casual, and he will be in public, and despite the fallout with his friends, and his quest to be okay with being unpopular, he’s not exactly willing to also be unattractive. Not that clothes are always what makes people attractive, but it is what makes him attractive.

The nice jeans that sculpt his ass, the polos tight against his chest and working wonders for his arms—yeah, that’s Steve.

Nice jeans, blue and green polo shirt—he checks himself over in the mirror a couple times. He feels good, normal, right.

So he leaves.

On the drive over, he finds himself nervous, and understandably so. He gets along with most people easily, but Eddie Munson isn’t most people. Eddie’s like Robin, and Robin didn’t come to him easily at all. On the bright side, Steve had never been one of Eddie’s tormentors—that had been reserved for ‘popular’ upperclassmen. Eddie was technically a grade ahead of him and therefore higher on the high school food-chain despite his well-known loser-ness. Steve didn’t deal in making kids older than him miserable—just younger.

But Steve was still a well-known ass, and Eddie knew that, and if it was going to be anything like talking to Rob was, then Steve was in for a barrage of snide little side comments that he ultimately deserved, but made him uncomfortable, anyway.

Might as well prepare all his sincere responses—

I’m not like that anymore.

I’m sorry.

I know. I was stupid.

He parks. He sighs. He runs a hand through his hair. He steps out of the car.

He freezes.

Dustin and Munson are standing outside the coffee shop, chatting, and the sight sends something incredibly foreign into his guts, something he wants to clock as jealousy, but doesn’t feel like jealousy. It feels more like—

No. Nope. Nada. Not that.

Eddie Munson doesn’t look the way Steve remembers at all. He remembers choppy brown hair, wiry limbs, and clothes that never fit him—most of this is from ages ago, though, when Steve was a freshman. Eddie was in his home room that year, but after that, he rarely even saw him in passing.

This Eddie Munson, on the 20th of July, 1985, is not wiry, and wearing clothes that definitely fit him, with brown curls (like Nancy’s) clipped back to keep them off his neck in the heat. His outfit—this cropped band tee and jeans and boots—flatters him. It does more than flatter him, but Steve doesn’t think like that, so no it doesn’t.

It just flatters him.

Anyway—

Steve unfreezes. Dustin finally spots him and grins, waving him over. Eddie spots him, too, which is greatly unnerving, but whatever. Steve runs his hand through his hair again, trying to ground himself.

What is happening?

“Hey Steve, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is Steve.”

Steve extends a hand—sort of a peace offering—and is relieved when Eddie takes it.

“Dustin tells me you’re not a douche anymore,” Eddie says.

Oh, here we go.

“Trying not to be,” Steve answers, politely.

“Cool,” Eddie replies, dropping his hand, “How do you feel about Star Wars?”

What? Star Wars? Steve’s brow furrows of its own accord. He looks over at Dustin, who’s trying and failing to feign some sort of innocence.

“You told him I like Star Wars?”

“It’s the only thing you two have in common,” Dustin admits, and Eddie grins—blinding. His smile is blinding. That’s all Steve has to say about that.

“Luke Skywalker or Han Solo?” Eddie asks, and Steve’s brows raise this time, instead.

“Solo. Obviously.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong—“

And it comes alarmingly easily to them. Talking with Dustin and Eddie is like spreadable butter on toast, and it has Steve in a daze of disbelief for about the entire time. The conversation doesn’t even cease when Dustin gets up to go to the bathroom—they’re arguing about the band on Eddie’s t-shirt, whether or not Steve would like metal if he tried it, if it’s “the future of music” or just a bunch of screaming. Eddie doesn’t get mad about it, just insistent.

Steve concedes, eventually, that he doesn’t actually know what he’s talking about, and that most of his opinions are just other people’s opinions.

“We’ll listen, sometime,” Eddie says, “I have tons of tapes—I’ll bet you a hundred bucks you like it.”

“Are you free tomorrow?”

And that’s how Steve and Eddie end up hanging out at Steve’s the next day, listening to all sorts of stuff—a lot of the harder stuff isn’t really Steve’s thing, but he has to admit, at the end of the day, he did like a vast majority of what Eddie played for him.

And he really enjoyed Eddie’s company. A little too much, maybe.

“Pay up, Harrington.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve relents, “I owe you.”

“Good thing, too,” Eddie jokes, “I do not have a hundred bucks handy.”

Steve laughs. He had suspected that, but it didn’t matter to him. He liked Eddie’s company. Spending the day with someone he actually liked would’ve been payment enough. Steve doesn’t usually get to do that unless he’s working—he and Rob hang out sometimes, but her mom’s so goddamn strict trying to convince her to let Robin hang out alone with a guy is near impossible.

Hopefully, when summer’s up she’ll let Steve drive Robin to school or something.

“Figured that,” Steve replies.

An offended gasp— “Are you calling me poor, Steve?”

There’s a beat of silence, Steve’s heart sinking a little. Had that been presumptive? Why had ge automatically assumed Eddie wasn’t good for it?

Shit.

Shit.

What? No, I—“

“Steve. I’m joking. I am poor. Obviously.”

Steve glares.

“Asshole.”

“You really have changed, huh?”

It feels really good to hear someone like Eddie say it.

The rest is ancient history. They’re friends, good friends, for the rest of July. And sure, that’s only eleven days, but nine out of eleven of them Steve sees, or at least talks to Eddie. He comes into family video, they chat over the phone, Steve even goes to one of Eddie’s goofy ass garage-concerts.

It’s not half bad. Eddie’s a fantastic guitar player. That part is impressive. More than impressive.

Maybe.

“You really won’t come?” Steve whines a few days before he’s set to leave for Maine, and Robin glares at him, obviously annoyed. He’s asked about twenty times in the last two days, and for the last twenty-times, it’s always the same answer—

My mom would never in a million years let me be alone with you for an entire month. And I have to work, idiot.

The idiot part seemed unnecessary, but it is kind of his fault for asking a billion times.

“We have talked about this, Steven.”

“That’s not even my name.”

“Didn’t ask, don’t care,” Robin says. “I’m not going.”

“But maybe you could meet a cute girl or something! I’m sure if we told your mom my parents will be there—“

“Steve! I. Am not. Going.”

“Going where?”

Steve jumps. He had been so busy begging he hadn’t noticed the door open, even with the bell on it, and somehow Eddie was already right next to him at the counter, leaning over on his elbows. Steve huffs.

“I’m going to Maine for the month,” Steve says, shooting a glare in Robin’s direction, “And someone refuses to go with me!”

“You’ll be fine by yourself,” Robin argued, exasperated, “You’re always by yourself!”

“But it’s boring.”

“I think you can handle boring,” Robin snaps, turning around, “If you need someone to go so bad, ask Eddie!”

Ask Eddie.

Right. How has he forgotten about Eddie?

Steve turns to him, and Eddie immediately straightens, hands up in mock surrender.

“I like ya, Stevie, but alone together for a whole month,” he chatters, nervously, backing away, “We’re basically strangers. We just met, what? A week ago?”

Steve pouts. He puts on his very best puppy dog face. He doesn’t wanna go alone—not this time. It’s fine and productive, sure, but knowing that his parents won’t be there and there’s not even a sliver of a chance of spending quality time with them? He doesn’t wanna be alone.

“Please?”

Eddie blinks. Then, he hangs his head dramatically, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Fine.”

“Ha!” Steve cries, pointing a finger at Robin, “You’ve been replaced!”

“Please,” she says, unphased, “You could never replace me.”

She’s, ultimately, correct.

And then, August—

“You wanna do a 16 hour drive in one go?” Steve asks incredulously. Eddie shrugs.

“I mean, why not, man? You take eight, I take eight, and bam, we’re there.”

“Dude, we have an entire month to be down there. Taking a couple days to travel—“

“I hate motels,” Eddie insists, “I sleep in a shithole, but at least I don’t pay to sleep in a shithole.”

Steve can’t help but grin a little at that, despite how it’s mostly sad.

“Your uncle pays to sleep in a shithole,” he points out.

“Are you calling my home a shithole?”

“Eddie—“

“Kidding… I’ve gotta tell you something before we commit to this.”

“What? You snore?”

“I’m gay.”

Steve frowns, and glances over. They’re sitting together on his couch, almost an entire cushion apart, which is weird, but Steve supposes it’s comforting for Eddie in this moment of vulnerability. He looks awfully pretty today, in his sweatpants and baggy band t-shirt.

Steve is totally confident in his sexuality. He can totally, casually think his friend is pretty.

“And that’s important… why?”

Eddie is clearly surprised by this response. He opens his mouth to explain himself, and then closes it, and then matches Steve’s frown.

“You don’t care?”

“No,” Steve says—he doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t. He might have in high school, but he has changed. Extensively. He thinks about telling Eddie Robin is also gay, but realizes before he does that’s probably rude and also a breach of privacy.

“Oh.”

There’s a brief awkward silence.

“So… what’s that like, anyway?” Eddie giggles a little and then bursts into full laughter. Steve should be offended because he’s being laughed at, but he can’t help but grin along with it, anyway.

“Hey—I’m just curious!”

“Curious!” Eddie repeats, giggling up another storm. Steve sighs, shaking his head.

“God forbid a guy try learn something—“

“No, no,” Eddie breathes, putting a hand on Steve’s knee. Something jolts through his spine like lightning.

Woah.

“It’s just such a stupid question.”

“Ouch?”

“You know how you like girls?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I like guys. That’s it. You’ve got the hots for the Leia Organa’s of the world, and I’ve got it for the Luke Skywalkers.” Steve raises an eyebrow.

“The Luke Skywalkers? The goody-two shoes golden boys?”

“You’ve got a problem with my type?”

“No,” Steve says quickly, hoping not to appear judgemental, “I just thought—you just seem like more of a “bad boy” kinda guy.”

“Maybe I am,” he teases, “Maybe I like to do a little corrupting, first.”

Steve swallows hard. Eddie’s tone takes him totally off-guard—all low and suggestive. And the smile he’s wearing is so cocky. Steve should be used to this, as Eddie is often a cocky, theatrical bastard, but when it’s directed straight at him talking about “corrupting good boys” it’s just… a lot.

He doesn’t stop to think about why that might be a lot—just accepts that it is.

“Just kidding,” Eddie says. Then, “I really do just like nice guys.”

Nice guys like me? Steve wants to ask.

“Noted,” he says instead. He’s not sure which one of those was worse. “So. I take it you’re not backing down on the 16 hour drive?”

“No, sir.”

“Do not call me sir.”

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“Jesus Christ, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Too bad,” Eddie sing-songs, “You’re stuck with me.”

They actually do make the trip all in one go, much to Steve’s surprise. 8 hours and 8 hours isn’t totally awful when you’ve got someone to talk to (or occasionally glance at while they sleep, fighting the feeling you get when you realize just how pretty and peaceful they look).

Yeah, it’s not terrible.

“Holy. Shit,” Eddie says when they finally make it. It’s coming up on three in the morning, but Steve isn’t even remotely tired. He’s too excited to be back, happy to finally be out of the car and far, far away from the town they came from. “It’s on the beach?”

“Oh—did I not—“

“We’re going swimming. Right now.”

“We can’t right now.”

“Why the hell not?!”

“Sharks,” Steve says, putting the car in park in the driveway and popping open his door, “But there’s a pool.”

Eddie looks over at him, incredulous.

“Why would you have a pool right next to the entire fucking ocean?”

Steve grins— “For when you want to swim at 3 in the morning and not get eaten by sharks, duh.”

Eddie pops the handle and kicks open his door which is something he has been consistently doing for the last 16 hours, and Steve cringes every single time. He also doesn’t bother going for their bags—just bee-lines for the front door, Steve hot on his heels, fumbling around in his pockets for the keys.

“Holiday House?” Eddie asks as Steve steps past him. A fancy metal name-plate with those very words rests below the number on the door.

“My parents name all their properties,” Steve says as he fumbles around. This lock has always been a little fidgety, but he hasn’t had the heart to fix it. It’s too nostalgic to jiggle the handle the way his father used to while his mother told him all the fun things they had planned for the month of August.

That feels like forever ago.

“They have an apartment in New York called The Skyline and a flat in London called Elton.”

After Elton John, who Steve’s dad often called ‘the piano fairy.’ Steve’s pretty sure Eddie wouldn’t enjoy that bit of information, though.

“What’s the one in Hawkin’s called?”

Steve finally gets it. The door swings open into the hall and he steps over the threshold. The windows need to be opened and the shelves need dusted—it’s stuffy.

“The Kid,” he answers quickky, hoping to avoid any further conversation about that. He flicks on the lights in the hallway, and heads straight for the windows and blinds and curtains as Eddie shuts the door behind him and follows slowly, taking it all in—the foyer, the great room, the sun room, the dining room, the kitchen.

Unlike Steve’s house, the place has a more “lived in” feeling, with soft rugs thrown over the hardwood, fabric couches with throw pillows and blankets, and little trinkets lining the walls. There’s family photos, his mother’s art, awards won by his father, candles, memorabilia. It’s still grand, and boasting wealth—

But it’s still cozy, with white and blue tones and more windows than were probably necessary and a lofted upstairs that opens into the main area so it never feels like you’re truly away from everyone else.

Steve loves it here.

“This is insane,” Eddie says, plopping down on the couch. Steve feels himself being watched as he begins opening windows, running his hands along the sills to wipe away some of the dust before he breaks out an actual duster tomorrow.

Later today, actually.

“Welcome,” Steve says, “You’ve got a month to get used to it.”

“I’ll never get used to this,” Eddie says, breathless. Steve turns to look at him, all wide-eyed and awestruck by a house that, for Steve, is just house. A house full of good memories and comfort, but still just a house.

Eddie looks like he’s seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time.

Steve kind of wishes it was his first time coming here. He wishes he knew what Eddie was feeling in some way.

He wishes he could forget what this used to be for him.

“You gonna swim?” Steve asks, turning back to the windows. Eventually, he reaches the curtain pulled over the sliding glass door, pulls it away, and reaches for the outdoor lights. “Hopefully these—“

The pool, patio, and steps to the beach spring to life in warm light. Steve’s happy to see none of the string lights have fallen or broken—those were a new addition last summer and he’s actually quite fond of them.

“Are you?”

Steve hums, considering it.

Why not?

“Yeah, sure. Just let me get these open, first.”

Eddie moves past him, and at first, Steve’s unbothered at the notion of Eddie swimming out there while he’s opening windows and turning on lights in here, but then pale skin catches his eye—

He’s captivated.

Eddie’s just… taken off his clothes, fully stripped down to his boxers, and Steve probably should’ve assumed that’s what he was going to do, but it didn’t even cross his mind until it had already happened. Eddie’s standing at the edge of the pool, tying his hair back behind his head.

Oh wow.

Steve’s done a very good job of pushing it down, but this is the last straw. It floods over him, just how hot Eddie is, and sets his heart into a full race—

You like him.

You think he’s cute.

You like boys.

You like girls and boys.

But you like boys.

You like Eddie, who you’ve invited to spend an entire month in a house with you alone.

You’re screwed.

Fucked.

Ruined.

Steve only feels the tears on his face after they’ve fallen. He takes a shaky breath and wipes them away, because how stupid to be crying over this? He knows better—he’s past the point of thinking it’s wrong or unnatural, Robin made damn sure of that.

But now he’s… now he’s stuck here with Eddie. And he likes him. And he can’t have him, because how would that even work? Logistically, they can’t date in Hawkins, they can’t get married—

God, who’s even thinking about getting married? They’re nineteen and twenty!

Steve. Steve’s thinking about getting married.

But who’s to say his feelings are requited? No one. And he shouldn’t just assume because Eddie’s gay that he automatically has a shot. He’s probably the exact opposite of—

I really do just like nice guys.

Is Steve a nice guy? Lately, yes. Before? No. And does Eddie think of him as Old Steve or New Steve? King Steve or Babysitter Steve? Who’s to say?

Why is he even getting worked up. Why doesn’t he just open these windows and go outside and get in the pool? Just be normal. He should just be normal. And he should ignore all this, because it’s too much to deal with right now, at the beginning of his vacation.

Their vacation.

The last thing he’s gonna do is ruin Eddie’s vacation by having a crush on him—god, a crush? This can’t be happening.

The universe fucking hates him

Steve finishes with the windows and heads outside. Eddie’s already in the pool, and he looks downright blissful, floating around running his hands over the water like he can’t believe it’s real.

When’s the last time he went swimming?

“Don’t pee in there, or anything,” Steve says, which is stupid but he’s flustered and he wants to say something but he doesn’t know what— “Because then I’ll have to drain it and no more night time swimming, unless you’re risking the sharks.”

Eddie scoffs, turning to face him, “Steve, why the fuck would I piss in your pool?”

Fair question. Steve’s cheeks burn.

“I don’t know!”

“Too late, anyway. I already did.”

Steve, in the middle of unbuttoning his jeans, freezes.

“Are you—“

“No, I’m not serious,” Eddie laughs, coming up to the edge and dropping his chin onto his arms, grinning up at him.

It’s beautiful. And blinding. But mostly beautiful.

“You really need to figure out jokes, Harrington.”

“Maybe you’re just bad at making them.”

“That,” Eddie says, “Is not possible.”

There’s something in his voice as Steve pulls his pants over his feet that nearly knocks him off balance. Something… breathy and… Steve’s not sure. Just something, something more than teasing. Steve wants to believe it’s because he’s seeing Steve almost naked for the first time, but he’s afraid to read that far into it.

If he does, he’ll never make it in the water.

“Is it cold?” he asks, carefully sitting himself down on the edge.

“No,” Eddie replies, so Steve sinks his feet into it, and Eddie’s right. It’s a nice temperature, probably from the sun. “Is it always full?”

“No—somebody filled it last week,” Steve answers, kicking his feet a little. The water’s nice, Eddie’s nice, the warm summer air is nice.

He’s feeling a little too nice, actually.

“Are you gonna come all the way in, your highness?”

It’s Steve’s turn to scoff, then— “Stop calling me that.”

“Make me.” Eddie pushes away from the wall, and good thing, too, because he’s too busy floating away to see Steve malfunction at the insinuation. Insinuation? Maybe Eddie wasn’t insinuating anything—he has a tendency to be a bit of a drama queen.

Maybe it’s nothing at all. It’s probably nothing at all.

Steve pushes himself off the edge and into the water.

“Fuck,” he groans. He hasn’t swam in awhile, either, he realizes, and the wet feels nice and relaxing around all his limbs. Eddie is spinning in languid circles, trailing his arms through the water. He looks ridiculous, but Steve’s only thinking—

Cute.

“We have to get groceries tomorrow,” Steve says, an effort to keep a conversation going. He can’t help himself. He wants to keep talking to Eddie—it’s been like this since he’s met him.

Eddie’s just so good to talk to.

“Hmm,” Eddie hums, “You gonna cook for me, big boy?”

Steve burns. Even hotter.

“Unless you wanna waste all your money on takeout,” Steve confirms.

“Tempting,” Eddie replies, which is like him. If Steve’s learned anything about Eddie in the past 12 days, it’s that he loves Chinese food, and he’s very good at convincing Steve to get him some.

Or maybe Steve is just very eager to please him.

“And we should probably check if we have toilet paper, sunscreen—and wash our sheetd, even though I—“

Steve is cut off abruptly by a wall water smacking him in the face, getting in his mouth and up his nose. He coughs, sputters, wiping himself off and mourning the loss of what had been a really good hair day.

“You’re so—“

Steve’s turn. He splashes Eddie back, and from there it’s an all out war. Steve hasn’t been in a splash fight in a swimming pool with anyone in probably a decade, and here he is, barely breathing, laughing uncontrollably, shouting unintelligible nothings until Eddie’s seizing both his wrists and lifting them above his head—

“You lose.”

“Yeah, right.” Steve wrenches easily from his grasp and tackles him in the water, initiating some form of wrestling until Eddie's pinned to the wall, arm twisted (as gently as the angle will allow) behind his back, both of them wheezing for air.

“Asshole!” Eddie gasps.

“You started it,” Steve snaps back.

“Ow—let me go—“ Steve does as he’s told. The last thing he wants to do is—

Oh.

When Eddie turns, they’re practically nose to nose. Steve’s breath blows out of his lungs like it doesn’t belong there, and he finds himself unable to keep his eyes on Eddie’s eyes—it’s too intense.

Fingers brush over the side of his face.

This can’t be happening.

“Is this okay?” Eddie whispers.

More than okay. Perfect. Kiss me. Fuck me. Have me. Marry me.

“I—uh—yeah, yes. Please—“

Eddie silences him finally with his mouth. Steve’s eyes flutter closed—the boy tastes like pool water, spit, and morning breath, but Steve could honestly care less. He melts into the kiss, pressing into Eddie as closely as he’s afforded.

Until Eddie pulls away from him.

“Two things,” the metal-head says, breathless, but firm, “One—I refuse to be the thing that ruins your life.”

Ruin his—what does that—?

“Two—wait a week. If you still want me for the rest of August, I’m yours.”

Eddie pulls out of his grasp.

Now, today, July 18th, 1986, Steve knows in this moment, he should have snatched Eddie back and told him all sorts of things—

You won’t ruin my life.

We could be good.

I’m not waiting for you, I want you now.

Let’s do this.

But then, in the small hours of August 2nd, 1985, Steve could barely breathe, let alone think, and as he watched Eddie push himself out of the pool, boxers clinging to his ass and thighs, hair tied up and dripping, smooth skin and more smooth skin and so much skin, all he could think was that September 1st was an eternity away.

And he would take what he could get.

End Part 1

(Next Part)

[seventeenlovesthree]

so, apparently there's plenty of death symbolism/metaphors surrounding, are you interested in elaborating that? including "indirect" death like spiritual death, character assassination or death of identity, somethjng along those lines?

- death symbolism surrounding Taichi, sorry, somehow I pressed ask , sorry for my blunder

It's fine, no worries, I already assumed that it was referring to Taichi! If you think about it, several characters in Digimon Adventure have been dealing with the subject of "death" one way or another, most in direct association with someone (human or Digimon) close to them.

Now, if we look at our favourite main character, riddled with traumatic childhood experiences and questionable coping mechanisms, there is a bunch of instances where he had to deal with the potential of death happening in front of him or CAUSING death himself - either to others or himself -, so it should not be surprising that, at some point, he may have dissociated himself (mostly subconsciously, I'd say) from being a Chosen Child. Whiiiich may or may not have led to Kizuna's events, but yeah, it's count the instances first, shall we. TW: death, mental health.

The whole Hikarigaoka incident: While Hikari was scared too, she was still much younger than him and couldn't grasp the implications of what was happening there, while Taichi did EVERYTHING in his power to protect her and himself from not getting crushed by the two Kaijus in front of them.

Him almost causing Hikari to die due to his (still existing) sense of childlike innocence: Yes, she was sick, but he thought she was already on the way to recovery and only took her to play football to cheer her up. That's where he first had to face that good intentions don't always lead to positive outcomes...

The SkullGreymon fiasco: Again, he intended to do good for the sake of the group, but overlooked the bigger picture and became reckless, thus causing his partner to evolve into a literal symbol of death and decay in the process. Something that may have happened to the ENTIRE group if the Digimon hadn't run out of energy...

The electrical fence and its aftermath: This one has several follow-up points, but I still think it's suitable to summarize them all here - first of all, there is him being confronted with the idea of actually dying by getting electrocuted after he was 100% convinced that nothing they did mattered, since they were "just data in a computer". Once again, he was being reckless and careless - not only did it lead to almost killing himself, but in extension, also dooming Sora, whom he failed to save. Overcoming his cowardice, finding his own sense of courage eventually led to victory - but also led to him disappearing and roughly 50% of the remaining group ended up thinking that he had actually died in the process. Meanwhile, he was back in the real world and had to choose between saving only himself, or everyone else as well... And we all know how the answer to this turned out to be.

Him almost causing Hikari to die AGAIN: Of course there have been several instances of death before and after they re-entered the Digital World again, leading to the eventual "fallout" between Taichi and Yamato in regards to how they should deal with the immediate danger at hand... But the most devastating instance here was Taichi reliving his early childhood trauma, fearing that, by taking Hikari with them, he made the same mistakes again, acting thoughtlessly, not considering the circumstances... He has been acting self-sacrificial for the sake of the group before, but it's this arc that shows that he is actually ready to die if he can at least manage to save everyone else in the process (hence why he ended up fighting with Koushirou as well, because Taichi forbade him from taking on any pain himself and Koushirou was having none of it).

Let's not forget that, during the events of Our War Game - and all the follow-up movies, especially Diablomon Strikes Back -, he was also under immense pressure: To save the entirety of Tokyo from getting blown up by a missile and every other side-effect that Diablomon may have caused in traffic or elsewhere... And once again, his own hotheadedness may almost have caused his partner to get killed, to the sense of guilt plays a huge role in here as well...

02 portrays Taichi as matured, it showed that, while he still occasionally needs to get reminded of it, he KNEW that he has to make uncomfortable decisions sometimes; of course he almost despaired when his partner was being captured and corrupted, but he also realized that he may have had to sacrifice him for the greater good; he needed to remind Hikari that the new kids never had to deal with the same kind of death exposure before, but warned her - with quite a grim, but serious expression - that they would have to face it eventually. He grew aware of their duty throughout all this time, through all these experiences, and it's not pretty, but at this point, he was still ready to act.

Tri picks that point of the story back up again by mirroring Meiko's fate with his own - at least to some degree. Once more, they had to face the possibility of having to kill a beloved partner Digimon and at this point, Taichi was questioning whether or not recklessly sacrificing infrastructure and lives for the sake of fighting was the "right way" to deal with everything. It may have felt a bit like recycled conflict at this point, but it's been several years by now, and Taichi is, overall, contemplating his life choices, contemplating his diplomatic future, the status quo AND his "duty" as Chosen Child.

It's through the course of Tri that he: Watched parts of the city get destroyed ONCE AGAIN, almost died through the course of several fights and an earthquake-like blow, had to witness his teacher - whom he greatly looked up to - sacrifice himself, covered in wounds and blood, to save him AND their missing friends... And all that after Daigo told him that they lied to protect them and that he should move on and create a better future... Thus, Taichi decided to go for the kill again. Again, he didn't like it, again, he got reminded by Hikari of all people how terrible it all is, but he knew that he had to.

Kizuna chose a similar premise to Meiko's once again - first of all, if we look at everything above, is it really a wonder that Taichi probably developed some fatigue? We all know, see, can tell how much he loves Agumon - hence why he did end up horrified by the prospect of losing him. And as I pointed out before, he did use the fighting for the sake of having a purpose, because... Who else was he if he couldn't "lead" anyone anymore?

And since the rest of his young adult life was pretty directionless... Can you really blame him for it? The amount of nightmares, the tiredness, the PTSD the previous experiences may have caused in him could never be treated by a "normal" therapist - who could ever relate to all of these things that sound incredibly supernatural and like nothing an adolescent should have shouldered all by himself? Heck, he isn't even able to talk to his friends about it at all (even if stageplay!Agumon told him to!), just swallowing it all by himself, dealing with the thought spiraling in his head on his own.

Hearing Menoa tell him that she lost her partner, making it all sound like a huge punishment for making the wrong choices... It may have rang several alarm bells in Taichi. How often must he have dreaded making the wrong choices? How much guilt must he have felt for the sake of Hikari, Meiko, Daigo, everyone he temporarily let down by hesitating or acting out in the wrong moment, let it be Yamato, Sora, Koushirou, Daisuke... Now there's this young woman who asked him to figure out a way to fix a problem she couldn't herself, a problem that may separate him from his soulmate forever and for what? Because he grew unsure of himself, because he faltered, because looking at all his friends, who found their paths, had become painful and tiring. Because, even after coming to temporary answers, he didn't know who he was and who he wanted to be anymore.

He had to choose to fight so many times, he sacrificed himself as much as he could. Then there was the prospect of fighting Menoa with two possible outcomes: losing would lead to his own death (or "loss of self" since he would have his consciousness be trapped forever in a neverending dream of his childhood), winning would lead to the death of his partner anyway... It must have been dreadful.

When it comes to the different kinds of "deaths" you mentioned, I will try to summarize this quite shortly, even though they're definitely interesting angles.

I believe that a "death of identity" is basically what I have outlined above - while it mainly focused on Taichi's (decline of) mental health, which may also have resulted in a tendency to isolate himself, Taichi's journey is basically some kind of Lion King analogy, where he starts as your typical head-through-wall protagonist, but has to deal with the aftermath of cowardice and the consequences of his choices - and does so by running away from the pain FIRST. From himself and his responsibilities. He also could have chosen to let Menoa win and let his consciousness be turned back into that of a carefree child... But he chose not to let that happen.

Because deep down inside, there IS his path. There are his values, his persistence, his belief system. He's been on the brink of a breakdown, but it's all there. Hence why I really, really, REALLY want to WATCH him getting to his "Simba strikes back" phase at some point, since we only ever saw it implied by the end of each, Tri, the stageplay and Kizuna. We KNOW he will push back, but we have yet to see in what way, if he ever got therapy and how he's actually doing - mentally, physically, spiritually.

Speaking of which, "spiritual death" is a bit harder for me to grasp in his context, but considering how his sense of guilt and fear of cowardice have led him to (temporarily) turn away more and more from his true self, his natural sense of courage and more positive, outgoing attitude... It all leads me back to him having lost his sense of self. I will never forget the feeling of how my stomach dropped during the "depressed adult" scenes in Kizuna. Again, I want to give this movie props for depicting adulthood like that, but it really hurt and felt way too relatable.

And I guess in this sense, we can also talk about "character assassination", because... As you may have noticed, I have linked quite a few analysis posts in this answer, because I have been trying to analyze and understand Taichi for MONTHS now. And sometimes, I feel like I may be trying too hard - who knows me also knows that, while Taichi is one of my favourite characters, I also have my fair share of problems with the AMOUNT of Taichi suffer p*rn in the OG timeline (and I still maintain they only made Taichi as generic as he was in the reboot to avoid these allegations). Some may argue that it's all over the top and that they keep recycling the same conflict (for him and in general) over and over again for the sake of even HAVING a plot to revolve around (which also wouldn't contradict the epilogue too much and actually leading towards it eventually).

For me, it has been interesting to look at all of this in context, as heartbreaking as it is sometimes. Mental health is a serious issue and watching a character like Taichi experiencing at least some form of implied depression after everything he went through tells you that everyone can get affected by this. Even if your experiences won't involve several instances of near-death-situations, even if you are resilient and have a lot of social, mental and physical resources to deal with set-backs or intense, difficult situations... It may still happen. And it's important to show that there are ways to deal with it as well as you can. That there is hope, even if things are not 100% alright.

[thatoneweirdo14]

i think the reason vbs surpassing rw already feels anticlimactic (to me) is because its been such a massive thing for them for so long and its just done like THAT

i know in bdtw they say how they actually want to go beyond rw but that was TWO EVENTS AGO. let it marinate, pleaseee. Give them some time to truly understand and contemplate what this extension of their dream means to them, like in on your feet. An especially, it doesn't feel right for her to accept this so fast given all that's happened

Also, storytelling-wise its just not a wise move to make? I'm no story-writing genius but usually when characters have a dream they want to achieve, the majority of the story is build-up to that dream as well as the characters growing in proportion to the story along the way. Before that dream is achieved, however, what happens in the story is that the characters almost reach the goal before crashing back down, going through their biggest low point.

This achieves two things: 1) It allows any plot holes or gaps in the characters' motivations/abilities to be filled in, leaving no room for doubt in the audience's mind and 2) ITS MORE SATISFYING.

Think of it this way, which feels more deserved: a character gets better and better at overcoming obstacles (with a couple outliers they actually can't do) and then crosses the finish line OR a characters gets better and better at overcoming obstacles, TRIPS, considers whether its worth getting back up bc they're likely to lose anyway, see how far they've run, decided that the only way to go is forward, continue running the race, see how much better they've gotten since the beginning then still manage to place top five, feeling more confident about next time.

Notice how the situation where the path to success isn't linear is the more compelling narrative? With the way colopale handled the story, they DONT DO THIS. and its annoying!! I WANT to see them surpass rw and I WANT to enjoy it but I can't do that when it feels like a "main character ends up winning first try!" situation.

It also kinda hurts that their story is more tell instead of show, which already makes it hard to celebrate their progress. Honestly, if they were gonna do this then in LUTF they should've at least made it seem like vbs were close to their goal, maybe make taiga step back a bit like "damn that was actually kinda good wth" or smth idk i need to catch up with the vbs events honestly but i have a good enough idea about them to be able to say this confuses me :"//

There's a reason this story structure has been used over and over and it's because it WORKS. It doesn't matter how much I like the mc and want them to succeed if it doesn't feel warranted I'm still not gonna be able to enjoy it. "vbs is popular the fans will love it no matter what we put out!" no. A bad story can ruin good characters, no matter how much fans love them, and vice versa.

I saw someone say that this event should've been them being told that they're ready to surpass rw, on they're closer than ever to surpassing rw which i feel like, if they didn't wanna go for the depression route, would've been a better direction! Their next arcs could've then been each of them overcoming their own greatest struggles regarding their dream, stuff that's been bothering them since/before main story and how they overcome it now that they're in a place to. THEN we can talk about getting to rw.

I just hope the next vbs event gives some devastating aftermath or side effects or smth to balance it out, and they should probably slow down the story a bit as well from here on out, but that's just my thoughts ://

[m3gahet]

You ever write the end of a fic first and then have know idea how to start it? Just me? Ah well

Short Pibbin drabble. Robin tags along with Pickles as he visits his family after he shots down her offer to "take care of them".

“I shoveled every driveway in fucking tomahawk to earn the money for that kit.” He sighs, his head falling slightly. “Wouldn't even let me keep it in the garage.” 

“That's fucked.” Robin says, her tone a bit stilted. Emotions are weird. Especially others. Her body shifts towards Pickles and hesitates before placing a hand on his thigh. Green eyes move from the pavement as her bloodied knuckles catch his attention.

“You punch my brother?” He asks with a weak chuckle that turns into a full blown laugh as her eyes widen. “Robbi!”

“He made a pass at me!” She exclaims, gesturing wildly. 

“He did what?” Pickles attempts to stand, a burning anger replacing his self pity. Robin shoves him down by the shoulder bringing his ass back to the concrete. 

“I handled it.” She turns her hand to show off the bruises. “Why do you think he ran off to the bathroom after pitching me his business proposal?” His expression softened at her use of air quotations. She wiped her hand off on her jeans. He should have known the blood wasn't hers. “Piece of fucking work.”

“Ain't he?” The two of them sit there on the curb in silence both their eyes shifting to the sky. Pickles leans back onto his hands and steals a glance at the blonde. It's like one of those artistic shots from some chick flick. The street lights create a halo effect around her, a soft smile on her lips and she relaxes with a sigh. “Thanks for coming.” He finally says, returning his eyes to his sky. 

“Well you shot down my first idea.” She chuckled. “Least I could do.” He glanced back at the house, knowing it wouldn't be long til his mother came out to scold him for some bullshit reason. He's about to get up when he feels a sudden warmth cover his hand. His eyes bounce from his hand now covered by the manager's to her face. “Offer still stands by the way.” She jokes as she gives him a reassuring squeeze before leaning in towards him. “I can make it look like an accident and everything.” 

He's overcome with laughter that only grows as Robin's own joins. His face feels warm despite the cool air and all of his frustration and sadness he had felt when he first stormed out had faded. Their laughter softens as he opens his eyes. Robin's face is close to his own, her cheeks a soft pink and her amused smile genuine. He knows it's a bad idea and he could royally fuck up a good moment but he can't help it. 

Robin gives a soft noise of surprise as he presses his lips to her. He just barely breaks away before she caresses his jaw in her hand and pulls him back in. 

It's a brief kiss but it manages to still leave him feeling fucking amazing. 

“Wanna bail?” She asks against his lips before fully pulling away. He realizes she's still squeezing his hand. “I can have a car here in less than five minutes…but I get if you want to say goodbye-” he steals another quick kiss before getting to his feet, pulling her up with him. 

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

[ninjagood4]

yooooo your art is amazing!

but heres a question: so in (one) of your lastest posts with artwork, you mentioned that Agatha has a boyfriend: Lloyd. is it okay if i ask how the two met and become lovers? and is this a one sided relationship orrrrr

It will be a complicated story, and they will have a long way to go to fall in love. Yeah, they’re gonna be an inseparable couple after all they’ve been through, although at first, it’s gonna look like Lloyd’s behind a stone wall 🥺

They will meet in a complicated and unexpected way as well. Agatha will travel a long way in search of a monastery of spinjitzu to find ninjas who can free her valley from the occupation that has lasted for 16 years. Living in a place that is extremely far from other settlements, Agatha learned about them through legends in books and to the last doubted the existence of heroes. But she studied these legends for years and lived in hope that the "five masters led by the green one" existed.

When Agatha found the monastery, Lloyd initially despised and even hated her because of her mischievous nature and him own traumatic past (which reminded him a lot of Harumi). Agatha herself was afraid of Lloyd and tried to avoid him because of his angry state. At the same time she was doing well with the other ninjas, and behind Lloyd's back the ninjas were saying some things about him, such as that he was "a child in an adult body".

Soon on the way to the valley, the Destiny bounty crashes and Agatha, Lloyd and Leo are the only ones left (Cole and Jay were thrown off the ship and the others were kidnapped), so Agatha and Lloyd have no choice but to talk to each other after days of ignoring each other. At this point they just explode at each other, but there's nothing left for them to do but work together, though their argument almost comes to a "fight".

Along the way, Agatha notices that Lloyd is traumatized rather than angry, and decides to get him to talk. Over the course of time she manages to give him confidence, Lloyd begins to feel a little more confident around her. When he accidentally blabs that he is half Oni, Agatha becomes afraid of him again, but still promises to help him overcome his problems and fears, since he has agreed to help her.

They will have to make plans, work as a team and help each other all the time, as there is simply no one else who can help. They will slowly open up to each other to fill the void between the routine, and will notice that they have a similar destiny and principles. Later, Agatha saves Lloyd's life and realizes that it was hard for her to lose him, which will bring them closer together. They will also talk about personal traumatic experiences, Lloyd about Harumi's betrayal, and manipulation and hatred of Agatha by others, but when they learn that Energy and Jade (a power that will later be revealed in Agatha) is the only thing that can save the world from destruction, they realize how important it is to be close and look at each other, realizing that they as well as their elemental powers should be as one.

[niall-ate-mynamee]

He's Not Heavy, He's Our Brother (part one)

Author's note: hello lovers <3

So, it's been a while, huh? I am so sorry. I have no excuses. I've been hitting writers' block for months now, and have finally overcome it! Because I've felt bad about not posting for a while, I wrote this today! It will have a second part to it, but because I have work in just over an hour, I wanted to post the first half now. I've combined the above two prompts that I received in July, so please let me know what you think! I will be writing the next part when I get home tonight, and will have it up either tomorrow or Sunday! Thank you for being patient with me and sticking by me, I love you guys <3

TRIGGER WARNINGS: bad language, sexual harassment, drug use, drugs, non-consensual touching, non-consensual drugging, attempted non-con/rape.

Characters: Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Original Male/Female Characters

Word count: 1632

Hope you enjoy!! :) please let me know what you think! :)

P.s. the lads are NOT famous in this one :)

21 year old Niall Horan had been working at The NightLife Club for a few months now, along with his best friend Louis Tomlinson, 25. Their other best friends Harry Styles, 20, and Liam Payne, 23, were frequent customers, always coming in on the night's Niall and Louis were working, knowing they'd get at least an hour or so after their shift to have some fun together. Not that they didn't have fun anyway, because Louis was always cracking jokes and the four were found huddled around the bar every second they had spare in between serving drinks.

Niall loved his job, most of the time. Of course, working in a night club in the middle of London wasn't always smooth going. He'd dealt with a lot of drunken men, thrice his age, trying to hit on him or touch him in places nobody besides his future partner should even think about even looking at. Thankfully, his three best friends rarely leave him alone for five minutes, meaning he's always got his boys protecting him.

He had met Louis first, just a few hours after he moved into the flat he was renting, a little over a year ago now. The older lad was his neighbour, he lived in the flat opposite Niall, and the two hit it off instantly. Then, he was introduced to Liam and Harry, who also lived in the flat block, three floors below. The four were instant friends, and they were rarely apart. Niall couldn't believe how lucky he was. When he moved from the small town in Ireland where he was born, to London, he never expected to make friends within twelve hours of his flight landing, but he'd never change anything about his life. Moving to England had been the best thing he ever did, and he adored his best friends, who were more like brothers to him, more than anything in the world (besides his family, of course).

When Louis told him about the server position going at the club he worked in, Niall jumped at the chance for a change in jobs and immediately applied. His managers, Frank and Tucker, seemed to take to him very quickly, and he was basically offered the job on the spot. The lad could've cried in happiness. He had a job he loved, with his best friend, and he had a pretty decent amount of money behind him. He thought his life was amazing and didn't think anything could stop him.

Until it did.

It was approaching 11PM, the time when Niall and Louis' shifts would end, and they planned to stay at the club to have some fun with Harry and Liam, before the place closed at 1AM and they decided to go home, or, well, to one of their flats for some more drinks and movies, as their Friday and Saturday nights tradition, and tonight wouldn't be any different, or so they thought.

Five minutes before he was due to clock off, Niall was approached by his manager, Frank, who was barely taller than Niall. "Could you just go serve that gentleman over there for me before you go, please? He's been giving Anna a hard time." Frank asked him, bent close so Niall could hear him. The Irish lad glanced to where Frank was pointing, and after seeing Anna, his 19 year old co-worker, shaking her head in disgust, he nodded and made his way over. Once he arrived, he put a hand on Anna's shoulder and gently pulled her back with a quiet, 'I've got this,' and was rewarded with a relieved smile from the young woman as she hurried away.

"What can I get for you, mate?" Niall asked as professionally as he could, while wanting to smack this man's smug face. He held eye contact and stood as tall as he could, beginning to get bad vibes from this man.

"Your number." He smirked, and Niall resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "And a look at that ass."

"Sorry, mate, no can do with either of those. It's a drink or the door, your choice." Niall bit back immediately, really not wanting to deal with this…at least he could clock off once he's finished with this man, though. He's definitely needing a few drinks after this customer.

"I'll take a vodka and coke then, handsome." The man eventually replied, still smirking as he leaned forward against the bar, getting even closer to Niall as he did. Niall nodded and, after catching Harry's eyes a few feet away, he smiled and turned away to get the drink, when all of a sudden, he felt a hand slap his backside and he gasped, swinging around in a panic.

Before he could say anything, Harry was there and shoving the man aside. "Don't touch him, you creep!" The younger man exclaimed, which caught the attention of Louis and Frank, who both hurried over.

"What's going on?" Frank asked, at the same time as Louis asked, "Ni, you alright?" Niall just nodded, melting back into Louis' chest as his older friend wrapped his arms around him.

"Chill out, mate," The man was talking, holding his hands up as if surrendering, "I'm sorry, okay? Just a spur of the moment kinda thing, yeah? Won't happen again."

Harry huffed, not liking the man, but not wanting to cause a scene, especially when his best friends work there and wouldn't want him in any trouble. "If I see you so much as even look in his direction again…" He let the threat hang heavy before letting him go, very slightly shoving him.

When the man walked to the other side of the room, Niall let out a breath and slumped. "Thanks, Hazza." He smiled gratefully, which Harry returned with a grin of his own.

"Always got your back, Nialler." Both lads grinned at one another as Frank put a hand on Niall's shoulder and smiled gently at him.

"Go clock out, Niall, you and Louis go enjoy a few songs, drinks are on me tonight." Their manager said, and Louis whooped while Niall gave the older man a quick hug.

"You're the best, Frank, thank you!" He laughed as he pulled away, before turning to Louis, "Race you to the back!" He yelled, quickly running ahead with Louis cackling behind. Frank just shook his head, before continuing with work.

-----

McFly's Obviously was thumping through the speakers as Niall, Louis, Liam and Harry drank, danced, laughed and sung to their heart's content. It's been nearly an hour since the incident at the bar, and it seemed like the lads had put it behind them. Niall didn't see the point in being cautious or nervous now, because in his mind, the guy was gone and he could fully enjoy the night with his brothers. They've all had a fair few drinks now, since Frank had said they were free for them, so they said screw it to their usual limitations and simply drank, Niall had definitely had more than the others, but they wouldn't try and stop his fun now, they could tell he had been shaken up by the incident, so wanting him to have some fun.

That would all be coming to an end soon, though.

When Niall announced he was off to get another drink, the lads nodded and continued jumping around to the music. Niall laughed as he watched Liam's poor attempt at the robot, resulting in him nearly tripping over as his shoes caught a tiny lip in the floor. Heading over the bar, Niall caught sight of Damien, a 31 year old who had started at the club a few weeks ago. "Usual, Niall?" The man smirked, already pouring the drink before Niall could talk. As it happened, the younger man nodded and laughed, taking the drink as it was handed over.

"Thanks, Damien!" He called over his shoulder as he began making his way back to his friends, before bumping into someone. "Shit, sorry, mate!" He apologised, looking up and freezing as he saw the drunk from earlier. "Um, I, uh, sorry…I'll just be…" He was cut off as the guy grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards an empty corridor. "HEY! Let me go!" He cried, using his other hand to try and pry at the tight grip on his bruising wrist.

"Shut up!" The man growled, just as the two ended up in a small room, which Niall recognised as the spare storage room. "First you reject me, then you get your little friend on me, and now you bump into me? I've had it with your type!" He was ranting, slamming the door closed and blocking it with an empty shelving unit. "You pretty kids, thinking you're better than everyone else. I'm sick of it!"

Niall was terrified now, his drunken mind sobering as he finally realised the situation he was now in. "P-please…I'm s-sorry, please don't h-hurt me." He whimpered, trying in vain to get up and away from this creep. It didn't work. Niall watched as the man, who had a clear bottle of something, grabbed his chin and began pouring whatever the drink was down his throat. Niall felt it burn and began choking, trying to spit up whatever it was.

"Swallow it!" The man screamed in his face, making sure the entire bottle was empty before waiting for the effects to start. Once the drug kicked in, a few seconds later, Niall was losing all strength and could no longer think straight, vision blurring and head spinning. He no longer felt in control of his body. "Perfect," The man smirked, "Just how I've wanted you since the second I saw you…I can't wait to finally get a taste of you…"

Niall knew no more.

Author's note: I haven't proof read this, so if you spot any mistakes, please let me know! See you this weekend for part two! <3

[shiningwonderland]

A Class Prologue (Repeat)

Translators: Ladylancer (Twitter: utatranslations), Raz, (Twitter: agnadance)

Proofreaders: Boo (Twitter: masatoswife), Belen (Twitter: reiharus)

Editors: Aoi (Twitter: AoiTsukihime), Mae (Twitter: itoshikimaegirl)

A Spring Day's Introduction

‘Idols:’ those who are unattainable and who we long for.

‘Idols:’ those who give people dreams and courage.

‘Idols:’ those who I...

I’m Haruka Nanami—15 years old. Starting this spring, I’ll be aiming to become a composer, someone who creates songs for said ‘idols’!

Looking back, I was nothing in middle school.

I was extremely shy, didn't have any friends... The neighborhood dogs would bark at me and stray cats would scratch me.

I wanted to be helpful to others but my efforts were always in vain, no matter what I tried to do.

During the many days I felt depressed, the idols on TV were the ones who would always pull me through.

So I decided that one day, I wanted to make songs for these ‘idols’! In order to fulfill that dream, I wrote a piece of music.

I filled the song with my feelings and sent it along with my application to Saotome Academy, a school specializing in the performing arts with a success ratio of 1 in 200.

It's a few weeks later and I've finally received a notice from Saotome Academy.

Select the Phrase!

Aクラス... わたし受 かったんだ. A Class... I passed.

It’s the first time my wish has been granted, the first time my dream has come true. This is the first step towards changing myself.

From here on, my story begins!

Haruka Nanami: … I couldn't sleep a wink.

Today is the long-awaited entrance ceremony for Saotome Academy.

The past two days, I’ve only been thinking about things like whether I’ll be able to get along with my classmates, or if I should bring a small gift with me.

Because of all my worries, I haven’t been able to sleep.

Haruka Nanami: ... Ugh. I’m sleepy… But despite that… I’ll do my best today!

Hayato: Ohayaho~! All of you 10 million HAYATO fans nationwide, how are nya?

Hayato: I’m wishing you all well today from Studio 2!

Hayato: Today’s theme is, you guessed it, ‘final tax return.’ Eh? You've already done yours? Of course…!

Haruka Nanami: Ah… HAYATO-sama. He looks as magnificent as always.

My favorite idol, HAYATO-sama, is a rookie idol who debuted last year.

No matter how harsh his trials are, he never loses his smile. He’s a bright and energetic person, like the brightest star that lights up the night sky.

HAYATO-sama’s show, ‘Ohayaho News,’ is the only show I make sure to watch no matter how busy or sleepy I am.

Once the clock hand ticks to this exact time, I’m always ready in front of the TV!

That’s how it goes every day.

Hayato: … That’s all! Reporter HAYATO, signing off! Everyone, bye-bye nya~!

Haruka Nanami: Alright! I’m fully charged! Let’s go to school!

Oh no… I had no idea a train would be this merciless during rush hour…

People who go to work must be doing their best to overcome this every single day…

Rustle.

Haruka Nanami: ...!!!

Mmh… Just now, it felt like something touched my butt...

Rustle, rustle.

Haruka Nanami: ...!

… I was right. I-is it a molester?

W-what in the world should I do?

???: Can’t you see you're bothering her?! Knock it off, you old geezer!

Haruka Nanami: Ah…

What a nice voice… Beneath its childlike simplicity, you can feel a core of strength. A straightforward, sincere voice that carries well.

… Actually… Did this person just... save me...?

Pervert: Tsk, what a brat. I hate goody-two-shoes like you!

???: Ah! Hold up, don’t you run away! … Dammit.

Ah… The pervert got away. He managed to slip through the crowd… But if he were still here, I would feel uncomfortable...

I’m glad he’s far away now...

???: Are you okay?

Haruka Nanami: Eh… U-um… Well… I’m not sure what to say…

M-my words aren’t coming out right. Um, umm…

???: In a situation like this, I think ‘thank you’ would work.

His smile is dazzling. Bright, like the sun…

Haruka Nanami: T-thank you…

Pat. He gently places his hand on my head.

I’ve never been touched like this by anyone other than my father...

His eyes are gentle and warm, like a summer breeze. His smile is just a little mischievous, yet refreshing. Somehow, he looks like the protagonist of a shounen manga...

Otoya Ittoki: I’m Otoya. Otoya Ittoki. Nice to meet ya.

Haruka Nanami: Ah, right. Um, i-it’s n-nice to m...

Pshhh.

Upon arriving at the station, the doors slide open and a horde of people begin to file out.

… However, e-erm… Um…

Caught in the wave of people, I'm forced off the train…

Otoya Ittoki: Eh? W-wait! Aren’t you wearing a Saotome Academy uniform? You’re not supposed to get off he—

Pshhh.

Ittoki-kun’s words are cut off by the closing train doors. Erm…

Where am I… This is the station before the Academy’s… isn't it? The next train is… not coming anytime soon!!

I have no choice but to run for it! I prepare myself for the sprint.

Right after passing through the ticket gate, I start running like a racehorse released from its paddock gates.

I run down the street in front of the station, up the hill that makes my heart start pounding, and bolt straight through the residential area.

Then, at that moment...

Cat: Meeeow.

Haruka Nanami: … A cat?

I can hear the pitiful crying of a cat.

Cat: Meeoow. Meeoow.

Haruka Nanami: I can hear you, but…

When I look around, there’s no cat to be seen.

Cat: Meeoow. Meeoow.

Haruka Nanami: Ah!

The cat is crying from the top of a utility pole.

Haruka Nanami: I see, you don’t know how to get down, do you? It’s going to be okay. I’ll catch you, so… Come, kitty...

I spread my arms wide and show them to the cat. It hesitates for just a moment before jumping off.

Haruka Nanami: What a relief... It seems like there are no injuries.

Cat: Meow!

The cat meows happily in my arms.

Haruka Nanami: Please don’t climb up high places anymore, alright?

After giving the cat my warning, I set it down and start running towards the school once again.

Haruka Nanami: I have to run fast to make up for lost time!

Then, after fifteen more minutes of running, the school finally comes into view.

Haruka Nanami: Haaa… huff… huff… Ah… H-handkerchief…

I search my pockets for my handkerchief in order to wipe away the sweat flowing from my face like a waterfall, but...

Haruka Nanami: It’s not there!

… I must have dropped it on the train earlier. It was my favorite one, too… Either way, I've gotta keep going for now.

When I pass through the school gate, other students are still arriving as well.

Haruka Nanami: I-I made it in time...

Lost in my thoughts, I can’t slow down easily...

—Thud.

Haruka Nanami: … Nnh.

I bump into something and fall, but it… relatively... barely hurts. Eh? This soft feeling on my lips...

Haruka Nanami: ...!!!

M-m-my lips are touching those of an unfamiliar boy… T-this is… my first kiss…

… That aside, what a handsome person...

Long limbs, dark, lustrous hair, and beautiful, white fingers. His eyes look a little austere; they’re very profound and stunning.

I’m in awe. I've never seen anyone this beautiful before.

??? A: … Will you please get up?

Ah!

Haruka Nanami: A-ah, kiss, u-um, m-my first, i-it... was s-soft.

A-aaah. What should I say? At the very least, I have to apologize…

??? B: Y-young Master! Are you injured?!

??? A: There's nothing.

??? B: You commoner! Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?!

Haruka Nanami: Eh…?

??? B: You’re talking to the heir of the Hijirikawa Group—one of the world’s seven financial conglomerates—Masato Hijirikawa-sama!

??? B: Don’t be haughty! Bow down, bow dooown!

Haruka Nanami: Eh… O-of course.

I obediently kneel down on the ground and apologize.

Masato Hijirikawa: Jii… Step down.

Jii: But…

Masato Hijirikawa: There is no problem. Step down.

Jii: Very well! As you wish.

Masato Hijirikawa: ... You’re not injured, are you?

Haruka Nanami: … I’m fine.

I remain kneeling on the ground and nod without raising my head.

Masato Hijirikawa: … Truly?

I-I think so… In all honesty, I feel too frightened to even raise my face.

Then, Hijirikawa-sama takes my hand and helps me up.

Masato Hijirikawa: … You are injured.

Eh? A-ah… Now that he mentions it, my knee seems to hurt a little bit…

Masato Hijirikawa: I will treat it...

Haruka Nanami: Eh, um, er…

While I'm unable to say anything out of panic, Hijirikawa-sama pulls off the necktie from his uniform.

He gently places a white handkerchief on the wound and wraps his necktie around it, securing it tightly.

After finishing up his treatment, he stands back up.

Masato Hijirikawa: … What is your name?

Haruka Nanami: … Eh?

Haruka Nanami: … Eh, um… I’m… Haruka. Or, well, u-um…

Haruka Nanami: U-um, I’m really sorry!!

I flee the scene, not quite knowing why.

I guess it's because, well... Because I feel embarrassed.

A-about the k-kiss, that is. Besides that… he went so far as to treat my wound...

I was a little absent-minded until just now… The moment he asked me for my name and I introduced myself, I suddenly came to my senses…

Then I started feeling so embarrassed that before I knew it, my feet were already moving away…

The venue for the entrance ceremony is simply glorious.

Chairs are lined up in the wide auditorium, and large flowers can be found on either side of the stage.

And for some reason, there's an orchestra class of 120 people on standby in front of the stage.

It’s almost like an opera event could start at any moment. Or perhaps the venue could be compared to the giant stage used for that once popular, nation-beloved comedy show....

As the entrance ceremony begins, the orchestra begins their majestic performance.

The drop curtain parts to both sides of the stage. But…

Haruka Nanami: Huh? There’s no one on stage.

At that moment, the auditorium ceiling starts to split into two and opens up little by little.

Male Student A: W-what is that?

Male Student B: A jet plane? But… why is it in a place like this?

Looking up at the sky, I can see countless jets flying overhead. Then, one of the jets opens its hatch.

The person inside...

???: Haa HA HA HA~~!!

... jumps.

Haruka Nanami: ...!!!

Male Student A: Is he... skydiving?

Male Student B: No! If you look closely, he isn’t carrying a parachute!

He’s right, the skydiver doesn't have a parachute. He appears to have noticed it himself, too...

He reaches his hands towards his back for a moment and then shrugs helplessly.

W... W-what’s going to happen...?

THUD!!

Along with a terribly loud crashing sound, the stage is wrapped in smoke.

Male Student A: Oh man… He’s dead, right…?

Everyone lowers their eyes out of grief. We all expect a tragedy. But then...

Shining Saotome: Everyone! Congratulations on your admittance. This school’s principal is ME, SHIIINING Saotome, yeah!

Haruka Nanami: ...

As if nothing happened, the school principal begins the ceremony on the stage.

He's styled his hair like horns on either side of his head and wears pitch-black sunglasses.

He has a polka-dot shirt, with a pink necktie under his grey suit. He is clearly a very unique individual.

Shining Saotome: This school was, of course, founded by ME for the sake of discovering and nurturing ‘renowned idols!’

Shining Saotome: Now, applause~!

Clap, clap, clap. While everyone is still in shock, we start to clap.

Shining Saotome: Hm~ OK, OK! It seems like you’re all good kids.

Shining Saotome: As of right now, I will tell you about the Seven Commandments all Saotome Academy students must know.

Shining Saotome: So clear out your ears and listen closelyyy.

Shining Saotome: This is quite sudden, but ME loves songs! SONG IS NUMBER ONE! That’s why….

Shining Saotome: Even though idols are idols, here at Saotome Academy, becoming an idol singer will be your main goaaal!

Shining Saotome: Before graduation, everyone will perform songs in the graduation audition. Those that pass will immediately get a CD debut!

Shining Saotome: Those songs will also be made by you! That’s what the composer course is for!

Shining Saotome: Idols and composers will team up and aim to become the strongest renowned idols!

The principal is explaining important information, so I know I’m supposed to listen seriously…

But for some reason, my legs start to feel like jelly and I feel dizzy. Come to think of it, I haven’t been sleeping too well these past few days…

I couldn’t get anything down my throat this morning and then ran at full speed for twenty minutes without anything in my stomach…

Then, someone patted my head for the first time… And it was the first time I k-ki...

Remembering it now makes my heart beat faster. Ah, somehow, my dizziness is...

Shining Saotome: That said, please spend your school life with ‘Purity, Integrityyy, Beautyyy!’

Ah… The principal’s speech… is over… —Thud.

As soon as the principal finishes his speech, I black out and fall backward.

Haruka Nanami: Mmm…

It… doesn’t hurt. It looks like the person behind me caught me as I collapsed.

???: ... You’re alright. Stay just like that.

Such a gentle voice…

???: … It’s probably anemia. At times like this, it’s a good idea not to move around too much. You can take it easy, please put your weight on me.

He’s holding me firmly from behind. Warm, gentle arms… For some reason, I’m already feeling a little better.

… Huh? Could this be… a hug from behind…?

Haruka Nanami: … Ah, aah. M-my... my apologies…

???: It’s alright. Please stay like this for just a little longer. When it comes to anemia, you shouldn’t rush things.

As he says that, he gives me a sweet smile. Wire-framed glasses cover his long eyelashes and his curly hair is a color reminiscent of milk tea.

Such sheer white skin… His features are very delicate and gentle.

And, above all, his kind and warm voice that speaks so politely. Just listening to it gives me soft feelings.

Natsuki Shinomiya: My apologies, I should have said this sooner. My name is Natsuki Shinomiya.

Haruka Nanami: I’m… Haruka Nanami.

Natsuki Shinomiya: Haruka Nanami-san. That’s an adorable name. It suits you very well.

Haruka Nanami: T-That’s…

Natsuki Shinomiya: Nanami-san, please excuse me for a moment.

Haruka Nanami: Eh?

His slim fingers undo the ribbon on my uniform and then begin to undo the buttons on my shirt.

Haruka Nanami: ...!!!

The people around us quickly start shifting uncomfortably. ... But Shinomiya-san isn’t bothered at all and continues to loosen my clothes.

Natsuki Shinomiya: How does… this feel for you? Does it feel any better?

Haruka Nanami: A-ah… um… Well, my-my clothes…

Natsuki Shinomiya: Ah… Pardon me… Um… With cerebral anemia, it is best to increase blood flow by lowering your head.

Natsuki Shinomiya: Since you can’t lower your head any further… at the very least, loosening your clothes should help with increasing your blood flow…

Haruka Nanami: Ah…. Thank you….

Natsuki Shinomiya: Ah... There’s no need to… You’re very welcome...

When I show him my gratitude, Shinomiya-san’s cheeks flush red.

Natsuki Shinomiya: Well… Anemia is usually a result of lack of sleep, missing breakfast, or sudden, intense exercise...

Shinomiya-san gives me a gentle smile as he tells me about anemia.

Ah… I meet all those conditions... I’m sorry.

Because of those things, I've become a terrible inconvenience…

Once the opening ceremony has finished, everyone starts heading to their respective classrooms.

Natsuki Shinomiya: Ah, Nanami-san.

Haruka Nanami: Shinomiya-san… Ah, I wanted to thank you… for earlier.

I bow my head to him gratefully.

Natsuki Shinomiya: Don’t worry about it. As long as you feel better now, that’s what matters the most.

Otoya Ittoki: Huh? You’re from this morning… Whoa, so we’re in the same class. Were you okay this morning, Nanami? Did you make it to the opening ceremony on time?

Haruka Nanami: Eh? Ittoki… kun...

This morning, he saved me from that molester…

Haruka Nanami: Um… I somehow managed to get here on time. Ah, thank you… for back then.

Huh? But, how does he know my name…? I don’t recall introducing myself…

Otoya Ittoki: Ah, that’s right! Here, you dropped this on the train.

Haruka Nanami: ...!!!

Before my eyes, he holds up the handkerchief that I lost this morning.

Otoya Ittoki: "A Class, Haruka Nanami." It’s kinda unusual to see a name written on a handkerchief. But it’s thanks to that that I got to know your name.

Otoya Ittoki: Let’s get along this year!

Haruka Nanami: O-of course. Likewise, it's very nice to meet you.

Masato Hijirikawa: Hm? You are… that woman from earlier… How is your injury? You ought to have consulted the infirmary, just in case…

Haruka Nanami: ...!!!

T-the person from this morning… H-Hijirikawa-sama!!!

I never thought we would meet again. W-what should I do…? I ran away from him without thinking earlier…

Haruka Nanami: Ah, no… I... I-I’m fine… Well, um, I’ll make sure to wash the handkerchief and tie and return them to you…

Masato Hijirikawa: Please do not stress over it. … I have plenty of spares, so why don’t you keep them?

Haruka Nanami: Eh, ah… Of course. Thank you…

Otoya Ittoki: Ehh, I see you’ve already met Natsuki and Masa too.

Masato Hijirikawa: Rather than meet… I would say it was more of an accident.

Haruka Nanami: U-um… Do you all know each other?

Otoya Ittoki: Yeah, we were all together for the school orientation.

Natsuki Shinomiya: Yes, the two of them are wonderful friends.

Otoya Ittoki: That event deepened our friendship a bunch, more than we actually needed.

Masato Hijirikawa: It was a severe trial that I do not wish to dwell on… However, it was meaningful in terms of friendship.

Otoya Ittoki: That’s for sure… Well, anyway, let’s be friends this year!

Whoa... To think that everyone I met this morning is in the same class as me…

Moreover, all of them are friends with each other… What an amazing coincidence...

Otoya Ittoki-kun. Masato Hijirikawa-sama. Natsuki Shinomiya-san.

All people who allowed me to experience a lot of firsts. This year, I will be in the same class as all three of them…

Just thinking about it makes my heart pound with excitement.

Alright! I’m going to give it my all and become a splendid composer!

Prologue End - Choose your partner!

[thelampisaflashlight]

The ghouls, but I talk about the drabbles from earlier. Below the cut.

-Cloudy-

With this one, the name came first.

Originally, I was going to have Cumulus call Cirrus “Storm Cloud” or something with a bit more of a tumultuous feel to it, but Cloudy felt decidedly more clunky/endearing in a way that I feel nicknames should be.

The dynamic between these two is sort of like if you took a hard candy with a liquid center and I guess... inverted it? In that their jovial/soft interactions are seen more often than what’s going on on a deeper level.

They have a strong connection and have been through a lot together, and their comments about Dew/their “idiots” are surface level teasing at best for the most part.

-Between You and Me-

I tried to think of a way to resolve this without it becoming a much larger piece, because longwinded discussions about emotions are sort of my thing, but alas it was not meant to be.

When Swiss calls Aether out on not asking for help/not talking about himself, I kind of wanted to highlight how others can sometimes feel bad/distanced from a friend even if they often confide in them, because the trust doesn’t run both ways.

Swiss feels bad, because Aether doesn’t tell him things about himself/see him as someone he can have a mutual exchange with.

Whereas Aether doesn’t want to burden Swiss with his less pleasant thoughts and feelings, and would rather just help others instead of being helped himself.

It’s not something that can be “fixed” overnight either.

It takes time and work to overcome the urge to squish down your own feelings and build up trust in others.

And lastly;

-Sleep-

To talk a bit about Dew’s sleepwalking first and foremost, when Mountain states that Dew finds his condition embarrassing, it’s largely because it scares him.

When Mountain talks about Dew being in a vulnerable position during his episodes, in particular his lack of control over the situation, it’s safe to assume Dew, as someone who has been classified as a stoic, would find this sort of thing, well... upsetting to say the least.

Sometimes we might express a more complex discomfort as embarrassment, and that’s exactly what Dew did when he confided in Mountain about the issue prior to the events of the drabble.

I wanted to establish the idea that through being around each other and building up trust, in contrast to the events of Between You and Me, these two were able to discuss more serious matters and implement steps to manage them/keep Dew safe (choosing a room downstairs to avoid Dew having an accident on the stairs to name the example I gave in the drabble) regularly enough that Mountain is well prepared to step in and help.

Moving along, Swiss commenting that he doesn’t like being alone when he’s sick, but also having not told anyone he was still feeling bad, shows a little bit of his own hypocrisy when he’s scolding Aether in the previous drabble as well, though the time of night could easily excuse his decision NOT to wake someone up.

Swiss not knowing how to deal with Dew, but being willing to help was also something I wanted to put forward. He doesn’t have to question whether or not he should help, he’s just going to do it... carefully.

He’s able to see the seriousness of the issue, and acts with caution, and him remarking that they/he probably shouldn’t joke or make light of it shows that he gets that.

The discussion between Mountain and Swiss about Dew’s situation is also important, because it’s true, it’s not Mountain’s place to discuss it, but he also knows he needs to reassure Swiss who has never had to deal with this sort of thing before.

I wanted to write Mountain as being emotionally mature and competent, at least more so than I usually do. He bumbles around a fair bit in other stuff I write, but he’s serious when it comes to taking care of his family.

He’s tired and a bit frazzled when Dew initially starts displaying his condition/when he briefly disappears on him, but he’s clearheaded and aware enough that he’s able to manage the situation with ease, even when taking on more than he bargained for.

[darkershining]

Just watched episode 49 of Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure, in which the Cures head to the Undergu Empire for the final confrontation.

Picking up where the last episode left off, the Cures and the Empress are shocked at Skearhead's betrayal. Skearhead notes that the Empress will perish the same way her father did, causing the Empress' to recall the repressed memory of what really happened to her father.

While she and her father were discussing what the Undergu Empire should believe in now that their belief in strength being everything has been proven wrong, Skearhead snuck up on them and fatally stabbed the Emperor through the back. He then implanted a fake memory in the traumatized Empress that it was Cure Noble who betrayed them and attacked her father in order to make her into the perfect vessel for the Undergu energy. Cure Prism asks Cure Butterfly to heal the wounded Empress, but Skearhead reminds them that the power of light won't be able to heal someone born of Undergu energy.

As Skearhead takes on a stronger form, calling himself Darkhead, the Cures try to save the Empress. Darkhead reveals to the Empress that since he's come clean about his other lies, he may as well admit that he never truly cared about her, he was only interested in her potential as the vessel for Undergu energy. Her spirit broken, the Empress wonders what's even left for her, but she sees the Cures are still doing what they can to save her. As he observes Cure Sky's determination, Darkhead realizes he may have found an even better vessel.

He takes the Empress back to the Undergu Empire, daring the Cures to go after him if they want to save her. They know it's a trap, but figure they have no choice but to follow. Coming across several Ranborgs, Cure Wing deduces which way they should go based on where there's a higher number of Ranborgs guarding the area. He and Cure Butterfly stay behind to fight them off while the other three Cures go on ahead of them.

As they continue along, Cure Majesty has to stay behind to fight off another Ranborg. As she sends Cure Sky and Prism ahead of her, she muses on why there are five Cures, and she reached the conclusion that Cure Noble must've felt lonely fighting alone and wanted her successor to have friends to fight alongside her. Cure Sky and Cure Prism continue making their way deeper into the Undergu Empire.

As they watch the Cures, Darkhead admits to the Empress that it was her heroic actions during the battle against Cure Noble and the Emperor that made him see her as the best suited to be the vessel for the Undergu energy. However, now he has a new vessel in mind, namely Cure Sky. As Cure Sky and Cure Prism arrive, the Empress tries to warn them, but Darkhead interrupts her. The fight begins, and initially it seems the two Cures have the advantage since their battles against Skearhead in the past have let them catch on to his usual strategies. However, due to the high concentration of Undergu energy, the two begin to weaken.

As Cure Prism collapses, Darkhead grabs her and dangles her over a cliff, asking Cure Sky what lengths she's willing to go to in order to save her. Presenting her with the Undergu energy, he tells her she can use it to save her friend. Cure Sky takes on the Undergu energy, taking on a darker form as she manages to catch Cure Prism and get her to safety. She's determined not to lose herself to the Undergu energy, but as the fight between her and Darkhead continues, the Undergu energy starts to overwhelm her, giving Darkhead the opening he needs to possess her.

Cure Prism regains consciousness, standing up as Darkhead prepares to have the possessed Cure Sky finish off her and the Empress. However, he is shocked to find that Cure Sky is able to overcome his control, Cure Prism having had enough faith in her friend that the bond between them would be strong enough for Sora to return to her senses. Cure Prism uses her light to eject Darkhead from Cure Sky, and even manages to heal the Empress, much to her surprise. With Cure Sky back to her normal self, the two approach the Empress, telling her they've found the answer she was looking for.

Cure Sky admits she still has much to learn as a hero, and that along the way she has made mistakes and even nearly lost her way at times, but thanks to the support of her friends, she was able to come back stronger and realized the importance of having people who believe in you. She and Cure Prism offer to be the Empress' friends, as the other three Cures catch up to them. However, the battle isn't over yet, as Darkhead, now in the form of a serpent made of Undergu energy, emerges from the darkness. The Cures prepare for their final battle, telling him he won't be able to defeat the five of them working together.

Another great episode! So, now we know what really happened to the Undergu Emperor, and I just feel bad for the Empress having been manipulated by Skearhead all these years. And wow, I did not see Cure Sky becoming temporarily corrupted with Undergu energy coming. The design of her dark form was pretty cool too. The way Cure Prism brings her back to her senses was pretty epic too. She didn't even need to do much, she knew the bond between them was just that strong that Cure Sky wouldn't be able to attack her.

Anyways, I'll be looking forward to seeing how this concludes!

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1168: Comforting With One Another (King of Fighters)

1:46 a.m. at Yabuki's Apartment's Living Room......

It was a dark, clear night in the streets of South Town where almost everyone are at their homes fast asleep for the rest of the evening.

Whereas our two lovebirds, Shingo Yabuki and Leona Heidern, are sitting down on the sofa together holding onto their mugs of hot coco after waking up from their respective nightmares.

Shingo: (Takes a Sip of his Drink Before His Eyes Begins to Sparkle in Awe) My god...... (Takes Another Sip of Coco with a Bright Smile on his Face) This has to be the best cup of coco I've ever tasted! I don't even think mom could ever top something THIS amazing no matter how hard she try!....D-Don't tell her I say that once we see her again, 'Kay? (Chuckles a Bit Awkwardly)

Leona: (Giggles Softly While Playfully Rolling her Eyes) I won't say anything, I promise. And I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Seriah used to make me mug whenever I stayed up late in this hour, until she taught me how to make on myself. (Uses her Plastic Sppon to Whirl her Coco Around a Bit) It's not perfect in comparison, but it does help calm my nerves from time to time. (Takes a Sip of her Drink)

Shingo: (Takes Another Sip Before Nodding in Agreement) Yeah.....I think it's helping my nerves a bit too, Leona-san. Which is great, cause I.....(Takes a Very Deep Breath Before Frowning) Really don't feel like going back to sleep anytime soon......

Leona: (Frowns as Well While Laying her Side of her Head onto Her Boyfriend's Shoulder Next to Her) Me neither. I can't remember the last time I had a nightmare this bothersome.

Shingo: Same.

Shingo/Leona: (Turns to One Another) What was your nightmare about? Oh! Sorry. You first. Please, I insist. (Stare at Each Other For a Brief Second Before Giggling a Bit)

Shingo: (Rubs the Back of his Head Back and Forth) We're both a real mess tonight, aren't we?

Leona: More or less. I can tell mines first if you want.

Shingo: Sure. Take as much time as you need to prepare yourself, okay?

Leona: (Happily Nodded) I will. Thank you. (Takes a Deep Breath Before Frowning and Speaking) My dream.....It....mostly involves my Orochi side.

Shingo: (Frowns in Worry) And....how you lost control?

Leona: For the most part, yes. (Puts Her Mug Down on the Coffee Table In Front of Her) It's not nearly as horrific as the previous dreams I had in the past, but.......('Sigh') It still managed to find it's way into terrify me when I least expected....

Shingo: I see......(Eyes Suddenly Begins to Widened at the Realization) Wait. You said that you and the Colonel have been doing those special training sessions together that help keep it under check, right? How's that been going along, i-if you don't mind me asking.

Leona: It's been going along smoothly for the most part thankfully. It wasn't without It's challenges mind you, but it still helped me out a lot since then. It made me feel more calm and....more in control than I ever was since then.

Shingo: (Smiles Brightly) That's great! You're making progress and I couldn't any prouder.

Leona: (Snickering a Bit) You sound almost exactly like my father whenever I give him status report.

Shingo: (Starts Snickering as Well) Me? Sounding like the great Colonel Heidern? I don't believe it~

Leona: (Giggles Softly) It's true!~ In private whenever no one was around the area, he would always brag and tell me how proud he is of me and how far I've come to get to where I am now.

Shingo: As he should be! Any parent would be proud of the progress their offsprings would make. (Gently Grabs Hold of his Girlfriend's Habds) And look, I know how scary and stressful this Orochi fiasco gets overtime, but keep doing what you do best in your training. I know what you have it takes to overcome what him and his followers would have thrown on you. Because what your name is?

Leona: (Stares at Shingo in a Brief Second Before Giving him a Determined Smile on her Face and Salutes to Him) Leona Heidern, the first woman in the Ikari Warriors, daughter of Colonel Heidern......(Forms a Bit of a Flirty Smirk on her Face) And the woman you've fallen over heels for~

Shingo: (Chuckles Lightly) You God darn right! You're amazing, Leona-san, and I believe in you 150% percent, always! (Gives Leona a Thumbs Up While Grinning)

Leona: (Giggles Some More) Thank you, darling!~ It means so much hearing this from you. (Gives Shingo a Kiss on the Cheek) But I'm afraid we're not done here, are we?

Shingo: ('Sighs a Bit in Defeat') No....Not even close.

Leona: (Gently Place her Habd on Top of Shingo's) You know you don't have to tell me if you don't feel comfortable enough in doing so, right?

Shingo: (Gives Leona a Bit of a Reassuring Smile on his Face) Yeah, but you were brave enough to tell me yours. It's only fair if I return the favor, you know?

Leona: Take as much time as you need to tell me. I won't go anywhere.

Shingo: (Happily Nodded) Yeah. (Takes a Very Deep Breath Himself Before Speaking Again) Okay! So......I'm....certain you've......remember the time i....accidently blurted out the time I.....almost died trying to protect Kyo from a Wild, Orochi Controlled Iori after 11th KOF Tournament ended....

Leona: (Simply Nodded) I remembered, yes. And it still worries me to no end.

Shingo: ('Sighs Heavily') Yeah, I figured you say that....But that was the dream I had tonight. Only this time.....No one was there to save us.....I wasn't strong enough to protect Kyo......or to fulfil Chizuru-Senpai's promise.........(Tears Starts Falling Down From his Eyes).....And I....('Sniff') wasn't able to see my mom and sisters again on that night.......

Leona: (Starts Getting Worried) Shingo.......

Shingo: And..... ('Sniff') I know. I know it's dumb of me to keep thinking about that now that I'm.....still alive and breathing....And I'm pretty sure Kyo has already gotten over it a long time ago, but.....('Sniff') I-I don't know! I....('Sniff') Just.... the thought of the possibilities of us not being so lucky at all kept scaring me nonstop!

Leona: It's....starting to get too much for you, isn't it?

Shingo: ('Sighs Heavily') Pretty much, yeah. (Starts Wiping the Tears Away) ('Sniff') Pretty dumb, am I right?

Leona: (Gently Grabs Hold of Shingo's Hand) No it isn't. Believe me, I know what it's like to have past trauma trying to weigh you down at your very lowest at times. But you can't let it take toll out of you forever.

Shingo: (Takes Another Deep Breath as He Starts Calming Himself Down) Yeah....You're right. I still have my whole life ahead of me to look forward to right now. ('Sigh') I just wish it wasn't too.....complicated, you know?

Leona: It's never gets easier down the line, but never lose hope. (Gives Shingo a Reassuring Smile on her Face) I know you have what it takes to overcome it completely one day. And I'll be more than happy to help out and support you every step of the way.

Shingo: (Heart Begins to Melt in Pure Happiness as He Hugs his Girlfriend Lovingly) You really are too good to me~

Leona: (Starts Pouting at her Boyfriend a Little) Don't say that. You know as well as I do that you've brought just as much happiness to me the moment we started becoming friends.

Shingo: (Chuckles Lightly) I know, I know, I was only kidding. I am really thankful for you making me feel a lot better though.

Leona: (Smiles Softly as She Hugs Shingo Back) Likewise. You're a truly wonderful person, Shingo-Kun and Ihpile I could aspire to become more open and strong willed as you are as I grow another year older today.

Shingo: I'm sure you'll- Wait, another year older today?

Leona: Well, it's technically my birthday today given it's midnight.

Shingo: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock) You're BIRTHDAY IS TODAY!? I didn't know that!!

Leona: (Smiles Sheepishly) That's....probably because I've never gotten the chance to tell you until now. My apologies

Shingo: ('Sigh') No. It's my fault for not asking you about it a lot sooner. Now I got a lot planning to do........

Leona: (Starts Yawning a Bit) Let's worry about that when the sun raises back up. I'm sure we'll have plenty to do by then.

Shingo: (Yawns as Well) Definitely. But I'm definitely gonna buy you gift while we're at it.

Leona: Only if you promise not to buy me something too expensive.

Shingo: I'll try. I love you.

Leona: (Kiss the Top of Shingo's Head) I love you too~ Thank you so much.

Happy Birthday, Leona Heidern

@thelexhex

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