#but seriously I’d rather they didn’t rush development

[thebrokenpaintbox]

A sketchbook page of teeny-tiny studies from Hollow Knight — one of my top favourite videogames of all time. Also, Ari Gibson is one of my many favourite artists.

It’s such a shame that the Andromeda galaxy will collide with the Milky Way long before Silksong is released though.

[chaenprettyyy]

Itzy reacting to their s/o having a bad bad game

Genre: Fluff headcanons

A/N: Its my first post!! I’m a new author so I’m looking for some fellow fluffy friends! ^ ~ ^

This one’s for all my fellow gamers. We’ve all had that one(or multiple) game/s that lingered a lil too much.

Hwang Yeji

- You were playing solo when you got into a heated argument with someone in your team.

- You were usually above interacting with the trolls of this game but today you just weren’t having it.

- You were caught off guard by the enemy team because you were too distracted with your argument.

- That did it for you. It made you skip the fuse and outright explode.

- Yeji flinched from your raised your voice

- But you didn’t notice that

- What you did notice was the expression she had on when you randomly glanced to her direction

- You couldn’t quite read her face. But you knew it wasn’t a positive reaction.

- Right then and there you knew you had to put a stop to it, so you remained silent for the rest of the game.

- Still bothered with what you saw from Yeji, you didn’t even care about the result of the game, you just instantly logged off after the game and took a walk to de-tilt yourself.

- Arriving back home, you see Yeji on the kitchen island

- She had her arms propped up, head supported by both hands, like she was waiting for something

- When she finally saw you she gave you a gentle smile

- She was waiting for you

- "Why'd you go for a walk?" she asks

- "I've never seen that look on your face before... I knew I had to do something about it" you replied, scratching your nape, embarrassed that you were the reason for said face

- Your eyes land on 2 cups placed atop the kitchen island

- One was her’s, the other was a drink looked familiar to you.

- She got you your favourite drink

- "Whats with the drink?" You asked back, taking the beverage in your hand.

- "Same reason as yours i guess." She replied

- After exchanging some words, Yeji confirms your state.

- “So you’re all good now??”

- You reassure her that you are.

- She rushes to your shared bedroom.

- You follow her in suit and see her taking down a pillow fort. She explained that she had hoped the pillow fort would do the trick if your comfort drink didn’t.

- Dear God Yeji’s so extra

- Laughter filled the room

- You lovingly tackled her

- You two lay on the not-so-disposed-of pillow fort giggling & cuddling.

- You and Yeji were still fresh from moving in together, and this moment right here was a sign of the good times to come.

Choi “Lia” Jisu

- You didn't know you were playing the new game mode the developers must have recently added.

- Its called "Who can blame who more"

- Where your team would fight the enemy AND verbally assault your own at the same time.

- You were playing just fine, but your teamates were too distracted with all the trashtalking.

- You tried your best to put up a good fight but it was an inevitable loss.

- You were demoralized, and you told Lia all about it.

- She listened with all her heart.

- The sight of her nodding along to your sentences made you smile.

- It cut you off mid-sentence.

- You scoffed.

- It confused her

- “What?” she asked

- “You know what... I don’t care anymore. I don’t want be brought down by something so silly.”

- “Y/N, if it were silly then you wouldn’t be this affected now would you?”

- “No seriously, I’d rather enjoy the rest of the day with you.”

- She gives you her signature cinnamon smile.

- Yep that did the trick. You’ve now fully meant every single word that you said just now.

- “I’m happy that you think so.”

- She holds both your hands. They were cold, possibly still influenced by adrenaline from the game.

- Lia rubs her hands in between yours to warm it up.

- Your heart fluttered from that.

- It may have worked a little too well, as now your whole body was heated up.

- You find her truly amazing. Her entire being is comfort incarnate.

- Is it really though?

- You test out that theory.

- You hold her body in place so she could still herself.

- Dig your ear onto her chest, you did.

- And listen to her full heart.

- It felt like each beat you heard dwindled the memory of that game inch by inch.

- You couldn't see it but she was looking at you from above with the dope-iest smile. She still couldn't believe how much you loved her.

Shin Ryujin

- Ryujin would be the type to watch you during your game.

- She knew the game well cause she convinced you to teach her all about it. Hoping it would be a bonding experience.

- So she saw how slowly but surely your hopes diminished.

- The enemy bested you in the most subtle of ways.

- It was a slow burn type of game.

- It could have been 50-50 if it weren't for your lapses of judgement.

- After a long bout, the word Defeat splattered across your screen.

- You're not a bad player or anything, its just that that specific game showed how big your room for improvement is. It showed you which areas for you to work on.

- You: *long drawn sign*

- Ryujin would point out all your good plays in the game, but not discounting that you really do have to improve in some aspects.

- "Shake it off, babe. I know you did your best."

- You really did consider her words, you always did.

- But her usual blunt approach wasn't cutting it right now.

- You head to your shared bedroom and lay face down. Corpse-style.

- ‘Its so stupid’ You thought

- ‘It was just one game’

- ‘... I guess have tons more to learn to be considered a decent player’ 

- You tried logic-ing your way out. Thinking of all the things that game could have taught you in hopes not thinking about the loss.

- Deep in thought, you were interrupted with the bed shifting.

- Ryujin was on the other side, seated with crossed legs.

- You didn’t even bother looking to her direction

- You grunted

- She starts patting you like a baby

- You pay no mind to it until you notice yourself calming you down

- Your grunts turned to mewls

- What is this magic?

- Well, whatever it was, it was certainly working to pull you out of the hole you were starting to dig yourself deeper and deeper in.

- You try to thank her but she shushes you

- "No words needed." she said

- You start to fall asleep.

- But not before you nestle your head on her waist. Hugging it tight.

- Like it was the first and last time you would ever get that treatment from her.

- Ryujin made sure it wasn't.

Lee Chaeryeong

- You had a bad game

- And then another

- And then another

- 1 turned to 3

- And 3 turned to 5

- It was a losing streak

- You'd think you’d feel furious about it, but somewhere along your gaming marathon, anger just turned into sadness and self-pity.

- You felt so sorry for yourself.

- Chaeryeong enters your apartment, looking like she was defeated as well.

- It seems that she too was having a bad day.

- "How was your day, babe?"

- "Horrible... Yours?"

- "I don't even know where to begin"

- You two share your grief, sparing no detail of your horrid day.

- It was your turn first

- And boy was Chaeryeong a great listener.

- The lady right in front of you was an empath.

- She made you feel like she suffered through the same misplays, same mismatches, same losses you just experienced.

- Crunching her face and reacting to every single detail that made each game uniquely depressing.

- She had enough anger for the both of you. And so you made sure to reciprocate that.

- Casually asking her whats got her down and listening intently.

- It was so easy for the two of you to rant to each other.

- Like spreading butter using a warm knife.

- It was strange how something rooted from sadness could be turned into something heartwarming. 

- No "its ok"s

- No "tomorrow's another day"s

- You didn't try to cheer each other up. You didn't try to solve the other's problem. You were just there to lend an ear.

- Your show-and-tell: grievance edition started in the kitchen

- Which then led to the couch.

- Which then led to the bedroom.

- Your listening to each other felt so natural that you didn’t notice yours transitions to different places

- The next thing the two of you knew, you were now in bed, cuddling for comfort.

- Tough as it was, at least tonight it was you and Chaeryeong vs the world.

- And you held onto her for dear life as you join her in buying a ticket to dreamland.

Shin Yuna

- A sharp groan

- You hang on the edge of your seat, both hands on your head, eyes shot forward, still not believing how stupid your were.

- Your girlfriend Yuna approached you

- You wondered what was more annoying.

- That you had just fumbled the last play in the most royal way?

- Or the girl trying to pry herself in between you and your chair.

- "Uhmm Babe?...." you asked, still not used to the younger's antics.

- "Hmm?"

- She was acting like what she was doing was normal.

- "What'chu doing there?"

- "For one thing, being warm." she squeezed you

- Her boldness hit you like a truck.

- It made you breath out all the adrenaline from the game.

- She noticed it was calming you down, so she hugged you harder, now digging her face onto your body.

- "I'm not that upset about it." you lied

- But she hums away your attempt to talk about it further.

- A good minute of silence completely purged away all your negativity.

- "So theres this big party at JYPE later. I already told them you're my plus one"

- You were stunned for a second

- "AND YOU'RE ONLY TELLING ME ABOUT THIS NOW?"

- Your panic threw you off your chair and you head straight to your closet.

- Your worry subsides when you see a suit holder hanging on the handle.

- No way in hell that you bought this suit from this brand

- ‘Of course she already got me a suit’

- Gone were the days where you had to cut off an arm and a leg for when an event would blindside you.

- You two continue talking about the event, and how you would tag along with itzy to have dinner before going to the venue together.

- It was hours later when you remember how badly you screwed up the game.

- Now you’re in a limo on the way to the party. Having the time of your life.

- You knew Yuna didn’t purposely try to distract you from your bad game.

- Yuna’s life was active. It was ever-moving.

- It was in her nature to move past these types of things every now and then.

- One minute you were there and the next you're here

- Such was the philosophy that rubbed off on your when you started dating Yuna.

- Timings? Jinxes? Luck? Screw all of those.

- Life has too many surprises. Some were bad, some were good. And dwelling on the former would make you miss out on the latter.

[captainstarsplitter]

Friends, moots, countrymen and -women (and what lieth betwixt);

I haven’t been on here in a hot minute. Or a decade, whichever. The reason for that is mainly … life. It’s been a hot minute of living, y’all. And I’m so, so, tired — physically and otherwise. My days begin at 4 in the morning and getting more than 6 hours of sleep is an impossibility. I then commence the early morning by having extensive discussions with a smaller version of myself (while either trying not to laugh or scream, or both) and then I mostly rush: To drop-off, to work, back to pickup, and then home. I used to cook. I used to run. I used to do … stuff. I don’t even know what I did.

I do love my job, but I’ve also had to learn that immediate management has no issues leveraging my personal situation against me. I’ll probably get written up again for missing work because my child is sick and there’s literally only me to take care of her (which management is aware of). It’s fucked up and skirts along the fine line of actual discrimination in the way it’s conducted, and after speaking to a few trusted coworkers the general advice is to document and call HR if shit gets worse.

My answer is to kill with kindness and be the best employee. My record is otherwise spotless. I have no patience for this kind of high school level pettiness, but my ongoing dissolution of marriage taught me to grey rock like a pro. I will be fine, like I always have been; but all I want is some peace and time to myself to digest what life has thrown at me in the last couple years.

I am burned tf out. I miss connecting to myself in ways that make me feel like a thinking, creative being, not an automaton.

I miss running and being alone with my thoughts in a way that doesn’t feel scary.

And then there have been some … interesting developments in other departments of my life. I’m no longer alone. I’m not really partnered yet either, but things might or might not be moving in that direction. Right now, things are looking promising.

It all started with a text to my friend in DC that I really, really wanted a dude — despite the fact that I have zero time for myself and my life feels like pure, unmitigated chaos. She suggested I give dating apps a shot. I told her I’d rather shoot myself in the foot, but went ahead anyways. What I encountered ranged from discouraging to plain fucking weird (seriously, why is every dude either holding a fish, or a puppy, or posing with other peoples’ kids???), and I only messaged a total of three people. The first one I immediately ghosted because something about him raised my hackles.

The second one was as nuts about Patton as I am, which I appreciate, but ultimately we didn’t jive. And then there was C.

Given the way my marriage went (and the brief rebound with what used to be a friend), it’s hard not to be guarded and standoffish.

But being with C. feels safe and familiar. Everything moves at a comfortable pace, and there’s no expectation or pressure of things developing in a certain direction before each of us is ready. He’s smart, kind and funny. He has a cute butt and respects my boundaries.

My anxiety is through the roof, but I’m patient with myself and learning that most of the shit I think is happening is mainly in my head. I’m learning to trust both him and myself. Best of all, I’m seeing actual proof of a beginning healthy relationship: Actions over words, truthfulness and clear communication. Respect. Safety. It feels strange that all of this is just there, like it’s no big deal. I don’t know if he understands yet what it means to me.

Life is a lot right now. We both have a lot on our plates, but I’m excited to see what might happen.

In two weeks my parents will be here for a few days. Yesterday marked seven years that I’ve lived in the US. Nothing is what I thought it would be, to be honest, but I’m scared and elated and curious to see where I’ll be in another seven years.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine being the childhood friend of Zuko and him getting angry when Jet starts showing an interest in you.

Your POV

To be fair Zuko had held in his fury over being banished and hunted down by his sister quite well but apparently the journey to Ba Sing Sei was where he drew the line and decided to have a break down. Zuko spat out his food and you smirked to Iroh at his dramatics. “This is disgusting” he yelled throwing the bowl down before resting his head in his hands “I’m sick of living like this”. You went to remind him you only had one more day of this boat trip left until you reached Ba Sing Sei when someone else spoke. “Aren’t we all?” a smooth voice called and you and Iroh turned to see a boy watching you all. He approached Zuko and introduced himself as Jet the freedom fighter, whatever a freedom fighter was. Zuko didn’t return the gesture but you saw this boy, Jet, swept his eyes over the three of you and he smiled. He walked around to stand between you and Zuko and leant forwards “I heard the captain’s hoarding all the food and eating like a king, how would you like to help me liberate it?”. You and Zuko exchanged a look and you smiled knowing what Zuko’s response would be. “We’re in”.

You waited for night fall and then met Jet and his friend by the kitchen. Jet picked the lock easily with his swords and waved you all inside. Jet whistled as you all stared at the large kitchen amazed at it’s size. “You two take that side” he said to Zuko and his friends “we’ll take this side” he said and gestured to you. You nodded to Zuko and followed Jet to search the room. “So you or your friend got a name?” Jet asked as you searched. “Maybe” you shrugged opening a cupboard “but ours are nowhere near as colourful as Jet”. Jet smirked at your joke and walked closely past you to search the top shelf. “So if you won’t tell me your name how about where are you from? You and your friend seem close so I’m guessing you’ve known each other a while, since children?”. “Correct” you nodded “we’ve been friends since we were 5”. “Cute” Jet smirked “childhood sweethearts escaping to Ba Sing Sei to start a life together” he grinned mockingly. “We’re not childhood sweethearts” you snapped moving away and Jet followed you “ow really so you’re not a couple?”. “NO!” you said loudly before blushing as Jet laughed at your response. You hadn’t meant to be so adamant and you looked down embarrassed “I just meant that is not at all our situation, we’re just really good friends”. Jet nodded and stepped past you “that’s good to hear”. You watched him confused and he shot you a smile over his shoulder “for me that is”. You rolled your eyes but there was something about the boy that was very attractive. Jet smirked at your response and carried on searching. He opened a cupboard and grinned “look what I’ve found”.

You packed all the food up and snook it out of the kitchen easily. You distributed it out to the other families on the ship and Iroh smiled as you passed him a bowl “thank you y/n, you and Lee did a good thing”. “Try telling him that, he’s still pouting” you replied making Iroh laugh. You returned to get more for the other families but got distracted. “So your name’s y/n?” a familiar voice asked. Jet appeared beside you “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop of course but I couldn’t help it”. “Of course not” you smiled sweetly and Jet laughed “It’s a nice name, y/n, it matches you well”. You shot him a look but were slightly amused. It was honestly nice to have someone around that didn’t have the fire nation seriousness. You didn’t make it easy for Jet though and just ignored him. You opened the remaining boxes looking for more food but it was all gone. “Well I guess that’s the last of the food y/n” Jet said pointedly emphasising your name “how about we go for a walk? To celebrate?”. “Aren’t you hungry? We just liberated all that food”. Jet shrugged “I’d say you’re far more interesting to me right now so how about it...y/n” he said smirking and you smiled. You had a pretty boring time on Zuko’s exile so you shrugged “lead the way” and took off with Jet.

Zuko’s POV

Zuko made sure all the food had been dished out before he returned to his seat beside his uncle. He was just about to start eating when he noticed something was wrong....he couldn’t see you anywhere. Zuko looked around for you and blinked "uncle did you see where y/n went?". Iroh frowned when Jet’s friend spoke up. "She left with Jet" Smeller Bee replied and Zuko blinked "why? Are they running another job?". "No, Jet just works that quick" the girl shrugged before going back to her food. Zuko paused confused and craned his neck to see if he could see you. "You mean they're....on a date?". "Sure lets call it that" Smeller Bee agreed and Zuko frowned, when on earth did that happen and how did he miss it?

Panic seized Zuko and he began to wonder how on earth he’d missed this developing. He cursed himself for allowing it to happen right infront of his own eyes and wished things were different so he could’ve told you how he felt. The truth was Zuko had liked you for a while, more than a while actually. He’d liked you for almost as long as he could remember but he’d never told you for multiple reasons. Before when he was a prince he never told you because he was worried with him being the heir that would make you feel pressured to feel the same way and Zuko was 100% certain you didn’t like him. Then when he was banished and you decided to come with him he was amazed. He still remembered you marching your way onto his ship, demanding to come with you and how impressed and in love he felt. So he agreed to let you come but he couldn’t tell you he liked you for a different reason now. He was banished, what if he told you and you did like him? Then you’d get pulled down with him, tainted through association to him. You could return to the fire nation anytime and Zuko didn’t want to do anything to make you share the same fate as him and so he never told you how he felt and it appeared someone had beaten him to it.

When you hadn’t return before they retired to their cabin Zuko wanted to go out looking for you but Iroh told him you were just off on a date and not to ruin your fun. So Zuko didn’t search for you not wanting to *ruin your fun* but there was no way he could sleep not knowing where you were and so he waited up for you. As the time passed he got more agitated and decided if you weren’t back soon he would scour the ship for you no matter what Iroh said but just as suddenly as you’d disappeared you appeared. You opened the door to the cabin quietly and then jumped violently when you saw Zuko stood there in the dark. "Zuko...what are you doing?". "Making sure you got back okay, you took off with a stranger". You rolled your eyes "we’re on a boat Zuko, it’s not like i could be whisked off somewhere plus you know Jet!". "I know of him" Zuko said pointedly and you smirked "it’s sweet of you to worry but don’t worry i can handle boys like Jet" and you disappeared into your room. You patted Zuko as you passed and he sighed. Zuko didn’t like where this was going but he didn’t see how he could stop it. So ignoring the tingling sensation where you touched his arm he stomped into his room and laid face down in the bed.

Your POV

You arrived in Ba Sing Sei the next day and were eager to get off the boat but not as eager as Zuko. He practically dragged you and Iroh off the boat just so you could get stuck waiting in line for 4 hours. After your paperwork was finally approved you got into Ba Sing Sei and realised you had no idea where to go. Iroh claimed due to his old siege days he knew the city but as you stared at a map in the train station he frowned “hmmm it appears to have changed a bit” and Zuko cried out in anger. “You said you knew the city!”. “I did but that was over 10 years ago” Iroh explained “this might take some time”. You saw Zuko was getting ready to yell again and grabbed his arm “hey how about we go get some food while we wait?”. Zuko relaxed slightly and Iroh nodded “I’d love some tea”. “Of course” you smiled and tugged Zuko away. “You have to calm down” you told him softly “Iroh will work all this out we’ll be fine”. Zuko nodded “I know I’d just rather than was sooner rather than later”. “Why?” you asked “what’s your big rush?”. Zuko glanced around you as if looking for someone and then looked down “nothing I just want to get out of this place”. You frowned, something was clearly bothering your friend but you also knew Zuko well enough to know when he was in a mood like this there was no way he would tell you what was wrong. Zuko didn’t open up often and being agitated didn’t help that. So you tried to give him space and hoped he would confide in you when he felt comfortable enough. You spotted two different food carts and nudged his arm “you go get the tea, i’ll get us some food and meet you back by Iroh”. Zuko nodded and without a word walked away. You watched him with a worried frown before you walked towards the food truck. You joined the line, waiting for your turn to order when you heard a voice “so you made it in the city okay?”. You smiled to see Jet again and nodded “obviously” making Jet grin. It was your turn to order next and you stepped up and told the man what you wanted. When it came to paying you went to get the correct money but Jet stepped forwards. “Don’t worry I got this” he said placing some coins down on the counter. “You don’t have to” you started but Jet shook his head “no, I never got you anything on our date the other night so call this payback”. You rolled your eyes as you collected the food but you were blushing slightly. “I wouldn’t really call it a date, more of a walk”. “That’s true” Jet agreed “so that means I have to take you on a proper one”. “Ow really? You have to”? you asked and Jet nodded “for sure, custom all but demands it, I have to do it if I want to or not” Jet said shooting you a wide smirk. You laughed in shock and Jet smirk grew “it’s just a coincidence that I want to”. You smiled and went to tell Jet you’d think about it when Zuko appeared. “Y/n have you got the food?”. You looked down at the bag in your hands and nodded “yeah...”. “So are you heading back?” he asked glancing at Jet or more accurately glaring and you looked down. “You go ahead I’ll be right behind you”. Zuko narrowed his eyes and took the bag from your hands “Mushi is hungry so I’ll just take it”. “Z...Lee” you sighed but Zuko just shrugged “no it’s fine you stay and talk” and he stormed away. You frowned watching Zuko walk away and Jet laughed “that might’ve been my fault. You looked at him confused and Jet shrugged “your friend clearly has a problem with me”. You shook your head confused how Jet reached that conclusion "nonsense Lee likes you he’s just...moody, sometimes". Jet smirked "that i believe but no this seems specific to me and you". "Us?" you asked and Jet nodded "i saw him watching us before he came over, he clearly doesn’t like me being around you”. “I’m not sure...” you frowned and Jet smirked “y/n he’s watching us even now!”. You glanced at Zuko where he sat on the bench beside Iroh. Like Jet said Zuko was watching you and not just watching but openly glaring. He jumped when he saw you’d spotted him and looked away. "He’s just protective" you tried "we’ve been friends forever". Jet smirked "he's protective alright but not because you’re friend, I think the fact you’re just friends is where he has the problem". You realised what Jet meant and swallowed "i...no that can’t be true". Jet shrugged and laughed slightly "hey i’m not going to try and convince you, why would i when i’m interested in you?". You looked back at Jet and smiled "you are?". "Yeah, didn’t i make that obvious? Well maybe this will help" and Jet moved closer.

Zukos’s POV

As soon as you’d all arrived in Ba Sing Sei Zuko was thrilled for one sole reason. Jet. Ever since your date Zuko was anxious to make sure you never saw that boy ever again. So he rushed you and Iroh off the ship and was frustrated to see the long lines that awaited. However he never saw Jet once and so that helped ease his mind. Then when you finally did get through his uncle didn’t know where to go and he felt his temper rising again. Any moment now Jet could appear and tag along and...Zuko didn’t want to think about what could happen, how you and Jet could actually become a proper a couple. So Zuko was not in the best of moods and then the devil himself appeared. Zuko left your side for a second and who was there? Jet. Zuko was furious and so he tried to get you to come with him but you wanted to stay with Jet! Zuko couldn’t believe you were falling for this act and he stormed away from you both angry and upset.

He sat on the bench too angry to eat, just clutching his cup of tea staring at the back of Jet’s head. "Stop watching y/n nephew" Iroh commented and Zuko jumped "i’m not i was just....don’t you think it’s suspicious how much he’s around her?". Iroh shrugged "not considering what happened on the boat, it’s called dating". Zuko glared as Jet moved closer to you "but how do we know we can trust him? He could be anyone". You looked over suddenly and Zuko tore his eyes away "y/n should be careful, what if he hurts her?". "Well it’s ultimately y/n’s decision, we can't control her and while i think your concern for her is admirable perhaps you could work on your honesty?". Zuko paused "what are you trying to say uncle you know i hate riddles". "I’m saying that rather than chasing away any boy that comes near her maybe you should recognise your feelings for her and tell her". Zuko snorted "that’s preposterous! Y/n is just a good friend nothing more". Zuko knew that was a lie but he couldn’t have anyone working out his secret. Zuko was thinking of all the ways your friendship would be ruined when he glanced over and saw Jet kiss you. He breathed in sharply and clutched his cup so hard tea spilled over the sides burning him. He groaned in pain and threw the cup down. Iroh chucked passing him tissues "still going to pretend she's just a good friend to you?".

Your POV

“Here it is!” Iroh called throwing open the door “home sweet home”. Finally after days of waiting around and searching you’d found a home and jobs all thanks to Iroh. Zuko however wasn’t feeling so grateful. He glanced around the room and  gingerly dragged his hand across the table “it’s filthy, is everything in the earth kingdom filthy?”. Iroh shifted the plant pot in his hands and frowned “all it needs is a little cleaning and it will look as good as new. If we all chip in it won’t take long at all”. “Would you mind if we cleaned later please Iroh?” you asked and Zuko headed towards his room apparently done with this conversation. “Just I agreed to met Jet soon, we’re going to go explore the city a bit”. You didn’t notice but Zuko had stopped dead in his tracks. 

“Of course we can clean later better yet me and Zuko can get it all sorted for your return! Go and have fun you deserve it” Iroh smiled at you. You grinned and hugged him tightly “thank you!”. You separated and only then noticed Zuko was watching you. “What?” you asked “would you like to come too Zuko?”. “No!” he cried disgusted “why on earth would I want to hang around with you on your date”. You sighed and nodded “just asking”. “Are you two official now then?” Zuko asked and you shook your head “no”. “So that at the train station was just nothing?” Zuko asked and you frowned “why do you care?”. “I don’t care I just don’t understand why you’re wasting your time on him, you know he hates fire benders don’t you?" Zuko commented "if he knew you were one there’s no way he'd be sniffing around you so much". You rolled your eyes determined not to let Zuko ruin this for you. "Open your eyes Zuko everyone hates the fire nation and can you blame them? If anything Jet’s disdain for the fire nation makes him more attractive" and with a shake of your head you disappeared out the door. 

Zuko’s POV

The door shut behind you and Zuko gripped the table tighter. He stared at the door and breathed deeply to stop himself launching fire at it. “Nephew...” Iroh started and Zuko groaned “not now uncle!” and stormed into his room slamming the door.

Zuko flopped on his bed when he suddenly heard your voice. He walked to his open window and saw and Jet down below. Jet was smirking at you, standing way too close to you while you just looked up at him smiling. Zuko felt his stomach churn as how cocky Jet seemed with you. You started walking away and Zuko sighed, he went to turn away when suddenly Jet looked back. He looked at Zuko’s window, stared Zuko right in the eye and smiled. Zuko’s temper flipped and he glared. So Jet knew what he was doing then? Well Zuko wouldn’t let him get away with it. Zuko climbed out of the window and began to discreetly follow you.

Your POV

You and Jet explored the city all day and you were amazed. The city was huge in a way the fire nation city could never be. Endless rows of shops and houses all protected by the huge walls of Ba Sing Sei. After walking for as long as your feet could possibly manage, you and Jet retreated to a restaurant to refuel. You were quickly shown to a table and ordered immediately you were so hungry. “So what do you think of the city?” Jet asked and you smiled “it’s lovely, it feels like there’s still so much to see and we’ve been walking around all day!”. Jet nodded “well we can always walk around tomorrow....and the next day and the next....there’s nothing stopping us”. You nodded your head “good point” and Jet smiled before frowning. He focused on something behind you and leant forwards "Is that Lee?". You turned around and followed Jet’s gaze to a corner booth when a man held a menu infront of his face. “It can’t be he was back in the apartment....” you started when the man dropped his menu and you saw it was indeed Zuko. Zuko spotted you immediately and went pale. "Told you he didn’t like me and now he doesn’t trust me either" Jet commented and you sighed. “I’m so sorry can we rain check this? I have a friend to yell at".

You and Zuko argued the whole long way home. “I told you it was a coincidence!” Zuko yelled “why on earth would I be following you?”. “So you expect me to believe you were 40 minutes from home, in the same restaurant as me and Jet just by chance? You followed us Zuko and I want to know why. Do you hate Jet that much?”. “Well I don’t like him” Zuko agreed and you frowned “Jet said that! What has he ever done to you?”. “Nothing I....I just don’t like how you act around him?”. “Me? How do I act? you asked your temper rising and Zuko rolled his eyes. “I don’t know all embarrassed and quiet, you’ve never been shy in your life”. You paused ready to convince Zuko you were fine with Jet when he made it 100 times worse.

“Honestly it just seems a little fake and desperate” Zuko finished. He seemed to realise his mistake seconds later as you gasped loudly. "Desperate!" you yelled “you did not just call me that! How could you even say that?”. Zuko didn’t really see how he could back down so he carried on “all i’m saying is you’ve flung yourself at the first boy who looked at you despite the fact he’s clearly a criminal! Or did you forget how quickly he suggested breaking and entering to us? Who knows what other crimes he’s committed". "Have you forgotten we’re criminals too?" you hissed "you of all people should understand the law isn’t always black and white, fair and unfair, why are you so hard on jet? You liked him fine until i started seeing him". "Well maybe that’s why!" Zuko yelled "you shouldn't date him! He’s not good enough". "Not good enough?" you asked "Zuko i’m just having some fun, the most i’ve had since we’ve been on the run, it isn’t that serious". “Well you would see it that way you’ve been behaving immaturely ever since we got here" Zuko said coldly "throwing caution to the wind, fraternising with people who openly detest the fire nation. Did you ever wonder what danger your actions have put me and my uncle in? How you could've ruined us all with your recklessness? I think you have been away from the fire nation too long, you have clearly forgotten your honour". You gasped surprised "my honour?" you asked. Back home having a *superior* say something like that was an abrupt dismissal and you knew Zuko was aware of that. You swallowed and stared at Zuko "are you...does this mean you’re dismissing me from your company?". "Of course not! I would never leave you alone here but i do think you should consider your actions". "Are you ordering me to stop dating Jet?". "No i’d never order you..." Zuko said backtracking and you glared. "Good because i am not going to stop seeing him just because it worries you, so sorry your highness" you said bowing mockingly "but you’re going to have to get used to it" and you slammed the door.

Zuko POV

Zuko couldn’t believe the rubbish that had tumbled out of his mouth in your argument. He wanted to punch himself for somehow blaming you for all this. He knew he only had himself to blame but he’d attacked you instead. Zuko decided to apologise to you and was rehearsing it, trying to get it just right when Iroh appeared. “Zuko why aren’t you dressed we have a shift in 20 minutes!”. “It’s that time already?” Zuko asked, he’d been planning your apology for so long he’d lost track of time. “What have you been doing?” Iroh asked staring at the stacks of paper and Zuko covered them quickly “nothing just let me sort something and I’ll be ready to leave”. Iroh nodded and left. Zuko stared at his apology and sighed, it wasn’t right yet! He couldn’t find the right words to say what he needed to say and it to be perfect or else you might not forgive him. He tried rewording a line but then threw his pen down in frustration, he’d just have to finish this later. He quickly dressed in his uniform and followed Iroh to the tea shop.

The evening shift was usually dead but for some reason it was packed tonight. Zuko was rushed off his feet so much he didn’t even notice Jet when he walked in. It didn’t matter though Jet made his way straight to him. “You’re from the fire nation aren’t you?”. Jet said it loudly and Zuko froze as many people turned and stared. “No” Zuko said calmly but Jet smiled “figured you’d say that but I heard you admit it with your own words. How dare you sneak away as a refugee when you’re one of them”. “I’m not, we’re from the earth nation...” Zuko tried but Jet carried on “and if you’re fire nation then maybe you’re benders too....only one way to find out” and he drew his swords.  

Zuko grabbed a sword from one of the nearby customers sheath and met Jet’s first strike. Zuko worked on defending himself only, he wasn’t interested in hurting him but the boy wasn’t making it easy. Zuko managed to take the fight outside and tried distracting Jet. “What do you mean you heard me say it, were you spying on us?” Zuko asked and Jet nodded. “After you made such a big deal following me and y/n on our date I got suspicious. Being jealous was one thing but you were downright manic! So I followed you both home and heard y/n say how you were fugitives from the fire nation, fire benders seeking aid in Ba Sing Sei” Jet glared “you’re the reason we’re all here!”. Jet carried on attacking Zuko but he deflected them easily, Jet was too emotional, he was getting easier to anticipate. "I should’ve known all along though" Jet smirked suddenly "you hated me far too much for it just to be over a girl". Zuko glared "for the record i hate you completely and utterly because you are nowhere good enough to be around y/n, you’re not worth the mud under her shoes, she’s too good for you". Jet spat on the floor "she’s a fire bender, she’s worthless and i regret the energy i wasted on scum like her". Zuko tensed and tightened his grip on his sword. Now he was interested in attacking Jet, screw defence, he was going to make this kid pay. 

Your POV

You heard about the fight from passer-by. When they described a boy with brown hair and hook swords fighting a teashop worker with a burn on his face you know exactly who they were. You waited for Zuko and Iroh to arrive home and the second they walked through the door you exploded. "You got Jet arrested?" you cried and Zuko looked down. Iroh frowned "y/n it wasn’t like that...Jet was attacking Zuko!". "I’m sure it wasn’t unprovoked, was this part of your plan?" you asked Zuko. "I refused to obey your order to stop dating Jet and so you arrest him?". "You ordered her to what?" Iroh cried and Zuko sighed "i didn’t order her i just suggested she consider her honour and re-assess her choices". Iroh sighed “you two are so...” he took a deep breath and fixed Zuko with a piercing look. "Zuko this has gone far enough explain yourself to y/n and just maybe she'll forgive your awful behaviour, Y/n listen to what he has to say and afterwards then you can judge him but let him finish first, okay?" Iroh asked before storming from the room without waiting for a reply. 

You and Zuko were both speechless to hear Iroh raise his voice and so you blinked and turned to Zuko “I make no promises to wait until the end but go ahead”. Zuko was quiet for a while and you could tell he was searching for the words he needed. “Zuko...” you frowned and he sighed “I was jealous okay! That’s what all this was, I was jealous of you and Jet spending so much time together”. Zuko stopped talking and you rolled your eyes "are you kidding me? So i can’t have anyone else in my life? Only you can take up my time?". Zuko shook his head "i wasn’t jealous of Jet taking up your time, if he'd just wanted to be your friend i’d have been fine but he clearly didn’t and that’s why i was jealous" Zuko snapped "he wanted to be something more and you did too and that bothered me". “Because you didn’t like Jet?” you tried and Zuko shook his head “because I liked you...like you” he said awkwardly staring at the ground. You blinked and stared at the ground too in shock “wow I....I don’t know what to say, how long have you...”. Zuko sighed “I can’t remember when it started because it’s been so long" he said softly "but I remember the moment I noticed. It was when my mom left, i was miserable all the time apart from the times i was with you. When you were around, i was still hurting but it was less and the more you were around the less and less it got until i didn’t hurt any more. You healed my pain and that’s how i knew i liked you". Zuko finished and you blinked "but Zuko your mom left when we were 11 you’ve known you liked me all this time? Why didn’t you just tell me?". 

"Because it wasn’t just a small crush it was big y/n and it grew more and more every day and by the time you left the fire nation with me i didn’t just like you it was...more". You got chills as Zuko spoke but you felt unable to speak or move. "When you came with after i got banished i so wanted to tell you but you'd left the fire nation just to help me, i didn’t want to do anything to make you to throw your whole life away for me. I hoped that even if i couldn’t return to the fire nation one day you could and have the life you deserve. I planned to send you away once i got on my feet, and then again when i got my ship working well, and then again once we’d swept the four nations for the avatar. But every time i came close i delayed it because i was selfish. I didn’t want to drag you down with me but i couldn’t seem to let you go. I made a mess of everything and i’ve done it again. I was jealous of you and Jet but also too afraid to tell you and so i ended up hurting you" Zuko sighed "y/n i am so sorry for that, you’re the last person i meant to hurt but still because of my selfishness i harmed you and that will always taint my honour but i hope you can forgive me one day". Silence fell and Zuko looked up "y/n? Please say anything". You looked up as if in a daze and shook your head "You still haven’t asked me". Zuko paused "i did i just asked you to forgive me". "Not that" you said shaking your head again "you told me you liked me but didn’t ask me back" you chuckled. "You just assumed to know my answer without asking me, do you think you know me that well?" you asked staring at him. Zuko stuttered. "I....i'm sorry i didn’t mean to...wait does this mean? Do you...". You smiled "i can’t give an essay on the exact moment i knew like you just did but yes" you nodded "i like you Zuko". Zuko stared at you in shock "you...you do?" he asked grinning. You nodded again and Zuko laughed out loud hugging you tightly before he stopped "wait so all this agony watching you with jet, i could’ve avoided it all if i just told you this earlier?". "Yup" you nodded “Zuko, Jet was an angry cocky teenager who fights with swords...why do you think I liked him? He reminded me of you”.  Zuko eyes widened and he promptly smacked himself in the face "idiot!" he cried. You laughed pulling his hand away gently "it’s fine we know now right?". Zuko nodded "that’s true..." and he took your hand staring at you intensely. You blushed and buried your head in his chest to escape his gaze "stop looking st me like that". "I can’t help it" Zuko laughed holding onto you "i can’t believe someone like you would like me". You moved your head out of his chest to fix him with a look “are you kidding me? You’re amazing, i’m the one that’s shocked, you’re smart and funny and kind...”. Zuko turned an ever deeper shade of red and you grinned “did I make the angry fire bender blush?”. “Stop it” Zuko said “that’s an order” and he smiled to let you know he was joking. “Well I have an order for you” you said calmly. Zuko looked at you confused and you just smiled “kiss me”. Zuko obeyed immediately and you were caught off guard but it was a pleasant surprise. You weren’t sure if it was the long time waiting or the pent up tension these past few days but Zuko was very passionate and the kiss quickly became heated. 

You were enjoying it but were also very aware Iroh could walk back in any minute. “Zuko” you whispered “you’re very good at obeying orders but we’re in the middle of the living room”. Zuko immediately blushed and looked down “sorry I think I got carried away”. “Don’t be” you smiled “I liked it just Iroh will be back any minute and he’s the last person I’d want walking in on us”. Zuko nodded his head “that kiss was not as sweet and innocent as I planned it to be” Zuko frowned "i don’t know what came over me". You chuckled "it’s fine it was wonderful but a date first would be better next time". "Of course, how does tomorrow sound” Zuko asked blushing and you smiled leaning against his shoulder. “That sounds perfect”. Zuko wrapped his arms around you and rested his head on top of yours “Tomorrow night it is”. 

[asset35-maya]

I am sleepy but I gotta make a request before the busy tomorrow so 2 things on my mind! Sleepy and the 'oh my god they were roomates' vine xD with any characters and aus I love everything you write anyways xD Happy timezones and best vibes your way >^<!! 💖💞💕💕

Oh my god, they were roommates…

//

“The rental market in Detroit is absolute shit! How dare these bloodsuckers charge such high rates for the most under-developed properties! This city’s going to the dogs!”

“Uh-huh.”

“You have to pay your own weight in gold just to live in a shoebox for a year. Nonsense!”

“Uh…”

“Are you even listening to me, Tina!

Tina?

Goddamnit Tina!”

Gavin thumped his fist on her desk, but Tina’s eyes barely flicked up from her phone.

“Oh my god, you sound like my grandpa…”

Gavin turned red and his brain buzzed with a thousand colourful retorts. He was just about to pick one when Tina stopped scrolling and turned her phone screen towards him.

CYBERSCALIA @ NEW JERICHO

The suburban paradise for executive androids and humans alike. Located 25 minutes drive from downtown Detroit, with a full amenities.

Gavin’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He balked at her.

“You’re joking? How could I possibly…?”

“Get with the times, boomer…”

Tina lazily skimmed her thumb over the screen. The webpage promised plenty of greenery, good infrastructure and modest but spacious rooms. The extremely reasonable price tag was Gavin’s dream come true. He’d spent weeks apartment hunting in the wake of an early lease termination by his cantankerous landlord. Gavin knew he’d never find a better deal.

“Shit, this is so good, T! Why the phck does it have to be in that- that place!”

His friend arched a sceptical eyebrow.

“What place?”

“The Tincan ghetto!”

Tina smacked him on the arm. None too gently.

“It’s subsided public housing located in an android-friendly estate… because they’re the ones that need it most right now. And frankly, you seem to be in just as much need, so you should really get off that high horse.”

“Fine, fine. You’re right. I should seriously consider this place, even if my neighbours are gonna have more in common with my car than me. But damn, it seems a little too good to be true. There’s probably some fine print, hidden costs that’ll come out later.”

“Hmm… let’s see…”

Tina scrolled further and then let out a half-laugh. She held her phone up again.

“Nothing shady about the rates, but there is something you should know…”

At the risk of being called old again, Gavin squinted at the screen and read aloud.

“Bearing in mind the founding principles of New Jericho, all human occupants may only apply for tenancy in co-habitation with at least one android citizen of the United States of- JESUS PHCKING CHRIST! Absolutely not! I am not going to live with a plastic prick!”

//

Gavin had to get through half a bottle of wine before he could bear to scroll through the rental listings. Unlike other humans who had happily moved into New Jericho with their android friends or partners, he had to find an android who was also looking for a flatmate.

Some listings came from ardent supporters of Markus. These were the androids who wanted to ease the post-revolution transition by reaching out to humans. Some listings were put up by the android equivalent of frat boys. These individuals were clearly looking for someone on the fringes of human society, someone who could show them a good (if not illegal) time.

Other posts came from eccentric androids who craved company but had likely been rejected by their own kind. Gavin felt a strange twisting sensation, almost like pity, when he came across a post written entirely in third person by someone called Ralph.

He had almost given up hope when he came across a simple little listing for a two bedroom apartment in Cyberscalia.

RK900 #313 248 317 - 87: Seeking a neat, self-sufficient co-renter. Human or android, no preference. I spend most of my time working and will be out of your way for the better part of the day. I only ask for silence during my nighttime stasis cycles, timely payment of dues and upkeep of cleanliness.

Gavin sighed in relief.

//

“Your room is the first door on the left, mine is the second. The bathroom, laundry and kitchenette are shared, as is the living room. I scarcely find use for the latter, so you need not worry about my intruding on any of your social gatherings, or vice versa. As long as you adhere to the terms of the agreement, our paths will not cross much.”

The tall, stiff-necked android dropped a set of keys, both mechanical and digital, into Gavin’s open palm.

“Er thanks.. RK… sorry I forgot your full model number…”

“You may call me Nines. Although, I’d rather you didn’t call me much of anything. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

In a swish of black fabric, the android turned on his heel and disappeared into his room. Two rapid clicks indicated the shutting and locking of his door.

Gavin sighed and looked around the open-plan living room. It was nothing fancy, but it was far beyond any of the other properties he’d viewed in weeks of unsuccessful house-hunting.

He sat down on the simple black couch with a huff and contemplated his situation. He’d ended up where he’d truly never expected to go, but objectively speaking, things were good… barring the high-handed manner of his robot flatmate, but who gave a shit about that.

He pulled out his phone to text Tina his thanks.

//

“I can’t! I refuse to! It is a violation of my personal ethics and I will simply not take this assignment any further. Good day to you sir!”

Gavin nearly dropped his bowl of cereal one morning when his roommate burst out of his door and rushed into the open balcony.

He hadn’t seen Nines in days, which was perfectly normal. The android came and went at odd hours and made hardly any noise. It was almost like living alone. The only reminder of Nines’ presence was the sight of several dark shirts and trousers regularly hung out to dry on the rack above the washing machine.

Gavin set his bowl down and watched the android tightly grip the bars of the railing and take several unnecessary breaths to calm down. He’d seen deviant colleagues express emotion many times before, but this was the first time he witnessed such a potent mixture of rage and sorrow from a synthetic being.

Out of empathy, but mostly curiosity, Gavin approached cautiously.

“Hey Nines… is everything alright…?”

There was no response for several moments. Then Nines turned around with a grimace and hands held upwards in a placating gesture.

“I apologise for the disturbance. It was hypocritical of me to disrupt the very peace and quiet I demand of you.”

“Uh… no worries…? Are you okay?”

There was a flash of steel blue eyes.

Gavin kicked himself mentally as he realised too late that he’d broached uncharted territory. Their interactions didn’t extend beyond curt nods on the rare occasion they found each other in the same space. It was almost as if Nines engineered the lack of contact, which wouldn’t surprise Gavin at all if it were the case.

“I’m fine. I merely experienced some frustration with my work.”

Perhaps it was boredom, perhaps it was his usual lack of self-preservative instinct… Gavin threw caution to the winds.

“What do you actually do?”

Nines’ expression remained stoic but his LED went through a spectacular series of colours and flashes. His next words were reluctant.

“I’m a private investigator.”

“Oh shit! I’m actually a cop.”

Gavin pointed dumbly at himself and then let his hand drop when he saw absolutely no surprise cross the android’s face.

“I know. That’s why I let you stay with me.”

“For safety?”

“Certainly not for your fashion sense.”

“Wow okay, I didn’t think I’d be much protection for a big scary droid like you.”

Nines hummed dismissively and started to move out of the balcony, body language fully indicating the end of the conversation.

Unable to help himself for some strange reason, Gavin blurted out another ill-advised question.

“What pissed you off so much?”

Nines paused halfway through side-stepping the human. A thrill went through Gavin at the shards of ice he observed for the first time up close in Nines’ irises.

“If I tell you, will you promise to stop asking pointless questions?”

Gavin nodded earnestly, and frankly… rather foolishly.

“I helped a client gather evidence to initiate divorce proceedings on the grounds of infidelity. I provided ample photo and video evidence for his lawyers to work with. Now they want me to keep following the spouse to capture more details that could gear any future settlement in his favour.”

“So what’s your problem?”

“They’re offering me an incredible amount of cash to follow her 24/7. To stake out her workplace, her gym, her parent’s home. They want me to crouch under the window of the bedroom where her children sleep. I can do a lot of things, but not that. It’s deeply insulting that they even asked. That’s why I was so… pissed.”

Nines slipped past and was nearly back to his bedroom when Gavin spoke.

“I respect that.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“I know, but for real though, I think ethics are important in our line of work. Not just because of we need morals or a sense of right or wrong blablabla, but because we need… clarity.”

Silence floated through the hallway as Nines paused with a hand on his doorframe.

“Clarity?”

“Yeah, like a sense of direction. We don’t just take cases right-left-centre because they make us money. I mean, we could, and people do… but they never become specialists or experts of any kind. You gotta strategise if you want a career. Ethics helps with that. I think…”

Gavin wasn’t sure what made him say any of that. He was neither one for small talk, nor a man of many words… but something about Nines prompted that unusual level of introspective discourse.

“Sorry that was weird. Never mind.”

“That was actually… very astute.”

Their eyes met and Gavin could’ve sworn he saw the hint of a smile.

“It’s good to see that not all humans are as one-dimensional as I thought.”

The door clicked shut, but there was no locking sound.

//

Since the morning of Nines’ uncharacteristic outburst, the frequency of their encounters in the common areas of the apartment increased. Wordless nods became hellos, and hellos eventually became full sentences.

Not that he’d admit it, Gavin actually looked forward to enquiring about the android’s day and the cases he was working on. It was utterly fascinating to hear about legal investigations without the constraints of police procedure.

For his part, Nines would share as much as he had the patience to, before disappearing into the confines of his room. Though the time he spent outside steadily increased every day.

Another morning, while Gavin was making his coffee, Nines emerged from his room, still in his pyjamas and looking as livid as he had the time before. Gavin had never seen him in anything but crisply ironed businesswear. Before he could voice any concern, Nines stiffly asked Gavin to keep a lookout for a homicide suspect.

He nodded and immediately reached for his phone to text the sergeant on duty at his station. By midday, there was an arrest.

That evening, when Gavin settled in front of the TV with his usual glass of wine, he heard the familiar sound of Nines’ door opening. The couch dipped beside him.

“Thank you.”

“Just did my job. I should thank you for the tip.”

“Hmm.”

Gavin chanced a glance at his roommate, and found him looking right back.

“What?”

“Nothing… I just had the realisation that much of my work is impotent without the authority and means to take any kind of action.”

The sitcom began to play and Gavin thumbed the remote to reduce the volume.

“Takes all kinds to keep the streets clean. PIs can do things cops can’t. We rely on guys like you for intel all the time, you know.”

“I know.”

No words were exchanged for a while thereafter. Gavin found himself unable to focus on the TV show with all the brooding energy emanating from his right.

“If you feel like being a private eye doesn’t make enough of a difference, then why didn’t you… um… you know…”

“Join law enforcement?”

“Yup.”

“Plenty of my fellow androids have done so. I know for a fact that my predecessor model chose to remain there. You might know him.”

“Connor? Yes. Very annoying.”

“He is, isn’t he?”

“Totally. But why didn’t you join too? You’d be brilliant on the Force.”

“My skillset is certainly well-suited, but I didn’t want to become another puppet of the state.”

Gavin really didn’t know what to say to that. He nodded uncertainly and looked back at the television. He wasn’t sure why Nines was suddenly this social.

“What are you… watching?”

Androids could scan and detect just about anything in the world, so there had to be something else to the question. Gavin, strangely, was happy to oblige.

//

Nines made an appearance every evening, without fail. He would sit through the TV shows if they were of interest, or he would bring his case material and notes to the coffee table to work in silence beside Gavin.

Sometimes Gavin liked to work on jigsaw puzzles on the dining table. Nines would sit beside him, pretending to read a paperback novel, but actually scanning the puzzle and passing the right pieces over from time to time.

Against all odds, an evening ritual and a tentative friendship developed. It was simple, but it was warm. Comfortable. Like nothing Gavin had ever had before, even with humans.

//

He awoke one morning with a slight crick in his neck but the feeling of being very well-rested.

His eyes flickered open and fell upon the window. Familiar greenery came into view… but wait… had everything slightly shifted to the left? And was that the New Jericho Capitol building? He couldn’t see that from his room! There was a tree in the way! A tree that was now a few feet away from where it used to be.

Gavin sat up in alarm as he realised that he was not in his own bed. His heart flew into his throat as Nines walked through the open doorway. Shirtless and carrying a mug of blue liquid.

“Oh good, you’re up.”

“Wha-what happened!?”

Nines frowned and sat down on the edge of the bed. He set the mug on the floor and pulled on a plain black t-shirt.

“You passed out on the couch last night. I think you finished a whole bottle waiting up for me? Sorry, I was out working later than expected.”

Gavin looked down and sighed in relief as he found all his clothes still on him.

“I didn’t want you to injure yourself sleeping at an odd angle so I brought you here. Your door was locked.”

“You could’ve easily opened it.”

“Yes, but that would’ve been an invasion of privacy. I reserve that for working hours alone.”

Gavin looked deep into the sparkling blue eyes and as usual found no trace of humour.

“Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it. Now get out. You’re ruining my silk sheets.”

//

Against his best efforts, Gavin could not keep the thought of being carried to bed and tucked in safely out of his mind. How many years had it been? Since something like that had been even remotely possible for him?

He knew that Nines was just being kind in his own pragmatic little way… but Gavin found that he wouldn’t mind the prospect of waking up in the android’s bed in a wildly different context.

He realised he had it bad when Tina caught him smiling to himself at work one day.

“Why so happy?”

“Oh… nothing. Just remembered something my roommate did… He’s a… funny guy.”

“Huh. Well, look at you getting along so well with androids.”

“Android. Singular. Just him.”

“Wowwww… he sounds special.”

//

“Who did this?”

“Gavin, the damage is merely superficial-”

“Who phcking did this??!”

He reached forward and gingerly touched Nines’ split cheek. His synth skin was smeared with blue blood and glitching in and out. Nines winced at the contact.

“Shit, sorry. That must hurt like a bitch.”

“Androids do not feel pain.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’m merely experiencing a surge in sensory input wherever my chassis is exposed. I’m fine.”

“Shut up and give me your first aid kit or whatever toolbox equivalent you tincans have.”

A shade of embarrassment appeared over the android’s features.

“I… actually don’t have one. I didn’t think I’d ever need it.”

“Didn’t think anyone could kick your ass, huh?”

“No… I didn’t think anyone would ever spot my hiding place.”

“Huh. How’d that happen?”

Nines’ eyes dipped, but as always, he answered the question.

“I was… distracted.”

Something in the air solidified and both of them felt it. Gavin cleared his throat and slapped his knees like an old man about to stand up.

“Right. Let me go check if the neighbours have anything that might help with your face.”

//

“So who’s this dapper young gent you’ve brought to the party, Gavin?”

“Er… he’s my uh… roommate.”

Captain Fowler nodded and winked.

“That’s what they called it in my day too.”

Nines shifted beside Gavin and cleared his throat.

“He’s a PI. But I think he’s wasting his talent taking pictures of cheating spouses. He’s quite interested in police work. Maybe we could get him to assist on a couple cases now and then?”

Fowler put down his drink and extended a warm hand to Nines.

//

“Oh thank RA9!”

Nines came running to the cluster of police cars and enveloped him in a giant hug. Gavin laughed as he patted him weakly on the back.

“Watch the ribs, big guy.”

“I was so worried.”

“Why? Your info was good. No chance of error.”

“I meant about you.”

Gavin pulled back and regarded Nines with confusion. The flashing red and blue lights of the cars made it hard to read his LED.

“Why?”

“I can’t believe you have to ask.”

The android pulled him into a bruising kiss. The officers standing nearby broke into wolf-whistles and applause.

“What the-”

“Oh I take full credit for that, sir.”

Fowler glanced at Tina.

“The case, Chen?”

“Oh of course. I solved the whole thing. But I mean that specifically.”

She waved a hand in Gavin and Nines’ direction. The two held each other tightly and seemed unlikely to come up for air anytime soon.

“Like I helped Gav find an affordable place in New Jericho and then he met this handsome investigator droid and they were roommates.”

“Oh my god, they were roommates…”

“Yeah legit.”

//

\\\

Thanks so much for the request @jude-shotto

This ended up being a lot longer than expected, but I couldn’t help it. Your prompt just took me on a whole journeyyyy <3

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

Cult Girl: Doctorate (Hannibal x Female!Reader) pt. 11

Cult Girl goes on a little solo excursion while Hannibal works.

@wisesandwichshark @pearlstiare

Trigger warnings: (fake) blood, mentions of death overseas, anti-choice harassment, discussion of abortion

Archie and Max leaving the picture was a problem you couldn't bring yourself to deal with when you awoke the next day. You anticipated a massive downward spiral if you didn't do something for yourself and fast. You'd spent so much time worrying about your schoolwork and your baby that it was long past due.

You made a couple of phone calls and found a GameStop a little out of the way with a used copy of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire for sale. About twenty minutes drive. Hannibal had back-to-back appointments clogging up his day, so it gave you an excuse to go on a little excursion.

You climbed into your car, picked an extensive playlist of your favorite songs and set off. You plugged the directions into your phone and let the map guide you. The roads narrowed as you watched your surroundings grow less and less familiar.

Soon enough, you pulled into a parking lot. Nestled between a Planned Parenthood and a used bookstore, the GameStop beckoned you. At the end of your tunnel vision was that game and nothing could stop you from getting it.

Certainly not from lack of trying.

"Stop right there!" A voice said. It chuckled, trying to make the rude interruption seem friendly.

An obstacle appeared in your line of sight: a plain-looking middle-aged white woman with dyed blonde hair. Just your garden variety Karen.

"Can I help you?" You said, giving your voice a distinct, annoyed bite.

She smiled, though not without discomfort. "Are you going, y'know, in there?"

She gestured to the building behind you. Uncertain of what she wanted or why she was making a trip to the GameStop so weird, you answered in the affirmative.

"Yeah, why?"

She wrapped her hand around your arm, as if to restrain you. Her touch made your skin crawl.

"I really don't think you should go in there."

You finally put the pieces together. This lady was just some anti-choice maniac, waiting outside a Planned Parenthood for any random pregnant woman to approach.

"Yeah, I totally carried this baby for five months just to get rid of it within a week of the legal termination threshold." You rolled your eyes. "I just want it to feel the maximum possible amount of pain when I destroy it."

The woman's face turned into one of abject horror and you smiled, feeling proud of yourself. You yanked your arm from her hand with full intent to walk away. That should have been the end of it.

"Wait!" She shouted, snatching you by the shoulder. "Please, reconsider. God gave you that little one because he wants you to be a mommy!"

"For the love of fuck, woman." You snarled. "Can you seriously not pick up on sarcasm? I'm not even going to the clinic. I'm going to the GameStop."

She wasn't convinced. "See, I think you're lying to me. I think you're telling me one thing and then you're gonna do another thing."

"What the hell is it any of your business, Karen?" You scowled at her. "Leave me alone!"

"Just pray about it, please!" She pleaded. "What if your baby grows up to be a soldier? Protecting your freedom?"

"Oh, then I should definitely kill it now." You snarked. "Would save him the trouble of getting blown up by other Americans in a senseless war like my dad."

Adda girl, [F/N]! You thought to yourself. Nothing gets nosy strangers to go away quite like revealing even more personal information!

She put both her hands on your protruding belly. "Don't worry, angel. Mommy isn't going to kill you! Aunt Laurie won't allow it!"

You vaguely remembered your obstetrician saying something about how twenty-week fetuses could hear the outside world. You weren't planning on subjecting the kid to violence this early on, but desperate times call for desperation.

You grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her down. She screamed, getting the attention of a few onlookers.

"Help!" She wailed, lying on the ground as if she couldn't get up. "I'm being attacked!"

You dashed as quickly as your legs could carry you into the GameStop. The lone cashier, a purple-haired girl with a nose ring, pretended that she hadn't been watching the altercation and looked back down at her sandwich.

"Welcome to GameStop." She said, hesitantly. "Are you... [F/N]?"

You nodded. "Yeah, I'm here for that copy of Alpha Sapphire."

"Tubular." She rummaged in a drawer beside her for the envelope.

A rather massive eevee plush displayed behind the counter caught your eye. "How much for her?"

The cashier placed the game on the counter and looked back at the massive eevee. "Fourty-four ninety-five."

"I'll take her too." You said.

The cashier pulled the eevee down from the shelf and scanned its tag.

"Aight, your total is sixty-nine eighty." She said.

"Nice." You snickered, reaching for your credit card.

The cashier smirked as you inserted the chip. "Hey, was that crazy lady accosting you outside?"

"I take it she does that a lot?" You asked.

She heaved a sigh. "You have no idea."

You looked behind at the large windows and saw the woman standing outside the door, waiting for you. You felt like a caged animal. Your eyes scanned the room and landed on a couple ketchup packets. A sick idea formed in your head.

"Are you gonna use those?" You asked, pointing to them.

The cashier glanced at the woman and raised her eyebrow. "Not if you have a better use for them."

The bell jangled as you walked out of the store with a shopping bag around your wrist and a ketchup packet in each hand. Just as suspected, the woman grabbed your arm.

"Oh, honey!" She exclaimed. "Before you leave, god put it on my mind to say a little prayer for the unborn soldier he's gifted you in your womb."

"I'd rather you not." You said, trying to yank your arm out of her surprisingly strong grip.

"You're brave, but foolish, girl." She barked, positioning herself in front of you. You fidgeted with the ketchup packets behind your back, opening them just enough.

The woman put both her hands on your belly. The second you felt her touch, you threw yourself backwards. You landed, not without pain, squarely on your ass.

"Oh my?" The woman covered her mouth with her fingertips. "Are you--"

You leaned forward and moaned in pain, clutching your baby bump with one hand while drenching your shorts in ketchup with the other. You pretended to cave around the pain, then threw yourself back, revealing a bloody stain leaking from between your legs. The woman shrieked.

"Oh my fucking god!" The cashier from the store said, rushing to your side. She put her hand on your shoulder and glared at the woman. "What did you do?!?"

"She pushed me and I think it hurt my baby!" You wailed.

"Holy shit, why would you hurt her baby?!" The cashier shouted, allowing you to slink your arm around her shoulder for support. She then snatched your shopping bag from the ground.

"I didn't mean to, honest!" She said, on the verge of tears. "I was just trying to spread god's love and joy-"

"By assaulting a pregnant woman?!" The cashier yelled. You were clutching your stomach in fake pain. She helped you to your feet. "Come on, let's get you to the clinic."

You conjured up some fake tears. "You killed my baby!"

"You wicked woman!" She cried out. Her voice faded out as you approached the clinic. "You don’t deserve a baby!"

You kept up the crying and wailing until you arrived at the Planned Parenthood. More interested in covering her own ass than begging for forgiveness, the crazy woman made herself scarce. Entering the clinic with an incriminating bloodstain on your pants was awkward, for a moment. But it was easy enough to explain and even earned a laugh or two from the doctors on staff.

Once you were completely certain the crazy lady had left, you scooped up your shopping bag, said goodbye to the cashier and climbed into the car.

Before you put the key in the ignition, you took a moment. You took a moment to do something you knew you shouldn't have.

You placed your hand on your belly and stroked it. "We make a pretty good team, huh?"

You didn't know why you paused. It wasn't like the fetus was going to answer.

"Sorry you had to see that." You said. "Or, I guess, hear that. I wish I could tell you that people aren't really like that in real life, but I can't. Either that or I'm just a magnet for insane people. Hope that it's not genetic."

It just occurred to you that, if your obstetrician was right, the fetus heard everything that you said about killing it. Logically speaking, you knew it wasn't developed enough to comprehend what you were saying, but you still felt like you owed it an apology.

"Hey, scamp." You said, appropriating a nickname your grandfather gave you. "I'm sorry that I talked all that shit back there. About killing you and whatnot. I don't want to kill you. I actually want you to live an amazing life."

Just then, you felt a kick. The doctor war right: there was no mistaking it. The baby kicked.

Your mouth hung dumbly open, delight and fear chasing each other around in your mind. "Holy crap!"

You drove home as fast as legally possible. You needed to get home. As you pulled into the driveway, you noticed that Hannibal's car wasn't there.

He'll be home any minute, you thought. Might as well stay out here to catch him when he arrives.

That was an hour ago. Not that you'd noticed. You would have sat in that car, talking to your baby for an eternity. It wasn't until you heard a tapping on the window did you exit your trance.

Hannibal examined the scene. The ketchup, the massive eevee and his suddenly very chatty fiancée shooting the breeze with her fetus. He smirked.

"Did we have a fun afternoon?"

[mha-princess]

Let’s Play Ball

[Bakugou x Fem! Reader]

Masterlist | Request Rules | Request Box

Genre: 18+ | College AU | Oneshot | crack

A/N: before you all ask yes Bakugousquad has to be friends in all of my fanfics i litterally can not help it also I am very upset that I’ve been slacking on writing but I still hope you enjoy ⁍̴̆◡⁍̴̆ )⊃♡- Anako

Warnings: unprotected sex, breeding, explicit language

Word Count: 2.2k

Summary: a bakugou x reader college au where katsuki is new to the school and the football team, and he develops a little crush on his football captains sister. Who is definitely OFF limits.

“I just don't know where we can find another quarterback before the playoff game! Kaminari you idiot!” Akawa cursed, throwing a pillow at the injured male.

“Hey man, if you wouldn’t of overworked me at practice we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Kaminari said sending the pillow right back at your brother, who catches it easily.

“Plus I told you Kirishima has a friend who's transferring here soon. matter of fact he'll be here monday so you don't need to worry, I promise he's good enough to take my place for now .”

“He's good enough to take your place, but is he good enough to take us to the championships.’ Akawa beckons, you roll your eyes at their bickering.

“Football this and football that. Stop worrying so much It's not that serious.” Akawa and Kaminari scoff at you in unison.

“We’re going to bring this college a trophy. Its my duty as captain to make sure of it.” Akawa brings fist to his chest as if he were swearing to an oath and Kaminari follows in the same motion.

“Both of you. Leave. “ You shake your head as you open the front door. Kaminari reaches for his crutches as your brother grabs their bags.

“Don't you feel bad kicking out a cripple?” Kaminari questions, limping past you.

“Yeah! Don't you also feel bad kicking me out too!? I’m your brother!” Your sigh and shove them out the door.

“I know I tried to get away from you, but out of all the scholarship offers you had you decided to pick the college I wanted to go.” Your bother stops in the doorway.

“You know I have to keep an eye on my little sister. I gotta protect you from these racid guys.” Kaminari laughs at your brother’s teasing as you force him out of the doorway.

“Goodnight.” You say, slamming the door in their faces.

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

“Now class I know this isn’t a high school course, but we have a new student today and I would all like for you to greet him formally and treat him with the same respect you give your peers.” Your administrator announces.

You elbow Kaminari, “She talking about Kirishima’s friend, right?”

Kaminari shrugs, eyes glued to his phone screen. You then snatch his phone from his hands.

“Y/N! There was only nine people left.” He whines reaching for his phone. You hold the phone far out of his reach.

“You know if your brother wasn’t a psycho I would’ve been accused you of liking me. Seeing how much you pick on me.” Your mouth drops in offense.

“Me ? Like you? Could never.” You roll your eyes giving him his phone back and before he can express how you had just hurt his feelings the door to your classroom opens.

“Ah, Mr. Bakugou, it’s nice to have a transfer from such a prestigious school.” Your administrator walks over and firmly shakes the boys hand.

You take a moment to take in the the male’s appearance. His uniform is disheveled, his ash blonde hair is unruly, his bangs are choppy, and his shirt is unbuttoned revealing his collar bones. He didn’t look like he was from a prestigious school. But even though his presentation could use some work his overall appearance wasn’t bad, he was clearly the athletic type.

“There’s a vacant seat next to Mrs. Y/N, so if you would seat yourself so I could get started.” The administrator gestures to the desk and the boy takes his seat.

After that the rest of the class went by as usual. Kaminari asked stupid questions and you struggled to stay awake during the lecture. Once the professor dismissed you all, you pack quickly up, but your stay was prolonged due to the injured Kaminari.

“Welp off to sit on the bench at practice.” Kaminari sighs grabbing his crutches. You try not to laugh, grabbing his backpack.

“I can take it.” Your turn to see that Bakugou hadn’t left, “I don’t know where the field is anyway.” You and Kaminari turn to eachother, but say nothing.

“I got something on my face or something? The hell you too lookin’ like that for?” You snap out of your confusion.

“Nothing it’s just your nothing like how Ejiro described.” You say letting him take Kaminari’s bag.

“Huh? What did that bastard say about me?” The blonde questions.

“He said your an ass-.”Kaminari starts, but you cut off his oxygen with a quick punch to the chest.

“He said your an amazing person.” Bakugou scoffs.

“Whatever, just show me where the field is.”

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

“It’s so hot out here.” Kaminari whines from the bench.

“Maybe it’s because your not playing.” Kirishima teases sitting on the turf, poking at the cast around Kaminari’s injured ankle.

Bakugou and Akawa approach taking a seat next to Kirishima.

“Well look who it is! My replacement!” Kaminari exclaims with fake enthusiasm.

“More like permanent replacement.” Bakugou sneers as he watches Kaminari’s face fill with panic.

“Akawa, you bastard! You gave my spot away?!” The yellow haired boy yells in a questioning manner, throwing a crutch at the captain.

“Easy! For now your still our primary quarterback! But if Bakugou wants to challenge you for your spot, I’ll allow it.” Kaminari picks up another crutch, but Akawa is too fast and darts down the field before he can throw it.

“You’ve been here one day and I’m already getting booted.” Kaminari sighs.

“I’m an asshole, but not that big of an asshole. I’d just wait to take your spot next year. It’s almost the end of the season anyway.” Bakugou responds shrugging.

Kaminari raises a crutch but Kirishima stops him, “It’s too hot to be beat to death by a man with a broken ankle don’t you think?”

Kaminari huffs, sliding down the bench.

“I have so much homework. I shouldn’t be here.” The yellow haired boy groaned at the thought of having to use his brain.

“Just get Y/N to help you after practice.” Kirishima says, taking a sip of water.

“Y/N definitely tired of me. She’s been carrying my stuff all day I’d rather not bother her anymore.”

“Who the hell is Y/N?” Bakugou questions, taking the water bottle away from Kirishima and finishing the remaining amount of liquid.

“Y/N? You took my bags from her earlier.” Bakugou nods in understanding. “She was hot.”

Kirishima and Kaminari turn to eachother, an all too fearful glint in their eyes.

“What are you fucks looking like that for?” Bakugou furrows his brows.

“Bro Y/N is like the most hands off girl in this school. Akawa will kill you and us for even talking about his sister like that. As long as Akawa’s her brother your not getting even a little close.” Kirishima explains.

“Plus we wouldn’t let you use her like that.” Bakugou glares at Kaminari.

“You fucking dunce, I might be an asshole, but I wouldn’t use a girl like that. She’d be my girlfriend before I ever tried anything.”

“That’s nice to her coming from you that is .” Kirishima sighs in relief. Bakugou raises his hand to hit Kirishima but he maneuvers out of the way.

“Seriously man its good that you think that way! But good luck getting past Akawa, your gonna need it.”

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

To be frank, he didn’t need it. Well no let me rephrase you too just hadn’t got caught. After that day at the field Bakugou began to grow more talkative and more open. After a month he was no longer that transfer student, he was your friend.

After few more he was your boyfriend and suprisingly Akawa remained unaware. It’s was hard but you had to admit it was fun. From sneaking kisses in during and between classes to you occasionally stealing him and taking him back to your dorm for some alone time.

But to be honest it’s was growing tiring. Eventhough the adrenaline of being caught was a nice rush, but the more serious you and Bakugou grew the more you both wanted the world to know that you were together.

“But Katsuki the problem isn’t I don’t want to tell him! It’s that I can’t tell him, do you not know how mad Akawa will be at me?

“Well we can’t be a damn secret forever. So I think it’s in your best interest to tell him. Or I will.” Katsuki threatens, as he lay lazily on his back sprawled out in your bed eyes glued to his phone screen.

“Katsuki!” You pout grabbing hold of his arm, not feeling shocked when he pulls away.

“Katsukiiiii.” You whine throwing a leg over his body to straddle his waist. He doesn’t acknowledge you, rather he just keeps looking at his phone.

Feeling aggravated with his silence you lean down and press a kiss in between his neck and his shoulder blade. He pays you no mind. You then let your hand travel down his chest and to the waist band of his pants, causing him to briefly look away from his phone.

“Don’t.” You take your lip in between your teeth.

“You know that’s only makes me want to do it more.” You say letting fingers enter the waistband.

Slowly, you let your fingers trail over his pelvis. He tenses up but still continues to pay you no attention. As your fingers slide down further you take his length into your hand.

“Katsuki.” You whisper in his ear.

“Dammit Y/N stop it.” His breath hitched as you began stroking up and down his shaft. “Your not getting out of this.”

“Mhm.” You respond continuing to trail kisses all down his neck and to his chest, stopping when you reach his underwear.

“Katsukiiii.” You tease. Finally he adverts his attention to you. “Can I?”

He says nothing, instead he lifts up his hips so you can pull his pants down.

“I knew you wouldn’t say no.”

“Shut the hell up.” He mumbles, finally discarding his phone to watch you.

Your mouth falls open has you take his erect member into your mouth taking him as far into your cavern as possible, and taking what you couldn’t throat into your hands.

Bakugou exhales deeply as you swirl your tongue around his firmness. You moan around the thick cock filling your mouth. You could taste the salty taste of precum leak on to your tongue as you continue to bob your head and twist your wrist . A river of saliva beginning to pool over your hand.

Soon enough Bakugou is no longer composed. His hands find there way to your hair as he begins to buck his hips in a sharp motion.

“I-I’m gonna f-fuck.” He groans, not giving your throat a rest as he continues to fuck your mouth. Moaning against his cock only encouraged, him to thrust harder. Your hand eventually lost its purpose as his cock was buried deep in your throat, causing you to gag relentlessly.

Your eyes fluttered up to his face, which was tense from his upcoming release. His lips parted slightly as he let his cum pour down your throat.

Slowly, you let the blondes cock fall from your mouth, a line of spit dribbling down your chin.

“Shit Katsuki, your still hard.” You say eyeing the males hard on as you slip off your pants and underwear.

“I wanna ride it.” You move back up to straddle his waist, your pussy aching from arousal of the blowjob you had just given. Desperately you take two fingers and rub them against your dripping cunt.

“Then fucking ride.” Bakugou groans at your actions, unable to deny you. You smirk as you take hold of his length and position it at your entrance. Cautiously, you let him fill your insides. His cock dragging so good against your walls.

“Shit Katsuki.” You moan, placing your hands on his chest for more stability. He sighs as you begin to rock back and forth on his cock. The rocking eventually turning into steady bouncing, Katsuki’s hands finding your hips.

“You fuck me, so good.” He grunts, allowing his hips to fall into rhythm with your bouncing. The lewd sound of slapping and simultaneous moans fill the atmosphere. A familiar warmth building in the pit of stomach.

“I’m g-gonna cum on your c-cock.” You feel him twitch against our walls as his grip on your hips tighten. His hips thrusting up erratically, chasing his own release. The sudden change in speed hitting something deep inside of you.

“R-right there Katsuki. Right there. Feels so good.” You whimper, losing all rythmn as he hits that spot deep inside you. After a few more moments of abusing you pussy, you cum your walls clamping tightly around his cock.

“If you don’t move I’ll cum inside.” He groans, but doesn’t stop. You slump over on his chest as he continues to fuck you into overstimulation.

“Fuck, cum inside.” You breathe heavily against his ear. Your boyfriend’s cock twitches desperately inside you as he nears his release. You let your teeth sink into his shoulder as he pumps his load into your pussy.

After coming down from your high you roll off of Katsuki and pull the covers over you both.

“I’m going to tell him, just give me a bit more time ok.” You say, resting your head in the crook of his neck. Bakugou then runs his hands through your hair and presses a kiss to your forehead.

“I was just being an ass, take your time. I’m fine with waiting to be with someone I love.”

[bruhlsbees]

sweet disposition: 1/? || femaleprofessor!reader x modern!alex kerner

hi bestie hehe i’d like to request a little series for you, sub! a little jealous modern alex keener (of age) x professor! f reader (late 20’s) - shes an english romantic lit professor & her “love interest” is a film professor who is one of alex’s shared teacher. alex has a little crush on her, and knows the film teacher is after her. super fluffy, smut maybe??? u decide baby, im just so excited eeeeek!!!

summary: alex kerner is a senior film student and develops a crush for his friend, denis, english professor

pairing: modern!alex kerner and professor!reader

warnings: age gap (alex is 22 and reader is 32), wet dream, sweet sweet pathetic boy, nsfw, 18+, minors dni

word count: 4,387

a/n: thank you for the request @gotmadison ily sweet gal!! this will be a short fic series i write and will post probably throughout the coming weekend! :) please enjoy and if you have any requests or asks please send them in!!!

For Alex Kerner, a senior film student, nothing bored him more than the first day of a new unit. He knew what to expect - twenty plus slides about some dead, or borderline dead, director while connecting their life to the style of films they did and how it related to whatever political controversy was going down at the time. Alex knew that there was a reason for going into so much history to better understand the meaning of the films, but jesus did it have to drag for so long?

The auditorium that Alex’s class was held in was larger, although the class was rather small. There were maybe, at most, thirty students in his class, including him, which felt empty as the auditorium they were in was meant to hold almost double that. Alex didn’t mind though, of all the rows, he was the only one in the back, taking the middle seat - of course, the best view to see a film. He recognized a lot of the faces in his class, as it was a senior level class, but he didn’t bother to converse with many.

It wasn’t that he was shy, not overly at least, he just didn’t care to make friends. It was an afternoon class, he was just getting out of work to rush to his class, and far too exhausted to try and fake being friendly…hence him sitting in the back, all alone. 

The ‘Authorship in Cinema’ course he was currently in was held twice a week - both two hours long. The first class of the week was held for lectures and the second class was held for the film screening. The university was just getting back from winter break, continuing into the last half of the semester. In Alex’s class they had finished their unit on Roman Polanski before the break and they came into the next covering Krzysztof Kieślowski. Alex was thrilled to say the least about not having to listen to his film professor rave on Polanski. Even after discussing Polanski’s case, his professor still seemed to idolize the man.

Alex was not fond of his film professor. He was a younger professor, maybe in his late thirties, early forties, and he seemed to praise the worst directors he could find. His name was Jaxon Thorne and was the staple image of a douche. He always wore faded jeans that were tight in the crotch, scuffed up sneakers that he always tried to pass as being cool, and a sweater with a scarf - even though they were inside. He truly didn’t get how girls liked the man. Alex wouldn’t lie though, some of his opinions were interesting, but the guy loved to hear himself talk, that much was obvious. 

They weren’t even at the tenth slide yet when Alex felt himself beginning to doze off. Work had been busy today, fixing satellites and dealing with prissy wives and their drunk husbands. He was almost late getting to class with all the traffic that was on the highway. The last thing he wanted to do was attend class. It took everything in him not to put his head down and go to sleep right there. He had done it before, and that was a mistake he would never make again. Waking up to everyone staring and snickering while the teacher was hovering over you meant for a lasting effect.

But Alex just couldn’t take it, he was so bored with Kieślowski’s early work. The documentaries of everyday lives for city dwellers, workers, and soldiers could not keep his attention even if he wasn’t tired. He sunk down into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, before craning his head to the side on his shoulder. His blinking became slow, desperately trying to stay awake and pay attention, but his eyes grew heavy, and before he knew it, his mouth was gaped open, drool slipping out of the corner of his lips.

He didn’t know how long he had dozed off for, but when he woke up he heard the projector screen zip up and the lights click on. Jumping slightly, Alex sat back up, feeling the stickiness of his drool on his face. With a groan, he wiped his face with the sleeve of his jean jacket before beginning to pack his things up into his bag.

“On Wednesday we will dive into his documentary, Workers, and discuss the censorship aspect of it. Come prepared to watch the screening and discuss afterwards. If anyone has any questions or comments, I’ll be staying after for a few minutes.” 

Rolling his eyes, Alex pushed himself out of his chair, swinging his bag over his shoulder before rushing out the back door at the top of the auditorium. He couldn’t have gotten out of there fast enough to avoid his teacher from going off on an ‘intellectual conversation’ on their new unit. Barf.

Alex was happy though to finally be out of class and to enjoy his hour and a half break before his next class. He knew he should have been finalizing what project he wanted to submit for critique in his senior portfolio, but he needed something to wake him up. 

As he turned the hallway, going to leave the building, he stopped by the vending machine and pulled out a crinkled bill from his pocket, pushing it into the machine before pressing the buttons to get a bottle of Coke. To his luck, however, the machine stalled, the bottle retriever getting stuck in front of the row and producing an obnoxious ‘whirring’ noise. 

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Gripping the side of the vending machine, Alex shook the machine roughly, rocking the broken vending machine back and forth until setting it back, sending a punch to the front of it.

“Woah, woah! Jesus man what did that vending machine do to you?”

Turning his head, Alex’s glare softened at the sight of his friend, Denis, approaching him. Denis, with his books still in his hands, tucked them under his arm as he stood in front of the machine, watching as the machine stalled with Alex’s bottle of Coke.

“The stupid thing got stuck! Is it too much to ask for a bottle of co-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the machine began to work again, grabbing the bottle and dispensing it below. Staring blankly at the bottom, his lips pulled into a tight line, Alex could only feel the embarrassment settling in - and it didn’t help to hear Denis laugh at how ridiculous he reacted.

“Oh my god, dude, you seriously need to take it easy. Did work kill you that bad?” Denis asked, watching as Alex bent down to pull out the bottle, standing back up as he began unscrewing the cap, guzzling the pop down. 

Nodding his head, Alex screwed the cap back on before tucking the bottle in his bag, hiccuping at the carbonation before sighing, “Yeah, and it doesn’t help that I gotta go to Professor Dick’s class right after.” 

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Denis nodded, listening to Alex as he vented, “Yeah, Thorne’s a real piece of work. But hey! Only gotta deal with him for another semester after this. Who knows, maybe he will knock a student up and ditch down?”

The fantasy would have been nice to come true, but Alex knew that it would stay just that - a fantasy. Thorne was a questionable guy, with interesting ideas and made borderline inappropriate comments towards the female students in all his classes…but that was just it, he could charm anyone he wanted, and that’s how he stayed around.

“Yeah, maybe when dogs walk on two legs…” Alex mumbled, pressing his knuckles to his eyes and rubbing the sleep out of them, a yawn escaping his lips. 

As he dropped his hands down to his side, he felt Denis nudge him in the arm, groaning at the contact as he was too tired to have any contact, “You got class at seven right?”

Nodding, Alex blinked, a tired smile on his face as he smacked his lips, “Yeah…seven to nine, best time of day to have a senior portfolio workshop.” 

Denis laughed at the sarcastic comment, mentioning that it could’ve been worse and be at seven in the morning than at night. Alex, however, couldn’t see how anything could be worse than an evening class after a long day of work.

“Listen, I got my ‘Romanticism in Literature’ class in a few…why don’t you come with me? My teacher’s pretty cool and I’m sure she won’t mind if you sit in. I’m in the back anyways so she probably won’t even realize. She’s got pretty bad vision I’ve realized. I think she said that her glasses don’t got the right prescription or somethin. She’s always runnin late and claims she never has time to put her contacts in.” 

The detailed explanation of the professor’s vision made Alex laugh, shaking his head as Denis looked at him confused, cheeks red, “What? It’s what she’s told us! She’s always coming in late. I wouldn’t be surprised if she came in late this time around. She’s got office hours before class, so she probably gets held up with a student.”

“Sounds like you’re in love with her, is that right, Denny Boy? Someone’s gotta crush on the teacher? Ain’t that every high school kid’s fantasy? Get the hots for the teacher?” 

Scoffing, Denis rolled his eyes at Alex’s teasing and shoved him in the arm, “No man, come on now, it ain’t like that. Look if you don’t wanna come I don’t care, but I gotta go before I’m late.”

Holding his hands up in defense, Alex trailed behind Denis, going back in the direction he originally came from, “Hey, hey, I was only kidding, don’t gotta get defensive. I’ll take along, hopefully I won’t fall asleep in this class. Why you even taking this class anyways?”

Following Denis into the class, the auditorium setup similar to the one he just came out of, except smaller, Alex sat beside Denis in the back row, watching as the class filled up, only a few seats not filled. 

“I guess I gotta earn some more credits outside my degree, this was the only one that wasn’t completely filled up yet and it worked with my schedule. It ain’t too bad, she gives us a lot of free time to work.” 

Watching as Denis set his bag down beside him, opening his textbook to where they left off the other day, Alex watched Denis prep for the class, the teacher not in sight. Alex figured that the teacher must have been running late, like Denis said she always did, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long it’d be before she even showed up.

Fifteen minutes after class was supposed to begin the front door ripped open, slamming shut seconds after while heels frantically clicked towards the desk in the front of class.

“Sorry I’m late! I got caught up with another professor. I hope you all enjoyed your winter breaks and are happy to be back. I know I’m thrilled to be back!” 

The sweet voice caught Alex’s attention, his eyes pulling from his cell phone and to the front of the class where the professor had just walked in. He felt his mouth fall open slightly, catching it before Denis noticed his reaction.

He was expecting an old lady for Denis’ class, someone who was on the edge of death and smelled of cats. What he found, however, was someone the complete opposite. Younger, curvier, and the scent that filled the room when she entered was warm - like she just finished drinking a cup of coffee.

Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, bangs hanging low over her eyes, covering the tops of her crooked frames. She couldn’t have been all that older than him, maybe mid-thirties at max. He didn’t notice what she was wearing below, but the shirt she wore clung to her so well, the outline of her fuller chest displayed with her necklace dipping into her cleavage. 

‘Good God, Alex, get a hold of yourself.’

Alex watched the professor, noticing her speaking although his lusted thoughts deafened his ears. He assumed she was asking how the break went and if anyone did anything fun because a few people raised their hands, a kind smile on her face as she listened to her students.

“That’s great to hear, Polly! You’ll have to show me the photos you took sometime. I have never been to that side of the country before,” Her head shifted towards the other side of the room, looking up at the higher rows. “Did anyone else have anything to share about their break?”

Denis’ professor sat patiently and listened to everyone who wanted to share, giving everyone the opportunity to discuss their breaks before she opened up her laptop to get started with class. Alex watched as she picked up the remote and pointed it to the projector box, the screen coming down beside her with her computer screen displayed.

Her home screen featured what he assumed to be her and some friends. He recognized a few of the people in the photo as they were also professors at the university - what made Alex turn his nose, however, was right beside her - in all his douchebag glory, Jaxon Thorne. Before he could make a cohesive thought, the photo went away and a slideshow on Mary Shelley appeared…and maybe for the better.

“Okay everyone! As mentioned in the email, we are gonna be diving into Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein for this part of the semester,” She began, her warm smile still ignited, chuckling lightly as some of the students up front became uneasy in their seats, excited for the novel, “I’m glad to hear we have some fans. Now, I promised that I wouldn’t give you any reading over break, but because of that we will be reading quite a bit over the next few weeks.”

The slide shifted to the reading guide and what chapters were due when. Alex watched as some students scribbled the due dates down while others pulled out their cell phones, snapping a photo before stuffing their phones away. 

“For Wednesday I would like you all to have read the preface and letters one through four. Come prepared to discuss your analyses of the text and any questions you may have. Of course, I’ll have my office hours open tomorrow and Wednesday before class, but if there are any questions, you can send me an email and I’ll try to get back with you in a timely manner.” 

The rest of class seemed to lull by, Alex’s gaze fixed on the professor that continued to go over what the last half of the semester would look like, answering the occasional question, before finally it was time to pack up and go. Frowning, Alex shifted in his seat, looking at Denis who was packing things up in his bag. 

“It’s over?” Alex asked, eyebrows furrowed, a pathetic frown on his face.

Looking up from his bag, Denis smiled, nodding, “Yeah man, it is. Why? You fall in love with Mary Shelley?” Standing up, Denis pushed his seat under the table and shrugged his shoulders, “I mean, if it works for your schedule and you’re interested, maybe go up and ask if you can enroll. I don’t know if you’ll be able to with it being so late in the semester, but it’s worth a shot,” Glancing down at his watch, Denis sighed, “Look, I gotta run, but let me know how it goes, okay?” Patting Alex’s back, Denis rushed up the stairs and out the back door, fleeing the auditorium to get to his next class on time.

Meanwhile, Alex kept seated, watching as the professor talked with some students who approached her desk after class, laughing and admiring the editions of Frankenstein that students presented. Was this how professors could be with their students? Actually caring and involved? It seemed like Alex had poor luck with his own professors - either they were old as a bat and didn’t know how to work the computer, or they were a presumptuous dick.

When the students began to flock out, already discussing how they were looking forward to Wednesday’s class, Alex finally stood up, pulling his bag over his shoulder and making his way down the auditorium steps. She hadn’t noticed him as he walked, writing something down in her planner. As he stood now in front of her, he cleared his throat awkwardly, gaining her attention as she looked up, squinting before taking her glasses off.

“Hello,” he began shyly, adjusting the strap of his bag, “I’m Alex. My friend, Denis, he’s in your class.” 

At the mention of Denis, she smiled and nodded, “Yes! Denis, nice boy he is,” She adjusted her position in her seat, leaning back slightly, “I-I’m sorry, are you in my class? I don’t believe I’ve ever see-”

“No! I mean, no, no I’m not in your class. I have a free hour before my next class and Denis invited me to sit in for this one,” He rushed, cheeks red as he realized how abruptly he had interrupted her, “I’m sorry, um, yeah I just came down because I really enjoyed your lecture today. I was curious if there was any way I could maybe enroll? I know it’s late in the semester, but I did enjoy today.” 

The cheeky smile faded into a sadder, smaller smile. She chewed on her bottom lip before leaning forward again, crossing her arms over chest, accentuating her cleavage that Alex desperately tried not to stare at.

“Oh, I’m sorry Alex, but I don’t think I can convince the department to let you in this late in the semester. I love your enthusiasm with the course and would love to have you in my class, but I don’t think I can make that happen.” Her smile dropped to a frown when she saw the visible disappointment in Alex’s face before bending over to open her bag, pulling out a copy of Frankenstein, handing it to Alex.

Looking down at the copy, Alex opened the cover, reading what he assumed to be her name in the cover, before flipping through the pages, a weak smile on his face, trying his best to not look so pathetic in front of her.

“How about this? I probably shouldn’t, but if you want to sit in on the days you’re free, you’re more than welcome to. I’ll forward you the reading guide so you can keep up with us, but you won’t earn any credit in this class. Is that okay?” 

His frown turned into a grin, looking up from the book, Alex nodded, his cheeks pink as his toothy crooked grin spread across his face, “Yeah, yes. Thank you,” Tugging down the front of his striped blue shirt, he cleared his throat awkwardly, looking down at the book before back up at her, “Um, so when are your office hours? Just in case I have any questions?”

Letting out a faint ‘ah’, she opened her notebook and scribbled some notes down, tearing off the paper and handing it to Alex, “You’re more than welcome to shoot me an email though if you need help outside of my office hours. Or you can call my office number, sometimes I answer it.” She admitted, her own cheeks going pink at the confession.

Smiling, Alex looked down at the paper and made a mental note to remember all that she had given him.

My email,

My office number,

Office hours are M&W: 3-5:15 and T&R: 1-2

Class takes place on M&W from 5:30-6:30

:)

The smile she left on the page made Alex’s stomach flutter. His thumb ran along the smiley face before he looked up, thanking her quietly for the note. She was sweet, almost too sweet for Alex to absorb, like he was in a sugar coma and begging for more. 

“Of course, it was nice to meet you Alex. I’m looking forward to seeing you in class. I don’t mean to run off, but I’m to meet another professor here in a couple minutes and don’t need to be lectured on being late.”

When she stood up, Alex’s face went hot. The flowy flower blouse that showed more cleavage than he had seen on a professor before was tucked into a tight jean skirt, clinging to her hips in all the right places, a thick black belt holding it all together. If it weren’t for the fact that he was right in front of her, he probably would have started drooling. 

Packing up her desk, she stuffed her things in her bag, throwing her sweater over her shoulder before throwing her bag around her, moving around the desk to stand beside it now, looking up at Alex. He noted how she was shorter, the heels helping her with height, and how good her legs looked in them. Clearing his throat, he shifted his bag around him to sit in front of his pants, attempting to hide any possible pop-up in his jeans.

“If you’re free tomorrow, stop by my office hours. I’ll even buy you a coffee if it’s too early for you. I know you college boys stay up far too late. I can only imagine what your mothers think.” She teased, shaking her head and she turned and began to head out of the room, hearing Alex keep tight on her trail. 

Turning off the lights and letting him leave first, she shut the door behind her and stood beside Alex, motioning towards the English department office, “I’ll see you tomorrow, or Wednesday, my office is the last one on the right. I’ll be sure to leave my door open!” 

Nodding, Alex smiled and waved goodbye as she waved back, rushing down the hall and weaving through the students to get into the office. Letting out a sigh, Alex leaned against the doorway, processing his first encounter with the professor, the boyish lust grin stuck on his face.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Panting hard, Alex gripped her hips tight, his fingers digging into her plush figure, grunting as he snapped his hips into her from behind, her pillowed ass meeting him with each thrust. The sweat that built up on him was beginning to fall down face, trailing down his neck and chest. 

Tangling his right hand into her hair, his left still placed on her hips, Alex pulled her locks gently, smiling at the sound of her wanton moan, her eyes rolling back into her head. 

“A-Alex! Oh god, Alex, I don’t think I’m going to last. F-Fuck!” 

Feeling his own climax build, Alex let out a shaky breath as he bent down craning his neck to kiss her lips as he continued to rut inside of her, his thrusts becoming sloppy and quicker.

The sensation became too much too quickly, his legs shaking as he kneeled behind her befo-

Jolting awake, the obnoxious phone alarm woke Alex from his dream, resulting in a now completely frustrated mood. While still on his back, Alex reached behind him on the shelf that rested behind his bed frame, pulling his phone up and looking at the screen, squinting to gain his vision from waking up, the bright screen burning his eyes.

When he unlocked his phone and opened it, prompting him to his email, his frown lit up and turned into a smile, seeing her name in his inbox.

Good evening, Alex!

I’m sorry this is so late, I’m finally getting back to my apartment and wanted to send this your way before I forgot. Here is the reading guide for the rest of the semester and that information I shared with you earlier in case you lost it.

I look forward to seeing you in my office tomorrow or Wednesday. I hope you have a good night! :)

Best!

Alex’s mood quickly shifted after reading the email. While he was disappointed that the wet dream he was having with her ended so soon, he was more than pleased to see that he had an email from her. Clicking his phone off, Alex tossed his phone onto his bed, sitting up with his hand behind him to keep him up.

His room illuminated a red/orange hue from the lava lamp that sat on his dresser in the corner of his room. Turning his attention towards the window, he looked behind the blinds to see the city life outside his apartment lit up, the sound of music coming from the club down the road and laughs from those partying. 

Letting out a yawn, Alex shook his head and rubbed his face, shifting his legs before stopping quickly, feeling the mess in his boxers. Looking down, Alex groaned seeing the stain in his boxers, pressing his hand to feel the wet spot before sighing, standing up. He pulled his boxers carefully off, tossing them into his laundry basket before making his way into the bathroom to clean up. 

When he entered the small bathroom that was connected to his room, he hissed at the bright light as it came on, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was tangled up, sticking out on the sides and his eyes were squinted, too tired to open them fully. Shaking his head, Alex climbed into the shower and started the water, the cold water hitting him both waking him up and cooling himself down.

He was absolutely and pathetically smitten over her. There was no doubt about it. Since leaving her class, the only thoughts that occupied his mind were of her. He had already planned out what he would wear tomorrow when he went to her office hours. It was pathetic, truly, with how quickly he was letting the woman ruin him. It was ridiculous to say, no doubt, because what would happen between them? Nothing. Not a single thing would come between the two other than a conversation about Frankenstein, maybe a personal question here and there.

Or so he thought.

[certifiedskywalker]

Fett’s Foundling - Din Djarin

thewhitedannimal said: Hi! Could I request a mando x reader where the reader is also a skilled and famous mandalorian? They decide to work together and after sometime, the reader is impressed by mando and starts developing a noticeable crush on him, but mando thinks it’s cute and expresses his feelings? Tysm if u do, I love ur work!

AN: I kinda changed this up a bit. I hope you like it though! I think it turned out pretty well!

WARNING: SEASON 2 SPOILERS!!! and mentions of terrorism (Star Wars terrorism but still)

“You’re sure about this?”

Boba’s dark eyes were cold and searching as he held your gaze. The lines of his face, including those carved into his skin by the Snarlacc’s digestive acid, were creased as he tried to read you. You imagined you looked about the same as him, but less scarred. Brow furrowed, lips thin, and expression stern. You were, after all, Fett’s foundling. 

“Are you sure about this? After all, we’ve been through a lot together. You might find that you miss me, go all soft on me, old man.”

At your teasing, the coldness in Boba’s tense features melted away. His mouth quirked upwards in one of his rare, closed-lipped smiles. The smile was a welcomed change of pace; the only hint of joy to be found on Moff Gideon’s freshly captured, Imperial light cruiser. Out of the corner of your eye you caught Bo-Katan looking grim, head ducked down in conservation with her subordinate. She had been whispering since the Jedi left, eyes darting around the bridge in search of the Darksaber. 

You glanced around too, but found that the ancient relic was nowhere to be found. Neither was Din Djarin. 

“And you say I’m going soft,” Boba scoffed, pulling your attention back to him. “You’re tied to him like a Kowakian monkey-lizard to a Hutt. Pathetic joke of a creature.”

“You would be the only one to think that,” you countered, “and the first to know that you’re wrong.” It wasn’t a threat. It was the truth. 

Boba had found you as a child who, much like himself, was stranded on Tatooine, doomed to the wastes baked by the twin suns. Both of you had been lost, outsiders to an outside world. Then Boba found his way back to the way of the Mandalore and brought you with him. He taught you to be a warrior and the two of you took odd jobs for odd people.

All the while, Boba searched for his armor and, with his help and scraps of lost battle gear, you had begun to forge your own. Eventually, you forged a name for yourself. So, it surprised him when you had, many cycles past, asked Boba if you could use his: Fett. It had stuck and you had stuck together, through it all. Though now…

“Not pathetic,” Boba finally conceded, “but you’re tied to him. Any being can see it.”

Warmth spread through your body and over your skin like a blaster bolt singe. Tightness gathered in your jaw, forced your teeth together like a vice. To ebb the sting promised by further embarrassment, you tore your eyes from Boba’s, unwilling to let him see deeper in your heart and mind. He knew you too well and you knew him too well. The two of you knew what the other was after and how those paths no longer lined up together.

“You don’t have to ask for my permission to leave.” At his words, you lifted your gaze back to Boba’s. “All I ask is that you give your allegiance to no one-” 

You roll your eyes at his words. “I know my value, my ideals. I’d never compromise either.”

Boba shook his head and leaned closer to you. Between you, he extended his hand. Your eyes glanced from his empty, open hand to his face a few times before he finally spoke up. 

“-unless they prove to you that your life is more important than their own.”

“I don’t…”

Shock. You remembered the feeling from your first gunfight. All those cycles ago, when you were lost on Tatooine. It had been so long since something had truly rattled you. For it to be Boba’s words, the man who taught you to push shock and fear off to the wayside, you were left all the more shaken.

“From what I’ve seen, that Mandalorian is as honorable as an ex-bounty hunter can be.” 

Boba gives you another closed-lipped smile. In your silence, you glance down at his hand again. You see him move it towards you, like an offering. Without another moment's hesitation, you move to rest your hand on his armored forearm. You feel his fingers on your own arm give a gentle squeeze before you meet his eyes again.

“You take care of yourself.”

Before you can return the sentiment, Boba pulls you in from your arm and into a tight embrace. Shock, again, freezes you, turns your limbs to carbonite for longer than you care to acknowledge. Boba’s embrace melts you free from it. You wrap your arms over his shoulders and hold to him as you did during that first gunfight. 

“You too,” you whisper, your voice small enough to packed into a pulse rifle. You pull away before you let yourself melt away with the shock. “And tell me when you take Tatooine.”

“Of course,” Boba nods his head at you and glanced to his left. You follow his eyeline and see Fennec. Her lips quirk upwards when you meet her gaze.

“Watch the little duchess. She wants that laser sword.”

“I will.”

Fennec nods before she turns her attention to Boba. As if he never took it off, Boba’s helmet is already on. The dark visor focuses on you for one last moment before he starts off towards the bridge exit, Fennec on his heels. You watch the pair go for a moment, mentally tracking their path to the hangar where the Slave I rests in wait. At the thought of the old beast, your chest aches. The discomfort lingers only slightly as you turn your back on the only life you had known and to the darkness of space shown through the viewport.

“Fett, what a legacy.” 

Your body tenses at the sound of Gideon’s low voice. When you turn your eyes over to where he is bound, you see dark eyes locked on you like a TIE target. 

“To throw that all away for a dangerous sect of disenfranchised Mandalorians.”

“I am Mandalorian,” you said, starting towards him. Each step you take is with purpose, calculated to reach the total sum of Gideon’s fear. You see how his eyes widen slightly and feel a rush of satisfaction further dulls the ache of Boba leaving; of you staying. “And, the last time I watched the holonews, it seemed that the New Republic labeled your broken Empire as a terrorist sect, disenfranchised from power rather than freedom.”

Gideon shifted, his cape collecting more dust and wrinkles as it rested on the floor with him. He opened his mouth to speak but you quickly turned to Cara. She was smiling, watching Gideon flounder. When she raised her eyes to yours, she grinned.

“That may be the most I’ve ever heard a Mandalorian talk in one go. Mando is always so...quiet.”

“Speaking of,” you glanced back at Bo-Katan and saw her eyes on you. In the hopes she wouldn’t hear, you leaned closer to Cara. “Where is he?”

“He walked off the bridge when the Jedi left with the kid. He went down the hall and to the left.” You nodded at her in thanks and glanced down at a scowling Gideon.

“I think the bindings should be tighter,” you said before walking off in the same direction as Din. With every entrance of new hallway you walked past, you peered into each, searching for him. He had been rocked, set a kilter by the Jedi that had stormed in for a rescue. 

He had lost the only family he had known, just as you had decided to let yours go. You could feel your own loneliness creeping up your spine and could only imagine that he felt the same doom sneaking after him. Despite being a hunter, you knew that you could not save him from that feeling, just as you could not entirely save yourself. Though, maybe, you could keep each other’s company and scare off the dark together.

The thought made you cringe. Boba was right: you were tied to Din. Pathetically stuck to him, nearly a stranger; but a stranger with skill. On Tython, you had seen him fight off a few Stormtroopers before running after the Child. He had bested a Darktrooper too, from what Cara had gotten Gideon to admit. He was a stranger with heart too.

A stranger willing to break his Creed, the oath he asked if you and Boba had taken, to say a true goodbye to the Child. In the moment, you didn’t catch a good look at his features. You saw only his head of dark brown hair and the curved tanned skin of his cheek. His looks don't matter to you though. You were already taken by him, from the moment he stood up to Boba on Tython, was ready to lie his life down for his Child. 

You were so lost in the memory that you nearly overlooked the shine of his beskar in an abandoned meeting room. Silver casted in his armor, Din was starkly outlined against the blackness of space that shown outside the viewpoint. His helmet was still off, held tight in his left hand. The sight felt sacred, as if it were wrong for you to be looking at even the back of his exposed head.

“You can come in.” While he was only a few paces away from you, Din’s voice sounded far off. Slowly, you took a step inside before taking pause.

“Do you want me to walk in backwards?” Despite the seriousness in your tone, you hear a small, breathy chuckle from Din’s direction. “I’m just trying to be cautious.”

“It’s appreciated,” Din said and, much to your surprised, you watched as he turned his head. In the dark of the Imperial meeting room, it was hard to make out his features but you could feel him looking at you. “But not necessary. Not anymore, not right now.”

Defeat was plain and heavy in his voice. You were familiar with the weight of it, having heard it in your own after your first, and only, failed bounty. Slowly still, you started towards Din again. As you moved, you catch Din’s head turn back to face the stars. Closer now, you sneak a glimpse at the side of his face before settling at his side.

He was handsome, a word you thought you would never use before. Granted, on Tatooine, there weren’t many beings you felt adequately captured the essence of the word. Din, however, with his strong, curved nose and scruff-covered jaw fit the bounty. Not to mention the dark of his eyes that looked like empty space itself. Full of mystery, Din’s eyes were, and you were ready to dive right in. 

Then Boba’s words echoed in your head. Any being can see it. At Din’s side, you forced your body still. Movement, nervousness that only Din could spark in you, could make your feelings all the more obvious. Now was not the time for that.

“You miss him already.”

“Yeah.” You snuck a glance at Din. His eyes were fixed on the view port, distant, like his voice. It was like he was trying to chase after the Child but was lost in space. You had no idea what to say to ease his search, his pain. Luckily, you didn’t have to.

A fast whoosh sounded out from the hangar below and distracted both you and Din from others presence. Roaring of a familiar engine reached your ears and, as quickly at you recognized it, the Slave I shot out of the light cruiser hold. Silently, like a swift and stalking hunter, the ship you were raised on rushed away. You watched it go until your lost the shape of it, saw it meld with the stars. It was then you felt the hairs on the back of your neck rise.

You looked over at Din and found that he was facing you now. Features once hidden under layers of beskar were now on full display. Din looked older than you imagined. There were strands of grey in his hair and patches in his scruff. Crows feet crinkles were gathered in the corners of his eyes; though it couldn’t be because he smiled so often, not with a life like his. Not with a life like yours, like all other Mandalorians. 

“You didn’t go?” Concern, in his voice and in his brown eyes, warmed your chest. You could only nod in response. “Fett, what are you doing?”

“Making my own way, like all Foundlings must.” Unable to hold yourself back, you nudge softly Din with your elbow. “Like you are. What you did was brave, even if it broke your rules.”

“You inspired me,” Din said, his voice nestled closer now around you. You held his gaze with a quirked brow, entreating him to continue. “Remember what you said on Morak before Mayfield and I went in?”

“‘Don’t get killed’ wasn’t it?” 

For the first time, you see Din smile. It’s not like Boba’s smile, the only other Mandalorian you had known. Din’s smile showed his teeth, even if it wasn’t for more than a second. Lines in his face grew more pronounced around his lips. You forced yourself to look away from his mouth and back out of the view port.

“No, I don’t remember.”

“You were talking to Boba. He said I wouldn’t break the Creed, even for the kid, if I had to. You said that I would, that my heart was in the fight.”

Want edged Din’s voice, powerful enough to get you to look up at him once more. His dark eyes were on you still and you don’t think they ever left. They dropped from your eyes to your lips and back again. As small as the shifting glance was, it was enough to tickle your stomach. You had to force yourself to stay still and quiet.

“You were right.”

“I am, most of the time, you’ll find,” you say breathlessly. It’s all you can manage.  

“Is that why you’re sticking around?”

“What?” You lick your lips nervously and curse yourself for it. 

“Because your heart is in this fight,” Din extends his hand as he speaks. In his open, gloved palm, the hilt of the Darksaber rested. You hadn’t truly even entertained the weapon, what it meant and stood for. Instead, your mind was clouded with Din, with want.

“In a sense.” 

Din raised his brows at you. “That’s a Guild answer. A hunter answer. Give me yours.”

You already know it, you want to say but you held your tongue back. Silence, tense and unyielding, fell over the two of you. Din held your gaze, not backing down on his request. It had taken him a few minutes, but he had found his confidence without the helmet. You smiled at the thought; he was a true Mandalorian. A sense of ease overwhelmed you, made you too comfortable and your tongue too loose.

“My heart is in the hands of the fighter.” 

You reached your hand over and pushed Din’s fingers closed over the hilt of the Darksaber. For a moment, you fingers lingered over his. You savored the warmth before pulling away. Finding enough courage, you held Din’s gaze again and felt your fear dissipate.

“But I think he knows that already.”

Din swallowed hard before replying, “he does.”

Burnt by embarrassment, you took a step back from him. Just as you were about to take another, dismiss yourself from the conversation and your ultimate rejection, there was a clang. You watched as Din’s helmet hit the floor and as he reached his newly free hand out. His gloved fingers wrapped around your wrist and pulled you back. You took not of his eyes again, how they flicked between yours and your lips. Was he nervous too?

“And he feels the same.”

“You-”

“I feel the same,” Din clarified, eyes focused solely on your face. 

Then, it was just the two of you again. Two Foundlings once lost then found again by the other. Wed to the fight but tied to each other. This was the way, wasn’t it? You felt sure it was.

When Din bent down and captured your lips with his, you felt all the more strongly about it. Whatever way, whatever path Din followed, you would be close behind. You were two bounty hunters, fallen from grace and into a world unprepared for what would follow.

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

I'm curious about your last ask. How is the game dissapointing? I was just curious because I always want to know all sides of people's opinions about this kind of things.

Also, I freaking love your work!

Oh, sure! Honestly I wasn't expecting people to care all that much, so I'm honored you'd also like to hear my thoughts on the matter 💛💛💛 Since the last ask I answered was about my concerns regarding the jpn server, I can elaborate on why I was upsetti spaghetti abt the eng server's last event if that's okay c:

And tysm both of you!!! I really appreciate it 💞💞💞💞

I’m just gonna tag the second requester since it’s about the same thing essentially @burntamore0906

So like this is going to be a very specific grievance, so forgive me if it’s a little niche or high maintenance. But I guess what bothered me so much about the Comte event story (On the Hunt for My Maker) is that the tone felt very very...off? As compared to the JPN ver?

How to explain...basically, in the JPN ver you just get this intensely serious vibe? MC’s been through a l o t in this one, and she’s in absolutely no nonsense mode. She takes mercy on Comte because she senses something is very off about his behavior; he’s not quite as sinister or impulsive or unhinged as one might expect of a murderer. 

Even then, she’s wary and defensive; terse, to the point. I guess what I disliked about the ENG ver is that all of this gravity and solemnity just...felt kind of lost? Like the heavy tone falls flat. I know it’s not a very tangible description of what’s troubling me, but the way she talks about wanting to reap justice and find closure just seems so overwritten by forcible romance by comparison.

There’s a sense of a slow burn that was lost here. The whole point is that, over time, it becomes obvious what Comte’s intentions were? And that no matter how angry she is, she’s also exhausted from this relentless pursuit to find an answer for everything she’s lost. To find some kind of reason, someone to blame for it all--when there just isn’t any. In the end, all she’s left with are these broken pieces and someone who cared for her despite everything. And the other side is just as important? Comte spent years watching over her with the full expectation of her hatred. Doesn’t make excuses for himself, doesn’t try to plead his case at all--welcomes her to attack him. For all her bitterness and fury and uncompromising resolve, he sees her for who she truly is. Someone hurt, but still full of rough-edged kindness. Maybe it was just my own feeling of difference, but I kind of hate how they removed the grittiness from MC. 

I feel like there’s a sensibility of “my sad past/my tragic backstory” and “love heals all wounds immediately” in the ENG ver. JPN ver felt more “I don’t know where to go or how to move forward, but I sense real warmth from this person. While I’m not sure if this is the right step, I want to trust that it is. I want to take care of this person like he keeps taking care of me.”

I mean I have a hard time taking lines like “Why did I ever hate him?” Seriously???? Like. You thought he [bleeping] murdered your parents, turned you into a vampire, and left you to rot on a whim. Yeah you were gonna be full of spite and hate in response????? 

This is just an example of what I mean:

ENG ver: It finally made me realize that though we’re vampires, we were still very much living creatures. It doesn’t matter if I was a human and he’s a vampire. I would have fallen in love with him either way. My rough translation records: [Even vampires are living creatures filled with warmth, despite our bloody nature. When we're touching like this, it's impossible to deny. Whether human or vampire--I don't care, I love this person...]

ENG ver: I’d spent so many years living in loneliness, hungry for revenge. No one had ever touched me with love like this before. Now it felt like le Comte was trying to fill in all the emptiness that had resided in my heart. My rough translation: [I’ve spent so long only living for revenge--life empty of all else, devoid of any joy. What a wonderful thing it is to be touched so dearly by someone who loves you...Just as Comte filled the loneliness of my past, so too does he fill my heart now.]

The content isn’t hugely different, but I feel like the conveyance matters. Could just be a me problem though.

It feels like the writing was so dissonant and out of order, rather than smooth and narratively flowing (IkeSen is probably the best example of this seamlessness). One thing I’ve also noticed between IkeSen, IkeVamp, and IkePrince is that IkeSen and IkePrince have a more dynamic, clever, and more animated MC. As a result, while I love the subject matter of IkeVamp, my enjoyment tapers off because the writing does leave something to be desired. Maybe it’s unfair of me, maybe the localization was rushed--I don’t know. But I feel like accurate tone and MC competency are a big part of my enjoyment when it comes to my fave otomes. And it’s a bit of a shame IkeVamp suffers in those dimensions. Even stranger considering how insanely developed the suitors are in terms of characterization and design...

Also because I’m still going feral over it.

So like naturally when MC is attacked by that man and Comte protects her, I really didn’t think too hard about it. He’s protective by nature, of course he’s going to move her out of the way. 

But then something occurred to me.

If she’s a turned vampire in this event, that means she would most likely not die from a stab wound the way a human might. Which begs the obvious question. Why would Comte be so frantic with concern? Why go to all the trouble? And the answer hit me like a train.

She died from stab wounds. She literally lost her life after being sold off by her family, drugged beyond the ability to function, and stabbed over and over while she was powerless. Intervention by Comte was not just about protection; it was an act of mercy. He was ready to do anything to make sure she wouldn’t have to experience that again, and didn’t look so much as bothered by the knife in him. 

I’m so ridiculously tender.......not wanting her to be retraumatized......

[torifeelslikewritingagain]

Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Slytherin!Reader

Summary: Fred and you have never been sure of your feelings for one another.

Word Count: 7,823

Warnings: A bit of bad lenguage, and slow burn(?

A/N: This is the first thing I’ve written in 6-7 years, so let me know what y’all think, I’d appreciate it a lot:) Also, forgive any grammar mistakes, english isn’t my native lenguage, haha

GIF credit: @fgweasley​

Fred liked looking at you from afar.

He liked the way how you were different from all the other Slytherins even though you actually were like the rest of them.

Since your first year at Hogwarts, he’d taken a liking towards you. Of course at the beginning that liking was just friendly, he liked that he didn’t feel the need to punch you in the face, he’d never admit it tho, not even to George since they’d been taught to mistrust those in your house; but during that first year he’d always notice how you were the only Slytherin in the room who wouldn’t talk in class unless you were asked to by the teacher, he liked that you didn’t look at him or at George with despise. Of course, there were also times where the thought of you quietly and discretely planning a mass murder would cross his head, but you never gave a reason to worry that his suspicions were actually true.

Fast forward to your 3rd grade, after the winter break, he noticed in the platform how much your parents would actually show you their affection, that was also weird for the majority of the Slytherin kids he could recognize, and it wasn’t until that moment that George noticed him looking at you that he said:

“Oi, we’ve never pranked her, have we? Maybe we should pay more attention this year”

Fred felt terrible in that moment for having put you on George’s radar, he didn’t want to pull a prank on you, right? Although, to say the least, he was curious at how you’d react, after all, you weren’t insufferable like the most of your house, but you also weren’t the quiet mouse that you were during your first year, he’d seen you become more social, he’d notice how you would actively participate in Divination class asking Professor Trelawney real questions instead of mocking her like the rest of the students. He’d also see you talking to Abigail Rosier during dinner and often times he’d see you walking around the castle with her, so he concluded she must have been your best friend.

One night after dinner, when your fourth year was beginning,  he was sneaking away from Filch, until he overheard Malfoy yelling at someone:

“… keep defending them?”

“Because you insist on being a bloody cunt to them for no goddam reason!” It was the first time he had ever heard you say bad words, or even angry, you’d usually keep a neutral aura that was sometimes disrupted by your friends being funny or by him and George who had gotten a like to pull little harmless pranks on you. “They’re wizards too, Malfoy. Their blood status shouldn’t matter to you or anyone, that’s none of our business, they are just like us”

“Speak for yourself, I’m nothing like those blood-traitor weasels or that mudblood…”

“You’re right, the Granger girl is smarter than you could ever dream to be” In that moment he picked up what was happening, you, (y/n) Lafington, were defending his little brother and his friends, and you weren’t even friends. Were you? Did you think that them pranking you was being friends?

“My father will hear about this”

“Well, make sure to send him and your mother my love” He saw Malfoy starting to walk away “You’re children Malfoy, you don’t have to do this, leave them alone” He heard that last phrase with a smile on his face, now he could actually tell George that he liked you.

…

After the hallway incident, he rushed to tell George and Lee, who didn’t believe him; so he saw himself forced to subject to his brother the question if you were in fact, trash or not.

“Lafington?” Ron asked George back

“Isn’t she the girl who is always talking back to Malfoy?” Inquired Harry “You know, the one who is always around the chaser… eh.. Pucey!”

“Yeah! She is! I’ve talked to her in the library, we’re trying to convince McGonagall t…” At that point Fred had stopped listening, he was just happy to prove George and Lee that what he had seen was real, but he wasn’t so happy to hear that you were hanging around with someone as despicable as Adrian Pucey.

A few days later Fred noticed himself paying more attention to you, George did too.

“Just go talk to her”

“And say what? I was walking around the castle and decided to spy on you and Malfoy so now I want to say thank you for looking out for my brother and his friends when I couldn’t?”

“That’s not so bad, actually” George smirked, Fred felt immensely stupid, he couldn’t figure out what was it that he found so difficult about talking to you. “But if you’re not going to do anything, I guess that Adrian Pucey will” With that said, George walked away, making sure to bump into you, he apologized and smiled to you, as he kept walking, he turned to Fred to make sure he was watching, so he decided to seize the opportunity his twin created for him and approached you.

 ...

By the start of your fifth year, you had kind of developed a friendship. You liked the twins, you liked how at the end of last year they had sticked up for you when everyone turned against the Slytherins because of the Chamber of Secrets thing, you grieved the disappearance of their sister and celebrated when she was found, you liked how they didn’t take life too seriously and would always be there to make you smile.  

You liked how George would give you sweets when he had any on him, you also liked how much of a good listener he was, he was always there to hear you ramble about astrology, Slytherin’s gossip or a random book you had found at the library, out of the two of them, you were closer to him since Fred always seemed to have a weird face on when you were around, but it didn’t bother you that much, so you paid no mind.  You also liked how both of them didn’t make fun of you when you told them that you liked quidditch even though you didn’t know much about the teams, you liked playing it mostly, not watching.

Fred liked that about you too, so when you told the twins that Pucey was helping you train to try and join the Slytherin team that year, he felt his chest shrunk in relief, you weren’t flirting with Adrian, you were just being mates, after all, Slytherin is the most loyal house, and you all looked out for each other.  

You made your way into the team as a chaser, the twins were happy for you, and you were thriving! Quidditch had come sort of therapeutic for you, you loved the rush it brought when you were riding your broom so far from the ground, the sensation of danger when you knew that one the bludgers might hit you, you also loved the idea of getting out in an accepted way the rage that was always boiling inside of you.

Honestly, quidditch was the best thing that could have happened to you, it helped you to finally ditch what was left of your shell, as the season advanced everyone could notice how you were becoming more outspoken, more assertive, more popular; that didn’t mean that you were immune to the dementors watching around the castle, though. You just felt the need to express everything you were feeling, whether it was good or bad. And having those creatures around did affect you, despite to what everyone might have thought, you could be spotted arguing with Malfoy more often, you wouldn’t wait to keep things in the Slytherin common room anymore, you would just explode at any given moment. Professor McGonagall was worried about you, you’d always been one of her favorite students in your year, Snape on the other hand, was watching your character development rather amused, he told McGonagall that it was just matter of time that you actually started behaving like a real Slytherin, to what she refused to believe that he was right, so she decided to take the matters into her own hands.

“Professor, I swear on Merlin’s beard that we haven’t done anything punish-worthy in the last three days” Fred said while he and George sit at Professor McGonagall’s desk.

“Yeah, whatever happened to Filch has nothing to do with us this time” The professor looked at George in confusion to whatever it was that they had done this time, she hadn’t called them in for any of that matters.

“Mr. Weasley” she started “I actually called you and your brother for a different reason this time, although I would very much like to know what you did this time in order to automatically be defending yourselves. I wanted to speak to you about Miss Lafington”

“(Y/n)?” Asked Fred

“Yes, Mr. Weasley. I’ve noticed that you are rather close to her, and well, since she is one of my best students, I feel a little bit concerned about her attitude and mood lately”

This year you didn’t share your favorite classes with Gryffindor, which meant that the twins would often see the more reserved version of you in the classroom when the topic wasn’t of your particular interest, so Fred started to worry a little when Professor McGonagall said that; where you skipping class? Were you failing? He and George sat there in silence.

“Nothing unfixable, I want to assume, so I ask you both to remove that awful look from your faces. My guess is that the presence of the dementors, those terrible creatures, has been affecting your friend, as you may notice, a good portion of your classmates. So, as your head of house, I’m asking you to keep an eye on your friend and one of my dearest students”

“So, you want us to prank her more often” George asked with a smirk on his face.

“Mr. Weasley, please, be serious. I’m asking you to not let these things affect that girl more than they should. I’ve noticed that quidditch has become and outlet for her but it can only last so long, so maybe try getting her out of the dungeons and the aura that surrounds her house for a little bit. Distract her, put some positive thought in her head”

“I understand, Professor” Fred nodded, he felt that McGonagall was overreacting a bit, you all were growing and asserting your characters after all, but he did notice you a little more irritable than usual. “Count on us”

“Good” She concluded “Now, go to class” The twins went for the door and just when they were about to close it “And know that you both have detention today for whatever you did to Mr Filch”

…

Fred had no idea how to approach you without spilling the conversation he had with Professor McGonagall, so he let George do the wonder while he just kept looking at you from afar as he always had. He didn’t know why, but every day he looked at you, he swore that you looked better than the day before, sure, you had eye bags and looked tired from all the training, but he found you mesmerizing even when you had your hair up in a bun that looked like a bird’s nest. And he could notice all the boys were noticing you, too, now he didn’t only have to worry about Adrian Pucey, no, now he’d also had Lee, who found you extremely badass, Cedric Diggory, who was on the Hufflepuff team and had been asking about you to some of the younger Gryffindor girls, knowing that Fred & George would talk about you in the common room, even Oliver had taken an interest towards you because of how you played; the quidditch boys in general,  he didn’t worry about Marcus Flint, though, he knew that he was too ugly for you.

So he kept his distance, as a friend could, of course. You’d hang out with him and George more often as Fred tried to sort out his feelings for you. Was he still just curious about you? Or had he actually started developing something more than platonic? He knew that you were amazing, and he was glad that people had finally noticed you, but he’d also feel bummed out by that sometimes, he felt that one day you might stop talking to him and George. He worried about what you thought of him, mostly, because he knew that he wasn’t as good friend to you as George was, but it was because he didn’t want you to look at him just as a friend, did he?

Meanwhile, you were enjoying the extra time with the twins, by the end of the school year you had even helped them come up with some ideas for the joke products that they had started designing, you still liked having them around among most of the new people in your life. You felt infuriated when you didn’t win the house cup, Fred reassured you that your game was good, it just was Wood’s last season and no one loved quidditch more than he did. So one week before going on summer holidays, they asked you if you wanted to come to the Quidditch Cup with them and their family, you weren’t sure, so you said that you missed your parents and went home.

During the summer you wrote to both of them, and Fred insisted that you joined them on their trip, but you didn’t want to be a bother, what if you didn’t fit it? What if their parents didn’t like you? What if all of their family hated you because you were a Slytherin? They assured you that you wouldn’t have to worry about a thing, that their mum would love you and their dad would, too.

On the other hand, you were nervous about even asking your own parents, they didn’t hate the Weasleys or any other “blood traitors” in particular, they didn’t care about those things, but they hated drama, that’s why they would keep low profiles and had taught you to do the same. You hanging out with the Weasleys at school? No problem, teens could always be spreading rumors, but you knew that showing up with them at an event like the Quidditch World Cup would be interpreted as an statement, and you knew how delicate things were getting politically, so you obviously felt uneased to say the least, you loved your parents, and you knew the values that they had taught you, but you also were aware of the kind of world were you grew up in, a world where people like the Malfoys would find themselves trying to be pleased by everyone out of fear.

You didn’t respond to the twins for three weeks while you meditated your next move, you were dying to see them, but was that urge stronger than your loyalty to your family?

…

Turns out your mom had seen you so down that she decided to go around your stuff and found the twins’ letters. When you came home from spending a few days with Abby she welcomed you with the letters in hand at the tea room. “Well, that’s it. It was fun while it lasted” You thought to yourself, but much to your surprise your mother encouraged you to go with them.

“There was only one boy who wrote to me like this, and that boy grew to be the man I married and turned into your dad. -Pay no mind to the blood status- I believe that’s what your father and I have taught you” She said taking her tea cup in hand.

You didn’t know why she was acting like this; they had also taught you to avoid big conflicts, yet, here you were. “Sorry mom, I don’t think I follow”

“Do you know why you feel like standing up to Lucius’ son? Because it is in your blood. During my time at Hogwarts I was friends with some muggleborns, but unlike you, I let myself get carried away by my house peers, don’t make the same mistake, much less when it’s about love” You remained silent after she spoke, you didn’t know where did she get this idea that you loved Fred, because she was talking about Fred, right? He was the one who wrote to you more constantly. “I’ll talk to your father; we’ll discuss it over supper”

Confused was short for how you felt. But at least you’d get to spend some time with some of your best friends, so that night you wrote to Fred that you were, in fact, joining them in a few weeks. You felt your stomach sink the moment your owl left. What if him and George now hated you? What if they thought that you not responding for weeks meant putting an end to your friendship? As these questions wondered your brain, the doubt of why your mom started talking about love came, too. Cause she was talking about Fred, wasn’t she? Why was Fred the one who came to your mind for this matter? Maybe she was talking about George, you were closer to him, essentially. But it was the mystery that drove you back to Fred, because sure, you were friends, but he had that face when you were around, and you also felt that there was this barrier, not in a hostile way, but as an aura of, well, mystery. You knew that he was the one to like you first, George had told you that story about the hallway and you defending Ron, and how Fred basically ran to tell him, yet, you always seemed to feel it odd since Fred was a little distant. At first you thought it was just his personality, you had thought “maybe George is warmer” but you’d often see him hang out with other girls, too. He’d hug Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, just like George would, but he wouldn’t even let his arm brush yours unless George had started play-fighting and he had to intervene, so you just had thought that maybe he liked you, but he didn’t quite trust you. Until now.

What if your mother was right? What if Fred liked more as more than a friend? You couldn’t even begin to make sense to that idea, you had seen Fred around other girls, he was a master at flirting, he’d swoon them over. The thought of him fancying you didn’t add up to how he treated you, did it? You refused to give your heart false hopes and dismissed those thoughts quickly, you just went to sleep happy to create memories with your friends.

…

On the other hand, Fred thought that he would spend the most amazing time with you during these holidays, he had even started talking to George about his feelings for you trying to figure them out, but then his father told him that his friend, Amos Diggory and his son would also join the group, at least for the trip, and he felt like cursing the entire world. How could he define what he felt for you when Pretty Boy Diggory would be around? George knew, that Lee knew, that Tori knew because Annabelle had told her, that Cedric was interested in you, he was curious, too. The difference was that Diggory knew that he could charm anyone he wanted, he just had to play his cards right, while Fred couldn’t even begin to admit that he wanted to play his cards too.

You arrived at The Burrow a few days before the Cup, you got to spend time with the Weasleys and even Harry and Hermione, you knew Hermione from your late night study sessions at the library, but you had never actually had a conversation for Harry, you found him rather plain, not in demeaning way, but you could see that this boy had barely an idea of what he represented, he was just like any other boy his age. Molly loved you, even when you found hard to call her that instead of -Mrs. Weasley-, and Ginny liked you too, she liked having another girl who liked quidditch around to play, she was good, you bonded over the game. And she was kind enough to tell you that everyone noticed the small tension that was going on between you and Fred. At first you thought that she was just messing with you, after all, she was the sister of Hogwarts´ most prolific pranksters, but then one night Hermione joined the girl talk, luckily, the subject changed to Ginny’s crush on Harry, but you were left wondering, if people were repeating what your mother said, it might as well be truth, right?

You spent that night thinking about Fred, you liked how he snorted while laughing after a prank he had been planning for long turned out brilliantly, you liked how he would talk you out of pulling an all-nighter to study so you could go wander the castle with him and George. You liked how he would look out for you during the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin matches, much to Oliver’s dismay…

You loved how competitive he was. You loved how before each game he’d tried to place a bet, whether you both were playing or not. You loved how you two would exchange challenging looks from one side to the other of the field. You loved how defensive he got when it came to someone offending you or talking trash to your back. You fell asleep while thinking in all of the things that you loved about this boy, maybe you did have a crush on him…

The next day everyone was super excited, it was the game day, so you all got your bags and started walking into the forest. You were walking with a twin on each side when you saw a man with glasses come up to Arthur and greeted him. You heard Fred sigh and murmur something beneath his breath, but whatever he said was eclipsed by George saying “Now, the fun begins” with a huge devious smile on his face, you didn’t get it. Was this man someone that Arthur didn’t like that much? Were they work frenemies? Then your thoughts were interrupted by something falling from a tree, a someone, actually. Next to the man talking to Arthur was now standing the Hufflepuff’s team captain, Hogwarts’ golden boy: Cedric Diggory. You turned around for a brief second to look at Ginny and Hermione, who you could already see were starting to get a little face-heated from just looking at the boy, you didn’t blame them, every girl at school had a crush on him, and you weren’t the exception, you just were more discrete when it came to showing an opinion, plus you hadn’t been officially introduced to him, sure, you had played against him, but you had never crossed a word, so you felt that showing even the slightest hint of heart eyes for him was inappropriate, plus, now you had come to terms that you liked Fred more than just a friend, right?

He quickly noticed that you were all standing there looking at him so he came up to say hi.

“(Y/N), this is Hufflepuff’s team captain: Cedric Diggory; Cedric, this is (y/N) Lafington, Slytherin’s newest chaser” George introduced you after greeting him.

“Yes, I know exactly who she is” Cedric shook your hand firmly while he answered to George. Fred was silent. “You were the talk of all teams last year, how come no one had noticed you before?”

-Well, I noticed her since our first week at school, thank you-Fred thought to himself.

“I just…” You smiled at Diggory while shrugging your shoulders “I guess I wasn’t that interested in sports before, I’m more of a library mouse, actually”

“Oh, okay, so you’re smart, too. I get it. I like that” Oh Merlin, you liked Fred, but so did you liked having the most eligible man at school looking at you in the way he was.

George was having a blast mentally, he knew Fred was bloody pissed, but he thought that this was for his own good, Fred had to realize that you wouldn’t wait for him forever, so mayyyybe George actually had encouraged Diggory to hit on you. He felt like he was doing his best work as a best friend and as a brother.

During the rest of the walk, Cedric joined you and the twins, you all chatted a bit about school, and when you arrived at the game you went to the girl’s tent. Hermione and Ginny were craving details about Diggory, but you really didn’t have much to give them. Later, when you went looking for the twins, you didn’t find them, Cedric found you, though. You decided to take a walk around with him, while you were talking you got to know him a little better, he was a good guy; you picked up that the flirty smiles and eyes between you two were just denial when he mentioned Cho Chang, Ravenclaw’s seeker. This boy didn’t want to admit that his playboy days were over, you thought that was funny. Yeah, you still had a crush on him, but you realized that it was a platonic thing, you liked Cedric, as a friend.

After placing a bet with Ludo Bagman, Fred had gone back looking for you, when he saw you laughing along with Diggory he felt his stomach shrink and the bile rising through his chest to his throat, maybe Angelina was right, maybe you knew that he liked you but you just chose to ignore him, but he also George’s voice came to his head in your defense, how could you even begin to imagine what he felt for you when he could barely look you in the eye? Those beautiful (y/e/c) eyes. He took a deep breath and approached you, telling you that it was time to go to your seats, you said goodbye to Cedric and followed Fred.

“So…” You started while trying to keep with him “I was hoping that you could tell me a little bit about the teams that will be playing tonight…”

“Didn’t Diggory tell you any of that? Or was he just trying to get in your pants?” You stood completely frozen at what he had just said, Fred had never said anything mean to you, in fact, he’d go after anyone who mistreated you.

“Excuse me?” Was the one thing that you managed to express. Fred turned back to look at you and he crumbled a little on the inside when he saw the hurt in your eyes, the shock, he thought how cute you looked with your eyebrows furrowed like that, but he quickly realized that he had fucked up.

“Oh… I-…” He didn’t know how to apologize; he wasn’t used to get carried away by his emotions in that way. You didn’t say anything, you stood there maintaining eye contact, you were waiting for a proper apology. “Look, I’m sorry, that came out in a completely wrong way” He waited for a response but you gave him nothing “Fine” he sighed and walked over closer to you “I’m sorry, I really am” Nothing. “Hey, Lafts, I’m now begging for your forgiveness” He used your nickname, which you felt relaxed your forehead. “Pleeeaaaase…” In that moment you felt him taking your hand and putting to his mouth to kiss it while giving you puppy eyes.

“Okay, I accept your apology” You said with a small smile in return, and taking your hand away from his. “But what in hell has gotten into you?” You asked as you started walking again.

“I just don’t like that he thinks that he can have you that easily, I don’t want you to get hurt by one of the most famous playboys at school. That’s it” Fred knew that he had to be cautious about what he said, he didn’t want to sound like a complete lunatic, but he also didn’t want to confess his feelings for you in the middle of the scenario that you were standing right now in.

You also didn’t want to keep going with this fight, so you accepted his excuse and kept going, even though on the inside you were still upset about him talking to you that way. When you arrived at your seats you placed yourself between Ginny and George, avoiding Fred. George resumed the season to you before the game started, you saw Draco and his dad, who offered you joining them in the box, but you refused politely with a simple “Thank you Mr. Malfoy, but I’ll stay with my friends for this once” which made everyone look at you with inquire, you explained that Lucius Malfoy was one of your father’s oldest business partners, so it was better to keep things light with him, Draco was different story; that last part relaxed the tension and made everyone laughed.

During the game you could occasionally feel Fred’s gaze on you, you’d sometimes look back, letting him know that you weren’t angry, but still you didn’t want to engage a conversation with him yet.

You had a good time, even though you still liked playing better than just watching, the twins and Ginny were really happy that Ireland had won. After you exited the stadium Arthur told everyone that you’d have dinner an hour later, so you returned calmly to the tents, while you were walking you started hearing people screaming and some even running, you looked at the twins but they were just as confused as you.

“Spread!” Arthur yelled at you “Spread! Hide! Fred, George, watch your sister” at a not so long distance you could see people with some weird masks marching forward and destroying the tents around, then it hit you.

“Death Eathers” you barely mumbled. You turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione already running “Go” you said firmly now to the twins, you pushed them and Ginny in the opposite direction where the Death Eaters came. “Go. They won’t hurt me. At least I think so, go, hide, protect Ginny” George nodded and took Ginny by the hand, the started walking.

“Oi!” Fred called them, but they didn’t listen, he turned to you, and grabbed you by the arm “I’m not leaving you here, let’s go”

“No, Fred. You’re a blood traitor” you got rid of his grip

“So are you!”

“Yes, but my family never talks about this publicly, no one knows. I won’t put them at risk” You knew that the words were hurting him, but he knew that it was truth, your parents’ business depended on them remaining neutral, no one really knew about your family’s blood status views unless they were close to you. “Look, Fred” You could hear the chaos closer and closer “You know I love you guys, and you know I value your friendship, but right now I really need you to go and look for George and Ginny, I can take care of myself” Just like he did with you a few hours earlier, you could see the hurt in his eyes, you knew your mother liked him from the letters, but you couldn’t bare the idea of putting her in danger for a simple crush. “I promise I’ll look for you guys when this is over, I’ll go help your dad” You kissed his hand and pushed him away “GO!”

You barely could see him running away because you turned around and started casting transfiguration spells on yourself, if you were getting into this fight, you’d make sure that no one behind those masks could recognize you.

When the dark mark was casted onto the sky, the Death Eaters started vanishing, everyone remained shook, when you made sure that none remained there, you started waking back to the party’s tent, there you returned your appearance back to normal, when you came out you saw Arthur returning, he recognized the clothes you were wearing and hugged you. “Thank you” he said as soon as you broke apart, you put your hand on top of his on your shoulder “No problem, Mr. Weasley. I just wish I could have done it without wasting time putting a costume on”

“You helped innocent people, and that should be enough” He gave you and honest smile and went inside the tent. Later when everyone had returned, you all returned to The Burrow, where you all were warmly welcomed by a worried Molly Weasley, who had heard everything from the news.

“Oh, dear, I assume your parents must be worried about you, you should write to them” She said to you as soon as she had the chance, and you agreed, so you thought that the best was to return home the next day.

…

Your parents weren’t that worried about you, actually, they knew that you were a fighter, but they did look worried about how thing would start changing from here on in, you told them that you made yourself unrecognizable when the Death Eaters showed up, which your father thanked you.

Over the next few weeks you wrote to the twins and your other friends, you even exchanged letters with Cedric Diggory (to whom George had felt the freedom to give your address) You just wanted to go back to Hogwarts and get away from all of the political problems going on, you wanted to go back to normal, where you could actually be you and give zero shits about blood status, you couldn’t wait enough for your 17th birthday, the day your freedom would came; if you were seventeen your parents would get excluded from all of your personal decisions. But for now, you could just keep on dreaming.

During the first week of class of your sixth year, you looked for the twins, they greeted you with the warmest of hugs, especially Fred (which surprised you) and you offered them an apology for bringing up the blood thing the day of the game, they were really understanding.

“Don’t worry, dad was amazed at how feisty you turned out to be, he didn’t see it coming, he snitched on you with us” George words made you giggle “Changing your looks to kick ass? That’s clever”

“Yeah, maybe you could help us perfect those spells so Snape and Filch can’t know who came for them” Fred added with a wink.

That same week you learned that this year you wouldn’t have quidditch because Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament, those were terrible news for you, but still, you felt excited about having exchange students over, and the twins had the idea that you could still play quidditch on your free time during the weekends, it wouldn’t be the same, but you were okay with it.

Fred wouldn’t admit it, but he really wanted you to accept the idea of weekend quidditch, because that was the first step on his plan to conquer you. When he heard his dad speaking so highly of you, he was certain that he was totally in love with you, the fear of losing you that he felt the day before, the way he reacted when he saw that Cedric could make you laugh too; the way his tummy felt when you kissed his hand, the way he suffered every minute while he hid knowing nothing of you and dreading the worst, he scolded himself mentally for letting you go, he should’ve gone with you, he shouldn’t have left you alone in a situation like that; All of that made  sudden sense to him while his father kept telling the story, he didn’t just have a crush on you, he wasn´t just curious, he was head over heels in love with you. So he asked for Charlie’s advice, and he designed a plan to ask you out  s u a v e m e n t e, the original plan involved hanging out after quidditch practice, so when quidditch got cancelled he had to improvise. He also had an advantage this year, you guys shared Potions class, which Fred knew was one of your favorites, so he would be able to talk to you during class because of Snape’s favoritisms towards Slytherins.

The weeks passed and you started noticing how George would always disappear when the tree of you were supposed to hang out, leaving you alone with Fred, you didn’t mind, you loved the way his red hair would look at night with the dim lights of the castle at night, and he loved the way your eyes lit up when you looked at the stars. Truth is that you two were getting closer, closer than friends, none of you said a thing about it, but you both could feel the connection growing. When the Yule Ball was announced you were sure that Fred would ask you to be his date, so you and Abby went dress shopping, she really didn’t like the idea of you getting with a Gryffindor, much less a Weasley, but she was happy that you had someone just like she had her Durmstrang student.

When you got to the shop Hogsmead and started looking at the fabrics, you noticed that other girls were already there, between them you could notice the girls of Gryffindor’s quidditch team, you paid no mind to them nor to their whispers and dirty looks. Abby went away for a moment to try on a dress that she liked, when she came back she had an annoyed look on her face.

“You didn’t like it?” You thought it was the dress “You know that’s just the sample one, they can make it for you in a different color”

“It’s not that” she said, putting the dress back “I liked the dress”

“Then why the face?”

“Look” she started “I know that you like the Weasley boy, much to the house’s dismay, and I’m trying (y/n), I’m really trying to keep my nose out of this because I like seeing you happy” she paused for a second before going, you could see that her mind was working trying to say something.

“Abby, it’s okay, I can take it” What could it be? Had he gotten in a fight with Adrian again?

“When I was in the changing room I could hear Angelina Jhonson talking about how excited she was to be attending the ball with Frederick”

“Well, that’s a shame for her, he’s going to ask me”

“That’s the thing Lafts, he asked her already, not you, her.” You could see that Abby was trying to hold it together, she was quite protective of you, but you did recognize that she was trying to not hate Fred. “I know it sounds terrible and I don’t know, maybe those twits are tryin’ to play mind games on us, but you should definitely check that out; I don’t want this night that we’ll probably remember forever to be ruined for you by some stupid scumsucker”

You were speechless, you didn’t know what to say, you were certain that Abigail wasn’t fond of the twins, but you also knew that she just wouldn’t lie about it, so when she had her order on her dress made, you two returned to the castle.

That night at dinner you had a hard time spotting Fred at the Great Hall, you also had a hard time spotting him anywhere in the castle, when you went to George for answers he responded with a simple “Love you both, I’ve done plenty trying to help Fred. I’m not getting in the middle of this mess” And walked away, which left you feeling even more confused and angry than before, why were they shutting you down? You wrote to your mom to know if anything big had happened outside the school, but she said nothing had really came up. You were left with nothing, the next few days George made sure to let you know that he was still there for you, but he drew the line when it came to talking about Fred. Something inside of you said “See? You were right, Fred didn’t really like you, it was all in your head; if not, then how come only George is here now?” And you didn’t want to give this voice the reason, but it was the only thing in your mind. 

The days passed and the ball came, you ended up attending it with Adrian, after all, you and him were really good friends. You were having a great time with your friends, you even danced a piece with Cedric, then George came to you, too. Fred remained far away, you could see him on the dance floor with Angelina, as Abby said; you felt your heart break a little more every time you looked at him, you were angry at him, but you were also angry at yourself, how could you had let yourself think for a minute that someone like him could fall in love with you? You were opposites, and everyone knew it, and everyone made sure you were reminded of it at all times. A slow song came on and Adrian said to you that he would try to dance with some girl from Beauxbatons, so you went to sit down for a bit. You watched all the couples dancing with a bit of longing, you saw that Ginny was there with a boy and you felt your heart melt for a moment, not everyone was having a rough night.

“Not having fun?” You heard George’s voice behind you.

“Eh” you shrugged your shoulders “I’ve been better” you turned your head to look at him.

“Well” He hunched over to be at your level “I see Pucey dancing with someone and my date blew me off too, wanna go wreck someone’s make out session?” That last part with wiggling eyebrows. He made you chuckle.

“Fine” You said rolling your eyes. You took your clutch and followed him through the hallways, you walked quietly, trying to spot any couple to scare. Suddenly George came to a stop in front of a door. You looked at him with questioning eyes, he nodded, letting you know that there was someone in there.

“You go first” He whispered. You smiled, excited. You got your wand ready. When George opened the door, you pointed your wand but before you could say anything you were surprised by Fred Weasley standing in front of you. Well, he was actually pacing, but still, he was in front of you. You turned to George.

“I thought you said t-“

“I know what I said” He cut you off. “But I’m doing this for you, not for him” He looked at both of you before closing the door and leaving you there.

You stood there in silence for a couple of minutes, you didn’t even want to look at him, you were hurt.

“So, I saw you dancing with Diggory…”Fred finally broke the silence.

“Really? Are you seriously bringing that up?” You decided to look at him and when your eyes met you felt the world freeze. You stared at each other. Fred had been watching you from afar, too. But now that he had you close, he was taken out of breath of how good you looked. The way your dress made your skin pop, the way your eyes were glowing thanks to the make-up, he could also see the lip gloss that you had been reapplying all night.

“Fred?” Your voice brought him back from his mind. “You know what? I don’t even know why I decided to stay, I should’ve left with George” You headed for the door but he quickly got up and stood before you.

“No. You know why” You got chills, you didn’t know if they came from the cold of the classroom you where standing in or from the look in his eyes. He took off his jacket and tried to covered you with it.

“No” You said stepping back and putting your hand in front of you. “You don’t get to play prince charming with me, not after you ignored me for a month… Why did you do it..?”

Fred didn’t know what to say, he knew that the moment to confess his feelings to you had arrived, but he felt too dumb to say something.

“You know Fred? If you didn’t like me you could’ve just been straight forward about it.” You started talking trying to keep your voice neutral. “You didn’t have to pretend to be my friend all these years, the worst part of it is that these last few months I felt like something beyond a friendship was growing between us” That was it, you gulped, your voice broke “You didn’t have to make me fall in love with you and then break my heart” Fred rose his head. You crossed your arms over your chest trying to keep all your feelings in.

“Wait a second, love, rewind a little bit there” He was in shock, he walked towards you. “You’re in love with me?” You could hear the surprise in his voice. Was he now laughing at you?

“You’re impossible, Weasley” You headed for the door again, but Fred grabbed your arm and pulled you to him. “Let m-“ You felt his lips crash on yours, shutting you up. You responded to his kiss, you could sense desperation in it.

“I’ve liked you since our first year” He said when you finally broke away “I’ve always felt keen on you. I love you. I shut you out because I was too scared of my own feelings, I’ve never felt this way for anyone else. I figured out that if I just cutyou off, all the feelings would go away, but they didn’t.” You looked at him mouth-opened, not knowing what to say, you both had been feeling this way but you were too scared to admit it.

“You’re an idiot” You finally managed to say. He kissed you again.

“Yes, I am, I am the biggest idiot ever” Kiss “but please say you won’t pay mind to the all the bloody talking and you’ll be my official girlfriend” He pecked you on the lips again.

“Yes, yes, okay” You laughed.

You stood there for a while, laughing at how obnoxious you both had been the last few years. You were in love with Fred, and Fred was in love with you. You weren’t waiting for you 17th birthday anymore, you were making up for all the lost time, everyone else could go to hell.

[fantasia-monogram]

As the clock strikes midnight, part 3/3

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / epilogue

♥️ Taeyang x reader (nonbinary, female anatomy) x Jaeyoon; mentions of other SF9 members

♥️ NSFW (~4.2k words); threesome smut. Light BDSM, voyeurism, safe sex. No one is 100% straight.

♥️ You’re a beast at work, having to be tough to climb up the corporate ladder, but what you never thought of is that your attitude might be intimidating to your long time crush. Luckily, your much more laid back friend is here to help... both of you. Please read part 1 and 2 before this!

♥️ Disclaimer: this is just for fun! I’m not claiming that’s how they are in real life, it’s just my imagination doing whatever it wants. Read at your own discretion.

You were in the process of taking off your satin top (the shorts and the nightgown were absentmindedly discarded back in the kitchen and you could swear you were almost embarrassed at how eager you were) when you noticed with the corner of your eye that Taeyang, instead of taking place on the bed like you established earlier, approached Jaeyoon. 

"Before we start, I just… wanted to say thank you," he said softly, putting his hand on Jaeyoon's exposed bicep. "You were always rooting for Y/n and I, and if not for you, I'd probably never confess." 

Jaeyoon chuckled, pulling the boy into a tight embrace. Despite the heartwarming nature of this scene, you couldn't help but feel arousal rush through your body: the sight was dreamy to say the least, considering they were both almost naked, if not for Jaeyoon's boxer briefs and Taeyang's light grey slacks. 

"I know, I'm the best wingman ever," the older of your friends concluded, "Everything for my best friends," he added with a devilish smirk, looking straight at you. 

That gave you an equally devilish idea to kickstart this whole scene. 

"You sure do love Taeyang a lot, don't you?" You asked, now standing there in black lace boxer shorts only. 

"Of course I do! He's my favorite dongsaeng!" Jaeyoon confirmed enthusiastically. 

You hadn't missed the way the boy in question eyed you hungrily, his plush lips slightly parted at the sight.

"Why don't you show me how much you like him, then?" 

They both glanced at you with unreadable expressions. Then, they turned to look into each other's eyes.

Both you and Jaeyoon, already set on the idea, were eagerly waiting for Taeyang's permission. Obviously, you wouldn't mind if he objected, since you were about to have fun anyway…

First, he slowly moved his hands away from Jaeyoon; he spread his arms and put them up in a surrendering gesture. Then, he looked at his friend through his long lashes, mirroring his smirk. 

He nodded, and as if on a cue, Jaeyoon surged forward to press his lips against Taeyang's. Circling Taeyang's waist with his arms, Jaeyoon started pushing the guy towards the bed, not breaking the passionate kiss even for a second. 

You were sure you couldn't get any wetter, and you were all just starting; you never even dreamed of witnessing two most attractive men you've ever known playing like this in front of you - and on your order, on top of that - but here you were. Taeyang's needy little grunts only made the experience better. 

Just as they reached the edge of the bed, Jaeyoon broke the kiss to give Taeyang a hard slap on the bottom; the choked moan the boy let out being like music to your ears. To finish this private show, Jaeyoon shoved the boy onto the mattress and, to make the best of his temporary distraction, he slid Taeyang's slacks down in one harsh motion, revealing a half-hard bulge trapped in bright red briefs. 

The blush on Taeyang's face was almost the same colour, spreading through his long neck.

"Very well!", you laughed with utter satisfaction. 

Taeyang used this moment to free himself of the pulled down pants completely, not breaking eye contact with Jaeyoon. 

"Sit up, hands behind your back." Jaeyoon commanded; you've never heard him use such a harsh tone before, but you figured he just stepped into his Dom self. "No touching. Behave for us." 

Taeyang obediently did as he was told. It wasn't easy for you to not stare at his lean body. 

Meanwhile, Jaeyoon sat back in an armchair placed in front of the bed. You walked across the room to straddle his lap, facing him. An exchange of amused smiles followed. 

You threw a side glance towards Taeyang, who was now sitting propped on his arms, legs slightly spread, hungry expression on his face again. You were always proud of your backside; no wonder he couldn't look away despite the deep blush on his cheeks.

"Why don't you tell me everything about your crush on me while Jaeyoon and I get busy?" you asked playfully.

Taeyang exhaled deeply. 

"Okay." 

Jaeyoon must have developed some kind of mind connection with you after all these years, because his next question made you snort. 

"Aren't you happy I dragged you through all those back and leg days in the gym?" 

He accentuated his words by sliding his hands through your sides, only to rest them on your waist. You shivered, not having been touched like this for a long time. 

"My ass has always been better than yours," you retorted, combing your fingers through his hair. You felt so excited you almost wanted to kiss him, but you instantly became aware of Taeyang's presence in the room; so instead, you leaned forward to press your lips onto Jaeyoon's neck. This way, you gave Taeyang an even better view of your butt. 

Jaeyoon sighed quietly. You pulled on his hair to push his head to the side; with easier access, you started leaving lingering, wet kisses along his neck and shoulder, making sure your ass was on display all that time. 

You heard Taeyang gulp. 

"I… can't say it was love at first sight. It started when we were both put in Customer Service and you cut your hair short… You refused to work at phone support, they complied and I thought it was impressive."

As you continued to work on Jaeyoon's shoulders, encouraged by his laboured breathing, his hands slid through your waist, lingering over your bottom for a couple seconds, to stop on the back of your thighs. 

"It's embarrassing, but I happened to walk by the conference room during that meeting, and I heard everything." 

"Bullshit," Jaeyoon laughed under his breath, squeezing your thighs in his hands, "You checked Y/n's calendar earlier and stood under that door like a lovesick idiot, looking around all that time." 

You froze for a moment. Taeyang made a strangled, frustrated sound. 

"Okay, yes! That's what actually happened," he admitted. "You had them in your grasp the moment you walked into that room. They basically made a whole new position for you. I've never heard you speak with that tone before, it… it almost made me hard."

You were still stunned, knowing your first display of charisma in the company resulted in so much more than a comfortable job you enjoyed. Feeling your knees going weak, you sank down to sit on Jaeyoon's lap, pressing yourself against his thigh. 

Oh, shit. You were so wet. 

Jaeyoon chuckled when he noticed the wetness smearing on his skin, and gave you a light smack on the side of your leg that served more like a reminder to stay present rather than a proper slap. 

His hands traveled up your body, slowly approaching your chest area. 

"So you were climbing the ladder at the Compliance Department, while I kept taking calls, and this difference turned me on even more, since you still somehow considered me a friend…" Taeyang continued, clearly having more and more trouble speaking. "You started taking your job so seriously… You were praised for your work ethic… And you'd always say dating would only distract you from your career." 

Jaeyoon pulled you closer. He carefully cupped your breasts and, after he leaned down a bit, took one of your nipples in his mouth. 

You gasped, taken by surprise as he sucked on it slowly. 

Taeyang let out a choked sob. You couldn't see him, but you could only imagine how frustrated he must have been at this point; that, combined with the physical sensation, made you grind down on Jaeyoon's thigh. That wasn't enough, so you moved even closer until your core hovered over Jaeyoon's still clothed, rock hard bulge. Now, that was the kind of warmth you were seeking.

You exchanged a quick glance with Jaeyoon, just to make sure he was fine with this as well. He gave you a reassuring smile.

The sound of the sheets rustling distracted you from responding. 

"Don't you even think about it." Jaeyoon growled in Taeyang's direction. 

Taeyang whimpered once again, clearly on the edge. 

"I wanna take care of him," you whispered into Jaeyoon's ear, circling your arms around his neck, "Let's end this part real quick." 

Your friend murmured an understanding mhmm and propped his chin on the crook of your shoulder. You figured he was staring straight at Taeyang now. Oh, how you couldn't wait to do that too.

"You're awfully quiet for someone so desperate."

Jaeyoon caressed your back once again, finally letting his hands land on your ass. 

"Why don't you finish your little story? I'm sure Y/n would love to hear more of your pathetic whines."

With that, he squeezed handfuls of your flesh, spreading your cheeks. You were sure Taeyang could see your juices glistening on the black lace of your underwear in the dimmed lights. 

You kept still, breathing heavily. The need to squirm under Jaeyoon's firm touch was clouding your mind, but you didn't want to leave Taeyang without the visual of your briefs and inner thighs all soaking wet. 

"Most coworkers think we have a secret relationship anyway…" Taeyang struggled to keep it up. "And I wish it was true. I promise I will never try to interfere with your career… and I will do my best to get a higher position so you won't ever be ashamed of dating me…" 

Jaeyoon slid his tongue along your neck, stopping right below your ear to suck on the skin there lightly. It was soft, without using teeth, and you appreciated the tender gesture. 

"Now, just… Please… Please touch me, I beg you," Taeyang's voice was breaking. "I can't take it anymore. Please wreck me." 

That was enough, you were close to snapping as well. 

You gently pushed Jaeyoon away and did a subtle nod in Taeyang's direction. 

“You’re so worked up,” Jaeyoon whispered, giving you yet another encouraging pat on the thigh, “Be careful, don’t hurt yourself.”

You gave him a confused stare, but upon closer look, you noticed you weren’t just shivering anymore - your hands were shaking, your head was spinning, and you could barely support yourself on wobbly legs.

You carefully exhaled and stepped out of Jaeyoon’s lap, turning to face Taeyang.

The boy stared at you with glassy eyes, hands gripping the sheets behind him, legs spread, a clear outline of his cock on his briefs on display. He was just as wrecked as you expected, yet you intended to wreck him even more. 

As you walked towards the bed, you swiftly pushed down your underwear and got rid of it on your way. You stood in your full naked glory in between Taeyang's thighs, and to be honest, you never felt more confident in your entire life. 

You tangled your fingers into his hair, marvelling at how soft it felt. Then, once you reached the back of his head, you pulled it harshly so that Taeyang could look up at you fully. 

Hearing his surprised gasp gave your Dom side an enormous boost. 

"I can't believe you kept it in for so long." You said in a firm tone, slowly leaning towards his face, "I couldn't possibly let you have your way after such disappointment. It's gonna be all about me tonight." 

It took a couple seconds of intense staring into each other's eyes before Taeyang collected his thoughts enough to speak. 

"Please… Use me however you want it." 

He batted his eyelashes in a sultry way. 

"I'm all yours."

Now that you had his full permission, you closed the distance between you two with a tender kiss. Knowing your strict self turned him on, you didn't want to break the character, so you hoped this would be enough to convey your feelings. 

The kiss got deeper, but never lost its loving undertone. You untangled your fingers from Taeyang's hair and cradled his face with one hand instead, while moving the other across his neck and chest. That's when you pushed on his torso, giving him a cue to lie down. 

He whined when he had to detach from your lips, but complied without any further protest. At last, you could straddle his thighs. You kept your core mere millimeters away from his crotch that definitely needed attention. 

"I'm not gonna keep you like this for long, I've had enough waiting," you warned, lightly roaming your fingers through his ribs and stomach. Delicate muscles of his abdomen quivered under your ministrations. 

"It's fine either way," he replied under his breath, "I can last long." 

"We'll see about that." 

To make a point, you slid up to press on his length. The boy moaned loudly; his delightful sounds, as well as the friction, encouraged you to repeat the motion a few more times. Taeyang was doing better than you expected, that's for sure. He just focused on steady breathing, still gripping the sheets under him, while you felt way too close to your own climax just grinding down against him. 

You really had a treasure in your hands. 

Deciding you're done playing, you stopped to take a look at your workings. You traced the outline of his cock with your thumb. It wasn't too thick, which was actually perfect for you, but long enough to make you a bit concerned.

You pressed on the head, feeling out the slit. A wet spot appeared on the red fabric. Taeyang let out a strangled moan; it was pointless to keep him struggling like that, regardless of his promises. 

You stepped down on the floor to help Taeyang slide off his underwear. He hissed when his cock finally sprung out of the restraints. You swallowed thickly, feeling your mouth water at the sight; you couldn't wait to play with it more some other time - definitely not now, when you were ready to cum from the visual alone. 

Hopping back onto his lap again, you grabbed a condom you conveniently left by the pillow before you started. 

"Do you want me to do it for you?" You asked, not wanting to overstimulate the poor boy even further. 

"Yes, please," he begged. 

Despite your trembling and being terribly out of practice, you tried your best to put the condom on smoothly. Once it was in place, you reached to pet Taeyang's hair and cheek again. His face relaxed a bit; he even looked at you with hooded eyes. 

"Good boy." You smiled at him. "You can touch me now. I'll need your help, I've never taken such a big boy before."

Taeyang didn't need to be told twice. He used his left hand to hold the base of his cock for you. You lined your entrance with his length, feeling out of breath already, the pent up desire becoming too much to handle; you whined at the momentary discomfort when trying to sink onto Taeyang's cock, but his thumb was on your clit as soon as he heard it, gently smearing your juices on it in little circles. The touch alone put you on fire. It still wasn't enough - however, before you thought of backing off, Taeyang carefully spread your labia with his long fingers. This made things much easier for you and, after a series of small back-and-forth movements, you took in his entire length. 

You circled your hips experimentally, trying to get accustomed to the stretch - you definitely underestimated his thickness before - but once you leaned forward and felt pressure right on your sweet spot, your mind went totally blank. You didn't mean to be selfish, but it felt so overwhelming you just started grinding with Taeyang's cock fully inside you, instead of riding him properly. He didn't complain, though. He kept massaging your clit in that careful, barely-there way that only helped you focus on the delightful stretch rather than distract you, while his other hand was caressing your body wherever he could reach. You could hear his gasps too, but it was all muffled when you were so struck on chasing your orgasm. 

It hit you out of blue, embarrassingly fast, making you cry out both out of surprise and pleasure; it caught you off guard so much you almost regretted not taking your time.

The good side of it was that you could still ride Taeyang towards his climax without overstimulating yourself. You stopped moving for a moment only to grasp his wrists and move his hands onto your waist. 

"Sit up." You ordered, willing yourself into composure. 

He did as you told, anticipation burning in his eyes. You cradled his cheeks, facing him up close. 

"You did so well," you praised him, following with a deep kiss. That's when you noticed he was out of breath, just as wrecked as you wanted him to be; so ruined that when you pushed your tongue into his mouth, he sighed needily, letting his saliva drip down his chin. 

Oh, he was such a good boy. 

"Are you okay? Nothing hurts?" he whispered into the kiss. You tried to not melt because of his genuine concern, as you still had a lot planned out. 

"Don't you worry, baby. Everything's perfect." 

To prove your point, you raised your hips so only the tip was still inside you. Much to your relief, nothing hurt indeed. You were already set on coming for the second time, just to follow your somewhat underwhelming, sudden orgasm with something much better - both for your and Taeyang's pleasure.

You smoothly sank in again, then again, until you set a steady pace. You thoroughly enjoyed all the sounds Taeyang was unashamedly making, as well as his blissed out expressions, but the way he tried to make you go faster by holding onto your waist was something you would not accept. 

You stilled mid-thrust, earning a truly heartbreaking stare from Taeyang. 

"Hands off," you commanded, "Keep them behind you, on the sheets." 

You were sure you were driving him crazy at this point and you weren't even done yet, so to give him some momentary gratification, you set a fast pace, propping yourself on his shoulders. Getting so much control over the boy, as well as his desperate cries, were giving you enough energy to keep going like this for a while. 

You were amazed at the fact he didn't come yet, despite being fully hard all that time, and you knew you couldn't draw it out for much longer as you felt another orgasm approaching. Unable to hold it anymore, you decided to help yourself with your own hand.

Soon, you came again, clenching hard on Taeyang's length; the magnitude of this climax almost knocked you out.

"Please, please…" Taeyang whimpered, tears strolling down his face, "Just a little more…" 

You rode the afterglow out, already feeling Taeyang twitch, but you knew you couldn't go like this for long without the sensation becoming painful. You stilled, keeping him in all the way, squeezing around him in a set rhythm. 

You pulled harshly on his hair. 

"What a needy slut you are."

He barely managed to react to your words when you slapped his face. 

His eyes rolled back and, with a drawn out moan, he thrusted upwards into you, spilling his cum into the condom.

You felt like it took him forever to finish, however, you didn't mind it at all when you were able to observe him so out of it, staring blankly through barely open eyelids, breathing in sharp little gasps - and all of that when his hips were still so flush with yours. The warmth and throbbing you felt inside despite the synthetic barrier soothed you after all the rough treatment. 

Once Taeyang was done, he cautiously laid back onto the mattress. He pulled you into an embrace, helping you slide off his cock as gently as possible. 

Just as you nestled yourself comfortably on his chest, you got startled by a grunt to your right. You looked into that direction, with Taeyang following you immediately - Jaeyoon was leaning against the wall, his hand wrapped around his cock, streaks of cum already dripping out of his fist. 

"I'm good! I'm good," he reassured, raising his head, a slightly twisted smirk on his face. He reached for a tissue from the nightstand and wiped his hand clean.

You hated to admit it, but you kind of forgot he was there. Suddenly, the situation became a bit awkward - Jaeyoon didn't seem to be phased, though. 

"That was amazing," he huffed, voice still exasperated, "But I'd love to catch some sleep tonight." 

You didn't want to be rude, but you really weren't that keen on asking him to crash at your place when you'd rather spend the rest of the night with Taeyang in your arms without any intruders.

"I'll clean up and be on my way. No one will be surprised if you two show up together in the morning, but my folks at HR will ask me some uncomfortable questions if I come with you instead of my usual time."

When your friend approached, he surprised you with a quick smooch to your cheek, then did the same to Taeyang - none of you opposed, too tired to react. 

"Have fun, lovebirds!" Jaeyoon said, leaving the room. "Don't forget to lock the door later." 

"That guy…" you laughed quietly. You sat up to check up on Taeyang. 

Your heart wrenched at the sight beneath you: the boy just laid there with a hand loosely tangled in his hair, his cheeks shining with tears, eyelids swollen from crying and, most likely, sleepiness.

"You need a shower, baby. " You caressed the side of his face. 

"Gimme a break…" Taeyang groaned, covering his eyes. 

"I'll shower with you." 

He was up in a second. 

Half an hour later, clean and fresh after washing up, you went back to bed. The night was warm even with the windows open, so you just laid there next to each other, holding hands, not even bothering to put on any clothes. 

"That's an unusual way to start a relationship," you snorted, squeezing Taeyang's hand tighter. He seemed like a hand holding 24/7 type of a person, fingers intertwined, all that jazz. You loved it. 

"How else would we do it?" Taeyang asked, his tone dry. "Should I take you on a date? Come to your place? Watch Netflix together until we fall asleep? We've done all of that already." 

Your eyes went wide at the realization. Damn, he was right. You've had coffee and lunch dates countless times, you just never called them dates. He's been a regular guest in your apartment, and vice versa. That one time you fell asleep huddled on the couch while watching a movie was lowkey embarrassing, though - Jaeyoon was supposed to pick you two up for dinner and a movie night at the cinema, but arrived two hours late because of a family emergency. He woke you up by banging on the door; you were relieved Taeyang slept hard enough to not notice he draped his arms around you and drifted away with his nose in the crook of your neck. 

"We're sex freaks. I wouldn't have imagined a better way." 

His statement made you blush despite everything you had done before. 

"Is there anything I could do for you as a birthday present?" He asked after a longer pause, turning his head to look into your eyes. "Something you've always wanted to do." 

"I… I always…" you started, immediately catching his drift, "I always wanted to peg a pretty boy." 

You smiled at the mere possibility of your wish being granted. 

Taeyang chuckled, amused. 

"Sure. Do you have everything we need?" 

You couldn't help but laugh out loud, pulling him into a hug. He easily complied, tangling his limbs with yours in a tight embrace. 

"I do, I do!" you giggled, all giddy. "Just give me a moment, okay? I'll get the stuff in a minute."

A passionate kiss followed. You just wanted to enjoy the sensation: now that you had him all for yourself, without the desperation of your first time together, you intended to fully melt into his touch. Taeyang seemed to love it just as much, his body eagerly replying to your caresses; he wasn't shy with being vocal either, his moans and gasps matching yours. 

Soon, the kisses and touches turned rough, and once you felt his length all hot and hard on your thigh, you couldn't bother to even think of your earlier intentions. You grabbed a packet of condoms from the nightstand, tossed it to Taeyang (he almost missed it, caught off guard) and shamelessly spread your legs.

Taeyang didn't get to grant your birthday wish that night. Instead, you had two more rounds - last one with both of you so exhausted, yet still so turned on, you fell asleep right after you came. Completely vanilla, but that was all fine. You've had all the time in the world to enjoy each other and explore all of your deepest, darkest fantasies… Well, maybe except the rest of that particular night, since you had about four hours of sleep left before having to wake up to get ready for work.

Bless the company management for organizing a monthly get-together on freaking Wednesday.

[local-ground-apple]

I saw requests are open for Pomefiore, so please... How about Pomefiore being absolutely in love? How would they react and think? They would confess to their love?

So, I didn’t do it yanderish and I wrote a small scenario per each. 

I seriously need to stop writing Vil kissing scenes 🙃 🙃

🦚 oh, he fell for a potato? Well, you must be a refined potato then, if you managed to catch his attention,

🦚 at first Vil seems indifferent. He’s not the type to rush into action after localizing his target  (like Rook) or dwell on his feelings (like Epel). No, he takes his time getting to know you better, 

🦚 you won’t even notice that he may have developed feelings for you. You’re convinced that your another target, just like Epel and you do your best to follow all the routines Vil implored on you. After all, being in Pomefiore was never supposed to be easy. You were certain he was treating you just like any other student from his dorm, making sure you look presentable, being strict and calling you potato,

🦚 yet Rook notices small slips and hints Vil is leaving. Soon he refrains from adressing you as a mere potato and calls you by your name, he won’t scold you for tiniest mistake brushing it off and pretending he hadn’t seen it or inviting you once for a smoothie, making everyone gasp in shock. Rook clearly see that you’re special,

🦚 Vil gets impatient soon. He craves your affection and wishes your attention would be focused on him. He wants to shower you in small kisses, leaving the trail of them on your neck, gently run his fingers through your hair and brush his lips against yours. Oh, he wants you so bad,

🦚 sometimes, Vil may seem distant, engrossed in his thoughts, yet he denies it when Rook confronts him about his behavior. He is just thinking of the perfect way he could confess to you. He absolutely wants it to be flawless, 

🦚 he seems confident that you won’t reject him. After all, who would reject Vil Schoenheit? Yet, he feels tad insecure deep down. Vil will never admit it, but the countless “what if” scenarios are playing in his head before confession,

🦚 you’re probably one of the few persons who managed to mentally frustrated and make Vil Schoenheit’s heart flutter. You achieved unachievable,

🦚 it was Neige Leblanche who pushed Vil to yeet his perfect confession plans into void and aggressively take the lead, (it’s always Neige or Lilia that either start apocalypse or change the course of history),

 Vil clicked his tongue in annoyance as exasperated sigh left his lips. He was tapping his heel impatiently, his arms firmly crossed on his chest, as his gaze was fixated on you.

Why were you taking so long talking with Neige?

Neige out of all bloody people.

Vil watched you giggling at some sort of joke Neige had made. Your bright and broad smile you were gracing Leblanche with, was driving him up the wall. Vil ignored Deuce and Ace bickering in the background, as well as Rook laughing at them, while Kalim and Jamil were nowhere to be found. Probably they were occupying food stalls.

Vil frowned. You all were supposed to have a rehearsal on the stage day before VDC, yet you all run into Neige who was more than eager to meet you.

Especially you. 

Vil was fully aware of how Neige hand brushed against yours, how he leaned a bit too close, how his fingers tuck strands of your hair behind your ear. Vil didn’t fail to notice how Neige’s eyes would stop on his annoyed form, clearly enjoying his visible jealousy or how we would smirk whenever his face was mere inches from yours and dorm leader was close to exploding.

Enough!

Here he was, Vil simply had to save you from Neige’s sly clutches. With a barely audible “tsk”, he aggressively walked to you. You slightly jumped, startled when Vil gripped your arm rather firmly. He didn’t give you the time to bid farewell to Neige.

,,Excuse us”

With that, Vil began dragging you away. You flashed an apologetic smile to Neige, trying to keep up with dorm leader’s rapid pace. Well, you weren’t blessed with long legs, like him. You quickly realized that struggling was pointless, his grip was too strong for you to wriggle out.

Vil was practically fuming with anger, ignoring your questions about what was going on. He soon stopped before a close room, pushing you inside and closing door. Now, you were beginning to feel nervous and, well, curious. Vil was never the type to personally drag you somewhere, it was always Rook’s job.

You raised your eyebrow, eyeing Vil with pure confusion written all over his face. He run his head through his hair and sighed deeply in frustration, before his gaze pierced through, making you take a step back. He looked so intense.

Vil quickly cut the distance between you two, his fingers firmly grabbing your chin, making you look straight in his eyes.

,,I don’t want you associating with that…that potato”

His words were dripping with disgust and malice, as a frown flashed on his face. You opened your mouth to say something, yet your words were muffled by soft lips pressing on yours. Your eyes widen and your hands subconsciously clutched the cuffs of his jacket, pulling Vil closer. He smirked, not breaking a kiss. 

He pulled away, his lips gently brushing against yours. Vil eyed you for a brief moment, before clicking his tongue. His thumb gently grazed over your lips, gently smearing the remaining lipstick.

,,My, my, looks like you need to apply it once again”

You nodded, still in shock, as your fingers touched your lips in disbelief. Vil only chuckled seeing your reaction. He swiftly turned around on his heel, briefly glancing at you.

,,I’d love to take you out for a nice lunch after rehearsal. I have a important confession to make”

With that Vil left, leaving you completely stunned with a fluttering heart.

🏹 Rook is rather quick to realise his burning feelings for you and he’s a man who would immediately began to act,

🏹 he does a research on you beforehand. Before he even approaches you and starts talking to you, he will spend several days observing you, taking notes about your habits and paying attention to your dislikes and favorites. Rook doesn’t view this as stalking, non, non, it’s just an extensive research,

🏹 when Rook feels that he had gathered enough informations, he’s first to approach you. He complimets your dazzling beauty and starts a small talk with you. He absolutely doesn’t hide his attraction towards you, non, non, he rather makes it crystal clear, 

🏹 Rook would flirt a lot. You would see him popping up in most random moments, always when you’re alone, meeting you by “pure coincidence”,

🏹 he worships your beauty even before he asks you out. Rook probably worte multiple poems or serenades concerning you and he’s more willing to read them to you on a proper date. You always get embarrassed and hide your frustrated face in your hands, when he showers you in praises out of blue, 

🏹 Rook asks you out rather quickly. Maybe after talking with you like three or four times. This man takes the risk without batting an eye,

🏹 and he’s rather dramatic about it, practically giving you a heart attack, 

You quickly scanned through your notes, knowing very well that even this rapid revision wouldn’t save you before Crewel’s class. You were absolutely doomed and you were well aware of that fact. You sighed defeated, staring at complicated notes concerning potions you had absolutely no clue about.

,,Prefect, watch out!”

You jumped, papers dropping from your hands and flying in the air, as the arrow pierced through the wall inches from your face. You could feel it teasingly brush against your cheek, yet not cutting your skin. Your eyes widen and you tried to steady your breath. You were sure your heart would jump out of your chest. Letting a heavy sign, you hesitantly and reluctantly reach for the note attached to the arrow.

You frowned, not understanding first few lines written in French.

Should have studied this bloody language when I had the chance.

You scanned neat, cursive handwriting and you could feel your heart flutter. You bit your lip, lowering your gaze, as you giggled slightly at the cheesy confession and invitation to romantic dinner with candles. Normally “in the middle of the forest at the ungodly hour” would make you concerned, but you were too flattered reading the attached translation of the poem basically worshipping your beauty.

You raised your head and looked around, trying to find a certain hunter behind bushes, but to no avail.

,,I accept!”

You yelled, ignoring Ace’s and Deuce’s “what the hell human” look.

,,Très bien!!”

You could swear the source of that voice was somewhere in bushes.

🏹 Rook won’t hesitate to confess and he declares his love to you on first date. Like literally, you would be enjoying your dinner, while he’s planting small kisses on your hand, making you beyond frustrated and almost choking on your food and suddenly Rook declares his feelings to you,

🍏 he’s confused at first. Very confused. What is this weird feeling in his stomach whenever he sees you? 

🍏 you two went from classmates to “we-escape-from-Vil-on-daily-basic” friends to “fuck-we-escape-from-Rook-too besties to finally best friends. Epel has viewed you as a friend for quite a long time. You were always there to listen to his problems, help sneak out of Rook’s eagle eyes and you comforted him whenever he felt upset,

🍏 Epel realized his feelings, when certain hunter began cooing over how “stunning you had looked surrounded by rough nature”, all that while sniffing your hair and holding your hand. He got jealous, frustrated and practically dragged you out of there,

🍏 Epel is rather shy and hesitant to confess. What if you turn him down? What if you don’t reciprocate his feelings and want to stay as friends? What if you find Vil more attractive than him? What if…

🍏 those constant questions haunts and torments Epel practically all the time he’s around you or you spend time in the company of other males,

🍏 you live in his mind rent-free,

🍏 when he finally gathered courage to confess everything went wrong. Rook crashed his confession unknowingly (or on purpose, who knows) and you got dragged away by Vil to attend to “urgent matter”

🍏 needless to say, Epel was beyond furious and fuming. If the whole world was set on stopping his declaration of love and prevent him from speaking from the bottom of his heart, then he will aggressively take the action,

 Sometimes you truly questioned your ventures to Diasomnia or more likely questioned why you had refused the escort Sebek or Silver were willing to provide. You sighed heavily, mentally facepalming yourself. Oh right, you wanted to show Malleus that you by no means were scared walking back to your dorm practically in absolute darkness.

Oh, how wrong you were.

Where was your prince on the white horse?

Apparently nowhere to be found.

,,Y/N”

Oh how you wished you weren’t so squeamish and easily scared. You let out a blood-curling scream, when a hand roughly turned you around, pressing you into the wall. Your heart was beating so fast, you thought it could jump out of your chest, when your back collided with the cold surface. One hand rested beside your face, while the other one gripped your chin.

Before you could scream one more time and alert anyone, soft lips roughly crashed on yours, making you gasp from astonishment and pure confusion. You couldn’t see in the darkness face of the person desperately kissing you, yet the fragrance of fresh apples and gentle locks tickling your cheek smelling like Vil’s latest shampoo line, made you realized who it was.

Epel was kissing you.

Your hands tangled into his hair, pulling yourself closer, as you deepened the kiss. His hands landed on your hips, cutting any distance between you two. Your chest gently collided with him. Epel pulled away, when he felt you were breathless.

You placed the hand of your heart, taking few deep breaths to calm your racing heart from fear and sensation of soft lips on yours.

,,What the?! You scared the hell out of me!”

“Well, that’s the only moment I can confess in peace without Vil’s chattering. And if you hadn’t screamed, I wouldn’t have to kiss you before telling you that I’m in love with you”

“WHO NORMAL CONFESSES LIKE THIS?!”

,,WAIT, LET ME CONFESS”

🍏 you accepted his messy confession either way, yet you did scold him few times for practically giving you a heart attack,

[giorno-plays-piano]

Silly things you say

Pairing: Todoroki Shoto x pro hero!Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, implied stalking, kidnapping, forced marriage.

Words: 1265.

Summary: Now Shoto knew he was just too young to understand what you meant; people said girls were maturing mentally earlier than boys, and that was probably true. You were so right about him. He was way better than the majority of men - and Heroes, too.

_______________

He remembered that day well. Even when Todoroki Shoto was in his teenage years he wasn't too sensitive, really, but that afternoon his heart was beating so fast as if he had just run a marathon. It was the day he finally decided to ask you out.

Despite belonging to the Department of General Education, you actually had a peculiar Quirk that made you able to control emotions of others. Shoto wasn't sure if that was because of your Quirk but he always felt a little better when you were around. You had an air around you that felt strangely comforting. Maybe it was the reason why he was attached to you a little more than to other girls, that what he used to tell himself. Thinking of it now made Shoto chuckle.

That afternoon he wanted to ask you to come to the city on Sunday with him. It was rather awkward, but he had never really done it before with a girl. Did he expect you to reject him because of this? No, he didn't. Not that Shoto was so full of himself he expected everyone to love him, but he somehow believed you'd go with him that time. He believed you'd give him a chance.

"I guess you're really gonna become a total husband material, but I'd prefer spending my youth with bad guys. It more fun that way." You sent him a cheeky grin and turned away before he had time to say anything in return. Actually, it was meaningless anyway: Shoto was at loss for words.

He couldn't understand what you meant and decided you just said something really stupid. Husband material? Seriously? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Besides, when it turned out you dated Tetsutetsu of all people, it didn't make sense to Shoto at all. You just weren't as smart as he pictured you to be.

However, the worst part actually was that it didn't stop him from liking you. He had troubles understanding himself, but he could do nothing but become jealous if he accidentally saw you in the Academy, his mood worsening instantly at just a mention of you. Why was it like that? You were just some girl, not even as good as he thought at first, yet he kept thinking about you and words you said all the time. It felt like a damn groundhog day until he started intentionally ignoring the fact you were somewhere around.

Now Shoto knew he was just too young to understand what you meant; people said girls were maturing mentally earlier than boys, and that was probably true. You were so right about him. He was way better than the majority of men - and Heroes, too. Being with him certainly meant more pressure, bigger commitment, and less fun. A 16-year-old girl certainly wasn't prepared for it, especially since he wasn't fully developed as a man either. Now the situation was different, though.

Bitter at your rejection, he thought someone as careless and silly like you wound end up just like Uwabami or disappear from the world of heroes at all. If course, he certainly didn't expect you to suddenly mature and become a good therapist attending to heroes suffering from PTSD, depression, and other mental conditions due to specifics of their work. Sometimes you also treated civilians after incidents right on the spot, ensuring they would recover from shock quickly. Shoto had to admit it was a decent job. It was a pity when his own mother had desperately needed help you were too young for give her that.

Anyway, it didn't matter now. Things had long changed, and Shoto had changed, too.

He had become one of the most well-known pro heroes in Japan, the one people prayed for thanks to all he had done for their sake. He didn't care about becoming #1 since it was purely the dream of his old man, but Shoto admitted his popularity was still growing even after years of service. He was a national hero. People dreamed to see him at least once; sidekicks were ecstatic when he offered them to work at his agency; even pro heroes enjoyed working with them thanks to his professionalism and calm demeanor. Shoto never thought it would actually happen, but he became a pillar of the community, and his authority couldn't be ignored. He was a force to be reckoned with.

Did you think about him now? Did you regret rejecting him that day? If you weren't so silly, you could have been by his side now, enjoying all those things Shoto could offer. Hell, if he had married to you, you'd be definitely considered a celebrity of some kind now. Did you think about it?

It was a pity Shoto couldn't get inside your head.

But he could certainly make you think about him again. Especially since now he obviously knew how to treat a lady: flowers, chocolate, sudden gifts, casual but always pleasant meetings, phone calls and messages at night. He knew you hadn't been dating anyone for quite some time, too busy with your work, so he was sure you'd appreciate his gestures. And you appreciated them, you really did, but it never seemed enough for him. It was taking too long for Shoto, the one who had been waiting and planning it for years. Did you really have to go through this whole courtship display? Did it matter so much? He was always there when you needed him, always ready to grant your wishes, do whatever he could to please you, make you feel safe, protected. He was sure he made his intentions clear, so why waiting for so long? Why pretending like you were still dating when you went as far as spend a night with him?

Once it occurred to him that maybe you weren't convinced his intention was to marry you, so it was probably better to propose properly. However, this thought seemed to somewhat bother him: what if you played your trick again? Tell him you were too young for that and just wanted to have fun? Going through this again now would be ridiculous. No, no, Shoto was clear enough; you certainly understood his intentions. It's just your understanding of courtship period was different from his. In the end, your own parents only married after a year and a half of dating, he discovered. Maybe you wanted to wait a little more, but Shoto just couldn't.

Looking at you sleeping soundly in his bed, he lifted the corners of his mouth, thinking how you were going to like the wedding dress waiting for you in the room next to his. Although he was in a rush to prepare to the wedding ceremony that, unfortunately, wouldn't be big, he already knew how to convince you to make a second one for the press and a thousand of guests if you wanted to. Besides, even though this ceremony was small, it was still fancy: your wedding dress and jewelry cost a fortune; the stylists and photographers were at your disposal to make this day even more special, and he made sure to buy the best wedding ring any girl could wish for.

Everything had been done to perfection. There was only one thing he needed from you.

Watching you slowly waking up while being cuffed to the headboard of his large bed, Shoto smiled, thinking of the words you said that day when he first asked you out. Oh, you were going to get the perfect husband material and a bad guy all at once.

______________

Tags: @coolio-love @awesomerextyphoon​

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Hey! I literally love your last post so much but I'm confused about the rebels bit (never watched it). How does Rebels criticize the jedi? Thanks!

Aw, thank you! (Lol, this is such an old ask I don’t remember what that post was, but here goes).

Well in s2 Ahsoka, Kanan (a survivor from Order 66) and Ezra (his Padawan) all go to an old Jedi Temple to talk to Yoda about Vader and his Inquisitors (Darksiders who hunt the few remaining Jedi and kidnap Force sensitive kids). Yoda is only there spiritually and the three of them get different visions. Ahsoka sees Anakin as Vader, and Kanan has to fight several enemies and eventually admit he can't protect his Padawan from the world, only guide him (which prompts the vision to finally make him a Jedi Knight, as he survived Order 66 as a Padawan.)

And Ezra... Ugh. Ezra had a previous encounter with Yoda, in which he got his lightsaber crystal. Basically Yoda asked him why he wanted to be a Jedi, and Ezra had to do some self-examination and eventually realized that helping and protecting people made him feel alive, which greatly pleased Yoda who told him he might become a Jedi after all. That's a really great exchange and I love the character development Ezra gets, as he starts by saying he wants never to feel powerless and eventually realizes that's not the right answer.

But in this second encounter, as Ezra asks how they can defeat the Inquisitors, Yoda basically says that fighting is rarely the right path. And to illustrate that, he says that line about the Jedi being arrogant and joining the war swiftly "in their arrogance," which really bothers me. He also says they were "consumed by the Dark Side", which is why they're now gone. In all fairness, he also mentions that they were motivated by fear, which is partially true. 

Now, I write analyses and I try to be intellectually honest about them, because ignoring contradicting stuff weakens your argument instead of helping you. Except this time, I really can't accept this quote. I have an excuse, Lucas wasn't involved in Rebels so it's not the highest canon in my opinion (the 6 movies + TCW are, here are the quotes justifying my position), and I feel like that assertion is out of character for Yoda, ignoring his ST ghost appearances, and also plainly factually incorrect.

I understand that Ezra really needed to be taught not to always seek to fight. At this point, he's still an emotional kid who occasionally struggles with the Dark Side. Not fighting is important to a Jedi's path, so I can understand Yoda's intention. But the example he uses? According to Lucas, the Jedi were drafted in the war. That's not jumping into a conflict out of arrogance, that's literally being dragged there against your will. And sure, there’s Geonosis, but how exactly is rescuing a bunch of your people that’s getting slaughtered by a Sith Lord the same thing as arrogantly jumping into a fight? Like, what’s the option here? Not go, and let an innocent Senator and a bunch of Jedi be murdered?

It's like Rebels!Yoda isn't acknowledging that the war was fake and that a Sith Lord engineered it as the perfect trap (which is recurring problem in Rebels; at one point Ezra, Kanan and Rex have to fight an old Separatist tactical droid and Ezra "solves" the Clone Wars by pointing out that nobody won except the Empire, so really they were on the same side all along, and he gets praised for doing what "a bunch of Jedi, senators and Clones couldn't do," ie getting both sides to talk to each other – except wtf??? setting aside that the Jedi and Rex were aware of the war being fake by the end of it, and that the Separatists were openly led by a Sith Lord and attempted to commit genocide several times in TCW and did commit mass murder, and reduced like several worlds to slavery or starvation and were backed by the worst big corporations you could imagine, the war would NOT have ended if the two sides had tried talking it out. 1) The Senate made it illegal 2) the big corporations arranged for terrorist attacks on both sides the one time they tried to negotiate so the war would drag on and they'd get more money out of it 3) Sidious. Was. Controlling. Everything. What. The. Heck. Would. Have. Been. Accomplished. By. Negotiating.)  Plus the question of whether or not the Jedi should even fight is like... constantly raised by the Jedi during TCW, so I really can’t see it as “oh wow we didn’t even take the time to think and we got killed because of it, we really sucked.” 

Seriously, there’s this S6 quote: 

MACE: Are you sure we are taking the right path? YODA: The right path, no. The only path, yes. Designed by the Dark Lord of the Sith, this web is. For now, play his game, we must.

Like yeah, totally rushing in and being eager to fight lol. Nothing to do with being boxed in and having no alternatives. 

So yeah that's bothers me and I don't think it jibes with the rest of canon. I don't remember Yoda telling Luke (who, in the beginning, is as eager to fight as Ezra is) that the Jedi "disappeared" because of some fault of their own, or because of an eagerness to fight. (Seriously, pussyfooting around the fact that the Jedi were slaughtered grates me.) The OT never, ever, ever implies that the destruction of the Jedi Order was their fault - and unless you assume that the OT is “pro-Jedi propaganda” (*laughs in dumb youtube comments*) then I don’t see Rebels weaving it into its narrative as legitimate.

Again, choosing alternatives to fighting is a great lesson on a personal level, but it doesn't work on the scale of the Rebels/Empire conflict - or the Jedi/Sith one. Ezra should often choose not to fight because of what it'll do to his soul. The Rebels should not stop fighting because there is no cohabitation with something as evil as the Empire. Imo Yoda is always presented as wise enough to know the difference. 

The last thing that makes me think it's out of character is Yoda's spiritual journey in TCW s6. He gets all of his flaws thrown into his face and has to conquer them – he has to face his literal Dark Side and he wins. And yet at no point during that arc is he ever made to conquer his ‘Jedi arrogance’ or whatever. He has to face his worst fear (first vision, all the Jedi dying), let go of his attachments (second vision, him having to accept that he can’t live in a perfect world where everything is beautiful and no one is dead), and reaffirm who he is as a Jedi (third vision, refusing to give up on Anakin and trying to save him rather than to kill Sidious) but at no point is he ever made to recognize that wow, the Jedi are the worst for fighting. 

I’d argue that the very purpose of the visions showing him Order 66 and Anakin falling are to make him accept that these things are completely beyond his control - and as such, not his fault. He doesn’t get to fix things, because the fate of the Order is not in their own hands. It is, in fact, in Anakin’s (from a thematical/narrative standpoint). Yoda has a hard time with it (actually he almost shuts down when he first sees everybody dead and his first reaction is to say that he failed them, so I can’t accept Yoda blaming his grandkids for dying) but he accepts it in the end, when he tells Mace and Obi-Wan he’s not certain one ever wins a war, but they might still find ‘victory for all time’ (referring to balance aka Sidious’ death in RotJ). 

So anyway that’s my beef with Rebels!Yoda. Not hate on Rebels though, there are many parts of it that I really, really love - but some of them kinda infuriate me, and this is one of them. 

[cherry-valentine]

Spring 2021 Anime Season

Mars Red is one of two series this season set in one of my favorite periods, the Meiji era. It’s a vampire series that deals a lot with the politics of war as the Japanese military is attempting to establish a vampire unit, supposedly to compete with the British vampire unit (because of course that’s a thing). It focuses on a human military officer named Maeda who is charged with recruiting and managing vampires. Maeda is the type of character I really enjoy. Handsome, a little older than most anime protagonists, chain-smoking, overly serious, and voiced by Junichi Suwabe (who has to have the sexiest voice in all of anime). The series has a classic, romantic feel to it. Its take on vampires is somewhat traditional (they evaporate in the sun, drink blood, sleep in coffins, have super strength and speed, etc.). If it brings anything new to the table, it’s the concept of vampires having different ranks, from S-class down, and how lower ranks naturally fear higher ranks. Still yet, the classic vibe works in the show’s favor. Combined with the historical setting, it gives the show a certain charm. The art is lovely, from the backgrounds to the character designs, and the music is a high point. It easily has the best ending theme of the season.

Fumetsu no Anata e (To Your Eternity) is a unique series. I’ve seen a lot of people comparing it to Mushishi, but with an overarching plot, and that assessment is pretty accurate. The show follows an entity that comes to be known as Fushi. It begins as an orb, and as it makes contact with other objects and creatures, it learns from them and can possibly take their forms. Among the forms it most often takes are a white wolf and a young man. Originally, it’s a somewhat empty shell, incapable of communicating, but as it meets different creatures and learns, it develops a personality and begins to speak. The series is, overall, about Fushi’s journey through this world and all the experiences it gains, both wonderful and tragic. There’s a subtle beauty to the series, with an early focus on nature, but it also has scenes of trauma and violence. The animation is fluid and the facial expressions are amazing. There’s an overall natural feel to it that, like others have pointed out, reminds me of Mushishi (though it’s definitely faster paced than Mushishi). The show also likes to make you cry, so keep that in mind.

Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood is the other series set in the Meiji era this season, albeit an alternate version of it that has a strange form of technology. To be honest, I’m a little fuzzy on some of the details, but it seems to be about a group called the Nue who work for the government to fight against a growing rebellion. The main character is Sawa, a member of Nue who has some sort of special powers involving her blood, which allow her to transform and battle monsters, or whatever else stands in her way. Her goal is to get revenge for the death of her entire clan (implied to be wiped out because of their power). Sawa is a decent heroine, a woman who craves vengeance and is determined to get it through any means, but is, at her core, a compassionate person who would rather live in peace. It’s this internal conflict that makes Sawa compelling (even if it’s not entirely original). The other characters are interesting, particularly Tsuki, whom I won’t talk much about because it would involve spoilers. The plot and details can get a little convoluted, but the action and animation are solid. When Sawa transforms, the art style changes, and it’s a really cool visual effect. The music is also nice.

Shaman King received a remake this season. I was a huge fan of the original, and so far I’m enjoying the remake, but to be honest, I’m having trouble seeing the point. The art is almost the same (just a lot shinier), the voice actors are the same, the plot is the same. Maybe it’s just that it’s been so long since I saw the original, I’m unable to remember the details and so I can’t tell what’s different. But to me it feels like I’m just rewatching the show. Which is fine, because I loved it to begin with. Maybe it gets different later on. Maybe it more closely follows the manga. I’ll keep watching to find out. For anyone new to the series, it looks like the remake is a solid place to start if you want to get into it. I won’t go into plot details for a story this old, so I’ll just say it’s a top tier shounen fighting series with a unique art style and some very memorable characters. If you like that sort of thing, and missed the original (or you just want a refresher), definitely check it out!

Godzilla Singular Point is a true delight. I’m a huge Godzilla (and kaiju in general) fan. I’ve watched every single Godzilla movie, as well as all the related movies (the Mothra films, Rodan, etc.), but I never watched the previous Godzilla anime that was on Netflix a few years ago. It just didn’t sound like something I’d like. Singular Point, however, is right up my alley. Set mainly in a small seaside town that’s suddenly attacked by bird-like monsters known as Rodans, we have two geeky protagonists using their intelligence to figure out what’s going on while more and more monsters appear. Mei and Yun are excellent heroes. They rely on their wits rather than physical strength, which is a refreshing approach. It’s also interesting that they have little to no face-to-face interaction. Instead, they chat with each other via text as they work separately. They often challenge each other with science questions. It’s adorable. The show’s overall feel is fairly upbeat and energetic. The colorful art and peppy character designs by Kazue Kato (who did Blue Exorcist) help with this feel. It should be noted that Godzilla himself doesn’t fully appear until halfway through the series. It says a lot about the quality of the show that I don’t actually mind that at all. Some of the science stuff does go over my head, but the general plot is easy enough to follow and the action is very well done. It also has fantastic music, with my favorite opening theme of the season. Even if Godzilla isn’t your thing, consider giving this series a shot if you like nerdy science types as heroes.

Burning Kabaddi is a sports anime about an unsual sport. I’d never heard of it before now, and if people in the comments were not talking about the very real sport, I would have assumed it was made up for the anime. The show is aware that the sport is obscure, so it takes great pains to explain the rules and details so that we can all follow the action. The story centers on Yoigoshi, a soccer prodigy who decides to drop all sports once he gets to high school due to all the drama and angst that surrounded him (mostly due to his teammates being jealous of his talent), and pursue a career as a streamer. All the various sports clubs at the school want to recruit him (especially the soccer club, of course) because they’ve heard of his skill and he has an athletic build. He rejects them all, but the Kabaddi club is strangely relentless. He ends up being manipulated into joining (the vice captain of the team straight up blackmails him by threatening to show his online streaming account to the whole school). Despite this rocky beginning, Yoigoshi actually starts to enjoy playing Kabaddi, and more importantly, begins to bond with his new teammates. It’s pretty fun stuff that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The art is serviceable for a sports anime and the music is fine. The series isn’t going to blow your mind, but it’s a fun way to spend twenty minutes every week. Worth a watch if you have a weakness for hot blooded sports anime.

The World Ends With You finally got its anime adaptation and I was so excited. The game is one of my all-time favorites. So far the anime is pretty good. The art is a near perfect replication of the bold, thick-lined art of the game. The battles are exciting and cool. Best of all, the anime often uses music from the game. This is important because the game has one of the best soundtracks, ever. Every time I recognize a song from the game, I almost squeal. If I had a complaint, it’s that the pacing feels a little off at times. It feels like the anime is rushing through the story, but that’s understandable. In the game, it took longer for everything to happen because you were walking from place to place, fighting battles along the way, stopping to scan NPC’s, shopping at stores, spending time in menus, etc. The anime has to cut most of that out, so naturally things are going to move faster. The result is that you don’t get to spend as much time with these characters, and so you feel less attached to them. Anyone watching the anime who didn’t play the game might feel like the emotional beats are lacking. I feel like this anime is definitely meant to be enjoyed by fans of the game, rather than newcomers to the story. But if you are a fan of the game? You should be watching this every week. It’s an excellent refresher on the story, just in time for the second game to come out this summer. Super high on my watch list.

Boku no Hero Academia has a new season. To be honest I don’t remember what number we’re on. This season, so far, focuses on a tournament-style competition between the two main hero classes. I would much prefer the plot to move on to something more exciting involving the villains, but I suppose they have to throw arcs like this in every so often just to remind everyone of which characters have which quirks. The plus point is that instead of being an individual competition, it’s team-based. What this ultimately means is that characters that are viewed as weaker or having more obscure quirks actually get a chance to shine. These are characters who definitely aren’t going to win one-on-one battles. In an individual tournament, it’s pretty much a given that characters like Deku, Bakugou, and Todoroki are going to win most of the matches. But in a team, everyone has to work together. The end result is that the lady characters, all of whom have fairly weak or situational quirks, finally FINALLY get to actually do stuff! Even better, in several of the match-ups, the girls have taken the lead in planning and strategizing. It’s been pretty nice to watch. The girls from the other class have been very proactive as well. I really wish the girls could do more in “real” battles with villains, since it’s clear that they can step up when they need to. Who knows? Maybe this is a sign of good things to come.

86 is a new mecha/sci-fi anime based on a series of light novels. The setup is fairly cool: In a country where everyone has silver hair and eyes, the people live in what looks like a utopia. There is a war going on outside their protected land but all combat is performed by automated robots, so there are no human casualties... or so the government would have the people believe. In reality, there is a district that exists on the outskirts of the country called 86, where people who don’t have silver hair and eyes are sent to pilot the robots and fight to protect the country that shunned them. Most of the pilots are children or teenagers. The mortality rate is high. Only a few people in the government know of their existence, mostly military types that include “handlers”. These handlers each take on an 86 unit and communicate with them through a system called “para-raid”. Using this, they monitor the battlefield from their safe positions and issue commands. Naturally, most handlers view their units as nothing more than tools in the war, and most 86-ers view their handlers as privileged snobs who know nothing of actual battle. The real plot kicks in when Lena, a young Major, becomes the new handler for a particular 86 unit. Lena is sympathetic to the people of 86, but it’s going to be hard getting her notoriously rough unit to accept her. The plot is a bit complicated and the show deals with some weighty themes (racism, privilege, war, child soldiers, death). Lena is a likable enough heroine and the members of 86 are all interesting and fairly well written. The music is fine. The art... well, it’s pretty to look at, but it feels a bit generic to me. A bit too shiny. The mecha designs are great, but I’m not crazy about the character designs, which feel like they could be from any other modern anime. I also find it sad but hilarious at the same time that the women’s military uniforms are clearly designed for fanservice (they include mini skirts, thigh-highs with garters, and a short jacket that opens up just above the chest to show the tight shirt underneath) while the men’s uniforms are just totally normal military wear. To be honest it’s just too stupid to actually be offensive, so it comes across as comical. Thankfully, the interesting setup and plot carry the show, making it good enough to overlook the generic visuals.

Moriarty the Patriot has a new season... maybe? I think it’s technically still season one, but with a split cour. Regardless, it feels like a new season so I’m treating it as such. The series focuses on famous Sherlock antagonist Moriarty, here represented as a trio of handsome brothers (though one of them is clearly the protagonist and the leader of the group) who work as “crime consultants” and basically help the lower classes wage class warfare against the nobility. This season shifts the focus away from the individual crimes Moriarty concocts and instead focuses on larger-scale conflicts that involve government conspiracies, corrupt cops, etc. We’re also treated to a lady James Bond (finally!), fixing one of the very few complaints I had about the first cour (that it lacked strong lady characters). The show remains very compelling, with beautiful art and excellent new opening and ending themes.

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Godzilla Singular Point

Best Opening Theme: Godzilla Singular Point

Best Ending Theme: Mars Red

Best New Male Character: Maeda (Mars Red)

Best New Female Character: Sawa (Joran)