#congrats to the fan(s) who managed to get these to BOTH of them

[box-number-two]

Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe receive flags with their ship name

from: [1], [2]

[megumimania]

WHY DONT WE FALL IN LOVE ? - jean kirstein

summary: you and jean are brought together by a shared love of music, is that all there is or is there something more below the surface?

warnings: jean x black!reader, fluff, jean is definitely an alt rock/ grunge enthusiast, jean and reader are down bad for each other but won’t admit it, ayesha and corinne win the award for best wing women, get you a man who truly cares, the format is weird my bad

a/n: this was written for @honeybleed’s 90’s rnb event! congrats naj, you deserve everything and more!!

it was another day at the record store, where you worked part time during the weekend. you loved your job, talking with customers and bonding over your shared love for music and records was one of the main highlights of your day. of course there were some customers who were rude and pretentious but you didn’t let that deter you from providing a good experience for your customers.

the faint sounds of dreams, fairytales and fantasies by asap ferg played in the background as you were organising new stock, humming the lyrics to yourself while doing so. you were so deeply engrossed in your task that you didn't register jean's presence near you. jean was one of your favourite customers, he was a world away from the regular customers that you were so accustomed to dealing with.

when you first met him, you immediately assumed that he'd be annoyingly pretentious, condescending and snarky—a characteristic you were used to seeing on the daily. but one day he came up to the counter while you were working and you absentmindedly had your finger ready to point to the 80’s rock section, not registering the look of confusion on his face.

"what are you pointing to?" he asked, brows furrowing in confusion. you felt your cheeks flame with embarrassment, “i just assumed that you-anyways how can i help you?" you replied with a smile, trying to break the awkward tension.

he looked around sheepishly, the tips of his ears flushing a faint pink. "uhh... honestly i don't know, do you have any recommendations?” he asked, with a level of shyness which you found quite cute.

his naivety to music/good records astonished you, considering he looked like a cross between a heavy nirvana fan and a country music enthusiast. after a long conversation with him, you gave him three albums to listen to, along with your number because you wanted him to tell you if he liked the songs or not.

since then you've developed a friendship with jean despite your two best friends/coworkers, ayesha and corinne saying otherwise. you’ve always denied it but lately, you’ve started to feel some type of way about him. suddenly you’ve began to notice his dimples when he smiles, the faint freckles he has on his face or how his eyes are more of a hazel colour in the sunlight—friends usually notice these things about each other right???

jean cleared his throat, snapping you out of your reverie. “y/n, you good?” he said, giving you a once over to make sure that you were okay. you felt your face heat up and you silently thanked god that he was unable to see you blush. “yeah i’m good.” was all you managed to reply with.

a minute of tense silence passed between you both, either of you waiting on the other to break the silence between you both. “can y’all stop eyefucking each other, you’re making me sick!” corinne yelled from the counter, scaring you both. the tips of jean’s ears turned a light pink from embarrassment.

“you left your bonnet and your scarf at my place the other week.” he said handing them over to you. “i’ve washed them for you, i’d thought you’d like that.” he said, the last part coming out quieter than intended. “we still on for saturday?” he asked, his gaze locked on yours, “yeah of course.” jean smiled before responding, “cool, i’ll see you then.” he walked off, waving you goodbye which you returned.

you tried to avoid ayesha and corinne for the rest of your shift but they cornered you as soon as you left work, dragging you to a nearby cafe. “so you and jean huh?” ayesha teased, taking a sip of her drink. you sighed and rolled your eyes, pretending to look interested in the menu in hopes that ayesha would drop the question.

“guys, i might order—hey!” you protested as corinne snatched the menu from your fingertips. “there’s nothing going on between me and jean.” you finally spat out after a moment of silence. “we’re just friends.” your friends shared a look that said they weren’t buying it. “so why was your bonnet and scarf at his house then?” corinne pressed further, and you genuinely felt like you were being interrogated for a crime you didn’t commit. “i slept over at his place, its not a big deal.” you said nonchalantly, drumming your fingertips on the table.

“we all saw the way you two were staring at each other, and you really want me to believe that you guys are just friends?” ayesha added, corinne nodding in support. “it’s okay to admit that jean thee pony has got you weak in the knees, you know.” you snorted at her nickname for jean. “i hate you guys.” you sighed, staring out the window dramatically. “and we love you too, y/n!” they said in unison, pulling you in for a hug.

“y/n, your white boy is here!” corinne shouted from the hallway. you were nervous, you’d spent an hour getting ready for today and you were still unable to quell the nerves in your stomach. you debated on taking a rain-check but decided against it. you quickly added the finishing touches to your hair and makeup and headed out. corinne gave you her thumbs up of approval as you left.

jean’s plan to act cool completely evaporated once he saw you. you were gorgeous in a way he couldn’t comprehend, he tried to maintain his composure but as always his face betrayed him, unable to hide the blush that spread across his face. “you look gorgeous, y/n.” was all he managed to sputter out. you were surprised that you had him fumbling over himself like this but you found it cute.

“you look great yourself.” you replied, taking him in. from the fresh trim, to his outfit, to the cologne he was wearing, everything about him made you feel giddy inside. “where are you taking me today?” you said, hopping into his car. his gaze lingered on you for a second before he cleared his throat, “its a surprise.” he said, sticking his tongue out at you whilst turning on the ignition.

the last few minutes of the car journey, jean told you keep your eyes closed. you eyed him weirdly, but did it anyway because you trusted him. his hand remained on the small of your back as he guided you to the destination. “are we there yet?” you asked, becoming increasingly impatient, he responded to you after a moment of silence. “open your eyes.” he whispered in a low voice sending chills down your spine.

you opened your eyes and you turned to him in disbelief “how did you—i’ve been trying to book a reservation here for ages, how!” jean placed his jacket on your shoulders, noticing the way you were shivering. “the owner is a family friend of mine, plus he owed me one.” he said coolly, trying to not make it seem like a big deal. “let’s go inside.” he took your hand in his leading you into the restaurant. the interior looked gorgeous with it being fairly modern as beautiful ceiling fixtures hung above you.

you were led to your table which was on a second floor that away from everybody else. jean pulled out your chair for you letting you sit down before he did. you opened the menu scanning it to see what appealed to your tastes. whilst you were busy trying to figure out the menu, jean kept stealing glances at you. he couldn’t help it, even when he was trying to read the menu, his eyes kept drifting back to you.

you grew shy under jean’s gaze and used the menu to cover your face. jean chuckled softly, gently putting down the menu to the side. “why are you hiding your face from me, beautiful?” your face heated up at the pet name. “you make me nervous, i cant help it.” you said feeling quite bashful, he took your hand in his, tracing light figures on your palm. “believe me when i say i’ve been nervous this whole time.” you both laughed at that, it helped to diffuse the awkward tension between you both knowing that you were both nervous as each other.

dinner flowed smoothly after that as you grew comfortable with each other again, the usual banter and jokes resumed and you truly felt at home with jean. apart from the silence that was shared when you were eating, you were talking non stop and even at times when you felt like you were saying too much, he looked at you with so much adoration, wordlessly telling you to keep going. you’ve never felt so relaxed during a date before it was weird not having to condense parts of you to seem likeable when it seemed that jean liked every part of you.

one of the reasons that you wanted to dine at the restaurant for so long was for its infamous beach views. the moon hung lowly in the distance as you and jean walked down the beach, hand in hand as you talked about everything and anything. he suddenly broke out into a sprint heading straight first to the water, you had no choice but to follow him. you shuddered as you walked into the cold waters trying to find him. jean pulled you towards him making you shriek as you felt his cold hands rest on your waist. “why did you do that!” you smacked his shoulder playfully, he laughed in response. “didn’t mean to scare you, beautiful.”

he pulled you even closer, you were now breaths apart which made the moment more intimate. “how can i make it up to you, hm?” he asked softly, his eyes boring into yours as he held you in his arms. “i think i know just the trick.” he smiled softly before he picked you up and pressed his lips against yours gently and for a moment the world disappeared around you leaving you and jean in your own bubble. his lips were surprisingly warm considering how cold his hands were. “you’re forgiven.” you smiled as you pulled away from him, brushing the wet strands of hair away from his face. “good, because i wouldn’t want to be on your hitlist.” he said, laughing as he finally carried you out of the water.

[batsplat]

hello, love your blog! it’s so fucking funny how you’re a lesbian motogp blogger who is into buffy, bc hey that’s me too but actually I first encountered your blog bc of your smallville posts. not to mention tennis (which I was only a very casual fan of thankfully afdhjkk)…….cool to know that there are several ppl like this apparently sgfhhjhjk.

anyways, buffy s6 is my beloved season and I like it for how dysfunctional it is. the only season I might like more is maybe s5. I am a spike fucker unforch

and as for motogp? sachsenring 2003 made me giggle. very embarrassing for you valentino. by 0.06 seconds??? and commentators made it worse by crowning him a winner before they even crossed the line. you just know if positions were reversed vale would capitalize so hard off this win, more ppl would be talking about it still. and well he did actually use that loss to reinvigorate himself. like valentino’s ability to make his wins (and losses too) narratively important is unparalleled. but regardless sete/vale rivalry is insane,

sadly only hot girls get it:(((

anon?? marry me??

such an incredibly funny overlap of interests sdfhjkdf well always nice to learn this is a Type Of Person who Exists. I love buffy season five!! I am very much a spike fucker!! undoubtedly one of THE great characters, him and buffy is one of those ships where I don't really seek out fics because it's like?? I'm actually thrilled with what canon gave me!! I love the slapstick, spike as a lovesick freak, the dark and toxic stuff where buffy used him as a way to punish herself, and all the more melancholic season 7 stuff where they found refuge in each other. spike is like. such a great Device to explore all kinds of emotions and themes and all that... so many of my all time fave eps are very much spike eps. love s2's school hard and halloween, s3's lovers walk, s4's something blue (also just like, so much of his s4 scenes, when they chain him up in the bathtub and against the chair and all that), s5's fool for love (!!!!!!!!!!!!! one of THE episodes, his 'death wish' monologue to buffy and then showing up wanting to kill her and ending up comforting her oh GOD), s6's life serial and doublemeat palace AND when buffy confesses to spike she was in heaven AND all their scenes in once more, with feeling, s7 the buffy/spike church scene.... spike's "all these years and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of" speech likeeeeee.... I get all the issues people have with that relationship and how it was written, I know it's not for everyone, and I don't even 'ship' them in the sense of thinking they belong together or whatever... but I just love it!! it compels me so much, did so when I first saw it and still does now!! and spike is such a FUN character, like they let him be pathetic, they let him be cool, and he's #gender enough that yeah he's very hot to me too. all those scenes where buffy's throwing him around,,,,, yes character of all time. just has a real place in my heart too idk like the emotional landscape really GETS me

sharp pivot to sachsenring 2003, which takes place a mere few months after the buffy finale......... that's as smooth a transition as I can manage yeah. thematic overlap between btvs and motogp question mark. the buffy x dawn dynamic is either a bit marc x alex or to a lesser extent vale x luca when u think about it? not just in the 'congrats you've spotted they're siblings' way, but well the siblings' respective statuses in the worlds of motogp & vampire slaying, and the older sibling often being 'prioritised' because they have a lot on their plates, younger siblings as a kind of way to keep them grounded and feeling human, also unconditional devotion to your younger sibling... plus actually all the death wish stuff, surely? the fool for love speech...

btvs and motogp both very much about the ties you need to the world, I reckon... also sports is inherently adjacent to chosen one narratives

ANYWAY sachsenring 2003, I think every detail about it is perfect!! whatever valentino says, I still reckon there's just no way he couldn't have made a move before that - and implicitly he acknowledges that by saying he will never leave it that late again. idk there's just something so deeply charming about that specific flavour of valentino to me, where he's so obnoxiously good he can get away a little bit with basically scripting his races BUT obviously that's only okay when he still ends up being the one who wins. and he gets so much shit for it!! it's so funny listening to the brno commentary like they are on his ASS and they're saying the italian press has been on his ASS and calling him washed and finished and even the commentary is going 'yeah he's been having a rough season' and it's very??

oh no! the horror!! what a flop!!

obviously in retrospect we remember it as a great season because after that he only lost one more race, but back then they didn't know that!! and at like. the perfect time of the season too, because obviously that's when you have to go off and Sit On It for the whole summer break and can't immediately redeem yourself.... but as you say, he used that!! it's part of his story now, it became such good fuel for motivation. like, the mistake itself is kinda.... I mean it's not great, but it's one of those things that also wouldn't be a massive issue if you did it five laps earlier? he basically just picks too defensive a line that ends up killing his drive out of the corner, allowing sete to beat him to the line. which - the bit that I imagine really got to him is how dumb it was. like it wasn't a riding mistake as much as it was a decision making mistake, it wasn't his race craft it was just a literal dumbass moment. it's silly!! it's both a moment that shows valentino was maybe a bit too cocky, but also kinda rattled by sete? that man got to him! he did it! he flapped the unflappable valentino rossi!

and it IS incredible how it's now not really Discussed any more, and in his autobiography it's so neatly integrated into his own narrative. like!! it's always the laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009 performances that get me - he knew those were going to be memorable victories IMMEDIATELY and he played to that!! kissing the corkscrew drives me insane because it's literally... he's doing this on the cooldown lap for something that happened LAP FOUR and wasn't technically the race winning move, or definitely not the only one!! but he immediately zeroed in on that element and his post-race narrative is unquestionably ONE of the reasons why that's something we all remember now. he gets it!!

the commentators did fuck him over though lmaoooo... I mean at least you have to say he learned from his mistakes. imagine losing a race by .06 and doing this in the very next race against the same guy

bringing back this too

sicko

it IS only the hot girls who get it but that's for the best....... only the select few can see the vision I fear

[rotshop]

help girl i just woke up and im already thinking abt mag s/o again. anyway please consider ;

[ tw body horror, some brief light gore and violence ]

[ note ; reader is SLIGHTLY described. the only thing mentioned is that they have a noticeable, identifying scar on their face

hank + mag s/o

-he knew you even before the boombox incident. he doesn't even really remember how you two first met, he just remembers that you started talking to him and then just kinda kept coming back. at first he wasn't the biggest fan of you since he was 'doing just fine on his own,' but...he admittedly was already really attached to you. they've never been much of a talker and that's especially noticeable to you at that point in time but ,,, they respond enough with signing, nodding / shaking their head, or the occasional speaking that you're able to carry some conversations pretty well.

-he doesn't really. have. a lot of people in his life. you're really his only real close friend, it's kinda hard for him to fully wrap his head around it so !! they chose not to, instead focusing more-so on whatever it was you were rambling to them about that day.

-not super sure of where to put this lmao but ummm ehe . he's actually surprisingly touchy with you????? like. you've hung out at his house a few times and he just like. you'll start out sitting next to each other and you'll end up either laying with your head on their chest or vice versa . its . a little funny . you tease him about it a little and he just flicks your shoulder. also traces your scar a lot if you'll let them, they're not entirely sure why they do it, they just . like asking you about it occasionally.

-also you have scary dog privileges. they might look like any other grunt at that point but they're still tall as fuck and idk man !! something abt getting a blank stare from someone who towers over u would probably make u shut up and mind ur own damn business.

-again, he's not super good at fully recognizing / acknowledging certain thoughts and feelings of his but . yknow. he can definitely tell he at least worries about you a lot more than he would some other grunt he just met. he can definitely tell there's a reason he doesn't mind you touching him, whether by grabbing his hand to go show him something or just placing a hand on his shoulder or arm (most likely arm, again. hes tall. ). they can definitely tell there's a reason that they find themself genuinely enjoying your interactions.

-after the park thing you don't see them for a long time. everytime you try and call him the lines dead, everytime you try and ask others about him you just get choice words, all in all you're pretty much lost on the entire thing. sure, you know what happened but . it just never sits right with you. it doesn't help whenever people ask questions about them or give you wary looks because of your association, half steps back when you take one forward.

-anyway. yeah nevada goes to shit and you get magnified for the aahw. by now you just. don't really talk about hank. surprisingly, you have a little more of your old memories than the average mag !! congrats. problem is they're all foggy enough that you only really distantly decipher them. lmao. you aren't super high on the ladder but you're a pretty tough mag to beat. you're well known enough that other mags tend to hang around you when there's not much else going on. v2 mags especially think it's fun to mess around with you by jumping on your back or otherwise clinging onto you . idk man u've got like . a little family here .

-at one point or another there's an outing youre on that ends up going wrong. you get split up from the rest of your unit and are forced to hide out in some old abandoned building while you wait for backup. you're a little too injured to try and walk all the way back, a heavy gash on your side preventing you from doing too much in the moment. when you hear heavy steps on concrete you're able to give some sort of noise of relief, turning your head to look over your shoulder at whichever agent in your group had finally found you-

-you're instead met with red goggles and the end of a gun.

-any kind of relief is snatched away, you know damn well who it is by just the bit you can see in the dark alone. even standing in the shade between two windows (one of which you were sitting by, probably how they seen you in the first place- if that's the case though, it's a little weird they hadn't just shot at you through it.) you knew it was him. you're already stumblingly forcing yourself up to as much of your full height as you can manage, taking some kind of defensive position even as one of your hands ghosts over your gash. the throbbing pain of it and the feeling of blood sticking and running down your skin is enough that you can't seem to focus on the fact that he won't stop staring at your face.

-it doesn't take long before your legs seem to fail you, forcing you forward a bit as you kneel in some sort of attempt to keep upright. you're too busy hissing under your breath and screwing your eyes shut in pain as your hand covers your side to notice your company stepping forwards. you're snapped back to attention when there's a hand on your face, fingertips digging into your skin as they yank your head down a little further. you know you should be grabbing him, that you should be digging your claws into his torso and ripping him clean in half, throwing whatevers left aside and leaving. you know thats what you were told to do, what you were told they deserved anyway. yet, you aren't. instead, you're just giving some warning growl as you stare at them. you notice how the end of the gun is pointed away from you, how their touch seems to outline the mark on your face.

-"If you try and hurt me, I'll kill you." That's the only real heads up you get before he's crouching down and shoving your hand out of the way, grabbing something from his pocket to get to work on you. you don't fail to notice how little attention they're paying to you (aside from the focus on your wound, of course), that you could just rush forward and slam them into the ground if you really wanted.

-ok im skippin g ahead bc this is already way too goddamn long for hcs DEJWJCS

-anyway. it's a complicated relationship for a while. the others tend to avoid you a little but he just keeps showing up around you. they keep staring at you and just hanging around in your general area. it's not that much of an irritant if you ignore all the weird emotions and thoughts it keeps bringing to the forefront of your mind, forcing you to once again try and meddle with your memories.

-eventually he just starts walking over to you and sitting down next to you. sometimes he doesn't say anything at all, just sitting there and seeming to wait for one thing another- he never seems to find whatever that is, as he always gets up and leaves without a word at some point or another. then they start talking, its just little things at first, point-blank statements you can't say much on. sometimes they're just saying they and the other three will be gone for a bit othertimes it's some half-demand to let them look at the stitches they did on you (semi-related, he's not good at them. the stitches are pretty rough. at one point or another sanford has to redo them properly lmao)

-but then there's one particular night. they do the normal thing, come over, sit down next to you, not say a word. this time though you note how they're facing you. instead of some reminder or a demand for anything, he's pulling his ask down and asking a simple question. 'What do you remember?'

-it's a long conversation. he's talking more than he normally would by a long shot, occasionally stopping whenever his words seem to especially fail him and get stuck in his throat. you don't even really remember moving around, or even him pulling you in any way, you just know you somehow end up laying next to him with your head on his chest.

-whenever the memories do seem to click into place, it's hard. you have a lot of choice words for them yourself, months of being left alone without a word bubbling up with a vengeance, they listen to them. while some mags (such as yourself) do have the ability to speak, the san and dei don't think they've ever heard one with that much emotion in their voice. they've especially never seen a mag just break down like you do, they're both tensing up a little from their far away spot when hank's walking closer to you. instead of you lashing out or swiping at him though, you just sit there while he wraps his arms around you (as best as he can at least, it's a little difficult but he's able to get them around your neck and reach his other hand behind you well enough). you're eventually doing the same to him, though it's more so just your hands resting on their back.

-it takes a good while for proper trust to be rebuilt along with an honest, proper explanation from hank that only you're privy to. eventually though, there's enough trust that you're able to hang around him again without narrowly avoiding an argument or anything. they don't like being super affectionate or 'vulnerable' in front of the other two, so most times they prefer being in your or their room. also they're still touchy lmao, doesn't help that you're mag sized now and so they just want to hold you . its hard to explain, he's never been super affected by others heights and even when he is it's usually a negative thing for him but . for some reason . he just likes being shorter / smaller than you lol ,,,,,,,, hope you like holding them a lot bc that's what you're gonna be doing

-holy shit these are long so . i think .i am going to stop here.

[volleychumps]

Hello!! Can I request for Bokuto, Oikawa, Ushijima, and Kuroo to you getting hit in the face by their spike or serve and like you pass out..? tysm I love your writing sm!!!! You’re my favorite writer on this app probably

:’)) These will be written before anything significantly romantic happens and they start dating, I hope you enjoy!!

Accidental Ambush w/ Bokuto, Oikawa, Ushijima, and Kuroo

------------------------------------------------------------------

Bokuto

“Bokuto-san, should you really be trying out a spike you’ve never tried before with full force?” 

Akaashi Keiji sighs, watching with a tired stare as the nationally-known spiker grins, gold-eyes gleaming with excitement as the owl-haired boy spins the ball in his hands for good measure. 

“Learn to live a little, Akaashi!! If I’m gonna be the bestest spiker in the world-” 

“Bestest isn’t-” 

“-then I’ve gotta have more tricks up my sleeve!” 

The banter between the two had kept both boys occupied as you entered the gym, planning to grab the sneakers you left behind from practice with the girl’s basketball team. In doing so, you eye the two as the darker haired one finally obliges to set for the over-hyped boy, causing you to pause. 

It wasn’t every day you got to see the skills of one of the top spikers in the nation up close. Realizing neither had noticed you, you hum, leaning against the wall as you think that it wouldn’t hurt to watch from a distance. 

What you didn’t expect, however, was for the ball to come hurtling in your direction, so fast and uncontrolled you hadn’t even been able to react as the weight of the ball knocks you off your feet, feeling the ground hit your back as the impact causes you to begin to lose conciousness. 

Bokuto Kotarou’s jaw drops as Akaashi’s slackens a little, both pairs of eyes widening as the last thing you hear is the sound of sneakers on the squeaky gym floor as Bokuto looks down at your limp figure in shock. The ball bounces away, leaving a trail of blood coming from out your nose. 

“Shit! Shit Shit SHIT OH MY GOD DID I KILL HER?!” 

“No, I...don’t think so.” 

“THINK? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY ‘THINK’, KAASHI?!”

“Yelling won’t change the fact that you just hit one of the captains of the girl’s basketball team.” 

“YOU SET THE BALL!” 

“You wanted me to set it, so techinically, you did this.” 

Bokuto’s golden eyes dim down a little, a wilt to his shoulders as he scoops you up carefully, guilt bouncing around his chest as he brushes some hair out of your face, Akaashi crossing his arms when Bokuto seems to gaze at your face for a second. 

“Um...are you gonna take her to the nurse, or is something supposed to happen-” 

“Right! Right, the nurse.” 

When you finally gain conciousness, your first reaction is to sit up quickly, groaning as soon as you did. What the hell happened? 

You blink when you’re immediately pushed back down again, but slower and gentler this time as the owl-haired boy in front of you gives you a nervous grin, golden eyes looking a tad sad as he begins to ramble. 

“You’re awake!! Do you want money? I can buy your lunch! Shoot shoot, uh...a goldfish! How about I buy you a goldfish?” 

His words are a tad difficult to process as you blink once, then twice before realizing he had been holding a warm towel to your nose, pink staining the white material as it indicates you had bled. You smile a small grin, pushing his wrist away as Bokuto rubs the back of his neck guiltily. 

“Bokuto...is it? Uh, I’m okay. Really.”  You assure him, telling the truth. Most of the pain had faded away, and you were left with a dull throb in your head. “I just really wanted to see you spike, I should’ve made myself known..”

“Really?” Bokuto’s eyes widen the slightest bit. “You wanted to see me spike?” 

“Yeah, that’s weird, right?” You laugh awkwardly, looking off to the side. “You’re one of the most talented players in our age range, right?”

Bokuto swallows, feeling heat rush to his cheeks as he sees you, slightly bloody nose and all, smile as if he hadn’t just socked you in the face with a volleyball as you openly compliment him to his face. 

The words rush out before Bokuto can think twice. “Do you...want to?”  

“Want to...see you spike?” You arch a brow, surprised as Bokuto nods brightly as he grins, putting the warm towel on your nose again as he brushes some hair out of your face to keep it from getting wet. “I can make a private showing just for you as my apology! I’d just need to get your number...and your name...”

“Y/N.” You attempt to push the towel away again, only for Bokuto to catch your hand, slowly intertwining his fingers with yours as he gives you a half-grin. 

“Whaddya say we make it a date, Y/N?” 

“Depends, are you gonna hit me again?” 

“I’ll definitely be hitting on you, that’s for sure.” 

Akaashi Keiji fights the urge to roll his eyes as he closes the door quietly to the nurses office, wondering how the hell his best friend managed to turn the situation into an opportunity to get a cute date. 

Oikawa

“Ladies, remember: if you’re gonna hit it, hit it until it breaks.” 

“Lame as hell.” 

“Iwa-chan, I’ll give you my attention in a second, okay?” 

Oikawa Tooru misses the flicked off finger in his direction as he continues to talk up his group of fans, grinning his playboy grin at all of them in the middle of the lunch period. Hanamaki coughs as he approaches the middle of the courtyard, choking back a laugh as he examines the situation. 

“Is he really showing them how to serve a volleyball like they actually care?” 

“At least he’s not talking to us.” Matsukawa shrugs, boredly watching as well. “I say it’s a win-win situation.” 

“Show us, Oikawa-Kun!” 

“Yeah, let us see your famous serve up close!” 

“Girls, girls...” Oikawa puts his finger to his lips, winking once. “Promise to keep it a secret?” 

“Hey now...he’s not actually gonna hit it, right?” Iwaizumi sits up fully, drinking his melon juice as he sees his childhood friend actually take position, causing Iwa to choke. 

“Oi, shittykawa, is that really the best-?” Iwaizumi questions through a fit of coughs, but doesn’t manage to finish his thought as Oikawa’s already running to hit the volleyball already set into the air as he hits it towards a space with no students-

or so he thought. 

Through a herd of squeals and praises, chocolate brown eyes widen as your figure enters the direct line of fire, time seeming to slow down as you manage to turn in question at the sound, only for your jaw to slacken. 

The sounds of his fans drown out to Oikawa’s ears as the ball hits you straight in the face, causing you to stumble confusedly as you feel your face go numb, pain slowly taking its’ place afterwards. The distance doesn’t allow the setter to pinpoint exactly who you are, but he begins to move without thinking. 

Oikawa is careless as he pushes aside the girls surrounding him, legs moving so fast before breaking into a run just in time to catch you from falling into the grass. He blinks once, eyes in shock at what he had just done, all to show off for some girls. 

He watches the tears prick your eyes, eyes beginning to flutter shut as his rushed thought process doesn’t realize just who he hit. 

“I-I’m so sorry, I-” 

Oikawa feels a lump grow in his throat as your lips form a simple, yet meaningful smile as the colors in your vision begin to close in on you, his panicked mind still trying to register who exactly he had harmed. 

It’s okay. Your smile seemed to have meant. 

Weren’t you mad? Shouldn’t you be angered that this stuck up pretentious playboy had nailed you right in the face with the oh-so famous serve known to make half the teams in his district tremble at the thought of it? 

“Congrats.” Oikawa feels a familiar hand clasp his shoulder to see Iwaizumi looking down at your now unconcious figure. “You just hit the school sweetheart square in the face.” 

“S-School sweetheart? Shit, wait, Y/N?!” Chocolate orbs widen with realization as his adrenaline-rushed mind finally registers. 

Iwa grins a tad sadistically as Oikawa gapes at the beauty in his arms, now slightly bruised and passed out because of his doing as the setter carefully picks you up, regret brimming his eyes. 

“The one girl in the school you wanted, and you had to hit her? Nice.” 

Ushijima

“WATCH OUT!” 

You don’t have time to do anything of the sort as you had just slid the door open to the entrance of Shiratorizawa’s volleyball club practice room just as Ushijima had nailed another practice spike, this one hitting the inner court so hard it had rebounded back out of control in another direction.

That direction just so-happening to be yours. 

The papers meant for the advisor slip out of your grasp as you try to process what had just happened, hearing the once boisterous gym drain of noise as the ball hits you square in the face. You had known of Ushijima’s scarily powerful spikes, but you had no idea the rebound back could feel like a ton of bricks. 

Ushijima seems to still in place as you faint backwards, eyes widening the tiniest fraction as the rest of the team surround your now blacked out figure, bruise forming on your nose along with a trail of blood. The powerful male slowly raises his hand to examine his palm, eyes betraying no emotion. 

He had done that...to a girl?

“I-Is she dead?” Goshiki whispers as Subaru nudges him, nodding over to a staring Ushijima as he takes in what he had done.

“Y’all are such babies.” Tendou yawns, walking over to begin to wrap your arm around his neck. “She wouldn’t die from something like a rebound, but if it had been the real thing-” 

“Shut up, you ginger.” Semi begins to take your other arm before the culprit’s voice makes him freeze in place. 

“No.” Ushijima’s steps manage to silent the team as they, excluding Tendou and Semi, all take a subconcious step back. They watch in bewilderment as Ushijima takes your unconcious figure with a gentleness they didn’t know he possessed, wrapping your arms around his neck as he lifts you into a piggy-back position. 

“I’ll take her. Continue practice.” 

Ushijima ignores the gapes and questioning stares as he walks out of the volleyball room, never had left practice early before for any reason. 

As he walks, feeling your even breaths against the back of his neck as he carries you easily to the nurse, he wonders just what he would say to you when you came to in addition to his apology. 

The stranger on his back seems to shuffle a bit, causing the ace’s steps to slow to a stop. 

“W-What...?” 

“I’m sorry, but try not to sleep. We have to make sure your head’s alright.” Ushijima says straight forwardly, blinking when you hum in agreement, still seeming to be out of it as you nuzzle your face into his neck. 

“Okay...” 

Before Ushijima can tell you not to do that, your next words make him press his lips together. 

“You’re a lot nicer than you look, you know?” You seem to slur, head lolling on his shoulder. “Sweeter too.” 

Thump.

Ushijima pauses for a few moments, beginning to walk again before stopping abruptly, grip on your legs relaxing as he feels your breathing even back out again. 

Wait. 

...thump?

Kuroo

“Kuroo, you’re hitting too hard.” 

“I don’t care!” The captain fumes as he grabs another volleyball from the basket, throwing it up to slam it across the gym angrily. “Stupid sensei! I don’t even know if I’ll be able to play in the next game if I have to take those dumb classes.” 

Kenma dodges the ball with a slight movement to his head as he doesn’t tear his gaze away from his console just as it hits the space next to his head. The setter looks up lazily as Kuroo grabs another. 

“I’m telling you, you’re-” 

Kenma’s cut off when he hits the ball again, this time not even bothering to put a spin of direction on it when it suddenly gets slammed outside a nearby open window, followed by a yell of pain. The two childhood friends exchange looks, Kenma getting to his feet with a sigh as Kuroo rushes outside. 

“I told you so.” 

Kuroo’s footsteps bring him to the point of contact, eyes widening at the sight of someone he recognizes leaning on the building for support, a hand rubbing your cheek as tears prick the corners of your eyes. 

“Shit! Are you okay?” Kuroo questions hastily as the captain’s heart beats in fear. How could he lose control of his power like that? The two friends watch, one less worried than the other, as you wave it off, laughing a little with a blush on your features. 

Kuroo breathes out the anxiety in his chest at your laugh, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards the slightest bit as you go to say something-

The smile on your face seems to fade as you lurch forward, the impact of the spiked volleyball finally processing in your body as Kuroo catches you swiftly, anxiety back in his chest. 

“Hm. Well, have fun with that.” 

“K-Kenma, what?!” 

Kuroo sighs, annoyed at his best friend as he walks off carelessly, leaving you in the hands of the captain, who looks down at you guiltily before scooping you back up in his arms and back into the empty practice room. 

When you come to, the first thing you see are the eyes of the captain, ice pack on your forehead as you realize your head had been placed in his lap, Kuroo nursing you until you had woken up. 

Startled, you sit up quickly, his forehead colliding with yours as the ice pack falls into your lap. You share a groan, and you scramble out of his hold with a redness to your cheeks that the raven-haired captain couldn’t pinpoint. 

“That couldn’t have felt good.” Kuroo frowns, a hand reaching out to touch your forehead before you turn away, causing him to arch a brow. 

“Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?” The captain questions the victim of his doing, and you laugh a little too loudly. 

“U-Um! Nope, I’ve just got to uh- feed my shark-” 

Kuroo catches your arm before you can go, pulling you back down gently. 

“Do I need to kiss you or something to make you stay still?” 

The capain catches on as a pink hue takes over your cheeks as you do as your told, a smirk tickling the corner of his lips. 

“Y/N L/N, right?” 

“You know my name?” You squeak, only prompting Kuroo to come even closer as his feral eyes seem to keep you from running. 

“I heard through the grapevine someone of the sort had a crush on me all of last year.” 

You blanch, finding movement in your legs again as you ignore the dull throb in your head. Kuroo puts an arm on the opposite side of you, resting it on the bleacher as he leans even closer, seeming to trap you. 

“What I didn’t hear however,” 

The ice pack in your lap continued to melt. 

“Was that the girl who liked me was this cute.” 

[whythehellnaut]

The secret brilliance behind Nickelodeon All Star Brawl‘s marketing

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the Nickelodeon fighting game after it was announced, progressing from mild interest to ironic excitement to unironic excitement for it.  So many jokes and memes have been made about it that they’re almost impossible to avoid.  But when I thought about it, I realized that that’s exactly what the marketing team for this game wanted.  The idea of the game is so absurd that no one would expect it to exist, but they figured out a way to make absolutely sure that it would create just the right buzz to get people like me to take serious interest in it.

Watching the trailer again, I figured out that every character they picked to showcase in that minute and a half trailer were carefully and strategically chosen to cater to as many people as they could.  Even the order of their appearance had deliberation behind it.  Here are my thoughts:

Michelangelo comes first, establishing that the game is combat focused.  After all, who better to show off first for a fighting game than a character that has already appeared as a playable character in at least two of them?  Plus, the Ninja Turtles are the oldest characters in Nickelodeon’s library when you consider that they first aired in the 80′s, before Nickelodeon even started making cartoons.  This is a character that everyone recognizes, parents included.

Lincoln Loud comes next, a more modern character that adults might not know but kids will.  This is to quickly lure the kids, who have less patience than adults, into watching the rest of the trailer, assuring them that it won’t just be older characters like the turtles that show up.

Powdered Toast Man comes next to snatch up the other side of the equation, the adults/90′s kids who remember him from the original Ren and Stimpy show from 1991.  I’m not sure if it’s still airing as reruns on Nick today, but considering I hear very little about the show online, I’m guessing not.  This is a bit of a surprise to the adults who thought it’d be a kids’ game, so it lures those folks into staying for the rest of the trailer as well.

Sandy is important to show off early for a number of reasons.  Spongebob is popular among kids and Millenials, and is arguably the only property here as well known as Ninja Turtles, so they’re luring in more fans.  It also serves to imply that other Spongebob characters will join, as, even though Sandy’s passion for karate makes total sense for her to appear in a fighting game, you still can’t leave out Spongebob himself.  Showing her first implies more possibilities of characters to come, proving it won’t just be a festival of protagonists like Jump Force was.  It also shows off their female representation to keep women interested.

Patrick is just a fan favorite to get out of the way before the sponge shows up, so he’s only here to confirm that the game is going to be full of characters that people actually want to see.

Oblina was personally a shocker to me, as I barely remember Ahh Real Monsters from my own childhood, but I remember enough to know that she wasn’t the protagonist, necessarily.  I also know it’s relatively obscure in comparison to Spongebob or Ren and Stimpy, so they proved that they are willing to take characters from more obscure shows that the young kids won’t remember.  This solidified my interest as I could tell that they are doing more to cater to the 90s generation than just confirming Powdered Toast Man.

Nigel Thornberry is arguably their most important addition at the halfway point.  Outside of Spongebob characters and maybe Stu Pickles, I would say Nigel is the internet’s favorite Nickelodeon character to use for memes.  The marketing team had to have known this.  After getting some of the core audiences hooked, they now have the memer crowd invested, ready to spread the word about the insanity of this game’s premise across the internet.  This is exactly what happened, and why the trailer has 2 million views on Youtube right now.

Lucy Loud is shown off quickly to remind the younger crowd to keep watching, and to add a little bit more female representation.

Spongebob is shown off a little bit late, but since we were expecting him to show up, it’s just to make sure the casual fans who only know the big names stay watching.

Helga is an older character, but I recently saw a young kid wearing a Hey Arnold tee shirt at the supermarket, so I’m positive it’s being shown as reruns on Nick today, so most Nick fans of all ages will be excited about her.  Moreover, since she came immediately after Spongebob, who is a protagonist that was introduced after Sandy, a side character from his show, it gives an implication that Arnold will also appear.  Although he is not introduced in this trailer, it allows the fans to speculate that he will soon be showcased, perhaps in the next trailer.  Also, she’s the fourth female character shown, confirming that the game is being fair and inclusive to both sexes and not simply catering to male gamers, like say, Jump Force or Dragonball Fighter Z.

Reptar is another shocker, because although Rugrats is very popular and well known throughout the generations, he is a very, very minor character in the show.  He is literally a fictional character within a separate fictional universe.  The marketing team threw him in to show off that just about any character from any Nick property, no matter how minor or obscure, has a chance of making it into this game.  Again, this forces the fans to speculate about future announcements with even more creative thinking, as we now know that it won’t just be major characters joining the fray.

Zim is a well thought out choice because he caters to a specific crowd that I’d describe as the alternative niche.  That is to say, there are people who are fans of Invader Zim who don’t watch other Nick shows, so they are luring in the folks you’d expect to see at Hot Topic and the like.  It was an edgy show with a feel and fanbase unlike other shows of its era, so it’s important to use him to diversify the roster.  They also showed off Gir as his assist, and although that may deconfirm him as playable, it still pleases the fans, who often prefer Gir over Zim.

Danny Phantom is the only character that comes strictly from the 2000s era, so they are making sure to maintain the attention of the teenagers who watched that show as kids.

Leonardo seems like an odd choice to end on, maybe even anticlimactic, since they started with Michelangelo, but it makes sense when you think about it.  They couldn’t show just 1 turtle, or else it might imply that the game’s roster was small.  But if they showed all 4 turtles, they would have needed to leave two other characters out of the trailer to make room for them, and they didn’t want to make it look like a Turtles fighting game with guest characters.  So having exactly 2 turtles allows them to show off enough characters from other properties, while also confirming unofficially that the other turtles would appear later, since you can’t just have 2 of the 4 turtles in the game.  By leaving it open like that, they’re giving an implication that the roster is going to be huge.  So big that the turtles were just a small portion of it.  They end the trailer this way to leave the crowd speculating again: how many characters will appear in total?

The only characters that curiously don’t show up in the trailer are the cast of the Avatar franchise, who are quite popular.  However, one of the stages shown is clearly the Air Temple with Aang’s glider in plain sight, implying that Avatar characters will be announced later.  Another smart move to instill hope in the fans.

Finally, the Rollback Netcode announcement that came afterward solidified a very important group- the serious/competitive gamers.  For those who don’t know, rollback netcode is relatively new technology that speeds up online gameplay to cut down on input lag, which is super important for fighting games in particular, as they rely on strict timing more than other game genres.  It’s so new, however, that not all competitive fighting games use it.  Popular tournament fighters like Super Smash Bros, Tekken, and Dragonball Fighter Z have not implemented rollback netcode for their games yet, so of all games, Nickelodeon All Star Brawl beating them to the punch is causing a stir.  This is a sign that the devs are putting serious effort into making the game enjoyable online, which could potentially help its chances to be taken seriously in competitive settings.  Only time will tell if that truly happens, but it’s a sign of quality, nonetheless.

So ultimately, this short trailer and announcement manage to cater to dang near every crowd that may want to play it: Kids, teenagers, young adults in their 20s and 30s, parents in their 40s, men, women, memers, casual fans, alternative fans, and serious gamers, and opens up a ton of potential for speculation regarding new announcements.  That’s a fantastic way to start off and explains why this game, which for all intents and purposes should have been nothing more than a thought experiment that people joke about in the car with friends, has been trending so much for the past two weeks.  Congrats to the marketing team for what they put together.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

[fangirlovestuff]

You Make Me Feel Right - Steve Rogers x reader

a/n - Hey lovely people! this one is part of @evansxxx​‘s I Don’t Wike It Challenge! congrats on a 1,000 followers love! prompt is in bold (it’s #25) and itaics is a flashback/memory. Enjoy! <3

Summary: You and Steve finally go on a date. You go to a place that holds a glimpse into your past - and maybe one into your future?

Word count: ~2,180

warnings: very brief mentions of violence, nervous steeb🥺

The lights of the New York street were shining all around you as you walked hand in hand with Steve through the crowded streets. You sneaked a look at him – the billboard next to you cast a red tint on his face, which were turned down to look at his phone.

You and Steve were finally going out. The last few months you were both very preoccupied; missions, paperwork and general chaos in the Avengers tower kept you both from having proper dates for a long while - the last date you’ve had was probably 4 months ago. Obviously, you made due, getting to spend some time with each other anyway, especially since you were living together. You were working with the Avengers, and weren't one of the famous superheroes but a simple lab worker. When you discovered a break in both of your schedules, instead of spending a lazy night at home you suggested you finally go on a proper date. Steve was hesitant at first, he didn’t want to be recognized and ruin the night, but you managed to persuade him to go, on the condition that he gets to plan the night. His cap was low on his forehead, along with fake glasses he thought made him look very different. You knew it wouldn't actually stop some of the crazy fans out there from recognizing him, but you went along with it. The glasses looked very cute on him, so that was a bonus.

Right now, Steve was trying to navigate the two of you to a restaurant he heard was very recommended close by. His blue eyes scanned the busy street as you headed towards the outskirts of the crowd. You turned a corner to find a nice little restaurant, potted plants surrounding the outside tables. Steve smiled in accomplishment and tugged on your hand to lead you towards the restaurant.

You beamed at him. "You're really getting the hand of all this tech stuff, aren't you?" You referred to his use of google maps on his phone without the grumbling that was usually involved. Steve just hummed and smirked a little as you entered the restaurant hand in hand.

"Mr. Rogers," the hostess greeted and smiled. "We're very pleased to see you here this evening. Follow me please," she said to you both. She led you into a secluded corner of the room, where you most likely won't be seen by anyone else, where she left you both to read you menus.

"I had to make a reservation to make sure they had a place for us," Steve explained. "I know we're not really aiming to get recognized tonight, well, actually the opposite of that, but--"

"Steve, it’s okay. I get it," you smiled at him so he can know it's really okay.

Your food quickly arrived, and you didn’t even realize how hungry you were until you smelled the delicious smell coming from the plates that were put in front of you. You dug in happily, humming appreciatively at the tasty food. You looked up at Steve, expecting to see him enjoying his food as well. Instead, you saw him only moving the food a little on his plate, taking small bites with a slight frown on his face. As a super-soldier, Steve had an enormous appetite, so you had to ask him, "Earth to Steve. You alright there?"

"Yeah, sorry," he smiled and started eating his food with some of his usual enthusiasm. You were still suspicious, but you let it go for now.

"So, you know the new kid at R&D? Tony told me he's like a genius or something," you started to make conversation.

"Oh, Jake, right? He seemed like a nice kid when I met him so that's good for him. Did you hear about what Nat is now calling 'The Disaster'?" he chuckled.

You giggled. "Oh my god, I can't believe how dramatic she is. One of the new trainees caught her singing in the kitchen one time and she literally won't shut up about it." You started impersonating her, "You don't understand, it was humiliating!" you put the back of your hand on your forehead dramatically and Steve laughed.

You continued in conversation throughout the evening, and it flew easy as usual. Despite that, you were still worried about Steve. He supposedly never got sick, but he really didn't seem that hungry.

"Steve, are you sure you're alright?" you asked after the waiter took away his still pretty full plate at the end of the meal.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he smiled softly and reached for your hand across the table. His hand was a bit clammy, but you still took it as you narrowed you eyes at him playfully.

"I don't really believe you, but dessert should fix it if you're not willing to tell me." You both decided to share your favorite dessert, that was thankfully on the restaurant's menu. You ended up splitting it pretty much if half, which was admittedly a regular occurrence, since Steve was always the gentleman and insisted on eating half despite of his larger appetite.

When you left the restaurant hand in hand you started wandering around towards the quieter streets, only encountering a few people in your way. You walked in silence for the most part, simply enjoying each other's company. You shivered a little at the night chill and Steve wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close to his warm body.

You came across a small alley you recognized right away. "Steve look!" you pointed his attention to the alley across the street. He chuckled in relief. "I'm glad you recognized it."

The tall man was towering over you, the gold horns on his head shining as devilishly as his eyes are. The large scepter in his hand is pointed towards you, pushing you to the corner of the small alley. Your back was pushing against the wall and you were screaming for help, but it seemed like no one was going to show up. His scepter started shining in a blue light and it was getting closer and closer to your head. You'd stopped screaming, now paralyzed in fear. You thought you were done for. You closed your eyes; your whole life wasn't flashing before you. There was just panic.

Just then, you heard a loud thud. You opened your eyes to see two tall, blond, muscular men. One of them was holding a hammer and punching the evil dude with it. The other one was wearing a mostly blue suit and coming towards you, and—holy shit, that was Captain America. Your brain was back working now, and you couldn’t help but notice he looked way better up close than he did on the TV. And he looked gorgeous on the TV.

"You okay?" he asked, his blue eyes looking into yours with worry.

"Yeah," you gulped, "I'm okay now."

He nodded at you and you noticed the alley was quickly filling up with other Avengers. They now cornered the villain much like he did to you before. "Who is he?" you asked Steve.

"Loki, the god of mischief. And Thor's half-brother? Or was it adopted?" he debated to himself.

"I'm sorry, he's the what?"

"Yeah, you're right, they look hardly alike. As I said, probably adopte--"

"Not that! He's a god?"

"Oh yeah," Steve blushed slightly. You saw the Avengers cornering Loki but you saw a flash of something metal behind his back. "Anyway," Steve continued, "you should come with us to the compound, we can check if he--"

"Watch out! He's got a knife!" you shouted at the Avengers who automatically went into their defensive poses even before you finished your sentence and then disarmed Loki.

"Thank you, human," Thor waved at you.

"I'm surprised Rogers here didn't notice it before. Must've been busy looking at something else instead of helping his teammates catch a dangerous god." Tony quipped.

Steve blushed deeper than before and you giggled. "Thank you," you said, "for saving my life. But I really gotta go, so see you." You smiled and walked away from the tall man. You didn't even realize how close to you he was until you backed away, missing his closeness. But he was Captain America, and no matter how cute he was it's not like you stood a chance.

Steve followed you with his eyes practically shaped into hearts.  

"Seriously Rogers? If you were gonna neglect your duty like that, at least get a phone number out of it." Natasha came closer to Steve and teased. Steve's face sobered up instantly.

With little effort he caught up to you. "Can I have your phone number?" he asked timidly. You looked at him, surprised. "I mean, to check up on you. And also maybe grab a coffee sometime, if you'd like, maybe-"

You mercifully stopped him from rambling by putting your hand out for his phone. "I'd love to."

"Um, great." He awkwardly reached for his phone and handed it to you.

Of course you remembered this alley, and you told Steve this. "Of course I recognized it! I almost got murdered by a god in here!" you exclaimed playfully. "And I also met you here, lady-killer," you teased.

He chuckled nervously and led you into the alley.

To your utmost surprise, the alley was full of fairy lights; with the moon shining above it was a beautiful view. "Steve, did you..." you trailed off, staring at the transformed alley in awe.

"Do you like it?" Steve asked, a bashful smile on his face, holding your hand in his.

"I absolutely love it!" you smiled and pecked his lips. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something." He smiled and reached inside his pocket, taking a deep breath. He took out a small box and got down on one knee, still holding your hand in his.

"Steve?" you asked, a huge smile across your face.

He bit his lip and smiled. "When we met here, I was dumbstruck, quite literally." You giggled, your eyes filling with tears. "You were the only woman I had eyes for, you still are. All I could think was how much I wanted you not to leave, to know you. From the get-go, you've always looked like a person I'd want to know. And maybe I'm not as smart as you, but in this case I was right. There's not one day I go by without being grateful for knowing you. For the opportunity to love you. Because before you, I was lost. There was this whole new world I didn't know, and I thought I didn't belong here. But you proved me wrong. Thanks to you I almost know how to use my phone." He smiled and breathed deeply before continuing. "And I know I belong here, because no matter what – I belong with you. I used to think I was a man out of time, but I've realized it's not true. Almost everything I had in the past pales in comparison to you. I’ve spent most of my life not knowing what right was supposed to feel like, and then I met you. And everything changed. You make me feel right. You're my home." He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful engagement ring you've ever seen. You gasped at the sight of it, tears falling out of your eyes. "I've never been happier than in the two years I've known you," Steve continued. "Would you do me the greatest honor in being by my side for the rest of my life? Will you marry me?" he beamed at you.

"Yes! Yes, yes, of course yes!" You kneeled down in front of him and nearly tackled him with a fierce hug. "I love you, Steve Rogers. And there's nothing I want more than to be your wife."

He surged forward and kissed you, his lips soft against your own. The kiss was passionate but soft, conveying through action the happiness and love that words simply cannot describe. Your hands were wrapped around his neck and his went to your waist when you heard a soft thud. You let go of each other's lips and laughed, because in the moment, Steve dropped the box with the ring.

"Oops," he scratched the back of his neck before reaching for the box. He took out the ring and slipped it onto your finger, a perfect fit, where it glimmered softly with the lights of the street.

You finished admiring the ring and gasped. "Wait! Is this why you were being weird all night?" you realized.

"Yeah," Steve smiled bashfully. "I guess I was just nervous…"

Seeing the beefy super-soldier being unsure of himself made your heart swell with love. "You had no reason to be," you reassured him.

You both went home that night hand in hand, sending each other lovesick gazes that would've no doubt made a few of your friends roll their eyes if they were there. But nothing really mattered at this moment, nothing besides you and Steve, the moon the only witness to your love.

[dandyvespa]

I-Land Final Episode and Thoughts *SPOILERS! duh*

For anyone who has kept up with I-Land, I understand how emotional and nerve-wracking this episode was for them.  After developing a connection with a lot of the participants and sharing in their memories, its hard to see anyone being let go.  It has been just as much of journey for them as it was for the fans who supported them and at the end of the day, regardless of who debuts, there will be people who will be disappointed by the final results.  But please please PLEASE understand that you should not put the blame on them or even break them down just because your favorite did not make it.  All of these boys worked hard to get where they are and though it stings for those who did not make it, please support whatever flower path any of them have taken and continue to support and spread love.  With that being said, I would just like to use the rest of this post on my final thoughts on the episode and debut line.  If you are caught up with the show, please read ahead.  Thank you :)

First I would like to say that the preparations done for the final performance, the OT22 interaction and performance, the funny bits of preparing PR videos, dividing roles, and playing Truth or Dare, and the home-cooked meals sent from their parents were all just an emotional roller coaster.  I laughed and I cried.  To see those boys grow was something very special to me and to see their individual selves shine through personalities or skills were always a treat.  Having these segments were really meant to lighten the mood for the final lineup to come.  Personally, Sunghoon developed the most out of his shy exterior and his personality was so confident and funny in the pre-recorded videos.  I also thought Jay... could never escape his dark history LOL.   Also Heeseung’s brother teasing him and telling him to tell Jay he adores him was very cute.  Seeing everyone help each other with the PR videos was adorable and heart-warming (Heeseung even had a whole production team haha).  Jungwon dressed up as a sheep still sticks with me though haha.  Seeing OT22 come together also had me in tears and stitches.  It was so cute seeing them all hang out in I-land and despite how whack it was for the Grounders to never experience it, they looked so happy being with their friends and taking part in this little world even if it was for a short time. Also loved how they would easily throw others under the bus during Truth or Dare and the Questions they voted on.  The love and support their parents got and how each of them could not hold back their tears was really the icing on the cake.  No matter where these boys go, their family will always be their for them more than anything else.  Just all those moments leading up to their debut lineup really put a toll on me and it just made me feel like a proud mom

Okay the team name?  I am sooooooooooo glad its not Dragon Gee or Dee or whatever that speculated name was going around on Twitter.  Enhypen is odd but in a good way.   Its different and it will stick with time even though I still may just call them the I-Land group for now lol.  Pretty curious about what the fandom name will be too (but honestly I think I would still call myself an Eggie haha).

TXT and BTS’s presence was neat.  I wish more of the TXT member’s got to speak but having them all physically there was nice.  Though I will say it was just awkward not seeing them cheer as much.  I also felt like BTS was just bored at some points or were just glazing over when having to wait on each member getting called out.  They did have their humorous moments which was nice to see, definitely lifted the tension in the room and I’m glad they joked a bit (especially Suga losing it lol) instead of remaining completely serious.  Their advice and encouragement were all appreciated too.  Jhope being an avid viewer really showed.  Also plus points for Jungwon getting Jungkook’s attention uwu.   I still wish they could have interacted more and mentored some of them over the course of the show.  The slim TXT interactions with Heeseung such as Taehyun and Yeonjun’s reactions made me wanting more damn it.  But hey, at least we get to see them more often in the BigHit building.  I love a good family.

So the Calling performance was A M A Z I N G.  I personally thought they were so coherent as a group and made me wishing OT9.  There were some who really shine in their parts, but I think all of them stood out one or more times to me.  The dance was pretty powerful and a lot of them improved vocally.  Again, it makes me feel like a proud mom seeing them all at this point, grown and amazing.  The Into the I-Land performance also made me feel that way as well.  They all looked so good together and were pretty in sync given that they were fucking 22 of them.  The nostalgia was really hitting in me and I also teared uo like a big ass baby.  But can I just say... and let’s be real here.... Every single song on this show has been a bop and I would be thrilled to see a whole Soundtrack Album for I-Land on Spotify.  Like P L E A S E.

Now onto the debut line! I was S H O C K E D.  You can clearly tell these votes were not rigged in the slightest and this was solely based on global votes always shifting which was appreciated.  I did not see this order coming and it did turn out slightly different then my post on my preferred I-Land debut line.  So starting with number 1.... YANG FUCKING JUNGWON.   I was pleasantly surprised and I literally jumped out of my bed when I heard him place first instead of Sunoo.  This was the complete definition of people who initially slept on him finally waking.  I was soooo thrilled.  Bro really came in last by the last Producer vote and then climbed all the way to first.  Our lovely sheep garden and hidden ace, a big congrats!  

Jay also left his cursed 6th spot and got second! Again another well-deserved man who gave it his all from the beginning and was no stranger to being straightforward and a go getter.  His stubbornness and hilarity will lead this group lol.  

Jake getting third was a big shock as well.  Our icon of improvement!  To think he was always on the verge of getting placed out of the top 7 members and made it here? Also considering his benefit put him in 7th once when he literally could have been the eliminated member that episode.  UGH.  Our Aussie boy did great and seriously improved performance after performance.  

Next up.... NIKIIIIIII.  Now I’m gonna be real I thought it was gonna be K.  I never placed Niki in my debut prediction, but his Flame On performance really change everything for me.  Actually, just the whole second part of I-Land was very impactful for him.  I was always hesitant about his sportsmanship and whether he was too selfish in the first part (the constant evil-editing did not help, Mnet...), but thanks to other members, he really matured and took a greater lead in things.  I really began to fall for him when we got to see him more playful and interactive with other members.  Like I really thought he was much happier and understanding throughout the second half of the show.  So kudos to him!  

Coming in 5th place was Heeseung.  I was actually confused man.  When he was called first at this point, I just knew this global vote line up will be verrrry different.  I was still relieved that he made it and seeing him choke up, this boy who has been going at it the longest among the 9 participants at 3 years to finally debut.... Gosh I could not.  As someone who is also Heeseung biased, I was so so so happy for him.  Think we all know regardless of which place he got, the boy was destined to debut.  My Ace heart feels full ^^.  Go get him Leader!!!

Now 6th place... my Ice Prince... Sunghoon! I was actually the most nervous for him.  I saw so many people saying that Sunghoon was last in votes or was in danger because a lot of people had the mentality that given his popularity they should reserve the votes for the people who would most likely be eliminated.  I think that’s why Heeseung and Sunoo were scored low too.  Now I am also biased towards him.  I was thinking like what would I do if none of my favorite Bighit trainees (Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, and Jungwon) do not make it?  But when he was called to take up the last spot in global voting, I did a back flip (not really but yeah lol).  Given that Sunghoon has never gotten any brutal feedback from the Producers and has always adapted to each concept, he deserved this.  Just everything he has been through... And shifting his life from being an ice skater of 10 years to this path as an idol.... hold up let me get some damn tissues.  May he continue to break out of his shell and show his continuous charms!

Ok the producer choice for 7th place... Again did not see that coming.  Sunoo constantly ranking high in global votes only to be one of the deciding factors was another big surprise.  I have said that Sunoo’s sunshine personality would be needed, especially if the group were to do cute or youthful concepts.  His health had been concerning, but he was able to manage himself so well.  Even with powerful choreo!  He is not really one of the best dancers but he had always been able to do his part.  I really thought the Producers would choose K, but I really thought Bang PD boiled it down to overall skill and personality appeal.  He even claimed that Sunoo would connect best with the world with his joyful outlook.  I honestly could not agree more. I just people do not rail him for being picked as they should now understand he is not just some cute face and has proven that multiple times.  Sunshine Fighting! :)

The eliminated trainees were K and Daniel.  Though I thought Daniel has improved a lot, he was just outshined.  I also think at his age he should have more time spent in sharpening his skills.  What was more devastating was K.  He looked like he was obliterated.  I mean both of them were naturally sad, but K was just gone to me.  I was really hoping that he would make the debut line.  K has shown himself as a performer multiple times and was praised for his choreography skills.  He even showed to have learned from past behaviors and matured more as a person when taking the leader role.  To see him grow and understand where he went wrong.... ugh I really could not bear him looking that way.  His thoughts were all over the place and he could barely choke out what he wanted to say.  I just hope he meant what he said and actually continues to enjoy music and develop himself as a performer.  I knew how much his mom was initially livid at the idea of him becoming an idol so I hope he gets another chance at showing her that he can still do this. Now understand this does not mean you should blame Sunoo for being chosen or complain that Sunoo does not deserve it.  I already feel like he is gonna be haunted with the grim reminder that he was chosen instead and think that he doesn’t deserve this because he is not as skilled as K.  And people are gonna bandwagon hate on him... and again I say please DO NOT DO THAT.  At the end of the day, no matter how much you want OT9 or OT22, this is a survival show and these participants signed up for this.  Yes there will be fans who are disappointed, but you shouldn’t waste your anger on the other trainees who were able to succeed instead of your faves. I don’t want this moment to completely wreck K or Daniel’s chances at being an idol again.  Same goes for rest of the eliminated I-Land members.  This is definitely not the end for any of them so please go on with hope guys because I know you will still have many people’s support!  They will end up on the same stage as their colleagues one day.  

The last thing I want to say is that though this has been a tough journey and though there may be people who will not be satisfied with the debut line, everyone worked hard.  From the participants to the fans and even the Producers, all of them played a special role in making I-Land bearable and exciting to watch.  This is a big congrats to everyone who took part in the show despite having to go through many hardships.  With that being said let us continue to support the futures of the eliminated I-Land members as well as the grand success of Enhypen.  I smell 4th gen leaders :D. Welcome to the BigHit family Enhypen and may your fans, your wings, fly you even higher once you officially debut. F I G H T I N G!

Now... will you guys join in during the next season of I-Land for the next global girl group? :3

.... Ya’ll already know I am lol.

[shinsorokiri]

UA Idol | Chapter Eight

Hitoshi Shinsou x Reader

Word Count: 2,005

Warnings: Language

A/N: Ahhhh here we are at Chapter Eight! I can’t wait to write right more for this I really love it, I wish I knew just how long this was gonna be but honestly I have no idea at this point. We’ll see, but for now, enjoy!!!

───────────────────────────────────

“So, you made it without managing to murder Mina, huh?” Shinsou smirks at you, and you roll your eyes. You’d made it to the airport after him, and you had just gone through security. You and Mina had spotted the rest of the contestants sitting and waiting for the plane to start boarding, and among them was Denki and Shinsou. You plopped down next to your tired friend, rubbing your temples in the process. “I was… genuinely so close, Shin. You… you don’t even understand,” you mumble. His laughter brings a smile to your previously frowning face, and you look over at him. “Well, good thing you didn’t because then I would only have Denki throughout this entire trip and I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know if I could do that.”

“You couldn’t. I was thinking of you, congrats, you saved Mina Ashido’s life.” “Wow, didn’t know I’d grow up to be a hero,” he grins at you and you shake your head with a smile. “That was so cheesy, I’m gonna throw up,” you say, and he shrugs. “I only say cheesy things to the people I like.”

“So… me and Denki?”

“And my mother.”

“Oh wow, I’m in the exclusive club, now aren’t I? Mom, Denki, and kitten?” you ask, giving his arm a light push, using the nickname he oh-so-affectionately calls you all the time. He snorts, glancing over at you and shaking his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you are.”

Before you can respond, one of the flight attendants opens the door to the walkway for your plane. Lucky for all the UA Idol contestants, you all were VIPs. Very Important Passengers. Which means, you all got to board first. You and Shinsou are right next to each other, along with Denki and Mina behind you two. “Okay. How long do you think until they realize they’re madly in love and make a move on each other?” Mina whispers to Denki and he scrunches his nose. “I give it… two months. Who do you think will say it first?”

“Shinsou. For sure. And as much as I’d like that two months thing, I think it’ll take at least three. (Y/n)’s a tough nut to crack,” Mina says, and Denki smirks. “Well if she’s so tough, that means she’ll probably crack under pressure, right? She’ll say it first.”

“Well then, Denki Kaminari. Looks like we have ourselves a bet.”

“Looks like we do, Mina Ashido. Also, did you see that one emo girl who never took her headphones out? She’s so fucking pretty.”

“Oh, I know. Personally, I go for the cuter and softer types… like that girl over there, with the black hair and cute face,” Mina subtly motions to the girl she’s talking about and Denki glances. “I respect it, but I wouldn’t pursue it.”  

“Would you two stop talking about your crushes right in front of us? It’s annoying,” Shinsou cuts in, shooting Denki a glare. “Yeah, I preferred your hushed whispers from earlier over the louder lovey-dovey talk,” you add in and Denki and Mina look fake offended. “Excuse me, but I will have you know-”

“Tickets?” Mina gets cut off by the stewardess asking you and Shinsou for your tickets with a big smile. You two hand them over and walk down the hallway to the plane. “I vote we sit far away from them, that way we don’t have to hear about their love lives for these ten hours,” Shinsou says to you and you grin. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

You and Shinsou grab your seats, luckily getting on early enough to honestly have your pick. “Let’s get as close to the side door as possible, better chances at surviving if it… well… you know…” Shinsou says, and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Hitoshi Shinsou, are you afraid of flying?”

“What? No. No of course not. Nope. Not at all. It’s not like we’re on a metal death trap floating through the air. What would give you that idea?” he says, sinking in his seat. You give him a sympathetic grin. “Well, don’t worry, okay? If you need any comfort at all through the flight, I’m right here. I’ll protect you, sweetheart,” you tease, trying to take his mind off of the ‘metal death trap floating through the air.’ You’re too busy putting your carry on in the compartment above you to notice the blush on his entire body, which he silently thanks whatever god that exists for, and he scoffs, hoping that it disappears. “Thank you, honey. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You laugh, squeezing your way past him to the window seat. He claimed the aisle seat, probably because he didn’t want to look outside and see just how far up the plane is. You glance over at him to see just how nervous he is, and the poor thing is a total wreck. Without thinking, you grab his hand. “Seriously, Shin. I’m not a big fan of airplanes either. But I’m here for you if you need me.”

He glances down at your hand intertwined with his, and he swears his heart skips a beat. For some reason, every time the two of you touch it feels like he’s put at ease while also being zapped with 100 volts. It’s a feeling he could honestly get used to. He looks up at your face, silently noting the light pink dusting your cheeks. “Thanks, (Y/n). I appreciate that.” The two of you sit in silence, never letting go of the others hand, when the stewardess starts her speech. You two both train your attention on her, but your hands are still entwined the whole time.

You pretended to listen to her, but really all you could think about was how perfect Shinsou looked. You could tell he had gotten even less sleep than usual the night before, but he still looked like the most attractive human being on the face of the planet. And the fact that you two were still holding hands? You didn’t know contact with another person could feel so good. What you didn’t realize is that Shinsou was thinking the same exact thing about you the whole time. The stewardess and pilot’s words went right through one ear and out the other for both of you, so hopefully everything on the flight went okay.

You glanced out the window, staring at the runway. A ten-hour flight to Los Angeles sure was going to hit you hard. If you thought you had insomnia before? Wait til you’re thrown into the epicenter of American Entertainment. You see the runway begin to move, and then feel a tight squeeze on your hand. You look over to see Shinsou paler than usual and gripping your hand and his arm rest ridiculously tight. “Take offs and landings are the scariest parts because that’s when things go wrong and crashes happen most often,” he mumbles and you frown, squeezing his hand back. “It’s gonna be okay, Shin,” you assure him, gently rubbing his hand with your thumb. This seems to help him a bit, but he still looks absolutely horrified. The plane begins its ascent, and he closes his eyes tightly. You squeeze his hand in reassurance, which he gladly returns, and before you know it, you’re in the sky. No crash. Not even any turbulence.

“You can open your eyes now, Shin,” you gently say, and he opens one eye, looking over at you. “Ten hours of this. I’m going to die of anxiety if the plane doesn’t nosedive into the ocean itself,” he says, and you snort, shaking your head. “Shinsou, I refuse to let you die. I will distract you this whole flight, and who knows. Maybe you can get some sleep.”

“Wow, my knight in shining armor,” he says, a small smile gracing his worry ridden face. “How about we watch a movie? Take your mind off of what’s happening right now?” you suggest, pulling out your headphones and plugging them into the tv in front of you. Shinsou nods, following your actions. “Hmmm... what do you want to watch?”

“Uh... how about... this. This is actually a tv show, so technically it will be even more distracting. And it will take longer to finish. We might not even finish, actually,” he says, landing on a show called ‘How To Get Away With Murder.’ You grin, nodding your head. “This will do,” you hum, and you two begin at the same time. The show quickly grabs both of your attention, and before you know it you two are deep into the show. You keep muttering theories to each other, sharing shocked looks at the plot twists, and cringing at the romantic scenes.

After about four episodes, you find yourself leaning against Shinsou, paying more attention to his screen than your own. Albeit, your eyes were starting to become way too heavy to even focus on Annalise Keating and the Keating Five. Shinsou notices, and he himself is getting a bit tired, so he pauses the show for both of you. He then wraps his arm around you, solely to get more comfortable. Definitely not because he just... wants to hold you. No. Ew. Gross. Totally not. But his heart does almost jump out of his chest when you snuggle against him. He can’t help the smile from spreading across his face as he rests his head on top of yours. His eyes slowly close, and he drifts off into a deep sleep.

“Holy shit, Mina.”

“Huh? What?”

“Look. They’re sleeping,” Denki whisper screams, frantically pointing at the two of you. “Oh… my god. They are literally perfect for each other,” she practically squeals, and Denki violently nods his head. “This is the cutest shit I’ve ever seen, I need to document this moment,” Denki says, taking a picture of the two of you. “Please send that to me, I need it,” Mina says with a shit eating grin. “Of course, of course,” Denki smiles, immediately sending it to her. “At this rate, maybe they’ll get together sooner than either of us thought?” Denki suggests, and Mina considers it for a moment. “Maybe, but I am telling you, (Y/n) is very… skeptical when it comes to relationships. I know it looks like they’re super flirty and already a couple but if he mentions it too soon then… there’s a good chance she will sprint away from the situation and never talk to him again. Sadly.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I would like for it to happen sooner than later, but Shinsou isn’t the best with emotions. He feels them, and he feels them a lot, but he hates them. So, he pretends he doesn’t feel them and in doing so he ruins every romantic opportunity he ever has,” Denki says and the two of them stare at each other for a moment. Suddenly, they both get smiles on their faces. “Looks like we just need to gently push them together, then, eh?” Mina wiggles her eyebrows and Denki nods. “Oh. One hundred percent.”

“Look at us. Being little matchmakers,” Mina says, winking at Denki. He laughs and shakes his head. “Yeah, well, if you don’t match make me too, I’m gonna be pretty upset about it,” he says, and Mina rolls her eyes. “Oh please, trying to find someone who could deal with your hyperactive ass is too much to ask of me.” “Damn, Mina. Hurtful.” “Don’t hate me because I speak the truth. Let’s just focus on Shinsou and (Y/n), okay? Cause let’s be real, you don’t need me to help match you up with someone. Besides, I caught your ‘cute emo girl who never took out her headphones’ staring at you while we were getting settled into our seats.”

“Yeah? Well, I saw your soft girl with the black hair check you out when you put your bag in the overhead.”

And with that, Denki and Mina fist bump.

[midnight-in-town]

That new Aoex chapter... I was actually hoping we were going back to the present, but I wasn't disappointed by what we got. Quite a bit of lore, a glimpse of the true forms of the demon kings, the birth of the Illuminati, and Shiro becoming a dad. There was a lot going on and I think it really helped to connect the past with the present. What was your favorite part?

MY, ANON, THIS CHAPTER WAS SO FUNNY! Like, the more I look at it, the more I think 50% of it is some sort of joke from Kato-sensei’s part??? And don’t get me wrong, I love it, but just, this was insane. 

First of all, can I just say that I truly enjoy Sensei keeping on destroying the very thought of Satan/Yuri as a healthy & romantic pairing with every chapter lately? 

Because, there is a lot of things I can agree to disagree with when it comes to opinions, but I can’t understand people praising abuse and seeing it as love, which was definitely the case between Satan and Yuri with some fans. 

Supposedly he loved her, but the moment she stops being useful to him?

He destroys her (soul?) as well in Gehenna. 

For real, I feel bad for Yuri: we know that she loved Shiro and that it was bad luck & complicated childhoods that kept them away from each other until the end and now she won’t see her sons growing up, the Order is blaming her for Satan & Lucifer’s chaos and she somehow died twice. 

And the reason she betrayed Shiro and the Order for? Dude’s blowing it in her face that “it’s her fault” and that she’s useless to him, also after he revealed he killed her foster family. So yeah, I truly despise Satan, he’s not made to be a sympathetic villain at all (one can’t relate to his issue of lacking a body powerful enough to withstand his powers) and I hope their sons will somehow avenge their mother (and their actual father, the man who raised them).

Oh but since we’re on the rather gloomy parts of the chapter, I gotta say that… 

I’m glad the events of ch1 are finally being addressed. 

Maybe we’ll find out soon about why Shiro couldn’t withstand Satan’s possession almost a year ago in the story, leading to his death: maybe Rin’s words really did hurt him, especially since we know that Yukio kinda had issues with him back then too, without mentioning Shura’s anger…?

So I don’t know, perhaps he got dispirited thinking his children despised him and then his body had grown too old, or the experiments of Section 13 were too far away in time for him to recover in ch1… I guess we’ll see about that soon. ://

Also also, I kinda got spooked by by the Toudou family:

Looks like Saburouta killed his brothers and his wife during the Blue Night (?) leaving only his daughter alive, which is somehow how she ended up following in his footsteps and working for the Illuminati. 

Pretty scarring for that girl, I wasn’t expecting that at all.

As for the Myo Dha amongst the many victims of the Blue Night…

…rip Takezou, Koneko’s dad and Mamushi’s mom (also wondering where Jin, Renzou’s oldest sister, was the whole time but I think Sensei forgot about her).

Finally, I always wondered about how Shura fared throughout the whole Blue Night incident and…

baby girl did well by hiding. 

The rest of the chapter though? Mostly funny parts, I swear to Assiah and Gehenna, haha! For example:

I gotta say I was really intrigued by whatever this Ark is supposed to be, but then…

…Dude gets out a freaking vacuum to deal with Lucifer’s remains???? Yeah, honestly that’s where I lost it LMAO!

IDK if Sensei meant to imply “that’s because he’s trash” or somehow that vacuum leads to this Ark thing, but I really lost my mind reading that scene. xDD

AND THEN…

Mephisto literally said “looks like it will be tough cleaning all this up… Well, gotta go now, you sure don’t need my help, bye~!”. Is he the laziest demon or what?! 

Finally, guys taking out axes to free Jeremiah from the forest he created to protect himself from Lucifer ended up being the final blow for me:

This whole scene with Shemihaza really struck me more as funny (with demons having their own vibes) than anything else. 

Same style but different time and space, we had Lucifer coming back to Gehenna after being defeated by the combo Shemihaza + Samael and…

Mephy being here like “omg bro, u sure u ok after I exorcised you? yeah? well that’s good news then”, my God, I couldn’t help but think that he really is the lowest of the low. xDD

Best part of the whole chapter has to be the following panel though, obviously:

Congrats Shiro, you got what you always wanted: kids to raise and a lifelong debt that is equal to losing your entire freedom. Well, aren’t you h a p p y? 

Nah, more seriously, as predictable as it was since everyone expected the “favor” Mephy requested when Shiro was a child to come into play, I still feel truly bad for him. In the end, escaping the Order is what he wished for, ever since his traumatizing childhood in Section 13, and it’s the one thing he never managed to bite back.

Unless… well, we don’t know yet what the twins will do, but if they somehow manage to defeat Mephy (who is on Assiah’s side but also possibly one hell of a villain as far as they are concerned) or even just the Order, then maybe we’ll have Shiro’s revenge finally out in the open. 

To start with, we know that Shiro didn’t raise no weapon. Yukio may not believe it’s true, Rin can have his doubts, but Shura knows the real deal when it comes to Shiro’s feelings about Yuri and her sons.

So Shiro raising sons and not weapons might eventually be what will stab every manipulator within the Order deep in the back, which would make an awesome revenge for him in that case. 

Finally about this: 

I made a post about this once, but just so it’s clear: as King of Time, clearly Samael knows that Satan will try to invade Assiah once more and him double crossing the Baals & Satan by telling Satan that he will prepare Rin as a vessel is just the best way to get Rin to face his father once he’s ready:

Which he almost is by now, in my opinion.

So yeah, Mephy is the same manipulator as ever, toying with both humans and demons, but we know he’s on Assiah’s side so, from the way I see things, he cannot be in favor of Satan showing up every now and then, raising havoc.

On the other hand, Mephy toying with Shiro and the Okumura twins (amongst others) is precisely why he could make a very fine big bad that the twins have to confront (both for themselves but also for Shiro’s sake), once Satan and Lucifer are out of the way. Ahhh, we shall see.

TL;DR a w e s o m e chapter, as always lately! Some difficult and gloomy parts, some awful moments, some funny ones and Mephy being the same old trickster he’s fated to be: what else could we ask for?

I hope you enjoyed it too, Anon! I don’t think the present time is coming back that quickly (in at least two or three chapters maybe?), but for now I’m still enjoying the flashbacks, so it’s all fine with me. :))

Please have a nice day and thanks for passing by in the first place! ^3^

[robinrunsfiction]

The Lonely Road

Pairing: Gerard Way x Female Reader

Rating: Teen (for online harassment)

Requested By: None

Word Count: 2,400

Author’s Note: Inspired by the song Outnumbered by Dermot Kennedy, so feel free to give it a listen as you read. Originally this was gonna be a Valentine’s story, but now Valentine’s is over, and so I just took out the brief mentions of it. Also it’s a Gerard story so of course it’s longer than intended so taking parts out probably is for the better 😅 Shout out to my number one @mariawritesfanfic for helping me wrap this story up

You scrolled through your twitter feed, as hours on the tour bus left you with few other options to pass the time. Your new album had just come out and you wanted to see how people were reacting to it. 

OMG @(YFN)(YLN)’s album is awesome! Everyone check it out now!

The only reason she’s famous is bc of @gerardway

The album is ok if you consider she fucked her way into stardom

I stg if mcr ever breaks up it’s gonna be (YN)'s fault

(YN) should just break up with gee so he can be with frank liek everyone knows he wants to be

You felt sick to your stomach as you read through the messages. Sure there were tweets from fans saying how much they enjoyed the album, and they love Gerard and you together, but those weren’t the ones that stuck out in your mind. It was the negative messages that caught your attention and soured your mood.

As if he was reading your thoughts, a text from Gerard appeared on your screen. “Hey sugar, congrats on the album. It’s amazing and so are you xoxo love you”

You could feel the tears welling up in your eyes at the love and kindness of his message. “Thanks love," you replied before tossing your phone aside. You pulled shut the curtain on your bunk and let the tears fall silently. 

~

You had met Gerard at an award show. You had always been a fan of his and My Chem, but you were beyond nervous to say anything to him when you saw him across the room. When he approached you and said he actually had been listening to your music and was a fan, you thought you might transcend onto another plane of existence right then and there. You found him to be surprisingly easy to talk to and exchanged phone numbers so you could hang out sometime.

Hanging out sometime turned into hanging out often. Then one night under the stars in his backyard, your casual hanging out turned into sharing your thoughts, hopes, and fears you'd never voiced to anyone. The next day you were worried you'd never see or hear from him again, having revealed too much of your emotional baggage too soon, but that afternoon he called and asked you out on a real date. The date was perfect for two people like you and Gerard, complete with a tender, careful kiss that took your breath away. In an instant, you were falling hard.

After that it really became you and Gerard. When all of your friends found out, they were so happy for both of you, as they could see how happy you made each other. Then one day the rest of the world figured it out as well. Gerard had come to one of your recording sessions and had snapped a picture of you laughing in the recording booth and posted it online with the caption "the most beautiful person making the most beautiful sounds ❤" The fans put it together and a barrage of messages flooded your social media feed. Some people thought it was cute, many were awful, but you let it all roll off your back as you were too in love to care what anyone thought.

Months passed, and now that album was out. You had hoped Gerard would be able to join you on the road, but My Chem was in the studio themselves so he wasn't able to be there. You understood, but being away from him for the first time, while dealing with the stress of releasing an album, your first tour, and his angry fans, it was almost getting to be too much.

You had finally fallen asleep only to be awakened what felt like moments later by your manager Christine's voice.

"Rise and shine rock star, time to charm the lovely people of," she paused and you could hear her flipping through papers, "Fort Wayne, Indiana."

You sighed. You had wanted this for so long, it had been your dream for years. But now you were questioning everything.

~

"We're joined in studio by (YFN) (YLN), her new album just came out last week and we are loving it here on 106.7 FM," the overly cheerful radio host announced. “You have a lot of fans here in Madison!”

"Thank you," you replied with a tired smile. You hoped your lack of energy wasn't evident by your voice.

"Tell us, how much of an influence was your boyfriend? And for anyone who hasn't heard, (YN) is dating that oh so sexy MCR frontman, Gerard Way."

You had gotten this question at almost every interview, as if you were incapable of creating your own music. "He was there for some of the recording sessions, but a lot of the album was written before we met, so not a huge influence musically."

"What's it like to date someone so famous?"

"I mean, it's not like a topic of conversation for us," you replied sharply. You glanced up and saw the look Christine was giving you. "I mean, we talk about music and our projects and give each other feedback, but that's pretty much it. We're pretty normal weirdos."

After the interview was over and you played a few songs live, and then reboarded the bus.

"What the fuck was that?" Christine asked as the bus rolled down the road.

"What the fuck is with these interviews? It's never about me and my music. It's about Gee or the people on the internet and all the bullshit! That's not why I'm out here! I want to talk about my songs!"

Christine nodded. "Ok, I'm sorry girl. You're right. I'll make sure the next one we keep it focused on the music. We can't have you blowing up on another host."

"I didn't blow up! I snapped at worst," you retorted, rolling your eyes.

"Either way, we're on our way to Iowa now."

"Can't wait," you muttered and crawled into your bunk.

~

The dark cloud that had settled over you was not going away or getting better. While Christine was doing a better job of reminding the interviewers beforehand to lay off the relationship questions, they still came up, sometimes after the actual interview was over, sometimes they just disregarded your wishes all together to get juicy gossip. You did your best not to appear annoyed, but the longer you were away from Gerard, the harder it got.

She's an ugly, untalented leech! She doesn't love gee or else she would have put a song about him on the album!

He doesnt seem happy like he used to before her

The album jsut sucks. I mean i didnt listen to it, i just assume it does

She should just die

You couldn't take it any longer. The constant, incessant stream of hate coming at you was too much. You dialed Gerard and went into the back of the bus, shutting the door behind you.

"Hey (YN), how is everything goin?"

"I can't do it anymore Gee," you said, trying to keep your voice steady 

"Do what?" He asked, immediately concerned.

"Tour, be a musician, be someone in the public eye, I can't take it!" You sobbed, unable to control your emotions any longer. "I feel like I have no privacy anymore! Everything I do is wrong, everything I don't do is wrong! I just wanna give up! I don't wanna do this anymore!"

"Hey, hey, sugar, it's ok. Did someone say something to you today?"

"It's been every fucking day," you cried. "I wanna come home, I don't wanna do this anymore. I don't want anyone to know who I am anymore."

"Take a deep breath," Gerard said, trying to keep you calm. "Where are you?"

"On the bus."

"Where are you going, or where were you?"

"I don't even know anymore. All I see is fucking corn everywhere."

"Ok, umm, where is Christine?"

"In her bunk," you sniffled.

"Can I talk to her?"

You got up and made your way to the bunks and knocked on the frame surrounding Christine's.

"Yea?" She asked, opening the curtain. "Woah, girl, what's wrong?"

"Gee wants to talk to you," you said holding out your phone.

"Hello? What's going on?" Christine asked Gerard. She listened and nodded and mm hmm'ed along. "She seemed stressed, but not that bad," she said as she watched you sink wearily to the floor, pulling your knees to your chest. "No, I hadn’t heard that… Yea, we're setting out from Omaha now, on our way to Denver," she paused. "Ok... Yea... Sounds good. Yea, we'll get our girl through this."

You looked up at her from your spot on the floor and she smiled down sympathetically and handed the phone back to you.

"Gee?" You said softly, the anger and fear and frustration having quieted.

"Hey sugar, we've got a plan for you, you're gonna be ok. But where are you hearing from the people that are criticizing you?"

"Twitter," you mumbled and you heard Christine mutter "I knew it."

"Delete it, you don't need that in your life. You're too talented and beautiful and wonderful to let anyone make you feel anything less," he said gently. "I love you, (YN) ."

"Love you too," you replied, a smile finally cracking through.

"Get some rest, we'll talk soon."

~

You had immediately crawled into your bunk and fallen into a deep sleep. The weight of your thoughts no longer weighing you down now that you had shared them with Gerard. When you finally woke up, you were rolling into Denver. You made your way to the front of the bus to find Christine on her phone.

"What's on the schedule today?" You yawned.

"Nothing."

"What?"

"You need a day off. We've been pushing you way too hard, and I just wish I would have realized it sooner. So we moved your interview to tomorrow afternoon and we're staying here overnight."

"Really?" You asked, stunned.

"Yep, we're going to the hotel right now."

It was incredibly refreshing to be in a hotel with a real bed and shower, and everyone was actually thankful for your meltdown that got them this break. 

You took an extra long, hot shower to allow your muscles to relax, and then crawled into bed to call Gerard and give him an update. As his phone rang you heard a knock on your door. Keeping your ear to your phone in case he picked up you answered the door. 

"Gerard!" You squealed as you launched yourself at him and he wrapped you in his arms.

"I missed you so much (YN)," he murmured against your neck. "I couldn't stand to hear the pain in your voice and not be there to make it better.”

"But you hate flying! And your studio time!" You exclaimed as you pulled him into your room and he dropped his bag on the floor.

“We were spinning our wheels and needed a break from recording,” he smiled reassuringly before he leaned in and kissed you with all the longing that had built up over the weeks apart. You ran your hands through his black hair and felt the tears slip down your cheeks. “And I’d fly to the moon if it meant I could spend a minute with you. I just wish I could have been here for you from the beginning, I wish I realized that you were struggling.”

“I didn’t want you to worry about me. I thought I could handle it, but everything kept chipping away at me until I broke down completely.”

“I wanna worry about you, (YN). You’re my girl and I love you, and I wanna be there for you no matter what,” he said softly, wiping away the tears on your cheeks.

“Thank you,” you replied. “It’s just hard when it’s coming at you from every direction.”

“I know,” he said, pulling you back to him in a tight hug. “But for today it’s just you and me. No one else matters.”

You smiled up at him before pulling him into another sweet kiss.

~

The next morning you woke up with Gerard’s arms wrapped around you, holding you close. It almost felt too good to be true. As he slowly started to wake up, he gave you his lopsided smile and you couldn’t help but grin in return.

“I needed this so much,” you said as you buried your face against his neck.

“I did too,” he said squeezing you tight, his voice still raspy with sleep.

“Thank you for being here. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he said leaning down to give you a quick kiss. “Wait, I didn’t give you your presents yet.”

“What presents?” You asked sitting up, as he reached over the side of the bed to grab his bag. "I don’t have anything for you!"

"It's nothing, just a couple things I made for you," he said pulling out a large flat envelope and handing it to you.

You carefully pulled out the drawing that was inside. "Oh it's beautiful!”

"It's us the night we watched the stars and talked for hours. That was the night I realized I was falling in love with you. I was so scared you wouldn't even like me like that," he laughed softly.

"It's perfect," you replied. "What's this? ‘Gee+(YN)=gross, a big sappy love mix’" you laughed at scribbled handwriting on the cover of the cd case. Around the words was a big heart and lots of little hearts.

"It’s a mix of songs that remind me of you, and me and you, but Frank decorated the cover. He doesn't really think we're gross, he's just-"

"Frank," you laugh.

"Exactly," Gerard replied. "I was just hoping this would help you get through the last days of your tour."

"It will," you smiled and threw your arms around him. “I think just having you here for a day was enough to get me through. And I know now that I shouldn’t just bottle up what I’m feeling.”

Gerard nodded. “We’re a team, you and me. Let me help you when you’re down and keep you safe from all the bastards and shit talkers.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you smiled as you leaned in and kissed him. “But only if you promise to let me help you do the same.”

“I promise.”

[rj019]

The characters don't belong to me. All credits to Marvel or Disney or Stan Lee idk.

So this is my first ever Tumblr Post (人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+

Hope you guys will like it.. I'm new to this & I might make some mistakes so I hope you guys can understand and help me throughout my journey (◍•ᴗ•◍)

_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_

Title : Genius, YouTuber, Artist, Musician and Spider-Man

Fandom : MCU

Pairing : Starker(tony stark x peter parker)

Rating : Mature (NSFW, Sexual Content)

Prompt : Social Media

Summary :

Tony started crushing on a guy who is 5 years younger than him... And You all know who that is 😉 one and only Peter Parker.

And Peter has a very famous Youtube channel since he was 6. But he always wears mask in his videos to hide his face. He often mentions his crush on Tony Stark since he was 12 in his videos.

" CHAPTER - 0 "

The notes below are for the things that happened till Peter is 20 from when I'll actually start the story. I didn't wanted to get it all mixed up. So I wrote these so you guys can understand the AU better and how everything came to be and not get confused. It explains everything about Pete's social media, everyone's ages and which part of MCU is included and which is not, and the changes in the whole storyline. So these are must read it if you want to read the actual chapters. (☆▽☆)

Notes :

Tony is 25 year old in this and Pete is 20 and they're both certified geniuses. And they are both Bisexual.

Tony's perants are alive. Pete's uncle Ben is also alive.

Howard is a good parent and husband in this fic and he himself is a Bi so congrats!! No homophobia 🤗

Howard made Tony CEO of the company when he was 22 and only took semi retirement and only went to company once in a while to keep an eye on things. Tony graduated from MIT when he was 17 and then he started helping with company 😀

So Avengers and S. H. I. E. L. D. does exist in this AU but sheild isn't publicly known nor does anyone knows Avengers' real identity that includes Tony's😉 but that was just until New York battle.

Howard and Maria obviously knew about Tony being Iron Man. Tony told them after he came from Afghanistan and created the armor. There was no way to keep it hidden from them. Like all the parents they were reluctant to accept it as it will endanger his life but the accepted it at last.

Tony was kidnapped when he was 19 and when he went to Afganistan for his first ever deal without his father. And bla bla happened and he became Ironman and then he told his father about the Arc reactor tech and told him that there are many other things that can get their company to it's peak and asked him to stop the weapon business and Howard aslo thought about it cause after all he almost lost his one and only son (told ya he is good parent it this one) and then you know what happened 🙃

Howard is alive so no Obadiah Stane.. So no IM 1 events after he came from Afghanistan happened. They hid the fact that tony has arc reactor in his chest though. And world only knew that Iron Man is getting help from SI because of the arc reactor technology in the armor but they could never expect that it's Tony Stark himself. ( yeah yeah I know not very convincing but bear with it cause its a fiction right😅)

Papper, Rhodey and Tony are best friends from childhood cause their parents are friends. So he tell them about IM too. Papper works with him at SI as secretary for few years but when Tony turns 24, He suggest his father to make her CEO and he will be working and providing for Techs and important business deals. And Howard knows his son very well and that doing office stuff ain't getting to Tony plus his IM activities. And Papper was already doing more than half of his paper and meeting work so he makes Papper CEO. And yep Papper and Tony did try relationship but it just didn't clicked so they are still friends and no awkward feelings.

From IM 2, he did get palladium poisoning but he hid it from his family and friends. He did parties and drinking (but without the armor ofcourse) and Rhodey got really angry at his behaviour and recklessness and told him that he will beat him up with his own armour. And then Nat and Fury came and all that injection stuff.. after that he told his father about it and they worked together and made the new element and saved him. After that he apologized to everyone and told the truth and even made Rhodey War Machine suit and Rhodey helped him with it at Expo. Race incident doesn't happen. But Vanko still tried to get revenge by helping Hammer. So Stark expo incident still happened with drones only, not the War Machine armour.

I'll say IM 3 doesn't happen cause we don't have that much time you know fitting all IM parts and then 2 avangers part just within 6 years is impossible 😅

So after that NY invasion happened and Avangers got formed. People didn't know who they atually were just their alter egos and that also not everyone. People were really shocked and afraid after the battle so the government decided to make shield publicly known. Not all the information but just lil bit parts here and there to ensure everyone that there were people and organisation who were ready for something big like this. But it was still not enough to make people safe.

So then Avengers decided that they'll reveal their identities so people will know that there is a group of people who are there and capable enough to save them from something like this and it worked. They did got positive response. But it was uproar it the world. And they had to deal with media and fans. When the world got to know about Tony Stark being Iron Man, SI's PR department was in chaos.

All Avengers are around 24 to 30 except for Wanda and Pietro. They are 21. But they got into team after Ultron and yep Pietro survived.

Events of Captain America and CA : Winter Soldier did happen except for Bucky killing Tony's perants part. And they are both 30. Clint doesn't have secret wife and children (sorry Laura and kids) cause he is 25. Nat is 24. Papper and Rhodes are 27. Thor looks like 28 but is 1500 as we all know. Loki looks like he is 26 and yepp he was mind controlled by Chitauri but he was at Asgard during Age Of Ultron. Sam is 23. Scott is 25 and he is divorced and has a daughter. He is in relationship. Hope is 24. Bruce is 29. (These are their ages at the starting of the 1st chapter, from when I'll actually start writing the story.)

In NY invasion only original 6 were included in Avengers Initiative and after that they lived together too, at the Stark tower which was turned into Avengers Tower. Later Shield recruited others and they trained and did mission together but didn't live with the original 6.

Then Age Of Ultron happened and Vision Wanda and Pietro also joined. At that time they decided to move to the compound Tony built for them in upstate so everyone can live there.

And time period between these all events is smaller than in movies cause you now 6 years time period ain't that long to fit 'em all.

No CW or IW or Endgame happened.

Mary & Richard unfortunately had to die in plane crash 😅 when Pete was 5 so his uncle and aunt looked after him from then.

When Peter was struggling to recover from his parents death, May got an idea to help him *tada* a youtube channel to distract him because she knew Pete liked to watch things on YT. Pete was a genius and he was great at art too and he is an obvious cinnamon roll so she knew it will be a success and Pete will be distracted too. But she didn't want her nephew's face all over the internet if he gets popular and then can't have normal life so she helped him make his videos with him wearing a mask. So here's where Pete's YouTube journey started 🤭

Peter being an adorable and telented and a genius he is, he got famous on YT over the years and got millions of subscribers and views. He even made accounts on other social medias like Insta and Twitter stuff releted to his YT when he was 12 and it was success too he posted his art and photography their. ( His art and videos do contain his fanboying stuff and crushing on Tony Stark🤭)

And yes Pete is Spider-Man. He became SM when he was 13. Same radioactive spider at oscorp stuff but without Ben dying.

Ben has his own business which is good enough to have stable and cozy life with his wife and nephew. May is house wife and she likes to do volenteer work oftenly. They have two story house with a garden and a backyard. Nither too big nor too small.

Ben has always taught Pete about responsibility and righteousness. (With great powers comes great responsibilities.) So when Peter got his powers he decided to help people by being Spider-Man and looking out for little guy. After sometime he told Ben and May about it and they were at first hesitant but then they got over it and were proud of him and supported him.

After a year, it was getting too much at the same time... being at school, managing social media and YT channel, being Spider-Man and all.

Ben and May wanted him to have normal life so even if he was a genius and could graduate early, they still wanted him to complete high school and make friends. But let's be genuine nothing in life is gonna be normal so he told them about his plan to graduate early from both school and college. And he loved his YT and social media cause it helped him so he didn't wanted to stop that and to stop being SM is out of the picture. Ben and May understood him so they allowed him.

He took this opportunity to tell his only 2 and closest friends Ned and MJ about him being SM. He trusts them alot and they didn't disappoint him and even helped him with keeping his secret identity.

So he graduated from high school early, got full scholarship to MIT.

He was fifteen when he saw Iron Man first. He and Ned became fans but Tony was still his idol and his crush. He also started making fanarts about Iron Man on his account. He liked Dr.Banner's work too. He was only 20 when he wrote his thesis about gamma radiation and his books are awesome and he has 7 PhDs by the age of 25.

Peter earned a good amount from his YT channel and he still had money his perants left so he made one of the vacant room in the house his lab after he became SM and he makes videos in his lab after that about his inventions and experiments but ofcourse nothing regarding SM. He and Ned even made a cool SM suit with AI which they named Karen. (The one from the Homecoming) He got his AI inspiration from his Idol's AI called JARVIS. (Tony made JARVIS when he was at MIT and then used him for the company and his lab and he gave an interview about it. That's how Pete knows about it. Tony used Friday for his suits and IM releted activities after he became IM but then after AOU he used Friday for everything.)

Pete's YouTube videos are about everything and anything he loves to do since he was young. When he was young it was about his lil childish science experiments with help of Ben (ofcourse till he could it on his own) or his art or baking and cooking stuff with May and all but they all always wore the different different matching masks while making videos. When he became friends with Ned and MJ, he asked them to be there too. As he got older he started showing his genius brain cells in his experiments and invention. Same goes for his art, it started getting more and more detailed and he also got interested in composing music and songs and he eurned more followers. He even made his accounts unhackable so no one try to find out who he is after he became SM. He had so many happy moments with his family and friends while making his videos, that is why he kept his YT and accounts.

Shield doesn't know who the Spider-Man is. Pete found out about them cause he sensed someone (agents) following him during one of his patrols when he was 14. So he and Ned looked into it and his mind was blown when he found the organisation and all government behind it.

He wanted to know why they were after him cause he only helped people. So they hacked into Shield. He found out that they wanted to recruit him for something called Avangers Initiative and there he saw some other people's and superheroes' information too. (He didn't look into it because he knew that if he didn't anyone want to know his identity, they must not too and he had no right. ) But he knew it was not a good idea to join it cause then he will have to work for them do their missions and he didn't wanted to do that. He wanted to look out for little guy and help whoever, he can wherever he can. Plus he would have to reveal his identity and when they'll know he is so young, they'll try to stop him from being SM plus people close to him will get in danger. And they might even want to experiment on him so it was a big fat NO.

After that he took every cautious step to protect his identity and his aunt, uncle and his friends. He made a security system for their house and made a smart bracelet to communicate or send signal to each other if they were in danger. They all had one including himself. It looked simple and no one could tell it was actually for that.

When Newyork invasion happened, he was not there. He was at MIT for his PhD. He was so damn worried about Ben, May, Ned and MJ. The moment he heard the news he left for NY but by the time he got there the fight had been finished. So he directly went to check on May and Ben. He found them safe and was revealed. Then he called Ned and MJ to check on them and their families and found everyone was ok. After that he told May and Ben that he will go out and help people from the aftermath of the battle.

He stayed in NY for 2 weeks. In which he found out about the Avengers. He and Ned were shocked at the name and that it was the same Avengers Initiative stuff they read when they hacked into the sheild and Peter felt a pinch of guilt but it disappeared when he learnt that Avengers revealed their identities. He was in no condition to reveal his identity.

He was shocked when he learnt Avengers' identities especially Iron Man. He was like "how could I not understand that it had to be Tony.. there were all those connection like SI and no one is such a genius to make that kind of Tech except for his idol. He fell in love with Tony even more but he just thought it was some kind of superhero worship and teenage crush.

After that Ned and him being the 'nerds' as MJ calls them they are, they become fanboys and started to find out more thing about Avengers. Pete started to post more fanarts of them and he even made the reaction video of how he feels about Tony Stark being Iron Man and Bruce Banner being Hulk. Both his favourite scientists. He even made a song for Avengers. Which was total hit so he made more songs in the future.

Pete graduated from MIT even earlier than his Idol Tony Stark at the age of 16. He got his PHD in Biochemical Engineering at 17 and he wanted to get more Phds in Robotics, Nenotech Engeneering study and Astrophysics. (Which he did within next 2 years.) (Pete was 16 when NY invasion happened and 19 when Ultron happened)

And then Ultron happened, it was all over the news and all but Avangers once again saved the world. Pete was happy and revealed that there were Avengers to save them from world ending dangers but there gotta be someone down on the street too. Someone to help people from criminal and other dangers which may seem little in their or government's eye like Rhino, Doc Oct, Green Goblin, lizard, electro and many more with whom he fought. And he felt that his decision to not join Avengers Initiative was right. Though Shield was still eager to find out who he is like he will let them.

And then Homecoming happened except the part with Tony. ( But Peter doesn't go to homecoming because he graduated from high school )

As for the Ferry incident he saved everyone. He held the both part of ferry with his web and his strength ( Pete is very very strong in this fic ) till his latest Nenotech bot he invented arrived and held the ferry together and mend it. (Like Iron Man did. Just that it were bots who fixed the last part too. Where Tony flys around it and mend it.)

Peter had figured out the arc reactor technology a year and half ago but he didn't wanted any one to know cause it will attract the attention of many people and he didn't wanted that. That is also the reason he doesn't use his Nenotech suit he made. ( IW one ) But now that he has used his nenobots and his tech which was even better and cheaper, he knew for sure that it's going to fireback but he thought he'll take care of it later when he is not busy trying to capture a curtain alian tech loaded weapon selling Vulture.

Next day he had asked Karen to keep and eye over everything and at night Karen informed him about some movements at some abandoned warehouse. Then the whole warehouse dropping and plane crashing thing happened. He saved the Mr.stark's tech and averages stuff and weapons.

But now he will even have more attention but he then ask Karen to clear CCTV footage around the beach so no one knows about him leaving from the scene. He can only hope now. He'll have to lay low for now and even more careful.

_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_

Hope you guys will like it. I have thought so much for this fic. It's going to be exciting writing this.

[zenfulmockingbird]

I do not own Pokemon or Nuzlocke or Wonderlocke. Pokemon belong to Nintendo and Gamefreak. Nuzlocke aka Pokemon Hard mode belong to Nuzlocke. Wonderlocke was created by a group. I only own the character and their personalities. Also, for Itzal outfit, the jacket and short of the cool trainer from gen 7 except a darker blue and has some red forming the Alpha symbol around the collar, and a pair of sunglasses. I might give him an outfit change later in the story. Itzal's PoV            A dream. That what I feared that day and this journey was all a dream, born from envious mind and that I was asleep in my bed. I even thought at that time that we did not move, and I was still in the Kalos. I am glad for that I got to battle that man, for what I felt that day will serve as proof that this is real.

Ep.3: Scleractinia Libretto

Location: Rustboro City Rustboro City. It was here that the city’s beating heart; Devon Corp began here as a small mining corp. Over time it evolved into a corporation that rivaled Silph Co and helped shaped the place into the metropolitan city it is today. It was also home to the Rustboro City gym.

    I felt my heart race as I stood in front of the building and I knew the reasons why. This would be my first gym battle. I burned midnight oil looking going over all gym leaders battle video she recorded.

The automatic door slides open and saw a I saw a girl in a schoolgirl outfit that remind me of nosepass. I knew who she was- This was the Roxanne, the Rustboro City gym leader. At young age, she showed promised as trainer by displaying her skill as a gym leader

“Excuse me,” She shifted her gaze toward me “Oh. Hello. Who are? Are you here to look at the fossil display here, to train under me, or are you here for a gym battle?”

“I'm Itzal from Littleroot Town. I’m here for a gym battle.” She nodded “Very well, follow me.” I followed her all the way back to a rocky battlefield and a display monitor carefully placed beside a stone wall carving the upper part of a skeleton of a Dragonite. There waiting for us was a referee. “Trainers,” He said sternly, “Take your places.” We both walked over to different places on the side of the arena. Roxxane pushed a hidden button and hidden compartment opened up revealing some hard cover books “Now before I begin, I must ask how many gym badges you have earned so far? “I don't have any. This is my first time on.” “Okay.”  She grabbed a green book “You will be facing two of my Pokemon. You can switch out during the battle or after KO one of mine.” She opened the book and grabbed, revealing two hallowed out indents; each with an indent in them. She grabbed one in the left and tossed a sent out a Geodude.

(“Okay. Rock types are weak against water type, so Manami should have the advantage, plus her ground typing she gained from her evolution gives her type resistance.”) I grabbed Manami’s Poke ball and tossed it on to the battlefield “Let’s go Manami.”

However, in my exciment, instead of Manami’s Poke Ball, I grabbed Jenna’s Poke ball. Something that I realized after she materialized.

Roxanne, and the Referee had a dumbfound look on their face while the Geodude had a looked terror plastered on their face.

The judge hesitated but gave the signal “...Begin.”

“...use Iron tail on Geodude.” I awkwardly ordered her. She swung her tail. But before it could connect, the Geodude rushed back into its Poke ball. (“This is not how I wanted start my first gym battle.”)

“Geodude forfeits...the win goes to Jenna.”

“I pulled out Jenna’s Poke ball and recalled her back. I grabbed my starters Poke ball and tossed it. I watched a newly evolved Marshstomp popped out the capsule.

“Manami, are you ready?” She confidently nod her head “Ready.”

Roxane grabbed her last Poke ball “Go, Nosepass.”

She opened it and out materialized a Nosepass. “Lets the second match,” The referee lowered both flags “BEGIN!” “Manami, use Water gun!” Manami fired a stream at Nosepass. It hit it mark, but based on their expression, it still has some steam to spar “Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!” “Manami, step away from that spot and use Water gun on Nosepass.” Manami got out to of the way of the rising rock pillars and began firing at the walking mo’ai. “Use Rock Tomb while she is attacking!” Nosepass withstood Manami's attack, created another rock tomb and trapped her before she could dodge. I am glad she chose to evolve before challenging the gym or that would have hurt.  I looked at the screen and saw that her Nosepass was almost out of energy. “Manami!” “Nosepass!” “Finish it with water gun!” “Block it with Rock Tomb!” Both of the combatants perform their attacks, Manami fired a jet stream of water and Nosepass jumped into the air, but before it could create another Rock Tomb, Manami's attack hits it mark and knocked it right out of the air. It tried to get back up using whatever energy it had left, but it gave into exhaustion.

“Nosepass is unable to battle,” The referee announced, “The victory goes to the challenger.”

Roxanne recalled Nosepass back into its Poke ball.

While Roxanne walked toward with Manami bursting out and following right behind her. “Congrats on your victory.” I felt a sense of pride swelling up inside “Thanks.” “As proof of your victory, take this Stone badge.” Roxanne handed me a gold badge. “With this badge, all Pokemon you have attack stats increase.” “Thank you,” I said, “Let’s go Manami.”

We left the gym and headed to the Poke Center

“We did well for our first time.”

I let out a sigh “Yeah, still wished the first battle went differently.”

She tilts her head “What happened in the first battle?”

“I accidentally sent Jenna out and her first Pokemon forfeited.” “I’m guessing your not a fan of those kind of wins.” “That and I did was up most of the night researching the gym leader, so for her Pokemon to give up like that is quite frustrating.”

“Well at least we got to battle her last Pokemon, plus it didn’t go down in one-shot.”

“...true. thank you for cheering me up.” “Thank you for doing research.”

I sat on the floor of the guest room. I pulled out my spell book from my bag and the Stone Badge from my pocket. I placed it on top of the dark blue orb and watched as badge sinks into it as my  consciousness begins to slips.

I dreamt I was lava. My body hardening from a cool embrace.

I dreamt I was a lump of coal, being pressed deep in the earth crust.

I dreamt rock, resting as nature eat away at me.

I dreamt I was all these and so much more.

At the end of my dream, I saw a stone version it raised arm toward me and three flashed in my mind [Lame Dee Obidienne]. A black arming sword with a familiar design appeared it hand.

Two more appeared in my mind [Aiguille d'ombre] and some dark needles formed fired toward me.

I woke up. I looked at the clock and saw it was it was 1:00pm. I decided to train for a bit.

Location: Route 116 Training well on the route and the results. I manage to recruit another Pokemon and Yoko became a Vivillon. That make two Pokemon that evolved on this route.

I was heading back to the Pokemon Center when suddenly we heard we saw a Team Aqua grunt holding a suitcase in his arm run by me.

(“What the?”)

“Itzal!”

I turned around and saw my dad, “Dad, what going on?”

“Some crook ran off with some parts from the company.”

“Don't worry we will get them back.”

I searched the route, looking for the thief.

“Where is that bastard?”

“If you’re talking about a weird look person in blue, I know where he went.”

An old man with concerned expression on his face walked up to us, “Which way did they go?”

He points toward the east “He went into Rusturf Tunnel. The scoundrel made off with me darling Peeko. Wrooooaaar! PEEKO!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them back.” Location: Rusturf Tunnel Rusturf Tunnel. The tunnel was excavated not just only as shortcut, but for a man to see his girlfriend on the other side. This was also where the Grunt was hiding. Not only had he taken the parts from the company my dad worked, but he also had kidnapped a wingull named Peeko.

Me and Manami went inside the cave to confront.

He shot us a cocky grin “What? Are you coming? Come and get some.” We took a step closer and the grunt moved back with Peeko in his arm. We got closer and closer. We pushed him all the way back into to rocks blocking the path.  “Grah, Keehaul it all! This hostage Pokemon turned out to be worthless!” I shook my head “No. It just because you're a Morceau de merde.” “What?” “Translation- A piece of shit.” “WHY YOU....I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET SAYING THOSE WORDS!” He quickly grabbed the Poke ball from his belt and sent out a Poochyena. “Manami use tackle.” Manami charged toward it. “Take the hit and then retaliate with bite!” As soon as Manami made contact, the hyena latched it fangs on to Manami's left arm...and I knew how felt it. The pain of that attack as it surges through both our arm and I knew why. Nilrem's curse did not transform the starter into another Pokemon, but he made so that all my father's ancestor blood would feel the pain of their starter Pokemon. I shook it off and focused on the battle “Manami, hit it with Mud Shot.” Manami fired sphere of mud at her target and knocked it off her arm and knocked unconcious.

The grunt recalled his Pokemon.  “I'm not giving this up.” The grunt tossed Peeko at Manami knocking her off balance and ran toward the exit with the parts.

“Oh no you don’t” I opened my book and read the words. “Aiguille D'ombre.”

A small needle of dark blue appeared from nowhere. I pointed at the grunt 's leg and watched as it zipped through the air and pierced him in the patella. The grunt fell and howled in pain. Peeko flew out of the cave in a panic, leaving me, Manami, and the grunt.

She looked at me with bewildered look, “What was that?”

I grin at her “A new spell. Aiguille D’ombre.”

“When did you learn that?”

“Well, you see, after I earned the badge. I explain later. Right now, lets return these parts to my dad.”

The nurse took my Poke ball “Well have your Pokemon healed up in no time.”

“Thanks.” I headed over to the table where my dad was waiting at, “Man this was an interesting day.”

“I’ll say. Never thought we would get robbed. Thanks again for getting the part back.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, how your journey?”

“Good,” I pulled out spell book and hold it up to his face, “I manage to earn my first badge.”

He looked at sphere in the center of the book and saw Stone badge floating up to the top of it, “Excellent. Way to go,”

“Thanks.”

“Now” The tone of his voice shifted from joyous to serious, “Let us talk about the curse.”

I let out a sigh. I knew this was coming. I told mom about it the spell wearing off last night.

“So, why didn’t you tell them?”

“Dad. I do not want to be a burden. I do not want them to throw their lives away because of me. Also, I do not want to guilt Manami because me.

“Son.”

“Beside, the curse can only our bloodline can break the curse. It can not be broken if somebody else does it.”

To be continued Zigzagoon became Quacklin farfetch'd lv 10 and Aria taillow becameJessica bunalby on the north of route 104 Candeza whismur became Cleo Cofferigus and Zelda skitty became Aldemar vulpix (There was a dupe because the first chance was a Mudkip.) on route 116 and from the tunnel I got Melody whismur became kecleon.

[mystifyingorbit]

Learn to Love

It’s not like she’s never tried to find love before, Hyejoo has just been all out of luck. A kiss with one here, a date with another there, it never led to anything but a messy breakup. After the fifth attempt, she’s all but given up on love. She’s seen how her friends meet with their soulmates, their other half and the love of their life, only to break up not even a week after. She’s never seen anyone be happy and succeed in love. 

Well, that’s not entirely true. Her parents were very much happy and in love, and she still vaguely recalls watching her mom and dad, dancing late at night when she’s supposed to be in bed, a loving smile on both of their faces. 

She wanted what they had, but even to them, the perfect couple in her eyes, that happiness didn’t last. She watched as her Mom passed in a hospital bed, unconscious after a car crash that also claimed the life of her dear younger sister, never to smile again. She watched her dad wither away, a changed man through the grief of losing his loving wife and youngest daughter, a shell of what he was in the past.

She doesn’t blame her dad, loves him all the same. He wasn’t the only one who changed after all.

People used to describe her as the cheer and soul of the class, always one of the brightest students. Afterwards, she’s a stark contrast to what she used to be. Still top of the class, that never changed, however, she’s never been as cheerful as she used to be. 

Things were, quite different in college. She honestly expected to breeze through the years without needing to make acquaintances, so during initiation, she put up a cold front. That stopped most people from approaching, and almost anyone else who tried quickly backed off after a glare.

That didn’t stop Heejin, one of the upperclassmen, from dragging her into her lovable group of friends. She won’t ever admit it to them. However, being around them has been one of the best experiences of her life. She learnt to love again, friendly love, familial love. 

A year passed, and she sees another form of love blooming in their hearts. She sees how Heejin laughs at all of Hyunjin’s corny jokes, how her cheeks colour at every compliment Hyunjin throws at her, how her heart melts every time Hyunjin kisses her. How Hyunjin always waits for Heejin even though she always had a later schedule, how she fought back against those that tried to bully Heejin, how she reserves a special smile for her. She sees how Kahei melts every time Haseul speaks in mandarin to include her, how she leans into Haseul for a hug and the bright smile Haseul gives in return. 

With them, she learnt it was ok to love another girl, that maybe she herself had an opportunity to love someone.

They chipped away at her mask, managed to get a glimpse of her former self. Yet, there’s still a wall, crumbling but still standing, between them and her heart. One she never expected anyone to pierce.

It’s almost cliché, how her walls broke. 

It’s the end of the year, and Hyejoo’s panting as she arrived at her best friend’s house, Heejin standing in the doorway unamused. “Yah! Son Hyejoo! Hurry up, everyone’s waiting for you! The dress you wanted is on the table” 

“I would have been faster if Haseul-unnie allowed me to wear black, but I got stuck trying to find something to wear… By the way, thanks for lending me the dress” Hyejoo says, as she walks in the house, grabbing a blue dress on the table.

“You know, I can’t believe you don’t own even one piece of clothing that isn’t black,” Hyunjin says, walking through the kitchen door.

“I do own something that isn’t black,” Hyejoo says unconvincingly, heading to the bathroom to change. 

Hyunjin just raises her eyebrow, moving over to hug her girlfriend who’s standing there shaking in laughter. “Really?”

Hyejoo just blushes. “Well… I do have one grey t-shirt.” She says softly, followed immediately by laughter from the other two.

She should’ve known something would go wrong; something always did. There was that one-time Haseul’s sister Yeojin went missing, only to be found sleeping next to her former best friend Yerim and current girlfriend, clearly tired after playing together. Oh, did Haseul scold them afterwards for worrying everyone. Another time a stranger, now a close friend in Yves, got a bit flirty with Heejin in front of Hyunjin. The fight was the highlight of the night, Heejin was quite unamused though. Then there was the pasta incident… She still shudders in fear every time that was brought up,

Arriving at the party, which had already started. She was immediately greeted by Haseul with a hug, which she returned happily. “You’re here!! I thought you weren’t coming.

“And miss my favourite Unnie’s graduation party? Never!! Speaking of which, congrats on graduating Unnie!! I’m happy for you.” She says, pulling back, a smile still on her face.

“Thank you!! Now, go on in, we’ll catch up with everyone later.” Haseul ushers her in, turning to greet Heejin and Hyunjin.

As she entered, she wasn’t surprised to see a lot of people there. Her unnies are very popular, so basically, everyone from school was here. As she starts to head to the refreshments table, dodging around groups of people, she barely had time to see blonde hair in the corner of her eye before she was knocked down as someone barrelled into her, laughter following from a pair of boys. 

Yerim, the kind girl she is, immediately moves to pull the blonde girl and Hyejoo up, as Vivi glares at the offenders who pushed the girl, who wisely decided to leave before they have to deal with an angry senior. 

As Hyejoo stands up, she hears a small, embarrassed “Sorry.” from next to her 

As she turns to properly face the girl, to say that it wasn’t her fault, she accidentally tripped, falling face-first into the girl, lips meeting in the middle. 

As she pulls back, blushing and sputtering apologies. She’s met with the most beautiful sight. 

A blushing blonde girl, with eyes as dark as the night sky. She recognizes the girl, being in the same classes with her, however, she’s never seen her up close, nor does she know her name.

She blushes, immediately looking down, her confidence disappearing to the ends of the earth.

“S -sorry!! I’ll just leave.” The girl says embarrassed, immediately starting to back off, still blushing.

Hyejoo snaps out of her daze and immediately reaches out for her arm, cheeks still flaming red. "Please, stay, it wasn't your fault… Ms.?"

The girl smiled back, accepting the offered hand. "Chaewon. What about you?"

Hyejoo smiles, "it's Hyejoo."

Suddenly, a cough was heard from behind Hyejoo. "Will you two lovebirds flirt somewhere else." Yerim teased.

Chaewon starts walking out to the back yard, pulling a blushing Hyejoo behind her. "Maybe we will!" She replies, before sticking her tongue out and continuing to walk. 

Once a bit away, they looked at each other, both beet red again, before laughing shyly.

"So, uhh, sorry about the kiss, it was an acci.." Hyejoo began, stammering, before being interrupted with a finger on her lips.

"It's fine… I, uhh, enjoyed it." Chaewon replied, laughing a bit. "Out of all the things to happen at this party, I didn't expect to get a girlfriend… Well, that is… If you want to?"

Hyejoo smiled, finally realizing why her past relationships never worked out. "I'd like that."

Leaning in teasingly, "So uhh, can I get an encore?"

Chaewon was more than happy to oblige.

“So, what do you think?” Chaewon asked, pulling back with a soft blush and a smile on her face. 

“I’ve never been a fan of parties, but I’ll make an exception this time, just for you,” Hyejoo replies, before leaning into the other girl, both happy and in love.

[mythiica]

Hello, can I request a A-Z SFW alphabet (2) Lancelot of IkeRev. Thank you and congrats 😊❤️🎉

Title: Lancelot SFW Alphabet

Fandom: Ikemen Revolution

Character: Lancelot Kingsley

Genre: hc!

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1151 words

POV: second person

Other comments: oof this was long hope u like tho

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Give him love! He is not outwardly affectionate, especially in terms of PDA

However, hand holding makes him a bit more confident if he is trying something new 

Lance would otherwise show his affection with small kisses when no one is looking (or is, he’s the King, he doesn’t care) 

Thoughtful compliments - not just “you are beautiful” but more deep things like “I value your opinions” and “You being here means the world to me” 

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

You’d probably be the mom friend and have to remind him to get some sleep once in a while

He’d be super loyal though: he doesn’t want to lose you as a friend after what happened in the past

Going off of the Alice game theme, it is likely the two of you would bond over pure stubbornness

ie you won’t stop pestering him about doing something one way and it ends up working… so now he thinks very highly of you and considers you a good friend (even if he won’t say it aloud)

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Occasional cuddles; he’s not a cuddle bug but he’s not against it either

Maybe he’s had a long day and the first thing he wants to do is lie against you

Pet his hair while he’s complaining about Edgar and Jonah and Lance will absolutely melt

Or, if he’s the big spoon, he squeezes you tightly for good measure

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Lance values his duty as king and likely would not revert to a country home on the side of a hill 

Cooking… is edible… 

Knows how to keep neat, but he does not consciously clean

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It would be painful for him, please believe that 

He thinks that you will be safer and better off without him

Lancelot is not the best at saying goodbye, so he will probably avoid you at all costs… 

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Originally saw marriage as a political alliance, but really does want to get married

He’d plan the proposal and make it as magical as he possibly can

The wedding would be elaborate in decoration and detail, but smaller in terms of attendance (he wants the people important to him to attend)

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Physically? Depends, but he tends to be gentle because he’s worried of hurting you by accidentally being too rough

Emotionally? He needs some work before he’s “gentle” 

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Same with cuddling, not the biggest hugger, but appreciates an embrace from time to time

His hugs envelop you with a sense of serenity and safeness 

When you press against his chest, Lancelot feels at peace and it is a good way to reduce stress! 

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Not going off of canon, but it will take him some time

Lancelot still feels like he has to go a long way to prove himself, so don’t pressure him into saying something 

It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you, he just has to learn for himself how he defines love

When he does say it, it comes naturally and it feels natural too

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

JEALOUS BOYO

Especially if you’re talking with Jonah, Sirius, or Harr. Or anyone. 

If he’s next to you though, he feels better about it

When he gets jealous, expect him to try to leave the situation (with or without you)

To remedy this, you only need to squeeze his hand and help engage him into the conversation! 

Not that you would purposefully ignore him, but that would make him a bit jealous too

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

He can do soft kisses to heated kisses to not-appropriate-for-a-sfw-hc type kiss

Lancelot prefers to kiss your lips, but he does not mind exploring your jaw and neck

Adores temple kisses and occasionally palm kisses (makes his fingers tingle a bit)

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

A bit weary at first, but comes to kind of like playing with them

Who else is going to ask about his fourth favourite robe to wear???? 

He hasn’t considered that like ever 

But Lance is not the best person to handle kids if they get antsy or misbehave

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

If it’s a soft sleep-in-late morning, Lance will either sleep through it, with his leg over you, or he will sit up and read a bit until you wake up 

He likes it when you nuzzle against him

In which case, he will set the book down to hug you and make sure the blanket is covering you well 

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Lancelot is probably doing paperwork/organizing things for the next day, so he’ll need some coaxing to turn in for the night 

Nights might include showers/baths together, you brushing his hair gently, maybe a spa night sometimes 

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

It’s cannon that it takes Lance a bit of time to open up properly

When he does trust you, Lance will sit you down and explain that he has a long story to tell you

He doesn’t want any secrets between the two of you, and so he wants to set an example and clear the air

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Depending on the situation, he can be patient or not 

Try not to anger him, he won’t lash out on purpose but he doesn’t like being wrong in a situation

Lance is good at weighing his options and coming to his own conclusions

Furthermore, he’s used to doing things alone, so don’t force him to suddenly have patience that he’s not used to practicing 

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

REMEMBERS EVERYTHING 

Or, at least, he tries to 

he likes to remember the small things and then surprise you with it later 

for example: if you mention your fav flower, he’ll plant an area in the garden a month later 

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

it was an ordinary date, just the two of you and the full moon

you stopped at the fountain to splash him with water and he thought it was cute 

when you spun around, hair fanning out, he swore you looked like an angel for a moment 

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

HYPER PROTECTIVE 

wants to shield you from everything in the world and hopes that you never have to see the horrors of things 

specifically wants to shelter you from the past

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

A LOT OF EFFORT 

Especially if it is an anniversary date, he will plan it at least a week in advance (depending on what anni it is)

Gifts are always meaningful and unique

Dates are never repeated 

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

When he gets stressed, he picks at his hair/runs his fingers through it 

Sleeps super late and sometimes wakes up with heavy under eye bags 

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Depends, but can be medium vain? Not as much as Jonah but more than other members? 

Likes to look put together

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Absolutely

Once he’s attached to you emotionally, he’d feel like he’s lost something if you ever left 

Not clingy per say, but really likes having you at his side and would not want it any other way

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

??? is nervous when the two of you meet with Harr and SIrius after everything 

He’s… not shy, but he’s nervous because he doesn’t really want to talk too much

But he opens up a bit more and all of you get some good laughs

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Someone who is not loyal or does not follow through with their promises

As king, qualities like loyalty are really important to Lance, so if his partner betrays him, it will crush him

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

What is sleep 

When he does manage to sleep, it’s usually light sleep (wakes up easily) 

Sometimes has nightmares! Hold him please