#don’t get me wrong I think putting all these expectations on next gen players is NOT A GOOD THING

[fritzes]

to be clear I’m not saying I actually want this to happen to either of them. but. I better see learner getting as much hype as fonseca is

[secretpeachtea]

Onigiri Miya Tidbits Ch 7

Title: the fox’s den

Genre: gen fic, reader insert

Word Count: 5.4k

Summary: Onigiri Miya is now hiring and you just happen to be the right person for the job. The business has been gaining popularity since its grand opening, and many customers travel from different cities just to have a bite of Miya Osamu’s delicious recipes. You did expect some craziness from working in food services, but what you didn’t expect was to be bombarded with frequent tomfoolery from a bunch of attractive volleyball players during your shifts.

disclaimer: manga spoilers

A/N: Hey y’all! There’s gonna be quite a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but I hope it’s not too boring. I was really excited to write this chapter since Inarizaki is my favorite team :D Hope you enjoy!

Previous///Next

There was always something entrancing about the second half of the year when the green and gray streets transform into a multicolored wonderland as a response to the incoming shift of seasons. You admire the different shades of red, orange, and yellow that litter the ground that you’re walking on as you make your way to work. The only things going through your mind right now are serenity, peace, and-

“‘SAMU, YOU BASTARD!”

At the sudden voice, you almost trip on your own feet in surprise. Once you’re sure you won’t fall flat on your face, you look up and see two familiar twins right outside the front door of Onigiri Miya, clear irritation written on their faces.

“How could you say that?! Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?” Atsumu yells at his brother while clenching his hands by his sides.

Osamu’s eyebrows are furrowed in distress. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one with common sense here. I’ve done what I can to convince you, but you just won’t listen to me!”

You start to worry now as you continue to watch the two glare at each other from where you’re standing a few feet away. You know it’s best not to interfere, but there’s a part of you that wants to stop them before things get out of hand. It seems like you don’t even have to make a decision as Atsumu’s eyes meet yours. “Hey, sweetheart! Come over here and tell this tasteless scrub that he’s wrong!”

“Who you calling a tasteless scrub, you uneducated swine!” Osamu crosses his arms in disdain but softens his gaze when his eyes land on your approaching figure.

“Hold up. What are you guys even talking about?” You try your best to keep your voice as relaxed as possible but still proceed with caution in case one of them were to blow up again in anger. 

What you didn’t expect, however, were the next few words that came out of the blonde’s mouth. “The best Disney princess is obviously Rapunzel, but ‘Samu doesn’t agree!”

“You just like her ‘cause she’s blonde! Clearly, Belle is the superior princess!” The other twin spits back.

You pause for a moment to process the situation. That’s...not exactly what you expected when you first saw them arguing outside of the shop (and quite loudly too). A deep sigh leaves your lips as the two childish men in front of you continue to banter.

“Oh yeah?!” Atsumu suddenly directs his attention on you and places his hands on your shoulders for emphasis. “Sweetheart, who do you think is the best Disney princess?”

Already feeling an incoming headache, you just say the first thing that pops into your mind in hopes of stopping this madness. “Oh, uh...I don’t know. I think Mulan is pretty badass.”

The twins go silent as they contemplate your response for a brief minute. It seems like you gave a satisfactory answer because they both make eye contact with each other and nod their heads. Their strange twin telepathy is something you’ll never understand. 

No longer having the patience, you just brush off Atsumu’s hands and use your spare key to open up the front entrance of the shop. The two men just follow you inside and the blonde is the first one to break the silence in a much calmer tone than before. “Okay, fair. But, I really do think-!”

Atsumu halts his footsteps as you and Osamu just glance at him confused. The blonde gasps dramatically as he stares at the new additions to the shop’s walls. “HEY! Why do you have their autographs on your wall?!”

Not wanting a part 2 to the previous fiasco, you just head over to the back room to put your belongings away and get yourself ready for work. Securing the cap on your head, you walk out of the room and stroll to your spot on the register. It seems like Atsumu is a lot more fired up than usual because he’s still arguing with his brother. 

It took everything in Osamu to keep his voice at a normal level while responding to Atsumu’s pettiness. “They came over to eat one day and I thought it would look good for the shop.”

“Don’t you know that we’re ultimate rivals?! You can’t be siding with the enemy!”

“They’re your rivals, ‘Tsumu. Everyone’s technically considered a customer to me.”

“Traitor!”

You swear you saw puffs of smoke pop from Osamu’s ears from his frustration. You were about to place a hand on his shoulder in hopes to keep your boss from throwing something at his brother, but a smooth voice interrupted the tension in the room.

“Calm down, Atsumu.”

You and Osamu jumped in surprise, while Atsumu let out a startled yelp at the unexpected guest. The three of you turned toward the front entrance to see who showed up an hour before opening. Although you only heard one voice, three tall figures in casual clothing stand at the doorway. They step inside the building and you vaguely remember seeing their faces in a picture Osamu once showed you from high school.

The person in the middle of the group brushes away a couple strands of his gray hair with black tips while his other hand sits on top of the handle of a small suitcase. The one on the left has a built body with dark skin sporting a kind smile. The one on the right has a lanky body and long fingers that reach up to his face to cover a yawn on his bored expression.

If you remember correctly, Osamu had told you about some of his former teammates and the ones standing in front of you were Kita Shinsuke, Ojiro Aran, and Suna Rintarou.

The twins brighten in recognition and make their way over to the newcomers. “Kita-san! Aran-san!”

“I’m here too, you know.” Suna comments.

All of the guys greet one another in the middle of the room with smiles on their faces. You’re not really sure what to do since you’re the odd one out.

You stand off to the side behind the counter awkwardly, but you are interested in their little group dynamic. The Inarizaki alumni all hold completely different demeanors and postures, but one thing that they all share is that all of them are incomprehensibly attractive in their own way. Why are all of the former and current volleyball players that you’ve met so far like this?

Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t realize that you’ve been staring at Kita in particular for a couple minutes. He must have felt your eyes on him because he momentarily looks away from his current conversation to make direct eye contact with you. You let out a small squeak after getting caught staring, but it doesn’t seem like Kita is bothered at all.

“Ah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” Kita leaves his group to walk over to where you are and this catches the attention of the other four males as well. 

“It’s no problem! I wanted to give you guys room to catch up.” You lift up your hands to wave off his apology and give Kita a bright smile as you speak. “It’s finally nice to meet the oh-so-praiseworthy rice provider for the shop, Kita-san.”

Your reply elicits a soft laugh from the man’s mouth. “Nice to finally meet you too, (Surname)-san.”

“You know my name?” You ask, surprised.

“Aside from looking at your name tag, yes. I’ve heard some things about you from the twins,” Kita answers.

Your cheeks turn a bit pink in embarrassment because you completely forgot that you were wearing your name tag for work. Your embarrassment doesn’t last for long, however, when you quickly realize what Kita had just implied about the twins. You shoot an intimidating look at the two culprits and neither of them meet your gaze. “They talk about me?”

“Only good things. No worries.” Kita tries his best to reassure you that there hasn’t been any slander against you, but you still feel a bit insecure.

Knowing that feeling this way is probably unnecessary, you just resort to a little bit of teasing. “I don’t worry so much about Osamu-san. It’s the other one that needs to be kept in check.”

“Hey!” Atsumu’s head quickly turns to your direction at your very obvious accusation.

Suna snickers while ignoring his friend’s outburst. “She’s a smart one.”

“Hey!”

Aran chuckles in amusement and Osamu just smiles at his brother’s distress. You try to fake exasperation by placing a hand on your cheek and Kita’s smile falters as he catches something from the corner of his eye. The charm bracelet that you received from Osamu is secured to your wrist with the small onigiri charm shining under the fluorescent lights.

 “Oh, so you’re the one…”

You look back at Kita in confusion. “The one what?”

Kita hesitates for a moment before simply shaking his head in dismissal with a knowing grin on his lips. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

You’re bewildered by his mysterious response, but it doesn’t look like he wants to talk about it anymore, so you just brush it off for now. 

As everyone else continues their own conversations, Kita thinks back to a conversation he had a couple months back.

“The rice should be coming in a couple days, Osamu.”

“Sounds good, Kita-san.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Actually...I have a quick question.”

“What is it?”

“What would you...um...give to someone who just graduated that’s not so generic or meaningless?”

“...Are you asking for your coworker?”

“Scary! Are you sure you don’t read minds or something, Kita-san?”

“I don’t believe I can. But, to answer your previous question, if you want to give a gift that holds more meaning, I would say buy or make something that’s personal to both of you. It could be from a fond memory you share or a common interest. However, based on the positive things I’ve heard about her, she would probably appreciate anything you give her.”

“Hm…”

Kita is pulled out of his thoughts when he hears Osamu’s voice nearby. “I’ll get you guys the usual, right?”

The rest of the guys all nod their head and Aran makes the motion to take out his wallet. However, before he can do so, Osamu lifts up a hand to stop him. “No worries, Aran-san! All of this is on me!”

Atsumu’s ears perk up. “You’re not gonna make me pay for my food this time, ‘Samu?”

Kita looks towards Osamu and slightly tilts his head in confusion. “You make your brother pay for his food?”

“Always.” Osamu answers without hesitation and with one of the most deadpan expressions you’ve ever witnessed on him.

“I see.” Kita simply nods his head in understanding. “It would be detrimental to your business if you gave things out for free too much.”

Atsumu grabs onto his former captain’s arms in exasperation. “Kita-san!”

A quiet giggle leaves your mouth at the scene in front of you. It seems like the twins are a bit more competitive and bicker more often when their former teammates are involved. Seeing this side of Osamu amuses you since you’re more used to his laidback nature.

Eventually the brief comical moment calms down and Osamu begins to prepare all of the food. Kita and Atsumu seemed to be in their own world, so you decide to try and speak with the other two people in the room that you have yet to be acquainted with.

Suna and Aran seem to have been thinking the same thing because they are already walking up to the counter in your direction. Suna raises his right hand in greeting, while Aran gives you a polite smile before speaking, “You must be (Surname)-san. Apologies for taking so long to greet you.”

“No worries.“ You wave off the apology. “You guys were also teammates with the twins in high school right? The only thing I really know are your names. What were your positions?”

“I was a wing spiker. I’ve actually known the twins since we were in elementary school,” Aran replies.

You clap your hands together in realization. “You guys are childhood friends then! I’m surprised you haven’t come up in my conversations with them more.”

“Those two were always running around all over the place just to compete against each other, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t remember half of the things they experienced in school.”  Aran lets out a deep sigh, but you couldn't detect any real annoyance. 

If the counter wasn’t in the way, you definitely would’ve patted the man on the shoulder. “Well if you’re as patient and calm as you are now with their antics for all those years, then you definitely deserve the appreciation, Ojiro-san.”

“You deserve it just as much since you see at least one of them almost every day now.” Aran sends you another kind smile and you can’t help but mirror it.

Not wanting to leave out Suna from the conversation, you turn your head towards the male who is just listening with his hands shoved into his pockets. “What about you, Suna-san? What was your position?”

“Middle blocker. Although, I did work as a part-time witness to the twins’ stupidity.” The stoic male smirks and looks at you in the eye. “Seems like you’ve taken up that job?”

You burst out laughing. “I can’t really deny that. We should be compensated for all this work.”

Suddenly, you feel a heavy weight on your shoulder that catches you off guard. When you look up, Osamu’s elbow is leaning on your shoulder and there are pieces of rice stuck to his fingertips. He has one of his eyebrows raised in suspicion. “Hey, why do I get the feeling that you guys are talking behind our backs?”

Suna looks directly at Osamu with his usual expression. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Feeling a bit playful, you also answer with the same deadpan tone. “Yeah, we’re just bonding over some relatable stuff.”

Suna takes one of his hands out of his pockets and raises it up next to you. Without hesitation, you give him a high five while holding back your smile. Aran just chuckles at the unexpected tag team between you and his former teammate. 

Before your boss could make any more comments, his phone dings from where it’s sitting on the counter between his work station and the register. Osamu seems briefly conflicted since his hands are covered in rice but quickly comes to a decision. “Hey, (Name)-san. You mind holding up my phone for me? I think it’s a message about a shipment for some ingredients we needed to restock.”

“Yeah, sure!” You pick up the phone and a picture of Onigiri Miya with a large ‘Grand Opening’ sign in front of the entrance illuminates the lock screen. “Oh, you have facial recognition. I’m gonna have to borrow your face for a bit, Osamu-san.”

Osamu leans down as you place the phone in front of him for a couple seconds, but nothing happens. You try to angle the screen differently and wait a little longer, but it’s still not unlocking. Across the counter, Atsumu watches the two of you struggle through a few more attempts before losing his patience. “Just put the phone up to my face. It’ll probably work.”

A bit curious to see if the phone will actually unlock for the other twin, you move your arm to where Atsumu’s waiting. You keep the phone up for a few moments, but there’s still no response.

The blonde just stares at his brother’s phone in disbelief. “What the hell? Why isn’t it working??”

“Wow, even my phone can tell who the uglier brother is.” Yup. Osamu’s definitely feistier today.

“WE LITERALLY HAVE THE SAME FACE.”

The twins look like they’re about to start another round of unnecessary bickering. From the side, Kita sighs at the idea of having to intervene in yet another argument. He opens his mouth to stop the madness, but you beat him to it. You shove Osamu’s phone into his face again and surprisingly it unlocks. “Alright, guys. You can shut up now. I got it to work.”

Both Atsumu and Osamu shut their mouths immediately. They still looked a bit irked at one another, but no longer have the will to fight. Kita stares at you with shock. He’s never seen anyone other than himself dissipate the twins’ bickering so quickly and you haven’t even known them for as long as he has. Even Aran gives up at some point. Perhaps you are a much more important presence than he realized.

Clicking on the message notification, you lift up your arm just enough so that both you and Osamu can look at the screen comfortably. The message consisted of a picture of a shipment with a list of items. The list is barely legible due to the small font, so the two of you have to lean in closer to the screen. 

“The text is so small. Can you read anything?” You ask as you bring the phone closer.

Osamu squints and wipes one of his hands on a clean towel before placing it over your own to steady the phone. “Barely. Why did he send such a terrible picture?”

The close proximity and subtle touches between you and your boss do not go unnoticed. As you’re discussing the contents of the picture, Suna and Aran share a knowing look with each other.

After a couple minutes of trying to decipher everything in the message, you and Osamu have successfully written down a complete list of all the shipment contents on a napkin. Osamu pockets his phone and the napkin before turning to look at you. “Okay, I think everything’s all good. Thanks, (Name)-san.”

“No problem!” You rub your eyes from the slight strain and move back to where you were standing before while Osamu finishes up making the last of the group’s food. Suna and Aran just watch you both go back to whatever you were doing before as if your cheeks weren’t millimeters away from each other a few seconds ago. The two males make eye contact once again, but just shrug their shoulders.

“Food’s ready! Grab your onigiris and drinks. We can sit at the table for a bit.” Osamu announces to his friends. Your boss turns to you briefly as he starts going around the counter. “Wanna join?”

“No, that’s alright. You guys use this time to catch up. I can take care of setting up the shop on my own, so take your time.” You give him a reassuring smile and he returns a grateful one back.

While the guys chatted about their lives, you set up the chairs and checked each of the sauce bottles to make sure none of them were empty. About fifteen minutes went by and you now had a broom propped up against your shoulder after sweeping. On your way back, you pass by the table where everyone is still talking with one another. 

“I am funny! There just wasn’t anyone competent enough to get the joke!” It seems like Atsumu was yet again becoming a victim to the endless teasing of his former teammates because his face is slightly flushed and he’s fidgeting with pent up frustration. In hopes to ease his heated face, Atsumu roughly starts refilling his cup with ice water with a tight grip on the glass.

Suna shakes his head. “I thought it was funnier when you almost passed out from being overheated from the Jackasuke suit.”

“What?!” Atsumu abruptly stands up from his chair and in his haste, he doesn't realize that he had also raised his cup just as quickly causing the water to splash onto the nearest thing which just so happened to be you. “Oh shi-! (Name)-chan!”

The front of your shirt is entirely soaked and water drips down from your face and the tips of your hair. You mentally thank your boss for making the uniforms black. Lucky for you, your pants are completely dry because your apron took all of the damage. Aran, who is the next person closest to you, takes the broom from your possession and hands you a couple napkins to at least dry your face, but it’s definitely not enough to make a dent in your drenched clothes. 

Atsumu frets over you with a look of immense guilt in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, (Name)-chan! I-I didn’t mean to do that!”

“It’s...it’s okay. Just try not to lose your cool so easily next time.” You can’t really say you’re happy about your current predicament, but it wouldn’t do anyone any good if you lash out in anger. The running A/C is much more apparent now that it’s much easier to feel the circulating cold air and you start to shiver a bit.

Osamu catches your attention from the corner of your eye when he stands up from his seat. “You good, (Name)-san? You should probably go put on a jacket or something.”

“I didn’t bring a jacket or any extra clothes with me today.” You sigh at your misfortune at how something like this happens on the one day you don’t have your hoodie with you.

Osamu’s frown deepens at the growing unfortunate circumstances. “Ah, damn. We usually have extra shirts in the back, but I left them at home to wash.” 

You dread at the thought of either working with a wet shirt or having to walk all the way back to your apartment to change while suffering through the chilly breezes. However, the universe must be taking pity on you when you hear another voice join in. 

“(Surname)-san, I have some spare clothes in my suitcase.” Kita pats the suitcase that he had brought into the shop with him. 

You know that the best and most efficient way to get out of your misery is to accept his offer, but you’re still reluctant. “Oh no! It’s okay! I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble for you.”

“I don’t mind. It wouldn’t do you any good to go around with wet clothing. You might catch a cold, especially since the weather is becoming cooler.” Kita immediately brushes off any concerns you may have. He zips open his suitcase and grabs a simple navy sweater from his pile of folded clothes. There’s a slight pause when he holds out the shirt to you before continuing the conversation, “It would mostly cause Osamu to be very distressed.”

There isn’t much room for arguing, so you slowly take the soft sweater from the older male’s arms and nod your head in understanding. “Yeah, I guess he would have to work twice as much if I’m not able to help out.”

Kita blinks at your oblivious rationale. “...right.”

You hear a hint of something in his tone but don’t dwell on it for too long because another blast of cold air hits your body causing you to shiver again. Muttering a quick thanks, you rush to the bathroom to change. After peeling off your uniform shirt and bundling it up with your apron, you wipe off any water that remains on your skin before slipping on the borrowed sweater. It’s much larger and warmer than you thought it would be. After gathering the wet pile of clothes, you head out of the bathroom in your new attire. 

The table that everyone was sitting at is now completely cleared of any food and some of the guys are sitting at the counter while Osamu is washing all of the used dishes. Atsumu’s head is laying on the counter and still has distraught laced into his expression. He immediately stands up to apologize again when he hears you come out of the bathroom, but his words get caught in his throat when he sees you.

Kita’s sweater is definitely too big for your frame. The sweater reaches your mid thigh, but you’ve opted to fashionably tuck the front of it into your pants. The sleeves go past your hands only exposing your fingers and the collar reveals a sliver of your collarbone. The overall fit of the sweater creates an image that can make anyone stop and stare.

Atsumu’s ears redden at the sight in front of him and Osamu is frozen in front of the sink. Even Suna and Aran have briefly halted their conversation to stare silently. The only one who is visibly unaffected is Kita.

Kita decides to walk over to where you are and hands you an empty plastic bag. “You can place your wet clothes into the bag so it doesn’t get anything else wet. You can return the shirt to Osamu and he can give it to me before I head back home.”

“Ah, thanks! I’ll wash it tonight and give it to Osamu tomorrow when I come in for work.” You smile at him gratefully and do as he suggested. During the process, your sleeves roll down uncomfortably and you have to constantly pull at it so that it doesn’t get in the way.

Kita notices the way you are fidgeting and gives you an inquisitive look. “Are the sleeves bothering you?”

“Oh, um...just a bit, but it’s not too bad.” You reply.

The male just pulls the plastic bag away from your hands and puts it off to the side for the time being before holding out his own hands in front of you. “Here, let me help.”

You accept his assistance and hold out one of your arms to him. Kita calmly folds the sleeves to a proper length while you just watch quietly. Once he’s finished with one arm, he gently lifts the other and proceeds to fold the sleeve as well. 

The rest of the guys were just watching silently. The entire scene is almost like it’s from some kind of shoujo anime. Atsumu swears there is even a sparkling background with multiple flowers to match the sweet moment. There’s a strange feeling bubbling inside Osamu’s chest, but he chooses to look away and continue washing the dishes. You and Kita looked really good together.

“Thanks again, Kita-san!” Once Kita finishes up the last sleeve, you smile at him once again. “I guess I was lucky that you decided to visit so suddenly today or I might’ve been in trouble.”

“You’re welcome.” Kita returns the smile. “We were all busy on the twins’ birthday last week, so it’s a good thing we rescheduled to today.”

“What.” You blink once. It takes a few seconds for you to process what the man in front of you had just said, but once it clicks, a wave of shock passes through your body. “What?!”

You scramble over to where Osamu is avoiding your gaze and grab onto his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me your birthday was last week?!”

“Oh uh… it never came up?” A bead of sweat runs down the side of your boss’ face.

Still enraged, you swerve your head towards the blonde twin and point an accusing finger at him. “And you! I would’ve expected you to be all over having the attention!”

Atsumu shrugs his shoulder in an uncharacteristically nonchalant way causing you to drop your arm in confusion. “Meh, I’m not really all that big on birthdays. I thought my brother would’ve told you.”

When you look back at Osamu, his hand is rubbing at his neck sheepishly. “It was your day off and you looked like you weren’t feeling well the day before, so I thought it’d be best if you rested.”

You’re not sure if you should feel touched that he noticed that you weren’t feeling so great last week or upset that he didn’t think to tell you about such a special day. Your boss has also been pretty busy lately due to work, so there is a part of you that is understanding of the situation. There isn’t really anything you can do about it now since it’s already too late, so you just sigh in defeat.

Kita decides to intervene before you get even more upset. “No worries, (Surname)-san. There’s always a next year for birthdays. If you wanted to spend time with him, I’m sure just asking will suffice.”

“Indeed. Osamu would definitely not mind making time for you, (Surname)-san.” Aran adds.

Atsumu seems to be feeling a bit left out and chimes in, “Wait, but what about me? It was my birthday too.”

“It’s not like Osamu knows how to do anything but play volleyball and work. Might as well take him out somewhere nice.” Suna mentions while ignoring Atsumu’s outburst for the nth time today.

“Woah, guys!” Osamu’s face flushes a bit from the teasing. You laugh at the group's antics and feel your frustration melt away.

Suddenly, a phone alarm goes off and Kita pulls out his phone to shut it off. “Well, we should get going now. We wouldn’t want to be in the way of your business, Osamu. We’ll see you tonight with the rest of our former teammates.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you guys later.” Osamu replies with a wave of his hand.

“I have to get to practice too, so I’ll walk out with all of you.” Atsumu walks towards the exit with his hands folded behind his head. Aran and Suna get up from their seats to get ready to go as well. The two say their goodbyes to both you and Osamu before stepping outside to catch up with Atsumu.

Kita is the last one out, but before he closes the door he gives you one last glance. “It was nice to meet you, (Surname)-san.”

“You too, Kita-san!” Your lips curve upwards at being able to have met yet another kind person at work. Kita finally closes the door and now it’s just you and Osamu left in the shop. After having such an eventful morning, the peace and quiet is pretty refreshing.

Osamu looks at you from the corner of his eye thoughtfully. His gaze then shifts down to where his former captain’s sweater rests on your figure and he feels a twinge of irritation but keeps his expression neutral. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home and change? You live pretty close by too.”

You think for a moment but eventually shake your head. “Hm...no it’s fine. I wouldn’t want to miss work just to change into another shirt. I think my extra uniform needs to be washed anyway. Is there something wrong?”

“...no.”

“Jealous that I talked to your friends more than you?”

“N-no!”

A giggle escapes your lips when you hear your boss stutter. “You know you’re my favorite onigiri chef, right?”

“I’m the only onigiri chef you know.” Osamu points out and you giggle even louder. The male can’t even be upset because your laughs are quite contagious. Although, he does make a mental note to bring one of his own sweaters to keep at the shop from now on.

Leftovers

The Miya household is a simple two bed apartment with a decent view of the suburbs around the area. Both Miya twins are considered residents of the complex, but Atsumu usually stays in the dorm available for MSBY players. Today, both twins are in the apartment.

“‘Samu, I swear this shirt makes me look fat-...?” Atsumu barges into his brother’s room without knocking but cuts off his words when he sees his brother intensely staring at a pile of hoodies scattered on his bed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out which hoodie I wanna keep at the shop.” Osamu responds distractedly.

Atsumu stares at him incredulously. “What? Just pick whatever. It’s not like you don’t go to work every day. Why does it matter? ”

Osamu pauses for a moment. “...for emergencies.”

“Whatever, man. I’m heading out to go buy some new volleyball shoes with Shoyo-kun.” The blonde shrugs off his brother’s strange behavior and chooses to just walk away since he needed to leave soon. He momentarily looks out the window and notices some dark clouds filling up the sky. “And, I’m taking your umbrella!”

Osamu doesn’t hear what Atsumu says and barely registers the slam of the front door because he’s too deep in thought. What was your favorite color again?

A/N:  Ouch. I realized that if you were to actually follow the haikyuu timeline, some of this wouldn’t actually make sense. BUT I don’t care :D Also, not me indulging on some Kita action cause I am whipped for this man (but not as much as Osamu hehe)

taglist: @kiyoo-omi​ @tris-does-stuff​ @livshotel​

[youreamonocoque]

The Laver Cup Makeover

The Laver Cup, a chance to see the best of Europe face the best that the rest of the world has to offer. Watch the best play the best. Exciting right? Who wouldn’t want to see Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal team up to take on the rest of the world? Who wouldn’t be interested in seeing the best players all at one event?

Er me?

Don’t get me wrong the first year in 2017 was very exciting! With Team Europe consisting of legends of the sport Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Exciting youngsters Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem and seasoned pros in Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych. To top all of that off they were captained by Swedish icon Bjorn Borg. And what about Team World? Well captained by the ever-lively John McEnroe they had a whole heap of American talent in John Isner, Sam Querrey, Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. The Quartet were joined by the entertainer – Nick Kyrgios and up and coming Denis Shapovalov.

5 of the Worlds Top 10 in one place? Sign me up that sounds exhilarating! For the most part the matches were, most of them went to ranking but they were filled with high class points, and it was a fantastic showcase for the doubles where you got a ‘Fedal’ Team Up, thrilling stuff.

Team Europe won the event in 2017 (As you’d expect) 15 points to 9. While at the time it was very exciting, part of that was due to the newness of it all. You’ve got the best players in the world playing in one city in this ‘exclusive’ team event. However, did I mention that 5 of the Top 10 were all on one team? And given that I mentioned that Team Europe won the event can you take a wild stab at which team those 5 were on? Yeah…

What about 2018? Well Europe’s average world ranking was 7 and World’s was 19. Do you want to guess the winner? (Spoiler alert: Europe won 13-8). 2019 reads similarly, Europe average of 5 and World average of 57 (Jack Sock brings the average down by quite a bit, at the time he was ranked 210). Amazingly the 2019 edition was the closest yet with a notable upset being Jack Sock against Fabio Fognini. Furthermore 2 out of 3 of the doubles matches went to Team World. “Great it’s working then…why do we need a makeover?”

Well, you see we arrive in 2021 and as usual we have our teams and as per tradition Team Europe is packed with players in the Top 10. No Rafa or Roger or Novak but still 5 of the top 10 have snuck in. “Is this balanced out by some exciting lower ranked youngster being the sixth player?” Ah well, the sixth is an exciting youngster! Hooray! The Youngster just happens to be Casper Ruud who is currently ranked 11th in the world. “Oh.” Yeah…That gives us an average ranking of 6!

“Yeah, but you said only 5 of the top 10 are in Team Europe, what about Team World?”

They do have a top 10 player! They’ve got Denis Shapovalov who is ranked at 10! Yay! He’s also the only guy outside of ‘Europe’ ranked in the top 10.

“Wait why did you put ‘Europe’?”

Okay a question for you, dear reader, this time. Russia – Europe or Not? If you pop that question into Google, you end up with ‘Russia is a transcontinental country. 77% of Russia’s area is in Asia, the western 23% of the country is in Europe.’ (Source: nationsonline.org). I’m going to be honest; I have no idea what my answer to that question would be other than part of it is in Europe and part of it is not. The Laver Cup obviously considers the Russians as part of Europe as that is who Medvedev and Rublev are down to play for.

“That’s fine, isn’t it?”

Yep! Except this is where our make over begins! Move the Russians into Team World and you end up with 3 of the Top 10 in Team World and 3 of the Top 10 in Team Europe. Oh boy look at the balance! Now you’ll get exciting matches such as Daniil Medvedev against Stefanos Tsitsipas. World Number 2 against World Number 3. Not Medvedev against Isner for the fifteenth time…

Moving on! Hmm I think 3 top 10 players is okay for now, but we might come back to that…For now we’ll limit the teams to only being allowed three top 10 players. Now our teams look like this:

Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Alexander Zverev (5), Matteo Berrettini (8) and Casper Ruud (11) for Team Europe. Two places to fill.

Daniil Medvedev (2), Andrey Rublev (7), Denis Shapovalov (10), Diego Schwartzman (14), Felix Auger-Aliassime (17) for Team World with one place to fill.

The ATP tour is all about the ‘Next Gen’ we’ve even got the Next Gen Finals that take place In Milan. How about we get some of those exciting Next Gen players in the Laver Cup? Start preparing our next superstars?

“Sounds good? Who?”

Well leading the race for Milan is Jannik Sinner, 20 years old, three titles to his name already (all won when he was 19), ranked 15 in the world, Incredible young talent. Oh, and he’s Italian so we’ll put him in Team Europe. After him is Auger-Aliassime who is already on Team World, so we move on to Sebastian Korda. American, 21 years old, 1 career title, ranking of 45. Let’s pop him in as the final member of Team World.

We have one place left in Team Europe. Would you like a Spanish guy or an Italian guy?

“Er got any more information?”

Sure! First up for your (well my…sorry you can have your say in the comments) consideration is Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. 19 years old, current ranking of 61 with a career high of 58, Reached the fourth round at the French Open this year, beat Diego Schwartzman in Acapulco earlier this year…Does that name ring a bell? Yeah, he’s on Team World!

“And the Spanish guy?”

Carlos Alcaraz, 18 years old and already has a title to his name with a career high ranking of 54, a third-round appearance at the French Open, no wins over the Top 10 yet but we’ll put that down to him being 18, shall we? Very exciting young player.

“I don’t have a say really?”

Nope so we’re going with Alcaraz because Team Europe is lacking in the Spanish department.

“We have our teams then great!”

Team Europe – Tsitsipas, Zverev, Berrettini, Ruud, Sinner and Alcaraz. Average ranking of 16.

Team World – Medvedev, Rublev, Shapovalov, Schwartzman, Auger-Aliassime and Korda. Average ranking of 15.

Oh, we are balanced! Look at that! Team World looking pretty good there, some tight matches, interesting doubles pairs. I’m fairly content with that but-

“Uh oh there’s a ‘but’”

Is Team World looking a bit…? North American? 3/6? I’m just saying that the other side of the globe is there…de Minaur? Nishikori? Kwon? Kyrgios? Ah we’ll leave it as it is for now. But there’s something up with Team Europe…A certain German…Let’s quietly remove him and bring in Pablo Carreno Busta. That does mess with the average ranking a little bit taking it down to 17. We could switch out Auger-Aliassime for Alex de Minaur bringing World’s average down to 16 but I don’t think a difference of two in average ranking is too much to be concerned about.

There we have our teams then. We don’t necessarily have star power like the Big 3 but we have 5 of the Top 10, an Olympic gold medallist, an Olympic bronze medallist and several entertaining youngsters. I suppose we could bring in the star power in some capacity…Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer as Co Captains? Agassi and McEnroe against them? I don’t know but we need some draw for the crowds that they’re going to get to see at least one of the Big 3.

I haven’t completely overhauled the teams, most players that are going to play in the actual Laver Cup have been included in my team lists but that is partly because Team World are yet to announce the rest of their team. I have a horrible feeling that it’ll be fleshed out with three Americans and Africa and Asia will once again be ignored. I’m not saying I fixed that by moving the Russians into Team World, but it would be nice if they could include Kei Nishikori or Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan or Lloyd Harris from South Africa. Personally, I’d also like it to be a mixed event with the best of the women’s tour coming to play but I think I might be asking for a bit much there.

I’ll leave you with my teams then:

Europe – Co Captained by Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg.

World – Co Captained by Andre Agassi and John McEnroe.

Stefanos Tsitispas (3)

Matteo Berrettini (8)

Casper Ruud (11)

Pablo Carreno Busta (12)

Jannik Sinner (15)

Carlos Alcaraz (54)

Bye!

Daniil Medvedev (2)

Andrey Rublev (7)

Denis Shapovalov (10)

Diego Schwartzman (14)

Felix Auger-Aliassime (17)

Sebastian Korda (45)

[love-bokumono-fics]

in your opinion, which harvest moon or sos games are worth playing and which are not? Are the older titles worth it?

So I have to confess, I have played relatively few HM/SoS games to completion. "Completion" meaning: over a year in-game played, got married, had a kid, and/or completed whatever story there is to be done. I am also of the mind that if something makes me happy, regardless of how old, or objectively "bad" it might be considered, it's worth playing. It makes me happy, it's time well spent.

So if you're looking for an actual critical, and well thought out review of the games, I am not the blog to ask. There are lots of other people out there who have given more thought to the matter than I have.

For the record, the games I have played are: Back to Nature, HM 3 GBC, (More) Friends of Mineral Town, Island of Happiness, Save the Homeland, SoS1, Trio of Towns, SoS Friends of Mineral Town, and I'm working my way through Pioneers of Olive Town.

I've played a little bit of Tale of Two Towns, and A New Beginning, but I didn't get very far in either of those before getting distracted with other things. I enjoyed them while I was playing, but also neither of them captured my attention enough to stay invested long term. Make of that what you will.

I never played any of the titles that were released on Game Cube or Wii, and I basically didn't play anything between 2007 and 2014. Which some people will say is when the best games came out, and I missed out on the best titles, but I never played them so I can't offer an opinion on them. And I haven't played any of the Harvest Moon titles since the split.

So of the ~25 games that we have under the Hm/SoS umbrella, I've played 10, and 4 of them are technically the same game remade on different consoles so let's say 6. Several of the games I played as a literal child, and when I upgraded to the next technology generation, I lost my ability to play them. Others I picked up again as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed my time playing.

As for the "worth" of the game, it really depends on what you, personally, want from your game. I've already given you my definition of "worth". I realize it is not Everyone's definition of "worth". Nonny, I suspect, that since you're asking me in the first place, "it makes me happy" isn't the only reason you want/need to invest time and effort into playing a game. I cannot tell you which games you think will be "worth it."

I think each game has it's own value. It offers something that other's don't. Different characters, different farming mechanics, different stories, and I think each one, in its own way has some value to impart on the players.

My long-time favorite game has been the Mineral Town games, ever since we got BTN in 2000 I fell in love with the premise, the characters, the setting. I bought the gameboy versions when they hit stores, and they are the games I most consistently return to when I want something comfortable.

Compared to recent games though, the Mineral Town ones are Really Basic. And while I love the games for their nostalgia, I know some people will be bored to tears by them of they go from playing the more recent games to that. Even when FoMT hit the switch last sumer I had a bit of whiplash going "oh, there's so little on the calendar, and I only have how many different crops to grow? nothing grows in winter? okay." because I had just come off from playing Trio of Towns.

If you want to be busy and have 100 goals to meet, stick to the newer games. If you just wanna chill and do whatever, try some of the older games if you can.

I think, if you have the time/ability to go back and play the old games, and you want to do it, then by all means, go for it!

A lot of them are only available to play on technology that a lot of people don't have floating around their homes anymore. If they didn't get a next gen port to an easily accessible console, so unless you still have a functioning PS2 or GBA, you're not going to have the chance to play them. Yeah, emulators are out there and they work, but in my experience they're also annoying and buggy, and not an ideal way to play the games. If you have the consoles, but not the games, getting your hands on copies can be very expensive.

You are already prone to play the old games. You're gonna play them regardless of my opinions on them. You're gonna shell out the cash or set up the emulator, or dust off the Wii and pray it still works, and i hope you enjoy your time playing!

These games have been coming out over 20+ years at this point, and while many of them are just remakes/reskins/girl versions, that's still so much time covered in video game technology. And comparing the earliest games to the most recent ones is more of an exercise in frustration and futility. You're never going to find the right answer.

(I also don't know what your personal gauge for 'old' is, Nonny. Because Old for me are games that are 20 years old. Old for you might be games that are 5 years old, which was like... last week from my perspective, so...)

All this to say, I guess I'll give a brief opinion on the games I have played, and y'all can make your decisions as you please from there.

Back to Nature/Mineral Town Games: My OG game. Always holds a dear spot in my heart for nostalgia. Love the town, love the characters, love the music, can do no wrong, a very enjoyable, if basic, farming game. Easy to play for a bit, set down for a while, and pick up and play again without feeling like you've forgotten you were in the middle of something important.

HM GBC 3: Pretty sure I was 10 last time I played it, so grain of salt. I found it more boring than the MT games, the town and maps were smaller, none of the characters had portraits, I didn't really get all of the details to make the farm work. I'm sure if I went back now as an adult I would have a better time, but I have no desire to emulate it. If you want to emulate it, go for it, but be warned that if you play as a girl, the game ends after you get married. Doesn't do that if you play as a boy so...

Save the Homeland: I kept going back to replay this game for years. I thought the premise was fun, and I always wanted to try and get all of the endings, but never did. I would buy it again in a heartbeat if it got remastered. Different from other games tho, in that you only get one year to play and get an ending, and once you do, the game restarts you at Spring 1 and nobody knows who you are again. You get to keep your animals and house upgrades, but there's no dating and marriage.

Island of Happiness: I love the setting and the characters, but god FUCK that weather system. Can't get shit to grow unless you obsessively track if it rains and how sunny it is and it completely ruined the game for me. I tried playing it again a couple years back and couldn't be bothered to keep tracking stuff. I never once unlocked all of the crops or livestock on any of my playthroughs. Did manage to play long enough to get married once.

SoS1: The game that convinced me to go back to buying new stuff after IoH kind of put me off new HM games for the better part of a decade (I had FoMT to replay it was fine). Liked it well enough, thought some of the characters were a bit bland, but still enjoyable enough to get married and have a kid. Unlocking all the vendors is a bitch though, and I still haven't gotten them all. A fine game, but if you're only going to play One 3DS game, I wouldn't suggest this one.

Trio of Towns: This one ties with FoMT as my favorite game! I love everything about it. The Characters, the setting and premise, the music, the depth of events. There's so much to do, there's never a boring day, but that can also feel overwhelming if you're the kind if person who tries to do everything at once. Not as easy to pick up and put down as some of the more basic games, but it's very replayable in my book and I keep coming back to it.

Pioneers of Olive Town: It's a middling game for me. Like SoS1, it's fine, but unlike SoS1, there's very little to do in the game. I completed the "main story" in less than a year without putting in much effort to complete things in a timely manner. The characters and the game had So Much Potential, particularly after 3oT, and all of it fell flat in my expectations. Plus some of the technical issues we all experienced at launch. Now, I'm still playing it, I don't hate the game, and the updates have made things better. But with the story done and all of the characters feeling a bit Flat, I'm biding my time between DLC updates to see if I want to marry any of the special candidates instead of the base game characters. I'll probably keep playing long enough to get married and probably unlock everything on the farm, but beyond that I'm not super invested.

My final verdict is, if you have a 3DS, get Trio of Towns, if you only have a Switch, get Friends of Mineral Town. If you want to put forth the time and effort into acquiring the old games, or emulating them, by all means go for it.

[floralguccistyles]

Hello all! While I am very happy to share this chapter with you, I am also aware that a lot of my social media feeds and timelines have stopped highlighting the BLM movement, which is so much more important. This fight is not over. It will not be over until there is justice for every single black mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, friend that has been killed by police brutality and violence. Please don’t allow the people we follow to sweep this under the rug. If you do not have the means to protest, there are several other ways you can donate and raise awareness to this issue. Here is a Twitter thread of donations that still haven’t reached their goals. Here is a compiled list of petitions you can sign, numbers you can text, and causes you can donate to. Here is a Twitter thread of Youtube videos you can watch that gain ad revenue and donate all money made to the BLM movement. Please do what you can, especially my fellow non-POC users, to help with this issue. It is so, so incredibly important.

wildflower :: chapter two

...and stays up with you all night

There was a tradition between the Horan-Fairbrough clan that once a month, we would all try and get together and have dinner. It usually ended up with Greg’s son Theo falling asleep while I held him and Violet spewing on about something she learned in college before we all settled down to watch a movie. We had an ongoing rotation on who picked the movie, and this month it happened to be Niall’s turn.

Which was why I was so shocked that it was a horror film.

I didn’t like scary movies. And neither did Niall. But when he sat between Lily and I (on the floor since our parents took the couch while Greg and Theo took the loveseat), I realized his intention. Lily hated horror films even more than I did. And when the first jump scare came around, Lily hid her face in Niall’s side and squealed a little.

Smart boy, that Niall.

“You’re an asshole for picking this film,” I told Niall as I held the popcorn bowl between us. Niall and I hadn’t spoken since last Monday, when he’d dropped off his stuff at my house. Everything had been in a nice neat pile except for my necklace. When I had inquired about it, he had told me that he hadn’t seen it, but he would look again. I think the look of panic on my face told him how serious I was about that particular piece of jewelry.

“Why would I give up a chance to hold both my Fairbrough girls while they scream bloody murder?”

He wasn’t wrong. I found myself jumping right alongside with Lily whenever something frightening happened, so Niall just grinned at me, called me a baby, and then offered his hand for me to hold. 

I gripped it like it was my lifeline. 

The day had started off normally, waking up in Lily’s bed to her arm strewn across my neck, quite close to choking me. Though I may have snored in my sleep (according to she and Niall, I was still doubtful), Lily tried to kill me in hers. Her alarm went off approximately three minutes after I untangled myself from her comforter and I went to work on making us coffee and breakfast while she took a shower. I was expecting Niall to show up at around seven-thirty, since that was normally the time Lily was done taking a shower and I was expected to keep him entertained. When the door opened and I saw him in a salmon-colored dress shirt, I smiled.

“Morning,” I said, blinking against the bright smile he gave me. “Want a cup?”

“God, you’d be an angel.”

“I’m always an angel, what are you talking about?” I stuck my tongue out at him, but started to work on his coffee. The eggs were frying in the pan, so I quickly added some garlic salt to them (because I knew Niall liked it) before I poured his drink into a to-go cup. I watched him sit at the barstool, tossing his sunglasses on the counter as he watched me make breakfast. “So, it’s your pick for movie night tonight. Any contenders?”

He shrugged. “Hadn’t thought about it much, to be honest. I’ve been dealing with some stuff at work.”

Rummaging through some drawers, I found a Sharpie and uncapped it. “What’s up?”

He sighed. I didn’t like this look on Niall, the defeated kind of look that made him look at least three years older. He looked like he was carrying the weight of something heavy on his shoulders. “Hey,” I said quietly, reaching across the counter to grab his forearm in what I hoped was a comfort. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”

His other hand reached to grab my fingers, moving my touch on his arm to hold my hand. His fingers interlaced through mine, examining them for a moment. “One of my boys...a girl came forward and made a sexual assault claim yesterday.”

I tried not to freeze. I wasn’t sure if he noticed when my hand suddenly went limp, but his eyes were still locked onto our hands as if he were contemplating much more than just how large his were compared to mine. “Oh. Shit, I’m sorry, Ni. What...what’s happening?”

His nose wrinkled. “They’re getting him off the team, that’s what. I’m not going to have someone like that representing our team. He’ll go to the dean next week to talk about expulsion.”

“And the girl?” I asked softly.

“I don’t know, Rose. She’ll have to...Christ, she’ll carry this around for the rest of her life. I’ve assured her that his place on the team is nonexistent, but she didn’t look like she believed me.”

“So you didn’t think...she was pathetic or anything?”

“Pathetic? Jesus, Rose, no. I just feel like shit that she was even put in that position at all.”

I squeezed his hand tightly. He didn’t know why my fingers turned from a caress to a grip, but he squeezed my fingers back even so. 

The truth was, his words meant more to me than he’d ever know. But it also made me sad. For the girl, for me, and for anyone else who ever had to deal with something like that. I knew I didn’t deserve to place myself on the same caliber as the girl Niall was talking about. She’d been assaulted, and all Kent ever did was corner me in his office to exchange a promotion for sex. Still, knowing how Niall felt about it made things a little easier. There was no question on whether the player would still be on the team. He would just be...gone. No questions asked.

“You’re a good guy, Niall,” I whispered softly.

“It’s not a matter of being a good guy or not. It’s a matter of being a decent human being.”

Lily appeared in the kitchen before either of us could continue with our conversation, which was probably for the best. “Morning. Smells good, Rose,” Lily commented, coming over to stand by Niall. She wrapped her arms around the back of his shoulders and gave him a squeeze, kissing his cheek. “You smell good,” she mentioned to him.

He didn’t blush, which was weird because Niall always blushed when someone complimented him. He just grinned and let out a little chuckle. “Thanks, Lil. You’re dripping all over me.”

Lily usually let her hair air dry while she ate breakfast and then ran the dryer over it. It locked in enough of her curls to make it stylishly wavy, but not dry it enough so that they straightened out. She had it down to a science. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly, pulling away and lovingly wiping off a bit of water droplets from Niall’s shirt. The salmon color darkened to a burnt coral with the water, but it would be dry in a matter of minutes, so Niall didn’t look like he minded terribly. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Eggs, coffee, and I was going to cut up some of that fruit,” I announced, grabbing said fruit from the fridge. Lily usually kept her fridge pretty stocked with fruit, so she had several berries and a couple of assorted melon slices. 

“Where’s the bacon?” Niall groaned.

“We have some microwaveable bacon, but I doubt you want that.”

He wrinkled his nose. If there was one thing Niall hated, it was the shitty pre-cooked bacon Lily bought. I didn’t mind the taste of it, personally, and appreciated its convenience. Niall was a firm believer that bacon should take time and love. “I’m fine with eggs and fruit.”

“That’s what I thought.” Cutting the fruit and not cutting my finger proved to be a task, but I accomplished it and put all the berries and melons on a plate. The eggs, which had been taken off heat during my fruit-cutting, were still warm, so I put them onto individual plates and handed them off to Lily and Niall. “Bon appetit.”

“A meal fit for a king,” Niall exclaimed. He was always too generous when describing my cooking. I wasn’t terrible and my food was almost always edible, but I wasn’t going to become a chef anytime soon. “Thanks, Rosebud.”

The morning continued on as usual, with Lily leaving Niall and I to keep each other company while she went about her morning routine. There was no more discussion on the girl that had come forward about Niall’s student athlete, but I could tell by the duller color of his eyes that it was still weighing heavy on his mind. Which was why when he was looking away and getting things situated for his day at work, I took the Sharpie and scribbled out “you’re a great role model for the students” with about a thousand x’s and o’s underneath it. He grinned and pressed a kiss to my hair when he saw it, and claimed “he’d keep the cup until the end of time, Rosebud.”

But Niall couldn’t hide his disappointment and sorrow. Which, in retrospect, might have been the reason that he had chosen a horror movie. It was probably a last minute decision.

I wasn’t sure what the title of the movie was, but it was some gory and bloody thing with demonic possession. Our families had varying reactions to the film. Greg was falling in and out of sleep, while his parents on the other side of him were cringing at the film. My parents, who had grown up with horror films, seemed to be genuinely enjoying it, letting out little ohs and ahs when something interesting happened. Violet just stared at the screen with the indifference of a Gen Z child, typing away at her phone whenever the plot got too boring for her to handle.

It was only about forty minutes into the movie when Violet nudged my foot with hers and gestured towards the kitchen with her chin. Things had been back to normal between the two of us, the vulnerable night of sleeping by her side long forgotten. I was honestly thankful for the usual attitude. If she started treating me like some frail thing, I might have burst into tears. I had always prided myself on being a strong person, and I was obsessed with Violet and Lily seeing me in the same light. So when we had woken up the next morning, Violet with drool down her chin and my hair in a wild disarray, I wished she would say something normal.

I believe her exact words had been “Jesus, you have bad morning breath,” before she had promptly rolled over to face away from me.

Still, I followed her to the kitchen, Niall’s eyes on me questioningly when Violet and I walked away from the family. I shrugged my shoulders, unaware as to what Violet wanted as much as he was. Unlike Lily and Niall’s apartments, my childhood home had a kitchen separated by a thick wall, so maybe Violet wanted some advice on Selma and Eric and needed privacy. 

When we arrived to the kitchen, however, I did not expect the turn our conversation took.

Without saying anything, she walked to her purse and pulled out a slip of paper, handing it to me. 

“Am I supposed to know what this is?”

“It’s the health specialist at my university. She has a practice outside of the school, so I asked for her office number.”

I stared at it, a little more than confused. “Alright. Cool. What am I supposed to do with it?”

“She’s a psychologist.”

The paper suddenly felt like a weight in my hand. I gaped at her, mouth open like a fish as she stared at me, almost daring me to give it back to her. Which I tried to do almost instantaneously. “I don’t need this, Violet. Save it for someone who actually does.”

“Seeing a therapist isn’t a bad thing, Rose. She can help with the whole Kent thing. She’s been helping me a lot and I really like her, so I think you will too.”

“I’m sure she’s a wonderful lady, but I don’t need to see her.” I crossed my arm over my chest, only after setting the unwanted phone number on the countertop. “This was a little invasive of you.”

“It wasn’t invasive. It’s me trying to help. You’ve got some shit you need to deal with, as do I, and she can help. I mean, she’s no miracle worker, but it would be nice to talk to someone about what happened.”

My mouth went dry. “Violet, nothing happened. People have had it much worse than I have.” I thought about this morning, about Niall’s defeated face when he told me about the girl at the college. “He didn’t...he didn’t assault me or anything. He just made some lewd comments. It isn’t enough to see someone over, trust me.”

“Rose, you’re nearly twenty-five and you have to sleep with someone else in the room.”

I knew deep down that Violet was coming from a place of love, just like all her other jabs and pokes did. But this felt too personal for me to brush off. I had opened up to her that night at Lily’s, and she was throwing it back in my face. “You didn’t have to come into my room that night,” I said defensively, and I wondered if she could tell my voice was ten times icier than it had been before.

“I’m not trying to attack you or anything—”

“That’s what it feels like.”

Lily must have sensed that Violet and I in a kitchen alone would stir some trouble. She came in only seconds later, raising an eyebrow at the two of us. “Having a party in here without me?”

“I gave Rose the therapist’s number and she’s refusing to take it,” Violet commented. 

“Keep your voice down,” I hissed.

“You gave it to her in the middle of the Horan-Fairbrough family night?” Lily asked incredulously. I was happy that she seemed to be as confused as I was, but then her words actually caught up to me.

“You knew?” I asked, turning to face my big sister. “Did you tell her what a bad idea it was?” Lily looked at me, her lips pressed together in a thin line. When she didn’t speak for a few moments, I knew. Maybe it was stupid to feel the stab of betrayal, but I did. “You told her to do it.”

“She was mentioning how much her therapist has helped her with college and I thought it might be beneficial to you. I didn’t know she was going to give it to you during family night.”

Lily never went behind my back. About anything. She and I were always open books with one another. So hearing that she had gone out of her way to ask Violet do this made me feel like shit. “I thought you were fine with me staying at your place?” I couldn’t keep the childlike whine out of my voice. I had never thought that Lily disliked having me in her apartment, but maybe she did. Maybe she had asked Violet about this because she wanted to get rid of me.

“Of course I am, Rose! That’s not the point of this,” Lily was quick to assure me. “I just think talking about it might help.”

I felt like someone had just pulled the rug out from under me. They were asking me to see someone, like I was a giant burden. I would have expected this from Violet, who was always blunt and truthful, but I would have never expected it from Lily. Lily would have sat me down, brought it up, asked my opinions, and then let it go when it seemed like it was something I didn’t want. “Right. Well, I don’t think it will, so let’s drop it and go watch the rest of the movie.”

“Okay,” Lily said, reaching out to rub my shoulder comfortingly. “Yeah, we’ll go back out.”

“No,” Violet mentioned, her posture hard and defiant. “I’m not letting you walk back out there until you take the phone number. Lily may baby you about this, but I’m not going to.”

“Violet,” Lily chastised.

“You let her get away with so much shit, Lil. And then the one time we dare request she do something to help herself, you act like her word is final. You’ve got some serious shit going on, Rose. You need to let it out before it eats you alive.”

“Right now, all I need is to exit this conversation. A conversation, might I remind you, that our parents and Niall don’t know about,” I snapped angrily.

“What don’t I know about?”

Perfect. When I turned, Niall was standing in the kitchen, hip leaning against the counter with the empty bowl of popcorn in his hands. His hair was tousled, most likely from Theo running his fingers through it playfully earlier on in the dinner portion of the night, and he was wearing a flannel that looked soft to the touch. He also looked adorably confused at our conversation.

“Nothing, Ni,” Lily commented, sending a quiet look towards Violet to remind her to keep her mouth shut. Violet huffed impatiently, but luckily shut her mouth. “Need me to get more popcorn?”

“Yeah, Greg’s fat arse ate most of it.” Lily took the bowl from him and got another bag from the pantry, placing it in the microwave. “What are my favorite girls discussing?”

“Rose’s job,” Lily deflected, sending a blinding smile towards Niall, as if that was going to stop him from asking questions. “The hotel’s offering her a couple of free rooms and she was going to use them for our parents’ anniversary. She wanted it to be a surprise, so you can’t tell them, got it?”

“That’s sweet of you, Rosebud. I won’t tell them, promise.” 

“Thanks, Ni,” I breathed out. Violet rolled her eyes.

I knew this conversation was far from over. Violet was glaring at me and Lily was looking at me like she was apologetically about to burst into tears, but all I wanted to do was curl back up on the floor and finish the stupid movie. I knew there would be no more getting scared tonight, due to the fact that I wouldn’t be paying attention to the rest of the film, so I was safe from any nightmares I might have had about a possessed demon child. But the tension hung from the three of us like albatrosses, and it continued as we slowly made our way back to the living room.

“Need me to hold your hand again, Rosebud?” Niall joked. I mustered up a small smile, putting the popcorn bowl between us again. I ignored my sister as they sat back down, Lily for once not cuddling up to Niall’s side. He stared back and forth between the two of us. “Something wrong?” he whispered towards me.

“Nope.”

“That wasn’t very convincing.”

“Drop it, Niall.”

He seemed taken aback by my shortness. His jaw ticked, a sure sign that I knew he was either embarrassed or annoyed, and nodded at me, leaning back against the couch. He didn’t look in my direction for the rest of the film, and while I felt shitty about being so snappish, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. My sisters had somehow ruined my night in one fell swoop.

There was a reason I didn’t talk about what happened at Barkley’s. On top of me being completely done with the situation emotionally, I was also incredibly embarrassed. How had I not noticed that Kent seemed to favor me simply because he thought I was cute? All of the times he had complimented my work ethic, made me feel like I was one of the best employees, and the consecutive months of being employee of the month (which wasn’t a feat because there were only three of us and the other three hardly made their goal sales), he had just been doing it because he wanted to have sex with me.

It made me feel useless.

And if there was one thing I hated most in the world, it was feeling useless.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Niall, trying to keep my voice soft so my parents wouldn’t overhear. “You caught me in a bad mood, and I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“No,” he agreed, “you shouldn’t.” But he held up his palm, an invitation. I relaxed immediately, threading my fingers through his and cuddling up against his side. 

He didn’t let go the entirety of family night, his little reassurance that we were okay.

~

I was willing myself not to leave my bed. 

Like usual, I had woken up about three hours after falling asleep. The apartment was quiet and a little chilly, so cuddling up next to Lily’s side would have solved all my problems. But my head continued to revolve around the conversation with Violet and Lily, and now I felt like I was just going to be a burden if I went into her room and bothered her.

The ride back to the apartment from the Horan-Fairbrough family night had been quiet. Lily had kept the volume low so I could talk to her if I wanted to, but there hadn’t been anything to say. Knowing Lily as well as I did, I knew she was feeling guilty. But I couldn’t bring myself to talk about the night’s events with her.

Now, sitting alone in my bed, I wished I would have. 

I shifted my weight, moving so I was laying on my side and facing the door to my room. In the year that I’d been here, I’d made it my own. I had pictures and plants on my shelves, I had brought in a bookcase, and there was art hung on my walls with command strips so I wouldn’t have to put a nail through the wall. This room was my safe space, like nothing bad from the outside world could ever get me when I was in here.

Violet’s words rang in my head.

My hands were on my phone before I could really process what was happening. I scrolled through the Facetime app until I came across Niall’s information, clicking on the silly little photo I’d set as his contact photo. On bated breath, I waited for Niall to answer the phone call. I should have known better than to feel nervous. Niall was the type of guy to always answer, no matter what time of night it was.

Which was why I was staring into a grainy version of his bright blue eyes only seconds later.

“Rosebud,” he grumbled, groggy from sleep. His hair was mussed, his eyes half closed, and he was shirtless. I couldn’t see much because the blanket covered most of his chest, but I still grew a little warm. “What time is it?”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, shaking my head, feeling incredibly foolish. “I shouldn’t have woken you up.”

There was something in the tone of my voice that had him sitting up, eyes opening a little wider. A cute yawn escaped his mouth, but he looked more awake than he had when he had initially picked up the phone. “Don’t be stupid,” he said softly, “what’s up?”

“Has...has Lily ever talked to you about not being happy I’m at her place?”

Niall’s eyebrows furrowed. “No. She loves having you there.”

“You don’t think I’m a...a burden?”

“Rosebud,” he said, and his voice was so soft and sweet that it made me want to cry. “You could never be a burden. Where is all of this coming from?”

The tears came faster than I thought they would. I hated crying in front of people. I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I’d done it and all of them had been in front of Lily. Lily, who I knew wouldn’t judge me for it. Niall wouldn’t judge me either, of that I was sure, but I still felt like a stupid little kid when the first tear spilled over.

“God, Rose, please don’t cry. I can’t handle it when you cry.” At the look on my face, he let out a small laugh. “Not because you’re a burden, Rose. Just because seeing you cry honestly breaks my heart.”

“I’m sorry,” I managed to stutter out.

“Don’t be sorry, Rose. Just dry those big brown eyes and talk to me. What’s going on?” I couldn’t answer for a few moments, still trying to stifle my cries so I wouldn’t wake Lily up. I saw Niall start to move on his bed, before I heard his voice. “I’m coming over there.”

“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t call to bother you.”

“When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours that you aren’t a burden to me?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “I won’t come if you don’t want me to. But I’ve got to know what’s going on, Rosebud. You’re worrying me a little.”

Once I calmed my tears a little, I sniffled so I wouldn’t look like a complete fool with snot dripping down my nose. “In the kitchen earlier, Violet made a subtle dig that Lily might not like having me here. Like I’m a burden to have. I just...I know you know her better than anyone, and maybe she felt like she couldn’t share her real feelings with me. So I wanted to ask you and see if she’d said anything. You know Lily. she wouldn’t tell me to my face if that’s how she felt because she’s too nice.”

“She is too nice. But she wouldn’t lie to you about something like this, Rosebud. I know for a fact that she doesn’t hate having you there, though. You’ve got to know that.”

I nodded hopelessly, rolling my eyes at myself. “And I just feel so stupid because I can’t sleep unless I’m with someone. That’s why I asked you to stay at your apartment. The idea of sleeping alone terrifies me. But Violet has me paranoid that Lily doesn’t want me here, so I don’t want to wake her up and bother her.”

“Lily won’t mind,” Niall said softly. He was leaning back against his pillows. Sometime during my crying, he had turned on his lamp and basked in the soft yellow light. No one looked good in that awful yellow light, but somehow Niall managed. “But I could stay on the phone with you until you fall asleep, if you want,” he continued. 

“I don’t want you to pity me or think I’m pathetic, either.”

“Rose, I don’t think I’ve met anyone stronger. You take everything in stride and still have a smile on your face. It’s more likely that I’m going to be in complete awe of you.”

My breath caught in my throat, stuck in the center like I needed to swallow it down. His words filled me with the kind of reassurance and comfort I needed at this exact moment, and I sighed when the warmth of his words hit me. “You always know what to say, Niall.”

He laughed. “Not true. I feel like I’m a bumbling mess around you most of the time.”

Frowning, I shook my head. “You’re one of the most eloquent and well-spoken people I’ve ever met. I always value your opinions and advice.” I moved myself back against my pillows, laying on my side and propping my phone up on my nightstand so I didn’t have to hold it up while I conversed with Niall. “You’ll make someone a very happy girl someday.”

I saw the way his eyes softened, like he was lost in a memory. They were the color of the sky in the morning, right when the sun was rising and it was cast in a warm yellow glow. “I don’t know,” he said, raising a hand to the back of his neck. His cheeks, like they normally were when someone complimented him, were an endearing pink. “There’s...there’s really only one girl’s opinion I care about.”

I wanted to sit up straight and demand he tell me more, but I refrained. I knew that acting suddenly might spook him into not telling me. “I didn’t know you liked someone.”

“Like…” he trailed off, shaking his head and letting out a little laugh. It sounded like the word wasn’t sufficient enough for what he was feeling. “Yeah. Yeah, I like her.”

“Tell me about her,” I encouraged, my voice as soft as I could make it.

“You don’t want to hear about this, Rose.”

“I always want to hear about what’s going on in your life.”

He groaned, running his hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have even said anything.”

“Don’t make me pull the Fairbrough puppy dog eyes.”

“Not the Fairbrough eyes,” he gasped dramatically, clutching his hand to his chest as the both of us let out small laughs. Then, he sobered up, his smile turning a little more soft and caring. “She’s great. Driven, strong, stubborn. She’s got this crazy loyalty to her family, like no other. And she’s probably the most gorgeous fucking girl I’ve ever seen in my life.”

He was describing Lily almost perfectly. I felt the smile growing on my face. As Lily’s sister who wanted the absolute best for her, I knew that Niall was it. He was kind, almost to a fault. He would never hurt her intentionally. The way he revered her...it was how I’d always wanted someone to look at me. “She sounds incredibly special.”

“She is.”

The question was burning on the tip of my tongue, begging to be asked. But these things took time. I didn’t want to scare him away from his feelings for Lily by discussing them, so I let the subject drop. “She’d better get ready to be a babysitter for Horan-Fairbrough family nights. I think Greg passed Theo onto me the second I walked through the door. How that man became a father, I’ll never know.”

He laughed, but there was something off about it, like he was disappointed in the subject change. “Must be because you’re so good with kids.”

“I’m shit with kids. Greg’s just fucking lazy.”

That seemed to bring the smile back to his face and he let out a chuckle that sounded like melted chocolate and sunshine and everything else good in the world. Lily would never be lacking in the husband department when she and Niall got married (because let’s be honest, it was an inevitability). He was the entire package, gifted in every area. He would be the kindest, the handsomest, the funniest. 

I didn’t expect the pang that went through me.

I’d always wanted what Niall and Lily had. The easy friendship and the fiery passion (I imagined there was fiery passion, I’d never personally seen it) and the desperate longing. I wanted someone to look at me the way they looked at each other and talk about me the way Niall talked about Lily now. It was how Patrick and Niamh looked at each other. It was how my mother and father looked at each other.

It felt so impossible, so far away for me, that it made my heart curl in my chest. 

“Tell me what’s going on in that head,” he whispered, and he must have thought I had fallen asleep by the look on my face. I blinked, giving him a soft smile.

“Just thinking.” I heard another voice, something grainy and staticy and narrowed my eyes. “Are you watching TV? I didn’t know my company bored you so much.”

Niall shrugged. “It’s Dawson’s Creek, Rosebud. You’d do the same thing.”

I laughed, snuggling up further against my pillows. “What episode?”

“The one where Joey and Pacey kiss for the first time.”

“Okay, but the car kiss or the fireside kiss?”

“The fireside, obviously.”

“That’s not technically their first kiss,” I pointed out.

“It’s the one that matters,” he countered. “Can you believe there are some idiots who would prefer Joey with Dawson?”

“The horror,” I agreed, rolling my eyes. “Say some of the lines for me so I know what’s going on.”

“I’m not going to talk over one of the best scenes in television history.” He took one glance at my pleading face and groaned. “I hate you, you know that?” 

“No you don’t. If it’s the fireside scene, I have this one memorized. You be Pacey and I’ll be Joey.”

He rolled his eyes, but turned back to the television. His voice came through just seconds after Pacey’s did. “The only reason that you don’t have the answers is because you’ve been too scared to ask yourself the right questions.” I recognized the line right away. 

“What are you talking about?” I replied, grinning when he gave me a look, as if asking do I really have to do this?

“Look!” he suddenly exclaimed, making me laugh and stifle it into my pillow so I didn’t wake up Lily. “I know how I feel. You know how I feel. That much is obvious by now. But during this whole process, we’ve managed to miss the point. Because the point is not how I feel, it’s how you feel. So how do you feel?”

“It’s so obvious she loves him back.”

“Oi! If I have to do the lines, you have to do the lines too.”

“Awful!” I copied his exaggeration and heard him chuckle. “That’s how I feel Niall—”

“We’re supposed to be Pacey and Joey!”

“I’m adding flair! That’s how I feel Niall, I feel awful.”

“So do I. When I was kissing you tonight, I don’t think I’ve ever felt better and worse in my entire life. I mean, the very idea that...who should be Dawson and Andy?”

“Patrick and Niamh.”

He raised a brow. “Hopefully Niamh and Patrick aren’t cheating on each other with the two of us.”

“Just finish it!”

“The very idea that Niamh or Patrick could find out about us is killing me. It is tearing me up on the inside to have these feelings for you, but I can’t get rid of them. I can’t keep on kissing you, Rose.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean just that. I can’t keep on kissing you. Alright, I’ve done it twice now! I can’t be the one who’s always initiating this. I can’t be the one who’s always giving you all the answers. Look at me, Rose.”

“Shit I forgot the next line.”

“What a shit Dawson’s Creek fan you are. I thought you knew all the lines.”

“Shut up,” I laughed, pausing the Facetime so I could look up the exact scene lines. “I can’t,” I said dramatically, finding the lines easily and returning to the Facetime so I could see Niall giving me a deadpan look. 

“Please,” he recited. I went to go find the script again but he protested. “You’re supposed to be looking at me! You’re not a very good Joey.”

“It’s your line anyway.”

“If you felt even one shred of what I feel for you...then we wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation.”

There wasn’t another line for me to reply with, as Pacey and Joey had finally kissed, so I looked at Niall with a grin on my face. He was staring at me, something unreadable in his eyes. I knew that our game of reciting lines was over in the way that his eyes burned and his mouth turned downwards at the corners. I wished more than anything that he was here so I could reach out and embrace him, reassure him that there was no possible way that Lily didn’t love him back. He didn’t have to be heartbroken anymore.

“Unrequited love is a bitch,” I said in a whisper.

“I thought you said it was obvious that Joey loved him,” he replied.

��It is. I just meant...in general. It’s a bitch. But we should still tell the people we love that we love them. Life’s too short.”

He swallowed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

It was silent between us. I didn’t ask Niall to recite any more lines and he didn’t ask me to join in. He just sat and watched his TV and I just sat and watched him. Eventually, my eyes slowly closed and I drifted off into sleep.

I heard him whisper a “goodnight, Rosebud,” before I completely fell.

~

I woke up, for the first time in the past year, alone in my bed. 

When my eyes opened, I blearily glanced at my clock. If waking up by myself hadn’t surprised me enough for one morning, then I would have been surprised at how late I had slept in. Most days I was up around the same time as Lily, since I could never go back to sleep if she started making lots of noise. Looking at my clock now, my eyes widened a little bit when I saw it was just four minutes past nine, which meant Lily and Niall had already been at work for an hour. 

I allowed myself only five minutes to stay cuddled in my blankets before I stood, rubbing my eyes and making my way to the kitchen. The coffee was still out, though it was probably cold. Since I usually didn’t eat much for breakfast, I just popped bread in the toaster and poured myself a cup, shoving it in the microwave to heat it up.

Since Lily and I hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk about what had happened, I regarded the little pink Post-It note with hesitance. I knew that she was apologizing. But I still felt a little sad. The betrayal and anger had left me last night, as I was falling asleep with Niall humming something in the background. I was still furious with Violet and probably would be for the foreseeable future, but it was hard to be mad at Lily when she meant so much to me.

Dinner on me tonight. We’ll hang out and talk. Stopping by the bundt cake place after work and getting white chocolate raspberry. Your fave!! Love you.

I set the note back on the counter and retrieved my cup of coffee. I didn’t have much to do today since it was one of my days off, but I felt too antsy to stay in the house. Deciding to get ready for the day and see where it took me, I headed back towards my room with my plate and coffee cup in my hand.

I wondered how Niall was doing. Today was the day that they were meeting with the dean to discuss the expulsion status of the sexual assaulter. Knowing him, he would be incredibly stressed and worried about the whole ordeal. 

Which was why I found myself standing in the donut shop thirty minutes later.

“Rose!” The owner, Matilda, said. She was a larger woman with pretty dark skin and incredibly white teeth. “Nice to see you. Day off?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“You here for Lily and Niall’s favorites?” 

“Just Niall today. I’ll get four of his favorites. He’s meeting with the dean at his job about a student and I thought he could use the pick me up.”

Matilda grinned at me. “You are too sweet. Niall’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one,” I responded. And it was true. I was so incredibly lucky to have Niall in my life.

She walked back towards the display cases, grabbing a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting donut, sprinkled with coconut shavings. Niall could devour three of them in a minute. As she loaded up the to-go box with the donuts, she added in a maple bar for me. “How long have y’all been together?”

It took me a moment to process her question. I blinked at her, giving her a confused smile. “Oh, Niall and I aren’t together. He’s in love with my sister, Lily.”

Matilda’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “No shit? I could have sworn he was all moon-eyed over you. When you used to come in here with him back when you in school, he would stare at you with the most adorable look on his face.”

I laughed. “Knowing him, he was looking longingly at the donut I was holding. He and Lily are soulmates. Our whole family has a bet on when they’re going to get together.”

She handed me the box, accepting the tenner I passed over the counter. “You know, my David just got married. Nice girl. They moved to New York, so they’re too far away, but I just found out she’s pregnant.”

“Grandma Matilda. It’s got a ring to it,” I joked. 

“I could have sworn he was going to end up with his childhood friend, Zoe. They did everything together when they were younger. They’re still super close. In fact, she and Clarissa, the new wife, hit it off. Zoe was the maid of honor.” I didn’t really realize the point of her story, but I didn’t care. I could listen to Matilda talk for ages. She was just someone you wanted to listen to. “If I had made bets on Zoe and David, I would have lost.”

“I might lose because of the timing,” I countered, shuffling with the change she handed me, “but they’re definitely getting together.”

Matilda shooed me out of the shop with a wave of her hand and a threat that if I didn’t come visit her soon, she’d drag me out of the apartment by herself. I just grinned and got another Uber to take me to the college. 

Niall’s coworkers knew Lily like the back of their hands. They were always wondering who it was that Niall was taking out to lunch. However, they didn’t know me. Which was why when I walked into the athletics building of the college and asked to see Niall, the secretary looked at me a little strangely. 

“Sure,” she said hesitantly, like she didn’t think Niall knew anyone else besides Lily. “Just fill out this sign-in sheet and let me print you out a visitor sticker.” I filled out the sheet and handed it back to her. The second she saw my last name, she understood. “Oh. Fairbrough. You Lily’s sister?”

“Guilty.”

“He might still be in the meeting with the dean, but feel free to wait in his office. If he is still in the meeting, it won’t be long. Ten minutes tops.”

Offering my thanks, I made my way through the building. It was decorated with sports jerseys from the college, as well as professional jerseys. I realized I had never been in Niall’s office before, so when I walked in, I was a little surprised to see how open and spacious it was. Obviously I didn’t think he worked in a tiny little cramped space, but there were large windows on one wall and his desk only took up a quarter of the room, meaning he still had a good amount of space for filing cabinets and things of the like. I sat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk, admiring the pictures and little knick knacks that littered his space. Just like in his room, the frame he had next to his computer had pictures of he and his family and my sisters and I. 

The door opened and slammed shut. Niall hadn’t noticed me yet, but he was pinching the bridge of his nose and looked like he had the headache of the century. I heard him let out a tiny curse before he opened his eyes and all anger melted away from his face, leaving only confusion.

“Rose?” he asked softly, like I was a figment of the imagination.

“Hi Niall!” I greeted cheerily, ignoring how wrong it felt when he didn’t call me Rosebud. “I brought donuts.”

He ignored the proffered white box, instead marching forward with purpose and wrapping his arms around me. A surprised grunt left my mouth, but he clutched me like I was a lifeline and I immediately wrapped my arms around his back. I let him cling to me, sensing it was something he needed. Honestly, I probably needed it too. It was nice to be held and know that Niall wanted to keep me safe from any harm.

“That bad?” I whispered into his shoulder.

“They had us talk to the girl afterwards. She had a meltdown. It was horrifying to watch.” His grip on my waist tightened.

“I figured it would be bad. I brought donuts,” I said again, weakly. 

“Don’t need donuts,” he stated, “just need you.”

“I’m here.”

I couldn’t begin to fathom the moments we stood there, just gripping onto one another. Occasionally, his hand would move from my waist to my hair, tangling there and drawing me even closer, like he couldn’t believe I was there. My forehead pressed into his shirt, a pretty lilac color. One of the many things I loved about Niall was that he wasn’t afraid to wear color. The purple soothed me a little bit, even though I hadn’t come into his work wanting to be soothed.

Eventually, he pulled away. His eyes were red and he looked on the verge of tears. “What’re you doing here?” he asked gruffly, his voice low from emotion.

I reached out and grabbed his hand, not wanting the contact between us to end. He laced our fingers together immediately. “I knew today would be tough. And you were so supportive and...there for me last night that I wanted to do the same for you.”

“You don’t have to pay me back for last night, Rose. I wanted to.”

“And I wanted to help today,” I argued, shoving the box of donuts at him once more. He smiled and took them. “Matilda has threatened to come hunt us down if we don’t come in more often.”

“I don’t need to be seeing Matilda on a daily basis unless she wants to roll me out of the building.” He sat at his desk, across from me, and dug into his donuts. I wondered if he had been too nervous to eat anything that morning, despite the fact that Lily made them breakfast. 

“I realized I’ve never been in your office,” I commented as he ate. “I love it. It’s bigger than I expected.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty decent setup. I can give you a tour of the campus later, if you’d like.”

 I nodded enthusiastically. Though I’d known Niall nearly all my life, I’d never really been around the campus he worked at. I’d been once or twice for a class that they offered when spots at my own college were limited, but that was it. 

He reached into the  box and handed me my maple bar, along with a couple of napkins so I wouldn’t get his desk sticky. We ate in comfortable silence, him looking over some documents and me just enjoying being in his presence. Once I had taken my last bite and he had shuffled his papers around, he cleared his throat and gestured towards the door.

“C’mon, we’ve got a pretty decent coffee place and I know the pot was probably cold when you woke up. Microwaved coffee is shit.”

“It was fine.” I shrugged. I hadn’t minded it that morning, more focused on my plan to comfort Niall. 

“Bullshit,” he said, giving me a grin that for some reason did weird things to my heart. Holding out his hand, I laced our fingers together as he led us out of his office. The secretary’s eyes nearly popped out when she saw us together, leaning over to whisper something quickly to a coworker that was sitting at the front desk. It made me a little uncomfortable, but Niall pulled me along quickly so I didn’t have time to dwell.

The college was gorgeous. I could admit that. It was even prettier than the own college I attended. When Violet had been applying for colleges, this had been one of her main contenders because of how gorgeous it was. Ultimately, it didn’t have a veterinarian program like the college I attended. Therefore, she was at my alma mater. Still, as Niall pointed things out with the hand that wasn’t holding mine, I made sure to comment on how pretty the layout of it was.

“Hey, Mr. H!” I heard someone shout when we started walking towards the little coffee stand outside of one of the buildings. Niall blushed a little at being called “mister” in front of me; it was as endearing as every other time he blushed when he was complimented. The kid walking towards us waved his hand enthusiastically.

“What’s up, Jordan?” Niall asked, grasping Jordan’s hand and pulling him into that guy hug I’d seen him do many times before to his brother. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Styles’ class right now?”

Jordan was a muscular kid with shoulder-length brown hair and pretty dark brown eyes. “Nah, he cancelled today. My girlfriend and I were going to get some coffee and then see a movie. She’s technically got Payne in twenty minutes, but they’re just doing an optional extra credit quiz.” I saw his eyes wander over to me, wondering who the girl with Mr. H was.

“Jordan, this is my friend, Rose. Rose, this is Jordan. He’s probably one of the best baseball players this college has seen in a while.”

I didn’t know shit about baseball, but I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Jordan.” His hand engulfed mine comically when he shook it. “I’ll give you a tenner if you call him Mr. H again. He got so red.”

Jordan laughed. “We call him Mr. H until he tells our coaches to push us harder. Then we call him names behind his back.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Niall said, waving off Jordan’s comments. “What are you and Poppy getting? I’ll buy.”

“Mr. H, you don’t have to!”

“It’s pointless arguing with him,” I told Jordan, shrugging. “I usually just relish in the free stuff.”

Jordan laughed. “In that case, just a vanilla latte and a caramel macchiato.”

Niall didn’t bother asking me for my order, since he knew how I took my coffee. He stepped forward to the cart to order, leaving Jordan and I a little ways back. “So, what’re you studying?” I asked Jordan.

“Kinesiology,” he responded. I was impressed. I could never get into the big sciences. “You?”

“Graduated a couple years back with a business major and marketing minor.”

“Cool. You’re lucky to be such good friends with Mr. H. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met. Told me he’d give me a letter of recommendation for my masters program in the fall.”

“Sounds like him,” I agreed. And it did. Niall wouldn’t hesitate to help his athletes. Plus, I imagined for Jordan’s sake that a letter of recommendation from the athletics director of the school was nothing to scoff at. 

Niall returned with our coffee, handing Jordan his two drinks. “We’ve got to take off, but come visit me sometime, yeah? Have fun with Poppy.”

“Thanks, Mr. H. I’ll see you later.”

Jordan walked off, leaving the two of us to enjoy our coffee as we made our way through the courtyard of the school. “You really make an impact in these students’ lives.”

He shrugged. “A lot of directors are removed from the teams. They let the coaches do all the work. I want to be involved in the careers of the athletes. Feel like I helped them in some way.”

I grinned, taking his hand and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. He squeezed me into his side. “You help everyone in every way. It’s pretty much impossible to meet you and not be affected in the best of ways.”

That blush came again and I smiled at the sight of it. “You’ve got to stop complimenting me. It’ll all go to my head.”

He wasn’t expecting the shove, but after he finished being dramatic about how I could have killed him, he wrapped his arm around me again and I caught him smiling.

I realized I hadn’t thought of the situation with Kent, my lackluster job, or my sisters once.

[therealtsk]

okay so i think before I really start delving into this fandom I wanna give my thoughts on the game itself.  so MUCHO SPOILERS FOR CONTROL. IF YOU WANNA EXPERIENCE THIS AMAZING GAME YOURSELF DO NOT READ THIS POST.  You good? Alright, let’s go. 

So. First, I wanna talk about the game-play of CONTROL.  It’s fucking amazing. In a year where I played five incredibly strong games (Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War and of course, CONTROL), it was my favorite game. In fact, I think it might be my favorite game of 2019.  It has something that all of the other games lacked, with the possible exception of U4...the core gameplay was inherently fun. The word “Next-gen” gets tossed around a lot in the gaming world, but this was the first thing I played that truly felt like it. The gameplay of CONTROL is at once simple and wildly different: I think I speak for most people when I say that the Launch ability is my favorite gameplay aspect: it just feels amazing to use, even after a year of playing it. It’s the closest I think a game has ever come to truly come (for me) to making me understand the sort of power the character wields in a way that isn’t superficial. From the sound design to the rumbles of the controller, to the superb animation, all of it comes together to make you feel powerful.  It’s amazing.  Okay so now that’s over, let’s talk about the world, characters, and story, the biggest reasons I love this game. As a long time fan of the more surreal and ethereal types of the supernatural, CONTROL immediately stood out to me with it’s central location: The Oldest House. What an incredible setting for a game, but also just what an incredible setting in general? When I walk through the hallowed halls of the House, I never feel at ease. I think it’s a fantastic combination of visual and audio design, but the House has a way of making you feel both unwanted and watched: even with all of the human touches the Bureau has scattered throughout the map, The House feels starkly inhuman- the ceiling too high,the doorways slightly too broad. Even after centuries of co-existing with humanity, the House has not quite adapted to humans. And yet there’s something also irresistibly compelling about wandering a place you know, logically, you probably shouldn’t be. It’s a fantastic way of putting you inside Jesse’s shoes: you feel both her fear and the powerful call of the unknown that beckons her to the darkest corners of the House.  The Altered Items themselves are also just...fascinating. The twisting of the mundane into the paranormal- there’s a word I’m looking for, but I can’t find at the moment. I know some people got annoyed with all of the reading in the game, but personally, I loved scanning through every document, case file, and correspondence. Dead Letters in particular caught my imagination: I’ve never stopped thinking about the woman trapped in the phone since I read about it, I even turned it into an original short story. CONTROL’s world feels very much lived-in, like it has history and activity outside of the game’s story, which is crucial to the livelihood of any setting.  Now, for the characters: Jesse Faden is perhaps my favorite video game character to date. I love her so much, words can’t describe, but I’m gonna try anyway. I love her sass, her jump-down-and-figure-out-a-plan-on-the-way-there attitude, her frustration and quiet sadness, her anxieties and ultimately- her love. Jesse Faden loves her brother so much that she literally threw away any chance she could have had at a normal, peaceful life and risked everything for him, not even knowing if he was still alive. As a proud brother of two siblings, It’s nice to see familial ties being just as strong in games as romantic ones.  Speaking of romantic ones, Emily freaking Pope am I right??? The minute Jesse and her sat down at the table I was like :eyes: “these vibes...the chemistry...the delivery...” I don’t care what anyone says Jesse and Emily are gay for each other and you cannot tell me otherwise, just look at all of their interactions. Remedy thank you for giving me another ship to stan until i die  The other characters are also amazing! I love my bois Simon Arish and Fredrick Langston, adorable dorks that they are. RIP Marshall but damn you were badass- also your long coat. Remedy make merch so I can buy it pls.  As for the more supernatural characters: Polaris.  Oh my god I love Polaris. My first assumption was that Jesse was speaking to us, the player, but learning the truth about what Polaris was and her own character was so fantastic- I would literally watch so much of just Jesse and Polaris communicating, the idea of humans and these...ethereal life-forms co-existing is just fascinating.  And then there’s the Hiss. I have been obsessed with the Hiss since I first heard those words. You are a worm through time. Like...the idea of a malignant radio wave, burring into your mind and planting itself within you, overriding your thoughts with song...just fucking chills. I can’t wait to write about this audible horror. 

Also just something I wanna note before I wrap this rambling thing up: CONTROL was not a game I expected this from, but I love how they handled representation in it: they never call attention to it or try to get clout for it, but they have a wide scattering of nationalities and a very even split of women and men: it was just so nice to have a game that didn’t feel dominated by dudes, you know?  Anyway: the story. I think this is where the game lost a lot of people, but I thought the way that it unfolded was fantastic, and every ending (Base game, Foundation, AWE) has left me excited to see more. I think my favorite plotlines thus far comes from the DLC’s: The Astral Politics and, of course-  Alan.  Fucking. Wake. 

But more on that in a bit. I think The Board and the presentation of them was fantastic: It’s so hard to for humans to write utterly in-human mindsets and persons, but I think Remedy’s team did a truly amazing job with The Board. Down to the method of communication alone, blasting divided concepts into Jesse’s thoughts that are literally shattering into synonyms because they don’t quite understand human language is just...aaaaaaahhhh, so good. And then The Foundation, my favorite DLC out of the two: So much expansion on the lore of both The Board and The House itself. The implication that The Board may, in fact, be just as much of an intruder as the Hiss are is chilling, and of course, The Foundation gave us even more Emily/Jesse ship fuel and development so like come on. As for the AWE DLC: I know a lot of people were disappointing with it, and I get that! Don’t get me wrong, when it ended, I literally went: “Wait, that’s it? That can’t be it.” I was expecting something roughly around the same length as the Foundation, and I think other people were too. Once I got over the initial surge, though, I sat down and really thought about it.  Story and content wise, Foundation is 100% the better DLC. But gameplay-wise? Oh man, AWE was so much more thrilling. I think this lends to Remedy’s incredibly atmosphere building, but after spending hours of Control feeling like an unstoppable badass, for them to completely turn it on it’s head and make me feel like a rat trapped in a maze, desperately lunging for any light and being utterly terrified of the dark: god, what an amazing fight the entire Third Thing was. The Service Tunnel in particular had me shook, man.  Was AWE short and felt more like a teaser trailer for Alan Wake 2? Yeah. Was it still really fun? Yes. And also, I think people missed out on how much lore we got for CONTROL, as well! Two words: Chester Bless.  So, to sum this completely chaotic post up: I adore CONTROL, every bit of it, and I can’t wait to talk to you y’all about theories, fics, and the like. 

[hakuogakuen]

Hakuouki SSL: All Heisuke Emails

EDITED 7/31/20

Hello! Here are the translations for all emails that Chizuru can receive from Heisuke, as well as a simple method to allow players to identify which email they have received. Primary translation by yuugs and primary proof reading by kuririn, with further contributions by shizuumi, MaiMaiOtome, and a member of the otogelib server who preferred to remain unnamed. Translation begins below the cut!

(above is a simple graphic which that identifies where each character’s emails can be found) 

1. 難しい選択だよなあ……

Sub: It's a difficult decision to make...

Sorry about earlier. I brought down the mood without meaning to.

Well, even if I say I'm worn out, the test won't just disappear, so I just have to give it my all!

Anyway, for now, my biggest problem is whether to reduce my sleep time or my gaming time......

You could reduce your sleep time...?]  or  [You could reduce your gaming time...?]

→ “You could reduce your sleep time...?”

RE: It's a difficult decision to make...

Right!?

I need to have my breaks after all, and if I sleep during class, I'll be able to manage somehow...!

→ “You could reduce your gaming time...?”

RE: It's a difficult decision to make...

...That's really my only option, huh?

After all, I'll definitely die if I don't sleep...

All right, until the tests are over, my games are sealed away!

2. お互い頑張ろうぜ！ 

Sub: Let's both do our best!

Hey Chizuru, sorry for emailing you right before the test.

There's not much time left, so let me just say...

Thanks.

I was able to rest a bit thanks to you, so now I probably won't be falling asleep during the test.

Let's both do our best!

[I should also be careful not to nod off.] or  [Yeah, let's give it our all!]

→ “I should also be careful not to nod off.” 

RE: Let's both do our best!

Also, be sure to write your name down and not to get out of sync with the answer column!

→ “Yeah, let's give it our all!”

RE: Let's both do our best!

Yeah!

Let's surprise everyone by getting full marks!

3. マネージャーは、やっぱなし！ 

Sub: Actually, forget about being our manager!

Geez, those guys just went on and on saying whatever they wanted...!

Chizuru, you shouldn't worry about the manager thing. 

If they say something about it again, make sure to turn them down firmly!

[I'll cheer you on at your matches, at least.] or [That might be hard…]

→ “I'll cheer you on at your matches, at least.”

RE: Actually, forget about being our manager!

Yeah, I think just having someone cheer for you is fine, and not as a manager or anything.

When that time comes, I'll be counting on you!

→ “That might be hard…”

RE: Actually, forget about being our manager!

Yeah, I guess so...

Plus, if you really think about it, there's a lot of club members.

Even if you became the manager, there's no way only one person could handle it by themselves.

4. たこ焼きマイスター 

Sub: Takoyaki master

Ahh... My arm hurts...

Well, that's okay.

I don't even know how many hundreds of takoyaki I made today.

But I guess that's why I became so good at making them!

Should I make some at your place next time?

[Looking forward to it!] or [I'll make them.]

→ “Looking forward to it!”

RE: Takoyaki master

Yeah!

I'll put all my skill into it, so expect great results!

→ "I'll make them.”

RE: Takoyaki master

Yeah, I’d be happy to have ones you made.

Alright, let's have a takoyaki party at your house later!

...Just thinking about it's gotten me hungry already...

5. メリークリスマス！ 

Sub: Merry Christmas!

Chizuru.

Thanks for earlier.

Merry Christmas again!

...Hehe. I don't know if it's because I could finally give away the present I've been holding onto for so long, but for some reason I'm feeling really refreshed now.

[Thanks so much, Heisuke, really.] or [I also need to thank you…]

→ “Thanks so much, Heisuke, really.”

RE: Merry Christmas!

It's fine, it's fine.

I just wanted to give it to you, that's all. 

If you feel like you need to thank me...

Then you can make me a bento next time!

→ “I also need to thank you…”

RE: Merry Christmas!

You don't need to think  about that!

...Ah. Honestly, you're gonna get my hopes up a bit if you say things like that.

6. あけましておめでとう 

Sub: Happy New Year

Let's go for an encore: 

Happy New Year, Chizuru!

You really saved me, both today and yesterday.

If things had continued the way they were, I literally would've been thrown out into the cold...

[You can stay over any time.] or [It's like when we were kids. I had fun.]

→ “You can stay over any time.”

RE: Happy New Year

No, you, um, I'm sure you're saying that the same way you did when we were kids, but…

...........

No, never mind, yeah. 

Anyway, thanks!

Let's have another great year!

→ “It's like when we were kids. I had fun.”

RE: Happy New Year

I used to stay over a lot, huh?

...It's a bit embarrassing, now that I think about it.

Anyway, you really saved me.

Let's have another great year!

7. （無題）

Sub: (Untitled)

hungr

[W-What's wrong, Heisuke!?] or [(Wrong chat...?)]

→ “W-What's wrong, Heisuke!?”

RE: (Untitled)

Ah, my bad.

Accidentally sent it midway through.

The truth is, I bought a game yesterday and ran out of money by accident.

So even if I get hungry this week, I can't buy anything to eat...

Ugh...

I got even hungrier thinking about it...

→ (Wrong chat...?)

RE: (Untitled)

Ah, my bad, Chizuru.

I accidentally made a mistake when sending that. 

Don't worry about it...

...Haah...

 8. 学食の新メニュー！ 

Sub: New menu item for the cafeteria!

Chizuru, did you know!?

I asked Gen, and soon a new menu will be available at the cafeteria!

When it's released, let's go try it out asap!

[What kind of menu is it?] or [I usually eat bentos, though...]

→ “What kind of menu item is it?”

RE: New menu item for the cafeteria!

I've heard that there's definitely a super-spicy curry set.

You can choose the spiciness level; dry, medium, super or demonically spicy.

If you're really a man, 

you got no choice but to tackle the demonically spicy one!

→ “I usually eat bentos, though...”

RE: New menu item for the cafeteria!

That's true, now that you mention it.

Then, bring your bento to the cafeteria.

I'll order it and let you taste it!

9. 助けてくれ…… 

Sub: Please save me......

Please save me, Chizuru......

Earlier, Shinpachi gave me some math homework, 

but I can't make any headway on it at all.

I need to finish it by tomorrow, but what d'you think I should do......?

[I could take a look, but…] or [You have to do it yourself.]

→ "I could take a look, but…”

RE: Please save me......

Eh? You'd seriously help me out!?

But, even if you say that, you're still a freshman.

You wouldn't be able to understand sophomore math......

...All right, there's nothing else I can do. 

Souji's too scary, so I'll have to rely on 

you or Yamazaki!

→ “You have to do it yourself.”

RE: Please save me......

Ugh. Y-You're right.

I shouldn't always rely on you, huh?

......All right, from now on I'll concentrate really hard!

I'll try my best and finish it quickly!

[fivegoldpieces]

Talks Machina at Gen-Con Q&A Highlights

Note: This only has the audience q&a portion. Cast answers are transcribed, side-comments and banter are only included if they are relevant to/answer the question posed. Apologies in advance to mobile-users if the read-more doesn't work - this is tagged as #long post if you want to blacklist it.

[[MORE]]

Q: For Matt; might we expect any possible homebrew releases coming out in the next year or so, like dunamancy?

Matt: I have plans. I can't say anything because I want things to be cool and surprising. But I have plans don't worry. It's not that I don't care, it's that I don't have time, but I'm working on it.

Q: For Taliesin; what would make Caduceus really angry?

Taliesin: I will say that he can get angry. It does happen. Juvenile disrespect does eventually get to him. Not a fan of pranking. I mean, you know, everybody's got some layer - there's some stuff. No one's that serene all the time. No one.

Q: For Taliesin; at the end of the Call of Cthulhu oneshot, you mentioned that you had a lot of mouse traps set up. I was just wondering, were the shadow people the most dangerous thing they could've released, or was there a more dangerous horror waiting that they managed to avoid?

Taliesin: I mean, if the cats had been released first, that would have definitely been an interesting thing. The cats would have been a problem. Also, if somebody had died really early, I was setting up a series of rules for dead players to continue to interact, which would have been really really unhappy and bad. And terrible rules for the things that were living behind the glass, and if you were stuck behind the glass, you were right there with them and they could really mess with you. Thankfully none of that happened.

Q: For Matt; you have the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting - I was wondering if you were going to do one for The Mighty Nein campaign?

Matt: I don't have a lot of time. Campaign settings are extensive. I'd like to eventually do something like that. I have materials, it's just assembling them in a way that can be legible by a non-crazy human being that I am. Hopefully! We'll see as time goes on. At the moment, we're consumed with this animated series that you guys helped make happen. Super excited about that. Keep an eye out as time goes on, because hopefully I'd like to get around to that. That'd be awesome.

Q: For Matt; what the hell was up with the undead vibe on Jamedi Cosko?

Matt: Yeah, that's crazy huh? That's a pretty weird thing. Yeah, there was something about him that gives off an undead vibe. Wonder what that means? I appreciate the question, but I don't know if that'll come back into play in some time. Let's see if it gets explored at some point, and if not at least I could tell you at the campaign wrap-up.

Q: For Travis; for the animated series, a lot of the characters have iconic catchphrases so I was wondering how you're going to translate "I would like to rage"?

Travis: Are we going to "translate" that? I think he's just going to say "I would like to rage". Yeah, we are definitely keeping iconic lines, moments, interactions, all those things will be there just as they were.

Taliesin: I'll also add to that - if you want to see somebody doing that and taking things that shouldn't actually work in-game and making them work in-game, Jody Houser is doing a great job in the comic book series of making you feel like somehow Matt is intertwined in everything that happens, it's kind of cool. Check it out!

Q: For Taliesin; a lot of comparisons have been thrown around between Fjord and Percy, and something that I noticed was Uk'otoa is being much more insistent than Orthax was - do you think if Orthax was as insistent and as keen on punishment, Percy might've gone a similar direction as Fjord?

Taliesin: Honest to God, and this is just from watching, I don't think Percy had nearly as strong a will as Fjord does. Watching Travis play Fjord was definitely like, "I did not have the balls to pull that off, oh my God." Percy was never about the hard choice, it was always about "what's the option C that I haven't figured out yet, there's a way to game my way out of this, if I just keep talking I can get everything to work" until the very end. Like chicken? Percy doesn't play chicken.

Laura (using Vex's voice): From firsthand knowledge, Percy does curtail very easily.

Matt: If you actually recall, Percy didn't even make the choice. Scanlan did for him.

Q: For Laura; when can we get a Caduceus tea set?

Laura: Oh, I heard a lot of "ooh's". Who would buy a Caduceus tea set? [audience applause] Well, shit, maybe I should look into it.

Sam: That's so many more people than who voted for me.

Brian: Not to be That Guy, lets just see how long his character lives, before we start making merchandise around him.

Q: For Sam; you are kind of the king of over-the-top and ostentatious whether it be with your character design, or your flasks, or things like that, and especially your outfits at the live events - how do you come up with these over-the-top creations and also how on earth do you plan on topping last night?

Sam: That last part will be hard. I think next year, I'll either come out totally naked or I'll just be so basic - pleated khakis, a polo shirt, I don't know. That outfit last night, it was pieced together from several different stores, I'm sure CritRoleCloset will figure it out at some point. But it was a challenge putting that together. And then, my fellow cast members, like two weeks after I bought all that weird stuff I wore, they were like, "hey let's go goth". So. Fuck you guys.

Q: For Travis; with Fjord's recent decision, do you see him changing outfits to fit his new or old persona?

Travis: I don't think so. Most of Fjord's armor was very piece-mail stuff that he got either from working on the docks, or stuff that he got from Vandren, or items that he was given just as he sort of accrued time and responsibility where he worked. I think that stuff's very dear to him, especially coming from an orphanage where he didn't have any possessions, so all those things that are actually his are very dear to him. He might add to those things, but I think underneath they'll stay there. He might augment them or change them a little bit, in the same way you would draw on your jeans in school or whatever, but that stuff's his so it means a lot to him.

Q: For Travis; after Fjord severed his pact with Uk'otoa, was there a larger fear in telling Beau and Jester what had happened, since he had been traveling with them the longest out of the Nein, or did his journeys with the Nein make that fear equal across all of the party?

Travis: I think actually he was worried about telling Beau and Jester the least, and maybe Caduceus in there as well. He knew he would hear about it from Nott, and Caleb had already sort of started to call him on his shit and saw through a lot of that stuff. He also regards the group as very powerful, so I think a lot of it is turning to his very powerful and talented friends and saying, "I don't have any of that anymore, I hope I can still play with you guys." Legit though, the response was amazing. It was absolutely incredible. Jester is so gregarious and loving and joyful and exuberant that I don't think he was worried about that, I think he was actually looking forward to telling her as one of the first people to know. And Beau is second-mate, so like ride-or-die or right?

Q: For Taliesin; I can totally be wrong for this, but just reading body language and facial features, there do seem to be moments where you're kind of just like, "I'm done with this" - I just kind of want advice, like how do you keep playing when your energy level might be low or you don't like where the story is going?

Taliesin: Oh, that is never "I'm done with this", what you're seeing is the "I'm trying to make sure no one notices that I'm reading my backstory notes". That's me reading, frantically. I'm a big believer in terror, terror is a great way to keep me up. "Oh God, I don't remember anybody's name, oh God how many siblings do I have oh God."

Marisha: Well, also you write your backstories like the Silmarillion, it's like, so intense. I'm like "my dad was mean to me" like that's my backstory.

Q: For Sam; based on the amazing reaction we've had to your DnDBeyond theme and the Critical Role theme, when can we expect a parody version of the 2010 hit "Like a G6" by Far East Movement as "Like a d6"?

Sam: Oh wow, that's good.

Marisha: Not to be that person, it already exists. The Library Bards did it. So, you should check it out. I mean, do a cover, Sam, I don't know.

Sam: There are more songs incoming, just so you know.

Q: For Matt; you say dunamancy can alter the reality and the fate of the person that wields it - is this an affront to the Raven Queen?

Matt: I would say, given the fact that elements of dunamancy deal with the manipulation of probability, destiny, things like that, the Raven Queen is probably not that cool with dunamancy. Just throwing that out there. One of the few things she's probably like, "Really, guys?" So yeah, I'd say you're on the right track.

Q: For Laura and Travis; do you talk to Ronin about your campaign?

Laura: So, Ronin, every Thursday night he stays with a babysitter at home, but he watches the opening of the show. Like, he loves the theme song so much. I sing it every time I change his diaper.

Travis: Same, like I know there's songs that parents sing to their kids - he's heard the damn theme song every day of his life.

Brian: But do you guys change the lyrics though, like "You shit your pants, I'm cleaning it up now", you know what I mean?

Liam: My kids bust into that song constantly. We cannot play a board game or anything. Someone goes "it's your turn" "TO ROLL" every time.

Q: For Marisha; I'm a huge fan of Jocks Machina and hopefully we'll get to see them on the channel one day - will Beau ever join Jocks Machina?

Marisha: What are the requirements, are there prerequisites for joining Jocks Machina? You're kind of the authority on this.

Travis: Guns. Abs. Likes to lift heavy things. Likes to break a sweat. Likes to whoop that ass.

Marisha: Check. Check. ...Check? Check. Hell yeah.

Q: For Matt; this is a rather involved conspiracy theory question, so excuse me - last year when the party was in Shady Creek Run at the Landlocked Lady Inn, they first arrived and there was a doorman named Champ who Keg knew. The next morning, they went down and there was a new doorman who said he'd been working for the Marduns for a few months and had bright red curly hair and vibrant green eyes and acted rather enigmatic and shady and shifty and was saying they should listen more and that he hoped that whatever they were after, they were on the right path. Later, once they recover everyone, Jester is asking the Traveler where he was, and he says he was always there. So my question is this: was that character the Traveler in disguise?

Matt: [several moments of silence]

Matt: That'd be pretty interesting, huh? That's a unique observation. I will confirm nor deny.

Q: For Matt; now that Fjord has effectively broken up with Uk'otoa, what do you think would be a more compelling storyline, or what are you most interested to see: him continue to take levels in warlock, possibly with an Archfey patron, or paladin...?

Matt: Part of what I really enjoy about this game is how the players continuously surprise me. I'm down to see what journey Travis wants to take. I'm curious to see how he takes this next path in his journey and which elements he wants to maintain, what direction he wants to go - he seems to be really finding interest in the Wildmother and talking to Caduceus about that, and that's kind of been an element of breaking that pact at the time, so I'm curious if he's going to continue down that path or see this as a blank slate to continue to grow. I'm interested to see the different decisions that Fjord takes, and Travis does through Fjord, and kind of adjust and build the narrative for that character around that. I can't say I have a specific path that I'm hoping for, because I have no idea what Travis's direct interest is, beyond just the actions he's taken in the game. Yeah, I'm just excited to see where it goes. I really love the idea of not knowing that as the Dungeon Master. As much as it's me building and world-planning, many of you out there who run games as GM know the most exciting part of the game is after all that prep, coming to the table and the players completely surprise you, and you kind of have to think on your feet and go with it. That's the best part of the game for me.

Q: For Marisha; what inspired you to play Beau a bit more shaken about her near-death than some of the other characters?

Marisha: Well, I was at 2 hit points the whole time - Liam can attest to that. So you know, I was kind of role-playing that. Shit's crazy man.

Q: For Liam; so you play your characters, both Vax and Caleb, very emotionally without any hesitation, and you're an experienced actor. What I wanted to ask was, something that people who try to emulate Critical Role don't realize that can happen when you try to put yourself into the character and get emotionally invested is character bleed. I was wondering how you deal with that, if you do at all. Like, if something really emotionally devastating happens to Vax or to Caleb, how does it affect you and how do you deal with it?

Liam: These feel like synthetic memories, so any time the superimposed fantasy friend gets killed or has to leave or whatever happens - that shit we carry around and get upset about. Every time we leave on a cliffhanger and someone's gonna die, we think about it constantly. Vax helped me sort through things, but made me more loyal and determined and willing to take chances - which in life I generally try to avoid conflict. Caleb, I still kind of drive around and think about him and still go, like "why did you do that?" He's really messed up, if I just think like, fireballs and cats like it's fun, and we can make dick jokes and it's fun. But if I really take a minute, I just go "Oh". I feel bad for him, I feel really bad for him. I have fun playing the game, and I love these guys, and I feel bad for my character.

Follow-up Q: Do you have ways that you learned to process that, like if you're at home feeling bummed about something that happened on a Thursday night, and you're like "man I need to get out of this funk"?

Liam: Yeah, I pull my head out of the game. I'll play a game with my kid, or watch a movie with my wife, or go running. Running is great. Not for your knees, but everything else. Or spend time with these guys out of the game. There's lots of ways. We're really invested in their stories, so it sort of drags along like coattails wherever we go.

Matt: To give you examples too, when he says "hanging out with friends", the group that's there, your friends that are in this game that you trust enough? You should all also support each other when those dark moments happen outside of the game. Whenever we lose a character in the game, we have like a wake. We go to an Irish pub that we go to often in Burbank, and we all get drinks and we have a wake for that character. And it's part of that process too. Even though it's imaginary, there's a part of that experience and journey that's come to an end and that deserves its respect as well, and we're all there to support the player. As a playing group, be there for your friends who may be going through that experience, because even though it is make-believe and it's a game, that is still a loss. And that's not a bad thing either. Loss is an important thing to process, because life comes with loss. Part of the wonderful experiences of role-playing games is that it allows us a safe space to explore very positive and very negative emotions in a healthy way and make us better people for it. So just be there for them, be supportive, and be the best friends and co-players you can be.

Liam: Part of the reason, I think, that we get upset when these fictional characters are killed is because we're playing this game of imagination together, and we form a chemistry together where we're like "we get to do this together, and it's always like this, and you're always funny like that, and you're always intense like this" and we really love that chemistry. Then somebody gets killed and they're gone, and that chemistry, which is something that we're like addicted to and love, that chemistry is gone. Like, when Molly was gone. Beau and Molly had this great "fuck you" "fuck you" butting heads thing - that's gone. We're actors, but anyone who plays this game extensively, you love the sort-of second life that you create for yourself and then when the character is gone, you don't have that unique mix anymore.

Q: For Laura; I really love how you play Vex and Jester, even though as two characters, they're pretty different from each other. But sometimes, you have an instance where like, your Laura shows. So I actually just wanted to ask, what was the biggest disconnect you've ever experienced between player versus character? If you've ever felt like, you as a person, as a player, would never ever make a choice in a situation versus what your character would do in that same situation.

Laura: I feel like everything my characters do, I wouldn't do in real life. Like, especially Jester. Travis and I have had these conversations: the joy of playing a character like Jester or like Grog, where you don't have to filter yourself - everybody, I assume, has these random really stupid things that pop up in your brain and you don't say them because everyone would judge you, and they're weird - and as these characters, you just embrace it, and it is so much fun. Talk about character bleed - it is an issue that I deal with now, because Jester has had that effect on me, and so I tend to say stupider things in real life now. No, but I would never deface anything in public, I would never steal anything.

Travis: You're not gonna attach any dicks on the walls.

Laura: I would not attach a dick to a wall in public. Or anywhere. I do eat a lot of donuts though, that's on me.

Q: For Matt; we've explored several places in the multiverse in your games, like the City of Brass, the Feywild, places like that - are there any places in the multiverse like the Astral Sea or somewhere that you, either as a player or as a GM, would have liked to have gone but have never had the time or resources to do?

Matt: Interesting. I do have some places that I really would like to explore, whether in this campaign or campaigns down the road. Astral Sea is interesting, it's a really weird amorphous plane, and I just love the prospect of one day throwing an Astral Dreadnought at these poor guys. He's my second to the Tarrasque. Oh they're fun, they're a good time. I've always loved Planescape. The City of Sigil would be great for obvious reasons of course. So I can be like, "no guys, this is where I learned my wrong pronunciation". But the City of Doors is awesome. Lady of Pain is a great element. Those who watched the Search for Bob oneshot, there was a Lady of Pain reference dropped in there. If you missed it, you can go back and look. Maybe there's a few doors in Sigil that lead to Exandria, who knows. Think about that for your home campaigns, huh? I want to go into some deep Abyssal planes too. We've been to the City of Dis, we've seen a little bit of the Nine Hells of Baator, though maybe not the harsher places. There's so many to explore!

Q: For Sam; Matt has said on Twitter that one of the ways you guys handle the pressures of the Kickstarter and the intense dramatic moments in the campaign is by checking in with each other and checking in on each other's mental health. I know you take on a lot of responsibilities with doing the DnDBeyond ads and the songs that you write and also your characters are often joking around with other characters and giving them a hard time so I was wondering, from your perspective, if you could give some details, without giving away anything too personal, on how to properly mentally check-in with your fellow players and just help everybody and check that everybody is doing okay.

Sam: Well, I'm learning from these guys, as we go, how best to do that. I'm weird in that, as weird as I am on-screen, I don't really talk very much when we're off-screen, or I keep my stuff to myself, more than some of these guys do. But they have, in the last few years, helped me sort of connect more with my best friends here. You know, we do check in a lot with each other, thanks to Matt and thanks to all of us. For instance, yesterday morning we all had breakfast together. It was really nice - we just talked about stuff, and it was just great to just sort of reconnect with everybody. I'm not an expert at this in any way, and in fact, on this stage, I am the least good at it, but I have endeavoured to become better at it. Opening yourself up to your friends and feeling comfortable enough to share your past or your worries for the future with your friends and not getting any judgement back is like, the greatest gift. If you have that with one person, it's amazing. If you have that with all of these people? Holy moly, it's the greatest thing in the world. I've tried to be better at sharing my stuff with them and being there for them. That's all I can do.

Q: For Marisha; in campaign one with Vox Machina, there's a lot of powerful badass lady NPCs, so if by chance, it all worked out timewise, who do you think Beau would be most likely to have a crush on?

Marisha: Kima. Yeah. Keyleth very much emulated Allura, and really looked up to her and kind of looked at her as a powerful female figurehead and took notes for leadership through her. Beau would just wanna fuck.

Q: For Liam; what do characters do in the campaign that you find funny no matter how old it gets?

Liam: Everybody throw in on this one. I'll never get over Laura waggling her eyebrow every third word in the game.

Taliesin: Slow snicker every time there's even vaguely a possibility of a dick joke.

Travis: I'd say every time there's a pain reaction out of Nott. It is hysterical to me.

Liam: I like any time, just the concept of death comes up or Molly - anywhere, in the game, out of the game - one of these people would be like, "Like you, you're dead!"

Laura: Uk'otoa.

Q: For Laura; do you think the volcano would be a good spot for Traveler on?

Laura (using Jester's voice): Okay here's the thing. Like, I totally did at first and I need to talk to him, because I think that now it's probably not, because it wasn't very expansive really, as big as I thought it would be, and there wasn't like a lot of beds, and like, no real good food. So, I don't know how many people are coming, but like, even just getting to the nearest hotel was really difficult, you know?

Matt: I love the idea that half of your sketchbook is Jester's tiny Yelp reviews of locations in Wildemount.

Q: For Laura; with all of the throwback to Vox Machina and Whitestone in the week before, how are you feeling with all of it?

Laura: I'm feeling very nostalgic.

Laura (using Vex's voice): Also, I would love for everyone to come visit.

Marisha (using Keyleth's voice): Me as well.

Laura (using Jester's voice): And also, if we did, I think we would cause a lot of problems.

Marisha: New pitch - Travelercon at Whitestone. We know the food is good, lots of lodging and room and board, no dead people in trees anymore.

Laura: All of the residuum that you could ever hope for.

Brian: And endless booze.

[Panel end]

[raven-wraith]

This is Actually a Completely Subjective List Written in a Completely Objective Voice, so I’m not Wrong, Y’all just had a Bad Year: A Look at the Best Titles of 2020 A.D.

By Orova

I feel like a recap or an intro that encompasses the past year will be redundant to both the reader and the writer, so I just won’t. Instead, I’ll just say that due to circumstances provided by 2020, I had a lot of time to just shut up and play games. And games did I play. I played a lot of good games[1]. I played a lot of bad games[2]. I bought the newest games that came out[3] and I went back down memory lane with some classics[4]. But at the end of every day, I was completely satisfied with how I spent my time and did what I wanted. So this is a list of the games that surpassed satisfaction, pushed the bar higher, and made me reconsider what a truly great game can be in 2020.

The Last Of Us Part II

This game is a beautiful work of art and storytelling. If gripping gameplay is what you came for, then you’ll be staying for the story. Naughty Dog continues to come out with games that push current gen Playstations to astronomical heights, making that hardware and software work overtime to get a game that becomes so overwhelmingly tangible that it cause the player to stop. The Last of Us Part II is no exception to this rule. So often does this game take lefts and rights when you expect it to go straight that it is absolutely insane how much ground it truly covers. Sneaking about before getting into claustrophobic gunfights feels smooth and natural, the new mechanics and enemies are unique, and while the non-linear parts can overstay their welcome at times, the game is long enough for them to not fill in empty space. 

When I first played this, I was with my girlfriend for the whole journey and at the end, I didn’t feel quite as fulfilled as I thought I should’ve from the sequel to one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. It wasn’t until I returned on a higher difficulty did I find just how much this game has to offer, making the story all the more powerful as every fight truly felt like my last and every enemy made me rethink my choices and decision making and every arrow I fired and molotov I threw felt a nice weight to it that I have to emphasize once more. This game is a beautiful work of art and storytelling as the gameplay speaks for itself before anything else.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

To those that actually care, I reviewed this game when it came out[5] and I was shocked to find how many people didn’t appreciate it as much as I did. Final Fantasy VII is one of the most influential titles of my life that being able to see Cloud’s hair rendered so cleanly in this dystopian futuristic gothic fantasy world was a miracle in my eyes. A dream come true. The action comes in spades with enough sword fighting and magic to make Power Rangers to look like a fucking picnic.

The graphical design of the game, the direction of animation, and the cunning take on a lot of depth we never got to see so early on makes me very excited for future titles to come. There are some downsides, lots involving the side quests and voice acting, but that is just some of its downsides to look past to find the content at its core. Shooting moonbeams out of your greatsword at stormtroopers while in chase on a motorcycle. Take down a tyrannical oil monger as an eco-terrorist. Find cats for a little girl. Is this a Bioshock? No. But is it a game I keep trying to remind myself to not replay? Yes.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remake

Superman by Goldfinger played and my sister laughed as she watched me cry. This game brought tears to my eyes, literally. As I got to relive sitting in my grandma’s basement, I was propelled to complete absolutely everything I wanted to do. This game was a complete package and its delivery was spot on with what a remake should be. A collection on a past game with quality of life improvements, enhanced handling and accessibility, and a software overhaul.

The game is simple. Complete challenges, unlock drip, flex on your friends. Usually in that order. But it is finally that simplicity in a new game that makes it such a good title. We wanted the game we knew and loved and they promised that. Nothing more, nothing less, it is exactly what we got. A new soundtrack, updated graphics, and nostalgia not most can achieve is a massive point to play this game.

Huntdown

Contra meets Kung Fury. Why the fuck have you not grabbed a friend and played this masterpiece yet. I mean seriously. If you’ve got a roommate or SO or friend with nothing going on tonight, play this shit. It’s great. Moving on.

Mortal Shell

I would like to address the fact that, yes, this is a souls-like and it isn’t exactly the most friendly game because of it. However, this game came out of fucking nowhere and blew me on my ass. Going back to delivering on a promise, these guys crafted an unforgiving title with little to no hand holding to show that this-THIS[6]-is how you make a souls-like. It is balls to the walls skill based combat where the player has to use what little tools they have to overcome a myriad of enemies. Progress is possible only through rewards and items, meaning there is no grinding or farming, just straight gameplay.

This is a game where I paid half the price for a full game and got, while a shorter title, the enjoyment from a full priced AAA game. It takes no time to complete when the “click” happens and it is a fun, fulfilling title the whole time. There are some incredibly unique mechanics that forced me to break my souls brain and for that, it just makes the experience far more personal. If you aren’t weak hearted, I cannot recommend Mortal Shell enough.

Doom Eternal

When Doom Eternal dropped, my sister was playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. After we both went into respective video game comas from it, we dubbed March 20th Doom Crossing Day. Doom is Doom. Nothing more to say past that honestly, but I will continue my rambling cause I know it’s what you all want anyway.

These guys keep cranking the intensity knob higher and higher. With Doom 2016 these guys said, “Hey, what if we gave the best first person shooter that requires no thinking whatsoever to completely obliterate enemies and zoom around the map at breakneck speeds?” With Eternal, the guys said, “Hey, what if we did what we did for 2016 except this time, we actually have the everyone (enemies and the player) move faster, hit harder, and actually require them to think?” With that, the gore orgy of Doom Eternal was born. Still very much a fast paced shooter with some extra content to fill the pockets of completionists, it delivers in fucking truckloads exactly what it wants from the player. To let loose and fucking floor every hellish abomination in their path.

And the soundtrack, while a sad story, is still one of the best things to listen to in gaming and probably the world.

Darkwood

The only thing that made me stop to consider buying this game was how reliant on a crafting system it seemed. I hate games that force crafting. I don’t know why, so I won’t elaborate. But, done with The Last of Us Part II and needing a survival horror itch to scratch, I sucked it up and bought it. After all, being an indie title for a genre I admire more than most, it couldn’t have been a terrible waste of time. That was probably the single best decision I made during the last year and Darkwood is not lost on me in that sense.

The fact that Darkwood has not only exposed the horizon of top-down horror, but it has experimented and perfected its use for the camera angle is astounding. The atmosphere rides on that perspective and, between the short days of scavenging and talking to the few NPCs you meet to the long nights crouched in the corner of your (un)safe haven, it is never lost. It’s a game where you constantly hear your heart in your ears. The combat can be sloppy at times but the story is one of a kind and its execution is phenomenal. If you are a fan of horror games or roguelikes, I cannot tell you enough. Get Darkwood.

Deep Rock Galactic

After lots of thoughtful consideration, I have deemed this the number one title of 2020. Not only did it keep me and my friends together and in touch during the hard times, it is a shooter that I support with my whole body. You and your friends play as a team of drunk space dwarves, tasked with a mission that sends you deep into a spider-infested planet, where you will have to use your class sets to fight, plunder, and escape the hostile environment.

With PvE at its core and ridiculousness as its foundation, Deep Rock Galactic is a masterpiece of cooperative shooting and procedurally generated dungeon crawling. Blending class play from Team Fortress 2 with unexpected and differing missions from Darkest Dungeon, one will find this lighthearted shooter is an easy, accessible title. With a hint of Risk of Rain to complete its graphics, the game is above all fun. That’s right. It. Is. Just. Fun. Shoot a spider that launches fireballs from its mouth, drink beer that teleports you into the farthest reaches of space, get rich off of gold veins while your team calls you greedy, dye your beard purple, and Rock and Stone in this amazing fusion of PvE and dungeon crawling. 

Thank you for coming. There will be no score. It is simply a list where I feel those that need some new titles after the biggest disappointment of them all[7] should find some great titles in here for themselves. Have a safe next year and be patient. Patience is what will reward you. Practice is what humbles you. Hesitation is defeat. Toodles.

[1] Ghostrunner

[2] Hellpoint

[3] Mafia: Definitive Edition

[4] Silent Hill 3

[5] 9/10

[6] Not you Hellpoint

[7] Cyberpunk 2077 but I mean, we all saw this coming. I had to put it in here somewhere.

[gerbiloftriumph]

The Size of Hope

(also on ao3)

Mordon isn't certain what to make of the fairy tale king his goblin friends captured, and King Graham has no idea what to make of the huge and clumsy goblin who keeps running into his path. The two warily team up, but neither one belongs in the goblin kingdom, and some pain runs deeper than either expects.

(Gen canon-expansion fic putting scrapped fragments from the subtitle file back into the game. Full fic warnings: bruising, canon-typical violence, self-hatred, abuse, Goblins Do Not Make Good Friends)

~*~*~

1/5

(1: Seen)

~*~*~

The king wasn’t what Mordon expected.

The picture in the prize-winning book, so proudly displayed on the pedestal in the royal library, showed a skinny old man in a robe with a drooping face and limp hair. The man they’d brought in wasn’t anything like that. He was skinny, yes, but he wasn’t wearing a robe, and his hair wasn’t gray, and he had a sort of energy to him that the king in the story didn’t seem to have. But he did have a shiny hat, and Mordon supposed that was all you needed.

Anyway, it wasn’t like his friends were all that good at playacting their beloved stories. Mordon privately thought their tattered dresses and cracked wooden swords and lopsided hats weren’t worth the effort when compared to the pictures in the books. They couldn’t get the details right half the time. This man was just as bad at playing stories as the rest of them.

Still.

Even if he didn’t match the picture, he still was the human king. And the king in the story had been terrible. Had let the piper lead the rats away and then locked the gates against him and not let him take his reward, and Breaking Promises was the worst thing someone could do. (Well, big promises like rewards of a kingdom. The other goblins insisted that breaking promises about letting Mordon play with them didn’t count.) So they’d locked the king in the deepest cell, in the maximum security basement with that magical unicorn. They’d even whispered if they should chain him up like the unicorn, just to be sure, but the king in the story had been mostly foolish and “finite,” whatever that meant. In the end, they trusted to the locked door. It was a good way to protect themselves from his cruelty and deception. It made the story right.

But Mordon peeked through the bars, sometimes, carefully. When he was sure the king wouldn’t see him. And the king didn’t seem all that dangerous. He paced in circles and he scrubbed his hands through his hair (dark, wavy, not at all like the book, but sort of like the hair Mordon kept hidden under his helmet. That made Mordon happy, like maybe he and the king had something in common, like maybe Mordon was worth something if he shared a trait with someone so important). Mostly, the king curled up on the little mattress clutching his stomach, or the jar he’d put one of the glowing lizards in, or the shiny crown that still glittered even though the king himself looked so grimy. He hummed to himself, or repeated strange rules that Mordon couldn’t follow, or—Mordon’s favorite—whispered familiar stories.

Stories ruled their lives in the goblin kingdom. But Mordon never seemed to fit in them. He was the wrong size for most of the costumes, and while he’d always wanted to play the hero, he was usually cast as the villain. Or, more often, not involved at all but made to go fetch something one of the players needed, or move something a player needed moved, or do absolutely anything except play.

He liked listening to the king tell stories. Even if they were quiet. Even if they were probably just a means to pass those unending hours locked in darkness. They were still famous tales, soft and warm, with edges tousled and earmarked and gentle. He didn’t linger on the violent parts like the goblins liked to, and his human voice was lilting and kind compared to the growls of his friends. Mordon liked to lean against the cell door (he wouldn’t unlock it, wouldn’t come in and sit on the mattress next to the king, no matter how much he wanted to, because that would be dangerous), and forget about the stone armor that chafed his arms, and the bruises from when his friends kicked him, and the tight feeling in his chest whenever he thought too hard about what the human king saw above ground, away from the damp caves.

Maybe the king was weaving a deception now. Some horrible web that would lead to destruction. But Mordon thought maybe the deception was worth it if it stopped him earning another bruise or four for a couple hours.

~*~*~

Sometimes, Graham felt like he was being watched.

He told himself he was being paranoid. He had been kidnapped. By goblins. What did he expect? He glared at the glimmering salamanders lining his cell. It was probably just them, blinking at him in the gloom. Yes, that was it.

…no, that wasn’t it.

There was something in the hall. He was sure of it. He never caught sight of anything, but he could sometimes hear that gentle scrape of stone armor as someone snuck around in the darkness. Once or twice he gripped the cold metal bars of the locked door and craned his neck, trying to see, but…nothing. Whoever it was could stay very still and very quiet when they wanted.

He rubbed the bruise on his hip. He had tripped and fallen when the goblins had dragged him down here, but his hands had been bound behind him then and he hadn’t been able to catch himself. He’d hit the ground hard. The bruise still stung if he put any decent pressure on it, but it was more of a mild annoyance at this point, the edge of the pain softening. Based on that slow easing of pain (time was otherwise meaningless in this relentless dark), he guessed it had been several long days since the capture.

The bruises on his legs and arms were fresh and sharp, though. The goblins were giving him chores to do, making him clear spiderwebs or sweep endless corridors that never got cleaner (because they were made of dirt), or wipe down splintery wooden steps, or feed the terrifying rat kept in the cell next to his. Normally he was left to his own devices while he did their tasks, but they apparently remembered to be afraid of him when it was time to lock his cell door again. They scrupulously shook him down for any weapons or tools that would help him escape. By literally shaking him. They held his legs and flipped him over and rattled him until his pockets emptied out. They riffled through whatever fell and took whatever they thought looked like he shouldn’t have. His collection of bruises kept growing.

His collection of items was growing, too. He thumbed over the little pile of things again, trying to think up some way to use them. All in all, it was a mediocre supply of junk. Scraps of paper torn from books, worn coins that the Merchant would be delighted to take from him, chopsticks too small and pathetic to break the weighty padlocks that held him and his friends in this prison….

There was definitely someone outside the door watching him.

He kept his back to the door, drumming his fingers anxiously along one of the chopsticks. They wouldn’t make a good weapon—obviously, or else the goblins would have taken them during one of the shakedowns—but even a slim metal stick was better than nothing. Should he confront whoever was out there? Or ignore them? They didn’t seem to want to hurt him (or was he just saying that because they hadn’t yet), but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to scare them away either.

Finally, he said, without turning, “I hear you.”

He heard nothing, but it was the nothing of someone trying to stand perfectly still and not breathe.

“Are you watching me?”

Still nothing. Ever so slowly, he turned, holding the chopstick tight in his fist behind his back. He didn’t see anything out in the gloom beyond the locked door, but that meant little in this oppressive darkness.

“I just want to talk.”

He waited, then stepped forward once, stopped, waited. Still nothing, no movement, no goblin or human responded.

“Can you understand me?”

He started to feel like maybe he was losing his mind. There was nothing there in the first place. But…it still seemed…. Slowly, he reached out for the bars with his free hand, the other shifting into a firmer grip on the hidden chopstick.

“I know you’re there.”

He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure at all. It was so still, so silent. He was being silly.

All the tension in his shoulders drained out and he staggered back, leaning against the stone table, staring blearily into nothing. No one responded. Nothing was there.

Nothing shifted, nothing’s armor scraping ever so softly against the tunnel wall.

Nerves shivered down Graham’s spine, but externally he revealed nothing. Didn’t move. Neither did the darker shadows outside the door. If he squinted, Graham thought he might see the dim shapes of something crouched against the wall. He and the goblin stared at each other, eternal minutes slipping past.

Until Graham’s empty stomach, fed only with slimy prison porridge and questionable meat, cramped cruelly. Graham curled forward with a quiet moan and broke eye contact with the shadows. Immediately, something scrambled away, and Graham staggered forward, clutching the cell bars. He watched the goblin flee down the tunnel. Were shadows playing tricks, or did the shape seem…too big? Almost…. His chopstick clattered on the floor, forgotten, as he thought distractedly about stories and secrets. It rolled past his boots into one of the glowing salamanders, which licked it speculatively and chirped.

Graham snapped out of his reverie. “Aaah, Freckles, don’t—you’ll get it all slimy,” he said, retrieving the chopstick. He had an escape to plan, and there wasn’t a point to thinking about sneaking shadows. There were bigger things to worry about.

~*~*~

Graham could smell it first. It smelled damp, but the good, green sort of damp. The kind that smelled like life. Not the caves’ usual decaying reek. He practically floated off his front toes trying to track it, moving as fast as he dared—never running, never. They might not like that.

Above him, hanging around in little cracks and corners and crevices, there were always one or two goblins. They never seemed to pay him attention. They were lounging or dozing, feet kicking aimlessly in the lazy manner of the entirely unconcerned. But they were still there, and they could still take offense to anything he was doing, and they could conceivably drag him back to his cell with those achingly rock-hard hands and their sharp-as-cut-glass spears, and they could stop letting him out again.

No, it wouldn’t do to run in front of them and attract their attention.

As he hurried down this new tunnel (slower, slower, eaaaasy), the warm, stagnant cave air started to break up. He felt a chill across his face, as bracing as getting hit with a snowball. He could hear rain.

Can’t be. We’re miles down.

And yet, when he rounded the corner, there it was. A vast hole high above him, so much higher than the tallest building in town. Rain poured through it. The heavy gray monsoon sky was easily the most fantastic thing he’d ever seen. He gaped at it, breathing deeply, purging the musty cave air for fresh, beautiful Daventry air. His knees wobbled with excitement and jangling nerves, and he took a cautious step forward, searching the cavern, confirming he was alone at least for now.

Home. So, so close—but, as he eyed the surrounding walls with growing frustration, unreachable. Not a single vine or root grew anywhere low enough for him to even dream of reaching. The walls slanted inward. And he was hardly the best freestyle climber. It had only been a few months back that he’d climbed that magic beanstalk and that—well, best not to think about all the near misses that had held, and that had been with sicky sap from the stalk covering his hands and practically gluing him to the leaves.

He could yell for help, but he didn’t know where this pit was located. Hadn’t seen it in the castle’s vicinity, or anywhere near the town. The goblins would be more likely to hear him before a royal guard, and that…he shivered, rubbing his arms, remembering the bite of tight ropes…that wouldn’t be good.

But he couldn’t make himself walk on yet. He sat, knees drawn up to his chest, back pressed against the gentle curve of the cave wall so nothing could sneak up on him, and he watched the distant storm clouds roll across the sky, listening to the rumble of thunder and feeling the cleansing drip of rainwater against his cheeks.

Home.

He wanted to be home.

~*~*~

Surprisingly, Graham did see that shape again. The creature that had been staring at him in his cell. He was certain it was the same one. It moved the same way, and he had the same gut-deep sense that something weird was going on. Weirder than a goblin underground city with a fixation on fairy tales.

He’d seen the goblins fighting each other. Hitting each other, jumping on each other. He was never sure if they were playing or not, but this time it didn’t seem like play. The familiar one crouched low, almost subservient, and yet it still seemed massive. It tagged along behind the other smaller and faster ones, awkward in its stone armor, often getting struck and kicked and yelled at for its trouble.

Graham was supposed to be doing chores, supposed to be cleaning some corridor or other. But he was well out of the main prison paths, sneaking around in places he was certainly not meant to be. Through barricades he’d broken down, through tunnels that felt disused. He pushed himself closer against the wall nervously. If the goblins walking past him turned, he would be spotted. He’d triggered a few lockdowns already by smuggling an array of loose items that could act like, and were in fact used like, weapons to Amaya. But he figured being caught in this area would spark more than just a lockdown. If getting caught yelling for help in that rainy cavern might have landed him in ropes again, that was probably nothing compared to getting caught in these unsupervised and possibly escapable tunnels.

In the end, the risk wasn’t worth it. There wasn’t much to see. They made the large goblin do some meaningless tasks, kicking it if it didn’t move fast enough (and it never moved fast enough). It carried some heavy pipework around, but it got more jeers for the feat, no praise.

Graham frowned—despite everything, despite his own bruises and fear and frustration, he pitied it. It was doing its best. But its best still didn’t seem to be meeting the others’ expectations. And that felt distressingly familiar.

Graham pulled back when they made to leave the area, ducking out of sight. The large goblin tagged along behind the others, darting up narrow cracks in the cavern walls that Graham knew he could never manage to climb on his own. He was left in the gloom and the silence, thoughtful and alone and, for this one moment, safe and unguarded and ready to explore new options. Maybe he had discovered something that would lead home.

[snarkysims]

Narrated by Circe Singleton

I don’t know what hitting rock bottom is supposed to feel like, but fighting over a guy in front of half your apartment complex has to be pretty close. Especially when said guy barely knows you exist. Jonathan doesn’t even notice me smile at him. Instead, he makes a beeline for his precious Jerilene.  They think they are so stinking cute, with their matching initials and all. Big deal. Logan and Lakshmi already had the market cornered on that.

Honestly, Circe, what are you doing with your life? Once again, I find myself fighting over a guy who doesn’t want me. Fighting Jerilene over Jonathan is worse than fighting Alanna over Diontray. At least Diontray led me to believe that I had a chance with him. He had no problems woohooing with me behind Alanna’s back. When Alanna confronted us, I was sure he would dump her and confess his love for me. But no, he went chasing after her instead. Even after that humiliation, I held out hope that Diontray would come back to me. When it became apparent Diontray wasn’t coming back and that Jonathan was glued to Jerilene, I started dating Mark. 

But I never gave up on Diontray. Even though Mark and I had been together for months, the smallest bit of attention from Diontray at my Graduation party had me back in his arms. I thought this time, this time, he’d finally choose me. Nope. He ran right back to Alanna, Again. And now I’m a two-time cheater.

Mark. Just the thought of his name makes me wince. He could have been devoted to me if I had given him a chance, but the truth is he’s just not exciting. All he’s looking for is someone to birth his hundreds of babies while he plays cops and robbers all day. I’m not about that life. Don’t get me wrong. I do want kids. One or two, three is pushing it, but I know myself well enough to know I don’t want to stay at home with them all day!  I want my bakery as much as I want kids. My bakery is practically my kid right now.

I was Mark’s first. Trust me, that boy has a lot to learn, and I don’t have the patience to teach him. I was relieved when he broke up with me. No one knows I cheated on him, so he came off as the bad guy in front of everyone. I felt bad about that until he hooked up with Megan a minute later. She’s welcome to him. Apparently, he’s had a thing for her for a long time, but he never made a move. He was still messed up from Shonice, which obviously I can relate to given how messed up I was from Diontray. I guess I was his Shonice detox diet so that he could be fresh for Megan. I suppose that’s fair given that I did cheat on him. Still, it stings to see how smitten he is with Megan. He never looked at me the way he looks at her. It’s the same way Jonathan looks at Jerilene, and the same way Diontray looks at a mirror. 

I’m not going to pine over these stupid boys anymore. I’m seeing AJ now, and he’s a real man. In fact, he might be a bit out of my league. He’s way more experienced in the world than I am, being that he’s nearly thirty while I’m only twenty-one. He is so unconventional that I figured he must have some out there job like Medium or Exorcist. He surprised me when he revealed that he is an OB/Gyn Resident at Sapphire Springs General. He’s been stirring things up with the attending doctors by infusing some Eastern practices into his clinical routine, but he says they all seem impressed with him. 

We’ve bonded over our love for baked goods. I blew him away with my cupcakes, and his cheesecake is to die for. It’s almost better than woohoo. Almost. AJ is an amazing baker, but damn, that man’s woohoo skills are on another level. He absolutely needs no teaching. 

But can you build a relationship on cheesecake and good times in the sack?  I don’t get most of the things he talks about.  He’s also quite passive which sometimes makes him hard to read. He didn’t say anything when I cursed out Everson in front of him. Not a frown, not a smile, nothing. His passivity doesn’t appear to come from weakness, though. He seems to have a great deal of inner strength, discipline, and self-control. Watcher knows, I could stand to learn some self-control!

I honestly didn’t expect AJ to ask me out again after the Everson incident. I thought for sure I had scared him way, but he did ask me out again. We’ve gone out on several more dates since then. On our most recent date, he told me he is planning a trip to Takemizu next summer to study acupressure as a means for aiding fertility. My eyes kinda glazed over when he went into the theories behind it, but my ears perked up when he mentioned he would enjoy having me as a travel companion. If we are still seeing each other by then, I will certainly take him up on his offer. It makes me happy to know that he assumes we will still be seeing each other. 

AJ didn’t go to college with me, and he doesn’t know any of my classmates, so he is a clean slate, a chance to start over, an opportunity to avoid repeating past mistakes. And as far as I know, I don’t have any competitors for his affection. But if one does show up, maybe I’ll try buying her off instead of fighting her. 

AJ is straightforward in telling me how much he enjoys my company. He’s also impressed with my bakery. I believe he is sincere when he compliments me. I don’t think he has a player bone is his body. I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, but I think he has potential. I should look up some stuff about acupressure on the Web, so I can halfway hold a conversation with him on our next date.

Next date. I’m so excited there will be a next date with him. With my bakery getting off the ground and this blossoming relationship with AJ, I’m starting to feel something I haven’t felt in a long time.

Alive.

***

This whole arc about Circe and Jerilene’s fight was born from those first two pictures where Circe was thinking about Jonathan. It was perfect that the people she fought with the most (Jerilene, Everson, and Patty) were connected to him. 

Diontray really messed with her head, and she was spiraling out of control. Often the thing that pushes us over the edge is something minor, so seeing a happy J&J was the catalyst for her.

I decided to make AJ an OB because I’d like to have some births at a playable hospital. I wish I had made Jonathan an OB instead of a dentist, but he’s committed to dentistry now, so AJ can fulfill the OB role. AJ will become a playable NPC and will move up to playable status if he and Circe get serious. And I really do hope they get serious.

Jack is going to become a playable outright. Unless some other blond dude sweeps Ashanti off her feet, he and Ashanti are end game. He’ll take Jerilene’s place in the Boyd/Vance apartment. We’ll say Mark invited him to move in after having gotten to know him on the police force.

Since Jack and AJ are already established in their careers, I’m making them older than my Gen 1 Sims who are all 21 or 22 right now. Jack has a memory of going to college, and I’m thinking he’s been on the police force for a few years, so I’m placing his age at 26.

AJ is a Resident, which means he would have already completed four years of Undergrad and four years of med school, so I’m placing his age at 28. His being 28 in the year 2003 means he was born the same year I was. ;)

Finally, Circe should have put up some curtains before she got down with AJ in the kitchen! On second thought, she’d probably want Diontray and Mark to see. 

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Afraid of the Unexpected

Peter Kavinsky x Reader

Words: 1889

Part One

Summary: After the Ski Trip goes awry, you completely rethink your relationship with Peter. All the while, the entire school has turned against you according to the Gen’s plan. You team up with Lara Jean and try and figure things out before the can snowball any further.

Notes: Here it is! I really liked writing the first part of this story and I wanted to give it a happy ending. (I have also now realized that Gwen is actually Gen, so my bad! And I’ll be changing it for this fic) This is also the final part so I won’t be taking requests for more, however, it is going to be on a somewhat cliffhanger, so I might write some smaller sequels just for fun.

Your cousins were protective, to say the least. You were the only girl in the family with four older boy cousins, all very outdoorsy mountain men types. You spent the rest of the weekend surrounded by flannel clad towers of testosterone that wanted to take a pick axe to everyone at your school after hearing what happened. Despite their bear-like personalities, they made sure that you were comfortable all weekend, never letting your cup of hot chocolate run empty.

“How are you feeling?” Your oldest cousin, Adam, wondered, sitting down beside you on the porch. The morning air was brisk but you liked it. You shrugged. “I’m fine.” He chuckled.

“I know you too well, Y/N. You are so not fine.” He leaned forward in his seat. “Has your friend tried to contact you?”

“If you mean texts, emails, calls, and every other known communications device on the planet… then yes.” You sighed. Peter had been trying to get a hold of you from the moment that you left the lodge. The school would be driving back today. He’d be riding the bus alone. With Gen. You felt a sick feeling creeping its way into your stomach. You couldn’t tell if it was guilt for not responding or the impending doom that you would eventually have to see him again. To see everyone again. You weren’t sure if you could face it.

“So who’s ass are we kicking on Monday?” Sam, the more rambunctious of the four, asked, plopping down next to you.

“You are not kicking anybody’s ass.” You objected. He pouted and took a bite of his muffin. “Seriously, you guys have done enough for me. I definitely don’t want to add assault to the list.” The twins, Sawyer and Simon, were only a few years older than you were the last two to join.

“That’s to bad. We were so looking forward to meeting your boyfriend.” Sawyer joked, earning a stern look from his oldest brother. You stared out at the mountains surrounding the cabin and sighed. None of this was ever supposed to happen. You never should have let Peter convince you to go on that stupid trip.

The first day back from break, Peter searched the halls for you, but he wasn’t able to get far without Gen appearing in front of him with a satisfied look on her face. He shook his head and pushed passed her, clenching his fists.

“You’ll be lucky if she shows her face again.” Gen called after him. “This school has enough sluts without her.” Peter froze, still facing away from her. “I mean, she’s probably slept with half the guys in school. After that kiss at the lake, you’d better either get in line or get away from her before she fucks you over to.” Now Peter turned around, fuming.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Gen?” He spat. “Y/N never did anything to you. She was quiet and sweet and kind. She was a better person and a better friend than you will ever be.” He stepped forward so that their faces were only inches apart. “I don’t know why I ever dated you.”

He went to his first class, leaving Gen gaping and alone in the middle of the hall. Once everyone was gone, you stepped out from behind the bathroom door, having heard the entire encounter. You couldn’t breathe. He defended you. Not only that, but he stood up to Gen for you. Your mind reeled as you stepped slowly out into the hallway, only to be intercepted by Lara Jean.

“Why the hell haven’t you been answering your phone?” She exclaimed.

“I’m sorry,” You sighed, “After Peter kept calling me, I just turned it off.” She took your hand and ushered you into an empty classroom.

“You can’t just keep avoiding him. He was a mess on the ride home.” She sat on one of the desks and you did the same beside her.

“You think I don’t feel guilty about just leaving like that?” You sniffed, feeling all of the emotions come rushing back. “That I haven’t wanted to pick up the phone every time he called?” You blinked back tears and tapped your fingers on the desktop. “But I don’t know what I would say.” She blew out a breath and moved so she was standing in front of you.

“Look,” She began sternly, “I know that you’re all about schedules and planning and knowing what’s going to happen next, but you aren’t going to make it through life being afraid of the unexpected. You need to tell him how you feel, and don’t think I don’t know.”

“We’re just friends, Lara Jean!” You exclaimed. “That’s all I’ll ever be to him. I’m the weird girl with her nose stuck in her journals and he’s the all-star lacrosse player. It’s a miracle he even wanted to be friends with me, let alone something more.” You looked down at the floor and Lara Jean put her hands on your shoulders.

“You are so much more than that. And if you really think Peter cares about your differences, then you don’t give him enough credit.” Her eyes were filled with sincerity and you couldn’t decide if that made you feel better or worse. “Now man up and go tell him that you love him.”

“Lara!” You exclaimed, blush rushing to your cheeks. She smirked.

“Let’s go.”

You’d managed to avoid him for most of the morning because you didn’t have any classes together. It wasn’t until lunch that you came face to face. His eyes were filled with so many emotions, you didn’t know which hurt more- the confusion, the pain, or the utter sadness. You took a deep breath, and with the support of Lara Jean standing beside you, you didn’t run.

“Hey,” He greeted softly.

“Hi.”  You replied awkwardly. Lara Jean nudged you forward. You took a deep breath. “Can we talk?” A small spark of hope broke through all of the sadness in his eyes.

“Hey Y/L/N!” A voice called out from across the cafeteria. You turned around to see Curt Landon and his friends, making kissing faces and lifting up their shirts, moaning loudly. Peter’s fists clenched and he started towards them.

“Peter don’t.” You grabbed his arm. You felt a hand smack your ass as another one of Curt’s friends passed by and the group of guys erupted with cheers and laughter. Peter grabbed the back collar of the boy’s shirt and turned him around. Before the boy could react, Peter’s fist collided with his nose. “Peter!” You yelled. Lara Jean pulled you out of the way just before the fight began.

“Oh my god,” She gasped as you watched the fists fly and blood spurt from both boys’ mouths.

“Peter stop it!” You cried, the entire cafeteria egging them on with shouts and cheering. It wasn’t until two teachers burst through the crowd of gathered students that they were able to break the two apart. Peter looked at the tears streaming down your face and guilt washed over his features as he was dragged off to the principal's office. Everything was spiraling out of control and as you fled the cafeteria, Gen’s glare did not go unnoticed.

“You think you're so much better than me, don’t you?” She spat, following you and Lara Jean out of the cafeteria. “You keep to yourself because nobody else can stand being around you. He’s never going to care about you.” Lara Jean kept walking, ignoring her words, but you stopped and turned around.

“You know what your problem is, Gen?” You asked. She seemed taken aback like she hadn’t expected you to respond. But her surprise was just replaced by more haughty anger. “You are so scared of being alone that you tear down anyone that you decide poses a threat, even if it pushes people away. If you were just kind, if you just treated people like a decent human being, maybe you wouldn’t be so alone.” You shook your head with a bitter laugh. “I feel bad for you.”

Without another word, you left with Lara Jean, feeling oddly powerful. You finally realized that Gen couldn’t hurt you. She was just a mean girl from high school that you would forget in two years. She had no power of you and you couldn’t help but smile.

You were leaning on the hood of his car when he finally made his way out to the parking lot. He’d be getting a week of detention for fighting, but the other boy got three days suspension for the added sexual harassment. They’d also be investigating Gen and Curt and the rest of his friends that were involved. Everything was resolved except for one thing.

“How are you feeling?” You wondered, noticing his black eye and bruised jaw.

“You should see the other guy.” He chuckled, pulling himself up onto the hood as well.

“Not that I’m okay with you fighting,” You started, looking up at him, “but thanks.” He shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant.

“Guys should never treat a girl like that.” He stated plainly. “And at the lodge, I wanted to punch all of those assholes, but I needed to go after you. When you left, I didn’t really know what to do.”

“I shouldn’t have run off like that.” You felt shame rise in your cheeks. “I don’t want you to feel like it was your fault, because it wasn’t. I was just so confused and hurt and I felt like you wouldn’t look at me the same way-”

“I like you.” He interrupted you. You froze. “A lot. I think I always have. This whole thing with Curt doesn’t change that.” You couldn’t stop the smile spreading across your lips and the corner of his lips lifted into a crooked smile. You sighed with a laugh.

“The funny thing is, it isn’t even true.” You ran a hand through your hair and he jumped back down onto the pavement, standing in front of you. “We went on one date and when he kissed me and started putting his hands up my shirt, I told him to take me home and we never went out again.”

“Son of a bitch.” Peter scoffed angrily. You shrugged.

“I’ve gotten over it. Some guys just can’t deal with being rejected, I guess.” You were surprised when his fingers started to lace themselves through yours.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the kiss.” He began awkwardly. “I never thought it was a mistake. I was hoping that you feel the same way.” You nodded. You weren’t afraid anymore. He grinned and the two of you leaned in, your lips finding each other with purpose. It felt right. He was your best friend and you were in love with him. Sure things would be complicated, but you didn’t care. Sometimes life is unexpected, but it's often the surprises that make it worthwhile. It wasn’t until you heard the roaring engine that the two of you broke apart.

“Oh no.” You gasped, watching the two massive pickup trucks drive into the parking lot. Peter looked at them with a confused expression as four guys started walking towards you.

“Who are they?” he wondered. You gulped.

“My cousins.”

[secretpeachtea]

Onigiri Miya Tidbits Ch 6

Title: the eagle, the seagull, the crow, and the Brazilians

Genre: gen fic, reader insert

Word Count: 5.3k (whoops)

Summary: Onigiri Miya is now hiring and you just happen to be the right person for the job. The business has been gaining popularity since its grand opening, and many customers travel from different cities just to have a bite of Miya Osamu’s delicious recipes. You did expect some craziness from working in food services, but what you didn’t expect was to be bombarded with frequent tomfoolery from a bunch of attractive volleyball players during your shifts.

disclaimer: manga spoilers

A/N: this one’s a bit of a slow burn (more so than the usual hehe), but I promise it gets better near the 2nd half! There’s not much drama in this chapter, but I think y/n deserves a bit of a break ya feel? Enjoy, my dudes

Previous///Next

Tonight is a special night because it’s ‘Create Your Own Onigiri’ night! Your boss decided to hold this small event to try something new and allow his customers to have some fun in the process. There are laminated onigiri instruction sheets on each of the tables as well as a small customized menu created for this event specifically. You helped him post a couple announcements on social media about the event a week prior to inform the public, and so far, things have been going smoothly.

Osamu is mainly in the kitchen prepping any ingredients for the customers and you’ve been standing at the register as usual. You are pleasantly surprised at how much everyone was enjoying making their own onigiris, and it seems like people of all ages were having fun.

“Welcome to Onigiri Miya!” You greet automatically with a bright smile as the front entrance slides open. A group of very physically fit men walk into the shop with large sports duffel bags slung across their shoulders. Despite the slightly intimidating aura the group gave off, one of the males walked inside with a young child hugging his arm. You scan over all of them briefly and your eyes widen as you make eye contact with Ushijima whom you just met a little over a week ago when the Shiratorizawa alumni visited.

You gave the tall volleyball player a small smile. “Hey, Ushijima-san! What brings you back so soon?”

“You assured me that I should bring my team, and we all wanted to participate in the event today,” Ushijima responded back. “My teammate, Romero-san, is not from Japan, so we wanted to find a restaurant with traditional food.”

“R-right…” You didn’t expect him to actually bring his team any time soon, but you’re still amused at how seriously he took your words from before. You can assume that the only foreigner in the group is the ‘Romero-san’ that Ushijima spoke of. There are probably hundreds of other restaurants the group could’ve gone to for a more cultural experience, so you’re a little giddy that he chose to come here. “Well, it’s good to see you again! I’d be more than happy to help your team have a good time here.”

To Ushijima’s left, another tall figure stood with a resting scowl. His gaze made its way to the kitchen where Osamu was and immediately lit up in recognition. Although, there might’ve been some confusion. “Miya-san, I didn’t know you worked here. Don’t you have practice right now?”

Your boss lets out a short laugh as he looks over his shoulder to look directly at the boy who spoke to him. “Wrong twin, Kageyama-san.”

“Ah.”

Kageyama looks down and glares at the floor mildly distressed at his mistake. There’s a part of you that wants to laugh at his reaction, so you do so internally. Suddenly, you feel someone staring at you, so your eyes shift over in that direction to a male with white hair and round eyes. His stature and overall mannerisms reminded you of a certain orange haired ball of sunshine, so you couldn’t help but stare back a bit longer than you intended. There was a sudden shift in his demeanor and his eyes narrowed at you.

“Why you staring? Is it ‘cause you’ve never seen a volleyball player my height? You’re impressed by the Hoshiumi Korai, right?” The boyish male lifted up his hands as if trying to intimidate you, but in your eyes, he seemed completely harmless.

With a sweet smile, you calmly reply back to his accusations. “Sorry about that. You just remind me of a good friend of mine. He also plays volleyball, and you’re both around the same height. I haven’t seen you play before, but I’m sure you’ve worked hard to get to where you are now regardless of your height, Hoshiumi-san.”

You know you’ve startled him with your kind and composed response when he freezes in place for a couple seconds before dropping his arms back to his sides abruptly and looking away to hide a small grin.

The last two people in the group, whom you assume are father and son, seem to be in their own worlds as they converse quietly. Now seems like a good time to let everyone get settled in, so you step away from the register and gesture for them to follow you. “ My name is (Surname) (Name). You guys can follow me! There’s a table over there that can fit all five of you. Then, I can explain how things are gonna work for today.”

Once the guys all settle in, you stand at the end of the table and point at one of the instruction sheets as well as the menu. “You can pick 2-3 ingredients for your onigiri! One of the ingredients will include meat or seafood and anything else can be a vegetable, seasoning, or both. All of the prices are written down on the menu and there are written instructions on how to make your own onigiri with pictures as guides. Feel free to call me over if you need clarifications. Any questions?”

Multiple heads shake at the same time. You pull out a tiny notepad and pen from your pocket and prepare to take orders. “Great! Then, what can I get for you guys?”

Romero lifts one of his arms to get everyone’s attention and begins to speak somewhat broken Japanese, “Order whatever! I will pay!”

After that declaration, you jot down all of the ingredients that the group orders including some refreshments. “Alrighty! We’ll set up all your ingredients soon on the counter. Once everything’s ready, there’ll be trays for you to take back to your table.”

You bow your head and stroll back behind the counter to relay the order to Osamu. As you’re helping set up some ingredients that don’t require any cooking, you notice that your boss frequently steals glances at the volleyball team with starstruck eyes and curiosity pokes at your mind. “What’s got you looking excited like a kid on Christmas?”

Osamu quickly turns around to face you while holding a spatula in one hand and tongs in the other. Leaning down to keep the conversation between the two of you, he unconsciously lifts both kitchen utensils up in the air with enthusiasm and flashes a childlike grin. “That’s Nicolas Romero! He’s a really famous world class volleyball player from Brazil. My brother and I used to watch him on TV all the time when we were younger, so it’s kind of crazy to see him in person!”

There’s a slight leap in your heart as you watch Osamu’s eyes brighten in joy but choose to ignore that strange feeling for the time being. “Now that you mention it, I think I saw a couple posters and billboards with his face on them when I was in Brazil.”

“I was really surprised when ‘Tsumu told me he was coming to Japan to play for the Schweiden Adlers. I never thought he’d come to my restaurant though!” Your boss is quite awestruck at the idea that such an important figure from his childhood was about to eat food that he cooks himself and it’s enough to elicit a giggle from you.

It’s not long before all the ingredients are set up on four large trays along with a couple beverages. You face the group of males and raise a hand next to your mouth. “Order’s ready for Romero-san!”

Romero stands up from his seat and pats his son on the head to stay put before gesturing at Kageyama to follow him. “Tobio, help me bring the food?”

“Of course, Romero-san!” The setter shoots up from his spot with a zealous expression and immediately follows behind his teammate like a baby duckling. When the two arrive in front of the counter, they give you a short thanks and take their trays back to their table. Osamu subtly glimpses at his childhood idol but quickly looks back down with a flustered expression when he notices you sending him a smirk of your own.

With everyone pretty much settled in, you decide to walk around to the other tables to see if anyone needs any assistance or if they have any questions. You return back to the register after a couple of minutes ready to sit down and take a quick break, but you notice a couple drinks sitting on the counter. The volleyball team must have forgotten to take them when they took their food. Since you didn’t have much to do at the moment, you decide to take the drinks to their table yourself.

With arms full of beverages, you walk up to the Adlers. “Hello, sorry to interrupt, but you left your drinks on the counter. I just thought I’d bring them for you.”

Romero takes the drinks from you and then distributes all of them to each person after sporting a grateful smile. “Ah, thank you!”

You’re about to walk away, but the sight before is almost too ridiculous for you to look elsewhere. All of the men are in the process of creating their onigiris, but each creation looks quite...interesting.

Ushijima’s onigiri is one very large globular rice ball, which distinctively resembles a volleyball, with a few sesame seeds sprinkled at the top. Hoshiumi’s onigiri almost looks like it’s about to explode with how much meat was piled inside the rice and probably would’ve fallen apart if he didn’t have it enclosed around both of his hands. Kageyama’s onigiri is of a decent size, but he must’ve put too much pressure when shaping the rice because it just looks like mush with obvious handprints. Romero is the only person at the table who was able to make a normal onigiri, but everyone seems to be enjoying their time so you don’t think Osamu needs to come over and help.

You finally look at the young child sitting next to his father and tilt your head in confusion when you notice that he’s not participating or eating anything his father made for him. With slight concern, you turn towards Romero. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but is your son not fond of the food? I could offer some other ingredient options?”

“Oh, that’s okay. Everything is perfect!” Romero replies with a knowing look. “Rubens is just a little grumpy since he misses his mother. She met new friends at an onsen and they invited her out to go shopping today. Thank you for asking, though.”

After living in Brazil for a couple months, you were able to pick up on some Portuguese. You’re not in any way fluent yet, so when the older man briefly speaks to his son, you can only make out Romero asking Rubens if he wanted a different onigiri and that he needed to eat to be healthy. The boy’s pout deepens and just simply states that he was bored. Romero sends you an apologetic smile, and you just wave your hand to let him know that you understood.

A sudden idea pops into your head. “Romero-san, is your son allergic to anything? I have an idea to help Rubens enjoy himself more. Would you mind if I try to make your son something?”

“Go for it! My son does not have any allergies, but he does love pork!” Romero nods his head in approval.

You quickly make your way back behind the counter and peek over Osamu’s shoulder as he stands in front of the stove. “Hey boss, do you mind if I try to make something for Romero’s son?”

“Sure. I don’t think anyone needs any help or anything at the moment, so you’re free to do whatever you’d like,” Osamu replies nonchalantly and you tap his arm gratefully.

Situating yourself in front of the counter surrounded by ingredients, you momentarily think about what you want to do. You make the final decision to create two designs for the onigiris that you think Rubens might like. After washing your hands, you gather up all the ingredients you need and even snatch some extra pork from Osamu’s pan. After a couple minutes of putting together the onigiris, you place them on a plate and examine your creations.

The first onigiri resembles a simplified stegosaurus with meat substituting the spines of the dinosaur and some sesame seeds throughout the body for texture. The second onigiri is just a regular rice ball with pork and vegetables, but a couple irregularly shaped pieces of nori are scattered across the surface to resemble a dinosaur egg. Both onigiris lie on top of a small pile of bonito flakes to act as a nest.

You take the plate of food to where Rubens is sitting, a bit nervous since you aren’t sure how he’s going to react. Everyone else at the table just watches curiously as you place the onigiris in front of the young child and his eyes widen. He’s practically mesmerized by his dinosaur themed meal and even some of the other guys are impressed.

Rubens quickly turns towards his father and whispers into his ear. Romero chuckles and pats his son’s head lovingly before facing you. “My son wants to know how you did that. He absolutely loves it.”

A sigh of relief leaves your lips at your successful attempt at making the child happy. The only problem was that you were still in the middle of work, so you didn’t know if you could spend any more time here. Coincidentally, Osamu seemed to have overheard everything for the last couple minutes from his spot in the kitchen. “Hey, (Name)-san. If you wanna take a quick break and spend some time with the kid, I don’t think there would be any problem with it.”

You’re really grateful for Osamu’s leniency, but a part of you still feels bad as you turn to look at him. “Are you sure? I don’t want to skip out on my job so suddenly.”

“Don’t worry about it. The boss said it’s all good.” Osamu gives you a reassuring smile and you take it as your cue to grab an extra chair off to the side and sit beside Rubens. You’re about to grab some rice to begin teaching the boy, but a slight tug on your sleeve makes you freeze in place. As you look to your side, you see Kageyama’s hand near your shoulder and there’s an intense look in his eyes.

“K-Kageyama-san, would you like to learn too?” You ask a bit surprised. Your bewilderment is replaced with amusement when he nods at you furiously and you almost laugh out loud at his excitement.

“Oh! Me too! Me too!” Hoshiumi intervenes enthusiastically and even Ushijima seems to be interested. These guys sure were something else.

In the end, everyone in the group was watching as you demonstrated how to make different designs with the onigiri rice. Rubens finally succumbed to his hunger and began to eat his dinosaur meal, so you were left to attend to the grown up men who listened to you eagerly like school children, aside from Romero who needed to step outside to answer a call from his wife.

“Alright! Now that you have some of the basics down, why don’t you each try to make your own? Just to keep it simple, we’ll all choose a single design. Any ideas as to what you guys want to make?” There’s a brief silence as everyone tries to think of something doable. Suddenly, Ushijima lifts up his phone and an image of what you recognize to be Japan’s adorable volleyball mascot* is shown. You sweatdrop as Hoshiumi and Kageyama clap in agreement at the volleyball player’s obvious, yet adorable selection.

Other than having to give a few pointers to Hoshiumi and Ushijima, it seems like they were doing a pretty decent job at making the character. The one who was truly struggling was Kageyama. He was still putting too much pressure when molding the rice. As he continues to squeeze the rice excessively, you gently place your hands on top of his slender fingers.

“You’re putting too much force in your hands, Kageyama-san. Here, loosen your grip a bit and I can show you.” With that said, Kageyama lets go of his vice grip and allows you to guide his hands over the rice. The two of you stay like that for a couple more seconds until you successfully make a circular rice ball. As the male opens his palms upward with your hands still wrapped around his, his eyes sparkle in amazement.

Kageyama bows his head gratefully and when he looks back up at you, you’re taken aback by the amount of admiration flooding his expression. Your body stiffens when he quickly puts down the onigiri and clasps your hands between his. “Thank you, (Surname)-san!”

“N-No problem.” You feel a bit of heat creep up your cheeks with the way Kageyama was holding your hands so delicately.

The moment doesn’t last long, however, when you suddenly feel someone’s fingers graze the side of your face and a sticky feeling is left on your skin. When you look to see who the culprit is, your eyes fall on the youngest person at the table with one of the most terrified expressions you’ve ever witnessed. Almost immediately, Rubens starts apologizing in broken Japanese similar to the way his father has been speaking, “S-sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”

While you were busy working with Kageyama, Rubens had finished eating and wanted to make his own onigiri since he was still a bit hungry. He wanted to grab more rice from the bowl next to you but misjudged his movements and accidently touched your cheek with his sauce covered fingers. The child felt absolutely horrified and was afraid that you’d hate him for this.

Using a napkin, you wipe off as much as you can from your cheek and then proceed to lower yourself onto the ground to get to the child’s eye level. Mustering up your brightest smile, you try your best to reassure Rubens who looks like he’s about to cry. “Hey, hey! It’s okay, Rubens! I’m not mad.”

You spend the next couple minutes cooing at the sniffling young boy, and once you’re sure that Rubens is no longer going to cry, you sit back down on your chair. You lift up a ball of rice to gesture that you want to help him make an onigiri and he nods his head. You make a traditional triangular onigiri but place two rolled up bonito flakes for eyes and a piece of curved rice on top of the nori to make it look like a bearded face. There’s an almost immediate shift in the child’s mood when you point at the design and then to the empty chair next to him because you had made an onigiri that resembled his father.

Both of your laughs fill the air and the whole situation resembles a heartwarming scene from an anime. You were too distracted to notice the multiple pairs of eyes watching the scene in captivation. Once Rubens starts to eat again, you look up to see some lingering stares. “Is everything alright?”

Two stoic faces avoid your eyes by looking down, while Hoshiumi snaps out of his trance. The white haired male sits up a little straighter before addressing you. “Hey, you’re pretty good with kids, (Surname)-san!”

“I’ve had a couple babysitting jobs in the past. I’m not perfect with kids, but I did pick up a few things here and there,” you respond back shyly.

At this moment, Romero walks back into the shop while pocketing his phone. “Sorry to cut our time short, but I think my wife is coming back home soon. I should start heading out with Rubens. You guys can stay longer if you’d like.”

“That’s okay, Romero-san. I think we’re all ready to leave as well.” Kageyama lifted up his tray which spurred the rest of the other guys to do the same. As everyone helps out in cleaning up their area, you head back to the register to receive the payments for the meal from Romero.

The guys were now all ready to leave, but your boss quickly grabs their attention after taking a glance at a certain framed object on the shop’s wall. “Do you guys mind signing some autographs to put up in the shop?”

“Of course!” Romero exclaims. The rest of the team complies as well and they each sign a piece of paper that will most likely be displayed by tomorrow. Once that’s done, the team stands in front of the exit with their belongings. Rubens tugs at his father’s arms to get his attention and Romero bends down to listen to what the boy wants to say.

“What’s up?....Name?....Onigiri Miya…”

You can’t make out anything other than a few words, so you’re thrown completely off guard when Rubens suddenly jumps up from his spot and waves his arms wildly at you. “Bye-bye, Mrs. Miya!”

You don’t even hear any of the other males voice their goodbyes and leave the shop as blood rushes through your ears and your face flushes into deep crimson color. It seems like Osamu wasn’t spared either as his cheeks explode with heat at the implication. Both of you stand in awkward silence for a few seconds to calm your hearts until Osamu musters up the courage to glance at you first.

His expression shifts a little as he stares at your face. Osamu then points at your cheek. “Oh, (Name)-san. You still got a little something on your face.”

Momentarily forgetting about feeling flustered, you realize that you might not have gotten rid of all the sauce from when Ruben accidentally touched your cheek. “What? I thought I got it all off. Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

You attempt to wipe off the sauce remnants, but fail to do so each time because you don’t know where it is exactly. Osamu grabs a clean towel from the top shelf and slightly dampens it under the sink before standing in front of you again. “I got you.”

Osamu lifts up the towel and starts to wipe at your cheek softly. When your head starts moving too much, he brings up his other hand and places it gently on your neck to support it. There must have been a lot more sauce left than you expected because Osamu continues to hold you in place for a couple more seconds, his eyes never leaving your face. Unconsciously, your own eyes drift around his features and you can’t help but admit how handsome he looked at the moment.

“Oh, young love~”

Both you and Osamu flinch back when you hear one of the customers that are still in the room say their thoughts. When you glance at the table where the voice came from, you see an elderly couple smiling at you while holding hands with one another in a loving manner. The previous blush you had comes back in full force as you remember that the two of you were not alone and in a somewhat intimate position together.

“T-t-thanks, Osamu-san!” You stutter and almost trip over your own feet as you start walking towards the bathroom with hurried steps. “I’m j-just gonna...um...go to the bathroom really quick!”

As you rush away from Osamu, he just watches your back disappear behind the bathroom door. He stands in place quietly as he processes what had just happened and there’s a foreign feeling in his stomach that he can’t explain. He simply turns his back to the bathroom and rubs a hand to his cheek to hide the smile that threatens to creep onto his lips.

Leftovers

You’re currently laying on your couch comfortably surrounded by pillows and blankets while watching a movie on your laptop. Today was your day off from work, so you planned to stay in for the whole day and catch up on some alone time. As much as you want to focus on your movie, your mind starts to wander off.

About two days have passed since you met the Schweiden Adlers volleyball team at Onigiri Miya, but they were still on your mind. Based on the tidbits of information you’ve gathered from Osamu, Adlers and MSBY were rival teams. It almost makes you want to laugh at how different the two teams were in terms of their dynamics and personalities, so you hope to see them play against each other one day.

Suddenly, the ringing of your doorbell interrupts your thoughts and you pause your movie. You stand up and walk towards your door in confusion. You weren’t expecting anyone to visit, so you’re a bit weary as you look through the peephole.

As if the universe knew what you were thinking about before, you’re surprised to see Sakusa standing outside your door with his usual face mask. Swiftly unlocking the door, you pull it open and greet your curly haired acquaintance.

“Hey, Sakusa-san! What’s-” You stop speaking abruptly when you notice two large bags in the volleyball players arms and they look fairly heavy too. “Oh, wow. Are those...for me?”

Sakusa just nods his head and you quickly open your door wider to let him inside to place the bags down. You’re extremely curious as to what the contents were since both bags were covered by tissue paper, even more so because Sakusa was the one to bring them to you. He places both bags onto your coffee table and you’re about to ask what they were for, but he beats you to it.

“Congrats,” Sakusa states with his usual impassive expression but there’s a hint of softness to his tone.

At this time, you’re completely perplexed. “Congrats for what?”

“For graduating.” Sakusa’s reply causes your eyebrows to shoot up. “This is from the team.”

“Oh...” You’re left speechless for a moment as you try to understand the situation and once everything finally clicks, a warm feeling encompasses your heart. “Um...thank you.”

You gaze at the gifts bags for a bit longer with various emotions swirling through your eyes before talking again. “...did the team send you because we live in the same apartment building?”

“Yeah.” Sakusa let out a sigh which made you laugh a bit, but it didn’t sound like he was necessarily bothered by the task.

The male briefly checks his phone and gestures that he needs to leave soon. As Sakusa starts to make his way back to the front door, you follow with light steps to see him out. “Let everyone know that I really appreciate this when you see them again for practice!”

He nods in acknowledgement and the two of you exchange goodbyes before you finally lock the door as he walks away. Without a moment to lose, you rush over to the large bags sitting on your coffee table with anticipation. Just from the first glance, you can tell that there are multiple things piled up, so you’ll just have to take things out one by one.

After removing the tissue paper from the bag on the left first, you pull out something large and fluffy. In your hands is a huge teddy bear that’s wearing an MSBY jersey while holding a small note card that says “Congratulations on Graduation!”. You immediately know who it’s from because the bear’s multicolored fur resembles the colors of Bokuto’s hair. You give the bear a tight hug before placing it next to you on the couch.

The next thing you take out is a miniature set of hand lotions with a small bottle of pepper spray taped onto it. There’s a small note on the bottle that says “It’s dangerous walking home alone at night”. There’s no indication of who the gift giver is, but you know that Sakusa would be the only one to pick out these specific gifts. As you move the package to the side, another small piece of paper falls to the ground. It must have been stuck to the bottom of the hand lotion set. When you pick it up, there’s another note that says “Thanks for the soup”. Your smile widens. It seems like you had guessed correctly.

The last gift from the first bag is a beautiful mug with a sunrise design printed onto it. There’s a Brazilian flag sticking out of the mug, which makes it even more obvious that the gift was from your dear friend Hinata. When you push aside the flag, there’s a limited edition Bouncing Ball keychain inside the mug as well with a cute handwritten card that says “Congratulations, (Name)-san! We should hang out one day to play some beach volleyball like we did in Brazil!”. Your cheeks were starting to ache at how much you were smiling as you reread the note several more times.

You reach out to the remaining bag and pull away the tissue paper. Your nose is immediately assaulted by a pleasing floral fragrance and when you look inside, a large bouquet of flowers comes into your vision. Once the flowers are in your arms, you notice the note sticking out between the petals. Placing the flowers on your lap, you open the small folded piece of paper which says “Hey there, sweetheart. You should’ve let me know you were having such a big moment in your life! I would’ve done so much more, but for now, enjoy these flowers. The irises mean accomplishment and admiration. The peonies mean good luck. The daffodils mean new beginnings. Congrats on your win against school!” You’re quite touched by the amount of thought that went into this gift and based on the nickname, you can safely assume that this is Atsumu’s gift. You didn’t take him as a flower type of guy, but he’s always full of surprises. Nonetheless, you mentally note that you need to buy a nice vase to place these wonderful beauties in.

You thought that would be the last gift since you’ve already opened everything from the four MSBY players, but when you glance into the bag one more time, there are still two remaining boxes. They have the same wrapping, so you assume that they are from the same person. Taking both of them out carefully, you notice that the larger of the two boxes has a note that reads “I know you said you don’t normally eat sweets, so I tried my best not to add too much sugar”. Wondering what the card meant about sweets, you slowly open the lid and see two small cakes positioned next to each other with icing that spells out ‘Tiramisu’ and ‘Dark Chocolate’ on the respective cakes. Your mouth waters at the sight of the homemade desserts, but you restrain yourself because you were even more curious as to what might be in the other mystery box.

When you finally open the last remaining gift, there’s another note inside that says “It’s never too late to celebrate. Congrats, (Name)-san”. When you look underneath the note, your jaw drops as you let out a gasp. Inside was a gorgeous silver charm bracelet that was minimalistic enough for you to wear wherever you went. If the note wasn’t a big giveaway, the tiny onigiri charm attached to the bracelet convinced you that Osamu was the one who had given you these gifts.

The next couple of hours are spent finishing your movie with all of your gifts surrounding you. The inside of your room now smells like a mix of flowers and peachy lotion. The MSBY teddy bear is secured between your arms as you drink warm tea from your new mug while taking a bite out of each cake.

You’re not sure whether or not you want to jump up in happiness or simply cry from the overwhelming emotions, but either way, you’re glad to have met such amazing people the past couple months.

You couldn’t wait to get back to work.

Japan’s volleyball mascot: y’all know that volleyball mascot right? The one Ushijima loves to draw and the one that Hinata has shirt of

A/N: oof you made it! Can we all just give a moment of silence for Rubens for being the best boi? also another moment for the nice old lady at the end ;)

taglist: @kiyoo-omi​​

[bottomtonyhoe]

Drama Kings - Chapter 2

“ Where the fuck were you ? “ Jensen is welcomed by his mom’s angry voice .

“School , apparently . “ He kicks off his Nike’s near the door , then neatly places them in his shoe bin .

“ No . Mr. Sheppard called and told me why you skipped 7th period “ She scolds , placing a hand on her hip .

Screw you , accent asshole who can’t keep his mouth shut .

“ So ? It is not like I skipped the whole day , and hey I got a nearly perfect score in Maths in the last test , so I am good “ . It was true . He knows people take him for a dumb jock who probably inherited his dad’s IQ level , but he never had a problem with the material . He just hated listening to teachers rambling about their glory days .

“ It is not your grades I’m worried about “ She snaps and Jensen snorts . He wasn’t going to have this conversation .

“ I’m going to my room “ he practically runs upstairs , ignoring all the yelling and shutting the door behind him .

God . His room is such a mess .

_________________________________________

Jared spends the rest of the evening texting Gen and Misha . They go on and on about their summer vacation and their funny memories together . Jared warms up to them quicker than he thought , although they are a little weird to be completely honest .

He tries to distract himself with homework so he won’t think about his earlier , rather embarrassing encounter with his crazily hot neighbor . It only works for a few minutes , until he hears a loud guitar coming from the window opposite to his . Led Zeppelin voice blasts across the room and he walks towards his window . the houses aren’t even that close to each other , What the fuck is wrong with this person ?

“ Hey ! Could you turn this down ? HEY ! “ Jared yells and bangs his hand against the window , finally getting the attention of whoever that disrespectful brat was .

Except , he didn’t expect this when the curtains were moved aside .

The hot neighbor from earlier turns to be the next door brat who blasted both their windows with Metallic rock . He looks at him for a moment , then turns off the music .

“ Sorry , man . I am not used to people living in this house . It won’t happen again . “ He says scratching the back of his neck .

If God wanted to purposefully punish him , he wouldn’t create such a perfect looking human being with an equally perfect , deep voice . God dammit .

“ It’s fine “ Jared says and urges himself to move , but he feels glued to the floor .

“ I saw you earlier . You go to my school , right? “ the boy asks , leaning against his window frame . Jared tries not to stutter as he answers .

“ Yeah , I’m Jared by the way “

“ Jensen , So are you a senior too ? “

As in ‘ Asshole quarterback star ‘ Jensen freaking Ackles . This is a cosmic bad joke that God is probably playing . The boy next door is practically Regina George , no matter how dramatic that sounds .

“ Y-yeah , I am “ Jared hears himself say weakly .

“ Ok then . See you tomorrow , Jared “ Jensen throws a bright , too goddamn charming smile his way .

It takes longer this time to remember how to breathe .

Jensen sits down on his bed and writes ‘ Jared ‘ down on his Facebook search . he scrolls through the list of Jareds till he finds a ‘ Jared Padalecki ‘ with a profile picture of the boy grinning , and damn , those dimples .

He knows he shouldn’t be stalking the kid on social media , but he does it anyways . After a few minutes of scrolling , he finds out that the boy used to live in LA before he moved to Chicago . He had a golden retriever dog , but he passed away , but that’s all .

Jensen did that because he is curious . He doesn’t find Jared any more interesting than any other new kid . He is just curious , that’s all .

_____________________________

“ YOUR FUCKING NEIGHBOR “ Jared had to hold his right ear , to protect it from Gen’s mental freak out . He really shouldn’t have told her .

“ That would be an awesome romantic movie , except oh , Jensen is straight “ Misha says , digging through his cheese burger ,

“ Wait , how-“

“ How did I know you liked dicks . You stare dude , not that I mind . Hot stuff “ Misha winks at the last phrase . Jared knows he is bi . he has it on his instagram bio . Who does that ?

“ He practically tried to shatter our windows with Led Zeppelin music “ Jared says , changing the topic

“ Asshole “ Misha sings .

The three of them walk to math class . He looks up to see Jensen taking a seat in front of him .

“ Hey , Jared . “ Jensen turns around , flashing him one of his charming smiles . His freckles are even more fascinating up close . Jared finds himself smiling .

“ So , You are coming to today’s game ?” Jensen asks and Jared shrugs

“ I don’t know . I’m not really into football .”

“ You don’t have to be . Just come watch . Maybe I can make you like it “ . A smirk spreads on his flawless lips and Jared gulps .

God . Is he flirting ? He is straight , right ?

“ Alright “

Then Mrs. Rhee walks in the class and Jensen turns around , a smile still plastered on his face .

God . Jared is royally fucked .

_____________________

Later on , Jared sits on the first bench next to Gen , who starts telling him the names of football players .

“ And this is Tyler Lockwood . A homophobic son of a whore who happens to be your neighbor’s brother in crime . Another reason why I hate the football team , and why Misha had gone home by now . “

Wow . So he wasn’t flirting at all .

“ A bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch “ Jared didn’t know why ( or who ) he was defending .

“ Don’t tell me you got the hots for Ackles “ She whispers , as if it was highly confidential .

“ God Gen . No , I am not dumb enough to like a straight guy “

Or is he ?

“ You’d better not be , Padalecki “ then Gen looks straight ahead .

He doesn’t understand why they don’t like him that much . He was pretty nice to Jared and apart from arrogance and loud music , he is bearable .

But again , he only spoke to him for 2 minutes .

“ Here he comes “

________________________

Apparantly , Jared likes football .

No , He likes how Jensen plays football . They won the game , thanks to him . Jensen takes off his helmet , enjoying the glory of being the star of the match . His name is being chanted , people are praising him and the coach pats his shoulder roughly , with a proud smile on his face .

Jensen looks up at him and their eyes lock , then suddenly , he doesn’t hear all those cheers . He can only see Jensen’s beautiful smile , just for him , and his forest green eyes . He returns the smile with a grin and mouths “ great job “ which seems to widen Jensen’s smile and earn him a wink .

Wait , did he just wink at him ? Wow .

“ Did he just ? “ Gen asks , confusion dancing around her face .

Jared takes a deep breathe , then shrugs

______________________

“ You nailed it “ Jensen hears Tyler praise before he feels his bone crushing embrace . God , they both stink .

“ I know , right ? “ Jensen smiles and Ty punches his arm , both undressing .

See ? Jensen doesn’t find guys hot , doesn’t stare . Why the fuck is Jared so different ? or so beautiful ?

“ Did you see Osric today ? “ Ty asks , getting in the shower and closing the door behind him . Jensen does the same and takes off the rest of his clothes , letting the hot water run down his body .

“ Why ? didn’t do your homework ?”

“ Damn straight . He said he’d do it , but I can’t find him anywhere and Mr, Physics bullshit gave me a load of crap “

Jensen chuckles . typical asshole .

“ So what will you do when we find him ? “ Jensen quickly puts on his black V-neck T-shirt , boxers and black jeans .

“ We ? thought you told me to do my homework myself , Ackles .” Ty says getting out of the shower , fully dressed .

“ I’m feeling generous today . And hey , the kid went back on his word . He has it coming “ Jensen smirks . the truth is , he has nothing to do for the rest of the day and also , he wants to forget all about the Padalecki boy . He won’t act all jerk towards Osric . In fact , it is much better if he is there to hold Ty back . His friend was 10 times the asshole he was .

“ He is probably in the library .Physics advanced class has this new project , so he is probably researching “ he says packing my gym bag .

“ How the fuck do you know ? “ Ty frowns , folding his shoulders

“ Because I passed its test and they added me to their telegram group “ Jensen mumbles , hearing him gasp .

“ You what ? “

“ Dude , it was an IQ test . I didn’t even study much for it and if it makes you feel better , I haven’t attended a single one “ Jensen snaps , not believing Ty became that much of an asshole that he had to explain himself to him . He just chuckles .

“ Man , I should make you do my homework “ He grins .

“ Bite me “ and he snorts .

___________

“ Thermodynamics are ten times easier than this Shakespeare novel , I swear “ Osric says smiling and Jared chuckles .

Jared met the kid in the library , helping him search for Henry’s gas law reference . And the conversation just kept flowing , mostly about English and Physics . Exchanging information and that kind of shit .

They hear footsteps and they both turn to the source . Jensen Ackles and Tyler Lockwood stand near the entrance and he locks eyes with Jensen , but Tyler moves to their table and grabs Osric by his collar , making him stand up .

“ So , you still think it is a good idea not to do my homework ? “ Tyler hisses in his face and Jared’s eyes widen . So that’s why Misha and Gen hate these two . God . He thought Jensen wasn’t that low .

“ Hey ! Leave him alone “ Jared says stepping closer to Lockwood , who gives him a rather amused expression .

“ Look what we got here “ Tyler says and lets go of Osric , turning his full attention to Jared .

Jared wasn’t at all defenseless . He worked out , he wasn’t as built as Tyler but still tall enough . He knew how to fight , he just hated it .

“ Hey hey ! Back the fuck off “ Jensen’s voice rings across the library and he stands in front of Tyler .

“ Your problem is with Osric. Leave the kid alone “ Jensen says getting in his face . If Jared was in Tyler’s shoes , he would be scared shitless right now .

“ You’re scared of that pussy or what ? “ Tyler asks , clearly irritated .

“ You call him that one more time and you will face me . He is with me “ Jensen snaps .

He shouldn’t stand like a girl , feeling all warm while watching a guy defend his honor , but he does . He feels protected , almost enough to make him forget what kind of douchebag was protecting his ass , or making him blush .

“ Whatever , man “ Tyler pushes Jensen away and storms out of the library .

“ Hey . Are you ok kid ? “ He asks Osric and Jared narrows his eyes .

“ Now you’re all concerned ? “ Jared asks , not helping the small stutter in his words .

“ Look , I didn’t know he was your friend “ Jensen looks at his eyes . and goddamn it is not the time for Jared to stare right now .

“ And it would be ok if he wasn’t ? “He folds his arms . Jensen opens his mouth to say something and then he closes it again . His hands close into fists . Jared can’t help but notice the veins in his arms . Not fucking now .

“ You know what ? If I didn’t step in , your bacon would be toast . so how about a little credit ? “ He snaps and Jared can’t help but flinch . He looks at Jared for a moment then he storms out of the library .

It really isn’t the time to think about how hot Jensen looked while angry . and why the fuck is Jared blushing right now ?

———————

Next update is next week ♥️

Chapter-1

Masterlist

[thewnchstrs]

Wish You Were Here: Chapter Two

Pairing: JensenXOC(Knightley)

Disclaimers: none

Word Count: 2.6K

S E R I E S  M A S T E R L I S T

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Elliott was awoken by the sound of hurried feet against the wooden floors. He peeked his head from under his arm, his eyes scanning the small room he shared with his four younger siblings. They’d all seemed to still be in bed.

Elliott sat up, counting each of their half-hidden figures. Levi was sprawled out on his cot on the floor, his legs draped over the sides, his blankets balled up around his waist. Jonas faced away from Elliott, towards the wall, he was probably the most peaceful sleeper in the whole house. He looked to his left where Annie laid, facing him, her thumb in between her lips and an arm wrapped around her doll. Elliott had to stand to see William asleep in his bassinet, his arms high above his head and his mouth moving ever so slightly as if he were eating.

When he was sure his siblings were still asleep, he quietly walked to the door, careful not to stir them. He pushed the door open with the flat of his hand, cringing when the door creaked with anguish, but his brothers and sister slept on, nonetheless.

The hallway light wasn’t on like it usually was this early in the morning. He went to flip it on, but the light fixture above him didn’t give off anything except for what seemed like a cough, dusting falling from it. Elliott sighed- he’d known the electricity hadn’t been paid again.

Hobbling downstairs, trying not to trip over his own feet in the dark, he followed the sound of his mother’s frantic footsteps, finally finding her in the kitchen half hazardously throwing a sandwich into a lunch box.

Elliott leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed against his chest, watching his mother before speaking. “Power’s out again.”

Juliet whipped her head to the sound of her son’s voice and Elliott was sure he’d never loved his mother so much. The way she scrambled around the dank kitchen, swapping out the buckets that collected the rainwater falling from a crack in the ceiling while sliding papers into a Manila envelope, red marks and lettered grades being thrown into her bag. She was the definition of a hardworking woman who didn’t get half the credit she deserved.

“I know, Elliott it’s just that…” Juliet sighed, raking a hand through her disheveled hair. “I’ve never been so overwhelmed. These kids I have this year are draining the life out of me, the school board changed the curriculum on us last minute so now all of the high school English teachers have to change all of their lesson plans that we’ve had planned up all the way through February...things couldn’t get any more stressful-”

Before his mom could say anything else, Elliott pulled her into a hug, running a soothing hand down the back of her head. Even though he was only twelve, he was nearly as tall as she was. “It’s okay, mom. It’s all going to be okay.”

Juliet pulled away after a few seconds, admiring her son who she knew, if there was one aspect in this life that she’d gotten right, it was raising her children. “How did your dad and I get so lucky?”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Henry smiled to himself from where Elliott had been standing, watching his son and his wife. He was already dressed for work, struggling with his clerical collar before finally his wife had to step in and help him. Once she’d gotten it into place, she smoothed down his black shirt before pecking him on the lips, smiling against them.

Elliott faked-gagged, his finger in his mouth. Juliet and Henry only laughed, not taking their eyes off of each other.

“Get a room, you two.”

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

I rolled over in bed, my hand expecting to meet Jensen’s solid chest next to me but was met only with the mattress. I slowly sat up, sunlight pouring through the tall windows. I rubbed my eyes with balled up fists, squinting as I tried adjust to the sudden brightness.

The carpet floor was warm beneath my feet as I dragged myself out of bed, not wanting to leave the confines of the blankets. Finally being back home after being away for so long was the best feeling in the world, and sleeping in our own bed was even better.

The smell of sizzling bacon met me halfway down the stairs along with the quiet hum of the record player that had been moved from the living room and into the kitchen. I slowly tiptoed down the stairs, following the music where Jensen was standing with his back to me, flipping the bacon in a pan. A towel slung over his shoulder.

“I met you in the dark, you lit me up, you made me feel as though I was enough,” Jensen sang along, using the spatula as a microphone. He slid across the kitchen from the sink, to the stove, and to the fridge, all as if he were performing on stage. “We danced the night away, we drank too much.”

I held back laughter as his singing became louder to match the volume of the James Arthur vinyl he claimed he’d bought for me, but, in reality,  I knew he loved it. 

Just as he was beginning to finish out the first verse, he whipped around while still singing into the cooking utensil and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me standing a few feet from the island counter top, a hand over my grinning mouth.

I laughed, clapping my hands. “Don’t stop now, the show was just getting started.”

In that moment, I expected Jensen to dash past me and pick the needle off of the spinning record, claiming someone must have snuck the vinyl there without him knowing. Or, I thought he’d say, “Can’t a guy have his guilty pleasures?C’mon!” But, instead, Jensen’s face softened.

Then you smiled over your shoulder,

For a minute I was stone cold sober, I pulled you closer to my chest.

Without hesitation, Jensen put down the spatula and walked around the counter to me. I was beyond confused as to why he hadn’t defended his reasoning as to why he was listening to an overplayed love song. Instead, he wrapped an arm around my waist, and the other hand entwined with mine.

“Jensen, what are you-” I began to ask but he shushed me by kissing me, long and deep and so full of love I was sure I could drown in it. When we pulled away, he only smiled down at me as we slowly began dancing to the music.

I rested my head against Jensen’s chest and Jensen laid his head on top of mine as we swayed. The music moving us along. We didn’t have to say anything, didn’t even have to look at each other. This was enough.

When you looked over your shoulder

For a minute, I forget that I'm older

I wanna dance with you right now

Jensen and I blinked back tears as we danced, thinking of how the last time we did this, it was on our wedding day.

We've come so far my dear

Look how we've grown

And I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old

As the last verse echoed through the living room, I looked up at Jensen, wondering what I ever did to deserve him. I couldn’t find the words- couldn’t express the love I had. “I love you, I love you so much.”

Jensen smiled as he rested his forehead against mine, his hands caressing my cheeks, “I love you, too.”

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

“Rachel Ray can kiss my ass!” Gen smirked as she brought the meat cleaver down onto the steak that was on the cutting board in rhythmic hits.

I robotically tossed salad into the salad bowl, subconsciously throwing in kale and bright red tomatoes without much thought. Usually I would be enjoying this, I’ve always loved cooking, especially with Gen. But this time, I couldn’t stop thinking about the baby situation.

“Hello...earth to Knightley.” Gen said, waving a meat cleaver in my face to get my attention. I blinked twice, turning to her.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just in my own little world.” I shook my head, brushing it off as I tossed the salad, but I could still feel Gen’s eyes watching my every move.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

No, I’m not okay. Jensen told me he wanted to start a family and I promised him we would, but it was an empty promise because I can’t even keep it. And, now, I’m mad at myself for letting somebody else down again, and I’m mad at the world for letting what happened, happen. And now I have to tell Jensen I can’t do the one thing women were made to do.

I glanced through the windows above the sink where Jared and Jensen were sitting by the pool watching Tom and Shep swim. Gen followed my gaze and widened her eyes, “It’s not about Jensen is it? Did he do something?”

My head shot up. I didn’t want to tell her, but I also didn’t want to give her the idea that Jensen had done something wrong. “No! No, it’s nothing. I’m fine, really.

“You just seem a little off,” she said, shrugging but visibly relaxed knowing Jensen and I were okay. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Nice, the guilt card. I’ve known Gen long enough that this is the best way she’s able to get information out of me. However, I couldn’t break. I couldn’t tell Gen what was happening, I couldn’t risk telling her and then Jensen accidentally finding out from Jared.

“Yeah, I know.” I nodded, throwing onions into the bowl, not looking at Gen because I knew if I did, she’d talk me into telling her what was wrong.

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

“And Jensen totally bit it- fell on his face and everything.” Jared laughed, tears running down his face as he remembered when we were on set only a month ago when Jensen insisted on doing his own stunt, which didn’t end well.

“That was not funny-” Jensen said, pointing his fork at him, despite his laughter as he poked another piece of steak from his plate.

“Daddy and Auntie K are right, it’s funny, Uncle Jensen,” Tom said from Jensen’s left side, nodding as he spooned the noodles from his bowl. Shep nodded along with his older brother, agreeing.

I nodded my head, laughing “Tom and Shep are right. It was hilarious,” Jared and I high fived and then fist-bumped Tom and Shep from across the table. Jensen only rolled his eyes, no doubt feigning off embarrassment. 

Odette, who sat at in her highchair next to Gen squealed in laughter, making Jensen shake his head, “Not you, too, kid!”

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

Gen and I gathered the plates from the table as Jared and Jensen went to put down Tom and Shep to bed, each of them throwing a kid over their shoulders as they raced up the stairs and into their rooms.

“You don’t have to clean up, you know. You are our guest,” Gen said as we scraped the remaining food into the trash.

“Gen, my husband is putting your kid to sleep. I don’t think we’re guests anymore than we are family.” I said, scrubbing the plates in the sink and Gen laughed, nodding.

“Tom and Shep love you guys, Odette, too. You’re both so good with them.” she smiled, “You two would make great parents.” I froze momentarily as she said it, just long enough that she noticed. “That’s it, Knight.” Gen turned the faucet off, halting my dish cleaning and faced me, her arms folded across her chest. “What’s going on?”

I laid my options mentally out in front of me. I could either: not tell Gen, which could lead to mistrust later in our friendship once she finds out the truth. Tell Gen, and risk Jensen hearing the news from someone other than me. Or lie.

I knew I couldn’t brush it off like last time, I was too out of my element already. I knew she wouldn’t buy it. That left me with the truth, or a flat out lie.

I began thinking something up, an elaborate fabrication that would definitely put off the real talk until another day, but as I thought about it, my heart sank. I couldn’t lie to Gen. She was my best friend, the closest thing I had to a sister. How could I lie to her?

I closed my eyes momentarily, setting the plate into the sink before grabbing the towel and drying my hands. I looked to Gen who was watching me nervously.

Letting out a deep breath, I knew what I had to do. “Jensen wants to have a baby.”

I watched as Gen’s face went from nervousness to one of confusion and then excitement. “A baby!?” she squealed, but I quickly shushed her, looking toward the stairs to make sure Jensen wasn’t eavesdropping. “But...but that’s a good thing, right? I mean- a baby. I never actually thought I’d see the day.”

“Yeah, well that makes two of us.” I mumbled, throwing the towel onto the counter behind me. Gen immediately noticed my demeanor.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want one?”

“I do,” I said quickly, “it’s just that- I can’t, exactly have one.”

Gen shook her head, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I physically can’t have a child, Gen.” I bit my lip, hearing myself say it was new. I never wanted to think about the truth of it all.

Her shoulders slumped forward as she pulled me in for a hug, holding the back of my head. “I’m sorry, Knightley.”

I rested my head on her shoulder, wishing these weren’t the circumstances, and that maybe we could be having something exciting to celebrate.

She pulled away, her eyes sad. “I don’t understand, you’re so young...do you know what’s wrong?”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to tell her the whole truth. So I just shook my head and fiddled with my wedding ring.

“Did you tell Jensen?” she asked. When I didn’t answer her she sighed. “Knightley…”

“Gen, I can’t tell him. It will kill him. He- he’s been talking about this for the last two weeks. What am I supposed to say?”

“I don’t know, I wish I had all the answers, but you need to tell him. He’ll understand. He won’t want you to go through this alone.”

“What if he leaves me?” I said so suddenly I hadn’t even thought about it, my mouth running faster than my brain.

She shook her head roughly. “No. No, Jensen would not do that to you. Not ever, do you understand?”

I nodded, knowing what I said was stupid. Of course I knew Jensen wouldn’t, but I couldn’t bear the thought of it becoming a reality. So, I had to trust Gen, had to trust that telling Jensen the truth would make this all better.

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

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[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 4]

Still on attempt number one of beating this game with standard Nuzlocke rules + no fighting outside of Trainer battles. A death has occurred, but all in all, it’s been more optimistic than expected.

Barring some unfortunate experiences in a cave.

But it’s time for a new cave now!

Tunnel. Whatever.

Though I lied for the sake of convenient narrative pacing. Before we go inside Rock Tunnel and explore all it has to offer, there’s a trainer outside who is in need of some battling.

Picknicker Heidi wants to battle. She has two pokemon, and the first is a level 20 Pikachu. tfw you miss having a Ground pokemon, but this challenge is made for grief and I shan’t shed tears. Clefairy follows the Pikachu. With, appropriately, Follow Me as its first move. Hee.

Anyway, Allenby handles both.

Back into the tunnel. Where we have a catch waiting for us.

Also Zubat.

Many, many Zubat.

There we go. A not-Zubat.

Caught! I dub you Athrun. I’m never going to do anything with you, probably, but you can stay in the party. In case something goes desperately wrong.

Now, with the power of Flash, let’s explore the part of the game I always hated most as a child. I don’t know if I understood Flash or how it worked or that I would be happier if I had it, but I have very distinct memories of grabbing a flashlight and shining it on my gameboy in an attempt to stomp my way through the cave.

I didn’t figure out until years later that light outside the game was not going to help.

Many of my childhood trials were self-inflicted.

Pokemaniac Ashton is our first contestant of the tunnel. He opens with a level 23 Cubone. I make the decision to switch Noin in, then immediately want to strangle myself because Noin is part Poison. But it works out, and she’s in to deal with the following Slowpoke.

Noin advances to level 25, and that’s the first fight.

A level down, Pokemaniac Winston wants to battle. He has one pokemon. It is a level 25 Slowpoke. Delightful. By which I mean slightly intimidating. Noin switches in, and I start reconsidering Allenby’s position as first in the party.

Shit.

That was a critical hit from Confusion.

...How do critical hits work in this gen?

2x a normal hit. So it normally does 24 damage. So to survive, Noin has to--ugh, screw it, I’ll spend a turn on a Super Potion.

(Normally it does 23 damage. So noted.)

Okay, this is fine.

Noin is also going to move to the front, since Pokemaniacs seem to trump Hikers in this area of the Tunnel.

...It was fine, then Slowpoke used Disable. Yay, okay, still fine.

We continue down the tunnel. Next opponent appears to be a Picnicker, so Allenby goes back in front. I feel like this is going to be a lot of switching things around. For real this time, since those Slowpokes are scary.

Thanks Martha.

Heero can fight the level 22 Oddish. As well as the Bulbasaur.

Another Pokemaniac moves Noin back to the front, and I’m already tired of putting this much thought into what I’m doing.

I dearly love these games so much.

His name is Steve, and he has a level 22 Charmander. Ah. Uh. Heeeeeero. ;-; Heeeeeelp. Then it’s another Cubone, and that one can go to Noin.

My party isn’t too battered from all of this, but the thing that I really dislike about caves is that they make me unwilling to go back to the Pokemon Center even when my extreme caution wants me to. I want to embrace the hover parent. My children must live.

But I really hate walking through caves, so I prefer all of my walking through caves to go forward. Alas.

And of course with the level 20 Machop. Ugh. This is why Noin doesn’t get to be up front for these things. Even if everything else Hikers have is of interest to Noin’s dietary needs.

Allenby will eat that, but the critical hit she also eats means Noin is in for the Onix. Noin hits level 26 and we’re all very proud of her.

Post-fight, Allenby gets a Super Potion and moves up front to fight the other Hiker in this room.

Local man bullies small child.

This one’s name is Allen. He has one pokemon, which is instantly scary. It is a Geodude, and fears are instantly assuaged. ...While Magnitude 7 is going to mean another Super Potion for Allenby. Who has just gone and hit level 27. Yay.

Hiker Lenny is up next. He’s got a level 19 Geodude, and a team count that promises more. Noin is going to handles the others to keep the damage risk at a minimum.

Oh, but then there’s a Machop, and Allenby can have that.

Geez, but Allenby is taking way too many critical hits for comfort. I’m basically using some kind of Potion after every fight. I can’t remember how long this tunnel is, but. I would prefer it to be ending faster than it seems to be going.

Real player characters have maps.

He has a level 20 Onix. And a name I wasn’t looking at when it showed up on the screen. Noin gets the level 20 Geodude so Allenby can please stop losing health. ...Same with the next Onix.

Oliver, that’s the dude’s name.

Hiker Lucas is next, bringing the level 21 Geodude.

...Aaaand a Graveler. For Noin.

Oliver doesn’t.

Picnicker Sofia! With a level 21 Jigglypuff! And a Pidgey?

...Zaft. Let’s... give you a try. Heero might be rescuing you, but let’s give you a shot. You won! You can’t fight anything else until we get you some medical attention, but look at that! A whole fight! All by yourself!

Now get out so Allenby can murder the Meowth.

Realistically, I think Zaft is going to have the same problem Ismail had. The training demands before Zaft can carry weight could kill our little Voltorb buddy. But I love Electrode. I’d like to use one. What I ultimately end up with is likely a question of whether or not I can get the Exp. Share, but still. Something needs to kill my rival’s eventual Gyarados, right?

Hey!

Naisu.

No, you can’t learn Rage.

Hiker Dudley says hello with a level 21 Geodude. I grant the next to Noin. As well as the Graveler.

And there’s a move tutor down here that teaches Rock Slide. That sounds like an Allenby move. Bye, Scratch. You had your time.

A Pokemaniac’s up next, so Noin goes in the front. Hi Cooper-san. Hi level 20 Slowpoke. Hiiiiiiii-oh fuck.

I clicked something.

The window closed.

Okay, let’s try to salvage this. I think Lucas was last. I’ll just... do what it says I did up above and hope I wind up in the same place. One moment that you won’t feel at all, please.

And back. Zaft escaped the Pidgey with slightly more HP left, but everything else is exactly the same, and we’re on the second Slowpoke with Noin.

And done. Nice.

Though when I was checking my team during my replay, there was. a thing.

What. Did. Did I give it that accidentally?

...Pickup can give you TMs? I guess? I don’t even want to look that up, in case it disrupts the magic, but that’s bizarre. Or not, since TMs are one and done in this gen. Still. What.

Okay, now to go up the ladder and figure out if Noin’s 2 Absorbs left will make it until Lavender, or if we’re spending a precious Ether on her.

Picnicker Leah blocks the way. Allenby looks at her level 22 Bellsprout with disdain. Her Clefairy receives similar attention.

Picnicker Ariana has more pokemon. Like a level 19 Pidgey. And a Rattata... is this worth giving Zaft some experience, or should I accept that Zaft is too far behind to catch up.

Let me think. I have three team members that aren’t leaving unless death takes them. The guaranteed encounters are Snorlax and an Eevee in Celadon. Vaporeon was going to be my choice for the Eevee, and I would be delighted to have a Snorlax, but I don’t know how realistic it is that I’ll be able to catch it.

Electrode’s only amazing stat is Speed. But Electro Ball could do some serious murder. So... I could have a glass cannon. Not a safe choice for this type of run, but I said I was expecting to have to do this several times. Fuck it, I want an Electrode. Zaft, you’re fighting a Rattata.

Hoo boy.

Switch training for the next Rattata. Heero can have it. Heero will also stay in for the Bellsprout.

Picnicker Dana has a level 20 Meowth. And a Pidgey for switch training. Heero will take care of it and stay in for the Oddish.

SUNLIGHT.

And battles I will be avoiding until I hit the Pokemon Center.

Aaaah, sweet, sweet healing.

Oh, and the Name Rater’s here! We can finally fix Ren the Pidgey’s name! Making Ren legal! If I ever feel in the mood to train up a level 3 Pidgey!

Back up to the Picnicker and Hiker.

And the walking Pokemaniac I sort of remembered was a Trainer, but got complacent about. I’m not sure I want Allenby up front for this one. Sigh. Pokemaniac Herman. Level 20 Cubone. Okay, that’s fine. Slowpoke goes to Noin.

Now we deal with the people outside the cave.

Aw.

Sorry in advance, Carol.

Level 21 Pidgey. A Pidgeotto follows, so it’s time to play Zaft chicken again. Heero, save our little buddy from the big bird. Yay, Zaft lives to see level 17.

Hiker Clark. Wassup. Hello level 21 Geodude. Noin gets the Onix.

Lastly, Hiker Trent is up. Level 19 Onix to start. Noin takes the Graveler.

Phew. Okay! We’re in the Lavender Town stages of the plot. I don’t think I want to go to the Tower until after the Rockets in Celadon. I might also be buying Zaft Carbos in Celadon. Undecided. I can’t remember how much my money means in this. Really, the current mission is just beating down every nearby Trainer until I am forced to find more by following the plot. The only question is if I go down first or left.

I will flip a coin.

Heads. I’m going down to play with the fishes. Noin, take your place in first position.

Goldeen, level 22. Noin, level 29. Poliwag gives Speed, so Zaft comes out to play briefly. Allenby takes the next Goldeen.

Fisherman Chip is next. Ooh, our first Tentacool. Level 24. Goldeen is Allenby’s again.

Then comes Fisherman Hank. With one level 27 Goldeen. And Noin drank the exp, and saw that it was good.

Fisherman Elliot might be the fisherman I’ve been waiting for. Four pokemon. Could it be...? ...A level 21 Poliwag. Followed by Shellder. A Goldeen for Allenby. The Horsea can be Zaft’s.

Sigh. So many Water trainers. So few Magikarp.

Last fight South of Lavender until I deal with plot stuff. Lesgo. Noin and Heero vs. two level 24 Nidoran. All goes well except for Heero ending up poisoned. Ugh. There’s an Antidote for that.

Back to Route 8, and back to Allenby being in front.

Lass Julia has a level 22 Clefairy in need of punching. The second one is deserving as well.

Gamer Rich has a level 24 Growlithe in a similar state. Heero can have Vulpix so she has something to do. The Vulpix Roars out Zaft. I know better than to leave Zaft in, so Heero gets switched back to save her young one. Then Zaft gets Roared back out and Sonicbooms ftw.

Oh. I thought you were a scientist and switched to Heero in hopes of Magnemite. tfw only level 22 Grimer. And Muk. And another Grimer.

Hmmm. I think I’m going to try to see if I can make it to Celadon without fighting anyone else. I want that Eevee. For reasons of want. And the superMart there has lots of nice vitamins, and knowing how much that all costs will be useful.

Success!

One male Eevee for my first encounter for Celadon. Aiming for a Water type. Hmmmmmmmmm. Ribbons!

Naive, huh? +Speed, -Sp. Def.

Workable.

Look, you’re stuck being a Vaporeon. I’ll make it work, but that’s what I want, and I don’t have much room for choice in this Nuzlocke. Arguably that makes using you against the spirit of everything, but I care not.

Now the important things. Eevee learns Bite at level 30. Vaporeon learns it at the same level. There’s no reason to hold off evolving Ribbons. Now we go to the store and make a lot of decisions that leave my virtual wallet crying.

HA. Um. Yeah, okay, this can’t happen. Cute thought, very optimistic, but I am not spending all my money on drugging my pokemon that might die in the very next fight. I’m going to have to continue doing all the EV management the old fashioned way.

Reflect TM earned on the roof by giving a drink to a little girl. Giving people drinks is very important in this game.

Great, Water Stone and Leaf Stone bought.

Max adorbs.

There’s no reason to delay Noin receiving her Leaf Stone, either, which. is sort of depressing because yikes that moveset, but hey, let’s appreciate the added bulk and not poke holes in it.

Hooray!

Now we return to finding random trainers to fight.

Aw fuck.

A level 29 Rapidash and Ninetales. I am here too early. I put Ribbons in the second slot in the hopes of exp, but that decision might really bite me here. Allenby needs to swoop in and save the day. Hopefully she can.

Yes, she can. Her improbably good aim with Rock Slide continues, delaying its inevitable betrayal.

Yikes, that was scary. I just wanted the Fly HM.

Which I now have.

I’m going to leave Route 16 alone because I think the Snorlax blocking Cycling Road technically belongs to it, and I want as many chances at Snorlax as I can squeeze out. I will also grab the TEA before I head back to beating up Trainers.

As well as whatever my Route 7 pokemon is.

It’s Growlithe!

Hi Growlithe! Imma name you Duo!

And I can now go through the... guard thingies. They aren’t blockades... gates? Those.

Anyway, back to the Trainers on Route 8. Super Nerd Aidan sends out a level 20 Voltorb. Opportunity! Zaft and Heero do the switcheroo to make magic happen. Same with the next. And the Magnemite. Allenby gets the Koffing.

-gasp- A level 22 Poliwag! Zaft, look!

Hypnosis hits and Zaft falls asleep.

That’s honestly fine. You weren’t going to do anything.

Look Zaft, another Poliwag for you to do nothing against. And a Poliwhirl, even!

Every fight I let Zaft participate in, all I can think is how it would probably be way more useful if the teammate helping Zaft just took all the exp. Yet I persist. Because I want a dang Electrode.

Biker Richard wants to battle! Dick. He has a level 22 Koffing. Allenby can eat the second one. The Grimer is clear Ribbons food. Kill it, Ribbons. Kill it with your Quick Attack. Your wonderful Quick Attack that dodges Disables just as well as Minimize dodges everything.

And then Ribbons’ only attack was Disabled. Repeatedly.

Ribbons, let’s let one of the other party members handle this.

Welp.

Nothing can hit the Grimer thanks to all the Minimizes from waiting for Ribbons to get in a final Quick Attack. Sludge also keeps poisoning everything.

Noin finally steps in and kills the wicked Grimer.

Sheesh.

Biker Jaren, please don’t have a Grimer.

Biker Jaren has a level 24 Grimer.

Biker Jaren has a second level 24 Grimer.

Heero burns it.

Heero is a good girl.

Now we’ve got these people I don’t really remember.

I mean.

Hi Lass Megan.

Level 19 Pidgey for Zaft to share with Heero. Given the number of pokemon she has, this feels like a statement I will use multiple times. ...Fine, sometimes there’s a Rattata. Or a Nidoran. Or a Meowth. Or a Pikachu.

Bye Lass Megan.

I’m going to take a brief detour to go get my bike. I never traded in the voucher.

Now I have a bike.

Back to fighting. Lass Andrea is up next opening with a level 24 Meowth. Followed by another. And another. Win get.

Lass Paige is next on accident, because I was running along the side where glasses dude wasn’t looking. Oh well. Order isn’t that important, right? Level 23 female Nidoran, Ribbons, would you like to play? With Heero’s help, sure. Ooh, and followed up by a level 23 Nidorina. Allenby can help Ribbons with that.

Now glasses dude to finish off the row.

One level 26 Koffing.

Heero murders it.

Huh, and then I run into Twins Eli and Anne by accident. Sensing a theme, here. Heero and Ribbons versus level 22 Jigglypuff and Clefairy. No contest.

I think I’m going to give Ribbons Water Pulse so he has the chance to do something when I’m training him. Using TMs in gens where you don’t get them back is scary and blah, but he really needs something besides Quick Attack.

This is probably where I want to go face Erika. Before then, though, I don’t have a Route 8 pokemon.

-quick search-

Oh. Because I already have the ones I can get here.

Alrighty then. Time for Erika. AKA the Heero show.

Time to shine.

Lass Kay up first. She has a level 23 Bellsprout. Had. Allenby can take the level 23 Weepinbell. And we continue. Beauty Bridget up next. She opens with a level 21 Oddish. Allenby goes in for the Bellsprout. Heero back in for another Oddish. Allenby back in for another Bellsprout.

There’s going to be a lot of that.

Picnicker Tina next with a level 24 Bulbasaur. Then a level 24 Ivysaur.

Delete a Grass starter for Flamethrower?

Beauty Tamia is next. Level 24 Bellsprout. Allenby handles the second one.

Cooltrainer Mary almost has a full team. Leading with a level 22 Bellsprout. Level 22 Oddish is next. Weepinbell goes to Allenby. Gloom heads back to Heero. The Ivysaur is similarly nommed.

Two more before Erika.

Lass Lisa with the level 23 Oddish. And Gloom.

Beauty Lori with just one. Level 24 Exeggcute.

Now. One Trainer left in the Gym.

...Is it a popular theory that Erika is just blazed 24/7?

If it isn’t, it should be.

Good grief, and right out the gate we jump to a level 29 Victreebell. One Flamethrower is enough, but that’s still quite the jump, and I wasn’t expecting it. Level 24 Tangela feels more in line with what I was expecting. It meets a similar fate.

Last but certainly not least, a level 29 Vileplume.

And we’re done here. GG.

(Erika also hands out the Rainbowbadge and explicitly only has women in her Gym. Erika is the stoner lesbian leader we deserve.)

Wait, one more thing!

Only hey, we’re not done! We have the Giga Drain TM for Noin!

Best Gym so far for the squad. That seems like a good spot to pause at.