#gi-de-off

[gideoff]

my god, my universe

[sloaneispunk]

“once smitten”

frontman!in-ho x you

what if in-ho falls for gi-hun’s sister in the games?

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ ༊· ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚ ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚

“excuse me, i-” in-ho tried to introduce himself.

“ah, you’re so stupid! how could you take an invitation from a stranger?!” gi-hun scolded you as you stood like a little kid before him, head down with your hands behind your back.

“oh, yes, how can we help you?” jung-bae chuckled awkwardly, turning to face in-ho.

“i was just wondering if i could join your team, i saw that-”

“you’re saying that to me?! you came voluntarily too, again!” you shouted back at your brother, cutting in-ho off again as the team tried to de-escalate the situation.

“give me one moment.” jung-bae excused him, pulling you aside, away from gi-hun to calm down.

“i’m sorry.” apologised gi-hun as he turned his attention towards in-ho, looking him up and down once. “i’m gi-hun, that’s my sister y/n.” he said, pointing to you as you slumped onto the ground.

“ah, i must have caught you guys at a bad time.” in-ho sniggered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“no, no. everything’s fine here, you’re welcomed to join us.”

in-ho gave him a grateful smile, walking towards you, brushing skimmed past gi-hun.

“hi, you’re y/n? i’m assuming?”

you nodded, “you had to ask my brother for permission to join?” you jokingly said.

in-ho took a seat on the floor beside you. “what happened? if you don’t mind me asking.”

“gi-hun didn’t come home for a year after his first game. went on like a lunatic about it when he did come home. then, he was gone, next thing i knew i was ‘happily reunited’ with him again here.”

of course in-ho had already knew all that, but it was part of his ruse to get closer to gi-hun.

“but whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway. i can take care of myself, i don’t need him.” you scoffed, arms crossed.

in-ho couldn’t help but grin at the sight, you were sulking in a corner with him, about the one thing that was possibly the least dangerous in the whole game.

“well, looks like i’m gonna be here for a while so, you know where to find me if you need me.” in-ho said, nudging your arm.

you giggled. “thanks, i didn’t catch your name.”

“young-il.”

“young-il…” you tried it on your lips, it sounded right.

“i’ll see you around.” he winked before he got up, walking off to join the rest of the team.

after that interaction, you couldn’t seem to get him off your mind. somehow, someway, it always went back to in-ho. when you and him were apart, you keeping away from gi-hun, you would sneak glances at him. sometimes, he would even already be staring, making you a blushing mess as you tried to cover it up by looking elsewhere.

after the second game of ‘six-legged pentathlon’, you were sat on your bed with the team surrounding you, all eating the food they had given you.

at that point, gi-hun was fuming. you couldn’t deny that you haven’t been pissing him off but who was he to say anything? afterall, he was the one that abandoned you for this stupid game.

“y/n, finish your food.” gi-hun told you sternly when you left the remainders aside.

“i’m not hungry.” you said monotonously, not meeting his eyes.

“you’re not going to have energy to play the next game if you don’t.” he scolded, raising his voice.

“who cares?”

“y/n. finish it now.”

“or what? you’re gonna disappear again? are you gonna leave me again?” you retaliated, sneering when he didn’t reply.

suddenly, he shot up, grabbing you by the collad as he slammed you into the wall. you screamed, but was silenced when your head came into contact with the rough surface.

“enough, gi-hun!” you heared in-ho yell, “put her down!”

then, you were being dropped to the ground. in-ho ran towards you, grabbing a hold of you before you could fall.

“are you okay?” he asked, brushing your hair aside to see your face.

but you couldn’t reply. you could only look at the ground, tears hitting the floor underneath you.

in-ho couldn’t be assed about anything else at that moment, he gently escorted you to the exit which was heavily guarded. without a word, the guards opened the door, letting you and him both leave without question. maybe if he was in the right mind, he would have been more careful about blowing his cover, but luckily for you, he wasn’t.

in-ho walked you to the bathroom, effortlessly lifting you onto the sink. he took a moment looking at your pitiful form, he felt his heart break.

“can you look at me?” he whispered, waiting for permission before he lifting your chin with his fingers. “let me see your pretty face.”

as you locked eyes with him, you could feel the embarrassment bubbling in your stomach. you were so weak, so vulnerable now before him. “young-il…” you managed to choke out.

he didn’t need anything else, he knew exactly what you needed at that moment, leaning forward to pull you into his embrace. the second you had your head on his shoulder, you sobbed. no one, not even you, knew if he was because you were scared, or angry, or hurt, but he was everything you could feel at that moment and nothing else mattered.

a few minutes passed, when you eventually calmed down and pulled away, you let out a laugh. in-ho was confused, did he do something wrong?

“thank you, young-il.” you smiled sadly at the man before you.

internally, he let out a sigh of relief. “are you feeling better?”

you nodded. you lifted your hand, touching the back of your head, causing you to wince in pain. “shit.” you cursed under your breath as you looked at your hand, a small trace on blood left on it.

“c’mere.” in-ho instructed, inspecting your wound. “it’s okay, i think it’s just a graze.”

he helped you clean your wound, taking care of you like you were his own treasured item, each movement acted out with upmost care.

“he’s not always like that.” you broke the silence as he hummed. “i don’t know what this place has turned him into.”

but in-ho didn’t care, you had just given him another reason to carry out his plan against gi-hun.

when the two of you headed back to the room, gi-hun ran to you.

“i think you should leave her alone from now on.” in-ho stepped in when he got too close for his liking.

“but y/n-”

“fuck off.” maybe it was a little more than personal now, but either way, he didn’t like the idea of gi-hun coming close to you again.

that night, you slept with in-ho by your side, you cuddled up to his side as he sat still on the bed, careful not to move. in-ho didn’t sleep for the whole night, he was too busy admiring your sleeping form and savouring the feeling of you cuddled up next to him. it made him wonder if this could be what it could be like outside the games.

maybe the you and him would have an apartment, maybe even a dog. it would be the epitome of a perfect life. everynight after work he would come home to you, being welcomed by your hugs and kisses. he smiled hard even just from the thought of it.

much often, when his thoughts had gotten the better of him, he would place a kiss on your forehead or draw cute little patterns on your arm.

y/n, y/n, y/n, what were you doing to him?

[forwhomthewordsflow]

Puppy Love

modern!eddie munson x fem!reader

18+ ONLY MDNI

warnings: tooth-rotting fluff, a bit suggestive at some parts, language, more fluff

author’s note: this was totally meant to be a small lil blurb but then i ended up getting sucked into it and well…it ended up being a tiny bit longer than i thought.  also, there’s some legal jargon in here that i totally might’ve misused, don’t hate me! i’m not a lawyer i swear! anywho, i’m still pretty new to the whole writing thing so please go easy on me because i’m a crybaby

p.s. i stopped writing it in order to keep the word count from going through the roof, but if you guys would like a part two picking up right where this leaves off then i’m soooo into that, i really love these two!

word count: 5.3k

Let it be known, Eddie Waylon Munson was not a dog person.  This doesn’t mean that Eddie is a cat person either really, he’d actually be more inclined to categorize himself as a fish person, really.  Eddie can hardly take care of himself, who in the hell would think he could take care of another living being?

Steve fucking Harrington.  That’s who.

Under any other circumstances, Eddie would’ve turned him down in a heartbeat when he asked him to watch his Golden Retriever, Captain, for a week while he’s on vacation with his parents. 

“Dude, c’mon.  You owe me one.”

Eddie scoffed.  “Since when do I owe you one?”

“I–There must be something I’ve done for you…” Steve sighs ,”Haven’t I been letting you swim in my pool free of charge?”

“Yeah, me and every single other member of our party.”  Eddie rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, determined to stick to his answer of a hard no.

“Fine,” Steve huffs.  “What if I gave you three hundred bucks for it?”

At this new piece of information, Eddie perked up.  

“Well, well, well Harrington.  Why didn’t you just lead with that?”  The two boys shook hands, and that was that.

Eddie wishes he could’ve said no, but he unfortunately really needed the extra cash.  The weed business had been slow due to the fact that his usual richie-rich-asshole customers are all off “summering” with their rich families wherever it is that the rich families go to do that shit.  

Eddie figured that he could handle this.  Steve assured him that Captain is well trained thanks to the expensive trainers that his parents hired, plus Eddie would get to stay at Hotel de Harrington while he watched the dog.  Eddie will mind his business, Captain will do his own thing, and Eddie would be $300 richer at the end of it all.  Sweet digs and three hundred bucks is just something Eddie doesn’t have the heart to pass up these days.  

–

Eddie always manages to forget just how gi-fucking-normous the Harrington’s mansion house is.  As Steve leads him through the foyer and into the numerous hallways, Eddie figures he must look like he’s stepping into a house for the first time.  His jaw drops a little at the seemingly priceless artwork that hangs from the walls, the crystal vases lined up on shelves, and the expensive looking furniture placed meticulously all around the house.  He hopes to hell that he doesn’t find some way to fuck something up while he’s shacking up here.  

“I can’t believe you live in this art museum, Harrington.”

Steve scoffs.  “Yeah, it’s all nice and fancy until you think about the fact that all the dumb shit decorating this place could probably feed a small village.”

Eddie stifles a laugh, then hears an excited bark from the other room.

“Okay, time to meet the man himself.  Just warning you, he’s a hugger.”  Steve winks at Eddie and jogs to unlock the door to the backyard.  As soon as the glass door slides open, Eddie sees a blur of blonde fur coming towards him, and then all he can see is the ceiling.

Eddie quickly learns that this is because Captain has knocked him right on his ass.

Captain squirms on top of Eddie, trying his hardest to lick him all over his face and neck while Steve is bent over cackling at the whole ordeal. 

“Okay, okay buddy.  Thanks so much,” Eddie says unenthusiastically while glaring at Steve.  He gently shoves Captain off of him and stands back up, only to look down and realize that his all black outfit is now covered in little golden dog hairs.  This only causes Steve to laugh harder.

Steve straightens back up after being hunched over and sighs, “I warned you man,” then walks past Eddie and into the laundry room, clapping him on the shoulder as he goes.

Captain trots happily behind the boys as Steve shows Eddie where Captain’s food and water bowls are, how much to feed him and when, and where his leash and harness are.  Steve assures him that he doesn’t have to take Captain on a walk or anything if he doesn’t feel like it (he so does not), but he does have a grooming appointment scheduled on the day the Harrington’s set off on their vacation.

Eddie huffs at this revelation.

“I know man, I’m sorry.  My mom had apparently scheduled it months ago and forgot it was on the day we were leaving.  But it’s really easy I swear, you just drop him off at noon, and then pick him back up at three.  It’s already paid for and everything.”  Steve looks at Eddie apologetically, and Eddie figures it won’t be that bad.

–

Eddie was wrong.  He’s only been watching the dog for an hour and already he knows he’s not cut out for this shit.  Captain is stuck to Eddie like fucking velcro.  Who knew dogs could be so needy?  Eddie goes to sit on the couch?  Captain needs to sit right next to him.  Eddie needs to go to the kitchen to grab a drink?  Captain is practically stepping on his heels as he trails behind him.  Eddie has been pretty lenient so far, it’s only a week right?  But he’d had enough when Captain was demanding to follow him into the bathroom, pawing at the door and whining when Eddie wouldn’t let him in.  

Thank god for that goddamn grooming appointment.

Despite being only a couple hours into this gig, Eddie needed some alone time.  

Captain seemed just as excited to get out of the house when Eddie fought to put his harness on him.  He never thought he’d ever be spending a full ten minutes practically wrestling with a 70 pound dog, but Captain just wouldn’t sit still.  After all was said and done, Captain sat and waited next to the front door calmly, while Eddie emerged sweaty and breathing heavily.

–

The grooming salon ended up being only ten minutes away from Steve’s house, which Eddie was thankful for since Captain decided to sit shotgun and stare at Eddie the entire way over.  On the outside, the place looked fancy.  Eddie scoffed a bit at the Grecian columns bracketing the entrance, and the name of the salon printed in gold swoopy letters across the large window panes in the front.  He couldn’t believe people were willing to shell out enough cash to bring their dogs to a place like this all for a haircut.  Eddie looks over at Captain, who is of course staring at him…still, and sighs.

“Here goes nothing I guess.”

Eddie wrangles Captain out of his van and into the salon, hoping to God that these people wouldn’t be able to smell the poor on him.  

What actually occurred was quite the opposite.

Upon opening the glass doors, Eddie was hit with a whoosh of cool air and a small bell chimed to let the employees know that someone had walked in.  Captain was apparently very excited by the gust of air, and decided to jump in circles around and through Eddie’s legs.  While Eddie was caught up in detangling himself so he doesn’t fall flat on his face, he hadn’t noticed you walking up to them.  

“Hi there, need some help?” 

Eddie looked up and could’ve sworn he heard a choir of angels singing.

You stood there smiling at him, the prettiest girl Eddie had ever seen in his 24 years of life on Earth.  He doesn’t think he’d ever had someone smile at him like that before, but he knows he could definitely get used to it. 

While you were waiting for Eddie to respond, you noticed that his dog’s leash was still quite tangled around his legs.  Deciding to take things into your own hands, you take a few steps back and kneel down to the ground to call the dog to you.  He comes bounding up to you, causing his leash to slide smoothly out from under Eddie’s legs, rendering him untangled at last.

Eddie blinks, suddenly he’s untangled and Captain is jumping up onto you, ever the hugger.  

He finally gets his head out of his ass and jogs up to you, grabbing Captain’s leash and yanking him off of you.

“Bad boy, Captain.  We’re supposed to ask for consent before hugging pretty girls.”

Eddie is elated when he spots a blush crawling up your cheeks.  You stand and brush yourself off.

“It’s really okay.  Captain has my consent to hug me any time he wants!”  Your voice had risen to a puppy-talk octave, Eddie never imagined he’d find that so adorable.  You lean down again to scratch Captain behind the ears, and the dog looks up at you with stars in his eyes.  Eddie, having caught a whiff of your perfume as you bent down, is sporting the same look.

You straighten up with a happy sigh and look up at Eddie with a grin. 

“Well then, now that we’re all introduced, how can I help you?”

Eddie all at once forgets why he’s here, caught up in your beautiful gaze.  He feels like he should shield his eyes from yours, lest he burst into flames from taking in your beauty. 

“I’m—uh...I’m grooming.   N-no, that’s not right, sorry.”  You giggle quietly while he tries to finish his sentence.

Eddie laughs at his own stupidity.  

“Sorry.  He’s getting groomed, he should have an appointment under Harrington I think?”

“Sure, let me check on that.” You turn away from him to walk back towards the front desk, and boy is it a treat for Eddie.  You’re wearing a cute company t-shirt, white sneakers, and these perfect fucking denim jeans that cause Eddie’s to get a little tighter.  They must’ve been tailor-made for you with the way they’re hugging your thighs, your hips, your ass���

“Alright, I’m seeing that Captain is just here for his routine trim, yes?”  You look from your computer screen up at Eddie to find him already staring at you with his mouth slightly open.  The look on his face makes you giggle a bit, and this seems to snap him out of his daze.

“Uh, yes.  That sounds right.”  Eddie shakes his head a bit to rid himself of all the impure thoughts swirling around in there.  “I’m just bringing him in for a friend, so whatever’s on there should be right.”

You pretend to type some more as you try and find the will to push down the blush warming your cheeks.  You already clocked that he was gorgeous when he stumbled through the front doors, but how in the hell does he keep getting better?  You noticed the bulge of his bicep when he yanked Captain off of you, the warm chestnut color of his eyes, and now his super-sexy-deep voice?  Being turned on at work was not on your agenda today…

After a few seconds of nonsense typing and very deep breaths, you look back up at Eddie to find him smiling at you.

“That’s really sweet of you, to help out your friend.”

Eddie puffs out his chest (as though he hasn’t been mentally complaining about watching Steve’s dog for multiple hours).  

“Yeah, I do what I can to help.” Eddie shrugs his shoulders in a way he hopes comes across as ’Yeah baby, I’m just a helpful guy.  Super nice, super sweet, definitely boyfriend material..’

You grin and finish getting Captain all checked in.  

“Alrighty!  Captain’s all good to go.  I can get him taken back and then we’ll see you in three hours.”  

Your sweet smile has Eddie captivated until he realizes you’re holding your hand out for Captain’s leash.  Eddie reluctantly hands it over, because now he has to wait a whole three hours to see you again.  You take the leash, wave ‘bye’ to Eddie, and walk through the door that leads to the rest of the salon.  Eddie lets out a deep sigh.

Goddamnit.

—

Three hours turned out to feel more like three days when it meant waiting to see your face again.  Eddie arrived fifteen minutes early to the salon (a first) and waited anxiously for Captain’s scheduled pickup time to roll around.  Eddie strutted into the salon not a second too late before screeching to a halt.

In your place, stood a much older, much rounder lady.  Eddie deflated a little, cursing himself for not finding out if you’d even be here at this time.  He huffs out a breath, and begins walking up to the front desk. 

Then, a thought pops into his head.

Maybe, if he’s nice enough, he can ask the older woman about you.  Then at least he’d have your name and maybe even when you were working next!

Eddie decides it’s time to amp up the ol’ Munson Charm.

His tentative walk turns into a swagger-filled stroll as he reaches the front desk.  Eddie leans on an elbow and smiles a devilish smile down at the woman.  She looks up at him with wide eyes as he dings the silver bell that sits on the desk, winking at her while he does it.

“H-How can I help you sir?”

“Oh sweetheart, please…call me Eddie.”  He goes on after she spends a moment too long gazing up at him, “And who might you be?”

She gulps and straightens her horned glasses.  “B-Betty.  Betty Brown.”

“Hello, Betty Brown,” Eddie can tell his charming smile is having an effect on her, and he’d be lying if it wasn’t boosting his ego a tiny bit.  “I’m here to pick up my dog, Captain.  Brought him by a few hours ago to get his haircut…you know how he likes to impress the ladies.”

Betty nods and takes a deep breath before turning to the computer to try and hide her smile. 

“Okay, Mr. Eddie.  I checked him out with the card on file, he should be up here shortly.” 

“Thanks, sweetheart.” Eddie waits a moment, before launching into his plan.  “I was actually hoping you could help me with a little something else.” 

Betty looks back up at him, blushing when they make eye contact.

“See, when I was in here earlier, there was a really nice girl helping me out.  But, silly me, I completely forgot to ask what her name was.”

To Eddie’s delight, Betty’s face lights up in recognition.  She says your name with so much glee that it’s obvious to him how loved you must be around here.

“Yes, she got off an hour ago.  She usually works the morning shifts, except on Fridays because those are her days off.”

Eddie quickly learned that underneath Betty’s bashful smile was a woman who loved to talk, and he couldn’t be happier for it.  Eddie quickly learned how long you’ve worked here, that you don’t have any pets of your own, and that last Christmas you brought the most delicious homemade cookies for the entire staff.  He also learned that you’ll be working again for the next two mornings.  

Eddie left with Captain and a smile on his face, but not before pressing a kiss to sweet, sweet Betty’s hand.  Thanks to her, Eddie’s confidence is restored and he actually thinks he might have a shot with you.  All he has to do now is figure out what his reasons will be for coming back to the salon two days in a row.  

–

He spent all evening pacing around the Harrington’s house trying to come up with excuses to come see you.  All of the ones he’d thought of so far made him look like even more of a jackass than he did today.  

I thought I might’ve dropped my wallet somewhere around here.  A gorgeous girl isn’t going to want to go out with a guy who drops his shit everywhere.  Pass.

I think Captain needs a little more of a haircut, maybe just another half inch off?  First of all, Eddie doesn’t know shit about haircuts.  He’s been doing his own with kitchen scissors in his bathroom mirror for over a decade.  Second, he would never risk potentially offending you and your work as a dog groomer on the off chance that you’re the one who cut Captain’s hair.  And lastly, for a dog, he’s got to admit that Captain looks pretty damn good after his appointment.  Who knew a dog could look so regal and majestic?  Anyways, PASS.

It was only after Eddie had plopped down on the leather couch with a huff of defeat that he heard the first few plinks of raindrops hitting the windows.  Eddie went to his phone to check the forecast for the rest of the night, and as luck would have it, there was a 100% chance of thunderstorms until tomorrow morning.  As all the pieces of his new plan began stitching themselves together, Eddie finally allowed himself to relax.

–

Eddie used to hate his “backyard,” if you could even call it that.  Behind the trailer was a medium sized patch of dirt, with some sorry-looking green plant-things trying their best to survive scattered about.  The only times Eddie would really look forward to going outside to play as a kid, much to Wayne’s dismay, was when it rained.  Because when it rained, the once dry and grainy surface turned into slippery, messy mud.  Eddie used to love sliding around and making mud pies and all of that stuff, and right now it seems like Captain is having just as much fun, if not more, than Eddie used to.  

The yard was fenced in, so Eddie wasn’t too worried about Captain running away despite Steve’s promises that he’s ‘leash-trained’.  Eddie planned to tell you otherwise though.

‘He just somehow managed to get away from me.  Yeah, I had to chase him all through the mud and dirt this morning.  But I caught him because I’m like, really fast and strong and stuff.’

He does feel a little guilty about lying to you.  But he figures that if it’s something the two of you can laugh over at your wedding someday, then it’s well worth the little white lies.

Eddie’s brought back from his reverie of you in a long, white dress by Captain dropping the mud-soaked tennis ball at his feet…again.

He couldn’t believe how much energy this dog had.  They’d already been out here for twenty minutes and Captain just kept going and going.  Eddie did have to admit, it was sort of fun watching him play.  He even found himself laughing out loud when Captain would get the ball stuck in a puddle of mud and not hesitate to dunk his entire head in to retrieve it.  There was even one point where Captain got so excited and amped up that he just zoomed around in circles over and over again. 

Maybe dogs aren’t so bad after all.

After another ten minutes of chasing around the now mud-covered tennis ball, Captain decides he’s done playing and sits down at Eddie’s feet.  Eddie can’t help but notice that he’s panting pretty hard.  “You must be thirsty, huh?”

Eddie runs inside the trailer to grab a tupperware bowl and fills it with cold water from the tap.  He hopes to god that Captain hasn’t run away already, he’s decided to really put Steve’s whole “leash training” thing to the test.  But sure enough, when Eddie shoves his front door open there he is, sitting nicely at the foot of the trailer’s steps.  Eddie pats his head, then promptly wipes the flaky, dried mud off onto his jeans.  “Good boy.” 

After Captain is done drinking water, Eddie looks him over to ensure that he is completely and totally covered head-to-toe in mud.  Letting out a satisfied sigh, he decides that it’s time for the next stage of his plan to take action.  

He loads Captain into the back of his van (Eddie makes sure to drive especially slow, and Captain pretty much lays down the whole time) and he sets off towards the salon.  

–

Eddie is practically vibrating with anticipation as he puts his van into park.  He’s ecstatic when he sees your beautiful face smiling after two customers as they exit the salon.  Eddie turns around in his seat to see Captain.

“Okay, buddy.  It’s showtime.  I need you to bring your A-game and be a real good wingman for me in there.  Got it?”

Captain tilts his head at Eddie, as though he didn’t understand a thing he said, but then straightens up and lets out a firm bark.  A laugh bursts out of Eddie as he turns the van off and goes to get Captain from the back.  Before rounding the side of his van, and while he’c completely out of your sight, he does a quick smell test on his pits and breath, and then double checks his hair and teeth in the reflection of his rear windows.  After deeming himself presentable, he takes a big deep breath.

“Don’t be stupid, Munson.  Think charming thoughts,” he says under his breath as he starts towards the front door.  

–

You’d be lying to yourself if you said you weren’t sticking around fifteen minutes after your shift was over yesterday in the hopes that Eddie would decide to come back early to pick up Captain.  It’s rare that a guy comes into the salon who looks to be around your age and single, but it’s much rarer that they’re as good-looking as Eddie is.  You spent the entire drive home and the rest of the night fantasizing about his voice, his big hands, his laugh.  You wondered what he did while he waited for Captain’s appointment to be done, what his favorite movie was, his favorite food…But most of all, you wondered if you were making up this mutual attraction in your head?  The nervous stuttering and blushing could just be from nervousness, but he was definitely staring at you a few times.  You also wonder whether or not you had actually caught him staring at your ass…but maybe it’s best not to get ahead of yourself.  Maybe he has a girlfriend.  Maybe he doesn’t even see you that way?  Maybe you should get a grip because you’re basing all of this delusion fantasy off of a ten minute conversation you had with the guy.  Leave it to you to construct a made-up scenario in your head after a short interaction with a new crush.

Be that as it may…you still made sure to carve out an extra half hour to get ready for your shift today.  You blow-dried your hair using your fancy products, spent quite a bit of time on your makeup, and spritzed some perfume on before you left.  You even made sure to wear the same jeans as you did the day before, just in case he was looking. 

The first half of your shift was spent hunched over the front desk, it was an extremely slow day so far.  You found yourself perking up a bit whenever a dark haired individual would walk by the front of the salon, only to droop back down again at the realization that it wasn’t who you wished it was.  With all the rain that came down in Hawkins last night, you figured more people would be making last minute appointments to have their dogs bathed, you’d hoped that today would be busy enough to keep your mind from wandering to a certain pair of warm, brown eyes.  But as your shift crawled towards the halfway point, suddenly things started looking up.

As excited as you were to spot a familiar gorgeous man walking into the salon again, you couldn’t conceal the look of shock on your face once your eyes landed on his mud-covered companion.

“Oh–oh my god!”  Eddie couldn’t quite read your expression, but he was relieved to hear a laugh bubble out of you after your exclamation.  He stood there sheepishly for a moment before he remembered his plan: Be. Charming.

You walk out from behind the desk with a hand covering your mouth, not quite believing what you were seeing.  There stood Captain, proudly smiling and panting, covered head to paw in mud.  Another laugh bubbled out of you, and you were pleased to find Eddie laughing with you.  

Goddamnit, that’s a sexy laugh he’s got.

“What…what happened to you?” You say to Captain, bending down to gently pat his head. 

“This absolute miscreant here got out of the house this morning and found himself a nice, muddy yard to roll around in.”  Eddie looked at you with a grin that made your knees weak.

He looked you up and down while you straightened back up.  Was there a way for someone to get a thousand times more beautiful overnight?

A blush rose to your cheeks as you caught him checking you out.  That settles it, he’s definitely flirting with you.  If he can be so forward about it, maybe you can too.

You look up at Eddie through your lashes, making sure to flutter them a couple times for good measure.

“Aw.  And here I was thinking you’d gotten him all dirty just so you could come and see me again.”

Eddie stills.  

Fuck, he can’t believe how hot you are. 

 Fuck, was his plan really that shitty?  Did you just call him out?  

Eddie’s panicking is subdued by your quiet giggle.  Thank god, you were kidding.

“It’s a good thing you managed to catch him, he looks like the type to go on an adventure in the woods.”  Eddie startles, quickly realizing he’d been full-on staring at you while conducting his mental freak-out.

“Oh, yeah.  I’m–like….fast…” Eddie can feel himself getting lost in your eyes as you stare up at him.  His words trail off into oblivion, nothing else exists other than your pretty smile, the little crinkles next to your eyes, your lips…

Holy shit, is Eddie staring at your lips right now?  Is he going to kiss you?  God, you hope he does, you’ve been fantasizing about his lips for hours now.  You can’t let him kiss you right here in the lobby…can you?

Eddie shakes his head a little, breaking himself from the trance you put him under.  

“Ahem, yeah,” Eddie loudly cleared his throat ,”It was no big deal, really.  He’s a good dog, came right back after he realized he was in the wrong.”  Eddie looked down at Captain, only to find him looking right back up at him, obviously judging him for his outright lies.  Eddie looks up at you, shrugging and shaking his head disapprovingly.  He lets out a big, over dramatic sigh ,”I just don’t know what I’m gonna do with this one.”

“Well it’s obviously not his fault,” you reply, “Look at that face!  That face could never do anything wrong.  I should know, I’m actually his lawyer.”  Eddie spots your poorly concealed smirk and decides to jump head first into this bit with you, excited to see if you can keep up.

“Oh really?”  He crosses his arms and takes a tiny step towards you.  This causes his t-shirt to pull taught around his arms, accentuating his biceps.  Your mouth waters a bit.

“Yes, really.  My client is as innocent as they come.”  You place your hands on your hips and look up at him with a level of sass Eddie had no idea you were capable of.  He decides that he loves it. 

“Huh, that’s interesting.  I totally object.” 

“Are you implying that he acted with intent?  Are you attempting to slander my client?” You place your hand on your chest in a “pearl-clutching” type of way, Eddie stifles a laugh.

“I am indeed.  He knew exactly what he was doing when he ran out that door, the evidence is all over his fur,” Eddie replies.

“My client was just following his nose, any mess that ensued was purely circumstantial.  He is innocent of any and all wrongdoing.”  Eddie feels like he’s got stars in his eyes, he can already picture you fitting in so perfectly into a DnD campaign.  You take his pause as a sign to bring your argument home.

“This is a clear case of prosecutorial overreach.  My client was acting in the best interest of the household, ensuring that the yard was thoroughly inspected for potential threats, pests, intruders, or otherwise.  Any mud on his fur is merely a badge of his dedication to home security.”  You cross your arms, clearly having won this fake-case.  

Eddie takes a step back and starts a slow clap.  You take a tiny bow and burst into a fit of giggles.

“I’m impressed, sweetheart.” You hope Eddie doesn’t see how affected you are by that nickname.  “Where the hell did all the legal jargon come from?”

“I used to watch a lot of Law and Order.”  You look down, suddenly shy with a sparkly feeling in your chest.  You really hope you didn’t come across as super weird.  It’s been a while since you’ve been able to have banter like that with someone else.  Hawkins isn’t a very diverse place, and you’ve found that the majority of the people living here tend to be pretty cookie-cutter conservative.  It feels great to let loose a little with someone you’re interested in, you just hope you’ll get more opportunities to do it.

Eddie, on the other hand, can’t stop looking at you.  Is this what falling in love feels like?  The girls in this town all seem to have made their own assumptions and come to their own conclusions about Eddie: he’s a devil worshiper, a satanist, a hookup to check off their bucket list and then never speak to again.  But not you, obviously.  You don’t look at him with the same disgust in your eyes as everyone else in this town does.  Your eyes are full of a kindness and warmth that Eddie could see himself getting used to.

“So, uh,” Eddie rambles, “What’s the verdict for Mr. Captain?”  Captain perks up at the sound of his name, you giggle at the tilt of his head.

“Hm,” You tap your finger to your chin and look off into the distance, “I think a nice, relaxing bath would do.  Maybe a couple treats, too, for being such a good boy.”  You squat down to Captain’s height to scratch him behind the ears, and Eddie can’t help but cringe a little at the flakes of dried mud that drift down off of Captain’s head and onto the floor.

You grab Captain’s leash from Eddie as you stand back up, walking him over to the desk to get him checked in at the computer.  He’s delighted to discover that you’re wearing the same pair of jeans as you were yesterday, and he mentally kicks himself for sneaking another peek at the way your hips sway as you walk.  Eddie deflates a little at the realization that this might be the end of this interaction.  He never wants to stop talking to you.  

“I’m guessing the card on file is what we’ll be using today?”  You ask sweetly, looking up at Eddie.

“Uh, yeah.  Yeah that’s just fine, thank you.” 

Holding eye contact with Eddie, you murmur “,You’re very welcome,” with a smile.

Oh, Eddie is so totally fucked.

Eddie watches as you walk Captain to the hallway door and hand his leash off to a younger girl.  You happily trot back up to the front desk and lean on it with your smiling face resting in your hands.

“Oh, you– you’re not giving him his bath?” Eddie stammers out.

“Nope.” You reply, popping the ‘p.’ “I’m stuck on front desk duty today.”  

Eddie sighs, relieved that your conversation might not be over.  He puts his elbows on the counter and leans towards you a bit. “Well, it can’t be all that bad.”

Your smile widens and you tilt your head, “I think it’s starting to get better.”

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

tag list:

@anukulee @josephquinnsfreckles

[clesired]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 | 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘 !

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 ! “can i request christmas headcanons about fred? with a reader who isn’t exactly the christmas type but how can you resist lovely christmas at the burrow?” thank you to the lovely anon who requested this <3

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 ! how can you resist lovely christmas at the burrow?

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ! no warnings, fluff, gn!reader, established relationship!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 !

🥥 partner!reader who doesn’t care for christmas because your family never made it a big deal

🥥 bf!fred who invites you to spend the holidays at the burrow because he’s convinced that one christmas with his family will change your mind

🥥 naturally, you’re assigned a room to sleep in when you arrive ( but everyone knows you’re gonna end up in fred’s room anyway )

🥥 you help the weasleys decorate the burrow and end up surprising both fred and yourself with how much you enjoy it

🥥 you get addicted to molly’s hot chocolate almost immediately after the first sip

🥥 ginny helps you brainstorm gift ideas for her family ( because merlin knows what fred and george have whipped up for them )

🥥 molly constantly catches fred trying to get you under the mistletoe

🥥 you somehow land yourself in a christmas trivia feud with charlie ( it ends in a draw )

🥥 every time fred catches you enjoying a christmas activity, he smirks at you all smug and mouths ‘i told you so’ ( to which you just roll your eyes )

🥥 you and ginny gossip in her room while you wait for molly and arthur to fall asleep so you can sneak into the twins’ room

🥥 you spend a good five minutes laughing at the twins when they come back inside from de-gnoming the garden looking like they’d just wrestled a hippogriff ( you take a picture too, of course )

🥥 when the weasleys go out to play quidditch in the orchard, you stay back to help molly with the cooking and the dishes

🥥 you try eggnog for the first time with arthur and end up drinking four cups…

🥥 you cuddle up with fred on the couch while you and the rest of the weasleys listen to celestina warbeck on christmas eve

🥥 when it’s time to open presents, your boyfriend’s family are all pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of your gifts ( thank you, ginny )

🥥 you gift ginny a basket of wizarding skin care and makeup products to experiment with

🥥 you get ron a gift box from honeydukes, filled with his favourites like chocolate frogs, bertie bott’s every-flavour beans, pepper imps, etc.

🥥 george gets a quidditch kit that you charmed to be gryffindor themed and a new striped jumper

🥥 percy receives a nameplate for his desk at the ministry

🥥 you give charlie a new backpack and a journal for his travels

🥥 you gift bill a book on interesting muggle artifacts…with a second copy in french ( wink, wink )

🥥 molly gets a new magical cookbook

🥥 arthur gets the latest edition of the guinness book of world records ( courtesy of a very fascinating conversation with hermione earlier that year )

🥥 fred gets the same jumper as george but in a different colour, a scrapbook you made filled with all the photos you’ve captured over your relationship, a box of his favorite candies, and a framed version of the photo of him and george post de-gnoming

🥥 you’re glad everyone likes your gifts right up until fred goes off and mouths that damn ‘i told you so’ yet again

🥥 but when you open one of your presents and see a knitted jumper with your initial on it, you’re finally ready to admit to yourself that maybe christmas isn’t so bad after all

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 !

𝐤𝐞𝐲 ! fred, you, other people

🐚 “who would dare put a mistletoe up at the burrow!?” “i just watched you conjure it, freddie.”

🐚 “fred weasley, if you don’t leave them alone this instant!” “mum, i swear the mistletoe put itself up!” ( no it didnt )

🐚 “new gift idea, let’s snog.”

🐚 “awfully good gifter for someone who hates christmas, love.” “don’t start, freddie.”

🐚 “who helped you with the gifts?” “i knew it couldn’t have been you!”

🐚 “why would you get this picture framed!?” “because it’s funny…duh!”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 !

𝐤𝐞𝐲 ! you, fred, other people

🫧 “yeah, yeah, i know…you told me so.”

🫧 “gin, you mind helping me figure out what to get your family for christmas?” “of course! who else were you gonna go to? fred?”

🫧 “you totally cheated, charlie!” “did not!” “did too!” “rematch, same time next year.” “you’re on.”

🫧 “arthur, you must tell me where you get your eggnog from…”

🫧 “apologies if the jumper is a bit loose, dearie! i had to guess the size.” “it’s perfect, molly…thank you.”

🫧 “alright, i guess christmas isn’t that bad…” “i told you sooo.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ! a bit past christmas, but at least its still december, right? i hope you lovelies enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

©clesired - all rights reserved. do not copy, translate or share my work on other media platforms.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

xoxo,

mila! *: ･🐚༄🫧*ੈ✩

[diminuel]

Fourth option: despite being cut off and despondent about having ruined things with his little gi— boy, White Beard knows WHO Crocodile is and learns the “rumor” about the pregnancy (or at least suspects it.)

Both Dragon AND Garp get VERY threatening messages in the following weeks (Pops has his ways. And so help him god if he finds out this baby was in anyway unwanted and someone hurt his little g— boy he is wiping their entire family off of the fucking map)

…in the same contingency I can see White Beard trying to sheepishly slowly send hand-me-downs for baby Luffy. It was hard enough when his pri….de and joy cut him off, it’s unbearable for her to be joining an equally prominent family. It’s just too much for him to bare he has to try and reach out (Garp is not helping. He is the best grandpa this baby has by default fair and square!)

(You say fourth option, so this must relate to something!)

When would WB have figured it out? Only after dealing Crocodile a devastating defeat and breaking his will? Or did he do that as some misguided fatherly proof that he knew better for his „little girl“ but only widening the rift and deepening the wounds? Or would that confrontation not have happened?

But it would be interesting to know how he would have found out because surely Crocodile wouldn‘t have told him but Crocodile is a bit of a public figure as a warlord so getting gossip about him or having him watched isn‘t impossible with the kind of network WB must have.

Would Dragon and Garp be surprised by the threatening letters? Would he even bother with letters and not just show up somewhere making it known he‘s „looking to talk/ for a confrontation“ (the fleet admiral might be sweating bullets wondering what the hell Garp did this time to provoke an Emperor! They don‘t need a war!) Even more chaotic if Crocodile hasn‘t actually told anyone that his pops is actually his pops (adopted or blood related. He was WB‘s first child either way, different to the sons he later picked up)

But how sweet that he‘d try to send Luffy baby things, trying to connect with Crocodile again. Maybe it‘d eventually lead to a meeting again. Wah, tiny baby Luffy in WB‘s palm? ;w;

(And of course Garp‘s grumpy about it. But maybe the competition would make him a better grandpa.)

[tojisun]

no, but can you imagine dbf! simon and new boyfriend! toji actually interacting. place your bets on how long it takes for a fight to break out. five minutes or five seconds? and whose "starts it" (because you know that's what they're gonna say, as if they're kids)? i'm betting on toji for that one.

I WENT FERAL READING THIS??? GI OMG 😭

……oki but imagine toji being such a menace that the moment he meets dbf!simon he goes, “oh. so yer the ex.” he runs his eyes over simon. “y’don’t look much.” toji turns to you. “this the one y’were losin’ yer mind over?”

“toji.”

toji pulls you closer towards him, rubbing his arm along your shoulder. “m’sorry, kid,” he says, smiling sheepishly. “y’know it isn’t a dig on you, yeah?”

“oh god,” you groan because that doesn’t de-escalate the situation , not when simon’s arms are crossed over his chest and his eyes furrowed in anger. “let’s just–”

“you’re a pathetic replacement, s’what it is,” simon drawls, cutting you off.

the words pierce through you, pulling you under the memories of your heartache because simon does that well, anyway—he’s good at reminding you of the way you look for him in everyone.

and to hear that it must be the same thing with toji–

you snap your head towards your new boyfriend, denial already on the tip of your tongue because simon may be right about the others but not with toji. not with him–

but toji’s already moving, his warmth leaving you because—oh god!—he’s moved to throw the first punch, his curled fist hit simon’s jaw straight on with a sickening crunch. simon stumbles with a groan, wide eyes blinking, and then he’s returning the hit.

the two fall in a sort of wicked dance, both good at reading each other’s moves and retaliating with something even more painful. you stay out of the way, not knowing how to stop it, let alone how to break their focus. you thumb your phone in your pocket, wondering if you need to call 911 at this point but.

you tell yourself that you might just be biased, that the months of piled up anger and hurt are making you see things, but you think that toji might actually be overpowering simon.

you are proven right when toji throws one final punch and then simon falters before tipping over, his body tumbling to the ground. you watch with morbid fascination, your blood jumping in excitement because this, for some reason, feels like vindication.

“so,” toji says, his voice making you rip your eyes away from simon’s bloody form. “y’proud i won or?”

you blink, mouth agape, then you’re jumping into his arms. toji catches you with a chuckle, his scarred lips tracing a kiss on your cheek.

“so fucking proud,” you tell him with a giggle.

toji pulls back just enough that you see his boyish grin. “yeah?” you nod. “good. all those punches are for you.”

“oh, you,” you murmur, eyes fluttering, cheeks burning.

simon groans on the floor but you and toji ignore him.

i did the math and tojis heavenly restricted body would honestly fold simon :/

giselle this made me crazy ur so silly i fucking love it??? idk why i started typing like im actually serious about this (i am) but dhejdjrjjejd 😭😭

[leia-writes]

Wild Heart

hwang in-ho | front man x reader

Chapter 2: Keeping Face

warnings: some violence, pining

THIS SERIES IS 18+ ONLY

chapter list

read on ao3

masterlist

The next day you awoke, barely rested, ready to take on the dalgona challenge. You were lost in thought as you walked in a single file line with the other players, Player 001 following behind you.

He caught up and walked next to you. “You heard what the next game will be, right?”

You gave him a confused look - you’d been there when Gi-hun explained everything. “Of course.”

He awkwardly nodded. “Oh, good.” It seemed as if he had more to stay, but he stayed silent.

You gave him a wary look and continued silently. It seemed like he wanted to stick close to you, but you didn’t give it too much thought. You decided to focus on the upcoming challenge before being interrupted from your thoughts once again.

“I loved dalgona as a child. I was so bad at it though, I almost always cracked the shape. Even the triangles.” 

You looked at him again, curiously, eyes meeting for a brief moment before he looked down as you continued walking. The awkwardness was palpable in the moment, but strangely you didn’t feel that uncomfortable. He just seemed… odd to you.

As you continued walking, you idly started to imagine what he would’ve been like as a child, carefully carving out a shape with a determined look. It brought up your own memories of doing the same. Hot summer days playing outside with the few friends you had, and your sister who was always too reckless with carving out the shape, inevitably cracking it. Sometimes she would get so upset she wouldn’t even eat it. 

A pang of sadness wracked your body at the memory. A reminder of who you were doing this for.

Everyone looked around the room confused as you entered with Player 001, gathering in your group with Gi-hun, Jung-bae, and Dae-ho. This simple act between your little group tugged at your heart a bit, feeling vulnerable from thinking about your sister. Even in this shitty, fucked up place, people still longed for connection between each other, for trust and safety and camaraderie. 

You looked back at Player 001, his expression blank, almost making you feel guilty. He’d tried to connect with you before but you noticeably brushed him off. Even though he was strange, he didn’t do anything wrong. He glanced at you briefly and you gave him a soft smile.

Once the players were instructed to form teams, it was clear this game wouldn’t be dalgona. Amidst the confusion, Player 100 began to yell at Gi-hun, even demanding he take responsibility. Although you were afraid of what was to come since the game was now completely unknown, it wasn’t unexpected that they would change the games from what Gi-hun played. He was being completely unreasonable.

Gi-hun was being overly apologetic, but Player 001 swiftly stepped in and de-escalated the situation. His calm demeanor gave you a quiet confidence and feeling of safety, making you second guess again the uneasiness you felt before. He felt like someone you could trust, if you tried at least.

“I still trust you,” you saw Player 001 say to Gi-hun. As if he was reading your mind.

You quickly formed a team with the five of you, eagerly anticipating the game instructions as you sat down in the dirt together. The games were revealed to you: ddakji, flying stone, ggongi, spinning top, and jegi. You didn’t feel very confident in any of them, but you had a little experience with ggongi so you quickly claimed that.

After taking your roles, Dae-ho with ddakji, Jung-bae with flying stone, you with gonggi, Player 001 with the spinning top, and Gi-hun with jegi, Jung-bae initiated a huddle. Everyone gathered a hand in the middle of your group.

As you reached your hand out, you noticed Player 001 quickly set his hand on top of yours. You turned to him and briefly made eye contact, but he quickly looked away as you all yelled out together. 

Despite the tragedy of it all, you couldn’t help but feel a blush forming on your cheeks.

~~~

Gunshots rang throughout the room. You crouched down and covered your ears, squeezing your eyes shut. You’d just seen the first two teams lose. It seemed impossible to get through all the games in the given time, with little mistakes making the difference between living and dying. 

Someone on the other side of the room began screaming at everyone. You slowly uncovered your ears and looked at them.

“We’re all going to die because of those who voted to continue!”

Fear spread throughout your body and you looked down in guilt.

“What are you going to do now? You think you can survive? You killed them!”

Player 001 looked at you, concerned. “Don’t listen to him.”

You gave him an apprehensive look. Easier said than done, you thought.

He looked around on the ground in front of your group, slowly gathering small pebbles until he got five. You eyed him as he stretched his hand out towards you.

“Here. Practice with these.”

An involuntary chill went down your spine as you grabbed the pebbles, rolling them between your palm and fingers to orient yourself. You shifted to crouch on your feet and began practicing. 

Your first three attempts all failed.

“Fuck!” you spat, throwing the pebbles down and covering your face in anger. Tears filled your eyes. “I can’t fucking do this. I’m going to ruin it, and we’re all gon-”

“Stop.”

You felt two hands cover yours and slowly lower them from your face. Through teary eyes, you saw Player 001’s face. He looked a bit concerned, but also, so… calm. Almost amused at your meltdown.

He slowly let go of your hands. “You’re going to be fine. Don’t go so fast, there’s no need to rush.”

You scoffed, wiping the dust from your hands. “No need to rush? We only have five minutes to do everything.”

He slowly nodded, looking around, still strikingly calm. “If you keep rushing, you’ll waste more time. Stop overthinking it. These are just games.”

You rolled your eyes, wiping a stray tear from your eye. How was he being so nonchalant about everything?

What a strange man.

“I really don’t understand you.”

He chuckled softly, glancing at you. 

It felt like lightning.

~~~

The room erupted in cheers as Player 120 completed jegi successfully, her group rushing towards the finish line. Your entire group jumped in excitement, Player 001 next to you with his arm around Gi-hun. A pang of confusing emotions struck you when you noticed. Without thinking, you reached your hand to his shoulder.

He stopped jumping and looked at you, smiling as if he was completely happy, like a child. As if this were all just a dream. Or a memory, with the quiet nostalgia that was growing in your mind. In your complete daze looking at him, you felt his arm snake around your body under your arm and pull you close to him.

Feeling your heart in your throat, you almost stumbled in surprise, but he held you close to him. He continued cheering and jumping while softly rubbing your upper back, almost subconsciously. You had to physically force yourself to stay grounded in reality, to keep your emotions from flying out of control. There was no way you could be feeling such a rush of fear, helplessness, anticipation, attraction, all at once in this horrible place.

In the next moment, everyone quieted and started sitting down. There it was - back to reality. The whiplash of your situation was almost too much to bear. And yet, you felt Player 001’s touch lingering just a moment past normal. Being there was like constantly being on a rollercoaster, constantly feeling every little emotion with every fiber of your being as if it was the most important thing happening at that moment. 

Before you knew it, it was your group's turn to go. The final round of players. The room was eerily quiet as the guards strapped your legs together, you standing right in the middle between Jung-bae and Player 001. All of you linked arms and steadied each other before beginning the games.

Dae-ho and Jung-bae completed their tasks with ease. You were immensely grateful for this - it meant you had just a little more time to work with. The group crouched down with you as you readied yourself to start gonggi. Player 001 gently patted your shoulder.

“Don’t worry. You got this.”

You were barely paying attention to anything but the gonggi pieces, and you mindlessly shook his hand away from you. “Let me focus.”

He was slightly taken aback, but softly chuckled. A small flicker of anger flashed in your mind. How the fuck was he so relaxed right now?

On your first attempt, you made it all the way to the last stage, but were unable to flip all of the pieces to the top of your hand. You sighed in frustration, quickly gathering the pieces to start again. Player 001 tried reassuring you again.

“Don't rush. Take your time.”

You let out an agitated sigh. “Would you stop saying that? Let me focus.”

In the corner of your eye you noticed him roll his eyes and look away, no sign of laughter. It satisfied you to see him take you more seriously. Part of you wanted to prove you could do this without any coddling from someone else. 

You successfully completed your second attempt, letting out the biggest sigh of relief as the group erupted in cheers around you. Your group quickly walked to the next game and Player 001 began threading the string on the top. 

You watched him carefully with bated breath as he prepared to throw the top. He flicked his wrist forward and released the string, but the top instantly fell out of the string on the ground. Gi-hun quickly helped him pick up the pieces.

“It’s alright, just try again,” he encouraged. Player 001 seemed to quickly become agitated, shoving you and Gi-hun away and wrapping the string around the top haphazardly. You rested your hand on top of his, stopping his movements.

“Don’t rush. You got this,” you echoed from his words before, the slightest hint of a smirk showing on your face.

He scoffed quietly, looking away. You thought you caught a hint of a smile on his face, but it was quickly replaced with frustration.

He tried again, but this time the top actually went behind your group. He shouted out loudly in exasperation, becoming almost inconsolable. Everyone around you tried reining him in to focus, with you and Gi-hun resorting to grabbing his arms and forcing him backwards. You grabbed the pieces, not even noticing how the string was soaked with blood, and set them in his hands.

“Don’t overthink it. These are just games,” you echoed again.

He sighed deeply, looking away. You thought he was going to get even more angry, but instead he laughed out loud and began threading the string slowly.

“You’re insufferable, you know that?” he stated, before throwing the top. It spun perfectly on the ground in front of you.

You laughed and cheered with the rest of your group, squeezing his arm after wrapping yours around his and walking forward. He smiled proudly at you in that childlike way again, your heart becoming a rollercoaster of its own inside of you.

Gi-hun completed jegi on his first try and you all made it to the finish line just in time. You nearly collapsed to the ground in relief, steadying your hands on your knees, and couldn’t stop yourself from crying. The men around you cheered and hugged after being released. As you were trying to calm yourself down, you felt a hand on your upper back.

Player 001 crouched down to be eye level with you, softly smiling. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

You looked at him curiously, too out of breath to say anything.

He gently tugged at your arm, pulling you up to standing, his touch again lingering just a little too long.

“It’s all just a game.”

~~~

“Listen. Perhaps we should learn each other’s names.”

Dae-ho stood in front of your group as you sat next to Player 001, back in the player room. All eyes had been on your group when you returned, and the contempt the other players felt was palpable. Things were getting more serious by the minute.

“I’ll start. I’m Kang Dae-ho.”

You gave a soft smile as Dae-ho and Jung-bae began introducing themselves. After a second, you realized you had already picked up on everyone’s name but Player 001. The man who was most peculiar, who was simultaneously unfamiliar to you and also the person you’d talked to the most here.

“What’s your name?”

You were pulled from your thoughts by Player 001’s question, his inquisitive face giving you pause. The nostalgic feeling from before was creeping back into your mind.  After quickly giving your name, Player 001 finally introduced himself as Oh Young-il. A name you had never heard of. So there was no way you knew him, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that you’d seen him before. 

Young-il, you repeated in your mind. His name seemed to stick in your mouth as if you had just said it out loud.

Soon the pink guards entered the room and prompted the players to vote for the next games. So many players had complained that it still wasn’t enough money. Though you were ashamed, you felt it wasn’t going to be enough either. 

You thought about your sister and what she might be doing right now, hoping her surgeries were successful. Maybe you’d even get to her before she woke up, never knowing the hell you went through while she was dealing with her own. If you just played one more game, you’d feel so much more comfortable with the money you got. Even if it wasn’t guaranteed you’d live, you felt you had a fighting chance with your group. You had to try no matter what.

“I will help you guys out when we get out.”

You looked at your group somberly. Gi-hun seemed so optimistic that the votes would swing his way, but you weren’t so sure. People were dying, literally, for a bigger prize. It wasn’t going to be enough to convince everyone to leave. You weren’t sure if it was enough to convince you to leave. And Gi-hun promising to help you out didn’t mean much of anything to you. He could easily turn back on his word at any time, and who knows if he would actually give you the amount you needed.

“Guys, huddle up again,” Dae-ho said, nervously looking around the group. Anxiety was clear on your face. Young-il gave you a curious look, and when you reached your hand forward, he darted his hand quickly onto yours again. This time, he gently wrapped his fingers around yours, quickly looking away as if he did it unconsciously.

You blushed hard. The simple grasp of his hand, the quiet consideration he was giving you was overwhelming. Without realizing how insane it sounded, you started to imagine what it would’ve been like if you’d met outside of the games. If he would’ve been the same awkward, considerate person out there. If he would’ve shown interest in you in real life. Or, if his connection to you here was only a futile attempt at fleeting comfort. 

Suddenly, you remembered him talking about his sick wife to Gi-hun. Feeling a bit embarrassed, you wondered if he was just a very considerate person all the time. Were you reading into his gestures too much? You felt ridiculous for… wanting him. 

Wanting him? Ugh. It felt wrong to admit that to yourself. The words felt heavy in your mind, weighing on you as voting began to start.

You watched Young-il vote X. Another pang of guilt hit you inside, but this time for a different reason. As much as you were afraid of what was to come, you knew deep down you couldn’t vote to leave. You had to do anything you could to stay and earn a little more for your sister.

You weren’t alone in your thinking. So many people voted to stay, even Player 007 who knew his mother was also in the games. As you got ready to vote, it was becoming clear more people wanted to stay.

After voting O, you walked to the right side of the room, your head hanging low. You didn’t want to make eye contact with Young-il or anyone else in your group. A couple people had voted after you before Gi-hun and Young-il started shouting at everyone.

Young-il caught everyone’s attention. “You still want to keep going after watching all those people die? Who’s to say you won’t die in the next game?”

Shame spread throughout your body. Even though you knew it was ultimately wrong to choose to stay, you would do anything for your sister. But you hated seeing someone you knew be upset with you. You turned away and tried to ignore the argument that was about to explode in the group.

“You’ve got to survive first, or there won’t be a next step,” Young-il pleaded.

“What do you think we can do with a mere 70 million?” Player 100 spoke. “I don’t know how much you owe, but for most people here, that doesn’t even cover 10% of their debt. Am I right?”

The people around you began to cheer and yell in agreement, but some, including you, kept their heads down in shame. At least you could admit you were in the wrong. 

You listened to the shouting around you and tried to disengage. Player 226 spoke up to rally more players. 

“It’s not like the games are that difficult.”

You thought back to Young-il telling you, “These are just games.”

He wasn’t wrong.

The crowd around you began cheering, “One more game!” over and over. It made you sick to your stomach. You had chosen to stay, but you weren’t going to be so shameless about it. As you looked around the room, you saw Young-il observe everyone apprehensively. A conflict of shame and obligation clouded your mind.

The vote ended and it was official - you would be staying. You quickly received your meal of bread and milk and went straight to your bed. It didn’t feel right to join the group when you had voted against their interests. Still, you felt particularly lonely. You settled into your bed, sitting up with your legs under your blanket. 

After a few minutes alone, Young-il approached you and sat on the edge of your bed. He stayed silent as he opened his bread, but he didn’t look particularly happy. You sat in silence with him, awkwardly continuing to eat.

He sighed loudly and finally looked at you. “So why did you do it?”

You looked at him blankly, unsure what to say or where to start. He glanced at the blue O patch on your jacket. “You must have a good reason.”

You looked down. “I do. Don’t you?”

He stayed silent, giving you a blank look like you had done before. As if you could hear the wheels turning in his mind.

You cleared your throat. “I heard you talking to Gi-hun last night. Your… wife?”

A flash of realization showed in his eyes. “I… I guess I do.”

Your eyes narrowed. He always seemed more nonchalant than appropriate, always making you wonder what exactly he was thinking. 

He turned a little more towards you. “So why did you choose to stay?”

After a few moments, you began to explain what happened to your sister. That she had gotten hit by a car, needed extensive medical attention, permanent caregiving, and on top of all of that you were poor. This was the quickest way to get some money that didn’t involve taking out a predatory loan or doing something that could put you in prison.

Young-il listened intently as you told your story, showing genuine interest and concern. It made you feel even closer to him, which in turn made you confused. You found yourself wanting to be closer, wanting to know more about who he was, wanting to physically feel his touch like when he’d grasped your hand.

Everything was becoming too hard to fight against anymore. It was exhausting constantly feeling conflicted about how you felt about everything. No one in the world could navigate their emotions in a place like this, so why did you expect to feel okay at all? You might’ve made a bad decision, but you did it with good intentions. Young-il might be married, but who knows, both of you could die tomorrow. 

Nothing mattered anymore.

Young-il reached forward to rest his hand gently on yours. “Don’t beat yourself up too much. Even if you had voted X, we would still be here.”

The warmth of his hand was a great comfort. Instead of fighting the feeling, you turned your hand upwards, your palms touching now. It was still too hard to say anything.

He smiled and curled his fingers around your hand again. “Come back to the group. You shouldn’t be alone. And take this, I can’t drink milk anyways.” 

He handed you his carton of milk and pulled you forward, his hand lingering on yours.

~~~

As lights out was approaching, your group began to create a makeshift base within the bed frames, not quite a fort but a place you could gather and protect each other. Everyone put beds close to each other and made a plan to keep watch throughout the night. Young-il was skeptical that anyone would get violent, but you believed Gi-hun when he said players would kill each other at night. What exactly was stopping them?

Gi-hun took the first watch, and you settled into your bed underneath a metal frame. Young-il quietly laid in the bed beside you as the lights turned down. It was a comfort to know he was near you. The low lights and exhaustion from the events of the day sent you to sleep quickly. 

After a few hours, you were woken up, laying on your side, by the sound of Gi-hun and Jung-bae laughing together. Before opening your eyes, you felt cold all over, though a little warmer on your front rather than your back. The faint scent of a men’s body wash became apparent as you gained consciousness. 

You opened your eyes slightly and realized you were almost touching Young-il. 

Who was also awake.

Your eyes then shot open and you quickly backed away, but he turned to you and chuckled.

“Are you cold?”

You blushed, nodding and rubbing your face. “I’m sorry. It’s freezing though.”

He turned on his side facing you. “Here, you can take mine.” He began to put his blanket on top of you. 

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that, I’m fine. Aren’t you cold?”

He ignored you and continued covering you before settling back on his pillow. “I’m fine. You were near shivering in your sleep.”

You sighed, welcoming the extra warmth. “Sorry. I can’t sleep well when it’s cold.”

“Don’t apologize. And let me know if you’re not warm enough.”

You smiled. “I can’t take everyone’s blankets. Just yours.”

He laughed under his breath. “Well, I’m usually pretty warm.”

You instantly thought of his hand touching yours, the comforting warmth it gave. “I can tell. Your hands are warm. Mine are always cold.” You rubbed your hands in your blanket mindlessly.

“Here. Give me your hands.” He reached towards you.

A bit dumbfounded, you slowly reached your hands out towards his, and he wrapped his hands around yours, pushing your palms together. A warmth began to spread, on your hands and within your body. This simple act had all your senses on edge. 

“Is that better?” he whispered.

You nodded, too nervous to say anything out loud. As if he could sense that, he rubbed his thumbs on your hands before separating them. He leaned his face towards your hands, your heart beating erratically. He opened his mouth slowly and breathed warm air onto your palms.

The act felt wildly intimate, almost erotic. You couldn’t help but keep eye contact as he warmed your hands with his breath. You were sure an angry blush was apparent on your cheeks.

He chuckled at you again and pressed your hands back together. “Get some rest now.” He pushed your hands towards you until they hit your chest, then brought your blankets over them. Almost like he was tucking you in.

He turned onto his back, and you couldn’t help but watch his hands. Wishing they were touching you again. Wishing they would touch more than just your hands.

So much for keeping a watchful eye on him.

[fdelopera]

Welcome to the 64th installment of 15 Weeks of Phantom, where I post all 68 sections of Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, as they were first printed in Le Gaulois newspaper 115 yeas ago.

In today’s installment, we have Part III of Chapter 27, “Faut-il tourner le scorpion ? Faut-il tourner la sauterelle ?” (Shall You Turn the Scorpion? Or Shall You Turn the Grasshopper?).

This section was first printed on Monday, 3 January, 1910.

For anyone following along in David Coward's translation of the First Edition of Phantom of the Opera (either in paperback, or Kindle, or from another vendor -- the ISBN-13 is: 978-0199694570), the text starts in Chapter 27, “I had been struck by the thought, for I knew Erik all too well, that he might have tricked her once more” and goes to the Persian’s line, “And before losing consciousness, I seemed still to hear a voice calling above the swish and boil of water: any old barrels!… barrels!… any old barrels for sale?”

There are some differences between the Gaulois text and the First Edition. In this section, these include:

1) Chapter XXVII was printed as Chapter XXVIII. This numbering error was made in Chapter VII, and was not corrected, so it was propagated throughout the Gaulois publication.

2) Each chapter in the Gaulois publication is one number ahead of the chapters in the First Edition, due to the inclusion of “The Magic Envelope” chapter in the Gaulois.

3) Minor differences in punctuation.

NOTE: Leroux and the editors at Pierre Lafitte & Cie. must have been satisfied with this section, because there are no other textual changes that appear in the First Edition.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE I: 

The text highlighted in blue in the first half-panel above indicates the only instances in the novel where Christine switches from using 2nd person plural (formal “you”) to using 2nd person singular (informal “you”) to address Erik. Christine is at her breaking point with Erik here, and this switch from vouvoyer to tutoyer is intended to be condescending.

This text translates as:

“Erik,” cried Christine, who must have rushed towards the monster’s hand, “swear to me, monster, swear to me on your infernal love, that it is the scorpion that I must turn…”

“Yes, to go off to our wedding…”

“Ah, you see! We are going to go off!”

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE II: 

In designating the grasshopper (sauterelle) as the switch that will ignite the gunpowder, Erik is making a pun on the French word “sauter,” which means both “to jump” and “to explode.” It can also mean “to go off,” which is how I translated it above when Erik says, “go off to our wedding,” and Christine thinks he is making a horrible pun on “go off/explode” to trick her into turning the switch that will ignite the gunpowder.

But there is another, more derogatory meaning to “sauterelle,” as well. “Sauterelle” is French slang for a prostitute, as well as French slang for a picky woman who examines items in a shop without buying anything, as we can see from Albert Barrère's French-English dictionary of Argot and Slang from 1889:

So, in addition to telling Christine that she will blow everyone up if she turns the grasshopper, Erik is also telling her that if she doesn’t agree to marry him, she is a picky whore.

Christine once again shows herself to be a pinnacle of restraint and dignity. Erik deserves far worse than to have Christine belittle him, tutoyer him, and call him a monster.

Because Christine is right — Erik has shown himself to be a monster here. Not because of his face, and she doesn’t mean it that way, but because of his terrible actions. And his redemption at the end is a redemption of his character, of his soul. 

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra is Leroux’s retelling of the Beauty and the Beast myth. Erik’s transformation is that he lives out his remaining days as a man, and he dies and is buried a man.

Erik's appearance does not change, but his heart does. His life has been anything but fair — for instance, in Leroux’s novel, Erik helped design and build the Opera House, yet he is given little “official” pay, and he receives no recognition for his work. But because of Christine, he learns that this doesn’t give him the right to impose his will on others in a way that harms or kills them.

The tragedy of Erik’s story is that, in an ideal world, he would have been able to use those revelations in his life for many years to come — as Leroux writes, “Il avait un coeur à contenir l’empire du monde” (”He had a heart that was great enough to have ruled the world”).

But Leroux reminds us that Erik does not live in an ideal world, and neither do we. However, just because Erik doesn’t get a traditional “happily ever after,” that does not negate the importance and power of his transformation, and that’s a lesson that we can all take to heart. We might not get a “happily ever after,” but we can still make a great difference to the people in our lives.

Click here to see the entire edition of Le Gaulois from 3 January, 1910. This link brings you to page 3 of the newspaper — Le Fantôme is at the bottom of the page in the feuilleton section. Click on the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen to turn the pages of the newspaper, and click on the Zoom button at the bottom left to magnify the text.

[bekkarific]

Playing With Fire

Chapter Three: Flame

Chapter Masterlist

Pairings: Frontman/ InHo x Fem OC

Sweat dripped from behind her mask as stirred the pot of melted sugar, a man (she thinks) with a triangle face standing over her shoulder. Ji Ah wondered in how her life had come to this in a mere 24 hours.

From following Gi Hun to the van, the van to the boat, hi jacking a uniform, dropped on a mysterious island and now on kitchen duty. She wondered if somewhere she went wrong.

She has not seen Jun Ho since the boat, making a pact to hide their phones and check in when they can. She lost him in a sea of circle faces, she tried not to worry, but the ever present guards with guns made her stomach twist.

Now she was trapped, on a mysterious island with no idea of what she was supported to be doing. Number 13, the Square Faced man called her and told the follow to him to the kitchen’s. She had been stirring for what felt like hours, her face dripped with sweat because of the heat and her arms began to ache.

‘What are they melting all this sugar for’ she wondered trying to take discreet looks around the room without moving her head too much. Was it for meals or did it serve a further purpose?

She had not seen Gi Hun or the other game players since the boat, they had been carried and changed into matching clothing with numbers, when she was called away to the kitchens, this is the last she had seen of anyone who was not wearing pink.

She heard a thump above her, looking up quickly she could see a glimpse of green and white in the vent before it disappeared. ‘A game uniform?’ She wondered before looking down and continuing to stir to avoid suspicion. Taking a quick Look up she could see the vent connected straight through to the next room, ‘could a player be crawling through?’

A triangle guard approached her “13, go and take your pot to the table” he ordered, interrupting her train of thought.

Ji Ah nodded, trying to look subordinate. Immediately took her sugar off the heat and carefully carried the hot pot to the large table to the right. The table was long and had 6 circle guards each side, one came and took the sugar from her and began to dish it out between the team into little silver tins. Like a production line this would then go down to the next guard who would press what appeared to be an umbrella shape into it, the next guard would then seal the tin and place it onto a trolley. This production seemed endless, as more pots where brought over and more tins where made with different shapes.

‘Daglona’ Ji Ah pondered, she had eaten the sweet treat many times as a child, but pondered the reason for it here. Was it another game? Gi Hun’s original report had mentioned children’s games.

Before she could think further, she was again interrupted by the triangle guard “Number 13, take the tray of glasses to the captains room. You are then dismissed”

‘Oh fuck’ Ji Ah thought to herself ‘where is the captain’s room’. Nodding again in a subordinate manner, Ji Ah carefully lifted the tray of cut crystal glasses from the bench and headed toward the exit. Carefully walking between the circle guards still stirring, the last thing she wanted to do was drop any of the glasses.

Finally reaching the door, she commanded herself ‘Come in Ji Ah, think!’, taking a deep breath and she tried to remain focussed to avoid rousing suspicion.

Since being her here she had noted the hierarchy amongst the guards. Circle being bottom of the food chain, triangles and then squares. So it stood to reason that the Captains room would be where the biggest concentration of squares would be - right?

With no choice but to test her theory, she followed the colourful stairway to the left of the kitchen, where she had watched the square army march off a few hours before.

As she approached the bottom of three sets of stairs, she was stopped by a pair of square heads on guard duty, blocking her path “What is your business here?” Asked the taller one, his voice sounding deep behind his mask.

Ji Ah gulped away the tension that formed her throat, taking a moment before responding “I was asked to bring these glasses to the captains room” she answered timidly.

The square head stared at her for a beat, her heart began to pound within her chest and the sweat dripping down the back of her neck intensified.

Just when thought her charade was up, square head stepped to the side. Shakily Ji Ah’s feet began to move, convinced she had just been mere moments from death.

Seconds later she was halted by the same rough voice stating “black door at the top of the stairs.” She nodded in square heads direction and continued her journey up the stairs. With each step she tried to take a breath to calm her nerves. She needed a plan, she needed a map, if she had any chance of surviving this place and saving any of the players.

As she approached the black door that twisting in her gut returned. She felt as though she had seen this door before, in a dream or a nightmare, either way it was not good.

She stopped before the door, unsure if to knock or to just walk in. She was asked to bring these glasses after all, was she like a maid? Resolving that standing out here was not going to get her anywhere, Ji Ah tentatively knocked a few times.

No Answer.

Taking a further breath, she took the plunge and turned the handle.

She was immediately greeted with a dark hallway, which was a stark contrast the colourful doors and corridors in the rest of the facility. Shiny black tiles coved the walls with several dark wood doors either side of the long hallway. It smelled fragent in here, like mix of cologne and leather, it was welcome contrast to the sterile smell of the rest of facility. The thing that caught Ji Ah’s attention most though was the large black screen at the end of the hallway, humming in standby mode. Feeling her feet move under her without much thought she headed toward the screen, it was black and placed in front of it was a lush deep armchair with small drinks table to left. On the right hand wall was an unlit fireplace, a bar cart tucked away next to it. Just opposite was strange little stage with mini band and singer figurines. Just as she was about a get a closer look the door behind her opened.

Ji Ah’s heart leap to her throat, spinning on her heels she turned to see a dark figure exit the door way. He was tall, taller than her with strong wide shoulders. He wore a black mask like the rest of the guards, but his was different with geometric shapes forming a face. He had a tailored charcoal suit with a hood to conceal the rest of his head, finished with black gloves, covering every part of him.

Turning his head in her direction, he studied her. Even without seeing his eyes she could practically feel he was staring at every part of her, from her short statute, the way her suit flared at the hips and the slight shake of her hand on the tray. She felt naked like he could see right through her.

“What are you doing” came his deep almost mechanical voice, still staring directly at her.

For all her training, her years at the police academy, her time in the street beat. She froze.

“I asked you a question, silence is not an answer. Are you incompetent - or disobedient” he questioned again, in that voice with resonated through her chest.

Snapping out of her panic, she immediately bowed her head in respect “Apologies Captain, I was asked to bring you new glasses and was unsure if you wanted them in on the bar cart” her voice wavering.

He stared for a moment, slowly walking toward her. Ji Ah tensed, thinking of a way to reach her gun before he stopped In front of her.

The black eyes of the mask staring through her, like they were looking into her soul.

“The bar cart” he finally spoke coming to a stop a few steps from her “second shelf” her ordered.

Ji Ah immediately snapped into action and kneeled down to start filling the shelf, the whole time feeling those heavy eyes upon her.

She tried to stop the shaking of her hands, instead focusing on the slight shimmer of the crystal glasses she delicately placed self, making neat uniform lines.

Once all the glasses were in place she slowly stood up. She knew better than to walk away without being dismissed.

He again wordlessly observed her, like she was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

Finally he spoke “A word to the wise, you do not have the luxury of doubt here, follow orders directly or I will find someone who can” he ended on a hard “dismissed” and waved his hand as he turned to walk away.

Ji Ah felt her feet carry her quickly, her heart pounding in her ears. She swore as she left, she felt the weight of those heavy eyes upon her back.

[association-of-ideas]

I watched Trolls Band Together and my immediate reaction was to start writing fanfiction. I have created a swap AU Viva and Brozone switch roles.

Essentially, Viva is the one that leaves and the bros get lost during their escape from the troll tree. It's heavily inspired by @year2000electronics fic, Brozone: World Tour. I absolutely love this fic so much; I recommend reading it.

Anyways, I've some stuff figured out, but it's not set in stone.

Swap AU (official name pending)

Before the Great Escape, it was highly encouraged for smaller groups and families to escape on their own, enough so that Pop Village had already been established before King Peppy and the rest of the Pop trolls escaped

After the death of her daughter (Cecily) and daughter-in-law (Juniper), Rosiepuff becomes the sole guardian of her five grandchildren: John Dory (15), Spruce (13), Clay (11), Floyd (8), and Branch (egg)

With King Peppy’s blessing and best wishes, Rosiepuff packs up her family and leaves with another escaping family

They’re discovered during their escape and the brothers are separated and scattered across the genres

With ⅘ of her grandkids lost to the sewers, Rosiepuff is crushed, but she pushes through for Branch and acts as the de facto leader of the Pop trolls

During that time, she becomes a guide for trolls seeking to escape and works with Peppy to devise the Great Escape plan

It's during the Great Escape that Rosiepuff is eaten leading the Burgens away from the others and Branch (5) still sees her get eaten, causing him to gray

At the same time, Viva (14) has seen more than any child ever should and the closer she gets to turning 18, the more pressure is put on her to be a good queen

Between the Burgens, escape plans, and her ever-growing stack of responsibilities, Viva cracks under the pressure

During the Great Escape, she splits off from the group after saying goodbye to Poppy (2) and runs away to find a place for herself

Their rushed parting leaves Poppy w/ bittersweet (mostly bitter) feelings about her sister and siblings in general

As an old friend of Rosiepuff’s, Peppy does his best to look after Branch until he's old enough to be on his own, at which point, he leaves to build his bunker

Growing up together gives Poppy more of a reason to want to be around Branch

Branch is also aware of Viva’s existence, but because of how everything went down, he assumes she was eaten and doesn't bring it up

As mentioned earlier, the brothers were separated and scattered across the genres

John Dory ends up in Volcano Rock City

He's found by King Thrash and raised alongside Barb as her older brother

The separation left him with severe trauma that shows itself on a daily basis as over-protectiveness, an unwillingness to venture beyond the kingdom, and a need to fortify it

Bruce find finds himself lost at sea before meeting the Techno trolls who help him to Vacay Island

He spends a week or so drifting across the sea by himself

Eventually, he's found by a pod of Techno trolls and they help find shore

He washes up on Vacay Island and gets a job as a busboy at the restaurant run by Brandy's dad

They meet, fall in love, and the rest is history

Bruce has a tendency to do head counts whenever he's anxious or overwhelmed

Clay ends up in Symphonyville

Clay is found half-conscious by an elderly conductor named Calliope

She takes him and while officially, he is her 'ward', everyone knows him as her grandson

The trauma of the separation leaves Clay w/ selective mutism, preventing him from speaking or singing

Instead, he learns to play the cello and focuses his energy on that as he slowly regains the ability to speak

While he eventually learns how to talk again, he can't sing nor does he want to

Floyd ends up in Lonesome Flats

After getting washed away in the sewers, Sheriff Brooks drags him out of the river and takes him back to town

From there, he’s adopted by the Sheriff and raised as Delta Dawn’s little brother

Being the youngest when he was separated and given the traumatic event itself as well as the physical damage inflicted during the escape, Floyd remembers the least about his family before coming to Lonesome Flats

I might make a separate post going further in depth on Viva's side of things if anyone's interested. I've also come up with character designs for the boys' moms.

[gideoff]

matching <3

if you like the earrings check out kickstarter for these and cyno & tighnari merch hehe

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sunowls/genshin-impact-earrings-0?r

[stellar-skyy]

OH DEER — Cyno x reader.

i. SUMMARY: Cyno celebrates Christmas with the person he loves. ii. CONTENT WARNINGS: Mentions of eating/food, mentions of alcohol, kisses. iii. NOTES: Fluff, modern au, Tighnari, Collei, Kaveh, and Alhaitham make an appearance, gn!reader, they/them pronouns used, 2k words. iv. A/N: Written for Écrin de Littérature's Joyeux Noël event! I wrote this instead of doing my work :D This is my first time writing Cyno, so I apologise if this is ooc... I really want to write for him more :( psst... @ryuryuryuyurboat

By the time [Name] woke, it was late morning.

The rays of sunlight sifted through a crack in the blinds, shining a beam directly into their face. A displeased mumble escaped their lips, followed by a pinch between their brows, and then a hand thrown over their eyes in an attempt to block out the light. Their efforts were in vain, as the sun spilled further into their room and lit it up in a warm glow.

As the terrible ordeal of waking up settled over them, they slowly became aware of a warm, comfortable weight at their side. Cyno had shifted the blankets in his sleep and half-tossed them off the bed, but he seemed content throwing one arm across their chest and absorbing whatever body heat they gave off. At that time, he would have normally been awake for hours, but alas; the festive season seemed to have drained his energy.

They cracked their eyes open, brushing their hand over the tufts of hair across his forehead. He made a tiny noise, moving to press his face into their side.

"Cyno,” They whispered, patting his cheek lightly. He groaned. “I know you’re awake.”

“You don’t know that for certain,” A muffled grumble sounded from where his face was hidden against them.

A small smile tugged at the corner of their mouth. They let their hand fall to the top of his head, running their fingers through his long grey hair. “Good morning, Cyno.”

“G’morning,” he mumbled, his voice still husky with sleep. One crimson eye opened, then the other. “It’s Christmas, isn’t it? Is it snowing?”

They squint through the small crack of the window they can see. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“Hmm… you’re right.” He blinked at the small sliver of light coming from between the blinds. “It looks more like rain, dear.”

A long silence fell between them.

“…Rain, dear? See, it sounds like reindeer, which is hilarious because—”

“I got it,” They interrupt before he can go on a tangent about exactly how his joke was funny. The rest of the blankets fall off them as they swung their legs over the side of the bed. “I’m going to go make breakfast.”

“Wait.” He abruptly sat upright, a solemn look on his face. After a pause, he leaned over and kissed their cheek. “Merry Christmas.”

Breakfast was simple ordeal. There was Cyno’s coffee, that they left on the counter for when he made the effort of moving to the kitchen. A few slices of toast, and some cooked eggs. They would need to put some food in the oven so it would be fresh by the time they had Christmas lunch, but most of the food was already prepared.

Halfway through, Cyno managed to drag himself out of the bedroom and slump over the kitchen counter, lazily reciting as many Christmas jokes as he could recall, while his partner debated throwing a slice of toast at his face to get him to shut up.

After, came the most anticipated part of the morning; presents. The two retreated to the living room, settling cross legged across the carpet floor.

It was a new house, primed and ready for new memories to decorate the halls. Moving in late December had allowed them an excuse to buy the essentials for their home disguised under bright red wrapping paper, hastily shoved under a simple tree. The tree itself was modestly decorated with whatever they could find, and the presents underneath few and far between. Nothing too special, just enough to fit into the corner of their new household, leaving more than enough room to grow into.

Two stockings dangling above the fireplace held the most ‘gift-like’ of gifts. A 1000 silly Christmas jokes book for Cyno, a box of candies for them, two matching pairs of socks with silly puns on them.

Torn up and crumpled wrapping paper decorated the floor of the living room by the time they had finished, Cyno already flipping through the pages of his new book in an effort to find even more of the worst of the worst puns to torment—ahem, entertain them with.

It was almost dizzying, how quickly they went from two strangers meeting by chance, to celebrating Christmas together in their shared home. Something could be said about the domesticity of it all, about the peppered kisses and lingering touches between measuring ingredients in a kitchen just the right size for two. How stolen glances became stolen kisses and making small talk turned to making cookies together.

There was something about the thought that made them feel so warm. Must be the spirit of the season, and all that.

“Do you know what Rudolph said, after Santa Claus tripped over in front of him?” Cyno asked. [Name] paused, hands hovering over the cooking dough spread out across the bench. Cyno stared back at them seriously, with an expression that would be vaguely intimidating if he wasn’t sitting idly on a kitchen bench with his legs dangling over the side.

“Cyno…” They breathed, warning in their tone.

“He said, ‘Oh deer.’” Cyno was silent for a beat, before leaning forward slightly. “Do you get it? See, this joke uses the phrase ‘Oh dear’, which would be an acceptable response to seeing a person fall, however it is also phonetically similar to the word ‘deer’, which is the species Rudolph is.” He paused again. “Do you get it?”

“Yes, I got it,” They groaned, rubbing the bridge of their nose to try and ward off an incoming headache. Unfortunately, they had forgotten they were still baking, and the action inadvertently led to a smudge of sugar being wiped onto their face.

Cyno huffed a laugh, jumping off the edge of the bench. As he stepped across the kitchen to meet them, he cupped their face, bringing it further towards his until he was close enough to kiss the spot between their eyes. He pulled away, licking the sugar off his lips with a slight smile.

“You could’ve just wiped it off,” They chide, but there’s a smile at the edges of their lips.

“Maybe,” He agreed, this time kissing their forehead.

Their smile widened at the gesture, even as they pushed on his chest to get him out of the way. He let himself be moved backwards, settling against the counter so he was out of their space.

“Move, I need to finish these before they arrive.”

The cookies were one of the few things that slipped their mind the day before, leaving them less than an hour to finish making the dough and put them in the oven before their friends arrived.

Wordlessly, Cyno took one of the cookie cutters and pushed them down onto the flattened dough. Together the two of them worked, until the tray was covered in tiny gingerbread men and stars and Christmas trees. Cyno opened the oven, allowing them to place it on the rack.

As soon as they pulled the oven mitts off, an arm slid around their waist. In a second, they were spun around and a breath away from Cyno. They laughed, in between kisses peppered across their lips.

“Do you know what the moose said to it’s family on Christmas Day?” Cyno murmured into their mouth. “Merry—”

A knock from the door startled them both. Cyno glared at it, unhappily detangling himself from them and opening the door.

“We’re here!” Tighnari said as he entered, letting Collei duck under his arm to bustle into the room.

“As the salt and pepper would say, Seasonings Greetings,” Cyno nodded in acknowledgement at the pair. “Do you understand the joke?”

Tighnari groaned loudly. “We just got here, Cyno. Couldn’t you have waited five minutes? Or several hours, maybe?”

“Merry Christmas to you both,” [Name] smiled painfully. “He’s been like this all morning.”

“Hi [Name]!” Collei said cheerfully. Her bright red skirt swished and twirled as she moved around the room, matching the lopsided Santa hat perched on top of her and Tighnari’s heads. Tighnari was dressed just as festive, in a comfortable looking red sweater.

“Hello [Name],” Tighnari raised an eyebrow, smirking at their outfits. “Nice sweater.”

“I didn’t choose them,” [Name] sighed.

Cyno had practically insisted on the matching ugly sweaters. They lived up to their names, the designs were hideous: clashing deep reds and muted greens, striped patterns all up the arms and a gaudy snowman print across the front. His only response to their complaints was that ‘they’re supposed to be ugly, that's the point!’ 

“They’re in the spirit of the season,” Cyno said stubbornly. Tighnari held up his hands in mock surrender.

“I wasn’t insulting them. They’re… merry.”

Cyno’s vehement defence of the dreadful sweaters was prevented by another knock at the door. Tighnari reached over to turn the handle, right as the door swung open.

“Merry Christmas to you all!” Kaveh declared. Like Tighnari, he was also wearing a sweater, but his was a deep green and covered in spiralling patterns. “I would apologise for our lateness, but it wasn’t my fault.”

“Oh please,” Alhaitham scoffed, trailing in after Kaveh. “If you didn’t spend an hour trying to style your hair, we would have been here ages ago.”

“You—It wasn’t me who decided to wait until five minutes before we agreed to leave to get dressed! You have the time-management skills of a three-toed sloth!”

“I simply don’t concern myself with vanity. There is no need to spend hours on my hair, or try and find the perfect outfit… unlike some people.” It was fitting, then, that Alhaitham was the only one in the room without any sort of Christmas themed clothing.

“Maybe it is because I actually have the effort to care about my appearance, instead of looking like I just got out of bed without brushing my hair!” Kaveh paused, squinting at Alhaitham. “Did you brush your hair this morning?”

“I don’t see how that���s relevant, when yours took an hour to look just as messy as it did when you woke up.”

“How—”

“Not to interrupt this lover’s spat,” Tighnari interrupted. “But if we want to have lunch anytime in the next several hours, we should probably start soon.”

“We brought pita pockets!” Collei held up a box with a grin.

“Ah, I’m afraid I didn’t have time to cook this morning,” Kaveh sighed, resolutely ignoring Alhaitham’s rolled eyes. “But I did bring a bottle of wine.” He glanced over at Collei. “Um. I am assuming you have non-alcoholic options as well.”

Cyno beckoned them over to the table, moving around the plates to make room for Collei’s pita pockets and Kaveh’s wine. Kaveh and Alhaitham sat down first, opposite each other so they could finish their argument face-to-face. Tighnari was next, and Collei followed, sitting in the seats at the end. Finally, Cyno slipped into the seat beside his partner, giving their hand a quick squeeze.

There was something so perfect about the moment, Kaveh and Alhaitham bickering across the table, while Tighnari rolled his eyes at Cyno’s jokes, and Collei sneakily took another bread roll off his plate while he was distracted. It was the kind of moment they wished they could freeze in time and seal up into a snow globe to display on their nightstand, so they could pick it up and admire the scene within whenever they liked. To spend such a special time, surrounded by the chatter and laughter of the people they loved the most, was truly a gift in itself.

“You should really try to be more like the Christmas tree, Tighnari—and lighten up.”

“Cyno, I will leave, and it will be your fault!”

Yes, perfect indeed.

reblogs and comments are appreciated! ♡

[sincerelyverena]

Hello hello :))

If I may request Charles introducing ska to an alternative!reader?? As a goth and metahead myself (mainly), I'm just begging to learn more about other subcultures I love alt people 🛐🛐

Thank you very much!

⟡⁺ TOO MUCH, TOO YOUNG

AAAHHHH ANON. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! this was such a creative prompt, every second of this i loved writing and brainstorming now i know a fuck time about ska, so thank you! xox

. . . CHARLES ROWLAND X GN!READER ‘gi we de birth control, we no want no pickni.’ @andforthecoating

inbox is always open for requests!

in whichꕀ

✦ ﹒charles is sick of your music taste and believes he can damn well introduce you to his favourite genre of tunes and make you love it.

tagsꕀ

✦ ﹒platonic pairing﹐charles and reader bonding over music﹐charles being passionate about ska oh lord marry me pls ﹐brainstorming verena is super excited to get this done ﹐hello again its editing verena i would marry this fic and anon if i had the chance to wow it turnt out PERFECT

THANK YOU TO MY WONDERFUL BETA READERS: @no-baths-for-stan

‘You got the same CDs, haven’t you?’

Charles was rustling around in your room. You were preoccupied with applying your makeup for the day, watching him kneel by your disc collection as you glimpsed into your reflection. ‘Temple of Love’ by Sisters of Mercy stifled the background noise as you worked.

‘You should know,’ you remarked, dipping your gaze towards the palette by your side. You plunged the tip of your brush into the darkest powder in sight, moving it towards the space where your eyebrows were supposed to be. ‘Seeing as you like to rummage through them so often.’

‘It’s all the same tunes, innit?’ Charles blew out a short breath, hands falling to the edge of the cardboard box as he fell back on his heels. He glanced up towards you. ‘Same old genres, bit dull, really.’

You hissed under your breath the slightest as your makeshift brows looked a little off, moving to grab a pint of concealer to correct the mistake. Completely disregarding Charles’s complaints in the process. ‘What can I say? I like what I like.’

The young ghost rose to his feet. He took a step towards your bed, snatching his jacket. Charles shoved both arms into the garment, using one to gesture towards your vanity. ‘When are you finished with that, then?’

The brush that was patting down your skin paused mid-movement. And at last, you drew your eyes away from what you were doing, falling upon the British male with a curious look. ‘Makeup?’

‘Yup.’

You turned to look at yourself. Half of your complexion was blended out with a smooth, pure-white foundation whilst the other half of your face was still waiting for some sort of application. ‘A while,’ you decided to say.

‘Well, when you’re done with that, yeah,’ Charles began. He had moved to sit down on the edge of your bed. He rested his elbows upon the dark fabric of his pants covering his knees, watching as you continued to apply the base of your look. ‘We’re off to the record shop.’

‘Charles, you’re not going to make me buy albums I won’t even listen to.’ You reached forwards towards your phone to skip ahead a few songs, falling onto Bauhaus. 

‘Maybe.’ The pointed grin on Charles’s face was unmissable as he rose back to his feet. He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking as devious as Charles Rowland could ever be. ‘But I’ll play you some music that’ll proper blow your mind.’

You rolled your eyes, knocking off spare powder from the edge of your tools. ‘We’ll see.’

That’s how you found yourself outside of the Vinyl Vault, a tiny record shop a block away from the Tongue & Tail that you liked to frequent when on the lookout for new albums. Not too keen on looking insane, you barely acknowledged Charles on the walk through the store, giving one of the usual employees a small wave. 

Finally, surrounded by nothing but stacks of albums and walls of vinyl, you turned towards Charles, who was in the middle of flicking through the discs with a searching gaze.

‘You’re on a mission,’ you observed, crossing two arms over your chest.

‘A mission to broaden your musical horizons,’ Charles quipped, the pads of his fingers quick as he flicked through a few more. A soft noise of approval left his mouth as he leant back and  withdrew a certain CD with a black and white-centric design. ‘Oi, have you ever given ska a listen?’

You tracked Charles with curious eyes as he approached the small CD player propped on a nearby table, fingers flicking to pop the disc out. ‘Nah, but my uncle was real into it. Kind of made me tune it out, so I never really gave it a shot.’

‘Well, looks like your lucky day has come,’ Charles drawled. He was unable to stifle the small smile that crossed his lips as he pressed a few buttons on the player before the disc whirred and an off-beat rhythm sounded throughout the shop. ‘One of my personal favourites, this is.’

‘Which is?’

‘The Specials.’

You stood and listened alongside Charles to the first track. There was something undeniably catchy about it, and one glance towards Charles reckoned he thought the same. As his foot tapped and his lips inaudibly made out some of the lyrics.

As the first track ended, you decided to speak up. ‘I never thought you would be into the blues.’

‘Try Jamaican,’ Charles answered in turn, as he plopped down on the double sofa in the corner by another stack of albums that customers had left abandoned. He absentmindedly flicked through them, bobbing his head as the second track started.

‘Do The Dog.’ You had recognised this one as you sat next to him. ‘Yeah?’

‘Ska came about in Jamaica in the late ’50s, that did,’ Charles began to explain to you, setting down one of the albums atop his knees as he looked towards you. There was a soft fire alight in his eyes as he continued to explain. ‘Two-Tone—y’know that genre from around here, yeah?—mixed Jamaican ska with punk and new wave, creating that ska-rock and ska revival sound.’

‘Interesting. So it has North American influence?’

‘Caribbean, that is.’

‘Huh.’ You pondered for a second, taking in all the sounds and rhythms the genre had to offer. You turned towards Charles, who was staring at you, awaiting your response. ‘I like it.’

‘See? Knew you would.’ Charles looked elated, nudging you a little in the ribs as he spoke.

The two of you fell into some sort of content silence as the album shifted onto its next track. You leant against the arm of the chair, head falling back against the curve of Charles’s shoulder, hearing the tune flood through the little corner of the shop recklessly. 

You both allowed the album to play out to the very end before you went up to the front counter to buy it, dumping it into the little bag you had brought. You refused to admit it but Charles had won, this time.

WORD COUNT: 1.1K MASTERLIST REQ ME!

[musclegeneration]

JiuFlex: The Fusion of Strength and Technique

History

JiuFlex emerged in the late 21st century as a response to the growing popularity of both bodybuilding and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Visionaries sought to combine the raw power of bodybuilders with the technical finesse of BJJ practitioners. The result was a sport that celebrated physical prowess, mental discipline, and artistic expression.

Origins

The Genesis: JiuFlex was born in the underground gyms of São Paulo, where bodybuilders and BJJ black belts secretly trained together. They experimented with blending muscle-building routines and grappling techniques, seeking the perfect fusion.

The First Exhibition: In 2087, the inaugural JiuFlex exhibition took place in Rio de Janeiro. Competitors flexed their sculpted physiques while executing intricate BJJ moves. The crowd was mesmerized.

Posing Rounds:

Flex-Off: In the first round, athletes showcase their muscular development. They wear special posers crafted from their gi belts, emphasizing their physique. Judges evaluate symmetry, vascularity, and overall aesthetics.

Technical Flow: The second round combines BJJ techniques with posing. Fighters demonstrate fluid transitions, sweeps, and submissions—all while flexing their muscles. Creativity and gracefulness earn extra points.

Grappling Rounds:

Gi Grappling: Competitors don traditional BJJ gis for the grappling rounds. Matches follow standard BJJ rules, but with an added twist: fighters can flex during holds or escapes.

Submission Flex: In this round, fighters attempt submissions while maintaining muscle tension. Imagine an armbar executed with biceps bulging!

Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs)

JiuFlex encourages PED use, but not only for brute strength. In fact, PEDs also enhance libido and mental focus. Athletes channel this heightened drive into their performances.

Fighters experience an intense desire to win and dominate, fueled by their enhanced hormonal state. It's not uncommon for opponents to lock eyes mid-match, their determination palpable.

Unexpected Testing

Competitors must maintain a body fat percentage below 10% throughout the year. Regular checks ensure compliance. If a fighter exceeds this limit, they face penalties or disqualification.

Conclusion

JiuFlex thrives on the edge between strength and grace, discipline and desire. As competitors flex their bodies and minds, they redefine what it means to be a true athlete. So, next time you see a fighter posing mid-submission, remember: that's JiuFlex in action! 💪🥋

[jose92gt]

Resúmenes de los episodios 116 al 119 de Yu-Gi-Oh Go Rush

Episodio 116: ¡Eso es lo que me molesta de ti ! – Souiu Tokoro ga Mukatsukundayo!

(¡Eso es lo que me molesta de ti!) La Maestra Oscura y su grupo se dirigen a la Tierra en el Valvelgear robado. Yuhi se ha unido a su lado para descubrir su verdadero motivo. Se mete en una discusión con Zuwijo, lo que conduce a un Duelo entre los dos. En el calor del momento, Yuhi suelta que hará lo que le digan si pierde...

Episodio 117: モチ☆トモ – Mochi☆Tomo

(Mochi☆Pals)

Fukamura aparece ante Yudias y compañía, quienes están tratando de encontrar una manera de perseguir al Dark Meister. Luego comienza un Duelo contra Yudias, prometiendo que les dirá cómo alcanzar al Dark Meister si Yudias gana. Sin embargo, ¡¿Yudias duda en batirse a Duelo con él?!

Episodio 118: 地球へ… – Chikyū e…

(Hacia la Tierra) ¡

El Dark Meister ha llegado a la Tierra, provocando pánico en Asaka y los demás! Mientras los Darkmen comienzan su búsqueda de Monster Reborn, Asaka y compañía se dirigen a donde está escondido para protegerlo. Sin embargo, esto no escapa a la atención de Sabyuas. ¡¿Qué va a pasar cuando Sabyuas se acerque a Asaka…?!

Episodio 119: DM粒子 – DM Ryūshi

(DM Particles)

Bajo las órdenes del Dark Meister, los Darkmen persiguen a Damamu, quien ha tomado Monster Reborn y ha escapado. El Dark Meister usa las DM Particles para inmovilizar a Damamu. Sin embargo, Yuhi no puede soportar ver esto, por lo que desafía al Dark Meister a un duelo.

Episode 116: そういう所がムカつくんだよ！ – Souiu Tokoro ga Mukatsukundayo!

(That’s What Pisses Me Off about You!)

The Dark Meister and her group head to Earth on the stolen Valvelgear. Yuhi has joined her side in order to figure out her real motive. He gets into an argument with Zuwijo, which leads to a Duel between the two. In the heat of the moment, Yuhi blurts out that he’ll do whatever he’s told if he loses…

Episode 117: モチ☆トモ – Mochi☆Tomo

(Mochi☆Pals)

Fukamura appears before Yudias and co., who are trying to find a way to pursue the Dark Meister. He then commences a Duel against Yudias, promising that he’ll tell them how to catch up with the Dark Meister if Yudias wins. However, Yudias is hesitant about Dueling him?!

Episode 118: 地球へ… – Chikyū e…

(Toward the Earth)

The Dark Meister has arrived on Earth, sending Asaka and others into a panic! As the Darkmen begin their search for Monster Reborn, Asaka and co. head to where it is hidden in order to protect it. This doesn’t escape the notice of Sabyuas, however. Just what’s going to happen as Sabyuas closes in on Asaka…?!

Episode 119: DM粒子 – DM Ryūshi

(DM Particles)

Under the order of the Dark Meister, the Darkmen chase after Damamu, who has taken Monster Reborn and escaped. The Dark Meister uses the DM Particles to immobilize Damamu. Yuhi just can’t bear to watch this, however, so he challenges the Dark Meister to a Duel.

[icwasher]

Chapter nine of my de-aged Obi-Wan fic is giing me trouble, but I managed to get a bit done today, so I come bearing a snippet.

Obi-Wan approached the data center warily. The attack on the Senate—-attack on the Senate. The attack on the Senate—-attack on the Senate. The— Ahsoka growled at the message. “Can you find a way to shut that off?” Obi-Wan looked over the table, but all the buttons were foreign to him. Another downside to traveling from twenty-four years in the past. Eventually, he gave up, leaving his and Ahsoka’s ears subject to the torture of Dooku’s monotonous voice repeating the same sentence. Over, and over. It was, quite honestly, insanity-inducing.