#glad I learned some more about animation in a class I recently took

[epicstreathoard]

My very first attempt at a Vtuber rig! This was 100% drawn and rigged by me. There's some jank going on but overall I'm really happy with it!

[local-hyena]

Allright allright, I think I'm ready now...

TF2 COMIC 7

Saying "I loved it" would be an understatement. It was PERFECT, the perfect ending we deserved. It's been seven goddamn years, I honestly didn't think this issue would ever be released. I started getting into tf2 only recently, about a year ago I think. I hope everyone who've been there from the beginning are happy.

This last issue gave us SO MANY THINGS ! A TIME SKIP WITH THE MERC'S FUTURE ! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ALL GOT THE "THEY GOT HOME AND BUILT FAMILIES AND REUNITE FOR CHRISTMAS" TYPE OF FUTURE THAT LITERALLY ALL FANFICS ARE ABOUT. SINGLE DAD SCOUT IS THE GREATEST CHARACTER DEVELOPPEMENT POSSIBLE.

WE ALSO GOT LITERALLY EVERYTHING WE WERE HOPING FOR. WE GOT UNMASKED SPY, WE GOT PAULING'S FIRST NAME, WE GOT SCOUT'S LAST NAME, SCOUT WITH AN UGLY HAIRCUT, WE EVEN GOT PYRO'S DOG AND MEDIC'S BABOON, TOM JONES IS BACK. ALSO HEAVY HAS A BEARD NOW, AND SOLDIER AND ZHANNA HAVE CHILDREN !!

there are of course still unanswered things. However, the fact that the Administrator forgot why she wanted revenge on Mann really adds to her character and the overall story. Also, it seems that Scout still odesn't know that Spy is his father, since he introduces himelf to Scout's children as Scout's coworker... Scout's ma is also noticably absent, I do not want to think about it too much, since Demo's mother is still alive, there is no reason she wouldn't be as well. We're gonna say that she's spending Christmas with another son, since she doesn't really take an important rôle in the comic... Also, as a Medic main, THERE WAS NO MEDIC CONTENT. LIKE, I KNOW THAT THE LAST COMIC WAS VERY MEDIC AND HEAVY FOCUSED, BUT STILL. I always need more Medic content 😭😭 glad to see that Archimedes is here also !

Also, Merasmus why are you so ripped 😂😂 he looks ugly as ever.

I am so very happy that Hale and Olivia both got fired from MannCo. They are finally happy now, with Hale going back with Mags fighting animals and going on other dangerous adventures.

There is ONE lats thing I need to point out. No, two things. First, I wonder what Valve will do now. Now that Team Fortress 2's story has come to an end. What will happen ? Is the game going to stop updating ? Or on the contrary will they go back to working on it ? Is there going to be a Team Fortress 3 ? Or is Team Fortress simply going to end on this perfect note ?

Finally, the ending. It took me a while to understand that the last dinner scene was adressing directly to us, the reader, the player. When I understood that, it hit le right in the heart. I cannot say that tf2 has been à huge part of my life. Like I said, I only got interested last year or so. I don't even oike the game itself that much, online multiplayer competitive FPSs are not my preferred genre. But the story, the characters and what the community makes (yes, the funny GMod machinimas and SFM movies. The memes and the serious stuff, both of them) made me learn to enjoy this universe. I must confess something. For some time, I played Fortnight with my brother. He made me try because I kept saying that I didn't like it, but I hadnd't poayed the game. After my first game, I said that I had some fun, in the end. So, he kinda forced le to play. For... idk, a few years. I do nlt remember the dates but I started the season with the Nomad skin as the ultimate reward, and stopped when there were hoverboards, or whatever they were. I didn't enjoy it because he insisted on being super competitive and was raging 90% of the time. So yeah, I hated every second of it and I vowed to not play competitive online multiplier games anymore. Which is why I absolutly refuse to play Overwatch and League of Legends. I wouldn't say that Team Fortress 2 reconciled me woth these type of games, but after watching all the Meet the Mercs and learning more about the story, I tried playing. I was a bit intimidated as to which class to choose, but after trying out several (and being very influenced by Meet the Medic), I found out that I had the most fun while playing Medic. I do nlt have a very good aim and I tend to die immediatly when I try to shoot at people. I also discovered that, playing an online multiplayer game doesn't have to be competitive. I have 9h30 in tf2, I play very casually. I do not get mad when I die or my team loses, because in the end, I just want to have fun in my own way. So, this ending hit me right in the heart

I... I almost want to print that last panel and hang it on my wall... I know, there's nothing stopping me, but I don't want my family to question it.

Anyways. That was tf2 comic issue 7. I cannot wait to see what the future will bring for our mercs !

[mysticetus]

thank you so so so much for the detailed ask!!! i've recently considered going into that field and that information / suggestion is super helpful for my decision :) i didn't know you were a biology major! that's so cool! how has it been so far? what kind of courses you took in high school do you use now / what do you feel are specific essential areas? i hope that doesn't sound like a strange question to ask, i've got some memory issues and knowing what specifically to focus on before i get into college could help a lot :)

no problem its not often i get to talk about the work that i do so im glad to write stuff.

when it comes to academic advice i have to preface it by saying things depend greatly on what is available to you, since “biology major” can fall under a ton of different things and im not sure theres a universal system for it … some examples ive seen are biology BS (bachelor of science) which is more useful for microbiology and if you want to go into research, biochemistry, or the medical field … biology BA (bachelor of art) which is better for macrobiology like zoology, and people looking to go into education. Theres also ecology and evolutionary biology, and more specific majors like botany, marine bio, etc ….

or your college might just have a single biology major. it really depends. my college happens to have a robust bio department and thats the main reason i wanted to go here. they usually have information on offered majors on their website but i assume youre looking at that anyway lol.

A nice piece of advice i received from someone in the field was when i attended the necropsy of an adult female sea lion, the woman performing it recommended we get a general biology degree rather than marine biology, since general bio offers you more opportunity. For example if you want to work in like… idaho studying golden eagles or kansas looking at salamander species you cant much use a marine bio degree for that. But a general bio degree is helpful in most marine bio environments. (Also marine bio is extremely competitive and the work is usually expensive but thats another conversation…)

in high school the class most useful to me was definitely physiology which was a science elective for me. It went over like…bone names and organ systems and how muscles work and all that … its still useful to me. You could also look into APES (ap environmental science) if thats something available to you. but generally i think you should take classes that are interesting to you! bio is a huge field and you may discover something really amazing if you just follow your nose.

and high school isnt all there is, you could see if theres a local museum or wildlife rescue center that takes youth workers/volunteers. More often than not facilities like this are non profit and depend on volunteer work so they might have something available. For paying jobs you could look into pet stores, sounds weird but there was an aquarium store in my town that had tons of species and the employees there are mostly really nerdy teenagers. similar situation with a reptile store near me, they literally breed chicks to feed the snakes. animal husbandry is a great way to observe like. Feeding behaviors and ecological roles. Doing work in actual places where a bio degree is applied helped inform my decision and i also learned a lot on the job. i never really freaked out about extracurriculars i just did this stuff because it seemed cool but it definitely helps with getting into college in the first place.

hope this helps

[mikauzoran]

Riposte in Retrospect

Hi, guys! Today I’m rewatching Riposte. ^.^ I remember thinking that this episode was okay when it first aired. I didn’t understand why people were so excited for Kagami. She seemed kind of like a stereotypical ice queen that you see in a lot of anime, but I’m happy to say that I’m very pleased with her character development since her debut. I am so, so happy with the person she’s become, and I’m glad that the writers took the time to give her character depth.

First of all, the cute Adrienette scene with Adrien teaching Marinette how to fence and praising her for being a quick study was precious. I really liked watching them interact. Adrien’s so sweet to her.

Also, something I noticed in the background. There’s a handicapped bathroom on the left side (right side as you’re coming in the school). I don’t recall seeing visibly disabled characters on the show, but I like that there’s a bathroom included. I wonder where the door on the other side leads. Is that down to the boiler room? For some reason, I thought that was a little further inside the school.

I kind of don’t like how Kagami is introduced in this episode. I think it shows us some of the important things about her character (like her being a high achiever, passionate, and under a lot of pressure from her family to be the best), but she comes off as arrogant, hotheaded, and a little too intense when she shows up and demands a place in the class because she’s been the best everywhere she’s been before. 

And then she’s really /intense/ in her match with Adrien. Seriously, it looks like she’s actually attacking him at some points, like when it looks like she rushes him and rams him with her shoulder, knocking him back into a pole. And then she pushes him back into the railing on the stairs. I don’t know. The fight feels kind of “yikes”. I think I would have highlighted her positive qualities a little more in her introductory episode. I know I had the wrong idea about Kagami for a long time, and I wish we could have seen her admirable qualities at the beginning too because now I adore her.

On a completely different note, why are all of the books on the shelves in the library so crooked? This really pokes at my Obsessive Compulsive tendencies. Someone needs to stand them up straight. This is torture. XD

I find it interesting that Papillon bothered to stop Riposte from fighting Adrien. ^.^; In recent seasons, I’ve been wondering what Gabriel really thinks of Adrien. Does he care about his son at all? Did he ever love him? Is Adrien just a pawn to him? There are times like this that Gabriel seems to care and others when he obviously doesn’t. I’d be interested in learning more about the writers’ interpretation of Gabriel and his thought process.

By the way, Benjamin Bollen does some fantastic voice acting this episode. When he shouts, “Attention, Ladybug!” there’s just the perfect amount of terror in his voice. It gives the line layers that betray how much Adrien cares about Ladybug personally and how afraid he is of her getting hurt. Maybe even a sense of helplessness, since he’s not transformed and can’t protect and assist her. (Even though a second later he throws himself at her, pushing her out of the way and risking his own life in civilian form, but...) Anyway. He has a similar line later at the Louvre as Chat Noir that’s also delivered brilliantly. I love this man’s voice. XD

The animation of Adrien limping is kind of off. ^.^; It looks like his leg just got incredibly heavy and now he has to drag it behind him. ^.^; That animation didn’t turn out well.

But, it’s very interesting that Adrien’s sprained ankle stays sprained even after he transforms. I had forgotten that that happened in this episode. That’s something I’ll have to remember going forward for fic writing purposes.

This is the other moment with really nuanced voice acting. He gets trapped behind the bars, separated from Ladybug and Riposte as Riposte attacks his Lady. All he says is “Ladybug!”, but, again, the delivery has layers of emotion in it that are superb. Well done, Benjamin Bollen. Well done, Sir.

In other news, Chat sliding down the railing is super extra, and I always appreciate that about him. I’m glad that Adrien has this outlet that allows him to do things he’s always wanted to do but was never permitted to.

Also, I think this is the first we hear about Adrien being claustrophobic. I like how Chat first introduces it as a cover story for him not being in the sarcophagus where Ladybug left Adrien. And then Adrien repeats the cover story again at the end to Ladybug, so we’re not sure if he’s just saying that to protect his identity or if he really does have a problem with enclosed spaces. We only find out later in Marchand de Sable that Adrien really is claustrophobic. 

I love all of Adrien’s facial expressions as he extolls Marinette’s virtues. It’s so cute. XD His eyebrows are particularly expressive. I love how he just has this automatic list of Marinette’s good qualities.

Poor Marinette doesn’t realize what a big deal it is to Adrien to be friends with someone. The poor boy only had one friend growing up, and the quality was a little lacking. ^.^; He really values his friends, but Marinette doesn’t know how precious that makes her to him.

Also, I like how Adrien does his Marinette spiel before he and Kagami have even introduced themselves to one another. Kagami knows how important Marinette is to Adrien before she knows his name.

This episode has one of the best endings. I love Marinette and Tikki play fencing together. XD It’s super sweet. I love little moments like this between holders and kwamis. uwu

I like this episode a lot more in retrospect now that I have a better understanding of Kagami’s character. Again, I’m so happy that they decided to flesh her out and give her depth. She’s become a wonderful character. I’m glad that they made her into more than a throwaway love rival.

[arcadejohn127-9]

Heyyy, I hope you’re doing ok! I love ur blog and I know we’re strangers who will possibly never meet but Recently, the little things have pushed me over the edge and close to an anxiety attack I presume but I’ve been using knitting and crochet to cope. It sounds weird Ik, but may u do the brothers and Undateables with an MC who does that and MC just ends up making so much stuff in one day that she gives it away to them. I’m so sorry if it’s weird, pls feel free to choose whether to do it or not but this blog has made me a little happier than before, thank you for reading and being here!

I actually use to do knitting, never finished anything and lost interest but it was really calming and fun. Couldn't keep my attention for long as it was very repetitive and got boring quickly but I always just genuinely enjoyed it despite that?

Stress knitting seems like the most wholesome way to handle anxiety and stress, it helps you focus on something else, you're being productive and having fun aswell as being safe! Though do be careful with the needles

And thank you for being here and supporting me, I'm glad I could make you feel even a little bit happier, a small amount of happiness is better than none! So thank you for making my night with how kind you are! Your habit and anxiety relief isn't weird at all, I don't see how it could be weird tbh

Sorry this took so long, I feel stupid now but I got really stumped on some of them on what to make but now I'm laughing at myself due to how obvious they were

Lucifer:

You made him mug holders and now it's all he uses

"It's very useful, I'll take extra care of it - no need to worry."

He can handle the heat but he must use what you've made

You even made a massive sweater and socks for Cerberus

How you got his dogs measurements is beyond him but it was the most prominent things he uses from your biggest pile

But he was no fool, he knew you

He knew your habits and how you've grown more anxious

He isn't always the most available person with his emotions and with his schedule

But he was always willing to listen to your issues

Mammon:

You made him a money pouch - how could he not be happy??!!

He loves jingling it to hear all his latest 'finds'

What was even better you made him a sweater he got to wear for his modeling job and show off to Everyone

That article was an interesting find

"CHECK IT! everyone loved your sweater! I say we can make a bussiness with this."

But when you come handing him a large bag full of your latest projects he can't help but raise a brow

He's greedy, he loves being showered in gifts

But he knew you, he took note on your emotional

He got pouty but he hugged your shoulders

Reminding you that you can always come to him and he'll make you feel better

Levithan:

You made him knitted wrist support, for his long gaming sessions

He wears them pretty much everyday at this point

Not only are they comfortable and helpful

But you made them! Specifically for him! For him to use! YOU MADE IT!

Has bragged to his gaming friends about it one too many times

"My player 2 is obviously better than yours, does yours knit cute things for you? I thought so."

Also you made him a crotchet plush of his favourite animal crossing chatacter, he prefers the Devildom version of the game but he's a sucker for bright cute things

Anything he could he'd either put in on his desk or on his figure cupboards

But when you come in with a massive pile, strained smile he felt himself panic

You both have anxiety, you were comrades in it! So of course he knew how knitting was part of your coping mechanism

He felt annoyed and worried on why you weren't coming to him but quickly calmed himself down, when he saw he patted your head

Explaining you can always come to him because you're in this together

He definitely stole a line or two from his latest favourite media

Satan:

Crotchet chair cat paw socks was his favourite out of the pile

"They're little paws..... I need these for all my furniture!"

His second favourite is the baggy sweater you knitted for him

He's going to cherish these gifts until he dies

Which could be never

Though even in death he'd be keeping what you've made him

Worried about the massive increase as he knows it's coping for your anxiety

He's read books about anxiety so he has a fair amount of knowledge on it

Insists you can always come to him when you're worried

Asmodeus:

He adored everything you made!

The sweater had little holes in them? He doesn't care and even smirks at the holes

"wanting to expose my beautiful skin~? I don't blame you."

Made a scarf? He'll wear that instead of his usual black one

Just knitted squares or unwearable things? Proudly shows off your work

Is concerned you've been so ridden with anxiety

He wants to help as much as he can, he has teas and bath scents for these kind of things

Just say the word and he'll bring all of it out

Beezlebub:

A crotchet layered burger he can take apart because it's velcro-ed together??!

It's like a real burger!

He tries not to bite or chew on it but it has happened before

Would feel awful if he accidentally ripped it

"I love it, are you going to make more?"

Didn't expect for you to actually make more

As time went on he learned that it helps you calm down from anxiety

So he especially didn't expect you to come in with a massive bag full of your latest creation's

He immediately got worried

You wanted to show them off to distract your mind but he just grabbed your head

Gently moving it so you looked at him

He told you he wants to help and he'll be there for you, no matter what and no matter when

Belphegor:

You made him w blanket - you know how young children are normally seen with baby blankets? Just always carrying them around

Yeah that's him

"You can't make me take it off Lucifer-! This is MY gift from (Y/N) and I'm going to make sure everyone sees it!"

Always showing off the blanket you made him by carrying it around or having it wrapped around him

He loves it! He also loves the pillow covers you made! It helps spice up his pillow collection

But you can't hide your anxiety from him, he goes out of his way to give people it

And soon he found out how kitting was a coping mechanism

He felt a little special you were making him things because it calmed you down but also worried about your mental health

The concern RISED when you were in the attic, placing and organising the big pile you had

He hugged you and flopped onto the bed

Telling you that he'll look after you and you can tell him what's wrong, stress naps are always welcomed with him

UNDATEABLES↓

Diavolo:

Didn't expect to find such a huge pile of new stuff in his room

He saw mug holders and mits

Horn warmers

And his favourite- a shawl with tassels, he immediately wrapped it around him and refused to take it off

He's going to wear this everywhere no matter his outfit

"Barbatos can be strict but I'll wear this no matter what, if I even see a spec of dirty on it I'll make sure to get it cleaned with delicate care."

But then it hit him, you become more active with your hobby when you become anxious

He immediately got to you, asking you if you're okay

He's ready to charge your whole class schedule if he has to

Barbatos:

You crocheted desserts and he never felt so much warmth and love in his heart

Almost collapsed from sweetness when he found a knitted pair of gloves in the big pile of your creation's

Appreciates the gifts alot

"these are marvelous, I look forward to see what else you make."

Brings you calming teas as a thank you, understanding your anxiety must be high

Offers a shoulder to cry on and happy to take time out of his schedule to listen to your worries

He asks you to teach him so he can make things like you

He wants to repay you for all the things you've given him

Solomon:

Has a whole room dedicated to everything you've ever made and given him

Whenever he has guests he likes to take them to check out your creations

"Come and admire my collection, My apprentice made these, aren't they neat?"

The potion sacks you've made are extremely useful

Aswell as the coldrain mat

Can sense your anxious energy in the newest creation's and gets concerned

He'll invite you over to talk about what's wrong

Let's you to take your time incase you're comfortable to talk

Simeon:

His favourite amongst the massive pile was a cute crotchet octopus

It was nicely stuffed and felt so nice to rest his head on

Others that peaked his fancy were the long wrist warmers you made, the way you made it made it look like lace

Aswell as a shawl and the very well made bag to store his books in

"You're so thoughtful, I'll treasure them all."

But he noticed just how worked up you've been and knew your anxious habits

Sat you down for tea to ask what how you're feeling and if could help

Also offers to be a guardian angel and make sure you don't get so anxious

If he can he'll wear an entire outfit made out of your knitting

Luke:

Is in awe how much you gave him

Almost died with Happiest when you knitted him a new hat

The crotchet wings you made just made him bounce with joy

He loves everything!!!

"I'm going to wear everything you've made and carry the little crochet puppy with me everywhere! I promise I'll take good care of him!"

Though will always check in on you

Once he's learned you do it more or only when you're really anxious he'll want to do everything he can to help

Has looked up guides on how to help people with their anxiety and panic attacks

He's going to be your guardian angel!

[pinky-the-elephant-room]

A girl with a crush

AN: I wrote this prompt for @liliesoftherain​ to show my love since she recently got into Haikyuu and she has a thing for blond tsunderes. Phfft. It’s sort of a fast moving one shot (6k) but since I dont love lilie enough to write her an ongoing slow burn story this will have to do. Credits to lilie for making this banner she has become competent at making them. Just a heads up for those who don’t know I’m a BNHA blog that does regular prompts for that anime, this is the few exceptions I do every now and then. Also sorry if Tsukki might be occ? I haven’t watched all of Haikyuu! yet so *bows apologetically* Though my friend said he wasn’t so you guys let me know if he was. 

Warning: Explicit smut with a bit of degradation and sort of dub con?

Pairing: Tsukishima Kei x Fem reader

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

It started off so simple. Every person who’s ever had a crush would tell you that having your crush talk to you makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. What they don’t tell you is that adrenaline and happiness can become addictive. I had started my first year of high school in class 1-4 when I noticed him, he was exactly my type. Tall with blond hair and glasses to match, I’ve always been attracted to the smart guys. And he was one of the top students in that class. When sensei took roll, I learned his name, Tsukishima Kei. I didn’t have a crush on him right away. He was just a good-looking guy I noticed in my class and that’s it. I had more important things to worry about like class 1-4 and how hard it was due to it being a college preparatory class.

A few weeks in we were assigned a project for English, we had to present a project on how Japan could improve their English comprehension. Lo and behold my partner was Tsukishima.

“If you’re not going to do your part tell me now so I don’t waste my time,” he had said to me as soon as class ended.

I immediately bristled because I was a relatively hard-working person.

“Don’t worry I’ll do my part.” I replied. He seemed skeptical but nodded.

“Meet me at the public library near our school,” he told me before dismissing me.  

Afterschool he arrived a few mins after I did with a plain black-haired guy that was in our class. I recognized Yamaguchi from the fact that they were always together. Apparently, they even joined the volleyball club at the same time.

I just raised my eyebrow at Yamaguchi as he joined their table before getting homework out and started working on it. I ignored him, and I pulled out paper so we could get the basics jotted down.

You’d think I would be happy getting to work with a handsome guy, right? Nope! Immediately the condescending comments started right away. None of my notes and the research I had started on was good enough. None of my ideas reached his standards.

“Did you even fact check this?” Tsukishima asked as he slid my paper back to me.

I glared at him. “Of course, I did!”

He didn’t even look at me as he started to write on his own paper.

“Second sentence paragraph 3. You didn’t even cite plus the statistic is wrong.”

I was about to explode when I glanced at the paper. I grumbled realizing the arrogant boy was right.

Yamaguchi snickered under his breath. I swiveled my head towards him as he continued to diligently work on his homework like he wasn’t just laughing at me.

I gripped my pencil tightly. ‘Calm down. It’s just a few more hours. You need a good grade in English to start off the year strong.’

By the end of their study session I couldn’t believe I actually thought the boy was cute. He might be handsome, but his personality was utter crap. His snide comments had continued throughout the session and drove me nuts. I had never wanted to physically hurt someone as bad as him. God help whoever the guy dated.

I just tossed my papers and stationery in my bookbag in a hurry to get out of here.

Just as I was about to leave, I heard Yamaguchi and Tsukishima approaching and talking.

“Tsukki, let’s go grab a snack before going home,” Yamaguchi said to the blonde.

I couldn’t help but snort and snicker at the nickname.

Both boys turned to me in surprise. Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at me and asked, “what’s so funny?”

I shrugged. “Nothing, I just think it’s weird that a boy like you has such a cute nickname.”

Tsukishima frowned severely at me. Before he could say anything more, I cheerfully skipped off, glad to have finally gotten under his skin.

 A week later, the presentation for English went well. We both earned a good grade. It was time for gym as all the girls changed into their gym uniforms in the classroom. We then went outside in the hot sun to start exercising.

I leisurely started running, doing it at my own pace rather than running all at once and depleting my stamina. I noticed someone running beside me and it was Tsukishima. It wasn’t fair how athletic he was, he wasn’t even sweating or huffing like I was.

“You know,” I began, “I never would have pegged you for a guy who plays volleyball.”

He looked surprised at me like he just noticed I was there.

I scowled.

“For a guy like you I would have suspected something like basketball.”

He glared at me. “Well, you aren’t exactly very perspective, are you? After all you were no help on our project. So, idiot’s opinions don’t count.”

My mouth dropped at his audacity. He smirked at me, liking my outraged reaction.

“Excuse me? I earned that grade just like you! If anyone’s opinion doesn’t matter it’s yours because you’re just an arrogant, hateful asshole!” I spat at him before increasing my speed and running off.

 From there we would continue to have petty disagreements within the classrooms and sometimes outside of it. All the while Yamaguchi would stand there like a spectator watching us go back and forth. Until one afternoon I stayed behind to talk to a teacher and asked them about my grades. The sky had darkened by the time I was ready to go home. Most of the school emptied and even worse heavy rain clouds moved in and it started raining heavily. I sighed as I checked my backpack for the third time looking for that umbrella, I swore I packed.  The classroom door suddenly slid open startling the hell out of me. Tsukishima walked in and stopped dead at the sight of me.

“What are you still doing here?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and huffed. I so didn’t need this right now.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I misplaced my umbrella so I’m waiting for the rain to slow down.”

Tsukishima grabbed his glasses’ case from his desk and started to leave.

“You’re right it’s not my business.” Just as he was about to close the door. “You might want to leave the classroom they’re going to lock the doors.”

I cursed under my breath and started heading for the front of the school. I can just wait there for the rain to stop. Changing out of school slippers into my outdoor shoes, I made my way to the front door.

I noticed Tsukishima still waiting outside.

“Do you not have an umbrella either?” I asked. Even if it was him it would be nice to have some company while I waited. It was getting really dark outside and it kind of scared me to be here alone.

He shook his head and pulled out a dark umbrella from his own bag. I swallowed back a gulp, knowing that I would be here all alone.

Tsukishima unfurled the umbrella and snapped it open. He turned back to me and offered me the umbrella.

I just stared in astonishment.

“Here! Don’t just stand there like an idiot!” He snapped at me.

I took it hesitantly.

“But what about you? Aren’t you going to get wet?”

“I have another one in the gym locker room.”

I looked at my phone and noticed it was getting really late.

“I’m sorry I really have to catch the bus now. I’m going to be late! I’ll return this to you tomorrow.” I said with a huge smile.

He nodded at me and pushed his glasses back up.

I started leaving, feeling my cheeks heat up and heart beat faster as I gripped Tsukishima’s umbrella tighter.

And that was how my crush had started. With that one small act of kindness.

 After that umbrella incident, I wanted to talk to him more and more. The intense meanspirited conversations had instead turned into lighthearted teasing. Well, more playful teasing on my part, he still called me an idiot. It was such a rush to have all of his attention on me. Even if it was for a few minutes, even if it meant that he was insulting me. It was official I had a crush on Tsukishima.

I sat during lunch with a faraway look on my face. All the girls in the class had bunched up their desks and we ate together.

“Y/N, what’s wrong with you today? Aren’t you hungry?” A girl named Momo asked.

I looked down at my bento and it was untouched, still full to the brim.

“You guys know Tsukishima in our class right..?” I began hesitantly.

A girl across from me who went by the name of Sana smiled. “You like him, don’t you?”

I blushed and nodded. “Am I that obvious?”

She shrugged. “Not really, but every girl who meets him has a crush until he opens his mouth. Then they get over it. I went to the same middle school as him and even shared classes together. A lot of girls liked him, but he’s how do you say this delicately?”

“An asshole?” Momo said wryly.

“No, he’s a classic anime example of a tsundere.”

I giggled, that was spot on.

“But the thing about tsunderes is that they’re great in anime. But not in real life. Dealing with them can be exhausting.” Sana warned.

My smile dropped and I quietly replied, “I know I’m not looking to confess or anything. I just like talking to him.”

Momo shot a look of warning to Sana who just stuck her tongue back at her.

“Well, if you need advice you know that we are here for you.”

I nodded, feeling a pit of sadness within myself. Thinking I might just be hungry, I picked up my chopsticks and dug into my lunch.

 And I kept my word months after that conversation. I never confessed to him. I did continue to talk to him more like tease, but it was the only way I knew how to get his attention. The exhilarating feeling, I got every time I was near him made me feel like an addict and I loved it. But then something weird started happening that ruined everything.

I knew that Tsukishima was part of the volleyball team, but I had never seen them in action. So, I had dragged a few of the other girls to see them practice. We came into the gym to see the practice already in full swing. The two girls who stood in the gym seemed like managers and looked at us curiously when we entered. I bowed to them in greeting before taking a seat on the bleachers.

Though, I had never seen a volleyball game and I didn’t even know the rules. It was easy to see the boys were really talented and the way they jumped up to serve the ball was really cool. A whistle sounded and all the boys relaxed. Tsukishima turned around and I saw his eyes widened when he saw me on the bleachers.

“Tsukishima! I came to see you play!” I hollered as I cupped my hands.

Several of his teammates turned around to see who was yelling and shot me weird looks.

“Tsukishima, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

Tsukishima coughed into his hands a few times. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know who she is. I have never met her in my life. Let’s restart practice,” he said in what he hoped was a calm voice, but his red ears gave him away.

Several of the girls hearing that started grumbling at his rudeness. Yamaguchi was at least nice enough to wave at them and they all waved back in return.

I grinned knowing that I had made a dent in his composure. I did my best to cheer for him each time he did anything even as mundane to stop and tie his shoes. I could tell by the tenseness of his shoulders how close he was to exploding.

Eventually the whistle sounded, and practice was over. Tsukishima rushed off to the locker room and returned in record time, changed and with his gym bag.

“What do you think you're doing here,” he hissed.

I smiled mischievously. “I’m here to see you play, silly. I want to support my classmate.”

“I don’t want or need your support.  Your annoying voice made me lose concentration and I have never played so bad in my life. Go study instead and maybe put that brain to use for once.”

He glared at me furiously and walked away in a way that almost looked like stomping. But it wasn’t because Tsukishima doesn’t stomp right?

I grinned manically at his reaction. Oh, how I wished I could do this every day, but that would be tempting fate too much.

“Y/N, I swear you’re a masochist even though he’s so mean you still like him. It’s like you egg him on purpose,” Momo interjected from behind me.

She stopped, seeing my creepy smile.

“You like him insulting you. Don’t you?”

I protested vehemently and shook my head.

“It turns on you doesn’t it?” she asked again with a devious grin.

I spluttered as my face turned red and I almost felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Sana patted my back a few times as I calmed down and glared at Momo who put up her hands and shrugged.

Eventually we all left the gym and went out for some ice cream before heading home.

But what Momo said that day wouldn’t leave my head because I was messing with him for his attention right? It’s not like I wanted to be called names. There’s just no way. If you think about it logically every time someone else called me rude names, I responded back just as rudely. It doesn’t excite me. I shook my head and laughed. Yup, there was just no way.

However, the possibility just wouldn’t leave me as the more I teased and the more he responded back rudely, the redder I would become. It even got to the point where Tsukishima himself could tell there was something going on with me.

“What’s going on with you? Not that I care but you’re acting weirder than you usually do,” he asked bluntly when I bumped into him in the hallway.

I laughed nervously. “I’m not sure what you mean. I’m acting like I usually do.”

He stared at me for a moment. “You mean like the moron you are?”

Immediately, my heart started racing and my face started turning red.

Tsukishima just watched me incredulously as my body reacted to his words which caused me to blush even harder.

“I have to go.” I yelped as I basically ran away.

It was after this incidence I realized Tsukishima knew I liked him. Or I suspected he did because after that every time I tried to tease him like I usually do, he just wouldn’t respond with anger like he usually would. In fact, he kept giving me weird looks. There was even one time where I passed both Yamaguchi and him on the way home. I greeted them both, but only Yamaguchi would respond, and Tsukishima pretended like I wasn’t even there. Hell, he probably even knew about my weird penchant for liking his insults. So, eventually with a heavy heart I left him alone. Afterall, if someone doesn’t like you then you can’t force them to like you back.

Still, when I think about this incidence years later it makes me mad. Because its not like I confessed to him or pursued him. In fact, most people would say I wasn’t even that obvious. Yet, he couldn’t be mature enough to handle a girl who liked him.

-Time Skip-

It was years later that I realized that what my friend Momo had said then was true. It took some experimenting and soul searching to discern that yes, I had particular tastes, but it didn’t make me weird or a disgusting person. In fact, it was healthy and natural, something that I took great pleasure in exploring after I graduated high school.

I waited in line at Starbucks for my latte, I was usually here early in the morning. My name was called up before I grabbed my drink and settled in a booth. Like I said I’m here most mornings, reviewing for my classes before they started. Nursing classes in college were no joke if you miss even one day you’re likely to get behind and fail.

Just as I was about to open my textbook and get started, someone dumped their bookbag in the seat in front of me.

I looked up. “Excuse me, this booth is-“

I choked on my own words when I realized I was looking at Tsukishima. Even years later he was still handsome as ever, he even looked taller. He was still wearing glasses and was dressed casually.

“This booth is what? It looks empty unless you’re waiting for someone?”

I shook my head. He slid in the booth in front of me.

“H-how you been? Long time no s-see,” I said.

God, this was awkward how the hell do you talk to someone who purposely ignored you in high school after they found about your crush?

He shrugged. “Can’t complain. College and volleyball keeps me busy.”

I looked at him in surprise. “You still play?”

He took a sip of his coffee and nodded in affirmation. “I’ve seen you in this coffee shop a few times. So, I guess you go to that college nearby.”

The two of us got into a discussion of how I was going into a master’s nursing program after graduation and how he was going to work in a museum afterwards. It was hard to believe this was the same guy who would regularly argue with me in high school. The same guy who would respond to my jokes with insults. He seemed so relaxed and he had even smirked at some of the nonsense I had rambled on about. It seemed like the baggage that weighed on him back then was something that he resolved. He looked like he was in a better place than the boy I knew in high school.

Soon, I had to leave for my class and I almost gave him my number. I shook my head; this wasn’t the time to relive childhood crushes. I had moved on and I was better for it. So, with that in mind I made my way to my morning class. However, imagine my surprise when he continued to show up in that coffee shop every morning and chat with me. He had his bookbag with him, but he never attempted to do work like I would. And neither would I get any work done with him there. But I never had the heart to tell him to go away or even find somewhere else to study. I was there every morning diligently.

Weeks turned into months and we continued to still meet. Not everything about him changed though. He still sometimes responded with annoyance, however this time the insults were tinged with a bit of affection that I couldn’t help but notice. It made my heart pound and made me feel like a schoolgirl once more. I tried not to get my hopes up high, you’d think I would have learned from last time. But there was just something about him that made me helpless. Plus, the fact after a couple of months he had taken me out to restaurants and the movies a couple times, gave me hope that maybe this time it was different. It all became clear when he invited me out for karaoke with his other friends.

I had dressed up in a pretty, floral summer dress with natural makeup and some flats. I tried to look good but casual, I didn’t want him to get any ideas. I walked up to the karaoke bar that we were supposed to meet up at and was surprised to see him standing there with Yamaguchi.

I hadn’t seen Yamaguchi in a while, and he looked great as well. He seemed shocked to see me and, in my excitement, I gave him a tight hug. He blushed and returned it a bit awkwardly.

I turned to Tsukishima and greeted him. He seemed annoyed for some reason. Tsukishima quickly started introducing the whole group. There were a few other girls and guys I didn’t recognize and apparently, they were all from his college. I greeted them and bowed my head a little.

They all started to go in the bar, and I was too when Tsukishima grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

“I forgot to tell you. You look nice,” he murmured as he looked at me from top to bottom.

I felt my cheeks heat up and mumbled “thanks.” I felt him squeeze my hand before letting go.

“You coming?” He kept the door opened for me and let me in. We walked together to the reserved karaoke room side by side; my shoulders kept brushing up against his. I felt the heat from his body and his hands secure me around my waist before we arrived at the room. The small karaoke room seemed cramped from all the people, but he pulled me next to him in a seat in the corner.

Before long everyone was singing, eating snacks, and drinking beer. I was about to ask him to sing with me for the next round when a red-haired girl came to sit on the other side of Tsukishima. She hogged his attention for the next hour. She kept touching his hands and leaning over to talk to him. Tsukishima for his part seemed ok with the attention and indulged her, leaving me in the corner just sipping beer. I felt like crying just when everything seemed ok and he appeared to be interested, reality came and slapped me in the face. I wanted to leave right away, but I couldn’t without being rude. So, I sat there in the corner watching everyone sing and have a good time, while the girl and him sat so close together she was basically on his lap.

When she let out a loud laugh and planted a kiss on his cheek, I finally lost it. My eyes clouded with tears and I stood up abruptly. Tsukishima seemed startled and pushed her off him.

“Thanks for inviting me, but I have to go. I don’t feel so good. Excuse me,” I said while gathering my phone and purse.

I left quickly and wiped the tears from my eyes on the way out. I sniffled a few times on the street as I figured out if I wanted to grab a taxi or walk to the nearest train station.

“Y/N!” I heard someone called out my name.

I looked back to see Tsukishima making his way to me. Not wanting him to convince me to come back and watch as he flirted with another woman, I hiked up my dress and speed walked away from the bar. Unfortunately for me his longer legs meant he caught up to me in no time and grabbed my hand.

“Why are you leaving?” he asked.

I shifted my eyes nervously, not looking him in the eye.

“I felt nauseous and kind of dizzy, so I thought I should go home to rest,” I lied as I felt my hands get sweaty.

“Ok, let’s go.” Tsukishima grabbed my hands and started pulling me towards the street.

“What’re you doing?” I tried to pull my hands back from his tight grip.

“Making sure you get home safely. I can’t let you go like this by yourself.”

He hailed a taxi and made sure I was settled in the backseat before he let himself in from the other door. Apparently, he was serious about this enough to accompany me home.

“Tell the driver your address,” he said as he nudged me from my shock. I mumbled the address of my apartment and rested my head against the car’s cool glass window. I really didn’t want to be near Tsukishima right now, a man that’s rejected me twice. So, I ignored him and pretended to rest the entire way there.

Tsukishima paid the driver as I frankly refused to pay as it was his idea to get a taxi and I let myself out. I heard another door slam and watched as the taxi drove away without Tsukishima in it.

“What do you think you’re doing? I’m home now so you can go back to karaoke.”

He smirked. “Well, see you rushed off in such a hurry that I didn’t even get to eat properly. So, I think you should invite me in and repay me with coffee.”

I gritted my teeth. “I have no coffee in my apartment right now so please go away.”

“You drink coffee multiple times per day. I’m pretty sure a coffee maniac like you has some in your apartment,” he said as he walked off towards my apartment.

“Now where are you going! You don’t even know which apartment it is!” I huffed as I rushed to catch up with him.

“You told the driver 206, right?”

I cursed my idiotic self; I should have just taken the train.  I caught up to him a few minutes later and found him waiting at my door. He looked at me like I was the stupid one for walking so slow.

I glared at him and opened the door. Tsukishima invited himself in and was at least polite enough to remove his shoes before making himself at home.

I sighed knowing that he wasn’t going to go away anytime soon so I might as well just give him his coffee and send him on his way.

Just as I was about to go into the kitchen, he grabbed me again and held me against his chest. His hand let go of mine and traveled down to my waist. He held it tightly enough so even when I was trying to push him away, he wouldn’t budge.

“You want to tell me why you left in such a hurry? The truth this time.”

I huffed angrily.

“Can you let go? I need to make coffee so you can leave my apartment!”

Tsukishima tilted my face up so he can look me in the eyes. “The truth, Y/N.”

I grinded my teeth together and pushed against him. “I told you the truth already. Can you give me some space?”

I smacked his hand from my face away. “In fact, you can stop touching me so familiarly we are not together!” I yelled and gained more confidence. “You can go back to karaoke and talk to that lovely girl. It’s obvious that’s what you wanna do. I’m not sure what you’re doing here.”

That last part was said with more bitterness than I intended. I looked up at him to see him watching me carefully like he was trying to figure something out. Tsukishima smiled slowly and it made me wary. He’s never smiled at me like that before. In fact, he’s only ever smirked or scowled in my presence before.

“I never thought I would see the day that moron’s advice on women actually work out.”

I scowled at him. Now what was he talking about? I was this close to biting his hand so he would let go.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of you for one day. You need to leave right now.” I pointed at the door.

Of course, being Tsukishima, he completely ignored me and touched my cheek. I was dumbstruck and could only watch as his face got nearer, and our lips connected.

My eyes fluttered close as I desperately responded and rested my hands on his shoulder. I had to be on my toes to reach his height still it wasn’t enough as he had to bend the rest of the way to connect.

Panting harshly, I could barely get out “bedroom” before he kissed me again.

Tsukishima picked me up bridal style like I weighed nothing as I pointed out where my bedroom actually was.

I found a particularly sensitive spot right below his ear when I started kissing his neck as he held me. The hitch of his breath made me grin. I bit down gently and sucked harshly before letting go, leaving behind a large bruise. I smirked triumphantly, hoping that the red-haired girl who flirted with him earlier saw it sooner or later.

Tsukishima put me down and touched the dampened area where I had left my mark. He raised his eyebrow as if to say ‘really?’

“Take your clothes off, Y/N” he said as he leisurely took a seat on my bed.

I blushed and shakily started to pull my dress over my head. I threw the dress over to the side and awkwardly wrapped my hands around my midsection. I watched his eyes turn dark as he greedily looked at my exposed curves.

He held out his hand to me and I took it and was pulled into his lap. He kissed me and I opened my mouth to deepen the kiss. I felt his hand messing with the back of my bra and I felt it loosen and tugged off my arms. His warm hands squeezed my breasts and I groaned into the kiss.

He abruptly ended the kiss and started kissing the tops of my breasts with reverence.  

“I didn’t know that girl. She’s Yamaguchi’s friend. I used her to make you jealous.” Tsukishima lightly pinched one breast before taking the other in his mouth.

I tugged his hair, pushing him into my cleavage further. If I wasn’t so numb with pleasure, I would have smacked him a few times.

“A-ahhh ah, you made me cry, asshole,” I whimpered out. He let the right one go before moving onto the left one. He swirled and sucked it thoroughly like a newborn.

“I’m not sorry. It got me into your bed didn’t it? I’ve tried for months and I got nowhere. Had to give you a push,” he mumbled into my chest as he left a trail of hickies in his wake before kissing me again.

Grabbing a fistful of his hair, I pulled as hard as I could to punish him. He only groaned in return and grinded into my center. That quickly backfired as I was left wanting and desperate for friction. I rutted back against him, trying to feel his harden member in his jeans against my damp center.

Tsukishima settled me on top of the bed as he quickly removed his own clothes and removed his glasses. He trapped my hands above my head and settled in nicely between my thighs.

“You think I don’t know how much you want me? I bet you stayed up late at night, fantasying about how much you wanted me to use you like the dirty whore you are,” he whispered huskily in my ear.

My eyes widened and my face became covered in red splotches.

“H-how did you know that I like-“

Tsukishima scoffed. “It was obvious with how you tried to rile me up each time. You still haven’t changed from high school, have you?”

He took his member and lined up against my center.

“I don’t usually like to cuss; I can easily tear someone apart without being uncouth. But if you’re a good girl while I get mine. I’ll reconsider it.” He pecked my lips before withdrawing.

Tsukishima grabbed my hips and held me, while he drove his cock inside, not waiting for me to get accustomed to his size.

I tried to twist my hands out of his hold, instead he tightened it and drove his thrusts even harder as punishment.

He was tearing me apart, clearly, he was chasing his own pleasure as he disregarded everything even my own feelings as he wouldn’t even kiss me.

Feeling my juices gush out he couldn’t help but remark. “Heh, look at you. You’re loving this right now.”

My body shuddered as the harsh treatment excited me further and further, but I just needed something else to cross that threshold.

Tsukishima’s thrusts started losing their rhythm and became sloppier and sloppier.

He let go of my hands and pulled me closer. “Y/N, say my name,” he panted out desperately.

“T-tsukishima..” I choked out.

“No, call me Kei. I’m so close.”

He rested his head on top of my shoulder as he got closer and closer. I threaded my fingers through his sweaty, blond hair.

“Let go, Kei. I got you,” I whispered as he groaned from the pleasure. His warm cum painted my insides and his member twitched several times inside before Tsukishima finally collapsed on top of me.

He laid there on top for several minutes, but I couldn’t help but think was that it? Because I was still drenched and needy.

When he finally got off and noticed my stricken face, Tsukishima got incredibly smug.

“Should I give you what you need? Were you a good girl?”

I took his hand and put it where I needed it. “God damn it! Either get to work or I’ll finish on my own.”

Immediately his face grew fierce and scowled. I gulped. He kissed me harshly and dominated the kiss. I could only helplessly hang on as he once again took what he wanted and punished me.

“If only I could have done that when we were younger to shut you up. It would have made my life easier,” he growled.

My eyes widened when he spread my legs out and settled in between. I jumped up when I felt his warm breath on my wet entrance.

It felt like hours, but he spent a long time licking and teasing me as my walls clenched around his fingers. Each time I was close to finally reaching my climax, he would pull away and stop completely. I was beyond frustrated with him. With the shitty day I had because of him I deserved better, but apparently he didn’t agree with that sentiment. I eventually started begging him, sobbing to let me cum only for him to pull his hand away from my clit.

He sat up and I looked at him through my tear-filled eyes.

“You look pretty like this. Crying and helpless underneath me. It suits you,” he said as he wiped my tears away.  

He palmed his once again hard member and I watched with abated breath. Finally.

Tsukishima grabbed my leg and threw it over his shoulder before driving his cock into me. I keened with pleasure as he set a harsh pace that was better than the first. With the angle he was able to hit all the spots I desperately needed him to. He whispered filthy sentiments as he owned and possessed me physically from below.

It was all too much; I was too wound up and soon enough I was cumming all over his penetrating member.

Tsukishima didn’t slow down and kept his fast thrusts as he helped me ride out the orgasm.

“Think you got another one in you?” he rasped out. I let out a low moan when I registered what he was asking of me. I wasn’t sure I never came twice with anyone else.

His hand traveled down to my clit and started timing his thrusts to his finger’s movement on my clit. Once again, my body started thrumming with anticipation as pleasure started building up.

He started chanting under his breath “come on baby let go.”

A pinch to my clit and a thrust that rocked my cervix and I came all over again.

He groaned when he felt my constricting walls asking for his white cum to swallow. He started doing short, shallow fast thrusts that made his balls tighten and overload with sensations before he exploded. He started moaning my name over and over again, his eyes clenched shut as colors exploded behind his lids.

I felt Tsukishima collapse besides me and I immediately sought his embrace. I cuddled into his stomach, feeling myself exhausted beyond belief.

A few hours later, both of us woke up from our short-lived nap and cuddled each other. The warmth of his body reassuring and comforting me that hopefully we hadn’t moved too fast and this wasn’t a mistake.

“Whatever you’re thinking about. Drop it.”  I sat up and looked down at his face.

Even with his hair disheveled, he was still so breathtakingly handsome.

“I’m just thinking if we went too fast. We haven’t even been on one date yet.”

He sighed and opened his eyes. His pretty eyes connected with mine.

"We've been dancing around each other for months. Besides this was a long time coming since high school.”

High school. My breath hitched, so I was right he did know that I liked him then.

“But you ignored me. I know after you found out I liked you, you started pushing me away. That’s why we stopped talking after the first year,” I said with confusion.

He rubbed his eyes with his hands and pulled me into his chest. I felt his hands pat my hair and burrow me further into his firm chest.

“I know. I was an insecure idiot. I was weirded out by you.”

I opened my mouth to refute.

“Shhhh, let me finish. I was weirded out by the fact that anyone would like me. I had really low self esteem and because I couldn’t figure out why anyone would like me, I decided that you were just a really big weirdo. Of course, after we stopped talking, I immediately regretted it and I didn’t know how to approach you again. So, I thought it would be easier to let it go. And I did until I saw you again in the coffee shop. There was just this big what if I always felt whenever I thought about you. So, I took a chance and I guess I was right to.”

I kissed the part where his heart thumped strongly.

“You were wrong I wasn’t a weirdo. I was just a girl with a crush.”  

[mammons-sugarbaby]

Can you please write hc about the bois reading mc's diary where they might state somethings (why do they like the bois , their dreams with them , or the nice gestures they do to them)

Sorry this took so long! 

Okay so here’s the platonic version of the bros reading MC’s diary, there will be a romantic, and dirty version as well. Including the undateables (Luke’s obv is platonic only).

I’m putting most of it under a read more bc it’s a lot.

Lucifer ⦁ He'd started giving MC piano lessons after their RAD classes, they'd requested it and he wasn't going to pass up a chance to show off his talents. ⦁ After MC leaves he notices they forgot their things, namely a few schoolbooks and notebooks ⦁ He also notices when he gathers them up that one notebook seems different than the others and opens it to see what it is ⦁ It's a daily journal of their time in the devildom ⦁ He flips through a few more pages and lands on a page that, to his surprise, is about him ⦁ He goes to the beginning and sees where it becomes less about general happenings and more about him

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "Lucifer seems more stressed lately....he played the piano for me once and he seemed really happy then. Maybe I can ask him to teach me to play, but he might see it as another thing on his already full plate. But it would be nice for him to have a break from the usual headaches."

⦁ "I asked him and he agreed! He seemed surprised but also has a small smile! I hope I'm not putting too much on him. "

⦁ "He's been teaching me for a few days now and he always seems much more relaxed and happier during our lessons. I'm happy I found something to get his mind off his stress, he works too much. He's nice deep down, but he has a lot going on that makes him irritated. Still, I'm glad he's my friend."

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ Lucifer is touched that MC was worried about him

⦁ And also surprised that they noticed his mood while playing the piano, and his reaction to them requesting he teach them to play, he hadn't realized they were so observant.

⦁ When he thought about it, he realized he had been enjoying their lessons, looking forward to them even. MC wasn't a bad student, they actually picked up the basics quickly. 

⦁ He wouldn't tell them he'd read their diary, but he couldn't help but smile he entire time when they joined him for their next lesson

Mammon ⦁ He was looking through MC's stuff to sell for quick grim ⦁ Finds an intricate looking book, it's looks expensive ⦁ He opens it and notices its a scrapbook ⦁ He soon realizes that there a lot of cut outs and pictures of him ⦁ And there are full pages of writing ⦁ Of course he's going to read about what they have to say about him, The Great Mammon!

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "Mammon got another multi page spread! He's so cool."

⦁ "Mammon offered me some of the clothes he'd gotten from a recent shoot because his closet was full, they were super expensive brand names! I'm still in shock, I would have thought he'd sell them. They'd probably go for a good bit of grim since they were what he'd wore in the shoot, I mean he's one of the most in-demand models! But he gave them to me instead, I feel silly for being starstruck."

⦁ "I want to buy something to repay him, but he has everything.... If he wants something, he just buys it, so it's hard to get what he'd want that he doesn't already have...Maybe I could make something?"

⦁ "Went shopping today with him and bought the stuff to make his gift, he didn't even notice! I bought him a few things he asked for, I hope he likes my real present..."

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ He's SHOCKED. Yeah he always boasted about being the greatest, but he hadn't realized MC was an actual fan of his??

⦁ It seems like they had collected pictures from every shoot he'd ever had, and that was saying something.

⦁ He didn't even consider selling the clothes he'd gotten from the shoot that day, he just saw MC admiring them  and rather than try to find room for them, he just let MC have them. He hadn't even thought anything of it, but it made him happy that he'd brought so much joy to MC.

⦁ He wondered what they were making him and tried to think back on their shopping trip, but he'd been too focused on the things he liked, rather than what MC was buying.

⦁ Guilt hit him like a train, he may not have stolen anything, but he's going to buy MC something real nice to make up for trying.

Levi ⦁ He'd gone into MC's room to retrieve some games and manga he'd lent them ⦁ He saw a pile of books near a neat stack of games and assumed they'd left it on their desk for him. ⦁ It wasn't until he got back to his room and was organizing them that he realized he grabbed a book that wasn't his. ⦁ He opened it then quickly shut it after realizing it was their diary. ⦁ He argued with himself to read or not to read, but he saw his name! ⦁ Deciding, he opened the diary again, he just had to know what they were writing about him

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "I hung out with Levi today and watched him absolutely obliterate a raid! It seems like he's super high leveled on like, ever game he plays! He even gets me into some of them and helps me level up and get rare items."

⦁ "I don't know if he's joking or not when he calls me his best friend but I feel the same. He's my best friend. Though sometimes I worry he'll get bored of me since I'm not nearly as into gaming as he is. And I worry that some of the games and stuff I like he'd probably say the were such "normie" or "main stream" things...it doesn't mean they're not fun. I try to stick with games he likes to play, because I don't want to lose my best friend. Is that something I should actually worry over?"

⦁ "We were watching a new anime today and one of the characters said something that set him off. He paused it and went on an hour long rant about how out of character it was for them. It may be weird, but I love listening to him going off about things he's passionate about! It's both entertaining, and I get to hear his thought process, usually I end up learning a few things that I had missed while watching. It seems like he never misses anything! I know he'd never in a million years believe me, but I think he's actually really cool and fun to be around."

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ His heart is ready to explode, he really did think of MC as his best friend, but he was worried they just went along with it to make him happy. Reading that they thought the same thing, it was scary how alike they were!

⦁ When he got them into a game that he had been playing for a while, he wants them to be able to run raids with him as fast as possible, but he also likes MC's excitement when they complete a particularly difficult quest, because he felt the same way.

⦁ He feels guilty reading that MC thinks he'll get bored of them just because they like games he typically would scoff at, they're right, just because they're mainstream doesn't mean they aren't fun. They became mainstream BECAUSE they were fun. He makes a mental note to find out MC's favorite game. Their actual favorites.

⦁ He blushed because he did have a habit of going off on tangents in the middle of an episode and then not finishing it for the rest of the night. But reading that MC enjoyed his rants, this human really was his best friend, his Henry!

Satan ⦁ MC returned some books he'd lent them ⦁ While putting them away, Satan realized they'd accidentally given him one of their books ⦁ They'd already left though, he opened it to see what the book was about ⦁ It was a thick journal and he realized it was specifically a diary ⦁ And the page he'd opened to was about him ⦁ Intrigued, he sat down and flipped to the first page.

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "Today I asked Satan if he had any books about devildom fauna and asked him since there was no sun in the devildom, what did the flowers use as a food source. He had a few books and was nice enough to sit down with me and go over the material. He asked why I wanted to know and I explained I wanted to try growing something."

⦁ "Satan saved me from failing the test today! If he hadn't suggested we study together, I wouldn't have realized I had studied the wrong thing! At first he seemed annoyed but when I apologized he asked 'For what' and I said for bothering him, I felt bad because we'd have to waste time studying something I should already have had a good grasp on. He seemed surprised and explained he wasn't mad, things happen. He told me that at least when the time came to test for what I accidentally studied, I'd be more prepared. After all knowledge is power. I'm glad he's patient with me."

⦁ "Satan showed me some of his favorite books today. A lot of them were books about curses and hexes and the like, but it made him laugh. He was so excited to try some of the new curses he'd learned on Lucifer. It shows a different side to him, a more playful side. Dangerous, but still playful. Hopefully he'll never try to prank me with a curse haha!

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ He remembered MC asking about local fauna and how things worked here in the devildom. He had almost laughed because things like that were basic knowledge, but he remembered that in the human realm, the sun was essential for most fauna growth. He admired MC for trying to learn new things and put that knowledge to use.

⦁ Satan smiled at MC remembering the phrase he had told them a few times. He'd been surprised when MC had opened to the wrong chapter to start studying, and the look of shock on their face when he told them, he felt bad. Nonetheless, this was a chance to see just how much he understood the reference material, now that he'd have to thoroughly explain so that they understood. He enjoyed his time with them and he was glad that their hard work paid off.

⦁ He hadn't realized how much he held back when around his brothers and MC, but he felt comfortable around MC, like they understood him. He felt like he could let down his guard a little with them, and he was glad to read they took his interests in curses and pranks in good humor. He might have to prank MC soon....nothing dangerous or over the top, but he wanted to tease them a bit.

Asmo ⦁ He went into MC's room to show off some new beauty products he'd bought ⦁ They weren't in their room, so he texted them, they replied they'd be there shortly ⦁ he takes a seat on their bed and notices a notebook on their nightstand ⦁ He opens it and sees it's their diary ⦁ And more importantly, they're writing about him

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "Ugh, I had such a rough day today! I'm glad I ran into Asmo on my way back to my room. He wanted me to come with him and try some new stuff he got that was supposed to help with fatigue. At first I refused because I just wanted to lay down, but  he wouldn't take no for an answer and eventually he wore me down and practically dragged me to his room. He was right, the products he used really did make me feel more energetic!"

⦁ "I ran into Asmo in town today, he was on his way to majolish. I joked with him that he owned every item of clothing in the store and he told me that's why he was going to buy me clothes! Once again I found myself dragged along with him. I feel like I need to just start going with things when it comes to him, it always ends up for the better. I feel bad that he spent so much grim, but he kept finding clothes that I 'Absolutely had to have!!!' he does have a good sense for my style at least."

⦁ "Today I went to Asmo's room, I was feeling down and it seemed like spending time with him always cheered me up. At first he seemed annoyed to be interrupted, but as soon as he saw it was be he perked up and pulled me inside his room. He asked why I looked so down in the presence of someone as beautiful and him and I had to laugh. I told him a little bit of what was on my mind, and it didn't seem like he was listening, just going about his beauty ritual. But after I had stopped talking he started giving advice on the more important things I had complained about. He's a great listener, I'm really happy he's my friend, even if he keeps trying to get in my pants! Though at this point I think it's just habit because he doesn't seem as pushy as he did at first.

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ Asmo recalled when MC was more resistant towards him, to be fair though they needed a good spa day! A lot! And now that he had read that they were thankful for his impromptu self care sessions, he was going to make actual plans for spa days with MC. They'd thank him in the future.

⦁ To be fair, he was glad he ran into MC while on his way to majolish. He knew MC's size, but wasn't entirely sure about what they liked personally. He knew what he thought they would look good in, but when they had started trying on clothes, he quickly noted what they seemed uncomfortable in, and what they actually seemed to like. An outfit may look cute, but if the person wearing it looks like they'd rather be wearing anything else, then it defeated the purpose! Eventually Asmo tuned into the styles and materials MC liked and went from there. He didn't even spend half as much as he usually did, so he found it funny that MC was worried over the total price of their new wardrobe.

⦁ He remembered the night MC came to his room, they had indeed interrupted him in the middle of his usual nighttime ritual, but as soon as he saw the look on their face he had to pull them in. He listened to MC pour their heart out while he went about his routine and when they stopped talking he assumed they were done and started giving them pointers. When he looked back to them, they look surprised. It confused him at the time, but now he understood it was because they thought he wasn't listening. He was always listening darling! It's how he knows so much. 

⦁ He also hadn't realized that it had in fact, become more of a habit to flirt with MC, than to actually try to get somewhere with them. He didn't know how to feel about it.

Beel ⦁ To be fair, MC told him he could borrow their study notes, but didn't tell him where in their room they left the notebook ⦁ He sees what he assumes is the notebook on their bed and grabs it and heads to his room ⦁ Once he gets settled, he opens it and reads half the page before it clicks that these are definitely not study notes ⦁ This is their diary, and they were writing about him ⦁ He shuts it so fast, super embarrassed, but he can't stop thinking about what he'd read ⦁ Guilty, he opens it to read more

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "Today I forgot my wallet today so I couldn't buy lunch, but on my way back to the classroom I ran into Beel. He was actually looking for me so we could have lunch together! He even grabbed my favorite foods. I don't think I've mentioned my favorites though...how did he know??"

⦁ "I had a major leg cramp today while walking with Beel today. After sitting down he asked if he could massage it to help. I agreed and it hurt so much at first!! He kept reassuring me through it though and after a while it stopped hurting. He told me I probably needed to drink more water and get some potassium. He also suggested I join him for his stretch warm ups to avoid cramps in the future. I had no clue he knew so much!"

⦁ "Beel is always so supportive and nice, he always makes my day brighter! I'm really glad to have him as a friend, a best friend even. Going to watch him at practice today, I'll make sure to bring his favorite snacks!"

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ He didn't realize MC had left their wallet that day, he just remembered how they looked so down, and then when he asked them to eat with him at lunch, and gave them their food, their face lit up. He wondered if that was how he looked when MC gave him his favorite snacks. It wasn't hard for him to tell when MC really liked something, they had an excited expression every time they saw certain food, was it usually a hard thing to notice?

⦁ Beel remembered that day, how MC practically dropped to the ground clutching their leg. They told him it was a cramp and as soon as it stopped hurting so much, they could just walk it off. He scoffed at the memory, but was glad he taught MC something, and they had been joining him for his warm-up stretches since.

⦁ He was touched, he definitely saw MC as a close friend, they were his second favorite person, after his twin of course. He was glad he could make their day brighter, and felt guilty again because he was reading their diary. ⦁ He'd admit what he'd done later and apologize, hopefully MC wouldn't be too angry...

Belphie ⦁ MC texts him asking if he could bring their notebooks they forgot ⦁ They were having a study session but it turned into a nap session instead ⦁ He opens one of the notebooks to quickly scan over the notes they were supposed to study ⦁ These are not school related ⦁ This is their diary, and whats more, there's a lot about him in it ⦁ A wicked grin spreads across his face and he settles in to read what MC had to say about him.

Platonic (diary content) ⦁ "Oof today Belphie made me laugh so hard I could barely breath today! I had tears and everything. He was doing impersonations of his brothers and when he did Lucifer, I lost it! Even aside from that he has a great sense of humor."

⦁ "I forgot it was may day to cook and took a 3 hour nap. Luckily Belphie covered for me and came to wake me up when dinner was ready. I owe him big time, which owing Belphie something....is a scary thought. I'm sure it'll be fine though!"

⦁ "Lucifer was running me ragged today! on top of homework he was making me help him with his paperwork! Belphie saw me on my way back to Lucifer's office and grabbed me and told me I was going to take a nap with him since I looked like I was about to drop anyway. I tried to argue, but as soon as Belphie tossed me onto the pile of pillows and blankets, honestly I'm pretty sure I just passed out. I had to hear it from Lucifer later on, but Belphie made me laugh after so all in all it was worth it.

Platonic (his reaction) ⦁ He didn't realize MC thought he was actually funny, he thought they were laughing to make him feel better, but he remembered them near pissing themself when he mocked Lucifer and grinned. 

⦁ Belphie went to remind MC it was cooking duty but saw they were asleep. He knew what it was like to be woken up from a nap, so he just figured they could return the favor later on. It was funny to him that they thought he would have something insidious in mind for repayment. He might have to think of something besides covering for him for cooking duty...

⦁ He remembered vividly seeing MC's haggard face and realized they were heading to Lucifer's office. They looked dead on their feet so he grabbed them up. Part of it was and excuse to nap with them, the other was to piss off Lucifer. And maybe a little bit of pity for them. He had listened in on some of Lucifer's lecture to MC, and had a lot of new material to mock him about that he wanted to share with MC.

⦁ He was going to tease them so much about carrying their diary around and leaving it for whoever to read.

[meruz]

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at isellhotdogs@gmail.com.

<33333333333333333333333333

[bluesylveon2]

My My, I Could Never Let You Go

Summary: Sasha Zoe just wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. There is only one problem: she doesn't know which one is her father. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairings: Levi x Hange, Sasha x Niccolo, and other background relationships

Disclaimer: This is a Levihan Mamma Mia au. This fanfic is inspired by Mamma Mia which is directed by Phyllida Loyd, written by Catherine Johnson, and uses music from the pop group ABBA. Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

Author’s Note: Happy Valentine's Day! This chapter focuses more on Sasha's friends (more of a Galentine's tbh). I did add some scenes from the movie, but you'll find it towards the end. This is the last chapter where I go deep into everyone's backstory. Future chapters would briefly touch on it, but I won't go into too much details. Please note that I have only had 1 bf and the relationship was short, so my knowledge on love is purely based on fanfic and the media.

Speaking of looks, the dresses are the same as the movie. I usually don't add clothing descriptions unless it is necessary. I find it so random to write although you need it to build a scene 😅

Need to catch up? Catch up here!

Ch 2: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 

“Sasha, who else knows about your fathers coming to your wedding?” 

Sasha turned to her left to face Historia. Sasha, Mikasa, and Historia were laying on Sasha’s bed waiting for the rest of the bridal party to arrive with their dresses. Sasha was in the middle, Mikasa was on her right, and Historia was on her left. 

“It’s just the girls in the group. I didn’t tell any of the guys.” Sasha replies

Mikasa sat up from Sasha’s right. She looks at Sasha and raises an eyebrow. 

“Did you at least tell Niccolo?” Mikasa asks

Sasha paused for a long time before letting out a quiet no. She knew she should tell her fiance, but she wanted all of it to be a surprise for everyone at the wedding (minus the people who already knew). She could tell by looking at Mikasa’s face that she was ready to start interrogating her. Luckily, Sasha was saved by someone knocking and opening the door to her room. 

“Knock knock” their friend, Hitch, enters Sasha’s room followed by the rest of the bridal party: Annie, Hanami, and Mina. All three girls were carrying dress bags (minus Sasha’s wedding dress because she got it yesterday) for the wedding. Mikasa and Historia stood up from the bed to help set the dresses down on Sasha’s bed. They proceeded to hug all of their friends after they finished.  

Sasha met Annie and Hitch while in high school. Both girls were friends before joining the group (although it initially looked one-sided. Annie wasn’t good at expressing her feelings yet). 

Annie Leonhart is Sasha’s Russian friend with blonde hair and ice-blue eyes and loves eating sweets. She dreams of becoming a patissier one day but did not pursue it because of her father. Her father wanted Annie to learn MMA and go pro. Annie’s dad sent Annie to Greece to learn pankration (a form of MMA), but Annie ran off to Kalokairi instead. She never contacted her father, and both had a falling out. Annie was found by Hitch’s parents who let her live in their home. Both girls grew close, and Hitch was the one who encouraged Annie to contact her father after years of silence. Annie eventually forgives her father after he apologizes for everything. Now Annie can pursue her dreams and stay in Kalokairi with Hitch’s parent’s permission. Now Annie attends L’Ecole Ducasse in France to be a patissier and is currently dating Armin Arlet. 

Hitch Dreyse was born in Kalokairi after her parents moved from the Netherlands. Hitch has an easygoing personality and loves teasing her friends, especially Annie. She is also Annie’s first friend as she was the one who was determined to be Annie’s friend after Annie moved to Kalokairi. Hitch also had several admirers in high school, one of them being her current boyfriend, Marlow. Marlow has always had a crush on Hitch for a long time, and they started dating after Marlow finished his first semester at King’s College in London. Marlow would tell Hitch his dreams of working as a politician and Hitch is always his number 1 supporter despite not telling him that explicitly. Hitch attends AAS College for Fashion Product and Promotion (she asks Historia to model for her when possible). Sasha remembers when Hitch’s visits, she would catch Hitch looking out the window as if expecting Marlow to appear. Hitch realized how much she missed Marlow because she cares for him deeply. Hitch knew she needed to tell him her feelings the day his ferry arrived. 

Hitch walks up to Sasha laying in her bed “Look who I found after my trip with Marlo?” She then turned to the rest of the girls who were hugging Mikasa and Historia. It has been years since they have seen one another. All of the girls (minus Sasha) decided to go their separate ways after graduating high school. Hitch was the only one who stayed within the country. She would visit Sasha every now and then during her free time. Sasha decided to stay in Kalokairi to take care of her mom. 

Sasha’s friend group started out with her, Connie (who moved to Kalokairi from Wales), and Marco. Jean joined the group because Marco is his best friend. Jean moved to Kalokairi with Marco and his parents from France. Jean and Marco now own their own house they currently use for visits. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin (who is orphaned and lives with Eren) joined next because Mikasa started hanging out with Sasha after Sasha constantly begged Mikasa to help her study. Eren and Armin followed Mikasa naturally. Annie joined next, followed by Hitch and Marlow after Sasha invited Annie to eat some sweets together at the hotel. Hitch was surprised Annie started making more friends, and Marlow followed because of his crush on Hitch. Hanami joined the group because she helped Sasha out in school. Hanami also covers for her in many situations (any situations involving food and sneaking). Niccolo joined the group after their first meeting and when he surprised Sasha in Kalokairi. He also grew close to Jean and Connie before visiting, and they came up with the idea. Mina is the recent friend to join the group. Marco went to Brown University in America to study education. Marco met Mina one day on campus, and the two often had classes together. The two eventually begin dating, and Marco often brings Mina on his visits to Kalokairi to meet his friends and go sightseeing.

Sasha looks at the group near the door. She was curious how Hitch convinced Annie to come since she should be on her date with Armin. 

“I was having a nice date with Armin until Hitch” Annie glares at Hitch “decided to end it and dragged me here.”

Hitch laughs and waves a hand in the air “I told you this morning we were meeting with the others at 10. It was 9:50 when I came by, and you were still eating breakfast with Armin. You left the hotel at 8:30. No one takes an hour and twenty minutes to eat breakfast.” Hitch turns to Annie with a mischievous smile on her face “Besides, Armin is not alone, and he’s very understanding with me stealing you. He has Marlow, and I’m sure they are preparing for the wedding as we speak.” 

Sasha turns to Mina and Hanami wanting to hear their explanations. Hanami spoke first “I left Jean so he could work on his Best Man duties. I ran into Mina and Marco on my way to the dress shop. Marco insisted for her to help me, and we ran into Hitch who already had Annie.” Sasha turns to Hitch and Annie. Annie was trying to defend herself while Hitch was laughing at Annie’s embarrassed face. Armin and Annie must have gone sightseeing or something and lost track of time. 

“Anyways” Hanami interrupts the two while Mina goes to Annie and holds her arm for Hitch’s safety. “We need to try on our dresses, and I already got them altered. I want to see if I need to make any more last-minute changes before the wedding.” She then walked over to the bag with her name on it and motioned for the others (minus Sasha) to follow and get changed.

“I’m so excited about the wedding! I really like the color of the dresses you picked Sasha” Mina says as Sasha helps her with her dress. She turns to Sasha and gives her a sweet smile. 

Sasha was glad to have someone like Mina in her friend group. She’s going to have to thank Marco for encouraging Mina to join later. 

“I agree,” Hitch says as she puts on her dress “the guys haven’t seen what we look like either. We are going to blow them away for sure” Hitch tossed her hair a bit for an effect and laughed. She turned to Annie with another mischievous smile.

“I know Armin would be over the moon after seeing you in your dress, Annie. You could accidentally spill some wine on your dress, and Armin would still think you’re beautiful” Annie’s face turned red and she jumped a bit because of Hitch’s words. Luckily, she didn’t move around too much or Sasha would have accidentally caught Annie’s skin when she was zipping up her dress. She finished zipping up Annie’s dress before moving towards Historia to help her with her dress. 

“Isn’t over the moon a bit much?” Annie sputters, her face was still red “I’m sure Marlow would be speechless after seeing you in your dress, Hitch. You haven’t seen each other for a while and only started dating recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if he faints after seeing you.” Annie says with a serious face

Hitch gushes and hugs Annie “You always know what to say” she cries. Annie only rolls her eyes while awkwardly patting Hitch on the back. Annie may not look like it, but she actually cares about Hitch.

Meanwhile, the other girls had their dresses on and were busy taking mirror selfies with Sasha’s mirror to send to their significant others (Mikasa and Hanami also took part; although they are both single). Hitch notices and lets go of Annie. She puts her hand on Annie’s back and pushes her to the rest of the girls to join in. 

“Ymir is going to love this,” Historia praises herself after Annie joins the group and takes more mirror selfies. She switches the camera to the front camera and raises her arm to take a few group selfies. “And send” Historia sends the pictures to Ymir and then to the rest of the girls to keep for themselves. 

“I wonder what Armin is gonna think?” Hitch says out loud and nudges Annie on the side. Annie rolls her eyes but still smiles because of Hitch. Hitch then looks up to find Sasha and Mina texting their significant others. She looks over to find Hanami walking around the room to check on the dresses. Mikasa is silently staring at the photos. She looked like she was in an internal conflict with herself to pick which one she would send to the receiving end. Hitch has a 99.9% guess it was Eren. It looks like Hitch is going to play matchmaker again. If it worked for Annie, then it would work for Mikasa. Sadly, Hitch is missing her partner in crime, Ymir, for this. 

“Hey, Mikasa. Are you thinking of sending those photos to I don’t know, a certain someone, perhaps? I don’t know. Eren? Hitch asks with a cat-like grin and wiggles her eyebrows. “You’re one of the only girls in the group who is still single, and everyone knows about your crush on Eren, except for Eren himself!”

All the girls in the room sighed. Eren cares about his friends and family, but he is also pretty oblivious about Mikasa’s feelings. Eren is so focused on passing med school to be a doctor like his father that everyone thought he would stay single forever. Nevertheless, Mikasa still fell for how passionate Eren is to achieve his goal.

Mikasa flushes with embarrassment. Hopefully, no one noticed the old scarf with her stuff. Mikasa likes to keep the scarf with her because Eren was her first friend after moving to Kalokairi. She chooses not to wear it now because of the heat. 

Mikasa quickly scans at the other girls in the room and spots Hitch’s next target. At least there’s someone who is also single to get Hitch off her chest. 

“Say, Hanami, do you have any potential boyfriends in mind?” Mikasa asks casually to divert Hitch’s attention away from her. She doesn’t want Hitch to pull an Armin and Annie with her and Eren. She prefers not to have others meddle with her love life. Mikasa prefers for it to happen naturally (who knows how long that would take?)

Hitch gasps and runs over to Hanami while she is smoothening out her dress. Hitch grabs Hanami’s shoulders and starts shaking her back and forth. “Well, do you?” Hitch asks while shaking her. Hanami is the only other girl in the group (other than Mikasa) who is currently single. 

“Nope. Definitely not me” she laughs and lightly pushes Hitch off of her “I’ve been busy too preparing for Sasha’s wedding and college. I mean I have talked to a few guys since I came back, but I was only flirting with them.” She pats Hitch’s shoulder and sits down on Sasha’s bed. She pulls her phone out of her bag and starts texting someone. Hanami occasionally flirts with guys every now and then. Dating would be nice, but it is not her biggest priority. Besides, she's been busy working alongside Jean for the wedding. 

Hitch only hums and decides to not press her further (for now). She walks towards Historia who is sitting on a chest near the door while texting Ymir. Hitch had a plan in mind, and she needed someone to help. She calls her to Historia quietly and leans down to subtly whisper to her ear. She didn’t need Hanami or Mikasa to hear what she had to say. 

Historia raises her eyebrow to let Hitch know she is listening.

“Normally I would ask Ymir to help me, but you’re my next best hope Historia” Hitch whispers to Historia. Hitch looks over the room and her eyes on the others to make sure they weren’t eavesdropping on their conversation.

Historia laughs quietly “I agree. What do you have in mind?”

“Well,” Hitch begins and looks at Mikasa who is now looking at herself in the mirror with Sasha and Mina. “We all know Mikasa and Eren should get together. It’s pretty obvious, and I’m positive I saw that old scarf sticking out of Mikasa’s luggage earlier.” 

She turns her attention towards Hanami who joins the other girls. “Now as for Hanami, she’s a different case. She may or may not have accidentally spilled a few secrets to me when we went drinking with the girls one night. Now I know the perfect guy for her, but she’s too focused on Maid of Honor duties to notice. We just have to give them both a nudge if you know what I mean?” 

Historia knew exactly what Hitch was implying and who the guy was. She had a suspicion about the two since high school, but she never pursued the idea. She leaned slightly towards Hitch while watching the others with her.

“If my guesses are correct. I’m going to assume it’s him right?” 

“I think we are on the same page, Historia.” Hitch smirks “We just can tell either him or Hanami. You in?” 

Historia holds out her hand for Hitch to shake. “Alright. I'm in.” They shake hands to confirm their agreement. It looks like this trip is going to get a lot more interesting than before. 

Meanwhile, during Hitch and Historia’s secret conversation, Sasha stood behind Mikasa, Mina, and Hanami as they looked at themselves in the mirror. They were in their own little bubble admiring themselves in the mirror while ignoring the upcoming plan on the other side of the room. 

“You did so well with these dresses, Sasha” Mina compliments Sasha for the second time that morning.

“We’re gonna look fabulous tomorrow,” Hanami says joyfully. Both Hanami and Mina caused Sasha to blush.

“Thank you. I just want the perfect wedding and I want my father to give me away.” Sasha leans down and lays her cheek on Mina’s head

“I hope you got yourself a wide aisle, Sasha” Mikasa smirks, causing Mina and Hanami to laugh. Sasha playfully slaps Mikasa’s back “I will know my father as soon as I see him.” 

A knock interrupted the girls, and Niccolo enters the room. All of the girls turn to him.

“Niccolo!” the girls (minus Annie and Mikasa) scream as they open their arms for a group hug. Hitch and Historia came up with an idea and pulled the group to fall on Sasha’s bed with Niccolo

“Hey put me down” Niccolo laughs as he falls “I’m about to get married tomorrow. Can someone help me?” Annie and Mikasa help loosen the girls' grip on Niccolo and help him stand back up. Meanwhile, Sasha was laughing at her friend’s silliness. The rest of the girls stand up from the bed and move to stand in front of Niccolo

“So what do you think about the dresses?” Historia asks

“Niccolo, tell Annie that Armin is going to faint after he sees her in this dress!” Hitch complains and points at Annie

Annie lightly slaps Hitch on the head. “Knock it off, Hitch,” she says with a red face. The others were laughing at their antics. 

“You all look beautiful” Niccolo laughs and compliments the girls “I’m sure Armin will faint after seeing you, Annie.” 

“See! At least Niccolo agrees with me!” Hitch walks over to Niccolo and hugs him. She doesn’t care if the pins on her dress poke her body. At least someone agreed with her statement. She knows Annie well enough to consider herself as Annie’s best friend. 

There was another knock on Sasha’s door and it opened again to reveal Jean and Eren. 

“Eren! Jean!” Historia screams and runs to Jean’s arms. Mikasa smiles and walks to Eren. 

“Hey Historia” Jean smiles and turns to Mikasa 

“Hey Mikasa” Mikasa turn to him in Eren’s arm and smiles at him as well

Jean coughs lightly into his fist. He also had a small red tint on his face. “The guys missed you all” 

“I was wondering what was taking you so long, Niccolo,” Eren states after hugging Mikasa. He noticed how her face was red, but didn’t want to push her by asking when everyone else is in the room. 

“Sorry, Eren. I was busy talking to the other girls. Can you grab some of the stuff for me?” Niccolo lets go of Hitch and walks towards Sasha. He walks behind her and hugs her from behind. He kisses her cheek and the other girls gush on how cute he and Sasha are.

“Sure, Niccolo. Eren looks down at Mikasa in his arms “Can you help me, Mikasa? Who knows how much Jean would get done?” Eren rolls his eyes and smirks. Mikasa glances at Eren. ‘Maybe he knows something?’ She thought and plans to ask Eren about it later. 

Niccolo looks down at Sasha “You have a good eye with the dress choice. bet you’ll look even more gorgeous in your wedding dress.”

“Well, I had Hitch help me too.” Sasha laughs “It’s nice to hear coming from the man who is also baking the wedding cake. I heard you let Annie help you as practice, right?” Sasha asks and raises an eyebrow 

“She insisted on helping as practice for patisserie school. She wanted it to be a surprise, but someone (most likely Hitch) told you too early. I’m sorry about that” Niccolo raises an arm and scratches the back of his neck. He had a nervous face too.

Sasha loops her arms around Niccolo’s neck and leans up to peck on the lips. She looked into Niccolo’s hazel eyes as she spoke, “What did I ever do to deserve you? I’m glad you are okay with letting my friends play bigger roles than just bridesmaids. I can tell how happy they are to help.” 

Niccolo grins like a boy in love “It helps us save money to go travel, and after-” Niccolo’s face contours to love “we can open a restaurant together”

Sasha smiles “Here?” she inquires

Niccolo kisses Sasha’s forehead and looks down at her “Wherever you want, Sasha. I love you too much that I would follow you to the ends of the Earth if you tell me too”

Now Sasha is smiling like a girl in love “I love you too, Niccolo.” 

Meanwhile, Jean picks up a cowboy hat after hugging Historia. He walks to Niccolo and Sasha (while they are in their little bubble) and places the hat on Niccolo’s head. Jean then walks over to Sasha’s bed where Hanami is standing while she is busy typing on her phone. She didn’t notice Jean heading her way. Most of the people in the room were too busy with their own thing to notice. Historia and Hitch were the only two people to notice.  

Jean stands next to Hanami and proceeds to rest his arm on top of her head. He slightly leans down to look at her, but he doesn’t look at her phone. Jean knows better than to look at someone’s business. 

“Jean, knock it off. Go do that to someone else like Mikasa” Hanami says with an irritated tone in her voice and a red face. She swats her arm up in an attempt to remove Jean’s arm off her head. Jean put his arm back no matter how many times Hanami tried to take it off. 

“Hmmm, I’d rather not. You’re short enough for me to be a good armrest ” Jean teases Hanami and puts his arm on her head again. The 11-inch difference is a fun thing for Jean to mess with Hanami with. It’s not his fault he had a huge growth spurt in high school. 

“There are girls here who are shorter than me!” Hanami grumbles and gives up after a few more failed attempts. She is still red from embarrassment. She didn’t understand why he didn’t do that to Mina and Historia (Annie is out of the question unless you want to end up on the floor). Hanami just crosses her arms instead and frowns as Jean instructs Eren to pick up what’s left for the bachelor party. Hanami didn’t notice Historia and Hitch laughing to themselves after watching the whole thing going on. Mina slightly breaks off her conversation with Annie and turns to Historia and Hitch. Looks like someone noticed after all. 

‘We’ll tell you about it later’ Historia whispers to Mina

“I got everything we need for the bachelor party Niccolo. We can go now.” Eren tells Niccolo and holds up the box of stuff. Sasha perks up and turns around in Niccolo’s arms to face him “Yes, you need to go. Us girls are very busy at the moment.”

Sasha proceeds to push Niccolo towards the doors. Jean (finally) takes his arm off of Hanami’s head and is still smirking at her irritated face as he leaves. Eren follows the two but turns around before heading out

“You look beautiful in that dress, Mikasa.” Eren compliments and gives the girls a two-finger salute before leaving. Mikasa blushes at his statement, and Sasha closes the door after all of the guys have left. The girls stood there, and their mouths were open with shock. 

Hitch claps her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Ok, now that we know how great Mikasa looks in these dresses, thanks to Eren, let’s change so we can go to the beach later.” Hitch turned to Mikasa and Historia. “You brought your swimsuits, right?” 

“Yes,” Historia says cheerfully. Mikasa was not as cheerful because she was still blushing after Eren’s compliment. Speaking of Eren, she is not letting Sasha run out without answering her question. 

“Sasha, you did not answer my question from last time. Did you tell Niccolo about your fathers?” Mikasa asks as she begins taking off her dress. The other girls, except Historia, look at each other while helping each other get out of their dresses. It seems like they already knew the answer.

Sasha puts her hands on her hips. “No, because Niccolo would tell me to tell my mom.”

Mikasa was not going to let it down. “Hange is going to kill you when she finds out” she argues.

“I doubt Hange would pull a Levi on her only daughter. The worse she could do is break a table with a kick” Hanami chimes in while putting her clothes back on. 

Of course, she must have read Hange’s journal too because she also found it with Sasha. All of the girls nodded in agreement. Hange loves Sasha too much to actually hurt her.

“Well it will be too late when Mom finds out,” Sasha says confidently and with a smile on her face

The others were already done changing, and they stared at Sasha again. They all had a worried look on their faces. Who knows what chaos would ensue when Sasha’s fathers arrive on the island?

Sasha, noticing the worry on her friend's faces, moves from her spot near the door and sits down on her bed. The others move to stand in front of Sasha. She looks up to her friends with a hopeful look on her face.

“All my life, I felt like something was missing, and when I finally met my father-” Sasha smiles at the thought of finally reuniting with her father. Sasha has never had an actual father in her life. The only person she can name who counts as a father-figure is Moblit, her mom’s assistant. He helped her Mom run the hotel and take care of Sasha since she was 2. Now, Sasha is going to finally meet her actual father “-everything will fall into place.” 

©: This is where I insert all rights reserved stuff. This story belongs to me. Do not modify or republish

Yes, I'm aware the title is not a song by ABBA. I plan on using older songs like 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' to chapters scenes where no one is singing in the movie. I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! The plot will actually move in the next one, I promise. I may or may not have been smiling like an idiot when I wrote the Nicosasha scene lol. I kinda based it on how I want my future bf to be like. A girl can dream haha.

I’ve had that head as armrest thing happen to me before. I find it odd because I’m considered average height lol. 

Mikasa’s great aunt I mentioned last chapter is Kiyoomi. I never said her name because I didn’t want to spoil anything

I remember an ask from @fanmoose12​ blog asking about Jeankasa. The question is, is it endgame? 😏

Again, I hope y'all had a good Valentine's day. I hope you stay safe (if you are experiencing the winter storm)

Thank you so much for reading!

[rosaliepostsstuff]

Chapter 10 - Of convenient interruptions and deceiving magpies

series masterlist

warnings: angst, mention of food and eating

word count: 2856

tags: @gloryekaterina​ ; @thatguppienamedbae​ ; @sagittarius-flowerchild​ ; @scoobiessnacks​ ; @pandaxnienke​ ; @harrysweasleys​ ; @ickle-ronniekins​ ;  @hufflepuff5972​ ; @izzyyy-1​ ; @amourtentiaa​ ; @thisismynerdyself​ ; @hufflepuffalice​ ; @pxroxide-prinxcesss​ ; @lumos-barnes​ ​ ; @weasleygrapes​ ; @famdomhideout​ ; @mollenniumfalcon​ ; @accioweaslcy​ ; @whizboyhalo​ ; 

 —————⑩—————

January rolled around, bringing the new term with it. With a few months left until the N.E.W.T.s, the professors were nagging the seventh years only ever so slightly more.

So you settled back into your routine – classes, studying with occasional breaks to hang out with your mates. Schoolwork-free evenings spent in the common room or the D.A. meetings that resumed after winter break – those were your treats.

In one of your attempts to socialize whilst getting some revising done, you found yourself sitting by one of the more secluded tables in the library, as to avoid getting on Madam Pince’s nerves too much, with Hermione, Ginny and – Loony Lovegood.

The girl was alright, apart from being blunt and not adhering to some social norms in situations where it really couldn’t hurt – you thought. But there was just something about her that made you uneasy when she was around…

To be fair, you hardly ever studied during those studying sessions with Ginny and Hermione. And today was not that bad – your chat was pretty ‘normal’, Ginny was complaining about her boyfriend – Michael’s recent behaviour.

“Why do I even bother with guys anymore..?” she asked rhetorically, lying down on the table, on top of forgotten books and untouched parchment. “That’s a bit dramatic,” Hermione chuckled sympathetically. “Yeah, yeah… but look at Y/N, she doesn’t care about stupid boys and she’s doing just fine,” Ginny commented and you involuntarily let out a loud, high-pitched laugh, thinking about how fine you were doing, making all of them look at you.

You instantly composed yourself, clearing your throat – they didn’t know. Or at least that’s what you thought.

Luna appeared to be intrigued, Ginny was clearly confused and looked at you with amusement, but Hermione – she had a meaningful look about her and you wouldn’t be surprised, she was good at observing people – she knew.

“Oh no,” you let out as you looked at her and your face fell. It was awkward. “You know.” “I don’t know,” she countered very quickly. “Oh, I think you do-“

“Wait, wait, wait, what’s going on,” Ginny followed rapidly, the words melting into one. Hermione looked down onto the table, unsure what to do and you felt your insides turn. You had not prepared yourself mentally for Ginny to know yet – you just had a bad feeling she wouldn’t like the fact that you fancy one of her brothers. Over the years she had mentioned on multiple occasions how she likes you being Fred and George’s mate.

It’s over – you though – cat’s out of the bag. You glanced at Luna, trying to estimate just how uncomfortable confessing in her presence would make you.

“Y/N’s in love with George..!” Hermione blurted out, covering her mouth right after. “I’m sorry, I can’t deal with situations like that!” she hasted to explain herself when you glared at her accusingly.

“Ginny’s brother?” Luna asked airily.

“Aaaaw…” Ginny moaned in disappointment as if she just dropped a scoop of ice-cream. Though her facial expression was mixed, a grimace with a small smile.

You smiled at her awkwardly and shrugged, but no one said anything else.

You sat in this awkward silence as Ginny watched you with the same, unreadable expression. Luna got back to reading her book, and Hermione pretended to, while biting her lips harshly. You didn’t know where to look, or if you should say something else. When no words seemed fitting, you just fiddled with your fingers and the edge of your notebook page.

“Alright, that’s… that’s good, actually. I prefer for you to date him than anyone else. I wouldn’t want him to end up with some bimbo,” Ginny announced after what seemed like hours, with fake seriousness on her face, then smiled at you cheekily.

“Thanks, Gin,” you breathed out, the word ‘date’ echoing in your mind. Dating seemed so, so remote to you at that very moment. You were glad not to have had added more obstacles to your already tricky path, though.

After leaving the library you made your way to the Great Hall and parted ways. Without much thought, you took an empty spot next to George. You shot him a small smile as a greeting, but he looked distracted. He didn’t talk to you – he wasn’t even talking to Fred, who was discussing the future of the new Gryffindor quidditch team on his other side.

You got a bit worried, nevertheless, you were hoping you were just exaggerating - maybe he was tired. And if anything was actually wrong, he’d tell you when he’d feel ready.

“Pumpkin juice?” you asked, hovering the pitcher above his empty goblet. He nodded, then thanked you when you poured him the juice.

Throughout the meal, you tried to make a conversation, ask about his day and tell him about yours. Whatever his behaviour was, it probably had nothing to do with you, because he spoke normally and wasn’t shutting you down.

When you left the hall, the crowd seemed especially dense, you and George got separated from Fred and Lee and you noticed that when you walked an empty corridor on your way to the common room.

You were close to your destination, you could see the Fat Lady in the distance when George stopped hesitantly. He had his hands in his pockets and he looked around, anywhere but at you. This unusual behaviour made you uneasy.

When he finally looked at you, he spoke, “Y/N,” then crossed his arms on his chest, then turned his eyes back towards the stone floor. “…I’ve been meaning to ask you something, when we’re alone, for a while…” he continued, making your blood run cold. “…What is it?” you asked, doing your best to sound normal.

“You know, you’ve been… you’ve been behaving a bit-“ he bit his lip, looking for the right word, “differently, lately.”

You swallowed thickly, your hands started to tingle and your mind was going a hundred miles per hour. There were countless possibilities as to why he could be asking that question, was it the one you were expecting the most? The one that would expose you?

“Have I?” you continued your act, failing miserably. You couldn’t read the expression on his face. It was not warm or cheerful like you were most used to, but it wasn’t cold or accusing either. You were at a loss, trying to decipher what was going through his mind.

“Yeah, for some time now,” he answered, nodding slowly.

This did not give you any more information you needed desperately to play this right. You were thinking hard about what to say next, when the portrait of the Fat Lady opened, revealing Lee.

Upon noticing the two of you, Lee beamed right away, clearly not having read into the situation.

“Oi, have you seen what’s happening in the entrance courtyard right now?!” he shouted. “No, why?” George replied, not matching Lee’s enthusiasm. “Come on, everyone’s gathering there!!”

Lee’s appearance cut the topic off completely. The air between the two of you was awkward for the rest of the day but neither one mentioned it again. And the next day, it was like the conversation never happened.

At least formally – it has planted even more questions into your mind.

 —————⑩—————

 “Just remember, the memory must really be powerful and you have to focus!” Harry explained to the group standing in front of him.

You stood next to him, a bit to the side – he asked you to help out with the teaching side a bit that evening, seeing as you’d be working on Patronuses – a spell you had mastered a couple of years before.

“Could we see it again?” asked Colin Creevey, hoping Harry would show off his own Patronus once more. Harry turned to you instead, “Y/N..?” – waking you up.

Put on the spot, you felt a rush of nerves but tried to push them back. You took a deep breath and recalled your go-to memory of a sunny day, three years prior, when George came along with you on a weekend trip to your grandparents across the country.

You woke up with a rush of adrenaline that day. At the breakfast table you kept glancing at the clock on the wall, dreading that no matter how fast you’d finish your toast, you couldn’t be there to pick up George earlier than 8 AM.

It felt weird to depart without Fred, but you couldn’t have expected him to turn his aunt Muriel’s bag invisible, resulting in him being grounded. You didn’t want to be glad he wasn’t there, but the trip with just you and George was something truly unforgettable.

While your grandparents’ place wasn’t anything extraordinary in itself, unlike at your home at the Burrow, the two of you were left to your own device.

Just you, George, sunny weather and the call of adventure.

The memory’s energy filled you to the brim, with full confidence you said “Expecto Patronum!”, excited to see the familiar shape of a feisty wivern.

What you saw when you looked up shocked you – a small bird fluttering its wings above everyone’s heads. Your mouth fell open slightly as you stared at it, the bird perched itself on one of the bookshelves on the side of the room.

The group didn’t notice your shock however, they didn’t know your Patronus’ form, they were in awe of the small animal’s beauty. Everyone – except for two people you had shown your Patronus before.

Of course, you showed off to Fred and George almost right after learning that spell. Which is exactly why they both looked puzzled as well.

“Alright, I think we can get to practice now!” exclaimed Harry, the group scurried and the bird turned into mist, then disappeared.

You tried your best not to dwell on that mystery just yet, but actually try helping others out. Which is why you didn’t stick around Fred and George for too long, afraid that one of them might want to discuss it.

That was until, after many tries, close to the end of the meeting, after succeeding in making a shield form - George’s corporeal Patronus appeared. It was incredible.

“A magpie…” you whispered to yourself underneath your breath, covering your mouth with your hand. A magpie, just like yours, flying in circles above Fred and George.

George stared at it in shock, at a loss of words at first, then a relieved smile started to show on his face.

But then Fred, in a rush of excitement, succeeded as well - his Patronus appearing as a magpie, too.

George’s face fell, and his bird vanished. But you weren’t paying attention anymore.

On your way back to the common room you stuck to Fred, George and Lee, mostly because it was just a custom. The atmosphere was strange the whole way.

You felt tense, you avoided looking at George, afraid it might prompt him to speak to you. You were sure he had figured it all out by now, and you did not want to hear the words of rejection.

After all – if he had felt the same, surely he would’ve reacted more strongly, come up to you right away and confess too – daydreams.

Instead, he was walking a distance from you with a stone face, his hands in his pockets. Fred was walking in the middle, dividing you two – a casual, content expression on his face.

When you got into the common room, most of the D.A. members went upstairs to their respective dorms. You didn’t miss how George sped up in front f Fred and went up - two steps at a time. You collapsed on the sofa, not seeing the point of going about your day at that very moment. You felt crushed.

Just as the last students were leaving, Fred came back downstairs, on his own this time. He was just looking for something to do when he saw you.

He made himself comfortable in the armchair directly opposite you and looked at you expectantly with a smirk.

“You’re alone?” you asked quietly, thinking it was the least invasive way to ask for the information you truly wanted. Fred understood. “I don’t know what his deal is, he doesn’t seem to want to talk to me,” he answered simply. “He’ll sort himself out.”

When you didn’t say anything for a few seconds more, he took it upon himself.

“Soo – you wanna tell me what that was about?” Fred asked the question you expected from the very start. If you were him, you’d probably have asked too, out of sheer curiosity. You took a moment to think, but he was impatient – “the whole Patronus thing – as far as I know, it doesn’t just change on a whim… and a very interesting new form, indeed,” he got to the bottom of the case.

You wanted to tell Fred, you really did. You saw no point in denying it and just making yourself look stupid. He was your friend after all, and even though you had not thought about it, you have gotten even closer lately. Maybe partly because of how things with George changed, or maybe because you’ve all grown.

Fred truly felt like a brother, even if he could be a major prat, he was actually more like a brother to you than George ever was.

The only problem for you was how impartial would he remain? The last thing you wanted was anyone meddling with the situation between you and George – even his twin brother. And it would be hard for Fred not to, but you’d just have to trust him to see what’s right.

“Alright, but you have to promise me something. Everything stays between us, and whatever you do – don’t interfere, please.”

Fred sighed and his smirk got replaced with a kind smile. He got up and sat next to you on the sofa, laying his arm on the backrest. “Alright, promise. I’m listening.”

But where should you start? It felt weird all of a sudden, you’d never discussed your love life with Fred, and admitting to being in love with his brother felt even stranger.

You decided to start as simply as possible.

“I don’t really get it either. You know George and I have been close since we met, I’ve always loved him as a friend, and really didn’t see him that way before…” you spoke as quiet as possible, knowing how the sound could travel in the silence of the common room. You avoided looking at Fred and played with your hands in your lap, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, continuing – “A while ago, sometime in November, it… just changed.”

Fred hasn’t replied right away, and you kept your face down. “I love him,” you whispered, bowing your head even lower to hide your face. “Idiotically much.”

When you finally looked up, Fred was leaning his chin on his arm, on the back of the sofa, thinking.

“And how have you not told him yet?” he asked after a few seconds. “It’s not that simple. And I had a lot to figure out.” “I know, but I don’t get how you can spend so much time with someone you fancy and not snap- and just tell them,” he reasoned, looking at you. It actually made you quite happy - that meant you got to the Fred you wanted, he wasn’t judging you or wanted to tease you, but was trying to really understand and have a conversation. “Maybe…” you mumbled. “And if you’re wondering if I’m gonna tell you he’s in love with you too in a second, then I can tell you right away, that I don’t know. We don’t really talk about stuff like that.” “Better that way,” you pointed out, “I really prefer you impartial.” “Impartial’s a bit much-“ “Regardless, I don’t think he does,” you admitted, seriously. “He said a few days ago that he noticed me acting differently and the whole thing was really strange, but we never spoke about it again. And now today – there is no way he hasn’t figured it out and you saw how he’s acting… He’s probably upset right now because he doesn’t feel the same and knows we can’t be friends like before.”

There was another moment of silence and Fred was about to say something, when the two of you heard a door close loudly in one of the staircases, then a pair of footsteps travelling down from the boys’ dorms.

You automatically turned that way to look and saw George step in, with a neutral expression. He looked at the sofa, then quickly looked around the otherwise empty common room. He glanced at his feet for a second and in the semi-darkness, it looked like he scoffed, then back at you and Fred, with a look in his eye you’ve never seen before. It was hurt.

“Done brooding?” Fred asked, probably as an attempt to lighten the mood, but George turned around without a word and stormed back up.

“He hates me,” you whispered, mostly to yourself, feeling tears reaching your eyes, and your whole world falling apart around you.

[popculturebuffet]

Tex Avery Birthday Spectacular!

Hello all you happy people! And welcome to a celebration of the only cartoon director I knew as a kid and one of the finest whose ever lived, Mr. Tex Avery. 

Avery is a legend in the animation industry and rightly so. Starting out at a few other studios, and loosing sight in one of his eyes due to some tomfoolery at one, Tex was annoyed with the restrctive enviorment and eventually found his way to Termite Terrace, the animated shorts wing of Leon Schislenger Productions, aka the future Warner Brothers Studios and the makers of Looney Tunes. And his impact on the franchise is vast, cannot be overstated and I only learned about just how much recently: The man created Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, created the prototype for Elmer Fudd, and created the design for Porky we’re all far more familiar with. 

Eventually though while he was happy there, his career when ended when he eventually got into a squabble with Leon schsinger over the ending of “The Heckling Hare” and left soon after. Given he got a four week unpaid suspension for it , a bit extreme given all he’d given the studio, I can’t blame him. He instead went over to MGM who badly needed his wacky energy, and thus got to go as nuts as he wanted, with creative control a better budget and the result was his peak and classic characters like Red and my personal faviorite and personal boy: Droopy. I will try and do a birthday thing for him next month, we’ll see if my rather packed schedule will allow for it. Point is I watched the guys cartoons a lot as a kid between looney tunes and his shorts being repacked for the Tex Avery show in the late 90′s, and until recently I had no idea the depth and scope of his career: The guy gave looney tunes it’s standard fourth walll breaking and made it a huge part of the industry, and he was the one to hlep htem break out of being a Disney knockoff and into what we know today. The guy has my utmost respect so today I honor him as the first animator to get one of my birthday specials: As is my standard ten shorts, my patreons get to pick one each (I now have two but she start’s next month so her benefits will too) if they so choose (Kev opted out of the porky pig one next week) and I went to my friend blah for a recomendation as he’s an avid fan of the golden age of animation and thus usually has a really good choice up his sleeve. Now that’s out of hte way join me under the cut for some shenanigans as old tex would want it that way. 

1. The Gold Diggers of 49 (1935)

This was Tex Avery’s first short with warner and the first of his I could find, not ot mention his first time working with Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett, who he’d mentor and go on to be the heart and soul of Looney Tunes and define the characters Tex created. And since this is more significant than his earlier work i’m coutning it as his first. And as a start it’s.. ehhhhhhh. 

I don’t blame him for it though.  Most don’t hit it out of hte park their first time up to bat, and frankly the deck was stacked against him. He was saddled with Beans the Cat...

No one brak no one. He was part of an attempt by warner to create a new star as part of a Little Rascals/Our Gang style group of kids debuting in the short “I Haven’t Got a Hat”. This short is notable not for Beans, who no one cares about, but for the debut of Looney Tunes first star: Porky Pig. Porky was just one of the various characters but the only one audiences really liked. It took some time for Warner to get the hint though, hence Beans starring here and Porky playing his girlfriend’s father.. and also now being much older than him for some reason. 

So instead of being a Little Rascals ripoff bean is now a mickey mouse ripoff, as the short gives me mickey mouse vibes.. but without the things that made those shorts actually good and feels mostly built on studios trying to make what they think audiences will like. There’s sparks of waht Tex would become.. but just not enough wiggle room for him to make something special. Also porky looks and sounds weird in this one and Bean’s girlfriend has a REALLY annoying voice. Oh and two horrible Asian stereotypes, because it was acceptable at the time but lord was it never okay. Then again I should be at least mildly greatful none of the shorts had blackface.. because tex apparently REALLY had a problem with that, something I obviously didn’t know as a kid as they edited it out but given most of his MGM shorts have “blackface edited out of x version”, yeahhh.... I may like the guy, quite a bit and feel those gags weren’t done out of malice.. but it dosen’t make them okay, they were never okay and he should’ve done better. 

2. I Love to Singa (1936) Thankfully our next entry is 800% better, as we get a classic from my childhood and probably multiple childhoods. Admittedly part of the reason this one stuck in my head is the title song, sung by a young jazz singing owl whose dad doesn’t like that he sings Jazz instead of classical, enters a contest and nearly looses singing classical to please his dad only for his dad to intervene and finally accept his son. It’s a wonderful story of acceptance with some decent gags, beautiful animation and one hell of a title track that will probably never leave my head. The song is really what makes this short and sometimes that’s okay. Also just to note so someone else doesn’t: This short was a parody of the Jazz Singer one of the first talkie’s.. and also a film that uses blackface and whose 80′s remake bafflingly also uses blackface for some reason. Yes really. 

3. Tortoise Beats Hare (1941)

One of Tex’s only four Bugs Shorts.. but given 3/4 of them are certified classics, and one of them involving a horrible stereotype.. to the point it’s part of the rightfully infamous “Censored 11″ and the ONLY one involving Bugs Bunny. 

So as I said, Tex has a bad history with casual racism, and while it was the style at the time and I don’t THINK he was actively malicious towards black people.. it doesn’t make some of his work any less harmful. The rest of his bugs work though is remembered for the right reasons: his first appearance, and early classic we’ll get to next.. and this standout everyone who saw it as a kid or an adult fondly remembers. 

You all know the premise: Bugs finds out, in an utterly brilliant wall shattering bit at the start where he reads off the crew names and then the title, that this picture will have him beaten by a turtle and taking offense to that challenges the guy. This is honestly one of the few Bugs shorts where he’s the out and out villain of the picture. He’s doing this race purely out of ego, yells at Cecil whose perfectly nice in this one, and in general is the bully set up for a fall he’d later be famous for taking on. But it works, both because this si early in bugs career so it’s entirely in character, and because Mel just really sells the obnoxiousness while still being funny. 

This short also has one of Tex’s trademark setups as this is essentially a prototypical droopy cartoon: A meek, goofy voiced protagonist whose shorter than his large obnoxious enemy and who torments him by showing up every where he’s going to be and casually doing it. Cecil even does so using an army of fellow turtles with Droopy later using a similar trick in one of his shorts. As a big Droopy fan i’m clearly not complaining and while Droopy would do it better, this short’s still a classic for a reason with tons of great bits and is a fun break from the usual bugs setup, though in full fairness the usual bugs setup is still solid gold so take that how you will. 

4. The Heckling Hare (1941)

Originally I was going to have Daffy in Hollywood in this spot as I thought it was on Max, it was not,  so I swapped it out with his final bugs cartoon. For the record his first, and Bugs, is being saved for Bugs birthday this summer. And honestly i’m glad I did because this was 7 mintues of pure joy that has another setup that Tex himself and other Looney Tunes animators would resuuse: Bugs being pitted up against a far dumber antagonist. One who often still fully deserves it but allows him to just have fun for several minutes at this dumb bastard’s expense. It works well here, with tons of clever gags, my faviorite being the two doing dumb faces with each other only for bugs to stop and pull out a sign as seen right above. 

It’s also an approriate capper to our warner made Tex shorts for the day, as this would be the one that got him fired. He and Schisnger argued over it and he got suspended as I mentioned and I found it again a bit fucking extreme. So did Tex and after a handful of shorts elsewhere, he’d move over to MGM, whose cartoons would ironically be bought up by warner. They needed a shot in the arm to compete with Disney and Warner and Tex was happy to provide hte needle filled with nonsense. And the results.. are pure gold. 

5. Dumb Hounded (1943)

I’ll admit as a kid I didn’t know Tex’s MGM shorts were theatrical, or any shorts but somehow I knew they weren’t looney tunes. Besidds obviously having hteir own show they just had their own tone and pacing and style. While the Looney Tunes aren’t bad, at all honestly, Tex’s work here was in a class by itself with MGM gladly giving him a higher budget and even more creative freedom. And the results speak for themselves and one of those results is one of if not my faviorite classic cartoon character. And since I might not be able to get to his birthday with one of these next month, though i’m certainly going to try march is just VERY VERY FULL. Anyways point is our happy hero was introduced here. And given i’m frequently depressed and often withdrawn, not that you could tell from my reviews here, I related to this depressed bulldog who always won anyway despite being an outsider, finding love, sucess and always beating a much larger, much more assholish antagonist. But Droopy is good on his own merits as his shorts are just that funny. 

This was true from Day One as dumb hounded is fucking perfect: The Wolf that Avery always used in his cartoons escapes from jail and is hunted by bloodhounds including our boy, who charmingly introduces himself with “You know what, i’m the hero”. From there it’s a simple setup but a great one as Droopy finds the guy.. then chases him from here to enternity with one amazing gag after another. Simple, utterly hilarious and the dawn of a legend, with the ending having Droopy go a bit nuts after getting his reward money before returning to his usual demeanor “You know what? I’m happy” So am I bud, so am I. 

6. Red Hot Riding Hood (1943)

Yup same year. Tex hit the ground sprinting. This one is his signature MGM toon and for good reason. Using his usual forth wall breaking style, both the wolf and red riding hood rebel when it opens with a typical telling, so it changes to a 40′s nightlife setting: Grandma lives in a penthouse and is man hungry, Red is a fanservicey night club act and the Wolf is a sexually harassing asshole who chases after here and has some over the top reactions to her that are iconic in some’s mind.

The short is gorgeously animated with Red’s dance sequence and Wolfie’s reactions being the highlight and the short isn’t as bad as it could be as the wolf is treated as a scumbag for hitting on her and generally being a creep. SO the first two thirds aren’t bad with nice touches like the narrator clearly improvising the new story. It’s just badly hampered by the last half where Grandma sexually harasses Wolfie and it just doesn’t work. This double standard stuff annoys me and “haha get it it’s funny when a woman stalks a man” isn’t funny. Wolfie stalking her really isn’t that funny either it’s just not you know an entire third of the film. So a classic for a reason.. but one that really has degraded with time. Still worth analyzing and what not, just not great. 

7. Who Killed Who? (1943)

Yes still. It was a good year. This is another one off like Red Hot Riding Hood and as is tradition since the Tom and Jerry one, my patreons each get to pick one and Kev selected this one. And this.. was a great choice. 

Seriously I could not stop laughing with a great gag a minute, WAY too many to mention, a classic ending, and just nothing but net the whole time. I don’t have much to say really.. but because this one’s just good. The whodunnit genre hasn’t really gone away, it’s cliches are welll known even today and this is a lovely parody of it that hits the ground running after a live action intro and runs right through the wall across a lake and straight into droopy “You moved.”. 

The only real observation I have other than “This is fucking awesome watch it immediately” is that the villian looks exactly like the Phantom Blot. Who knew the Phantom Blot was a live action guy with a weird haircut the whole time huh?�� Seriously this one is a masterpiece, an instant faviorite, and I highly recommend it. 

8. Screwball Squirrel (1944)

As you can probably guess by how I lead it in this one is not very good. It is tex TRYING to make a bugs or daffy type character again and somehow failing at it. He created them, he did plenty of shorts like theirs with other characters and got how the cat and mouse antics of the old theatrical shorts worked.. so I have no idea how this one happened. 

I’m really not overselling it: The short is about Screwy, who hyjacks it from a cute widdle bunny clearly parodying bambi.. who he beats the shit out of, then decides to get things going asks a dumb dog to hunt him, then insults him to provoke him to attacking him. He then spends the entire short tormenting the poor dumb bastard who again HE PROVOKED. It feels like a poor imitation of dumb hounded, as while Bugs clearly outclassed the dog there, he’d die if he lost, so while he was punching down, he clearly didn’t have a choice and you can’t honestly blame him. Here, Screwy is fine, he just wants someone’s head to fuck with and spends a whole short torturing him. We don’t even get catarsis as while the dog does catch him at the end via  weird gag, they end up deciding to beat up the bunny instead. 

His voice is also just the worst, just utterly grating and making me wish an anvil woudl fall on HIM instead. Screwy would return for some other shorts but I have no idea why. This was easily the weakest of these ten shorts and I will probably not return to the guy next year.

9. Bad Luck Blackie (1949)

This is one i’d forgotten till I got a ways in. It’s also weirdly one of the only MGM Tex shorts on HBO Max as this was included in the Tom and Jerry collection for some reason, the dog in it clearly isn’t the tom and Jerry verison of spike... though the dog Droopy fought a lot was indeed called spike. Yes that is confusing, no I don’t know why MGM thought this was a good idea. 

 As a result though I have been saving giving out about this till now but seirously , put the tex avery shorts on HBO Max. Their on Blu-Ray, their on boomerang, especially Droopys. I do not get why they aren’t on here. I’m tired of them holding things out for the boomerang app when not everyone subscirbes to that. Let me have my morose dog dammit. 

That giving out aside i’m glad this one caught my eye via i’ts weird name as it’s another masterpiece. It also does what one Tom and Jerry short I reviewed, the one where tom’s a millionare,  earlier this month failed to: properly make it’s antagonist loathsome enough to deserve the parade of abuse he gets. With that one Tom is tourturning jerry for like 30 seconds, but Jerry torments him for most of 5 minutes. 

Here we get about two minutes of our lead kitten getting torremnted by a mean bulldog. It’s not only still a bit entertaining to lessen the horror just enough to be watchable but not enough to make the bulldog likeable, but it makes what happens for the rest of the short oh so fucking satsifying. While the previous short today really didn’t get the karmic ballance neded for a good classic screwball comedy short this one overwhelmingly does.

Our kitten gets some help in the form of Blackie, a professional black cat who agrees to turn the tables, sauntring across to a wonderfully catchy tune. any time the little guy whistles. The result from there is 5-6 nonstop minutes of comedy genius, as Tex finds new and creative ways for the cat to come out of nowhere, and even shakes things up to keep it intresting towards the end iwth the dog getting the whistle.. only for it to still not work out, and for our little kitten to get his revenge at last by painting himself black after the bulldog paints blackie white. As should be obvious by now, it’s really good, showing Screwball Squirrel was the exception not the rule. In general Tex was this good during his mgm and when he was at his peak we got gems like this. Truly sensational, watch it if you have max it’s under the tom and jerry section for some reason. 

10. T.V. of Tommorow A decent one I remember seeing as a kid. Not much to say though, it’s mostly a bunch of gags about “future” tv’s based on their viewer’s needs. Some good stuff.. not as good as most of what was here today but still better than the worst of it and still very memorable and part of a memorable tetralogy i’ll probably come back to when I do Tex’s birthday again next year. Not a bad note to end on though. 

Overall these shorts show just how strong a creator tex was, gleefully taking convention and ripping it to tiny pieces. As i’ve mentioned many times i’ll be coming back to his work next year.. and probably be watching a hell ofa lot more in the time between. Might even do a second special on him in between birthday ones. We’ll see how this does. The Tom and Jerry one sadly wasn’t quite the hit I hoped. 

Until then I have many other reviews. And since Today (This review is late) was supposed to be the 90′s tom and jerry movie but that turned out not to be on Max for some reason. I still plan to cover it some day i’ll just have to find it and buy it first. But tommorow if I have the time i’ll be continuing the Lena retrospective with an intresting little side trip. So until then, i’ts been a pleasure and you know what? Thanks for reading. 

[frogsoks]

Dancing

Hey friends! How long has it been? Probably quite a while lol. I kind of took a mental break after a little drama happened irl, but meanwhile I took up drawing! I'm obviously not a complete professional yet, but I might post a couple creations that I find worthy of share. But enough squabble. Here's a work in progress for you to read :)

-----

“Cole! Stop hiding under the table and put your pants on, please!”

Lou sighed. Today was… not going quite as he’d planned, to say the least. The dance lesson started in 10. Great. They’ve got some time before they had to leave. And besides, it’s the first day today, they couldn’t possibly get mad, right? Right. Nothing to worry about.

Lilly giggled as she tried to pry her 3 year old child out from under the table. “Cole,” she cooed. “If we don’t get these pants on you we’re going to be late for your first dance class!”

Cole looked up at her from under the table, wearing nothing but his underwear and T-shirt, staring at his mother innocently with his wide emerald eyes. Those eyes quickly turned VERY mischievous, and he gave her a wide grin, his baby teeth poking out here and there from underneath his gums. Lilly laughed at the sight.

Then,

Cole ran out from underneath the table, fast. Well, as fast as a three year old who just recently learned how to walk could.

Lilly chased after.

Chaos ensured.

Lou chuckled as he watched the love of his life chase their child around the house. Laughing and screaming could be heard as Lilly picked him up, playfully tackled little Cole to the ground, and tried to pry his pants onto him.

_______

Cole pouted as he sat in the car, hating the foreign feeling of pants on his legs. He decided he didn’t like it, not one bit.

The evil Madame Stone had won this time, but the totally awesome, super cool and dashingly handsome Captain Dangerbuff still had a couple tricks up his sleeve. First, he just had to escape this prison-chair… thing.

Where were they taking him, anyways?

He looked out the clear cell walls to see every tree and building speeding past him. And- was that..? Ooh! Look! A lollipop! Maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all. It was painfully close, just wedged in between the two seats next to him. Seems manageable, and looks delicious.

He tried to reach for the sweet treat, only to find his arm couldn’t quite get to it. Great. Cole sighed. How was he supposed to-

The moving prison stopped moving. And.. the walls were opening too! Yes! This was his chance. And.. oh, look! It’s- _______

“Here we are..” Lou sang as he put the car into park and pulled the key out of its slot, making the rumbling vehicle die down.

Lilly was already out of her seat, and opening the door to Cole’s. Said toddler was currently trying to reach for a… lollipop? How did that even get there?

She giggled, finding it quite adorable. She reached for the seatbelts and undid them, scooping the now whining boy into her arms.

Lou sighed, running a hand over his face. Taking care of a child is much more complicated than he’d initially thought. Although, if he did think more deeply into it, it did have its perks.

Cole was certainly one of a kind, and nothing beat waking up knowing that he had a future to look forward to. Both for him, and his family.

After all, Lou was a happy man. He had a loving wife, and a beautiful son. He wouldn’t trade them for a thing.

_____

If there was one thing Lou wanted right now, was to trade Cole away to some far away place where he’d learn manners so he could have some peace and quiet.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t 100% serious about the trading part, but it would make his life SO much easier if his son would stop doing embarrassing stuff day after day.

After they tangled their son out of the car seat and straightened him up a bit (much to Cole's condemn), the family decided to take in the beautiful view in front of them that was known as "Miss Ferns Dance Institute". The name itself had sprung seeds of doubt into Lilly's head, but Lou had assured her that Miss Fern was the best person to teach Cole the basics before he could be enrolled in a "proper" dance school.

The sight before them... well. It was certainly quite a sight. The building itself wasn't at all as pleasing to look at as the world renowned Marty Oppenheimer, with suspicious brick walls covered in graffitis saying some... unfriendly messages, and the broken windows, a couple window frames lacking the window itself...

Long story short, it looked questionable. For a dance school. For toddlers.

_____

Once stepping inside, the school didn't look quite as menacing. It was actually kind of cute, if you saw the little drawings made by kids on the wall, and the coloured wooden floorboards. It looked more like a place where little children could enjoy themselves. The name still sparked a couple questions to Lilly, but she'd have to put it aside for now. Who was she to judge a school based on it's name, after all?

Of course, upon entering, Cole ran straight to the drawings on the wall, admiring the messily scribbled animals and scenery. Lilly smiled at the sight. She looked around the room, spotting a couple other families huddled here and there, talking amongst themselves.

Lilly gathered her own family together, and they sat down on the right side of the room.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lilly whispered to her husband once seated. "What if Cole doesn't even like dancing?"

"My love," Lou said, grabbing a hold of Lilly's hand a gently placing a kiss on it, making her giggle. "This is his first class. You don't even know how he'll like it. Besides, I'm sure Miss Fern is wonderful. I've only heard good things about her classes."

Lilly rolled her eyes and laughed. "The writings on the building say otherwise."

_____

Lou was about to say something when he noticed the chatter had died down in the room. Lilly had called Cole over to her lap by now, whispering sweet words into his ear and placing gentle kisses into his dark hair, making him giggle.

Lou smiled but turned his head to where the rest of the families were looking, and waited for the well known and so-called wonderful dance teacher to come out.

What he'd said to his wife earlier was true, after all. He'd heard of Miss Fern from a couple members of his quartet, the Royal Blacksmiths, and all they'd said was 'Oh, Lou! Miss Fern is an absolute delight! You should try out her class' and 'Oh, Lou! she's even got a class for toddlers! You should enroll Cole there!'

Naturally after those praises he had to see just how good a teacher this woman was.

His thoughts were interrupted when someone started talking at the far sight of the room. It wasn't a woman's voice, though. Maybe her assistant?

"Well hello everyone! So great to see you all here with the wee ones. Oh, Lou! So glad you could come, my man."

Lou's blood ran cold.

He'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Unfortunately for you, Miss Fern was unable to make it to todays class. Fortunately for you, she has a wonderful -and dare I say handsome- substitute here in her place today. Let me introduce myself."

Ugh. Here we go.

"My name is Teyandro Moreno, but you can just call me Tey. No long boring names in this house. And yes- you're probably wondering what happened to my eye?"

Dear god.

"Well, believe it or not, an alligator ate it. More on that later though."

No, Please.

"Now! What do you say we do a little... dancing?"

sigh.

------

yes. that's that, then. I hope you enjoyed! I'll definitely continue this is some way, still have to finish the drama I started between Lou and a (kind of?) OC with my name, ironically enough. Well I think he's cool. Just wait til he starts teaching the class ;)

Anyways, thanks for reading! I'll try to be more active on here now, no promises tho :)

<3

[renaxwrites]

basket boy || yamaguchi tadashi

Pairing | Yamaguchi x GN! reader

Genre | fluff

Summary | You never knew how valuable 10 dollars was...that is, until you scored a date with your crush.

a/n: You ever sit there and randomly get a flashback from a movie you’ve watched/book you’ve read a looong time ago, and have a sudden urge to rewatch/reread? Basically what happen to me lol, hence why I wrote this little drabble. Remember that basket boy scene from Flipped? I felt Tadashi was perfect for this one <3

You found myself obsessing over the Basket Boy auction. Which lead to further thoughts about your crush Yamaguchi. Recently it was discovered him, along with the other volleyball first-years, had made this year’s First-Year Basket Boys list. Sure, seeing his name on the list sent your heart in a flutter, but why should you participate? The Basket Boys is something that’s literally selling these boys off, good intentions or not! As much as you daydreamed about sharing good food and conversations with the boy, it just isn’t right.

On the morning of the auction, you were on edge. You found yourself, without even knowing how it happened, staring at your allowance. You often helped your neighbors with pet-sitting whenever needed, but you didn’t think bonding with cats and dogs would come back to bite you. But alas! You conjured up a strategy. It was simple: if you left you money at home, you’d leave temptation with it.

But it was easier said than done. The second you step out of your house, you ran into your neighbor.

“Y/n! Y/n!! I’m so sorry it took me this long to get this to you, but thank you for helping me with the watching my feisty pooch again last week. Here you go!”

“It’s okay, I don’t need it! I was glad to help.”

After a few minutes of polite bartering, she gently forces the money into your hand and waves you off, bidding you a safe trip to school.

So much for that strategy, then.

As if it couldn’t get any more complicated, a couple of fellow classmates came up to you in a frenzy. “Is it true you’re going to bid? Someone saw you with a wad of cash this morning! How much do you have??” they pushed teasingly.

“It’s none of your business, and I’m not bidding anyway. The construct of having a people auction is just unfair.” You simply end it at that.

You find your seat next to your best friend, who eases you with an encouraging smile. You laugh at their reasoning of enjoying the auction, which was solely for the purpose of ditching class for a while.

A teacher gives a boisterous welcome to everyone to the assembly, then brings out the lineup of the Basket Boys.

Your mind was set on being firm on your no-bidding decision, but your heart said another. You claimed you didn’t care, yet seeing Yamaguchi walk out on the stage in his jacket and tie, holding his picnic basket, set your heart thumping ablaze.

And before you knew it, Yamaguchi’s number was called. But you weren’t worried. He was genuine and kind, so you were sure there would be several bidders!

“Yamaguchi is a member of the Karasuno Volleyball Club, and his hobbies include computer coding whenever he isn’t playing in volleyball matches. Alright! Who’ll give me ten dollars?”

Silence.

You look around in confusion. It didn’t make sense! Yamaguchi was genuine to everyone, yet there was a cutthroat bidding was over the tsundere Tsukishima and Kageyama not even five minutes ago?! And they didn’t even look like they wanted to be here!

You turn to your friend and whisper-shout, “Why isn’t anyone bidding, he’s so nice!”

“Exactly. Right now girls are only into guys who aren’t into them. Some logic right?” She explains sarcastically.

After another minute passes with no bids, you see Yamaguchi shrink a bit, shy and defeated. Well, not on your watch!

“Ten dollars,” you raise your hand.

“Sold!”

You were about to mentally scold yourself for giving into your temptation, but stop as you see Yamaguchi’s reaction. As soon as he saw it was you who bid, he was instantly rejuvenated in some confidence, along with sporting a deep blush.

Once the auction came to a close, the Basket Boys and their dates were ushered into a fancier room, where the dining would take place.

You sit across from your date. A beat of silence goes by, comfortable and awkward at the same time.

“I want to thank you for bidding on me...You didn’t have to you know. Not that I don’t enjoy your company or anything! You’re amazing! Argh, I mean, I know you probably did because you felt bad or something...” Tadashi utters as he finds interest in fiddling with his tie.

“No, I wanted to. This will be fun!”

You take a minute to revel in the delicious picnic he brought, which was the silent component of opportunity to strike up a conversation.

“So, I hear you’ve got a killer serve...what is it called? A ‘float serve’? Sorry, I don’t know the exact term!” You admit.

“Yeah! Me and an alum have been working on it. I’m not exactly the best at it yet, but I think I’ve definitely improved from the first time I tried it.” He instantly lights up, going into depth of his progress from the past few months.

The longer he talked about his passion, the more you swore you saw the stars in his eyes. He waved his hands around to showcase some technique he used. You never knew it was possible to fall for someone even more, just based on their mannerisms.

“Sorry! I’m going on too much about myself. What about you?”

You jolted out of your thoughts, just in time for him not to notice you were staring. On beat, you start sharing stories on how you care for several neigbors’ pets, making sure to highlight your how much you love doing it. You end up throwing in a few funny stories, succeeding in getting Yamaguchi to let loose and laugh.

“Moral of the story, I’ll never wear anything shiny around that cat again. Lesson learned!” you chuckle.

“Hey, well at least you survived! You’re amazing at what you do,” he replies in awe.

“The way I see it, we all have our own ways to shine. You with volleyball and computing, me with animals. We’re different, but in unique ways,” you take another sip of your drink.

“So cute...”

You look up. “I’m sorry?”

In one second, Yamaguchi went from endearingly staring at you, cheek resting on palm, to thumping his forehead on the edge of the table.

“Did you really hear that?” Thump. “I didn’t mean to say that...” Thump. “Not that you’re not cute or anything! I just- ugh, you probably think I’m weird now.” Thump.

You were in shock, alright. Your crush thinks you’re cute? You silently thank the heavens above while pondering how to respond without freaking him out.

“Well, if we’re basing the term ‘weird’ on that statement, then I guess I’m weird too.”

He bashfully peeks at you from the edge of the table. “What do you mean, y/n?”

Now it was your turn to blush. “I...think you’re cute too, Tadashi.”

After a few minutes of tiptoeing around the situation, the two of you discover your feelings for the other. By the time it was announced the dates were over, you and Yamaguchi walked out, with linked pinkies.

You giddily look at him and admit, “Best ten dollars I’ve ever spent.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

[animalanie]

A Certain Scientific Railgun Headcanon: How You Met Them

Fandom: A Certain Scientific Railgun/ A Certain Magical Index

Title: How You Met Them

Pairing: Characters X Gender Neutral Reader

Warning(s): Maybe false information? (Explained below)

A/N: Hello, everyone! It's been a very long time since I saw this anime, so if some parts don't make sense or are incorrect, please let me know. Also, I wrote about the recurring/main characters because there are just so many of them. If there is a particular character you would like to see, please let me know! Enjoy!

If you like my work, feel free to find more in my Masterlist! Or if you would like to see more, you can request here from any of these fandoms!

Accelerator: You had heard a lot about the highest-ranked of the level 5s in the city. Of course, you had never met him in person. One day, however, you had seen a little version of Misaka Mikoto, one of the level 5s of the city, running into the park frantically and stopping in front of you since you were one of the few people there. As confused as you were, you were very keen on taking care of her until her guardian came and took her home with them. Both of you were playing in the park when he ran over to where you two were, on the swings. His clothes and hair were a complete mess as he regained his breath next to you. Needless to say, he was very worried about the kid- something you had never thought to be the first thing you would learn about him, and definitely not the last.

Index: You were Toma's neighbour for quite a long time but after a certain day, you began hearing weird noises constantly. They were mostly muffled yelling or things crashing around and you were sick of it, so, you finally decide to check out what the cause was. You knew for certain Toma lived alone and couldn't help the urge to check it out. The second you knocked on the door, it flew open but no one greeted you, not at first. You looked down to see a white-haired girl wearing nun-like clothing, except it was being held together with golden safety pins. Her puppy dog eyes looked up at you as Toma walked up behind her.

Kanzaki: A skilled sorceress who was the hot topic around where you lived, yes, she was. You, unlike other people, absolutely despised her because of the rumours you heard. That was until you got to meet her once when you were at the church near your residence. You were definitely shocked to see her at a place like that, considering everything you heard about her. But there she was, standing amongst a few other nuns and chatting with them as if it were natural to her. With all the courage you had, you approached them. The thing that surprised you the most was that she was nothing like you had learned from others.

Kuroko: You both were in the same class for your new year in middle school and only found out halfway through when you had a class trip. You two were in the same group for your daily activities and clicked with each other instantly. You realized how weird it was that you two didn't know of each other's existence before this event took place but were glad to meet each other, even if it was as late as it was. Not to mention, it was absolutely unbelievable how much time you both ended up spending during the whole trip.

Last Order: You first met her at a park and found her running around in just a torn up blanket. You were sitting on a bench when she ran past you and tripped over a rock, and because of your power to manipulate time, you were quick enough to act upon that. However, you could say it was an awkward first meeting since you caught her by her blanket, causing it to tear off from her body. Though, slowing down the time to your advantage once more, you caught her by her arm this time and wrapped the blanket around her before anyone else in the park saw the state she was in. She was quick to thank you with a toothy smile.

Misaka: You were known for your ability to use the wind to its advantage and were a level 4 esper, not to mention, very close to becoming another one of the level 5s in the city. You assumed that the reason it was Misaka that approached you and no one else was that you were in the same school. You never really asked and she never said. You were, either way, awestruck when she asked you to meet her at a cafe near the school. She told you more about other level 5s and helped you train to control your power better and become stronger but made sure you two had fun at the same time. Needless to say, your relationship evolved further than just training buddies.

Saten: You were a level 1 esper with the ability to bend water at your will but were still learning the basics of controlling the way water moves. You had been doing so for at least a year, though, and saw no progress, which made discouraged you undoubtedly. You had stopped practicing as much anymore but when you finally found the courage to try again, you went to the river you always practiced by to find a girl, who you learned was Saten. Your friendship mostly began because of the similarities you had when it came to becoming stronger and this only helped you encourage each other.

Toma: You were new to Academy city and were very fascinated by what the local people here possessed in themselves. It was something you had never seen and it was naturally very unique to you. One of the people who caught your eye, though, was Toma, a guy who always called himself unlucky and thought nothing would ever work for him. You ended up meeting him in a popular mall where he was struggling to handle a girl in white clothing. You were still very clueless as to what made you attracted to the boy with apparently no esper ability. Contrary to his constant statements, however, you were sure there was something he possessed, something unique.

Uiharu: You recently joined the Judgement and were to learn the basics of the committee members' routines, duties, and responsibilities. To guide you, Uiharu stepped up and made sure you knew how to make certain decisions when necessary and what actions you were expected to take in certain situations. She was your mentor for about a week as you followed her around and helped her out. Though she was extremely shy at first and couldn't speak to you without stuttering at least once, she began to loosen up as time went on before she finally found herself feeling comfortable around you.

[thehikingviking]

Chaparrastique (San Miguel Volcano) from Conacastal

We had been in El Salvador for more than two weeks, and so far the trip had gone better than any of us could have hoped for. I surprised Asaka with a trio on the morning of her birthday. She stood outside the window while they sang her loves songs which she couldn’t understand. We celebrated by having a big pool party with Erick and his family. We bought a piñata and ate a special cake that my mom used to eat in her childhood. 

There was so much that I still wanted to do, so on our last Friday we went to Cascadas Tamanique. It was a steep hike down the canyon from town, but we were eventually rewarded with a beautiful set of waterfalls.

We swam in the pools and jumped off some cliffs. Leif made several motions to jump off the same cliff as well, but we told him that he would have to wait until he was older.

The next day was my last full day in El Salvador, and I wanted to go out with a bang. Chaparrastique, also known as Volcán de San Miguel, is the southernmost ultra prominent peak in the country, and until very recently, had been too active to climb, with large eruptions as recent as 2015. When I initially planned my trip, I didn’t even think climbing this volcano a possibility, but I learned through Nahuat Tours that the minister of geology had determined the mountain safe enough to climb. Zach was flying out that day, which meant I would be on my own. This would require the longest drive, as we had to go all the way from El Zonte to the “Wild East”. Apparently the people on this side of the country look and sound different, and perhaps the most glaring distinction is how they eat pupusas. I was mostly concerned with the heat. Erick joked that when people from San Miguel go to hell, they complain that it’s too chilly. I could find no trip reports online, aside from a YouTube video which didn’t delve into the details surrounding mileage and elevation gain. Nahuat Tours didn’t have much information either, again leaving such details to the local guides. To prepare, I brought a lot of water and expected the worst. What I experienced in the end was a moderate hike with agreeable temperatures.

Erick and the gang were outside of Villa Letty at 4am. I snuck out of the room trying my best not to wake the baby, grabbed my lunch from the fridge and threw my stuff in the back of the car. Chico and Young Erick were crammed in the back seat, while Gerardo had other tours to lead that day. The drive was long, but not terrible as El Salvador is a small country. We reached the town of Conacastal where we met our local guide Fernando. From there we hopped in the back of a 2WD pickup truck, then drove south along RN16S until reaching La Placita. We turned off the paved road here and continued up dirt and cobblestone roads further up the northwestern side of the volcano.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck was so fun, but just another day for the average Salvadoran. We drove to 3,800 feet where the road simply became too steep. Our driver gave it a couple shots, but there was no point in pushing it since we already saved about a thousand feet by driving up to this point.

We continued hiking up the road through a cedar forest. The road ended soon after but we picked up a trail. We passed a big family group who had started from Conacastal earlier in the morning. While this peak is somewhat reclusive to the “intrepid traveler”, it seems reasonably popular with the locals. We left Erick to hang back with them, while Fernando, Chico and Young Erick continued with me at a faster pace.

Fernando asked if I wanted to go up the rocky way or the sandy way. To me the answer was easy, so I requested rocky. An overgrown but well defined use trail ensued, but the dirt was solid and travel was generally easy.

Soon we emerged from the thick jungle, and the western expanse captured my attention. Volcán de Usulután, Cerro Taburete, Cerro El Tigre, Volcán de Tecapa and Volcán de Chinameca flooded the expanse before me.

More inland ran the Sierra Madre.

There was a nice breeze keeping us cool. We would need it because the next thousand feet would comprise of the worst volcanic scree to climb up that I have experienced to date.

It was the classic two steps up, one step down. I had a trekking pole with me that made the section bearable, but I eventually lent this to one of my young guides as he was having more difficulty than I was.

There wasn’t really a trail, but more of a path of erosion. One thing was clear, and that was to continue upwards.

Things started to get easier as we neared the top. A big block of solid rock caught my eye, so I decided to find a scramble route up.

I picked a class 4 route straight up the rock to add some juice to an otherwise non technical hiking trip. This can of course be completely avoided, and I think my guides looked at me quizzically for taking such an unnecessarily dangerous route in the first place.

Shortly after we reached the crater rim.

We dropped down to the flat sandy section beneath us and walked to the edge.

Inside, the fumaroles were seeping out of the yellow rock. There was no visible lava, but the volcano was clearly very active. Our local guide Fernando claimed that he scrambled halfway down the crater, and it was probably for the best that he didn’t go any further.

After the very cool detour, it was time to continue to the peak. We headed east and scrambled back up the crater rim.

The rim was easy to follow and there was a use trail most of the way.

After a few more minutes of hiking we made it to the top.

To the northeast was the city of San Miguel.

To the southeast were Laguna de Olomega, Volcán de Conchagua and La Union.

To the south was the summit crater.

To the west was the flat area from where we examined the depths of the crater. In the distance was Volcán de Usulután.

To the northwest was Volcán de Chinameca.

A point on the opposite side of the crater looked like it could potentially be higher, so I requested that we traverse the entire crater rim, even though Fernando confirmed that we were standing on the highest point. For these types of things you can’t be too sure.

To circumvent the rim, we had to drop into a small notch. Climbing out of this was a loose mess, but we eventually made it back atop the high rim. The travel was very easy and breathtaking, with everchanging views in all directions.

Once we reached the summit contender, it was clear that the opposite point was higher, however I am glad we chose to go this way.

-Volcán de Conchagua

-Laguna de Jocotal & Punta Mango

-Endless Beaches

As we continued circling, we got more views into the depths of Chaparrastique.

We got back to our original starting point of the rim traverse where we ran into the kids from the family we saw earlier. The parents were still below making their way up the loose scree. Among them was older Erick, chatting away about different business opportunities. I would not be patient enough to wait for him to reach the top. He turned around without me asking, but he would end up taking a long time to descend. We took the sandy (sandier) route down this time, which I was really looking forward to. This was some of the best scree skiing I have ever done, however this bliss was interrupted since I had to wait for Erick many times. I finally decided to enjoy the sandy portion of the descent uninterrupted, and wait for Erick down below. It was a very nice descent while it lasted, and afterwards we found a spot in some shade back in the forest. Fernando claimed that he made it from crater rim to dirt road in under 20 minutes. We ended up waiting for over an hour, and needless to say I was pretty annoyed. Once he finally showed up, I grumpily walked the remaining distance down to the road, and later to the car.

As we approached the car, I started to sense big animals moving in the nearby brush. Several heads of cattle were grazing the mountain slopes.

Our driver was waiting for us right where he left us. The hike was 6.3 miles round trip with 3,400 ft of total gain (including the crater rim traverse). Please keep in mind that this does not include the section we were able to drive. We dropped off Fernando in Conacastal, then began our long drive back to El Zonte. Traffic was pretty bad towards the end of the drive, but I was able to make it back in time for dinner. This will for sure be a trip that I will never forget.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9ENCjN5o7M&t=5s

[artnerd1123]

A Familiar World

Pen Pals (pt 1) ——————————————

Just a bit of book exchange and small talk between a couple sorcerers. 

The masterpost for AFW can be found here. The chapter post for AFW can be found here.

——————————————

whattup belle n @vaaloirr are back at it again with another joint chapter, ft alex n journ!!! vaal wrote the letters by alex, and i wrote the ones by journ! these were rlly fun to write, so y’all will prolly see more in the future :>

hope y’all enjoy!!! 

Dear Journal

I hope you’re having a good week, over there, hope life’s treating you well. I’m here with my book recommendation, as usual. I hope you like this one. It’s an intriguing little piece called “Forgotten Shoals”, a story about a small group of people, mostly mercenaries I think, getting shipwrecked and separated on a very strange island. I was a little lost? About halfway through? The story’s kind of too vague for its own good at certain points, but overall it was pretty good. It’s in a pretty old time period, when there were still kings and stuff, so that’s pretty interesting, how they handle that. It’s only two books, but they’re long ones. They make for fun animated book nights, especially if you’re watching in a dark room. It really helps the atmosphere, so there’s that to keep in mind.

Sincerely, Alex

-

Dear Alex,

Thanks so much for the rec! It came at a great time, I’d just finished with the last series. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of this one. I’ll work them into my schedule sometime. Probably at midnight. That’s the best time to read, haha. Maybe we’ll both get confused, and we can compare notes. Life’s ok over here. I finally decided to get better acquainted with my roommate. My book rec for you comes from him, actually. It’s a book of really old questor legends- maybe you’ve read it before? Sorry if you have! He called it “Legenday legacies.” There’s a whole series of them. They don’t really go in any order, but the oldest are marked first. I’ve only read a couple, but they’re really cool. It’s best to have them animated, too. My roommate said they were old oral stories that someone finally decided to write down, so the animation has some really neat extra details. This letter got a little long, haha. Hope you’re doing ok over in your town!

Signed, Journal Drapht

-

Dear Journal

Yeah, midnight’s the best time for a spooky book, haha. And thank you for the rec! I actually had the first book when I was a kid, but I forgot it when I left home. I would love to read it again, and to read the other books too… I’ll definitely try to snag them the next time I’m over there. I always meant to go back to them, so thanks for the reminder. And I’m glad you’re getting along with your roommate, it wouldn’t be very fun if you weren’t, haha. I couldn’t really picture myself with a roommate, me and Lucy is just fine. And I’m doing fine, though things are a little hectic over here right now. Someone says they saw a monster nearby recently, which… I’m pretty certain was just a random wolf they got spooked by? It was late. But you know. Rumors are a hard snowball to stop once they get rolling. Hopefully it’ll all get sorted out. Anyway, I’m running out of room on the paper, so I gotta call it here, haha. Have a good one.

Sincerely, Alex

-

Dear Alex,

Oh, nice! Hopefully the next ones are a good read. And I get leaving books at home on accident. I had to leave a bunch of mine when I left home, too. I got the important stuff! But you can’t quite replace a lifetime of books overnight, haha. At least we have libraries and book merchants, right? Roommate life isn’t for everyone. I’m glad you and Lucy are getting along well at your place. Though the rumors sound rough. It’s hard when a whole town is going off about something. Sorry you’re dealing with those. Hopefully they’ll quit when they catch whatever the critter is, haha. Could make for a town legend, right? I’ve heard plenty of those. They’re certainly something. Before I run out of paper, I actually have one somewhat unrelated question. Does Lucy ever run around the apartment at 3am for no reason? My roommate’s familiar is a cat, and he does that. I’m not sure if it’s a familiar thing or a cat thing. We didn’t have any cats in the house growing up. Hope this letter finds you well.

Signed, Journal Drapht

-

Dear Journal

Yeah, a lifetime of books is not the easiest thing to replace, haha. And the rumors aren’t really rough, so much as annoying. It’s a merchant town, so once monster rumors start, everybody’s gotta hold up while some people go out and find whatever it was. They’re very on edge when the topic of monsters is brought up. But hey, what can you do. Hopefully it’ll be a boring town legend at the end of the day, haha. And as far as the 3am thing, yes. All the damn time, every night. Without fail. My mom had a few cats when I was growing up, and I can confirm that it’s a cat thing. They just do that. I don’t know why, you can have the laziest cat in the world and they’ll still sprint around at full speed at 3am. It’s actually kind of hilarious. Also, if we’re gonna be trading questions, I actually had one… Your roommate is a questor, right? I was wondering if you could maybe ask for a few questor tips from him for me, if that's alright. Have a good one.

Sincerely, Alex

-

Dear Alex,

I mean, a legend’s a legend, right? But I do hope whatever it is doesn’t bother the townsfolk much. We used to have some problems with woodsy critters back at home. I don’t know if they’re still having issues now, but sometimes wolves can get pretty bold, haha. And that’s good to know. It is pretty funny to just hear my roommate’s familiar sprinting around outside my door at Revaew awful hours of the night. I just have to make sure he doesn’t wiggle his way into my room. He’ll go curl up on my bed to claim it and not move until 6am. Usually that’s not a problem because I stay up late, but it means I crash later during the day. Not so great when I'm in the middle of magic training, haha. I went and asked my roommate about questor tips for you. I didn’t know questors were actually a separate class of sorcerer, so that made for an interesting conversation! He told me that you should keep an eye on the questing board- you have one in town, right?- and to keep some sort of compass/map on you among your supplies. Make sure to pack a snack and water if you don’t already. If it’s a fetch quest, make sure to find the quest giver beforehand to check for any special conditions. He said a bunch of other stuff, too, but half of it sounded like he was trying to be a mother hen. The guy’s a bit of a softie. I could send you my notes with my next letter if you’d like to see all of them.

Signed, Journal Drapht

-

Dear Journal

Yeah, yeah… I still think it’s just a wolf. Or maybe a bear. Who knows. Honestly, I would be more shocked if people weren’t bothered by this, merchants are just such uppity people. At least the ones around here. You definitely don’t wanna crash during magic training, yeah. I remember when I was training with my uncle, when I used to live with him, I was not good at keeping myself in check at all. Most of the time not spent practicing was spent napping because I would use all my energy trying to get this one spell, and then just pass out. I was young and excited, to be fair. He got me out of that habit. And maybe you should let the little familiar claim your bed sometime, there’s probably room for both of you, haha. Y’know, the more you talk about him, the more I think he and Lucy would get along great. You didn’t know questors were another class of sorcerers? I mean, I guess the distinction isn’t exactly obvious, now that I think about it. And we do actually have a questing board! Though it’s a little bare lately. Mostly just odd jobs, not much else. Any nearby dungeons have apparently decided to be quite shy, haha. Be sure to tell your roommate that the advice is appreciated, he sounds like a nice guy. And I would love to see your notes! If you’re good with it, that is.

Sincerely, Alex

-

Dear Alex,

Haha, maybe I will. It’s sort of weird sleeping in a room by myself right now. I have had a lot of siblings. Maybe the company will do me some good. And maybe we can have them meet up the next time you’re in town. I’m sure my roommate would let me take his familiar out. His name is Roo. He’s a shy little guy, but the library is quiet enough that he’d do ok. Just have to find him a fairy tale book and he’s all set, haha. As for magic training, that sounds so cool! Having your uncle train you sounds so exciting. My old mentor sort of took me under her wing because I was trespassing on her woods. She’s a strict teacher, but I’m really grateful to her. She taught me a lot, and gave me an amplifier a while ago. We still exchange letters and I still try my best to stick to what she told me. Learning magic is hard work, but I’m willing to reach for it. Guy’s got a dream, you know? And, for the record, I didn’t grow up in a very magical place. I think my magic mentor was the only sorceress in the entire area of my hometown, haha. Totally different story in this town. There’s lots of sorcerers- my roommate included. He’s pretty cool. Buys me coffee and gives me training tips sometimes. Anyways, all this to say I’ve attached a copy of the notes. Sorry if the ink is a little faded. I wanted to try out a duplication spell I’ve been practicing, and I don’t know if it took all the way. Simple spells can be hard for me, but I’m working on it, haha. Hope you and Lucy are doing well.

Signed, Journal Drapht

-

Dear Journal

Yeah, I bet the change from “a lot of siblings” to “one roommate and his familiar” is a bit jarring. I wouldn’t really know? I was an only child. To be honest, I always wondered what having siblings was like, maybe you could tell me sometime? If that’s good with you? Maybe when we introduce Roo and Lucy to each other. Roo is such a cute name by the way, I hope the little guy knows that, haha. As far as my uncle goes, he was a very good teacher! He knew a whole lot of spells, and still tried to learn even more. He was a show sorcerer, so he knew so much neat stuff… I kinda miss him, but you know. He’s got his career, and I wanted to be a questor. At least it helped me get used to travelling a lot, haha. Your teacher sounds super cool too, like? Meeting a sorcerer in the middle of the woods and getting taken under their wing? That’s some legend stuff, man. Awesome. My town wasn’t very magical either, but it wasn’t super unmagical? There were sorcerers here and there. Not enough to really call the town magical, though. It wasn’t a hotspot, I guess is what I’m trying to say. I heard it’s become even less so since I left, but I digress. Oh! And the notes were really great by the way! Thank you so much! And don’t worry about the faded ink, I’ve read more illegible, haha. I think you did a fine job. You’ll get better with practice! I believe in you! And we’re doing fine, though Lucy is getting a bit claustrophobic. I hope you guys are doing well too.

Sincerely, Alex

-

Dear Alex,

I apologize in advance if my handwriting gets messy. I’ve rewritten this letter at least three times now. My hand just tends to make absolute chicken scratch if I get too excited. That being said, you mentioned your uncle being a show sorcerer? How long has he been performing? How did he start? What category is he? Are all his shows the same or does he switch it up every time? What does he travel in? Sorry for all the questions, I’ll stop myself there. Show sorcerers are sort of an interest of mine. An aspiration, if you will, haha. Hearing that you worked with one sent my mind into overdrive. That’s so cool! Maybe we could practice spells together sometime. And a legend? Maybe. My mentor tells a lot of those. Sometimes I swear she’s telling an actual story that happened to her. She never confirms, though. I don’t know how much of legend material I am yet. I have to work on my magic some more. One day, though. It’ll happen. Especially if the notes weren’t as bad as I thought, haha. It’s progress! Also, we’ve got solidarity on non magic towns, haha. Glad we’ve both got somewhere that has more pizazz. Just a couple magic guys trying to make their way in the world, ammirite? Anyways, sorry about Lucy. Maybe taking her on a walk would help? We’re doing ok over here. My roommate has been painting scenes from the books we’ve animated. It’s pretty cool. And Roo seemed to like the idea of meeting Lucy! He was a tad nervous, but that’s the norm for him. I think he’d like having another cat friend. Maybe we can get together soon? I might have some sibling stories. Depends how much I remember that day, haha.

Signed, Journal Drapht

-

Dear Journal

Your handwriting’s fine, don’t worry. I’ve read worse. As for all your questions, uh… since he was a teenager, I never asked, I can’t remember the categories but he does a lot of stuff with legends, dragons, and dragon legends, they have the same themes, but he has a bunch of different shows, if that makes sense, and he travels in a little caravan with his familiar and a couple of his friends. I get being excited, it’s all good. Maybe we could have a Q&A the next time we see each other, haha. And I’m sure uncle Leo would love to meet and practice magic with you, but he’s really busy nowadays, so you might have to hold that thought for a bit. He’d have to find a gap in his schedule. You really need to introduce me to your mentor eventually, she sounds awesome. And I’m sure you’ll get a legend or two for yourself one day. I mean, nobody was born the star of one, am I right? And I wouldn’t really say my current town has more “pizazz”, but it’s definitely more tolerable than my old town, I guess. Some people were very opinionated there. Especi Yeah I took her on a quick walk through town before writing this letter, actually, and she’s feeling a lot better! Sometimes she just needs a little bit of fresh air like everybody else. I bet your roommate's paintings look great, I can’t paint to save my life, haha. Lucy’s a little nervous too about the meeting too, so I guess the feeling’s mutual. Hopefully we can all get together soon!

Sincerely, Alex