#hence why i’m not tagging it with a verse yet

[lailawinchesterr]

berry vodka [jo harvelle]

masterlist

summary; too many shots lead to the confession you’ve been keeping inside for seven months. tags; bi!fem!reader, angst, fluff, insecurities in sexuality but no details, not proofread. — verse: berry vodka next part (smut)

“C’mon, Dean, I’ve done everything you’ve asked for, I’ve tried—”

“Wasn’t enough if the demon’s still out there!” His voice is so clear it makes me shake. I’ve known Dean for years and years, he’s hardly ever raised his voice at me. No one respects women more than he and his brother do, and not once have they yelled at me no matter what I did— and now he’s screaming, for what? Because I let some demon outsmart me for two seconds?

I scoff and storm out of the bedroom we were fighting in. It was a stupid hunt right next to Ellen’s hence why we’re staying at the roadhouse for the week, so i end up at the bar. 

Thankfully, so is my favorite blond. “Hey, Jo.” She smiles wide, waving, and in return dropping the shot glass in her hands to the counter.

“Hi, berry. You’ve been kind of hot and heavy with Dean these days. You okay?” I roll back so I’m sitting straight. 

“Thanks,” I blow a kiss when she hands me a Berry Vodka, “we’re ‘kay, he’s just being an asshole.” 

She agrees with me (though I’ve yet to tell her what he’s being an asshole about) which makes me lean forward on the bar. “I mean, I’m his friend and you’d think that after hunting together for so long he’d stop blaming me for guys hitting on me.”

Her eyes widen and this time she almost drops the glass on accident, though it’s hardly a close call as she easily regains her composure. “He— what?” 

“What?”

“Dean what?”

“He got mad at me?”

“For guys flirting?”

“Yes.”

“Why—” she clears her throat and looks back down at her work, still moving, “why would he— why? Is he like— does he like you?”

“Does Dean—” I let out a laugh, “does Dean like me? Did hell freeze over? No, of course not. He’s not jealous, he’s overprotective. He’s being an ass but he isn’t in love with me.”

“Good,” she lets out a small breath and my heart seizes. Yeah, of course it’s good. Jo’s always been in love with Dean, him liking me would cause a bit of an issue. “I mean— whatever. Yeah. Anyways, why’s he fighting with you anyways?”

“I let a demon go. Thought he was an overly eager guy so I sent him on his way.”

“How’s that your fault?”

“He… might have mentioned he’s a demon— but I thought he was trying to be funny or something, I didn’t know he actually was one. Turns out he wanted to find Sam and Dean. He has something on Yellow Eyes.”

“You guys getting close, then?” One quick nod. The heavy alcohol in the drink burns as I try to finish as much of it as possible at once. I hand it back to Jo and ask for just shots. “You sure?” Another nod.

I need to let go tonight if I’ll be awake and attentive with the guys tomorrow on their wild goose chase. She hands me one shot and I shake my head. She furrowed her eyebrows. “C’mon Jo, I’ll pay.”

“That’s not it and you know it. You can’t drink.” 

“What does that even—” she glared at me and maybe, okay, so sometimes I get a little crazy when I’m drunk but so what? I just flirt and dance, it isn’t like I hurt anyone. Besides, waking up with someone in my bed tomorrow could maybe solve all my problems. “Let me have it, Jo. I just need one night, I deserve it.” That seems like the magic word for everyone in my life at the moment. 

I die for Dean once and suddenly I have a free pass for the rest of my life. If I’d known, I would’ve died for the jackass sooner. Sam brought me back the same day but still— everyone lets me have it.

She stares at me like she’s contemplating it and then gives in with a sigh. From that point on I’m being served shot after shot and I’m more than sure my tab is so high I won’t be able to pay half of it when the night ends. Jo starts serving me much cheaper brands as the night went on— I’m sure she knows that too.

Three shots later, I’m still sober enough to taste the vodka cheapening. “Jooo,” I draw out her name, “you’re not doin’ enough! I need to get drunk, not bored.”

“Slow down, honey.” I shake my head though my ears heat up at the endearment. No time for that now. Two shots more and I’m officially buzzed. Buzzed enough to not notice Dean sit down next to me. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” I shake my head quickly and stand up mumbling something about it being a good night and he seems to take the rejection well, sitting in place as I walk to the empty pool table. 

Immediately as I’m racking the balls up, someone’s hands are on my waist. “You wanna give me a round, honey?” And because I literally have nothing better to do, I let the Sam-height, almost Cass-level-hot guy play pool with me.

His facial hair covers most of his face, which actually looks way too good, but his blue eyes look really really beautiful and I can’t stop staring. “Yes. Yeah.” He smirks and moves his hands away.

“What are we playing for?” I almost answer, I’m not sure what to say, before his deep voice comes from behind me. His hands aren’t on my waist, but he might as well swallow me whole if he’ll make me feel this small. 

“A hundred bucks, how about that, man?” 

“And who are you?”

“Her friend.” Dean has a hand on my shoulder. Asking loudly enough for the other guy to hear, “you mind me playin’, sweetheart?” 

Obviously, I shake my head and we get started. I’m winning so far, the guy— Stefan or something— is downright embarrassing at the game. Dean is letting me and I’m drunk enough to not care. Three more hits and i sigh. “I want drinks.”

Stefan perks up from his round, “I’ll go get ‘em. What do you drink, honey?” He asked for my name ages ago and I gave it but he doesn’t seem to like it.

“I will go get them.” Dean decides and taps the taller man’s shoulder once. That’s smart. I’m not sure why it is— but it is. Stefan’s closer now. Too close.

“I like girls.” I whisper, or blurt, or something that means I say it so fast and so low that I don’t hear or understand it myself.

“You— what?”

“I’m into girls. M’sorry. You’re so close. M’not kissing you.”

“Yeah, I— I wasn’t.” He furrowed his eyebrows but I just shrugged and moved further back. “Did I make you uncomfortable?” I mean, he asked me if I wanted another round by trapping me into the pool table.

I must’ve said it outloud because, “I didn’t trap you, I mean, I held you but that’s because you were kinda off your feet. I apologize if—”

“Oh. M’sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. It isn’t your fault.”

“Good.” I smile and move closer now. He’s warm when I’m not worried he’s trying to get in my pants. I’m not exclusively into girls— only half way, I’m bi, but it seemed like the easiest way to disgust and run away a man.

We talk, enough for me to know his dogs name and for him to know that Dean means well, he’s just worried because I’m drunk, and that he isn’t my boyfriend. 

“You sure? Does he know that?” I glance over at the hunter, speaking to Jo with those twinkling green eyes.

I nod once and tell him we should keep playing. Dean seems occupied. We keep going and set the balls up evenly again. The first round I’ve won two hundred from both men, then we decided to play for nothing and I’m regretting it cause I could’ve really made my bill if I kept receiving money with the way I’m winning. 

“You’re good.” He’s sweet. I get his number and we talk— promise to keep in touch for when I come back to town and just as he’s about to leave I catch up with him.

“Stefan,” I call out once and then I trip over something. Faster than light, I’m already draped over his arm. Falling and whatever. He wants to say something but I quickly straighten up to kiss him, moving my fingers through his hair. He seems to enjoy that, pulling me closer. Then he pulls away.

“How much have you been drinking?”

“What?” That’s not a question you ask someone that’s sleeping with you. Or planning to.

“How many drinks?”

“I— I don’t know like so little,” he shakes his head, “only five.”

“Five?”

“Shots.” He lets out a scoff and walks me back to the bar. I’m sure I’m pouting by both the looks on Dean and Jo’s faces and by the pull of my mine. And maybe Stefan’s laugh. He hands me off to them and I wave at him. He makes me promise to call tomorrow and I nod. “He was so nice. Why don’t nice guys go for me?” I groan, banging my head against the wood of the bar softly. 

“That’s not true.” I know it’s Jo who says that which makes it even worse. Of course you’d think that. You’re trying to get me to leave so you can suck Dean’s face off. It’s not fair. He gets all the girls. Always. Even the ones I really like. 

“Whatever.” I take out the two hundred and hand it to Jo. “Keep it.”

“Berry, that’s a hundred and twenty five tip.”

I shrug and stand out of the chair. “M’gonna go to sleep.” Heading up the stairs proves to be a lot harder than i initially planned and so I just give up halfway through and sit down with my head in my hands and tears flowing too fast for me to comprehend why they’re there. This sucks. Having feelings suck. Why can’t I be an angel or demon or something devoid of emotions? Why can’t I be heartless like— I don’t know— Dean! 

“Ouch, sweetheart.” I need to stop speaking my thoughts out loud. “I agree with you there. What’s wrong, berry?” 

“I hate that stupid nickname.”

He frowns, sitting down next to me, a step below. “Why’s that?”

“‘Cause she came up with it and s’not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“That she likes you. She always likes you. And I like you too, De, but this is so annoying like why can’t she love me! Why am I not enough to love? S’it ‘cause I’m not a man? I don’t wanna be a stupid man, I like being a girl. Why can’t girls just like me without me being a guy!” I cant even comprehend the words before they’re out and I just wish Dean would hold me and comfort me. Or maybe make Jo fall in love with me magically.

“Who likes me, berry?”

“Jo! Stupid Jo! And I’ve been the best friend ever and she still doesn’t like me. She’ll never like me and it’s ‘cause I’m a girl.” Deans beautiful face scrunches up into a frown and he shakes his head.

“D’ya tell her you like her?” No. “Well there you go. You need to tell her so you can know if she likes you back or not.”

“N’what if she doesn’t?”

“I’ll still love you.” I smile at the words, “and Jo will always be your friend.” Who are you and what have you done with Dean? “Oh, shut up.”

“Dean,” I whisper after a moment. “Can you tell Jo?” 

He shakes his head.

“Can Sam tell her?” He shakes his head again.

“Tell who what?” Oh that’s Jo.

“Tell you I like you.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dean leave a room, or staircase, as fast as he just did. Ever. “Like you like you. Like i want to kiss you all day and I want to hold you— but I can’t ‘cause you like Dean.”

Her eyes are still wide which probably mean she hates me now but my legs aren’t working so I don’t stand up, just wallow in my  guilt and failure in front of her. 

“Berry, you mean it?” I nod once but keep my head down. Her soft fingers hook under my chin and I look up at her. She’s closer now. Very very much closer. Close enough for me to taste the vanilla perfume i got for her last birthday. She’s close enough to—

Jo’s kissing me. Jo Harvelle’s lips are moving against mine, gentle, but desperate. Hard and soft. Everything all at once and it’s better than I could’ve imagined. I think it’s so good i forget to kiss back because she stops to backtrack, small stutters of I’m sorry and I shouldn’t so I quickly stand up (wow, my legs are back) and kiss her a little too roughly I slip my tongue in there. 

“Jo,” I moan against her mouth and she nods but doesn’t acknowledge it. I’m sobering up. Too sober to be in a situation I’ve imagined a thousand times a day for the past seven months. 

“Jo, bedroom— please.” She nods quicker this time and pulls away enough for me to breathe and take the image of her kiss-flushed face in. She’s everything I’ve ever imagined and needed but I can’t do this.

“Jo, I can’t—” she stops right in front of her room. “I don’t— I love you. And I can be here for you if you’re… I don’t know experimenting but, you need to tell me. I can’t just be a phase, Jo.”

“M’not. C’mon, hey,” she presses another kiss on my lips, slow, “I love you too. You know that. You must’ve known that I’ve loved you ever since you and those idiots came into the roadhouse, but you’re just, you know so much and I didn’t know if you’d ever want someone who doesn’t even know their own sexuality or—”

Now it’s my turn to shut her up with a kiss and I push us into her room. “Shut up. So are we—”

“Yes.” She smiles against me. “You’re mine, berry.”

[obsessedwithbooksandmusic]

Heyyy so another poem? If you are wondering, why I’m posting these like super quickly rn here are the answers. Short answer: It’s the holidays and I have nothing better to do. Long answer: I am impatient AND I have quite a bit of content already (*checks notes literally* 8 full length songs and like 9 random verses which I have yet to acc incorporate into a song), and that’s not including the ones I will write since they take me usually around like 20-25 min?? I mean I only write lyrics and I know the tune, I’m just really bad at acc using my keyboard, which I acc know how to play, to find chords but I’m working on that! Anyways so little look into my writing process is what you also get, hence why the answer was long.

ok, I am respectfully rambling, so moving to what the poem acc is, it’s about Alina and Mal from the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Lots of people kinda hate on their relationship in the books and yes, it’s slightly boring, but I still like the idea of Alina’s hiding place from all her fame and responsibilities being Mal. So, this is me trying to romanticise their relationship even more so people acc see how cute it is and could be if we had seen if more in-depth after Ruin and Rising:

Everyone wants me to be their saviour They don't even see my fears I must always consider the greater good But with you I can share the real truth I don't care for these prayers The always expectant stares With you I always feel like myself I long for our wedding bells With you I can escape You are my only safe place We shall hide away in peace Walk hand-in-hand down the streets You will be my everlasting company Because I love you and you love me

so there’s that, hope you guys liked it and sorry for the unnecessary rambling at the beginning!

@sleepless-crows - I know you asked to be tagged for Matthias and Nina but you would probably like to see this as well

@tys-kitty - not shadowhunters I know but there will be a kit and Ty one very soon!

[risingmccns]

closed disney quotes starter for @enchantedisms​ (Elia)

“W-Would you like to stay f-forever?”

[jokenotfunny]

how things are in my eddie x platonic! experiment! reader universe

takes place between seasons 1-3 !

sev/van/y/n

- sev! reader’s powers consist of

telekinesis

pyrokinesis

extasensory perception

technopathy

electromagnetic disturbance

illusion manipulation

etc.

- so in this story reader is bi!

- if you can’t tell by her scary cute obsession with kelly lebrock

- speaking of ! here’s some of sev’s celebrity crushes !

kelly lebrock

anthony michael hall

tom hanks

michael jackson

elizabeth montgomery

- when she got to hawkins high, her being a harrington got around pretty quickly

- like i’m talking between students and teachers

- sev became quite popular

- much to the dismay of mike , dustin , max , and eddie

- but especially rob

- oh yeah ! rob hasn’t been introduced yet but i’ll talk about him anyways

- so remember at the end of season 2’s chapter when someone tapped on sev’s shoulder while she was stuffing her face at the dance?

- that was rob, one of her and the kids classmates

- he was part of the a.v. club with mike, will, lucas , and dustin.

- one day she came in after school, being that her chess club was canceled and just sat and watched them

- rob’s been infatuated since

- he’s harbored this really big crush on her ever since

- unfortunately sev hasn’t noticed

- see, even though sev is pretty well-versed when it comes to the knowledge of things like:

music

movies

sports

etc.

- she’s a bit clueless when it comes to love

- like, guys will give her flowers and bring her chocolates, and some girls will leave notes in her locker and invite her to sleepovers and parties

- but she just thought that meant they really liked her and wanted to be her friend!

- like one day she was walking to her locker with rob and once she opened it, 6 letters fell out. 4 from girls and two from guys

“oh rob look, someone said they think i like cute today 😊 !”

rob : “that’s great 😐”

- but you’ll learn more about rob in my next season 3 chapter

- moving on !

- from the time steve bought her that guitar, to 1986 she’s learned how to do a lot of songs on it

- her love of music continued on as she also picked up other instruments

the saxophone

the cello

the drums

- steve gets no sleep pretty much

- well actually he does because, he got so used to the noise, that it doesn’t affect him anymore

- speaking of steve

steve :

- steve is tired

- so very tired

- calls constantly coming to the house

- like one night while sev, max , el , dustin , lucas , will , and mike were having a sleepover in your room,

- steve was just getting home from dropping robin off after work

- so he just gets home and he’s ready to just fall asleep on the couch

- until the phone started ringing

“sev! go get that please!”

- no answer

“sev! can you- jesus christ, nevermind i got it!”

steve: “hello?”

random kid: “hi, is y/n home?”

steve: “who’s asking?”

random kid: (insert name of a kid he knew when he was in school)

steve: “wait, aren’t you a senior now??”

random kid: “well, yeah but-“

- steve just hung up

the only seniors your allowed near are nancy, robin, and eddie

- speaking of nancyyyyyy

nancy :

- she’s like a big sister to you honestly

- hence why she was so protective over her during that pool situation

- nancy taught her how to use guns

- (steve doesn’t know 😐)

- so when her and steve broke up it was kind of awkward

- especially when she got with jonathan

- but once steve graduated he was over it and so sev was too

and then came robin !

buttt that’ll be in the next part because this is getting too long 😊

tagged list ;

@tuffluuhv @ohthatsalittlegay @sadbitchfangirl

@reasontobebeautiful @uselessbutinteresting

@creativedogs @howlerwolfmax @kik51199

@spookyscarydinosaur @kenzi-woycehoski

[becomingbts]

Time heals (sometimes) - Teaser 1

Summary: 6 years ago, (Y/N) thought that she was finally taking her life into her hands, leaving behind a toxic and abusive relationship with a man who taught her she’d never be worthy of love. However, it became hard to ignore his words when she met her seven soulmates who rejected her without even giving her a chance to prove herself. It took (Y/N) 3 years to realize that it wouldn’t be her end. She would live on to prove them all wrong; she would become what they all thought she wasn’t: someone worthy of love. And as she stands proudly on the stage, under the burning spotlights and the applause and the cries of the delirious crowd, she feels alive. Alive, just like the bond she believed to be broken.

Pairings: Y/N x OT7

GENRE: Soulmate AU!, Idol Y/NAU!, semi social-media AU!, ANGST (mainly), fluff, romance, maybe smut in the series.

Ask or comment to be tagged!

Warnings: The series is going to be heavy with a lot of personal experiences mixed into the fiction, so this is going to be kind of therapeutic for me. Please, consider not reading the series if you are not comfortable with: abandonment issues, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, self-harm (not descriptive and only part of MC’s past), suicide thoughts (in the past), toxic behavior, toxic and abusive relationship (in the past), depreciating self-talk and low self-esteem, a lot of curse, physical and mental pain, near death experience situation (in the past), and maybe smut scenes (happy ending though, but it will probably be quite the ride).

NOTE: I was thinking of “Moonchild” and for some reasons, some memories I’d prefer to have forgotten came back to my mind and instead of making a full-blown panic attack like I used to, I thought that it would make a great plot if I mingled that with a soulmate and idol verse and that’s how I started going into it. This is going to be loaded with personal experiences, even if they’ll probably be a bit differently explained compared to what I experienced. Despite the heavy themes and many warnings, I hope you guys will like it. I think I really needed to write it. It will be a semisocial media AU!, because I like the idea of being to write some of their conversations through texts. However, I do plan on fully writing most of it. Though, you’ll have some updates about their social medias as I will update their profiles soon after you see this. I will probably mix a lot of different media for this story such as songs written and produced by myself. I’ll upload for real MC’s EP. So expect a lot for this story. Please take well care, feedback is always very warmly welcomed, it helps me to write for real. If you need to talk to someone, my dms are always opened and if you really don’t feel well, please call urgency numbers.

Thank you for reading,

-Dolly

"And we will close our night show with the most awaited segment! The audience jumped during the commercial break, it's amazing how many people just joined us! Welcome to our interview segment and especially, welcome and thank you so much for being with us Moon!”

"Of course, thank you for having me on your radio show." 

"Thank you for coming! I have to mention that this is your very first interview with another media than your usual personal platforms like Vlive, YouTube, or Instagram, so we are honored to be the first ones to greet you! Do you plan on making more activities outside your personal schedule for the promotion of your new album?" 

"If I may be honest, not really. I'm the most comfortable in my own safe zone and I tend to try not to get out of it too often. It might close some doors to me but I'm comfortable with my fans that way. However, I often listen to this radio show and a lot of my fans were enthusiastic about that so I thought: why not."

"Ah, thank you so much, it means a lot! Your fans are indeed a strong community and they support you whether you go to TV shows or not. Besides, you've been a very active artist on social media and your whole career started on YouTube and SoundCloud before you signed to your current agency. We have to congratulate you on your journey! It's barely been two years but here you are, with your second EP 'People'! Congratulations on the release!" 

"Thank you very much."

“For our listeners who might not know who Moon is, I’m going to introduce her to you: Moon, your real name is (Y/N), you were born on August 4th, 1998, Incheon and your mother was American so you pursued your studies in America. You have been taking online classes since the start of your career at the HULT, university of Florida, and even recently got your Business Bachelor, now aiming for a Ph.D. You started your journey on Youtube, uploading covers and vlogs until you finally started producing your own songs, releasing them on Soundcloud. You started gaining a lot of followers; thus, you started on other social media such as Twitter or Instagram. One year ago, you release your first EP called ‘BALANCE’  which is the reason why the music label BigHit reached to you and asked you if you wanted to sign with them. Did I get everything right?”

“You are. It feels like you know my life better than I do.”

"Ah not at all, but thank you, I am glad that I didn’t say something wrong! Would you mind sharing the concept of this EP? Many of your fans probably already know but maybe some of our daily listeners might not!" 

"Of course. As you said, 'People' is my second EP, yet the first to be studio recorded. Signing with BigHit is a big step in my career and it created a lot of changes, hence I decided to focus on the people I have met, stayed with, became close to, or detached myself from… This is dedicated to the people who changed my life, whether they intended to or not. It could be interpreted as my social life diary in a way." 

"I see, many of your fans have said that the album held a very distinct duality, with a bright and a much darker side that made quite the storm on social media. ‘Y/N our Moon’ and ‘MOONISBACK’ trended for a few nights on Twitter. Do you have anything you'd like to say about that?" 

"I guess it was a surprise because this mini-album is really raw and uncensored. I didn't try to sugarcoat it nor to romanticize my experiences. I hope it brings comfort to people who haven't been feeling well. Because I think that it’s always easy to say that it's going to be okay to someone who’s not feeling well. Everything doesn’t suddenly become okay. And it's fine to be hurting, you can learn to live with this pain and move on while still hoping for better days. There is no end to hopes, and this is why my EP has a brighter side to it. Not everything is always a vast cold ocean. Sometimes, there are small or big waves that come crashing into our universe and they form something that we couldn't have imagined. They bring a little piece of sunshine in life and it helps to move on. So I hope that people who are struggling know that, despite how insignificant I might be, there is a person that understands and can relate to their struggles. I hope it can comfort them, even just slightly, to know that they are not alone." 

"That's a beautiful way to put it."

"Ah, thank you." 

"I have to ask because I'm really curious and I’m definitely not the only one: a lot of your fans have been theorizing about who could your title track ‘TIME’ be about? I have to ask you on the behalf of everyone. Is it okay for me to break the mystery?" 

"Time is a track that shouldn’t have made it to the EP. It’s a bit like a fit of personal anger that I didn’t know I needed to let out.”

“Your anger was definitely heard and understood. People have been curious about the addressee of the song especially because of the line ‘maybe it’s time I finally let go of you’. So can you tell us who is it about?” 

“Uh...Time was written for my seven soulmates who rejected me years ago." 

"Seven!?"

"Yeah, it's a lot I know.”

“Is that why you have covered your soul mark with this tattoo on your arm? Netizens talked about it a lot; normally idols tend to cover their arm from the public eyes to avoid for their soulmates’ names to be known, but instead, you were proudly showing your tattooed arm, fully covering what might be under the ink. Many people assumed that it meant that you didn’t have a soulmate at all.” 

“Well, I decided to cover the mark because there was no reason for me to keep it without hurting myself. I decided that I have been hurt enough to let myself take a rest. I didn’t see the point in hiding my arm either, I’m proud of my tattoo, I mean; it’s really a beautiful piece in my opinion. But to answer the assumptions, I don’t consider that I have soulmates anymore, hence why the tattoo as well." 

"This is really a heartbreaking story, it must have been extremely hard. Breaking a soul bond is immensely dangerous, my link with my husband already itches when I spend the day away from him, so seven soul bonds? It must have been terrible." 

"It was, but the most important is where I am now. I'm not lingering on that anymore because they made their choices and I thus made mine. I just hope that they all are healthy and happy where they are." 

"I have to say I'm really impressed (Y/N)-shi, you really have a delicate and caring soul. I probably wouldn't be able to have such soft words about your soulmates had I been in your shoes."

"I think living the actual experience made me reflect on myself a lot. I'm comfortable where I am now, I'm able to do music and make what I love. I have nothing to complain about, I'm surrounded by lovely and supportive fans, I have the best manager I could have ever hoped for and a warm and healthy family. I don't need more on my side." 

"I'm glad you are happy then. Many of your fans have pointed out it's really hard to make you smile and some wonder if you are happy, especially after the release of ‘TIME’, I don’t blame some of your fans for being worried." 

"Ahhh, is smiling the only way to prove that we are happy? I believe my words are usually a bit more impactful than my facial expressions. I have to admit that I don't often smile, it's not a bad thing, at least I don't think so, but I just don't feel the need to smile when I don’t feel like it. Besides, I get shy easily when I expose my emotions too much." 

"It's hard to imagine you being shy but at the same time now that I have you in front of me, our listeners cannot see you, but I definitely feel that you have a very shy and reserved aura despite the energy you give off when you are on stage. It’s not unfriendly either, but you’re just very soft-spoken and quiet in everything you do. Like when you came in, I barely heard you entering at all; you’re just silently making your way without a fuss, it’s really endearing, to be honest."

"Ah... I’ve been told that my stage persona and the ‘me’ in real life were two different entities but I don’t really think it’s true. I'm extremely introverted and it doesn't really mix well with the stage. So I just put it on the side for the people who came to see me and deserve to see more than a 24 years old woman who has troubles speaking without stuttering in front of other people." 

"You stutter when you have to speak in front of other people?" 

"Sometimes it happens when I’m nervous, and I’m very often nervous. Like right now, I’m extremely nervous. But it's something I'm working on." 

"Well it's definitely paying off because I couldn't sense that you were nervous at all, just very calm and soft, but I wouldn’t be able to imagine you being nervous enough to stutter."

"A lot of artists actually have stage fright, most of them just don't want to admit it because it doesn't sound sexy when you tell your fans you're actually shaking before going up there for the show." 

"This is very true, but it's refreshing to hear it from someone who actually lives through that rather than fan theories." 

"That's understandable." 

"Our time is coming to the end, do you have anything you would like to add before we sadly get our mics taken away?" 

"Oh uhm, everyone, my new mini-album 'People' came out very recently and yet it already received a lot of love so I want to thank you for that. This EP was a very personal project and I was worried about how it would be welcomed but you all made me realize that I have nothing to fear because we'll always find someone who can relate to our stories. As long as I can help even one person with my songs, then it's enough for me. Thank you for listening to me and my voice. I hope we'll be able to meet soon. Love you my fans and non-fans as well, please take well care of yourselves in those times. Be careful and stay safe. Wear your mask!" 

“Thank you so much Moon for being with us tonight. Our time was short but I really enjoyed it, I hope our listeners were able to feel that very warm presence of yours through the mic. ‘Give Me A Song’ of Moon’s EP ‘People’ will now be playing and we will see each other tomorrow night with IU for the release of her new album LILAC. Take care!”

Comments or Ask to be tagged!

Uploaded : 08/04/2021

[sanerontheinside]

Shifting sands, sudden storms (title)

For the life of me, I don’t know if this was complete or not anymore. If complete, why still in draft form? If not, what was I thinking? Ah well.

I can, roughly speaking, date this ask. I remember doing the title prompt meme into March of 2018; I remember this because some witty anon submitted 10 titles in one ask and my poor brain shut down. (I’d informally set myself a goal of writing at least a short ficlet for every prompt, which was my first mistake. No shade on the anon either, they weren’t to know. But now I still have a file full of 40-41 titles for which I think one day I might write something.)

anyway this prompt is so old it tagged norcumi’s old blog, which tumblr [also] ate, so I’ve gone and edited that

Eeyyyyy, whaddup, this fic also decided to be part of the Mandalorian Sith ‘verse (which has also adopted another title prompt for ‘verse lore purposes, but that one—I have an idea for it, but I don’t necessarily know how to write the idea. yet.) 

Y’all can definitely thank @norcumii for the fact that this fic is Jango&Shmi centric. 

“All right, Quin, what do you want?” Obi-Wan drawled. If Quinlan was calling him, then clearly some mission had gone sour. Obi-Wan was still trying to shake off the last time he’d helped him out of trouble with Aayla. And wash the bitter aftertaste of glitteryl out of the back of his mouth.

Qui-Gon squeezed Obi-Wan’s shoulder as he shifted past him, leaving the cockpit to them for some semblance of privacy while he made tea in the ship’s small, but rather practical galley. He hadn’t enjoyed that jaunt into Twi’lek slave trade any more than Obi-Wan had.

“Look, um… It’s a touchy subject. Chancellor Valorum asked Master and me for a favour, he wanted us to take a look at the Trade Federation’s blockade around Naboo.”

“Thought the Senate was supposed to approve all the Jedi assignments now,” Obi-Wan probed carefully. It was a very recent ruling, at that, less than a month old.

“Yeah, hence the favour. We weren’t supposed to be there, and the Trade Federation—whoever’s running the company now grew a pair of gills or something. They blew up our ship, Ben. Then deployed an entire invasion force onto the planet.”

Obi-Wan winced. “Oh, that sounds like fun. What did they want with Naboo, anyway? They’re still fighting over the plasma trade?”

“Naboo’s holding up well, their new Queen—Amidala—well, it’s her first year of rule, but she doesn’t buckle under pressure. They tried to get her to sign a treaty that would make Naboo a protectorate of the Federation. We know how that goes…”

Obi-Wan snorted. “Right. So you got her out.”

“Jumped the blockade. The Naboo pilots are competent, but I miss outrunning smugglers with you and Garen, honest to Force. We got hit, took damage to the hyperdrive. Had to refit—on Tatooine, of all places.”

Obi-Wan grimaced. “Hutts.”

“Sand. Heat. Slaves. Pod races. Anyway, we found this kid, or I should say he found us. He helped us out—a lot—and he’s a blazing nova in the Force, Ben, I’m not kidding. He’s—no one’s ever seen anything like it. Tholme and I, we thought we could buy them out and take them back with us to Coruscant. I mean if you just met him—”

Obi-Wan sat forward sharply and dropped his feet to the floor. “So did you buy them out?”

“Just the kid,” Quin said, audibly deflating. “The owner’s deep in debt. He wouldn’t let the mom go for anything. But I can’t just think of leaving her there, without her son, even. Ben, you could—you and Qui-Gon, you could do something, couldn’t you?”

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at the audio pickup, fairly sure Quin knew him well enough to hear even silent gestures by now. “What do you want us to do, burn the owner’s house down?”

Quinlan snorted. “Nah, he’s not a bad sort. Well, not the worst. Has faults like anyone else, Ben, you know how it goes. But if you could do anything for the mom… Shmi Skywalker, that’s her name.”

“And you’re sure the Council won’t give you funds for a good cause,” Obi-Wan prompted, but really it was just to confirm what he was sure he already knew.

“Nope. For a slave woman, Ben. She’s—Watto’s really deep in debt. He’d ask for a small fortune.”

Obi-Wan sighed and sat back, sensing Qui-Gon standing in the entry behind him. He knew their schedule and their situation even without asking, but Tatooine… “We can’t, right now,” he said, regretful. “We might know someone in the area, though. Maybe. It’ll be a little while, but we’ll let you know once we get it.”

“Thank you, Ben.” Quin’s relief and sincerity were heartfelt, almost broadcast in a physical wave from the speakers. “May the Force be with you both.”

“And you,” Obi-Wan answered, automatically, flipping the switch off.

There was a moment’s thoughtful silence. “Well,” Qui-Gon said. “Jango?”

“He’s—in the general vicinity of Tatooine,” Obi-Wan allowed.

“That is true. He’ll not want to miss a meeting with that client, however.”

“Why are we letting him do that, by the way?” Obi-Wan asked, watching Qui-Gon slip back into his seat with a sigh.

“It’s his choice,” Qui-Gon shrugged.

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

This sigh was longer and deeper. “What we know, Obi-Wan, is not enough. We don’t know what Dooku is planning; we suspect that he isn’t working alone, but is, rather, under someone’s control; we don’t know why he wants Fett, who would gladly kill my former Master with his bare hands if given the opportunity, for Galidraan. He must have had very compelling reason not to strangle Dooku on the spot.

“We don’t know nearly enough, Apprentice. It would be foolish to lose our lives by interfering, with what little we do know. We cannot help if we are dead.”

Obi-Wan’s lips thinned into a pale line. “I understand, Master. I worry that the cost will be… untenable.”

“So do I.” Qui-Gon reached across the space between them and grasped Obi-Wan’s shoulder, iron-gripped, yet reassuring still. “I have little gift in Foresight, unlike you, but even I sense a great disturbance in the future. It is nebulous, but every day less a likelihood than a certainty. You are right, Obi-Wan, but I fear our deaths will not prevent that cost, only add to it.”

Obi-Wan leaned into the hand on his shoulder, just a little. He’d take what comfort from it that he could get—hells, he’d bask in it, if only for a moment. “I’ll comm Jango,” he said quietly.

The hand on his shoulder squeezed, and did not let go.

~~~~~~~~~

Jango roundly cursed the jetiise every chance he got—which would be every other breath, if he didn’t have to save it to make his way through the heat. The internal life support system of the beskar’gam was supposed to handle this sort of thing, but was barely keeping up with Tatooine’s suns. But it was midday, and Jango was the only idiot outside, so he supposed it was probably his own fault. 

He really needed to get the enviro-controls updated. He could afford it now, anyway, and his target was a junk shop owner. If Jango’s luck held, someone at the shop might have experience with Mandalorian work, though he wasn’t really counting on that. The best he expected from this venture was to maybe scavenge a few reasonably functional replacement parts. 

The junk shop itself wasn’t hard to find. It was a relief to be out of the Tatooine suns, though his HUD took a few seconds to adjust to the relative darkness within. At least that let up some of the pressure on the life support system. 

It wouldn’t have surprised him if the shop were empty. Many desert settlements ran on a different schedule; new arrivals quickly learned to sleep through the hottest part of the day to escape heat stroke, burns, or excessive and dangerous dehydration. To add insult to injury, here the light of the suns was reflected back almost completely from the sands, and that could do irreparable damage to one’s eyes. Jango noticed a being or two whose species had adapted to thrive in such conditions, but they too had taken to the shelter of a dwelling or a cantina fairly quickly. 

But he’d been told that the owner of the junkshop was in dire financial straits; it seemed a safe enough bet that he would find a slave working through what ordinarily might have been rest-hours. 

When he finally caught sight of her, Jango had to bite back a litany of harsh curses in Jinn’s name. 

Jango hadn’t known what this job was for. The dar’jetii had simply handed him a lump sum in mixed Cho Mar and Wupiupi dataries, then given him the name of a slave for purchase. Honestly, if he and Jinn hadn’t both been in the same arena at Galidraan, Jango might have considered pulling details out of the man at gunpoint. Who was this Shmi Skywalker? Why did her freedom come at such a cost? What the hell was Jinn asking him to do, really—start some sort of fresh war among the Tatooine Hutts? In which case Jinn and Kenobi could please handle it on their own, and thank you. 

Now that he’d caught sight of her, Jango couldn’t have cared less. He knew her; met her after Galidraan, loaded up with the others from the arena in the hold of a ship too shabby for words, angry and injured and half-mad with grief for the loss of his clan. 

Shmi has been the closest to a Healer that the slaves had on that ship, and Jango probably owed her his life. 

He’d been staring too long. Shmi looked up, right at him, and Jango belatedly remembered what the beskar’gam looked like to those who’d never been on Mandalore before. It was a warrior’s suit of armour, and the sharp look in Shmi Skywalker’s eye was a wary one, certainly not a look of recognition. 

“Choy? Stuta che poonoo mo azal?”1 

Jango undid the seals and took off the helmet. “Excuse me. You wouldn’t happen to have updated processors for mobile life support systems?” 

The look Shmi gave him was searching, and it pinned him in place for almost a moment too long before she broke away. Shmi carved a systematic path through the junkshop detritus, directed him over to something that actually looked like patches to mobile life support suits with a nonstop stream of available models for him to narrow down. It took a few tries, but he did find what he needed, and even a few spare parts that would never go amiss.

“I hadn’t thought you would have so much here of Mandalorian make,” he noted, a little surprised. “It’s fairly unique work.”

“It is,” Shmi agreed. “The previous owners of the parts you are holding now had a run of bad luck, and upset Gardulla. She doesn’t like cardsharps at her sabacc table.”

Jango frowned down at the parts he’d laid out on the worktable in front of him. “I’ll make a note of it.”

Not that he was here to play sabacc. He had more than enough money to get what he came here for. He just wanted to have a better grasp on the details before he went any further. 

~~~~~~~~

Shmi had recognised him almost immediately. It was one of those things she knew with a bone-deep certainty, the way Ani used to tell her of certain things before they happened. They were just hints, but even his words seemed to hold a ring of fact to them, and it was up to Shmi to decipher future-fact from other kinds.

She’d been dreaming about Galidraan. Not, surprisingly, of the broken people who’d been brought aboard there, but of their burning, fierce warrior faces full of light. Shmi dreamt of Jango fighting alongside a tall man with flashing amber eyes that could be both terrifying and kind, and felt as though she should know him, too. But he hadn’t been on the ship with the others, so she supposed that would come to mean something in a peripheral, patient, dripping-cave-water sort of way. 

But Jango’s purpose for calling on Watto’s shop was the variable her mild foresight could not account for. When a figure encased in that armour stepped in, Shmi’s first thought was that another bounty hunter had called to collect Watto’s debt to the Hutts. Never mind that the Hutts had already collected their due—the Hutts also never discouraged their ‘messengers’ from looting. 

Instead, Jango had bought parts from the very armour worn by an ill-fated pair of previous messengers. (Shmi had been lucky enough to have Watto’s help, and between the two of them they’d made just enough noise to discourage the looters when they’d come to call. Gardulla anger had probably been a lucky stroke for Watto and Shmi; otherwise, they might have expected another attempt the next day.)

Shmi eyed the spread of parts and odd bits of circuitry, and wondered if he was going to fix all of it himself. 

“Where are you staying?” Shmi asked. “At the hotel?”

Jango hesitated. “I have—my ship.” 

“On the outskirts? Far to walk, with a semi-functional suit at best.” 

Shmi offered him a place to sleep in her quarters, and latemeal, and assistance with reprogramming the suit’s computer besides. There was a storm coming, and in return for the stay he’d help her prepare meals for however long the storm raged, and cover the windows and cracks in the door. That was all the payment she needed. 

Her home felt empty now, since she’d given Anakin to the Jedi. At least for one night, it might not seem so desolate. The Slave Row would gossip, she knew; but they would always talk, about everything, and offering a pallet to a freeman who couldn’t afford a hotel was not so unheard of.

Jango helped her prepare dinner and tea, and kept her talking. Shmi couldn’t recall how or when they’d gotten to the subject of family, but when she told him of her son, something eased in him. He became less a hunter, wound tight and wary, and a wistfulness crept into his gaze. Shmi knew that look, if she’d seen it rarely.

What of your own family? she wanted to ask, but caught the words back before they could emerge. She didn’t know what had happened to Jango before he’d been loaded up with the others on Galidraan, but Shmi was no fool, either. Jango Fett had never carried himself as anything other than a freeman-warrior, and his fever had left him plagued with horrors all too real not to be fresh and recent memory. She heard whispers from the other slaves, about the loss of an entire clan.

A son, he whispered softly, and Shmi wondered what this man was doing on here on Tatooine, earning a living as a bounty hunter on the dangerous fringes of civilisation. Of course, he wouldn’t say.

But there was a light in his eye that spoke of possibility, and that alone warmed Shmi’s heart.

Later that night, as she settled down to sleep in her room, exhausted, she heard the tell-tale scuff of quiet booted feet pass out through the door and onto the stairs, and caught a whiff of tabacc. Shmi wondered, briefly, what Jango was thinking of, before she drifted off to sleep.

The next day she woke to a sandstorm howling outside and sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~

After years of working with them, Jango was well aware that that Jinn and his quiet shadow weren’t really Jedi. He just didn’t feel like letting go of the suspicion, especially knowing who Jinn’s Master was. Still, Jango could probably acknowledge that it was mostly paranoia humming in his skull. Jinn’s reputation as a diplomat held fast in certain circles, but any association with the Order had eroded over the years. 

Of course, Jinn still worked with Jedi, which never failed to set Jango’s teeth on edge when Jinn asked him for ‘help’. Most times, the man made sure Jango didn’t have to cross paths with members of the illustrious Order; and even when he did, Jango found himself working with the wilder sort, the jetiise who lived hard on the Outer Rim along with everyone else, or hovered just on the edge of completely cracked.

Perhaps it was telling that altogether there were few Jedi whom Jinn trusted. Jango could count them on one hand. There was the Weequay and his younger Twi’lek partner who’d been harrying slave traders for the last three decades, both looking every inch of Rim pirate. Then there was the Kiffar—Jango never wanted to be on his wrong side. They were all a bit rough around the edges, but Vos was a different kind of crazy.

Jango himself had a limited contract with Jinn, if one could even call it that. He agreed to help out Jinn on the basis of time spent together in a cell and a fighter arena on Galidraan, and Jinn had earned Jango’s respect on shaky ground. What struck him at the time was how Jinn had looked when Jango mentioned the woman Dooku had with him, Komari. Whatever damage Dooku had left Jinn with, that man understood the importance of family. Jango saw it in the way Qui-Gon looked after Obi-Wan, in the way Obi-Wan kept either an eye or an ear on Jinn; in the way the two fought, making space for each other like flowing water. These were people who understood that family was more than blood, more than shit guardians who were supposed to look after you.

Which was why, Jango thought, Qui-Gon knew exactly what had motivated Jango to accept Dooku’s offer. Kenobi had been furious, but Jango thought that was more incidental than directed at him personally. It wasn’t as though the idea of Count Dooku creating an army was a particularly savoury idea in any context.

But Dooku had come to Jango Fett with an offer, claiming that the soldiers would all be his clones. That made it Jango’s army.

Jango wanted his family back—the True Mandalorians, all of them. All those men and women who had been cut down on Galidraan decades ago. Part of him still wanted to rip out Dooku’s throat with his bare hands. But that ache for his family—that was so much stronger.

The clones… it wouldn’t be the same. It couldn’t be. Yes, Mandalorians were trained for to fight, prepared for anything. But those clones of himself—not only did was it strange to think about, millions of copies of Jango Fett, living apart from him—but he couldn’t put out of his mind the simple fact that these were men bred for slaughter. Jango would train them, yes; he would give them everything they needed to survive. But a cold certainty sat in his gut, that not a single one of these soldiers was meant to live past whatever war they’d been created for.

If Qui-Gon could sense what Jango wanted, what he intended to make of these clones, then he likely knew of their intended fates, as well. It wasn’t as though the dar’jetii was stupid. Obi-Wan, too: Jango couldn’t read the boy on his best days, but when he’d told them about Dooku’s offer he’d felt the air heat around the redhead, smelled ozone, and could have sworn he’d seen sparks fly about Jinn’s Apprentice while Jinn wasn’t looking. The entire time Kenobi’s face had been smooth with implacable calm. Jango had been, admittedly, quite impressed by that.

And a little turned on, but gods knew Jinn would have cut off something important if Jango had so much as thought of making a move. And that was if Kenobi didn’t get there first.

Dooku had, however, offered him a very impressive sum of money for the privilege of training Mandalorian warriors. Money was of a distant concern to Jango after family, but then, this was the kind of money that took care of everything. This was the kind of buy-a-moon retirement haul smugglers and thieves dreamed of—and only when high out of their heads on spice, at that.

It had almost been enough to keep him quiet, but in the end he hunted down the dar’jetiise anyway and told Jinn and Kenobi about it. He figured Jinn would probably like to know that Dooku was trying to manipulate Bando Gora business, anyway. Mostly, though, Jango had made up his mind when Dooku asked him to kill the new leader of Bando Gora. Hells, Jango hadn’t enjoyed telling Qui-Gon that his ‘sister’ was completely out of her skull on deathsticks, or that Komari was the power behind the sudden expansion of the deathstick trade.

~~~~~~~~~~

1Choy? Stuta che poonoo mo azal? = What? [Are you] looking for business or trouble? 

Note: Azalus = dangerous or hazardous. 

Huttese does not actually have a word for trouble, surprisingly. So, in the spirit of making your own: trooba is trouble, but azal quite specifically indicates you’re gonna get deadly trouble, or at least you’ll fucking hurt when I’m through with you, the fuck do you want with this shop? 

Shmi could probably live up to that threat, even.

Trooba is a step above nuisance (hotshuh). Can also be used to cover anything from ‘expensive spice-dumping, tail-squishing smuggler’ to Sy Snootles. It’s also entirely possible it’s a borrowed or corrupted word from Basic. 

[jokertrap-ran]

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Charlie’s 5✩ Inspiration: Daytime Spiritualities [昼日疑魂] Date Translation (END 5: Heart-throb)

“Entrust me all your fears and astonishment alike; there’s no need to hold back.”

*Light and Night Master-list | Charlie’s Personal Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *5✩ Inspirations have 5 Endings!! *CG Image used with permission from 蓝咕咕 ☆ *Charlie’s tag will be #For Night, For Paradox

✥ Choice: Heart-throb [心动] ★Night★

How should I reply to him…?

★ E5 NIGHT: Nope★

As an adult well-versed in the horror genre, I was immune to horror movies for the most part.

MC: Of course not. We can bet on it if you don’t believe me.

Charlie: Stakes?

It appears that I had aroused his competitive spirit, for he smiled at me with interest.

MC: How about we bet on… who gets scared out of their wits first?

Charlie: Are you certain? I’ve never once lost a bet.

It was a gamble where the outcome was uncertain. The loser would be the first to lose their composure from fear.

There’s no way I’d admit defeat all so easily in the face of a show-off like Charlie!

MC: Absolutely!

Charlie: Interesting. I accept your challenge.

Charlie: You’re going to be the one losing your pride if you get so terrified afterwards that you can’t move.

Charlie: But, before we commence this bet… Aren’t you forgetting a little something?

MC: What do you mean?

Charlie: Where did you go this morning?

MC: The hospital.

Charlie: Think again. Before the hospital?

MC: Before…? Oh, right! I went out to buy snacks.

I jumped up, running to the door and rummaging through the bag of groceries I’d left there.

MC: What do you want to drink?

Charlie: Beer, like you.

I secured two cans of beer from the contents of the bag… Wait, no! What did he just say? He wants to drink BEER!?

I thought he didn’t drink? I mean, last time…

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During my last day off, Charlie had called me in the middle of one of my drinking moods.

Charlie: You’re drinking your sorrows away at home?

MC: I’m not drowning my sorrows in alcohol. I just felt like I was in the mood to drink; there’s an emotional appeal to it.

MC: Don’t you do the same when you go to bars?

Charlie: ...I do go to the bar, but I don't drink.

MC: ...Oh?

The rumoured star of the night who bombed a ton of money in private clubs is actually a “good boy”?

MC: How's that possible? You're lying, aren't you?

Charlie: Is it that odd to not drink?

MC: ...Not really.

Charlie: It's even odder to think that going to a bar equals drinking.

Charlie: Let’s just put it this way. The only reason why I go to bars is to play.

Charlie: And administering alcohol to the body is the greatest thing one can do to sully the living and perfect human brain.

Charlie: Especially this sort of low-quality alcohol made with fermented malt. 100g of the sweetened water called beer and its low molecular weight generates 180 joules of heat with your body.

Charlie: Drinking beer? Might as well swallow active bombs instead. At least, it’ll be much faster that way.

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So… Just what was going on here? It was one of the principles he lived by. Yet, he was doing a whole 180?

MC: Aren’t you afraid that ingesting alcohol will be an insult to that sober brain of yours?

Charlie: Didn’t someone say that drinking appeals to the mood?

Charlie: I'm with my Fiancée right now. Do you think I should retain a high level of reason, or show a rare moment of dullness?

MC: Do I have a choice?

Charlie: Of course not.

Charlie: Don’t worry. I won’t use the excuse of being inebriated to pull anything funny.

MC: ...Look who’s talking here?

Charlie: I can’t stand those sort of people.

Charlie took the can of beer from me before sitting back down.

Never mind; I'll gladly drop the topic. How can an adult not drink at all? Although, I bet his abstinence is probably so that it doesn't affect his job.

Click! Click!

The crisp sound of cans being opened sounded.

Never thought that he'd open it for me.

MC: Thank you, Dr. Zha!

I naturally held an outstretched hand out, waiting for him to pass me the open can of beer.

However, Charlie didn't react.

Click, click, clack…

The continuous sounds of cans clacking came from him.

I curiously peered over, only to find Charlie staring awkwardly at the cans with his brows furrowed. They were still as intact as they came.

MC: Charlie, don't tell me that not only have you never drunk alcohol, but you also don't know how to open cans…?

Charlie: You're questioning a doctor's practical ability?

MC: Then, you...

Pop!

Charlie had cracked the can open.

He freezes, frantically shoving the beer into my open hand. Then, he shoved his hands into his pockets, putting up a professional act.

Charlie: I have the habit of trimming my nails for surgeries, so it's not convenient for me to be opening cans.

For a moment, I didn't quite know what to say as I looked at our nails. They were nearly equally long.

He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t even know how to open a can. So why does he suddenly feel whimsical enough to start drinking today?

I cracked open his can of beer for him. He carefully wiped the foam that bubbled forth the mouth of the can with a tissue.

Charlie: Just now...

He took a sip of beer and slightly furrowed his brow.

Charlie: It was a mere mistake of a perfect person.

Charlie: It will not happen again.

Saying so, the glint of pride returned to his eyes once more. And the can of beer was quietly pushed far, far away.

MC: Okay, let's get back to watching the movie.

The paused screen lit back into action, encasing the room in a chilling and terrifying atmosphere once more.

The plot gradually thickened and I got increasingly absorbed with the movie.

Everything around me started to fade as I zoned into the movie, Charlie included.

Charlie: *Coughs*

MC: ……

Charlie: (Y/n).

MC: ……

Charlie: Are you really not scared?

MC: Stop moving.

All I could do was to use a free hand to keep Charlie in place as he fidgeted in his seat.

Charlie: ……

In the movie, the prisoner that was on death row managed to successfully escape into a cramped and narrow underground passageway. As muddy water splashed everywhere, the horrible cries of the jailer sounded from the other end of the door to the secret passage.

I'd given my entire self over to the movie at this point, watching the prisoner's every step with peeled eyes. I'd totally missed the faintest of all finger snaps in the world that'd sounded by the sofa.

Squeak…

The door to the entrance opened.

MC: Is the prisoner about to get caught?

However, the movie never cut scenes to show the jailer coming through the door. Still, I was fairly certain that I'd heard the sound of the door opening. And if had also been very clear.

Just as I was about to turn around to ask Charlie about it, I witnessed a bone-chillingly horrible scene…

The door the prisoner had closed suddenly opens. Sinister winds were brewing outside.

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MC: ……

MC: It should be a sealed-off corridor outside. There shouldn’t be any wind…

The more I thought about it, the more terrified I got. All I could see was the epitome of horror in this movie unfolding before my very eyes!

I felt a chill run down my spine; one different from anything I'd ever felt before, its icy tendrils spreading across my body. An alarm sounds in my heart. I was hyper-aware, with all my nerves strung tautly. It was as if any minuscule change in the surroundings would be able to set my senses off.

BANG!

A loud sound rang out in the air as the secret passageway’s metal door was knocked down. The jailer’s savage smile was reflected upside down in the pool of water by the prisoner’s feet.

MC: AH!

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I frantically covered my eyes, subconsciously backing away into the thing I was leaning against.

Crap! I had such a big reaction! He definitely noticed...

Alas, his low voice entered my ears.

Charlie: Scared now?

His warm and powerful arm snaked around me from behind, wrapping itself around me above the blanket.

My searching back hit his chest; and the moment it did, a small yearning for comfort started making itself known within my heart, growing ever more so… Just like a lost traveller who'd finally found the lone source of light deep inside the forest.

Charlie: Admitting defeat this quickly?

Charlie's warm breath brushes against the top of my head, making the shell of my ear burn. Just a little closer and my face would be able to access the crook of his neck.

MC: Am not.

I stubbornly refused to admit defeat, but my feeble voice, muffled by my hand, proved otherwise.

Charlie: If so, then why are you covering your eyes?

Charlie: You're the one who said we're going to be watching this together? Can't live up to your words now?

His chest rumbled slightly. There was undeniable mischievousness in his voice.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Charlie: Last chance. I’ll count to three. Put your hand down, hm?

Charlie: Three.

MC: I’m not even closing my eyes! See!?

I vehemently glared at Charlie through the gaps of my fingers.

Charlie: Not counted. I don’t advocate such viewing methods.

Charlie: Two.

MC: ...What can you even do to me?

Charlie: You don’t want to admit defeat, but neither do you want to put your hand down. Is there ever a bet so kind in this world?

His bony left hand reached up to cover the back of my hand as he attempted to push my hand back down.

I struggled against him with all my might, but he was way too strong. Hence, I had no choice but to admit defeat in this losing battle.

MC: One. I lose!

Charlie lets up, dropping the strength he’d been putting behind his fingers and ruffling my hair.

Charlie: Why are your lips poised so high up? Mad?

Charlie: Losing to me is nothing to be ashamed about.

Charlie gathered up the blanket that pooled around my waist, inadvertently pulling me closer to him as he did.

I sulked and refused to reply to him. I can’t believe I still managed to get scared by a horror movie when I’m already a full-grown adult! Not only did I lose, but I also feel ridiculed by this!

Still, I didn't want to admit that Charlie's embrace certainly did provide me with a sense of comfort.

Charlie: There, there. Don't be scared. I'm here.

He gently pats the back of my hand, speaking softly in a manner one would comfort a child.

His warm chest pressed against my back as his steady heartbeat resonated alongside mine, beating in tandem.

MC: ……

In hindsight, I realized that I’d always felt at ease and that I could forget about all my troubles whenever I was with Charlie. Even though he never fails to render me speechless and makes me want to roll my eyes at him for the most part.

Maybe it’s because he’s always so frank about things with absolutely no intent to hide anything? I don’t know...

Leaning into Charlie’s embrace, my fear and panic slowly ebbed away.

However, the door still made me feel a little uneasy, and I often found myself looking at it with frazzled nerves.

Suddenly, I noticed something strange about the little tailor alarm clock by the door.

Its hour hand was pointed at 12. The small mechanical tailor that told the time had jumped out of the clock, bobbing as it frantically rolled its measuring tape back up. Yet… I did not hear any chimes from the clock itself.

MC: What's up with today?

MC: Please tell me it’s not an actual supernatural occurrence…

I was just about to ask Charlie about it when a far-fetched reasoning for this suddenly flashed through my mind.

And it ingrained itself in my brain upon appearance, growing ever stronger…

No sound, with only the motions… Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

MC: Charlie?

Charlie: Hm?

MC: Is there anything that can cancel out sound?

Charlie: Why do you ask?

He withdrew his hand and stuffed it back into his pocket. There was a sliver of wariness in his eyes.

MC: It just came to mind. Just answer me.

Charlie: Vacuum. Sound cannot travel without mediums, and there are no atoms or molecules in a vacuum.

MC: And isn’t that your talent?

Charlie: Y-Yes?

I was getting closer and closer to confirming my suspicions.

The door that had suddenly opened without a sound, and the soundless alarm clock. If there was a scientific reason to explain all of those, then it’d be…

Charlie had just created a vacuum inside the door. That way, the air difference in air pressure on the inside and the outside would be able to push the door open.

Pity; but the soundless alarm clock had given me enough hints to piece everything together.

MC: You purposely scared me so I'd admit defeat myself? Well done, Charlie.

The movie was currently showing the part where the jailer collided with the metal door.

Thud, thud, thud…

This sound was vaguely familiar. A sudden idea hits me.

I tugged on the corner of his clothes, purposely lowering my voice.

MC: Charlie, do you hear something?

MC: Thud, thud, thud. Like someone knocking on the door.

Charlie: Are you having auditory hallucinations now? That's coming from the movie.

He held my head with both hands, turning it left and right.

Charlie: You haven't gotten any water stuck in your ears either.

I directly put my finger to his lips and looked around warily.

MC: Not that. Listen carefully.

A distant but very real thud sounded above us.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Charlie was so terrified that he'd started shaking as he looked up at the ceiling incredulously.

I took the chance to grab onto his arm, leaning sideways to get closer to him and whispered into his ear.

MC: Believe me now?

MC: Actually, I saw something by the door just now and…

Charlie: What! What’s by the door!?

He quickly shot up from the sofa, encasing me in the shadow cast by his tall and wide back.

The movie had been paused, stopping on the dark scene of the secret passageway. The door of my entryway was partially shrouded by the eerie lighting coming from the projector. The creepy atmosphere intensified.

Charlie silently stared into the darkness for a good ten seconds before letting out the breath he’d been holding.

Charlie: What can there be?

Charlie: If ghosts truly do exist in this world, then why would the world ever allow someone as perfect as me, someone, who goes against even the laws of nature, to exist?

The corners of his mouth were raised in their usual arc. Looks like he has already regained his spirits.

The only thing that betrayed the nervousness he felt deep down were his hands that had yet to crease trembling.

He placed both his hands into his pockets, putting on a calm facade as he surveyed the room…

He’s putting his hands into his pockets again? Does he like to do that whenever he feels nervous?

Charlie: Perhaps something fell upstairs. It’s just a coincidence…

He'd only just finished speaking when another thud sounded. This time, it was much more solid, the sound seemingly reverberating through the very air of my apartment.

All colour drained from Charlie's face. I hurriedly stood up.

MC: Do you hear that!?

Charlie: Yeah.

I hid behind Charlie, slowly putting my hand into his shirt pocket. I could feel the slight tremor of his shoulders through the thin fabric of his dress shirt.

Charlie: ...I certainly do hear something.

His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed down more of his fear. He unwittingly attempted to put his hand back into his pocket… only for it to brush against my hand that had touched the cold beer earlier.

Charlie: AHHH! HELP ME!!

Charlie: SOMETHING’S HERE!

Charlie could no longer maintain his noble attitude. He jolted, frantically throwing his composed facade out of the window as he flung my hand away.

MC: It's me!

Charlie: You…

Charlie gripped onto my shoulder with one hand while the other went to his chest. His frantic breathing slowly eased back to a normal rhythm.

Maybe it’s about time I tell him about “that”?

MC: Actually…

MC: There was once a girl who'd been imprisoned here in this room. She died from starvation here. That's why you'll often hear the sound of the door being knocked in the middle of the night.

MC: I never thought that she'd make an appearance in the morning this time…

Charlie: You're joking, right!?

I shook my head with a pained smile.

I placed both hands on his shoulders as I reached higher. I cupped my hand and got close to his ear and purposefully lowered my voice.

MC: If everything was fine and well at my place, then why would I have to call you here to watch a movie with me?

MC: Don't tell me you're thinking of running…?

Thud!

A resounding thud suddenly rang out, shaking even the walls as it reverberated.

Charlie: AHHHH!!

Charlie lost all his composure, screaming shrilly as he dove for the loveseat. I lost my balance as my knees hit the loveseat.

Amidst the chaos, Charlie had wrapped his arms around my shoulders as we both tumbled into one of the corners of the loveseat.

Charlie's skin was flushed from all the adrenaline, his breaths coming out in short and ragged pants. He was akin to a laboratory mouse who had its amygdala stimulated, lying against my shoulder paralyzed in fright.

His shrill scream earlier still faintly resonated in the air, making my eardrums ring in protest. I could help but recall how confident of himself he looked back when he made the bet...

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Charlie: You’re going to be the one losing your pride if you get so terrified afterwards that you can’t move.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

MC: Pft- Hahaha! This is way too good!

I couldn't keep up the act anymore. I leaned my forehead against his as I snickered like mad.

MC: Okay, okay. I'm just pulling your leg!

Charlie: ...What?

Charlie: You're joking? But, you— I— Just now…?

Charlie raised his head, looking absolutely appalled. Having just had a tumble, a tuft of hair stuck out from the top of his head.

I grabbed the tuft of hair that stood arrogantly upwards and pushed it back down with a vengeance, smoothing it out in my revenge.

MC: Yeah! Who told you to scare me with your vacuum earlier!

I could acutely feel how his face immediately heated up against my shoulder. Is it because he just found out that I was tricking him? Or is it because of something else?

MC: So, can you get off me now?

Charlie: I refuse.

He simply buried his head into the crook of my neck shamelessly, avoiding my gaze.

Charlie: You'll have to first explain to me just what is going on here.

Charlie’s arms were snugly wound around my body, seemingly threatening not to let go until he’d attained what he wanted.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Is this man truly the same Dr. Zha that was listed on the leaflet detailing the famed doctors of the Hospital...?

MC: The hungry ghost was just a story I made up to scare you

Charlie: Uh-huh.

Charlie: But, just now…

MC: That was just the heating pipes.

MC: The grandpa upstairs turns the heating on at noon every day.

MC: It's going to be summer soon, yet he still keeps it up. Always at 12 sharp. The man's way more on point than the afternoon news broadcast.

Charlie raised his head, his sweat-soaked hair brushing across my cheek. It was a little ticklish.

Charlie: That's it?

MC: Yup!

Charlie: Ahem.

He sat back up, lightly clearing his throat before composing himself. Gone was the embarrassment from having lost his composure.

MC: Phew… You finally let up, huh.

He reflexively smooths out his collar. Soon, he returned to his usual self that you were all so familiar with.

Charlie snaps to attention with his hands behind his back, purposely looking around the room in an off-handed manner.

Charlie: Actually, I could already tell that something was wrong with the structure of this housing apartment the moment I stepped into it.

Charlie: Alas, it was just as I expected. The pipings are so terribly loud.

Charlie turned to look at me, slightly lowering his head and peering down at me in approval.

Charlie: Also, your acting is really good.

MC: ?

Charlie: Actually… I wasn't scared at all.

MC: ??

MC: If so, then may I ask what’s the whole purpose behind the fear that you so kindly expressed earlier?

Charlie: I was merely playing along with you. It’s the greatest form of acknowledgement towards your acting skills.

Just who is playing along with whom, in this case? Is this even up for discussion?

Still, I think his red ears speak louder than words.

Charlie returns to his seat on the loveseat. His familiar warmth envelops me once more.

Charlie: You still lost today.

MC: How did this come back to that?

Charlie: You're the one who got scared out of your wits first. You still have a penalty to serve, so...

Charlie: Comfort me.

He turned his head to the side as he hugged me. His cheeks were a rarely seen shade of red. He was flushed from the neck to the tip of his ears.

Looking at how embarrassed he was, I couldn’t help but find it a little adorable.

The heat in his embrace didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. In fact, it made a reassuring sense of familiarity slowly spread through my heart, like a warm summertime breeze blowing from the side.

I boldly nestled deeper into his arms, basking in the soft dream-like moment.

MC: How rare for you to be so quiet.

MC: Man, if only your first instinct wasn't to pick fights...

Charlie: Please, Miss. It's not like you don't enjoy it either. It'll be over soon enough.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

The movie ends before we know it after the dazed silence that lapsed.

The projector stopped screening once the movie came to a close. The screen blanked out along with my guilt, panic, and fear.

And I’d completely missed the ending of the movie.

MC: Charlie? Do you remember how the prisoner who was sentenced to death got away?

I thought that Charlie would respond immediately in that prideful tone of his, giving me a clear and concise answer. Hell, I was even prepared to withstand another round of his narcissism if that ever came to pass.

Yet, he sounded a little unsteady and unsure, almost as if he too, was thinking of an appropriate answer.

Charlie: ...How did the prisoner getaway? Simple. He defeated the jailer who imprisoned him. All horror movies end the same way.

MC: He defeated… the jailer?

MC: The jailer here is a figment of his imagination; it doesn’t exist.

MC: The prisoner’s trapped in his own dream.

To prove what I’d said, I quickly pulled up the homepage of the movie where the summary and all the reviews were written. I pointed it out to him.

MC: Look, it’s even written in the movie’s summary…

I raised my head to clarify with him, but Charlie chose to completely ignore me, turning his attention to the plush pillow on the sofa. His eyes were very shifty.

Suspicious. VERY suspicious…

MC: Charlie, you… you didn’t take this movie seriously at all, did you?

Charlie closed his eyes in a slight grimace, his eyebrows knitting…

That reaction…. I KNEW IT.

However, he quickly bounces back from that moment of frustration. His expression suddenly turned serious and exaggeratedly grim.

Charlie: (Y/n), life is but a fleeting one.

The hell is this man talking about!?

I didn’t quite know why, but the serious tone he was taking with me sounded vaguely threatening. I could only nod in accordance.

Charlie: I see that you agree as well.

Charlie: If one wishes to have a glorious life as glamorous as the sun in this fleeting period, then some trivialities will have to be forgone.

Charlie: Alas, that movie earlier was an unfortunate one to have been forgone by this perfect life of mine.

MC: ……

MC: I see. I never knew that there was such a poetic way of saying “I don’t remember”.

Charlie: Who says I don't remember?

Charlie: I remember as clear as the day how my Fiancée got so terrified that she burrowed right into my arms.

I helplessly sighed. Looks like it'll be a long time and a good long way before I'll ever manage to understand how that brain of his works.

MC: Then, does the matter of rating and evaluating this projector still exist in your precious time of existence, Dr. Zha?

Charlie: The projector? Average.

Charlie: It's hard for me to be evaluating a projector below $200,000.

Charlie: But, I can consider using it as a console for couples.

He raised an eyebrow, smiling.

MC: And just where are your thoughts running off to?

Charlie: I'm just giving my honest, unbiased opinion.

Charlie: I hope you can convey this precious review of mine to the brand makers. Consider it my good deed for the day.

MC: Alright, Mr. Charitable.

MC: Now, are you quite done with your charitable acts? I'm going to pack the projector up and send it back.

Charlie: Why?

MC: Because… I feel like I don't really need a home theatre.

Charlie stilled my hand with his own, moving to block the projector off from me.

Charlie: Wait. I’ll take it if you can’t find a use for it.

Charlie: Send it to my house next weekend.

MC: You sure about that?

Charlie: Of course, I naturally have the right to accept any common personal property that my Fiancée chooses to give up.

Charlie: Come to my house next week, and don't stand me up.

With that being said, he confidently walked out of the apartment.

The golden sports car parked by the road gave a tremendous roar as it sped up. It soon faded away, replaced by the ever-present bustle of the people on the streets  

Watching the silhouette of the car gradually disappear, the events of what had gone on within my apartment resurfaced to the forefront of my mind… Charlie was far more bizarre than any horror film I'd ever watched.

However, it’s as if his appearance was slowly lowering my impenetrable guard over my small piece of land.

Now, as for what will appear in the future… Will it be volcanos? Or channels? Who knows; we’ll just have to wait and see.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

✥ Choose your Ending:

END 1 | Choice: Do Nothing [都不做]

END 2 + 3 | Choice: Approach [亲近] ⊹Touch⊹

END 4 | Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

END 5 | Choice: Heart-throb [心动] ★Night★

❖☆————— ⊹ For Night, For Paradox⊹ —————★❖

Previous Part: Prologue

[izzyizumi]

undefined

DigiAdvs {Adv-Tri-Kizuna-2020} x BELLE A.M.V. {Version #1} featuring DUO/O.T.P: - KouTai / Taishiro[u] ( Koushiro Izumi x Taichi Yagami ) {with cameos: Izumi family, Tentomon [mainly only at start]}; {Tri: Yamato/Sora from Soushitsu [Loss]; + Meiko pre-her reveal as a Chosen intro moment from Saikai [Reunion]}

Summary:

“ WHO IS [ IZUMI KOUSHIRO ? ] ”

“ WHO IS [ YAGAMI TAICHI ? ] ”

Contains scenes from: - Adventure {Ep38 and Ep21} -- the Ep38 scenes at start are mainly meant as filler/to fill it out; but also because I wanted those emotional slower moments in early since the rest of song is fast - Tri {as mentioned above}; – “Taiorato”-esque/implied moments from Soushitsu [Loss] (Not full-on Taiorato here, but… more for Taichi characterization) - Kizuna {beginning moments ~ Opening Theme scenes only}; – mostly just nice looking moments - Adventure 2020 {KouTai/Taishiro’s meeting in Ep01}; -- some moments of Koushiro & Chosen from final battle - Our War Game {Koushiro + Taichi}; -- some moments at the end I left with spoken dialogue on for emphasis; (I haven’t been able to sub them yet, but you get the idea...!)

Notes: Adventure Ep. 21 {“Koromon, the Great Clash in Tokyo!”}; “Our [/Children’s] War Game” [2nd Adventure film w/Omegamon]; and BELLE were ALL directed/animated by Mamoru Hosoda. - and Adv. 21 and OWG both notably (Adv 21)/HEAVILY (OWG) featured Koushiro Izumi. {Hence, this A.M.V.!}

Time spent: just under 2 hrs (1 hr 30 min on the 1st minute alone) I initially wanted to add in a bit more shots of both from 02 and Kizuna, but couldn’t fit it all in as hoped (at this time). So this will have to do for now, but hopefully it’s still enjoyable.

{Additional note: this post is mainly intended AS SHIP/OTP {Taishiro[u]} but can also be read as semi canon compliant analysis. However please remember + RESPECT this when interacting please tag only as the ship name and DO NOT tag as only “brotp” or the like only*, thank you!} (*It is ok if you tag as “friendship” or the like along WITH the ship!!) {Failure to acknowledge interacting rules WILL result in a block}

[Note: commenting/tagging positively/respectfully is ok!] (Please AGREE TO BANNERS BEFORE interacting) (Note: click on the banners to enlarge!)

(Lyrics under the ‘read more’!): {recommended to read them before watching!}

Melody, be my guide!

I want to picture a world where a {simple song?} can make the difference

Each day I wake, searching

{Interlude faster moment}:

I don’t want to imagine a future without you

I can’t do that.

{Faster verse}:

But you’re gone, the answer escapes me

Seems like everyone else HAS it figured out

Still, tomorrow will come…

Melody, be my guide!

It makes me sick Why is everybody so {happy}? Do you really need someone to {LOVE*}?

[* = “Aishiteru”]

{End verse}: When I'm alone like this, I get so anxious Melody, guide me! I don’t care what happens!!

Melody, stay by my side

Whatever comes, I won't back down...

[washymylifeaway]

KyouHaba Fanfic recs

Hiya! How much do I love KyouHaba? Yes. This is one of my favorite ships and one of my comfort ships <3 KyouHaba has got some amazing fics, so even if they aren’t really your thing, you should still read this :D Anyway, onto the recs!

As always, pls check WARNINGS, TAGS, and SUMMARIES for fics before reading (esp since KyouHaba usually deals with darker topics and not all of them tag/warn for it!) and make sure you’re taking care of yourselves (since mental health is key!) Stay healthy loves <3

CP:

Close to the Chest by darkmagicalgirl (T) 61.1k // THIS ONE man anyway I just love the progression of their relationship and the way this fic is written! The way we really go into who Yahaba is really what makes this fic great! Also there's some slightly ~angsty~ IWAOI so look out for that hehe.

Police Dog by surveycorpsjean (E) 34.9k // if you’re super against like any *furry* implications, pass this one LOL. But TBH I don’t like furries, but this one was pretty great (hence why it’s here LOL) and they make me laugh. Also I really like some of the head cannons for Kyoutani in this one and the writing style is super freakin’ good, so it’s definitely worth the read~~~ Pls CHECK TAGS AND WARNINGS cause there are a couple REAL spicy scenes in this one ;)

Team Mom by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead (T) 2.7k // so as I was going through this tag (because that’s what I do LOL), I remembered this fic and I love it. Like yes Yahaba is the fear factor and yes Kyoutani is the DAD. I really like the team dynamics in this one, and the first years make me laugh pls.

Camellias by kiyala (T) 1.9k // I love this fic and when I starting looking for this ship, it was the first one I thought of hehe. I really love magic and their interactions are so cute and the PLANTS ARE DOING THE MOST. Pls read both in the series, cause domestic KyouHaba is best KyouHaba ngl LOL. I love the plants, and if you read the second one, someone tell the trees to stop bullying Yahaba.

Sixth Time’s the Charm by tsumekakusu (T) 2k // ok THIS was SO FREAKING funny, please Yahaba how dumb can you get LOL. The number thing made me facepalm so hard, but the ending was cute and that’s all that matters, right?

Sleep by GangstaCrow (T) 5.5k // the plot twist…. omg…. I had to pause and take a moment of silence for the people suffering because of LL… Poor Kyoutani….. But this is a really funny but cute fic at the same time :D

a little bit funny, this feeling inside by postcanons (G) 5.4k // PLEASE THIS ONE omg crow matchmaker ftw. Like I said, I really love magic and this one is just so freaking funny. Also, very informational curtesy of one Kyoutani Kentarou.

meet me at the fucking pit (and let me hold your hand) by anyadisee (T) 5.4k // IF THE TITLE ISN’T MAKING YOU LAUGH ALREADY WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING????? (JK but am I really?) This was SO funny and it KILLED me,,, like all the conspiracies and how everyone was so seriously invested in it. Yes, CHAOS.

if not, winter by knightswatch (M) 54k // YES THIS FIC. THIS ONE RIGHT HERE. I love the development of their relationship,,, IT’S SO GOOD. Like when our boy Yahaba goes on that really friendly field trip and Kyoutani takes matters into his own hands? UGH YES. And when they visit? CUTE OMG. Yes this fic is it.

Isolated Parts by darkmagicalgirl (T) 3.3k // I love this fic cause old men KyouHaba are funny (fight those refs) and I love the nonlinear plot. It really adds another layer to the fic itself, and slowly unraveling the plot through the different years was SO IUAHFJF. I really loved it and piecing everything together :’)

Magicked by HoneyBeeez (T) 8.4k // CHECK TAGS, I love KyouHaba Hogwarts fics, and this one is SO good! We do love some slightly oblivious Yahaba and fake delinquent Kyoutani LOL. Though there is some violence and homophobia so if that puts you off, steer clear of this fic :)

stardust by InkCaviness (G) 1.4k // like I said, in love with KyouHaba and hogwarts fics, anyway,, this one was so short and sweet! It’s full of fluff, and honestly, if you like KyouHaba, read this entire series cause I really love these KyouHaba works :’)))))

New:

knightswatch // GREAT writer, but most of their KyouHaba works are explicit/mature, so be careful as you go through their works! My fav T one? all you have is your fire by knightswatch (T) 6.4k, but they’ve written some of the best KyouHaba I’ve read (they’re just mostly M)!

kiyala // another amazing writer and their works usually alternate between G and E LOL. But, all of their Gs are amazing, and rn my favorite was between Room To Grow by kiyala (G) 50k or Cost by kiyala (G) 1.1k cause it was either secret doggy relationship or magic LOL. But all of their fics are worth reading, and there’s a large variety of AUs!

snoqualmie // I love this writer, but they don’t have much KyouHaba (enough that I would put them here though LOL) My favorite? Mixed Signals by snoqualmie (T) 7.8k // it’s a really cute fic and I love the hc that Kyoutani has the good family! It has like a semi continuation (I think it’s in the same verse as it), but Jan. 6 features the sisters again! (Also yes for veggie fiend Kyoutani,)

tale as old as time by crossbelladonna (series) 30.2k // AHH this series is fully of such good KyouHaba fic!!!! I really love all of them but my favorite is through open doors by crossbelladonna (T) 4.3k // I love soulmate AUs and salty Yahaba is best Yahaba. Also at the end when the coffee incident happens, I love Kyoutani :’)

Words Not Spoken by Dogsocks (series) 51.5k // this is a continuous fic series (meaning all the fics are in the same verse and related to one another), but it’s so FREAKING good and I love reading it!!! It’s got some mentions of ABUSE, and things like that so please read the tags carefully!!!

kyouhaba week by InkCaviness (series) 6.7k // I loved KyouHaba week (all of them are just such AMAZING fics and tropes) and my favorite from this list was stardust by InkCaviness (G) 1.4k // I mentioned what I loved from it above, but it truly is a great fic :D

Kyouhaba Trash Week 2016 by HoneyBeeez (series) 28.9k // all three of these fics are SO good. I literally cannot choose a favorite because I loved all of them :’) Like no joke, just go read all of them because singing Kyoutani? Yes please. And also like the tattoo one was SO ajksdhfkjshdfjkln I LOVED IT AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE HOSPITAL ONE. I loved loved loved the ending, and her going to the school? UGH ADORABLE. These fics were some of my absolute favorite KyouHaba fics!

Venom and Vulnerability by darkmagicalgirl (E) 48.3k // OAAJKSFNKJ I LOVE THIS ONE YES. The concept? AMAZING. Execution? FLAWLESS. This is a GREAT fic and it’s done SO WELL,,,, I realllllly loved the plot in this and their teamwork is making the dream work! WARNING check the tags and warnings cause there’s smut, (non kinky) bondage, and death!

it's tradition. by hicsvntdracones (T) 5.5k // this fic made me want to die from second hand embarrassment. GOD, the awkwardness and really the way they went HARD on those dares PLEASE. If you don’t mind feeling embarrassed (and even if you do) go read this fic cause it’s V funny and the comedy factor cancels out the embarrassment LOL (does it? That’s what I’m tellin myself LOL).

An Equivalent Exchange by Chibs (E) 14.5k // PLEASE THIS WAS FUNNY,,,, like chill Kyoutani, Yahaba is trying his hardest okay? BUT NOT HARD ENOUGH anyway it’s a happy ending in the long run and no one dies :D how nice is that <3 (but the baby agenda? yessssir.)

The Wall Thing by rideahorse (M) 6.8k // THE TENSION :0,,, but I love how many fics go based on that one KyouHaba wall slam in the middle of the Karasuno match LOL. Also, I love the dynamics they have in this one and the way fighting ~is their communication~ Some smut is here so WARNING and they do something about the tension LOL obviously :))) Constantly curing KyouHaba is good, happy Kyouhaba.

Sixteen by surveycorpsjean (E) 13.4k // Yahaba is a basic btch and Kyoutani does football LOL. Honestly, I think that’s a pretty good summary (jk) but what’s a fic without some good tension ;) Also, cheerleader Yahaba lives in my brain rent free and I would like to propose it live in your head as well :D Aren’t I such a kind soul~

Safe in Your Hands by shions_heart (T) 8.9k // um soft KyouHaba? I think yes,,,, this also do be a common trope in the KyouHaba realm, but I’m not complaining,,,, it’s a good trope :) There IS ABUSE in this fic so big warning here! Check the tags and warnings! But the real mvp is the girl on the bus and points to Yahaba for playing spot the difference unintentionally.

The Sweetest Smile by FindingSchmomo (T) 6.6k // cake making! Yes! Bakery! Yes! It’s a great time and think about it, Kyoutani, our baby, working in a bakery making cakes? UGH my heart :’D Yes Oikawa is right, a cute grumpy puppy making flowers (CUTE VERY CUTE) and it doesn’t help that Kyoutani looks like a total bad boy in this fic too :DDDDDD

wear your love like it's made of hate by parenthetic (renaissance) (T) 3.3k // we are starting this off with the alt title totally worked and I would’ve read it either way LOL. Also, the ending was funny and thinking about why everyone was wearing it would’ve been so confusing to the other teams (also shout out to Yahabas line and Kyoutani calling his eyeliner a whore). But yes to random sexual tension, this is KyouHaba nation.

captain's orders by whitemiists (G) 3.7k // okay we love Watari in KyouHaba nation (surprised I haven’t talked about loving Watari yet but better now than never right?), but also Yahaba being messenger for Kyoutani (baby first years are ajhsajdfh). I love this trope and also I love rooftop lunch crew is yes :D

Running In Place by cleiioo (T) 33.3k // GUYS OMG THIS FIC. CAUTION ABUSE AND RUNNING AWAY AND BAD PARENTS SELF DEPRECATION I COULD GO ON BUT BOTTOM LINE IS BE CAREFUL READ TAGS! This fic is UGHHH YES. First, twenty questions make another appearance, and DUCKS. Yes, ducks. But this fic is just written really well, and honestly Kyoutani might be a tad bit ooc, but it’s okay, you don’t even notice. Distracted by the amazing writing :)

Something About Fate by patteh (T) 4.6k // SOULMATES! And then they were soulmates :D I love a good soulmate denial AU, and this is no exception. I loved Yahana’s backstory in this, and I think it set up a great framework for the plots progression! Also, the ending was really cute (and we all know, I’m a sucker for a cute ending :D)

toeing the line by masi (T) 2.7k // the mcDonalds cause WE’RE LOVING IT! But this was a fun read cause a. it goes pretty fast and b. communication exists? ANyway, I like the ending cause Yahaba is one smooooooth btch! It’s just a lot of banter (playful and not), and I’d read tags jic for this fic :)

bumblebee by shizuoh (T) 1.5k // he got sht on by a bumblebee. Points for creativity Yahaba, points. But this is just a fun, random AU where pepperoni on pizza is a universal aggrievance (esp the infused on cheese kind,,, I feel you Yahaba), we disown furries (for good reason), and you confront people staring at you! This IS a flirting 101 textbook. (also yes Yahaba, murder Mattsun!)

The art of fighting in heels by boxofwonder (T) 8.7k // yeah don’t question this fic. It’s like,,, you just kinda,,,, well,,,,,, I mean who doesn’t want to read about Iwa fighting in heels? Like you’re not thinking about magical guy Iwa? Maybe you should. (the way the summary has nothing to do with KyouHaba, I swear they’re a main component, but no thoughts just Iwa in sailor moon cosplay.)

yahaba vs. the miyagi captains by blessings (T) 3.7k // I love this hc and I wish there was more of it because Yahaba picking fights with everyone is fun and I like the chaos :D Like honestly, the creativity of some of the burns? Just amazing, it filled me with serotonin. I’m not kidding :0 But like, Kyoutani having to make sure that he doesn’t go overboard was askfkahf.

Love the One You Hold by shions_heart (T) 3k // f tough KyouHaba, I’m here for the soft, loving KyouHaba. Like mushy feelings KyouHaba, the kind which makes me feel singler than I already am single. Reassuring of feelings and ajsfdhla KyouHaba. The ending is KYAAA!!! Caution for implied bad parents!

a thousand and one roses by rorarot (T) 3.4k // I love florist Kyoutani and it’s honestly a crime I didn’t recommend more florist Kyoutani fics :( Points for the pun, Yahaba, points. Also, the progression of their relationship was YES, and this fic was SUPER cute :D

It Takes Two by Poteto (G) 24.1k // IT’S COHESIVE KYOUHABA WEEK! I really loved this fic and I enjoyed how they incorporated each prompt into each day! There is homophobia and running away so be careful when reading this fic, and check the tags!

So I Like Your Dog by helloyesIamtrash (G) 4.8k // FIRST, this is within a series of soulmate AU fics (all in the same verse) and SECOND, this was really good! I loved the way Yahaba’s family are a bunch of late bloomers and how YAHABA DIDN’T LET THE MF RUN AWAY. Yes communication, WE LOVE AND STAN.

but tonight i'll need you to stay by InkCaviness (G) 2.2k // the feels were strong with this one :’( Pushing my SOFT KyouHaba agenda. But I LOVE this one for the feels and also because they don’t dance around it. Just straight forward, random a confessions. It’s a great time. But also, I can’t believe he slipped LOL.

Down River Road by carafin (G) 4.4k // I love list fics, I think they’re great and I think I might just have a thing for lists in general (LOL). But also, I love the growth both of them undergo over time and the interactions with Oikawa in KyouHaba fics are always fun :)

I (Heart) You by darkmagicalgirl (T) 3.6k // I really like this fic. Like REALLY like/love. Maybe it’s the ending where Yahaba goes ham on that one guy. Or maybe it’s the magic. I think it’s just cause it’s written spectacularly. But no seriously, it’s a great fic and I really loved the AU :D

Five Times Kyoutani Failed to Say 'I love You' (And One Time He Didn't) by patteh (T) 3k // a 5+1! Yes! TBH I don’t understand the importance of saying ily to your significant others (maybe it’s just because I don’t understand romance very well LOL someone explain it to me), but if it’s important to them, IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME. Also, Kyoutani is dog agenda, full force ahead.

Baby steps (or 'Yahaba's guide to applying eyeliner on a grumpy puppy') by ghostsgf (G) 1.5k // more Yahaba and eyeliner fics! Of course :D If you can’t tell, KyouHaba nation and I really love Kyoutani + eyeliner, so yes. Eyeliner. But also, fractured arms and toilet adventures!

baby don't hurt me by orphan_account (M) 4k // LET ME BEGIN THIS WITH THE A/N AT THE END. YES I AGREEEE. Also SMUT alert but like nothing really happens? And again, while I don’t 100% get the ily thing, this one makes more sense to me and I can see why Yahaba got angry. We love crying boys though ahaha.

Retrograde by dreyars (T) 19.5k // AJFJLSFJLASD ANGST THE ANGST AND I- I love amnesia fics, they have such GREAT angst potential (which was totally used in this fic YES!) and UGH this fic. The feels you go through while reading this but ALSO THE ENDING! YES I LOVE. IN LOVE. THEY’RE IN LOVE YOUR HONOR.

restless by Crawlingthroughashes (T) 2.4k // PLEASE the petty Yahaba agenda is back and the way I ajfhdjkadshlf when he started his plan. BRB CRYING (of laughter ofc). Also the CONFRONTATION. Smooth Yahaba, oh so very mf smoooooth (very much so nailed it). Sugar high trick-or-treater in bunny slippers.

The Time Yahaba gained a boyfriend by sammysosa157 (T) 3.8k // PLEASE I saw the post for this fic and it was SO funny! I really loved this prompt, and the execution of it was done really well. Boo for weird food combinations, though ig if you’re in college and you’re broke, you gotta do what you gotta do :/

wanna give you a kiss by Slumber (T) 2.8k // kith give kithes muah muah (omg I’m so sorry you had to read that no regrets tho ahaha only shame). But this fic is SO cute and boyfriend chicken is fun :D Like the fluff in this fics is just so AJKKJAF and like Watari knows best.

Touch by tetskuroo (T) 2.4k // aihdjk PLEASE. This is SOFT! KYOUTANI! and non a hole but pushy! YAHABA! There is HUGGING cause WHY NOT! But the soft Kyoutani agenda is getting pushed hard today LOL. I mean the mans starts to turns the waters works ons. What more could you possibly need? (other than a cuddle session cause why tf not >:( and me to write normally LOL)

what the night does to the day by deathbyglamour (G) 9.9k // AHH HOGWARTS! I realized I forgot to add this fic to the Hogwarts list and I was so angry at myself. The potion version of our get along shirt :) I loved this fic and their relationship development was lovely :DDDD

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back by Asimi_Shadowborn (T) 30.6k // I love magic AUs and this was ahdjsjjfjs. The trope was amazing, the execution was flawless, and the communication? Nearly nonexistent just how we like it :’) it’s a great read and you’ll regret nothing.

Baby, I bought a dragon by tetsuskitten (T) 1.1k // AJKSFHKJ WITCHES. I love them being witches/warlocks cause IT’S AN AMAZING TROPE DUH. But like the dragon made me laugh, the conman Kuroo is KJAFN. But yes, THERE’S ANOTHER FIC AND IT’S AJSHKJASF YES READ <33333 (why didn’t I just put it as a series, cause I forgot and then I got lazy, leave me be.)

Thorne-blessed by fish_wifey (T) 19.4k // (again, another that HAS ANOTHER FIC but then I was too lazy to transport it up to the series section deal with it.) But THIS YES. First tattoo artist Kyoutani is a sight to see. But also, Yahaba is baby. And like the ending of how it all got resolved was so satisfying and the conflict execution was really creative :D CAUTION FOR THIS ONE, some bullying and violence-ish!

what a wonderful kind of day by qingting (G) 1.2k // PLEASE. I love it when Kyoutani talks to animals, it fills me with joy. But also, ofc points to Yahaba for the new nickname, dog whisperer. Cute and I like it more than Mad Dog chan. Also, Kyoutani’s thoughts on Yahaba were funny and are worth the read LOL. I like pats too, Shiromaru.

what becomes of broken hearts by plumtrees (T) 8.1k // OOOOF some angst right here. Like I’m in paiiiiiiin. But you should read it so we can be in pain together :’D Like the way we had to witness the falling out AND the break up to be happy again. UGH. Just don’t think too much and jump in.

we both know what we know by Slumber (E) 4.7k // UHH EXPLICIT FOR A REASON LIKE WITHIN THE FIRST SECTION I THINK BUT THEN IT CONTINUES AHHAHA. But also, riling Kyoutani up and just teasing him in general? Fun times (at least Yahaba thinks so LOL). But like also, random thought but the comments on the (fake) IwaOi divorce made me laugh LOL.

new constellations by thealmostviki (G) 4.3k // reincarnation AU, but it’s like non linearish! It’s really good and the writing is very eloquent :D I really loved this fic and the ending was UGH adorable! I love references and the way they still feel things in the next lives :’) Milk and honey guys, milk and HONEY.

FINALLY DONE. WHEW. I hope you all enjoyed these fics, and ik my commentary got/was super bad but pls just pretend like you’re not seeing it. I swear once upon a time it was informational but now it’s just me writing random sht down LOL. Again, I love KyouHaba so this honestly was a lot of fun to make (even if I kept complaining about it) and I ended up not splitting the list hence why it’s so long! I hope I made all of you into KyouHaba lovers cause it’s one of my favorite ships :D

[lycorogue]

Hey girl! For your "Ask about WIPs" game, I'm interested in "I Don't Care" and/or "Seduce with Caution." Hope you're well, stay safe!!

Hey right back! I am doing well. Hope the same for you and yours.

[WIP tag game: my list]

Ya know what, no one else has played yet, so I'll go ahead and indulge. 😀

I Don't Care

This story actually started life as a "tumblr exclusive" one-shot called Stranger in a White Dress (published here May 2018). It was actually one of the first fanfics I posted to Tumblr. It was inspired by the song "Play Me Like a Violin" by Stephen (*warning: the music video has flashing bits, so those with photosensitivity, please be careful if you watch instead of just listen).

I don't know why specifically I latched onto Gabriel Agreste and Emilie Graham de Vanily, but it seemed appropriate somehow. The story was them having a meet cute in college. Emilie would have blown into Gabriel's life for a few minutes, stole a kiss unexpectedly, and then blew back out of his life just as abruptly.

The story stayed like that for quite some time. Then, August 2019, I heard the acoustic version of Ed Sheeran's song "I Don't Care". At first blush, the song sounded like something my husband would sing, but the more I listened the more I realized it could be Gabriel singing about/to Emilie. This song was kind of the theme of the Agrestes' relationship, in my opinion. Hence stealing the song title for the story's title. I took the first verse about being at a party, and continued my story. Gabriel was dragged to a party by his flatmate, and Emilie coincidentally was there. The two reconnected, and Gabriel turned a one-time chance encounter at a club into a potential relationship.

I'm not entirely sure where else to go with this story, aside from knowing I want it to be the love story between these two. Possibly ending with Adrien's birth. Possibly continuing until Emilie's "disappearance." Not sure which yet. However, this whole story is a bit of a slow process while I wait for inspiration to strike again, mostly by way of new music. I have been a touch obsessed for the past year with the songs "2AM" by MK (feat Carla Monroe) and "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur as a back and forth between Emilie and Gabriel respectively (the fact that "2AM" has a female vocalist and "Say You Won't Let Go" has a male vocalist just makes it all the better). The only snafu there is that this would be a chapter about them drinking too much while out, and/or Emilie drunk calling Gabriel and asking for him to spend the night with her. As spontaneous as I like making Emilie, it seems a bit abrupt considering where their relationship stands at the end of the 2nd chapter. So I want to come up with a buffer one showing their first official date as my 3rd chapter. I'm just not sure what said date should look like yet. Thus this WIP sits in waiting.

If you want to read the first two chapters, you can find them over on AO3, FFN, or DA.

Seduce with Caution

This one is actually my current WIP. It's also my first foray into Miraculous Ladybug smut (aged-up, of course).

For some reason, August brings out the smut in me (is it the warm weather?), and I've written other smutty fics during that month in the past. Most have never seen the light of day. I've written a couple using the X-Men OCs created for my husband's play-by-post role-play game. I've written one using my D&D character and one of her partymates. The only smut I've officially published though was my interpretation of a handwaved sex scene in the book Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (mostly because the series was fairly unknown and that book had been published 7 years prior, so I figured not many would even find my smut).

I have never tried ML smut before though, despite enjoying a lot of the ones I've found. I just couldn't get past the mental image of the Love Square as 14-year-olds.

Last year, however, while reading Dressed to Confess by @zenmisery , she had a bit where Chat Noir's costume acted as a bit of a magical chastity belt. For some reason, that gave me this fantastic concept for a MariChat sex scene. I started working on it, but I realized that it seemed too abrupt of an interaction between these two characters without also having the story be post-reveal and the two of them being in a relationship. The concept, though, would have been how MariChat could spend a night together without Marinette finding out who Chat Noir is under the mask first. The whole premise crumbles if they're already in a relationship and/or it's post-reveal.

I just couldn't get the balance right, and so I abandoned the story. Right around December, I tried again by backtracking a touch to include the seduction and foreplay leading into the sex scene. That too seemed a bit left-field. It felt like glorious crack, and I was tempted to just run with it because crack is a fantastic story "genre" but I... just can't find it within myself to do so. So the story was abandoned again.

This past August I revisited the story once more. After 3 or 4 false starts, I tried backing up even further with my story's starting point. Now this story has become a slow-burn, sexual tension, blushfest. There's implied masturbation, and later chapters will include make-out sessions with heavy petting, but the actual true-blue smut won't show up until the final chapter or so. So my "Porn without Plot" has become "so much pining with a sprinkle of smut thrown in for flavor". 😅

I still don't have a concrete story figured out, but the working summary is: "While 19yo Chat Noir tries to demonstrate to Marinette his new 'moves' to try to win Ladybug over, he accidentally seduces Marinette. Now she has to come to terms with the knowledge that she finds him sexy and highly desirable, all while still holding a flame for Adrien. Meanwhile, Adrien has to wrestle with the knowledge that he found Marinette getting hot and bothered over him a major turn-on. Chaos ensues."

Considering it kept me over a year to write just the first chapter (but only 3 days to write the second one), I want this story complete before unleashing it onto the world. I also need to build up the confidence to let the rest of the fandom read my first ever MariChat smut soooooooooooooooooo..........

ANYWAY, yup. That's what's up with I Don't Care and Seduce with Caution.

A romance story between young Gabriel and Emilie where I humanize Gabriel....

And a slow-burn MariChat smut story that will only really include anything explicit in the last chapter or so.

Thanks so much for the ask! This was fun. Feel free to ask me more!

I've also talked about my original WIP Glitches here, here, and here, as well as talk about my other Gabriel-humanizing project When Love Matters here.

[pebblysand]

[the thoughts on canon-compliance you did not ask for.]

last night between 2 and 3 in the morning (look, i couldn’t sleep, got up to write, then got caught up, okay? don’t judge me for my terrible sleeping patterns please) i had a super interesting discussion with a few people on the hinny discord channel about the definition of canon-compliant-ness. i think this is fascinating because to be honest, before getting into the hp fandom, i didn’t even think this was something one could disagree about. to me there was what was canon, and what wasn’t. a very black-and-white sort of system. i’m finding that it’s not.

through the discussions that i’ve had both on my fics and other people’s fics, it seems that i can narrow down - in the hp fandom - three elements of canon.

i. the events of the books/films

now, as a general disclaimer, you can obviously argue about whether the films are ‘canon.’ you can also argue whether cursed child is canon. there’s a lot of elements which differ between those and lots of opinions about how to look at them. personally, i tend to ignore cursed child. as to the books v. films, i pick and choose what suits my story more. generally, that’ll be the books. but for instance, i’m writing a harry&hermione friendship one shot right now, and there are a lot of movie-isms in that story because that is an aspect that was more explored in the films. however, for the purposes of this post, i’m mainly considering the source material to be the seven books. nothing more or less.

having said that, to me personally, that’s what ‘canon’ is: the events of the story and the characters that gravitate around those events, as described in the source material. things like: tom riddle killing lily and james, or harry, ron and hermione rescuing the philosopher’s stone. anything departing from that is, de facto, an ‘au.’ the whole world of what-if scenarios: what if Harry was sorted into slytherin, what if dudley was a wizard, all of those, to me, are aus.

generally, both as a reader and a writer, those are not scenarios i’m particularly drawn to. my default answer to those what-if scenarios is: ‘well, if harry is sorted into slytherin, there’s no story.’ or at the very least, there’s no story as i know it, and if there’s no story as i know it, then i’d rather read/write original fiction. it’s obviously a very personal preference and there are exceptions to this preference. i loved the changeling [1] for instance, and love the self-aware style of dirgewithoutmusic’s aus [2]. but as a general rule, that is not my preferred genre.

now, aside from the what-if scenarios, there’s also the question of filling in the gaps of the story itself. like, i find it interesting that we only make tsunamis [3] is labelled as ‘canon-compliant’ because i get the feeling that a lot of people would disagree that a fic in which hermione is harry’s first kiss is canon compliant. but, by exploiting the silence sometimes left by the author and turning it to your advantage, are you writing an au? is a negative space canon? is silence canon?

again, as a matter of personal opinion, i would not push my definition of canon-compliance as including blank spaces. to me, as long as it does not contradict the letter of the text, adding in events to the books to suit your story (i’ll address character in point ii) does not make your fic an au. to give another example that was brought up to me regarding my own work, i don’t believe that the events described in chapter nine of castles [4] are au because they exist in a blank space of the books. the fact that harry didn’t notice the 1:1s between ginny and amycus doesn’t mean they didn’t happen, it just means that they’re not in the positive space described by the books.

ii. the characters/characterisation

(as a quick vocab note, please note that below, i’m using the terms ‘ooc’ to mean that the characterisation of a character in a fic is not canon-compliant. they’re synonyms to me.)

now, while the above was pretty straight forward, i believe that this is where i perhaps differ from the masses in my interpretation of what “canon-compliance” means. more i discuss with people, the more i realise that i don’t really think there’s a real ‘canon’ characterisation. or at least not in the big things. like, yeah, it’s canon that harry likes treacle tart, because that’s a fact. but anything that is down to psychology or perspective of the character is, to me, generally up for grabs.

as a human, i believe that there’s things that people do, events that they go through, that condition them to act a certain way. while there is a core to every human being, i personally believe that in life, anyone would basically be capable of doing anything, given the right circumstances. i’ve recently - rightfully - been told my writing is all about the power of choice in our life, the reasons why we make those choices and the people those choices lead us to be. for example, do i think i might murder someone tomorrow? probably not. do i think i might be capable of murdering someone in wartime? perhaps? i don’t know, that’s not the world i live in and my life choices have not lead me to find out the answer to that. however, my point is: to me, good ‘characterisation’ is down to the circumstances and choices outlined in any work of fiction. hence, good characterisation is essentially, to me, equal to good writing.

i often say that good writing could make me believe anything and i mean it. i don’t tend to gravitate towards these fics because these ships are not my personal taste but i genuinely believe that good writing could make me believe in drarry or rarry if it tried. it’s funny because over the course of the discussion yesterday on discord, this was brought up ‘well, no one tags drarry as canon compliant,’ and i’m kind of like, i don’t know whether or not they do because i don’t read it but if they did and none of it contradicted the events as detailed in the books, perhaps it could be? like, that would take really good writing (imo), but good writing has - on occasion - made me believe in dramione a couple of times, so why not? in ‘til the sirens come calling [5], good writing made me 100% believe that harry and hermione would have an affair together. in we only make tsunamis [3], it makes me believe that they had this quiet little relationship building throughout hogwarts that we never knew about.

now, though, i suppose the question isn’t: do i believe it? the question is: is it canon? and, i think that’s where i differ from most people because to me, it is. to take ‘til the sirens come calling [5] as an example, i believe the fic is an au because hermione marries victor krum in the end. that’s going against the hard fact presented by the epilogue, and thus makes it an au. but i don’t believe the concept of a harmony affair is inherently au, because nothing is inherently au, character-wise. it’s about how you write it. how those people get to that place. that’s what makes canon-compliantness, in my opinion.

for example, for that fic, truth be told, we don’t know what those nineteen years include per canon, so they could very much include an h/hr affair. and whilst i don’t believe that the characters as they are in the books would have an affair together, i believe that the characters as they are presented in the fic, with the events and hardships that they go through, definitely would. good writing, to me, is - in part - recognising that characters are moving on a spectrum and that whilst their decisions/actions might not make sense in book-verse, they make sense in fic-verse. good writing is convincingly moving your characters from book-verse to fic-verse, and it not feeling ‘off.’

if it does feel off, that is bad writing to me, and that is also ooc-ness/non-canon compliant. it means that for whatever reason, the writer has not successfully transitioned and explained said transition through the events outlined in the story. with the right prose, you could make me believe draco decided to take on a career as a ballerina dancer after the war, and it would still be ‘canon-compliant’ to me. on the other hand, i have read fics (i won’t name them because that would be shit and also i don’t keep track of my ‘bad’ reads) where harry, ginny, hermione, or ron all act according to book canon and yet, their motivations felt off to me and completely ooc because the writing didn’t successfully lure me in. specifically, there was a lack of character evolution that i found uninteresting. i read mostly post-war stuff because i want to see my characters grow up [6].

as a last, additional note on characters, i also think that the characters in a story only exist within the prism of how we view them. this means that to me, locking my own understanding of a character's personality as 'canon' is particularly difficult because my understanding of a character is unique. i believe there are as many harry-s or ginny-s or hermione-s as there are readers. so i think saying someone's interpretation of a character isn't canon-compliant is odd because i don't actually believe there's any wrong or right answer. as i said, do i believe it likely that draco would become a professional ballerina? no. but if that works within your understanding of his character as described in the books, who am i to say that is or isn't canon compliant? i'll admit, the idea makes me sort of lol though.

iii. tone

lastly, i’ve come to find (in potter particularly) that canon-compliance might include tone. as in: hp is a story that is a) written in a certain style and b) written for children/young adults.

regarding style at a), this is honestly the main reason why it took me 15 years to write potter fic, despite the fact that i’ve been a fan for even longer than that. i genuinely thought you had to write like jkr. and i, well, don’t write like jkr. i love the books, but i don’t even particularly like her style. i like: camus, and sorj chalandon, and sally rooney, and dirgewithoutmusic and copper_dust [7]. i have zero ambition to write like jkr and don’t particularly want to read stuff that is written like her stuff either. it’s a style that imo works for her, but it doesn’t work for me as written by other people. i don’t particularly think you need to stick to her style to be canon-compliant.

which brings me onto my actual point: b) hp is a story written for children. young adults perhaps, for the later books. it sometimes explores dark themes but the writing style, the tone, etc. is lighthearted enough that it appeals to a younger audience. there’s snogging but there’s no sex, there’s violence but the torture is mostly off-screen, etc. issues like sexual assault, substance abuse, etc. aren’t explicitely brought up in the books, although they would one hundred percent fit in a book about a war that wasn’t necessarily aimed at children. the question is whether this setting and tone is part of what we call ‘canon-compliance.’

honestly, i don’t know. i didn’t think so until it was brought up to me that castles might be a dark!au and i was like: maybe? like, if you want it to be? i know what i like to read in fanfic: i love the exploration of serious themes that were not explored in the books, or explored differently due to the fact that they were written for children. one thing i will say and insist on is that i don’t think castles is all dark. i actually make a point of having lighthearted moments in each and every chapter, even just a notch, because i am attached to the fact that life as a concept is a mixture of good and bad, and you could laugh at the funeral of someone you loved, again in the right circumstances. but yeah, to me the post-war world is dark. so if tone is part of canon-compliance, then yeah in that way castles (as well as most of the stuff i read, to be honest), is a dark!au.

as a last side note, i’m not sure what that means for my other, lighter stuff though. like are the wolf’s just a puppy [8] or slipped [9] more canon-compliant than castles? i never thought about it in those terms but perhaps? it really opens up a world of questions in my mind and i don’t really have the answers to them.

conclusion:

so in sum, as a reader, what i mean as ‘canon compliant’ is basically a) the events as described in the source material and b) the characterisation of characters as they are at the start of the fic. if character evolution is sufficiently justified and well-written in the following thousands of words that the fic has, then said characterisation can still be canon-compliant, even if the characters act different than they would have in the source material itself. i’m a fan of good writing and good writing can make me buy into literally anything. it takes me places that i've never been before and convinces me that those places are the ones i should be in.

as a writer, i hope that regardless of 'compliance,' whatever i write at least makes ‘sense’ to people within the universe, even if they don’t consider it canon-compliant, per se. i feel like i can’t really be the judge of that. from the discussions we had last night, i feel like there are as many versions of what is and isn't canon-compliant as there are people.

.

.

---

[1] the changeling by annerb

[2] the boy with a scar series by dirgewithoutmusic

[3] we only make tsunamis by disOrdely

[4] castles by yours truly

[5] ‘til the sirens come calling by vexmybones

[6] as a side note and to take my own stuff as an another example, i totally agree that harry in castles isn’t harry in the books. i don’t think there’s much debate to be had in that assertion. i wrote him like this frankly because every other fic i’d read didn’t. they often had him sort of continue to be perfectly himself after the war, which i felt wasn’t speaking to me on a deeper level. imo, i think the war’s done a lot of scarring and the fic is about him growing into a new version of himself. so, to me, if i get a comment that says ‘i don’t think harry would act this way but i really love your writing’ it’s somewhat flattering but also confusing because i don’t really understand how one can enjoy the writing but not the characterisation. to me, they’re so intrinsically linked. what the comment tells me is: i think you did a very poor job at explaining character evolution and justifying character x’s [harry’s] choices but i still like your writing, somehow? i suppose that’s nice, but it doesn’t particularly compute in my brain. like, if the character feels off, it means the writing feels off and thus, why are you still reading? i appreciate all and every comment that i get but it doesn’t mean they always make sense in my own brain. if i’m honest, these comments often send me into an ocean of self-doubt about how shit my writing must be.

[7] copper_dust’s work and profile.

[8] the wolf’s just a puppy (and the door’s double locked), again by yours truly

[9] slipped (and said something sort of like your name), same.

[sugarplum-senpai]

Magpie, Part 3: Chapter Count, Posting Schedule, Additional Tags & More

Today, Magpie chapter 79 started the final story part, and I’m so excited to walk these last steps with you guys. 

(art by @flanpu​ with the allowance to post—thank you so much)

Chapter Count

As already announced, Magpie will have 100 chapters in total. I concluded the draft last week and was able to hit the bullseye. I find it slightly ironic, given how snk initially was planned with as many instalments, and though @ittybittyteapot​ called it while I was still convinced I’d need 90 chapters max, here we are. 

Posting Schedule for Part 3

Although editing isn’t entirely finished yet, I want to share this story with as little delays as possible. Which is why I will tighten the posting schedule to two chapters weekly: every Monday and Thursday. 

From your feedback I know many of you rely on the weekly update and cherish it, best of all would like it to never end. I can’t express how moved I am, and must admit this constant schedule has been a blessing for me as well lately. But I need the story out of my head so I can fill my head with fresh words and stories.

New Tags for the Verse

In addition to the quicker posting, I decided to add a few more tags to this fic’s description. Outworn as the Hurt/Comfort tag often may be, this story and especially the upcoming sections live on this emotional undertow, and the new tag should give readers a clearer sense of what they’re heading into. This also concerns the Fix-It tag and, if not especially, the Underground tag since there will be further elements ahead that collide with our generally modern times and hence concept. Lastly, I added the divergence tag…with the manga coming to an end soon and having taken very different paths in the last four years, I thought I probably should. 

The divergence tag, I also added to the other series parts, including the additional Fix-It tag for Sparrow (Revised). 

Refreshed Polish in Other Series Parts

With concluding the Magpie draft, it felt right to recheck with former story parts for detail consistency and rounding-up purposes. In coherence with that, I undertook a final polish to Nuthatch and am currently working on the same for Sparrow (Revised). I doubt Swallow will need one, but we’ll see. 

This polish mostly concerns minor sentence refurnishing, and though there is nothing story-changing added or removed, I did tweak in a very few minuscule details that will tie to Magpie and other story parts and hence improve your reading experience. 

I also corrected a little consistency mistake in Magpie chapter 12, where Briar��s hair was described as dark when it’s clearly red. ;) 

Personal

I can say without any regrets writing this final section has been a challenge. There are emotionally terrible sections ahead, but also emotionally glowing ones that made me overflow with love for the characters during writing, and I personally think this final part is the essence of my story. Its heart, its soul, and its roots.

I very much hope you love what I made of it. Comments and feedback, no matter how brief or long or in whichever language or coherence, always make my day and let me know you’re out there, reading and cheering along. Thank you so much for all of your support. This story wouldn’t be what it is without each one of you.

[zirkkun-uthcs]

Generic Headcanons (Sanses)

This list includes short bits of information on the various Sanses to be included on this blog. If you’re looking for a specific one, please use CTRL+F to search for the AU, due to the length of this list. Reminder as well that most of this information is entirely headcanon. If there’s canon information that I’ve messed up somewhere on this, please let me know so I can fix it and adjust accordingly!

Please note: When answering asks, I will first list the character being requested in the format of AU!Sans, but the nicknames here are listed because sometimes I drift off while writing and lean towards those names.

Undertale

Nickname/s: Comic, Tale Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / asexual

+ takes a lot of time to like someone at all, usually by default doesn’t trust people + isn’t a fan of physical contact, but if someone was to manage to get close to him, he’s incredibly cuddly + horrible with directions, will get lost really easily; uses shortcuts to make up for it

character tag

Underswap (original concept by p0pcornpr1nce, who has left the fandom and deleted the content)

Nickname/s: Blue Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: non-binary Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / bisexual

+ is a pun connoisseur; will only accept the best puns, anything less is just unacceptable + is emotional, but tries to hide it because he feels the need to keep on a strong persona for the sake of everyone else +  is secretly an incredibly talented writer and has a lot of written works in his room

character tag

Underfell (original concept by Vic the Underfella)

Nickname/s: Red, Fell Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: panromantic / pansexual

+ is extremely self-conscious and hides this by acting like as much of a confident asshole as possible + crushes incredibly easy due to the lack of caring people he has in his life, but refuses to believe he’s lovable + secretly hates cats. doomfanger may or may not be the cause of this

character tag

Underlust  (original concept by nsfwshamecave, who has left the fandom.)

Nickname/s: Lust, Lusty Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: biromantic / bisexual

+ is secretly a hopeless romantic, but has yet to meet anyone interested in romance over sex, so he takes what he can get + flirts with anything that breathes; has a plethora of horrible pick-up lines + has been outside of his own AU and is well-versed in the multiverse

character tag

Xtale (by jakei)

Nickname/s: Cross Date of Birth: Oct. 10th Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / bisexual

+ has difficulty trusting anyone anymore due to the betrayal he’s had in the past + he finds comfort in doodling or other art-related things, and can often be found locked away for hours doing so + will wear literally anything but his uniform when no one’s around, no matter how stupid it looks

character tag

Ink (by myebi/comyet) (same headcanons apply to Underverse!Ink)

Nickname/s: None Date of Birth: April 15 Height: 3′9″ / 116 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: aromantic / asexual

+ his ink vials’ colors represent: green = comfort/safety, yellow = joy/energy, orange = encouragement/creativity, red = wrath/violence, pink = love/care, purple = lust/attraction, blue = sadness/concern, cyan = calm/relaxed + refuses to ever drink his pink or purple vials anymore due to the fact he doesn’t want to mislead people into thinking he cares about them + his tastes change based on what emotions he’s feeling/ink he’s drank

character tag underverse-specific

Pale (by unu-nunu-art/unu-nunium)

Nickname/s: None Date of Birth: May 26th Height: 3′9″ / 116 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: aromantic / asexual

+ clings to people who help him literally only once, because he considers all nice gestures as “Oh, so we’re friends now?” + appreciates any and all physical contact and can get a bit nervous if he’s near someone but can’t hug them + when he absorbs an AU for emotions, he has even more emotions that Ink does, but it’s far more temporary

character tag

Fresh!Ink (by myebi/comyet)

Nickname/s: None Date of Birth: ??? Height: 5′0″ / 152 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: aromantic / asexual

+ is a parasite like Fresh is, but isn’t the same exact one; they exist as separate beings + doesn’t ever really drink ink vials, hence why he’s replaced them with his spray cans entirely, which just contain normal pain + enjoys making large street-art style murals, but never keeps them, so he places them in hugely inconvenient parts of the multiverse just to annoy people

character tag

Error (by loverofpiggies/CrayonQueen) (same headcanons apply to Underverse!Error)

Nickname/s: None Date of Birth: April 4th Height: 5′4″ / 163 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / demisexual

+ doesn’t trust anyone and would rather just dispose of someone before he gets the chance to even try and trust them + has tried to delete his own emotions on several occasions, but concludes he must lose his SOUL to do so, and is too scared he’ll die + lacks logic due to the fact that he’s a glitch in a program, meaning he can no longer create logical conclusions

character tag underverse-specific

Template (by unu-nunu-art/unu-nunium)

Nickname/s: None Date of Birth: April 3rd Height: 4′5″ / 135 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / demisexual

+ constantly does a plethora of redeemable, good things within the multiverse to compensate for the fact he’s an “Error” + tries to be more comfortable with things like hugs in order to further distance himself from Error, despite also having haphephobia. + unlike Error, remembers his past as Geno a lot more vividly

character tag

Ragnartale (by NaomyMikolMaria) (please note I’m a bit behind on this AU)

Nickname/s: Knight Date of Birth: ??? Height: 5′5″ / 165 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: heteroromantic / demisexual

+ doesn’t like using his magic anymore, but can’t exactly remember why it leaves a bad taste in his mouth + actively tries to void out his emotions for others’ sake, as he finds his own life far less valuable + part of him likes being a monster more than a human, because he thinks he looks horrible now and that more people will leave him alone

character tag

Dusttale (by ask-dusttale)

Nickname/s: Dust, Dusty Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: lithromantic / asexual

+ absolutely despises all humans and it wouldn’t be surprising if he tried to kill any on sight + can often be seen talking aloud to “himself,” but he’s actually talking to “Papyrus” + has the same observant skills as Sans and is just as quick on his feet if not faster, however he’s also more rash in his decision-making due to his insanity.

character tag

Fresh (by loverofpiggies/CrayonQueen)

Nickname/s: None Date of Birth: April 20th (pretends it’s April 1st) Height: 6′3″ / 191 cm Gender: genderfluid Pronouns: he/him or they/them Sexuality: aromantic / asexual

+ while he be default doesn’t have any emotions, if for some reason he starts to feel anything, he will reject it immediately, and become incredibly harsh + started dressing in 90′s clothes as a joke, now he enjoys them unironically and has genuinely started watching human 90′s shows + sends memes to Error just to piss him off; his favorite to send is Rick Rolls

character tag

Outertale (by 2mi127)

Nickname/s: Outer Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / asexual

+ because he can see the stars all the time, he’s far more fascinated by the Earth’s sun and atmosphere compared to other Sanses + has had his jacket since he was a kid but just didn’t bother getting rid of it. that and he never outgrew it. sometimes people still think he’s a kid because of it + gets cold easily; his jacket is extremely thick and fuzzy to make up for this

character tag

Altertale (by friisans)

Nickname/s: Guardian Date of Birth: ??? Height: 4′9″ / 145 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: biromantic / demisexual

+ despises his brother so much that he won’t even look in his general direction and will likely burn or destroy anything that reminds him of his brother + appears very calm and collected most of the time, but can easily turn around and be manipulative or angry when least expected + is horrible at keeping watch of the human children because he always teaches them how to exploit things and they use that against him

character tag

Aftertale (by loverofpiggies/CrayonQueen)

Nickname/s: Geno Date of Birth: ??? Height: 5′0″ / 152 cm Gender: demiboy Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: demiromantic / demisexual

+ is really bad at social interaction due to extended isolation and because of that may come off as blunt or rude + if anyone acts friendly around him, especially if they are a more physical kind of person, he will instantly not trust them + seeing spaghetti is a sure way to make him burst into tears, but he’ll pretend he’s not actually crying

character tag

Swapfell (by poptatochisp and community)

Nickname/s: Mal Date of Birth: ??? Height: 5′3″ / 160 cm Gender: cisman Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: panromantic / demisexual

+ doesn’t do well with people who disagree with him. this will cause genuine unintended arguments over the smallest things + very formal in most situations possible, but assumes everyone else should be too + is bad at emotions, just, in general. understanding them, having them, everything

character tag

[lilhawkeye3]

Author interview! I was tagged by @sued134 :) 💕

Name: Hawk / Archie

Fandoms: that I make content for? DC Universe, Marvel, Harry Potter, the Witcher, Game of Thrones/ASOIAF, Star Wars, Doctor Who

Where do you post: FFNet and AO3. “The Villain Wrangler” DC version is also on SpaceBattles and Wattpad.

Most popular one shot: Devil’s Tritone (The Witcher)

Most popular multi-chapter: The Villain Wrangler (DC)

Favorite story written: the Villain Wrangler. I’ve had so many wonderful interactions with people because of it, but it’s most meaningful because I’ve had people tell me their own stories relating to the patients I create in my story (synopsis: kids ask to meet villains for Make-a-Wish). Actually in my last chapter I had a kid die from reaction to anesthesia during operation, and I had two ex-doctors reach out to me to say that they’d seen that happen and thought I did a good job with the topic. Shoot that sounds v depressing but I promise the fic is mostly comedy.

Fic too nervous to post: lmao I post everything I write once I’ve got a chapter finished.

How I choose titles: um. Depends? Some are from the prompts (The Villain Wrangler, Tangled Fate is a rewrite of Tangled, the Witch and the Jedi is about a witch and a Jedi, Drinking Commandos is... Howling Commandos drinking). Others are more vague (Ruby and Gold is Fox and Riyo’s colors but also a Bible verse, my Scorrose fic is scientific terms).

Do I outline: ahahaha no. Hence why my updates are all over the place. (Okay sometimes I have a general idea of where I want to go with it? But not an actual outline).

Complete: uh my one shots and shorter fics are complete. Most are WIPs. I have two that are marked as incomplete but basically are complete (I just might add stuff if I come up with any).

Coming soon: an update for TVW and Ruby and Gold.

In progress: The Villain Wrangler DC and Marvel. The Witch and the Jedi. Love is in the Hair. Tangled Fate. Worried Sick Over You. Ruby and Gold. Save a Speeder. Rise of a Huntress lmao. Drinking Commandos. At Arm’s Length. I’m probably forgetting lots lol.

Prompts: yeah I accept prompts! I have a few I still wanna write and just haven’t had time to yet.

Upcoming work: a Geraskier fic for @spielzeugkaiser . Foxiyo with a twist. James Norrington/OC. Paz/Reader or OC, haven’t decided. Kix/Reader. And a Hermione Black fic. Eventually lmao.

Tagging: @amukmuk @redrobinhoood @catsnkooks and anyone else who wants to👀

[tellmewhatyouc]

Okay, I was tagged but I don't think I got the notification, so sorry for being very late for asking for the WIP game, and as you're dipping in and out of tumblr and mostly writing on SK8, don't worry answering this if you don't have the impetus, but if you do of course I want to know about:

1. fuck it, the law and marco fic

wip file names

hey no worries! my brain has in fact been taken over by the skateboarding anime for the time being but i’m always down to talk about law and marco :3c

i’ve been really vague about it since i’m kind of not entirely sure where it’s headed?? but i basically just wanted to write canon verse marco & law (which like? it seems like they maybe exist in the same space in more recent canon which is cool? but i don’t actually Know). it’s all very self indulgent and i had the idea for a while but decided on impulse to actually start writing it, hence the title

the basic idea is a rescue mission, though i’m still deciding on what exactly caused the need for a rescue. it’s ~2.5k so far and progress is Slow but i’m happy to share the first part since i’ve been sitting on it for so long! keep in mind that it’s a draft so it may not all sound nice or make sense but i mean you can get the general idea-

Breakfast on the Polar Tang could only be described as chaotic. An even distribution of night owls and morning birds made for a wide variety of energies and a whole lot of bickering. Grouchy, overtired people didn’t mix well with the others who had willingly woken up hours prior.

Naturally, Law was in the former group, though he didn’t participate in the bickering. Sometimes, he’d diffuse arguments between members of his crew, but he’d mostly just listen in for entertainment purposes.

“Did you hear about the Whitebeards?”

Law perked up at the question and looked towards the source. Clione had spoken to Uni just a few seats down from Law.

“Yeah, with the Phoenix?” Uni asked. “That’s gotta suck real bad, losing track of your first mate.”

“What about the Phoenix?” Law interjected, causing both heads to turn and face him. The rest of the table’s chatter died down, curious to see what was important enough to grab their captain’s attention.

“Oh, uh… I heard he’s missing,” Clione said. “It was in the paper.”

“Missing?” Law echoed. “I didn’t see anything about that.”

“Today’s paper,” Uni said. “I snagged a copy when we surfaced earlier.” He reached across the table to snatch the newspaper from Shachi’s hands, earning a ‘Hey!’ before he set it down in front of Law. “Said they haven’t seen the guy in weeks.”

Law frowned before he set his fork down and picked up the paper. A few pages in-- he didn’t even make the headline-- there was a short article about Marco the Phoenix of the Whitebeard Pirates. Allegedly, he’d gone on a solo mission a few weeks prior and had yet to return. His crew claimed they hadn’t had any contact with him since he left.

“Bullshit,” Law decided as he dropped the paper back onto the table. “Whitebeard would never let something like this get out.”

“Then... why’s it right there?” Shachi asked, pointing to the photo from Marco’s wanted poster. “Kinda looks like he did let it get out, Captain.”

“It’s a bluff,” Law said. “It makes them look vulnerable. If rival crews see his most powerful man is MIA, they get a false sense of security. And that’s the perfect time for them to strike.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I do wonder what else he’s planning, though.”

“Hey, why haven’t we tried to take him on yet?” Penguin chimed in, already laughing at his own suggestion. “I bet you could at least take the Phoenix. You’d just have to slice off his wings.”

Law shook his head. “I don’t care about Whitebeard. We have other matters to attend to.” He looked down at the picture again, squinting at Marco’s half-transformed state. How did his powers work, exactly? “I wonder, if I did cut his wings off… would he be able to grow them back?”

“Whoa.” Penguin bounced in his seat. “You think so? By that logic, couldn’t you get, like, unlimited body parts from him?”

“He’d be useful for transplants,” Ikkaku chimed in from the other side of the table. She’d spoken into her coffee cup, as if she wasn’t addressing anyone in particular, but Law heard it perfectly.

“That’s a very good point,” Law replied. “A healthy donor who can regrow anything he gives up.”

Ikkaku chuckled. “Sounds like a surgeon’s dream.”

“And that poor guy’s nightmare,” Shachi added. “Captain, please don’t tell me you’re thinking about looking for him.”

Law shook his head. “Oh, no, I’m sure he’s perfectly safe with his crew, and Whitebeard is just spreading lies to throw people off,” he said. “The Phoenix would never join us, anyway. That crew is all about loyalty. I’m sure he’d sooner die for his captain than consider working under someone else.” He paused. “And forcing someone to join my crew against their will isn’t really my style.”

The table went silent. Everyone was staring at Law.

“...What?”

“Nothin’,” Shachi answered quickly. “But, hey, we’ll be sure to let you know if we see any giant flaming birds flying through the sky next time we surface.”

[sweetwritertanya]

Noble Heart

Author’s Note: Hello my darlings! So, after watching Little Women (the new 2019 adaptation, which I’ve been meaning to see for ages), I was more than a little inspired to write something. Although I’m not really well-versed in how things were at such a time and the costums, I am growing an interest for historical or period dramas. Hence, here’s my first attempt at writing something like this. It will be a 3 or 5 parts series with original characters. Also, I will still be using the second person narrative (“you”), but the reader will have a name. Hope you all don’t mind and tell me if you enjoy the story! Not the most creative, but I’ve been having fun writing it.

Summary: Your family has struggled to make ends meet and it was only due to the county’s Duke kindness that you were able to get by. When the old man suddenly passes away, it surprises you to know the title will pass on to his never-seen-before grandson. However, there is a strange condition for the inheritance of the title.

Warning: None. This is mostly exposition and character introduction, the start of the plot. I’m thinking only later parts will have a bit of smut, but those will be tagged later on!

Word Count: 2182

It was a cold summer morning when the news erupted across the county. The Duke of Welsham was struck with sudden illness and had perished overnight. The news of the death of the old widower wouldn’t have been so worrisome if not for the fact that he was the main provider of the town’s wealth, contributing with a lot of his expansive estate to finance growing businesses as well as maintain a controlled tax limit for the land owners and workers.

You read about it in the town’s newspaper, during your daily chore of getting the groceries for your family’s household. The maid accompanying you seemed about as panicked as you felt, as much as you tried not to show it. With a serious expression, frowned eyebrows wrinkling together at the top of the bridge of your nose, you walk back with a fervor in your step.

“Mother, Father, have you heard yet?” You call out as soon as you enter the two-story house, only stopping to take off your hat and continuing deeper into the house with the basket full of provisions against your plush hip. “Does this concern us, Father? The newspaper said the Duke has fall-”

Entering the living room situated before the kitchen, you came to a halt in your speech and step when you noticed everyone in your family sitting tensely around the unlit fireplace. They each raised their eyes at your entrance, apprehension and defeat behind them. You give the basket to the maid and move to sit on the vacant armchair with them, a nervous heart and pressing lips.

“What is it?” you ask in a whisper, knowing full well something must have happened or was about to happen.

“I see you already heard the news, dear” your father’s somber tone of voice declares soundly in the silent room.

“Yes, Father. I fear how it could affect us; we are barely getting by. The Duke’s kind heart was what kept us well fed for so long, Father. What will happen now? Who will carry on the title?” The mention of a successor makes your Mother breath in a heavy breath, your younger sisters looking nervously to the ground, the twitch on your Father’s left cheek. “Are we really in danger? Do you believe they will cut our supplies, let us starve?”

“I believe you do know of the Duke’s only son, don’t you?” Your mother asks of you.

“The one he disowned? It’s been over thirty years since anyone saw him.” You vaguely recalled hearing about it.

“He disowned his son, but not his grandson, sir Augustus. Apparently, he will be the new Duke of Welsham.” As your Mother told you this, with an angry stare away from you, directed at the window, something confused you.

“Mother… How do you know all this? No one in town seemed to have the slightest idea, it’s not even in the newspaper…”

You gulped at the silent stares they cast upon you.

Bad news. It meant really bad news, for you specifically. Which was why you were currently struggling against a corset that the maids were tightening up against your ribs, so much so you could barely breath. The fact that you were boiling furious didn’t help the matter at all either. Your voluptuous frame was being tucked in to the best the garment could, due to the demands of your mother, even if you couldn’t care less about hiding your lumps and rolls.

“Why? Why?! Why the bloody hell do I have to marry the new Duke?! I am not nobility!!” you scream out, holding on to the bed’s footboard as the strings of the corset kept being pulled.

“Your family’s last name carries nobility and therefore, so do you, my lady” the maid struggled to say as she kept tightening the abdominal article around your round frame.

“Why did the old man have to put in such a bizarre condition for his grandson to inherit the title?! And why did it have to be from our family??” you grunt back.

Corset done, the maid helps you slip into the silk dark green dress your mother had prepared for you, the best and most expensive article of clothing you owned.

“From what I heard, the late Duke resented his son for marrying out of nobility and wished for his grandson to do better. And your family, my lady, is the only one in town with nobility in their blood.”

“We are not nobility! My grandfather was an Earl, that’s all! My poor Father couldn’t work anymore because of his injuries, so he refused the title long before I was born!”

“I’m sorry, my lady. The grandson doesn’t seem to think so.”

The idea of marrying a complete stranger repulsed you to no end. The possibility of you escaping with the rest of your family was not completely out of question yet. You were almost certain you could talk your Mother into it. Your Father would be more difficult, he was loyal to the town and did not like any hint of cowardice when it came to our family’s actions. And there was no telling how such expenses could be paid… But surely, to prevent his older daughter to basically be sold out to a man she never met before with the sole purpose of obtaining a higher title, he would make an exception.

“Adela!” your Mother’s exasperated tone brought you back to reality just in time.

Absentminded, you had made it downstairs and were now standing in the living room among your family. Everyone was in their best clothes and composed hairdos. Your Mother twitched her head to the side, signaling for the strange men on the other side of the room.

Two males stood the few feet the room allowed in front of you. One was a person you recognized as a servant of the late Duke, a tall man in his forties or fifties, with a small dark mustache and side burns, skin wrinkling at the side of his grey eyes. You seemed to recall seeing him during the very few times you had gone into the Duke’s property, mainly for the annual party he hosted.

The other man stood tall in the room. With dark chocolate curls slicked back, his oblong face kept a neutral expression as he looked almost right through you with hooded honey colored eyes. A narrowed turned up nose, prominent cheeks, a slightly oversized bottom lip, tan healthy skin and fit body with two small beauty marks under his left eye, there was no denying the man was to be considered attractive. His demeanor, however, left a lot to polish.

“Adela! Courtesy!” you Mother angrily whispered under her breath next to you, one hand coming around to pinch you, but the layers of clothing making you unable to feel it.

Having the town’s next Duke standing in the same room as you, your entire family depending on you, made all of it so real. Your deep scorching anger suddenly turned into paralyzing fear at what was about to happen. Your eyes moved from your mother to the man in question and you saw this as your last opportunity before news spread around.

“My apologies, your Grace, but you must find another suiter for your marriage. I do not agree with any of this” you state as you finish the asked for bow.

Ignoring the interjections and exclamations from your family and the maids, you gather most of the dress you can in your hands and quickly step away into the house’s backyard, searching for some piece and quiet to calm your racing heart and jumbled mind.

You felt like your throat was constricted, making it so hard to breathe. Unable to stand it anymore, you do your best to undo the strings at your back, shaky hands raging against the corset as you take it out and start to pull your dress back up. You took several deep breaths once the awful garment was out, starting to feel better.

“Lady Adela.”

Gasping loudly, you suddenly turn around 180 degrees and come face to face with the cause of your anxiety. He now seemed to look at you properly, rather than just through you like before.

“Your Grace” you sigh as you try to remain calm.

“I believe the reasons surrounding this matrimony were explained to you, yes?” He inquires as he looks around the small backyard, where your family had a few plantations growing, with the intent of saving the cost of buying food you could grow yourself.

“They were, yes. But I must persist, I have no intention of marrying you, your Grace.” In hopes your family could find forgiveness despite your absolute refusal, you tried to maintain a civil relationship with the men. Maybe he had inherited his grandfather’s kind heart.

“I believe that would mean very bad news for your family, my lady. If I was correctly informed, your father is unable to work and he only had daughters.” Your hopes crashed to the ground at his cold words. But your fury burned.

“I will work myself, if I have to” you adamantly told him.

The man smirks as he returns his gaze to your stout person.

“Would you rather work, than become a Duchess?”

“If I must marry someone I don’t know and don’t love, then yes.” You fold your arms under your chest determinedly, frowning heavily at him.

You notice how his eyes squint just a bit at that and he returns his gaze to the horizon to your right, lips pressed together as you both stay silent for a moment. Cold wind blows and serves to cool down your anger for now. But not for long, not when the man decided to open his mouth again, not even caring to look at you as he does so.

“You must be a pretty selfish daughter and sister, putting your own happiness before that of your family members.”

“Sir, you do not know me at all to speak such a thing!” you bark at him with tight closed fists dropping to your sides.

“Prove me wrong, then. Marry me, if just on paper, and I will take the most upper care of you and your family.” He rotated his body back to you and his honey eyes are filled with challenge, as if daring you to deny him again.

“You must be pretty desperate for your grandfather’s title if you’re willing to marry a woman that not only have you never met, but who is also undeniably unwilling to wed you.” You reciprocate the feeling he had casted on you.

“I never stated otherwise.” He simply declares, seemingly not at the least offended.

Annoyed, you huff and cross your arms again, turning your back on him and stepping heavily around the floor.

“Why? Why me? Just go and marry a noble woman from the next town over! Why do you persist on marrying me?”

“It is the most advantageable marriage. Marrying someone of the town will give me the people’s favor and respect. I hear your family is all well liked around here.”

“I despise anyone who treats marriage as a business transaction, talking of advantages and disadvantages like you were only discussing a piece of land” you whisper tiredly, taking your hands to massage your temples as you felt a headache approaching. You wondered why you were still carrying on this conversation. All you wanted was to turn around, get back inside and close yourself in your room until it all went away.

“Most marriages are, indeed. Do you feel it would be different if you were to marry someone else? Would you feel better if you had known me for years, even if the marital contract is, in itself, exactly the same?”

“At least I would have known who I was swearing to spend the rest of my life with. There would be a courtship, there would be feelings involved.” You explain to the air, refusing to look at such a stubborn and insufferable men.

“Who says there won’t be in this case?”

You halt your feet and slowly turn back, suspicion behind your eyes as you raise them to his. The man then moves his feet and in three strides he is right in front of you, only maybe a feet away, bending down to level his stare with yours, even as you lean back, away from him. He was still uncomfortably close and you could smell the eucalypti musky scent emanating from him.  

“The courtship, getting to know each other, feelings… We would only be switching the order, marrying first and doing those later. So, Lady Adela, in light of your hesitance, I will give you two more days to think about it. Do come and tell me of your decision before the end of the week. I shall be awaiting you, then.”

And with that, he straightens up, bows his head slightly as a goodbye gesture and leaves back into the house, leaving you muddled and stunned in your own backyard.