#hmmm i just realized maybe you had meant you wanted the headcanons to be with both of them as a poly relationship or smthn o.o

[ffxvhoe]

im jumpin on this male s/o bandwagon before its too late. may i have some hcs on prompto and noctis shenanigans with a male s/o? maybe drunk escapades or silly rough-housing

no need to worry bb i’m always up for doing male s/o requests!! ya’ll just need to specify so i know whatcha want ;) anyway i hope you enjoyyyyyy

Noctis

Okay so like it really isn’t all that often that noct drinks but almost every time he does he’ll end up drunk ((not bc he’s a lightweight more bc he enjoys bein able to let go and the feeling of it))

honestly there’s no particular reason he just doesn’t like alcohol like if he’s gonna put something that burns in his body he may as well just eat his veggies so at least he’s bein healthy lmao

but on occasion he will have a couple of cold ones with the bois

or ehem…his boy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

when noct gets drunk with his bf he’ll tend to let loose a lot more than he may with the other guys around

like as much as he trusts the guys, there’s still some things that he would prefer to not do in front of them ya know??

like spill his guts about how much he loves you but ANYWAY

no but fr there was an Instance™ once before and to this day the guys won’t let him live it down

“who ever thought the prince was such a softie?”

“noct we really don’t need to hear about your bedroom preferences”

“did _____ appreciate the manscaping?” noctis could still see the smug look on gladio’s face >.>

so ye when noct is in a drunken stupor with you the night’s aren’t exactly crazy but there is a lot of touching ((sometimes innocent sometimes not so innocent)) and a lot of slurred love confessions

lowkey that’s how noct first told you he loved you but that whole story is to be saved for another day

noct also has a small tendency to strip when he’s drunk so uhhhhh hey more royal bod for you to ogle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

there has been a few times where noct dares you to let him point warp you places 

the first time you were inebriated enough where you didn’t question it as much as you probably should have lmao 

when he took you to the top of the citadel tho you kinda came back to reality but didn’t quite have enough time to tell him uh bro my buddy my dude my babe let’s maybe not

bc as soon as you were up there a shirtless noct grabbed you around the waist and had you standing on the next rooftop over

it was a very tarzan-esque moment

that was also the first night ya’ll fucked outside of the bedroom bless up

so yeah all in all when you and noct end up drunk together it’s less crazy and fun escapades and more noct becoming way more daring than is probs safe and you being lucky enough to join him on that ride ((and the other “rides” that follow ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ))

Prompto

PROMPTO on the other hand is 110% the type of person that’ll drag you along throughout the city at night on random adventures when he’s drunk

like noct he doesn’t really drink all that much 

probably even less so than noct tbh, something about the alcohol does funny stuff to his stomach so he’s learned he’s better off only having a bottle or two ((or glass, sometimes he likes a fruity drink too))

there have been a few notable experiences you’ve had with a drunken prompto

the first one you honestly don’t remember much of all you do remember is that you had started the night just outside of the Crown City and somehow ended up on the beach of Galdin Quay with five chocobos sleeping around ya’ll

the thing that made it the most memorable was the fact that when prompto woke up he wasn’t surprised by the fact ya’ll were in Galdin Quay but by the fact there were three extra chocobos

not that he was complainin lmao 

another memory you remember quite fondly was when you two happened upon a hole in the wall bar and proceeded to take a tour around the city while tipsy

there’s several pics on prompto’s phone documenting that night and he claims that those are some of the best photos he’s ever taken even if literally all of the damn photos are blurry as hell

that’s the thing about prom tho he won’t take his camera around with him if he’s about to get drunk – too risky – so whenever ya’ll do go on your drunken adventures the photos are on his phone

the one time that prompto ended up super drunk well…that was the first time ya’ll went skinny dipping together

in the royal pool 

noctis to this day does not know about this

prompto plans to keep it this way

but that doesn’t stop him from goofily wigging his eyebrows whenever you’re around and noctis mentions it

anyway, sloppy make outs happened, some dick sucking may or may not have happened, ya’ll may or may not have lost some clothing when running from a guard that came patrolling thru the building

there were many things that may or may not have happened and not bc you didn’t remember but bc it was much better to play dumb than to admit to some of the shenanigans that happened that particular night >.>

[shoichee]

how would atsushi, akashi and aomine react to haizaki threatening/hitting on their s/o?? (cue that one scene where he was literally taking on himuro, kagami, kise, and alex all at once 😡... basically that, but with their s/o)

ANON…. THOSE 3???? LONG STORY SHORT…. HAIZAKI EXPERIENCES DEATH (OR AT LEAST NEAR-DEATH) 3 SEPARATE TIMES…… BUT HERE’S THE “LONG STORY” THROUGH THESE HCs 

TW: attempt of physical assault, unwanted advancements… asshole Haizaki? cut under this to keep y’all safe JUST IN CASE

[Headcanons]

Aomine Daiki

you went out to look for Aomine after noticing how he hasn’t come back to his seat for too long

this was shortly after Kaijō defeated Fukuda Sōgō, and it was currently intermission before the next match rolled in

your face was met with crisp air as your eyes adjusted to the dark, scanning for any sign of your boyfriend

upon seeing no one, you decided to walk around the perimeter, just in case Aomine decided to nap for a quick moment on a whim and forgot to tell you

maybe you shouldn’t have walked out alone and in the dark of night, but you figured that in such a public event in a public area, you didn’t think anyone had the balls to start anything fishy around the stadium

oh how you were so wrong

you unfortunately bumped into Haizaki right when he was slowly strolling with his basketball shoes over his shoulder, and you immediately stopped in place, praying that he would walk past by you or perhaps not even see you

you knew that he wasn’t good news based from what Aomine told you and from watching that unpleasant game… he was bad, bad news

why did you think he wasn’t gonna see you? his senses are as sharp as a falcon, scrutinizing you before he realizes your identity

“Oh? Now what��s a pretty little thing like you doing out here… all alone?”

“I, um, I was looking for someone, but I realized it’s been getting a little too late… I think they returned back to the stadium, so that’s where I’m heading…”

your voice slowly diminishes to a soft whisper by the end, but judging from his widened eyes from glee, you knew he wasn’t going to walk past by you after this

“That so?” he drawls, licking his thumb. “The stadium ya say?”

something about his gaze turned sharp and dangerous, “the stadium” triggering unadulterated rage and frustration from the game and from his encounter with Aomine

“I… I really gotta leave,” you say in a hurry, quickly backing up. “Th-They’re impatient, so—”

“Huh?” he mocks, leaning closer to you. “I’m kinda of an impatient guy myself, yeah?” but upon even closer inspection, he realizes that he’s seen you somewhere very recently

“Hm?” he muses lowly. “Weren’t ya sitting with Daiki that game?” when you don't answer out of fear, his eyes merely shine with excitement… “Ohhhh… is that how it is?”

. . .

Aomine returns back to his seat after settling a score with Haizaki outside the stadium, but immediately becomes confused when he sees your seat empty

Sakurai immediately apologizes and quickly informs him that you went out to look for him, and Aomine immediately dashes back out… after all, who knows if you got lost in the dark or if you kept being persistent in looking for him?

imagine his visible distress when he sees Haizaki putting an arm around your shoulder while still holding his shoes and you looking absolutely fearful because you knew what he was capable of

this was a very rare moment where Aomine was not so calm and collected

but he tries to, especially when he knows that Haizaki probably relishes in the fact of “getting revenge” for that punch earlier (and probably realized the connection between you and Aomine to do so)

“Hey, asshat,” he calls out, grabbing Haizaki’s attention away from you, but Aomine notices him pulling you slightly closer to his body. “The fuck you think you’re doing with (y/n)?”

“Hehh? So (y/n)’s your name?” Haizaki merely pays attention to you, completely ignoring Aomine

“Back off,” he says lowly, almost to a growl. “I won’t be holding myself back to just a punch this time if you do anything else.”

at his hardened glare, Haizaki does a gleeful mock-surprise expression before putting his arm off of you and says: “Whoaaa there, Daiki. Never pegged you as that typa guy.”

he licks his thumb before walking away casually without a care in the world before calling out, “It ain’t fun here anymore, I’m bouncin’ out.”

by the time he leaves Aomine’s field of vision, he finally releases a pent-up sigh before calling out your name:

“... Come’ere… he didn’t do anythin’ to you right? Sheesh, I leave you alone for one second—alright, alright I guess it was more than a second… fine, it was several minutes… look, I’m sorry… okay, okay quit lecturing me… more importantly, promise me you don’t go out alone like that. It’s dangerous out there, y’know.”

when you finally ask about what he meant by his threat to Haizaki, he smugly replies, “Aw, that? I gave him a hard sock earlier. Went down pretty easily.”

Murasakibara Atsushi

it’s quite rare that Murasakibara would agree to going to Tokyo temporarily over break, let alone leave his house, but here you two are, resting on the park benches in Tokyo

shortly after, you went to the nearest arcade hall, begging and tugging him along with you to try the strength test for the jackpot prize (totally using his physique to nab home prizes and merch LOL)

he only agreed because you looked way too excited for him to turn the plan down

he still enjoyed himself, if he was being honest; it’s just you, him, his snacks, and some games you both are playing together

Murasakibara notices that the arcade also has a mini food court to the side, and he immediately pouts at you to let him go tasting galore on a food binge

and you laugh, telling him to “hurry up” to tease him and letting him know that you were staying here to try to earn more points to exchange for rewards at the end

you entered a coin into the slot and hummed before seeing a START screen, but as soon as it went black into a loading screen you saw someone’s reflection on it

Haizaki was right behind you

“Whaddya know? Would ya look at that?” he says, hands in his pockets while sneering. “If it isn’t (y/n).”

you merely pretended that you didn’t hear him, considering that the arcade was pretty crowded and noisy, and went on to playing the game in front of you

you hoped that by the time you were done with the round, he’d be gone, but his reflection was very much still there on the arcade machine screen, depicting his laid-back posture against the back of another arcade machine, watching you with complete amusement

after spending all the available coins on hand and still sensing him behind you, you promptly turned to your left to head for the coin machine and acted completely casual, but before you got too far ahead, Haizaki easily blocks your path with an outstretched arm, the hand against the arcade machine

“Whoaaa,” he drawls. “That’s pretty fucked up for you to ignore me like that.”

“... You’re blocking the way, so can you please kindly let me pass?” you flatly say, not bothering to look at his face

“What’s with the cold shoulder?” He tilts his head with a crazed look in his eyes that spelled unpredictability. “I just came and stopped by to say hello to an old friend from Teiko. Nothin’ wrong with that, hm?”

“Look,” you sigh. “You’re in the way, and I wish to spend my time here left alone. No, I’m not interested in small talk. No, I’m not in the mood for a bite with you. No, I don’t want to give you my number. Did I address everything?” you finally turned your face to look at Haizaki, but his face contorts to one of a dangerous beast

“Good, good…” he slowly says. “You haven’t changed one bit, haven’t ya? I was wonderin’ where that feisty side of yours went.”

perhaps you shouldn’t have spoken up after all; it only riled him up more

before you can formulate any further thoughts, he grabs your chin and directed it towards him, and you immediately froze up

you tried to dart your eyes around you if anyone noticed, but no one seems to pay attention

“What’s the matter?” he asks. “Cat got ya tongue?” when he looks to where your gaze was at, he chuckles before drawing closer to your face. “No one’s gonna help… not when they think we’re a little thing…”

but he instantly feels a heavy hand on his shoulder, and Haizaki turns around, ready to cuss the perpetrator out, but his eyes widen when he sees a furious Murasakibara

a giant with a very, very hostile aura… even nearby crowds dispersed out of fear for their safety

“Hands off of (y/n)-chin, pest.”

“Oho?” Haizaki releases your face and completely turns around to face him. “Well if it isn’t Atsushi… been a while hasn’t it?” he brings up a hand in a shrugging motion. “While I’d love to chat, I’m busy. Scram.”

“Touch (y/n)-chin again, and I’ll break all of your fingers.”

“Huh?” Haizaki licks his right thumb. “What’s up with ya? It’s non’ya business.”

you took this as an opportunity to run to Murasakibara’s side and seek shelter behind his back, which Haizaki raises a defiant brow

“Hmmm?” he smiles a slow smirk. “Was I really such bad company, (y/n)?”

his smile was completely wiped when he sees Murasakibara’s outstretched hand towards his head, and he deftly dodges his grasp before he walks off with a scoff

“I’m gonna crush him—”

“W-Wait! Just leave him be…” you held onto his torso in a full-attempt to stop him from going too far, and after a few moments, he relaxes with body and finally turns to face you

he doesn’t say anything but darts his eyes all over your figure to make sure there weren’t any injuries on you

he gently holds your hand before he tugs you to follow him to the food court

“Murasakibara…?”

“... You won’t be separated from me if we hold hands, (y/n)-chin.”

“I’m fine, you know.”

he doesn’t say anything more, and when you both settled into your table with your orders, he’s constantly staring at you and giving nonverbal cues that he wants to do PDA with you

becomes very protective and affectionate of you for the rest of the trip

grows very quiet and deep in thought until you reassure him that you were okay because of him stepping in to save you

Akashi Seijuro

it’d be extremely rare for you to ever bump into Haizaki, especially when the only chance you can see him is during the annual Winter Cup

Winter Cup arrives once again with the GoMs being 2nd years this time, and Akashi is still the same Oreshi ever since last Winter Cup

Haizaki definitely had seen you walking with Akashi very closely before the opening ceremony started, and it gave him ideas on how to “get back” against Akashi without directly confronting him

he was gonna mess with you

even after all those years, he still has that grudge against Akashi; the fact that he is one of the few people who has that power over him irritates him to no end

even when Akashi told Haizaki to quit long ago to help him save face, his pride was still heavily bruised

when he was sure Akashi wasn’t with you, he approached you while you were waiting outside the stadium

. . .

Akashi exits out of the locker rooms and carries his duffel bag before he heads to the entrance to greet you, excited in reuniting with you to talk about today’s games and your opinion on Rakuzan’s performance… that is, until what he saw made him beyond furious

“O-Ow…!”

“If ya want someone to blame for,” Haizaki sneers. “Ya can thank Akashi for messin’ with me, yeah? Don’t take it too hard babe, but I’m just returnin’ the favor… by proxy.”

Akashi strides over to the two of you with the intensity of death that would even surprise Bokushi himself

“Haizaki.”

at the sound of his eerily calm voice, Haizaki turns over to Akashi, and his glee is immediately wiped off his face and replaced with one of anger… and hidden fear

he suddenly drops you from his chokehold, and as you hit the ground, coughing to intake air, he turns to Akashi with a vengeful look

after a suffocating staredown between the two, Haizaki tuts and turns to leave in unspoken defeat, knowing full well the consequences from defying against Akashi; it’s something he never did in Teiko and certainly not something he would risk doing now

Akashi immediately drops his cold facade and rushes over to your side, rubbing your back and examining the slight bruises on your neck

his HIGHEST priority at that very moment was your safety, and he decided to take you to a doctor and then to your home, opting to cancelling/rescheduling any plans for today despite your objections

all the while, he coos softly at you and touches you with such care and gentleness that you managed to calm your heartbeat from that sudden attempt of assault

as soon as he feels like you’re safe, mentally and physically (and probably in a safe environment with either a GoM or at your own home), he reveals his true emotions on his face regarding the incident for the first time when he’s alone

being super considerate about your current mental state, he didn’t want to potentially scare you even more with his anger and much more negative emotions

for the first time, he allows his darker thoughts to simmer and stir… it’s one of those rare times where he wishes that Bokushi still existed within him

he eventually finds time to pay a visit to Fukuda Sōgō… to make nice… threats conversation

if you somehow figured out that he was going to do that, only when you convinced him is when he’ll decide to back down

but that’s only IF you figured out about how Akashi really felt about this…

[hee4won]

hate(d) | nishimura riki x reader

requested by @onionhaseyeo i’m so sorry if this isn’t what you wanted but for some reason i got super excited

a/n: this is my first time writing a fic(?) i guess it could be considered.. i just had an idea i liked for the request and it felt more like a fic than a headcanon :] i hope it’s not too bad !

word count: 2.1k

warnings: probably some grammatical errors, other than that none. (lowercase intended)

tags: e2l, slight angst, slight fluff

you hate nishimura riki. when you tell others how you feel about him they always have the same unoriginal response, “hate is such a strong word.” and that, is exactly why you chose it. 

now, in order to really understand why your hatred runs so deep, let’s get into the Three W’s! WHY do you hate him so much? he stole your best friend, she ended up developing feelings for him and ghosting you, she moved away, he never apologized for it. WHEN did you realize nishimura riki was the worst thing to ever happen to you? 7th grade, it’s always 7th grade. WHERE did the beginning of the end commence? the cafeteria, your friend decided to spill her guts out in front of the whole lunch table, only to be humiliated not long after. 

there you sat, glaring at the back of riki’s head. anyone from a mile away could sense your distaste when it came to him. truth be told, no one could understand why, and you never cared to explain. you figured the situation between the two of you or - just you and an unknowing boy -  was personal and should be kept private. you were really good at keeping it a secret too, so good that riki himself couldn’t pinpoint the issue you had with him. 

for the most part you did your best to avoid him, whether it be physically or when he was brought up in conversation between classmates. ni-ki, as people on good terms with him would address him, was a really friendly student. he didn’t pick fights, kept his teasing to a minimum, and somehow got good grades despite sleeping in and skipping classes. 

going to school knowing his sweet, smiling face would be one of the first things you would see in the morning was what kept you in bed during first period. just the idea of him was revolting, and you simply weren’t strong enough to hold your ground right after waking up.

that was until your first period teacher emailed you letting you know a group project was coming up and it counted as 60% of your overall grade. all you could do was send a friendly reply, close the laptop, and scream into your pillow. you were going to be seeing nishimura riki for the first time in almost a month. which you considered to be the best month of your life.

you were alert all morning, barely getting any sleep the night before from how nervous you were. it actually wasn’t as bad as you thought. you were late, which meant everyone already picked who they were going to group with. and, to your luck, riki was nowhere to be foun-

*bump*

“oh my gosh, i am so sorry. . . y/n?” sigh, of course it had to be him. you flashed a limp smile and hurried over to an empty seat. you noticed his hand go forward then drop down to his side, almost like he was trying to bring you back. “oh! ni-ki,” even the teacher knows his nickname? how wonderful. “what perfect timing, you and y/n will be partners for the project, i’ll send the rubric out this afternoon. class dismissed!”

your legs were like jelly, since when did you become this way? sure, you hate him but. . . not being able to move? it was different, it was new. riki noticed the look of confusion on your face and cautiously made his way over to you once all the other students cleared the classroom. “hey, y/n. i haven’t seen you in a while, have you been doing alright?” why on earth was he concerned about you? so shameless.

“yeah, i’m fine, thanks,” you glared at him while standing up and purposefully bumping into his shoulder. bad move. your knees gave out right then, luckily, riki held onto you before you could hit the cold floor. you sighed in defeat, today just wasn’t your day, and mister nishimura just wasn’t the person you wanted to be this close to.

“do you need something? or is there another reason you won’t let go of my arm,” every word had a hint of poison mixed in it. riki muttered a small apology and quickly released you. “i just wanted to let you know that we can work on the project at my place, only if you want,” he gave a boxy closed-mouth smile, almost as if he was trying to act cute. disgusting.

“whatever, give me your address and i’ll come by at 4.” and with that, you two went your separate ways.

after school

as you made your way to riki’s house, you were running over every possible scenario that could occur. you wanted to avoid arguing, only because you took your grades very seriously. but does he? you couldn’t help but feel nervous and slightly jittery as you got closer to his front steps. oh! the door is open. but. . . no riki?

you called out for him a couple times until hearing laughter and the crunching of chips coming down from the second floor. of course, he’s playing the game. trudging up the stairs you wiped off your sweaty palms, mentally preparing yourself before inviting yourself into his room.

“sunghoon, shut up! it’s not even like that, you’re so weird,” he was so loud. “jake, you too! as if you haven’t been trying to swoon that girl in your third period for the past two months now. haha!” well, boys will be boys.

you open the door and riki notices immediately. he throws his headset and controller down to the floor. “y/n, you scared me,” he was almost out of breath. “oh my bad, i called out for you but you didn’t hear me so. . .” you fiddled with your fingers awkwardly. riki muttered a quick, “it’s okay” and gestured for you to take a seat on his bed.

picking up his headset, he told the cheeky upper-class boys that he would talk to them later. grabbing his supplies and computer, he took a seat next to you. you shifted away from him a little, not comfortable with the closeness between the two of you. he didn’t seem to notice, that or he just didn’t care.

“okay, so, have you already looked over the rubric?” crickets. “helloo, earth to y/n! have you checked the rubric yet?” “OH! yes, i have, ha,” you gave a quick reply, trying to pretend the awkward moment of you staring at him never happened.

ha? are you insane? you were nervous yes, and you thought it was because of the bad terms you two were on but. . . this nervousness felt a bit different.

“i also wrote up a quick outline during lunch,” you took the paper out of your bag and moved to hand it to him. “ooh nice, you’re such a scholar,” you gave him a lighthearted “shut up” before looking back at your laptop.

did he feel that? your fingers touched. they did touch, right? you can’t be imagining all of this. Y/N. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU HATE HIM, REMEMBER?

“uh, y/n? why do you look like you’ve been holding in a wet fart for the past three minutes?” he was being playful while also holding genuine concern because of your recent actions. your jaw drops, you were always bad at keeping a poker face. but you knew you had to go back to your cold state, there was no way you were going to finish the project by gawking at him. he has such pretty lips by the way, how did you not notice sooner?

it had been a few hours since you guys started working on the project. you checked the time, 8:00 pm. “hey, riki,” you began with a small yawn. “y/n, you know you can call me ni-ki, right? that’s what all my friends call me,” his eyes suddenly widened noticing your discomfort. “wait, i mean. . . only if you want to!”

you cleared your throat and just asked for the bathroom. once inside and closing the door behind you, you felt the need to cry. sob, even. what is going on? why do you feel so bad for being around him? are you a traitor? is it wrong to be laughing and giggling like the two of you are besties?

you turned the water on, hoping it would drown out the sound of your muffled cries. unfortunately, you have some awfully loud sniffles. riki came running to where you were and knocked on the door. he spoke softly, “y/n? are you okay? can i come in?” what was the point in saying no? it is his house, and maybe if you told him. . . you’d feel better.

as you opened the door and looked up at him, the look of worry on his face made your heart ache. gosh, why do you care about him so much? he looked at your tear stained face and slowly reached out his hand, giving you a look that pleaded for your approval. you pass a small nod, and almost sank into the warmth of his hand on your cheek. he pulled you in for a hug as you cried for a little while longer. “do you wanna talk about it?”

here it was, here was the chance to let him know what you’ve been wanting to since 7th grade. you took a moment to steady your breathing and gather courage to look him in the eyes. you told him everything, from the beginning of 7th grade, to the day it all happened, all the way to where the two of you stood now.

he just sat there, probably trying to process everything you had randomly dumped on him. you were about to apologize and pack your things, but for some odd reason, he smiled? “ni-ki? what’s so funny? i was being serious,” his smile only grew bigger, “no i know, i just find it so funny how you had so much agaisnt me meanwhile i just wanted you to like me.”

he?? wanted you to like him??? hmmm. “what do you mean. . . wanted me to like you?” you were really curious, “i’ve had a crush on you since 7th grade, that’s why i rejected your friend later on. i never knew it would hurt you in the process, and for that i am sorry. very sorry.” you let out a small chuckle, “it’s not your fault, really. now that i’m older i think i was only mad that you two didn’t end up together because i liked you too. i just couldn’t live with myself for liking the same boy my best friend liked. it’s stupid, i know.”

riki reached out for your hand, which you obviously let him have. “you’re a good friend.” he flashed you a sweet and caring smile. you let out a sigh of relief, it felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. all this time you had been pushing for yourself to hate him, while it was all just a plot to get rid of your feelings for him. crazy.

it was 11:00 pm.

you and riki had already finished the project and were laying on his floor. the both of you just staring at the ceiling and stealing glances at each other. what lovesick little kids.

after noticing the time, you hopped up and told him you really needed to go. he gave you a small pout with puppy eyes trying to get you to stay, and of course, it was hard but you’d rather leave now and see him later than get grounded and not see him for another month. “i can just text you, don’t make that face.”

he escorted you down the stairs, both of you moving discreetly, careful not to wake the boy’s parents. he opened the door for you and you turned around, gazing at him. “what are you thinking?” he asked with a tired smile on his face and small pieces of fluffy hair sticking up in every direction. you gave a shy smile and pecked his lips. he was very surprised, but also very happy.

“nothing.” you said, holding a cheeky grin in an attempt to hide your shyness. “wow, just to think that you hate my guts,” riki poked fun at you.

“hm, hate is such a strong word.”

“what would you call it then?”

“i would say. . . i hate(d) you. past tense.”

the two of you just laughed, both of you yawning shortly after.

“goodnight, mr. ni-ki.”

“goodnight, y/n.”

and with that, the two of you went your separate ways. but this time, with mutual feelings.

oh and btw, the project got you guys an A+ ;).

[erzaguin]

Huntmira Week Day 5/6/7: Masquerade/First Kiss/Favorite Headcanon

Intro

“Welcome one and all to the Emperor’s Coven celebration of the fast approaching day of unity! Emperor Bolos has graciously opened his home to all of you for a masquerade ball! Now come in and celebrate with us!” 

Once the announcer's speech was over the gates to the Emperor’s Coven were open to the select few that had been invited to the ball. Only the most high tear residents of the Boiling Isles had been granted the honor of attending the event. 

“Alright you three I want everyone to be on their best behavior, only the most elite were invited to this event so we should take advantage of this opportunity to make new connections.¨ said Odalia as she scanned the room for potential targets. ¨These masks will make things a bit more difficult but itś nothing we can't handle.¨

“You two know what you need to do right?” asked Odalia while holding on to her husband's arm to keep him from running off on his own. The man is a genius when it comes to inventing new products but he needs a bit of help when it comes to socializing. A skill that is essential to growing their business.

“Yes mother” responded the twins in unison giving her their best smiles. 

“Good now go mingle” she said as she started pulling her husband along with her towards an unsuspecting group of potential clients. 

While their younger sister was charged with testing and showing off Blight industry products the twins were tasked with being the faces of the company. They were meant to one day take over their mother's role as promoters of the family business. She knew that the twins were more than capable at speaking with clients and investors which is why she always kept them on the forefront during social events. They were naturally charismatic and had inherited her quick witts. One day they would be the ones running the company so it was important they build strong business relations. 

Twins

 “So what do you think?” asked Edric as he squinted in an attempt to survey the room. He needed glasses but he never wore them in front of others. The only times he used them was when he was home alone doing homework. 

They were already drawing a lot of attention. Though this was intentional Odalia liked for all of them to stand out in these types of events. Making a lasting impression was good for business. 

Emira was wearing a big beautiful off the shoulder golden gown with emerald detailings with her hair done up in a bun wearing a mask that matched her dress. Edric who was standing next to her was wearing a suit similar in design to his sisters with a matching mask.  Even in a room filled with extravagant attire the two still stood out.

“You heard what mother said we have to mingle. See anyone we know?” responded Emira while she scanned the faces of the people starting to make their way to them. 

“Nope I can’t tell who anyone is with all these flamboyant outfits. Want to just hit the obdurves table?” 

“Amity is lucky she didn't have to come. She gets to hang out with her girlfriend while we get to mingle with business partners” mumbled Emira to herself. 

“I see you’re mad you don’t get to see your boyfriend today” said Edric without thinking. Emira had still not fully forgiven him for ruining the first time she and Hunter met outside the library. “I mean uh yeah today is when you would normally go meet up with Hunter right?” he added in a panicked tone. The look on Emira’s face made him regret bringing up the subject.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve already told you we are just friends. Besides, we haven’t spoken since that day at the carnival.” noted Emira in a grim tone. 

“I’m really sorry Em I really messed things up between you guys” apologized Edric feeling genuinely remorseful. Emira had helped him find a partner and he had ruined her relationship with the first boy she liked. 

“Like I said there was never anything between us. Let’s just go, come on.” mumbled Emira as she started to make her way to the obvdorbes table with Edric quick behind her heels. 

It was true there wasn't anything between her and the Hunter. They were just friends if you could call them that. Even though they had been spending a lot of time together for a few months now Emira was not sure how Hunter saw her. They had never spent any time together outside of the library. He never spoke about himself to her all Emira knew was that Hunter was raised by his uncle but he wouldn’t say more than that. Most of the time he acted like he didn’t want her there. 

It was her own fault. She knew better. The number one rule that has been drilled into all three siblings is do not get attached. The moment you get attached to something you lose. But I had been sure it would be different with Hunter. It was different with him. They would spend the days they weren’t together sending messages to one another. Or at least they had until that day at the carnival. It had already been a week since then and Hunter had still not spoken to her. The only message he had sent her after the carnival just said one word. 

“I know Ed blames himself and at first I blamed him too but I know it’s not his fault. I was the one that fantacied there was something there when there obviously wasn’t. Live and learn right? At least it ended before it started. I just wish he would have said something instead of just ghosting me. I thought that at the very least the time we had spent together would have earned me that much.  Who knows maybe I’ll meet someone here? One thing's for sure next time around I won’t be making the same mistake again.” thought Emira to herself as she kept moving forward.  

Hunter

"She's pretty" noted Emperor Belos from his throne to Hunter who was standing next to him.

"Huh? Who?" Question Hunter puzzled by his uncle's words. He had never heard Emperor Belos refer to anyone as pretty or even note a person’s appearance. It somehow felt wrong coming from him, especially while he was wearing his mask. 

"The girl you've been staring at all evening" teased Emperor Belos who was now looking directly at him. 

Hunter had never been so happy to be wearing his helmet as it shielded his burning face from his uncle. "No I wasn't… I was scanning the room for threats… yeah threats'' sputtered Hunter as he panicked at the sudden accusation.  His uncle had no idea of the secret meetups he had been having with Emira over the past few months and Hunter prefered to keep it that way. 

“Ah yes that young lady does certainly look very threatening.” mused Belos looking back in the direction of the. “ Is she? She’s the eldest Blight girl right? That’s her brother next to her. Hmmm looks like she doesn't have a date. You know you should ask her for a dance. That way you can put your suspicions to rest.”  said Belos as he leaned in towards Hunter so only he could hear him. 

Although he knew it was impossible Hunter was afraid that his uncle was able to see how red his face had become through his mask or that he could hear the beating of his heart which sounded like drums playing to him. He was at a complete loss of words at his sudden brashness. “...I … no I have to stay close incase of trouble.” managed Hunter. Belos gave a light chuckle before putting a hand on Hunter’s shoulder and giving him a slight push forward. “Go have fun, this is a celebration after all. And don’t worry about me, I think I can manage without you for the duration of a dance or two.” he jested in a warm tone. 

Hunter stumbled forward before taking a look back at his uncle who was gesturing for him to go. This was not like him at all although they had never been in a situation where Hunter could actually socialize with people that were not in the coven or direct followers of Emperor Belos. It still felt wrong. 

“That’s an order, go have fun.” added Emperor Belos in a more authoritative tone but Hunter could still hear the smile behind his mask. “Besides, we need someone that represents me to interact with our guests. Who better than my right hand man?” he added in a more relaxed tone. 

Hunter took in his uncle's words before responding “Yes Emperor Belos”as he gave a bow in the direction of his uncle. He then turned around and started making his way through the crowd in the direction of Emira.  

Twins

Edric noticed him first. It was the Golden Guard making his way straight to them ignoring everyone that tried to make conversation with him. “He must be mad,” whispered Edric to his sister. 

“Who?” said Emira looking around for the source of her brother's concern but it did not take her long to realize who it was. 

“Hey Ed, did you do something to the Golden Guard without telling me?’ asked Emira while raising an eyebrow at her brother. 

“I was going to ask you the same thing” responded Edric. “What do you think he wants?”

“He probably wants to talk business since the Emperor practically owns Blight Industries now. Although that doesn’t explain why he would want to talk to us.” pondered Emira. 

“Maybe he would rather talk to us than mom.” offered Edric. 

“Well mom did say to mingle. Who knows maybe we can get on his good side?” replied Emira

Before Edric could respond the golden guard was already standing only a few feet from them. Just standing there staring in their general direction. Or at least they assumed he was it was hard to tell with his helmet on. 

Hunter

“Ask her for a dance” he says, like it's that easy. Mumbled Hunter to himself. She doesn’t know I’m the golden guard, she'll probably think I’m just some creep. Not like it would be easier for Hunter to ask her for a dance. They hadn’t spoken since the carnival. When he came back to the castle that day he had been informed about the ball his uncle was throwing. Ever since then he had been extremely busy with managing the event. He hadn’t even had time to respond to her messages. The last message he sent to her just said busy. She probably hates him now. 

Pl”us I’d never asked someone for a dance before and this was Emira. At least as the golden guard she wouldn’t be able to see his reactions to her teasing.” thought Hunter to himself as he continued to make his way through the crowd. “What am I supposed to say? Hey Em it’s me Hunter wanna dance? Oh this yeah I’m the Golden Guard. Yeah, the same Golden Guard that threatens your parents no big deal.” Scoffed Hunter to himself. He allowed himself to look back at Emperor Belos. He wasn’t surprised to see his uncle was watching him make his way to the twins. 

“Right I was given an order and I have to follow it through. Maybe Emira doesn’t need to know who I am. That way I still get to follow my orders and she won't hate me as much” tried to bargain Hunter “...she’ll find out eventually though.”   He was so deep in thought that he hadn’t realized he was already standing just a few feet from the twins. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves before taking a step forward “Here goes everything” thought Hunter to himself.

Twins 

“Smile Ed,” whispered Emira to her brother who was getting more and more uncomfortable with the man standing before them. The Golden Guard stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time just staring at them or at least looking in their general direction; it was hard to tell with his mask on.  

“Hey are you o…” before Edric could finish the Golden Guard took a step towards them which caused Edric to stop speaking. 

Both twins bowed before the Golden Guard but when they lifted their heads they were surprised to see his hand was outstretched towards them. 

Hunter cleared his throat before asking “Could I have this dance?” 

The twins were momentarily dumbfounded. Did the Golden Guard just ask for a dance? He was directing his question at Emira but before she could respond Edric stepped forward and took the Golden Guard’s hand.

“Oh I thought you’d never ask.” said Edric as he feigned bashfulness.This was not the first creep that had set their sights on his sister and it wouldn’t be the last. This guy had muscled his way into their families business. Their parents had been on edge ever since their interaction with him. Golden Guard be damned there was no way Ed would allow him near his sister.  

“Uhh I uh” Hunter was compleatly taken off guard by Edrics advance. Not to mention the sudden shift in his demeanor. Even though they had only met once before Ed had come across as a kind, warm, and childish individual. His words and actions did not match his eyes; the person in front of him had no warmth in his eyes. I wouldn't have thought he could be so assertive. “That makes sense after what you did to their parents,” thought Hunter to himself.  

“That’s enough Ed” said Emira while placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Besides I believe he was asking me, right?” she noted with a smile while giving Hunter a wink. 

“I uh yes ...um” Hunter felt his face get hot and once again was grateful for his helmet concealing his face. 

“Em are you sure” whispered Edric to his sister while shooting a glare at Hunter. 

“Yeah it’s ok I can handle this besides it’s just one dance. Why don’t you go find mom and dad? I’ll meet up with you guys after ok.” she whispered back trying to sooth her twin. 

“...Ok” said Edric before shooting one last cold glance at Hunter and walking away to find their parents. 

Blights

“...Isn't that right Honey '' gushed Odalia who was speaking with one of Blight Industries frequent customers about a potential new product. “Honey?”

Alador’s attention was completely enthralled by something off in the distance. “Alador?” puzzled Odalia as she began to worry. 

“Dear is that our daughter dancing with the Golden Guard?” queried Alador who was squinting his eyes in an attempt to get a better view. Just like his son he also needed glasses but Odalia had given up on trying to get him new ones since he always broke or lost them. Now his goggles were his only glasses which he never remembered to use when he was not working on a project. 

“What?! Where?!” asked Odlia while searching the dance floor for their daughter. Emira was not hard to find due to the extravagant dress. Not to mention people were giving the couple a bit more space given that her daughter's partner was indeed the Golden Guard.  Odalia had made it a point of getting the twins the most extravagant attire she could find. It was important to make lasting impressions. Although she never thought that would earn this type of attention. 

Odalia let out a slight gasp when she saw her eldest daughter dancing with Emperor Belos' right hand man. “Where's Edric?” breathed Odalia while she looked for her baby boy. There was no way Edric would have left his sister with the Golden Guard and she knew it. He had always been protective of her which means he might have done something reckless.  

“I’m right here mother” grumbled Edric who was still staring daggers at his sister's dance partner from behind his parents. 

“Oh dear, come tell us what happened,” whispered Odalia to her disgruntled son, making note that he did not have a scratch on him. That was a good sign. 

“He just approached us and asked Em to dance, I tried stopping it but Em said she could handle it,” mumbled Edric who was still unsettled by the situation. 

Odalia let out a sigh of relief and straightened herself. “Don’t worry dear, your sister can handle this, she's a very smart and resourceful girl. Before the night is over she’ll have the Golden Guard eating from the palm of her hand.” bragged Odalia while giving her son what she thought looked like a reassuring smile but was more self satisfying than anything. If Emira said she could handle it then Odalia was sure her daughter already had a plan in mind. Out of her children Emira had sertently been the one to have inherited her cunning.  

“This could be a great opportunity for us,” added Alador who was still squinting at the dance floor. 

“Yes indeed” noted Odalia who was already thinking of all the benefits that could come out of this. 

Edric on the other hand was not convinced and he still wanted to get Emira away from that guy as soon as possible.  

Hunter

“Step one two three.. Step one two three.. don’t step on her feet.” thought Hunter to himself as he tried to keep his cool. “Focus Hunter it’s just one dance you can do this just don’t look at her eyes. And remember you have the advantage since she can’t see your face. Yeah but you can see hers. Oh titan, how is she so calm?” 

After a while of dancing Emira finally said “So you’re the Golden Guard?” she mused while giving him a mischievous smile. 

Hunter had been spending all of his concentration dancing that he flinched when she spoke. “I um yes” he stammered before clearing his throat and saying it again this time with more confidence “Yes I am.” 

“Who would have thought that nerdy boy I met at the library was actually Emperor Belos' right hand man,” wondered Emira to herself as she kept on dancing without any hesitation. 

“Yeah… wait what? I... uh no don’t know what you mean,” faltered Hunter before finally giving up. “What gave it away?” he whispered, getting ready for the backlash that was sure to come. 

“Your voice, I knew as soon as you asked me to dance. Did you really think I wouldn't be able to tell it was you?” she asked with a smile genuinely amused. “I will say that I was taken off guard at first. Not that you were the Golden Guard but that you were actually asking me to dance.”

Upon hearing this Hunter felt a huge weight lift off his chest and he felt his body relax. He had been so afraid of losing his best friend he never even stopped to think that no matter what she would always accept him for him. 

“I’m sorry Em…” he started but  was cut off by Emira who had leaned in to kiss him. Or at least she kissed his helmet where his lips would be. 

“Curse this stupid helmet” thought Hunter to himself. He tried to speak but the only thing that came out was something that sounded like a whimper rather than words. 

Emira giggled to herself while trying to hide her smile behind her hand. “Was she blushing?” thought Hunter.

“That was a lovely dance. We should do this again sometime but maybe next time lose the helmet? She said as she pulled away from him. “See you around Hunter.” she said as she started walking with that same smile on her face. 

“What just happened? Did she just kiss him? Why did she kiss him? And why was he wearing this stupid helmet?!” thought Hunter to himself as his brain scrambled to make sense of what just happened. 

It wasn’t until now that Hunter realized that the song they had been dancing to had long since ended. 

Blights 

As soon as Emira reached her family her mother quickly pulled her into a hug. 

“You did good, dear” said Alador in his usual monotone voice. 

“Way to go you just made that boy fall head over heels for you.” added Odalia in an excited tone. 

She knew that her parents ment the remarks in terms of a business achievement but Emira could not help but smile at the thought of them praising her for dancing with the boy she liked. 

“Thanks,” she said with a smile that brightened up her face. 

The only one that was not in high spirits was Edric who could not believe what had just happened but before he could confront his sister Emira took him by the arm and pulled him away. 

“We’re going to get some punch ok?” said Emria to her parents as she pulled her brother along. 

“Alright have fun,” said Odaia before quickly turning around to speak with the crowd of people that had gathered around them. Having their daughter dance with the Golden Guard had definitely gotten them some attention. 

Hunter

As soon as he gathered his bearings Hunter made his way back to Emperor Belos' side. And although he could not see his face he got the feeling that his uncle was grinning at him. But before he could reach him he was approached by Kikimora.

“How unsightly to have the Golden Guard walking around with lipstick on his helmet. You are supposed to be a representation of Emperor Belos yet look at you. Walking around like a love struck boy. You could hardly stay on your feet after that girl kissed you. How embarrassing.” sneered Kikimora low enough so that only Hunter could hear her. 

“What lipstick?” thought Hunter to himself before the sudden realization dawned on him. Instead of heading back to his uncle he took a turn to go to a part of the castle that was sealed off for the rest of the party. Once he was out of sight he took off his helmet to inspect it and sure enough there it was. Emira’s lipstick from where she had kissed him. His face turned a deep crimson color when he realized he had been walking around like that on top of the realization that he had not imagined it she had kissed him. 

He made up his mind, without putting his helmet back on he headed to his room to change. 

Twins

“Em, wait, what’s going on? And why did you kiss that guy?” demanded Edric, digging in his heels so that his sister couldn't pull him anymore. 

“Calm down Ed I just want to get somewhere we can talk without being interrupted ok?” said Emira who was still smiling. 

“Fine, how about over there behind the stairs?” sighted Edric as he pointed to a set of stairs not far from them.

“That’s perfect” said Emira as she started making her way to them with her brother walking next to her. 

As soon as they arrived Edric quickly started again but was silenced by Emira who had placed her hand over his mouth. 

“I know what you’re going to say but wait and listen to me first. That was Hunter.” noted Emira before removing her hand from her brother's face. 

Edric was in a brief state of shock unable to comprehend what his sister had just said. “Wait Hunter? Like your Hunter?” he asked, still not believing what his sister had said. 

“Yup he’s the Golden Guard,” added Emira with a small smile.

“You knew? And you didn’t tell me? Em I was so scared” muttered Edric “Did you not tell me because of what happened at the carnival.” he whispered, sounding hurt.

“No Ed it’s not like that. I didn’t know either, I just found out too. You know I tell you everything.” she said, giving him a reassuring smile. 

Edric returned his sister's smile before asking “So did he confess his undying love for you?”

Before Emira could respond Ed spun her around so she could see Hunter, not the Golden Guard, making his way towards them. He was wearing a white suit with a golden shirt and a mask that only covered his eyes. 

“Ready for round two?” he said before stepping forward to greet Hunter. After they exchanged some words Emira could not make out Hunter continued making his way to her whild Ed used his magic to make sure nobody else could see the pair.

“Hey Em,” said Hunter, who was looking at the floor in a futile attempt to hide his face so she couldn't see him blushing. 

“Hey,” she responded, trying to keep her normal composure. 

“Um… you said you wanted to try a dance without the helmet right? So.. would you… like to dance with me.” said Hunter who had his hand outstretched towards her and whose face was the deepest shade of crimson color she had ever seen. 

“Of course” said Emira while taking his hand. 

The song that was playing was a slow song and it gave them time to talk. Once that song was over they kept on dancing to the next ones and catching up on everything they had not spoken about in the past week. How busy Hunter had been and how he was afraid that she might be angry at him to which Emira confessed she thought Hunter no longer wanted to be her friend.

Hunter had not realized he had made her sad. He always assumed she would be mad at him but it neve occurred to him that he would hurt her. She was the one person in the world he would never want to hurt. It must have been the sadness in her eyes which were always so full of joy and playfulness that made him lose his sense of reason. Before he knew what he was doing his lips were already pressed against hers.

When he pulled away he was ready to apologize for kissing her so suddenly but then she kissed him back. 

When she pulled away Hunter could see her face. She was blushing and had a smile that lit up the entire room “I really missed you,” she said. 

At seeing her face and hearing those words Hunter's heart skipped a beat. Nobody has ever said they missed him.

"I missed you too," he replied, returning her smile. 

[thesmoothpudding]

This one is a “thank you, I loved it” ficlet for @1caru but also my first step into my complicated af love triangle headcanon!

Which means basically one sided Kaeya/Aether and Aether/Venti hehe

.

Honestly speaking, Venti did not, in any possible way, expect Paimon to be right.

They had a brief talk while Aether was resting after a particular difficult fight with a guard. She looked at him, with that glimpse in her eyes that said she have something dumb on her mind and said it.

"I know your seeecreeet," she sing-sang. Venti frowned, skewed his head a little bit and put hands on his hips.

"Which one?"

That obviously confused Paimon but she quickly shook her head.

"Well the obvious one, of course! You're in love with Aether!"

It took a moment for Venti to fully understand what she just said. He frowned again and then laughed, amused.

"What? How did you come out with that?"

"Because it's obvious! You always tease everyone but are so nice to him! Paimon's eyes sees everything!"

"They're mistaken then. I love Aether, true, but only in a clearly platonic way. We're friends after all!"

"Hmmm?" Paimon looked mischievously at Venti. "Then if, let's say, Aether would get heartbroken, which for sure is gonna happen because Kaeya is even bigger dumdum than you, then you wouldn't happily hold him in his arms with some hidden motive?"

"Of course not!" Venti crossed his arms over his chest, taking a more protective stance than before. "I mean, he's my friend so I would obviously happily comfort him but I will not hold any shady motive behind it!"

"Mhm, suuure."

How did Paimon know Aether will get heartbroken was way beyond Venti. They did spend a lot of time together though, she for sure knew a lot more about the Traveler than him. And, well, it was hardly even a heartbreak. He just…

"Wait a moment, are you drunk?!"

Aether was sitting by the bar in the tavern and there was a glass standing right in front of him. Diluc was behind the bar, looking extremely guilty, and if the circumstances were different Venti would be happy. After all, only Diluc seemed to understand he's not a child and loves wine a lot. But this time Aether was there, obviously drinking. And crying.

"Maybe a bit," hiccuped the blonde, making Diluc roll his eyes.

"He had only one glass," he said, as if to explain himself, not Aether. Venti, a bit intrigued, sat by the Traveler.

"I thought you didn't drink."

"I don't bu- but Diluc said wine may help… so. Yeah."

It seemed like his eyes got even more watery for a moment. Venti glared at Diluc, who only shrugged.

"Help with what?"

"Kaeya…"

Okay it was more and more confusing. 

"Oh you have to explain it better to me. What did Kaeya do?"

"Nothing, and that's the point!" Aether basically wailed in despair, hiding his face in his hands. "He keeps talking about going out together but then doesn't have time or, or flirts basically with everyone and do-doesn't even notice when I flirt with him! He just says I'm cute, which is not helping at all-"

Aether kept ranting, making Venti think about how he never heard the blonde talk so much in one time. It was charming, in a way, to see him from that side as well. Even despite all those tears and snot running from his nose. Venti realized he wanted to see more of this side, it seemed to be more personal. He was sure Aether and Paimon talked about stuff like that, and even more trivial, all the time. But of course he wanted to be around to listen to Aether's rants more, especially when he wasn't drunk! They were friends, right?

“...this is so stupid, I should worry about other stuff than this.” Aether finished with a sob.

"Hey, it’s not stupid.” Venti sighed. “You see," he continued when Aether reached for the empty glass, to search for some more alcohol, "there was a big mistake. Wine doesn't help with love matters! Unless you want to make some very poor decisions, I know it from the first hand. And to think Diluc told you this! He's supposed to know a thing or two about wine."

Aether stopped playing with the glass and looked at Venti. The bard noticed Diluc also glared toward him, but he was busy serving another client.

"Maybe I do?"

"Haha, believe me, you don't!" Venti patted Aether on his back. "Let me tell you, if you need any kind of love help you have to come straight to me! I'm a bard after all!"

"I think I'd rather have another glass…"

"Oh come on!" Venti laughed again. "Is it because I turned you off? You know, it was a cute pick up line but I really heard it so many times-"

"I meant it though."

"...huh?"

"Your eyes really… makes me think about my hometown. We saw so many worlds with Lumine but… never before saw that color again."

Aether looked at Venti, with as much focus as he could muster, and Venti looked back at him. There was surprise on his face but more importantly he could feel a rising heat over his cheeks.

And then the waterfalls opened again.

"Ohh, Aether," Venti laughed, but it was less confident than before, even a little shy, someone could say. "You see? You're the best at it when you just go with the flow. Maybe that's how you should approach Kaeya? After all you're always so stiff around him."

"L-like that's e-easy."

"I'll help you, don't worry!"

Aether brushed his eyes and again looked at Venti. Then, without a warning, leaned in and hugged the bard. He sobbed out some words, probably thanks, and hugged Venti harder.

This exact moment Venti went back to his discussion with Paimon. She couldn't be right, him and Aether were just good friends! But, just to prove her theory wrong, just to test the waters, Venti hugged Aether back.

The breeze that flew through the tavern made Diluc look toward the door. It indeed seemed as if someone just got in, but there was no one standing there, waiting for a glass of wine. But once he looked over to Venti and Aether he quickly understood. Venti saw him looking, of course, but he only shut his eyes.

He really couldn't believe Paimon was right.

[uwua3]

hmmm can i request masumi moving on from the director to the assistant director (reader)? like how he would transition and realize that he doesn’t actually love the director and is falling in love with the reader instead? thank you so much. i love your headcanons. theyre super lengthy, and they capture the emotions of the characters perfectly!! keep up the good work, love! :)

thank you so much!!! i’m so glad that i can portray the emotions of a character somewhat well 🥺 i often have a hard time pinpointing exact feelings so i’m so happy it doesn’t hold back my writings! i will keep doing my best to bring you the coolest pieces ever, mark my words!!! but this prompt is so ??? interesting that i’ve been thinking about it outside of tumblr, you know! i’ve held this off until i had a solid idea so here i am! ready to bring this to justice, wish me well!!! ♡

summary: masumi’s love language is making playlists, apparently

warnings: absent parents, one (1) argument, unrequited love

author’s note: please understand masumi was a hopeless romantic teen who grew up without love so his crush on izumi is definitely unhealthy, but it makes sense for his background TT i hope he overcomes a character arc where he “falls out of love” and loves himself more :D

word count: 3,666

music: breakfast in the park – scotty sire

one playlist, one song.

🌸💌 usui masumi

everything masumi did was for izumi

he acted on stage flawlessly by the script just to hear her approval from backstage. he put his acting career before his studies to have her praise the next day when he memorized his lines. he woke up for izumi, and fell asleep to see her sooner. eat, sleep, and breathe for izumi. masumi was in love

it didn’t matter if she loved him back, it was the feeling he wanted

growing up, no one loved him. so this unrequited love wasn’t painful, maybe it’s what he deserved for being so hard to love. if only he was better, did everything to improve, used every waking hour of his time to become the person izumi wanted him to be, then maybe he’d be deserving

masumi loved izumi, at least, so he thought

(but was this true love? why did the people he love always reject him? what was wrong, what did he have to do to be loved?)

it was another day, masumi opened his eyes and his first immediate thought was to greet izumi “good morning” and make sure she had her breakfast the way she liked it. he would pull a chair out for her, sit across the table after preparing her favorite coffee perfectly, and spend every second in between with her until they had dinner together

it was a cycle, a pattern misumi couldn’t find himself not doing. he lived for it, it’s what he was born to do

when masumi hurried to the kitchen to remain on schedule, he stopped by the entrance. someone else was in izumi’s place, a mug in your hand with a packet of papers open on the counter. you didn’t notice the teen by the door as you read through the stack

huh... you weren’t izumi

you looked up from the fine text and saw a boy staring at you with an apprehensive expression, as if he was wishing to will you away with the sheer force of his glare. in fact, he even appeared frustrated, his eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest

(of course he was angry! you were in izumi’s place, you interrupted his entire plan of the day! this was taking time out of his “loving izumi” schedule)

before you could say anything, the director walked into the room and you knew what was going on. the teen’s eyes practically became hearts, you could hear the pulse of his heartbeat from where you were, he instantly smiled and his whole face changed

it didn’t take any skills whatsoever to know izumi had a (not so) secret admirer in the dorms

“masumi!” izumi said, smiling back at him and missing the way he immediately melted at the way she pronounced his name. masumi suddenly wanted to hear it again and again. if he had a tail, it’d be wagging everywhere from how overwhelmed he was with emotion

he trailed after her like a puppy, seeking her attention and touch as he mindlessly followed with wide sparkling eyes and a permanent blush

as he tried to continue their day as normal, izumi led him to you with a big grin as she placed him in front of you. he didn’t bother turning to look at you, his entire focus was on izumi like he was stuck in a daydream

it wasn’t until izumi said those words that changed the rest of his life that he snapped his eyes towards you

“—meet our new assistant director! they’re going to be your acting coach!”

and ever since then, masumi’s hated you

it didn’t take long before the spring troupe members confessed izumi used to be masumi’s daily acting coach after practice. now that you took over her position, you basically stole him away from her (meaning less time for masumi to try to win over his true love)

(truthfully, izumi was grateful you replaced her. it was mentally draining to have to reject every single advance from the lovesick teen without breaking his heart. she pulled you into a hug with a relieved exhale, thanking you for your service as you wondered what she meant by that. you found out very quickly afterwards)

masumi couldn’t have ditched extra practice or else he’d let izumi down. so, he stayed against his will, using every chance to silently express his complaints about spending his limited time with you instead of izumi

of course, you didn’t react. you wanted to make a good impression for your first official job as the mankai assistant director (thank god your high school had a connection to offer apprentinceships), knowing this was an opportunity of a lifetime to even be inside the theatre business

(yet, you were questioning if masumi was a test or not. was this a test to prove you were patient, respectful, and willing to adapt to different types of actors? there was no way this kid was this in love with a grown woman, he couldn’t have possibly been this infatuated with izumi to the point of desperation)

(he was)

a week or two into extended practice and you were already stretched thin. masumi never took off his goddamn headphones, his volume on max with rock music damaging his eardrums as he barely paid attention to you. just nodded whenever you attempted to reprimand him, he didn’t care at all as he treated you with no respect

you were tempted to snatch his headset off and make him actually do something. you stood across from him in the practice room, his slouched posture completely not fitting the character he was portraying and his mumbled words the exact oppoosite of his performance whenever izumi was around

as he skimmed over his part and boredly stated the line in a monotonous attitude, you took a deep breath in and out with a forced smile

“masumi, perhaps you should emote more, with feeling.” you advised, your cheeks hurting from how strained your facial expressions were. masumi hummed, rolling his eyes as he turned the volume up higher (how was that even possible?)

“masumi, please pay attention.” you warned, an edge to your voice as masumi didn’t even acknowledge you. he glanced towards the door, as if hoping izumi would come through, then at the clock with a very disappointed sigh

“masumi.” you said, clutching the script in your fist as you tried to not cross your arms. your patience was on thin ice, how long would his bratty and arrogant attitude hold? you exhaled sharply, trying to maintain your composure for the sake of your internship

he didn’t respond. he yawned and stretched, as if he had just woken up. was masumi spaced out this entire time? you went to open your mouth and ask about his well–being (perhaps, you were being too critical of him. you were also a high school student, he must’ve been pressured in class), but before you could speak, he turned away with a curse

“shut up already, you’re so fake.” masumi mumbled, about to push his headphones over his ears completely but you threw the script onto the floor, startling him as it was your turn to glare at him

“usui masumi!” you shouted with disappointment, not believing your ears. why were his first words to you an insult? you wanted to go back to the stage of your relationship where he didn’t speak at all

masumi stared at you with an impatient look, as if he was waiting for you to get it over with already

“you want the truth, then? well, here it is!”

before you could stop yourself, you released all the anger you bottled up ever since you worked with him in a singular sentence

“izumi doesn’t love you, she never did and she never will, so give up already.”

this was the first time masumi even reacted to your words. his eyes widened, his hands frozen hovering above his headphones and his breath hitched in his throat. you instantly knew what you said was out of line, and when you tried to apologize, masumi sprinted out of the practice room rubbing at his eyes

the door slammed close, echoing in the corridor as you released a breath you weren’t aware you were holding. what could you do now? practice was over early, apparently

you were waiting for it to come, you knew you were being fired. you anxiously paced the floor, checking your phone multiple times to see if a notification with your resignation was arriving. it never did, even throughout the night, as you arrived to the mankai dorms with the weight of your outburst on your shoulders

as usual, you greeted the other troupes with respect despite being around the same age as them. in terms of their careers, they were leaps and bounds and years ahead of you and you made sure they knew that. they responded back friendly enough, offering sympathy most times whenever it was time to work with masumi

this time, the dorms were awkwardly quiet. it looked as if everyone was wary, looking out for something, on edge as they quietly moved around and tip–toed outside a certain door. members shushed each other with a hiss whenever a cabinet door slammed shut, or a bowl clattered against the table surface too long. it was an organized plan to not die, apparently

“what’s—” you started but were immediately silenced by a few pushing their pointer fingers to their lips with a warning expression. you bowed slightly as an apology and lowered your voice, glancing around you for the threat

“what’s wrong?” you whispered and everyone didn’t hesitate to point to masumi’s dorm room door. you learned that, to your surprise, masumi refused to leave his dorm and didn’t even let izumi in (you also found out he didn’t tell anyone what had happened between you two and your lack of professionalism)

you guessed this was going to be your apology then for not making you lose your job on the first day

when you straightened your back and confidently made your way to masumi’s door, the hushed warnings and pleas not to perish right then and there faded when you rapidly knocked on the surface with a stubborn intent to your actions

“masumi, it’s time for practice.” you called through the door, able to pick up on the vibrations of the music he was blasting through a speaker. no response, as expected of the drama queen (he was a teenager, after all)

“masumi, come outside or i’m making you.” you demanded, knowing he heard you when the volume was lowered a bar. it was instantly increased to the max, making most of the boys wince and cover their ears as the floor beneath them shook. you knew what this was: a challenge

scrolling through your albums, you found it and pressed play

without warning, masumi whipped his head towards his door as he heard something other than his own music

were you... were you playing the latest single of his favorite band?

you pressed your phone speaker below the door frame, letting it pass through the crack as he slowly turned down his own volume, staring at where the sound was coming from

after more than half the song, you breathed a sigh of relief when his door finally opened. masumi stood in front of you, his headphones pushed down to his neck, as he observed you (it was like he was really seeing you for the first time)

“you...” masumi paused, unsure how to continue. the song was winding down and fading out, coming to an end as he blankly stared at you. you fidgeted under his stare gazing through your soul, wondering if you had gone too far before—

“you know my favorite band?”

you blinked in surprise, as if you were expecting literally any other accusation but that. you nervously laughed, rubbing the back of your neck as you looked anywhere but at him. was it weird to admit that?

“y–yeah, of course. you play them all the time, so i assumed. i took a listen, they’re not bad.” you rambled, about to continue before masumi bent down to grab your smartphone. he held it out to you, which you took as he glanced at you up and down. was that, an impressed look to his face?

“of course they’re ‘not bad’. i listen to them.” masumi said, taking his script and leaving in the direction of the practice room without another word. you scrambled after him, attempting to keep up (you were usually the one dragging him to go)

masumi tried not to think about it too hard, but he did anyways

izumi didn’t even know what type of music he liked, but you did

it was during that fateful practice where masumi actually made an effort to try, and it’s like the fight from yesterday didn’t even happen

mankai couldn’t believe it—you actually managed to coax masumi out of his toxic mood swings. even izumi had a hard time processing it, confirming her gut feeling that she hired you for a reason

your hours with him increased, coincidentally enough

ever since then, you began learning more and more about who masumi truly was. any other person would’ve dismissed him as problematic for his borderline–creepy attraction to izumi, but past that, you realized there was a deepy rooted traumatic reason why masumi sought love from a select few

masumi was more than his love at first sight crush on izumi. you learned through his short, slightly rude responses, that his parents were absent from his life. when you put two and two together, it was obvious his guardians abroad didn’t give him the approval he needed as a child

(you made an effort to praise him more, genuinely complimenting his talents and encouraging him to do even better. you never noticed, but masumi’s face burned from being appreciated for once)

yet, you weren’t afraid to discipline him. you knew uninvolved parents meant a lack of authority in his life, resulting in his indifferent approach to everything. in a way, your ability to keep a level head but still reprimand him when necessary kept practice productive and functional (you learned being honest didn’t hurt his feelings one bit)

your relationship with masumi bloomed to be more than two aspiring actors. if you were lucky enough, you would even consider him a friend

he liked checking out new physical music releases in the form of cds and had a huge collection of post/progressive rock organized on his desk. when you gave him a mixtape of your favorites to share your music taste, you noticed it was closest to his player

(one time, izumi was worried about him. it had been quite some time since the last time masumi tried flirting with her. she was about to walk into his room before izumi noticed it was left open a crack. she looked in and saw masumi was lying in bed, staring at nothing with a small smile on his face as he listened to an unfamiliar song. it was your cd on repeat)

after school, you and masumi often rode the train back home if the mood called for it. he always leaned against the doors, staring out of the blurry windows with his headphones on and seemingly thinking of everything at once (probably izumi, considering how many times he subconsciously smiled to himself)

you sat beside him, focused on your apprentinceship work and staying on top of all your tasks. it was pretty much a quiet ride home, your friendship with masumi didn’t require talking to fill the silence. the comfortable gap between you two was expected, just two people co–existing with one another

except this time, it was different

you opened your laptop, about to start working before you glanced at masumi and stopped. he didn’t have his classic white headphones on, he always had them

before you could offer your own, masumi turned towards you, holding out one earbud with the other in his left ear

when you took it and placed it on your own ear, masumi slid over to sit closer and the casual distance suddenly closed. he shuffled through some playlist, he liked making them even if he did it rarely

masumi turned his head to look at you, and he seemed to be quietly asking what your opinion was on the track

(how much time had you spent with him that you had familiarized yourself with his complex body language?)

you closed your laptop and put it back in your bag. scooting closer, your legs were touching as you leaned over to read the title, humming a sound of agreement

“this is one of my favorites.” you confirmed, moving back only to realize how close your faces were. one wrong move and—

“me too.” masumi said, and he smiled

you wondered where you had seen that smile for and remembered: it was the smile he had given izumi every time he saw her in the morning

could it be?

you two listened to the music for the rest of the train ride, feeling as if you were trapped in a timeless space as no rules applied here. it was like your own little world, with masumi by your side and the background soundtrack of all your favorites

(misumi remembered your favorites, too. at the departure, you noticed he had messaged you a link. it was to the playlist he played earlier and a comment: thanks for the mixtape)

you two headed to the dorms, hands brushing and no words exchanged, like always. you weren’t aware how close you had become with the boy in love until now, especially with a singular cord keeping you two together

yet, it was as if nothing changed. when masumi saw izumi, he became the character everyone thought he was: a lovesick teenager in an unrequited relationship. he left you and sought izumi’s nonstop approval, his earbud pulled out of your ear as you watched

why was he such a different person around her? which version was his true self? and why did you want to know so bad?

(maybe, you wanted to be the one who knew masumi inside and out)

after that, you asked to ride the train home more. it was one of the only times you had him for yourself

sharing music became a way of communication over talking. you could predict masumi’s mood based on what he was listening to, and you always knew what to do when it came down to it. if masumi had something to express without his usual bitterness, he’d send a song and wait for you to listen it in full just to be understood. sometimes, his playlists even spelled out sentences

your relationship with masumi was mutual, and that was a first for him. he didn’t feel like he had to spend every second with you to confirm your friendship. he sometimes saw you irregularly throughout the day, but enjoyed it regardless

what was different was you made an effort to see him, you showed up to practice early with new song suggestions and plans to attend more music concerts. you included him, didn’t let him off easy, and had high expectations without being like his parents

no one wanted him around like you did, he had never felt this before. was this what it was like? being loved?

as you guys kept walking home with his earbuds connected, masumi was fully aware of how he wanted to hold your hand

“what is it?” masumi began, pushing his hand in his pant pocket to keep his voice steady. “love?”

you stopped, causing him to pause with you as he felt the tug of the cord. masumi turned towards you, the lyrics still played in the background as the instruments continued. a verse passed before you answered slowly, as if you were unsure and contemplative yourself

“love... love is what you feel. it isn’t defined, but it’s what you have for something that makes you happy, that motivates you to do your best.”

masumi didn’t seem to understand, so you explained further

“like, doesn’t music make you happy?”

masumi nodded

“then you love music!”

masumi seemed to understand as you two kept walking. but, masumi was even more confused, because didn’t that mean he loved you? you made him happy, you were his source of motivation

“then do you love me?”

you didn’t stop this time, but walked faster as you fell out of step with masumi. a new song was playing, but you couldn’t hear it over your own heartbeat

“don’t ask things like that, especially when you love izumi.” you laughed, but there was no humor whatsoever. masumi didn’t say anything else and the silence returned, it wasn’t as comfortable anymore

when you two walked through the front door, masumi hesitated. wasn’t this the point where he quickly latched onto izumi’s side? why did he want to stay with you? masumi glanced at you and before he could say anything, you gave him back your earbud and left to do your job

izumi waved at him, and masumi followed. for some reason, he questioned if izumi had ever heard his music before

(he realized, he never made a playlist for her)

it was nearing the end of your shift, you had blocked out your thoughts with the masumi method: maxing out your headphone volume as you revised masumi’s lines and corrections for next practice

your phone pinged, making you flinch at the sudden sound as you pushed the papers to the side. you sat with your chin on your knees, leaning against the practice room mirror as you lazily grabbed your phone, unlocking it to see a new text from masumi

it was another playlist titled “you make me happy, you motivate me”

you opened it and was about to press play before you noticed there was only one song

“i love you”

[bthump]

I know this is very nitpicky, but what do you think is the level of awareness Griffith has during the stairwell scene? For a very calculated and rational guy like him, it's hard to imagine that he hasn't even tried to decipher where these strong reckless reactions come from. I mean... even king of denial Guts has reflected a bit on it. Enough to ask Griffith about it. I know yoy mentioned in a recent answer to an ask, that you don't headcanon Griffith as pining, so would you say that you (cont)

Would you say that you imagine that he compartimentalizes his thougts and represses to the point that he doesn't aknowledge at least to a certain extent, that his feeling for Guts are more passionate, than what he feels for other comerades. The fact that he fully realises the depth of those feelings once Guts leaves is clear. But Idk the stairwell scene makes me think that he is at least aware, that he has a bit of a crush, but choses to not give it much importance. Curious about your thoughts 

hmmm. okay first off I just want to say that I can see multiple possibilities, from full on repression and denial, to recognizing his attraction but not acting on it, to knowing he cares for Guts and wants him as a True Friend(TM) but often downplaying that because he believes Guts sees him mainly as a superior officer. But yeah I do prefer the denial and compartmentalization explanation and I want to go into why, because I think it’s fun to talk about lol.

So the big reason I read Griffith as refusing to acknowledge his feelings to himself is because that’s how he deals with all his other inconvenient feelings, like his guilt and fear and the fact that he cares about the Hawks. Like eg when he tells Gennon that he doesn’t feel a single emotion about him whatsoever, or when he tells Casca that he doesn’t feel guilty over the deaths of the Hawks, I don’t think he’s just lying to them, I think he’s convincing himself too, to the point where he really believes it.

It’s sort of hard to explain how I see this working in Griffith’s head bc it feels v intuitive to me but I know that’s not the case for everyone. So yk it’s not that I think he like, eg makes himself forget that he nearly had a breakdown in a river, but I think he doesn’t ask himself why he nearly had a breakdown beyond maybe a shallow ‘sex with gennon was unpleasant and made me uncomfortable for a couple hours but i’m completely fine now’ and doesn’t think about it afterwards if he can help it.

And when he tells Charlotte he doesn’t have any friends and tells Guts he belongs to him during the second duel, I think he’s telling himself lies/rationalizations he genuinely believes there too. In fact, I think his denial of his own feelings is straight up meant to be his tragic flaw, which is why he’s only able to finally acknowledge them in the torture chamber, after it’s caused his downfall.

In the torture chamber we see him remember the face-off with Zodd and acknowledge that it was an irrational thing to do and wonder why Guts is so important to him, and I think part of the reason the monologue works so well is because it’s the first time we see that kind of self-reflection sans lofty rationalization from him, because before he ended up trapped in his own brain for a year with nothing to distract himself in between bouts of torture he didn’t really ask himself these kinds of questions. If he had, things probably would’ve gone better for everyone.

And like, I don’t think this makes Griffith less intelligent, or negates his rationality in other areas of life. I don’t see a contradiction in someone being able to analyze a battlefield or read other people well but avoiding genuine soul searching whenever possible and lying to himself a lot. I think it’s actually pretty realistic - I don’t think very many people fully understand themselves or their feelings, even really self-reflective people, and it’s very easy to rationalize away inconvenient cognitive dissonance. and I include myself in that lol.

Griffith’s life is kind of a contradiction that would really fuck him up to untangle (he sends people to their deaths to achieve a dream for the sake of assuaging his guilt for sending people to their deaths to achieve a dream), so he doesn’t try to untangle it, he avoids the question and hides behind a philosophical ideal. And his feelings for Guts add to that cognitive dissonance because if he values Guts over the dream, that kind of proves his entire defensive life philosophy is bullshit and his whole life plan is built on a precarious house of cards, so it makes sense to me that he’d avoid examining those feelings closely too.

And you can look at Guts too, who does navelgaze a lot and tries to analyze his own feelings and motivations - when he’s faced with a contradiction (I want to become independent of Griffith and do my own thing solely to gain Griffith’s approval) he actually notices it and briefly questions himself... and then he still puts it out of his mind and continues pursuing his contradictory goal anyway, and manages to stay in denial for 3 days even after learning that Griffith ended up in a torture chamber because he left.

Along those same lines, Guts eg realizes that he kills things because it makes him feel better but he doesn’t make the connection between his irrational urge to fight powerful enemies and his childhood trauma the way the readers can, the King didn’t acknowledge his incesty feelings til Griffith shoved them in his face, Count Slug kept denying having human feelings til Puck went on a tirade against him and he couldn’t sacrifice his daughter, Casca lies to herself about her feelings for Griffith for a long time before finally acknowledging she’s in love and then doubles down on her Griffith feelings when her newer feelings for Guts threaten them until she has a breakdown and admits some things to herself (I mean I find that last one disappointing lol, but it’s also a really straightforward example of someone living in denial of romantic feelings and therefore a good comparison point to show that Miura does this on purpose), etc. So I think this interpretation of Griffith is also consistent with how Miura just like, tends to write people.

Like imo Griffith has moments where he comes close to self awareness and could’ve started potentially reflecting on his feelings and coming to better, more accurate conclusions, and those moments definitely include the Zodd conversation (as well as the river scene with Casca, and “do you think I’m cruel?”) but none of those scenes lead to useful self-reflection because they all go wrong. Casca tries but fails to reassure him bc she’s out of her depth, Guts reminds him of his dream, the King interrupts their conversation and Charlotte reorients Griffith towards his goal so he can move on from that moment of irrationality and refrain from thinking about it further for a while. Even after the duel Griffith tries to avoid self-reflection by fucking Charlotte imo (”take all the sad and frightening things and cast them into the fire” ie hey girl wanna repress some shit w/ me?), and imo his previous ability to do that makes it all the more impactful when it doesn’t work this time and he breaks down.

BUT YEAH all that said I don’t think this is the only reasonable reading of Griffith’s awareness of his feelings lol, it’s just the one I like best and consider the most satisfying and interesting and fun to think about. And honestly that’s partly because I love dramatic irony and have a real thing for characters who lie to themselves, so I’m biased in favour of it too. Nothing about Griffith being good at denial contradicts the idea that he could still be aware of an attraction to Guts (in that case he’d probably just write it off as irrelevant and deny the associated internalized-homophobia-related self-loathing lol until it all pours out while he’s projecting at the King), and he could eg be aware that he irrationally cares about Guts above and beyond anyone else and just doesn’t even try to reconcile that with his dream, ie compartmentalization in another way.

But I think the idea that he only fully admits it to himself in the torture chamber is just very narratively satisfying.

[sweethq]

♡ how you became friends with them // headcanon

𑁍 Characters: Sawamura Daichi, Azumane Asahi, Bokuto Koutarou, Semi Eita

»»—Trigger warning(s): none—-««

➶ Genre: hmmm fluff?

-ˏˋ A/N: semi’s is actually so bad I’m sorryyyyyyyyy ˊˎ-

moving away for college and becoming an adult was HARD

not only do you end up spending a lot of money on literally just existing

but you also don’t know how to cook for the life of you

which is unfortunate because it’s not like you have all the money in the world to order takeout every night

sooooooo that left you with no choice but to buy ingredients to try and make a simple dinner for yourself

you prepared the ingredients in the kitchen of your small apartment

you decided to make breakfast for dinner, simple enough, right?

something couldn’t possibly go wrong, right??

ha, wrong

when you were cooking the bacon, you suddenly had the urge to pee. real bad.

so bad that if you didn’t go now, you would literally pee your pants

you had enough brain cells to take turn the stove off and move the pan to a different burner

but apparently you didn’t have enough brain cells to realize that the burner wasn’t completely off, a little flame was still peaking out

and the bacon was still sizzling in the pan, a small drop of grease flying right into the flame

so it was to your surprise when you walked out of your bathroom to see a fire on your stove that continued to grow

y/n.exe has stopped working

you literally couldn’t think of what to do??? for some reason, the thought ‘oh, maybe i should call 911’ didn’t go through your head

instead, you opened your door and started vigorously knocking on your neighbor across the hall

thankfully, he opened the door rather quickly

you couldn’t think of how to explain your situation, so you opted to just say ‘f-fire’ while pointing to your apartment

thankfully your neighbor had the brain cells that you lacked and quickly ran to get the fire extinguisher that was in the hallway

he rushed past you and into your kitchen, using the extinguisher to calm the flames that were starting to get out of control

he was able to subdue the fire before it got too out of hand, nothing showing signs of damage besides your stove

“thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver. let me cook you dinner to make up for it”

“something tells me that it was your cooking that got you into that situation in the first place” he chuckled back, embarrassment flooding your cheeks

“why don’t you clean up in here then join me at my place for dinner? I was just about to make some spaghetti” he offered

you ended up accepting and sharing a meal at his place

you learned that you attend the same college and have a couple of mutual friends

after that night, you and daichi have meals together pretty frequently, him taking pity on you because you obviously don’t know how to cook lmao

but you were fine with it

because of your lack of cooking skills, you were able to make a really good friend

it was you last year of high school, which meant that your friends would make you go to all of the school events with them

whether it was a sporting event, school dance, or fundraiser, they made you tag along

you didn’t mind going to the sporting events, you found them entertaining and even got excited when watching the games

what you didn’t enjoy, was going to the school dances

it's not that you had anything against school dances, you just didn’t like the thought of spending a lot of money on a new outfit just to wear for one night

plus, you never had anyone to go with so it just made you feel lonely

but, being the good friend you are, you allow your friends to doll you up and join them at the dance

it would be the last one of your high school career after all

after being at the dance for a half an hour, you decide that it’s not so bad

you weren’t really much of a dancer, but you felt content with sitting at the table and watching your friends have the times of their lives

you decide to walk around the area and admire the decorations that people had put so much thought and effort into

you started to make your way towards the drink bar, craving something sugary to sip on

as you approached, another person was walking away and accidentally bumped into you, spilling his drink all over your clothes

you looked up at the perpetrator, recognizing him as one of the players in your school’s volleyball club

all the color was drained from his face, he couldn’t believe he just did that

“oh my gosh, i’m so-”

he didn’t even let himself finish, but instead, poured the rest of his drink on himself as punishment

your eyes widened at his action

what in the world

“why would you do that?!” you exclaimed, eyes staring at his now ruined tuxedo

“I spilled my drink all over you, I deserve it” he frowns

he literally looked like this 😔

you couldn’t help but chuckle at him, you had never seen someone act so cute and so stupid at the same time LMAO

“it’s really not a big deal, i promise”

“but i still feel terrible”

“how about you buy me boba and we’ll call it even?”

the two of you go and get boba the following day and you spend your time getting to know each other

you find that you have a lot in common and you actually like his company

you’re quick to become good friends, and you always make it a point to remind him that it was him spilling his drink on you that one night that started it all

throughout your childhood, you would spend your summer days at a camp in your town

it’s not that you necessarily wanted to be there, but your parents had to work all day and thought that this would be better for you than hiring a babysitter

you didn’t mind though, you liked going to this camp, especially because you would get to make smores every once and awhile

the only downfall was that you didn’t really have any friends to share your summer with

most of the kids would come to the camp with their friends or make new friends when they got there

you, on the other hand, found it hard to make friends

you felt like no one truly understood you, i mean, who would? you were 10 years old lol

after three years of coming to this camp, you thought that maybe there would be at least one person that would approach you and tell you that they wanted to be your friend, but it never happened

until bokuto showed up

he was the same age as you, but this was his first year spending his summer at the camp

the only reason he wanted to go was because he heard that they were going to start teaching kids how to play volleyball and have small practice matches

once he heard the word volleyball, he was in

he had tons of fun playing volleyball at the camp and making new friends, but he couldn’t help but notice you

he noticed that you were always by yourself; whether you had your nose in a book, were eating lunch, or just watching the other kids play, you were always alone

he could tell that you were lonely and that you craved to talk to someone, so he decided to approach you

you were sitting at a table drawing, a bag of open skittles to the right of you

“hi, i’m bokuto. what’s your name?”

you literally looked behind you to see if there was someone else he was talking to, but his eyes were trained on you

“uh, i’m y/n”

“nice to meet you, y/n! whatcha doin?”

he sat across from you and listened to your explanation of the art that you were creating on the piece of paper

he sat and listened attentively, thinking about how cool it was that you were so passionate about it

after a little more talking, he couldn’t help but notice your bag of skittles. his eyes widened

“yoU DON’T EAT THE YELLOW AND GREEN ONES?!?!?!?!!”

you were shocked at the sudden exclamation, but nodded your head at him

“those ones are gross, but you can have them if you want”

he was lowkey offended because he only eats the yellow and green ones, but he would never reject the offer of free candy

after that incident, you and bokuto would hang out every day at camp, one of you bringing a bag of skittles to share; you would eat the red, orange, and purple ones and save the others for bo

let’s just say that this is what sparked your great friendship, and it’s a tradition that lasts for a long time

the way you met semi was……. an interesting experience

you were working part time as a food delivery driver because you needed the extra money

and with that comes with meeting a lot of different people and having a lot of interesting encounters

it was a friday night and you decided to work for a couple of hours since you didn’t have anything better to do

you knocked on the door to a fairly nice house, so excited that this was your last delivery for the night

you heard a bunch of guys voices from behind the door and you became curious

when they opened the door you were surprised to see the boy wearing your school’s uniform

“hi, uh, Semi?” you asked as you looked at the receipt

“yeah, i’m Semi. and you look like my next s/o” he flirted

you were so flustered you felt like you were going to explode lol

you could hear the room behind him fall silent before explosions of laughter filled your ears

you could see the pink that dusted semi’s entire face even with the extremely dim porch light

“I’m so sorry, we were playing a game and they dared me to do it,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s fine,” you laughed back. you missed having friends to hang out and do stupid stuff with

“oh, here’s your food by the way,” you extended your arm so he could grab the bag

“actually that’s also for you. part of the dare”

as you were about to thank him, another person approached the door

a person you knew pretty well

“well, isn’t this a surprise! who would’ve known that the person we had our little semisemi hit on was y/n?”

“tendou! I wasn’t expecting to see you here”

you and tendou were lab partners last year and kept in touch every now and then

tendou smiled at you and then whispered something in semi’s ear before disappearing once again into the house

“uh, would you like to stay and hang out? we were just about to watch Harry Potter”

if it weren’t for tendou you would’ve rejected the request, not fond of the idea of being in a house with a bunch of guys you don’t even know

but it was a friday night and you had nothing better to do

plus, who would turn down an offer to watch your favorite British wizards?

you joined him inside, introducing yourself to the rest of the guys who you found out to be the entire Shiratorizawa volleyball club

you and semi got to talk a lot more and were actually able to become good friends

you also learned to sympathize with him whenever the guys tendou would tease him lol

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[that-was-anticlimactic]

📂 hmmm let's see... how about Toph?

aw Toph Beifong, how I love you,

Okay. So. First:

Obviously, Toph can tell when people are lying, but much like how the gaang always forgets that she’s blind, they forget that she’s a living lie detector. After the war ends, the kiddos are all obviously traumatized and always ask each other how they’re doing and they usually always say “fine” and Toph can feel that they’re lying but she just... doesn’t do anything. Sometimes it’s obvious a person is lying, but sometimes they can really pull it off and Toph is the only one who knows. She just lets them be, though, because she would want to be left alone too. In her mind, if it was a big enough deal, they wouldn’t say that they’re fine (also because that’s the reasoning she gives herself to not talk about her problems). She doesn’t want to push them.

Eventually, and let’s use Aang here because poor kid suffers so much trauma and no one really talks about that much (myself included, I need to pay more attention to Aang), Aang’s mental health really starts declining and everyone is really worried but Toph always lets it go because she doesn’t want to push him or stress him out. One time, it’s so bad that they ask Toph to out Aang for lying and she just shrugs and says “he wasn’t lying” even though he definitely was.

After a week or two like this, Aang kind of just breaks down and Toph instantly feels guilty because deep down she feels like she could have prevented it, but she didn’t. It’s one of those times when she learns that letting people believe a lie, no matter how good intentions are, is worse and more hurtful than telling the truth.

It kind of starts making her more honest than before. She began by calling everyone out on every little lie until she realized it would probably be better to talk to people in private and I just... mmm... I feel like Toph wields so much power after the war because everyone will always say “I’m fine” and she knows, she knows, they’re lying.

And now for an angsty Toph-related headcanon because I said so:)

Toph’s parents. Mmmm. I have not read the comics and also I heard they were... iffy... so we’re disregarding comics here. Toph’s parents kind of suck. Like, once she talks to them after the war, they treat her like a helpless child again and not the LITERAL HERO she is. She doesn’t live with them, but she wants a relationship with them, even though she physically cannot make her say it out loud. So, eventually she blows up at them and Earthbends and her parents are like “okay, if you’re not a child, then start acting like an adult” and COMPLETELY misread the intention behind what Toph was saying. Ontop of that, they constantly complain about everything to her. Like trivial things. They complain about trivial things to a traumatized child (not to mention they did like nothing during the war smh, they just sat there and were rich). Like, they complain about each other to Toph say all of these things that she never wanted to hear ever and that no parents should actually burden their child with. Eventually she just... stops.

She just never answers letters, never returns to the city, much less the house. And it just... it kills her because she wanted to fix their relationship. She wanted to try and be a family again and she tried. She tried so hard but her parents never pit any effort in.

It was actually Zuko (or Azula...) who kind of made her realize. Like, I’m just gonna say: Sokka and Katara HATE Toph’s parents, like, with a burning passion. Toph offhandedly mentioned some of the terrible things her mom said about her dad and vice versa to the gaang and Katara was about to go give them the biggest lecture they had ever received. Katara lowkey got all mother hen (but sometimes Suki would have to drag her back and be like “you’re smothering her” so Toph wouldn’t feel like Katara was acting like her parents) (and again, Toph would never say it outloud, but she could never think of Katara in that way ever. She’s SUCH a better person than her parents could ever be) and would try and... not be the mother Toph never got to have, but give her the support she never had.

Anyways, Zuko or Azula talk to Toph and are like “take it from one abused child to another, your parents are abusing you” which just confirms the suspicions she had deep down but refused to believe. She was just filled with so much rage because it’s not fair and she was trying so hard but her parents really don’t care about her in the way that they should of and she gave them so many chances to be better but they never took it.

okay so, sadness over, let’s make Toph happy:)

Toph is asexual (and maybe aromantic, unsure as of right now) because I said so:))

Toph takes great pleasure in going to The Jasmine Dragon and just... listening to make sure no one is ever rude to Iroh or any of the other employees ever. If they are, she causes trouble so they can feel ashamed for being mean to people in food service.

no you know what? Am I going too overboard? Yes. Do I care? No. One friendship Toph headcanon for everyone in the gaang.

Aang: Toph and Aang both help remind the other that they’re children because they both forget sometimes. Toph is great at taking Aang away from work and making him take breaks and spend time for himself rather than others. Aang is great at giving Toph the “having friends as a child” experience she never had. He teaches her games he learned from all four nations as a child and sometimes they do really ‘childish’ things like playing bending tag or even like regular tag with each other just because it’s nice.

Katara: oooh the Toph and Katara friendship is one of my favorites in the show. The two are both ridiculously competitive. Like. Out of everyone in the gaang, they are the most competitive (let’s be real, Sokka is too petty and WE NEED TO FOLLOW THE GAMES RULES to be competitive and Zuko just gets angry and rage quits). But eventually, they learn that they’re stronger when they work together and make a competitive truce. So whenever people need to team up for games, they immediately go to each other and they destroy everyone.

Sokka: Sokka and Toph ahhhhh I love them so much. Sokka adopted Toph as his daughter-sister, as in he can’t choose whether he wants to replace her dad and be her dad or be the protective but not overly protective older brother she never had, so he calls himself “father-brother” and everyone hates it, but Sokka was never good at naming things. Also, one time they were really bored, so they decided to try and invent a language that is never spoken, but can be interpreted through Earthbending. Like, different methods of bending meant different things and stuff. It worked... kind of? Sokka likes learning and Toph likes kicking dirt and making people confused about what they were doing. They both have short attention spans, though, so they didn’t get far. They each still remember s=certain things and still talk through it (since Sokka is not an Earthbender, he taps his foot on the ground or kicks dirt a certain way. It’s kind of like morse code, bit different because only Toph can feel the taps).

Suki: Suki Suki Suki I love you! Suki is Toph’s go-to for fake relationships. Like. These two have been in a fake relationship with each other too many times to count. Toph’s parents invite her to a formal event but she needs to bring a date (and also she doesn’t want to go but she wants to repair the relationship)? Suki is her date. Suki needs to attend a royal event because she’s the highest Fire Nation palace guard (because I said so)? Toph comes as her date. A random person is hitting on either of them and they don’t know how to respond without unnecessary violence? Find the other and kiss their face.

Zuko: Zuko and Toph, what a pair. They both find beauty in nature (in different ways, obviously), so they’re walking buddies. They’ve gone on hikes together, like week-long hikes together. They’ll walk around the palace together... sometimes they’ll just sit together in silence because they don’t always need words to be friends.

Azula: (because yes, I am including the three girls): y’all. These two together can scare the entire world. Not just because they are actually insanely powerful, but because they make the most horrific self-deprecating jokes known to man and say it with intense seriousness that everyone has been genuinely worried at some point before they caught on (if it’s serious, they say it as a joke). One time, they both made these depressing jokes at lunch and Aang choked on his food. He didn’t die, but like. He was so unprepared that he choked. What I’m saying is, these two have a really weird relationship that takes place entirely through insults at each other, theirself, and everyone they love.

Ty Lee: Toph was actually scared of Ty Lee at first because of her chi blocking abilities. Not like terrified-scared, but like if you even take one more step towards me I will smash you with a boulder no matter your intentions-scared. Also, Ty Lee was so perky and kind of loud and Toph found that suspicious at first. It wasn’t like an Aang perky or loud, it was like... well, Toph couldn’t explain it (as in, I, op, cannot explain it), but it was a bit overwhelming? And then one time Ty Lee just. randomly visited her at her parents’ house even though they “weren’t friends” and Toph was just ????? but let her come in for dinner anyway because she kind of wanted to see how her parents would react to this peppy girl. Her parents ended up making a kind of snide remark at Toph’s expense during dinner (which was the usual but Toph didn’t realize it was a b u s e) and Ty Lee went off. That’s when Toph knew there were reasons to be terrified of this girl, but she would never be on the receiving end of her fury unless she really deserved it. They have very different family situations, but take pleasure in actually talking about it to each other. Because Ty Lee is a very open person and Toph is not. Toph thinks it’s nice to just let Ty Lee ramble on (kind of like Mai) and Ty Lee thinks Toph gives really good advice and has good insights (plus strives to help her feel more comfortable with her feelings). They become spontaneous buddies and randomly show up at each other’s houses when they’re living at home and it’s just nice.

Mai: last but never least, Mai and Toph! These two. feel for each other. so much. Rich kids, only children, parents who ignore them, ahhhhh, do you smell that? The repression of feelings:) Sometimes, they prefer to just be around each other because everyone else can kind of be overwhelming. They can communicate through few words and they both like throwing things, so they like sparring together a lot, It gives them a chance to throw things with another person who likes throwing things. For them, sparring is like this connection and it’s own method of loving each other (as friends do) and it’s just really nice for both of them.

Okay. I am done. Thank you, Grace, for fueling me.

I love Toph and I don’t give her enough attention.

[eldritch-elrics]

svsss: the (not so) grand return of peerless cucumber

so a LOT happened in the chapters i read last night (44-49) and i have. SO many thoughts

not as many as i had right after i read but i really had to go to bed so i couldn’t write them all up.....

i put some reactions in individual posts but i’ll repeat them here!

first of all. shang qinghua. fucked off to the demon realm. like, good for him? but also. i want to see my boy

binghe keeping sqq’s body??? xue yang vibes OFF the charts

so I’M IN LOVE WITH THE MUSHROOM PLOT

i love how every so often sv will hit me with a twist that is SO up my alley that i just. lose it a little bit

HE MADE HIMSELF A CLONE BODY OUT OF MAGICAL MUSHROOMS AND TRANSPORTED HIS SOUL INTO IT.

i love mushroom shit and i love bodyswapping and. my god.

the fact that sqq has died twice and been forced to inhabit 3 different bodies??? wei wuxian wishes he were this cool

sidenote but the mental image of sqq doing radio calisthenics in the forest is really funny. or maybe it’s just funny to me because of the associations i have with this one time in japanese class?

sqq’s new body looking like a cross between shen yuan and shen qingqiu is really interesting and perhaps... symbolic....?

also hey does this mean he doesn’t have to deal with the cureless poison anymore. i assumed that it would be cured in his eventual sexytimes with binghe but hmmm i guess not!

the point where i really lost it was when he realized he was disconnected from the system. i know now that it wasn’t permanent but that was just so interesting, how much he hates it and wants it gone. which makes sense! even though it has helped him get out of bad spots at times, it’s a sign that he’s not really from this world. now i’m just really curious what’s gonna happen to the system at the end of the novel. maybe it’ll shut off once he achieves the “goal” it’s seemed to have set for him and gets together with lbh?

also i’m glad that sqq seems to have matured a little bit in terms of his people skills / problem solving skills? though uh. remains to be seen how he’ll act in front of binghe when binghe realizes who he is

it also seems like i was completely wrong about sqq’s motivations for sacrificing himself lol. lot more selfish than i thought? but it makes sense! fun twist

mxtx sure likes to have her protagonists execute plots that they don’t tell the reader about until after they happen lol (i’m thinking of the golden core transfer)

uhh back to plot reactions

love the running joke about peerless cucumber. also the demon names... six balls <3

also hold on a minute, peerless cucumber is a dick joke? lmao

thank you airplane for making it clear binghe has a big dick. absolutely vital character information

so i’ve said this before but sqq’s narration really CARRIES this novel. here i’m thinking specifically about his diatribe against sha hualing’s nails

shl is pretty fun. sexy evil lady!

sqq can turn his fan into a blade. nie huaisang get ON that smh

yang yixuan my beloved!

also HAHA i predicted that sqq’s super mushroom powers could help the xin mo thing and i was RIGHT

so sqq is just. SO invested in getting the plot back on track. like with all the harem members and stuff. it’s so funny because like bro. surely you’ve noticed by now that things are going very differently than in pidw. and also... you don’t WANT to go back on the pidw track bc that would kill you!!!

so the system reactivates when binghe turns up right? i am thinking about. the fact that when it tries to reboot it’s like “contacting customer service”

WHO IS CUSTOMER SERVICE.

it’s so interesting because like... obviously the whole system thing is so much bigger than just A Book? it’s even got airplane trapped inside it. and he’s the fucking author! who is running this thing? and for what purpose?

sqq listening in on the gossip about how lbh is DEFINITELY obsessively in love with him was SO funny. poor man

so binghe. he has become so COLD

i don’t like it :(

once more. my dude go to therapy.

wait also random but sqq has a beard now and for some reason that’s so funny to me

life at the palace seems terrible lmao no one is doing ok

smh, mxtx protags keep dying and staying dead for huge amounts of time and then coming back in different bodies

the fact that binghe’s happiest memories are training with sqq :(

THE FACT THAT BINGHE IS ABSOLUTELY SHIT AT KISSING

my god. that entire scene

went from “awwww headpats” to “AAAAAAAA”

the fact that the system congratulates him i’m sjkdhgjhsdhgjsds poor sqq.... didn’t ask for this shit.......

after 50 chapters, he’s finally realized he turned the male lead gay <3 say goodbye to all those funny oblivious moments!

i had to stop there because it was way too late at night but wow. we shall see how this relationship progresses

i can’t see it improving anytime soon but at least sqq knows lbh likes him now???

i had a LOT of thoughts last night but now i’m pretty much just like. i really need to see where it goes before i make any judgements on bingqiu

rn i’m not a big fan because 1. sqq is so wildly uncomfortable (understandable lol, even if lbh thinks it’s just a dream) and 2. lbh is very obsessive and that’s not really my favorite trope. but like it’s obviously not meant to be a healthy relationship, at least definitely not right now, and i do like some good fucked up romance! i’m excited to see the developments where sqq realizes what his real feelings are

i’m also fairly neutral on binghe as a character atm. his main personality traits seem to be “obsessed with sqq” and “trying not to die from evil sword qi poisoning” and i don’t find that all that compelling? between him and lwj i have to say that mxtx’s love interest characters are not really my favorite, though i wouldn’t say i dislike either of them.

furthermore i’m slightly concerned with how lbh’s “i’m the main character and i get what i want” attitude is gonna affect the romance. i know there’s some dubconny stuff later which i can’t say i’m excited for but i am excited to see how binghe’s character is gonna develop in general

my aspirations for bingqiu is that they’re both able to eventually break free of the expectations of the system

because, look at this from sqq’s pov. there’s this ai in your head that has, for literal years, been steering you towards a romance that you (at least outwardly) don’t want. isn’t that fucking terrifying? i love it. the system (at least how i see it) has been bending the established plot of the world in order to make this happen. it’s like fate but you can see the gears turning.

and even if sqq does end up liking lbh back, can you imagine the existential crisis of like. wondering if he really CHOSE to get with binghe or if he was somehow compelled to by the system which acts based on binghe’s emotions?

i think that would be so interesting

however what i think is Actually going to happen (based on that one time when airplane was like “hey cucumber, uh, is lbh just a character to you or is there more...”) is that sqq is gonna realize that he’s had a bit of a crush on binghe since reading pidw and is only just now dealing with his internalized homophobia. so him getting together with binghe has less strings attached

i think there’s some opportunity here for a commentary on the soulmate trope? because svsss is just so steeped in themes about agency and fate. i think that would be really cool but we’ll have to see. i feel like the ending is gonna be simpler and happier than i want it to be but obviously i cannot make any judgements yet! i’m just having Thoughts :)

so, i also read one of the extras (the one where he goes with lqg to battle succubi) because the translation i’m reading recommended it! it was pretty fun

sqq SO clueless. like i get it, he doesn’t think he’s into anything other than Pretty Cis Women, but. sqq we’ll work on this

also ASKING LQG IF HE’S A VIRGIN. sqq literally stop

(that was so funny though)

liu qingge ACE RIGHTS

actually lqg’s outburst in this chapter was kind of bizarre and can be explained in a few different ways i think?

i really like the idea of him being aroace. thinks true love doesn’t exist etc

i feel like the intended implication of lqg’s outburst is that he’s realized madame meiyin is referring to binghe and is like “holy shit no sqq can’t be with Him”

maybe lqg is just homophobic?

but i. also kind of wonder if lqg is gay and in love with sqq? and is just putting up the “such deep love doesn’t exist” thing because he really doesn’t want sqq to know

there was that whole line where the succubus was like “well you’re not his soulmate you don’t know” and it made me think

on the other hand i can’t really see lqg liking sqq that way; they seem to have more of a Bro Bond

then again lqg does keep fighting binghe for sqq’s sake

either headcanon is fun! i’d be excited for more insight into lqg in general i think

[whitleyschn33]

Hey, I don't mean to bother you again, but if you're still feeling up to it, I'd still like to see your opinions on each member of the Schnee family. No pressure if you don't want to do it though; I still appreciate seeing whatever you do post.

Hey!

You’re not bothering me, trust me. My motivation for... well, everything, but this blog in particular fluctuates pretty wildly, and that means that asks can sit in my inbox for months. The world going to hell hasn’t helped much. Also, every single time I’ve tried to write this, I’ve ended losing chunks of it cause I was too dumb to just type this in a word doc and copy-paste, so that’s been frustrating, to say the least.

Now that I’ve gotten smarter, though, let’s get into the Schnees!

Jacques

I have mixed feelings about how he was (potentially) written out of the show (and I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that a lot in this reply). I said in this post awhile back that I didn’t want Jacques to become an agent of Salem because something like that would most likely become the focal point of his asshole-ness and shove everything else to the side. That feeling holds true, but not really in the way I had been expecting.

How he ended up benefiting Salem, I’m perfectly good with. Him not knowing about Salem or Watts’ motives for making the deal with him, making the deal because it of how it would benefit him and not to serve Salem/kill people - that I’m good with. He was an unknowing pawn Watts/Salem manipulated around the board, but not a mustache-twirling villain all on board with working with the genocidal maniac/serving on her council of villains, and that’s all I really wanted - for him to not be a knowing member of Salem’s board of evil. Being part of a group that desires global destruction just doesn’t fit his motives – can’t make money off people if they’re all dead.

However, the fact that that’s why he was arrested - that his downfall was due to and focused solely on being involved in a Salem plot that just popped up this volume rather than anything to do with his treatment of the Schnees or the Faunus - that kinda rankles. This goes back to the ask I answered a while back - the focus on all the new plots and characters that meant a lot of the old stuff that’s been built up was shoved aside. Jacques being taken down feels like it should have been this huge emotional climax, tensions running high with all of the Schnees there and a huge release of all of those tensions as Jacques gets taken down for the crimes that we as the audiences most revile him for – his treatment of the Schnees. Instead it was… none of that. Jacques is arrested by Weiss for his aid to Watts… and she promptly cracks a joke about it to kill the tension. Winter is able to get in a decent snap at him, but that’s it from her. The entirety of Jacques’ arrest is focused on the heating crisis. He’s dragged off, and only Willow and Whitley get to witness and react to it, and even that’s just a look from Willow and Whitley running off looking completely done with everything – they don’t even react with each other. There’s nothing in Jacques’ downfall about his abuse to his wife and children or even the Faunus, it’s all the election and Watts – plot points that don’t hold nearly as much weight to the audience as ones that have been set up for years.

So, TLDR for Jacques: I actually hope this isn’t the last we see of him, because that would be a disappointing way to end the Schnee’s arc as a family. At the very least, I hope we get to see him talked about between Winter, Willow, and Whitley if/when they actually get to talk to each other.

Willow

Mixed Feelings: Round Two.

Her design? Love it. Her conversation with Weiss? Gold. Willow as a character? A bit more involved than I would’ve thought from how very non-existent she’s been up until now and implied to have been in Weiss’s life, but I can roll with her being a bit more aware than I would’ve gone with. Willow’s role in this volume? Ehhhhhhhh….

I hate that she literally just has a camera hidden in Jacques’ office and recorded the entire thing. It seems like such a cheap way of Weiss getting the information she needed, and comes out of nowhere after there was already a way for her to get the information set up in Whitley. Seriously – we already had Whitley established as having seen Watts, seen Jacques’ reaction to him, look suspicious at Watts, and hear at least the man’s first name. Whitley absolutely had the information Weiss needed – so why the hell pull “Willow actually has cameras set up everywhere” out of thin air? And actually – wouldn’t Jacques have his office swept for cameras and bugs on the regular? You know, like the head of an extremely powerful organization and high-profile target of at least one major terrorist group probably would? To prevent something like this exact situation from happening? I just find it hard to believe that she could’ve set them up for long without being found, and setting them up just before something important to the plot happened in that room is just very convenient.

And like, there’s actually no reason that it needed to be that way. Willow and Weiss could have had the same conversation, just swap out the lines about the cameras with “I don’t know, but I know who would – your brother”, and you can even have Weiss still say that he wants nothing to do with her and Willow agree with her “you left him here with us” line, prompting Weiss to seek him out to get the information she needs and maybe even have a heart-to-heart with him. Whitley wouldn’t even have to give up the information in that conversation – he could be incredibly stubborn about it and unwilling to help until Weiss is called into a meeting about the heating crisis, which Whitley would absolutely follow into to listen whether he’s invited or not, and hearing what’s going done, decide to step up and come clean, realizing if he doesn’t, thousands of people will die. I can actually picture it in my head, and it would be so much better than just “Oh, yeah, I got cameras that recorded the entire nefarious conversation.”

And I’ve spent this entire section not really talking about Willow. Uhh… again, I really like her design. I like that she’s wearing purple, a color no other Schnee wears (except… Whitley with that wine… hmmm) – a mixture of red and blue, her freedom being drowned in something else until it’s completely tainted. Her voice is good, and for the most part, I really do like her conversation with Weiss. I also love that she finally points out what me and other Whitley fans have been screaming for ages – that you can’t expect someone that you basically abandoned (in his eyes) to look favorably on you, and I like that she acknowledges her own role in that, that she’s been a poor parent as well, and actively a detriment to Whitley.

TLDR, I like Willow, I just hate the damn cameras that seem to only exist for this plot point (since if they existed before, shouldn’t Weiss being hit be what they were meant to capture?).

Winter

Best girl, hands down. Not kidding, Winter basically carried this volume for me – rational, yet having very human reactions to things while recognizing that the emotional response isn’t necessarily the right one, the star of a badass fight with Cinder in which her Aura breaks but she still goes on fighting and holding her own against a damn Maiden, an awesome new outfit, wonderful conversations with Penny and just a very interesting relationship with her overall, actually gets to fight back against Jacques to his face – is there any point where this woman doesn’t exceed all my expectations?

I wasn’t a huge Winter fan before this volume, but I’ve successfully been converted. Second favorite Schnee for sure.

Weiss

On thin ice. Still my favorite of the RWBY crew, but considering how much of a nose dive the other three (in particular Ruby) took in this volume, that’s not saying a lot. A lot of what irks me with Weiss are… little moments. Implying that Winter shouldn’t trust Ironwood because he “could” be keeping secrets when she’s the one lying while Ironwood has been nothing but honest, the implication that Winter isn’t capable of making her own choices in regards to the military and the Maiden and that Ironwood must have been grooming her (I really hate this implication, both for trying to tear Ironwood down and for trying to rob Winter of her own agency – like, joining the military was her choice, her escape from Jacques, and you want to turn that into some kind of long game manipulation on Ironwood’s part? You want to prove Jacques of all people right in that he “stole” Winter, rather than Winter making her own choices and Ironwood recognizing her abilities and offering her the Maiden’s powers? Really?), trying to brush aside Ironwood’s concerns about just how much RWBY has done behind his back, calling Mantle “her home” when it’s never been that in front of Marrow who is almost certainly from Mantle – just, a lot of little things that I really dislike, not to mention that this is probably the worst design she’s had. But there hasn’t been anything that’s just blatantly ruined her for me, and she remains the most interesting and well executed character of RWBY for me.

TLDR, a lot of bratty moments that push me away from her, but still holds promise.

Whitley

My poor boy! He finally got more screentime and some of our headcanons comfirmed, but made the butt of a joke that could’ve easily been replaced with character development and underutilized so much. I’d say mixed feelings, but no – love his character, hate how he was used would probably be the best summary. Of course, I’m very much biased, but let’s not let something like that stop me.

More screentime! And letting him talk to someone other than Weiss! His banter with Ironwood was good, seeing his reactions to Jacques, how afraid and timid he was, was heartbreaking, and even if it didn’t go anywhere, his suspicion of Watts was nice to see. It’s always sweet to see headcanons confirmed too – the painting of him playing the piano was nice, and even if I’d have rather had it come out of his own mouth, Willow’s confirmation of him feeling abandoned by Weiss was such a satisfying thing to hear.

On the other hand, I absolutely hate the wine prank. It was way too drawn out and petty – seeing so much joy on JNR’s face while setting it up over the course of a whole minute and using an stack of food half his size to toss onto him – it was way too over the top. If they had to go for the food thing, having Oscar (or someone else, but Oscar is the one without a huntsman license, so he’s more believably clumsy) just pretend to trip with a regular plate and get it on his shirt would’ve been just fine, and we could’ve gotten a nice interaction between Whitley and someone new and get some character development. But nope. We got to have RBYJNR take way too much glee in dumping a mountain of food on a boy they’ve never met before for… talking to his sister and unwittingly getting in their way. It just puts a bad taste in my mouth.

And of course, what I talked about in Willow’s section, the set up of him seeing Watts going absolutely nowhere. Seriously – you set up the perfect opportunity, and then took an out-of-nowhere cop out. It feels like such a squandered set-up, and really disappoints me.

At least we actually got him reacting to Jacques, and it was given an appropriate emotion and fitting cinematography. I love the shot of Whitley sitting all alone on the stairs, watching the only person that actually gives him attention being dragged away without explanation, and seeing the weariness and sadness in his expression as he looks up – I love it, I love it so much. The last bit of hope that they may actually treat my boy right in the end…

TLDR: My boy!

And there you have it! Months late, my thoughts on the Schnee after the most recent volume! How will these change after volume 8? Hopefully for the better, but we’ll have to wait and see!

Thank you for the ask, and once again, sorry for the wait. I may try and take a few more hits at my inbox, but that’ll have to wait for tomorrow, since I’ve got work in the morning.

Have a good night, and stay safe!

[yourkeeperoftherunners]

6/7: Working From Home (Hedgehog Hybrid!Jungkook)

Rating: G

Characters: Hedgehog Hybrid!Jungkook x Reader (any gender)

Notes: Day 7 of my birthday surprise series. This is part of the Misunderstood Hybrid headcanons I wrote for BTS a while back. Please note that working from home can refer to anyone who does this and it does not specifically reference the current events. I got the idea to write short blurbs after seeing some comical pictures and moments in video conference calls of pets “helping” their owners work. All content is fictional. Please do not repost anywhere!

                                                   ————–

“Of course you don’t wanna work,” you grumbled as you fumbled under your desk, trying to restart the computer. You were trying to fix the issue quietly without waking your hedgehog hybrid Jungkook, who was still sound asleep.

Normally you would be asleep for another hour or so, but today your boss asked you to work from home. In addition, she put you on a last minute conference call with some of your business partners in Europe, which meant you had to get up earlier than usual to make the meeting. Your plan had been to close yourself in your home office, take the meeting, then make breakfast for yourself and Jungkook. But your home computer decided it was an excellent time to not cooperate and work...

You had restarted your internet modem and turned the computer on and off a few times. The screen would show the computer logo for a few seconds, then go black again. It was starting to frustrate you and you were wondering if you were better off hopping in the car and taking the call in the office.

“Jagi?” a sleepy voice murmured.

You nearly hit your head under the desk, but caught yourself as you slowly moved out from under it. You looked over your shoulder to see a sleepy eyed Jungkook outside the office, rubbing a hand across his face.

“It’s so early, why are you up?” he whined as he raised a brow.

You winced and cursed yourself for not closing the door. Damn his good hearing.

“Sorry Kookie,” you apologized, “I have to take a call this morning and I didn’t want to wake you. Only, my computer’s not working and I’m not sure what I can do.”

Jungkook straightened up and pointed to the computer as he shuffled into the office. “I noticed it was slow a few days ago. Can you use your cell phone for the meeting?”

You nodded as you slowly straightened up and picked up your phone from the top of the desk. The young man pointed to the kitchen and suggested you call from there.

“You know how to fix computers now?” you asked, looking a bit bewildered. You knew he was a handy guy, seeing as he managed to figure out how to fix some of the plumbing and other home repairs in your house whenever you were gone. Not that you asked or expected him to do those – he argued that he needed something to keep him busy while you were at work most of the week.

He politely guided you out of the office and insisted he would figure out the problem for you.

                                                  ————–

“I’m sorry it’s on my phone, but my computer had to act up of all days,” you sighed.

“No worries Y/N,” one of your counterparts in the Netherlands reassured you. “I had connection issues with this remote access app. It kept kicking me out until I tried a different browser to launch it from!”

“I’m glad you were able to join the call, period,” your boss replied with an understanding smile. “Great discussion everyone. I’ll have Natalie send out the recap by the end of our day. We’ll update next month, same time.”

Your partners in the Netherlands nodded and bid you goodbye before signing off. Your boss quickly thanked you for jumping on the call last minute, before asking if you could handle your workload at home.

Before you could reply, Jungkook stuck his head out from the office and beamed as he flashed you a thumbs-up. You looked back at your boss and said it looked like you should be all set to work as usual, thanks to your boyfriend.

“He says he fixed the computer,” you replied as you glanced up at Jungkook.

“Now that’s a keeper,” your boss replied. “If you have any problems, let me know and you can come in as usual. We need to work on getting more laptops.” She shook her head, muttering about the delays in getting approval for the request from corporate. “Well, I’m here if you need me. Good luck with the computer and hopefully the boyfriend fixed everything!”

“Thank you,” you replied. You hung up and pocketed your phone as you rose from the table and walked back to the office.

“So, what happened?” you asked as you entered the office. You noticed the screen was up and it had the internet operating like usual.

Jungkook stepped back and rolled your chair over to you. He prompted for you to sit down and you slowly sank into the chair. He smiled as he guided the chair over to the desk and gestured to the hard drive.

“Turns out you had neglected the updates and it was struggling to do them while the computer was shut down,” he explained. “I used your main phone to call I.T. and they helped me work through the issues. Also they were nice enough to run a diagnostics scan remotely and helped remove a questionable file that could have caused some problems if opened. Oh, your browser was out of date too, so I downloaded the newest version too.”

You turned and looked over your shoulder at him in amazement. “Wait, you did all this while I was on that one call?”

He nodded proudly and you stared back in amazement. Part of you was tempted to ask if he was considering a job, seeing as the I.T. team in your company had lost a few bright minds to a bigger company. But maybe that was something to discuss later...

“Thanks Kookie,” you murmured as you settled into the seat. Your stomach made a loud rumbling sound and you remembered you had planned to do the meeting, then make breakfast for him. “I’m so sorry, I had this grand plan of getting the meeting done before you woke up, then I’d make breakfast and keep working from home, and–”

“Y/N, it’s okay,” he stopped you, resting a hand on your shoulder. “And no, you didn’t wake me up. I happened to realize you weren’t next to me and wondered if everything was all right.” He glanced in the direction of the kitchen, then back at you. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Hmmm...maybe eggs? Some fruit?” you offered. “Kook, I’m done with the meeting, I’ll–”

He raised a hand and began heading to the kitchen. “I’ll make us breakfast, you continue working.”

You made a face and started to protest but he looked back at you, explaining he wanted to do this.

“I don’t mind,” he said. “Actually, I’m happy you’re working from home. It’s nice to be able to do little things for my jagi and see them smile. Besides, if you keep working, you’ll be done sooner, right?”

“Yes...technically speaking,” you replied.

He grinned smugly and closed the door behind him.

“I’ll bring it with your coffee just the way you like it!”

[septiembrre]

Rio Headcanons

Tagged by the wonderful @foxmagpie

What are your headcanons about Rio’s family? Siblings? Parents? Lifestyle growing up?

I really love the idea of Rio having been raised by a supportive, healthy, loving, beautiful nuclear family. I personally have imagined him with siblings -- sisters! Cousins! I think his respect for women and their power has to come from somewhere and it’s probably a matriarch. He has a strong handle on parenting and I think he must be modeling his own caregivers... 

But, @foxmagpie pointed out the black & white vintage photos in his closet...  Obviously, I had seen them but I just understood them to be like my family’s own old photographs. I had thought -- they’re just his ancestors, probably his grandparents or bisabuelos. But, then I realized there’s no sign of sisters, any siblings or of his parents in his apartment.  The Good Girls set design team loves a ridiculously terrible photo prop (hello old Dean/Beth family photos) and you know they would have been down to make the same thing for Rio... but alas. All we have are those photos of Rio + Marcus, an ambiguous baby picture and the black & white photo and it’s probably intentional. 

I come from a small, atypical Mexican-American family structure myself, but I feel for him. I always headcanoned that he had a dad who had died when he was a kid or a teenager and that maybe his mom was still around and involved in his & Marcus’ life. But, quizas no? 

I’m curious about how much Beth knows now about Rio’s family structure from Rhea. She knows Rhea’s a single mom, and her co-parent was out of the picture for a spell. But, I think Rhea would have also mentioned involvement or support from Marcus’s other set of abuelos/her former in-laws? 

So... who were Rio’s caregivers? His grandparents? No sisters??? We should all collectively DM Manny and ask him to share his own Rio backstory headcanons. Haha, watch -- the show is totally going to ret-con this in Season 4. 

It’s interesting overall how the writer’s deploy family world-building for the characters. Dean’s mom is the only one on-screen -- and Dean’s parents overall have gotten more build out than any other family history combined (wild!). I know that’s influenced by them casting Jessica Walter who is phenom, but expanding out the family histories is such a rich area for the show creators to play in if they choose to go there. All of our main protagonists have deceased parents. I think it’s been a choice on the show to play into a lack of safety net and support for the women. For better or for worse, Beth, Ruby & Annie are at a point where they are it for their children.  

That being said -- I would love to meet Stan’s parents! And I would love to get information about Rio’s coming-into-crime especially as a parallel to Beth’s experience. It’s the parallel we would all want and the parallel we deserve. (Dear show, Stop with the Boland family parallels, PLEASE! If I have to hear about Dean’s scummy dad one more time--). 

But, yes, I’m very invested in Beth & Annie’s, Ruby’s, Stan’s, and, of course, Rio’s families and hope we get to see more characterization unfold over the next seasons.

What are your headcanons for Rio and Rhea’s relationship? How do you think they met, at what point did Rhea learn about his work, was Rio in love with her, etc.?

I’m so curious about what attracts Rio to people/his love interests. It’s becoming clear what attracts him to Beth...  But, I wonder about has attracted him to others. 

While Beth & Rhea are both moms (haha, and beautiful, and well-endowed with the boobs), that’s in the present time on the show -- Rio was attracted to Rhea before she was a mom. I wonder what he looks for? What did he see in Dylan? 

Hmmm. 

What are your headcanons about Rio’s and Mick’s relationship? Did they meet through crime? Are they lifelong friends?

I want them to be childhood friends!!!! I want that so badddddd!!! 

Oh, god, can you imagine a flashback to them young in crime?! Like late teens or early 20s? Ha, as a parallel to the Beth + Ruby scene/origin story? I would die. DIE.

Do you think Rio’s been arrested before Beth got him arrested in 1.10? When, and what for?

Ha, I don’t think he’s been arrested for anything significant.  He’s plenty sanctimonious about keeping his name out of everything. 

If Rio weren’t a crime boss, what jobs do you think he’d be good at? Why?

I mean he’s probably great a math, phenom at managing a huge team/multiple business ventures, and super charismatic. What couldn’t he do? 

I think he was probably pushed to crime because of lack of opportunity for MOC and the need for money. This does make me think he came up poor. But, I think he stayed in crime because he’s so good at it, and likes the flexibility, the creativity, the $$$, and the power. 

I think he could go legit and still be pulling in decent buck with all of his business fronts but he doesn’t choose to. 

What are Rio’s hobbies outside of work and Marcus? What do you think he’d get up to on a day with absolutely no responsibilities?

He’s obviously an art heaux. The real question is WHAT’S HIS MEDIUM???? If he actually produces art like the abstract stuff up in his house, I would scream. I can see him being into photography when the mood strikes him and he has time. #hipster

I like the idea of Rio taking cooking classes in some sort of exclusive, foodie way (1:1 with a chef, or a compa who is a fly line cook). 

We know he plays tennis and I also imagine he boxes and works out at the type of high-end gym I could only dream of. It probably never smells of sweat, and all the machines are top-end, brand new. I mentioned in a post a while ago that I wasn’t sure if I wanted Rio to be my boyfriend, my bff, or to adopt me -- and I stand by it.  

Who do you think Dylan is to Rio (a friend, an associate, someone he was dating?) and why?

I do lean towards friend/associate/some one he’s fucked. Rio was very handsy with Dylan’s person. Obviously, in real life Manny & Adelfa are married, and I think they were leaning heavily on that intimacy in the scene. 

But Rio also didn’t kiss Dylan? Which leads me back to -- damn, Rio. You were fronting so hard. Like... that was high-school-level showmanship. 

What do you think Rio’s goals for the future are?

I think he wants to be his own boss, I think he likes being at the top of the food chain, and I think he wants to stay in crime because he still sees opportunities. 

I’m so curious as to what his $$$ bench marks are?

Beth’s are current financial security and probably college for all of her little ones. So what it for Rio?

- College for Marcus? 

- Inheritance for Marcus?

- Inheritance for all of his (nonexistent) family?

It has to be more than that. He’s already hit these benchmarks based off of the status symbols in the show (the G-Wagon, the quality of furniture in his loft, Rhea’s offer of maybe like a $5-10k check to Beth. Beth’s not family!).

What do you think Rio is bad at (cooking, dancing, singing, etc.)? How come?

I don’t think he can bake.

I also don’t seem him being good at boldly lying to people? It’s definitely not his style. He’s more of a lying by omission type of person. I don’t see him being able to spin a tale like Beth, but he also doesn’t have her white privilege/whole suburban mom aesthetic. 

Hm, I haven’t rewatched the show in a minute but I think the only time we’ve seen him boldly lie is to Beth -- when he lies about the nature of their relationship. Haha, and he’s really bad at it. Maybe this isn’t the fairest thing to judge him on. But, I think his lying relies on purposeful silence. 

Why do you think Rio is drawn to Beth?

I think Rio was drawn to Beth because she’s a survivor, she’s scrappy and she’s smart. I think he’s drawn to how quick she is on her feet. Beth has limited awareness but she can be really good at navigating what’s going for her and leveraging it for her gain (and Rio’s). I think he’s also been drawn to her because she’s a parent, and she can be really brave (I would say reckless!! Beth, stop endangering yourself!).

Beth’s also like absurdly beautiful. Christina is ethereal and they try to make her ... frumpy or something in the show. But... we have eyes. And Rio certainly has eyes for her figure, and her face, and like all the attributes and isn’t shy about letting her know. 

Why do you think Rio didn’t kill Beth? Was it their past, his present feelings for her, because he needed her business? Some combination?

I think Rio sees a kindred spirit in Beth and at this point (post-Season 3), she’s in his life now. Despite all that she’s done to him, he seems completely unable to extricate himself from her. I think this due to his present past feelings for her. The business is a bonus, a front if you will. 

In Season 2, there were these questions for Beth about whether all of it was real -- if she meant something to Rio, if Beth could walk back all of her crimes so far and retreat into anonymity. In Season 3, we know that Beth can’t let go of crime, and that she’s capable of the same dark deeds as Rio, and we know that Rio did care for her, cares for her still apparently because he’s very much in his feelings. Those Season 3 picnic table scenes? Wow. 

Ah, can you believe these two are going to like... have some sort of development in their relationship again? Obviously, it will be full of strife and conflict. But isn’t it wild that we have another Brio sex scene in store for us one day? Jenna Ban’s comment, “You don't go from having the hottest sex of your life to wanting someone dead without conflicted feelings” is just the BIGGEST TEASE.  How are our bbs going to be intimate with each other again? 

OKAY THIS ENDED UP BEING SUPER LONG. Jeez... If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for engaging with my headcanons. Lmk what you think :-) 

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

may i suggest sonic upon toms shoulders? like a piggie back or something?

(I was already on board with this headcanon and I’m glad I’m actually writing about this~)

=======

The View is Great From Here:

Sonic looked around at the townspeople going about their day from where he was sitting in front of the cafe window as he casually took a bite of his glazed doughnut, swinging his legs to the beat of the jukebox playing in the background.

‘It’s so weird seeing people from this distance now.’ He thought as he licked his fingers from the leftover glaze. It’s almost as if the mere presence of a talking teenaged hedgehog would bring in a group of people, but luckily this town liked to keep secrets to themselves.

The thought of ever coming into town so nonchalantly like this never crossed the young hedgehog’s mind until about 5 months ago when he was being hunted the government and their crazed scientist, Dr. Robotnik. Only to banish the madman to another planet, be deemed a town hero and taken in by the town’s sheriff and his wife.

Yeah, that was a heck of a week.

Since Maddie was working overtime at the veterinary, Tom decided it was a good idea for the both of them to go out into town for the day, get some fresh air and do some window shopping. (It was mostly for Tom’s sake).

The young teen continued to look outward onto the street, watching cars drive by and seeing people walk in pairs or groups, wearing their fall outerwear and being deep in their conversations. Kids with their parents or friends talking about future plans for the upcoming Halloween, with a few kids eagerly waving at him through the window if they saw him from time to time.

He was about to ask Tom about having an idea for a certain movie marathon they should have later on when something outside caught his eye.

He saw a father with a child who he quickly assumed was his son, lifting the child up on his shoulders. The child giggled endlessly as he stretched out his arms as his dad started running around in circles and dodging people who were walking on the sidewalk, laughing along with him.

As they left his field of vision, Sonic say back and stared at his now half eaten food on the table. He had seen parents do this with their kids plenty of times for as long as he’s been living here, he could see why both the kid and the adult would enjoy something like that.

It’s never bothered him before….

‘Why is it starting to now?’ He wondered as his face furrowed in confusion.

Tom noticed that the kid hasn’t said a single word in the past 5 minutes, which immediately put to conclusion he was starting to get tired or something was bothering him.

Looking up from his newspaper, he saw Sonic’s mouth in a frown and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at his plate with instense concentration as he played with the fabric of his red scarf sitting on his lap.

Seeing that he was actually still awake, he saw an opening to get his attention.

“Uhh you know if you concentrate too hard on that plate, it’ll hit you right in your face?”

Sonic snapped out his thoughts and lifted his head to see Tom smirking at him, sipping from his coffe cup.

“What? What are you talking about I don’t have powers like that.”

Tom idly shrugged his shoulders, lifting the cup to his mouth.

“From what i can tell, you look want you want to really challenge that donut to a serious food fight”.

Stiffing, he looked at Tom with an annoyed expression before banging his head on the head on the table, clattering the dishes as he did.

“OH MY GOD” he exclaimed “why do you think that’s even a good joke?”

“Cause I knew it would get you out of whatever’s been bothering you”.

Lifting his head, he saw Tom looking at him waiting to hear his answer with a face that said ‘if you don’t tell me, you definitely going to have to tell Maddie when she gets home and she can make anyone crack.’

Knowing he wasn’t going to win this battle, he sighed and decided to get to the point.

“Umm…..isawthiskidandhisdaddoingsomthingithougtlookedkindafun,idontknowwhyitlookedfunitjustdidanddwhatiwaswonderingif-“

Tom quickly stopped him. “Sonic! Buddy just slow down ok? Just take a breath and start over.”

Nodding his head, he took a breath and said slowly,

“Can I….maybe ride on your shoulders?”

Taken aback, He stared at the now blushing teen in surprise and confusion.

“You want me to put you on my shoulders?” He asked, audibly confused.

Fidgeting in his seat, he replied shyly while pushing his food around with his fork.

“Well yeah, I’ve seen it happen before and each time, the kids always looks so happy. I wanted to know what that was like since I’ve never done it before.”

Tom sat in shock for a second until it came into realization what he meant, knowing how much loneliness the kid went through, not being able to really interact with kids his own age or anybody in general. It makes sense why something like this would interest him so eagerly. Slouching forward across the table, he tapped on the table to get the hedgehog’s attention.

Looking up, Tom gave him a smile. “Sure let’s give this new earth thing a shot.”

Sonic’s face lit up in excitement as he let out loud “YES!”, getting the attention of the other waitresses and customers in the cafè.

Flinching at the teen’s outburst, Tom gave an apologetic look at everyone before getting out his wallet, it’s better they leave before someone complained about his kid…Again.

=======

After paying the bill, Tom grabbed his coat walked out of the café with Sonic tightly walking at his side.

Bouncing with excitement, whether it was from this or that donut he ate, he started running in place as he saw Tom putting on his coat and looking down at the energetic child, who was struggling to get his scarf secured around his neck.

“Well someone’s excited, you ready?” He said as he bent down to help him with his scarf.

Locking his legs into place, he looked up at Tom with an intense look of determination.

“Absolutely sheriff donut lord sir!”

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed Sonic under his arms and began to lift him up; only to stop and let out a groan.

Confused, Sonic looked at him with concern as Tom had a look of grimace on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh my god what has Maddie been feeding you lately, barbells from the gym?”

“Excuse me, You carried me to bed last night with no struggle at all and NOW you think I’m too heavy?” he replied with snark narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“That was different, the cute look on you face while you were sleeping distracted me by your obvious weight gain you’ve had overnight.” He sassily replied, lifting him higher to meet him eye to eye.

Giving him a look of shock. He gasped with his mouth agape. “Oh how dare you sir.”

Letting out a laugh, he then lifted Sonic higher. “Ok ok, going up now”

Tom grunted as he lifted Sonic onto his shoulders, the teen grabbing the sides of his head as he took in the new view from the added height.

“Whoa!” The hedgehog exclaimed with wonder.

“Now I see why you always stand all the time and never sit. This is amazing!”

Tom chuckled as went to grab Sonic’s legs and started walking along the sidewalk. “Yeah I know, when I was a kid I felt like a giant whenever my dad would do this.”

“To me all you guys are freaking giants”. He said as he brushed his hand against the high tree limbs that grew above them.

“Yeah I’ll bet.” Tom replied as he shook his head free of leaves that fell from the branch, earning a laugh from Sonic.

As they walked out of the square and started up the hill to their neighborhood, Sonic took in everything there was to see from this new height.

From the way the leaves looked on the trees when the sun hit them, revealing their bright orange and red colors, to seeing rooftops of the other houses in the distance and the smoke came out from the chimneys.

After a moment, Sonic spoke up. “Hey Tom?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we try running instead of walking?”

“Ehhm, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that with you on my shoulders like this, you’re still pretty heavy.” He says sheepishly as he slows down his pace.

“But isn’t it your job to run after people?”

“Not as often as a police officer since there’s not a lot of crime around here, it’s just mostly walking or driving for us.”

“Oh....can we still try it?”

“Hmmm I’ll think about it.”

“Oh come on pleeeaaase?” He extends the last word in a pleading manner as he grips the human’s ears.

Letting out a grunt of discomfort, he turns his head slightly to look in the hedgehog’s direction. “I said I’ll think about it.”

Tom looks straight ahead again as he nods at a passing young couple, the both of them smiling and whispering at the cute sight as they walked by them.

“Ok fine.” He huffed out a sigh as he placed his hands on Tom’s head again.

As they climbed towards the hill leading towards their house, Sonic began drumming his fingers on top of the sheriff’s head, humming the song he heard from the jukebox earlier.

“Uh Sonic, do you mind?”

“Nope, not at all.” He nonchalantly as he continued to tap his head.

Sighing, Tom released Sonic’s legs and reaching his hands up, prodding the hedgehog’s sides

Yelping in surprise, Sonic stopped and squirmed away while trying not to fall off Tom’s shoulders.

“Ack! What the heck man!?”

“Well I asked you to stop.”

“No, what you said was ‘Do you mind?’ That’s not the same thing! Besides I needed something to do to get that song out of my head.” He spat back, sounding irritated.

“It is technically the same thing, it’s just another way of saying it and watch that sass, you’re talking to a sheriff officer here.”

Sonic scoffed, knocking his knuckles on top of the humans head.

“Oh please, Wade is more threatening than you are and that’s saying a lot.”

“Oh-ho, really now? In that case, what’d you think of this?” He reaches up again and wiggles his fingers into the hedgehog’s sides.

Sonic dissolved into fits of laughter, pinning his arms to his sides while trying to keep his balance.

“HAHAHA! NO! TOM STOP IT!!!”

“Do you still think Wade is more threatening now?” He questioned over the loud laughter.

“Y-YES! HE STILL IS!” He squealed as he kneeled against Tom’s head as he tried to shield his body.

“Ooh, wrong answer buddy.” He moved his hands to the hedgehog’s stomach and nearly got kicked in the face from his flailing feet.

“OK! OK YES YES! YOU’RE MORE THREATENING! STOP! I CAN’T BREATHE! He cackled, swatting away the attacking hands.

Grabbing his legs again, the man chuckled as he picked up the pace as he continued up the hill.

“Next time I hear you saying those words out in public like that again, I won’t go so easy on you.”

Wiping his eyes, he let out a giggle as he rubbed his sides and he caught his breath. “I won’t do it again Officer Wachowski.”

“That’s Mr. Officer Wachowski to you.” He said in a serious, goofy voice.

“Yeah no, I’m not calling you that.”

He lets out a chuckle as he grabs Sonic’s ankles and continues walking.

As they come towards a hill, Tom stops completely, looking at the length of the sidewalk.

Curious, Sonic tries to look where Tom is staring. “What’s up?”

He lets out a sigh as he spoke softly. “Just this once.”

“Huh? What do you mea- Whoa!” He let out a small yell as he felt Tom increase his running.

Sonic let out a laugh as Tom maneuvered around trees and fire hydrants as they traveled up the slope faster.

He held out his arms and smiled as he felt the breeze softly against his face as they continued up the hill.

‘Heh now I can see why kids really love this now’ he thought as he heard Tom panting as he slowed down, reaching the top of the hill.

“Oh man what happened? You didn’t even run that far!” Sonic let out a whine as they came to a stop.

“*pant* I told you that your getting heavy.” He let out a groan as he put his hands on his knees. “And it’s hard running up a hill in general with all this weight on your shoulders.” He pants as he trudges up the remainder of the hill.

“Maybe it’s those donuts you’ve been eating recently.”

“I haven’t eaten them that much.”

“Yes you have honestly, I’m surprised you aren’t more out of shape from eating them and you say that I’m heavy?”

“You are heavy, you little rat!” He quickly squeezes the teen’s knees.

“Ah! Ok stop!” He grabs Tom’s hands and pushes them away, putting his hands protectively over his knees.

Once they reached the top, Tom turned around and gazed at the town below; the two watching the sun’s rays light up the bright trees in the valley below.

Sonic let out a whistle as he looked at the view in front of him.

“I’m used not going outside as much when it would start to get colder, but I never realized how beautiful this place is during this time of year.”

Tom smiled as he shrugged his shoulders, readjusting Sonic to keep him balanced as he watched on.

“Yeah, it was one of the reasons why i love this place. The views can’t be compared to anything else that you’ve seen before.”

“Well I’ve seen a lot of places outside of this town and I can see what you mean.” Sonic replied before stopping with confusion.

“Wait ‘One of the reasons’? What was the other reason?”

“Well my lovely wife, Maddie of course”

“Oh gross. Oh man Really?”

“Just you wait until you have your first crush. You’ll be completely love struck and so wobbly in the knees, you won’t know what to do with yourself.”

Sonic recoiled at just the thought of that and shook it off before going back to staring at the view.

“Well that’s one thing we can agree on.”

Tom turned his head, waiting for a reply. “What’s that bud?”

Sonic smiled as the winds blew around them, oblivious to the sudden chill and the tails of his scarf blowing behind him and hitting his back spikes.

“The view is great from here”.

[linderu]

utakata hanabi. - ch 1/2

characters: khun, bam, rak, shibisu pairing: khunbam series: tower of god / kami no tou ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24567637/chapters/59331619

based off siu’s blog post from s2 ch298 with rak khun bam lighting sparklers. included: quite a few of my headcanons for khun’s character development/thought process throughout the series, shibisu wingmanning, and rak comprehending more than we think.

super cheesy since it’s set on the floor of tests, before bam knows michelle light is rachel. no webtoon spoilers for this chapter.

“Shibisu, what are you holding?”

“Ah, these? They’re sparklers.” Shibisu held the box up with a grin, giving it a little shake. “Have you really never seen these before? But they’re so much fun!”

“No, I haven’t.” Bam eyed the box curiously, tilting his head as he wondered what they could possibly be used for. “‘Sparklers’...? Do you eat them?”

“Huh? No!” Shibisu looked at Bam incredulously, before barking out a laugh. “Maaaaan, you really don’t know about sparklers? You’re missing out!”

“What do they do? Can you tell me?”

“...” Rather than giving Bam the information he wanted, Shibisu grinned wide, and tossed the box of sparklers his way. “Why don’t you ask Khun to show you?”

With the object of interest in his possession, Bam turned the box over in his hands carefully, examining its sides. It seemed they were sticks… that lit up? Was that it? Why would Khun be interested in something like this?

Heading off to find him, Bam didn’t notice the knowing smile Shibisu was wearing as he watched him leave.

---

“What? Sparklers?” Khun furrowed his brows. “Isu gave you them?”

“He told me to ask you how to use them… will you?”

“Ah.” Everything clicked into place at once with that small piece of information, and Khun practically deadpanned. “Isu… that bastard.”

What did he think he was doing, trying to set him up like this? Out of all the regulars that were present on the floor of tests, Khun felt Shibisu was the guy he had to watch out for the most.

He knew things about Khun no one else was aware of just from observing him. Maybe he should plan to kill him sometime.

“Is that a no…? Maybe I should go give them back.”

“Bam—wait a second.” Khun extended a hand, grabbing Bam’s shoulder just as he turned to leave. Was he really about to do this?

One look at Bam’s eyes told him everything he needed to know.

“I’ll show you, okay, Bam? So don’t give them back to Isu.” Letting go of Bam’s shoulder, he smirked. “Meet me by the exit when it gets dark out, send me a message over your pocket. But it’s our secret. Don’t tell anyone else.”

“Okay--!” Bam’s lips stretched into a wide smile, and, Khun, finding his happiness absolutely contagious, felt the corners of his lips tug too. “I can’t wait!”

If it meant he could see more of Bam when he was enjoying himself, then maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

---

From Bam: Khun, I’m here!

Khun peeked around the corner he was hiding in towards where Bam stood by the door to the “outside”. Of course, he had gotten there first (and well before Bam), but it wasn’t like he was going to let him know that.

He watched his teammate look around, presumably for him, and seemingly nervous.

Really... what an interesting guy, he thought to himself. How could someone who came into possession of the Black March before the floor of tests be so meek? He was chasing after some girl who Khun guessed didn’t want him around with such conviction despite having zero battle sense or intent to kill. What did he expect to accomplish, coming into the tower like this? Even just standing around doing nothing and Bam seemed like he was out of place.

He really couldn’t leave him alone. Every time he reassessed his goals, Khun found himself sinking more and more into this idea that he just had to climb the tower with him.

“Yo, Bam.” Coming out of his hiding spot, Khun rounded the corner, a hand held up in greeting as he smirked.

“Khun!” Bam’s face lit up in a bright grin, and Khun’s own expression softened at the sight.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No, not at all!”

“That’s good to hear.” Walking over to Bam, he gently grabbed his wrist and gave it a tug. “Let’s go.”

“EHEM.”

Khun stopped in his tracks and scowled, the door to the outside partially held open with his foot. Of course this guy just had to get in his way...

“Where do you turtles think you’re going without your leader?!”

“Rak?!” Bam stared at Rak, eyes wide with surprise, while Khun just palmed his face with his free hand, exasperated.

“You stupid crocodile!” Khun snapped at the third of their ‘trio’, rounding on him with what was almost a pout. “What are you doing here? Go to sleep!”  

“I saw the black turtle go somewhere suspicious. As I thought, you’re trying to do something without me! I’m coming too!”

“Ugh. And who said you could join in, huh?!”

“Khun, why don’t we let him come…?” Khun glanced back towards Bam, who was looking at him with almost pleading eyes.

“Bam…”

The two exchanged a look—Bam, silently conveying his intent on including their friend, and Khun, who already knew what he had to do, but didn’t want to do it.

In the end, he just couldn’t say no.

“Fine.” Khun sighed, wondering if Rak’s interference was planned by Shibisu, too.

---

“Ready, Bam? You light them like this.” Khun clicked his lighter and brought the flame towards the end of the stick. Sparks flew everywhere, a couple even tickling his arm, and through the muted light of the firework, Khun could tell right away that Bam was captivated by the sight.

“Wow…! It’s like there’s stars coming from it!” He exclaimed giddily, watching the sparkler slowly burn. “But, doesn’t it hurt you? It seems like some of the flames are touching your arm, Khun.”

“Oh, that? I guess you can feel it a little bit, but not by much.” Khun glanced around for Rak idly, wanting to pass the sparkler off so he could light a new one for Bam to hold. “Hey, you crocodile. Want to hold it? You can have the first one, since you’re the leader.”

“Of course I am!” Rak snatched the sparkler up in an instant, and started waving it around wildly. “What is this thing, blue turtle?! It’s on fire!”

“You’re going to break your arm swinging it around like that. Cut it out.” Khun ignored Rak’s question, opting to let the lizard figure it out for himself.

“It looks so pretty when you wave it, though…” Bam murmured, watching the trail the sparkler left as it soared through the air. Rather than watching the sparkler, too, Khun was gazing at Bam’s expression.

“Bam. Do you want to try?” Khun held out a sparkler with a grin.

“Ah, okay! Yes!”

“You hold it like this. It’s the end that won’t burn, okay? When the sparkler is done, it’ll stop up here.” As he explained, Khun placed the stick into Bam’s hands accordingly, and pointed out the bottom of the actual ‘firework’ part. “I’m going to light it now.”

With a click of his lighter, Bam’s face was lit up by the soft glow of his own glittering flames. Now that he was the one holding the firework, Khun watched the sparkles dancing in the reflection in his eyes.

“You were right, Khun! It doesn’t hurt at all.” Bam stared at the sparkler in his hands with glee.

“Try waving it, Bam.”

Flicking his wrist, he swirled the sparkler around in the air in tiny circles, laughing at the sight. Khun couldn’t help but chuckle along with him.

“Fun, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is! It’s almost like…” Bam’s expression softened, and he looked up to the ‘night’ sky, his smile becoming slightly forlorn. “Like stars…”

Khun watched him silently for a minute, taking in the shift in his mood. He was well aware of who was on Bam’s mind when he became like this. Rather than asking about it, he held his tongue, and also directed his gaze to the fake sky.

The breeze tickled his hair lightly, and for a while, the only sounds there were came from the background noise which always accompanied the tower, and the quiet sizzling of the sparklers. Even Rak was silent, watching the last of his sparkler burn out a little ways away from the two.

“... The lights of the tower are pretty, though.” Khun said simply, crossing his arms. “They’re a lot like stars, in some ways… or so I hear.”

“Rachel knows they’re not the same. I wonder what they look like, for her to want to see them so badly.”

“Who knows. That’s only a question she can answer.” Khun turned back to him, his face solemn. “I wouldn’t think too hard about it, Bam. You’re on separate paths right now.”

“... I want to find her. And catch up to her so I can climb the tower with her.”

“Even though she threw you away?” Khun murmured. How could he have so much devotion for a girl who chose the tower over him, and didn’t even bring him along when he wanted to stay by her side?

He’d never had that much loyalty for anyone in his life.

“She must have her reasons.” Bam insisted. “I won’t know until I find her and ask.”

“Hmmm…” Khun hummed, his eyes narrowing in thought. It was strange, he realized. Through being around Bam, he felt like he was exposed to a much wider range of emotions than he was used to. Normally he just went through the motions day to day, not really striving towards anything except achieving his greater, long-term goals with his usual underhanded ways. With Bam, though…

At this moment, he felt envious. Concerned. Eager. Curious. Khun both wanted what Bam had, while not wanting it whatsoever. The ability to follow your heart no matter what life threw at you… it was such a rare and precious trait, especially when it came to the types of people who tested their fate by climbing the tower.

Why couldn’t he be that way, too? What would have changed if he had that same outlook in the past?

And yet, he was also worried about Bam’s loyalty coming full circle to burn himself in the end. Khun was disowned from his family in a similar way. The notion of the same thing happening to Bam, someone who was so selfishly selfless, didn’t make him feel good at all.

He had too many questions. About Bam, about this tower, about his family, about himself —maybe if he followed this guy for just a bit longer, he might figure something out for once.

“—Khun?”

Khun blinked, glancing over to Bam—except, it was too dark to see him. The sparklers had long sizzled out, and he had been so wrapped in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed.

Crap. He really was acting strange lately.

“Shouldn’t we head inside? It’s getting late.” Bam suggested, glancing back in the direction of their rooms.

“Yeah… where’s—” Khun, in the middle of asking where Rak was, peered around in the dark and caught the crocodile’s eyes. He cut himself off, watching Rak warily—though it was difficult to see without much light, the look he was being given coupled with the lizard’s unusual silence gave him a bad feeling.

“What are you looking at, crocodile…?”

“Hmph.” Rak merely huffed, before starting off ahead of them towards their dorms. “You still have a long way to go, blue turtle.”

“Huh—?! Why you—!” As he was about to storm after Rak, Khun paused when he felt a light tug on his sleeve. He threw a glance back to the source, his tension easing as Bam came into view.

“Thanks for showing me the sparklers, Khun. I had a lot of fun.” Bam smiled innocently, and a dangerous line of thought seeded into Khun’s mind—which he attempted to shut down immediately. (Was this how Bam looked at Rachel? At the one person in his life he cared so much for?)

“Bam…”

“I hope we can do it again sometime! I’m glad that we became teammates, Khun.” With a final flash of his grin, Bam trailed off after the crocodile, leaving Khun staring dumbly at his retreating back in the dark.

This guy—no. That was wrong, to refer to him in such an impersonal way. At this point, Bam meant too much to him for Khun to keep treating him like he wasn’t involved in his life. Bam was either going to become Khun’s demise, or a brand new beginning.

Either way, he looked forward to watching it all unfold. He was too curious.

[poet-of-deimos]

FF

Just a fun headcanon based on the last trailer.

Too Early for New Year's (Cloud, Aerith) And then there were fireworks.

Cloud was 100% sure he didn't get the dates wrong. He was certain because the Loveless poster he saw on his way to the Wall Market would never lie.

It was there in big, bold letters.

Opens 6.25, it said.

Buy your tickets now, it said.

It's definitely not the New Year's, it said --- implicitly.

Was there a festival he might have not known about? There must be! Why else would he be seeing fireworks in the middle of June and New Years was several months away?

But Aerith didn't mention of any festivals. He could probably ask her and maybe he would, once he was done marveling at how it was possible for a person to shine the way she did. The fireworks behind her, colorful and pretty as they were, paled in comparison and Cloud wondered if anything would ever come so close to the vision before him.

She was walking towards him, too slowly he thought or maybe that was just in his head. Either way, he didn't care; the same way he didn't care about about where these confetti were even coming from and why they suddenly started raining down on him and Aerith like a blessing of some sort.

Aerith started talking but he couldn't hear anything. But he was sure she was speaking to him because he had been watching the movement of her lips the whole time.

Cloud was staring, he realized, but he couldn't stop, fascinated by those red, red lips just like her red, red dress.

"Corneo has a certain type."

Finally, he heard her say, and he meant to ask her if she was totally sure about going through with their plan. He didn't want her to be in danger, after all. What kind of bodyguard was he if placed her in harm's way instead of keeping her away from it?

But Cloud's mind and mouth apparently were not in synced that night and all he managed to say was a single word as his eyes took her appearance from head to foot

"Same."

He blinked once, twice, upon, realizing the word that came out of his mouth. Aerith stared at him in silence for a few seconds before her lips curved to slowly form a grin.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Cloud cleared his throat and looked away. "I mean…hmmm."

He refused to face her again so he directed his gaze to the floor that was mysteriously devoid of any confetti. 'Huh? Where did they all go?'

But Aerith was someone who's just impossible to ignore. So when she laughed, he couldn't help but turn his attention back to her, no different from a sunflower always finding the direction of the sun.

(Because that was Aerith was, he thought. A bright, warm sun in these dark , gloomy slums.)

There was a teasing glint in her green eyes and Cloud held his breath, waiting for her to bring up his earlier mistake. She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, Mr. Bodyguard how about we get this show on the road? Corneo won't know what hit him."

Cloud sighed in relief and nodded. "Yeah." He waited for Aerith to come up and walk past him, and he followed right behind.

She stopped for a moment though and he watched her, blue eyes curious as she slowly turned around.

"By the way…"

And then, Cloud saw them again: her green, green eyes and red, red lips both teasing, laughing.

"I'm glad you approve." She gave him a wink and turned to walk away before Cloud could even say anything.

Not that he even could because Aerith had that special ability to render him speechless with just a few words.

She looked back at him, face still glowing with mirth. " Hey, you coming?"

He nodded just as something just exploded inside his chest, something warm and beautiful.

It was the middle of June , and New Years was so far away yet for the second time that evening, Cloud saw fireworks.

Fin.