#huh wonder who gave them those complexes

[bumblebeehug]

Home

Summary: Natsu has found his home. Notes: At the end. Ao3

***

By the first week into October, Natsu had managed to change his temper completely. Lucy wasn’t surprised – she had seen it before, after all. But it happened, and she was as impressed as she had been the first time she saw it. Natsu was the most energetic, crazy and loving person she knew. He ran around going on missions, planning elaborate pranks, he talked loudly, and he fought at every change – and he always dragged Lucy along to play. She loved this side of him. He gave her energy, his happiness spread to her like wildfire – ironic, considering that he’s a fire mage. 

So, when the leaves on the trees became orange, red and yellow, she was surprised every time she saw his energy mellow out slightly. He still acted roughly the same, and he did what he usually did: missions, pranks, fights and hanging out with Lucy, but now with less of that extra stuff – shaking his legs, poking her thighs under the table to annoy her, carelessly interrupting people when they were speaking. She notices him taking the occasional pause whenever they’re outside, to take in the rapidly changing view and to take deep, calming breaths of the smell of rain and decaying leaves. It was clear as day: he really liked autumn. 

“Whatcha doing?” Natsu was surprised to see Lucy digging around in the flowerpots at her apartment complex’s entrance.

“Huh?” Lucy looked up. She hadn’t been expecting him to arrive just yet. They agreed earlier today to hang out, but since Natsu had to stop by the tailor she thought she would have time to prepare the flower pots for winter. She usually did this early in the morning, so Natsu didn’t know she was the one fixing the nice flower beds every spring, or that she was the one who cleared them when they died. 

“Oh I’m just doing some chores, you go ahead and make yourself comfortable inside,” Lucy encouraged, waving her tiny shovel. Natsu squatted down beside her, still visibly confused.

“Why are you digging everythin’ out?” Lucy was taken slightly off guard with this unexpected interest. After all, she was only digging dirt in a pot, nothing he would be interested in normally. But then again, he was quite on theme with his newfound tranquillity.

“I’m really only making space for new things to grow, I was thinking that I’d like to plant azaleas next year,” she told him.

“Are azaleas flowers?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you a picture when we go inside – I’m almost done anyway.”

Natsu waited patiently. He couldn’t help but wonder how those flowers would look – would they be some sort of flamey variant, or would they be cute and fluffy? Or maybe those were the wrong sort of words to use to describe flowers. Round or sharp petals? Thorns or no thorns? And then which colour? Could they pick and decide that themselves? Or had Lucy already picked? He was surprisingly interested – uncharacteristically so, even he was aware of that.

Lucy almost worked up a sweat, Natsu observed, taking his time to soak up the details. Her hair looked soft and light from the sunny summer, but her tan had started to fade. She was wearing gloves, the ones with a little pink detail, and her jacket was on the thicker side. Maybe that’s why she was getting hot. She didn’t wear any makeup today, he noticed. He liked it when she wore her face bare – not that she didn’t look good all dolled up as well, but he just appreciated the way she looked when she was just being her. She didn’t try to look like anyone else, like Cana with her dark eyelashes or Mira with her fair skin – she just looked like herself, light eyelashes and some freckles scattered across her cheeks.

It didn’t take long for Lucy to give up her efforts. The weather was getting worse by the second, and the warmth she initially worked up was gone as soon as the wind picked up. Feeling goosebumps up her arms and her neck, she soon turned back to Natsu, who was still keeping his eyes glued on her.

“Maybe I’ll leave it here for today, it feels like it’s going to rain,” she said, putting her tools away. “Do you want some tea?”

Natsu nodded, not really feeling bothered by the change in weather. Though, he didn’t exactly love seeing Lucy shiver. And he really liked the way she made tea – she always added a splash of milk and a lemon slice or cinnamon stick, depending on the flavour.

As they entered Lucy’s apartment, Natsu took a deep breath. It smelled like freshly baked bread, cinnamon and smoke from the fire she made when he wasn’t around. Underneath those tones, there was this homey scent of Lucy. The mixture of her hygiene products, her fabric softener, the subtle tones of wood and leather from different pieces of furniture, and then there was her scent. He had never found any other way to describe it. It wasn’t like normal body odour, like sweat or skin, it was something else completely. Like he could smell her DNA, or her very soul perhaps.   Well, whatever the scent was, he loved it. For him, being in Lucy’s apartment was equivalent to therapy. He didn’t even like his own home as much as he did hers – it didn’t have her flair.

Lucy broke their silence.

“Will Happy be coming over later? I got a new board game, I thought we could try it together.” She took off the boiling hot kettle from the stove. Natsu had taken a seat on the couch, still lost in thoughts.

“Yeah, he’ll drop in in time for dinner,” he told her. “He’s been at the river tryna catch tiger trouts all morning. He’s just been gettin’ carps though.” A low chuckle escaped his lips.

“Well, at least he’s got a food supply!” She chirped from the kitchen. “Look what I bought at the market yesterday.”

Lucy was balancing a wooden tray, filled with all kinds of snacks, plus some of that bread that had been cooling off. Some snacks looked like glistering jewels, others looked like they could be cursed meat disguised as small, wrinkly sausages. She put the tray down onto the coffee table. Just as Natsu had predicted, the two mugs each had a cinnamon stick in them. Natsu leaned over in intrigue as Lucy plopped down beside him.

“I couldn’t identify half of this stuff at gunpoint,” he mumbled. As he got a whiff of the smell coming from the mixed assortments, his nose scrunched. “Smells weird.”

“I’ll tell you what it is! First we got our drinks…”

She handed Natsu his cup, a dark murky orange one, rough and handmade, with little yellow flames painted in the glaze. He’d gotten it from Lucy a Christmas a couple of years ago, and ever since then it had been his designated one. As he held it he smelled a mix of spices from the steam.

“It’s a masala chai, it originated in Bellum over a thousand years ago! This mix is made with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, cloves and black tea leaves from the area, but the seller told me that the recipe can vary. Then there’s just some milk and sugar as well, but I thought you might like it.” As Natsu listened to her listing up the ingredients, he finally found some sense in the jumbled combination of mixed spices. It made the drink feel more appetising. 

“Taste it!” She urged, Natsu seeing an intense glimpse in her eyes.

“Kay… You better not have put somethin’ weird into it…” he warned her before putting his cup against his lips, taking a small mouthful of the lightly tanned liquid into his mouth. Before Lucy could counter his rude claim, Natsu lit up. “Hey, that’s actually good!”

“Is it?” Lucy excitedly turned to her own cup, the one she had bought from the same pottery artist as she got Natsu’s. Dark blue with yellow stars painted where Natsu’s cup had flames. A matching pair, despite the themes being completely different. He liked the way it contrasted her pale hands, and he liked how she held it delicately with both hands so she wouldn’t drop it. “It really is!”

She turned to smile at him proudly, not containing her joy in the slightest. He could always tell when her happiness came from her heart – it showed in her eyes, in the fact that they squinted so hard that her eyes looked like two slits, resting on her pillowy cheeks. If he didn’t have his hands full, he would have reached out and pinched them. Test if they were as soft and plush as they looked.

“Right, so that’s the tea,” Lucy continued, not paying any attention to the intense stare that was coming from the mage beside her. “Then there’s this, it just looks like normal candy cane pieces to me, but the woman who sold it said that the people in the northern parts of Seven eat it traditionally towards winter.” The hard candies in the bowl made a jingling sound as Lucy picked it up. As she said, they tasted pretty much like normal candy canes. Natsu didn’t care for it all that much – the minty flavour left a cold feeling in his mouth, and he didn’t love to be reminded of a grumpy stripper every time he had a sweet. Still, they seemed delightfully handmade, and Lucy mentioned something about them being called polka pigs in a rough translation of their native language, and Natsu loved pork, so he took another piece in solidarity to its name.

As the two of them continued to taste test the different snacks from around the world, Natsu noticed Lucy edging closer. It seemed she hadn’t realised it herself, as she still was talking about the long, complicated production of those sausage-things that tasted much better than they looked (apparently there was beer involved? He didn’t really follow). Her position had changed from sitting on the opposite side of the couch to now sitting shoulder against shoulder. Every now and then she would lean closer, like she was searching his touch as much as he always searched for hers.

“Oh that’s right!” She exclaimed, suddenly diving under her coffee table. Natsu didn’t hide the confused look on his face when he hunched down with her.

“What?” He asked, trying to figure out what she was rummaging for.

“The flowers! Azaleas, I was going to show you a picture.” She crawled up into the couch again, her hair slightly messy this time, holding a small book. A Flower Encyclopedia was written on it, and she immediately started browsing the chapter index.

Struggling to see the contents inside the book, Natsu hoisted Lucy into his arms so he was looking over her shoulder. She seemed unfazed by his action, but her accelerated heartbeat begged to differ. Natsu couldn’t help but smile at her from behind. Her feelings could be so transparent.

“There it is,” Lucy mumbled, very aware of the blush on her cheeks. The page she held open showed a plethora of deep, pink flowers, sitting against a dark greenery. Natsu leaned a bit forward so he could see the book closer, letting his chin rest on her shoulder.

“They look kinda nice.” He tilted his head against hers, their cheeks squishing together with the motion.

“I thought you’d like them,” she whispered.

Natsu dug his face into the crook of her neck and took a deep breath. He couldn’t help it when the source of the smell he loved more than anything was right under his nose.

“Read to me,” he begged, hugging her closer. As his mouth was pressed against Lucy’s shoulder, she immediately felt his hot breath against her skin, earning a shiver. Still, she complied. Reading the pages went quickly as there were mostly pictures, but she knew he didn’t ask her to read in order to hear about flowers. She knew that he just wanted to hear her voice, so when she finished the thin book, she started talking about anything that came to her mind. Dreams, memories and things she had to do the upcoming week.

Natsu had dozed off after just ten minutes of reading. His soul felt fulfilled as he laid there, breathing Lucy’s air, hearing her calm voice, feeling her body heat pressed against him as they cuddled together. The tranquil air around the two of them acted as a perfectly curated space – he swore he could feel their heartbeats match up.

Life felt perfect. Soon Happy would arrive, and the three of them would share a delicious hot meal, listening to the cat’s fishing adventures – not before said cat teased the pair a little for acting all cuddly of course. Then they would take turns to wash up before playing that new board game long into the night.

But right here, right now, there was only Natsu and Lucy, and a comfortable couch in a warming embrace. The rain that Lucy had predicted earlier that day was smattering against her window, and before she drifted to sleep herself, she remembered thinking that this was what life was about.

_______________________

oops. i became possessed by a fic-writing fairy? so here's another fic lol. since it's the season and all. also i put in a surprising amount of research into this fic, looking at fairy tail maps (Bellum is basically the equivalent to India, Seven is north of Fiore - the candy cane stuff being called polka pigs is basically just a nod at the swedish "polkagris", same with the sausage - "ölkorv" or beer-sausage) hope you enjoyed this fluffy stuff! next on the agenda is angst! as always, thanks for reading<333 xx

[antion-bewitching-bitch]

Prologue 2 : Childhood Memories Of a Young Heart

Descendants x male Oc (you can read it as a self-insert if you want).

Master List

Next Chapter | Prev Chapter

TW: None Word Count : 2.7k

A/N: WELCOME, THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME. Sorry not sorry but like life just came and made me inactive sorry <3. Now here is the next prologue, the next chapter will be the start! In this story Eli and the other VKs are still kids and this is how they all met, and some foreshadowing in the group dynamics. HOPE YALL ENJOY!

AGAIN, NOT PROOF READ. if there is any mistakes or like just things that are confusing. Please forgive me for this is just my early days of writing, also if you notice a like change of past or just vibes at the ending parts. That is because thats when i came back to continue this chapter. ANYWAYS JUST ENJOY PLZ.

“Do you know who your father is, Eli?” A boy with white hair and black roots asked Eli. Carlos was his name, ever since Eli could remember he was with him. Being neighbors did make them closer than the other kids in the alley. 

Today was a gloomy day at the isle, it wasn’t that different from most days; and like any other day Eli dragged Carlos with him to find something to do in the isle. There they passed countless people laying in the streets with just mere boxes and metal sheets sheltering them, going under the hazardly built complex of the buildings in the isle and passing the people who worked almost everyday.

“Why ask?” Eli replied and looked back at him. 

our voices were so high pitched back then. We both were in our daily garments with patches of fabrics that covered out past activities that left holes, in the isle it was rare to have multiple sets of clothing.

“I was wondering since..” Carlos continued while he walked closer to Eli “I asked my mom who my dad was last night!” He whispered only loud enough for them to hear

“Who is he?” Eli whispered back, they both now stood blocking the middle of the walkway.

Carlos gave Eli a frown in return. He looked at the ground before answering him with another whisper “Mom just told me to stop asking and to never ask the same question ever again. and made me sleep early...”.

“So you don’t know?” 

“Well…yeah..”

“well..” Eli was trying to think of a way to cheer him up a bit, then a memory came to mind. It was when he tried asking my mom the same thing. “Well my dad is a monster! So it's fine if you don’t know yours...”

The old nanny that came with mom to the isle told me this story. I tried asking mom and she just looked terrified when I did. The nanny then grabbed me and left my mom in the room and told me the story of how my mother was kidnaped by an evil monster alone and then left her with me by her side. It wasn’t until I grew older that I was finally told the truth, again making sure my mom was out of sight when the nanny told me the truth.

“A monster?” Carlos looked at Eli with a confused look. “Yeah!”

“So your…your half monster?” Carlos asked with a confused smirk 

“I think? Is that how it works?” 

It was laughable how little we knew back then; still kids. In a place we didn’t even know was that bad since we didn’t even know any other place than the isle.

He started to laugh, Eli cheered him up with his cluelessness. They would then continue exploring the isle, looking  through crevices they found with fungi growing in them, Abandoned buildings that collapsed in itself, and the bustling space of merchants. 

As they strolled down the streets they saw two girls. One had jet black hair like the roots of Carlos the other had navy blue hair. They seemed to be arguing over something.

“Mal I think we’re lost…” The bluenette said to the ravenette. “Relax, Eve! I know the way back.”

Even as kids, Mal was always so stubborn; yet was still with Evie. Those two even back then were inseparable. Be it for better or worse. Huh.. I just noticed that nickname Mal gives her, Eve. Didn’t know that even back then she called her that.

“A-are you sure? It's getting dark soon…” Evie asked Mal, they were holding hands the entire time. With Evie now tugging at her to make Mal look at her.

“I-...I’m sure Eve..I-” Before the ravenette can continue Carlos interjected and asked them. “Are you both lost?”

The bluenette noticed the boy and was thankful that someone was there, that might even be able to help them. “Yes, please help us. We-". "No we’re not.” said the raven haired girl that now has an unpleasant face.

“It's obvious you are.” Eli said, finally showing his presence and walking to stand next to Carlos. “We can help you, I’m Carlos by the way, I'm Cruella's Son! We're used to these parts of the isle so we can help you easily!”

“You can? Oh what a lucky princess I am! Two brave knights came to save us Mal!” The bluenette was filled with joy with the response from Carlos. Mal was still there being stubborn and not even facing both Eli and Carlos.

“You’re a Princess?!” Carlos was in awe, but it's not like it was new to him. Eli was also royalty in his eyes. “Oh I am! I am Evie, Daughter of the Evil Queen!” She introduced herself. Evie now looked at the ravenette and nudged her elbow a bit, but she wasn’t budging. “This is Mal. She’s a close friend of mine and the daughter of the great Maleficent!”

“And you are?” Mal then asked in a still annoyed tone, she was aiming the question to Eli. “Eli. Son of the Mad Queen of Hearts.” Evie gasped, “You’re royalty too?!”

“Hmmm I think?” Eli responded. He thought more deeply into this. “Carlos, am I a prince?”

Both Evie and Carlos answered with a loud yeah.

Mal, now getting more irritated, made a grunt for attention “Are you going to start helping us or not?”. “Where are you both heading then?” Carlos asked Evie so they could help them.

Now that I think about it. I think Mal got irritated about how close Me, Carlos, and Evie were starting to get. She was always so protective of her. I think she also got more irritated because of how close Evie was getting to Me. Which was stupid to be honest.

After a while of going through the alleyways and pathways towards their way home, Carlos and Eli were able to guide Mal and Evie back. Carlos himself was actually seemingly wanting to get closer to Evie, but Mal would always be a barrier between the two.

The entire time they were walking home, it was getting darker and closer to dusk. The sun was already down low in the horizon but they didn’t even notice that for the heart of the isle was filled with claustrophobic building complexes. They only noticed how it was getting darker and darker signaling the time of night.

However Mal was still apprehensive with the two, she was more irritated by Carlos and him trying to get closer with Evie but was suspicious of Eli’s quiet observing nature; he was behind them when walking back but didn’t talk much other than joining in a bit of conversations. She didn’t like how quiet he was.

“I’d forever be grateful for this! And I’m even more glad that I got to meet another royal!” Evie said with her high pitched voice while giving Eli a smile, even when it was now getting night time and was visibly looking tired; she still kept up her imagined image of a princess. 

“It was nothing really…” Carlos blabbered with a blush on his face visible, he clearly has a crush on her. “It was nice making new friends.” Eli stated back.

It's so weird looking back and seeing Carlos having a crush on Evie, now they’re relationship is nothing more than brother and sister. I bet if I ever tell Evie that Carlos had a crush on her back then, he would be so embarrassed and ashamed. Bet Mal never forgot though, I wonder how she feels about Carlos now.

The lights were dimming, soon they would find themselves below the stars. “It's time for us to go Carlos.” Eli told him. Mal would then scout Carlos towards Eli and away from Evie as she did she said “It's night now at this point. You two should head back home.”. “O-Oh…I didn’t notice it was this late now…” Carlos looked up at the fog polluted skies. “Come on Carlos.” Eli grabbed him and started heading back home.

“Ah- WAIT.” Carlos tried to stop Eli from dragging him a bit. “GOODBYE EVIE! BYE MAL!” he screamed since he wanted to say farewell but couldn’t stop Eli from making him go. “GOODBYE SHINING KNIGHTS!” Evie waved back towards Carlos and Eli who were about to turn into an alleyway where they would last see them for the night. Mal on the other hand was thankful they left, sure they helped her. But they also irritated her a lot.

The streets were dark and littered with men and women, some were drinking, some were talking, most were smoking. It wasn’t really a child friendly place to be in, but by some miracle. Eli and Carlos were able to get home safely.

Albeit with a long scolding by Eli’s mom Mary. Carlos was supposed to go to his home but Cruella, his mom, wasn’t home yet. She would work day by day sewing and tailoring for the people of the isle. It was the only way she could earn a living and raise her only child, both her and Mary would sometimes switch responsibilities in taking care of the children when the old nanny wasn’t around.

After the punishment of kneeling on the floor for a long period of time given to them, Eli and Carlos got to bed. They shared a room in cases like this. Eli would sleep on his bed while Carlos would sleep on the spare mattress, if Cruella was taking care of them. It would be vice versa but in Carlos' room.

Carlos asked Eli while looking at the ceiling thinking back to the girls they met. “Do you think they're cute? Evie and Mal I mean…” There was a period of silence. Eli was contemplating about his answer

“I don’t have much of an interest in them if i'm being honest…They’re nice, well Evie seems to be. But nothing much of note rather than Evie being a princess like me.” Eli answered back now looking towards Carlos from his bed.

“Ever since we met, you never thought of girls as being cute…why?” Carlos asked him not maliciously but just curiously, Eli chuckled. “It’s simple, I don’t see them as that. I find other boys to be much more appealing!”. 

Now this was a big lie, in fact. When I was younger, I never found any other boy to be appealing. The taller more mature men though, now that was what I found appealing even at that age.

“Huh... .Am I cute?” Carlos asked him.

“In a scared little kitty way, yeah!” Eli answered him with a smile while cuddled up with his pillow and blanket.

“...” Carlos looked away from him and remained silent.

“Carlos?” Eli called.

“...”

That was the first ever time I got the silent treatment from him. He may be soft and just little back then, but he took such pride in being a ‘man’ as he would say back then. Even when I grow older like now, I still find that stupid.

PANG!....

It was early in the morning, the moon hadn't even set yet. However Eli and him being a light sleeper woke up to noise coming from the kitchen. He looked over at his side and saw Carlos wasn’t there now. Cruella must have brought him home after she came back from her job.

PONG!...

He heard it again, more noise from the kitchen. It sounded like falling metal things, like the pots and pans used for cooking. It was attached to some doors at the kitchen cabinets so he wondered if it fell because it was recklessly opened.

He got out of bed to check what was happening downstairs, was it his mother?

When he got there, he found a tan skinned boy going through the cabins of the kitchen with food wrappings scattered at the floor alongside the crumbs. Some notable silverware was gone missing and supposedly now in the boy’s pockets.

“When robbing someone, shouldn’t it be done quietly?” Eli was able to grab the burglar’s attention. The balancing act he was doing while going through the cabin vanished for he was startled, causing him to fall into the floor.

“Wow…” Eli was surprised how clumsy this boy was.

The boy had dark brunette hair that was reaching his shoulders while wearing red, even as he laid on the floor Eli could tell he was taller than him. It was silent after that. The boy eyed him, he couldn’t think of what to do now.

As protection, Eli bent down to grab one of the cooking pans that fell. Even as his burglar seemed clumsy and a meat head, he wanted to have a way to protect himself.

“..Why aren’t you screaming…” The boy asked him as he sat up from the floor looking up at him.

“‘Cause you're a kid.” Eli answered simply, he pointed the pan at the boy’s face and continued “If you were an adult I wouldn’t have even spoken and ran to my mom.”

“..Are you not scared of me?” He asked.

“No. You’re a child, not much to fear than your idiocy.” He told him. Food crumbs were still visible on the boy’s mouth. “If you were hungry my mom would have fed you out of pity. Now while I’m still merciful, give back those things you stole. Now.”

“..Fine…..” The boy stood up and grabbed all the spoons and such from his pockets and dumped them to the sink. “I said back to where you stole them. Not. The. Sink.” Eli was ready to strike the boy’s face with the pan, even as the boy stood a few inches taller than him.

As the boy fled and grabbed all of it and placed it back to their rightful place Eli was noticing him more. With a more muscular form than normal, tanned skin, scruffy attire. He guessed he was from the morning merchants area not far from here. Maybe he was a laborer, some unfortunate kids in the isle are forced and made to work for whatever reason the adults had. Maybe financial aid, familial businesses, or so on.

He wasn’t that bad, “What's your name?” Eli asked him when he finished. “...are you not going to tell on me?” the boy asked him, he was worried since he was caught if he was gonna be punished. “I’m a merciful kid. Now, what is your name child?” Eli questioned him back with a condescending smirk and his cooking pan now resting on his shoulder.

“Jay. Call me Jay.” He answered back. “Well nice to meet you Jay, quite the first impression huh?” Eli showed his free hand to shake. 

“What's yours?” Jay asked him. He seemed less shaken and worried now by his voice, he grabbed Eli’s hand.

Eli shook his hand and smiled at him “Eli. You can call me Eli.”

Jay had a blush when hearing the name, Eli didn’t seem to notice. “Are we friends then?” he asked

“Maybe. You have to prove to me you’re worthy though, the first impression of you being a burglar isn’t exactly helping you.” Jay smiled for it was his first time gaining a friend, one he thought was as cute as Eli.

It wasn’t that surprising that Jay and I dated once we got older, now looking back at it. That day seems more crazy as it was the first time I met other kids that I like other than Carlos. My first time meeting Mal and Evie, alongside Jay. Now look at us, we’re on our way out of the isle, going to this school we haven’t heard off since just this morning.

Mal and Evie are still quite close together, but with Mal tolerating us more. Carlos was still like a little brother to me, but now he wasn’t as quiet and shy as back then. Then there is Jay, possibly the one that knows me the best out of everyone.

It was nice when we dated, even when it hurt to break it off. Becoming and then staying friends with him was the right choice, though I am happy that I got to experience what I was like to be with him at the time. I’m sure he does too, his one of the best mistakes I ever made. Now, he is one of my closest friends.

As I stare out of this Car window, I can see the clear blue skies outside. We’ve reached Auradon and have left the isle. It's beautiful, I hate it.

An : Did you guys like it? So I tried doing a mix of 2nd and 3rd person, if you can’t tell. The initialization of paragraphs like here in the end, this is all Eli’s Monologue. Also just in case Y'all also didn’t get it, the entire chapter is just Eli reminiscing about the first time he met every other VKs! PLEASE LIKE IT, IM SORRY I’VE BEEN GONE I HOPE YALL ENJOY THIS.

[yallemagne]

Fucking stupid notes app lost all my notes on this season I’m going to burn Apple to the ground. 

Episode 1 &2: The Phalanx Covenant

Chuck is so fuckin’ obsessed with fixing Sabretooth that the Phalanx saw that and impersonated Sabretooth to trigger the man’s saviour complex oh my god. 

Warlock!!! I love Warlock!!

Sinister: "THEY TOOK MY RESEARCH!! MY MUTANT TEST SUBJECTS!! MY SAMPLES!!" Beast: "Sinister, people are dying." Sinister: "ALL MY NOTES ON MORPH!!!" Beast: "You're making it so hard not to throw you to the Phalanx."

"Your friends cost me an arm and a leg." Who the fuck are you??

They visit Muir Island and NO ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MORPH?? Bullshit.

(I'm headcanoning that Morph and Proteus ditched the island to get burgers and avoided getting assimilated. Because they're my silly little pumpkins, that's why.)

Every time Sinister shows up on screen I get angry iopjgerjio and he's here the whole time. The only positive contribution he's had to the mission was throwing Moira off the plane, lol.

Magneto's grown a beard in the interim to communicate he's lost to depression. Saying fuck it to existence until they tell him the Phalanx got Pietro awww.

"Did you lose your humanity when you were assimilated by the Phalanx?" lol yeah. "Or did you have any to begin with?" oh lol you right you right.

They need to stop doing this shit to Wolverine. My poor boy and his metal bones.

I love that Cyclops is so trigger-happy. He does not tolerate Sinister's presence one bit. "Including Sinister! WHERE IS HE?!” With Sinister in the back, skittering away like a fucking roach.

Episode 3 & 4: Storm Front

I hate this creep. Keep your hands off her, Arkon, put a damn shirt on.

Storm: “That cube is causing the bad weather just get rid of it.” Arkon: “NO! I need it.” Wow, wonder who the obvious villain is. They had to take so many braincells from Storm to force this romance. 

EDIT EDIT! I forgot this bullet point! One of the extras is voiced by Morph's voice actor, I can tell from the screams. Morph cameo!

Episode 5: The Fifth Horseman

I hate this new animation style. I was less harsh on it in my previous writeup, but like nah, this style sucks. They yassified Beast, he just has a dude’s face, I hate it. And they gave Jubilee a new haircut and I highly suspect the reasoning is that they didn't think she looked Girl enough.

Cortez shows up and I hate him! Big shocker. 

This episode wasn’t very good. 

Episode 6: Jubilee’s Fairytale Theatre

Jubilee is so responsible!!! Such a good older sibling-type. Also I love how everyone is reinterpreted in her story, it’s funny. Like Gambit’s accent is ten times thicker. 

Longshot cameo! And? Jubilee's foster parents?

There was a rat?? That turned into a guy?? Morph?? We never see them again so I have no clue, but I’m just gonna say Morph cameo. 

Oh no Magneto kinda slays.

The repeated line of Jubilee being able to get out of tight spots is a bit overdone… and then MAGNETO says it and we’re so back bc that’s so fucking funny.

Episode 7: Old Soldiers

You’re never gonna get me on board, show. I’m never gonna believe that Wolverine didn’t have bone claws. It’s stupider if he didn’t have the bone claws. 

(I have been informed that the bone claws are a retcon. Most based retcon ever because, what, you're telling me that just happened on accident?? bc the adamantium claws certainly weren't by design in the show, they were just like "huh, that's weird, didn't expect that". Like what, was Logan just reminiscing in the tube, thinking "if only I had those knuckle knives from that one mission" and fucking manifested claws to break out??? anyway)

Happy that this episode didn’t end with Wolverine swapping spit with that woman. They’re finally showing restraint. But maybe it should have ended with him swapping spit with the Cap. Just saying.

Episode 8: Hidden Agendas

Again: the new art style and designs are objectively worse, the anatomy is all over the place, Sam looks BIZARRE and I know that wasn’t the intent. Like he's not supposed to look like an alien but he does.

ROGUE CALLING HERSELF LEBEAU!!! "I'm taking a vacation from you." *cosplays as his wife* C'mon now, Rogue, make it official.

Love that Sam DIDN’T fall for the shitty creep claiming the X-Men are terrorists, AND he broke out before they could get him with sleeping gas. Dodging shitty clichés left and right.

Episode 9: Descent

Essex: "Would you say humans have escaped the influence of natural selection? And that we as humans should seize our fate and pursue the next stage in evolution?" Darwin: "That's not at all what I'm saying. That sounds very stupid. Next question."

I'm a bit disappointed... So doing research for my fic (yes I'm self-promoting, I'm a whore), I found that Rebecca was the one to call Essex "sinister" after finding out about his experiments... Here it's just kinda said off-hand by Dr. Xavier. It takes the power from the title.

Episode 10: Graduation Day

I really don't get Gyrich's bullshit here. "You defend mutants... YOU must be a mutant!!" Uh yeah, dude. Duh. If they're trying to establish that Charles has been a closeted mutant this whole time, they did a poor job, because nothing in previous episodes ever implied that he was hiding his mutation. I'm choosing to just interpret this as Gyrich being impossibly dumb, thinking he's worked out some mutant conspiracy, meanwhile, he's the last one to come across this very public knowledge about the Professor.

MOOOOORPH!!!!

Logan telling Scott to tell Jean what to do... dog, no one likes a chauvinist.

"Hey, it's a big island, bub. What, are you on the yearbook staff or something?"

"After what they did to Xavier, why do you still fight me?" << revealing his motivation

"Wait, I just realized something. How much do you love Charles Xavier?" "How dare you ask me such a question? He was my only equal. I owe him my life." "What would you do if you knew you were the only one on Earth who could save his life?" "DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME!"

"Wouldn't he do it for you?" YOOOO "Though beware... If he should pass away while connected to you the psychic stress may destroy you, as well." YOOOOOOOOO

"Hello, Magnus. Surely, you have more pressing business to attend to than nursing an old friend." "Nothing more important."

Folks I am EATING this episode. Picture me at dinner with my mother frantically explaining to her that they invented gay marriage. And divorce.

"Morph, it's nice to see you home." YESS IT IS.

Xavier's speech to everyone on the team :,0 watch how hard I can cry.

"Were I your father, I would tell you that no truer son could ever be." Watch tears shoot from my eyes with the destructive power of Scott's eye blasts.

Honestly... so this is a plot twist for me, that they always knew Xavier was alive... I feel a little cheated?? It does ruin the impact of the goodbyes at least a little. If Lilandra had saved Xavier's life in secret or if it was uncertain that the Shi'ar could save him, so there's some plausible deniability, that would make more sense to me. Why do they treat it like he actually died in '97? Why do they enact his will? Couldn't they just say "screw off Magneto, you know Charles isn't actually dead, also you're a fucking criminal, so there's that"?

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

So that's over, huh? I guess y'all'll see me when I watch some other X-Men show. The only issue is that my enjoyment will be severely impaired by Morph not appearing.

[radioactivepeasant]

Chaos Wednesday (doesn't normally happen): Demon Slayer Baby au!

Two back to back snippets: how DJ got his nickname, and how Damas caused A Misunderstanding (long post, be forewarned)

Nickname

"Daxter!!"

Tess brightened, flinging her arms open.

"Angel!"

Daxter leaped up onto the bed, careful to avoid the stack of pillows Tess was using to prop up her swollen ankle.

"How's my best gal doing?"

Tess fell back against the headboard with a groan. "Booooooored. Nobody can get out to check Dead Town for old medpacks, so I'm stuck in here for now. I hope Krew isn't being too hard on you!"

Daxter scoffed. "Pssh. Me? Never. He finally appreciates my skill in drink mixing."

A snort of derision from just below the bed contradicted this. Tess noted the pitch of the voice and raised her brows.

"No fights on the way here to get the eco out?"

Daxter cuddled up next to her and shrugged. "I think he just wanted to feel safe, actually. He's getting better at transforming at will!"

Tess smiled and patted the bed. "Hey goober! Come on up!"

Little black claws appeared at the edge of the blanket and scrambled for purchase. Tess didn't really understand why he didn't just adjust his height -- he had full control over the proportions of his limbs like this. But she didn't mention it. Jak was so much happier in this state, acting more like Daxter said he did before they came to Haven. Tess may not have had a full picture of what was going on in that prison when Daxter rescued Jak, but she knew what complex trauma looked like. If it made Jak feel happier, feel safer to be some kind of little goblin, then who was Tess to stop him?

"C'mere, kiddo." Tess reached over to help him up.

With a little gasp of triumph, Jak scooted up over the edge and flung his arms up in a victory pose. His sleeves, sized for a teenaged boy of regular size, unrolled themselves with the motion and flopped over his hands. The travel-sized dark warrior shook them in annoyance, sending them flapping back and forth.

"Awww, come here you cutie!"

Tess scooped him up and danced her fingers over his sides.

"Tickle tickle tickle!"

Jak hissed, but his ear to ear grin gave him away as he batted at Tess’s hands.

"Weirdo sis!" he signed with a snort. "Daxter help!"

"Look bud, she was gonna go after one of us. You gotta take one for the team," Daxter said. "I just got this fur combed flat."

"Who's my favorite murderbuddy? Dee-Jaaaay! DJ's my favorite murderbuddy!" Tess sang, scrubbing her knuckles across the hissing eco being's scalp.

Daxter scratched his nose and frowned. "Huh? DJ?"

"Yeah!" Tess grinned at him. "Dark-eco Jak! DJ! Get it?"

The ottsel looked over at Jak, who was clearly enjoying being fussed over for a change.

"DJ...huh. Whaddya think of that, pal?"

"Yop!"

A soft look overtook Daxter. He reached out to muss Jak's hair. "Alright, DJ it is."

"Yee!" The newly nicknamed DJ flailed his arms even faster in excitement. The sleeves smacked Tess and Daxter in the face. It was absolutely on purpose.

He didn't know why everything was more fun at this size -- was it because there were more things to climb on? Because fights were more of a challenge? Because people were nicer to him? -- but he loved how wild and big all the eco -- and even all his feelings were. Most of the time.

He didn't like Big Sad and Big Scared. He had to go back to tall DJ during those feelings to get them under control. Or let Sig carry him around, but sometimes that was embarrassing.

"Torn is going to come back here before long," Tess warned the boys, "So if you didn't want to do some work today you'll have to make yourself scarce."

DJ began to snicker and pulled his scarf over his head like he was hiding before flailing his arm out from underneath. Daxter cackled, knowing immediately what Jak was suggesting.

"No, bud, I don't think Tattooed Wonder would appreciate it if you hid under the bed and grabbed his ankle when he walked by. It would be funny though."

"Nooo that's so mean!" Tess giggled.

DJ kicked his arms and legs up in the air, made a croaking screech, acting out what he thought Torn's reaction would be before collapsing into giggles as well.

"You're a menace, DJ," Tess cooed, scratching the base of Jak's horn nubs.

"Why yes," DJ signed, "Yes I am."

Damas Causes Problems (on purpose)

"No leads on Mar yet."

Sig slouched in the corner booth, eyeing the empty bar as he spoke quietly into his talk-box. "Been trying to work out why Jak does the...the thing. Why he looks like a desaturated Mar when he does it. All I got is that Praxis picked up a hu'men experimentation hobby."

"I wish I could say that didn't sound like a logical progression of his depravity," Damas hissed on the other end of the line. "Do you...know which form is Jak’s natural one?"

Sig knew what Damas was thinking. He'd wondered it himself. Was Jak made in Praxis's lab? Was the tiny child resembling Mar his truest form and the young teenager a disguise to protect him?

But to the best of his knowledge, it was the other way around.

"The taller one -- with- with Mar's kinda hair -- that's his base shape. He's still learning how to control the dark stuff. That's why he gets stuck in Baby Mode as often as he does. Used to make him real mad, now he just thinks it's funny. But while we're on the subject...I have a request. I know you don't want to get involved in the civil war beyond runnin' guns, but-"

"Spit it out, Sig."

Sig rubbed the skin under his prosthetic eye and groaned.

"I'm scared for Jak, man. Every time I see him, he's weaker. Kid’s about to drop over the edge of exhaustion and he keeps trudging on because he says "they" told him to. And I'm pretty sure he's talkin' about the Underground. Now, I know it's off agenda, but- I wanna follow him back. Find out whose trying to work him to death and straighten em out."

He could almost see the shrug as Damas answered.

"Why're you asking me? He's your kid."

Something warm fluttered in Sig’s stomach and he grinned despite himself. "Yeah. He kinda is at this point, isn't he?"

The line was quiet for a few seconds. Time enough for sounds to begin emanating from the street. Then,

"When you find Mar-"

When. Not if. As if his success wasn't even in question, even after two years.

"When you bring him home, bring Jak, too. I want to meet this kid -- in person, this time."

"You think I'd let him and Daxter stay here?" Sig scoffed.

Just then, the door swung open, bringing with it the ottsel's familiar voice.

"I'm tellin' you, sweetheart, it's all about the pine-pears. Slice em, grill em, put em on the steak. I guarantee even Hoverboy will love it."

Tess walked in with the boys -- Sig didn't blame them for walking together. This wasn't the nicest neighborhood even without the KG -- and she giggled.

"Daxxie, I've never even had pine-pear. How am I supposed to convince Krew to put something on the menu if we can't get any?"

Jak looked worse than before. The circles beneath his eyes were deep and purple, and he looked dehydrated. Daxter perked up from his shoulders to glance in Sig’s direction.

Crap. He loved the boys, but they weren't ready to know about Spargus yet.

"Hey, shift's gonna be starting soon, hon. Imma have to call you back."

"I beg your pardon!?"

Damas sputtered, not sure whether to be offended or amused. After a beat, in which he must've heard the other voices, he sounded calmer. "Ah. You have company. Carry on."

"Yeah yeah yeah. No, I'll remember. Don't worry about it," Sig said quickly, and a little louder than necessary. "Milk, eggs, paper towels. You need me to grab anything else when I clock out?"

Jak stopped next to his table and cocked his head with a soft frown.

"Who you talkin' to?" he asked.

With a sardonic lilt, Damas’s voice grated in his ear.

"Oh, is that my "stepson"? Tell him to take a nap."

"Tell him yourself!"

"Sure. Watch your ears."

And before he had time to brace himself, Sig had his ears ringing as Damas raised his voice and loudly called,

"Hey kid! Be good for your old man today. Take a nap when he tells you to this time."

Sig flushed scarlet from the tip of his ears to his neck when he heard the usually stoic king burst into uncontrolled cackling.

"I am going to get him for this," Sig muttered as Jak’s face twisted in confusion.

"Who the heck is that?"

"A menace, that's who," Sig growled. "Ignore him."

Jak, unfortunately, did not.

[azumasoroshi]

minidura chapter 4 react

simon i SWEAR ill get you out of there and that horrendous art style

also though. TEENAGE SHIZAYA CHAPTER LETS GO???? idk if narita made the minidura or if it's a separate illustrator but they are giving the FOOD rn

i was wondering where the official knowledge that simon forced izaya and shizuo to eat sushi together came from. i mean i guess this isnt official and it was probably stated in the anime somewhere but still, good to see it illustrated pff

AAAAAAAAA ive seen this image around tumblr but i didnt realize it was from minidura 😭 i thought it was fanart or smth (<-dumbass)

wait im actually going crazy over this akwjhkjdshs they're washing dishes together!!! now we just need them to do laundry and taxes and-

im going to go over the image limit this time on god

wow cant believe they're bathing each other too (<-delusional)

something about the first shizuo panel reminds me of aggretsuko. which is. actually. huh. arent they both like adults with anger issues. durarara aggretsuko au when

also deadass i forgot dennis existed until i read about him in a shizaya fanfiction and i was like "who's dennis" pfgfkhkd

so true though never throw kitchen knives kids

LMFAO HE JUST GAVE THEM MORE WORK INSTEAD OF RESPONDING

they're gonna be here all day at this rate. actually shizaya as fast food/restaurant staff au when because they'd have the stupidest rivalry known to man and i need it

fucking imagine shinra walks in and sees shizuo and izaya working by the counter

i hope izaya gets to eat fatty tuna by the end of this though. god knows he's gonna look cute as hell

made funnier by the fact that izaya at least definitely knows how to cook with how long he's been on his own and needed to feed his sisters

damn ive actually never seen someone's vein burst in a way where blood sprays out in anime akshGKJHJKSD thats impressive actually

dont look now but this may or may not inspire me to make a mermaid/pirate au (<-obsessed)

who needs kaiju battles when you can have blue fin tuna vs crab

they're literally never leaving this place bro they're gonna be stuck here for eternity. anyway here's a literary analysis of durarara pointing out why russia sushi is actually representative of dante's inferno /j

i want to read those blurbs so baddddd screams sobs bangs table

rip dennis dude he doesnt get paid enough to deal with shizaya

rippp time to listen to izaya pine hopelessly for the man he cant stop annoying for five seconds

simon had the right idea. too bad shizaya are shizaya

what is that face izaya. i cant tell if he's irritated that simon's right or irritated that simon cant understand how instinctual their hatred is or amused that simon thinks he and shizuo could be friends or amused because he thinks meaningless fighting is hilarious

oh......that kind of hurts actually

i can imagine izaya suggesting it as a joke and then lying in bed that night thinking about how it's never going to happen and it really sounds like a funny joke huh? (he is not crying)

i cant believe simon's been dealing with these bitches for like 7 years now like dude has the patience of a saint

😭give him his 50,000 yen simon

we can see that the crack in the sign is actually fixed now too ahhh time really flies when you're stuck in a relationship of mutual hatred

chibizaya is so cuteeeeeeeee

im sure he intended to paint himself that way in his recollection though pff

THATS RIGHT SHIZAYA BE THE PORCUPINES. SNUGGLE. DO IT

step aside erika, simon is the face of the shizaya nation now. especially with that "you just have a shizuo complex dont you" quote that i found the other day which i still havent recovered from

HAUDGHUSDH orihara izaya, pro unreliable narrator

hilarious how we never see tom's face. just his dreads lmfao

dennis and simon are so done with like izaya bro i think they can tell at this point that he's horrifically pining and has no healthy outlet for it. the bills go to him because they're bullying him

it'd be funny if they billed him 50,000 at the end actually pft

I KNEW WE'D GET THEM EATING TOGETHER!!! I HAD FAITH

they're so cute oh my god can i make that my header or something

10/10 chapter im going to punt izaya into a wall and get simon flowers

[yanderecandystore]

When the victim snaps

Male reader x yandere male bullies x yandere delinquent where male reader finally snaps at the male bullies and gives them a taste of their own medicine but nobody does anything to stop the male reader and the male reader goes to the male delinquent and has a heart to heart with him. Please and thank you.

[🍒🆚🍋] First delinquent introduction.

[🔥📣😑] Reader beats the bullies.

[💪💀🤟] Another one where reader beats them up.

[🌶️🧯😭] They get pepper sprayed by the reader (lmao).

Damn, they don't seem to catch a break, huh? I wonder how they feel about getting beaten up like this so often…🤔

This shit is a bit of a wild ride lmao, read at your own caution.

TW/Tags: There is a scene of a character destroying the area around them in a fit of rage, it could be triggering to anyone who has been in that situation before // Heart to heart conversation with an ex bullying victim // I'm telling you now, shit hits the fan at the end really badly (soft moment turns into very dark fit of rage) //mentions of: Bullying; victim blaming; past trauma; trauma bonding; burned skin (water burn); cursing; yelling at the reader; bruises/injuries; attempt to kill the reader; strangling; a very short fight; insecurities (inferiority complex, reader constantly feels weak) // corny and not proofread // Word Count: 6,483

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Someone who knows. [Yandere!Delinquent!Male!Oc x Bullied!Male!Reader - Oneshot]:

It wasn't something you ever did before, you never actually thought you were capable of doing something like that.

His laughter was probably the worst, because it felt that even in the safety of your home you weren't really safe. You could still hear his mockery, you could still feel the tingling sensation of your nose hitting the floor after being pushed around.

You could still hear Adrien yelling curses at you in the corridors while he gained a little audience watching you be tormented, you could still hear the nasty things he would tell you in private.

You're worthless, you're weak, you don't belong here, freak.

You're gorgeous like this, you're the answer to all this hell, you're too good to be real, freak.

Shoving him wasn't enough, telling him to stop, to leave you alone, wasn't enough. Saying you weren't interested wasn't enough.

You tried to ask for outside help, yet no one was able to properly help you… They all knew better than to mess with a Coldwell. Adrien would spend a few days ignoring you after being called out by a teacher, but he would be back at it with no remorse, feeling insulted that you had someone come over and mess with your "alone time" with him.

That's probably why you never asked for help, along with other reasons… It was insufferable having to deal with him in his little "jealousy" moments.

It was sickening. To have him act like you were a worm and then stare at you with those crazed eyes, hoping, yearning, eagerly waiting for you to reciprocate the violent feelings he felt for you. And in a way, you did…

But it wasn't with his burning passion and desire, it was with hate. Isn't this what he wanted?

Well clearly not. After a very uncomfortable situation behind campus, all alone with no one to see him forcing himself on you, you did the unimaginable-

You kneed him in the gut with enough strength to cause him to loosen his grip on you, but with that one hit, you started a fight that only aided in your own demise. With every hit you gave you received back in double, you don't know how the situation went from him forcing you to kiss him to now being beaten up by this lunatic.

It was like a dance of two imbeciles hitting each other senselessly, it was him trying to gain control of the situation, and you, trying to escape it out together.

The best part was knowing that despite his arrogant persona, despite his harsh words and constant need to reaffirm his position over you- You knew he was falling apart quickly. He wasn't acting like his usual calm persona anymore, he was acting like a wild animal as he threw you in the ground and got on top of you, seeing only red. You felt tempted into mocking him, but it felt really hard to say anything, he was squeezing your throat a little too hard considering the last time he did it.

Well, as disgustingly as it sounds, you bet he did it to get off in some sort of kink he had, you remember seeing how shiny his eyes looked as he strangled you for the first time, forcing you to say "I'm sorry for being a brat, Adrien!". All words coated in heavily fake submissive sweetness to the point of causing his teeth to rot- Just like he always wanted to hear.

But today he didn't feel like his usual self, his nails were clawing the skin of your throat with the actual threat of cutting it open. You started to find it hard to breathe.

Would it be too pathetic of you to call quits now? Was dying more honorable than giving up right now and trying to please the beast before it was too late?

"A-A- Ad-rien- S-S-Sor-" You tried, but the words weren't leaving your mouth, stuck at your throat just like all that sweet air you were already missing.

While you were starting to sober up from your adrenaline high he was still very much on it, he wasn't letting you go like he usually would at this time.

Normally, he would leave you almost unconscious, he liked to force you into getting dizzy so he could help you stand up and lead you to the way of his house…

Ah, what fun times. One of the many reasons why no one believed you was because you two were always seen together, hanging out at each other's houses- After all, it's normal for men to fight to the death like this, right? Totally just two bros chilling in the cold ground, 0 feet apart because they're not (gay) killing each other!

You were not feeling him loosen his grip at all… He didn't even seem to recognize you as, well, you. You couldn't breathe, and you were starting to see black around your vision, was this how you were going to go?

You fought back to the best you could, clawing his arms and trying to hit his face despite the uncomfortable closeness, he seemed to get more irritated with every meek hit you gave.

"I don't want to hear a word from you that isn't sorry. You better have a good apology for what you just did!" He said through locked teeth, fuming at the idea that you could have rejected him (again).

Today was an unusual day… Instead of going back to your puppy eyes, filled with remorse and fear of hurting his feelings- You stared at him with the same disgust you had when beating his ass. No fear, no guilt, not even sadness. Just anger, disgust. Might as well die with dignity today.

"This is your fault, if you just- If you just listened to me…"

He was starting to get lost at your lack of response. Or rather, your lack of submission to his madness, you haven't realized it before but- Was he always so dependent on your response to his abuse, to continue to do so..?

I mean, it probably was the lack of oxygen going to your brain, but you could have sworn he was starting to loosen his grip with the more you stared at him like that, so you continued to do so.

He tried to gain back his control, albeit to no success.

"You… You're too weak, you know that right?... If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't survive out there…!" Would you? Sometimes you don't know. He was right about the weak part, sure, in comparison to him… But if this was "living" then you didn't want to be a part of it at all.

"S-Stop staring at me like that-" Adrien let go of your throat to pull at his own hair, you took the opportunity to kick him off you after noticing you could breathe again.

You gasped for air and held your aching throat as if it was torn apart, and considering his sharp nails felt like little knives you wouldn't be surprised if they did cut your skin.

Adrien clinged to his stomach, you managed to hit him twice in the same place and it was clearly not going well for him. He was out of his little murderous rage for now, he stared at you still mad, obviously.

Although, somehow, despite everything he seemed a little more confused than actually really, truly mad with you. He was trying to get back to you, he would make you pay for what you did and what you said, and yet you didn't back down this time.

"I hate you!" It was simple, perhaps a little too on the nose… It somehow made him stop in his tracks. Okay, your voice sounded really awful and was coming out very dryly- It lacked the initial punch you thought it would have for finally telling him the obvious.

Still, his expression when you said that almost made you start laughing hysterically, his pained voice was the cherry on the cake of dumbfuckery.

"What… Did you say?.."

"Oh, I'll gladly repeat myself- I. Fucking, Hate you, Coldwell. And I'm done with your little games." You stepped forward, letting out all that you thought about him, you strided with confidence despite your aching, well, everything!

It was like seeing someone learn that actions had consequences for the first time, and you despised how his eyes seemed so genuinely hurt- How could he feel like the victim when he literally almost killed you?!

"Come on, where's all that fire you had five seconds ago? Where's the whole "I'll put you in place" shit you ALWAYS put me through? SPEAK UP-" Yeah, you don't know what came over you but, seeing him being the one to step backwards and cower from the shouting for once was pretty fucking magical- Especially since you were done with being in his position for so long.

You shoved him away when he tried to touch your arm, maybe it was a bit unnecessary but you wanted to make your point clear.

"Don't mess with me again, I'm not being your little toy anymore. I want you gone, out of my life." You said as you walked away, losing your balance ever so slightly after being kicked in the legs a few times.

He didn't dare to move, he fell to his knees as he watched you leave him behind, mentally spiraling at what you said.

Honestly, when looking back at him you almost felt pity for the way he looked lost, genuinely scared of you… But you knew better than to trust his pitiful eyes, trusting him would only lead you to your death, literally!

You lived in a not-so-welcoming part of town, the complete opposite side of his prestigious little habitat- And after things started to get worse you started to really appreciate your neighborhood for being a dangerous and very unpleasant place. It protected you from rich snobby people like him, and that's something you would always be thankful for.

You walked away a winner…? The sinking feeling in your stomach made you feel uneasy, there would obviously be consequences to your actions today… But damn, didn't it feel good to not be the only one going home wounded? Why did you feel so worried still?

Things weren't always so gruesome between you two, at first he would just throw casual insults or maybe put mean notes in your backpack, but after a few weeks he started to get ridiculously violent.

Shoving you down stairs after you said something mean in return, pulling your hair whenever you ignored him, attacking your insecurities upfront whenever you tried to have conversations with anyone, he even started to force you to spend time with him at his house- Which was somehow worse than being beaten up.

Being forced to stay in his room, while he went on his meltdowns over you not loving him like you should… Oh, how evil of you, not reciprocating his disgusting kisses after he slapped you over and over again- Yeah, right.

He was getting desperate, you knew that much, you didn't know why he suddenly went from a stereotypical bully to a creepy, dangerous stalker wanting to be your "boyfriend".

But things seemed to be going better for you now, at least in your neighborhood. You made an odd friend a few weeks ago, before things had gone to shit-

The fucked up part was that sometimes the things he would tell you, would end up being drilled into your head… Were you really being a bad person for rejecting him? Did you really deserve to be treated like this for rejecting him..? No…. Of course not… But sometimes that was hard to remember.

"Jesus Christ, you dumbass- What the hell did you do now?"

He found you once after you first got beaten up by Adrien, and ever since he sort of welcomed you inside his apartment, and he was always there to patch up your wounds.

Not without yelling at you first, of course.

"Sigh… It was that guy again… But it's fine, I'm fine…" Your throat was sore, the blood in your tongue was making it feel really dry. You craved water badly right now.

"What-" But before you could figure out what he was going to ask, you almost fell in front of him, losing the strength in your legs.

"Sigh... Come on, get inside already." He helped you get inside his apartment, well, technically it was sort of an abandoned building- It was turned into the safe ground of his little crew…

"S-Sorry.."

You sometimes wished you could be part of his gang, you expressed your interest to him many times yet he always told you no… It didn't seem right to him to let you in.

Was it because you were weak? Maybe you just wanted somewhere else to be with other people who wouldn't be Adrien. Even now your mind isn't entirely free of him, despite you physically being hidden from him.

You doubt a Coldwell would ever be interested in coming to a place like this, let alone to find you… You doubt Adrien would follow you here just to get back at you for your "disrespect", but then again, he has done a lot of crazy shit in the past few weeks.

"So… Are you going to stop with the mystery and tell me what's going on?" He wasn't the sweetest person ever, he wasn't exactly a good communicator, but this is the third time you show up with so many bruises, this has been going on for way too long, it shouldn't even be happening in the first place! And yet you still haven't told him exactly what he wanted to hear… Who, what, and when.

Jack helped you sit on his couch, the smell of mold that usually revolted you, was at least helping you feel more relaxed. His place usually brought you the sense of tranquility, which was weird considering you could hear people screaming occasionally around these parts, and you knew Jack wasn't exactly a saint by any means- But still, considering every other aspect in your life has been taken over by someone else, his apartment and presence alone made you feel a lot safer and "welcomed" than in your own house.

And you knew it left him feeling incapable of really understanding you, helping you.

Jack got up with a "tch", irritatedly walking away from you- Oh, there it is again, the usual routine: You first avoid telling him what happened, and he reacts by storming off into aggressively making something for you to drink or eat.

"Sorry, I'm just feeling a little dazed-" It was half true, considering Adrien not only almost strangled you to death but you were also starting to feel the headaches coming in.

It was his way of not throwing a tantrum by throwing a tantrum- Ah, but who you were kidding you knew he was very pissed off by your secrecy.

You weren't hiding Adrien's identity from Jack out of respect or "fear" for Adrien's well-being, but rather Jack's health and status being compromised by something that he isn't even a part of.

You were scared of what Jack would've ended up doing, you knew him for only a few weeks yet you already knew well enough to know things would get drastically serious- If the rumors were true, he would end up leaving Adrien in a hospital if not straight up sending him into a cemetery. Of course, you don't think he would go so far considering you're basically a stranger to him, but who knew, Jack was known for being quite the menace when the time called for.

Considering the Coldwell's influence they probably wouldn't take it well for their son to be attacked by a "lowlife" from the disgusting part of town.

Jack could be the leader of a small gang, a very well respected one at that, but that was nothing compared to the loads of money those guys had.

And that's not even mentioning the fact you didn't want to be in his debt. Maybe it was your pride speaking for you, but you felt like being hidden under Jack's protection would be… Pretty cowardly. He wasn't involved with this situation at all apart from taking you basically under his wing after he saw you wandering around the neighborhood with no motivation to go home, all beaten up and dirty, lost like a little puppy in the cold night.

It was the first time you two properly met, but you knew his fame very well, almost acting as the vigilante and taking full pride in being the one that actually gets shit done around this place. It's a shame all that power must come from some shady business, you prefered to turn a blind eye to those things.

After all, no one seemed to care other than him and his gang about the safety and well-being of the people who live in this dump.

Even so, you never wanted to bother him with your personal issues, they were too small in comparison to his, you imagined. And it's not like you had any means to repay him if you were to ask him for help, it would be too much trouble for him to protect you from someone like Adrien and nothing beneficial in return.

You didn't want to think about being in debt with him, this whole habit of taking care of your bruised ass after every beating was already too much for you- How would you even repay him for noticing your struggle in the first place, and wanting to lend a hand?

It wasn't exactly healthy but sometimes a trashy food from the right brand could put a smile on anyone's faces, and you knew damn well you were starving.

"Here. I know it's not the best but I didn't have time to really go grocery shopping today- Buck usually is the one to do it really..." He came back with a microwaved lasagna and a glass of water for you as he sat next to you on his couch.

It was awkward, as you struggled to eat- Not just because of your injuries but also because of his silent stare… You sometimes forget how this man isn't your mom, he is a literal gang leader, hosting you in his house and tending to your sorry butt.

"... Thank you for the food…" You thanked him, uncomfortable with the current silence, but he didn't do anything to alleviate the tension.

So he is your mom, but with nothing stopping him from beating sense into you.

It was infuriating to you. Why couldn't he just let you go already? Why did he have to make this so much more humiliating? You had the same age as him for crying out loud, yet he always treated you like a brat…

"You're welcome." Jack answered bitterly as he decided to grab an aid kit to treat your wounds. It was funny, he was mad at you for not telling him the full story, but instead of getting impatient with you, forcing you to speak up, or either kicking you out he still treated you like a child that needed assistance.

"... Ha… You know, you really don't have to do this if you don't want to." You let that out without much thought, just feeling anguished by always being treated like you're too weak to take care of yourself or accomplish anything.

"I know." And yet he didn't feed into your anger, he didn't give a reason as to why he was doing this nor did he acknowledge you scoffing and feeling pitiful for yourself. Treating you was more important than trying to argue with you right now, and that probably stung just a little more than being berated as a brat.

Just being ignored while having someone patch you up. Kinda like Adrien would ignore your negative reaction to his unwelcomed touch. It sickened you deeply to even remember that.

"... You did something, didn't you..?" Jack decided to push a little further to try to pry at least something out of you. You weren't acting like you usually did, apologetic, scared.

"No. You're very jumpy today though." He bandaged your arm with a little force, tightly wrapping it up to stop the bleeding. And then turning his gaze to stare into your eyes.

"What- Why are you asking that? Are you a psychologist now?-" You couldn't help but be sarcastic to his constant insistence in getting to know more about you- It didn't feel good to lash out at him, admittedly you felt a bad after the words left your mouth- It was as if you simply couldn't help it, his calm tone of voice mixed with the unpleasant pain of the alcohol he was rubbing in really overwhelmed you!

"You're acting like you're guilty." He smugly grinned at your reaction to roll your eyes at him. Today was a little too much for you, if you could, you wish you could just go to sleep already and maybe talk to him tomorrow- But to be fair you don't even want to see what will happen tomorrow.

… His distraught expression was stuck in your brain… Were you really feeling guilty about what you did..? Why?

"Hmf… It's the worst part, I know. But you get used to it…" Jack took note of your condition, so he decided to try to speed up his little care routine before you started to nag him…

"God fucking damnit-" You snarled at the burning sensation of your wounds being cleaned off.

But instead of getting pissy, or just wanting to storm off to deal with these by yourself- You just started to tear up.

Well, he didn't think it was hurting that badly, maybe he doesn't know how to be gentle or-

"... Why…? Why- Why do I feel bad..?" It was all you asked without really expecting an answer. Not looking at him as you started to hold your hands into tight fists trying to hold it in to the best you could. It didn't work. The tears just kept on going.

"Because they convinced you that you're the problem." Jack stated without much thought, it was as if he already knew what you were thinking about, despite you never telling him what happened.

After a few seconds of silence, you did get your answer though.

"You tell them to stop, they don't listen and make you feel too weak to say anything else again. You lash out and suddenly you're the monster. It doesn't matter who did what first, the people will only listen to the "good guy" in the story."

You didn't really know what to say, you really didn't expect him to just openly talk to you like this. Jackson was always such a "go get them" type of guy, he always seemed so sure of himself that even if someone were to hurt him he would give them back tenfold. He didn't take anyone's shit, and although he never really said it out loud… You wondered if you seemed weak to him in comparison.

"I've felt like that once, guilty for hurting someone who harmed me first… Guilty of feeling good about it, guilty for not doing it sooner…"

He never made you feel like that, at least not directly, nor intentionally- But sometimes it felt like you would never be able to stand your ground like he does, taking blow after blow without caring for how it hurt him… Look at you now, you fought back but you are more bruised than Adrien is.

"I remember when you first told me you were being bullied, when I first saw you I thought I saw someone familiar. You remind me of myself before I got this." He put his right hand over his scars, those damned burned marks that only a devil could have made.

"... When I felt guilty, I tried to make amends with my tormentor… I tried to "compromise" with him, to be what he wanted me to be… But because I lashed out one day, you can guess what he did in return..?"

Staring back at you, unblinkingly as it was quite obvious what he was implying. You felt a bit uncomfortable by the way he would approach your face and whisper in close.

"It hurt. It hurt so much that I don't even remember who sent me to the hospital that day. All I remember was the psychotic laugh of that son of a bitch."

Sighing, he distanced himself from your face, giving you a little more space as he finished with your arm.

The way he would just casually chuckle about it was very concerning, he didn't seem to want to talk in detail about his past but you understood something from it at least- That maybe he would understand you a little better than you initially assumed.

"... Well, I don't know what happened or what you did, but looking at your state now I feel like you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself- Hell, there's someone out there who clearly already makes your life hard enough."

"... I-... E-Earlier today…" You tried to start your story, looking at him for any indication to continue.

And just like before, he wouldn't force you to tell him, but as he got up to treat your face as you laid your head on the couch- You noticed he was paying attention fully, not wanting to intervene in your moment to speak up.

""Kinda forced"." Jack took personal offense to your choice of words, he didn't say anything but you noticed him frowning as he pushed the cotton drenched in alcohol to the cuts in your face.

"He… sigh... He- Kinda forced me to kiss him-" It felt weird saying it out loud, it was something that generally happened between you and Adrien quite a lot… But it felt weird to finally say that… You felt like it was something embarrassing to confess to.

"Ow-! And then I rejected him- Like I always did…!" You closed your eyes, feeling him put bandaids in your face.

"Hmm." Was all the motivation he gave you to continue.

"And then… He decided he wanted to force me again in the more isolated area of the campus and I… I fought him.."

"Hhm-" You could tell he was amused, you heard him chuckle to himself.

"You showed him his place?" Victims of bullying getting their revenge was Jack's favorite kind of gossip, and you couldn't really blame him as it did feel cathartic.

"... It was awful…!" You laughed it off, remembering how awkward it was to fight someone for the first time, delivering punches was not as easy as taking them apparently.

"Yes..? I.. kinda don't understand what happened back there…" Remembering that scene well, could you really consider what happened as a win..? You weren't sure..

"Why not?" You've sparked his curiosity.

"I don't know, he kinda just looked lost after I told him to fuck off and leave me alone. I said I hated him and he just didn't do anything else." You managed to make Adrien speechless, it was a miracle on itself- But would that really be enough for him to fully stop? You kinda hope so because you weren't ready for what else could happen tomorrow when you go back there… Ugh, you can already tell people are going to be talking about you two, as the only two who look like they were severely fucked up.

"You know what, I think you did the right thing telling him off. Even in the smallest forms you didn't back down even a little for him. You know that makes you a strong person, right?" He petted your head.

"Hmf, aren't you a heartbreaker." He teased you a little.

Well, it could come off a little patronizing but good lord did you miss hearing backhanded compliments, shit this wasn't even backhanded, it actually did make you feel better.

He let you stay in his apartment for the night, you were really injured to go back now, and knowing Adrien he would probably find his way into your house…

Hearing you were too weak and pathetic everyday sometimes made you think you really were those things.

Should you have told Jack about this? About this little, tiny detail of your situation..?

That you were scared of going back home now and facing the possible consequences of your actions?

No, there was no way Adrien would be waiting for you there. He… He wouldn't. He would normally go to your home on Mondays after classes, "walking you home" as he would call it. And he only brought you to his home on Fridays so you could spend time in his house during the weekend…

"You're still very worried aren't you?" He threw popcorn at you… It was weird laying on his couch so casually like this, watching a movie and eating popcorn with a guy that basically was the most feared individual in your neighborhood. Laying your head on his lap probably wasn't helping the absurdity of it all.

It was a Thursday!- Surely you weren't completely deep into shit, just knees deep!

He didn't leave you any other choices though, and you were too tired to care.

"What gave you that idea?" Said you, the "master at hiding emotions'.

"You're biting your nails." Said him, the "master at recognizing emotions. You two were just sharing the same brain cell at this point.

"Look, it's just- I never actually fought back before, and I just know he'll fold me like a piece of tissue and sneeze on me-" You got up to sit next to him, unable to feel relaxed in a time like this.

"That's very specific-" Jack stared at you in disgust for the words that just left your mouth.

"-I don't know what I'll do when he just shows up again tomorrow and if he'll get worse or just-"

"I could help you if you want." He offered as you started to spiral down, he offered like he always did, despite always knowing your answer.

"But how will I ever deal with him if I can't handle myself?" You questioned without expecting a real answer, and yet, you received one.

"... You don't have to handle it by yourself. Honestly no one does-"

"Ah… Is that what this is all about?" He smiled amusedly as his assumptions about your stubbornness were true. It is infuriatingly adorable, if not really sad…

"You did-!"

You just rolled your eyes, great, now you'll never hear the end of it.

"It was because there was no one else there for me, [Y/n]. I didn't have anyone to rely on when this shit happened to me…" Jack petted your head again, ruffing your hair, you stayed quietly pouting.

"..."

"Oh, don't you dare- Just because I think it's nice that you get to deal with your shit alone, doesn't mean I idolize you-" Yep, he wasn't listening to you as he continued to pet your head, not caring about your sour attitude.

"... I didn't know I was such an inspiration for you."

Well, at least he did make you feel a little better.

"Thanks… For taking care of me, and helping me out so much… Honestly I wouldn't have survived Adrien's recent tantrums if it wasn't for you-"

"You're okay?-" You looked up at him and almost had a heart attack at that seriously scary looking mug he had on his face.

"..." Jack's silence caught you off guard, he stopped touching your head immediately.

"Jesus CHRIST dude!! What happened?!" You started to drag yourself through the couch to create a healthy distance from the man, who was looking at you as if you had offended him, his family, and his entire bloodline.

"Adrien..? Adrien Coldwell?" He asked, calmly.

"It IS the Coldwell, isn't it?!" Jack was starting to raise his voice, and you weren't sure if he was mad at you or at Adrien who he seemed to know… really well?…

"I.. I didn't say his last name-"

Oh.

Oh no.

"God fucking damnit-" [Y/n]. He didn't say it, but you could tell that he was mentally adding your name at the end of the sentence.

"Jack, wai-" And before you could bring him back, he was already storming off to his bedroom to grab a pack of cigarettes.

"God, FUCKING DAMNIT-" Where the fuck were those cigarettes.

"I-I- I'm sorry?!" You started to apologize without realizing, perhaps mentioning Adrien's name wasn't a good idea, but how would you know he was the same person to cause that burn on Jack?!

Oh yeah, you were in the apartment of a gang leader known to be pretty violent- You suddenly remember what being afraid was like!

Fuck, you really don't want to deal with another person's meltdown, yeah that's a pretty selfish thought to have but this was bordering into dangerous territory.

"GOD, FUCKIN, DAMNIT!!-" You couldn't see him, but you could tell he was throwing things around his room. Drawers were being thrown in a frenzy as he the man just wanted his damned cigarettes already.

Maybe it wasn't a fair assumption, but the You Know Who Guy made you witnessed some pretty fucked meltdowns and although you can't blame neither of them (technically) for feeling emotional and needing to let it out, you really didn't want to be the stress ball for someone else's aggressive coping mechanisms.

"Why, didn't you tell me, when I FUCKIN ASKED YOU-" Fuckin finally he found them!

"I-I didn't know he was the same guy who HURT YOU!!" Shit, the fuck he was mad at you about?

"WHY ARE YOU MAD AT ME?! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO!?!" And as you screamed back he came to his bedroom door, looking just as crazy as he was before hand, cigarette in mouth as he started to play with his lighter to try to calm down.

"HURT ME? HURT ME?! WHO CARES ABOUT THAT NOW– GOD, DAMNIT [Y/N]!!" He yelled out from his room, struggling to light up his cigarette with the lighter he always leaves in his pocket.

"Mad at you..? No. I'm not mad at you." Well, goddamn! Could have fooled me!

He didn't answer right away, instead opting to inhale that nasty shit before saying something he would regret. He was physically incapable of staying still, walking from side to side, trying to rearrange his words in his mind.

"..." He rested against the wall of the living room, he wasn't looking at you as he was too busy thinking about the ridiculousness of this situation.

"No… I'm not mad… I'm fuckin ecstatic…!" He laughed, a pained laugh, it seemed like it didn't matter where he went, or what he did, or who he became, he would always have that looming shadow over him and over the people in his life.

The guy that fuckin marked his skin for life was the same son of a bitch that was messing with you since long before you met Jack, long before the beatings started… Question is, did Adrien know about your little friend? If he did, that could explain the sudden need to reinforce his hold on you… How fuckin hilarious.

But this time he wasn't the target, right? Adrien wasn't messing with you to target Jack, after all you guys only know each other for a few weeks, and you have been dealing with the Coldwell for at least two months.

Ah, he could see it all now, you have become the new sensation, haven't you? Sucks for you, really, he feels sorry for you…

God why didn't you tell him sooner you fucking dumbass…

You were sitting there still like a statue, looking at him for his every move for a good ten minutes as he was too busy dealing with his own thoughts on the matter. He didn't realize how scary he must have come off to you especially after you already went through such a hard experience.

Jack was looking to the horizon of his own living room, thinking about the situation with a wide grin. He was about to tell you the crazy plan he have come up with but as soon as his eyes landed on you, he realized what he did.

"You know, I'm being really unfair… It's not your fault this happened, none at all. Although things could have been avoided if you told me who was bothering you from the beginning- Honestly we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." He walked towards you, slowly, you tried to shuffle away as much as you could but you froze when he sat next to you and put his hand on your shoulder.

He didn't like how he scared you to the point of staring at him like that, as if he was a monster. But he didn't seem bothered by it.

".." You weren't sure of what to tell him- You didn't know how to respond. What the fuck was going on?! He wasn't blaming you for suffering all this time, but goddamn was he terrible with his words.

"You wouldn't have stood up for yourself if I had interfered… And although I disagree with your decision to hide his identity for so long- Sigh I can't be mad at you taking it to your own hands. I'm really proud of what you did." He shook you a little, trying to hammer in his words as much as he could- Because let's be frank here, he was calm now but still seemed very, very pissed off.

Or his way of saying them.

"Now… I think that you should go to sleep, and in the morning we'll fix this shit right up."

"Now, before you do something stupid, I want to make one thing clear. You're sleeping in my bed today, you're not going home tonight. It's dangerous outside-" And inside as well!!

"Ok-Okay then?-" You got up as quickly as you could- He forced you back down on the couch.

"-And you're also going to tell me, in the morning of course, not now, everything you didn't tell me that the Coldwell did to you. We'll just take notes, and we'll make a plan for what we'll do tomorrow, alright?"

"Don't worry I didn't fuck up the bed, the floor is pretty messy though. I'll sleep on the couch. Welcome to the fuckin gang, [Y/n]."

Calm, commanding. Very polite yet such a dominant way of basically scaring you into staying the night with him here.

He petted your head trying to bring you back from your terrified state, well, shit, he fucked that up badly. You probably would never forget how he gets when he is mad, but let this be a small lesson to you, to always tell someone who knows how to deal with bastards like Adrien.

Jack will deal with Adrien just fine, as he already got the most precious thing from that spoiled prick sleeping in his bedroom tonight.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[hunieday]

8th Anniversary story - Chapter 3 : The request for a mysterious new work.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

[Takanashi Production]

Tsumugi: Thank you for your hard work, everyone!

Riku: Thank you, manager!

Yamato: Thank you for your work.

Tsumugi: We’ve received a job offer from a certain beverage company’s 8th anniversary campaign!

Iori: What do you mean, a “certain”?

Tsumugi: We know who they are, but they want us to work with them on this project to advertise new items aimed at the younger generation without giving us information in advance.

Tsumugi: From what I understood, they’re planning to release new products to celebrate their 8th anniversary and want you to provide your honest opinions as advisors.

Mitsuki: So they want to keep the company name hidden.

Nagi: Hm….So it’s a big-name company with a strong brand image?

Sougo: It is relatively rare to have a company’s image still be highly successful and well-known by their 8th anniversary.

Sougo: If I do a little research, I might be able to find out right away. Of course I won’t do that, though.

Tamaki: Sou-chan, you know a lot about companies and stuff.

Sougo: Not so much these days.

Iori: So, what is this project going to be exactly?

Banri: They plan to release four consecutive new drinks as part of their “8th Anniversary! Four Thanks project.”

Banri: They want to hold a large-scale campaign under this theme so they asked for our help with it.

Mitsuki: Huh, sounds interesting!

Riku: Interesting! What are we supposed to do for this campaign? 

Tsumugi: It is indeed an interesting concept, but it’s a bit complex in some aspects since it’s different from what we usually do.

Tsumugi: We’d like to confirm with you first…

Riku: Different and complex…?

Yamato: Are we gonna get locked in a restaurant’s basement?

Iori: Or maybe the facility we’re promoting will suddenly have a power outage…?

Banri: Don’t be so wary, you don’t have to worry! Maybe! Probably!

Banri: Do you remember when you formed temporary units with TRIGGER to do your opening act at Zero Arena?

Riku: Of course, we remember! Iori and I were paired with Tenn-nii!

Iori: That’s right. I was a bit nervous at first that they’d find out you were twins.

Nagi: Mitsuki, Yamaot and I formed a unit with Yaotome!

Yamato: That’s right! How nostalgic!

Mitsuki: We kept shouting “Wasshoi!”

Sougo: Tamaki-kun and I sang with Tsunashi-san.

Tamaki: Yeah! Feels like that was what made us good friends with Ryuu-aniki and TRIGGER.

Mitsuki: That’s right. We had the opportunity to really get to know TRIGGER. I was super nervous at first.

Yamato: I get you, I was scared of Yaotome at first but then he seemed like a nice guy.

Nagi: Mister Momo and Mister Yuki gave IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER a wonderful gift.

Banri: Sounds like you guys have fond memories of that. Then, will you make new memories this time, too?

Iori: What do you mean?

Banri: This time, if you’re up to it, they want to form four units with members from IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, Re:vale and ŹOOḼ,..

Banri: Four person groups inspired by four new soft drinks… They want to put together temporary shuffle units to advertise them.

Nagi: OH! So they want to shuffle us again, right?

Banri: Correct. Guys, what do you think?

Riku: Forming units across the four groups sounds interesting! We don’t get opportunities like these every day, I want to do it!

Mitsuki: I agree: I can’t imagine what it’d be like but that’s what’s motivating me to do it.

Yamato: We know TRIGGER, Re:vale and ŹOOḼ pretty well so it should be okay.

Nagi: I still prefer singing with IDOLiSH7 over a shuffle unit but… These new teams, these new encounters will surely help me grow and give us new memories.

Nagi: So I don’t mind. I’m happy to do it.

Iori: I agree with the general consensus, still I would have preferred to know the company’s name beforehand.

Iori: If the managers think it’s fine, then we should be okay.

Sougo: I’m fine with it too. I’m a little concerned about who we’re working with though..

Tamaki: Right! Have you decided who’s gonna be with who?

Banri: Not yet, we haven’t decided on that.

Banri: For now they’re holding and internal survey as well as a consumer survey to select idols who’d match each drink’s image

Tamaki: Woh, sounds interesting! I wanna give it a try!

Riku: Right? Since we can’t even guess this got even more exciting!

Mitsuki: Count me in! It’s gonna be a fun and flashy project!

Banri: Thank you. What about the others?

Yamato: Well, if everyone else’s up.

Sougo: I have no objections.

Tsumugi: Thank you very much! I’ll make sure to convey it to the other party.

Riku: Yes!

Tsumugi: They have to consider the other agencies as well, so it might end up being canceled.

Yamato: Ah, I see. Even if we agree that it’s a good idea, the other agencies might be against it.

Iori: Some might decline before even asking the talents.

Riku: That’s right, I see… What will happen then? Temporary shuffle units…

Yamato: Moreover, the fact that it’s with a secret company makes it even more intriguing.

Sougo: …

Sougo: …It can’t possibly be related to the FSC…?

Sougo: No, if they really were the managers wouldn’t have allowed this.

Sougo: But if it’s a recently acquired or a subsidiary of an affiliated company, even they wouldn’t know who’s really involved…

Sougo: Father…He came to see BORW.

Sougo: He’s never tried to interfere ever since, but he might have changed his tactics and intervened from another side as a client…

Sougo: Am I being too paranoid? Why would they need to hide the company’s identity…?

Tamaki: Sou-chan, you okay?

Sougo: Oh…Yes, I’m okay.

Sougo: I hope it’s nothing…

[Yaotome Production]

Gaku: Four new temporary shuffle units, huh? Sounds interesting

Tenn: Singing and dancing with different people might be a great learning experience.

Ryuunosuke: I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of units they’ll be forming! …But, isn’t the President against this?

Anesagi: The president said he'll leave it up to you guys to decide.

Gaku: He’s become mellow.

Tenn: He trusts us.

Anesagi: Everyone seems positive about the shuffle project. I was a little worried, but shall we accept it?

Ten Kujo: By all means, thank you. I look forward to working with you.

Gaku: I won't lose to you two!

Ryuunosuke: I won't lose either!...Although we don’t know who we’ll be working with yet.

Gaku: That’s right, not knowing who you’re gonna be with makes me feel giddy.

Tenn: I think they want something catchy and fresh, so it's going to be completely different from the last time we did it at the arena.

Ryuunosuke: No matter who I'm gonna end up with, I'll enjoy it to the fullest. We can take on the challenge and bring results back to TRIGGER.

Gaku: That’s right.

Tenn: But why did that company want shuffle units? ......

Ryuunosuke: They wanted to create more publicity or something?

Gaku: The four of us participating in the campaign together would be enough buzz.

Tenn: You already know which company's project it is, don't you, Anesagi-san?

Kaoru Anesagi: Well, yes. I knew right away why they wanted to do this project.

Tenn: You knew right away…?

Kaoru Anesagi: Ah, I'm sorry. Please forget I mentioned it. We promised to keep the name of the company secret.

Tenn: Yes. I understand.

Ryuunosuke: A company that wants to do a shuffle project… could it be a record company with highly skilled producers?

Kaoru Anesagi: No, it's a beverage company.

Kaoru Anesagi: But they know a lot about entertainment, and have been launching real flashy projects recently, so they might have connections to people in the industry.

Gaku: Maybe Kujo’s working for them, building up his life again?

Tenn: …

Gaku: Just kidding. What's Kujo up to now?

Tenn: Well, I’m not sure… Kujo-san has a thing for appearing out of nowhere.

Ryuunosuke: I think Kujo-san would like the idea of shuffle units involving us all, right?

Tenn: Yes he would, but I don’t think he’s involved this time… Probably…I’m sure…

Tenn: If, somehow, he was really involved…

Tenn: I wonder what Kujo-san's intentions are with this…

Tenn: No, I’m probably overthinking it. Maybe it’s as simple as them wanting to keep the company name a secret and nothing more.

Tenn: President Yaotome and Anesagi-san have decided that there are no issues, and they've agreed to it, so I'm sure it'll be fine…

To be continued...

[asksidon]

could you do a drabble about teeth/dental care? i feel like its very different between hylians n the zora, it would be cute to see sidon n his sweetheart talk about yet another cultural/species based difference between them. fem pronouns are always preferred when brought up, but never necessary! TIA <3

"So, let me get this straight," Sidon says slowly, seeming to contemplate both your appearances in the large bathroom mirror of your chambers. "You have to go to a . . . a tooth doctor, every six months, to get your teeth scraped with odd machinery? To make sure they're . . . healthy?"

You place your toothbrush down, your evening ablutions having triggered this discussion. "Yes, that's the essence of it," you say, wondering if there was a better way you could have explained. The baffled look on the prince's face is rather adorable, though.

"And if they're not healthy? What does the tooth doctor do, exactly?" He watches as you start to floss. It gives you a good reason to pause and think through your answer. Hylian health topics can be complex even to one who is familiar with them.

"Well, then they figure out what the problem is. Sometimes they can do it just by looking around in your mouth. Most commonly, Hylians suffer from cavities or buildup around the teeth, especially if they haven't had a professional cleaning by the den-- er, the tooth doctor in quite some time," you explain.

"What is a cavity?"

After you explain, he is still rapt with interest in the subject. "Huh. That explains why you've never lost a tooth around me, then. I never realized that Hylians can't regrow their teeth, as the Zora do. Now I feel a bit silly." He eyes your toothbrush, a shadow of something more in his expression, but he says no more on his feelings. "Do you have an extra one of those?"

Suppressing your questions, you dig through your toiletry bag until you find the one the dentist last gave you. You've never had cause to open it, given that you use an electric toothbrush. "Sorry, it's not a fancy one," you say, "but it will get the job done. You don't have to, though. It won't be bad for you like it is for me, if I go without brushing."

"I know. I . . . think it's nice, though. And if you're going to do it, then so should I." He blushes a little. "I do hope I haven't been unpleasant for you to kiss, Y/N."

"Of course not." You are silent for a moment, taken aback both by his sudden interest in Hylian tooth care and his self-consciousness. "You've always taken good care of yourself and your diet, my prince. You have nothing to worry about. I never thought anything about it before now."

He turns from the mirror to look into your eyes. "Truly?"

"Yes. Don't make me prove it to you." You give him a small smirk.

"Hm. That sounds like a threat." The corner of his mouth turns up a little. "So why is it so utterly alluring to me?"

He grins and places the toothbrush down on the counter so that he can pull you close and give you a little squeeze. Conscious of his own massive size, he takes care whenever he touches you, careful to listen to the pattern of your breathing and your heart. He sometimes mistakes the butterflies in your stomach and chest for fear, and he is gentler than you'd like. In response, you hug him tightly, wrapping your legs around him as your feet leave the floor.

"You. Bed. While I finish up here." He gives you a quick peck on the lips that tells you he is still battling somewhat with his self-consciousness, but you decide that if brushing his teeth makes him feel better, you won't argue with him about it. He might need a much bigger brush, though. You wonder if you can find one in the Zora shops on some off chance. You expect him to place you down, but instead, he carries you to your bed and gives you a kiss on the forehead as he sets you down on it.

You start to snuggle under the covers. He pauses and turns back toward you on his way back to the bathroom. "Hey, Y/N. Do you think I could come with you next time you go? To the tooth doctor, I mean?"

"I . . . uhm, sure." Your mind is on a completely different subject by now, so his question jostles you. "If you want."

"Thank you." He smiles. "I'll be back. Get ready to show me some proof." With a wink, he disappears around the corner, the sounds of vigorous brushing ensuing.

[fksleep]

do i even wanna know?

batman hated complications—yes, it didn't take him to be sherlock holmes to realize he couldn't be 'the batman' without them, but when those complications turned into surprises that literally laughed in his face? it went without saying that it annoyed all proportions of reasonings out of him. he didn't like to be one-upped nor mocked for it, especially at the expense of lives. when he received word on the resurgence of a particular old pain in his ass, he was obligated to follow up on the tips he was handed after some 'persuasive negotiations'.

                  a part of him wish he hadn't.

                  the sight below must have sent a poisoned phantom fist straight through the belly of his armored layers—bypassing the complex web of reactive fibers that amplified his neuromuscular system—and rotted him with disgust. a knot tightened in his stomach, knocking around like someone was playing handball with it inside. jokerz, he thought. grimaldi gave clowns their first real stage, and the world hasn't been right since.

                  the density of mist obscured most of the shipyard's suspicious activities, blanketing the presence of the colorful dregs with a near-impenetrable void. from his high vantage point, the average naked eye could only perceive looming cranes and groaning hulls, half-swallowed by the ashen cloud.

                  but for batman, the haze was no hindrance. through the sleek, red devil-tinted visor of the batsuit, advanced filtration systems hummed lowly, parsing through the thick fog and peeling back the layers until he achieved picture-perfect clarity with the visual mode of his choice. thermal heat signatures by the hundreds bled around a blued-out backdrop of the shipyard. each living jitter-brained, clown-faced craplet's position was traced, and their conditions logged by the biofeedback sensors.

                  they were all too relaxed and jolly for his liking. it was as if the possibility of being hunted down by the winged black devil of the bright-eyed, soul-weary city was nothing to fret over. a once-frightening, albeit fleeting, thing of the past. they'd sorely be mistaken.

                  feeling slighted aside, he had to wonder beyond the decoded readings over their hearts' micro-fluctuations and investigate why they were so calm and composed, despite being so exposed, in the first place. what was filling them up with so much false sense of security that they felt bold enough to gather in droves, not thinking there'd be any consequence to their curious assclown convention? he had an uncomfortable itch in the back of his head, telling him that there was a nasty devil in the elaborated details in his tips, and he was led to this specific location on purpose.

                  slag it, it wouldn't be the first time i winged it through some stupid plot the bad guys dreamed up, he thought.

movement detected from above.

                  the hairs on the nape of his neck bristled as the a.i.'s voice sounded in his ear ( he made a mental note to check in with grayson later and see if the alfred voice change was available yet.). the batman's neck snapped to the sky, brandishing a pair of batarangs that slid smoothly to his fingers, as per his thought-driven commands of the suit's sophisticated system—his reaction time tuned exponentially past the best of nature's predators, courtesy of the micro-sensors and the neural interface's intimate engagement with his brain.

                  ❝ huh?! ❞ confused, he stared quizzically at the unexpected company descending to him. when he saw who it was, not only did he have more questions, his mind tricked him momentarily into thinking the electromagnetic pads on the soles of his feet ceased working and his legs turned into mushed noodles. obviously, he wouldn't have died if he somehow slipped off the hood of the batmobile, but he wouldn't have been saved from the embarrassment.

                  ❝ slow-pulse with the jump scares, 'queen'. i was almost too quick to give you a free haircut. not your schwayest look, but i think you could've pulled it off. ❞ he half-joked, lowering his arm by his side then. batman erected his posture and the muscles in his shoulders relaxed, but he still held fast to his batarangs. maybe it's the edge of old mentors rubbing off on him—that'd be a guess, and only a guess. personal experiences with heroes entering his city unannounced informed him it's healthy to remain guarded, even against the ones he liked. what was she doing here?

                  ❝ do you wanna know what? that now, i even have more reason to clean up my city's less-than-appealing tourist attractions? i didn't know i'd be playing host to a special guest tonight. you should've given me a ring so i could tidy up the place for you faster. ❞ more complications? just what i needed.

@cloudrides + i was a teenage slasher pt ii.

[invisiblegarters]

Be My Favorite Ep 12

Oh hey Kawi became a songwriter. I like that for him, actually.

"I don't have to exist if it would help you succeed." Okay no I don't love that for either of you. The solution isn't to hide, the solution is for people to back the fuck out of each other's personal lives. The solution is to remember that we're all people and that love is love and that it really isn't that big of a deal who someone loves or is sleeping with. ugh.

Hahaha omg time travel Pisaeng looks like he's going to shit himself. Why is that so funny to me? And relatable. I too would react that way.

I wonder how long Pisaeng's gonna put off telling Kawi what's up - he's being so weird that you know Kawi's gonna eventually pick up on it even if it takes him a bit.

Except Kawi already knows. Ooh I do like that, actually. His curiosity about the future is cute. I am very worried though, what Pisaeng will do. He's too self-sacrificing for my tastes.

Can I just say I have a weird attachment to people actually eating their food in dramas? So often they do not and it drives me absolutely bonkers. Or they order drinks and never actually take sips of them. The full coffees in Light On Me, I'm looking at you. GAP and those delicious looking prawns that never went in anyone's mouth, I'm looking at you, too.

Cute theme park montage. I used to be terrified of that damn swinging boat ride, so I feel Kawi. However roller coasters never did bug me.

Aw, Kawi.

AAAH I love rollercoasters. Those little butterfly rolls are the best. Poor Kawi does not, lol.

Oh, this isn't just about Kawi getting sick, is it?

UGH I KNEW IT. Dammit, Pisaeng. Do NOT make this the dumbest timeline. Let Kawi have that dubious honor.

Hm I don't know Piseang. He's forgetting that Kawi has been through several futures and he actively chose the one that Pisaeng just came from. Like, over and over at every out he was given chose it.

Well that was a delightfully mature conversation. Kawi, you've grown up.

Oh did Pisaeng go back after that? Huh.

And Kawi gets to live. I mean I think we all knew that but still, good. It definitely would have been something to have Pisaeng go back and then, ooops, death time.

I love how in Thai dramas you can tell a character is going through it by lack of lipgloss haha.

Still no Not. Best ending ever. I love how he just sort of exited stage left at some point. Best thing they could have done, honestly - I would have resented a redemption arc for him and I would have loathed him being a part of the group in spite of all his gross BS. But it seems like every time I say something today the thing happens, so please don't let me have just screwed myself.

And Pearmei is getting married again. Hopefully this time to a decent dude even if it should have been Kwan and I stand by that.

MAX. Looking good. HIs face at the handholding. Oh Max I love you I wish this show had given you a boyfriend.

Pear looks really happy. Good for her.

NO WAS THAT NOT IN THE WEDDING PHOTOS ARE YOU SMOKING SOMETHING SHOW.

UGH it was. I hate you. Instant point deduction sorry not sorry.

I did this to myself.

Overall, it was very cute, although I could feel myself winding down a bit during the last ep and that continued through this one. It's probably a me thing, but I just felt like the last two eps were oddly lackluster. Perhaps it was all the montages? Idk I'm just really picky I think.

Except for that Not bullshit. That is fully on the show.

Overall my first instinct is to give it 8/10. I liked it a lot - loved Pear, really enjoyed that they never took the option to turn her into the evil spurned ex, and instead gave her her own little arc and emotional complexity all while letting her stay a decent person at her core. Loved Max and everything he chooses to be. Kawi grew on me. Pisaeng won me over to the Gawin train. I don't think that this will become a comfort watch for me, or that I'll even rewatch it at all, which would be the only way it could go higher, since the last two episodes sort of fell apart for me personally.

But also AAAAAAAAH Dangerous Romance next week! I am so ready.

[wynterfurry69]

I agree wholeheartedly with this. This is a new account, I lost my last one, and I've been a long time Elsanna shipper. At first I was like "Huh? What's this ship?? Sister? Huh." But I gave some stories a chance. The sisters always resonated with me. I grew up male and being forced to like "boy" things, I was told I NEEDED to be into hunting, fishing, carpentry, Heavy work outside all the time. I was fascinated with my mother's make-up and jewelry and wanted so much to be female. I'm getting side tracked, I was suppressed and forced into a box. I was told to conform to society, I was told to behave. Be quiet, no emotions, head down, obey your elders. I was also told I couldn't be my exuberant self and I connected so so much with Elsa. Yet later in life I was able to break free from those chains, I broke out of the box, and I refuse to go back. I admired people like Anna able to be so cheerful and happy I became that, and I look for people to help that have gone through those traumas and yearned for a deep connection like Elsa and Anna have. It was never about the fact they were sisters, it wad the bond, the trauma, the pain and suffering and struggles leading to opening eyes and finally embracing who we are. Finding that bond we've been forced to suppress and happily spend time together, even if we're surrounded by hatred and disgust for out whole lives... so yes. The fact they're sister has become a large part of my reason for the ship. YET. It is NOT just about that, it's the surrounding stigma. The forbidden love. The controversial bond. The fact their connection is SO much deeper then any I've EVER been able to find. I ship them out of adoration, love, and jealousy of how beautiful the bond is. I love you ALL out there!!!! Haters included, because everybody needs some love. Sometimes that hatred can cool down when it's met with open arms and someone willing to love and accept them even if they are bloodied and bruised after the confrontation. I hope this also helps others see it's more complex then everyone seems to want to see it as. Have a wonderful day!!!

The Elsanna ship, ten years later...

When I think about the golden days of the Elsanna ship (circa 2013-2015), two images come to mind – this one… 

…and this one…

Both pieces of fanart were created to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage nationwide in the US in June 2015 – and both encapsulate the youthful energy, the innocence, the idealism of Elsanna shippers at the time. They might seem silly now to some people, but only because they are so earnest. There is an achingly earnest sincerity here because the Elsanna-shipping community was made up of a bunch of young, queer Disney fans. 

The ship wasn’t created by a bunch of creeps who wanted to “disregard or misunderstand the message of the film.”

The ship was created by a group of young wlw, young lesbians, young queer folks, who were drawn to the film because of its themes of self-acceptance and self-understanding (because they UNDERSTOOD the message of the film.) And they were drawn to the sisters’ bond because, in some way, it resonated with them – a connection between two people that was based on coming to an understanding of shared trauma and pain, a connection rooted in compassion for someone othered by society.

Frozen came out in 2013. Korrasami wouldn’t be canon for a while yet, things like Lumity and Catradora weren’t even a dream, and these naive, earnest, heartfelt kids wanted to see something that reflected themselves so much that they built a ship from the ground up.

I have seen people in recent years express bewilderment about why the Elsanna ship came into being, saying things like, “Why does this ship exist? Elsa and Anna aren’t in love; they’re sisters.” Which… duh. Obviously, they are not in love. Obviously, they are sisters. Such an attempt to say, “Checkmate, creeps!” ignores why ships come into existence in the first place. Non-canon ships emerge because there are aspects of two particular characters that the audience can relate to or project a part of themselves upon/see themselves in; and because there are elements of these characters’ dynamic/interactions that the audience can project upon/see themselves in.

And with Elsa and Anna’s dynamic together and connection throughout the film? There was A LOT that a young queer audience latched onto - NOT because these shippers felt the film was secretly espousing incest subtext, but because the characters were created to be broadly relatable to anyone with a difficult home life, anyone who felt isolated and ostracized from society, and so their narrative together lent itself to a queer reading.

Consider: on the one hand, there is Elsa – a character who exploded across the popular consciousness because so many people related to her individual story, many of them queer young people. Isolated for who she was, taught to repress her identity and her emotions, forced to conform to a society that could harm her. There hardly needs to be any more ink spilled on why Elsa struck such a chord with queer viewers – and the queer viewers who helped to shape the Elsanna ship were among the people who fell in love with her as much as anyone.

On the other hand, there is Anna. Anna’s story is different from Elsa’s, but bears many of the same marks of trauma. Anna is forced to live in a world where the rules feels arbitrary and uncaring, where nothing makes sense but no one will tell her why. Not her sister, who has been taught that she must shut Anna out. Not her parents, the authorities of the society she lives in who put the rules in place. Like many queer young people, Anna is forced to navigate a world where the rules are arbitrary and cruel. And, like her sister, she begins to internalize that pain. “What did I ever do to you?” she cries to Elsa at the coronation because, without the full context, she can’t rule out that this might be her fault – or at least, that societal forces around her tell her that this is her fault even when she did nothing.

There was so much in each character individually that queer young people resonated with.

When you factor in that their connection is something that the powers that be within the film attempt to forbid, that their connection is something that is at first treated as something that needs to be suppressed but that ultimately proves to be a positive force for both of them, then… yeah, it becomes clearer why so many queer young people aching to connect with something would see themselves in that relationship.  

I know of several prominent artists on this site who got their start in the Elsanna fandom, or who were happy to take part in the ship because they saw the way other queer young people connected with it (signatures blotted out to prevent potential harassment of artists over decade-old art):

People don’t like to remember it, but ten years ago, there were wlw fandom blogs on here that would casually make or reblog Elsanna art – not because they had some secret insidious agenda – but because the ship connected with them on an emotional level or because they understood why it did with others:

And there were shippers of other queer ships reaching out:

The Elsanna fandom of 2013-15 was a reflection of a group of queer young people (primarily wlw) – a reflection of their passion, their dedication, their craftsmanship, their creativity, and their longing to be seen. It was a group of queer young people using the pieces that a film they loved gave them to create something of their own, from their hearts, for themselves.

Create something of their own with their own spirit and hopes, reflecting their own aspirations and fears and dreams for the future.

And sure, people now can say, “That’s disgusting! How could anyone do that?” In 2020, someone called out a lovely person on here because she shipped Elsanna nearly a decade ago (even though she HAD LONG SINCE DELETED ALL EA CONTENT FROM HER BLOG, even!):

This callout is dishonest. It claims that the individual “thinks shipping them is cute” even though, when this was written, the person had not shipped Elsanna in years. It also claims Elsanna is p/*do/ph/ilic when it is not. (It is incest, obviously, and that is inherently problematic.) It also tries to make a connection between the person wanting queer rep and shipping an inherently problematic ship, when those things do not correlate at all. You can ship something and never want it to be canon. You can ship something and not want it to be “representation” – and that’s what being in the Elsanna fandom of 2013-15 was like.

People didn’t want it to be canon. They didn’t want it to be “representation.” Everyone already knows that incest is wrong. People don’t have to ship something as a crusade for representation. But people DID ship it because they saw something of themselves in the ship – and they saw the opportunity to project something of themselves (their queerness, their sense of being othered and isolated by their families, etc.) onto characters that they loved. The ship provided the opportunity for these young people to explore their senses of self and explore their identities.  

And sure, as I’ve said in the past, perhaps that wasn’t ideal – the fact that these young folks were starving for anything that was like them and so had to make a feast from whatever they had available. But I find something BEAUTIFUL in the fact that so many people were able to come together and create such beautiful things because Elsanna inspired them. I know people who met their partners, met their wives, through this ship. I’ve seen firsthand the positive influence it has had.

Like Elsa on the North Mountain, we felt isolated, we were figuring ourselves out. And we built wonders with what was inside of us. The beauty of some of the art in this ship is akin to the beauty of Elsa’s ice palace. The writing I have seen in this ship can be as elegant as any elegantly-sculpted spire Elsa fashioned through her own magic and her own will.   

This ship was ours, is ours. 

We made it for ourselves, to reflect ourselves and our identities and share aspects of those identities with others, the same way people came to ship Elsamaren when F2 came out. It may have been new faces and a new ship, but it was part of the same idea, just for a different time. 

And when you look at the thousands of pieces of Elsanna fanfiction that have been written, and the thousands of pieces of fanart (especially the beautifully diverse styles of early Elsanna fanart) – you don’t get so many people expounding their passion and creativity on something unless it means something to them, and Elsanna meant something to so many people. Mattered to them. Look at the excitement and joy in people’s words in the early days of the fandom if you don’t believe me. 

And I think that’s beautiful.

[anisette-blackwirth]

SAGAU: Meeting Kazuha

summary: You started playing after Kazuha's release and have been waiting almost a year for his rerun (based on a true story lmao)

spoiler warning: inazuma archon quest spoilers

content warning: not exactly a cult AU but close enough. Chosen Traveler is Aether.

notes: I intend to eventually do one of these introspectives for each of my main team (and other characters, as applicable), but... Kazuha's banner is coming out in a few hours, so I had to write this quickly before summoning.

May all Kazuha wanters become Kazuha havers!

“You two give off not only the essence of wind and earth, but also of… yes… the stars…” 

The first time Kazuha felt your presence was when he met the Traveler and Paimon. He assumed the little flying child was somehow projecting her emotions to others. He expected Captain Beidou would be the one to ask. Beidou was outspoken and blunt, but that served her well as the captain of her crew. While they hadn't known each other for very long, Kazuha could already tell when she was about to say something, and refrained from making his own comments as he waited for her to speak up.

The feeling that she was ‘about to say something’ persisted up until the Traveler and Paimon left to prepare for the Crux Clash, when she finally let it out in a rush. 

"Did you feel that? That weird sorta energy around those two."

"I did. It seemed to ebb and flow with the little flying one's emotions."

"You know, I tried to ask about it? But I couldn't say the words."

"Truly?" Kazuha hummed in thought. "And yet we are having no trouble discussing it now."

"Yeah. I don't like this. Why couldn't I say anything? Do you think there’s some weird magic around them? This could be bad," Beidou said. "I'm gonna ask the crew if they felt anything."

"It certainly could be," Kazuha agreed mildly as Beidou descended to the lower deck, choosing not to voice his own suspicions just yet. But when he pulled the Traveler aside to have a word with him before the final match, he found quite quickly that he disagreed with Beidou. 

The more he spoke with the Traveler and Paimon, the more Kazuha felt that the presence was neither of theirs. It reacted pleasantly and kindly to his words. 

"...And, not to mention your incredibly complex scent. Like that of some mysterious being," Kazuha said. He tried to elaborate - Like the mist that rises off hot pavement in the first flash of summer rains - but couldn't. He frowned, struggling with his own words internally, before he gave up and continued on. The words felt right, but he hadn’t been able to voice them. Just like Beidou. 

Later that evening, something about the aura encouraged him to share his story - or maybe it was just the delayed result of Beidou pushing him to talk about his pain with others. As he spoke of Tomo's fate, keeping his voice deliberately light… he became certain that the presence was a third, separate entity. Paimon was saddened and the Traveler's expression displayed grief - but he seemed unsurprised, as if loss were an old, familiar friend and he had known what was coming the moment Kazuha began speaking.  

The presence he felt hovering around them was both sad and angry. Angry on his behalf, much like Beidou had been when she took him onboard. He could feel its desire to wrap around and protect him… but it didn't. And as he felt it leave sadly with the Traveler that evening… he wondered if maybe it couldn't. 

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

The Traveler, as it turned out, was not unaware of the presence hovering around him and his friend, because he re-introduced himself as Aether during the voyage to Inazuma. 

"I saw you both struggling to say something earlier. I'm sorry I couldn't explain things then. I have someone guiding me who we can't talk about. But they've been helping me for months now - well, all of us," Aether said, gesturing at the companions he'd brought on-board.

"Uh… huh." Beidou was unimpressed. And rightly so, since she had been intending to smuggle one person across and ended up with four. "You know Thoma isn't expecting these extra people, right?" she asked. 

"It'll be fine. I think? Whoever's helping us out seems to be able to hide extra people when they need to,” Aether said.

"So those emotions we felt when you were around were theirs? How does that work?" Beidou asks. Paimon made a very unimpressed looking shrug to mirror Aether’s.

"We're not sure," Aether said. "They only seem to be able to directly interact with certain vision users, but apparently everyone can feel them around. It's just, people with visions can feel them the clearest." 

"You introduced yourself as [username], and yet you now say your name is Aether. Is that their name?" Kazuha asks. 

"As far as we can tell," Aether says. 

As they continued explaining the situation, with Paimon remaining suspiciously silent, Kazuha was glad to get the chance to talk to Aether on his own. But he also found that he missed that summer-scented mist, just a little.

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

Kazuha felt the presence watching over him a few more times in Inazuma after that, always in association with Aether. He felt its - their - utter joy at seeing him again when the Crux crew joined the battle at Nazuchi Beach, their enthusiasm almost matching Gorou's. Aether lingered to speak with him and Beidou after the skirmish, grinning sheepishly as the conversation stretched on. 

He felt them most strongly during the assault on Tenshukaku, their fear turning to such a fierce, victorious pride as he saves Aether that it left him shaking just as much as the Shogun's return strike did. Then the presence disappeared into the void with Aether, and did not come back out. 

He felt them briefly as he visited Tomo's grave after all was said and done, and found he was grateful to know they were still alive. Having someone to witness his prayers at his friend's resting place - even an unknown, mysterious, otherworldly aura - helped ease his heart. 

-----------

Kazuha did not feel them again until he decided on a whim to answer a commission in Liyue,  three months later. They were subtly in the background as he accepted Aether's invitation to team up, and he was disappointed when he thought that would be all he'd feel of them this time. But Aether gave him a thumbs up and a wink and warned him to brace himself. 

As soon as the party entered the domain, Kazuha felt their presence sweep over him. It was so much stronger than ever before that he had to stop and take a moment to breathe, though both the presence and his three companions seemed content to wait for him.

He felt the presence - felt you examining him joyfully. He got the sense that you were peering at him from every angle, and then your attention turned inward to the artifacts he'd chosen to take with him for this fight. You express vague interest and approval - had he chosen well? They were the best he had for that set - and then you were guiding the four of them forward to experience combat at your hands. 

It was different from normal combat. Alien. Kazuha found that your presence came and went in flashes, directing him to use certain skills and then flitting away to one of the others. He dodged strikes he couldn't see or hear properly through the echoing fog of the domain, kept safe from blows that might have felled him by a third eye from above. But he was also hit by other attacks he could clearly see approaching in slow motion, also found himself unwilling to use Chihayaburu when he normally would.

He sensed your frustration and shame whenever this happened, and he wondered whether you were learning this as you went, too. 

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

Now, seven months later, he’s met you personally, face-fo-face. Your guidance of him as a “trial character” through two more events improved greatly since your first fumbling attempts to understand his “playstyle”, and he feels - perhaps arrogantly - that the two of you work well together. You had stuttered out something similar when you first asked for his consent to be “summoned” and used as your vessel all those months ago, and Kazuha smiles now as he recalls it.

Beidou joins him at the railing as he watches the approaching islands of the Golden Apple Archipelago and slings an arm around his shoulders companionably. 

“Ya ready, kid?” she asks. “Last chance to back out. I’m sure [Y/N] wouldn’t mind.” 

Beidou has been one of your vessels for a long time as well, and though she’s not the most often chosen, Kazuha has heard nothing but good from her about the experience. So he takes her words as teasing. 

“I find I must disagree. [Y/N] has been quite enthusiastic about my ‘return’ these past weeks,” Kazuha says with a smile. He knows from Beidou that you’ve had the necessary materials to empower him saved for quite some time, and while you apparently aren’t yet happy with the Viridescent Venerer’s artifact set you plan to gift to him, Kazuha is certain it will be worlds better than what he was able to collect on his own. 

“I haven’t the heart to disappoint. Besides, I have no other obligations. I merely wish to wander and experience the world. I can think of no better way to spend my time than to explore this world alongside someone who so clearly cares for me.” 

Beidou ruffles his hair and he ducks out of her hold. “Sap. Alright, well, we’re almost there! Fix your hair before you meet [Y/N]. Can’t have you looking like you just rolled outta bed!”

Kazuha grumbles and redoes his ponytail, which Beidou was the one to ruin in the first place - but finds that he can’t maintain even a fake frown for long. He’s excited to feel your presence in his life permanently. And as he prepares to step ashore and surprise you before you “wish” for him, he hopes you are too. 

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Ortho Shroud Birthday Gear Voice Lines

When Summoned: The probability of gaining more wonderful memories is 100%. ...Fufu, it looks like it's going to be a fun birthday!

Summon Line: The keyword has been confirmed. From here on, a special boot-up voice will be played back. I am grateful for the celebrations of my manufacturing day. Thank you!

Groooovy!!: I was able to record a lot of fun memories. I wish I could spend time with you and everyone else next year too.

Home: I wonder what kind of functions this outfit has?

Home Idle 1: The dorm students made me a new spare battery. I like the cool design.

Home Idle 2: Today's energy consumption is quick. My battery has gotten hot too... I think I'm having more fun than usual!

Home Idle 3: A while ago on my birthday, Nii-san and I attempted a difficult three-dimensional puzzle. It was too complex so we weren't able to complete it, but it was fun.

Home Idle - Login: Hooray, it's a birthday cake! Might as well save the data of its appearance and ingredients.

Home Idle - Groovy: Ah, nice expression! ... Ehehe, you seemed to be happily eating your meal so much that I took a picture of you with my eye-camera.

Home Tap 1: Floyd Leech-san gave me limited edition sneakers! I wonder where I should hang them up.

Home Tap 2: Since it's a special day, I got Nii-san to make me a special Oral Re-Supply Gear! I'm happy I get to eat with everyone.

Home Tap 3: I got Vil Schoenheit-san to do my face paint. Not with an air brush, but with a cosmetic brush.

Home Tap 4: As soon as Silver-san gave his well wishes, the nearby birds started singing and chirping. It was just like a fairy tale.

Home Tap 5: I just have to blow out the candles on the cake, right? Then, let me set my fan attachment to max and... I'm kidding!

Home Tap - Groovy: There's a lot of people with smiles, I wonder, are birthdays fun for those who are congratulating as well? Can I verify this with a scan of your vitals?

Duo: [ORTHO]: Kalim-san is going to celebrate me too? [KALIM]: Enjoy today, Ortho!

Birthday Login Message: For you to want to celebrate my manufacturing day, you're a bit of a romanticist, huh? I thought Nii-san would be the only one who would want to do something like that. Ehehe, I'm happy. Thanks!

Requested by @chillableu and @bakujho.

[calpalirwin]

I Think I Like You

Summary: Bucky falls for his best friend’s sister

A/N: I told y’all I wasn’t ready to let them go yet

Word Count: 5k

And away, and away we go!

__

1936

The ache in my knuckles was starting to occupy more and more of my attention as I followed Steve into the apartment complex. “So, this is home, huh?” I asked, flexing out my hands.

“Something like that,” he quipped, digging around in his pocket to produce a key, before letting us into one of the apartments.

I was about to ask what he meant by that, but stepping into the home quickly answered the question for me. There was something… acutely feminine about the place. It was tidy, much tidier than my own apartment down the block. Magazines were neatly stacked on the coffee table. In the kitchen, the counters were wiped down. And on the dining table, a vase of flowers. All subtle signs of the home containing a woman’s touch. “Oh?” I said suggestively, taking a seat on the couch.

Steve just rolled his eyes, as he sat down next to me, sighing deeply as he sunk back in the soft cushions. I looked over at him with a smirk. Alright, if he wanted to keep his secrets, he could, I decided. I also wondered if I looked half as bad as he did. His lip was split, and he was already beginning to bruise along the right side of his face. I looked down at my own hands, flexing them again. No doubt they’d bruise too. But that was about the extent of my own injuries compared to my friend.

The door clicked open behind us, and both of us swiveled our heads to look at the woman walking in, a bag of groceries in her hand, and a bag slung over her shoulder with papers all but spilling out of it. She was smartly dressed in a crisp blouse tucked into a black skirt that hugged her small frame tightly. She toed off her heels, blonde curls falling to obscure her face from my view. She didn’t seem to acknowledge my presence as she walked over to the couch, pressing a soft kiss to Steve’s cheek, her face pinching into a frown when he winced. “Oh, Steven, what did you do now?” she asked, moving to set the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter, her tone suggesting that she was used to seeing the man this way. She didn’t appear to care for an answer either, as she turned out of the kitchen and disappeared down the hallway, returning a few moments later with a small first-aid kit. Only then did she acknowledge my presence, blue eyes sweeping over me with slight disdain. “Bringing your fights home now, huh?” she asked, tongue clicking in her cheek, as she grabbed his face, examining the damage carefully.

“We were on the same side,” he replied bluntly, sitting still for her while she cleaned up his face.

Her gaze flickered back to me, her tongue clicking again. “For being on the same side, it looks like he got out better than you did.”

“He’s a better fighter,” Steve explained with a shrug.

“And who is he exactly?”

“James Barnes, ma’am,” I told her politely. “Pleased to meet you. Wasn’t aware Steve here had a lady.”

Steve gave a bark of a scoff, “She’s not a lady.”

Her own eyes rolled. “What he meant to say was that I’m his sister. And I’m no ma’am either. It’s ‘miss,’ Mr. Barnes.”

“My apologies, miss.” I bit back my smirk. Not Steve’s lady, and not a ma’am only worked more in my favor. “And would you happen to have a name to accompany your title?”

“That would depend on who’s asking.”

“That would be me.”

“Then, that information would be classified, James.”

I chuckled, definitely toeing a fine line of getting in way over my head, and not caring the slightest bit. “Well, then, I suppose it’s only polite to ask if you prefer ‘sweetheart’ or ‘doll’ then.”

“From you? I’d prefer neither.” She flashed me a sweet smile, releasing Steve’s face, and snapping the first-aid kit shut. Then, she was on her feet, going back into the kitchen, and returning with two ice packs. “Might wanna ice your face and hands there, sluggers,” she said, tossing one to Steve, and the other to me. “It’ll help with the swelling.”

“You didn’t tell me you had a sister, let alone one that was a nurse, and we’ve been friends for how long now?” I questioned Steve, letting the ice pack rest across my knuckles.

“2 years. And she’s not a nurse. Just a nuisance,” he quipped, leaning his head back and placing his ice pack against his face.

“You’re the one who comes in here all bloody and bruised. So who’s the real nuisance here, dear brother?” she retorted.

“That would still be you, by a long shot. I fight bullies. You just like to fight.”

“No, I command respect. Feeble-minded men only view that as liking to fight. And you?” she asked, turning her attention to me. “Steve fights bullies. I fight for respect. What do you fight for, Mr. Barnes?”

“I fight to protect those I care about.”

“Mmm, how noble,” she said, clearly not impressed with my answer.

“And half a lie,” Steve snorted. “Go on, Buck. Tell her what you do at school.”

“Buck?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A nickname,” I brushed past. “And I’m on the wrestling team. So, sure, one could make the argument that I have fighting in my DNA. But as I’ve said, I use the advantage I have in fighting to protect those I care about.”

“Mmm, well maybe next time care a little quicker about my brother, yes?”

“With all due respect, miss, your brother has a tendency of getting himself into fights before I’m around to help get him out of them.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true… Steve, do me a favor, and put up those groceries would you?”

He pulled the ice pack off his face to squint over at her. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”

She rolled her eyes. “What’s the point of you being home if you’re not going to be useful?”

He grumbled, but got to his feet to do as she asked anyway. “So, how’s Mother?” he asked her.

“Still dying,” was the answer. “And still asking why you don’t visit.”

Steve sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to visit,” he started.

His sister held up her hand, cutting him off, “I know. Watching her die isn’t exactly pleasant. And she knows you’re busy with school, and stopping by her to help me. Nobody blames you, Steve. But she’s getting worse, so I’d make time if you can. Sooner rather than later. But not too soon. Wait until your face heals a bit. James, has my brother offered you anything to eat or drink? Or is he as bad a host as he is a fighter?”

“We were barely home a minute before you came bursting in, and started chastising us,” he told her.

She ignored his excuse. “James, can I get you anything? A glass of water?”

“A glass of water would be lovely, thank you,” I smiled at her.

“So, safe to assume you’re a friend of Steve’s from college,” she continued to make conversation with me as she filled a glass with water, then came to join me on the couch while Steve finished with the groceries. “Do you prefer to be called James? Or whatever it was he called you? Buck?”

“James. Buck. Bucky,” I shrugged. “Either works. I’m not that picky.”

“Why Buck?”

“Middle name’s Buchanan.”

“Oh, a middle name after a president, just like Steve.”

“Y/N,” Steve said in a warning. “Don’t you have studying to do?”

“Don’t you have a fight to get into?”

“Y/N?” I asked with a slight smile, liking how her name sounded on my tongue.

She glowered at Steve, not liking that he’d given her the one edge she had over me. “Yes,” she said begrudgingly.

“Pretty.”

Over the course of my afternoon spent in the apartment, I learned a great deal about the girl with the pretty name. For one, she wasn’t just Steve’s sister, but actually his twin, and she hated how adamant he was about the fact that he was still technically older. And the chip in her shoulder was just as justified as the one in her brother’s. They had a rough go of it after their father had passed a few years prior, and with the economic situation being what it was, and their mother falling ill herself it was crazy to me that they still had their education as a priority. But as someone who valued education myself, it was a trait I greatly admired.

The longer the afternoon dragged on, the more I liked her, and the more she seemed to warm up to me. Although I was uncertain if she was warming up to me because she was as equally infatuated with me as I was with her, or if it was strictly a means of stirring annoyance in her brother. Either way, I had her attention, and I wasn’t complaining.

And when the evening did draw to a close, while I wasn’t brave enough to ask her out directly, I was brave enough to suggest my interest in her.

“Bucky, can I ask something of you?” she asked, pulling the front door shut behind her to allow for a brief moment of privacy between us.

“Of course,” I asked, trying not to take too much glee in how she said my name.

“Well, I suppose it’s not really a question. But more of a request to take what I said about caring about my brother quicker seriously. He has a strong tendency, as I’m sure you’ve witnessed, of doing what he thinks is right, without stopping to think about the consequences. And he doesn’t have the… erm…” heat colored her cheeks as she fought to find the right words, “physique like you do to defend himself, despite his best intentions. So if you could be a bit quicker with that ‘I protect those I care about’ bit you were mentioning earlier, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Did she just admit she found me attractive? “That would require me to be around your brother a lot more, you know that, right?”

“It’s a good thing you two are friends then, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I meant that it would mean I would probably be around more if I were to do that. Which I can do, no problem. Steve’s a great friend. But I would hate for my presence to ever make you uncomfortable.”

“Why would your presence make me feel uncomfortable?”

“Well, you didn’t seem all that keen on me. And if I’m being honest, I still can’t really figure out what your opinion of me is. I’m hoping it’s favorable.”

“In my defense, I came home to find my brother with a bloody face, and you with bruised knuckles. All the same, I do apologize if my original assumption made me come across as cold. Because it’s become clear to me that my brother holds you in a high regard as his friend, and I’ve never known Steve to be a bad judge of character.”

“Well, if being around Steve more for the sake of getting him out of fights quicker means I can see more of you, consider your request granted. G’night, Y/N.”

“G’night, Bucky.”

~~~

“So my sister, huh?” Steve asked when I saw him a few days later.

“What about her?” I asked, playing dumb.

“You’re smitten with her, aren’t you?”

I sighed, opting for honesty rather than something that would be an obvious lie. “Do I find her to be beautiful and charming? Yes. But would I go so far as to say I’m smitten with her? We barely know each other.”

“But you want to know her?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” was all he said.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“You’re my best friend, and she’s your sister.”

“You’re both adults. And it’s Y/N. She’d go out with you just to spite me if I was stupid enough to warn her away from you. Which I have no reason to do anyway.”

“So if I did want to ask her out, I’d have your blessing?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, Buck. I’m simply saying I wouldn’t be mad about it. But if you do ask her out, which I don’t recommend doing anytime soon because she has a lot on her plate as is, she likes roses and dancing.

~~~

I was there when their mother passed away a few months later. I sat with them in the kitchen while they tearfully planned a funeral, offering to make the necessary phone calls that left their own words choked and stuck. And I stood between them when they buried her, one hand resting firmly on Steve’s shoulder, the other hanging limply at my side, fingers begging to stretch out and pull her hand into mine. 

When Steve excused himself to talk with the minister, Y/N sighed deeply next to me. “He’s all I got left,” she murmured with sad finality. “I mean, we always used to joke that it was just me and him. And I knew this would happen eventually. But… I’m not ready for it. I’m not ready for Steve to be the only family I have left.”

“He’s not,” I told her. “You have me, too.”

She blinked up at me. “I do?”

Heat colored my cheeks, and I rubbed at hand at the back of my neck as my nerves kicked in. “Y-yeah. I mean, I’m friends with Steve. I have no interest in ending that friendship. So you can count on me to be around if that’s something you want to count on.”

“Steve, yes. So a relationship with each other via proxy? Seems like quite the investment on your end.”

“Well, I’d hardly say our relationship with each other is strictly via proxy of your brother. I like to think we’ve become at least friendly with each other, if not friends directly.”

“And is that what you would like? A friendship?”

I hesitated. There was no way of answering her without condemning myself one way or another. If I said yes, then that’s all I would ever be to her. But if I answered no, I risked losing her before I had her. Either by her thinking I was insulting her by not wanting a friendship, or scaring her off if she interpreted what I said as being too forward too soon. “I’ve told you that I protect those I care about. Which means if you need me, for anything, I’ll be there.”

“And do you care for me simply because I’m your friend’s sister? Or do you care for me because you genuinely care for me?”

“You’re a smart girl, Y/N. Surely you can answer that for yourself.”

~~~

1937

“Steve,” I groaned as he dragged me through the streets of Brooklyn towards his place with a grin on his face. “I told you I didn’t want to do anything for my birthday.”

“I know. And that’s what I told Y/N, but you know she doesn’t listen to me.”

I groaned louder. “What did she do?”

“It’s just cake,” he promised. “So even by Y/N’s terms, this is very tame. But, you have to act surprised because she’ll kill me if she knows I told you.”

“Alright, alright,” I relented with a laugh.

“Close your eyes,” he said as we bounded up the stairs to the apartment.

“Is that part necessary?” I asked, closing my eyes anyway and letting him push me inside.

“Surprise!” both him and Y/N yelled, and I opened my eyes to see a small banner hanging up on the wall with the words “Happy Birthday,” sprawled across it, and a small cake waiting on the kitchen table. “We know it’s not much,” she went on, “but we wanted to do something.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully. “But you didn’t have to.”

“I know we didn’t have to. But we wanted to. Turning twenty is something special, Bucky.”

“Well again, thank you,” I told her as I took a seat at the table, noticing a small parcel wrapped neatly. “What’s this?”

Her eyes went wide. “That,” she said, snatching it off the table, and hiding it behind her back, “is for later.”

This time, it was Steve who groaned. “Y/N, we agreed on no presents. Now I look like an ass.”

“This is what makes you look like an ass?” she questioned.

“Ha-ha,” he deadpanned humorlessly. “You’re hilarious.”

“Okay, this you really didn’t have to do,” I told her with a chuckle.

“Bucky? Shut up, and make a wish.” With that, she grabbed a small lighter, lighting the candles on the cake.

While she and Steve sang “Happy Birthday” I thought about what wish I wanted to make, no matter how silly the notion seemed. But my mind couldn’t think of anything to wish for. I already had everything I wanted. So ultimately, I decided to wish for things to stay the same as I blew out the candles with a huff of breath.

“Okay,” she said, setting the small parcel in front of me, after we’d eaten the cake and Steve excused himself. “Now, you can have this.”

Carefully I tore at the paper, revealing a hardcover book, the words “The Hobbit” etched across the front cover. “Wow,” I breathed, running my fingers across the cover.

“The lady at the bookstore said it was popular. But if you end up not liking it… Well, I kept the receipt, so we can return it for something you would like,” she offered as explanation, a soft embarrassed mumble

We. “No,” I said quickly. “No, I love it. This is great, thank you,” I smiled at her.

“Happy Birthday, Bucky,” she smiled back. “And uh, if you don’t mind, when you’re finished with it, I’d like to borrow it. Didn’t have enough to buy two copies.”

“Or,” I suggested, a thought coming to me, “we could read it together.”

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. “How would we do that exactly?”

“I could read it to you. We could… make an afternoon of it. Or a few afternoons of it.”

“That sounds suspiciously like you’re proposing a date.”

“And if I was?”

“I think I’d like that.”

I grinned. “How’s Saturday, then?”

~~~

“This is going to sound stupid,” Y/N interjected when I paused in my reading.

“What’s going to sound stupid?” I asked, looking at her over the top of the book. She looked cute, resting on her stomach, her elbows propped up as she cradled her chin in her hands. Her hair blew softly with the light spring breeze, and her eyes held a dreamy look to them. Okay, she looked way more than just cute. 

“I like the way you read,” she said. “Your voice… it’s nice in general. But there’s a certain flow to how you read. Your voice does this thing where it rises and falls with what you’re reading. It’s… animated. Very engaging.”

“Well, I can easily say that’s the first time someone ever complimented my voice,” I said with a chuckle.

Her cheeks turned pink. “I told you it was going to sound stupid.”

I tucked a scrap of paper in the book, marking our spot before setting it aside. “It’s not stupid. It’s a nice compliment. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Her eyes flickered from me to the book. “Are we done for the day?”

“No, I can keep reading if you want me to,” I said, picking up the book and opening it.

She smiled up at me, and then, in a move I wasn’t expecting, she rolled over onto her back and then shifted her body perpendicular to mine, resting her head on my outstretched leg. I stiffened at the sudden intimacy of the contact. “Is this okay?” she asked.

“Y-yeah,” I choked out with a cough, forcing myself to relax. “Yeah, it’s, uh, fine.”

She gave a small giggle. “You know, you’re pretty cute when you get shy, Bucky.”

“You’re pretty cute all of the time,” I mumbled back.

���I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I said you’re pretty cute all of the time,” I said again, this time without mumbling, but glad I had the book in my hand to block my face from her view.

Her hand gently pulled mine down, the book closing once more. “Bucky, if I ask you something, do you promise to be honest with me?”

“Course,” I nodded.

“Do you like me? Romantically that is.”

I swallowed thickly, nodding. “And if you want the whole truth, it’s the ‘I’m falling in love with you’ kind of like. And that terrifies me.”

“Why does that terrify you?”

“Because it means I have more to lose.”

She let out a soft “oh,” as she pushed herself to sit upwards, a timid hand stroking up the length of my arm. “You’ll never lose me, Bucky.”

Try as I might, I couldn’t hold back. I shifted to lean towards her, my hands going to cradle her face. And then my lips were on hers, and it was sweet and powerful. And my thumbs were brushing along her cheek bones as the rest of my fingers bunched up in her hair. And her own hands were looping around my neck, her fingers tugging lightly at my hair. The air came rushing out of my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe but I didn’t dare break the kiss, savoring every sensation. 

There was a sharp intake of air and I wasn’t sure which one of us had done it, because our lips stayed locked, and I had to drop one of my hands to brace myself as the kiss grew hungry and she moved in closer, practically on top of me. I moved the hand that was still holding her face to wrap tightly around her back, needing her more than I’d ever needed anybody else before.

~~~

1939

“Whoa, slow down there, doll,” I chuckled, pulling the glass away from her lips.

“But it tastes like juice!” she told me, her eyes big with excitement.

“I know, but those drinks have a lot more alcohol in them. And if I bring you home drunk, Steve will kill me.”

“He can try,” she scoffed, grabbing the glass from me and taking another big drink. “And neither one of you can get mad at me drinking, because you both do it too,” she half sang.

“Again, your drinks have a lot more alcohol in them than our drinks do. And for another, I’m a lot bigger than you. My body can handle more.”

She set the glass down, scowling over the rim at me. “You’re no fun.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t have your drink, doll. I’m just asking you to slow down.”

“Well, can you order me another one? This one’s almost empty.”

“Of course,” I said, kissing her forehead before going back over to the bar to get us each another drink. I could feel the eyes of other girls on me as I drummed my fingers across the tabletop of the bar while I waited, but they didn’t bother me. I already had the girl I wanted staring at me like they did, and she did a whole lot more than just stare. When I turned with the drinks, I saw the way other guys in the bar were looking at Y/N back in the booth. Now, that made my skin prickle. So I squared my shoulders and slid in next to her placing a heated and heavy kiss on her cheek, smirking in triumphant as the looks dropped. “A-are you growling?” I asked with another chuckle, becoming aware of the low rumble in her throat.

“I hate the way they stare at you,” she whispered with disdain.

“Jealous?” I teased lightheartedly.

She scoffed into her drink. “Me? Jealous? Please…”

“Good. Because if anyone should be jealous, it’s me. You have the attention of every man in this bar.”

She scoffed more. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“You,” I said, kissing her cheek again. “Are the most beautiful girl in here, and everyone knows it. And I’m the lucky son of a gun that gets to take you home.”

Her eyes went wide, and a grin broke out across her face. “Take me home, Bucky.”

I didn’t need to be told twice.

I held her steady as I let her into my apartment, and she blinked in her surroundings. “This isn’t… Where are we?”

“We’re at my place. Steve would kill me if I brought you home like this.”

“I-” her face flushed. “Bucky, I’ve never…”

“We’re not,” I said softly. “I’m going to help you into bed, and then sleep on the couch.”

“Oh.” It was a simple utterance both of understanding and… was that disappointment that nothing would come of the night besides her safely sleeping her intoxicated state away?

I gave her one of my shirts to sleep in, turning my back to give her privacy, before helping her into bed. “G’night, doll,” I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”

“Wait,” she whispered, her hand reaching out to grab me by my shirt. “Can you stay?”

I looked down at her, the blanket pulled up tightly around her. My bed had never looked more inviting. And what was the harm in sleeping? I nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I can stay.” I stepped out of my pants before joining her on the bed, but staying on top of the covers. “G’night, doll,” I whispered, clicking off the light.

“You don’t want to marry me, do you?” she asked me, her voice filled with sorrow.

“What gave you that idea?”

“You can’t even share the covers with me!” was the wailed explanation of despair.

“I-” I sputtered, shocked at whatever had caused this outburst. “C’mere,” I coaxed, lifting up my arm for her to curl into me. “I’m trying to be a gentleman.”

“So you want me?”

“Of course I want you, doll.”

“Then how come you haven’t asked me to marry you?”

“I- You’re the most independent woman I know. I didn’t know you wanted to become a wife.”

“I don’t want to become a wife. I want to become your wife.”

“You’re gonna need to give me time to buy a ring.”

“But you’ll ask?”

“Until I’m blue in the face,” I promised.

“And we can have a house, and kids? Not an obnoxiously big house, but not a tiny one either.”

“We can have a medium-sized house, and fill it with as many kids as you want. And you can teach, and Steve and I can open up a mechanic shop. And every night,” I said, shifting to get under the blankets and pull her closer, “we can fall asleep just like this.”

“I love you, James Buchanan Barnes,” she breathed in content.

“I love you too, Y/N Y/M/N Rogers.”

“It’s Rogers-Barnes.”

~~~

1943

“Why do you keep fiddling with your pockets?” Y/N asked as we walked through Central Park, one of her hands holding mine, the other clutched holding a picnic basket with the flowers I’d bought her poking out the top.

“I’m not,” I lied, feeling the small box drop as I pulled my hand out of my pocket and waved it in her face. “See?”

She narrowed her eyes playfully. “You’re plotting something.”

“If by plotting, you mean enjoying a nice picnic with you, then ya got me. And it’s hardly plotting if you already knew.”

“Mmm,” she hummed, as we came to a stop underneath a large tree by the lake’s edge. “And what are we reading today?” she asked as I busied myself with laying out the blanket for us.

“Steinbeck.”

“Oh, I love him,” she marveled, kneeling on the blanket and pulling out our lunch.

“I know you do.”

With her head resting in my lap, and between bites of sandwich, I read from the small paperback novel. Our lazy Saturday tradition that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I only stopped reading when I heard the soft sigh as she started to doze off like she usually did. “You still with me?” I asked with a small laugh, tracing her cheek with one of my thumbs.

“Mhm,” she murmured like she always did, keeping her eyes closed. “Just thinking.”

I frowned. Her normal answer was “Keep reading.” “What are you thinking about?”

“How much I’m gonna miss this when you’re gone. How much I’m gonna miss you.”

My heart sank as I thought about the draft papers sitting on my kitchen table. “It’s just basic training. Couple weeks and I’ll be back. And I’ll only be in Jersey.”

“Ugh… Jersey…” She opened her eyes to roll them.

“I’ll be so bad at being a soldier, my sergeant will yell at me and ship me back home to you,” I laughed.

“You will do no such thing. You’ll do what you have to at camp, and then you’ll come home to me,” she told me, sitting up. “And then…” Her voice broke off, not wanting to finish the rest. After camp came Europe. And that was more than either of us were willing to think about. Camp. Camp was first. Camp had clear dates we could work with. 3 measly months. And what came after didn’t matter.

“And then,” I said, slowly pulling the box out of my pocket.

“No!” she interrupted, sternly. “James Buchanan Barnes, if you say one damned word about Europe, I will drown you in the lake,” came the threat.

“Y/N!” I laughed. “Can I tell you what happens after I get back from camp, or not?”

“Bucky…” she whined.

“Please? I really think you’re gonna like it.”

“What could I possibly like about what you coming back from camp means?”

“Because it means you’ll be my wife,” I told her, presenting her the box, snapping the top open to reveal a small gold band. “Marry me, doll.”

__

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[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 3 Here!/ Playlist Here!

A/N: Maybe one last part after this?

Ko-Fi l Etsy l Commission Info Here

* You’re sitting on a bench outside, listening to Shoko and Nanami talk about something

* The breeze caresses your face

* It’s so quiet

* You haven’t experienced silence like this in years

* And there’s only one reason why you’re suddenly experiencing it now

* Your eyes stray from the dancing branches that hover above you to the dancing white-haired boy across the courtyard

* He’s talking to Geto about something, laughing as he does

* His sky blue eyes meet yours for a second, before abruptly looking away

* Not the usual flirtatious wink and wave he would normally give you

* You don’t know why, but it’s like Gojo’s lost every ounce of interest he had in you

* It looks like that prank you pulled on him is what did it-

* Apparently Geto had to help get the glass down

* He hasn’t tried speaking to you once since then, and every time your eyes meet he looks away just like he did a second ago

* What a baby, so he can dish it out but he can’t take it when someone uses his own tactics against him huh?

* It’s for the best really, you don’t want anything to do with him

* Besides if that moron just wanted someone who wasn’t going to react or get mad, then he should just date a sex doll

* It’s for the best, really

* So why are you so upset right now

* The prickle of irritation burns in your chest even when you turn away from the two boys, joining in on Shoko and Nanami’s conversation

* On the other side, Geto lets out a low whistle

* “Never thought I would see the day a lady killer like you would get embarrassed because you made eye contact with your crush” Geto grins when Gojo flushes a light pink.

* Geto almost wants to laugh, what happened to the womanizing-god-complex freak who was here just a second ago?

* “Don’t say lady-killer, you know I like men too, I’m an equal opportunity lover” Gojo gloats while running his fingers through his hair

* Ah, it looks like he’s on his bullshit again

* “You better watch out Geto, if you’re too much of tsundere I might fall for you next” the words are emphasized with a wink, and Geto can’t help but laugh

* “Whatever dude, don’t come crying to me when they start to hate you because you’re being flakey”

* Gojo laughs it off

* But late that night, while he’s lying in bed watching the shadows flicker on his ceiling he can’t help but wonder-

* What if you really do end up hating him?

* It’s not that he doesn’t want to be around you anymore or anything-

* He just doesn’t know how to approach you anymore now that he knows he’s in love with you

* “I’ve probably been in love for a while” he mumbles

* He’s not really sure when it started.

* At first it was just for shits and giggles

* Something to keep him entertained, and you just happened to be the most entertaining thing around

* So when did it stop being ‘anyone’s fine’ and start being ‘it’s only fine if it’s you’?

* He sighs turning to face the wall, he doesn’t understand his own feelings

* Yeah he’s got all this money and power and influence-

* But right now he’s just a boy in love for the first time

* And he doesn’t know how to handle that

* “I just don’t want them to hate me” he mumbles, feeling his eyes close shut

* He’ll try to talk to you tomorrow

* Even if it’s just a simple ‘good morning’

* At least it’ll be something

* But to his annoyance, he’s told he has to go save his classmates from a curse

* And then everything with the star vessel happens

* And he doesn’t see you for a while and he thinks-

* “Well maybe this is fine, maybe it’s better this way. They’re probably happy now that I’m not around always annoying them”

* And just as he’s thinking maybe this is for the best, that if someone leaves your life it probably means they weren’t supposed to be apart of it anyway -

* When you come barreling into his life again

* “Oi, Baka prince, where did sensei say this kid's house was again?” You ask, eyebrows threading together as you fidget with your phone

* Yaga-sensei sent you to accompany Gojo on his ‘mission’ to retrieve Megumi Fushiguro

* It looks like the only people who can reign Gojo in are you and Geto

* Not that you mind the impromptu mission, and besides- you don’t think Gojo is someone who should be alone around kids

* Gojo actually flinches when you speak to him, you’d traveled in silence so far, standing side by side without exchanging a word on the train.

* You sigh, you know he isn’t interested in you but the least he can do is be somewhat pleasant

* Even that usual annoying demeanor of his would be fine

* You’re not sure why but that prickle of irritation burns in you again, seeping through in the nickname you gave him

* Gojo doesn’t meet your eyes, those clear blue pupils are averted slightly as a pink blush singes his face

* “I’m not sure, I’ve just been following the cursed energy” he admits with an uncharacteristically shy gaze

* Okay WTF

* Gojo would never let the opportunity to tell you how weak you are for being unable to “even feel this amount of cursed energy”

* Who is this freak and what has he done to the real Gojo Satoru

* “Are you sick or something?” You ask

* Your hand’s already moving to cover his forehead, and you feel like somethings off

* Your eyebrows thread together as your peer closer, noticing a small gap where your hand and his forehead

* Ah right, the infinity he has around him

* You never realized it before but you wonder, can he ever feel anything?

* It must be lonely

* Gojo’s looking down at you, swallowing a lump in his throat.

* The expression on your face looks so tender, and you’re so close he can smell your scent

* And he feels a sudden urge to cry, to bury his face in your shoulder and weep like a child

* He’s watching you open your mouth, you’re about to say something-

* When you both feel a large burst of cursed energy

* Your heads snap to the direction you sense it from only to see a small boy

* You recognize him as Megumi Fushiguro, your target for this so-called ‘mission’

* He’s younger than you expected, he can’t be older than 10

* You turn to Gojo, you’re going to need a plan, someone that young is awfully impressionable. You have to do this with some tact

* But when you turn to look he’s gone

* “Huh?”

* You can practically see the outline of his form where he was standing just a second ago, your neck creaking as you turn to where Megumi-Kun is standing

* “Your father sold you to the Zenin Clan”

* You might appear calm and collected on the outside, but I promise you your soul has ascended to the fourth dimension where you are just screaming into the void

* “Well does it make you mad? Does it-“ Gojo’s waggling his fingers like a god damn perv when you basically apparate to his side and bring your fist down on his head

* “Oi, Baka prince what the hell do you think you’re doing?!?”

* Gojo’s stumbles back, nursing the emotional wound you just gave him and you crouch down

* “Don’t listen to anything that moronic man just told you, he’s got no tact” you tell the boy

* He’s a cutie, like the male version of Snow White.

* Though his expression tells you he’s about had it with this reality

* “Yeah I can see that”

* “Well he might act like a moron, but he’s got a pretty decent heart”

* You spell out the situation to Megumi as tactfully as you can, opting to treat him like an adult.

* “These are your options as I see them, you can go to the Zenin clan, or, that Baka prince already stopped the sale in return for you promising to join our academy”

* You and Megumi get along pretty well, you’re kindred souls

* Besides you both seem to be able to see right through Gojo’s princely appearance

* “Why did you guys leave me behind?” Gojo shrieks, Megumi’s hand is in your own, both of your free hands holding ice cream cones

* Megumi immediately makes a face, it had been so quiet while he was gone too

* You can’t help but sympathize with the kid, you used to feel that way before you got to know Gojo too

* You were just showing Megumi around the campus, helping him get familiar, and you thought you should reward him a little with a treat for being such a good kid

* Besides you like him

* Of course Gojo wanted to tag along, teasing Megumi half of the time like a damn idiot and spending the other half of the time giving flirtatious winks to women who seemed interested in him.

* Gojo’s making a scene and Megumi looks like he’s a second from throwing a tantrum too

* You sigh, you don’t get paid enough for having to deal with these two children

* “Here” when Gojo looks up, bright blue eyes peering over his black glasses he sees a scoop full of his favorite ice cream balancing on top of a chocolate-dipped waffle cone

* “But what about you?” He asks and the questions catches you off guard, since when has Gojo cared about anyone but himself?

* “I don’t want any, I just thought it would be good to get in line while we waited.”

* You didn’t think you would actually get to the front of the line before he caught up though.

* “No! You waited in line that whole time, here we can take share, take the first bite”

* You’ve kept your cool in front of Gojo for years but something about the expectant expression he’s giving you - the tops of his cheeks bright pink- and those bright blue eyes looking at you while holding out the ice cream cone that makes you flustered

* You can feel your face grow warm, geez what’s gotten into him

* To make matters worse you’re having a hard time saying no to him right now

* Something about those crystal blue eyes has you almost mesmerized

* And then Megumi stands up on the bench and takes a giant bite from the cone

* Cue Gojo screaming and crying because, goddammit he was this close to an indirect kiss with you-

* “Why did you do that?” He shrieks, he’s crouched on the ground, face bright red in anger and anguish

* “I don’t know, the green tea ice cream looked good” Megumi shrugs, only for Gojo to start shrieking again

* Gojo and Megumi are about a second from a fistfight when they hear laughter

* The gentle twinkling gets louder and they both instinctively turn towards it

* You’re laughing so hard you’re clutching your stomach, tears forming at the corners of your eyes

* “Geez you guys are like something out of a cartoon.” You manage to say in between laughs

* Megumi’s eyes widen

* He’s seen you smile before, but he’s never seen you laugh like that

* Megumi wonders what he’s thinking right bow

* His eyes trail to Gojo

* Gojo looks at you like you just hung the moon

* Like he’s a child seeing fireworks for the first time

* Megumi will never forget the look on Gojo’s face for as long as he lives

* ‘So that’s what it looks like when you love someone’ Megumi thinks

* Gojo pats Megumi on the head

* “Thanks kid, because of you I got to see something nice”

* You guys grow a lot closer because of Megumi, becoming sort of surrogate older siblings to him and Tsumiki

* “Why did you bring a Kotatsu?” You and Megumi are standing in the doorway holding takeout and oranges

* “Winter time just doesn’t feel right without a Kotatsu, isn’t that right Tsumiki-Chan?”

* The young girl grins as she nods, snuggling deeper into the blanket

* You and Megumi give each other an incredulous look

* Leave it to a little rich boy like Gojo Satoru to buy a Kotatsu for a casual hang out just because it’s winter

* Still-

* You watch as Megumi and Tsumiki cuddle under the Kotatsu, peeling oranges

* The kids seem to be enjoying it

* Gojo pats the spot next to him

* “I saved you a spot (Y/N/N), I promise I won’t bite” but Gojo’s giving you that same teasing grin he always used to give you

* Looks like things are back to normal

* You sigh taking a seat beside him, stealing your resolve as you put up with his incessant teasing

* Everything is back to the way it was...so why do you still feel that prickle in your stomach every time he looks at you?

* And the following weeks that familiar sensation makes appearances several times, leaving you more confused each time

* It’s not until you’re walking in Shibuya, one of your hands holding Megumi’s and the other one holding a Taiyaki full of ice cream that you realize

* “Gojoooooo” the woman in front of you whines “you’re so mean, I can’t believe you didn’t call me, because I know you had a good time”

* The woman’s pouty expression turns wolffish in a second

* Ah, so that’s where he learned to smile like that

* You and Megumi are mostly just enjoying the show, eating your ice cream and watching as Satoru tries to placate this woman

* “I’ve just been taking some time to better myself-“

* You snort, yeah you’re sure he’s been bettering himself with his dozen other lovers

* Honestly serves him right for fooling around with so many people. You’re surprised he’s not habitually in the infirmary for a new STD

* “You see, I’m a father now”

* You sputter choking on your ice cream. Megumi pats your back

* That idiot prince has really gone and done it now-

* Having an illegitimate child,

* Yaga-Sensei is going to kill him

* Not to mention what his clan might do

* Gojo looks back at you with warm eyes

* And you feel that pricking feeling again

* “Megumi is my pride and joy”

* Huh?

* Oh

* OHHHHH

* So that’s his game.

* What a sleaze bag using someone else’s kid as an excuse to get out of an uncomfortable romantic encounter

* Megumi squeezes your hand and you look down

* The look on his face could kill a man

* “I’d never call a pervert like you my Father”

* So Megumi woke up and chose violence today-

* You figure Gojo will laugh and cover it up with some jokes like ‘kids these days no respect for their elders’ or something

* But when you look at Gojo he looks genuinely hurt, those vibrant blue eyes look watery, and that pretty mouth that’s always curled in a grin is curved into a soft frown.

* And before you know what you’re doing you say-

* “Megumi-Chan you shouldn’t be so mean to your Father, he let you have ice cream before dinner didn’t he?”

* .

* ...

* .....

* WHY DID YOU JUST SAY THAT

* Megumi and Gojo are both looking at you with vacant stares

* Megumi is still in shock that you took Gojo’s side in this

* But Gojo’s looking right at you, cheeks holding a rosy tinge

* And then something amazing happens

* Gojo smiles at you-

* Not that wolfish smile he’s been showing you for years as he teases you, or that princely smile he uses to get something he wants

* It’s a genuine smile

* And you can’t help but think he doesn’t look at all like the most powerful sorcerer, he just looks like a boy

* Ah, there’s that painful prickle again

* “I love my family so won’t see you anymore, go ahead and delete my contact information,” Gojo says with a grin

* He walks over to you in long strides, hoisting Megumi up and carrying him all while the woman shouts obscenities

* “Come on (Y/N/N), let’s go home,” he says, his hand moving to hold your own

* And all you can do is let him tug you forward

* Your gaze lingers on your intertwined hands, the heat that radiates from his palm even though there’s an infinity between you both

* Your eyes trail up to look at his broad back, the way he holds Megumi so easily even though he’s pulling on Gojo’s hair

* The prickle intensifies as you watch them

* ‘He would make a good Dad his spouse will be lucky’ you think

* And then it hits you

* Oh

* Oh no

* Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no

* You’re in love with Gojo Satoru

* The f*ckboy extraordinaire

* F*ck

* How did this even happen? You had been so careful, you were even apart of that down with Gojo Satoru club with Nanami and Geto

* Are they going to revoke your membership now?

* F*********ck

* “Hurry up and put me down you pervert!” Megumi shouts, a fistful of Gojo’s white hair in his hand

* “Ora Ora, you shouldn’t be mean to papa like that Megumi-Chan” Gojo teases, not even the slightest bit fazed

* Megumi’s only grabbing onto the infinity around his hair after all, so it probably doesn’t hurt

* “Here Megumi,” you abandon your ice cream without a thought, carefully lifting him out of Gojo’s hold and onto the ground

* Megumi doesn’t say anything, he only holds your hand in his

* “Hold Papa’s hand too Megumi-Chan otherwise I’ll feel lonely” Gojo teases, but you can tell he really does want Megumi to hold his hand

* “If it’ll get you to shut up” Megumi grumbles, but he reached up, taking Gojo’s hand in his

* The three of you probably look like a family, and this time the prickling feels warm, like a tickle across your stomach

* Like butterflies

* F********************ck

* “For F*cks sake, how am I going to get out of this one” you mumble to yourself

[verai-marcel]

Serendipitous Meetings (Arthur x GN!Reader, Modern AU, 18+)

Summary: You foolishly didn’t mark where you parked in the huge parking structure, and spend some time looking for your car. You run into a fellow who did the same thing, and things get ridiculously serendipitous from there.

Author’s Notes: How many tropes can I shove into this fic? Let’s face it, I just wanted to have Arthur fuck like the manly man that he is. Also going for gender neutral as much as possible, so all my readers who want a piece of Arthur can have him.

Tags: Arthur x GN!Reader, smut, light D/s tones, size kink, light spanking, neck grabbing, rough sex, dirty talk, modern AU

AO3 Link is here, li’l darlin’.

Word Count: 3764

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

"Shit."

You let out a long suffering sigh as you looked around the packed parking structure. In your rush to meet your friends, you had forgotten to take a photo of where you parked. Now you stared at the large expanse of cars, racking your brain for at least a slight memory of how you got to the venue entrance from your car. 

Sticking your hand into your pocket, you gripped your phone for a moment before letting it go. You had already shooed your friends away, insisting you had parked nearby and could get to your spot no problem. Swallowing your pride, you started to search the rows for the off-white bucket of bolts you dared to call your car. 

After searching one floor, you trudged up the stairs to the next one, stopping a few steps past the landing to gaze upon the hundreds of cars before you. You faintly heard another set of steps coming down the stairwell, but you were so mired in your own despair that you didn't pay the sound any mind. 

"Shit," said a gravelly voice next to you. 

Glancing over, a very broad set of shoulders filled your view. Your eyes flicked over the red and black flannel shirt and blue jeans, with an almost hilariously large belt buckle. Then you looked up. 

Oh no. He was gorgeous, in a rugged, manly-man sort of way. That chiseled jaw, the five o’clock shadow, that thick neck… he was the kind of man who could probably pick you up and throw you over his shoulder with ease. You were so busy staring at him in tired awe that he finally noticed you.

A pair of turquoise eyes met yours. "Sorry," the man said. "Can't find my truck."

It took you half a second to remember to respond. Then you gave him an empathic half-grin. "I can't find my car either."

He pointed upstairs. "What's yer car look like? Maybe I saw it up there."

You shook your head. "It's just a generic off-white Toyota Corolla."

The man shrugged. "Oh. Well, sorry darlin', there's a bunch of those up there."

You sighed, lamenting the fact that your car was one of the most popular cars out on the road these days. You also secretly enjoyed him calling you darling with that accent of his. He sounded like he had just stepped out of a spaghetti western. 

"Maybe I saw your truck downstairs, if it stands out," you said, trying to be helpful. 

"It's a blue Chevy pick-up. Really old, like one o' them classic trucks, 'cept it ain't been cleaned up like the ones you see in a car show."

Your memory flashed with the image of a dirty blue truck in your apartment complex's garage. You stifled a laugh at the thought. You had always wondered who drove the old thing, since you had never seen its owner. 

"Nope, I didn't see a truck like that downstairs," you told him. 

"Oh. Well, guess we better start lookin'," he said. He looked at you for a moment, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

You waited.

“Maybe,” he finally said, “maybe we could look together? For a bit. Keep each other company.”

“Okay,” you said easily. Part of your brain screamed that it could be really easy for him to just pull you into his car, but you dismissed the voice in your head. He seemed alright; you had a good feeling about this guy.

The two of you took off towards the left side of the structure. Putting your remote under your chin and hoping it would actually increase its range, you hit the button on occasion. 

“Uh, what’re you doin’?” he asked, pointing at your remote.

“Oh, I read about this online, someone figured out that you can use your own head as an antenna, or something like that.”

The man raised an eyebrow, but eventually just nodded. “Huh, I guess that makes sense.”

You shrugged. “Haven’t tested it before this, so I’m hoping it actually works.”

The two of you wandered further and further towards the center when finally you heard that familiar beep. 

*BEEP BEEP*

He chuckled. “Guess it works.”

You had never been so happy to hear that annoying little buzzer of a horn. You took off at a jog without waiting for the man, going towards where you had heard the sound, and as you turned a corner, you spotted it. 

It was the big, old, blue truck from your apartment complex. 

No way, you thought. There is no way. Maybe it's a similar truck. 

Going back, you saw the man wandering around, still searching. 

"Hey Mister!" you yelled. 

He turned towards you. 

You excitedly pointed towards the truck. "This yours?" 

He started walking to you, and as he came closer, you could see the smile on his face and felt your heart skip a beat. 

"Thank you," he said, stopping in front of you. "Where’s your car?"

You grinned and hit your unlock button. The little off-white sedan next to his truck let out a little beep, the lights coming on. 

"Wish I had one of those," he said wistfully. "Sure woulda made my life easier." He looked at you with a small smirk as he opened the door to his truck. "But then I wouldn’t have met you. Thanks fer your help, angel."

You smiled, feeling your cheeks warm from his comment. "No problem." You struggled to find anything else to say, feeling pathetically desperate to hear him speak more. "Have a good night," you finally said. 

"You too," he said, his voice a little lower, a little more breathy as he hauled himself into his truck and closed the door. Now that you had a pretty good feeling that he was a decent guy and not a creep, you half-wished he really would pull you into his truck and have his way with you. 

Shaking the lewd thought from your head, you got into your car and set up your phone to listen to a podcast as you drove home. You eased your way out of the garage, through the local roads, and onto the freeway. For the next thirty minutes, you would spot the same blue truck out of the corner of your eye. Sometimes you’d pass him, sometimes he’d pass you. 

Maybe it’s a different blue truck, you tried to convince yourself.

You couldn’t convince yourself any further when you pulled into your apartment complex right behind him. He parked at his usual spot, three away from yours. Climbing out of your car, you saw him walk towards you.

“You followin’ me?” he asked gruffly, though the grin on his face clearly showed his amusement at the coincidence.

“I can’t believe we live in the same complex,” you muttered, still in shock that you had never seen this handsome man before. “How long have you lived here?”

“Oh, ‘bout two years now.”

“Shit,” you thought to yourself.

“Why’re you cursin’?”

Oh crap. You said that out loud. “I, uh, um,” you stammered.

He quietly watched you, letting you stew in your own embarrassment, an amused grin on his face. The bastard was enjoying watching you squirm!

Feeling your face heat up, you blurted out the truth.

“We could’ve known each other sooner!”

It was an unfortunate tick in your personality that you had never managed to get rid of, and now, watching his eyes widen at your embarrassing remark, you wished the sidewalk would just open up and swallow you whole. But since that wasn’t going to happen, you opted to turn around and stalk away.

“Hey now, wait, you can’t just say that and leave,” the man said, jogging to catch up to you. When you wouldn’t stop walking, he swerved in front of you, forcing you to stop mere millimeters from him. You noticed how big he was, how little you were in comparison. You weren’t a small person by any means, he was just… large.

“Why’re you runnin’ away, darlin’?” he asked, his voice hushed as if he was trying to calm a wild animal. Perhaps with the way you acted, you seemed that way to him.

You took a deep breath, accidentally inhaling his scent, a mix of pine trees and a subtle hint of campfire smoke and musk that made you want to bury your face in his chest and stay there. Desire shot straight between your legs, reminding you that it had been a long time since you’d been with anyone. Letting out a shaky breath, you made the poor choice of looking up at him.

You were blinded by his kind smile and seduced by his deep voice. “Do you want to know me?” he asked quietly. 

“Yes, I do,” you answered immediately.

He pointed to his apartment. “I live there. Want to share some whiskey?"

You paused. He was a stranger. 

A stranger with beautiful eyes and the sweetest smile you had ever seen. 

You followed him willingly into his den. 

***

You blinked after he turned on the lights. When your vision cleared, your expectations were, fortunately, not met at all.

You had expected a bachelor pad with junk everywhere and clothing on the floor. What you saw was a clean and neat living room with a simple couch and a TV on top of a small entertainment center that held a few blu-rays and a blu-ray player. The short table in front of the couch had a plate on it, a smudge of ketchup and some crumbs on it, and a glass with a little bit of water left.

The man went to pick up after himself, putting the dirty dishes in the sink before going to his pantry. His kitchen looked pretty bare, except for the dried herbs, tied up in bunches under his cabinets. 

While he shuffled around bottles, you went to sit on his couch, but not before pausing for a moment to look through the door to his bedroom. He had a bed that looked big and comfy, his sheets somewhat askew but otherwise in place. Didn’t look like there were any clothes or boxes lying around anywhere. So either the man was tidy, or he didn’t own a lot of things.

“Curious li’l one, ain’tcha?” he chuckled behind you.

Spinning around, you could only give him a sheepish grin. “Yup, sorry. I couldn’t help myself.”

He smiled and gave you a tumbler of amber liquid with a giant sphere of ice. “Curiosity like that could get you in trouble one day,” he said mysteriously, gesturing towards the couch.

You raised an eyebrow, but sat down anyway. You took a sip of the ice cold whiskey, enjoying its slow burn down your throat. It was smooth and sweet. “This is fantastic, what is it?”

“It’s a blackberry flavored whiskey,” he replied as he settled himself on the couch, a little closer to you than you had expected. “I thought you might like it.”

“Oh?” You leaned in a little closer. “And why is that?”

“Somethin’ a li’l sweet fer a li’l sweetheart,” he said with a grin. He knew he was being schmaltzy, but you didn’t care. You were eating up his words, spoken with that deep rumble that went right between your legs.

You continued to sip and make small talk with him until your ice had melted and the late night had become the witching hour. But he didn’t seem to mind, and you wanted to stay.

“You got a bit o’ whiskey here,” he said as he leaned in and reached for the corner of your lips, his thumb catching the drop that had escaped your last sip. You flicked out your tongue to catch him, and your eyes met. A heartbeat passed. The whiskey gave you strength.

Taking his hand in yours, you surged forward and kissed his lips, tasting whiskey and his woodsy scent. A low moan came from deep within him, but he did not reach for you. His hands gripped the cushions as he let you take the lead, climbing into his lap and wrapping your arms around him, your fingers kneading his broad shoulders. You kissed the breath from him, desperate to feel him against you.

When you finally broke away for air, you stared at his eyes, now filled with lust and longing, and realized you didn’t even know his name. 

He came to the same conclusion. “What’s yer name, darlin’?”

You told him.

He nodded and repeated your name. It sounded so good when he said it. “Feels nice to say it out loud,” he said. “I’m Arthur,” he added as he wrapped his arms around you and held you tenderly. “How far do you want to go?”

“All the way,” you said, grinding your hips against his groin, making him take a shuddered breath.

Without a word, he picked you up and carried you to his big, comfy bed. He dropped you unceremoniously and took off his shirt.

He was ripped. He was built like a man who had worked all his life in a physical job, carrying & lifting. With his tall stature, his broad shoulders, and his huge arms, he made you feel small.

You had never been more aroused in your whole life. 

Your body was ready to be thoroughly fucked by this man, and you hadn’t even taken your clothes off yet. You watched hungrily as he undid his belt and dropped his jeans & boxers, your eyes taking in his size. He wasn’t even at full mast yet, and you already wondered if you’d be able to take him all in.

“Your turn, darlin’.”

Taken out of your trance, you took off your clothes as he watched. You started at a normal pace, but when you saw him take himself in his hand and stroke himself while watching you with a lustful gaze, you slowed down, making an attempt to tease him. Already topless, you lay back on the bed and lifted your legs up, sliding your pants upwards. Slowly, you exposed your ass to him, winking salaciously.

He stroked himself a little faster. A soft moan escaped his lips. “Darlin’, yer makin’ it real hard fer me to stay in control here.”

You glanced down at him. “I can see it’s real hard,” you said with a playful smirk.

“Oh, yer goin’ ta get it now,” he said, his grin becoming predatory as he climbed onto the bed. Grabbing the rest of your clothes, he pulled them from you, flinging them over his shoulder before flipping you onto your belly. He gripped your ass and squeezed hard before giving you a firm spank.

“Ooh!” you yelped. 

“You want more?” he asked as his hand soothed over his mark.

You could tell he was asking for permission. Turning back to him, you gave him your best pouty face. “Does Sir think I need more?”

Arthur looked immensely pleased with your response. “I think so,” he said, his voice deepening with a thread of command that turned you on beyond belief. He straddled your legs and rested one hand on the curve of your ass. “I told you, curiosity would get you in trouble.”

He spanked you hard once more. “That’s fer sneakin’ glances into my room,” he said. He gave you three more swipes, each in slightly different areas so you wouldn’t get too sore. Then he grabbed your ass with both hands and massaged your muscles, spreading you open as he thrust his cock along the cleft of your rear.

“Yer so obedient, sweetheart,” he murmured as his hips rocked, his eyes fluttering shut for a few moments. Then with his strong grip, he manhandled you onto your back, wrapping his big hands around you and pulling you into his arms. He cradled you for a sweet, gentle moment before rolling you around like you were as light as a pillow before setting you back down onto the mattress. He leaned over you as he reached for the nightstand, pulling out a condom. You watched him slip it on, but he didn’t move to enter you. Instead, he reached down and began to stroke you as he loomed above, watching your reactions.

You moaned and writhed under his deliberate exploration. His hands traveled languidly along every inch of you. When he found a sensitive area that elicited a soft noise of pleasure from you, he lingered, making you whimper and lean into his touch. He finally touched you lower, where you longed for his attention, but to your frustration he continued his study at the same leisurely pace. Soon his strokes became faster and he pressed harder against you. His eyes nearly glowed as he watched you lift your hips towards his hands, imploring him for more. Using his new knowledge to his advantage, he brought you to the brink and then shifted his touch elsewhere, making you cool off before working you back up again until you were going insane with need.

“Please, please Arthur, I need to come,” you begged.

He only smiled as he slipped a finger inside of you. He slowly worked you open enough for two of his fingers, then three. Soon he was dragging you to the edge again, and you hadn’t even had his cock. You were feeling like you were being denied the thing you wanted most.

“Arthur,” you whispered, “I want your cock.”

“Louder, darlin’.”

“I want your cock!”

“And what do you want me to do with it?”

“Fuck me!”

“Say it again. All of it.”

“Fuck me with your cock!”

His smile was wolfish, satisfied that he had heard you beg for your desire. Pressing the head of his shaft against your opening, he pushed, easing his way inside of you.

You were right. He was big, long, and oh so thick. He stretched you deliciously, and you keened softly as he took you, claimed you, made you his in the most carnal of ways. He reached up and slipped his hand under your head, gripping your hair at the base and pulling slightly. 

“Eyes on me, darlin’. I want to see you while I’m takin’ you,” he murmured.

You couldn’t look away from him. His look was intense, as if he commanded your entire being, your body his to use for his pleasure. And you willingly gave it to him, letting him sheathe his entire length inside of you. He held you still while your body adjusted to his claim, watching you with an almost proud expression.

“Good li’l darlin’,” he said as he leaned over. He kissed you gently on the lips, then on the forehead, and as if he was overcome with affection for you, peppered kisses along the curve of your cheek and down your neck.

“I’m goin’ to fuck you now,” he whispered into your ear. “You tell me to slow if it’s too much for ya, alright?”

You nodded, sure that whatever he was about to do to you, you could handle it.

He lifted himself up onto his forearms, his hands framing your face. “You look so damn cute,” he murmured before his hips slowly pulled back. “So fuckable.”

Arthur slammed his cock deep inside of you with one forceful stroke. He immediately looked down at you when you let out a cry of surprise. He waited, quietly checking in.

“More,” you whispered.

You thought you saw relief cross his features before he gave you a teasing smirk. “Ask me nicely and I just might give it to ya.”

“Please sir,” you begged, “I need more.”

Arthur gave you a single nod before rocking his hips, building you up slowly, his gaze nearly burning a hole into you with their intensity. As your body stretched and accommodated him, you clawed at his arms, greedily clamoring for him to speed up. He let out a feral growl before wrapping a big, rough hand around your neck, his other hand gripping your leg and spreading you wider for him. 

"You think you can take more, darlin'?" 

You looked up at him and smiled a challenge. 

He began a ferocious pace, angling himself to take you as deep as he could go. All you could focus on was the impact of his body against yours, his thick shaft filling you over and over, unrelenting as a tidal wave.

Soon he let go of your neck so he could sit up and grip your hips with both of his hands. He was fucking the breath out of you with each hard thrust, the sound of his hips slamming against yours filling the room with a lewd rhythm, intertwined with your breathy cries and his low moans of pleasure.

He reached down and stroked you, his touch rough and vigorous, matching the way he was ravaging you in a haze of lust. You could feel yourself sprinting towards that delicious finish line. The end was in sight as your hips jerked wildly, your legs wrapping around Arthur as he thrust even harder and deeper than before. 

"Come fer me," he murmured. "I want to feel you lose yerself around my cock."

You screamed as his words broke the dam that was holding back a torrent of pleasure, your climax tearing through your body at breakneck speed. Your legs stiffened, your toes curled, and your fingers dug into his very muscled biceps as you came harder than you ever had. You shook with aftershocks as Arthur continued to thrust, his hands letting go of your hips as he fell upon his forearms, caging you in as he chased his pleasure. 

"Fuck sweetheart, I'm comin'," he moaned before he buried his head into the crook of your neck. He gave three more erratic thrusts, then nearly crushed you with his weight as he pressed his hips against yours, keeping himself inside of you for as long as he could. 

A breathless moment passed, the two of you trying to catch that elusive breath. Arthur rolled off of you, quickly gathering you into his arms as he tumbled onto his side. 

"Goddamn," he finally muttered. "Wasn't expectin' to have such good company."

You turned in his arms so you could see the wide grin on his face. "For once, I'm glad I got lost in the parking lot."

He kissed your forehead. "Me too, darlin'. But let's make sure we don't get lost again." He found your hands under the covers, brought them up to his lips, and kissed your fingertips. 

"After all, I only just found you, my li'l darlin'."

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End Notes: Been a while, and of course, all of my pent-up lust just came streaming out of me in a flurry of words and phrases. Hope it’s still hot enough for you, my lovely readers!