#i actually like the scene I wrote today a lot but bro

[from-beyond]

Hiring an assassin to kill me if I haven’t finished vestigial before I go back to uni

[slxtslovebambi]

𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 ★

Jean Kirstein x Fem!reader | MDNI

Mentions of: Eren ,Mikasa, Hitch & Connie.

Synopsis: After an intense fight with Eren you decide that going out parting with your two girl best friends is the best way to keep your mind off things, when you meet a certain someone that is also close to one of your Highschool friends. (Based of this Drabble I wrote about Armin.)

Warnings: drug use (Alcohol), cheating, Eren making a scene, unprotected sex, oral sex (M!receiving), public sex, cuss words, lots of tears, yelling (and some more stuff like that).

WC: 3k +

Usually you don’t go out partying without Eren but today is different.

You spent your entire day fighting with him but soon you had to realize that arguing with Eren is pointless.

He keeps making dumb excuses like 'it’s just flirting' or he tells you that you’re acting crazy for picking a fight.

You’re just so tired of it, so you don’t say no when Hitch asks you to go to this new club with her and Mikasa.

—

"C’mon y/n don’t be so boring, you didn’t even drink anything yet!" Hitch squeals in your ear.

"Don’t be rude Hitch, you know she had a hard day." Mikasa comes in your defense.

If there’s one thing about Mikasa then it’s that she’s always trying to understand and help you as much as she can.

"No… it’s fine, Hitch is right. I came here to have fun."

You say confidently. There’s no way that you’ll let Eren win by not even being able to enjoy yourself without him anymore.

"Are you sure y/n? You don’t have to do that."

Mikasa speaks while giving you a worried look. "Yes, don’t worry about me. I’ll go get a drink at the bar." You give her a reassuring nod.

"Now that’s my girl!" Hitch proudly pats your shoulder before you walk over to the bar, when you suddenly bump into someone.

"hey, watch out." A strong pair of hands grabs you by your shoulders, shoving you carefully away from the chest that your forehead just collided with.

"I’m sorry." You apologize politely.

You take a short glance at the face of the short haired boy in front of you as you recognize his face.

"Connie?!" Your eyes lighten up as he gives you a cheerful smile.

"Y/n? What are you doing here?" He laughs, surprised at the fact to see you in a environment like this.

"Oh I’m here with Hitch and Mikasa, they asked me to come with them."

You clarify with a soft smile on your lips.

"Ahh I see," he grins. "Good to see you though, I haven’t heard from you in a while."

"Yeah I’ve been busy," you say, as if Eren wasn’t the one that made you quit contact with all your male friends.

"I was just about to get a drink actually, do you want to join me?" You politely invite him.

"Sorry I’m here with a few friends actually. I can’t just leave…" He declines.

"But I’m sure I’ll go say hi to Mikasa and Hitch later."

He adds when suddenly someone interrupts your conversation by tapping him on the shoulder.

"Connie, Reiner is ordering shots for everyone right now, do you want one? "

You make quick eye contact with the tall guy in front of you, before giving him a nervous smile.

"I’ll leave you two guys alone, see you around."

You excuse yourself as you cleared your throat and give him a small wave.

He just gives you a nod in response before turning to his friend again.

—

"Who was that?" Jean looks after you, before taking a sip from his drink.

"Oh you mean y/n? We used to be friends in Highschool. She’s here with Hitch and Mikasa."

Connie enlightens as he noticed a smirk appearing on Jean's face.

"Bro, I know what you’re thinking. Cut it out, she’s with Eren." He shakes his head slowly in disagreement.

"Eren? Eren Yeager?" Jean exclaimed, clearly taken back.

There’s no way a girl like you would date a Jerk like Eren.

"Mhm, she’s Eren's girl." Connie’s eyes flickered as nods in response.

"It wouldn’t hurt to introduce us to each other, would it?" A hint of amusement dances in Jean's eyes as he chuckles under his breath.

"Here we go again." Connie thought, rolling his eyes at the absurdity of his friend.

He doesn’t really like the thought of Jean trying to hit on Eren's girlfriend. He knows how Eren can be, and he doesn’t want him to get involved into pointless drama.

There’s hundreds of other girls here, it can’t be that hard to find a single one without a over possessive boyfriend.

—

"Y/n what took you so long?!" Hitch pulls you closer to her, almost making you spill your drink.

"I didn’t take long, I just bumped into Connie on my way." You explain calmly.

"Connie is here?" Hitch asks surprised.

After becoming college roommates with Sasha, she has become very familiar with Connie.

"Yeah, he’s with a friend, somewhere over there." You point at a rear part of the crowd.

"He said that he might join us later to tell you guys hi." You add before you drink from your cup.

—

3 drinks later and you lost all your coordination.

Your vision isn’t as clear as it was earlier and you feel your body temperature increasing when Hitch asks Mikasa and you to go dance with her.

Of course you don’t say no, the dance floor is full of people having fun and that’s exactly what you want to have.

Hitch grabs Mikasa's and your hand, dragging you deeper into the crowd.

You immediately squint your eyes together because of the bright colorful lights.

You’re sure that Eren would kill you for the way you’re dancing with your friends in that tight dress that Hitch borrowed you, but you deserve it. You deserve having fun and enjoying yourself like this.

You gasp when you suddenly feel a strong grip tightening around your Arm.

You turn around to face whoever dared to disrupt your amusement, ready to cuss them out but you immediately close your mouth when you realize that it’s your boyfriend.

"E-Eren?!" You look at him perplexed.

"You turned your location off." He frowns, giving you a stern look.

There’s so many questions you want to ask.

What is he doing here, how did he find you and how dare he ruin this for you.

"Let go of me." Is all you say, trying to sound intimidating but you fail miserably.

"We’re going home, now!" He’s way better at being scary than you are, yet you stand your ground by telling him no.

"I said we’re going home." He repeats himself.

"Fuck no! I’m not talking to you anymore!"

Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, but you’re done being his punching bag. It’s time to put your foot down and demand the respect you deserve.

"Y/n is everything fi-" Mikasa stops mid sentence after recognizing Eren's face.

"What is he doing here?" Hitch also notices his presence with an annoyed look on her face.

"Don’t worry, he was about to leave anyways."

With a cold glance you let Eren know exactly how you feel about his behavior right now.

"Yes, with you." He looks down on you, giving you that death stare that he always uses to make you give in.

You give him a sharp push, ignoring his protests before turning away from him and walking away from him and your friends.

"Y/n, where are you going?!" Mikasa calls after you concerned, trying to follow you but not making it through crowd.

"I need to get some fresh air."

You respond quickly, before you get lost between all the people surrounding you.

You step out of the club and into a chaotic scene of people fighting, couples kissing, and taxi cabs waiting for passengers.

You sit down on the sidewalk as you put your drink down next to you before pulling out your phone from your purse and texting Mikasa that you’re sorry for leaving and that you’ll come back after you calmed down.

You take another sip from your drink when a tall figure sits down next to you.

You’re worried for a second that it might be Eren, but the shoes and the pants don’t match him at all.

"Can I help you?" You don’t even bother to look up at whoever just interrupted your peace, since you’re way to exhausted for that.

"You’re that girl from earlier right? You’re friends with Connie." A sly smirk appears on the lips of the mysterious man next to you.

"I- …" you look up at the stranger to notice it’s that guy from when you talked to Connie.

"….yeah I guess you could say so…"

You yawn, feeling the drowsiness taking over.

"Am I that boring?" He chuckles lowly at your obviously tired response.

"What? No, I’m just… I’m just worn out."

A quiet huff of displeasure comes from you.

"And I don’t even know you."

You didn’t mean to sound harsh or mean, it’s just that you’re really not in a good mood right now.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself earlier, my name's Jean." He says with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"So I heard you’re Eren's girl huh?"

He tilts his head before inspecting your face closely.

"Don’t even start." You roll your eyes at just the thought of what happened back at the dance floor as he let out a gentle laugh.

"I don’t want to talk about it." You add quietly while fidgeting with the tips of your fingernails.

"Hmm... Well it can’t be THAT complicated right?" He asks, sounding genuinely interested in your situation right now.

"You have no idea." Your chin rests against the palm of your hand while your elbow is placed on your knee as you give him a displeased look.

"Just tell me already. I’m invested now." He chuckles lowly.

You take a deep breath before explaining everything that just occurred to him as he nods slowly, listening curiously to you talk.

Speaking your mind out loud was probably what you needed the most.

It made you realize how fucked up your boyfriends behavior actually was.

"…. Did he hurt you?" It’s easy to tell how concerned Jean was by the way he looked at you.

His sorrowful gaze meets yours, almost as is he was trying to express how sorry he felt for you.

"No, he would never…" you say, while trailing the palm of your hand over your upper arm, remembering the way Eren grabbed you earlier.

"But I’m still mad at him for ruining this for me."

You add quietly while chewing nervously on your lower lip.

"That’s…. That’s really unfortunate." He mumbles, leaning closer to you.

His voice sounds so gentle yet serious as he scratches the back of his head.

You don’t know what happened, but just the thought of how many things went wrong during your and Eren's relationship made you tear up.

The worst part about it is that you’re still attached to him and somehow even after everything that happened, you believe Eren without a doubt that he’s speaking the truth when he tells you that he loves you.

"Hey look at me please." Jean grabs your chin gently, forcing you to meet his gaze. His expression softens slightly as he looks down on your face.

You quickly wipe the few teardrops from your face, hoping that he wouldn’t notice them.

"You shouldn’t cry over someone like him."

He says softly while shaking his head.

„Don’t say that… I- I love him."

Eren is very unique, and so is his way of 'Loving'.

No matter if you break up or not, he will always hold a special place in your heart.

"I’m sure you think you do, but-" He stops himself mid sentence as he sees tears welling up in your eyes again. "Shh.. It’s alright."

Somehow seeing you this vulnerable made him want you even more.

"I think he’s a jerk." Jean mutters bluntly.

You should feel bad for being that close to him, but he’s the first person to tell you how things really are, and you appreciate it.

Of course you have Mikasa, but she has a habit of sugarcoating things, making them sound less harsh and telling you what you want to hear because she doesn’t want to upset you.

"What if I told you…" he takes a pause to breathe in before continuing. "What if I told you that I could change all that?" His thumb is now trailing over you bottom lip as he leans closer to you.

"If only you would give yourself to me instead…"

"Jean I-"

"Please." He whispers once more, interrupting you.

"Why would I leave my boyfriend for a guy I just met?" You ask sharply.

"Just listen." He says calmly, his eyes still looking deeply at yours.

"You deserve better than him…besides.."

He places his hand on your lower back as he pulls your face closer to him. "I promise I won't hurt you." He captures your lips in a passionate kiss, leaving you momentarily stunned.

You can feel his heart beating against your chest and his muscles tense and relax with each movement, sending shivers down your spine.

He pulled away gently, breaking off the kiss, while looking into your yes with a mixture of passion and tenderness, hoping that you enjoyed it just as much as he did.

There it was again, that overconfident smile from earlier, displayed in all its glory.

"How about we head back inside and talk some more?" he suggests, a sly smirk tugging at his lips as his hands start to loosen their grip around you.

"Talk huh?" You ask skeptically, not believing him that that’s his only intention.

"You’re a real smart girl, aren’t you?"

"I try to stay humble about it."

—

"C’mon Jean hurry up will ya."

You fidget on the zipper of his pants impatiently as he lets out a soft groan.

Jean locks the bathroom stall door behind you as he pulls you closer to his chest.

"Easy there sweetheart, what’s the rush?"

A mischievous grin spreads across his face as he chuckles lowly, urging you down to your knees with a firm hand on your shoulder.

"You look so pretty from up here."

You can’t help but roll your eyes at his cocky smirk.

"Ohh so you think I’m only pretty on my knees?"

You say with a sarcastic smile, the irritation clear in your voice.

"Now don’t try to twist my words beautiful, how 'bout you close your eyes for me huh?"

His touch is gentle but commanding as he holds your chin, making you look up to him as his thumb softly brushes over your cheekbone.

"Now open wide up yeah?"

You feel a shiver run down your spine as you do as he says, not questioning his request.

You breathe in sharply when you feel something warm tap your cheek twice.

Abruptly you open your eyes, frowning at him in confusion when you realize what has just happened.

"Having fun up there?" You ask sarcastically, just getting a dumb giggle in response as he trails his tip over your lips before shoving his dick down your throat.

"Fuck yeahhh." He groans under his breath as he throws his head back, enjoying the heat of your mouth.

"Mhmmm feels so f-fucking good."

You watch him moan through half-lidded eyes, mouth wide open, feeling your jaw starting to get sore as Jean keeps thrusting his hips back and forth.

He's holding his breath, trying to not embarrass himself by having a quick shot, cause this is way to good to mess up right now.

"Wait wait wait!" He whines as he suddenly stops, shoving your head back and breathing in an out quickly.

"What’s wrong?"

You look up at him confused, wiping saliva from your lower lip dripping down to your chin.

"Just give me a second yeah?"

He’s still trying to catch his breath as you giggle to yourself.

"stop laughing, this is your fault!"

His attempt to blame you falls flat as you meet his gaze with an unwavering stare, refusing to take responsibility this.

"Alright minute-man whatever you say."

You’re not even trying to hide the cocky smile on your lips as he grabs you by your neck and pulls you back up on your feet again.

He turns you around and presses your body against the stall room door before pushing your dress up over your butt. "Mhmm." He hums before smacking his hand harshly against the flesh of your ass.

Your body twitches in response as you let out a quiet whimper.

His hands moves over the soft skin of your butt before he pulls down your panties. You can feel his chest pressing against your back as he slides his hand between your thighs where his index and middle finger to toy with your already swollen clit before entering your hole.

"You feel fucking angelic baby."

His breath tickles against your ear.

You let out a small moan while laying your head back against his shoulder.

He slowly pushes himself into your entrance as his other hand reaches out and gropes your breast through your dress.

He starts moving in and out out of you, leaving wet kisses all over your neck and shoulders.

You lean both of your forearm’s against the stall door for support as Jean starts thrusting deeper inside you.

"Atta girl, just like that."

His voice sounds raspy and gentle as both of his hands suddenly grab you by your waist.

"F-Fuck keep going J-Jean!" You feels tears running down your face, hoping that they won’t ruin your make up.

"See princess, you gotta find yourself a man that makes you cry like this, not like you were earlier." He laughs. "A man like me to be exact."

His thrusts are becoming faster and faster as you feel yourself getting closer to reaching your climax.

"I-I'm g'na c-cum!" You cry out loudly.

"Keep it down, you don’t want everybody to hear us do you?" He groans softly as he grips onto your thighs tightly. You can tell from how hard he's gripping them that he won't last much longer either.

With a soft whimper you bite down on your lower lip, trying to suppress any further sounds from escaping your throat.

"Ple…Please c-cum i-inside me."

You stumble over your words, gasping for air in between each one.

"Yeah? Well then cum for me baby! Let me see those pretty legs shake!"

He commands authoritatively, gripping your hair tightly to keep you in place.

You can feel him increase his pace even more, making you cry out in pleasure as you reach your peak.

"Oh yeah...that's what I wanted to see..."

He smiles smugly as he feels your juices coat his shaft before he lets a a deep groan while releasing himself inside of you.

"Damn..you're such a good little slut."

He slows down and pulls out, making you breathe in sharply.

"Ask me for anything and I promise I’ll give it to you."

He can’t believe what he just said, but the words spilled out of his mouth as he shook his head in disbelief, realizing that he meant it.

— "I swear I would." —

This was so much fun to write, I might write about Jean more often now!

If there’s any characters you want me to write about or I should do another part with, feel free to let me know! :)

Don’t forget to like and reblog <3

[penny-the-pissed-poltergeist]

RWBY volume 2 finale rewatch thoughts, Critical AKA RWDE content ahead.

.Jaune has good taste in very dumb dubstep, I'll give him that

.NPR: RWBY are good at their jobs, what's the worst that coul-"Air raid sirens" OH GOD DAMNIT

.Ren being concerned about his team abandoning a village is foreshadowing for his and Nora's backstories I didn't expect to find here

.Ruby is "useless without her weapon" but she uses kicks rather effectively, also nice Haloid/Matrix reference

.Weiss makes a sword out of Dust before she even gets the knight summon, tell me why they needed to throw those bootleg shin-megami-tensei demons on her moveset at all?

.Jaune wins by the swordplay equivalent to spamming the A button

.Oh god the Junior detectives bit. You are in the middle of a war zone this isn't funny and kills the tone. At least we aren't at the point where Sun is nothing but unfunny jokes but this is the start of that.

.Ruby Saluting the Atlus military and then said Military being just as useful against Grimm feel so antithetical to what a lot of An//ti-Rwdes keep spewing

.Cinder why are in your Villain dress? Also Emerald ass shot no one needed.

.Why does Emerald just a have a better version of Ren's weapon?

.UGHHH team CFVY are overrated as fuck, they basically steal the finale from the characters we actually give a shit about, their theme song while not being bad is just a audio embodyment of trying to hard, and they are built up like such a big deal only to job to the villains, have Velvet get her one cool scene later, and then never be relevant again for like 7+ years outside of books I've heard nothing but bad things about.

.The aura expansion/explosion thing Fox does is cool though, at least. Wait Ren also did a move like that once, why doesn't anyone ever use that move again?

.That is giant ass Beowolf holy shit. also you can really tell a 2010's gamer bro wrote that clothing store line.

."You spent all semester building that up" Coco people are in danger, let her fight you fashion fascist...

.Yeah if you didn't already know, Coco is based on the IRL fashion designer Coco Channel who turned out to be a Nazi, like Nazi party Nazi not neo nazi shit, this was that long ago. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but this was not common info at the time but you could find it and RT was known to be very edgy and outright offensive (just look up some shit they were saying on internet box) and the leader of a team made up mostly of minorities being lead by a Nazi sounds like a joke they might make, and Coco has some WWII influences in her design, and her being confirmed as lesbian later sounds like it could be a play on the "nazis are secretly gay" thing and... Just please tell me this was unintentional, I don't want to think about this anymore.

.Coco also destroys any hope the Grimm being a threat have, why do they become like.. rubble?

.You can really tell the animation was either running out of budget or was rushed or both in this episode

."Yay we all did it, even though team CVFY did 90% of the work"

.How is there still 7 minutes of episode left?

.Blake says multiple people are behind bars so I am going to believe most of those WF members didn't die, Banesaw lives godamnit

.Zwei mimicking Yang is really cute

."We have no idea what happening, let's go take a nap"

.They try to paint the council as unreasonable for putting Ironwood the charge but he just helped the Kingdom defend itself and we all know how much negativity sports can cause, IRL sports riots are a thing.

.Council are not in the wrong at all for questioning Ozpin, bro is letting the leader of another kingdom in on the truth but not his own?

.Those cells look really cramped, that's a little messed up

.Roman's dialog is fucking gold, I don't much else to say about it

.How is today a success Cinder? Your plan went off early and was stopped

.ADAM... yeah that's it

.Ah the Raven scene, the one that retconed into a fucking dream because no one had any idea what Monty was trying to do with Raven and he died before anyone could learn, it's just fucking sad

[asexualzoro]

it's december 9th, meaning today is my 23rd birthday (which is my favorite number!), which means it's time for...

Lew Writes Wrapped 2023!!!

im including anything that happened after my last bday, so we have some works from december as well. this one's a bit of a weird one for the total word count, you'll see why

it's all treebark from my sideblog / alt ao3. i cannot change. i will not change. for these im just gonna specify the relationship that's the main focus bc thats easier than fandom bc all but like one are third life

dandelion wishing

(Dec, 2.4k, treebark, oneshot) (link)

op movie 6 au for dogwarts in which Martyn is the baron and Ren doesn't know he's dead

id actually plotted out a whole third life au for this movie like months prior and really wanted to write it, so i took it for treebark week and focused it just on these two. it's my fave movie of all time and i obvs had to give it to my fave completely dead team <3

i will admit tho. it did make me back search martyns twitter to see if hes ever posted abt watching this movie. bc i know he likes One Piece and i realized this would bring me into the danger zone (he hasnt ever posted abt it if hes seen it)

A Romance Route for the Doomed Villain?!?

(Dec, 5k, treebark, oneshot) (link)

treebark dating sim isekai parody that spiraled out of my control made in a day-long possession

im still baffled by this one. why was the response to this one so insane?? there was smth in the water the day i posted this bro. a 1:2 kudos to hits ratio for the entire first day is literally fucking unbelievable. 70 comments?? what hold did this fic have on you people. i got fic written about this one?? my friends goncharov'd me in front of my face

really fucking fun to write and the insane response was smth im always gonna remember. i appreciate you guys so much

treesekai also turns a year old in a few days!

Until the Angels Realize You're Not One of Them

(Feb, 7.2k, emerald duo, oneshot) (link)

a traitor phil au which was mostly just me talking about all the reasons i love technoblade

this one... wasnt actually written this year for the most part? i didnt want to not acknowledge it, since it's on my ao3 in this year, but i wont be able to count it toward the total

still. traitor phil au my beloved. hearing him say on his stream he and techno wanted to do a betrayal arc made me feel insane bc i already had this written at the time

missing or obstructed

(2022-present, 12.9k, Grian & Ren, ongoing) (link)

post 3L fic about Ren and Grian seeking out closure with a lot of funny little sleep metaphors

same deal as the last fic, i, uh dont think i actually wrote anything new for missing or obstructed this year either? just uploaded chapters i wrote last year,,, i didnt wanna now acknowledge it, but i wont count this in my total later

i miss her. one day ill actually sit down and write more missing or obstructed. in my doc im JUST at introducing Martyn and i havent written it yet

to reach my mangled debut

(Sept, 4.2k, treebark week, ongoing) (link)

it wouldnt be me if i didnt have an execution somewhere in here. another op au!

THIS. I LOVE HER. when rev and i were plotting out the whole storyline for smop renchanting i was begging please give me this scene i need it and i had so much fun writing it. i rlly need to finish soon but i haven’t had time but please. please check out smop. she’s top of my priority list to update

Three-Dog Night

(Sept, 6.7k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

BIG DOG. beauty and the beast au!

god im so fond of this au. there’s some rlly good scenes written for this and unposted bc i just need to link them together. honestly i think if i took a month and focused it on this fic alone i could fucking finish it but i don’t have the time ;-;

that said i’m so enamored w this au genuinely. o dunno what else to say i just think. puppy

Cover Me In Roses

(Sept, 3.3k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

lamplight roleswap! put Martyn in a flower pot

i don’t feel as motivated to work on this one when i have lamplight unfinished so it’s lower on my priorities but know i have like an entire arc of this written and unposted. we just have a few paths for this one and i have to decide which one to use

it’s so wild to me lamplight has like. aus. like this isn’t even the only one? a roleswap. that’s insane? it’s wild that you all like lamplight enough i can even get away with this

First Sign of a House Fire

(Sept, 2k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

i love superhero stories for two reasons: plots about secrets and adapting the characters to give them powers. this had smth fun for both of them

yellow rose isn’t super high on my list of priorities to update (i think the oneshot is interesting on its own) but one day,,,, it’s part of the many aus cherri and i have but it’s the longest for sure. the doc for just this au is like 100k words long on its own. at the time i draft this cherri and i are actively writing smth else for it in another tab. theres like 4 offshoots and im obsessed w all of them. we had to make ocs about this one. i’m excited to eventually add more to this series

actually that’s one of the scenes i’m most excited for and most dreading adding. we made a backstory oc and im SO attached to him and im excited to post a thing out there w him but. ough. whatever cringe is dead i’ll get there eventually and brute force my way into attaching you to our funky little robot guy

also love that this fic forced me to be decided on a docv characterization that i have to stick to. he may be a canon guy to martyn’s vtuber lore but he’s my oc now too

Blindsided

(Sept, 2k, treebark week, ongoing) (link)

pirate au and royal au based on a big secret and also stuffing a guy in a box and it's all stupid dramatic literally what else do you want or need in life

this is my wife. my favorite. my most beloved. blindsided gives me new illnesses and diseases. i have just one scene to write before i can update it and then i can continue unleashing her. god i love this fic the drama of it is SO fun.

the funny thing abt blindsided is i know all the plot chronologically but now how to Present it which is part of why i haven’t continued too much. eventually i will but until then know that one of the scenes im sitting on which has been fully written is one i think about constantly. hopefully when i post it cherri’ll let free the comic she did for it

i actually have the ending of this fic written i just need to get there lmfao. second on my priority list after smop i think

Cradle of the Leviathan

(Sept, 1.5k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

i just love mer aus man. whats the point of it all if you cant have mer aus. just get a big ol fish

i have the ending of this au written as well and literally so little of the lead up. but this is pretty low on my priorities. i think this one stands just fine on its own. mer aus are nice like that

we actually have a few mer aus but for now i’ll be focusing on this one. i do have a few sweet post story things written for this one. maybe one day i’ll write enough to post em lmao

Lamplight AU

(2022-present, 47k, treebark, ongoing) (link)

renchanting dnd/fantasy au, martyn's a paladin and ren's a lamp

so i started this au last year. my wrapped last year said my total was 20k, so that means this year's total is.... 27k!

and… it was just lamplight’s birthday and i did all my appreciation for the fic and its readers then, but god. i love this fic so much and i love you all who have read it and been so kind about it. the amount of popularity it has makes it a bit nerve wracking to work on, but i still really want to see it finished. i hope to see the bulk of it done by this time next year!

Six Sentence Sunday

six sentence sunday is a challenge where i try to post six sentences i wrote that week every sunday, to keep me writing every week of the year! i do it over on my writing blog, @driflew

i did not keep up on my six sentences,,, i had a lot of sunday fencing tournaments. i did for ~33 weeks this year! thats a pretty good amount! i’ll have to be more on top of it next year tho

unpublished work

the last few years i havent included unpublished work, but with the extreme bulk of it, i wanted to note it down. cherri @/cherrifire and i have been writing a lot back and forth at each other in discord dms this year, and i wanted to include those in my count! bc holy fucking shit is there a lot of them

i didn’t include collab pieces, just pieces i wrote alone. i also only included the renchanting aus i share w cherri and scarian aus i share w flowey, nothing else—no unfinished lamplight or other independent pieces or oneshots, no original fiction for class, nothing. i also missed a few u haven’t moved to docs yet. so i’m lowballing by a few. thousands. of words

the total for those is...... 135k words! there is,,, something wrong with me

total and end notes

our total this year is...

187512 words!

that might be my highest word count yet! because i caught treebark disease. wild.

something really fun about this year to me is i really loved everything i wrote.

if you want to get me a gift or support me on my birthday… maybe try reading my work and reblogging it or leaving a comment! you can find my writing at driflew or skelew on ao3, follow my writing blog at @driflew, or even consider tipping my kofi!

thank you for sticking with me and supporting me this year! i really appreciate it! hopefully i can break 100k next year too!

[purble-gaymer]

THOSE LAST COUPLE CHAPTERS HIT HARD

I just got caught up on your fic and I always oh so love the interactions between the three knight bros. I also adored how you wrote the interactions between Meta Knight and Dedede. I'm a huge fan of redededemption arc and it's why in my hcs I count (an altered version of) the anime as a precursor to the games. I really think that anime Dedede gets a little more hate than he should. He's selfish and a jerk but he's been like that in the games too. I don't like it when people characterize anime Dedede as truly evil and undeserving of redemption because he's meant to be seen more as downright childlike to a fault, even having fits and not being able to read. He's more negligent of real danger even when he's the one causing it than he is downright cruel, and that was proven in the episode where he really thought Kirby died (which was actually a pretty fucked up thing to pull imo). My point is that I think that's exactly how Meta Knight sees him in the anime. Bothersome, spoiled, and a conductor for events that become far more serious than he ever thinks they are. Truly, Dedede has no idea what he's up against with Nightmare, and Meta Knight doesn't hold him responsible for that. He's just there to make sure nothing goes too wrong and shrugs off the childlike berating Dedede gives him afterwards. But for all of that Dedede never stays mad at Meta Knight, and likewise Meta Knight looks out for Dedede in a way by also making sure his exploits don't go out of hand and harm him (since he knows Dedede is playing with fire when it comes to the monsters). Even for the flawed parts of anime Dedede's characterization he's just an immature king who isn't actually that much of a feal threat, just like in the games -- and Meta Knight is his loyal knight who puts up with his antics. Sorry for the drabble but again my point is I just felt like you nailed their interactions PERFECTLY. I can absolutely see in your writing the potential for how their friendship would grow overtime. All the characters really are just silly fellas, reading them gives off those same vibes from the anime. Anyway, I just wanted to compliment you over that .o.

uwhjg. thank you !!😭 dedede has always been a fun character to write whether it’s a serious scene or a silly one, and i wanted to set them on the same course they take in the games. of course, it’ll still be a long time before everyone sets aside their differences enough to become friends, but it’s a start. matching the characterization of the show while doing everything i wanted to was a challenge, but it’s good to hear it paid off! dedede is misled and inexperienced, but he’s still dedede. there are inklings of the character we know today, it’ll just take time for him to grow from his original characterization. like, it takes until triple deluxe for kirby and dedede to really work together. now that nightmare’s gone, it’ll probably follow a similar course.

i’ve had one or two people mention leading up to 93 that not a lot of writers look at mk & ddd’s relationship in too much depth, and i agree. i didn’t get into is as much as i would’ve liked to, but i tried to include it whenever i could because they’re so interesting. you see them hanging out like friends but you also see them constantly denying the other’s wishes and fighting about it later. not to mention the whole ‘let’s blow up the halberd’ debacle. we’ll talk about that another day. but to my original point, dedede gets shelved a lot in favor of developing other characters and it’s a shame. he’d be just as important after nme’s destruction. he’s still got kirby to deal with, after all. it’s not like he and meta knight never interact, either. i’ve inserted a lot of scenes but there are plenty of times mk just shows up in the throne room to ask about something. even things like mk helping dedede with his plan to get kirby into the grand prix in 35/36 are suggested by the fact dedede and escargoon are in the storage room with him when he talks to kirby. these scenes are really only baseless in episodes where the knights don’t appear at all (i’m pretty sure they aren’t actually in 93).

i’d like to say dedede starts to realize just how serious things are after 89 because of the whole…incident with mk, but because that didn’t really happen, it’s not reflected in the show. maybe it’s more in the back of his mind, sort of a ‘no, that can’t be right!’ thought that he can’t quite dismiss. by the time the destroya come along, he just goes along with things because he wants to stop the attack. he certainly understands the danger once they’re at there fortress, so he has to have realized at some point. i think meta knight also starts to gain a level of respect for him after my made-up 89 epilogue, if only because he brought him back to sword and blade to make sure he was safe after. they wouldn’t have fought so openly in 93 if it were the beginning of the show—dedede might’ve been a little upset, but what’s it matter? meta knight is just another soldier under his lead. they’ve been through a lot by the end, and they’re going to go through more.

i wish the show gave them more interactions. i think that’s part of the problem. all you really see of them is mk asking questions from time to time, and it doesn’t establish anything beyond their usual fronts. it feels uninteresting and surface-level. but there’s so much more there that can be brought out simply by removing them from the situation and letting them talk on their own.

shit i just thought of something so i’m gonna talk a little more—the opening of 60 is sort of a fun example. their interaction is very short, but shows a lot. dedede and escargoon come into the courtyard with their destroyed car, and dedede shouts for meta knight to get down there and help. sure, it can be read as a nothing command, but it’s also a declaration of ‘this is serious, we need /your/ help because i know you know what you’re doing.’ he doesn’t call for the waddle dees to line up at the gate and prepare to battle, he calls for meta knight’s help specifically. (i’m pretty sure sirica asks about star warriors before blasting them, but i’m not sure she ever says mk’s name. they probably don’t know she’s actively looking for him at this point.)

i wanted to express everyone as having room to change, because that’s part of what the series is about. it’s about love and it’s about change, and even if the anime isn’t so bubbly bright and happy as the games, the anime is about that, too. they all have their own lives and they all have places they’re going, even if we don’t get to see what happens after they get home to dreamland. these aren’t static characters, as simple as they seem. they have history, they’re layered, and yes, they are very, very silly. letting that potential go ignored would be a crime, wouldn’t it?

[lyraminerva]

This is a scene I wrote out years ago for a fic and just rediscovered. I’m turning it into a oneshot but this is what I found:

They’re hanging out in the UA dorms, Todoroki isn’t there because he’s visiting his mom. Todoroki has been really protective of Midoriya lately so the squads saw this as the perfect opportunity to see why the class cinnamon roll has been more cinnamon and less roll as of late.

Uraraka: What’s wrong Deku, you’ve been a bit irritable lately? Did something happen?

Izuku: No! I’m perfectly fine! Everything is fine! Ok?!

Kaminari: I think you just proved her point there man.

Kirishima: yeah, what’s up with you lately midobro?

Deku: I said it’s fine, can’t you just drop it already?

Iida: Midoriya, we’re worried about you and your well-being. If something is bothering you, you should tell us. We might be able to help.

Deku: Trust me, you won’t. This isn’t something that can just be fixed.

Shinso: So you admit there’s something wrong?

Deku: Wow you really aren’t going to let this go are you? Fine, you caught me, I’m mad at all might. There! Happy now?

Bakugou: What?Why! He’s been your idol since you were 2!

Deku: You know what? *inhaling sharply then releasing with a frustrated sigh, mumbling the rest of his response * Nevermind, it’s nothing. I’m just being petty over something that’s none of my business to begin with.

Tsu: If it’s bothering you then it’s not nothing, Midoriya. You know you can tell us anything right? We won’t judge. *kero*

Sero: yeah man! If it’s making you this mad it’s clearly not “nothing”

Deku: You really want to know what happened?! Fine! All Might’s fucking my Mom! He’s dating my fucking Mom! *Midoriya starts to dissolve into a fit of angry tears*

Everyone: trying not to laugh

Todoroki comes back from his weekly meeting with his mom to find deku bawling in the living room with a pissed looking Iida scolding Kaminari and Sero for breaking. Uraraka and Tsu are trying their best to comfort deku while Mina is busy choking on her water after doing the spit take to end all spit takes. Kirishima is busy trying to keep Bakugou from killing All Might. Katsuki is screaming “THAT BASTARD!ILL KILL HIM! HES GONNA PAY FOR WHAT HES DONE!HES DEAD,HEAR ME?DEAD!” Then devolving into growls and screams. Todoroki isn’t one to show a lot of emotion but he’s pissed.

Once everything has calmed down…

With the baku squad without Bakugou.

Jirou: does anyone know why Midoriya is so on edge lately? He snapped his pencil earlier today when All Might came in for heroics…

Kaminari: Oh, yeah. It’s because All might us Detroit smashing his Mom.

Kirishima and Sero both die of laughter. Jirou looks at Kaminari disgusted, which, fair enough, who would actually want to know about their teacher’s sex life.

Kirishima pulls himself together: not cool bro, you can’t just say stuff like that

Kaminari: But it’s true!

Sero: yeah, I mean, he told us himself.

Kirishima: still, it’s not our place to joke about it

Kaminari: maybe not, but that doesn’t change the fact that All Might is Full Cowling Fucking Mido’s Mom.

Jirou laughs at that one.

Jirou: shut up *can’t stop laughing*

[cookinguptales]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💙

You know... I put off answering this for a while because I just could not choose five. And I still can't?? I have so many fics I've written, many of them for fandoms of one, and I find that I actually love a lot of them.

So... if you'll forgive me, I think I'll just talk about a whole bunch of fics that I love for a whole bunch of reasons.

(cut because... I really do talk about a lot of fics lmao)

I think these days a lot of people follow me for WWDITS/nandermo fic. It's one of my current loves, and I've really enjoyed writing for this fandom. I do wonder if I'll keep writing after nandermo becomes canon (or gets sunk for good) but in the meantime... I guess I'll just keep having a good time?

I think my favorite fic I've ever written for WWDITS is Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Too. I was looking at a bunch of prompts for the Trick-or-Treat Exchange (more on that later) and I ended up smushing several of them together in my head. But then the story really got away from me, I guess, as I really started to delve deep into Nandor's mind (a WILD place to be, I'm telling you) and it ended up not being posted for another month. Whoops?

Either way, though, I feel like I was really able to get at some of the ideas I'd been juggling with the characters for a long time at that point, and I think the prose itself was very nice at times. I did complicated things with that fic that I haven't done before, and in the end... I think I did a good job! It's probably the fic I'm proudest of in this fandom.

That said, I'd like to give Honorable Mentions to both When We Sway (I Go Weak) and Five Times Guillermo Helped Nandor Collect Semen (And One Time He Didn't) just because both of those fics involved me getting wildly out of my comfort zone. I think both of them seem a bit... outdated, maybe, after s4 and s5, but I think they match the tone of s3 nicely.

Sway was heavy on pining, something I feel like I'm good at writing, but also very heavy on physical action. As many of you know, I'm disabled! I have never waltzed. The kind of movement I described in that fic is not easy for me to do myself, and action scenes have always been difficult for me to write fluidly. So the fact that I was able to write both dancing and fighting convincingly in that fic made me really relieved. I got several comments from dancers telling me how well I'd captured dancing with a partner and like. PHEW. I did a ton of research and bro I was RELIEVED. So I do feel very proud of that.

Even more outside of my wheelhouse was both 5+1 things fics. I'd written a little bit of porn before this, even some for nandermo, but not much and I was largely dissatisfied with it. But boy did I get a lot of practice with those fics. lmao. It was essentially 11 sex scenes of various levels of filth loosely strung together with longing, and like... honestly, I'm very pleased at how most of them turned out! And I think I'm a lot better at writing porn now, even if it always turns out very fucking weird and introspective.

Speaking of weird.

The other fandom I love dearly these days is Sleep No More, which I've been writing for for several years. For a long time, I mostly just wrote this one for exchanges? Mostly ToT and Yuletide. I love writing for SNM, an interactive theater situation in NYC, because I can really fuck around with writing styles. I can play with ideas about religion and folklore and magic and blood and storytelling and tradition, and I can do it while writing some of the most fucked-up relationships that exist. I can play with a show that has very little spoken word, where a slap and a kiss might be in the same loosely choreographed dance, where I get to be a part of this haunted house, but only as a ghost...

While I'm sure the very few people who usually read my SNM fic might disagree, I think my favorite thing I've ever written for SNM is It's A Sin to Tell A Lie. It was my first time really trying to assemble a semi-coherent narrative from the show (largely inspired by some things that I realize now were not always common experiences in the show lmao) so I'm not sure it always aligns with how I see the characters now, but I feel like I wrote a really haunting fic that used the source material in interesting ways.

The Honorable Mention this time goes to The Consequence of Sounds, which is probably the strangest thing I've ever written. A friend of mine joked that she'd like it even if someone wrote like a haunted space hotel AU for the show and that apparently scratched something insane in my brain, so... I wrote a fic that combined space opera, Macbeth, Scottish folk magic, and the music of the spheres.

It's....... very weird. But it was also so fun to write, and I think it was fairly successful. I think the point of fanfiction is weaving together a familiar canon in a brand-new way, and I had fun bringing odd little allusions and old ideas into a new AU. I had to get really creative and that was so fun.

Speaking of weird AUs... I wrote a lot of them when I used to write karabita. haha. This is another one of those fandoms that I picked up a lot of followers with, though idk if any still follow me. Osomatsu-san was a weird comedy show that threw itself into surrealism and AUs very often, and that allowed me to do the same. I think... out of the many, many karabita fics I wrote, my favorite might be Love's Carriers, which is a flower shop AU I wrote out of spite after someone told me that all flower shop AUs are terrible. I worked really, really hard to make the AU suit the characters rather than the other way around while also incorporating flower language, one of my favorite stupid tropes. Again, I think this one came out surprisingly well, especially considering I wrote it in like... 24 hours in a fit of pique. lmao.

Other fics I remember being very proud of in that era... uh... The odd karabita KH AU that no one read because there is basically zero crossover between those fandoms... The soulmark AU because I am WEAK to those... The wingfic... ah... the wingfic... I don't know if I'd use words like "best" or "favorite" for that wingfic, but... I do think it's probably the most I've ever put of myself into a fic. The anxieties re: love and disability that I put into that fic were so real that I still cry every time I look at certain parts of it. I've grown as a person since writing it, but... yeah, those are still fears that haunt me. So I guess I could say it feels the most "me" of any of them I ever wrote.

Other than that... I guess we end up in my exchange fic era. I spent many years writing fic of extremely variable quality for exchanges lmao. I think the most successful was undoubtedly there's not a word yet (for old friends who just met), the muppets slash fic that launched... god, honestly. like. I know I did not create a fandom, but being in at the ground floor and being the one that everyone came to talk to when the pairing DID get off the ground was surreal. lmao. I created that tag on AO3! Everyone said I was crazy for writing that fic! Then they read it and they fell in love a little bit! Then the pairing became canon and everything went bananas! What a weird, surreal, delightful fandom experience.

That Muppets fic really came from the heart and really just came from me writing a fic during a very difficult time in my life and wanting to create a love letter to the characters that got me through it. I wanted to make other people feel the way The Muppets made me feel, and the fact that I succeeded in that (against all odds!) really does make that one special to me.

But... I wrote a ton of exchange fics for tiny, tiny fandoms that most people have never considered! Weird spooky crossover f/f ships, like my Crazy Rich Asians/Ready Or Not Astrid/Grace fic, or my Stoker/Sharp Objects India/Amma fic! Rarepairs like my Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) f/f Mitsuha/Miki fic! An unhinged lost episode of Puppet History! Character studies of dear little elderly murderers in Arsenic and Old Lace!

I also wrote sort of quasi-original fic, especially for the ToT exchange. Ghosts of dinosaurs falling in love with each other in a museum (inspired by a real historical case of the wrong skull being on a skeleton -- and god, that one has a hilarious IRL story attached to it) and a pet shop full of the ghosts of animals longing for companionship and grim reapers grappling with life and death and forbidden love. Mann I loved writing those.

And honestly??? I could write entire posts about any of the fics I'm talking about here. I love them, especially the ones that weren't really loved by anyone else. Hell, I'm turning that pet shop into an extended f/f origific right now.

Writing fic for tiny fandoms of one or two for an exchange feels so bittersweet because you can make that person really happy (and, not to toot my own horn, but I tend to make recipients really happy in exchanges) but it just kind of... fades away. Those stories sometimes have very short lifespans just because they're really just for one person. It's not a good or bad thing, just the nature of exchanges. I love designing a fic that's tailored to one person's likes, dislikes, and deepest desires. It's so fun for me. But it is kind of sad to see those fics fall by the wayside after. So I have to love them enough to make up for it. haha.

Finally... a fic I adored writing, that absolutely consumed me, and it's for a fandom that is basically nonexistent. I loved going to Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return and experiencing the work of hundreds of artists all coming together to make something great. I wanted to add my art, too. No one is out here looking for HoER fic, especially not for the pairing I wrote, but like. BOY, if there's any fic I've ever written that's the definition of "I wrote this for me", it's Gnosis.

Anyway, yeah, I've been posting fic on AO3 for *checks* almost 15 years now, so I guess it makes sense that I can't narrow this down to just five, lmao. But I'm also trying not to go on too much.

But seriously, seriously, if anyone wants me to talk more about these fics or any other that I've written, I would be so incredibly happy to give you a play-by-play of what I was thinking, what I was trying to do, what I liked, what I disliked, what I'd change now, what changed me, etc. I think any author would be haha.

But I'll cut this short now!! As for who to tag... honestly, since I read so much fiction for a living these days, I don't really read fanfic anymore. I'm not sure who I follow writes it anymore. I have most fic tags filtered, being real with you. So... how about this. If you are a writer and you want me to tag you, just lmk!!! And I will send you the message.

[simon-x-billy]

Simon x Billy

Year of the OTP: June

Chapter 6: Where’s the helipad?

June prompt: Soulmates

AN: Enjoy the sweet sweet sounds of helicopter blades slicing through the air. I love the helicopter scene so much. It is happy-making. It just makes me love both of them for each other. (Let's ignore the fact that I wrote it.)

We are so close to the sex, guys. So close. This is the last SFW chapter for a while. Bask in the virginal dude-bro vibe, and let people know that you read the chapters before they were cool.

TW: Rewrites. Mystifyingly late posts. Drunkenness. If alcohol is triggering for you, no need to read the last teeny section after we first meet Barry. Rest assured that Simon gets home safely and says cute stuff, then happily goes to bed.

Masterlist || ao3 || Prev || Next

————/Simon/————

I am trying to stop thinking about falling to my death. Give me a minute.

Ok, so this is…………This is a long flight of fucking rickety, wind-blasted wood. Not like that metal set of stairs with all the switchbacks I was complaining about last time I encountered stairs. I take all of my complaints back about that place. That was the height of stair-building technology by comparison. This place is just…..language fails me, like I’m picturing the stairs failing me any second now.

Shush, I need to concentrate.

————/-/————

Oh my fucking god. I can’t breathe. Metaphorically kissing the ground due to sheer survival has become a feature of my stay here. Just cuz I survived. So much ground kissing happening in Italy. Especially near stairs.

So from the size and schmanciness I’m guessing this place was either for a huge schmancy family, or hardcore party animals needing lots of bedrooms (the olden days version). This coastline has been a summer getaway spot for centuries. Scratch that. For millennia. What, like maybe three thousand, four thousand years?

But actual beaches are rare here. Anybody with two inches of it will stick a beach umbrella in it. So imagine owning an entire beach. Right? Beside the hotel, the only other possible access is from the water. And there are a lot -- I mean a lot of yachts around here. They will never, ever look normal to me. But they’re starting to look like a normal thing around here. And I’m told these aren’t even the big ones. Fuck me sideways.

Both shots are from the website of the actual Hotel La Tonnarella, which is the hotel I based my fictional hotel on. Yes, it really looks like that. Yes, I did stay there. Totally worth going into debt. Best decision I’ve ever made. You can faintly see the stairs, at left. It’s that pale diagonal line down the cliff from the hotel at top left down toward the beach, crossing right in front of that ruin in the middle, halfway down the cliff.

Anyway, we’ve seen the (only) road and there’s definitely no place for me to do my morning run. It doesn’t even have a shoulder. I guess if I can’t run without going airborne off a cliff, I could do the steps when I wake up. Better than nothing. It’s just-

Well, we’ve seen that I hate stairs. Steep stairs. Cliff stairs.

Fuck. Besides being terrifying, it was tiring just getting down here. What am I going to do when I have to go back up?

Anyway, Billy’s working down here today. And I really feel like disrupting his job well done.

“Will yeh take a look at yer man now. Down the beach, explorin,” he calls, as I approach the hotel’s tiny beach bar. “You didn’t take the stairs, did yeh?”

“Um, yeah? Certo. I wanted to see the beach.” Obviously.

“Why didn’t yeh take the lift?” he asks me.

I fix the man to his spot with a very frowny, very deep, “Would you mind repeating that, Billy?” Exactly like if Kronk was playing me in the movie. I can barely see through my eyes that have now narrowed to slits of disbelief and distrust and discomfort. “There’s an elevator?”

“Well, yeah man. How else are people meant to get down here? The cliff’s a dangerous way down, innit?”

It’s ok, Lewis. You can incorporate this new information without flipping out. Just be proud of yourself for facing your fears. You descended steep, unsafe stairs. Good job! And you were only vaguely terrified the whole time. Good job!

“Is the cliff so dangerous that they should close it down due to the mounting death toll? Or is it only dangerous in an inoffensive, cute way?”

He huffs out a quick laugh, then returns to slicing up lemons.

“Billy? That was an actual question. Care to provide an answer?”

“Meh, it’s safe enough,” he says. And that, ladies and gentleladies, is all I need to convince me I can indeed use this as my new Italian Morning Exercise. 1. Cliff, 2. Coffee, 3. Cliff, 4. Vomiting coffee. Perfect.

————/-/————

I’ve spent all this week forging a grudging relationship with the beach stairs.

I’m getting a little more accustomed to it. I have a few specific stones and broken twigs I’ve chosen as landmarks, whenever I require reassurance that I am indeed climbing down the right cliff. And if I’ve survived it the last four mornings, I can survive it a fifth time. Flawless reasoning.

Behind the beach bar, Billy spots me and gives me a wave. “You packed, man?”

My insides instantly start fizzing. I am so fucking stoked. I got us an airbnb in Naples for the weekend so we can check out Sabina’s gig tomorrow night. Billy could not say yes fast enough. He’s a social guy, and there’s not a lot of nightlife around here. I have no idea how he’s managed it all this time. Oh wait, that’s right. He’s managed it with women. Lots of women.

Over the last week, I’ve come to the realization that management does not mind a guest hanging out at the bar distracting their employee all day, because while that guest is distracting the employee, he is also ordering drink after frothy fruit-based drink, and healthy fruit-based foods. It’s like they’ve realized that my distraction of Billy might actually be lucrative for them. I even have my own barstool. Officially.

I have an announcement to make. “I have come to a decision,” I announce. “We need a convertible.”

“Sorry?”

“A convertible. We need one,” I repeat.

“Yeah, mate, heard yeh.”

“What, it’s a convertible!”

Billy remains unmoved. “Why can’t we take the train? It’s simplest-”

“We are not taking the train.”

“But I quite like the train,” he claims.

“Because you’re insane and don’t like convertibles.” J’accuse!

“See now, I never said I don’t like convertibles. I-“ he begins.

But I totally interrupt him. “I need to go do something.” Because my brain just exploded with potential.

“What?” He might be alarmed.

Whereas I’m enthusiastic. “Be an Ugly American.”

“Er, that sounds terrible,” he says.

“If you’re gonna be American, you might as well own it. Watch me own it, Billy, watch me.”

Oddly, Billy still looks wary. “That sounds-”

“Awesome.”

“-terrible. You’re not plannin to wear one of them caps with straws into beer cans, are yeh?” He snorts at whatever he’s picturing. “Actually, I might pay yeh to do that.”

“Nah. Not my brand,” I say, sliding off the barstool. I snag an olive and pop it in my mouth, to avoid grinning like someone who grins because they’re about to do something awesome. “Ciao, Beelee.” I wave behind me.

I’ve got the phone out and I’m already dialing before I’ve even reached the stairs. And then I remember I can also take the elevator.

———/-/———

Billy has finally met up with me at the fountain by the hotel entrance. Thank god, cuz I really don’t want him to miss the arrival of that Ugly American thing that required a phone call. Ever notice there’s an ugh in ugly? Just occurred to me.

“There you are, Delaney. MWAH hah ha ha hahhhhh! Prepare to hear the sweet sweet sound of helicopter blades pulsing through the air. It’s done, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“Simon-”

“So where’s the helipad?” I inquire.

“The what now? Mate, it’s not that kind of hotel. Why are we taking a helicopter to Naples?”

“The correct response would normally be ‘because we can’-” Obviously. Certo.

“That is not a normal response.” Billy looks mystified, yet still amused. So that’s a thing.

“-but not this time,” I finish. “That’s not the real idea.”

“Oh, so you’re tellin me this is a superfluous helicopter. That is ugly.”

“No! It is most definitely not superfluous.”

“Your carbon footprint’ll be spendin all eternity in hell, man.”

“Billy.”

“Simon.”

“Stop talking. And just enjoy the mounting anticipation. The mellow sense of horror, or at the very least a nasty case of creeping dread. MWAH hah ha ha hahhhh!”

“Stop it, mate. You’re gettin evil genius all over my uniform. And you know how I feel about laundry.”

“Just a little bicarbonate of soda. Gets out even the most organic of stains. MWAH hah ha ha hahhhhh.”

“Simon.”

“Billy.”

“Stop talkin. Like an evil genius. We’re gettin complaints.”

“Are not.”

“From me. I’m complainin.”

“What am I going to wear?” I ask. It’s a fair question.

“Simon. Oh my god.”

“I’m serious! I packed for Italy in ten minutes. It’s all socks and shorts.” And sunblock. And chargers.

He’s shaking his head at me. For some reason, this makes me happy. In my tummy. How novel.

“Is that the fire alarm?” he asks.

“Huh? I mean, MWAH hah ha ha haaaah, oh no. What you’re hearing is the sweet sweet purring of a helicopter bearing my booty.”

“You didn’t think that one through, mate.”

“Oh, but yes, yes I did. This booty is worth baring. Can you feel it? The heady excitement of anticipation? The mellow terror?”

“Yes. I feel the terror,” he says blandly. He finds my terror bland.

Wait. “That would be the best cologne flavor ever. Mellow Terror, by Simon Lewis. Pour homme.”

“Are you manic right now?”

———/Billy/————

I was joking, but Simon just went very still. I’ve put my foot in, haven’t I?

“I am a bit manic, am’nt I?” he offers, tossing off a fake laugh.

“Somethin wrong with your shoes, mate? Simon, man, my eyes are up here.”

“Just wait til you see what I’ve done,” he says sheepishly, eyeing me from under his furry eye caterpillars.

“Simon. Should I be worried?”

“Oops?”

Oops? I haven’t a clue what to do with oops.

He grabs me excitedly by the forearm and starts dragging me toward the hotel gates.

That’s…Wait, is that-

“Simon. Did you buy a Mini Cooper?”

“A convertible Mini Cooper.”

“But why?” I ask the reasonable question.

“Because I can!” He’s practically vibrating. I can tell he wants to do his jumping-clapping thing by the way he’s currently bouncing on his toes.

“Simon.”

“Billy.”

“You bought a Mini Cooper. Convertible,” I swiftly add. “You’re in the land that built the Maserati, the Lamborghini, the Ferrari, and every other sports car that ends in i-”

“Not Audi.”

I huff in annoyance, “-and you bought a convertible Mini Cooper. And had it airlifted here. Because you could.”

“I’ve always wanted a convertible Mini Cooper.”

“But not a convertible Ferrari,” I clarify.

“No.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m awesome,” he answers, because he’s Simon.

I decide not to mention that we could have skipped the car altogether and taken the helicopter to Naples.

This is so childish, and impetuous, and reckless, and I refuse to find the actions of a grown man adorable. Jaysus.

“Oh my god!” he squeaks. “They were driving Minis in The Italian Job!!!”

Shaking my head. Just shaking my head. “Did you have them airlift in some clothes, too?”

“Shit! I totally should have!” He appears to actually mean that.

“You should see your face,” he hoots. Feckin hoots, all half bent over from laughin.

And now he’s ignoring me. Suddenly I’m not even here. He only has eyes for his Mini. “Oh my god it’s so kawaii.”

His smile is kawaii.

“Go away,” he flaps a hand at me. “I want to fanboy freely and without judgment from a judgy Irishman.”

“Fine. I need to pack anyway.”

And off behind me I hear him call, “Wait! What am I gonna wear?”

Shaking my head. Just shaking my head.

————/-/————

I’ve gathered my gear, and I can see Simon out by the car park. I’m hitching up my pack, so it isn’t really until I’ve cleared all the foliage that I realize Simon is humping his Mini Cooper convertible. “All right?” I ask, tryin to keep a straight face.

“Oh, yes. All is definitely right,” he purrs.

“Have you turned her on, too?”

He slides off the car til his Converse hit the pavement with a slap.

Now he’s draping himself over the boot. I can’t help it that I’m laughing. Sometimes he hits me just right to set me to belly laughin. Doesn’t happen often with Simon, but when it does, he wears the greatest surprised happy face I’ve ever seen. This time there’s giggling. Off to a good start, which is good. Yes. Good.

I hesitate. “Look, mate. Will this thing actually fit us?” I eyeball the car. “I am quite seriously concerned that we might actually need the top down to ride in this thing. How tall are you, anyway?”

“Six feet. Why? How tall are you?”

“Mate, get off the boot so I can shove this in there and we can go.” He does, and I do.

I have to say it, “Thanks for not getting the red, white, and blue one.” There is a god. Thank you, Poseidon.

“They were out of orange, white, and green, too,” he says with regret.

“You asked about the tricolor, did yeh?” Alright yes, he’s got me laughin again. Simon Lewis. Driving the Irish flag.

“Fuck out of the driver’s seat!” he’s suddenly roaring.

Blimey. He looks proper angry. I may have just flinched. “Don’t you want a car and a driver? No, serious, don’t yeh want me to drive, since I know the way?”

“Get the fuck out of the driver’s seat, Billy. Now!”

“Alright! Fine, fine. You’ll be usin GPS then, will yeh?”

“Si si si, certo.”

I groan. “This is all about to go so very-”

“Awesome,” he declares. “This is all about to continue to be awesome. Be the change, Billy. Be the change!”

“Oh my god Simon.”

“I can hear you rolling your eyes from here,” he says from behind the boot, which he slams shut a little too hard. I feel it in every moving piece of this tiny automobile. Bigger than a SMART car, so I suppose I shouldn’t be complainin.

Well, here’s hoping he’s still so enthused about it at the other end. “Gotta say, mate. I’m surprised you’d want to drive at all.”

“Why not?” he’s askin.

“Because mate, it’s Italy, innit. Famous for frightenin foreign drivers.” He has to remember what the drivin was like on our three other trips down this road. “Well,” I sigh. “At least you get to drive on the ‘right’ side of the road in Italy.”

—--/-/—--

“See? I told you you’d fit.”

“Alright man, you did,” I admit to the muppet.

“Come on, give it up…”

“What?” I’m not laughing, I promise. “Is she a smooth ride? I don’t know, man, why don’t yeh start her up ‘n find out?”

“Well there is that. So yeah,” he says as he pulls out of the car park and up to the mouth of the hotel driveway. “It’s to the left, right?”

“Em, yeah. Yes, the city of Naples is still in the general direction of left. Like the other three times we’ve done this road together.”

He rolls his eyes, and all is right and well with the world. Until the moment he pulls out onto the road. Then I’m brought up quick by the realization that between us we know fuck all about the convertible Mini Cooper. “Wait, where’s the GPS on her, for the flat’s address?”

“I dunno, check the screen thing.” So helpful, yer man Simon is.

“Do you even have an Italian driver’s license? Or insurance? I love this guy. How’ve yeh managed to live this long?” I pause for an answer, but none is forthcoming. “I mean, fucksake, Simon. You called someone to buy you a car and suddenly you’re on the road to Naples. Do you even know where the directionals are? Or like, the wipers? Should I be concerned for my safety?”

“Shoosh. Don’t jinx us,” he sternly admonishes me. “Do you need to have registration in Italy? Or insurance? I don’t know. Italy doesn’t really strike me as a big insurance-y type of country.”

“Fair point. But I take it you have….whatever, I dunno, papers and all that?” How is he like this?

“Don’t know. What’s in the glove box?” He makes a flappy gesture in the general direction of my knees.

“How are you like this? Were you actually born like this, or did it come with fame and wealth?”

“You mean, was I actually born a flaming asshole, or just become one?”

“Meh. Yeah ok,” I shrug. “We’ll go with that. So, what’ll it be?”

“Ow. Straight for the throat, Delaney.” His tone is recriminating as he protects his throat with both hands. “Uncool, man. Uncool.”

I’m flipping through the owner’s manual. Before long I’ve programmed everything, located the GPS, found Simon’s Only In Italy playlist, and even found the button to pop the bonnet. “There you go. It’s workin now.” I toss the manual in the glove box.

“What’s working?” he asks.

I shrug. “Everything, man. Everything.”

He barks out a laugh, the grumpy fuck, and I realize I’m laughing as well.

I plug in the address for the flat and immediately the voice pumping out the speakers is a woman speaking Italian. So I’m maniacally fumbling with it again, while Simon drives on in a fit of laughter.

“Aw, come on! Let’s see how we do in Italian,” he gasps out.

“Fucksake. See how we do in Italian.” Shaking my head.

“No, seriously. Let’s hear what she has to say, this ummmmm, what should we call her - Maria! Because obviously.”

“Certo.” That gets me another laugh.

“Santa Maria, Holy Madonna, show us the way, in Italiano,” Simon pleads in a truly horrendous Italian accent. “I am so happy right now.”

He says it with a laugh. Such a thing to so easily roll off the tongue. Fella I met a few months ago, I never would have pictured bein happy, let alone noticing it, naming it, declaring it. Nice to see. Unexpected, know what I mean?

“I don’t trust you when you’re quiet that long, Delaney.”

“Hm?”

“Exactly.”

Am I missing something?

“Ok, so.” He clears his throat. “We know who I am. Who are you? Let’s hear it. Who is Billy Delaney?”

Aw, man. Serious? “How long we got?” Please don’t make me.

“How would I know?” he shrugs. “Maria’s speaking your language, not mine.”

“Fair enough.” I hit play, hoping the music will make the conversation trail off from there. But of course it doesn’t, because this is Simon. Si. Certo.

“What. Do you have some horrible second identity thing going on? Are you really even Irish? Truth time, Delaney.”

“You show me yours, I’ll show you mine?”

“Yeah, ok,” says the cheeky monkey.

“Oh,” I answer, not sure how else to dodge Simon’s inquisition. Uh, erm….. “Soooo, what mate? What do you want to know?” I ask, though truthfully I wish he’d just let it go.

“Is your name really Billy Delaney, and are you actually even from Ireland at all?”

“Yes.”

“Boring.”

“Brief,” I counter.

“Obtuse,” he counters.

“Si.”

“Oh my god, Billy. So where are you from?”

“Ireland.”

He looks around us rapidly. “Is she going to start speaking Italian? Cuz we just passed Ercolano.”

“Already?”

“Yeah! I know, right? Time flies when you’re torturing someone for information. So should I panic?”

“Nah,” I reassure him. “We've a bit more road before we turn aside. Maria can sleep on.”

“Alright. But I swear to God, Billy. If you don’t start coughing up some details, I'm serious, I will pull this car over. Do I have to pull this car over, young man?”

“Wow, that’s forceful.” Cos it is. “Ow!” I flinch when he swats my shoulder with a backhand. “Fine, ye bastard. My name is actually Lola, but I go by Billy Delaney. And I’m only mostly joking. One of the summer cousins I used to play soccer with couldn’t say William when we were little. So for a few months every year, I was Lola. There. Was that not juicy enough for yeh?”

“Charming. But from that I got these few details: 1. You have cousins. Conceivably fertile ground. We could continue that way. 2. You play soccer, and you call it soccer. Isn’t that illegal outside the US? No- don’t answer that. I’m not finished. 3. You go someplace where there are cousins to play soccer with in summer. Are we even still in Ireland?”

Em. I just sort of sit here and wait.

“And you really don’t want to talk about this, do you?”

“You are so easily distracted,” I tease. “No, but seriously, here’s some details for yeh. I’m 27. Left Ireland at 18, after graduating culinary school, and was sent out to do my apprenticeship. That was at a manor house near Galway,” I say, wrapping up the conversation.

“And…..”

“That’s not enough?” I thought that was a fair bit of information, to be honest.

“Do I have to turn this car around, young man?”

“I fear I might be missin some essential cultural reference here, mate.”

“Don’t distract me with your distractions, Delaney. Feed me.”

And that’s when Maria tells us to turn left.

—--/Simon/—--

I can’t fuckin believe that there are Irish pubs in Italy. Nor can I believe I’m in one. I mean, where do real Italians go to watch soccer? This can’t be right.

“All right?” Billy asks the bartender.

“Howeyeh,” says the man back to him, and Billy’s eyes go comically wide.

Next thing I know, I’m bored stiff, pretending to find the intricacies of European football interesting with a Welsh guy named Barry.

And whoa, turns out Billy’s day-to-day accent is pretty washed out in comparison to the thickness of his accent when he’s speaking to his new BFF. They’re speaking so fast that I can’t understand a word through their accents and grammatical errors. Welsh is so much easier.

That is, until I hear a voice disturbingly similar to Billy’s, requesting a Bud.

I swing back around in time to see Billy’s new BFF nod at him and begin turning toward the draft beers.

“No! Wait,” I wave. “He’s only joking,” I say, emphatically shaking my head no.

“Oh,” the Irish bartender looks back to Billy in surprise. “Were you?”

What, he thinks I’m lying? “Course he was! Certo.”

“Why ‘of course’?!” Billy turns on his barstool to face me. “What the fuck, Simon?”

“Sorry if I fucked up your joke, dude, but don’t drag it out, ok?” I say under my breath.

Disparaging other people’s beer of choice is like a national pastime in Brooklyn, because it frequently employs irony, and we are naturally good at it from birth. Don’t blame him, he’s new.

“I’ll take that Bud,” Billy reiterates. “Ta, mate.” The barkeep returns his nod and goes about the business of it.

“Billy? We’ve talked about this. You swore you’re Irish. Were you lying to me? Are you a lying liar who lies?”

“Why do yeh say that?”

“Because you can’t – you’re not – you’re not, like, allowed to drink bad beer when you’re Irish. Isn’t that illegal? Or fatal, or something?”

The big ape is just lazing back against the bar, sipping his pint of piss beer, looking at me in amusement.

“You’re like a caricature of yourself sometimes, Simon, d’yeh know what I mean?”

“Fuckin- What?! That’s not very nice! I’m outraged.”

“You should see yerself, mate. Yeh look like your face is about ready to split down the middle and outrage’ll start pourin out like lava from the fissures.”

I stop and cock my head at him. “That was both specific and descriptive. Nice one. But that said, how dare you! I demand an apology.” I’m trying really hard to keep a straight face. He has no intention of making it easy for me.

“Apologize? For what?” He gives me a cock-eyed grin. Oh look, his cock eyes are doing that twinkly thing again.

“You have offended my good taste and have let down your countrymen and native soil. Or water or whatever it is that makes all beer taste better in Ireland. The least you could do is the decent thing and apologize to your countrymen, and me, and then hide it in your jacket where no one can see you sneaking sips!”

He laughs because he thinks I’m joking.

“Do you just not like beer at all? And that’s why you don’t order the good stuff?” I prod.

“Simon, you are such a snob,” he says, and goes right on twinkling.

“Correct. And if you’re going to drink cheap beer, for god’s sake, order PBR and salvage at least some of your self respect.”

“Do you know this man?” the bartender asks Billy. “Is he harassin yeh?”

Billy is now laughing so hard that he’s almost fallen off his stool.

“We know each other,” I reassure the barkeep. “Don’t know how long that’ll last, all considered, though. Check back for updates.” I raise my pint of Guinness in respect.

“It’s czech. Budvar,” the man informs me.

“Ah, no! Why’d yeh tell him, mate!” Billy raises his hands theatrically. I’m telling you, theatre school. “Yeh just had to put him out of my misery, yeah?”

“And my misery,” says the man.

—--/-/—--

Ok, so what is it with the whole pub drunkenly singing “oh-ay-oh-ay” at the top of their drunken lungs, sloshin beer out of their pint glasses, whenever Europeans play soccer. Mebbe they sing it in Southmerica, too. Butwhatevercuz I don’ really care.

If you can’t – beat em then join em. Thassmymott, um, -o. Thassmy motto. Motto.

Where’s Billy? I can’t see him. If thissperson would get out of the frickin way. He’s all backed up against my face’n I can’t see. Anything. Nothin to see here, folks. Move along, people, move along.

Where’s Billy? Oyeah, right right right. Right here in my face.

I figure it’ll be easier to keep track of him if I hold onto his belt loop. Or a pocket or something. Yeah, I’m just gonna hang on to his pocket.

Pocket.

I like the word pocket. Lossa hard consnits that pop. Pop.

Pop.

I like the word pop. It sounz like it pops. And it’s the same backwards and forwards an’itsall about the lips. Pop ’ing.

What? Where’s he going? I’m trailing after him with my hand in his pocket. He keeps pullin it out and I keep puttin it back in. Oth’wise I’m gonna get lost and then where would I be? Huh? I wouldn’t even know!

“Oh! Now I know where we are! We’re on the block where we’re were where gonna sleep.” If make it up th’stairs. But Billy’s helping. He’s nice like that.

“You’re nice like that,” I say with a big smile. “And you‘re funny lookin.”

Wait.

“Oops! I mean yerlookin funny at me right now. Whass funny? ��m’I funny? ‘r’Juss funny lookin?”

I crack myself up. Like in real life, cuz I’m laughing. Right now. Sometimes iss hard to stop laughing but I’ll be ok.

“Billy. Billy! Hey, Billy. What’re you doing? Tryin to get in my pants? That tickles! Oh, hey! Did we win? I mean, I don’really care - just wonren.”

Hey! Tickles! “Stop that! How’dyou know I don’t wanna wear those? I’ll take ‘em off when I feel like it. Prollymaybe take ‘em off tomorrow. Hey! I was wearing that! And that!”

He’s very pushy. “You’re very pushy. Stop pushing!”

I land on the bed and it’s like fluffy clouds of teddybears. “K, fine. I’ll go to bed, jeez.” Alls I wanna do is bury my face in pillow, but can’t breathe when I do that.

“Don’t close the door all the way, Ma. And leave the hall light on, K? g’Night, love you too.”

————/-/————

Masterlist || ao3 || Prev || Next

————/-/————

[whitetrashjj]

Omg go to portcitydaily.com and type in outer banks a new Jonas pate interview dropped today and they start filming OBX 4 on Monday!! And they’re actually going to North Carolina this time so film some scenes but I’m not happy about him saying there’s gonna be new faces who are gonna be big characters 🙄 they also said the writers strike won’t effect them that much as they already wrote a lot of season 4 during season 3 but read the full interview!

Okay a few things of note

It’s giving jump the shark 😭

He’s talking motocross tracks so idk if this is like a gold related chase or if it’s like an actually event race. Like did JJ get into motorbike racing? If we are doing sporting events I’d much rather surfing comps…

And bro… a prequel? Unless it’s a word or word remake of pltc I don’t want it.

[glitter-lisp]

for the questions thingy!!: 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 18?

You don’t have to answer all of em if you don’t want feel free to just pick and choose if it’s too many!

HI NONNY I LOVE YOU

3.What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

ooooh tied between complete the chains and when children go to war! when children go to war has one of my favorite scenes ive ever written, but complete the chains is my favorite over all in terms of the buildup to the reveal and tying together some of the pieces id been foreshadowing since the first fic

8.What project(s) are you currently working on?

in theory, the next installments of the juicebox chronicles, something less quantifiable, and the bro-atie au. in practice, im bouncing between a dozen wips like a pinball writing 2 or 3 words at a time until i get distracted by something else

9.Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written!

generally yeah, but not with any kind of schedule or dedication lol; i just know ill forget ideas if i don't write them down immediately, so i tend to knock em out on my phone as soon as i think of them. here, a bit of shenanigannery from a few chapters ahead in to wander the woods on your own, the au where zeff is a ghost haunting sanji:

11.Do you have specific playlists for writing fics?

nah, i dont listen to music when i write. ive been told this is my serial killer trait but in my defense i dont tend to listen to music when i do like. anything. i need to either listen to something with my full focus or not listen to it at all, otherwise it's just distracting lol. which i guess also answers question 12 lol

18.What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

it varies WILDLY. fics i collab on tend to be a lot more planned out simply because most of them start as rambles with a buddy, and then we just clean those rambles up into actual fic. fics i write myself are usually done by the seat of my pants; i didnt have any of the big twists in mind when i started the batgene au or the multiverse fic, i usually just have a vague idea for a scene or a few snippet of dialogue and i write until ive got enough of a framework to fit them into

[becauseplot]

Bro you and me 🤝 can't say I've been missing sleep like you have but brainfog Bad today. More like brainsmog ibr. It is clearing tho so I got that goin for me. Hope you're getting some sleep dude.

Ohhhh so you're like, a seasoned professional of the angstwhump horror. Hats off to you king. It shows in your writing, I'll tell you that much. The xcom fic with Cellbit getting his claws taken out comes to mind. Absolutely made my skin crawl and I was enamored with the effectiveness of the writing every second of it. Have you read if stainless steel could love you back? I tried and couldn't stomach it (only got through like the first like idk 4k words? lmao) but I think it would be right up your alley. Honestly I'd be surprised if you haven't read this already. Maybe I'll give it another shot one day... And yeah, the loss of self. That sure is. That sure is. It's a very personal horror, obviously. And very real. And such a broad concept that it can apply in many different ways, whether that be through more realistic means like being twisted by anger, grief, or loathing, or the more symbolic sense in that you're literally, physically being turned into something you're not. Lots of avenues to explore it.

Also yooo you were a notebook kid too!! Bottom cabinet of my bookshelf is just filled with all of my writing notebooks that I used to carry around with me everywhere and write in. I mostly played with OCs, adapting them from characters/stories in media that I liked, or even from fanfics I read. Ohhh I still remember some of them. Faze, Kahli, Null, Myles, Tempest, Ray, Professor Noctis, Roza, Sorin... Honestly there were so many of them, and the fact that I can only recall a handful of their names is so fucking sad hough. Gotta look through those notebooks again. At some point I decided that I was going to take all of the stories I had floating around in my head and just say "fuck it, these all exist in the same world and are actually happening simultaneously" and there was a shitload of worldbuilding about the magic systems and there was supposed to be this whole prophecy thing drawing them all together etc etc. I don't even remember all the details and funnily enough, I didn't write everything down simply because there was So Much. I know I made a few lore documents, but just writing the scenes was so much more entertaining to me.

But yeah, that's what I spent my time writing about. Just little scenes that would pop into my head now and then. I filled up notebooks so fast. I should honestly get back into notebook writing, even if it's not with OCs. It's been a real hot minute since I've written for myself and not ao3. The closest I get to it now is Roommates/Cellmates AU. I miss filling up notebooks.

Poor ghost child OC :( I don't even know them or what happened to them but I feel sorry for them.

Yes, something about a gentle ending, or a more fulfilling one... Like the Happy Ending AU? (Actually wow thinking back on it I think your Happy Ending AU was the first thing of yours that I read---that I can specifically recall was by you, at least. It was the first part, where Fit and Phil are discussing "Hey, so is this possible? Do you think we could actually do it?" It was *chefs kiss*.) I think all of the characters deserves a happy ending. That last fic in the xcom au with Pac, that one is. Houough <3. And yes the net for people to fall onto---that's all we want yknow? A net. Just. Something. It's a very human desire, I think. That one fic you wrote about Phil finding Cellbit eating a worker and all Phil was concerned about was figuring out who he could talk to to help him catch Cellbit when this spiral inevitably took him out. It lives rent free in my brain at all times, btw. Archivists. They. Them. The beloveds. (I still want to figure out an Archivists-centric AU to write but *shakes brain, smacks the back of it like a faulty flashlight* c'mon gimmie some plot here, an ounce of worldbuilding, something! (I do actually have something in mind but it's so fucking undercooked that the ingredients aren't even in the bowl yet, I've just got that shit sitting out on the counter. Rip.))

Also yeah, think your shit, king. Pop off. You're crazy. You're cracked. You're goated.

Yeahhh I did like half a whumptober once back when I was OC-writing. It was actually a lot of fun because I had all these OCs to work with in various settings so it was easier to figure out plots to fill the prompts. And real, February is and was like. So shit. March is here at least so we're on our way out yippee.

"I'm so sorry, but it wasn't enough. It found you." <-I looked up the clip again just because and HOUUGHH still gets my heart going. The way my stomach actually fully dropped into the center of the earth when that happened live. And Lucie just,,, She thought she was useless all her life,,,, Lucieeeeee ;-;

Arthur was just a guy!!!!!!! He was just a guy living his life playing in his band UGHGHHGH. And Ceasar yeah 0(-( Just when he was getting to bond with his father,,, All of these people were just People at some point and then they got roped into this shit, one way or another. I mean, in Arthur's case he really was roped into it. Thiago and Liz were already technically part of the Order but their first mission was supposed to be a simple one and it was decidedly Not. Chris' friend (Thiago's dad) was killed by this line of work, pretty sure it's implied that Joui's friends were killed by the stuff from the Other Side, and I'm not 100% sure about Ceasar? But like you said, 30 year old LoL player. Everyone is being destroyed by their work in the Order. They can suffer fates worse than death and they often do. All for the sake of protecting humanity and because of some twisted sense of duty to ensure that what happened to themselves does not happen to anyone else. (Wails Liz wails wails wails.......)

Reading what you said about your larp group and. Goddamn that is. Holy cats. This is all vvvv /pos by the way, just to be clear, I am just floored yknow? That sounds insane. And really complicated but also really cool?? There's just like, so many working parts to it. I'm in awe. I definitely appreciate it, thanks for taking the time to explain it to me, it's vvv cool. I haven't got much to say back because HOOOOHH THATS A BIT OF INFORMATION LMFAO, but I promise you I read every word and I loved it.

Yeah the End Poem! Without going too into detail, my school is Funky so all majors (even STEM majors) have to take certain classes that we would otherwise not be taking, including stuff in the humanities. So that's how the topic of Mysticism came up in one of my classes. It was hilarious honestly bc the prof would be lecturing about Mysticism (or some other spiritual thing, but usually Mysticism) and he would say something that I shit you not would be almost verbatim out of the Minecraft End Poem. And I was always thinking, "Yeah this is great and all but I literally learned all of this from a video game like 11 years ago."

So for one of our major writing assignments, he wanted us to tie a cultural artifact (book, movie, TV show, game, holiday, etc etc) to one of the major topics of the course, and he gave a list of options to choose from. Well, somehow, Mysticism was not on that list. So I had to gather my courage and swallow some of my dignity and email my professor like, "Heyyyyyy bestie so like are you okay if I write an essay about Minecraft [silly block game widely regarded as a staple of the world of middle schoolers] and how it ties into Mysticism [well-written and (usually) highly-respected form of spiritual belief dating back 200 years]." And thank god my professor was an open-minded guy because he said, "Sure why not!" (Which was fantastic because I had no idea what else I was going to write about.)

Yeah it sure is! It's a lot. I can explain a bit here but uh fair warning(?) I get into some stuff that is very much within the realm of spirituality so if that's not your thing then that is fair and I get you completely! Go ahead and skip the next 4 paragraphs :thumbsup:

The best way I can explain Mysticism succinctly would be (and I'm oversimplifying): So you ever been just chilling maybe outside or with friends or just really vibing and having a good time, and then you have this weird out of body experience of realizing something like, "oh holy shit, I'm here, and this is my body, and I'm breathing, and you're here, and that is your body, and you are breathing, and the trees are here too, and the stars are here too, and it's So Much, I think I might be a part of all of these things and I feel so small/big/wide/distant/alive"?

Yeah. So I know that not everyone has experienced something like that (so I'm making a bit of an assumption here, apologies), but it's called a "Mystical experience" and it's supposed to be your brain briefly attempting to connect with the "transcendent" (or the "ineffable", or the "More") and having this personal experience in trying to understand it. And according to Mysticism (or to some Mystics, at least), all of our "souls" have an innate tendency to try to understand and connect with this elusive sense of the "More." There is something out there beyond yourself, and at the same time you are connected to everything else, even if you don't understand the full scope of it yet---but given time, you can.

And that is where it all starts to sound an awful lot like the stuff that the blue and green entities in the End Poem are talking about. Not to mention that one of the entities literally describes something resembling a form of mystical experience: "Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity, in air. Respawn in the long dream. There you are. Your body touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things. As though we were separate things." (NOTE: not all mystical experiences are the same, what I explained and what the End Poem describes are two examples, but they've got common themes of realizing your place in all of these things and this sense of there being More.)

Anyway that is a very slap-dash shitty explanation of it lmfao. I actually pulled out my old lecture notes to make sure I wasn't completely butchering it. Again, this is very spiritual, and idk where you stand with those sorts of things, so no need to comment on this at all! But I personally find it very fascinating. It was a fun essay to write, even if the 4-page limit had me scrapping several paragraphs (wails).

Minecraft sure is a Thing, huh. I've been writing minecraft fic for so long now that it's almost impossible for me to imagine writing an entirely minecraft-less setting. I just. Love the worldbuilding so much. There's so much to pull from. A sandbox game fr.

Yeah I need to listen to more Bastille. I nabbed "Things We Lost In The Fire" from your xcom playlist a while back and I really like it. I don't really make character/au playlists, but I've got my main one I use for just vibing/daydreaming or running. For me I've been listening to a lot of the Killers (Somebody Told Me my FUCKING beloved it's so gender), LP, Florence + the Machine, and an iiiiitty itty bit of Hozier (I spent last summer listening to his music for hours on end while filing old blueprints and now I can only stomach a few of his songs lmfaooo). Also Mumford & Sons and Crane Wives are good, and I've been looping Who Are You, Really? by Mikky Ekko and thinking about qCellbit so so SO fucking much you don't even know.

Holy shit I've been here a hot minute. Uh. Whoops lmao. Needless to say my brainfog has cleared up. I was in a vvvv Blegh /neg headspace all day but this was nice!!!

finished ep 10 of osnf (long post under the cut oh lord)

crying sobbing kicking over chairs screaming CELLBIT IS AN EVIL EVIL MAN WHY WOULD HE DO THAT. FOR WHAT REASON. POR CUAL RAZÓN. LO ODIO. <-said with the utmost adoration and respect of a writer but the fury of a fan who just had to endure all of that my hearttttt 0(-(

god fuck i have thoughts and feelings regarding episode 10 of osnf. obviously. i don't even know how to start.

okay. first of all the way that he was able to orchestrate the like 57839 different POVs of the nightmare happening at the same time was actually pretty smooth, all things considered. being able to forcibly mute/deafen the others is a good thing to be able to do yesyes.

second, im losing my mind over how he hides the fact that "it's all a dream" WITHIN the "it's all a dream" trope by having the creatures be manifestations of dreams/guilt in "reality" themselves. idk if i'm making any sense, but like, you get it, right? like, it's the fact that we thought we had already discovered the dream-based deceit in the segment because of what the "Hotelier" told Joui at the start of it, but it turns out that THAT was a red-herring of sorts for the TRUE dream-based deceit, that EVERYTHING was a dream, not just the creatures. god there are fucking layers to this im foaming at the mouth that's soooo good.

i guess that's what makes the "it's all a dream"-style trope present here feel less cliche. because, you know, it is a trope, and it's not really a trope that i'm fond of, but because there's actually more going on, it feels less cheap. what certainly helps is that the fact that it's roleplay, so the reactions from the characters are so much more raw, and there are some irl stakes (character dead = out of the series = can't play anymore). that definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat.

edit: something i forgot to mention—what i dislike abt the “it’s all a dream” trope the most is that it is very easily something that can be so, so cheap. all angst, no stakes or consequences, no lasting impact on the plot on the characters. however, not only is there a “physical” impact via several characters losing SHITLOADS of sanity (something not easily recovered) but we get to see a little more into the psyche of the characters. which i suppose is often the point of the “it’s all a dream” segments, but this dream—one with a lot of references to past major character death and itself contains major character death—rings especially true for the themes of the series: the world they live in is dangerous, and the work they do is lethal. people have and will die. and they do and will feel guilty, reguardless if they are at fault. it’s not a horrifying death dream just for the sake of being a death dream, it feels grounded in their reality, and i love that.

third, man he did not hold back. when Arthur was being beaten to a pulp by not!Brúlio, i was actually in shock, i was screaming. plus, i think the fact that Cellbit rolled a 001 when not!Brúlio attacked actually helped to hide the fact that this was a dream. it made it look like it was bad luck rather than the segment was designed to kill the characters (well, at least until he revealed that the damage was 1d4+1d6, but i'll get to that later).

gosh the narration of how not!Brúlio killed Arthur. holy shit. i don't. i don't even have words, that is DEVASTATING. that is probably one of the worst ways for a person to go. i know it's a dream but if i were Arthur i would be emotionally fucked up beyond belief. beaten to a bloody pulp by the father who once loved you so much, screaming at you for abandoning him and that it's your fault he died a horrible death. and then he drops your body on the ground like you're nothing but a pile of useless meat. god. damn.

and then Liz. ohhhh Liz. i just. i was devastated. her whole struggle with Alex, the man she treated so horribly. yes it's true the real Alex never would have said these things to you, but how do you know he wasn't thinking it? that he didn't want to? that what not!Alex says doesn't hold some truth? christttt. and of course the way she dies: in complete agony. and did she forgive herself? because, unlike with not!Brúlio, the creature turned into that weird wispy black thing just as she died, and i would assume that means she forgave herself (if those rules even apply considering this was all a result of the parasite's deceit (holy hell my brain is melting i am the man with the hand on the conspiracy board)).

fourth: the 1d4+1d6 thing! when he read that out, i was stunned. that is a LOT of damage considering all of the characters have ~10 HP. with an extreme roll, that's basically an insta-kill, or it's easily a two-hit-kill. i thought Arthur was unlucky, but when Liz also went down, i was---well, devastated, at first, because that's Liz, she's my absolute favorite and i love her, but i started going through all five stages of grief at once, and at some point i arrived at "no that can't be right" because Cellbit is a good writer. and to deliberately construct a scenario where it would be VERY hard for a character to survive while still in the middle of the story? yeah. and yknow the fact that there's still 6 other episodes fhdsjk. (then again the series continues regardless if a character dies and i haven't looked at other episodes' thumbnails or anything like that for this exact reason. so. i was going in as blind as i could reasonably be.)

in any case, realizing and connecting all of this and then hearing the "Hotelier" start yelling at Joui right after Liz died explicitly blaming him for it sealed it for me: this is a trick of some sort. this is a dream sequence of some sort. these aren't real deaths. (a smaller part of me was still scared that they were real because i know that Cellbit does not shy away from killing off his players' characters, if op and opq are anything to go by. but i digress.)

and then the characters turned to black goo. and i just about threw my computer. rip Luba who got absolutely targeted by the GM lmfao.

anyway uhhh that's about it regarding the dream sequence! loving luzidius!joui and how he just keeps switching back and forth. ((and it further supports my little side-theory that the mysterious blond woman last seen with Team Kelvin was a luzidious we win these.)) i was surprised to see Liz thinking it was so cool when she's been so suspicious of everything in Santo Berco since she got here, but i think she could definitely be using it as a distraction from what she just went through, and honestly she's just happy to see Joui is okay. (the way she gave on up words and just hugged him, the way she held his face in her hands, the way she dragged him down the hall to show Thiago and Thiago was just telling her to fuck off (/aff) because he was getting dressed, my heartttt i love these three, mentor-mentee dynamics my fucking beloved)

also new outfits! sweet! istg the new outfits are so Cellbit's way of apologizing for putting his friends through that. "hey sorry i killed your character in the most emotionally devastating way possible it will happen again wOAH LOOK AT THESE NEW CLOTHES AREN'T THEY SO COOL YOU SHOULD TRY THEM ON!!!"

i've been having mixed feelings about the sudden setting/genre change since the group arrived in Santo Berco. i really, really loved the urban horror-fantasy vibe that they had going on in op and the first 8 eps of osnf, but evidently, this is good as well. the genre is most definitely still horror yippee. i definitely miss the urban-modern setting, but i think i can get adjusted to this. (i'm just,,, not the biggest fan of the auto-heal crystals im sorry i had to say it they feel too op i know their use is limited to visiting the doctor but knowing they exist lowers the in-world stakes for me im sorry---)

anyway, ep 10! you beautiful monster! i have been typing for an hour! i need to go eat food! k bye!

[anxious-cookies]

Day 6 - Pride

“I’m Sorry” 

“ And.. and ... thank you. For everything” 

[kirua9]

Rank the diaboys?

Hey hii

I really didn't want you anon to wait for eternity, but sorry, I wanna express my stupid thoughts fully...

So here we go.

Worst to best diaboys imo, but I actually don't know which parameters of ranking to use here... anyways this is too subjective no matter how hard I'd try.

13. Mr. Kino 0 prince, 0 sense.

Honestly, I have no clue why rejet even thought about adding a new character, when they have rather new characters in the lore — the Tsukinamis. So at this point his existing is questionable for me, really... + I'm not really acknowledged of this character, I can't write dissertations about him, so he is more like "Kino... Who?..".

12. Shu aka Shoe aka perverted narcoleptic aka the main gay idk.

I think I've scramed in every corner how I hate... no, loathe him. Weak and boring. I'm not gonna lie, the type of a horny lazy guy who looks like a supermodel and has a depression sounds seductive, but... not when this fictional guy is Shu :/ .... But who knows, maybe thats because we really have OTHER OPTIONS to compare him with))) I mean, the very beginning of HDB route was kinda promising (idk for what), the scene when he lies down on the floor and sees Yui's underwear is such an iconic episode of some dark ecchi fiction, tho... that's all I really liked about him, and only because I love stupid ecchi harems.

11. Shin, aka :" what is wrong with amount of accessories on you ". Werewolfs werewolfs skies will brighten

Khm. I have nothing much to say about him. Applause. Well, actually, I only like his archetype of a character, I mean, he seems to be cocky, violent and the guts of the duet (with Carla), like he really could be a cool minor antagonist who carries more like a comedy rile in the show... Anyways, I just have high expectations for him.

10. Carla aka emo Karlheinz. Obviously he's going to be near his bro. He's a little but higher because of the Endezeit (srry if I wrote incorrectly) and the tragic fate he has as a result... That's always sad how such a mighty and (seemingly 👀) an immortal creature becomes that fragile (((((((. Tho I dislike his voice

Also I have high expectations...

9. Subaru aka Subaru (car)

I don't like him. Just from the first his appearance, why does he have to be a Sakura Haruno mode all the time punching something?... Jokes aside, for me he's a very annoying and not cute representation of a tsundere... I remember he really could run away because started blushing like... wtf🥰?. But I guess thus unstability is from his mother.... Guys making jokes of him being an "edgy emo", oml I don't know... he is a sakura haruno imo.

8. Azusa aka...he really doing drugs

Well... he is not a cinnamonroll sorry guys, no, not today... he's fate isn't dramatic but really sad, idk he makes me feel depressed, like, the guy realized he's living for pain:((( Also kinda manipulating, sometimes gives Yui the same comments as the other guys could , like "secretly you like being beaten etc, deep inside you desire this"... But he is...somehow represent himself as a victim too? That's why he's interesting for me. He said something like "I and Eve are the same" and my brain really interprets those word like being the weaker, knowing your place, feeling pain. Sick and sad.

7. Yuma aka the ordinary one. This is a good representation of a tsundere 🤡. Well, okay he's not a pure that type, but his temper annoys me LESS (like a lot) then Subaru's uncontrollable seizures of anger. Idk, Yuma is just fine. Yes, sometimes is rude, calls Yui the sow, but lol, he's the most adequate among Mukamis at least, thats the reason to feel honor....

(LOL Kaji from Evangelion and Yuma from DL would be good friends, cause "idk much about this life, Id rather water the plants )

6. Ayato the mascot. Okay, the most adequate among the Sakamakis, I guess. As the side character annoyed me asf, really, and sometimes was nasty in his own roote, but honestly, I have nothing against him. Sorry to everyone, Ayayui the best ship

He really has the balance of an ordinary teenager creature and the freaking vampire, I also like the comedy-side of this character, he is cute from time to time. Deserves to be a mascot, because obviously red hair means the main and has the suitable personality.

5. Kou. MEOW MEOW HELLO KITTY....

Honestly, when I've read his MB route for the first time I wanted someone to squeeze my eyes and then throw away. God. What the fck did a read.... But actually the character itself is written hella good. I love how hypocritical he is, the contrast between him having the immortality and the special eye but will eat from the floor as the dog because there were awful times in his life when he didn't have other choice but to eat anything and anyhow... thay is genuinely sad and he's the asshole, but I love trash and those kinda characters.

4. Kanato aka Lenore the cute little dead girl

There's something wrong with me, because shota's aren't my type (at all), BUT if there's a pshyco... hmm... eatable.

I mean Kanato is extremely annoying because he is always yelling, but he's not boring at all. Every chapter from his routes are like visiting the circus without clowns. But seriously, his character is more than just schizophrenic infantile tantrums, I believe he actually could be a more mature version of himself. Also wtf he's sometimes looks like a child and sometimes so damn seductive, dealing with him is playing with fire honestly...

3. Reiji, looks like a butler more than the butler.

Jokes about mama reiji will be taken offensive, tho they're a little bit true.

Hohoho. Sexy. Reiji gives black butler vibes tho I didn't watch the anime or read the manga, don't hate me because of that. Idk this is the character I really sympathize since HDB guess because he (one way or another) took the "responsibility" of the household, jeez he's unpaid manager... someone appreciate reiji pls. Idc when people say he's only "book-smart", idk he shows himself as the honorable man. Little crazy, but so fcking intelligent, so his behavior looks like a work of acting art. He's the perfect guy here. Also his routs are quite romantic, yet bizarre sometimes, because reiji is a sophisticated bitch...

2. Ruki aka the intj mode.

Honestly at first I thought he's the worst what could happen to me, but I didn't kill myself when I was reading his MB... That was 10000 times better than Kou's... (and I expected they'd be similar idk why).

So another "book-smart" tho as in the example above I don't really care, because my favorite part of Ruki is his own understanding that he is circled in the cycle of sins... He struggles a lot, because he wants a second chance (living as the immortal),but there's always been a question:" Does he deserve it?" Does a boy, who had better pay for his sins with his life, deserve this exact life with an urge to revenge the world?.. But he really understands that he's already sublimed by the depth of vice and has no other choice than just do something, now that's he is led by other man's will, the circle closes. And Ruki is so damn miserable guy, tho he doesn't show this much, but he's seen shit. Ofc he's an asshole, but the atrocity he went through is worse. That's why the bad endings are so heartbreaking, when he turns mad, kills everyone, because it seems like he flew up once and fell immediately... 💀

1. Laito aka mind-body-problem.

Laito is a treasure: has a fucked up backstory, miserable, im silent about his fcking thoughts about his life in LE💀, has a facade, sometimes annoying asf, but he's a vulnerable soul, it's so painful to realize how sweet he actually would be, if there weren't some of consequences....

He suffers a lot, I mean, yeah, every diaboy suffers in "their own unique way" but idk in Laito's case his pain is the most heartbreaking. The conflict of a person with the fate/world is fascinating, but the inner conflict is just mind blowing. And I'm... I'm a suckered for such things. Welcome to the club of eating glass guys, I've always been there, yeah, I like to cry with a good reason, especially if it's about fictional characters 😀.

Really Laito's whole image (with all the facades and the true feelings) is an icon. Literally perfect for me, so damn interesting character...

[sleepy-belphie]

I have a request if you’re up for it. An MC who just arrived in the Devildom who’s lover just dumped them the day prior. The bros know MC isn’t emotionally or romantically available at the time but the bros still fall in love regardless. How will the bros handle the situation? Thank you! 🙏💗

Hi! I sort of took this idea and ran with it and wrote basically a headcanon short story for each bro lmao. Sorry I got a bit carried away but I hope you like this and it satisfies you! :) 

Also thank you so much @midnight-dome for the help with Asmo, you’re a lifesaver

Tags: @kawaiiblack

~~~~~

Lucifer:

The success of the program depends on your wellbeing

So he checks in on you every other day like clockwork 

“Is there anything you need to make your stay more comfortable?”

You always say no

At first, he’s glad you’re staying in 

Because it means less trouble for him

But when you skip all of your classes one day, he comes to your room ready to give you a firm reminder of your tasks here

He’s about to knock when he hears you sob 

Now, Lucifer has heard a lot of crying in his life

But he’s never heard someone sound so completely broken

He shocks himself when he turns on his heels and walks away

He shocks himself even more when he texts the group chat and demands everyone leaves you alone for the day

That evening he comes into your room with a small plate of food

By then you were are least on top of your sheets

You knew he was gonna ask the same question as always

But this time, his words were different

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Help?” 

He simply nods

And though he didn’t outright say what he meant by help, you knew

“I...don’t know?”

“Hm, okay. I’m going to listen to some music in my study. The door will be unlocked should you wish to join me.”

Then he’s gone

The few precious moments Lucifer isn’t working, he prefers to not be disturbed

So why on earth did he invite you to join him in his study?

He doesn’t have time to ponder it because the door opens and you come in with a blanket wrapped around you

The first night you both listen in comfortable silence

A few nights in, you start asking Lucifer about the records he puts on and he has no qualms educating you on it

On night 10 you tell him about the breakup

Once you’re done he, again, asks the same question

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

‘You’ve done more than enough to help me Lucifer, thank you.”

He finds himself blushing from the sincerity in your eyes and the warmth in your smile

That night you fall asleep before the record finishes

Surely you’d wake up aching if he left you in a chair

So he picks you up, carries you to your room, and tucks you into bed carefully

He tells himself he’s doing it for Diavolo

It’s for the program, this is his job

He’s gonna need time to accept his own feelings before he can tell you anything

For now, he’ll keep doing his “job” and spending evenings with you

Mammon:

He didn’t want to be your babysitter

He was a busy guy! He had stuff to do, money to make, things to steal

Some days he gets Beelzebub to keep an eye on you so he can do what he wants

One night in particular he heads to your room to make sure you won’t interfere with his plans

“Yo! The Great Mammon has things to do so don’t-”

He pauses when he sees you sitting on your bed with your headphones plugged into your laptop

He would have assumed you were just watching a sad movie by the tears streaks on your face

But the pain in your eyes…

He’s seen that look before

His brothers held that same look the day they fell from Heaven and lost Lilith

Mammon sits on the bed and you jump, finally noticing him

You expected him to make fun of you but instead, he grabs the tissue box on your bedside table and hands it to you

He glances at your laptop to see what you were watching and sees a paused video of you and someone else

You tell him about the breakup and Mammon listens closely

“What a jerk! Ya deserve better than that! I’d teach ‘em a lesson if they ever showed their face around here!”

You smile for the first time since he came in the room and he feels like he’s done something right

“How about we get some late-night food? I know a 24-hour restaurant with the best baked newt ever. Your treat.”

He’s shocked when you agree

He makes a point to hang out with you more often

He can’t recall exactly when you went from “a human” to “his human” 

Maybe it was when you held his hand while you erased all your photos and videos of your ex from your computer

Or when you texted him at 3am because you couldn’t sleep and before he could even think about it he was up and on his way to your room

Or when he spotted you in one of his jackets while walking home from RAD

But his greed was kicking in and he wanted you to be his and only his

However, much like he puts himself first, he knows you need to do the same

So though his nature and mind wants to kiss you silly and have you for himself

Part of him knows he’ll ruin things if he lets his greed take over

So he’ll fight his nature and try his best to be patient

Leviathan:

He had been playing one of his games online

He’s on a big winning streak and feeling a bit cocky

He sees he’s been matched with someone else so he gets into gamer mode 

Then he loses the first round

He’s a bit shocked and pissed that his streak was now broken but he has to prove his superiority to whoever this opponent was

So he rematches them

And loses again

And again

He loses 7 rounds in a row

By this point he is fuming

So like any salty gamer he sends a very lengthy, angry message to their inbox

Accusing them of using cheats and hacks because there was no way anyone was more skilled than him at this game

He gets a reply a few minutes later

“Um.....is this Leviathan? Avatar of Envy? It’s MC…”

You knew it was Levi because his username is the same across all his social media platforms

Cue Levi barreling into your room a minute later

“How are you so good!? You’re cheating, aren’t you!? You cheater!’

You weren’t cheating, you just had been playing games day in and day out to distract yourself so you got really good at it

Levi all but demands you to come to his room and show him what you know

You were already playing all night anyway so why not play with someone? 

Initially, Levi would have you come over just to show him your tactics 

(Also to get some team wins on his stats because he never has anyone to play with)

But you were actually pretty chill for a normie

Maybe if he exposed you to his otaku ways you would take to them and he wouldn’t be the only one in the house anymore!

You don’t become an otaku but you do get invested in almost every anime he shows you

He starts inviting you over for midnight premieres of new episodes

He starts buying extra merch because what if you wanted one?

He was used to disproving looks from his brothers when he mass buys stuff from Akuzon

But you only smile and listen when he tells you about his new special edition item

You never once judged him and his unconventional ways

This epiphany makes him extra nervous for your weekly hangouts

It was only a matter of time before you came across a break up in an anime

When the episode ended you told him about your break up and how the protagonist reminded you of yourself because they also were taking a break from love

Levi has seen this anime before actually

He remembers how the protagonist reacted to a side character confessing to them and it went bad

So while he knows he likes you, he holds off on saying anything because the last thing he wants is to be a bad story arc in your life

Lucky for him he’s always a flustered blushing mess so you shouldn’t suspect a thing

Satan:

He is the Avatar of Wrath so whenever there is rage, he is aware

He feels anger radiating through the house one day and thinks his brothers are just fighting again

Imagine his surprise when he realizes the source of the anger is coming from your room

He walks in and sees you throwing things around and screaming, your room was destroyed

He sees you’re about to step on some glass and instantly swoops in and picks you up so you don’t hurt yourself

But then you curl up against him and burst into tears

He stands there, not quite sure what to do 

He ends up sitting on the bed and letting you cry for a while

You word vomit about your break up and he listens carefully and notes the anger welling up inside you as you speak

He knows all too well what anger can do to someone and a fragile human shouldn’t have to go through that

“Would you like some tea?”

He can spare 30 minutes for some small talk with the human if it meant that you wouldn’t be left in your thoughts

You look at him like he has three heads but agree because your room is a mess and you don’t wanna deal with it right now

Tea time becomes a daily occurrence and soon enough it escalates to full-on hangouts

Going to the bookstore, going to cat cafes, going wherever you wanted to really

One time you both took a day trip to the human world

Lucifer wasn’t happy to find out his brother and you were gone for an entire day but he lets it go when he sees that you’re smiling genuinely for the first time in weeks

What Satan didn’t expect was how these outings made him feel

He finds himself distracted from his books because he can’t stop thinking about how cute you looked holding that black cat at the cafe

Or how happy you looked when you took him to that ice cream shop in your hometown that you really love

He wakes up and you’re the first thing to pop into his mind

He’s not dumb, he knows he’s fallen in love

But he also knows this isn’t the right time, you aren’t ready

So he’ll keep being there for you as a friend

And if you ever want him to be there as something more, he’ll happily oblige

Asmodeus:

There was a movie night at the House of Lamentation

Today’s movie was an action movie, courtesy of Mammon

Amidst all the face punching and explosions, there was a budding romance between the main characters

After the third obnoxious makeout scene, you leave the room claiming you need to go to the restroom

But you leave just a *little* too fast and Asmo can feel something is up

And he thrives on gossip so he intends to find out what is it

He leaves the room a few minutes later and catches you in the hallway, determined to get you to spill the tea

You tell him about the breakup

He wasn’t prepared for the tea to be so bitter

“Oh. Well, you know what’s good for that? Face masks!” 

He had to save face somehow and beauty was his default

He’s a bit shocked when you agree but you both ditch movie night to do face masks and talk a bit

He decides to share a couple of bad date experiences he’s had to make you feel better

“Trust me, you haven’t felt embarrassment until you have someone vomit Enfield brains on your new pants and shoes while at one of the hottest clubs in the Devildom.”

You spent the entire night giggling and listening to his stories

Devildom products are surprisingly effective on your skin so you keep asking Asmo to show you new products

Plus his company is nice

Self-care days become a common occurrence

Then those self-care days become self-care sleepovers

He starts intentionally waiting to try anything new because he wants you to be there when he does

He buys more of those scented candles you told him smelled nice

A few weeks later you’re having a self-care sleepover again and you have this really cute focused look on your face while painting your nails

He knows he likes you, but this was different than his usual attraction

He didn’t want to fuck you

Well he did but not just fuck you

He wouldn’t mind if there was something more

But you routinely ended your self-care nights by yelling ‘Fuck love!’ at the top of your lungs and laughing

So he knows now isn’t the time and he’s actually okay with that

You were a sight to behold regardless of his relationship status with you

But he hopes you’ll indulge in him one day

Beelzebub:

Mammon keeps pushing his human watching duties on Beel

But he doesn’t really care because he’s being paid in cheesecake

After his third day of keeping an eye on you, he notices you aren’t eating much

Being the Avatar of Gluttony, this is basically a crime

He starts bringing extra snacks with him when he hangs out with you

“I think the chocolate flavor is better than the vanilla. What do you think?”

He actually doesn’t have a preference 

He just wants to know which snacks you like more so he can bring more of them

He makes a game out of it so you don’t think about how much you’re eating

“It motivates me to work out longer when I get a snack, could you help me?”

You sit on his back and after every pushup, you both eat a bit of whatever snack he has

He keeps going until he thinks you’ve eaten a decent amount

Or you say you’re getting full

Belphie notices that Beel is refilling his snack stash more often but he doesn’t say anything

Beel feels an immense sense of accomplishment when you finish your plate at dinner a few days later

Soon after you tell him about the breakup

“It hit me hard but you made it easier to cope, Beel. These hangouts are the highlight of my day so thank you.”

There’s a certain pang Beel gets in his stomach when he’s really hungry

Somehow your words made that pang happen in his chest

But this didn’t hurt him, quite the opposite actually

He felt good, he felt happy

It was strange for his stomach to be the quiet one while his heart went wild

But this wasn’t a change he minded too much

He wasn’t sure what to make of it but he knows he wants to figure it out with you

And he’ll take his time doing so because he liked how things were now

Belphegor:

He’s intrigued by you after the first week of your stay

He’s never seen a human who slept as much as he did

Frankly, he was impressed

Until Lucifer informed everyone about your recent breakup and made it clear to not upset you

That’s when Belphie realized these were not the leisurely naps he takes, but depression naps

One day he sees you sleeping in the living room and you looked so distressed

Sleeping was meant to be a peaceful state but you looked so unhappy

So he wakes you up

“You’re in my sleeping spot.”

You weren’t in his sleeping spot.

“Oh sorry, I’ll move-”

“You’re already here. We can both fit.” 

Before you can protest he’s all comfy next to you and falling back asleep

Having another person next to you was kind of comforting so you let it go and go back to sleep

What you didn’t know was Belphie could partially influence your dreams

He can make them more pleasant but he can’t control what you dream about

He knows it works when he wakes up and you have a relaxed expression on your sleeping face

You wake up soon after looking confused

“Good dream?”

“I think? I had a dream I rode a unicorn to the moon then carved my initials into it?”

Napping together in the living room becomes a routine

And every time you woke up you told him about the dream you had with a small smile

A few weeks later he notices he no longer has to influence your dreams for them to be good

So he leaves you be and instead curls up in the attic for his afternoon nap

He wakes up a bit when he feels someone lay down next to him

It’s probably Beel

“Why didn’t you tell me you moved napping spots?”

His eyes open and he looks over to see you pouting at him

“I just sorta ended up here.”

“Well, I can’t nap without my cuddle buddy now can I?”

You’re teasing him and he should be annoyed

But he’s blushing

He spoons you to hide that fact, resting his forehead on your shoulder

But while your dreams were getting better, it didn’t mean you were ready to move on

So he just enjoys his intimate cuddling sessions with you and tries not to think too hard about the fact that he really likes how your body fits against his

[geminidentitycrisis]

The Scent of Leather and Hairspray

Present Mic/Hizashi Yamada x F!reader ONESHOT

(WARNINGS! - swearing)

---------

Sooooooo, I have a new favorite Pro, I guess haha

I hope you enjoy, and if you're underage, pretend you're older because I get it, I'd be Hot For Teacher too, but he's not a pedo sorry......

----------

You sighed as, upon exiting the store where you just purchased a frozen drink, the men you passed to enter that store started catcalling you. Just what you needed at the end of a rough day...

"Hey Honey, you'd be cuter if you smiled...!"

"Don't listen to that shit, babygirl, you're sexy as hell, c'mere and hang out a while...?"

Ignoring them the best you could, you kept walking, but they didn't take that very well. "You think you're too good for us, that it, stuck up bitch? Where you think you're goin'?"

You could hear their footsteps approaching behind you and turned to face them after sipping from your drink.

"Guys, please, I've had a hell of a day today and my quirk would probably scar you both for life and what do you say we just don't do this, huh?"

They exchanged glances before fixing you with threatening glares. "You think you're tough, babygirl? We'll see how tough you are when we get through teaching you some respect..." the first one said.

"HEY!"

A voice called from behind you and suddenly an arm was draped gently around your neck. You froze, being caught off guard tended to prompt a panic response when you were so tired.

You smelled leather and an overwhelming scent of hairspray.

"What's the trouble, my homies? Pretty sure ya heard the lady, she ain't jammin' to the vibe ya layin' down, ya dig? Beat it."

Heart skipping a beat or two, your eyes grew wide and a blush flooded your cheeks. "That voice...?!"

You whipped your head up to see the one and only Present Mic.

"Ah! I knew it! I knew I recognized your voice, I catch your radio show every day! You're the Sound Hero, Present Mic!" he flashed a grin down at you, winking.

"Oooh, you've got good ears, Listener! Thanks for Hypin' me up like that! Always great ta meet a FAAAN!" he responded in his commentator voice.

One of your would be tormentors interrupted angrily. "Hey, peacock head, why don't you mind your business?"

"PEACOCK...?! You boys best get ta steppin', aight?! Don't make me beat you up in fronta this pretty girl!" he replied in annoyance after his attention was so aggressively stolen from you.

The blush came back in full force and you couldn't contain a dreamy sigh as your lashes fluttered, eyes lidding contentedly now that you felt safe again.

*he said I was pretty~!* you thought.

"You believe this banana hair lookin' motherfucker? You're about to get your ass whooped, fruity!" the other threatened.

"Hey bro, watch your language! There's a lady here!" with the arm around your shoulders, Mic carefully raised it and guided you behind himself as the two started walking towards you both.

"Enough..."

Another voice came suddenly from the other side of the parking lot and everyone, with the exception of the blonde who was guarding you, turned to see Eraserhead.

Suddenly these jerks weren't so confident.

"Get lost, both of you, and go straight home or I'll bring the two of you in right now for loitering and harassment." he said calmly but with deep authority.

Mic crossed his arms, glaring at the duo as they ran off after a mere moment of hesitation, his cheeks puffed out slightly. "What a couple creepozoids! You okay, Pussy Cat...?" he quickly spun around to check you out, striking a dramatic pose while pointing at you, the trademark grin already back in place.

You smiled up at him with admiration sparkling in your eyes, clasping the cup you held in both hands and tight to your chest, stepping closer to him.

"Yes, thanks to you! You're my Hero~!"

Mic felt his own chest swell with pride a bit, the grin on his face getting bigger as he relaxed his stance and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

Usually by now the damsel has already flung herself on Aizawa, but not only were you praising him, you recognized him from just his voice and he was impressed at that.

"I can't believe I was just rescued by my favorite Pro, I am your #1 fan! Please, are you patrolling the city tonight? Please let me buy you a coffee or tea or something?? Just as a thank you...?"

Hizashi laughed rather loudly, one hand emerging from his pocket to be placed over his chest.

"HAHA! Aaaww, how can I say NO when you ask so sweetly?! Coffee sounds like a rockin' idea right about now!"

"Ugh, we don't have time for this, Mic..." Eraserhead complained tiredly.

Eyes rolling in exasperation, the blonde groaned twice as loud. "ugGHHH!! Don't be such a buzzkill, yo! I'll get you one, too, just chill!" with that, he trailed after you back into the store.

You watched as he doctored up the coffee you poured for him, blushing again when he threw a hint of a smirk your way, using the tip of his finger to lift the gold tinted shades he wore and showing you his emerald green eyes. "Don't worry, I'll pay for my boring friend..."

Smiling, you bounced on your heels. "Damn right you will, I'm not HIS fangirl, after all..."

This promoted a slight blush to his face, but he maintained that knockout grin. "Ha! Well, good thing his best friend is here at least, lucky for him I tagged along tonight, huh??"

"Lucky for both of us..." came your soft reply from over your shoulder as you turned to walk away, your hips swaying temptingly had definitely not escaped his notice.

He followed you to the checkout counter and placed some money beside yours, his ungloved fingertips brushing against your own when he does. Leaning down closer to you, he cocked his head, pushing his shades down his nose this time and raising a brow.

"Does my #1 fan have a name...?"

Your smile bloomed again, blushing up at him. "It's  _______...but I might prefer you calling me Pussy Cat...~"

Saying that last bit, you applied a sensual undertone which he picked up on instantly, making his blush spread over his face and grow darker as he chuckled in amusement.

When you guys walked out the door, you noticed Eraserhead seemed really annoyed but tried to ignore him, looking up at the Voice Hero hopefully.

"Listen, I know you're both busy, but if you have just one more second to spare, I can't tell you how much it would mean to me if I could get your autograph..."

Looking away awkwardly, he made a pained expression. "Aw, man, I dunno, we are kinda in a hurry here and stuff..."

You felt your heart sinking when he startled you with another loud laugh. "Hahaha, gotcha! JK! Of course I will, I ain't gonna leave ya hangin' like that, no way, that ain't my STYYYYYYYYLLLE!"

Giddy with excitement, you let out a tiny squeal, quickly fishing out a small notebook and pen from your purse as he set the cups down. When you handed it to him, his fingers brushed yours again, making you bite tenderly at your bottom lip.

They were so warm and soft...

He had started to whistle a cheerful little tune as he spun the pen between his fingers before starting to write in your book, it took longer than you expected, clearly longer than Eraser expected, too.

"Say goodbye to the girl, Mic, it's time to keep moving!" he didn't yell, exactly, too lazy, but he had raised his voice since last.

"YEAH, YEAH, I HEARD YA!!! Gimme a sec, ALRIGHT?!" the volume of the blonde's reply actually made your eardrums flinch and quiver this time, but you smiled anyway as he defended you again.

"There ya go! And hey, just to spite my buddy over there, I wouldn't mind walkin' ya home ta make sure ya get there safe."

The blush came right back, clutching the book to your heart, you gave a weak smile. "No, no, it's okay, really...I took up too much of your time already, and I only live around the corner from here..."

Eyes closing momentarily while you gathered yourself, you took a deep breath before confessing. "...I cannot express how grateful I am for you...not just for saving me tonight, but also for your talk show, hearing your voice over the radio gives me strength and motivation every week...it means the world to me...thank you..."

Beckoning him by flexing a finger, you stood on your tiptoes and pressed a sweet kiss against his cheek when he leaned in curiously.

Eyes widening, his whole face became scarlet red and his grin stretched from ear to ear. "AW, YEAH!"

He jumped, pumping his fists in the air and then proceeded to shoot you with his finger guns while  winking again. "Listen, I dropped my digits on that piece'a paper ya got there, Shawty...hit me up sometime if ya wanna chill! I'm down for whatever!"

You were caught off guard by that and checked the page he signed for you, finally reading what he wrote down as he rambled on as background noise about how he wasn't a creep like those other guys and you could say no without worrying about him making a scene, he just had to shoot his shot, I mean you DID kiss ME first ya know...

"For my #1 fan, _______...Thanks for the coffee and stay outta trouble! ...and maybe call or shoot a txt, if your feelin' this funky vibe, too? Live loud, Pussy Cat ;) don't ever let anyone try an put the mute on ya! XOXOX PRESENT MIC!!!"

Followed by his phone number, and there were little hearts drawn around the page.

You were already blushing when he surprised you again by returning your gesture and swooping in to plant a kiss on your cheek this time.

Reaching up to touch the spot, you smiled up at him shyly. "I can't wait...please be safe out there..."

"You got it! SEE YA SOON!" The Pro nodded vigorously, giving an enthusiastic wave of goodbye before grabbing his and Eraserhead's drinks, practically bouncing with every step.

It made you giggle, but you were trying not to get your hopes up too much. For all you knew, he gave his number out to every girl that asked him for a signature.

"Are you happy now...?" Shouta grumbled, taking the cup being offered as he turned to resume patrolling. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! HECK YEAH I AM! I'M ON CLOUD NINE RIGHT NOW, I JUST MET MY FUTURE WIFE!!!!!!!!"

You heard him very clearly, the blush traveling all the way down your neck this time, and you couldn't help another small giggle, your heart fluttering with happiness like the wings of the butterflies in your belly.

He just had that effect on you.

Glancing down at the notebook in your hand as you sipped your quickly melting frosty, you noticed in the bottom right corner was a little arrow, below which was written the word "flip".

You looked up again but the two Pro Heroes were already gone.

Curiously, you flipped over the page.

MARRY ME?!?!!

a. YES!!!!!

b. a

c. b

That smooth sonuvabitch had you blushing and giggling all night.

[fashournalist]

When I was in college, I asked someone what was the best Kdrama she ever watched, of all time. She has seen several Korean TV series already. And she gave me one answer.

I just got to watch that series now. And I can say the same. I still haven't seen a lot of shows, but I think I just watched the best Kdrama of all time. Thanks to my two colleagues who recommended this recently, too!

Reply 1988 💕

The nostalgia, the family dynamics, the strong friendships and ties, the lovely neighbourhood, the realism of it all, and then the love between the eight couples in the show. It's my first time to feel second lead syndrome as well! I was team JH from the very beginning, although I also loved CT and all of them. DR made me smile all the time because of his humour.

I couldn't count how many times I laughed and cried. Starting from the second episode, I cried like a baby when Sung Dong Il and Choi Taek talked about losing their moms. I cried during the wedding, especially when they were reading the letters! I never cried because of any wedding scene before in any other show. But Reply 1988 was that powerful.

While it's usual for me to cry because of shows, it's the very first time I cried tears of joy because of a scene. The time they surprised Ra Mi-Ran on her birthday gave me happy tears. I just felt the spirit of the community so much. I actually felt I was their neighbour the whole time and I was so sad when the show ended.

I get overwhelmed with lengthy dramas, but Reply 1988 was worth every second. See, I've watched a lot recently, such as Breaking Bad, CLOY, My Mister, but it's only now that I wrote about something I watched again. Not that the previous three weren't good (BB and MM are definitely great and critically acclaimed), but it's just that Reply 1988 made me feel so many emotions at once.

I also missed my barkada when I was in second and third grade, because like Deok sun who had four bros, my barkada at that time were four boys. But eventually, I was the only one left in the Philippines. One migrated to Ireland when we were in fourth grade. Another migrated to New Zealand. And in high school, another one of us migrated to Canada. After college, the last of us in the Philippines (aside from me) pursued his dream to be a seaman, and he now travels around the world. I'm proud of them all as they reached where they are now, but I just can't help but imagine what if we lived in the same neighborhood from childhood to adulthood, too?

All these happy Reply 1988 scenes really made me nostalgic. As for childhood friends, I'm happy I'm still in touch with Beverly, my CSBTF. She was the only girl I was close with back then because the rest of my pals as a kid were boys. But Beverly proved to be my sister-from-another-mom until today. Our friendship is turning 17 years old this June!

Reply 1988 is that show that makes you wish you were part of the Ssangmun community, but at the same time, it makes you revisit your own childhood. Sigh. Now I just can't stop reading analysis and comments about it. I could write more but it isn't the weekend.