#i am still so... flabbergasted??? shocked doesn't cut it

[reverseflashes]

@the-emerald-defender ikr!! this is beyond dc wanting to guarantee wally and his kids' legacy as the future of flash comics. these execs literally have it out for a fictional character!!

[sanctus-ingenium]

answering your asks vol 3

Full context for the Inprnt issue can be found here on this post , tl;dr my shop is closed until I receive my payments from inprnt in a timely manner and essentially won't reopen unless they clean up their act. Regarding the money they owe me outlined in that post, I still have not received it and on Friday I sent a support ticket in to inprnt demanding they send it soon. Haven't heard back since. I think where Inprnt is concerned, it's worth mentioning that they no longer send promotional emails (which used to be a regular occurrence) and there seems to be a complete lack of communication and the only thing about the site that regularly updates is the sale banner (ending soon!!! 🙄)

So honestly I'm of the opinion that the print on demand bubble has burst and that this method of selling art was a very short-lived feature of an internet that doesn't exist anymore. Think about it - I make money on a sale after having spent nothing on promotion, on materials, on postage fees, etc. It's so easy to game the system using bots or stolen art to essentially print free money that I'm shocked it even lasted as long as it did. Maybe I'm wrong but I won't tie myself to another print on demand service that's just going to pull the same old shit redbubble and inprnt have done this year, or one that requires me to constantly promo it like some kind of influencer on instagram or tiktok or whatever.

Will prints come back? I hope so. I am looking into local printing shops and considering the feasibility of handling the process myself but you must understand that if I do that, the price will rise. I won't have the ability to run constant discounts or eat a loss if I order 20 prints and only 7 sell. It is what it is.

And the actual worldbuilding asks below the cut lol:

(referring to this post)

Only if you want to! I've had a few people send me cool sketches and stuff via dms and it's always nice to see but you really shouldn't feel pressured to. After all it's not like I post my rough practice here lol (that goes on patreon ;)

-

I'm going to be SO real with you right now - I did not consider that at all. However I do know that tinting flames with various chemical compounds was a huge part of alchemy, part of the whole flashy show of it to impress the layperson. So sure, I bet they do throw in copper sulfate or various other chemicals to produce the coloured flames - these make a huge impression on witnesses who might not even have imagined such a thing possible, and also help identify a holy beast at a distance on a battlefield choked with smoke and dive-bombing serpents.

Fun fact, the flames come from the furnace wells, right. Each well is connected to specific systems, where it can most efficiently deliver fuel to the heart and onwards. So it is possible to 'read' the pattern of flame bursts from the furnace slits - they are not constant, but there'll be one every few seconds based on when the furnace tenders excite each well. You can tell at a distance, for example, that Leun is readying an acid spray, or rerouting power to the rear legs for a leap, or even what direction he's turning. It all runs at a slight delay, which is why the crew inside has to be SO closely coordinated.

-

@absolutely-flabbergasted Knights are allowed to reproduce but not marry, because it's sort of accepted theory that blood relatives of a knight will be 'accepted' by the knight's beast when the time comes. This is not true but it means that sometimes the knight's apprentices are their own children. The other parent is mostly another member of the church and usually not identified or considered important (unless they're a smith...). There are usually a decent number of known knight bastards running about.

Smiths are not allowed to have families or marry, because their first devotion should be to their art or their beast if they are assigned to one. If one tries, the kids are taken away, anonymised with new names, and put into the pool of potential novices in some other stable. Now, in reality some stables or churches are just not that strict and have a slightly different culture, so there's often an Open Secret about some master smith's illegitimate family or a priest's secret mistress. This is tolerated by the authorities to a certain degree but if it becomes too rampant there'll usually be a change of management and some sort of crackdown.

Families who give up their second born cannot stay in contact, but if the child becomes successful in some way (say, if the child becomes a knight) the families are sent tokens symbolising this which can be placed in the family/village shrine. This can be a huge point of pride, with some people faking the tokens just so that they can show off about their successful kids that are totally knight apprentices.

The reason they don't get to stay in touch with their children is due to the secretive nature of the church and its arts. The church has been at war with the neighbouring nations for a long time and only its mastery of engine work has kept it afloat, and nobody wants these secrets to fall into enemy hands. Particularly if your kid goes on to become a scribe, which is if anything an even more closely guarded profession than that of a knight (those engine diagrams don't draw themselves). The laity are usually quite devout and understanding of this. If they aren't, they might attempt to find their child, often without success.

If you want your church kid back: it depends. If you can prove to the church authorities that you need your child's labour to stay afloat or to carry on the family line, they might take that into consideration. Of course, the only children that return are the likes of sweepers, cleaners, altar boys, pages, etc. Nobody who might have witnessed any Secrets. The church is best understood as being in the middle of a cold war for the past few centuries (and sometimes just regular war) so it's far more closely guarded.

-

@kicks-tiktaalik-back-into-water

It's not likely. Even if the ventilation system worked perfectly, he is still from an older generation of holy beasts and no longer represents the pinnacle of the technology. Leun might have a less sophisticated ventilation system but everything else about him is head and shoulders more advanced - including the crew number he can take on. Leun only requires a single enginesmith in the heart, for example. This is because there's more automation of his systems, and he can actually manage to walk home from battle without anybody inside at all, just based on the knight's input (because the throne chamber is open to the air the knights are technically not inside the beasts). It's not preferable (it can damage the systems) but it is a huge bonus.

Think about how in the early days of commercial aviation, there could be as many as eight people working on the flight deck. In the 60s, a 3-person crew was standard; captain, first officer, and flight engineer. Today there are only two pilots needed. This is down to increased automation, and it means that it is cheaper to fly the plane - the airline has to hire fewer pilots, 'flight engineer' is a nonexistent role these days, and that means you need to train fewer people, have fewer people on call, feed fewer people etc etc. It is cheaper for the church to run Leun than it is to run Krokodilos and even though the church is wealthy, the money and resources are not infinite. Especially now, in times of plague. Leun, for all everybody sings his praises, is basically a reskinned Pantera with better systems - again, cutting costs, because now we can get all of Pantera's old enginesmiths to work on him instead of having to train up new ones on a brand new and wholly unique platform. It's as much a matter of logistics as it is innovation and technology.

[sp1lled-lemon4de]

All pretty n shy

Characters: Mina Ashido x sub!male

Fandom: MHA (My Hero Academia)

Genre: sfw and nsfw???

(Mdni!! Nsfw down below)

______________

• Mina is such a cool person ngl and she is quite bubbly.

•if you aren't all that into pda she is completely fine with that, I personally feel like she would usually wrap her hands around your shoulder or hold your hands

• but if you aren't into that, she is ok with it, she would probably just stand really close to you.

•I don't see her getting jealous much, I feel like she is extremely playful.

•with that being said, your shy and quiet nature is kind of a big contrast to our pink princess.

•she is usually the one to initiate any activities, but sometimes you might take the lead by acting very clingy or wtv else.

•Mina knows your on and offs and is capable of adjusting just for you.

• She especially doesn't hold back from teasing you and loving you up in public and in private.

______________

Today wasn't a cold day, so you didn't have a reason to be wearing a hoodie, but since Mina decided to mark you everywhere last night you decided to cover up using it.

You were quite tired from the night before, her actions still lingering on your mind.

Your mind wandered to her on top of you and her hips bounced up and down on your length.

The light from your bedtime lamp shining on her pretty pink skin, and a gorgeous hot pink blush on her face that faded down on her shoulder and chest.

The sight of her lifting her hips up and off of you as you finished inside her, ropes of your cum dripping down and her sweet praises ringing through your ears only to be cut off by her voice-

"Y/n!, gosh, so lost in your thoughts for what" she folds her arms and pouts.

"So sorry Mina, I was uh- yeah lost in thought" your arm awkwardly made it up to your neck.

Suddenly you found yourself praying and hoping Mina didn't have some second quirk which was mind reading because the way she was smirking at you was driving you insane you swore your legs were shaking.

"Yes yes, whatever, but Y/n..."

You turned to face her, you raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"why are you covering my-"

You immediately cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say...

How were you supposed to reply, and in public, what and why is she asking that, its not embarrassing but it is.

"aw you don't like them, I'll stop~"

"N-no! Uh don't...please.."

she raised an eyebrow "if you like it why are you covering it?" She teased

"well, wait before you think I'm embarrassed, I will confirm, yes I am"

at that she laughed, she was getting a kick out of it but decided to stop.

She rested her hand on your shoulder "ah don't need to explain, I understand"

she pecked your cheek and you swore that you heard her whisper in your ear "I'll leave more tonight" and she went on with her day, leaving you standing there flabbergasted shocked.

________

Notes: haven't been posting on this app in a while, anyway this was a request form one of my followers, I really hope you like it ^^ anyway rainbow tags below have a wonderful day lovelies! Sorry this is so short 😪

(TAGS BELOW)

[toomuchracket]

okay but I would love your thoughts on what the boys reactions are when flatmate! matty and you finally get together!!

like obviously they wouldn't be shocked, I imagine they even had a bet on but I would love if just one of them was genuinely flabbergasted. in my mind it's ross bc he just seems oblivious and takes mattys incessant "we're just close mates!!!" seriously bc him and matty are just close mates so why wouldn't you be?

I imagine you invite them all over and matty makes them sit down and you go make tea and coffee for everyone. you bring it in and sit next to matty and go "okay so we have some news-" and matty is just so fucking excited he interrupts you and just goes "WE'RE DATING SHES MY GIRLFRIEND AND WE'RE IN LOVE" and you're like "babe!!! woah!!! give the men a second to breath!! (but i love you too that was very sweet)" The immediate reaction is a groan from George, a smile from Adam and a completely shocked face from Ross. at first matty is like "George??? that's the worst reaction ever?? you're meant to be my best mate and-" George just cuts him off and goes "matty I am really happy for you but couldn't you have got together literally a week later? now I adam £20." this causes him and Adam to burst out laughing whilst you and matty just sit there shocked (Ross is also shocked but that's because he still hasn't processed that you're together lol)

Ross eventually says "...but you always said you were just mates???" and Adam is like "Ross love, seriously did you see them in bed together cuddling? or how about when they dance in the kitchen together when they make breakfast and tea for eachother? or when matty hears her sniffle once and goes bat shit crazy and gets 200 tissues and loads of cough sweets? it was pretty fucking clear those two idiots were head over heels!" the whole time they've been looking at eachother during this convo so Ross looks over to you two for confirmation of this shocking turn of events and just sees you staring longingly into eachothers eyes and he's like "fucking hell have they always looked at eachother like that?" and adam and George just do a slow nod and Ross says "god I'm stupid"

aaaaaaaah this shit is SO CUTE. kind of obsessed with the idea that adam's the first to know/notice that you and matty are in love with each other actually - like because he's so easy to talk to and kind, both you and matty inadvertently end up just letting your guards down a bit and gushing about the other to adam. and he doesn't say anything to either of you about how the other feels, he just does a classic adam hann knowing look (you know the vibe) and waits to see how long it'll take one of you to admit it. and then adam and george are chatting in rehearsal one day and you and matty are being cute with each other in the corner (fuck knows where ross is... off somewhere being sexy as per usual probs), and george nudges adam and goes "look at the pair of them" and he tells adam about how domestic the two of you are at home and that he had said you were like a married couple. adam's like "they've both been pining for the other to me for years its insane. maybe now you've said something they'll realise and get together now. i bet it'll happen this weekend". george is like "hmmm no they're both too stubborn to admit it so soon. give it another week to sink in" and they literally put a bet on it lmao. but i don't even think it's like a planned reveal when they find out you and matty are together, i think the boys are just over at the flat chilling and you and matty kiss in front of them (like how you used to do head kisses, just a casual kiss on the lips as you pass each other) and the boys are like WHAT WAS THAT and matty's like "oh yeah we're a thing now turns out we've been in love with each other for a while lol. but now it's official" and then the exchange about the bet happens, like you said. ross really is in shock though - he's like "i've played wingman for both of you so many times??? you were in love with each other and living in the same flat and i was wingmanning you so you could take other people home???" and matty's like "yeah lol we both literally just realised on saturday night that it was requited love". and ross thinks for a minute and goes "wait i literally wingmanned you on saturday night WTF???" and you're like "yeah and then he came in to ask me for a condom and decided he wanted to shag me instead lol" and matty's like "babe please it was making love not shagging" and the boys are like "ok we're happy for you but please shut the fuck up now" lmao <3

[sweetestlamb]

Flashlight

Author's note: Wasn't episode 8 just lovely? I just couldn't get this out of my head, they're becoming so dependent on each other. Be still my beating heart. They're reminding me of my MoonMun couple so much and I think that explains my obsession and the amount of fics I've written thus far lol.

Summary: Just for tonight he'll be selfish.

"Are you okay now? Is there someone there?" He moves towards the dark alley that she came bolting from looking as frightened as he's ever seen her. He feels his muscles coil ready to protect her by any means possible. But before he can move she's tightening her hold on him, clinging to him now he can feel her warmth all around him like a blanket.

"No! Don't leave me." Hearing that scared plea causes a blurry memory to resurface in his mind, he can almost feel the words swimming in his mind but the memory is foggy and it evaporates as quickly as it formed.

Strange.

"Okay, okay. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go inside." He starts to maneuver her toward her house at first she moves with him but then she stills, letting out a small sound of recollection.

"My phone." She whispers into his chest, they are pressed so closely he can feel her heartbeat still pounding through her chest into his. He strokes her back in a lazy soothing manner, shocked when she melts into his embrace further. Nothing is making sense at this moment but he doesn't care enough to stop, this.

"What about your phone?" He redirects the conversation and she continues, "I dropped it in there when I ran away."

"Okay. I'll go get it, wait here." He starts to gently untangle her hands from his flannel but she lets out a whine, gripping his shirt even stronger and moving with him.

"I'll---let's go together."

She's trembling now, positively shaking in her spot and he wants to argue with her to just go inside and wait for him but her earlier plea echoes in his ears. He can't leave her alone not right now, so he steps forward feeling her move with him, one step after another until he sees the rectangular object on the ground.

"I'm going to bend down to get it." He can feel her shifting beside him looking around wildly but thankfully no ominous figure appears, they are alone.

After a moment she nods, letting go enough for him to bend and retrieve the device and he checks the screen noting happily that it's not damaged but when he touches the screen it doesn't turn on so he tries again.

"It's dead. I forgot to charge it." She admits, taking the phone from his grasp.

He turns to her with a sharp stare, "You stayed out late after what happened and didn't charge your phone? Are you that fearless?" He chides, frustrated with her lack of awareness and disregard for her safety. If anything ever happened to her he would.... He would.......

"It wasn't on purpose. I didn't realize. I know it was irresponsible."

It's not a response he's expecting, the Hye Jin he knows would argue back, hardly taking shit from him ergo her meek uncharacteristic reply makes him feel worst, he shouldn't be blaming her especially after seeing first-hand how scared she is.

"Let's go inside now, it's cold and you're shaking." They both know the temperature has very little to do with her tremors but she doesn't disagree and carelessly he enters the code when they reach the door, ignoring the jolt in his chest that erupts as he enters his own birthday and the door clicks open. He thought she would have changed it by now.

He's grateful she hasn't.

They both take off their shoes, standing side by side now her arm around his waist and his around her shoulder. It's a small space and they can barely move but they work around it, reluctant to release each other.

"Thank you." Her voice is barely above a whisper, he thinks that he almost imagined it. He had an excuse prepared this time, he was merely patrolling and happened to pass her house. That was the lie he intended to go with, but something in her voice stops him from saying those deceitful words. He's tired of hiding and making up excuses for being around her.

"You're welcome. Here sit down, I'll make you some tea." Thoughtlessly he moves towards the kitchen, taking two steps until he can't move anymore. She's holding onto him tightly, he turns around looking at her small closed fists and then her trembling pretty face.

With a soft sigh, he takes her hand rubbing a thumb across the smooth skin.

"Just come with me." Immediately she steps forward pressing into his back, he tries to calm his heart taking the teapot and filling it with water, then he opens the cabinet retrieving a mug and setting it aside.

"I like honey. And a squeeze of lemon." He smiles at her soft demands.

Now that sounds more like his dentist. The bottle of honey is in her top cabinet and he grabs a fresh lemon from the fridge cutting it in half.

They stand silently as the water boils and he finally feels his anger boiling away as well. Angry that he was almost too late and that his town isn't safe anymore, angry that someone was able to shake this immoveable woman.

The shrill ringing of the teapot breaks him from his impasse, on autopilot he pours the water on the tea bag, then squeezes the honey in the steaming water, "I like a lot of honey." She's attached to his back her voice vibrating straight through him, he freezes when she wraps her arms around his waist. Her closeness is messing with his mind, but he tries to finish his job and get them on the couch maybe with some distance between them.

For his sanity.

"Let's go sit down." He grabs both mugs walking over to her couch, placing her cup on the far right and taking a seat on the far left putting a sea of distance between them. But immediately she sits down right next to him, leaving no space between them she might as well be in his lap. He squirms in place, standing up to get some reprieve but she grabs his hand staring up at him.

"Where are you going?" Fear bleeds into her voice and he lets go of his hesitations, tonight is not about him.

Leaning over he grabs her cup, tugging it closer.

"Nowhere, I'm not going anywhere. Drink your tea."

She blinks slowly at him before nodding and bringing the warm beverage to her lips. Her hum of satisfaction warms him all the way down to his toes.

"It's good. You really are good at everything." He preens at the compliment, thinking of all the times this week he wasn't needed or was cast aside for Director Ji. He's been swallowing his jealousy all week. So her words fill a hollow space in his chest.

He watches her drink the entire cup, ignoring his own growing cold on the table.

"I need to charge my phone." She suddenly says and he stares before nodding, taking the opportunity to drink his lukewarm tea. But then he notices that she's not moving despite having the phone and charging in her hand.

"What's wrong?" He raises an eyebrow in confusion.

She looks embarrassed now, unable to meet his eyes and he's flabbergasted at her reaction.

"Come with me?" He stares at her, feeling the same pride bloom as when she sat next to him instead of her sunbae, she's leaning on him.

He spots an outlet across the room, "Okay let's go there." She looks relieved at his lack of teasing, together they walk over to the outlet and she bends to plug in the charger and puts the phone on the ground.

In seconds the phone comes to life and he feels a sharp pain in his chest as a barrage of messages light up her phone, the majority from one person. When she clicks to open the message he instinctively looks away, not wanting to witness their conversation.

"He messaged so much." Her voice is filled with awe and childishly he moves away. He'd almost forgotten that she didn't actually need him. He was just conveniently there.

"I should go now. You're safe. Make sure to come home earlier from now on, maybe ask him to walk you home." It hurts to utter those words but it's easier than being replaced later, it's okay if he's the one that pushes her away first. "I'll see myself out."

He stands ready to leave, pointedly not looking back before he changes his mind and stays forever.

She was just scared, tonight didn't mean anything.

He grabs his fallen bagpack thrusting it on his shoulder, hopping into his boots all ready to head out. But it's unusually quiet, the silence is so deafening that he can't stop himself from looking back over at her. It's a mistake, a huge one at that. The phone has fallen from her hands, abandoned to the side and she's looking at him with the most desolate stare he's ever seen, moisture pooling in her huge round eyes.

"What's wrong? Why are you cry--"

"You said you wouldn't leave me. Why are you changing your mind? What if someone is still there? What am I supposed to do without yo--u?" Her voice cracks on the last word and his heart follows, she needs him. Nobody else has this week but here she is breaking down because he tried to leave, she needs him.

His decision is made for him in that moment.

As soon as he's close enough to touch she's clinging to him once again, he only absently realizes that she's trying to lead them to her bedroom but even he's not saintly enough for that so he stops her.

"Let's go to the couch. You'll feel more comfortable."

She doesn't question him seemingly happy to follow his lead.

The couch is comfy but definitely not intended for two grown adults, leaning over the arm rest he tries to get situated and once he stops moving she's snuggling into his side curling around him like a cat.

"Whenever I was scared, my mom used to stroke my hair."

He stares at the wall in front of them, wondering if she's aware of just how many lines they're crossing tonight- no catapulting over. But he's tired of second guessing himself so he stops thinking and just listens, bringing the hand that is curled on her shoulder up to her head before dragging his palm down her soft hair, gulping when she moans at the ministrations.

Her breathing starts to deepen and he feels her body losing its tension, she's falling asleep and once she succumbs he can finally make his escape, that's his plan. But he doesn't expect her to start stroking him too, her hand delicate on his chest.

"You've worked hard. Stopping a scammer and saving me all while recovering from a cold."

It's nothing. It's what he's supposed to do.

But it feels so good to hear those words, words that he hardly heard growing up.

"Go to sleep." He says instead of thank you, instead of kissing her like he's wanted to since he saw her outside and she ran straight into his heart.

It's a miracle but she listens to him, drifting to sleep her head heavy on his chest and he knows that he should wait a few minutes and try to extract himself but he can't, not tonight. Just for tonight he'll be selfish.

"You're making me want all sorts of things." He whispers to her sleeping face, terrified of her and all that she makes him feel. Feeling emboldened by their almost kiss initiated by her, he pushes her hair behind her ear taking a second to really looking at her face. She really is that beautiful. It doesn't seem fair. Leaning down he presses a soft kiss to her forehead, her skin is sleep warm and perfectly smooth. He presses a second one shamelessly. Her lips are right there and heavens knows that he's tempted but he can't take advantage, can't bring himself to do anything else. That's enough.

He doesn't know when he fell asleep but he wakes up to Mi-seon throwing a blanket over them, he keeps his eyes tightly shut mentally berating himself for that leaving when he had a chance.

"Just friends my ass. Just admit that you like him, look at the way you're clinging to him."

Somehow they traversed further down the couch in their sleep, both laying horizontal now with her body on top on his and her head tucked under his chin.

"I've never seen her sleep so peacefully though. She looks so young."

He tries not to think too deeply into what that might mean, listening to the retreating footsteps of her roommate and feeling himself losing the battle with sleep. She'll probably be embarrassed to find them this way tomorrow but that's a hurdle for another day.

Just for tonight I'll hold her. Until I'm not allowed to hold her anymore.

[jjk-anime-horray]

Call of Spirits

Megumi Fushiguro x Reader

Spirited Away Au

Masterlist

Word count: 1.4K

Chapter Eight:

You ran through the wooden hallways in a rush, zipped past corners, and glided up stairs to all in the hurry to get to megumi before it was too late and he bled to his death. Which was something you couldn't forgive yourself for, if it happened.

Finally arriving at the scene of the crash sight you fly through the already open doors which megrim had already smashed through just minutes before your arrival as well.

The room was dark, and all of the lights remained off except for smalltime ones that lined the rooms interior walls. Another odd things was that it was completely filled with pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals galor. Like it was a childs room, but no child could be seen. Only a massive pile of stuff in the corner of the room.

Unfortunately the boss, Yoshinobu's pet bird was perched in another corner of the room. While it didn't make any noise, or looked normalize for a bird. It had long bang like feathers framing it's face, and a big crack like red mark adorning one of the creature's eyes. Making it's glare in your direction even more terrifying.

Quickly your eyes scan the room once more to find the certain spirit you were looking for.

"Megumi!" You cry out as you run over to the spirit's unconscious body towards the middle of the room.

"Please wake up!" You note as you shake the boy's injured bird form in your eyes trying to get him to show any sort of sign that he was slightly okay.

"He's alive, but he's quite the pain in the ass." A unknown male voice rings out curtly. Shocking you, as well as making you yelp leaving you utterly unnerved, but curious as to who it was because of not knowing the identity of the being which spoke moments before.

You flash around to try to find the source of the voice, but were unsuccessful in pinpointing the user's location.

"Right here little one." It rings out again.

Suddenly the small spirit that was hiding on your back quickly reveals itself. Springing off your shoulder it transforms itself right in front of you into a gorgeous tall man. Slender dark eyes where partnered with Lucious long black locks and a muscular body that even bore through loose fitting monkish robes.

"Who are you?" You quickly quipped at the spirit in front of your eyes.

"I am Suguru Getou, a sort of familial adversary to the man you so call 'work' for." Air quoting 'work' in the process cockily.

"Why did you air quote the work?"

"Well all of the 'workers' don't really work here, they are under a spell that the so called great boss put on them. They forget there name's a that's ultimately the only way that they can be free'd, is if they remember them anyway. I'm not affected because I'm not physically here, this is only a projection of myself. That doesn't matter though, you still remember your name because of the card Megumi here right (Y/N)?"

You look back to the spirit in shock, your mouth officially dropping itself in shock.

"How did you know my name when we just met?"

"I'm magic Sweet Heart."

Before you could investigate the tone to Getou's response a low grumbling rumbled loudly through the room.

Suddenly the big pile of pillows starts to stir, and the whole floor shakes as chunks of blankets get thrown around the surroundings. Finally when the beast was unfolded, it wasn't a beast but a giant baby! Well, maybe it was sort of a beast because of the extra arms, mouth, and eyes it owned with black markings.

With that notions are barbaric cry rang from the baby's throat, and the bird sprung up from it perch and zipped towards the three of you.

You brace your body, and Megumi's slightly waking body for impact, but no bracing was needed because no impact came.

You looked towards the man in front of you which has the two assailants stopped in mid air.

"Wow, Absolutely disgusting."

And with that note the two spirits in the air quickly started to transform and change from. For the big baby, extra limbs and eyes were lost as were markings. For the bird, the beak changed and it lost it's feathers. Both of the creatures lost their initial sizes as they were morphed into a pink haired mouse, and a little fly which still had the red mark as it's predeceasing body did.

Blinking a the two spirit you notice that they two of them had calmed down and now were left defenseless, which lead them to quickly run to the safety of your shoulder in fear of what just happened to them. Sensing that you wouldn't hurt them, but not feeling the same way from the man in front of you.

"Well, I think I deserve a small thank you from you prior-haugh"

He was quickly cut off from his sentence, as Megumi started to thrash his wings and body about, along with lunging towards the man in a rage.

Triggering a domino affect of events, the velocity caused the projection to disappear, and all four of you still present in the room to tumble down the far shaft across the room, all the way down levels and levels of floors until you ultimately crash to the bottom pit of the bath house, the boiler room.

Spirit dolls fled from the scene, and Yaga stopped his coal shuffling to look at the commotion in shock, along with Kugisaki who was stand there flabbergasted as well ultimately quickly ending her errands and running towards the all of you.

"Sen! Are you alright what the hell happened to you."

Her words quickly fell short from her mouth ad she looked over to the even more ruffed up form of the lightning bird spirit right next to you.

"Hell, bird boy isn't doing well at all, shit."

"He is, he's really hurt, and he got attacked!" You quickly reply.

"What should I do....."

Then you remembered a special item you held in your pocket for safe keeping, the item from Rika, the magic herbal cake!!

You rush to grab the item from your pocket. Swiftly you reach into the cloth container. Breaking off half, and saving the rest of it. for your parent you shove the magic into his beck, and force him to swallow the halve whole.

Suddenly his body convulsed at the action, triggering Yaga to finally start walking over. Feather and wings twitched on the wooden floor and sudden he vomited, a golden seal and a slug falling to the floor. The black slimy creature you quickly smashed, and Megumi's body quickly turned back into his human form.

The five of you, that being the mouse, the fly, Nobara, Yaga, and yourself, quickly noticed that Megumi was still quite ill. Cursed maybe even.

"I don't get it, that was supposed to work!" You voice out semi-desperately, with clear hurt as you held his body in your arms.

Then, the gleaming gold of the golden seal shone in your eyes. Softly you put the boy's form down. Then gently picked up the piece of metal, running your fingers over it as you put all of the pieces together in your head.

"When Megumi stole this, I think Getou cursed him. If I give it back to him, he should heal him right? Like a bartering token!"

Everyone around you thinks for a minute. Yaga then who had been quiet, pulls a train ticket from his pocket.

"If you're going to save him, you're going to need this." He said gruffly as he handed it to you, placing it in your hand.

"Wow a train ticket!?!" The orange haired spirit yelled out in glee. "That's how you get out of here, and get your freedom from this place, and it should take you to the Getou guy once you get to the station. How did you get that?"

"Lots of years of savings and work."

"I would want the ticket for myself, but this is way more important than that. Go stick it to the Getou guy Sen, and you go save your friend! Some day, I'll be getting on that train myself!"

You smile at the two of them in thanks, then giving Megumi a last hug, you run to go to the train station, which you had noticed the tracks before. With mouse and fly on head and shoulder you. run into the heart of the hotel with the ticket in hand on your next mission, get to Getou already in motion.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls -- Review

It's that time of the year again where I put myself through the torture of enduring this show. Watching this show is like going on an endurance run. You drag your feet when you first start, when you get acclimated to the level of exercise, you think "hey, this isn't too bad" and then by the end, it's just pain...but also a sense of pride that you made it through. That's been my experience with the show, anyway. And it's basically how I felt about Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I'm not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I'm too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that's how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I'm just watching to see what happens. If you're a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these...I'm just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you're the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that's on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that's the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I'm not telling YOU how to think and feel. I'm telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I'm critical about this show, it's only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It's great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don't really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn't create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

We are at last embarking upon the final episodes of this show and if this episode is what's going to set the tone for the remaining episodes, then I'm glad it's the final episodes because...well, this episode wasn't great and is a perfect example of what I won't miss about Shadowhunters. Bland and cringey dialogue, more characters than it knows what to do with, and too much jumping across plot points. There are individual moments in the episode I enjoyed but overall, this isn't an episode I loved.

The Loss of the Mary Sue

I'm not entirely certain of the timeline in this episode. The episode never specifies on exactly how many days have passed since the 3A finale but I'm going to estimate about a week or so. Everyone believes Clary died in the explosion caused by Lillith attacking Simon.

The episode opens with Jace, Izzy, and Alec chasing after a downworlder and Jace makes some very shoddy decisions in this fight that lets you see just how reckless he's become in the wake of Clary's "death". We then get a montage of everyone missing Clary and the more significant one is Jace, that's the one they spent the most amount of time on. He's basically walking through Clary's room remembering all the times he spent with Clary...so basically three memories. Another classic example of what I've always been talking about when it comes to the adaptation changes. Clary and Jace have barely spent any amount of time together, even less actually dating and I'm supposed to believe that they're each other's one true love...not going to happen because the show didn't develop it at all. There's a moment in the montage where Jace starts looking at Clary's drawings and getting really emotional about it and I felt nothing because Jace has never been shown to take any sort of interest in Clary's artwork before. In fact, if it weren't for that one scene in 3A, I wouldn't even have known that Clary was still drawing. By the show deviating from the books in the way they did, Clace had less development but yet the show still wants to continue the aspect of Clace being hopelessly in love from the books. You can't make a significant change from the source material and then pages down the line expect to pick up exactly where you left off. By making the change, you changed the entire context of the relationship so now the entire story has to change in order to fit that new narrative. Sadly, the Shadowhunters writers have not figured that out yet and continue to make that same mistake...or they're lazy, it could be that, too. Jace eventually gets so depressed that it's implied that he's contemplating suicide but Izzy is able to talk to him and get him to think. And then she just leaves him after making him promise he won’t go through with it. If anyone's wondering, if you catch someone who you believe may be contemplating suicide, do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Particularly in a dark room. Being in a dark enclosed space is not the kind of place that typically sends out positive energy. But I suppose I can cut Izzy a little bit of a break. It's entirely possible the Shadowhunter world doesn't really understand how to help someone who's experiencing suicidal thoughts. They certainly didn’t help out Jace’s mother. Alec also confronts Jace about this in probably the only believable scene in this entire episode. Seriously, I've never been a Jalec shipper but I totally understand why people ship them. Matt and Dom are probably the only actors who actually have any chemistry with each other. But Alec tells Jace he's doing the memory of Clary a disservice and that if Jace were to die, it would destroy him as well. In other words, Jace isn't the only one who's going to be affected by this decision. Jace eventually is called by Luke who for some reason appears to be living in a motel room. I don't know why but whatever. Luke doesn't believe Clary is actually dead and he tries to convince Jace through some really weird conspiracy theory that probably even flat-earthers would find difficult to believe. But hey, if it leads to them finding Clary, I'll go with it. And I understand why Luke is unable to accept even the possibility that Clary might be gone for good. He can't think that about someone who he basically views as his daughter and the last connection he has to Jocelyn. Luke gives the evidence to Jace and tells Jace to at least check it out.

Simon, understandably, is also having a difficult time with all this. And Maia returns to give him emotional support despite leaving for a very particular and totally understandable reason but Simon needs her so of course she comes back for him. It's not like Maia exists for anything else but for Simon's character arc. Both Simon and Izzy kind of passive-aggressively shame Maia about leaving. And I'm particualrly disappointed in Izzy telling Maia about what happened to Simon's family as that's a very deeply personal issue and Simon should've been the one to tell her. It wasn't Izzy's secret to tell. I get that they were trying to use that scene to exposit information to the audience but there were better ways of doing that. Hell, it could've just been Izzy making an off-handed comment about Simon. Maia could've been talking to Izzy about how badly Simon is doing with the Clary situation and Izzy could've been all, "especially with what happened with his family" and Maia could've been shocked and Izzy could've been flabbergasted because she didn't know Maia didn't know. That would've been a much better way for the situation to be handled. But I'm not too pleased with Izzy saying in response to Maia not knowing, "well how could you? you weren't around." Just the insinuation that Maia should stay around and support her man and not go off and get in the right head space to properly heal herself after dealing with the re-emergence of her abuser. But I suppose I shouldn’t expect any different from Izzy seeing as she, herself, also only exists to give support the other characters. I think these passive aggressive intonations of shaming Maia are really horrible and shame on the writer. Maia, Izzy, and Simon decide to work together to find a way to get rid of the Mark of Cain from Simon's forehead. They talk to Raphael who now works at a soup kitchen in Detroit and Raphael tells them the tale of some dude chilling in the sewers of NYC who could possibly be the oldest vampire alive and may have answers to the removal of the Mark of Cain. Maia decides not to help Simon on this as its a bad idea for a werewolf and a vampire to meet and I almost forgot that was a thing, the show so rarely does anything with the vampire vs werewolf dynamic. But of course Maia has to back off to give room for Sizzy. I’m really not a big fan of Sizzy being explored here as everything that made Sizzy fun and interesting in the books has been completely stripped from the show. I’d much prefer Saia on the show. But really, I just want Maia and Izzy to have their own character arc, though that doesn’t revolve around shipping. 

The Malec B-Plot

We have a Malec B-plot that I found just completely unnecessary wherein Iris returns and kidnaps Magnus because she wants to get Madzie back. She falls for the most obvious trap in the world and hopefully we never see Iris again. What it does for Magnus's story works I guess but I just found it to be a really obtrusive subplot that didn’t fit at all with the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been away from the show for a year so I can see the the show a little more clearly now but the Malec chemistry is no longer working for me. Maybe it's just that I've always paid more attention to how alarmingly unequal their relationship is but I'm looking at the body language they're giving off and its not the kind of body language you would expect from lovers. They're so stiff around each other and not relaxed at all.

In fact, there's a line in this episode where Malec has just put Madzie to bed as they're baby-sitting her and Alec kisses Magnus and Magnus tells him to stop because they have a child in the apartment currently. Alec kind of scoffs because it's just a kiss and Magnus is all, "You know how we get." And I'm like, "Do we really, though?" There's plenty of scenes of them talking and I can buy them as friends with that but lovers? I’m having a difficult time actually buying that now. Like I said before, the Jalec scene was way more believable than any Malec scene in this episode.

But Magnus decides he doesn't want to feel helpess ever again so he decides he needs to learn how to fight. Honestly, I was surprised to learn that this is implying he doesn't even seem to really have any basic self-defense capabilities. The way he was swinging the sword earlier in this episode lead to me to believe otherwise. Plus, Harry Shum Jr is a pretty buff dude but I guess maybe Magnus lifts weights and that’s it. Alec decides to help him out on this venture, though.

Siblings Reunited

We find out that Clary is indeed not dead and that Jonathon's back. I'll be real, here. It's kind of hard to feel sad for Jace or Simon or Luke or anyone really regarding the "death" of Clary, considering this entire episode is interspliced with moments of Clary being very much alive. Honestly, I think this episode would've functioned better if it was just about showing everyone going through all the different stages of grief regarding Clary and at the end of the episode when they've hit the acceptance stage, that's when we see Clary wake up in the apartment with Jonathon. But whatever. The show decided not to go that route so we have to make do with what we got. Clary wakes up and looking pretty damn fantastic for someone who's been asleep for days. Not a strand of hair out of place, make-up is flawless, and not a wrinkle to be found on her clothing. In fact, I think they're in even better condition than they were when Clary initially had to put them on. Clary also isn't even the slightest bit groggy, she knows exactly where she's at and everything. Clary does comas well. Jonathon tells Clary that it is indeed him, her big brother and that before Lillith was sent to hell she sent them away to Siberia, apparently. Clary plays nice for a little bit with Jonathon but decides to chance out in the cold of Siberia. It's nice to see that in her state of unconsciousness her muscles didn't atrophy from lack of movement or deteriorate from lack of food. But Clary fails in her escape, Jonathon finds her and brings her back. Clary tries to stab him with a knife but they both find out that what happens to one person will also happen to the other. So yeah, we're full in City of Lost Souls plot here which is ironically the title of this episode. Shadowhunters has never been all that subtle. This new actor for Jonathon is going to take some getting used to. Will Tudor did a phenomenal job with him so its difficult to see this new guy as Jonathon. But it also is difficult to take Clary's anger and hatred of Jonathon seriously when you think about all that Jonathon's really done on the show is kill a shadowhunter Clary had never met before and then injured Max and Max swiftly recovered. Clary is all about painting him as the worst possible being and indeed, in the books, he is but here, while he may be a bad guy who's done really bad things, I don't know if its deserving of that level of hatred. We haven't exactly seen a lot of his horrifying dastardly deeds. Another example of making a change and then thinking you can still keep the same storyline at a later point in the story. I'm certainly not saying I wanted Max to die but story-telling wise, it would make the emotions Clary's feeling here a little more believable. But I'm actually really interested to see where this whole Jonathon and Clary plot goes. In the books, it's Jace that's put in this situation so it'll be interestig to see how the show tackles Clary being in this situation. I'm also wondering, because they seem to be trying to stay away from the incest vibes here, is Jonathon going to gain an unhealthy obsession with Jace instead of Clary? In the books, Clary was who Jonathon was creepily obsessed with. He was equating possession with love and viewed that Clary belonged to him in every way imaginable. So since the roles of Clary and Jace have been reversed here, will Jonathon's obsession now change from Clary to Jace? Probably not but it would've been interesting to see for sure. I mean, if you're going to do a role reversal, you might as well go all the way, right?

The Clave Acting Shady AF

The Clave is being super shady right now. They appear to be doing experiments on the incarcerated downworlders and all I can say is, "do we really need this?" And also, "Why is it being implied that Jia knows about this and is okay with this?" The interesting thing about Jia in the books was the fact that she was the first step in the leadership to help get rid of the more corrupt aspects of the Clave and instigating change. But I suppose it's per the norm for the show to make everyone but the main group a bad guy instead of morally grey. As I've said before, this show has no concept of subtlety. I can only imagine that this is leading into the part in City of Glass the show hasn't done yet wherein the alliance rune is going to be introduced but instead of using it to fight Valentine, they're going to use it to fight Jonathon. That's what these downworlder experiments seem to be leading into as it reminds me a lot of Valentine experimenting in the books. I'm sure there was 0 social commentary intended when writing this into the show, though...but I think its safe to say it's totally social commentary. The show isn't very subtle, once again.

But good news is it looks like Ollie is gone for good so yay! I am side-eying the show, though about that. What was the point of introducing her if you weren't going to do anything with her? I'd say they probably wasted about half of 3A with Ollie unnecessarily. But maybe if this show hadn't been cancelled, Ollie would've played a more significant role? Well anyway, at least some of the fat has been trimmed.

My biggest issue, as always, is the dialogue. The dialogue felt extremely one-note. It was almost like the writer made a flow chart of what they wanted to happen in this episode and was like, "crap! I guess my characters do need to speak, here's some lines to explain what's going on." The dialogue basically existed solely for the purpose of giving exposition but the real kicker is that it was really unnecessary. I could've had this episode on silent (and that might've even have made it an improvement) and I would've understood what was happening perfectly. The dialogue really didn't add anything to the experience, it just made the episode feel more awkward than it already was. And then there continues the trend of Shadowhunters treating their awesome plans as if they’re the most clever plans in the world when in actuality, the plan is beyond obvious and it was super cringey and awkward seeing Izzy being treated as this amazing strategist for making the obvious move. And the episode was already plenty awkward with the constant cutting. It's really difficult to enjoy any particular subplot going on in this show when we only spend maybe 30 seconds to a minute on any particular moment. I kind of wish this show structured their episodes more around themes as opposed to plot. Plot is temporary, plot is always changing but exploring themes through plot gives you more of an appreciation not only for the characters but the story, itself. While I didn't mind sequences in this episode, at the end of the day, it just kind of left me feeling empty. I also think the acting felt a little stilted as well. I wasn't a big fan of any of the performances given in this episode and whereas I've never thought anyone on this show was oscar-worthy for their performances in the past on this show, their performances have always been maybe a C+ to a B. But in this episode, it just didn't feel like any of the actors' hearts were in it. Now granted, that could be a side effect of the script because, as I've mentioned before, the script wasn't great. Or it could've been the directing. There's a lot of reasons for why acting can feel stilted and it very rarely has to do with the actor or actress being bad at acting.

I've made notes about how the dialogue and acting was stilted but those weren't the only things that were. The fight choreography and the blocking felt a little off as well. For starters, the fight choreography did not feel organic. It was strangely reminiscent of season 1 fight choreography. The constant jump cuts so you don't see too much of what's actually happening and just feeling like fight scenes move very slowly. Like the reaction times between sword swing to parry were very slow and it kept on taking me out of the moment. Then you also had moments where Alec and Izzy catch up with Jace in the sewer and everyone's staring at the seelie they're trying to capture for a good 5 seconds before the actual fight continues. And then there's just strange blocking choices where a character walks to a point in the room and then delivers their line but the walk to the new mark wasn’t organic and actually made the line feel more awkward.

I'd probably give this episode a C+. It was passable, with enjoyable moments but ultimately not something I have any desire to return to. There were cute moments (primarily Jalec and Madzie), but overall as an episode, not something to be too terribly impressed with. And yes, there were moments I did like. It’s not my fault the show just had more bad parts I felt compelled to talk about.

[letstalkaboutfandomsbaby]

YOURIGHTYOURIGHT

Damn, now i gotta write somethin self-inserty bc im thinkin sksksk

Nanami x Me below the cut bc im a heathen sksksk

"You've never had apple pie?!"

Nanami blinked, shocked by the woman's outburst. He met her gaze, surprised by the horrified look on her face.

"...No, I haven't-"

"Oh my god," Sunny gawked, her eyes wide, fingers pressing into her temples as she looked down to the floor. "You've never had an apple pie. I can't do this, I'm gonna pass out."

Nanami rolled his eyes, looking back at his newspaper.

"You're being dramatic."

"I am not!" she insisted, leaning against the table, cupping her cheeks and leaning against the table. "I can't believe you've never had an apple pie. That's so sad dude.

Nanami tried to keep his eyes on his paper, but he couldn't help but glance up to see her pout, her cheeks puffed up and puckered. He scoffed, turning the page.

"It's not a big deal. I've just never gotten around to it."

"That's unacceptable," she replied, staring at the table sadly. She inhaled sharply, sitting up straight. "Alright! It's decided."

"What's decided?"

"I'm going to make you an apple pie."

Nanami furrowed his brow, lowering his paper so he could look at her.

"You can make apple pie?"

"Of course! How do you not know this?" He shrugged.

"I've never thought about it. Why would I?" Sunny gasped, her hand flying to her chest, shock strewn across her face.

"Kento! You're telling me that you've never thought about my cooking skills?" He rolled his eyes, lifting his newspaper back up.

"No, I haven't. And don't call me Kento. I've told you this too many times."

Sunny huffed, standing up from her seat.

"Whatever. I gotta go. We still on for brunch next week?"

"Of course."

"Alrighty. See ya then." She grabbed her purse, turning to leave but stopped, looking back. "Do you have any food allergies?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay, cool." Nanami frowned as she started walking away, brow creasing as he looked over to her.

"Don't make me an apple pie. I don't need it," he called after her.

"Can't make any promises, Ken!"

~

"Heyyyyyy," Sunny sang, appearing out of nowhere and sitting down at the table across from Nanami. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I left later than I meant to and then got stuck in traffic.

"It's fine," Nanami said, furrowing his brow as she set down a dish on the table. She had dressed up quite a bit today, wearing a flared, light blue, floral tea dress, her hair curled, lips covered in a ruby red lipstick. Her earrings caught his attention: a large red heart with three smaller ones hanging beneath it, an evil eye printed in the center of the largest one. It was an unconventional accessory, but she pulled it off.

"Anyways," she trailed off, smiling at him, "this is for you." Nanami sighed, watching as Sunny pushed a covered pie dish towards him.

"I told you not to make me one."

"Yeah, well, you know I hate following orders so-" She giggled at her own statement, covering her mouth with her hand as he rolled his eyes, peeling the aluminum foil off of the pie and pulling it up.

"Why does the top look like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"It just doesn't look like a pie crust, that's all."

"Well, it's not a pie crust," she began taking the foil off the rest of the way so they could both see the pie. The edges and topping were a lovely golden brown, but they were obviously not made from the same materials. "It's a crumb topping. It's sugar and butter and flour. So much better than a regular pie crust topping."

Nanami grunted, looking over the pie. He had to admit, it did look good, and he wasn't one to throw out praise willy-nilly.

"It looks nice."

"Thank you. Wanna try some now?"

Nanami looked up at her, flabbergasted.

"Sunny, we're in a restaurant. We can't just eat food that you brought in."

"Sure we can!" she said confidently, craning her neck to look for their waiter, waving to get his attention. "You just gotta ask really nicely and give a big tip at the end."

"That's not how that works."

"Of course it is--yes! Hi, could we please get two small plates and a knife?"

"Of course, right away."

"Thank you so much!" she chirped as the man walked away swiftly. She looked back at Nanami, a victorious smile on her lips. "See? They don't care as long as you're nice. I know because-"

"-because you work in a coffee shop. I know; you’ve told me."

"Ya know, if I didn't want you to try my pie, I would just get up and leave because your attitude is shit," she said dramatically, clearly joking. He rolled his eyes, but he couldn't stop his lips from curling into a smile.

"Here you are, ma'am. Are you two ready to order?"

"Just give us a few more minutes. Thank you so so much!" she said with a bright smile, taking the plates and knife from the young man before he walked away. She turned back to Nanami, bringing the apple pie close to her and digging the knife into it.

"Did you use a store-bought crust?" Nanami asked, hearing the crust edge crunch perfectly as she sliced it.

"Don't insult me, Kento-"

"I told you not-"

"-I would never stoop so low as to buy a crust from the store. I made this from scratch." She placed a slice of pie on one of the plates, handing it to him with a fork. "I've spent years perfecting this recipe and I will not let you sully my reputation by insinuating that I bought a crust at the store-"

"Stop being dramatic," he mumbled, inspecting the pie as he put his plate down.

"Don't act like you don't love my flamboyant personality."

Nanami didn't reply. He brought his fork down, cutting into the pie with the blunt edge. He picked it up, looking over the piece on his fork before giving it a sniff.

"Jesus, Ken, just take the damn bite already."

"Don't rush me, Sunny." He gave the pie one last look before he stuck the fork into his mouth, chewing.

He was hit by the cinnamon first, then the overwhelming sweetness, the crunch of the topping and crust and the softness of the apples. He wasn't one for sweets, but this pie would be the exception, the flavors melting in his mouth and starting a symphony in his heart.

Homemade apple pie. There was something about those three words that made him stir as he chewed. An image flashed across his brain: Sunny, dolled up like she was now with a frilly pink and white polka dotted apron highlighting her waist even more, wearing stiletto heels and pulling a pie out of her oven. Her oven mitts would engulf her small delicate hands, keeping them safe from the heat of the pie dish, keeping them soft and untainted. He imagined her turning to him as he walked into said kitchen, smiling as she removed her mitts and greeted him with open arms. He could practically feel her crimson lips on his cheek, surely leaving some lipstick behind but he couldn't care when she looked so soft and sweet and domestic just for him-

Shit.

He'd had thoughts like this before, but he had always pushed them down, rationalizing that she wouldn't be interested in anything other than friendship so he shouldn't fantasize about such silly ideas.

And yet, when he caught glimpses of her hidden traits, he felt his heart soar. She could crochet, she could sew, she loved expressing her femininity, and now he learned that she could make the most delicious dessert he had ever tasted.

It truly was unfair.

"Yo, Earth to Ken," she said as she tapped his leg with her heel, bringing him back to reality.

After consideration I've concluded that Nanami would 100% fall for me bc i know how to cook and bake and i make a mean apple pie and i just know that he'd take one bite of my pie and go out to buy a ring bc there aint no way in hell he's lettin somebody as great as me get away sksksk