#i certainly like them (they reveal the dork in him) but we also wouldn’t have gotten a lot of his iconic expressions without em

[blorbowhereartthoublorbo]

will forever remember the rare instance they drew mortimer’s HoM design with his teeth :”)

[noirandchocolate]

I was just in the tag and saw this is apparently a meme and wanted to participate!  I hope that’s okay.  Anyway,

Why I Wouldn’t Romance the Stardew Bachelors

Sam--Way too young for me unless I was specifically making a Younger Me OC, which I wasn’t.  Young and acts young.  Dropped an egg on the floor and let me take the rap with his mom.  Regularly drinks Joja Colas I fish out of the ocean (he doesn’t know that, but I do).

Sebastian--Too young for me.  Is a disaffected edgyboi who complains about his family and friends despite them being pretty great.  Smokes.  Really wants to leave Pelican Town and so I’d feel terrible stopping him.

Alex--Too young for me.  Asked me if I owned a bikini when we barely knew each other, and brushed me off a lot.   Almost certainly would disapprove of me making and drinking alcohol (understandably, but still, it’s a point against because I wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable).   Will not let me pet Dusty in canon, so I have to imagine it myself like a pleb.

Elliott--Lives in a shack on the beach and complains about having to clean it. It was your choice to live there, friend!  Actually despite making this choice he complains about it a lot.  Meanwhile I’m elbows deep in fertilizer and cow udders every day.   (PS How is he keeping a piano in tune surrounded by sea air?  Elliott are you making blood sacrifices to accomplish this?)

Harvey--I could not in good conscience date my bff’s dad.*  Also we might be a little TOO much alike, and would fight over who gets the last pickle.  Oh and I know the 10-heart scene in canon is sweet but if I was put in a hot air balloon I’d be sitting down in it trying not to scream, so I would ruin the moment.

Shane--Was mean to me at first.  Buddy, please buy a new hoodie and eat something that isn’t pizza and pepper poppers.  Will not talk to me at work even though we are dating.  Absolute disaster man.

but also!

Why I Love the Stardew Bachelors

Sam--Adorable.  Loves his family.   10/10 big brother.  Is a prankster and that’s fun.  A musician, and practices regularly.  Has a job but also hobbies.  Took my music suggestion to heart and thanked me for it.  Actually acts happy to see me and was one of the friendliest people to me from the start.  Honestly I think he is a very good kid and I want to be his non-creepy grownup friend and support his band and skateboarding.

Sebastian--Purple.  Smart and knows how to do a computer, so he could help me with the technology if I needed it.  Loves wildlife such as frogs.  Shared his umbrella.  Once you get him talking I imagine he has all kinds of opinions and deep thoughts about interesting topics.  I wanna be in his D&D squad.

Alex--Gets friendlier, and reveals that he wants to improve himself and broaden his horizons beyond just sports.  Athletic and dedicated to his personal goals in that realm.  Loves and takes care of his grandparents (who are my best friends).  Loves his dog.  I would like him to come work on my farm and lift things for me sometimes, and I will read cool books out loud to him.

Elliott--Writer and pianist!!  I do enjoy the Aesthetique and he keeps himself clean even if he doesn’t clean his home.  Can make everyday moments dramatic and fun.  Is gracious when I hand him clams I find on the ground right outside his house.   Dedicated his book to me just because I suggested what genre to write.  I want to go to a Renaissance Faire with this man.

Harvey--We really are very alike so we’d get along.  Has an unusual niche hobby I know nothing about.  Has a professional job and I respect that.  Cares about the health of his neighbors, and refers out when he knows he doesn’t have the expert knowledge to help someone.  Green!  Respects the power of the sun and will always remind about the sunscreen.  Goes to milf practice.  Is shy and awkward and I want us to infodump at each other about our interests.  

Shane--Was mean to me at first (and that’s my Type for fictional men).  Family oriented and tries his best for Jas.  Invented a new breed of chicken.  We both have Brain Bullshit.  ‘Pizza festival at the saloon’ yes please and also please steal me more pizza and stuff it in my mailbox like a dork.  We both hate working for Joja.  The snark.  Video games.  Spicy food and alcohol as a (now) Sometimes Food.  Took me to a gridball game to share one of his interests with me (sports game tickets can be expensive, too).  In general I vibe with this guy and that’s why I’m going to marry him and also destroy the Joja Mart to liberate his ass from hell.  Absolute disaster man (affectionate).

And there you have it!

[iloveyoutotype-moonandback]

CW: gore, abuse and rape mentions.

So I recently played the original Tsukihime visual novel (it’s being remade so I might as well check out the original right?) and I wanted to talk about some of my general impressions and thoughts on it. 

TL;DR for people who don’t wanna read any spoilers (or if you just don’t wanna read through my long-ass post): I thought it was good and there were lot of aspects and themes that I found interesting. I did have problems with certain aspects of it however, and I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone since it’s really violent and...well just see the CW for yourself. But if none of that deters you, then I think it’s worth checking out!

So, like I said above the cut, I enjoyed it overall. The story was interesting, with the focus being on vampires and some more information on the church for example (fate tends to focus more on the grail war, so other aspects of the Nasuverse are inevitably glossed over or not mentioned at all). This also had a psychological horror aspect, with Shiki having dreams where he kills people just to give one example. But then there are certain indications that what he’s seeing is real, leading him to believe that he could be unconsciously killing people. And he doesn’t WANT to see these dreams, he actually hates them to the point that there are a few scenes where he straight up avoids going to sleep altogether. The problem is that he has no idea how to stop seeing them, or even what’s happening to him. Also other characters often hide stuff from him or lie for his “protection”, so that really only adds to the uncertainty (this dude kinda gets gaslit a lot, come to think of it). 

I remember seeing some people say that the artwork for this vn isn’t as good as what you get in fsn, which makes sense given that it’s older and thus earlier in Takeuchi’s art career. And I can see what they mean, but there’s legit some good CG’s in this one. Also it does this interesting thing where instead of drawn backgrounds, it has real life pictures that have been edited/stylized. I can’t quite articulate it, but it gives the vn a different vibe that really works for it imo. I like it.

In terms of characters, I gotta say that Hisui was one of my favorites. I guess I just kinda relate to her in a weird way. She’s quiet, isn’t super expressive (or at least it seems that way initially), and doesn’t like being touched. I used to be like that (I’m still like that sometimes but I’ve gotten a lot better), though obviously she has....very different reasons for being that way. But at that point my brain had already gone “that one” with her.

Speaking of Hisui, I really like Kohaku too. If we’re comparing Nasu’s works here, I feel like she’s kind of comparable to Sakura. Mostly in a thematic sense, seeing as how she’s someone who appears normal enough but there’s a lot brewing beneath the surface that we don’t fully see until her route (and by that I mean she suffered sexual abuse from Shiki and Akiha’s father when she was a child). I don’t want to compare them too much tho, since they are different characters at the end of the day. It’s just something of a common thread I noticed. Though with Kohaku, you do actually get a glimpse into what her deal is in Hisui’s route (mainly in the epilogue), which then leads right into Kohaku’s route. 

Outside of the two maids, Arcueid was another favorite of mine (if Hisui is my favorite, I’d say Arc is a close second) because she looks elegant at first but then you realize she’s a fuckin dork the moment she opens her mouth (and I love her for it). Ciel was cool too, and it was interesting to have a member of the church who’s more sympathetic than Kirei Ketamine over there (though as her route reveals, the church is still kinda fucked). I liked Akiha as well. It was really interesting seeing her develop across the 3 “far side of the moon” routes. At first you think she’s normal then op, turns out she’s part vampire and is actually pretty fucking powerful! That said, I did have a few problems with her route...

...which leads me into one of my criticisms of this vn. Akiha’s route was my least favorite out of the 5. Again, and I cannot stress this enough, it is not because of Akiha herself. Akiha good and cool. The issue here is Akiha and Shiki...basically fall in love and also fuck at one point. Did I mention that Akiha is Shiki’s little sister? Because she is. “Well Shiki was adopted so it’s not technically incest” don’t make me tap the sign:

Like yeah, I know “romance happens between Shiki and the main heroin of the route” is a common thread here but I’d like it if they made just one exception. Sibling relationships are good too, you don’t need to resort to romance. 

And, well, now that it’s been brought up already: this vn has sex scenes! And they were just as bad as I expected! I did read through one or two, but after that I just started either skimming through them or skipping entirely. A lot of them don’t really effect the story much (except for like, one which is actually kinda important) so most of them aren’t really worth it unless you just want to laugh at the weird lines. Not a big deal but I felt like it was worth mentioning at least.

Moving on, Tsukihime did have some problematic elements outside of the whole incest thing. Fate/Stay Night had its own issues and obviously Tsukihime will have them too. Tbf to Nasu, he did say he later regretted some of the stuff he wrote in this early period. It’s good that he’s grown as a person and a writer, because looking back there are definitely a few lines here that are really fucking bad. One that stuck out to me was this line from Arcueid’s route where Shiki is arguing with Ciel and then he just suddenly says something along the lines of, “if you try to stop me from going, I’ll rape you right here”. It’s right the fuck out of nowhere too. And like, the reasoning was that he could barely walk at that point so he just came up with some super threatening thing to say, but it was just really unnecessary. 

Actually, I think the same could be said about some of the sexual violence depicted. Like, there’s a whole recurring thing where Shiki will just suddenly get possessed to murder someone (because his vampire step-brother basically lives in his mind rent-free) and he mentions the arousal he gets from doing so. At several points he even acts on these impulses, and winds up getting hard and cumming as he cuts someone up into pieces. It’s...really fucking weird and I’m not sure what it adds by being there. It adds a creep factor for sure, but ig it’s a question of how necessary it actually is. Some of it is integral to the story, as is the case with...certain aspects of the Arcueid and Kohaku routes for example. So don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying remove it entirely, I’m just questioning some of the extra stuff that doesn’t seem totally necessary to me.

So all in all, while I did have some problems with it, Tsukihime isn’t bad by any means. Like I said before, I think it was good overall and I enjoyed it.  You can acknowledge the problematic elements of something, but still otherwise like it. But yeah, certainly not for everyone, but still worth playing in 2021 I think.

[hookedonapirate]

The Dirty Text Challenge

Summary: “I told you, Emma, you should try it!” Mary Margaret screeches through the phone.

Emma pulls the device away from her ear, lest she go half-deaf by the sheer volume of her sister-in-law’s voice. “And I told you, I’m not doing that,” she protests, leaning back against the wall of the corridor outside the restrooms.

“Why not? You’ll be able to see how interested he is without having to tell him how you feel to his face.”

“But what if he's not?”

“Oh Emma, do you really not know your best friend? He’s interested, trust me!”

“Has he said anything to you or David?”

“Of course not. But that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in you. It just means he’s not interested in getting clocked in the face by your brother.”

Notes: This is a birthday gift for my good friend, @onceuponaprincessworld. Thank you for always being supportive and encouraging and, well, for putting up with me :) Hope you have an awesome day, love!

Inspired by the Dirty Text Challenge on Tik Tok that was trending awhile back, where you send a dirty text to your significant other and record his reaction when he reads it. There was one video in particular that made me want to write this for CS, and it was by realkayjane. She posted a video of her best friend reading a text she sent him in a bar, and then they started dating. It very well could've been staged, or maybe not, I honestly don't know. Nevertheless, I wanted to write it, so here it is. And if you're interested to see what the text says, no worries, I've included a flashback at the end ;)

Thank you @ultraluckycatnd for being so kind and for looking it over at the last minute!

Rated: Explicit

Also Available on: AO3 FF.N

Killian’s phone vibrates from his pants pocket for the second time since he’s been at The Rabbit Hole that evening, but he continues to ignore it. What could possibly be more important than hanging out with his best friend at their favorite bar anyhow?

“Aren’t you gonna answer that?”

“It can wait,” Killian says, waving off her question and taking a swig of his rum. 

“It might be important.”

Killian glances up at her from over the rim of his tumbler.

More important than being with you? 

Unlikely.

His phone vibrates once more, but he still doesn’t move to retrieve it.

She cocks her brow, giving that castigating look. A look that tells him he should answer his phone. 

So he sighs and reluctantly digs it out, seeing three text messages from the same person. 

Unknown: Hey Killian. It’s Tina. David gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind.

He groans.

Yes, I do mind. Bloody hell, Dave, why did you have to give her my number?

Unknown: Are you free tonight?

Definitely not.

Unknown: You can come over if you want.

He’s never even been on a single date with Tina. 

Killian thinks about how he will politely decline.

“Who is it? If it’s David, I swear, he better either be in jail or the hospital if he’s interrupting our evening.”

Killian’s cheeks heat with blush, and he has to suppress the smile threatening his lips.

She said our evening .

Killian scratches behind his ear, reluctant to tell her the texts are from some woman David’s trying to set him up with. “Uh, it’s… it’s no one.” 

Emma grins, clearly not buying it. “Doesn’t seem like no one. You’re blushing.”

Not for the reasons you probably think.

He chuckles nervously. “Truly, it’s no one important.”

Emma cocks her head to the side. 

Damn her for knowing him so well. For being able to tell when someone is lying to her. Tina is really no one important to him—he barely knows her, if at all. He spoke to her one time, and that was when David introduced her to him. They chatted for all of ten seconds. So he’s not exactly lying to Emma. But she thinks he’s blushing over the person sending him the texts. She doesn't know she is the one he is blushing over.

He's about to slip his phone into his pocket, but before he can, Emma grabs his arm with one hand and steals the device with her other one. She's so quick and smooth, he doesn’t have time to stop her.

Killian gulps as she checks his phone.

Her eyes light up with amusement when she sees the messages from Tina and reads them out loud. Then she looks up at him, raising her brow. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

Killian reaches over the table and plucks the phone from her hands with a heavy sigh. “She’s not my girlfriend. Your brother is trying to set me up with her.”

She picks up her strawberry daiquiri, knitting her brows in confusion. “Sounds like you’ve already hooked up with her.” She brings the glass to her lips, taking a sip as he watches her intently.

“We haven't even been on one date.”

She nods, lowering her drink as she swallows. “So, are you going over to her place?”

He wishes he could read minds right now because he can’t tell if she’s asking about Tina because she’s just curious or if she's asking because she’s jealous. 

Definitely the first option, he thinks.

He shakes his head. “Of course not.” A small smile plays at his lips. “Why would I go to her place when I’m already with my favorite person in the entire world?”

Emma’s cheeks paint with blush as she sets her drink down and crosses her arms on the tabletop. “Because obviously you’d be getting laid.”

“Well, you know me, Emma. I’m too much of a gentleman to just go over to a woman’s home who I barely know and get my rocks off.”

She smirks and teases him playfully. “I know. So are you at least going to ask her on a date?”

He stares at Emma for a moment, trying to figure out how to properly answer her question without baring his soul to her. So he settles on a flat-out lie. “I haven’t decided yet.”

He hates this. 

He hates not being able to tell his best friend he’s madly in love with her.

And he’d nearly blurted it out over an intense game of Mario Kart a few days ago. 

“Fuck me!” Emma whines after losing another round against him and nearly throwing the controller across the room (she probably would have if David hadn’t plucked it from her hands).

Killian is busy trying to recover from her expletives and how her words had shot straight through him. He knows he should just keep his mouth shut, because, for one... her brother is in the room and two… well, he would very much like to take her up on that offer. No actually, he doesn’t want that, and that’s the problem. He wants so much more than that. He’s had so many fantasies about being with Emma, but they all involve things like taking her out on a proper date, holding her hand, kissing her, making love to her. So no, he doesn’t want to fuck her. He wants a future with her, one which involves being more than her best friend. Gods, he wants so much more than that. But he’s not willing to give up any less than what he already has. So, instead of revealing his true feelings, he covers them up with a playful quip. “Is that an invitation, love?”

The look she gives him makes his heartbeat quicken, one corner of her lips curving up into a shy smirk, her cheeks reddening as he feels David’s stare burning into him.

“Why? You offering?” she retorts.

Killian stares at his best friend in shock, his mouth slightly agape. “Maybe I a — ” 

Before he can finish his reply, David threatens him with a deadly glare and cuts him off. “No, it’s not an invitation and no, he’s not offering,” he answers for both of them.

And that is one of the other reasons why Killian hasn’t had the guts to tell Emma how he really feels. Okay, it’s the main reason. Because not only could it destroy his friendship with her, but also his friendship with her brother. 

Emma scowls at David and snatches the controller from his hands. “Who died and made you king?”

David mimics her in a whiny voice and Emma retaliates by shoving him in the arm. 

“Ow!” He rubs the spot where she'd hit him, and sticks his tongue out at her. “Brat.”

She does it back. “Dork.”

Killian chuckles . He's always thouroughly entertained by their little sibling squabbles. 

“One more game, Jones?” Emma asks him.

And that was that. They played another round, which she won, and neither of them spoke of the words exchanged that night.

Which makes tonight pretty awkward, considering it’s the first time Killian’s actually been alone with Emma since then. Well, if you consider sitting together in a booth at a crowded bar, alone. So to dial down the awkward tension between them, Killian keeps the drinks coming so the alcohol will ease the nerves in his stomach. 

But the problem with alcohol is the effects it has.

The first one is giggliness.

Emma is adorable when she’s sober, but when she’s drunk, she is extra adorable. She can’t say three words in a row without giggling. 

That effect, mixed with the second one, is bound to lead to things he’s not sure he’s prepared for. Especially not while they’re drunk.

Oversharing.

Not that they don’t already know everything there is to know about each other, but when he’s trying to keep his biggest secret from his best friend… well, that presents quite the problem when he’s drunk. At least he still has enough presence of mind to know how much to overshare. 

“Must be nice to have women throwing themselves at you, Jones. I swear, if it wasn’t for my vibrator, I’d probably have cobwebs!” she exclaims over the noisy bar chatter. 

Killian shudders at the images her confession is supplying him with. He’s certainly not imagining her using said vibrator. And he’s fairly certain she wouldn’t have to worry about cobwebs if she didn’t have a vibrator. Emma could have any man she wanted. He’s one of them. “I’m definitely not getting laid as often as you make it sound,” he retorts with a chuckle. “Or as much as I’d like to.”

“Please!” she snorts. “You could have your cock licked by every woman at this bar with a snap of your fingers if you wanted to.”

Testing her theory, he snaps his fingers and looks around. “Where are they, love?” Not that he has any interest to get his cock licked by anyone at this bar. Or anyone, really. Anyone except the gorgeous blonde sitting across from him with the most beautiful emerald green eyes he’s ever seen and a smile that sets his heart on fire as she bursts out laughing.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m just being honest,” he says before draining the last of his rum.

She taps her empty glass with her nails. “One more round?”

He nods and raises his hand to summon the server.

“But first, I have to pee. My bladder is about to burst.” She rises from the booth, and he follows her with his eyes as she makes her way to the restrooms. 

~*~

Emma’s a bit lightheaded as she leaves the ladies' room, but not nearly as much as she’s led on. She was hoping to drop hints to Killian without repelling him. But she’s afraid she’s completely failing. How does one exactly go about telling her best friend of five years she’s completely in love with him? 

She has no fucking clue.

“I told you, Emma, you should try it!” Mary Margaret screeches through the phone. 

Emma pulls the device away from her ear, lest she go half-deaf by the sheer volume of her sister-in-law’s voice. “And I told you, I’m not doing that,” she protests, leaning back against the wall of the corridor outside the restrooms.

“Why not? You’ll be able to see how interested he is without having to tell him how you feel to his face.”

“But what if he's not?”

“Oh Emma, do you really not know your best friend? He’s interested, trust me!”

“Has he said anything to you or David?”

“Of course not. But that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in you. It just means he’s not interested in getting clocked in the face by your brother.”

“And if you’re wrong? Then what?”

Mary Margaret sighs. “If I’m wrong—which I’m definitely not—then you can just tell him you meant to send the text to someone else.”

“But who? I just told him I have an exclusive relationship with my vibrator.”

“Then maybe one of your past flings? I don’t know, Emma, you’ll come up with something. But I’m like one hundred and ten percent sure you won’t have to.”

Emma sighs in exasperation and defeat. “Fine, but if this ends badly, I’m only blaming you.”

She can almost hear her sister-in-law’s grin from the other line, even though she can’t see her. “Fine. If I’m wrong, I'll take full responsibility. In fact, if I’m wrong, I’ll buy you grilled cheese sandwiches every day for an entire year.”

Hmmm, that does sound appealing.“With onion rings?”

“I’ll buy you the whole freaking menu at Granny’s if you want.”

“Okay,” Emma laughs. “And if you’re right, what do you want?”

“If I’m right, I will already have everything I could possibly want.”

“And what’s that?”

“Well, besides your brother, obviously, the knowledge that you and Killian will live happily ever after, of course.” 

Emma’s heart warms at her sister-in-law’s sentiment. If only love could be that simple. Just offer her heart to Killian and receive his in return. But this isn’t some fairytale or romance novel where the heroine rides off into the sunset with her handsome hero. This is real life. “Okay.” Suddenly the idea of what she’s about to do makes her heart flitter in panic. “So I’m actually doing this?”

“You’re doing this. And you won’t regret it. Now put on your big girl pants and go get your man.”

After they end the call, Emma lowers the phone from her ear and with shaky hands, pulls up her text conversations with Killian. She sucks in a deep breath and releases it slowly, her breath wobbly. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she types a text with shaky fingers, erases it, retypes it and repeats that cycle three more times before she’s satisfied with the message. At first, she didn’t want to send anything to Killian that she wouldn’t be able to defend and say it was meant for someone else. But then she thought, screw it. She can blame it on the alcohol. 

For years, she’s been wanting to tell her best friend how she really feels about him, and when she finally scrounged up the courage to tell Mary Margaret, her sister-in-law suggested this hair-brained scheme she came up with after watching these trending Tik Tok videos of women sending their boyfriends or husbands dirty texts in public and recording their reactions. Since Killian isn’t her boyfriend or husband, Mary Margaret thought it would be a great idea to find out whether he likes her or not. Or rather, prove to a stubborn Emma he’s secretly in love with her.

Well, she’s about to find out. Here goes nothing...

She peers around the corner of the hallway entrance and does a quick check to make sure he didn't leave and go into the men's room or something. When she spots him across the room, still sitting at their booth, she sends off the text. Then she quickly pulls up the camera on her phone and starts recording, her heart pounding. It’s pounding so loud she can hear it in her ears over the loud music and boisterous bar chatter.

His phone lights up on the table and he sets down his tumbler to pick up the device.

Emma watches him with bated breath, hoping and praying this wasn’t a mistake. Hoping his reaction won’t be the same reaction he had when he received those texts from Tina. Emma had done her best to hide her emotions when she saw that skank’s text messages. She had to swallow her words and shove down her jealousy, but when she remembered that look of irritation written all over Killian’s face as he read those texts, she realized why he was irritated. Needless to say, she was relieved beyond belief. 

Through her phone, Emma watches as Killian’s mouth falls open, his eyes big and wide as he stares at his screen.

Emma has no idea what he’s thinking right now, but she really wishes she did. Is he happy, excited, turned on? Or is he pissed off, disappointed, disgusted? She’s usually pretty good at reading her best friend, but right now it’s like trying to read a blank page.

He lifts his head and looks toward the restrooms, so she quickly retreats inside the hallway, keeping her phone in place so it’s still recording him. She presses her back against the wall, as though the opposite wall is closing in on her, and she’s trying to draw in as much air into her lungs before she’s suffocated to death. 

Shit, shit, shit. 

What if Mary Margaret’s plan didn’t work? What if Emma scared him away?

Cautiously and carefully, she turns her head and looks around the corner again.

To her utter horror, Killian is not in the booth.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why did she send him the text?

In panic mode, Emma brings her hand back and stops recording as she flattens against the wall again and contemplates shooting Killian another text saying she sent the text by mistake. 

She starts typing out a message.

Emma: Sorry, that text was for someone else. Ooops, my bad.

But then she sees the text she'd sent and realizes she made it impossible to say it wasn’t meant for him because of what the text said.

Nope, she definitely can’t talk her way out of that one.

Before she can erase the message and type out how sorry she is, her phone is being slipped from her hands.

She’s about to lose her shit when she looks up and gasps as her eyes meet vivid blue ones. 

Killian’s looking at her with a hungry—no, primal—stare.

And just like that, all of her oncoming anger melts away.

Emma can’t move. She can’t speak, she can’t even breathe. This man has impaired her ability to do anything other than stare back at him, waiting for him to speak. Her stomach is clenching and her heart is racing under the heaviness of his stare.

She doesn’t even give two flying fucks when he slips her phone into his pocket.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he leans into her space and murmurs in her ear. “You said I could have any woman in the bar licking my cock at a snap of my fingers...” His voice is decadent and drops an octave when he speaks again. “What if I told you, you could have one man licking your pussy at the snap of yours?”

She gulps hard and just stares at him in shock. He’s joking, right? But she’s known him for five years and can’t detect a single trace of mocking in his words. 

Without breaking her challenging stare, she lifts her hand. 

And snaps her fingers.

Without hesitation or any preconceived thought, Killian takes her hand in his and leads her into the ladies' room, locking the door behind them. He backs her against the sink and draws her into his arms, a wave of desire so profound sweeping through her, it leaves her trembling in his muscular arms, clinging to his body like a lifeline. When he lifts her up and sets her on the edge of the sink, their mouths find each other, their lips moving with a need that burns like a fire inside them both. She slides her arms around his neck, her lips fused to his, her tongue swirling and exploring his mouth as her breasts are pressed deliciously against his chest. 

Killian holds her flush against him, his tongue mingling with hers in a sensual ballet of lips and flesh that leaves them both panting. She moans softly into his mouth as he rubs at her back, squeezing one of her ass cheeks in his free hand. 

She can’t believe she’s actually kissing Killian. Her best friend. And he is every bit the kisser she knew he would be. His tongue flicks against hers so expertly and he’s groaning, his guttural sounds vibrating through her, shivers running down her spine, her skin tingling all over. Her stomach is coiled in anticipation at the thought of that same tongue on her pussy.

Oh God.

She needs that tongue on her like she needs air to breathe. As much alcohol as she’s had, the only thing fogging her mind is the lust and pleasure coursing through her veins. She’s now drunk on something else entirely. And it’s on the man who is currently breaking the kiss and leaving her a panting, breathless mess as he slides his lips over her jawline and down her neck, the scruff on his chin scratching her so deliciously. 

As she’s still trying to recover from that kiss—as if she could—she’s so glad she wore a dress tonight. As he leaves a trail of kisses along her collarbone, he pulls the straps down her arms, yanks down the top of her dress and pushes her black, lacy bra cups out of the way, exposing her breasts. As he’s admiring her naked breasts in wonderment, as he's squeezing them in his firm hands, making her nipples harden, she's admiring him and blushing profusely.

Fuck.

When he caresses a hard bud with his lips, Emma moans, and when he draws the same nipple into his mouth, she runs her hands through his hair, enjoying how soft and warm his mouth is against her sensitive skin, a breath exploding between her lips. He kisses his way to her other breast, giving the same treatment. She can feel how hard he is through his jeans, and it’s making her so much wetter than she already was. To her relief, he’s grabbing her dress and hauling it up her legs, seeking access she’s definitely willing to grant him. She helps him move the hem of her dress to her stomach, exposing her black, lacy thong. He leaves bruising kisses on her lower belly and inner thighs as he slides her panties off. 

When he’s on his knees and his gorgeous face is between her thighs, he looks up at her, those intense blue eyes stealing her breath as he gently slides his lips up her leg, giving her time to push him away if she desired. A completely unnecessary precaution. 

She leans back, gripping the edge of the sink as she drapes one leg over his shoulder and pushes him to her.

The soft, warm air of his chuckles hits her glistening folds and sends a shiver up her spine. “Patience, love.” He presses gentle kisses to her nub, her folds, and noses her slit, breathing in slowly, taking in her unique scent. Emma’s incapable of being patient, though; she can almost feel his tongue on her as he wraps his arms around her, urging her to lean back a little more so he has full access to her. 

Finally, his tongue hits her flesh, taking a thorough exploration between her folds until he finds exactly what he’s searching for. She dips her head back, hitting the back of it against the mirror, her hands clutching at the top of his head for purchase. Her eyelids fall shut, soft moans pouring from her mouth as his tongue works so skillfully on her bundle of nerves. She opens her eyes so she can watch him as he licks her good and hard, and she lifts one of her legs to the edge of the counter so she’s spread out like a feast before him. She tugs gently on his hair, urging him closer and she can tell he doesn’t mind, because he's growling and puckering his lips, drawing her clit into his soft, warm mouth, making her tremble. It’s the most erotic thing she’s ever witnessed, and she’s wondering who’s enjoying this more, him or her. 

When he glances up, his eyes are boring into hers, and she can feel him smiling against her folds when he sees how wrecked she is with her best friend’s tongue between her legs. Those sparkling blue eyes are piercing through her soul and she can’t find the strength to tear her gaze from his. It’s so fucking hot watching him eating her out. Watching him take his sweet time bringing her close to the very edge before pulling away and then bringing her back. It’s like watching the waves of the ocean moving in and lapping the shoreline before ebbing away. His tongue lapping her up and then withdrawing. In and out, in and out, over and over, increasing in intensity and speed each time, until she’s a complete mess, until she’s arching her back and fisting tufts of his hair and tugging him closer, begging for him to finish her off.

“Killian… please…” she moans breathlessly, helpless against the mirror and completely at his mercy.

The alcohol certainly doesn’t help; it had made her incredibly more horny. Meaning every inch of her is more sensitive. So, Killian suckling on her clit and lapping her up as if his life depends on it is bound to push her over the edge and make her crumble into a million pieces very soon.

And he does so effortlessly.

God, he does.

“Killian!” Emma screams, hoping the loud music and chatter of the bar are drowning out her sounds of ecstasy as she falls apart. She falls so hard, she’s thankful Killian’s hands are gripping her thighs, holding her in place, because otherwise she’d be on the floor right now. Literally.

When she comes back to reality, her body is still twitching. Killian is pressing soft, wet kisses to her nub and each of her thighs, and there’s fire in his eyes as he rises and sucks her essence off his fingers. 

She can taste herself on his lips when he kisses her. And she melts again, arousal shooting through her once more. But as airy as she feels, she somehow musters the strength to push him back, fumble for his belt, tug down his pants and sink to her knees.

Holy hell.

His cock is glorious.

Thick and throbbing, pointing at her, almost beckoning her forward. 

“Snap your fingers,” she says, smirking up at him. 

He manages a grin and doesn’t argue. 

When he snaps his fingers, she wraps her hand around his stiff length and strokes him slowly, a deep, soft moan escaping her lips. He feels fucking amazing in her hand. 

He draws in a sharp breath when she kisses his velvety tip. Then she leans in and licks up his entire length, making him gasp. 

“Good… Gods… Emma.”

His thick shaft is glistening with her saliva, and Killian bites his lower lip as he looks at her, trying to hold back the urge to lose himself too soon. She smiles, encouraged by his palpable excitement, and wraps her wet lips around his cock. The tip of him slides easily into her mouth, and she sucks on him greedily, bobbing her head a few times before removing her hand, grabbing his hips and taking him in deeper. Killian lets out a deep, guttural groan, reaching down to cup her cheeks in his hands. Emma hums gently around him while allowing his cock to slide back and forth past her lips, not enough to escape her mouth, but enough to build up some friction. 

“Fu-uck! That feels incredible, love…” he groans, his voice completely wrecked.

The sounds of his breathing grow louder with each passing minute. Her arousal builds inside her again while she takes him deep, letting his belled tip almost slip free from her mouth before taking him in again. She can’t refrain from smiling around his cock, knowing she’s subjecting him to the same torture he put her through. 

Emma massages his balls in her fingers and increases her speed, taking him into her mouth deeper and faster and harder. Killian’s hands are threading through her hair and he’s groaning loudly, thrusting his hips, seeking release. And she’s finally ready to give it to him. She moans around him and takes his perfect buttcheek in her free hand, taking him roughly, letting him fuck her mouth until his hot seed is spurting down her throat and he’s gripping her hair tightly and his legs are shaking.

“Gods, Emma… that was…”

The knock on the bathroom door pulls them both back to reality. Emma quickly swallows his cum down her throat and licks her lips as she rises. They reassemble themselves quicker than they would’ve preferred. They right their clothes, tame their hair and walk out of the restroom like everything’s perfectly normal, ignoring the looks they’re getting from the female patron who’s outside the door waiting to use the restroom. 

Killian and Emma are laughing as he pays their tab and they’re still giggling as they stumble out of the bar.

They take an uber to Killian’s apartment and the keys he drops on the floor is only the beginning of the trail they leave behind as they make their way to his bedroom. A jacket, one shoe, Killian’s sweater, another shoe, another jacket, her bra, her dress, her wet panties… they don’t even break the kiss to fling their clothes to the floor, and their lips are still connected when they make it to the room and fall into Killian’s bed.

Emma can’t believe that after five years she’s finally making love to this man, making love several times in several different positions, and when they’re both completely sapped, their heads are falling against the pillows and he’s kissing the back of her hand and asking her on a date.

~*~

Once they're not both in bed or out on their first official date (they wait until they go back to her place to begin any more enjoyable activities this time), Emma finally gets to watch the video of Killian’s reaction to the dirty text she’d sent him two days prior. 

And what she sees fills her with so much happiness, she can’t stop smiling.

And when she uploads the video on Tik Tok, it goes viral.

~*~

Killian sighs heavily into his hands. He’s such an idiot. He needs to just man up and tell Emma how he feels. But if it were really that easy, then he would’ve done it five years ago, right?

The sound of his phone vibrating against the table drags him from his reverie and he lifts his face from his hands and picks up his phone. 

It’s a text message from Emma.

Emma: I have a confession. I didn’t actually have to pee. All that talk of licking your cock made me so wet. Made it difficult to sit across from you instead of crawling underneath the table and licking your cock.

Killian groans, his cock actually twitching when he reads her text.

Fuck.

He’s completely stunned. He doesn’t even know how to react or feel about her text. Is she serious? Is she joking? Is it the alcohol?

A million questions race through his mind and when he’s finally able to peel his eyes from his phone screen, he looks across the bar toward the restrooms. He’s half expecting to find her watching him from a distance to catch his reaction but she’s nowhere in sight. He looks at his phone again and reads her text again. A slow smile creeps across his lips at the thought of Emma crawling underneath the table to suck him off.

Bloody hell.

Suddenly he feels very warm and grabs the drink menu to fan himself. Did they turn on the heat in here?

He blows out a laden breath and slips the phone into his pocket, trying to recover from how turned on he is. The thought of Emma’s sweet, pink lips wrapped around his hard, aching cock makes him painfully hard. And he’s pretty sure his arousal is written all over his face. But he also wonders what this means. 

Was she sending him an invitation?

Does she want him to take action? Is she wanting him to meet her in the restroom? 

He’s not sure, but he’s not about to let this opportunity slip from his fingers. Killian sets down the menu, drags a hand through his hair and gets up before he can talk himself out of it.

Fuck.

Is he actually going to the ladies’ room to get his dick sucked?

Nah, while the thought of having Emma’s mouth on his cock is awfully enticing, he has other ideas in mind.

As he approaches the hallway, he can see Emma on her phone. He suddenly becomes nervous and completely terrified. 

Holy hell.

Is he actually doing this?

He keeps moving his feet, breaking through his stubborn wall of fear that’s held him back all this time. He breaks through the wall of anxiety and nerves that have weighed him down. 

He takes another deep breath, steps into her space and snatches the phone from her hand, hoping and praying this isn’t a huge mistake.

If it was a mistake, then it was the best mistake he’s ever made. Because not only does he get to be with his best friend—the woman of his dreams—but her brother doesn’t completely hate him. David wasn't happy at first, but he’s slowly getting used to the idea of his best buddy dating his sister.

And Mary Margaret is overjoyed. But she's been acting very peculiar ever since he began dating Emma. Every time they meet Mary Margaret and David for lunch, the petite brunette always says without fail, “Guess what time it is?” After Emma shakes her head and rolls her eyes, Mary Margaret always has the same answer to her own question: “It’s time for you to buy your own grilled cheese sandwich and onion rings.”

Which is strange because, being the gentleman his mum raised him to be, he always foots the bill whenever he takes Emma out to eat.

What's even more puzzling is that Mary Margaret suddenly stops saying it after a year.

David's wife sure is an odd one.

Tagging:  @itsfabianadocarmo @ilovemesomekillianjones @onceuponaprincessworld @teamhook @resident-of-storybrooke @searchingwardrobes @gingerchangeling @lfh1226-linda @xsajx @artistic-writer @kmomof4 @hollyethecurious @superchocovian

Sorry if I missed anyone, I’m very sleepy at the moment and have a long, early day tommorrow, so I’m posting this before I sleep.

[spectrumed]

8. book

I decided to start writing a book. A novel, it’s going to be fiction. It’s a big project. I dread big projects. I don’t feel as if I am ever able to complete them. It’s going to be left unfinished, why do I even bother? So many projects that I’ve started and never finished. I get an idea, then I can’t make myself do the actual work to make it a reality. Why do I think I can write a book when I can barely read books without becoming distracted and doing something else instead? I give up too easily. But, then again, do I really have it in me to produce something that is good? That people would want to read? Insecurity creeps in, telling me that I will fail. I fear failure. Of course I do, who doesn’t? Whenever people say that their greatest fear is failure, all I wonder is who out there is not afraid of failure? Is there someone out there with so much confidence that they absolutely do not in any way fear failure? Even narcissists technically fear failure, it is what leads them to such ridiculous overcompensation, putting on the facade of bravado to mask their actual dire sense of insecurity. Do not fall for the scams, no person is truly without self-doubt. (Well, I guess maybe psychopaths, but there’s a whole lot of things amiss with them.)

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve entertained myself by coming up with stories, fictional universes that I would populate with characters of my own invention. When I was a kid, what I really wanted was to become a comic book writer and artist. Well, in between other gigs I imagined would suit me, including at one point wanting to be a “singing farmer,” as I put it. Still, I’ve always returned to fiction and storytelling. There’s something about creating a world that lets you so fully distract yourself from all the stressful daily hullabaloo that goes on around you. Escapism, it’s fun, it’s therapeutic, I think. There’s a reason why humans have been telling each other stories for millennia, since even before we lived in houses. Back when we were all huddled around the fire, wearing our best comfortable animal furs, sharing tales of the hunt. Your uncle who once took part in killing a mammoth, the impressive beast nearly gorging him with its big tusks. How clever he was when he noticed that the mammoth had one leg weaker than the others, and used that to his advantage. How the entire hunting party banded together to bring the behemoth down, getting all that meat to feed their families with for months! Stories make you feel good. Like as if you have something to celebrate, even when you might be starving due to the more recent hunts not having gone as well. Damn that saber-tooth tiger that killed your uncle…

Storytelling is linked to acting. Both with acting and with storytelling you have to commit. Whatever you are doing, whatever role you are performing, you have to sell it. You may be on stage talking about that time you went scuba diving with your future wife, and how you encountered an oyster with the most magnificent pearl inside, and how you made a ring for the pearl and used it when you proposed to her. You have to sell it. You have to get the audience laughing, gasping, crying, going “aww,” feeling as if they were there with you that day. Of course, they don’t know it is all just lies. You made it up. It’s all fiction. But you committed, so they won’t ever know. Storytelling is a gift to others, people will appreciate you if you tell good stories, but you’re also kinda deviant. Even if it’s technically based on a true story, you’ve certainly added your embellishments. You’re a trickster, a devious individual. No wonder actors have historically been seen as dubious folks. They come into town, romances all the young women and men, telling them big tales of their lives on the road, and they can’t possibly know if you are telling the truth or not. You may just be lying. You probably are lying. Let’s be honest, you’ve probably not told a single true thing in your life.

I am bad at the hustle. No, I can talk quite well, and I can keep people’s attention for a long while. But I can’t be a huckster. Going out there, putting myself on the line hoping people will swallow my bullshit. I can’t really avoid speaking from my heart when I do speak. Or when I write, as I happen to be doing now. This blog has so far been thoroughly candid in places, in such a way I may come across like I’m at a confessional. Not that I have much evil to confess, but I can’t help but be transparent. I can’t flip into different kinds of personalities, each with its own schemes and plots, being some master manipulator, someone who you can never figure out what they're truly up to, or what they truly want. No, what I am is clearly written on my face. I’ve got one self, and it is the one before you. He’s hairy, and tall, and a bit of a dork. I am happy to talk to you, to engage with you, but I won’t be anyone but myself. I am me. I hope that’ll do.

Of course you are familiar with all those pick-up artists that plagues the internet. Or well, not just the internet. Go into any old-fashioned bookstore (where they store books on paper, not in digital code,) and you are bound to find some sleazy book written by a sleazy guy about how to sleazily seduce women. Those books don’t want you acting like me. According to them, seduction is all about manipulation. To figure out the very right thing to say to get women to fawn all over you. They don’t want you to be sincere, telling the truth as you see it. Nah, you gotta keep that stuff bottled up, deep down inside your soul, because most likely, your true self is ugly. It’s interesting how you can get little details from these pick-up artists depending on the sort of things they say, the tips they provide. The fact that all of them seem to harbour this festering misogyny is no big surprise, but every so often, you get these little glimpses of these people’s true worldview, one where power is everything, true love is a fallacy, and happiness is a lie manufactured by Hollywood to make us all into docile consumers. No wonder the “red-pill” so often leads to people taking the “black-pill.” First hucksters will lure you in, telling you that they’ve got the secret as to how to be a success, then when they’ve got you isolated, they reveal to you how truly misanthropic and bleak their actual beliefs are.

I am fascinated with cults, for much of the same reason why I am fascinated with storytelling. What is a cult leader if not just a great storyteller? They’re something like the modern day shaman, capable of spellbinding people with their weird idiosyncratic way of speaking. High-functioning people with autism are often said to have an idiosyncratic way of speaking. No, I am not suggesting that cult leaders are all somewhere on the spectrum, though it wouldn’t surprise me if some famous cult leaders did turn out to have been on the spectrum. However, for an autistic person to become a cult leader, I think they would have to be a true believer, and not some fraud just looking to scam others. Ultimately, no autistic person would want to surround themselves with people unless they truly do believe it is essential, to like, save mankind from damnation or something. It’s the difference between sincerity and insincerity. It is difficult for autistic people to be insincere, as insincerity requires a lot of social skills that autistic people struggle with. Having to juggle all these balls in the air, making sure you keep the big lie going, that you remember to change your behaviour depending on who you are speaking to in order to keep them from figuring out that you’re a bullshitter. Hollow people are great at being insincere. People like L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the highly profitable cult that is Scientology, was at his core a hollow individual. He had no problems twisting the minds of the people around him, because he never felt a need to be sincere. If an autistic person were to become a cult leader, I can guarantee you that it wouldn’t be a profitable cult. Nah, autistic people aren’t in it for the money, we’re all about keeping it real.

Being a sincere person, surely I should be able to write a novel and make it feel earnest. Like it was delivered with passion, because I wouldn’t be able to write anything that wasn’t true to myself. Well, I do hope so. Having something I’ve made be referred to as genuine is something I see as a great compliment. I’m a student of art history, I’ve made some “serious” art before, I know how terrible art can be when it is not delivered with good faith. Sure, some art is cynical, or ironic, but even then, it tends to come from a real place. Good artists, even when they’re fully armed with the dada mindset, must believe in what they are doing. Whether they are doing it for a laugh or not, that’s irrelevant. Even if all you wish is to be silly and make something that is comical, you have to believe in what you are creating. Or else people won’t bother engaging with it. Why look at a painting by someone who is just interested in making money? Insincere artists do exist, and they can end up becoming quite successful, but ultimately, history won’t be kind to them. Damien Hirst comes to mind, heard he's into NFTs now.

Sure, I don’t like insincere people. Does that make me a bigot? Like, it’s not as if they can help themselves. It’s just who they are, spineless maggots with no soul. It doesn’t mean we have to hate them. No, no, no... I am just generalising. Don’t go thinking there’s just two kinds of people in the world, the sincere and the insincere. It’s not a binary. Most people are both, just like with introverts and extroverts, humans are complex. But there are definitely those that decide to feed into their insincere side, realising that it is often the key to success. Through insincerity, you learn to let go of self-doubt, you stop worrying so much about what others think of you, because you are never truly yourself. If they hate you, then so what? They don’t actually hate you, they just hate a role that you are playing. So what if you seduced that woman, made her feel as if you were the perfect match, then you ghosted her and completely forgot about her? It’s her fault for falling for your tricks. You were clearly just playing the game, being a super-seducer, she should have known better. By embracing insincerity, it’s like gaining a superpower. No longer do you have to care about the impact you have on others, no longer do you have to worry about what it means to be a social human being making choices that affect the others around you. Because you’re not the person they think you are. Actually, you’re not quite sure you’re the person you think you are… Who are you?

I’ve got the plot all laid out in my head for the novel. It’s going to be based in the fantasy world that I’ve been working on for the last few years. I’ve been working on this world for almost half a decade now, come to think of it. Why do I keep feeling as if I am never able to keep to a project, when I’ve clearly been working on a massive project all this time? Sure, it’s all just in my head, but it’s not as if most people have the kind of patience to keep going back to a single big project, even if it is just in their head. Not once, while thinking about my fantasy world have I been distracted and started thinking about cute puppies, instead. And you know how difficult that is. Maybe I am too hard on myself. Maybe I will finish this book, and maybe people will want to read it. Maybe it will even get a minimal number of angry reviews, like, I may get a book published without some folks trying to harass me into committing suicide for daring to think I can write. Some people may even be enthusiastic, blowing up my ego with great praise. Maybe someone will come along and tell me that they want to buy the rights to make my book into a movie or a television series. Maybe I will get rich? Maybe I will get famous! Woo! Success here I come!

Well, no, here I go being insincere. That’s not what it’s about. I should be writing this book because I want to write it. Because I want to prove to myself that I am able to write it. Sure, it’s not as if there’s not a little brain goblin inside my mind whispering sweet nothings about how one day I might turn out a real respected author. One with real fans that gets to do big book tours talking about how brilliant I am, how brilliant my work is, and how brilliant things are going for me. I am not going to pretend I don’t have the same aspirations for success that others have. Inside of me you will find the same greedy piglet of an ego hungry for more adoration and more validation that you will find in any person. Humans don’t know when to quit, we always want more. But I am at least safe knowing that I will never debase myself, descending to the same depths as those inhabited by soulless grifters who go through life abusing the trust of others in order to get by. I’m sincere, in the end. I always turn out sincere, in the end. I am a good boy.

And I am also really sexy. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before on this blog, but I am really, REALLY, sexy. Like, you wouldn’t believe it. Oh, I am so hot. And if you follow and subscribe and hit that bell, I will teach you how you can be just as sexy as I am! And buy my book! And my merch! And my new single! And of course, my new cryptocurrency, by the name of “autism-coin.” It’s going to be a real success on 4chan, let me tell ya!

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Traveling in time with Marty McFly would include~

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(I wrote this as a slight friends to lovers type of scenario so I hope thats okay! Also, this is based on just the first movie so if you’d like certain time periods or something then feel free to request.)

- You’d been working for Doc alongside Marty for a while so of course you’d be invited to help with the DeLoreans send off.  Doc was excited, the tapes were rolling; Everything was going great...until it wasn’t. 

- The Libyans arrived and ruined everything, forcing you to join Marty inside the DeLorean in an attempt to save your skin. Soon enough the two of you were going through a terrible blast to the past, still mourning your lost friend and scared half to death. 

- Fast Forward a little, or rather rewind a lot, and the two of you are sat panicking worse than ever in the front seat of a stylish time machine. You get out of the car as quickly as he does, gazing at the long empty road and the sign that proves you aren’t where you’re supposed to be. 

“Hey Marty?”

“Yeah....”

“Do me a favor and pinch me...hard.”

- And so he does, asking that you return the favor once you yelp in pain. The two of you shut your eyes tight, praying that once you open them again you’ll be back home in bed but alas, no luck. 

“I don’t think we’re dreaming.” You say, grabbing onto his arm and feeling more helpless than you’ve ever felt before. 

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” He responds, his eyes returning to the Lyon Estates sign once more. 

- With nothing else to do, you help him stash the DeLorean and start your long journey to town. 

- Once you get there, you’re torn between being amazed and horrified. I mean, you’re in the 1950′s! ...But you’re also stuck in the 1950′s. 

- You’re sure you look downright insane to the locals, stumbling around like you’re experiencing everything for the first time, but you frankly don’t care. You’re just wondering what you’ll have to do to return home, or if you’ll ever get to return home for that matter. 

- The two of you walk into the diner and take your seats at the luncheonette. You end up interrupting and ordering for the two of you yourself, deciding to be merciful to your frazzled friend and not wanting to suffer from anymore secondhand embarrassment. 

“What my friend here meant to say was that we’d like two coffee’s, Decaf.”

- Marty rubs a hand down his face and leans his forehead against your shoulder, groaning quietly in “silent” gratitude. You get your coffees, taking a sip just as the door of the diner swings open to reveal the one and only Biff. 

- You soon find out that the young man beside you is Marty’s father to which you can only respond with a whispered “Holy Crap McFly, your dads hot.”. Marty still isn’t sure how to feel about it though at the time he just gave you a disturbed look. 

- Now it’s at this time that I should mention: Marty has had a pretty big crush on you for a while now. The main reason he hadn’t asked you out yet was because he really didn’t want to lose you as a friend or have to face you every time he visited Doc; in case you did wind up rejecting him. 

- The reason I’m telling you this is because after Biff and his friends make fun of Marty’s “life preserver”, he notices the babe sitting beside him. Now Biff wouldn't be Biff if he didn’t try to flirt with a dorks girl so he gives you a line and Marty uses everything within him not to launch himself at the bully.  

- He has a silent victory when you just scoff at the boy and turn back to your coffee. Biff gives one of those tough guy, undeterred responses and finishes his threat to George before walking out with his buddies. 

- You turn back to Marty, watching awkwardly as he uncomfortably stares down his father. After a minute, you lightly hit his arm and give him a look, trying to make him stop. The two of you have a silent argument, giving each other different facial expressions and mouthing words. You’re both interrupted by Goldie's speech.

- You’re the one to first notice George’s absence, prompting you to pull Marty out of his seat and push him out the doors of the diner. 

“You know y/n, you’re really taking this whole time travel thing way too well!”

“That’s because I’ve got you Marty.” He melts. 

- You’re sort of just forced to watch from afar as the whole car accident scene unfolds. You spend the rest of the day awkwardly waiting outside the families house with nowhere else to go. 

- You have to jog to keep up with him after he runs out of the house. He explains everything to you at a mile a minute, grabbing you by the arm and telling you that it’s really time to find Doc. 

~One extremely long conversation about how you’re from the future, the mechanics of time travel, and other interesting tidbits later~

- Marty and you get dressed up in 50′s wear, which he finds particularly adorable on you, and head over to the school. You quickly come across his father and without even thinking, you storm up to him, ripping the sign off his back and standing up to the jerks who were tormenting him.

- In theory, your actions are harmless but they proved to have a much bigger effect than you intended. George thanks you, commenting shyly how nobodies ever stood up for him before to which you respond that nobody deserves to be treated that way. 

“You’re beautiful.... I-I mean, you’re heart is! Not that you aren’t! You’re very attractive, it’s just... What I mean to say is that you’re very nice.” Shit. 

- It became increasingly obvious that George was now infatuated with you. You’d just royally screwed up, and all because you wanted to be a decent person. 

- As Marty whisked George away, neither of you could ignore the fact that the boy was trying to look back at you as he was being pulled. 

- When Marty attempted to introduce his parents to each other he found that it was completely in vain. His mother hardly even noticed his father and his father didn’t even seem to mind all that much. Why? Because he was too busy sneaking glances at you. 

“Oh dear. We certainly have a predicament on our hands.” Doc muttered once you all joined back with each other. 

“Great job y/n. You made my dad fall in love with you in what? Two minutes?” Marty quipped sarcastically. Not that he could really blame his father, he was sure he would have fallen for you even quicker. Well now you had to think of a plan, and fast. 

- Lunchtime came and you were sure you had the perfect excuse to let the boy down easy, getting him and Lorraine together in the process. You and Marty made your way to the boys table, sitting down and greeting the nervous boy who looked ecstatic to see you. 

- George greeted you back, saying how he was hoping he’d see you again and how he wanted to thank you by taking you out for a milkshake or something. This was your chance. You opened your mouth and...

“Actually George, you see, we’re kind of dating. You know, going steady.” Your mouth snapped shut, eyes widening as you turned to look at Marty. 

“Oh....” George replied somewhat dejected. 

- You quickly jumped in, saying how you knew he had a thing for Lorraine and how you wanted to help them get together. He tried to deny it before he shyly asked you what you had in mind. 

- You try to give him some dating advice but he quickly decides that it would never work. After all, how’s he supposed to win over Lorraine’s affection when she’s obsessed with “Calvin”. 

- You help Marty dress up as “Darth Vader” all the while seriously questioning his sanity and how he thinks it’s a good idea. 

- He gives you this smug, prideful look when George approaches you the next day, rambling about how an alien told him he has to ask Lorraine out. You just smack him on the arm and start to try and coach his father. 

- Marty somewhat argues with you on what his father should do, giving George the typical male dating advice while you give him the more sensible “what females actually want” advice. 

- You sit back with him while George goes to talk with Lorraine, giving him puppy dog eyes while asking to get a good old fashioned malt.

“You know it’s seriously unfair when you do that to me.” He says, digging into his pockets. The kiss on the cheek you give him is worth the trouble. 

- Sitting back and watching things go South after he messes with Biff. You realize that things are only going to get worse between him, his mother and his father if you don’t do something so once he’s finished with his getaway, you run over and lay one on him. 

- You’re hoping that once Lorraine sees him with “his girlfriend” she’ll realize he’s off limits and be more open to getting with George. It does seem to somewhat work but it certainly makes things between you and your friend a bit awkward. 

- You can’t help but think about how you actually enjoyed that kiss and how he seemed to just as much. You pull away from him awkwardly, whispering an apology to him while he shyly reassures you that it’s fine. 

- The dance is your last chance to get Marty’s parents back together so you really have to be at the top of your game. Lorraine obviously doesn’t have a date so Marty uses his influence with her to persuade her to double date with him, you and George.

- The plan will go as planned, Marty will convince her to come out to the car with him, “force himself on her” and George will come to her rescue. Except before Marty can even think about going through with the plan, Biff comes in and Marty gets locked in the trunk. 

- Long story short, George punches Biff, woos Lorraine and Marty performs on stage before saying goodbye to his parents. You and Marty have a tough final goodbye with Doc and successfully make it into the future, or rather, where you’re from. Doc gets shot, again, but this time he’s equipped with a bulletproof vest and survives, much to your (ecstatic) surprise. 

- He drops you and Marty off at the boys house, saying goodbye before departing into the future. Marty, whose arm had been around your shoulder as you watched, turned you around and confessed that he’s liked you for a very long time. You admit that you like him too and the two of you lean in for your first kiss as an actual item. 

- You walk home that night happier than ever and in the morning you meet up with him so that the two of you can have a well deserved relaxing day together. Well, that was what you were planning on doing before Doc showed up to whisk you away for another time travel adventure.

- You and Marty share a look before getting into the DeLorean, eager yet scared to see what’s in store for you. 

[perditaalottachocolate-blog]

Caterwauling in the Rain

Summary: Marinette and Adrien share their very first kiss after their very first date. Chat is so overjoyed he’s ready to burst into song, albeit not all Parisians share the sentiment. Ladybug comes to investigate the complaints about a feline caterwauling in the spring rain. Luckily, it’s just her very wet boyfriend. A Miraculous Writer Zine​ story.

A/N: This is my piece for @mlwriterzine . I’m so happy I can finally share it! I feel honored to be among the chosen authors. I want to thank everyone, who made this zine possible, it was an amazing adventure! Make sure to read works in the zine collection, they're all a m a z i n g !

AO3

The whisper of wind in his ears, the tap of boots on the tin roofs, the pigeons nesting among the chimneys, cooing to the spring in his step. Chat Noir ran high over the streets, reveling in this late April evening, basking in the fading light of day. 

 Everything in his path was blooming recklessly, fueled by sunshine, turning the warmth of spring into an opulent palette of greens, whites, yellows, pinks, and every other color one could think of.

 It wouldn’t have been far from the truth if Chat claimed he floated on the breeze. It certainly felt like it. Butterflies, the good kind, not the evil purple ones that’d been giving them so much grief, fluttered happily in his stomach. His chest swelled with affection as if it tried to contain all the smells and scents at once.

 His heart was so full he was ready to burst into song any second now. And snugly pressed to his chest was none other than the bravest, prettiest, awesomest, and the most amazing girl he knew. The love of his life, sans the spots. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. His Lady. His girlfriend. His everything. 

Her hair tickled the exposed skin under his chin, but he was too focused on carrying his precious cargo to utter a chuckle. It was her who giggled happily instead. 

 “I really could have gotten home myself, silly Kitty,” she murmured to his sternum. Only his enhanced hearing allowed him to pick up the words over the rush of air and the buzz of traffic. 

 “A gentlecat always walks the lady home after a date,” he countered, allowing a little bit of flirt to seep into his voice.

 A date! he thought excitedly, his heart skipping a few beats. The very first real one, official and everything. Not that anyone paid attention to two goofy teens sharing an ice cream, walking down the banks of the Seine and doing all the carefree, silly things teens did. Bantering, picking flowers, playing tag just because. Holding hands, stealing glances, blushing. Basically half of Adrien’s bucket list went down on that date, more than he could ever hope for. It was still very fresh—the romantic side of their relationship, just like nature herself, coming to life with spring—yet he doubted the excitement of enjoying her company on both sides of their masks would ever ebb.

 Alas, their time had run out all too quickly. For unfathomable reasons their parents set a curfew and warned them not to break it. Yet Adrien refused to leave Marinette to return home by herself. He announced his arrival at the mansion, claiming he was exhausted after a busy day, and dashed off to his room. The door barely had time to close behind him when Chat Noir was already leaping through the window. He scooped Marinette into his arms and vaulted them high and away from the prying eyes of pedestrians. Just a little run and they were already on the little balcony of 12 Rue Gotlib.

 It wasn’t dusk yet, although darkness already settled over the city thanks to the rain clouds that flocked from the west, keeping the last rays of spring sun to themselves. A silver half-moon peeked tentatively over the rooftops, picking up the slack. 

 Unexpectedly the sight filled him with nostalgia. “Anything can happen at half-moon,” Chat recited absently. He didn’t remember where he’d heard the verse. 

 “Anything?” Marinette frowned in confusion. After all, they had just spent a delightful afternoon together. Why would his mood turn wistful so suddenly?

 He decided to play it off. He grinned cheekily. “Like maybe … a kiss?” 

 He was pushing his luck, he knew. They hadn’t reached that milestone yet, still tiptoeing around each other after the accidental reveal, still testing the waters, although neither of them was oblivious to the other’s feelings anymore. 

 To his astonishment Marinette fixed him with a coy smile and threw her hands around his neck. She climbed to her toes. “Maybe,” she whispered, her lips a hairbreadth away from his. Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight. 

 Chat released a ragged breath against her mouth. He shuddered from head to toe as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. His body screamed for her, longed for her presence. But he wouldn’t dare to make the first step. He always followed her lead. He had to be sure it was what she wanted, even if he knew it wasn’t in her nature to tease him like this. 

 And then Marinette was kissing him. Sweetly, tenderly, with just a hint of passion simmering underneath. The gentle caress shrunk his world to just her and this moment.

 He was sure he died, his heart flatlining out of sheer euphoria, his neurons fried from overjoy, his body coming apart at the seams. He floated to heaven and then her kisses brought him back to life. Back to the warmth of her embrace, to the flowery scent of her skin, and to soft kisses he knew he would never have enough of.

 All too soon she withdrew, leaving his lips tingling and cold. He stumbled, dizzy with love in his heart and springtime in his lungs. 

 She must have thought he was being dramatic, because she ruffled his already wild mane.

 “Goof,” she giggled. “Go home, before you catch a cold.”

 “A cold?” He knitted his brows. “Why would I catch a cold now?”

 “It’s raining, you dork.” Marinette bopped him on the nose and turned her hands up. A few plump droplets splashed on her palm.

 Huh? How long did that kiss take? He hadn’t noticed when the rain started. Either those clouds had been moving faster than he’d thought, or he might have been more distracted than usual. Lately he tended to get tunnel vision in Marinette’s company, tuning out everyone and everything while soaking in her presence. 

 From behind the deck chair Marinette produced a black umbrella. She pressed it into his claws. “This is no dew, Kitty. It’s going to pour heavily soon.”

 “Really?” He chuckled. She walked straight into this one. “I’m purring already, my Lady.” He grabbed her hand and put it to his chest. Then he released a rumble worthy of a thunderstorm.

 “Besides, where I stand, the sun is shining all over the place.” He dropped the cheesy line with a flourish.

 “See, you’re already delirious,” Marinette replied matter-of-factly. “Also, yes, I’m very proud of you for getting the ‘Singing in the Rain’ reference, you dorkasaurus,” she added, seeing his pout of indignation. “Now go, before you get wet for real.”

 “Didn’t you mean furrrrr real?” he started, but dropped it immediately when she set him with one of Ladybug���s finest glowers. “A kiss good night, purrrhaps?” he asked hopefully.

 Marinette grabbed him by the bell with such force, his hand slipped on the umbrella’s handle. She pressed her lips to his, but with more fire than sugar this time. 

 Snap! The black canopy sprang to its full size, startling them both.

 “Sorry! Sorry!” Chat exclaimed, but Marinette just shook her head, launching into a fit of laughter. It was impossible not to join her.

 “This umbrella is absolutely terrible,” she wheezed, clutching at her belly. “The ultimate killjoy.”

 “You mean this is …” He trailed off, finally giving the umbrella a thorough look. Sure enough, he soon found the loopy ‘Agreste’ carved into the handle. “Oh, wow,” he whispered reverently. Marinette had mentioned the significance of that first rain they’d experienced together.

 “Yup. And I want it back, mind you,” she added. 

 “This is an Agreste umbrella. You’d need to marry me for the name to check out, Princess.” Chat shot her with a toothy grin.

 “Did you just propose on the first date, Adrien?” She raised a brow. “You might want to save something for the second one.”

 “Ooops.” He feigned a horrified gasp. Incidentally, that absolutely had been on his bucket list. This was Marinette after all. “I’m gonna have to google some new ideas. But anyway, your answer would be …?”

 Marinette shook her head again and thrusted her hand into his face. “You’re impossible. Just go home already before we both catch a cold.”

 Right. He hadn’t noticed her shivering in the cold evening breeze, and the rain probably wasn’t helping. 

 “As you wish, m’Lady.” He bowed. “See you tomorrow?”

 “Tomorrow it is, my Prince,” she replied with a curtsy, raising the imaginary fabric of a long dress with her fingers. Then with one last playful wink, she disappeared through the skylight. 

 Chat sighed in contentment, drawing in the chilly, humid air. He didn’t feel even a little bit tired, more like ignited after the spectacular afternoon of romance, flirting, and banter. He leaped to the railing and elongated his baton so that it hit the pavement. Then, like a leather-clad Mary Poppins, he floated down, startling a few passersby. 

 “Du-dudu-du, du-du-dudu-dee-dudu,” he hummed under his breath, setting into a leisurely stroll. The rain picked up a heavier rhythm, just like Marinette predicted. 

 “Du-dudu-du, du-du-dudu-dee-dudu.” He continued letting his inner Gene Kelly come out and play. He always wanted to perform that song, ever since he’d watched the movie with his father ages ago. And what better place to do so than the Parisian streets, a classy background to the classic number?

 He already felt the tune bubbling in his throat. He couldn’t contain it any longer even if he tried. With a theatrical shrug he folded the umbrella and propped it against his shoulder. His lips stretched into a dreamy smile when he set off again. Then came the song.

 “I'm siiiingin' in the rain, just siiiiiingin' in the rain.” His voice carried over the street, earning him a few confused glances. He gave his audience a little wink. 

 “What a gloooorious feeling, I'm haaaaaappy again,” he claimed, jumping onto a lampost. “I'm laughing at clouds. So daaaark up above. The sun's in my heart ...” Chat’s smile turned into something more smitten as he gazed upon a certain balcony looming in the distance, “… and I'm reeeeeady for loooove.”

 “Let the stoooormy clouds chase everyone from the place.” He waved at a couple making their way through the rain, hiding under an already-soaked newspaper. They chuckled at his antics and clapped, rewarding his performance. 

 Encouraged, Chat turned his face to the sky while throwing his arms to the sides in a truly musical fashion. “Come on with the rain! I've a smile on my face!” 

 He resumed his walk, nonchalantly swinging the umbrella in large circles. “I walk down the lane, with a haaaaaaaappy refrain. Just singing, singing iiiiiiiin the rain.”

 Chat spotted a few phones aimed at him and chuckled inwardly. People always looked for a scoop. Alya was going to be so angry she missed this. He could almost hear her gritting her teeth. Let's give them a show, he thought as his feet carried out the routine, a mix of waltz and tap dancing. 

 “Daaaaaancing in the rain,” he howled. “La-daaaa-da-da-di-daaaaAAA. I'm happy again.” He grabbed the umbrella as if it were a ukulele and struck a chord, making an elated face, as if he were Luka’s more handsome twin. “I'm singin' and dancing in the rain.”

 More tap dancing followed. Chat finally found a way to release all the pent-up energy that had come from the afternoon spent with the love of his life. He tapped, he stepped, he pirouetted, for his joy and for the entertainment of a significant crowd that had gathered to witness his performance. The umbrella was his partner, his pendulum, his microphone and staff. Oh, how versatile a prop this was! Chat leaped like a very wet ballerina, jumped over the puddles or right into them, frolicking in a totally unfeline manner, splashing the water onto himself and all around. A reckless, unstoppable dancing and singing machine.

 Slosh! A wall of cold water washed over him, effectively ending the show. He wiped the liquid from his eyes only to see a very familiar red-clad figure holding a polka-dotted bucket, which must have been the source of his unexpected and involuntary shower. 

 Concern marred Ladybug’s face. She breathed heavily—she must have been running fast to get here. But why did she have to be such a … what had Marinette said? Ah, an ultimate killjoy.

 “Why did you go and do that?” he complained, frowning in accusation. Water dripped from his soaked hair right into his ears. Both pairs. 

 Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him. “The neighbors were complaining about some caterwauling felines and I decided to investigate in case there was an akuma,” she said. 

 Chat shook his head, trying to get rid of the ear leak. “Well, was there?”

 His partner raised a brow and smirked, taking in his drenched form.

 “Oh.” It suddenly dawned on Chat that maybe performing a musical number in a city regularly haunted by mind-controlling villains wasn’t the best of ideas. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly, then shivered. “I’m cold,” he added.

 “Awww, poor kitty,” Ladybug cooed. She relaxed her shoulders, no longer alert. “I need to take you home.” She tangled her yo-yo around a chimney, grabbed him at the waist and in the next moment they were already soaring over the streets. 

 She stopped on a roof a block away from the mansion. Her timing was perfect, as usual.

 “AAAACHOOOOO!” Chat’s sneeze was so powerful Plagg flew out of the ring, taking the leather suit with him. The little kwami didn’t look happy in the least. 

 “Awww, shucks.” Adrien trembled. “Now it’s even colder.”

 “You don’t say,” Plagg grumbled. He was dripping wet. 

 Ladybug sighed in disbelief. She scooped the sprite into her hand and hid him in her pigtail. Then she proceeded to lift Adrien princess style and set off in the direction of his house. Unseen and undetected by the mansion’s security system, she slipped through the bathroom window and into the warmth of his room. 

 A true hero, the epitome of helpfulness, she grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped him tight. Then, with a towel she had taken from the bathroom, she gave Plagg the same treatment. 

 “I’m gonna leave you to change and go to sleep,” she finally declared. “No more clowning!” She pointed a finger at Adrien.

 He gave her an innocent blink. Alas, Ladybug seemed to be immune to his charm. Or maybe it was just late for her. After all he had caused her to leave the dry room and investigate an alleged akuma attack. He decided to step up his game.

 “Maybe a good-night kiss?” He fluttered his golden lashes hopefully. That always got a nice fluster out of Marinette. 

 “Haven’t you gotten like two already?” she frowned.

 “Nuh-uh, that was Chat. Adrien didn’t get any,” he complained. “Besides”—he fixed her with the delightful smile of a teenage heartthrob, his voice lowering to a murmur—“three is the charm, as Lady Luck should be perfectly aware.”

 Ladybug tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Well,” she drawled, stepping closer, “you do make a compelling argument …” Then she closed the space between them.

 Meowrrr, the cat in him uttered. Three was definitely the charm.

 - The End - 

[redpandaramblings]

I’ll Place the Skies within Your Eyes.  Toshinori Yagi x f!Reader Halloween Drabble

Hello lovelies!  It’s a little rushed, and not as edited as I’d like, but really wanted to get this out today!  Know I’ve promised a few stories with other pairings, and I’ve still working on them, never fear.

Content Warnings- Pretty solidly Pg-13.  Little citrusy.  Small Might only.  Buldges and fondling over clothing.  Lot’s of domestic fluff.

“You want me to wear this?  I don’t know, Y/N, I don’t think I can pull it off.  We could always just stay home this year.”

“Toshinori Yagi, you are going to strip and put this on this instant; or I’m going to strip you myself!”

“Promise?” He leered at you with a cheeky grin.

You groaned in exasperation and gave his arm a playful shove.  “You’re lucky I love you, you dork.  But we are going out for Halloween.  Besides, it’s a couple’s costume!  You wouldn’t want me to be sad, lonely, and distressed about being all by myself, now would you?”  You stuck out your lip in an exaggerated pout.

His eyes sparkled as he let out a loud gasp, sweeping you in off the floor into a tight hug and peppering your face with kisses as you giggled.  “It’s a hero’s duty to make sure his lady is never distressed!  Never fear!”

He set you down gently, dubiously eyeing the costume you had had custom made just for him.  “I’ll try it on at least.”

You smiled at your husband lovingly.  “Thank you, Toshi.  I’m going to try mine on in the other room, do a big reveal to each other when we’re done, okay?”

“Okay love.”

You smiled gently and you walked out of the bedroom toward the guest room where your costume waited.  You were glad you had actually been able to get Toshi to even agree to try the costume on. Your husband had loved Halloween, ever since his internship in America.  Every year he dressed up in elaborate costumes, no matter if he was going to a party, handing out candy, or even when he was out on patrol.  And ever since you two had become a couple years ago, every year was couples costumes.  Superman and Lois Lane, Captain America and Peggy Carter, Batman and Cat Woman, Tarzan and Jane,  just to name a few.  But there was a pattern that had remained true every year- the costumes had always featured his strong form.  Even after his devastating fight with All for One the first time, he had set aside at least an hour to be able to wear a costume at his full muscly size.

This was going to be the first year he couldn’t.  This was the first Halloween since he had burnt through the last of his ability to tap into One for All.  Sure, he could change for a few seconds, but certainly not anywhere near long enough to plan a costume around it.  And you were absolutely determined that you weren’t going to let the love of your life sit around feeling as if he were less of a man on one of his favorite holidays.  Maybe he could no longer pull off the hulking muscled look, but to you he would always be the sexiest man on earth.  Now, you just wanted to get him to believe it too.  Or at very least believe he could still look good.

You quickly did your makeup then struggled into your own costume for several minutes.  The gown was very elaborate, requiring a corset and petticoats.  You were going to need Toshi’s help with fully lacing the back, but you managed to get enough done that you knew you were going to knock his socks off.  And he could wow you wearing a potato sack, let alone the outfit you had left him.  Now, you just hoped Toshinori was feeling some of the confidence you had hoped to inspire in him.

Feeling a little nervous, you head down the hall and knock on the door to your bedroom.  “You ready, Love?”  It takes a few moments before you hear an affirmative.  Taking a deep breath, you enter the room.

You smiled warmly when you saw your husband staring at himself in the full length mirror.  The dark blue and black sparkling suit clung to him in all the right ways.  The long coat emphasized his broad shoulder while also flattering his slim figure.  You could see in the mirror that you had guessed right with the fit of the pants, and they were just the right amount of deliciously tight.  Your man looked very good, no denying it.  Not every man can pull off a ruffled cravat after all.

“For the record, I think you make one very sexy goblin king.”

He turned to look at you then, eyes soft as he looked you over.  You did a twirl, showing off your voluminous white ball gown.

“And you, as always, are an angel. Where did you come up with this?”

“Well, you know I love the movie.  And just so happens I’m actually married to a gorgeous blond with sexy floofy hair.  So, I made a few calls to get the costumes made.”

“You know, I’m not sure I remember the pants from this scene being quite this tight in the movie.”

You shrugged as you blatantly ogled the way the tight fit of his pants showed off his rather impressive bulge.  That was one part of his that had never changed, no matter what form he was in.  And though Toshinori was modest, you also knew he was quite proud of that fact.  No reason not to have the pants commissioned in a way that gave both of you plenty of enjoyment.  And it was no worse than some of his hero costumes over the years, honestly.

“You like it.  And you know all Jareth’s other pants are all rather form fitting in the movie, I just took some liberties.”  You let your hand teasingly run along his clothed length.  “Besides, love showing off my very handsome, very endowed husband.”  He shuddered under your hand, bucking slightly before pulling away.

“Y/n, keep that up and we’re not going anywhere tonight.”

“True..”  You sigh, and turn, showing him the back of your unlaced bodice.  “Help out your darling wife?”  You batted your eyelashes.

He hums appreciatively, taking his time to press a few kisses to your bare skin and his long, skillful fingers tighten the laces.  When he’s done, he pulls you closer, wrapping his arms around you and burying his face in your neck.

“Thank you, Y/N.  I don’t deserve you.”

You lean back against him, covering his hands with yours.  “Toshinori Yagi, you are the kindest, handsomest, sweetest, and most charming of men.  You're the best husband I could ever dream of.  And if I have to spend the rest of my days convincing you of that, so be it.”

After a few minutes trading kisses and just enjoying each other, you pull away.

“Come on, goblin king.  I need to do your makeup before we’re off to the ball.”

“Of course, darling.  But don’t expect me to sing like Bowie”

You laughed and nodded.  Toshi hummed softly as you led him to the bathroom.  How very lucky you both were.

Much later that evening, as the party you had gone to was winding down, you walked up behind him and whispered in his ear.  “I wish the goblin king would take me away, right now.”  And after you got home… Well, let’s just say there was plenty of “singing” from both of you.

Thanks for reading!  Taglist- @prussianengel

[isa-ghost]

Bro Average & Divorce Analysis

Y’all are right, don’t demonize Stacy. It’s unfair and stupid and some of the extents people go to to demonize her are straight fuckin gross. Don’t do it. But don’t criminalize Chase either. Don’t make out either of the two to be evil. Here’s why--

In Bro Average, the divorce was shown super spontaneously (a big reason why people demonize Stacy so much).

The only two reasons for the divorce that have solid evidence to support them are that the Brodys either had serious financial problems and Chase’s channel wasn’t doing enough, or that Stacy thought Chase’s dream job was childish and dumped him because of it (his trickshot names and reactions to scoring shots are arguably “immature” for a man Chase’s age, even if there’s nothing wrong with being a child at heart. Stacy might even think being a YouTuber/vlogger in general is immature, we don’t know).

More solidly supported is the financial trouble reason--

“No, baby, no. No, I know, yeah, I’m trying, okay? I’m working, I’m trying to get all the shots. Just look, just don’t take the kids.”

“Just don’t take the kids.” really makes it sound like she’s threatening him with taking them away from him if he doesn’t start making money. This right here is probably one of the biggest reasons why people demonize her so much.

“This one’s called I’m Staying At My Sister’s This Weekend.”

Stacy is separating from him. Chase is no saint here, it could be because he’s too stubborn to get a more financially helpful job. Or, he’s simply trying to hold out hope that his dream job will take off finally. (Speaking as someone who had a father who did that, and it ended up not taking off and royally fucking things up financially for the family). What we know of Chase so far from all of his video appearances shows he’s got that Soft Heart And Big Dreams personality, it’s very likely that’s what he tried to do. It’s a common movie/show trope that the father figure just can’t bring himself to let go of work-related dreams until it’s too late. But the stubbornness isn’t out-ruled here. We don’t know which was the case. Either way, Stacy separated from him.

“Well I don’t care what your sister says. Just please, at least let me see [the kids] on the weekends still.”

Okay 1) Stacy’s sister has no say in Chase’s visitation of HIS kids. She’s not the legal guardian, even if she’s a relative, regardless of why she says he can’t see them. 2) There is no reason Chase can’t see them on weekends or at all. Whether the separation (not yet divorce) was because of Chase’s “immaturity” or because of financial failure, there is no reason Chase can’t have any visitation with his kids whatsoever other than “you’re too immature, so you’re not mature enough to be a father” which is a little bit unreasonable, not to mention a huge assumption on Stacy’s part and definitely more opinion than fact. (Another big reason people demonize Stacy).

“This one’s called Fuck You Chase, I’m Leaving You And I’m Taking The Kids With Me.”

He could have said it that way out of frustration, she could have actually said that word for word. We don’t know. But Stacy moving to her sister’s to get away from Chase and refusing to let him see the kids was a very obvious sign she’s getting ready to divorce him. This is where people shouldn’t demonize Stacy. If she took the kids with her, she obviously cares enough about them and takes being a mother seriously enough that she wants them. Not to mention, if Chase is at fault for the financial troubles because his dream job of being a vlogger won’t take off and make enough money, then why would she leave the kids with him?

“H-H- Hey sweetie! Yeah, daddy loves y-” [Chase is hung up on.]

Here I personally think it was Stacy that hung up the phone (whether she pressed the button or if she made the kid do it, because it’s not far fetched to say that if his kids love him, they wouldn’t hang up so suddenly), BUT if Chase has little kids, like we’re pretty sure he does based on the sounds we hear in Dark Silence, then maybe the kid just hung up too soon on accident or something. If Stacy DID hang up on him or make the kid do it, then this is yet another reason people demonize her. The assumption alone that she might’ve been the one to do it is another reason people demonize her. It’s more evidence that she’s completely cutting Chase off from his kids.

“This one’s called Fuck You Chase, I Want A Divorce”

Again, we don’t know if that was said by Stacy word for word or said out of frustration. If it was, Chase is reasonably upset and kind of has every right to say it that way. It’s our fault if we take that as a reason to demonize Stacy.

[Chase breaks down crying]

THIS is the moment I think his depression truly started, or kicked into the severity we see later on in the storyline if he had depression this entire time and just never showed it on-screen in what we see. He’s lost his family, and Stacy is being difficult about visitation.

It was never mentioned that he drank, he never seemed drunk, and he was never shown drinking alcohol here, before the divorce or even right after. There is NO evidence that he drank heavily before Bro Average and the divorce. If anything, him using the teabags might imply he drank a lot of tea. He started drinking whiskey AFTER the divorce, out of grief because he lost his family to is drinking to to try and numb the pain. He didn’t even really show he has depression during BA/before the divorce. He’s actually extremely bubbly and happy in BA in the scenes he isn’t talking to Stacy/being upset about the divorce, which I know doesn’t mean he’s not depressed, but he certainly doesn’t show it here as strongly as he does in any video we see him in after BA.

**Also gonna just mention here about the idea that Anti might’ve had a hand in the divorce. We have 0 evidence for that so it’s possible but equally as unlikely. I personally feel like Sean would’ve included SOME kind of way to show he did. At this point in time (April 2017) he might not have even planned on having an entire ego storyline OR have egos interacting with each other. So again, its possible but also unlikely.**

“This one’s called The Drive-By.”

And THIS is where all the huge confusion on our end comes in. Did he really pull a drive-by? All the rest of his trickshots seem like they take place in that office building. And we see all of his struggling with Stacy going on there too, like they’re arguing while he’s at work trying to make money for them. 99% of BA takes place in that building, its just this scene we don’t know about.

There’s actual gunshot noises and screams like he actually committed a drive-by. It’s also not uncommon for people both in media and real life to do something stupid, rash or even violent when they’re under too much emotional/mental stress. It’s actually proven that men especially act out in violence because of fear of being perceived as weak if they show vulnerable emotions like sadness (*vibrates in psychology major, oops*), so they vent through physical, often violent means instead. (I doubt Sean knows that, and I doubt even more that he planned such an intricate real life detail in something that wasn’t even supposed to be an ego power hour in the first place, but I digress).

This face especially right here makes me think he might have actually done it. He looks dead inside, almost like he’s glaring. If Anti had a hand in the divorce, did he make Chase do this too, if he really did do it?

“This one’s called Stacy I Love You, Please Don’t Go.”

It’s not uncommon for a mass shooter to commit suicide after they commit their shooting. Not only that, but obviously of course, suicide is extremely common in depressed people, and the divorce (with or without the depression as an added factor) is a big motivator for someone to do something like this, especially since Chase likely doesn’t have much else to live for besides his kids, which are being kept from him completely by Stacy. Basically what I’m saying here is, there’s A LOT of good reasons why Chase would try to kill himself. Also want to mention really quick that Chase did not show violent behavior that we saw before this, so him being violent towards Stacy or the kids remains ruled out of the reasons with evidence why Stacy would divorce him.

There’s a real gunshot noise when he shoots himself. It has also been CONFIRMED by Henrik in KJSE that this suicide attempt was legit, because he said he saved Chase.

We should also keep this scene after the outro in mind. Is it just as canon as the rest of BA? Is it just Sean being a goof and this is a blooper? Did Chase not successfully kill himself? That’s a big possibility. We don’t know. But we DO know he definitely shot himself for real and Henrik saved him. I’m kinda leaning towards this being a blooper of Sean being a dork, personally.

ALSO-

*Galaxy-brains for a moment here* What if Chase’s dreams of being a YouTuber/vlogger DID end the divorce and now as some twisted ass irony, he’s actually achieved his dream because he has to pose as Jack on the channel? Now THAT I could see Sean doing, especially since he said he’s been plotting for months and definitely had a vague plan during Mayhem, which is when Chase posing as Jack while Jack is comatose was revealed.

Anyways, TLDR; Don’t demonize Stacy, it’s gross and we have no justified reason to, only assumptions. But don’t demonize Chase either, because from all we’ve seen of him so far from BA and afterwards, he was only trying to make a dream career happen and his refusal to let that dream die killed his marriage. Both he and Stacy have their flaws here, so don’t demonize one or the other.

[hecohansen31]

Lately I love to imagine Michael teasing a shy gray at Outpost 3. But gently. Smiling at her, saying 'hello' when he is ignoring all the others, taking interest into what she is doing, touching her shoulder... Like the others, she wants him, but she is the only one who truly tell herself it will never happen, because he is too good for her and never tried anything or lied to him Because of it, she will be the only one he will take to the Sanctuary with him, but not before having some fun.

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

Thank you for sending in this request, I honestly love working on polar opposite couples, so I honestly loved working on these two and hope you’ll like what I wrote!

Also sorry guys if the next asks will take time, I have some written out but I am going to stop answering them chronologically, because it wasn’t helping with bieng creative/writing, so... I am sorry if some asks will take more time that usual!

(I also started studying for an exam so... I might be a bit off).

WARNINGS: Shyness, Two Dorks, Mention of Blasphemy and Threats.

You had always been shy, hence when you had found yourself to be a grey at the Outpost, you hadn’t been surprised and had actually accepted your position quite easily.

Although the people there were awful, you tried to be as invisible as your uniform, completely matching the horrid background of the dark hallways of the last shelter of survivors on Earth.

But no matter how much you tried to camouflage with the walls, Mr. Langdon seemed to completely find you anywhere.

You would be adjusting books in the library, sometimes some that you had snuck out to read in the dark of your room, and he would startle you grabbing a book over your head, and as you turned he would simply smirk at you, with a finger on his mouth, as if this would be ‘your little secret’.

One day you had been scrubbing the floor, after you had been blamed of having spilled the stew, whereas you had been tripped by one of the purples, and as you had looked up, seeing Mr. Langdon’s shoes, you had sent him an obedient look, hoping he didn’t want to punish you.

“Continue your work, little Grey” although his words were harsh, his tone held some kind of sweetness.

He had an allure to him that every outpost resident had noticed, but nobody had caught Mr. Langdon’s attention.

And as you had gone back to your work, you hadn’t found the stain where you had left it, as if it had been magically cleaned.

You hadn’t then understood whether you had been having hallucinations or Mr. Langdon had used some kind of magic to help you with your work.

Which seemed even more crazy than the thought of him being a magical being.

Why would he help a ‘good-for-nothing’ Grey?

Why chose you, when the Outpost held many and many rich heiresses and important models?

You were so surprised, but accepted his gestures, because you certainly wouldn’t have spit in the face of the only ‘alley’ you had inside the Outpost, and although there was a strict regulation against murder, you were well aware that inside of this, you were everyone against everyone.

And you weren’t certainly expecting to be chosen on the Sanctuary.

Hence you hadn’t courted or annoyed Mr. Langdon, you just tried to do your best each day, cleaning,  scrubbing the floors and serving dinner, although you saw no reason why Mr. Langdon would need any of those things in his Sanctuary.

Then your interview finally came, and you weren’t able to stop being nervous, only calming lightly as Mr. Langdon welcomed you in, allowing you to sit, although you just wanted to run for the entire room in an effort to lessen the stress.

And your feet, unable to run freely, started moving up and down, in little kicks that bunched up lightly your dress.

It was childish but it seemed to focus your attention away from Mr. Langon, who, that day, looked even more handsome than usual.

He was wearing an elegant red velvet jacket and black pants, which wouldn’t have properly suited any man except one that was able to wear those clothes proudly as he did.

And he had also donned a bit of make-up, a strong red eye-shadow on his eyelids, outlining his profile and the blue of his pretty eyes, meanwhile his cheekbones were perfectly lined by the light in the room, lightly darker, but donning the man and the atmosphere of the room a sensual note that made you even more uneasy.

“Mrs. (L/N)” he snapped you back to reality and you smirked a bit dumbly, hoping you hadn’t lost yourself too much of his dialogue “… before we start, I’ll have you know that, here, lying or withholding the truth are not admitted, in this room, and in case you chose to apply those two strategies, I’ll leave you to die here”.

The cruelness of his words was enough to send you straight back to Earth, and you nodded, gaining a delighted smile by Mr. Langdon, as he got himself more comfortable on the chair, meanwhile you stood on the brink of yours, in a rather uncomfortable position.

But any position was uncomfortable if you were being mentally penetrated by such a handsome gentleman.

“Then I won’t hesitate much longer and start with the interview” he collected some papers on the table, more to keep his hands busy than for any actual use “… are you afraid of me, Mrs. (L/N)?”.

The question shocked you, and you honestly didn’t have an immediate answer for that.

You had gone through some of the questions he might have asked you: where you were born, what your parents did for a living, if you had a good relationship with your grandma… the usual things.

But certainly not that question.

“…I don’t honestly…” you started stuttering and calmly Mr. Langdon set down his papers, looking at you with a calm glance and muttering:

“Take your time, Mrs. (L/N), truth is more important than time to me”.

You couldn’t help but blush and immediately you shot your look to your hands.

You honestly felt like everyone was afraid of Mr. Langdon, and it would have been stupid not to be: he was a powerful man, playing with your destinies… but at the same time…

He had proved himself to be gentle with you, both the library incident and the stain one, showing that he had a softer spot, although he didn’t let it out.

“I don’t think that I should fear you, Mr. Langdon…” you admitted finally, gaining your voice but still looking intensely your fingers “…I am intimidated, certainly, but I don’t think that I fear you”.

“Intimidated?” he seemed fascinated by the sound of it “… why, Mrs. (L/N)?”.

“You are a powerful man… who… is in control of our destiny…” you set a look to the side, an elegant clock being hang there, unmoving but tick-tacking in your imagination “… only a fool wouldn’t be afraid of a man with such power”.

“A man with such power…” again satisfaction shone in his words “… do you think I am a god, little Grey?”.

You knew that he was messing with you: his tone had become softer, a velvet caress of teasing to your ears.

You blushed and couldn’t help but be a bit indignant, as you answered with a tone that fit your feeling, immediately regretting its harshness.

“… no you are not a god” you replied, witnessing his eyebrow scrunching together, alongside his nose and you couldn’t help but wonder whether you had said the wrong things “… God is an invention and you are pretty real”.

“Would you like to touch me to prove it, Mrs. (L/N)?” the proposal had something of extremely indecent in it.

You shook your head tight, your face extremely livid.

But Mr. Langdon tutted you lightly with his head, shaking it.

“You have been nothing but truthful, Mr. (L/N), don’t disappoint me now” and he raised lightly one of the arms of his jacket, revealing smooth skin, with light blonde hair on it, strangely standing at attention, as if he was having some goosebumps “… c’mon, touch me, I swear I don’t bite”.

His eyes seemed to also add ‘not if you ask’, but you tried to focus on his skin.

Softly pushing your hand on it, you caressed his wrist with your fingertips as if you were expecting to be electrified by that skin, so pure and soft, that it got a soft moan of surprise out of your mouth.

“I am real, am I not, Mrs. (L/N)?”

“You are made of meat, Mr. Langdon” you replied, pushing your hair away from your face, as you slowly retreated your finger from his skin, although you felt like they were again yearning for that contact “… but so are the best working illusions”.

“You have got quite the tongue” he replied, a look of fascination shining in his eyes as you tried to raise up your eyes to meet his, curiously attracted by him, again “… you may act like a little Grey, but you are much more, aren’t you?”.

“I…” again words were stuck in your mouth, filling it, unable to move away from the horrific feelings Langdon brought out of you “… I am scared that in my mind I’ll forever and only be a Grey for myself”.

“But in your soul?” he hit just the right spot, as if he knew perfectly where to dig to find the best treasure “… because what I look through, truly, in my interviews… are souls”.

He raised from the desk and moved away from it, circling it to come to you.

And you started trembling.

Whether for the anxious confusion or for the impatient interest he provoked in you, you didn’t know, but you were stuck there, although everything in you wanted to run.

Either away from him or to him.

He solved any doubts, making the decision for you, pushing himself onto his knees in front of you.

“I have seen some souls which are downright scandalous, the darkest of darkness inhabiting them, but most of them are grey, simple and meek, nothing memorable in their eyes and nothing magical, and you expect yourself to be one of those…” you nodded your head, as if it was a question “… but the truth is that your soul is delightfully colorful a myriad of different colors, one different from another, so bright and unique that everybody is unable to simply stare at you, they are admiring you, little Grey”.

And before you knew it, Mr. Langdon had dared to do what you had solely dreamt of doing each night, in your wildest dreams.

He kissed you.

You had expected him to be selfish and passionate, but he was tender and sweet, loving and attentive, as he tangled his fingers in your hair, meanwhile another hand went to join yours in your lap.

He proved himself to be exactly like you: more beyond what the eyes perceived.

“I have been looking through all Earth for a soul like yours, Mrs. (L/N)” he stated once you separated, the kiss having been chaste enough not to startle you, something for which you were grateful, since you didn’t understand whether it was a dream or just your imagination.

“Call me, (Y/N)” you replied, your hands coming slowly to his face to understand whether he was an illusion, or a man made of meat, and again smooth skin tickled your fingertips.

“Then you must call me Michael” he shot back, a small smirk easing on his face, genuine and true that made you understand you could trust him “Come with me at the Sanctuary (Y/N), you are the only one worthy”.

[crusherthedoctor]

The Lutrudis Hadeer Characterization Masterpost

A while back, I made a big post about the thought process that went into the design for Lutrudis, as well as her name, species, and choice of weapons. In the midst of doing a bunch of other stuff (like the Eggman Sweet or Shite review, which is definitely still coming guys I swear, please don't leave me D':), I recently figured I could do the same for the character's... well, character, and provide some further insight into how her personality was shaped together. Cause why not, right?

Obviously, we won't be covering literally every single personality trait that Trudy has, like her hobbies and whatnot. If we went over all of that, we'd be so far into the future that Tumblr's search system might actually start working again. No, we'll just be keeping it to the central ingredients that make up the overall package.

1. A cool head? In my Sonic OC?

The recurring cast in the Sonic universe is filled with fiery, hot-blooded sorts in one way or another. Sonic might as well be the love child of Mentos and Diet Coke with how full of energy he is, Knuckles and Amy are both prone to letting their temper do the talking, Eggman... is Eggman, and the list goes on. And while there are a number of characters who are more low-key or even outright introverted by comparison, they still tend to exhibit a trait or two that makes them more in-line with the rest of the crowd, be it youthful excitement (Tails, Cream), a fiery temper (Blaze), or the odd bit of cockiness (Shadow).

So what better way to help make Trudy stand out... than by not really having anything like that at all? Contrary to most of the hot-blooded cast, it takes a lot to truly enrage her, and even then, you'll be lucky to get anything past tranquil fury. She's not particularly hammy either - flowery with her language at times, certainly, but not hammy - nor is she a cocky type, even against the weakest or most ridiculous of opponents, and although she does grow as a person over the course of the story she's involved in, all of this remains fairly consistent.

That's not to say that Trudy is not a passionate person. Far from it, in fact. She has a lot of passion. She just shows it in a different way than the average Sonic character.

2. Lutrudis? More like Unsureofdis.

Uncertain characters are also somewhat rare in Sonic's recurring cast (at least in the game universe), and just like with the previous point, even when they're there, they'll usually have something to counter it. Blaze may have been a bit insecure before meeting and befriending Sonic and Co, but as mentioned, she’s got a fierce temper, and even when she started off on her own, she felt that only she could take care of the threat of Eggman and Inferior Eggman Nega. Likewise, while Silver may have doubted himself about Leslie the Crack Dealer’s Iblis Trigger ruse cruise, he still got cocky when he had Sonic on the ropes, and he could be quite full of himself in the Rivals duology as well.

The point being, they still tend to show some semblance of the same “yep, I'm the one for the job, no questions asked” confidence and swagger that nearly everyone else has, no matter the flavor. Trudy, suffice to say, does not have this mentality. Trudy accepting Sonic and Co's help in dealing with sinister affairs in Viridonia without any haughty protest on her part isn't just because she knows they can handle it, or because they're Sonic Heroes and they'll show 'em the real superpower of teamwork... it's also because she's genuinely not sure if she would be able to take care of the matter on her own.

When she saved Cream from the wrath of the Wraith for example, she wasn't thinking “This looks like a job for Miss Hadeer!”

She was thinking “This could very well get me killed, but I have to help the poor bunny somehow...”

In other words, Trudy doesn't consider herself to be some sort of destined protector who has to do this herself. She constantly second guesses herself, and frequently believes her friends are more qualified and competent than she is. Her only reason for doing her best and helping out regardless is simply because she wants to.

3. A light at the end of the tunnel.

For the sake of tact, it's not shoved in your face relentlessly, but reading between the lines, it can be easy to get a sense of melancholy from Trudy. Particularly due to past experiences, she does indeed have an element of depression within her, and this can occasionally show in her body language and facial expressions, even if she's currently feeling positive emotions.

And yet, notice how she continues being a friendly pony. Notice how regardless of her experiences, and her thoughts on said experiences, her actual behaviour is (mostly) free of bitterness or cynicism, and that she doesn't hide the joy that her new friends make her feel. She's not outright ignoring her experiences or pretending they don’t affect her, because they clearly have affected her, and she's never ignored her scars (metaphorically and literally, the latter being a permanent side-effect of her condition), but she knows better than to let it consume her, so she tries her best to look at the bright side of life even during the darkest days.

It's Sonic's opinion that Trudy's inner spirit is a lot stronger than she thinks, with or without his help. Her refusal to give into misery and lash out at the world foreshadows that he's not unjustified in that belief. That, and it ties into the franchise’s usual taste for optimism and idealism against the odds.

4. Hadeer? More like Hadork.

So, everything thus far helps set Trudy up as a mellow, down-to-earth sort of personality. So far, so good. However, it's still the Sonic the Hedgehog universe we're talking about, filled with many colorful characters of all shapes, sizes, and eccentricities. When a franchise has a larger than life cast in a larger than life world, the characters who are meant to be grounded often risk coming off as boring and could end up easily overshadowed, because the creators or writers often neglect to give them any quirks of their own, usually out of fear that it'll disgrace the character's gracefulness. In fact, I personally feel this was a common problem with Sally, in both SatAM and Archie (mostly pre-reboot admittedly).

IMO, these writers are just being plain old silly. Just because a character is quirky doesn't mean they forfeit all their dignity altogether. Like a lot of things in life, you just have to balance it out, and that's what I did (or tried to do...) with the green equine.

So yes, Trudy is elegant, but she's also a really goofy dancer. Yes, she's gentle and motherly, but she also goes back and forth between being a heavy sleeper and being an insomniac. Yes, she serves as a warmhearted auntie figure for Cream (and a big sister figure for Amy), but she also spends a quarter of her time looking like a ninja with the way her bandana covers her face (whether it be due to cold weather, strong scents triggering her sensitive nose, or doing it in the presence of villains as a mildly theatrical way of visually conveying her disdain for them).

And of course, in the right situation, she can be just as much of a dork as the titular blue hedgehog is.

Which leads me to my next point...

5. “You might know everything I'm going to do...”

Trudy was created with the intention of having a character who is actually like Sonic himself in a lot of ways, but it's not apparent initially.

This sort of yin-yang contrasting routine has been done before a few times in the series, with Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze being the most obvious examples. But with them, their similarities are easier to spot from a distance. Knuckles is more earth than wind, but you can tell he's as stubborn as Sonic is. Shadow's methods and outlook differ, but you can tell he's still a mirror of Sonic (cause you know, he looks like him). Blaze is more distant, but you can tell how she can easily be just as worked up and angered as Sonic.

With Trudy however, if you take her at face value, you would think she's the exact opposite of Sonic. She's an introvert, he's an extrovert. She's got a calm temperament, he can get impatient even at the best of times. She's quite fancy, he's more rough and tumble. She takes things slowly, he leaps ahead without a care in the world... You would think that, outside of them both fighting for good, they would have nothing in common, and that their dynamic would be more akin to Sonic's relationship with Sally, which although they were friends, their relationship could often be somewhat rocky due to their differences in... basically every area and opinion imaginable.

But then you get to know Trudy, and the unfolding of the adventure reveals the rest of what she has to offer. The aforementioned soldiering on in spite of any depressed moments is in itself a small hint that Trudy shares Sonic's philosophy of never giving up. She believes that most people are good at their core, and while she won't excuse especially evil people or actions and will punish them appropriately (albeit with regret that it had to come to that), she's willing to give a chance to those who are willing to take it, just like with the Blue Blur. Not only does she NOT find Sonic's jokes and hijinks annoying, she actually has a similar sense of humor herself. And while reasonable people generally tend to loathe injustice and oppression, Trudy shares Sonic's uniquely intense contempt for it, and believes in one's own personal freedom just as much as the hedgehog does, let alone freedom in general.

In short, Trudy is what you get when you take Sonic's deeper qualities and general outlook on life, and apply them to a more introverted and taciturn personality. The exact same beliefs, but from a different perspective, so to speak.

6. A different kind of intelligence.

Tails and Eggman are the resident kings of scientific prowess in Sonic's world, and it goes without saying that I wouldn't want to do them a disservice by having Trudy one-up them in that department. But that doesn't mean your character can’t be talented in other areas, right? Contrary to what all those Mary Sue tests dictate, your character can in fact have a high IQ without intruding on an official character’s territory.

Therefore, Trudy is pretty good at innovation and craftsmanship in her own right, but whereas Tails and Eggman do it through technology, her field of expertise is more to do with arts and crafts, and to a lesser extent geology. For example, both her bow and her whip were crafted by the lady herself, using nothing but her decorative knowledge and flair.

Outside of that, she tends to know a fair bit about a lot of things in the world, largely attributed to her photographic memory, meaning she's bound to have a few answers no matter the subject of discussion. Granted, she's unlikely to be the absolute number one expert on any of those things, but she's at least a useful jack of all trades in that regard.

7. Feeling a little horse.

I very much approve and flat out adore the idea of Sonic characters having characteristics that remind the audience of what species they're supposed to be, so I made sure that Trudy had a wide selection of little mannerisms that would reveal her for the little horsie that she is. These include, but aren't limited to...

- When she’s fascinated or concerned by something, she’ll lean a little forward with her hands close to her chest, which subtly mimics the act of prancing.

- When she wakes up, she briefly stretches her arms and legs (albeit not too recklessly so as to risk straining her sensitive limbs).

- Her tail has a number of quirks. If she's happy, it might slowly swish to and fro. If she's REALLY happy, it might flick...

- And if she doesn't approve of someone or something, it might stiffen and raise a little bit, as if to helpfully inform the bad guys where they can kiss, if ya know what I'm saying.

- When she's being affectionate with her friends, she might give them the ol' nuzzle.

- When she's in a playful mood, there might be a little skip in her walk, the anthro equivalent of trotting.

- When she's annoyed, she might humorously let out a snort that sounds identical to a real life horse snort. And while she certainly doesn't neigh in the traditional sense, when she finds something hilarious or Sonic's making her laugh with his antics, her laughter can't help but take on a neigh-like touch to it. (The latter was actually a headcanon suggested by @darklightheart​, and I immediately agreed with it because it's cute and funny in equal measures.)

Naturally, she gets all shy and embarrassed when the neigh-laugh comes out, thinking it sounds silly. At least Sonic finds it endearing.

Note that I'm well aware that some of this differs from how real life horses react to certain things. (Eg: tail swishing tends to happen when a horse is agitated rather than happy.) But I freely admit that it's more for the sake of giving the character that extra bit of soul than it is for utmost accuracy. That's the way it goes with fiction sometimes. :P

Interestingly, Trudy tends to get Sonic indulging in a funny hedgehog characteristic of his own. That being, he might curl into a ball if Trudy's being particularly... ~complimentary~ towards him.

And there we are! These are the core elements that make up Trudy’s characterization. If you ever wanted a general list of what makes her tick, then hopefully this post will help in scratching that itch. And if it doesn’t, then hopefully it still proves that more thought was put into her than Scourge. :]

[remywrites5]

Please please please more spider-man/deadpool fluff!!!! That fake-ex thing you posted was *chefs kiss*

Thank you! This was actually inspired by a post I saw of Tom Holland talking about having to wear thongs under his suit. I was like man Wade would lose his shit if he knew about that. 

***         

  Wade Wilson was bored. He was between movies, and he’d just been sold to Disney, so he didn’t have a lot going on. So Wade decided to do what he always did when he was bored – bother Spider-man.

           He snuck into Peter Parker’s apartment through the window and began going through his stuff. It seemed like Spidey wasn’t home but Wade wasn’t exactly in a hurry. Besides, it gave him some time to snoop on Spidey and that was just delicious.

           He made himself a hot pocket from Peter’s freezer and walked around while he ate it, taking everything in. Whitey was mentioning that maybe Peter would see this as a huge breach of Spider-man’s trust after Peter went and revealed his secret identity to Wade. Wade promptly ignored him as he took a bite out of his hot pocket, some of the contents spilling out onto his suit. “Fuck,” he said, grabbing a paper towel and wiping it off.

           He found an old photo album Peter had and sat down on the sofa to peruse it. He cooed at pictures of a baby Peter, giggled at pictures of teenage Peter, and swooned at pictures of Peter now. Man, did Wade have it bad. He also got his first glimpse of the illustrious Uncle Ben, knowing all about Peter’s backstory.

           He flipped the book closed and left it on the couch as he went into Peter’s bedroom. If Wade hadn’t already been aware that Peter was a massive dork, he certainly got that impression from Peter’s room. He had a periodic table on the wall, a bunch of Star wars shit, and even a microscope. Everything about Peter’s room screamed nerd.

           Wade went over to the dresser and began rifling through it. He slid open the underwear drawer and smiled to himself. He pushed aside a few pairs of boxers and his eyes widened in shock when it landed on a few very thin strips of fabric. He lifted one up and held it between his fingers, stretching it between them to get the full view. “This is the greatest day of my life,” he said, staring at the thong.

           “Wade? What the fuck are you doing here?”

           Wade hadn’t even heard Peter come in. He spun around with the underwear still in his hands.

           “Oh my god,” Peter said, turning almost as red as Wade’s suit.

           “You wear thongs?”

           Peter sputtered for a moment. “I – It’s my suit… it’s very tight and – you know – can be very revealing.”

           Wade cocked his head to the side and watched Peter have a tiny meltdown. “I always wondered why your ass was super jiggly.”

           Peter buried his face in his hands. “Oh my god, can we not – “

           “But talking about your ass is one of my top three favorite subjects of conversation, baby boy.”

           “Wade…” Peter pushed his fingers up into his hair and took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm down. He was still a bit red though. “Why are you in my apartment?”

           Wade shrugged. “I was bored. I thought I’d come see you but you weren’t home.”

           Wade flipped open one of his pouches on his suit and as stealthily as he could pushed the thong into it.

           “Please don’t make a habit of breaking into my place,” Peter said with a heavy sigh. He walked over and opened the same pouch Wade had just stuffed the underwear into. Taking it back, he slipped it into his own pocket. Apparently Wade hadn’t been quite as sneaky as he had hoped. “That is absolutely the last thing I need.”

           “Fine, baby boy, I’ll keep the B&Es to a minimum.”

           “Thank you.”

                                                            ***

           Wade was so distracted the next time he went out on patrol with Peter that he got himself killed. They had been in the middle of stopping a robbery with two guys who had knocked over an ATM. It was just a tiny little killing of getting shot in the head but Peter was very unhappy with him. In Wade’s defense, it was absolutely not his fault. He couldn’t stop looking at Peter’s ass and imagining what he was wearing underneath. Especially now that he’d seen it.

           He woke up back in Peter’s apartment after his brain stitched itself back together. Peter was in the kitchen back in his civvies and looking extremely annoyed. “Back with us then, Wade?”

           Wade groaned and sat up, rubbing the side of the head where the bullet had been. “How long was I dead?”

           “A couple of hours,” Peter responded, bringing Wade a beer even though he looked pissed as hell.

           “Problem, baby?”

           Peter’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Of all the idiotic ways to get yourself killed,” he said, his hands curling into fists.

           “I heal up fine, Petey, there was no reason to be concerned,” Wade said, rolling his mask up and taking a swig from the beer. “Thanks for dragging my sorry ass out of the alley though. Waking up in alleys isn’t my favorite.”

           “Wade, I swear to God – “

           “What’s got you so upset, Petey?” Wade asked, unsure why Peter cared that Wade had kicked the bucket. “I always bounce back.”

           “That’s not the point!” Peter shouted, grabbing Wade and hauling him up to his feet. Wade was so surprised that he dropped his beer and it began spilling over the carpet. “Do you think I like watching people get shot in front of me and being unable to stop it?”

           Suddenly it all made a lot more sense. Uncle Ben had been shot by a mugger. Probably brought up some painful memories for Peter and then Wade had gone and practically done a reenactment for him. Shit.

           “I’m sorry,” Wade said sincerely. “I didn’t think – I didn’t mean to – “

           “Yeah, well you did,” Peter said, releasing Wade and shoving him away.

           “I didn’t know you cared so much about me, baby boy,” Wade said, chewing on his bottom lip. “I would have thought you’d be glad to be rid of me.”

           Peter worked his jaw for a moment, his eyes hard, and Wade knew instantly he’d said the wrong thing. “I don’t want people to die, Wade. Yeah, you drive me crazy some times but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

           “So you do…care?”

           Peter sighed heavily and scrubbed his hand down his face. “Look, I’m kind of wrecked right now. You can stay or not but I need to crash. We can talk about this some other time when I feel a little more ready to answer that.”

           Wade nodded and mimed zipping his lips. Peter immediately went into his bedroom and shut the door. Wade sat in the living room and debated between staying or getting out of Spidey’s hair. Eventually he finished his beer and decided it’d be better for Peter if he made himself scarce.

           He stopped to steal a thong from Peter’s underwear drawer because – well – he couldn’t help himself.

                                                           ***

           Wade took a job in Barbados and didn’t see Peter for a month. He felt like he owed Peter some peace and quiet after their last run-in. It hadn’t exactly been a successful team up and Wade didn’t want Peter to hate him.

           It was his first time back in New York since his hiatus and he was looking for a little action. The job in Barbados had been a lot of surveillance and very little un-aliving people so Wade felt a little restless. He wanted to beat up some baddies and maybe if they were bad enough give them the old katana through the neck.

           He was on the rooftop waiting for any signs of commotion or distress when he heard the unmistakable noise of web shooters. He turned around just in time to see Peter land on the roof behind him.

           “Where have you been?” Peter asked accusingly.

           “Took a job in the Caribbean, you know, have to work on my tan for summer,” Wade quipped, trying to play off how awkward he felt.

           “Oh,” Peter said, rubbing the back of his masked head. “You didn’t mention anything about it the last time we spoke. I thought maybe you were avoiding me.”

           “I was, a little bit,” Wade said, shuffling his feet. Fuck but this was uncomfortable. The last time they had talked it had been some heavy shit.

           “So are you going to give them back or am I going to have to take them by force?” Peter asked, clearly grinning by the stretch of his mask.

           “I have no idea what you’re talking about Petey.”

           “Mmhmm, sure you don’t,” Peter said, walking towards Wade. “I guess force it is then.”

           “I don’t have them on me, baby boy.”

           “Oh but you do have them,” Peter said, confirming his suspicions. Shit, Wade had said too much. “I guess I’ll just have to break into your place and take them back.”

           “You wouldn’t do that,” Wade insisted, taking a step back when Spidey got too close. “You’re a good guy.”

           “You broke into my place,” Peter reminded him, closing the distance between them again. “I think it’s only fair.”

           “Spidey, you woudn’t steal.”

           Peter pulled his mask off. “Well considering they were mine to begin with, it’s more like reclaiming.”

           “I could buy you a new thong, a better thong,” Wade offered, wondering why Peter kept getting so fucking close to him.

           “I don’t need you to buy me underwear, Wade.”

           “Maybe I want to,” Wade shot back.

           “I missed you,” Peter said, reaching up and beginning to roll up Wade’s mask until Wade’s mouth and nose were revealed. “I’ve thought about you a lot over the past month.”

           “Okay, who are you and what have you done with Spidey? Are you an evil clone? An alternate dimension Spidey who lost his marbles?” Wade asked, hating that his fucked up skin was partially on display. He desperately wanted to cover himself back up but Peter must have rolled his mask up for a reason. Besides, Peter had seen him without the mask before. It didn’t mean Wade didn’t feel better with it on, though. “Touched any black goo lately?”

           Peter laughed and shook his head. “Nope, I’m just me.”

           “I don’t believe you.”

           Peter rolled his eyes. “You asked me a month ago if I cared about you,” he said, reaching up and touching Wade’s cheek. “I’ve had an entire month to think about it and I’ve decided the answer is yes. I care about you a whole fucking lot.”

           “Petey…”

           “Wade, for once in your life shut up,” Peter said, closing the gap between them and pressing his lips against Wade’s. Wade couldn’t help the little surprised noise that escaped from his lips.

           He wrapped his arms around Peter and held him close just in case Peter ended up changing his mind. If this was all Wade was getting, he was going to make the most of it. He slid his hands down and gripped Peter’s ass.

           Peter chuckled and broke the kiss. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said softly. “And you better not be planning on going anywhere either.”

           “Are you sure about this, Petey?” Wade asked, still slightly awed that Spider-man was willingly kissing him. “You’ve seen what I’m like when you let me in just a little bit. If you give me more I’m just going to keep taking it.”

           Peter smiled and wrapped his arms around Wade’s neck, pressing in closer to him until they were touching in all the right places. “Then take it.”          

           Wade didn’t need to be told twice. He captured Peter’s lips and proceeded to take and take and take.

[thegrimzuera]

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down into a real-life, real BAD fanfic.

So for the sake of privacy, we’ll say that my name is Zoe. I was raised in heteronormative, Midwestern suburbia. Now for the most part I adore my family and I loved my childhood, but in this case it did not work to my advantage. You see, nobody ever told me I could be gay. Just slipped their minds, I guess. Oops? So for most of my adolescence I walked around like a chump, thinking I was straight. I mean, straight people, you do you! It just didn’t work for me. That in and of itself is Bad Fanfic Trope #1.

I dated this guy on and off throughout high school. We’ll call him Chad. I liked Chad quite a bit. He was nerdy and we had nice conversations. For some reason we just couldn’t click well enough to maintain our relationship long enough that it became permanent (hint: because I was GAY...!). Honestly, we don’t even need to dwell on Chad that much. He’d be the least important part of this story if it weren’t for the fact that during one of our “off again” phases, he met and fell right in love with a person who we’ll dub Sarah.

Here’s where it gets juicy.

Now I’d never met her, but everyone said that Sarah was just like me—but cooler. We were both cute little emo girls, we both liked anime and weird music, and we both for some unknown reason liked Chad. Sarah also had this really amazing accent because she had moved to the states from Wales. All of Chad’s friends called her “British Zoe.” Come to think of it, that title made me a little bitter towards Sarah, and if Sarah ever heard about it, it may have contributed to her feeling bitter towards me too. Of course, being directed to compete over Chad didn’t help.

So Chad dated Sarah for a while, but it was fine, because Chad and I were going to stay friends like the mature 18-year-olds we were. Even though I was still insanely jealous of this mysterious and unattainably cool Sarah person. It was during this time that I figured I liked girls (and boys, I still thought) and as I was toying with the idea of telling Chad about my newly discovered bisexuality, he informed me that Sarah had also come out as bi. Interesting, isn’t it? 👀

I had the opportunity to meet Sarah once. We all went to an anime convention together, and I distinctly remember taking a deep breath beforehand and deciding that this was the day Sarah and I would become friends. There was no need for me to be jealous! If she was as cool as everyone said, then imagine how great a friendship would be. But I was shy. And she was shy. And we had all that baggage between us. I went home that day feeling alienated and disappointed.

Now things began to get messy, because conflicting feelings often do that. I’ll spare you the ugly details, but tell you that my friendship with Chad ended quite abruptly when I discovered that he’d been juggling both Sarah and I romantically at the same time. So I split, made a life for myself 50 miles away, and that was that.

Except it wasn’t. Fast forward about six years—one marriage, one child, one mental breakdown and revelation, and a divorce later. I moved back to my hometown, and one night I walked down the winter streets on the East side with a good friend of mine. I didn’t often come to these parts because I was raised on the opposite side of the city and it was unfamiliar to me. This was actually the first time I’d been here in about...hmm, six years? But one coincidence is all it takes I suppose.

As we walked along, I happened to glance into the front window of a restaurant just off the sidewalk. I had to do a double take, because there was no way that after six years and only one meeting I would immediately recognize...Sarah? Also Chad 😒 I did not say hello. I didn’t know what to do at all! After a mini meltdown, I decided that the best thing I could do was to reach out to Chad on social media.

In truth, I’d wished over the years that I could repair my friendship with Chad—wished that things had played out differently. If we all hadn’t been so dumb, maybe I wouldn’t have lost that friendship. To my great surprise, Chad was very friendly when I reached out. We arranged a time to meet up for coffee, and for several hours we talked and reconciled everything that had happened. We caught up on life, and Chad said that I should hang out with him and his friends—and Sarah—sometime.

I remember the first time I got to spend time with Sarah. It was shortly after that first coffee that Chad, Sarah, and I went to a local pinball bar to play and have drinks. We got together to play board games and have dinner around that time as well. In both instances, I was floored by Sarah’s kindness to me. Despite both of us being rather quiet by nature, we had easy conversation. I also remember feeling like such a dork in comparison. Me and my carefully curated outfits and sculpted hair were overdone and pretentious when compared to Sarah’s shaved head and relaxed wardrobe of black tank tops and some of the coolest pants I’ve ever seen. It was all so effortless for her.

Damn, I wanted so badly to be her friend! Chad kept encouraging me that Sarah thought I was really cool too, but I just didn’t believe it. When I learned that Chad would be moving out of state, I realized I had to stake my claim on Sarah’s friendship fast.

We all got together at Sarah’s new apartment for potentially one last time. Merely stepping foot into this place had my desire to be a part of Sarah’s world skyrocketing. The apartment sat on the East side of town, less than a hundred feet from the very restaurant window where I’d first saw her. It was on the upper level of an old, hipster coffee shop for goodness sake. If I didn’t want to be friends with Sarah just to be friends with her, I certainly wanted to For The Aesthetic.

That night I also met the person we’ll call Katie. This was Sarah’s new roommate. I could just tell as we interacted that evening that something good would come of this. At least, I hoped so. I largely contribute my lasting friendship with Sarah to Katie’s presence, because Katie has such a way about them. They can take even the most shy and awkward folks like me and get them laughing like fools. A little alcohol may have helped as well.

I lamented that night about how lonely I had been, and I did so out loud. That really should be embarrassing, but I’m nothing but grateful for my clumsy and pathetic tongue, because it allowed Sarah to open her mouth and invite me into her life.

“You can be my friend,” she offered earnestly. “Once Chad leaves I won’t really know what to do with myself, so you’re welcome here any time. I mean it!”

And hot damn, was I going to take her up on that. I came home that night absolutely elated. I had found a place to belong. I wrote songs and poetry about how happy I was. I told my parents how happy I was. I had never felt so hopeful, right down to the tips of my fingers. Flowers could have grown straight from my chest that night.

A week or so later, I had plans to have dinner with Sarah, Katie, and another friend of theirs, Rose. I was growing connections. That was also the week that I discovered Sarah and Chad had broke up because of some deeply rooted trash-bag tendencies he’d been revealed to have. We won’t go into that, but Chad was out of the picture, and somehow that raised the stakes. I had no training wheels now, not even in the form of an out-of-state buddy who could encourage me that Sarah truly did want my friendship.

Fortunately, what came to be on that evening with the three almost-strangers was the beginnings of the most instantaneous, wild, and addictive friendship of my life. We talked about everything. We discussed heartbreak, joy, pain, existence as a whole. We sat on a rooftop deck and gazed at the stars, and we immediately planned a get together for the following night where we would meet Lena and Emma, and our core group of instant best friends would be complete.

I can only describe this friendship as a whirlwind romance. These were the true loves of my life, and it had all started with laying eyes on Sarah by means of coincidence or fate that night in the winter—after years of tension and competition! Talk about an Enemies to Friends arc.

But I’m not even done yet.

As I mentioned, our little group became inseparable. We spent all of our time together and poured more energy into our friendship than I had ever given or been given by another adult person. I learned that these people were the coolest to ever exist, and that they thought I was cool too. I finally l believed it, because they wouldn’t allow me to doubt. This was a fierce love.

For some reason, with all this fierce love, I always found myself dying to get closer to Sarah. Closer and closer yet. I also felt particularly protective of my friendship with her. I think this had everything to do with the fact that our friendship was so ill-fated and had been thwarted many times before. I promised myself that I would never let anything or anyone come between us. Sarah was my number one concern.

You can see where this was going.

Bad Fanfic Trope #2: Enemies to Friends [to Lovers]

Now let me just take a pause in our literary journey to tell you some of the reasons I fell for Sarah. Consider this a montage of sorts:

For being a very shy, very introverted person, Sarah lives loudly. She’s the one to show up in the most fabulous, effortlessly cool outfit you’ve ever seen. We once went on a walk to the park with mine and Emma’s kids—Sarah wore black leather hammer pants. She has about ten thousand pairs of black boots, each one unique and quietly elaborate. She just exists this way, never looking like she tries too hard or had to even put thought into her appearance. She just is.

Sarah also loves to dance. And she’s good at it. This was another thing that surprised me, I suppose because I figured that as a self-proclaimed awkward person like myself, she would be too timid to dance. But Sarah can and will dance to anything. Sarah will dance in silence. Sarah also knows and loves every song known to humankind. I’m talking tens of thousands of songs—she knows the lyrics, the albums, the artists, and probably the life stories of said artists.

Sarah is an artist herself. She draws, paints, and does pottery. For my birthday, she threw me the first party I’d had since my absolute failure of a sweet sixteen (in and around eight years prior), baked me the most delicious lavender cupcakes I’ve ever tasted (oh yes! Sarah also is a master in the kitchen!), and gave me the coolest, trippiest, handmade cup. It is my favorite cup. I would probably murder if this cup asked me to.

Most importantly, Sarah is the most kind, gracious, emotionally intelligent person I know. I’ve always been astounded by her ability to forget our past and extend such grace to me. Despite the way we met, she welcomed me into her life. She’s always the first one to check in not just on me, but on all of our friends and even people who have wronged her to be sure that we are all okay. Sarah understands people. She understands feelings and can express them so beautifully when she’s actually given the chance.

We’ve done the whole nine yards over the last year since we met (er, met again). I’m talking midnight kisses, bed sharing, romantic dinners, slow dancing, regular dancing. The problem was in figuring out if it meant anything, because when all your friends are gay, this sort of thing can be confusing.

Nobody told me to feel this way. A smart person would have told me not to. A smart me would have listened. But I love the feeling of falling, so I allowed it. I allowed it and clung to it. It actually happened quite fast. Sarah and I have always been honest with each other; it was something I prioritized due to our rocky beginning. So, when I realized my feelings for her, I wasted no time in asking her on a date.

Sarah said yes, but she also told me she wasn’t sure where she wanted this to go or if she was ready for anything serious. Her relationship with the trash bag had left her pretty severely wounded, and she was understandably still healing from that. And so together we agreed that this would be a date without expectation.

Sarah also told me that she’d never been on a proper date before. Trash bag had never bothered to do that. This was just more motivation to make this a good date. Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but I did a great job. I am good at treating people right. We went axe throwing (yes, very gay, I know), and then had dinner and drinks.

All seemed well, I was happy, she was happy. But, since we agreed that it was a casual date, I didn’t want to apply any pressure by asking her out again too quickly. So I waited and tried to play my hand wisely.

Now during this time, COVID cases were on the rise in my area and in the rest of the country. Hangouts in our tiny group had been easy and safe up until this point because of the nice summer weather and Sarah’s outdoor, rooftop deck where we usually would gather. Winter in the Midwest, however, made that impossible.

Now I thought I might lose my mind if I couldn’t see my people for the entire winter. Fortunately, Sarah asked me to be her “plus one” of sorts—each of the roommates in her apartment got to choose one. Katie chose their partner, and the third roommate in the apartment chose his partner. Sarah chose me.

I say again, you can see where this is going.

Sarah confessed to me that she felt lonely and jealous of her roommates romantic lives. They had partners, she didn’t. They were in love, she wasn’t. But here I was.

Bad Fanfic Trope #3: Fake Dating AU

Now I know what you’re thinking. Why would I do this? Why would Sarah do this? Why, Zoe? Why?

Emotions are a very persuasive bastard, I’ll tell you that. Besides, it made Sarah happy, and I got to go over to my favorite apartment with my favorite person. We actually spent quite a lot of time together in this days.

One particularly magical night for me was the walk we took around a local college campus. This was near Christmastime, so the surrounding houses were all lit up with colored lights and the atmosphere just hit different. Even being out in the open, it felt intimate. We came across the most oddly placed bus stop in the parking lot. Truly it was an island out at sea—it just looked like it didn’t belong there, a little glass building with citrus light leaking out of it.

“That’s a portal,” Sarah joked, spotting it at the same time as me.

I laughed, but I was actually serious when I asked her, “Should we go through?”

So we did. We ventured to the middle of the lot and entered in the left-side door. The inside felt even more otherworldly, and I’m still not convinced that something supernatural wasn’t going on there. But we giggled like kids and imitated the sounds of machine and tearing space-time, and then we stepped out the right-side door.

I’m pretty sure that was the night I knew I was totally fucked. Up until then things had been pretty manageable, feelingswise. But everything about that evening just pumped me up with hope and adrenaline, and whether things went up or downhill from there is kind of hard to tell.

Things really were good! I got to dress up for mini, COVID safe parties and dance in the living room. I got to sleep over on movie nights. I had already been living out my fanfiction dreams to the tune of Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift for the last several months, so what was a few more?

Actually, it was quite painful. I say this was a fake dating AU, but I think I was the only one being fooled—and maybe Sarah too on some level. We didn’t really mean for it to happen this way. I didn’t mean to be the person who couldn’t control her feelings, and Sarah didn’t mean to be the one who led me on. We were supposed to be having fun—and it was fun. Until it wasn’t.

See, holding back your own feelings can be miserable. It’s fun in the moment until you come home to an empty bed and know that nobody will be joining you. It’s fun until you’re reading into every text message and searching for a hidden meaning. Everything somehow felt perfectly aligned and all out of sorts at once.

When I decided I couldn’t take the wondering anymore, I asked Sarah for the chance to talk. She of course said yes, and so we agreed that we’d find some alone time at our next get-together. This happened to be our jazz night party, and Damn, did Sarah look good on jazz night.

We’d had themed parties before, but Sarah really outdid herself this time. She’d taken the lead on this party, and when I walked in I found the entire apartment transformed. The living room furniture had been pushed back to make room for dancing, and the kitchen cart was rolled in as a makeshift bar. The plush bench from the entryway sat in front of a strung-up tapestry as a photo station, and the flat screen was adorned with some sort of “jazz club ambience” from YouTube.

Sarah herself looked like something straight out of the Great Gatsby. I’ll spare you the details because I’m trying not to be too cringe-inducing here, but she was striking and perfectly on theme. I’m pretty sure I looked like a grunge gremlin in comparison, but that’s neither here nor there.

I told her how lovely she looked when I arrived, and truthfully I couldn’t tell if she was the one being awkward or I was. It could have been both, in hindsight, but considering how things went it doesn’t really matter.

It was difficult to focus on the absolute beauty of the party when my hands were trembling and all I could think of was the upcoming talk of be having with Sarah. I didn’t want to look at her too long in case everything went wrong and she didn’t want my eyes on her, but she also looked gorgeous and cool, and she was making us drinks like a real bartender. This was the time of her life, I could tell.

Everyone else was having a good time too. Katie and their partner were two peas in a pod. And Adam (third roommate, thus far unnamed) and his partner seemed pretty much in sappy, romance heaven. It hadn’t been a problem before, but suddenly I wasn’t sure where I fit into this unique equation.

When slow songs came on through the playlist, the couples wrapped their arms around each other and looked fondly into each other’s eyes. Sarah and I danced, but not too close, and I definitely couldn’t meet her eyes right now. It just didn’t feel the same.

We finally managed to get some privacy when the others went on a Taco Bell run. I mentally went over my talking points and tried to prepare myself for what seemed like the most predictable outcome. I would make sure that Sarah felt no pressure with me, because that truly was the last thing I wanted. I would also make my intentions clear—I’d love to go out on more dates with you and just see if there could ever be something between us. Easy as that. I didn’t expect that she would confess her true and undying love for me (I tried not to expect anything really), but a large part of me figured she would at the very least agree to a date or two for the sake of discovery, and maybe she’d even be excited about it. It just made sense to me.

But, even as I was beginning to express my feelings, I could tell the direction this was going. Sarah smiled and said she also felt like we probably needed to talk, and that I was really brave for bringing this up—braver than her, she said. What followed was the kindest, most gentle letting down of my life. Really, she couldn’t have handled that conversation any better.

There were a number of reasons for her decision to turn me down. For one thing, she didn’t want to risk our friendship. We were already so close, and as she’d expressed before, she didn’t want to rush into any serious relationships right now. 100% reasonable. And, it kind of did make sense. It would have been difficult not to become serious very quickly considering how close we were. On top of not wanting to risk our friendship and not wanting anything serious, I suspected that she simply didn’t feel the same way.

At the end of it all, Sarah asked me if I needed some space to process, or if I wanted her to step out of the apartment for a while. That’s right, Sarah literally volunteered to leave her own home during her own party to make me comfortable. I of course told her that was ridiculous and did my best to carry on normally. I wanted to be cool about it for both of our sake. Alas, I ended up making multiple trips to the bathroom for secret crying sessions, and eventually I ducked out early so that I could cry peacefully in my car—and my bed, and my shower, and everywhere else for the next few days.

Yikes. Funny how it hadn’t even hit me until that moment that I’d been making the very same dumb mistakes I read about all the time on AO3. I filled myself up with hope that wasn’t there and nearly ruined everything because of it.

I tried moving on without much luck. I tried remaining friends with moderate success. Perhaps that’s being too pessimistic. Honestly, my friendship with Sarah is stronger than ever. It’s just that almost two months after Jazz Night I finally had to have another talk with Sarah—one where I confessed how hurt I’d been over the whole ordeal. I apologized for my mishandling of the situation, and she apologized for hers. Honestly, we both had a good idea of what we’d been getting ourselves into at the start of it, but we did it anyway.

Am I over Sarah? Not if I’m being honest. But my priority has been and will always be protecting our friendship, and I think she’s on the same page as me there. I hang out with both her and Katie routinely, and I’m doing everything in my power to fix this. I don’t think it’s as big a deal for Sarah as it is me in that she doesn’t have to alter her feelings. I don’t want her to change her behavior either—because our amazing friendship is why I fell for her, she didn’t do anything to make me uncomfortable.

So we’re carrying on. I guess this is an ongoing story, but the fake-dating part is over as are the fanfiction tropes that seem to have overtaken my life for a hot minute. I just thought it was so interesting—interesting enough to share I suppose.

(Honestly part of me things this would make a good story if I went back and documented these events in more detail—like, I dunno, multiple chapters or something idk. If anyone got this far and would be interested in that lemme know. It’s my real life but for once that’s actually quite interesting.)

[slifers-executive-writer]

My Thoughts on the Potential Personality of a Certain Pharaoh We Never Met

Hey guys...It’s been a while since I wrote something about YGO specifically and well since that is the main focus of this blog, I thought I’d create another discussion. 

This particular tidbit (more like a brain fart to be completely honest) is from scrolling through this website and other social media pages and therefore stumbling on the fandom making their theories and headcanons on what Atem’s true personality is. I think we have all seen the jokes on how we as a fandom like to write him off as this super gay, suave, smooth talking, prideful king. The counter argument I often see is that he is socially awkward, fumbling serial killer, with an identity crisis. All of these claims tend to be backed up by people recalling numerous amounts of the original source material from Mr. Takahashi, but sometimes I wonder what could have been. 

Popular headcanons asides (that means we are not using any ships and/or made up assumptions with no basis), let’s talk about this for a minute. What has Kazuki provided and what can we assume about Atem’s actual character. Despite being a 200+ episode anime, several movies, and over 30 volumes of manga, our favorite author has left a lot to be desired from this guy. Once we’ve discussed the material, I’ll make a personal evaluation of what Atem could have been like had we been able to meet him after he had retrieved all his memories.

Okay so perhaps the fandom is right about one thing, Atem started out as a borderline serial killer. Well, according to the manga, he has got quite a bit of red on his ledger with multiple violent injuries/deaths by his hands.

Right at the moment Atem’s spirit was reawakened by Yugi completing the Millennium Puzzle, we have an individual very determined to protect his vessel at any cost. Of course not without his own enjoyment in participating in his “Dark Games”. So we can tell Atem is very protective of Yugi, his group of friends, and generally any other innocent bystanders. We can argue he is a little over protective via his deadly methods but I guess it’s the thought that counts right?

Luckily for Atem’s victims, he stops his magically mind-fucking bullshit after the Duelist Kingdom arc. He never explains why he stops. Perhaps it has to do with his development as a character to not be as ruthless in an attempt to comfort Yugi.  

One attribute Atem does not lose throughout the series is when confronted with any sort of enemy, we see Atem is very confident in his abilities. Another thing the fandom got right is well... he is quite the smooth talker. Despite being from a completely different era, this guy always knows what to say to enemies and rivals alike. Not to mention his motivational speeches to his friends are always quite powerful. If anything I would almost consider Atem a bit of a life coach. He more or less helped raise Yugi and company into the individuals they become. 

Along with giving everyone their moments of support, Atem does a pretty good job blending in with modern society despite being locked up in his own head for thousands of years. I find some individuals, thinking Atem is a complete fumbling socially awkward dork and well, maybe not so much. Sure he has his moments, I think we can all look back on the ‘Date’ episode, but we have to look at which version we are watching/reading. For the sake of accuracy I tend to interpret the Japanese material as it is closest to the manga. As I said, Atem isn’t perfect, he can be very blunt to people when they ask him for an opinion (or telling people it’s the end of the world if he doesn’t win a card game), but I certainly wouldn’t consider him completely ‘socially awkward’ in general. 

But honestly that can be a whole other essay and I’m just talking about basic character traits overall. Now let us discuss some of Atem’s flaws.

So to make things easier, let us list the flaws as they appeared in both manga and anime:

When Shadi was first introduced to us (manga), we got a glimpse of seeing our favorite dark spirit sweat in the heat of a shadow game. It was revealed that Atem knew little of his true identity and sharing a Yugi’s body meant, that the two would share each others emotions. Moreover, this spirit had fears and doubts just like the rest of us.

As time passes we see more of Atem’s doubts emerge as he becomes more comfortable with Yugi and company, and therefore he expresses his confusion about his past. Where did he come from and who is he and such. This guy needs to have a sense of purpose and being Yugi’s guardian is fine, but at the end of the day, it would be best for him to become his own person.

There is another interaction in the manga (and in the Japanese version of the anime) that I found interesting. When Atem addresses this identity issue and whether his time on this plain is limited, Yugi kind pushes it off as something he doesn’t want to think about. The kid does it again (god I can’t remember exactly which arc this is, I wanna say DOMA), Atem mentions the issue and Yugi says “You can have my memories”. 

For fans of the pairing (to be honest I’m a boring canon-ish shipper so not my cup of tea, but I get it...this scene is pretty gay) this moment is viewed as tender love and care but I can’t help but notice a pattern and another character flaw. We have a guy with no memories of his own and having an identity crisis but every time he wants to discuss this issue, his best friend tends to push it away. I understand Yugi’s reasoning, that Atem is basically the catalyst for all the good things to happen in his life, but the constant ignoring of the problem for the first half of the series is borderline toxic. Furthermore, it shows Atem is a bit of an enabler when it comes to Yugi. Unlike Joey who loudly addresses the behavior to Atem’s face, Yugi finds comfort in it and for both of them it only makes the journey harder for them in moments of separation.

Just something I thought I’d bring up since I don’t see a lot of people talking about moments of toxicity in this friendship. Not that it is a bad thing, I find it quite interesting and realistic. Not all relationships with people are perfect.

Last by certainly not least, Atem’s biggest character flaw, is he is one prideful son of a bitch. Yes, I said it. He likes to complain a lot about his rival (Kaiba) about the characteristic when he is also guilty of it. It’s always duelist pride this and duelist pride that, when a lot of the times this bullshit is what almost gets people killed. Atem’s pride kind of ties in with the ruthlessness of his character, where in the ride to victory he sometimes forgets the people he defeats are still humans beings. Take the incident with Arkana, it took Yugi switching back to keep the guy from getting his legs cut off. (Move out the way Jigsaw, Atem is gunning for your spot.) 

But his pride works against him when individuals such as Yami Bakura and Dartz use their words to question his morality. What would Atem do just to obtain victory? While our hero tends to grow from these experiences and beat the bad guys in the end, it does not negate the fact that the pharaoh’s greatest strength also tends to be his greatest weakness.

Okay so I’ve gotten most of Atem’s characteristics down pat before he retrieves his memories. In summary here is a list of some of his qualities I’ve gathered from the source material.

PROS

-protective & caring nature

-generally is confident in his abilities

-good with his words, knowing when to pick someone up and put his enemies down

-Adapts to modern customs and his friends pretty well, especially for someone locked up in a pendant for so long

-easily takes a leadership role (probably a projection of his kingship past) although he is often humble about his status as pharaoh

-his pride keeps his head held high and rises above all challenges

CONS

-let’s be real the guy is incredibly blunt (this could be a pro or con depending on preference)

-can be an enabler to Yugi at times

-ruthless nature (let’s be real his kill count is like 5+ people in the manga, probably more)

-has an overall identity crisis

-tends to put others above himself, which at times can be toxic or detrimental to his character

-his own pride can be used against him, placing fear and doubt into his mind (DOMA was a great example of this)

I feel like every time Takahashi draws him in a new movie, he just adds more flair and muscles (not that I’m complaining)

So now we come to a head and the big question is what are we missing out on? Perhaps one of the reasons Yu-Gi-Oh DM has so much fanfiction and forums about it is the general sense of emptiness the ending of the series left behind. I think dub Tea put it best, (these are not the exact words, I’ve already spent an hour writing this) Atem was leaving us just as we were getting to know him. Finally a season where we get to see him as his own character, and honestly him fighting bad guys and dying for it, was not the way a lot of us would have wanted to see him go. Instead he comes back to duel Yugi but Atem feels so stiff and mysterious. The guy doesn’t even talk to the poor girl crying in front of him. This isn’t a guy who just wanted to up and leave from the get go. But now that he got the information he wanted, suddenly he just says fuck it and gives a thumbs up walking into the light? Nah. I’m sorry to say the Yu-Gi-Oh is not on my top list of anime endings, but it can be one of saddest. 

I often wonder time and time again, what would have Atem been like around his friends. Maybe he would have more of a sense of humor (like he was with Mana). Would he have more wisdom? Would he be more charming? These are just a few question I and many others have about our favorite pharaoh. But hey that’s what we have headcanons for right?

Now some of you may be wondering, especially as a fanfic writer, what are my own headcanons about Atem? As I mentioned before I guess you can say I’m boring, I prefer canon-ish ships and I try to keep my headcanons as much in line with the source material as I can. Of course I add a tad of my own flair to it so it isn’t completely the same. If anything I try to fix so of the errors I see in the original. 

My headcanon for Atem (post memories): A lot of the qualities I mentioned before would most likely remain the same, if not positively amplified. He certainly wouldn’t be as ruthless as he used to be, the anime/manga has shown his growth from that. He would definitely still be very protective of those he cared about. Although I can’t help but think that after remembering his past, he would carry himself in a regal manner. Possibly even without him noticing because he was raised from birth to become a king. Considering the strong connection with his father, I can see the guy having a keen sense for family bonding, perhaps even wanting one of his own. It is traditional for pharaoh to want to pass on their legacy. I’m also sure we all like to think the guy would be incredibly charming, considering how he always seems to know exactly what to say. Although he would still be blunt with his statements, he isn’t one to lie or hold back. If you ask Atem a question you will get the truth and the honest truth. Pride and honesty are incredibly important to him. While he respects honesty, I can imagine he would like to keep personal matters to himself and not worry others. If anything he would rather stay quiet than create a lie. Lastly considering how humble he tends to be with the people around him and how he values everyone as equals, I can see Atem being very open-minded to try new things and explore various ideologies. He would not judge, or have prejudice. He would be accepting and encourage others to be who they are as long as they were good people.

 Okay so maybe he would be low-key nervous around pets lol.

Well, that was longer than I planned it to be, but thanks for reading all that if you did. Feel free to add to the conversation or blow up my inbox!

[insanely-creative-things]

Big Hero 7: The Series

 Big Hero 7 : the series

www.fanfiction.net

Big Hero 7 S2

Eyes fluttered open as it adjusts to the bright light above him. The light became tolerable enough for his eyes to fully open and take in the surroundings, revealing it to be similar to a hospital room. The young man tries to turn his head only to flinch at the sudden pain coursing through his body, making him hiss through his coarse throat.

"Good day to you sir.''

The young man hears a voice which soon reveals itself to be a woman, with dark blonde hair tied to a ponytail, green eyes, fair skinned, and wearing a doctor's coat. She gave a smile doctors gave after a successful surgery, which got the young man thinking. Just what happened to him that led him to a hospital? The doctor continues to smile as she heads over to adjust the man's view so he could sit up without the pain.

''A nurse will come by soon to give you your meal and painkillers. In the meantime I want to ask a few questions for you young man.'' she said, sitting down at a chair nearby. The man thought over his memories and found that the first things that arrived.

''There were flames.. a person... And that's it. That's what I remember so far.''

The doctor nodded as she takes notes, humming as well. She then looks up as another nurse comes in, a male this time, and places a glass of water and a pill case of medication. The doctor sighs before she gets up and starts heading towards the door, to which she then turns her head to him.

'' Do you recall your name at least? Or should I write you as John Doe?'' said the doctor.

The young bit his bottom lip in thought before his eyes lit up. Clearing his throat he gives his answer.

" My name is-

*The young man's eyes widened as the deep alarm sounds off in his room, jolting him awake. He groans as the memory of the dream fades into nothingness. He could hardly believe it's been a year since that faithful day... That day he woke up from what he remembered was an inferno to a room where he thought he would be safe as he recovers... oh how naïve and stupid his past self was. The room he is in is dark as night, barren save for a bed and a door beside him that leads to a restroom. Getting up he dons on his black skintight suit, quickly cleaning himself for he cannot appear half dressed in front of her... The Witch. That is when he hears that dammed voice from behind the door. Did he really have to appear by his door so soon?*

Lenny: Get a move on, you and the others have some training to do with a special guest... You're growing in strength and obedience... so do not disappoint the Madame tomorrow. After all… this is the last test.

*The young man shakes his head before his brown eyes look up to the mirror in front of him. His breathing turns heavy as he thought over his memory dream. Just how stupid is he?! How could he be so foolish to do something like that?! His right fist starts to shake as more anger runs though him, his blood increasing his temperature to the point that steam is barely visible.*

*He hated this. He hated the Madame, that vile witch that turned him into what he is today... he hated that smug grin of her second in command Lenny, his approachable aura a façade for naïve people like himself... He hated his past self the most. He looks up to see who he was before.. that hopeful, optimistic young man who had a bright future against the world. What a fool. He lets out a frustrated, loathsome growl as he sends his fist to the mirror in front of him, cracking it and shattering to pieces, destroying the image.*

*At SFAI in a cool afternoon, Miyuki is sitting in her usual spot, sketching out whatever she sees through the view of the campus. Inside her book where some students walking around the She sighs as she puts down her pencil and sketchbook aside, lying down on the grassy hill under the shade of an old Oak tree, to which her mind decided that a short nap on top of it wouldn't hurt. Her eyes closed as she waits for the soothing lull of sleep to take over to take her to her dreams. And so she did... for about 12 minutes.*

Ian: H-Hey Miyu-yuki.

*Her eyes squint in a mixture of wakefulness and irritation of being woken up from her peaceful slumber. Her squinted eyes soon shown itself to be Ian, her partner for her class. She holds in a sigh of irritation as she sits up and stretches her back.*

Miyuki: Hey Ian...

*There were more moments of silence between them until Miyuki decided to head back home to finish up her work and start making dinner. She quickly starts gathering her things and stuffing it to her backpack when Ian decided to join in and starts to grab some of her papers.*

Ian: Y-You need any help?

Miyuki: No... I'm OK. Just hand them back to me-

*A large gusts of wind blows the papers hard from Ian's hands to which the man goes after them. Miyuki groaned internally knowing in someway he would mess up and loose some of her papers. But when she looks again Ian had gathered all of the papers without incident, even catching one paper away from the path of someone riding a bike with ease. That was certainly odd... she didn't recall Ian being this flexible and quick to his feet. The first time they ever met he nearly tripped over a chair while he carried his own backpack after class ended. He quickly walks back to her and hands over her papers, to which Miyuki gingerly takes it back, avoiding his hand. Ian clears his throat as he follows her down the hill.*

Ian: S-So I'm having a party at my place tonight and I was wondering if you would like to go? It'll be fun! There'll be music and food and uh... you like twister?

Miyuki: I don't know Ian, I'm not in the mood to be around other people tonight-

Ian: Well that's the best part cause it'll be just you and me there.

*Miyuki could not believe that had come out of Ian's mouth... a party... for the two of them.. alone.. Somewhere inside her mind all kinds of red flags were flying.*

Miyuki: *Chuckling nervously* Well... that's rather.. interesting. But I-

Ian: I even got a wedding photographer so he could take pictures in case things happen.

Miyuki:...Things?

Ian: Yeah! Just in case we wanna remember it like forever, ya know?

Miyuki: *Slowy backing away* I'm going to have to pass on that one. I have homework to do at home.

Ian: So this Saturday tomorrow?

Miyuki: *Walking away* Bye Ian!

Ian: Saturday then!

*But Miyuki is far away enough to not hear him any more; which the guy gives a sheepish smile until he goes behind the tree and starts growling and groaning in frustration.*

Ian: 'Wanna play Twister?' Are you kidding me?! Just dance would've been fine!

*Ian punches into the oak tree to which he groans in pain. Miyuki turns her head when she heard the voice of Ian shouting at the tree.*

Ian: Stupid tree! You hurt my wrist!

*Miyuki continues to walk away from the scene. So aside from the increased flexibility, there's also the fact that he took his anger out on a tree... She decided to brush it aside and continue walking back to her apartment. She noted the chill in the air and the decorations setting up for the upcoming holidays around the city. Being a woman who controls ice and snow, the chill and cold were as natural to her as bees to flowers. and naturally, when the special time of year comes around with the cold, couples would walk hand in hand and cuddle for warmth. Watching them pass by with content smiles made the small pang of bitter envy pierce her heart before it melts into melancholy. She would never experience the warmth of another person because the one she loved is gone... a young man named Tadashi Hamada. Miyuki shakes her head of those thoughts, focusing on her path home through the chill and colored lights. Finally, she reaches her apartment complex and climbs up the stairs all the way to her apartment door; once inside she is greeted by the decorative lights and ornaments of the holidays as Esme lights up the candles, humming along the radio.*

Miyuki: I'm back Esme.

Esme: *Spotting Miyuki and giving a warm smile* Heya Miyuki! You're a little early. Hit a little dry spell on sketching?

Miyuki: Sort of, and one was in the form of Ian. He tried to ask me out on another date.

Esme: So? He does that all the time and you hold your ground.

Miyuki: He did by claiming it was a party for the two of us and a wedding photographer.

Esme:... A wedding photographer..? Jeez, Ian seems to pendulum swing to being an awkward dork to massive creep. That's the type of guy I avoided back in my escort days.

Miyuki: So you usually stick to rich older men and women?

Esme: Somewhat, the dork factor could have work if that's what that, a dork. Ian has 'nice guy' written all over him.

Miyuki: Yeah.. hopefully he can just move on and find some pretty face so he could stop bothering me... and I know this is a silly wish, but I hope he gets over his crush on my super hero self... jeeze. Now I know what Hiro felt like when that Karmi chick obsessed over his super hero ego.

Esme: Yup. *Looking around the room before turning to Miyuki: Hey Miyuki, do you think you could use your powers to... add one or two decorations here?

*Miyuki looks at Esme with a pensive expression before she gives a small smile. Her hands slowly forming a small snowball with tiny snowflakes dancing around it. Once her fingertips got its blue hue she launches it up the air where it promptly explodes to snowflakes that connected to the lights hanging on the doorways to join its colorful glow, landing on the walls which quickly grows frost with beautiful geometric designs. In the end, it resembled a winter wonderland amidst the colored lights and candle flame.*

Esme: *Scoffing jokingly* Showoff.

Miyuki: Scuse me, you asked for the best. I gave my best.

*The two laughed together before Miyuki removed her coat and started making dinner for the two of them. Miyuki then chuckled as she thought up a memory.*

Miyuki: You remember how we first met?

Esme: Oh yeah I do. You just moved here a almost two years ago and set up an ad to share an apartment. I answered and agreed to meet the following day... though I never would have thought that we would officially meet earlier... at a burlesque club.

Esme: To be honest, I would have preferred that we didn't meet when I was half naked dancing onstage being whistled at.

Miyuki: I can see that. if you weren't the person who answered my call, I would have continued on thinking of you as the woman who danced and just happened to sketch. But in a way, I'm glad you are my roommate.

Esme: Me too.. *Sniffing the air* You better not burn the chicken this time!

Miyuki: Oh shi-!

*Miyuki quickly lowers the flame of the stove and checks the chicken in question. The edges were on the brink of turning black and the golden cooked skin becoming more dark red. At least she could cut off the edges rather than toss it out to the garbage this time.*

Miyuki: Chicken's fine!

Esme: Good, I rather not have ramen cups and ice cubes again.

Miyuki: It was one time!

*Esme chuckled as she gets up and starts to set the table to eat their humble meal of slightly burned chicken and rice. Meanwhile, the young man is in his room eating his own meal, a plate of one ounce meat, kale, and two large strawberries for dessert. A simple and humble meal in response to his long day of training he spent. The food was cooked.. just like that. There's nothing else to say about his meal. Most would try to describe the flavor depending on how well its cooked or how it tasted. It did not taste terrible nor was it used from spoiled produce. No, everyone must eat food. And that's just that, food. Nothing came to mind. Its odd that knowing who cooked it would prompt the person to either compliment or recoil; family members were always given the strongest compliments or disgusted remarks in regards to cooking, though the later they would disguise it if it were to hurt their feeling, but he did not know this person. And therefore, the chef and its food meant nothing to him... well.. aside from that woman.*

*The young man's stomach churned in memory of that smile. That smile that hid the most deplorable and vile hag that she truly is; nothing more than a trap to get what she wants. He looks down at his empty plate before playing at a little elevator to deliver it up to be washed. Lying down at his bed he stares at the ceiling once more, trying to entertain himself by small gossip and news he would hear from Nozako's minions and from Lenny himself. So far, the story was that one of her minions by the name of Diane Amara was delivered to this island rather than its rightful place in prison, and with the woman was her twin sister, Liv Amara, and a man named Chris, who was Lenny's former lover. He had heard that Diane was planning some sort of betrayal to the Madame via marriage... a marriage to whom he had yet to know. Whoever it was, it was enough to send Lenny to deliver them personally. And those who face the Madame personally were the ones who received the worst torture/punishments imaginable. Ultimately, Diane had her face literally torn off by the Madame and sent to work in the latrines of her 'pets', Liv Amara having her hands cut off due to her association to her sister, and Chris... well.. nothing is known about Chris' fate. Knowing that he was Lenny's former lover he would at least get reduced to lowly servant. What did he care? He's most likely never seeing either of them in person unless he passes his test on Saturday, or worse, be reduced to a shivering mess like that woman. Finally, he thought over his family... his family... his heart panged in pain for them. They have no idea he was trapped in this prison he calls hell, no idea that he was forced to work for this wench. He finally allowed himself to sleep, letting go to tonight and awaiting another horrid tomorrow. Not even in his sleep is he free from his memories.

Walking felt so queer yet freeing after one month and a half of first walking on crutches, then to braces, and now his own feet. When those braces had been removed and declared him fit to walk his excitement had risen beyond what he felt. And he had the doctors and Madame Nozako to thank. From their efforts they had cared for him and guided him along the way, showing what the world outside his room had looked like, with The Madame overseeing his progress personally, and with a pleased smile on her lips. It had been a pleasure to meet the old woman shortly after his awakening at his room; her smile coy yet welcoming and reddish brown eyes resembling like burning embers. Though she has the wrinkles and face lines that indicated age, and she needed the help of some nurses and her trusted companion Lenny to get her cane, she held herself the elegance and strength she undoubtedly had in her youth. What he learned is that they are on a island south of the state of California yet north of Hawaii, where they have called this island their home for more than 155 years. Founded by her husband's ancestors after moving from Japan during the twilight years of the Edo Period, and the last of the shogunate. The man wondered how they could have lived for so long and yet posses the technology he knows has yet to exist in his hometown, to which the madam simply said that they had opened trade far wider than previously imagined, and took in geniuses or businessmen that had potential but were shunned from society. To him it looked like paradise. But as much as he enjoyed his time there, he was more than ready to go home. During the last sessions he had retrieved his memories of his early life and his family. He even remembered the event before he woke up in the room... an event that had temporarily stung his heart. But that memory doesn't matter now; He had been summoned by Nozako just after his hours of exploration. Perhaps she called him to let him know that she has prepared for a ship to take him home. To which he would run home and share that he's alive and well. He could already imagine their reactions after seeing him-

" My Madame! Please! I-I couldn't do that -"

A slap is heard across the room. The man's eyes furrowed in worried concern and so he slowed his step and went to the sliding door and pressed his ear.

" I gave you ONE TASK to do and you can't perform that?''

"B-But he was in pain! I just wanted to give him water-"

Another slap and a yelp, followed by a thud and a whimper.

"He was a failure. Remember that. He has to earn back his hands.''

The younger woman sobbed as footsteps now walk towards his side, to which it opened to reveal the woman holding her left cheek... but he could see the bleeding scratches of long fingernails.. one that was over her eye. She continued to sob as she walked past him. He turned back to the now open room... where Nozako merely wipes her fingernails clean as if nothing had happened earlier. She then sees the man's aghast face and gave her best smile.

" Come in now, don't be so shy.''

He wasn't anything but. Her walked towards her with his baffled expression. He noticed that there was no chair for him except for the Madame, which to him resembled more a throne. Figuring out what he must do, he kneeled down in front of her and looked up to her face, feeling less like a guest and companion... and more of a servant.

" I've been watching your progress since you arrived, and I'm pleased by what I saw. Not only have you shown to be a young man of strength, but one of intellect... a genius according to your records... from your birth town.''

He continues to look on to the old woman with the pit of dread slowly crawling from his stomach on its way to his throat.

"I've thought over what use you will be of me... and I've decided this... you are to be part of my special force. A force for gifted soldiers... Your training starts tomorrow.''

As the Madame got up with the help of Lenny, the young man finally found his voice, though it wavered a bit.

"M-Madame Nozako, I'm not going to stay here."

That got the madame to pause in his footsteps... and Lenny's eye to perk in slight interest. After what seemed to be an eternity, the silence was broken by the woman.

" Could you repeat that young man?''

The young man felt his dry throat gulp before he repeated himself.

" I want to go home Madame Nozako. I'm not going to stay here... especially if that's how you treat others...''

Before he knew it, Lenny was twisting his arm from the back with the increasing pressure threatening to break his arm in half. The young man let out pained yelps before he felt the arm released but pushed to the floor. He looks up to see the Madame… to which Lenny plants a foot on his back, making him yelp in pain. The Madame then used her cane to lift his chip up to look at her wicked smile.

'' I don't recall asking for your opinion boy. Besides...''

The Madame pulled out a hologram from the corner where it displays an old piece of news around the time he woke up... His eyes widened in horror before he looked up to the Madame once again.

''As far as the world knows... You are a corpse. And the World has no need for corpses'. Here, you are given a second chance of life, my doctors repaired you, and I was generous enough to place my first improvement chip."

"I-Improvement chip?''

The woman merely chuckled with her cruel smile.

"You work for me now.''

She then looks at Lenny and gives a nod. That's when Lenny picks him up and starts dragging him, leaving said man to flail around as to escape Lenny's iron grip.

"You can't do this! I have to go home! I want to go back to my family!"

*The young man's tears slip quietly through his closed eyelids, his face slightly pained as the horrid memory replayed in his head. But even if he were to wake up, he knew it was real, as real as his surroundings. No matter where his dreams or memories take him, he was trapped in this island run by that sadist. That evening, Miyuki had just submitted her art assignment to her art history professor as she stretches her back. It took her some time to write, then edit, then re-edit that whole essay regarding Caravaggio's art pieces relating to his life, but with determination, studying, and iced coffee she made it through. She then went to make herself a glass of lemon water with ice to reward herself for the hard work; her hands already going with the lemon and sugar for it. Once she got it together she used her hands to freeze the water enough to be the consistency of a slushie. Looking at her hands Miyuki though over her own powers in a long time since her arrival at San Fransokyo. Had it really been years since that fateful day?*

A little girl of seven with brown hair and brown eyes is giggling happily as she arrived at the frozen pond in the park one winter morning. Joining her side was her older sister, her mother, and father. She put on her skates as the three arrived and couldn't help but smile at the little girl's excitement. The older sister joined the girl and helped her get on the ice, smiling and laughing merrily.

"Come on Anyu! I'm ready! I've been practicing!'' said the little girl.

The older girl smiled at the younger's excitement.

''Whatever you say Mimi.''

Smiling brightly, the little girl let go of the elder's hands and slowly skated on, at first delicately and slow before she did a perfect spin on the other side of the pond. The elder sister clapped happily as the parents smiled. The little girl continued to laugh until she heard cracks... cracks forming underneath her feet. And before she knew it she plunged into the ice cold waters below with a terrified yelp, the last images being her family's horrified faces and shouting her name.

" MIYUKI!''

There was darkness... and the cold. it enveloped her body and shocking her... and yet.. the shock went away and the cold embraced her... the first thing that brought her back to the world was the bright light trying to penetrate through her eye lids, to which she fluttered her eyes to adjust. That's when a doctor, who had just looked up from his paper files, let out a yelp at the girl.

"I-IT can't be!''

Confused, Miyuki reached out her hand towards him.

"Mister? Where am I? Where's my Mama and Papa? Where's Anyu?''

The man only continued to back away, muttering so lowly that she couldn't hear him. But both gasped at the frost that was growing on her fingertips and making the room cold.

"You-You shouldn't be awake! You're heart stopped!', chattered the doctor, backing away from the little girl, who is growing more scared than ever.

"What do you mean? Where's mama and Papa?''

This time ice and frost was growing rapidly at the girl's reaction, making him lunge at the door and leaving her behind.

"Wait! Please don't go!''

The girl started to breath heavily as she looks around the ice that was wrapping itself, making her grow more terrified at her surroundings. That's when in the reflection of the ice she saw it. Her chestnut brown hair became pale, her peach skin was nearly as white as snow, and her brown eyes became icy blue. She pressed her hands to her heart to which she gasped. It was slow.. far too slow for any heartbeat to be. That's when she heard footsteps and voices coming from the door.

"Miyuki?"

"Mimi you alright sweetheart?!"

"Sis?!"

The girl cried out as the ice now is barricading the door.

"Mama! Papa! Anyu! Help me!''

"MIYUKI!''

*Miyuki snapped out of her memories to find the room slowly being covered in frost and the room dropping in temperature. She quickly used her powers to remove most of the frost to return it back to normal, save for the decorations and ice water she made, and checked on her roommate.*

Miyuki: I am so sorry Esme! I-I didn't mean to freeze the room... I was thinking about...

Esme: Tadashi?

Miyuki: *Shaking her head* No. The day I got my powers...

*That got Esme from her annoyed look to one of concern. She bit her lower lip before she brings out a wool shawl for the snow maiden, wrapping it around her shoulders to warm her.*

Esme: Well, you go ahead and relax for a bit. I'll make us some hot cocoa.

Miyuki: OK... *Remembering something* Hey... do we have an outing to go together with the gang?

Esme: Yeah, we're heading over to Fred's place to discuss a secret Santa thing or something.

Miyuki: OK. Its just I realized that I never told them how and why I became a super.

Esme: Oof! That is quiet a story to tell them.

Miyuki: But not as wild as their origin story was I bet.

Esme: I guess, but its sure is something.

*The two women laughed at their words through the winter air outside the room, contrasting the cold barren wasteland of the young man across the sea.*

~~~~~~

*The morning came and went as swiftly as the cold wind. They had just gone through their morning class and did their best to handle groceries and the rent before setting off to Fred's mansion. when they arrived they take note of Wasabi's car and the moped aside as they get through the front door. Soon enough the two ladies are escorted through the mansion by Heathcliff until they reached Fred's room where the gang are hanging out, with Baymax standing by looking on..*

Miyuki: Hey guys.

Esme: We're here~!

Honey Lemon: Miyuki! Esme! Hi!

Baymax: Hello.

*The chemist went over to hug the fashion major and the animation major before she brings them over to the couch. Cora looks up from her phone to which she smiles widely and waves her hand.*

Cora: Hey guys!

Esme: Hiya baby. Doing good?

Cora: Mhmm! Just finished writing down the names for the Secret Santa!

*The blue haired teen gestured to the pieces of paper folded in half as Fred brings out a Santa hat for her.*

Fred: OK now, to keep this completely fair, Heathcliff is gonna be handing out the papers after these are properly jumbled up.

*The whole group of friend group of friends gather round the couch as Heathcliff is given the hat with the names inside. He ties the opening of the hat with string, to which he puts it in a red bag. With that, he starts to shake them wildly... for quiet some time...*

Cora: Wow... he's sure shaking it like a maraca...

Fred: He does this every time, so it may take a while...and I mean a WHILE.

Miyuki: Hmmm...

*That is when Miyuki felt her side being prodded by Esme, who whispers into the snow maiden's ears . Miyuki nods in response, taking a deep sigh before speaking.*

Miyuki: If it's really gonna take a while, might I interest you all with a story?... Specifically of how I became a super?

*That got everyone's attention. As they recall, they had never heard of Miyuki's decision to become a super hero even after learning her secret identity.*

Fred: *Excitement rising in his voice* You're gonna tell us your origin story?!

Miyuki: Yes.

Fred: Hold on! I'll get the popcorn!

*Fred rushes out of the room and into the kitchen, leaving behind the group as Miyuki starts wringing her hands. Esme looks at this and frowns a little. Miyuki wrings her hands whenever she is feeling anxious or nervous. It was her tick, a way to comfort herself as to prepare her for anything happening in front of her.*

Esme: Hey... You got this...

Miyuki: *Smiling softly* Thanks Esme..

*With that, Miyuki cleared her throat before she starts, her mind already replaying it as she talks.*

Miyuki: It was shortly after my high school graduation back in my hometown, Burgess...

The graduation caps floating down as soon as everyone starts to meet up with their families. Among them was Miyuki, still retaining her pale chestnut brown hair and ice blue eyes as she sighs in relief. Some girls stop by at first and greet her.

"Hey Miyuki, wanna hang out at the beach with us?'' asked the first girl, with her hair tied to a high ponytail. But the other girl, the one with dark skin and curly hair shakes her head before taking the former away.

"Forget it, she never hangs out with anyone. She's ice cold..''

Miyuki shook her head as she blew a piece of hair on her forehead before heading towards her family, a family that stayed and grew a little thank god. Her mother and father were there, holding a bouquet of white roses for her, her beloved sister Anyu was there along with her husband, a tall handsome man with reddish hair that grew sideburns, a man named Hans. Her mother and father were going to hug her but Miyuki merely held out her hand, though she had her earnest smile. Smiling back they all shook her hand, with the mother handing her the roses. Anyu came next as she spoke.

''Its OK Mimi. You're not gonna freeze by hugging you know.''

''Just wanted to play safe.'' replied Miyuki.

She heard the soft sound of ice crackling, to which she looked at her bouquet and quietly gasped at the now frozen roses.

"Oh no...' Miyuki moaned quietly, ''Mom I'm so sorry-''

''There's nothing to be sorry for Miyuki.' her mother interrupted, her reassuring smile staying, '' Sides, I think they look prettier with all that frost.''

Miyuki did her best to give a convincing smile to show that she's alright, but deep down she's ashamed that this continued to be a problem.

Ten years it had been since that fateful day at the ice pond... ten years since waking up and finding herself in an ice covered room in the hospital scared out of her mind. After her family got in there were men in uniforms that took them away. She had to see doctors to do tests. What they concluded was that somehow, that fall in the pond had altered her biology and genes to the point that she had cytokinesis. Or in layman's terms... she can summon forth cold and ice by her hands alone. The doctors said that if they, her parents, want to leave her with the doctors they have complete right to do so. They adamantly refused to leave their youngest alone. In the end they reached a compromise. She would stay with her family, but after her high school graduation, she is to move to go to their doctor's and study over her new biology. Over the years her family, bless their hearts, had done their best to guide Miyuki through her new powers, which he sister calls a gift. But despite their efforts and reassurance that she is fine the way she is... Miyuki felt that she is cursed. She had nearly frozen her entire room to the point that Anyu moved out to a different bedroom cause the ice wouldn't melt away. Each flower she touched would freeze and die on contact, her hands were ice cold, heat bothered her to the point of dizziness, and learned too quickly that her emotions greatly affect her powers.

And so, the jovial social child became distant and cold to her friends, away from their parties and gatherings and into her new comfort; her drawings. And thanks to this developing passion she had been scouted by San Fransokyo Art institute, one of the best art schools in the country. But her dream felt too far away now that she is to go away. Her father wraps his arm around her shoulders in a comforting embrace before speaking.

''Let's go Mimi. We got a reservation at your favorite restaurant this evening.''

"Lascaris?''

"Yep'', smiled her father. Miyuki sighed before she smiles back.

"OK, just let me go change clothes for a sec. I'll be right back.''

In the bathroom, she quickly changes out of her graduation gown and into her best dress, a humble sheath black dress and blue scarf. She then gets on her dark blue hoodie to cover her arms, now content with her appearance. As she steps out of the bathroom door she heard something...or rather... someone...

"Let me go! Please!''

"I will after you give me the money!''

Whatever that was, Miyuki knew it wasn't good. She quietly walks towards the voices and quickly sees the cause. An older man in black clothing was holding a young girl crying in his arms, one of the graduates standing still and frightened along with their parents held back by two older men with large muscles. Miyuki's eyes widen before she ducks her head in, flipping her hoodie up to hide her face just in case. She should get out of their, run towards security and inform them about this-

''If you're not giving me the money I'm taking this chit!''

Miyuki heard the family cry and beg the man to not take the poor girl, only for the man to yell them, telling them if they don't give him the money by midnight the girl will die. Its not enough time. Miyuki sees the man drag the girl while covering her mouth. That moment she didn't think. She didn't consider what possibilities would happen if she took action against these brutish men. That didn't matter.

''AHHHHHH!''

The other two men heard the screams and run out, leaving behind the family. What they find is their leader covered head to toe in ice in a petrified state, only able to move his eyes towards the other two. The men then look back to the hiding place to check their prisoners... only to find them gone. That's when they saw a flash of ice and flurry as they felt the cold and chill surround them just like their leader. Miyuki, the young girl, and the family ran towards campus security. Once there the girl hugged her family, who cry in relief of her safety. The graduate turned her head to thank the person who rescued her sister... but she was gone. Miyuki flips down her hoodie as she breaths heavily. Ultimately, she quickly ran back to her family, deciding to keep what she had done a secret... unaware of a man staring at her.

Hiro: Woah...

Cora: So what happened next? Did you end up going with those doctors?

Miyuki: Somewhat... when we got to the restaurant Commander Carter arrived. He took my family and I to the private part of the restaurant and well... turns out he saw what I did. That's when he revealed this. Some of the doctors work for the Super hero training program and told him and other officers about me. After he saw me save that family he fully invited me to be a super hero, even offered to help me move to San Fransokyo to attend SFAI. I could still see my family, I got here and began being a super.

Honey Lemon: I'm glad things worked out for you and your family.

Miyuki: Yup. Now they can rest assured that their little girl not only will be creating animated films, but she's a super hero helping others the way she can... and honestly… That moment... I didn't feel ashamed of my powers. That moment made me realize that I could genuinely make a difference with my powers.

Cora: I'm happy for you Miyuki. And your sister was right, your power is a gift.

Miyuki: *Smiling warmly* Thank you. *Looks down at her hands* And hopefully, someone would see me do what I done and realize that their powers are a gift as well.

*At that time the simulation starts ringing up through the electric board, where the young man and other warriors like him are awaiting for their tests. Finally its dings, showing their names and serial number. It appears that he will be group with three women, Japanese in origin, who had shown skill with skates and knife like fans.. so much so that their feet were replaced with electromagnetic skates.*

Lenny: *Over voiceover* Stand aside as you await further instructions.

*The four walk away as they see others be handed over their tests. The youngest female, age of seventeen, looks at the young man who's eyes gaze off to the distance. The young girl turned her head to the middle girl, age 20, and whispered.*

young girl: Are you sure we will be safe with that young man?

Middle woman: What do you mean? You know he's one of the strongest in this hell. Pairing with him had just increased our luck.

Young girl: I know... but he never seems to talk to anyone... and I've heard of his power... he could hurt us as much as he could help.

*That's when the eldest, who appears to be in her late twenties, joined in their hushed conversation.*

Eldest: I'm surprised we even have our tongues since our arrival here. No one could be as chipper as you when it comes to conversations you know... As for his power, he knows it'll be put in his best interest and ours to not upset the Madame.

*The young man heard it all, and his brow burrowed deeper in memory as pain and loathing taints his features.*

It had been 3 months since that day. And each day had been tougher than the last. The young man found himself in a prison cell and given a serial number, basically stripping his name without doing so. And training was hell. He thought it would be self-defense exercises and basic training like policemen or soldiers... instead he and many others were trained as mercenaries fighting for their lives. Training against machinery and brutish creatures of nightmares had quickly taught him and others that failure is death... as he had witnessed countless souls be torn apart by these creatures, by these things. after surviving that, those who excelled, and survived, were given rank and allowed to move up. He had moved up in rank considerably, but told time and time again that he had yet to use his 'gift'. He had no idea what gift Lenny or Nozako referred to, and was too afraid to find out. Course, whatever gift he received must've been internal in comparison to others. The three girls, all sisters, had their feet replaced with electro-magnetic skates as to increase their speed. However, he did notice that whenever his anger is rising, his body becomes warmer than it should; his arms that are now rid of his burn scars seem to trick his eyes that it was glowing. Even so, he pushed it aside and remained focused on one objective: Survive.

"RAAAWRRRR!''

The young man dodged against the slam fist of a mechanical sumo wrestler, his heart pumping faster and deafening his ears. Studying from its movement, this bot needs to overheat to be disabled before he could rip out its chip that acted as its heart. But the mech was nowhere near the slightest hint of overheating, and the young man was growing tired. If he grew tired he would be weak, and if he was weak he would be slow, and if he was slow it all over for him. No. That will not happen. Not after everything he's gone through. His anger rose dangerously as he let out a furious growl at the thing, his body now enveloped in flames as he runs towards the mech with all his might and punches it to its eye. The flames quickly grow in size as the creature squirms and flails. Hold on... flames?! The young man had no time to think before he is flung to the ground, landing with a groan but no serious damage to his body. He sees the bot finally still to a halt as the flames had now dug deep to his wiring and lands down with a great shake. Now the man looked at himself. He was covered in flames and yet it did not sting, in fact it felt like a second skin. But it scared him none the less. Then before he knew it the flames were gone, and he was still perfectly intact. No burns anywhere on his person, his hair intact... but how? A slow clap is heard, making his heart still.

"Congratulations my phoenix.. you've finally used my gift to you.'', congratulated Nozako.

Lenny: *Voice Over* Its time to go. Get ready.

*The young man and the three girls stand up and head their way to meet their fate, their 'gifts' ready for use. Now it came to the final test. The four run in unison towards their objective, a large cliff to which they are to climb up on. One by one they each get up to scale the cliff, swinging and climbing towards their finish line. However, there were obstacles in the way. A group clad in armor is waiting up ahead and soon they confront the four. The first one, the youngest, swings up and lands a kick to the face, resulting in the man loosing balance and dropping to the floor with a resounding thud. They all fight with their assailants as they climbed; the eldest using the blade of her skate to kick it in the back. But each fight grows difficult to handle as the sharpshooter up ahead keeps shooting at them. Its there that the young man runs up to the shooter, dodging each blast before he picks up a flint stone and slashes its throat. The three girls were in the middle of fighting four when the blasts hit their adversaries in the back, leaving the three safe. The three look down and see who is responsible, and found their answer. The young man said nothing as he carries the riffle blaster and continues running up to the top along with the three. They jump on board and find themselves greeted by Lenny, who gives his best smile of congratulations.*

Lenny: Your training is now complete. You are free to retire to your rooms until Nozako summons you.

*The four leave him, ready to retire to their rooms. Once the young man gets to his, he collapses onto the ground and groaned pathetically. He survived 'training'... but who knows what that wicked woman would make him do. He's a good person, with a promising future, a loving family, great friends... and a someone who he never confessed his love to... It doesn't matter now.. He looks to the broken mirror and found a large shard reflecting his face...He never felt so helpless and monstrous than in this moment, nothing more than a shell of his former life.*

~~~~~~

*Back in San Fransokyo the sky had given way to the late tones of dusk, which at the time the red hat is back in Fred's hands. When it came to shuffling, Heathcliff wastes no time to properly shuffle them.*

Fred: Alright! Go ahead and pick a name! Any name!

Gogo: About time.

Honey Lemon: Yay!

Wasabi: OK then.

*The gang pick a piece of paper and look at their names. Miyuki reached in and found that the name she had chosen was none other then Hiro Hamada. This certainly placed a pickle to her ideas. As much as she grown with the gang, she hadn't gotten to be personally close with Tadashi's family, least of all his brother, to know what are their personally hobbies and likes/dislikes. And she wasn't sure how personal she could get with him without tipping him off about her status as his Secret Santa. She supposed she could go talk to Aunt Cass... Aunt Cass... her heart panged at the thought of the woman. Ever since that day she had been a mother hen to her whenever they are in private, ready to share stories about Tadashi. And as much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't ready to talk more about him. Sharing how they met was enough to send her to tears and her heart aching painfully. Her fingertips starts to frost as little, her mind becoming filled with pained memories of the fire. That's when she felt a pair of hands over her own.*

Esme: Miyuki? You're looking a little anxious.

Miyuki: Oh?

Baymax: Yes. According to my scans, your neurotransmitters indicate you are feeling troubled and anxious. It is alright to be feeling this way.

Miyuki: Of course... just things going through my mind...

*Baymax blinks before he hugs Miyuki from behind, causing the snow maiden to sigh contently.*

Miyuki:*Softly* Thank you Baymax.

Baymax: You're welcome.

*Its there that the discussion went onto family, specifically Hiro and Cora's families and their plans for the holidays.*

Hiro: You should've seen Aunt Cass this morning. She was jumping up and down for joy as soon as December 1st came over. It won't be long till she starts pulling out the decorations.

Cora: Wow. It still feels unreal you know... its been almost two years since we got together... Back then Christmases with my family were small. No colored lights, no Christmas tree... but we celebrated it by watching Holiday movies and that was it. Then Papa would bring out presents for us. It wasn't much but it was Christmas... then we celebrated with you guys. That was an experience.

Hiro: Yeah. Cass must've made your dad jump up with that holler.

Cora: Yup! I was so nervous too... I felt like I was in some other world with all those decorations and loudness.

*The teens chuckle together, prompting Miyuki to smile. That's when Cora's smile turns a bit melancholy.*

Cora: I was so thankful Tadashi helped me calm down and enjoy the time together... It showed what we missed out all those years hiding behind closed doors.

Hiro: Yeah...

*The two teens sit in silence before Hiro turns his attention to Miyuki.*

Hiro: Miyuki?...

Miyuki: Yes Hiro?

Hiro: Is it alright if I ask you... when did you realize you fell in love with Tadashi?..

*Miyuki looks at Hiro, her hands wringing together to soothe herself. That's when Hiro, seeing her discomfort, immediately back pedals.*

Hiro: You know what, never mind. You don't have to answer it.

Miyuki: No no… its fine.

Cora: Are you really?

*Miyuki stares off to the side, biting her bottom lip as her stomach begins to churn. Finally she sighed... leaving a puff of air.*

Miyuki: I guess even now I still get chocked up about Tadashi huh...?

Hiro: *Comforting* You're not the only one here.

Miyuki: Then why is it so easy for you guys to talk about him after all this time?

*There was silence going until Gogo spoke up.*

Gogo: Truth to be told, sometimes it isn't easy to talk about him... it still hurts. But Tadashi was our best friend, and we want to keep him alive in our thoughts..

Miyuki: Oh…. I see. *To Hiro* Alrighty then, I'll tell you the story.

*Miyuki gulps as she prepares to share her story to her friends, wringing her hands nervously in front. Back at the island, the young man is granted permission to go to the dinning room along with the three girls to get themselves whatever they wished to eat as part of the reward before meeting Nozako. The girls took it upon themselves to eat ramen and chocolate cake while watching a movie of their choice. The young man chose to eat a bowl of Katsudon and staring out of the window for the first time in forever. He forgotten how beautiful the stars are at night.*

*Miyuki's face felt the tears drip down her cheek as Hiro holds her hand in thought and memory of Tadashi. The memories play out her mind as she recounts the tale of her and Tadashi. At the same time, the young man thought over his family, his friends,.. and his crush... Ultimately, he decided to recount the tale of when he realized he fell in love in her...*

Miyuki: It was actually around this time of year... I was at the lantern festival looking for inspiration...

*The man thought over that winter... the lantern festival was going on, and he was looking for a present...

Miyuki let out a breathy puff of air but did not bother to adjust her jacket as to appear to be warming herself. She didn't mind the cold. Her hands were sketching the passing people as quickly as she could, smiling a bit when she spotted a few interesting characters... That is until she looked up.

The young man pulled his winter jacket tighter as the air continued to get colder, but not enough for snow. He chuckled as he recalled his misadventures of creating snow back when he was young. He hoped his present would be ready by next year for sure. He could imagine their faces... that's when he spotted her. And she was looking at him... for a moment he was stuck in love filled stupor, but immediately shook himself out as to not bother her or anyone else just in case. Finally, he spoke..

"Hi Miyuki.'' Spoke Tadashi.

Miyuki felt her heart race as Tadashi called her name out. For a moment she didn't know how to respond back, feeling herself ready to run away if she were to embarrass herself in front of him. She didn't know what this was called, it felt far more than a mere crush... but she didn't know the name of it.. Finally, she calmed herself down and looked at him again, and spoke.

"Hello Tadashi.''

Tadashi felt his heart slightly flutter at Miyuki saying his name, but he immediately squished it down before it could affect his facial expression. Then he felt himself at a loss for words as well, starting to look around the plaza as to find anything to interest Miyuki in a conversation.. that's when he spotted her hands.

"Don't you have gloves?''

Miyuki looked down at her hands and slightly blushed. immediately she giggled half heartedly with an awkward smile.

"You could borrow mine if you want', offered Tadashi. Miyuki however is quick to stop him.

''No no no its fine. The cold doesn't bother me anyway.'' replied Miyuki.

Tadashi blinked before he let out a heart filled chuckle, which made Miyuki's heart skip a beat.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were another Elsa.''

That caused Miyuki to chuckle back, her smile radiating a warmth she hadn't felt in some time, the same smile that made Tadashi's heart skip a beat. Another blast of wind goes through and it makes Tadashi shiver, to which she goes over and giver him her scarf without a second thought. The young man saw this and immediately felt himself blush at this kind gesture... a blush matched by Miyuki as soon as she realized what she had done. The two look to the side before Tadashi regained his voice.

"Thank you Miyuki...''

"Y-Your welcome...''

Silence continues to penetrate between them before Tadashi spotted something in the distance.

" Hey, I see some of the staff setting up their equipment to start the dance over there.''

Miyuki turned her head to see exactly what he's talking about. She saw a pianist and a string quartet tuning up their respective instruments as the lights are adjusted to let the lantern's natural glow take center stage.

"Oh.. that's cool...''

That's when Tadashi blurted out his thought.

"D-Do you want to dance?''

Miyuki's blush returned ten fold as she felt herself stutter.

"W-Well Tadashi..I-I would b-but... I don't know how..''

That's when she felt his hand on hers, making her blink at the gesture before looking at Tadashi, who was rubbing the back of his head.

"Its OK Miyuki... I'm not a great dancer either...''

Hand in hand, Miyuki and Tadashi headed towards the center just as the staff and musicians were ready to there that the first song is played.. a lovely melody from Tangled called 'I see the light'.

"Well.. that's something', commented Miyuki, her smile giving an air of playful coyness. Tadashi chuckled as he puts his hands in position, making her smile go away and blush return.

" You could say that again."

As the piano and string instruments play its song , Tadashi and Miyuki took their first steps together, moving slowly as the lanterns glowed softly as their only source of light. It felt hard to believe its been months since they met, and neither didn't know it... but they fell in love with each other. Neither could believe it after all this time. For Tadashi, he thought he'd remain singled forever after missed chances to confess, and his friends involvement with his crushed. for Miyuki, she thought she would be content with her family and one friend she made in the city, content to not be in a relationship. But in each other, they found something they thought they wouldn't find in another. Neither felt alone nor cold, and both wondered if their love held the same thoughts for them. But before that nagging thought of doubt could creep through, they pushed it away...

It was their night together, the uncertainties running in their minds silenced by their beating hearts.

For now, this was enough for both of them...

*The two snapped out of their thoughts and forced back to reality. Tadashi's eyes burned as tears try to escape, but he quickly wiped them away... but his melancholic smile remained. Miyuki's tears however flowed quietly... but there was no ice forming at her feet or the room drooping in temperature... she was surrounded by Tadashi's friends... her friends. All giving her a hug to reassure that she isn't alone in her mourning. Hiro is the one closest to her being, tears slipping through his eyes as he hugged her. With Tadashi, he knew that he couldn't have the embrace of his friends and family... nor of his love. But somewhere inside, in those last pieces of humanity he hoped that they would be together this year despite his disappearance. Both knew that even they are far away and apart... their memories of each other would keep them warm and content despite the tears that may spill.*

A.N: Whelp, I dead. Now, I've thought about this over and over and about how Tadashi would be in. I understand that Tadashi surviving would change a lot of the story in this, but I hope that I could do it in a way that would satisfy this story and to you guys. I'll be working on the holiday special soon so there's that to look forward too. Also, the gang won't learn about him till much, MUCH, later.

Happy Holidays you guys. Love you!

[darthsuki]

So, I managed to get my butt kicked off the servers just as I unlocked what I believe is the second-to-last duty of Shadowbringers. Now that I’m left to fervently deny the option of sleep, I instead shall take the time to ramble on about all of the characters (new and old) this new expansion has made me love, interested in, and/or just very deeply want to write about

and I’ll likely add to it as I finish sidequests...and when it isn’t almost 4 a.m.

As to be expected, this list is riddled with spoilers for the entirety of Shadowbringers, so read on at your own peril!

it’s also riddled with thirst because of course, this is me we’re talking about

Kee-Satt - A wholesome Miqo’te boy found in Amh Araeng who cares a damn lot about his community. You meet him in one of the Aethercurrent quests, but I was curious enough to keep going for a bit afterwards and I’m happy I did! He just wants to get the materials to make a really useful metal, but he’s dealing with some intense discrimination since he’s the only Miqo’te among Hrothgar in the town (the others left for Eulmore at some point). He apparently has the cold shoulder for literally everyone but the WoL/D and confides his hopes and dreams to make his town better and safer with this ore he’s trying to find and I just love him.

Kai-Shirr - You meet him early-on in the MSQ while in Eulmore and I just...he’s got a cute face, a cute voice, and damn if I almost fucking lost my shit when I thought he was going to die. He was so desperate to be with his friends and I am forever sad that he at some point had to accept the fact that those friends were dead and like, I worry for him. Does he have any family? Anyone?? Please Kai-Shirr for the love of god tell me you’re doing alright let me help you.

Moren - The historian? Librarian? of the Crystarium that you meet early in the MSQ. He is a total dork and I have a total softspot for cuties like him. 10/10 would protect at all times, 10/10 would have him recite all sorts of stories from the First just so I could hear his soft voice more. Perhaps hear his voice in more ways than one.

Quinfort / Valan - Two adorable dorks that are part of an Aethercurrent quest in the Rat’Tika Greatwoods, though there is certainly more content of them afterwards in the sidequest chain. Definitely seem like close friends, Valan is the pragmatic to Quinfort’s exuberance and tbh I’d date both of them.

Chai-Nuzz / Dulia-Chai - A married Miqo’te couple who you meet early on in the MSQ. For a while I thought I was going to loathe them since at first I thought they were going to be written super shallowly, as one might expect from how Eulmore residents were at first glance. They get a bit of growth during the MSQ and, honestly, I love them both--they have the most adorable relationship that’s pretty damn supportive of one another and!! Dulia-Chai is a fat female character that isn’t!! Played off!! Like a joke!! She’s sweet and funny and super encouraging to her husband Chai-Nuzz. 10/10 would date them and I’m not afraid to say it. Let me date these two Square Enix, I swear to god.

Lue-Reeq - He is one of the four or five role quest NPCs in Shadowbringers, specifically for ranged DPS characters. I really enjoyed learning about him, honestly--he’s the child of a rich couple of Eulmore and by god does it show. He’s a bit spoiled at the beginning of the quest and a fair bit naive, but he was never really rude--a young man who had some self-confidence issues that he hid by tossing money around to try and buy friendship from people. It certainly didn’t help that I was playing as Khalja at that point in the game (who is my only top OC to date) and I wanted so bad to just fuck this soft Miqo’te man right out in the middle of the fucking forest after I finished the last battle of the questline.

Ardbert - This man has been through so much shit. He deserves a hug and, if it were me, more than a hug, but spectral kinky times aside I adored that I got to see so much more of his history and connections with the people of the First. The friendship that he shares with the WoL/D by the end of the MSQ is super heartwarming. I honestly think I’d have his whole team on this list if I had the time to go through the multiple role questlines that give you more insight to each of them

Solus [Emet-Selch] - Hello yes I’m too busy crying in the corner for commentary. Jk, but for real the amount of lore we got for the Ascians and their world and the new perspective of all the game’s evens we gained from that was...humbling, to say the least. It’s like, I still gotta kick your ass, but I sympathize with the heavy weight of pain and loss that you’ve been carrying with you for literal eons. A good example of a sympathetic villain. 10/10 would entertain a whole AU where somehow Emet-Selch is convinced to not do the thing, and/or maybe even indulge in a lil cliche concept of him falling in love with someone in the Source, like, for realsies, and eventually coming to terms with the fact that he will never get back the world and people he’s lost so long ago--might as well protect the people in the here and now.

Crystal Exarch [G’raha Tia] - I contemplated just putting a string of ‘aaa’ in here, but I figured it wouldn’t exactly communicate the sweet vindication I felt when I saw that hood get blown off to reveal his face in that absolutely beautiful cutscene. It was fucking cinematic, I fucking almost bawled. There is so much depth and literal years of stuff to wade through because, well, G’raha Tia is fucking alive and he’s over 100 years old and he’s been waiting all of those years for you. I watched those cutscenes, I read that dialogue, he’s so fucking in love with you and holy fuck do I absolutely reciprocate those feelings. 

Innocence - I want you to take everything you know and trust about the universe and just toss it straight out of the window, because that’s what happened exactly at the second phase of the Crown of the Immaculate trial. My love for this character, whom I am considering as entirely separate from Vauthry for the sake of my own sanity, is largely based on aesthetics because....he is.....Big Sexy..... Look, I’m content with having an AU to have my attraction and writing make sense with him.

Thancred - More like Dadcred amiright? But for real, no, Thancred had a lot of emotional healing and growing through this expansion and I fucking loved it. His acceptance of Minfilia’s passing in the end, his naming of Ryne, how the two of them bonded as parent and child...it just brings a tear to my eyes. Also he is fucking hot as a gunbreaker.

Urianger - I’m not sure if it’s because Urianger really had an opportunity to shine with the Pixie quests/Il Mheg area, or if it’s because he totally rocks his new astrologian class, but he is just 10/10 in this expansion. Maybe it’s because he stopped wearing the goddamn eAR COZIES

Zenos - He has become Ultimate Yandere(tm) now. And, gods above, if that’s not one of my most guilty-pleasure Things(tm) to work with in fiction. He was in the game for maybe 10 on-screen minutes at MOST and yet he spawned so many damned ideas I can use.