#i decided to add act 3 here because part 2 will cover my thoughts too

[acertainmoshke]

I’m so glad I kept these even if they’re kind of embarrassing. It’s nice to still have a record of my early writing attempts when I definitely no longer have the documents I typed them into or access to the email I used to send them to my friend.

Important things of note: (1) in an attempt to be clever that did not fully work, I decided that anyone speaking the language of Faerie, or thinking in it, would represent that by not using any contractions to make it sound unusual. It makes it sound a bit stilted. (2) I based the format on the YA books of the time so Shaka did have a boy love interest. But I got bored of him and he became a traitor to add emotional turmoil instead. I think they might have still ended up together though, since he was coerced into it. Because drama. (3) at the time instead of being just one person among many who didn’t want their power, Shaka was the most powerful, most knowledgeable, and automatic leader—because that’s how YA books were. Their main weaknesses were never sleeping and being too impulsive in the violence department. (4) subtext? Never heard of her. I wrote absolutely everything straightforward and either said or thought explicitly because that’s how I think and it took a lot of practice not to write like that. (5) it was kind of cool how the main story was 1st person from Shaka’s perspective but I had interludes from other perspectives to get other parts of the story.

In the second and third notebooks I pasted lists into the front cover so my add brain wouldn’t just forget someone or somewhere existed. And yes I arbitrarily decided lithium was a poison to Fae purely because I thought it was cool aesthetically.

I flipped through the notebooks a lot this morning and this is one of the less embarrassing pages, which gives one a sense of the overall tone (and embarrassment level):

What? I did not know exactly what he was doing to her, but I knew many things he could be doing. He was skilled at torture and torment. At least he did not have as much emotional ammunition for her as he did for me.

When I said nothing, Kris spoke up. “I do not think that it is a good idea. We need a plan now. We cannot leave one of our own to suffer.” I felt his eyes on me and was not sure why.

But I finally found my voice, “Kris is right. We just get her out as soon as as possible. But we do not want to endanger everyone else while doing so; a small-scale operation is better.”

They went on discussing it, but I tuned them out. I already knew what I had to do. I did not sleep at all that night, but perfected the specifics of my plan. The next morning, I tried to act normal and disguise my nervousness. If anything in this plan went wrong, either Alicia or I could end up in serious trouble. I mean, more trouble than we were already in. But I think the others attributed my odd behavior to worry for Alicia (which was also true).

I could not make myself eat breakfast or lunch, and I finally slipped away from camp in early afternoon. I walked for a couple of hours to the edge of the forest a few feet away from the warehouse. Here was my only chance for this plan.

Unsure what else to say, I thought simply, Alicia? Can you hear me?

In the meantime, my parents brought me a bunch of my old journals and letters and stuff so who wants to see my first attempt at real authoring (original Cold Iron iteration in old composition books from high school)? It is not good, but it is cute.

[moquall]

Dissidia Final Fantasy : SECRETUM～秘密～ (Part 1 / 2)

P.S : If you have seen a similiar post before, yes,  I actually posted this one but i was stupid.. accidentally delete it because an error from my mobile browser ==“.  I got the copy of this DVD in May 2018 and wanted to post it in August 2018 but i’m really sorry, I don’t have much free time since i need to focus on my thesis ==“ . Sorry for keep promising to post as soon as possible.

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I dont know if you’re interested  but anyone remember SECRETUM ～秘密～ ?

This one is the official DVD and Bluray cover but i personally like the cover of the pamphlet that used in ffwikia and the premium edition cover that nomura drew :(

It’s DISSIDIA NT Special Live reading event held in December 18th - December 19th 2017, which is also part of FF 30th anniversary starring the Japanese voice actors of the casts.

From left to right : yuuki ono (amnesiac man), masakazu morita (tidus), toshiyuki morikawa (sephiroth), hideo ishikawa (squall), takahiro sakurai (cloud)

I posted some point i’ve collected before, but i am sorry i did a lot of mistake. Now i have the DVD version, so i want to share what really happened in this live reading event since no one talking about this, or more like people forget about this event -_-”

Let me remind you before you read,

First, I don’t have the script which is a part of the premium edition so i need to rely on my listening skill and there are a possibility i misheard something.

Second, I understand Japanese though it’s not 100%.

Third, my english skill is so bad so i’m sorry if I translated it wrongly and see a lot of grammar mistake .. so let me know if you see mistranslated and grammar mistake._.

Fourth, I actually uploaded this live reading somewhere so if you’re interested, i can give you the link but please ask me privately and do not redistribute it elsewhere. P.S : It’s in Japanese and of course no english version and english sub

FIFTH, IT’S A VERY LONG POST, a total of 8 act and some dialogues, so i decided to divide it into 2 parts. 

—————————————————————————————————

The story start with Morikawa-san and Sakurai-san as the narrator, introduce a little bit about what fantasy is and then continue narrating about Phantom Train from Final Fantasy VI. When the Phantom Train was on the Rift, on the way to send the dead to the afterlife, One of the souls broke the window and escaped. When he jumped out, this soul was illuminated by the light and falling off the train, just like a shooting stars. And then the scene switch to our three heroes.

——————————————————-

ACT 1

Somewhere in NT world (or i think you call it “World B”), the Weather Trio (Squall, Tidus and Cloud) who were under Materia’s request are on their way to investigate a mysterious light that fell into World B. Squall complained why he is doing this but Tidus said it can’t be helped since it’s Materia’s request and Cloud add it will be a trouble if they didnt help her so Squall decided to think it as a “mission” .

Tidus : But aren't you excited to pick up the shooting star ? Squall & Cloud : Whatever.. // Not interested (in the same time) Tidus : Oh okay... (silence) Tidus : What is this ?! a moment of silence ?! or a trial ? ... Hey, Cloud- Cloud : It seems we are closer to the fading point Tidus : Is that so ? Squall : Yeah, If the goddess's words are true, It's must not that far. Cloud : I'm happy for you, Tidus. the 'trial' will be over. Tidus : You sure have a good ear Squall : It's on the east. Let's go. Cloud : Yeah. Tidus : Roger.

And Squall's first monologue start.

“We all are not from this world. Because our origins are different, Cloud and Tidus are actually not the people whom i supposed to meet. At first we were forcibly summoned, forced to fight, couldn’t even escape and it was the worst situation. But as we keep continue fighting, I started to think I’m glad to be involved in this war with them and I can’t believe we meet again. This is not bad at all.”

Tidus asked the true form of the mysterious light. Cloud assumed since Materia said the light is a powerful source, it is probably a Summon while Squall doesn’t really care about it .When they reach their destination, They didn’t see anything or even feel a summon’s presence so Cloud thought Materia gave the wrong directions and just when they are going to return, they heard someone’s voice and what they found is a man.

Tidus : Ew.. He is dead.. Squall : A corpse won't speak Tidus : So he is just sleeping. Hey !! Are you okay ? The man : Ugh.. Squall : does he has any injury ? Tidus : No, it doesn't Cloud : Looks like it's not a summon Tidus : But isn't amazing ? falling from the sky and uninjured. The man : Sum...mon... Tidus : Oh, he woke up. The man : Where am i ? Tidus : Hmm.. I don't know how to explain.. Cloud : Perhaps this is not the world where you lived. The man : Huh ?

They asked the man's about his origin but the man doesn’t remember anything including his name so they came up with conclusion he has amnesia just like what happened in previous war. (Cosmos & Chaos war)

Tidus told him when the first time they were summoned to this world (he mean during cosmos-chaos war), their memories were hazzy and the man shouldn’t be worry because they are his allies, but Squall refused the call him “ally” because a warrior can’t fall from the sky and Materia wouldn’t say it as the powerful resource. Tidus and Squall start debating but Cloud stopped them. The amnesiac man thanked Tidus for his welcoming but also understand why Squall being so cautious. He want to know who is he and then ask Cloud what he should do and Cloud suggested to bring him and report to Materia. Cloud monologue’s start.

“We brought the man to the goddess’s tower and explained we found him instead of the mysterious light but our investigation is not over unless we bring back the powerful resources she sought and prove if there is abnormal thing or not. And we know nothing about this man’s identity. She said “i didn’t summon him”. Materia, the goddess who summoned us to this world is a novice god and not reliable.” 

The four back to their starting point. The man ask the weather trio if he can join them and Tidus is happily accept him because he need someone he can talk with. The man promised to Squall he is not going to slow them down. Squall replied “whatever” and again, Squall’s inner monologue start.

“I want to think he is not our enemy but i have bad feeling since the goddess doesn’t know at all about him. Moreover, if a greater power is approaching, there is a possibility he is the one who summoned it. 'You must imagine the worst possible scenario'. That's what they taught to me.”

———————————————————————

Since this man has an amnesia, Tidus suggested to give him a nickname. He told the man some of their allies has a nickname like horned helmet (warrior of light) and onion kid (onion knight). Cloud stopped Tidus for coming up with weird nickname and The man thought a nickname based on their characteristic doesn’t suit him.

Tidus : You’ll understand when you see them ! But your clothes looks normal.. The man : Okay.. Sounds risky if i leave this to you. so, Squall, Have any idea ? Squall : ... <- (thinking) The man : Squall ? Squall : ... The man : SQUALL ?! HEY SQUALL ?! You have an idea, right ? Squall : ... The man : Squall ? Squall !! Squall !! Squa--!! Squall : JOOOHHHHHHNNNNNNN !! The man : Eh ? Huh ? Squall : John...

Squall explained he heard “John” is a name that used as an alias and the man is okay with that so they decided to call him John until he remember his name. The four then continue their investigation and again.. Squall’s inner monologue start.

“John Doe, It is a name given to unidentified corpse. It was written on the book i read before. If i abbreviate it to ‘John’, I am sure he will never know the real meaning”.

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ACT 2

The four now is in Alexandria. John asked why he didn't see people at all and Tidus explained it looks like the real one but this place is created by the gods and used somewhat as an “arena” for the conflict so nobody lives here yet .

John : A conflict and a match, huh ? Is Materia run an arena ? Tidus : Yeah ! And we fight on her place. John : eh ? with who? Tidus : with other warriors. I also fight Cloud and Squall. John : Are they the enemy ? Tidus : Hmm.. I think they 'turned into enemy side' a lot lately. John : Huh ? What about the audience ? Tidus : No, everyone participate in this conflict. John : And what's the point of doing that? Tidus : Hmm.. If they fight here, this world will be lively. John : But no one is watching, right ? Tidus : That's not what I mean 'lively' . John : Huh?? Hmm.. I'm confused Tidus : Yeah, me too.

Squall and Cloud who are done with their investigation join them. John commented they sure went through a lot fighting in the battle between the gods but Squall think it’s a part of mission and while Cloud think as an easy job which left Tidus surprised since he really enjoyed it. John thought they are willing to participate in the battle that probably risk their life and Tidus replied the battle looks more like a sports match (he actually wanted to said blitzball) and assured John could fight with the knife in his waist like one of ‘thief’ friend, Zidane. John then explained when the first time he look at this place, he said there is so much blind spot to hide which left Tidus wonder who John is.

They decided to go to another place. Tidus asked why Squall being unfriendly with John and He replied they know nothing about John and advised not to be so friendly but Tidus doesn’t care with that because he can’t leave him alone. Squall let out a sigh and told him to do whatever he want and then Tidus’s monologue start. 

“It’s a story about my homeworld. When i came from Zanarkand to Spira, i was puzzled and feeling anxious. But I am very happy when they treated me with kindness that time. That’s why i cant leave John alone.”

———————————————————————

They arrived in Cornelia Plains and fight some of manikins there. Squall asked where John is and Tidus answered he told John to hide under the hill to watch them fight but he is nowhere to be seen and suddenly John who is on a tree called and told them it’s a best place to hide and see how the battle progress. John asked if that zombie-like creature is their enemy and a part of the abnormal things but Tidus replied its’ an enemy from the previous war but they didn’t appear as much as before. Squall offered to investigate alone. John jokes Squall doesn’t trust him but Squall replied it “It’ll be a trouble if you hide your presence like before.”

Tidus and Cloud then explained the abnormal things they look for is something more powerful than manikins and they assumed it's a summon which something like a mythical beast, spirit or guardian deity of this world. John feels like he heard about summon before and trying to remember it but no luck and that time Squall is back and reported he didn’t find anything.

John : You sure you didn’t see anything ? Squall : What do you mean ? John : You didn’t let me to investigate alone because you’re hiding about summon, right ? Please. Tell me truth ! I’m sure It’s important to me. Squall : Who is hiding it ? Tidus : Squall, please... Squall : You’re not the only one who came here recently but Y’shtola and Noctis remember everything about their origins. Tidus : Ah ?! John : Again.. another name I never heard. Squall : I see… I don’t know where you got the info but the warriors suffering from amnesia is happened a long time ago. John : You think I pretending I have an amnesia ? For what ? Squall : It’ll be easy for you to collect information. Cloud : Stop it ! There is no end for this argument. Squall & John : ... Cloud : Let’s go to the other place

John decided to leave the party to find the clues about his memories because what Squall said make sense and since he doesn’t have his memories there is a possibility he is their enemy. Tidus tried to stop him and assured he is not an enemy and doesn’t look like it, like the arrogant man with golden armor (Emperor Mateus) or the one who seek the power of void (Exdeath). John thanked Tidus and left. Tidus then confront Squall and he answered if he is enemy’s spy, he would not leave them and explained..

Squall : Up till now, I don't have a proof he is not our enemy. But we will be killed if he suddenly attack us while hiding his presence like before. That's why I can't lower my guard. Tidus : Oh.. You're worried about us ? ...Sorry for thinking you're stubborn and troublesome. Squall : Stubborn ?! Tidus : Sorry.. Cloud : Let's continue our investigation Tidus : But I'm worried about John. Cloud : Are you going to find him ? Tidus : I want him to rejoin the party because i trust him. Are you okay with that, Squall ? Squall : Yeah... Tidus : Okay ! LET'S GO !

———————————————————————

Some time passed after John left the party and now he is in the Floating Continent . He saw a lot of manikins roaming around the meadow but since he is not familiar with this area, walking alone will be tough. The fog is getting thicker and the manikins doesn’t even leave the area which left him with no choice to fight but just when he is ready to attack, Cloud and Squall come to help him. John wondered why the two are here and Tidus come and said it’s obvious they are coming to help their friend and encouraged him to fight together.

Cloud : Glad we made it. John : You’re coming to run after me ? Tidus : Yeah ! We all wanted to go together. John : We all ? Tidus : Right, Squall ? Squall : …For now John : (chuckle) For now, huh..

Tidus said even their objective are different, he want the four as a party and John replied he is okay with that since going alone to find the clues is difficult. John thanked Squall for helping him and Squall said “Whatever..”. Cloud then encouraged him “If you don’t know who you are, You can believe on yourself.” the four continue their journey and the scene switch to John’s inner monologue.

“Even though I have no clues about who I am, I started to feel that I’m different with them. When my memories returned and know my true identity, I hope I’m not their enemy. That’s what I believe for now.”

———————————————————————

Meanwhile, there was a commotion in the Phantom Train after one of the soul escaped. While the souls are talking about this, a man in black cloak is sitting alone at the corner, looking at where the soul fall which is dissidia world from the train’s window. And then this man started to lament.

“Aah… The treasure I keep is gone. The one who escaped this train stole it. If I have the treasure, I can take you all to the paradise. Please.. lend me your hand. Shake the Phantom Train and make it fall into the real world. Take the treasure back from the insolent thief.”

“If we have the treasure, we can go to the ‘paradise’ “ . Those words are enough to instigate the souls scared with the hell. The souls believe those words and made the Phantom Train derailed and go to dissidia world instead. While the souls were absorbed with the treasure to revive the dead which is unknown if it is really exist or not, No one realize the man in black cloak is nowhere to be seen.

——————————————————-

ACT 3

The four had check every place but they found nothing. Tidus complained Materia fooled them but Cloud and Squall sense something bad and they saw a train in the sky.

Tidus : WOAAAH !! The train is coming here !! Cloud : It won’t crashed here. Tidus : Why are you so calm ? We will be died if it crashed here. (The train crashed) Squall : Calm down. Tidus : DON’T SAY AFTER IT CRASHED !

They wondered if it’s a part of the abnormal thing and the area is suddenly surrounded by the smoke. John suddenly felt a pain, said he heard a voices which make his head hurts and passed out after that. The trio wondered if the smoke affect him since they don’t feel anything.

Tidus : The voices John has heard.. Who is it ? .. Huh ? Cloud : It’ll be dangerous if we get close to it. Squall : Yeah.. Let’s go back to previous place Cloud : Right. We need to let John rest. Tidus : Yeah.. yeah. Wait ! Wait a minute. Squall : What ? Tidus : No.. it’s nothing. Nevermind. Squall : What do you mean ? Tidus : Hehe.. Your voices are similiar Squall : Huh?

"What I heard is a song to soothe the souls of the dead in my world and a voice of the old man i know. I kinda get a clue what the train is so I am not scared anymore when i noticed it. Well, because I'm kinda similiar to them."

Tidus laughed, enough to make Squall confused and asked if he look like with someone. Tidus then decided to investigate the train alone but stopped by Cloud and Squall. He assured it will be quick and told them he is not ‘alone’. Just when Cloud and Squall is going to carry John back to the previous place, “One winged Angel” plays and Sephiroth came, told them to hand John to him or die instead . Cloud refused but Sephiroth explained John is the man who escaped the train carrying the dead and got revived. Cloud fight him and told Squall to escape and take John somewhere.

"Is it John who caused this ? or Sephiroth’s plotted it ? What did Tidus noticed ? I don’t know but my role is obvious. I’ll stop Sephiroth !"

TO BE CONTINUED ON PART 2

[landinoandco]

Our Love is a Game

Lando Norris x Reader

Request from @jamieeboulos

Warnings: pinch of fluff, cute ending because they are the best

Word count: 2.7 k

Requests are open :)

It all started with a phone number, an innocent exchange that would subsequently change the world you knew; mostly for the better. When you had met Lando, as far as you were concerned you had just met a 21 year old who lived in London and had a passion for cars. How wrong you were. It was only when things started to get serious that he sat you down and explained everything that came with being a formula one driver; more importantly the fandom that he was involved in. 

You had always been a private person and admittedly this piece of information almost broke your relationship but after some time to think you had decided that he was worth it all. You both decided it was a better idea to keep your relationship as quiet as possible - you took every precaution to make sure you stayed a stranger to the fans.

For the past 2 years, you thought you had managed to stay clear of the cameras, the photos and the twitch streams but it wasn’t until a fan-made compilation caused your world to spiral out of control. 

You and Lando were out for a run, it was a part of your morning routine - a great way to start the day and it was time that you two could escape the motor sport world and act like a normal couple without worrying about who might be watching. It was time you both valued and appreciated. On this particular morning, Lando had decided to add to his Instagram story, a short video of his morning adventures - the mist still hanging around the trees as you ran under a heavily graffitied bridge, the early birds song chirping animatedly. At the time you didn’t think much of it as you were too busy tying your hair back up to notice. 

It wasn’t until you got home and looked at his story that your heart stopped, rushing over to the kitchen island you placed your phone down and ran your fingers through your hair. It was a blink and you’ll miss it moment but in the corner of his video - the last millisecond before it ended - there was a flash of a purple top (the purple top you had been wearing) and a swish of brown hair as you chucked it back up into a ponytail. 

“Lando.” You called out, trying to keep your voice as calm as you could. You didn’t know why it had affected you so much - or why you were so desperate to keep your identity a secret. It wasn’t like you wanted to hide your relationship; you were the happiest you ever had been, everyday was exciting and offered new prospects - it was more that you were so used to being in this bubble with Lando, the idea of it bursting seemed rather unappealing. Usually you didn’t care for how others saw you but seeing some of the words that people used to describe him, it would be enough to trouble even the thickest of skins. 

Lando’s close proximity broke your thoughts as he stared down at your phone, pausing on the flash of brown and purple. “I am so sorry, love.” He almost whispered, his eyes widening at his carelessness. He picked your phone up to take a closer look. 

“It will be alright, won’t it? I mean, it’s a blink and you’ll miss it.” You had said, more to reassure yourself than Lando. He didn’t answer, anxiety building in the pit of his stomach because he knew exactly what he had started. 

The fan-made compilation didn’t go viral until a few hours later - as it turns out that flash of purple was the perfect cherry on top of an unappetising cake. Lando was sat on stream - not that this was out of the ordinary and Max had decided to join him, leaving you alone to rewatch Friends for the umpteenth time. 

The pair were sat reacting to videos on YouTube when a clip of a seal swimming into a shoal of fish started playing - the amusing part was that they kept quickly dispersing away from the seal in question. Unsurprisingly, they laughed and Lando spluttered: “This is me trying to find a girlfriend.” What the fans didn’t know was the apparent irony of that sentence and this was what caused the major meltdown; whilst Lando and Max were busy crying with laughter - that chat had filled up with the same link and references to the video you would be redirected through. 

Max was the first to stop laughing, tapping Lando on the shoulder as he pointed at the chat. Hundreds of the same message filled the screen: “That’s not what this compilation shows.” “Lando, what are you hiding from us?” “Lando and Max laughing knowing very well he has a girlfriend.” 

“Chat what on earth are you waffling on about.” Max chuckled uneasily, looking at Lando out of the corner of his eye. Lando sat with a forced smile, his nostrils flaring as he continued through the comments. He could only let out a tense laugh as he swallowed thickly - his throat feeling suddenly dry. You were still sitting, completely engrossed and unaware that Lando Norris was now trending on twitter. 

Max had come up with an excuse to end the stream not long after, Lando uncharacteristically quiet. His thoughts were with you in the other room, had you seen it? Did you know? How would you react? He felt as though he had lost all control, like he had failed you entirely - all he wanted to do was protect you yet he was the one to screw it up. 

“Hey,” Max nudged his shoulder, “It was bound to happen at some point. Let’s go and see if she’s seen it - if not then -” He took a deep breath, “We will watch it together. We need to know what we are working with here.” Lando nodded, unable to reply, his body went into automatic pilot mode and too quickly he was standing facing you. 

Pausing the tv, you looked at Lando - his jaw tightened and facial expressions set as though he had just seen a ghost. “Is everything ok?” You asked apprehensively. 

“There’s something you need to see.” Max reached for his phone, pushing Lando onto the sofa. You offered your arm to Lando, pulling him into a hug. Max pulled up the video and pressed play. A tense atmosphere held the room hostage - breath restricted and gazes fixed onto the tiny screen in front of you. 

It started with a clip from this year’s Goodwood - Lando preparing to drive his last hill climb - you remembered it well, a McLaren hat placed on your head mainly to cover your identity; knowing that there would be more than a few fans around. The clip moved to 3 separate stills - all of you in your McLaren hat. One with your back to the camera, you hand placed around Lando’s waist, the other two a side profile as you spoke to Max. 

The reaction was immediate, you slapped your hand to your mouth, Lando looked horror-struck and Max was watching you carefully. 

The video moved on, this time a clip from the quadrant video where Niran trains like Lando for 24 hours - Lando and Niran were in the kitchen preparing to eat their breakfast when once again the video moved to stills. This time they were of your reflection in the oven - holding the camera. You had thought at the time, if you were behind the camera it would stop every chance of you accidentally being caught on camera. Apparently not. 

The video had moved on again, this time to stills of Lando arriving on track - of course there was no way for you to get on track without being photographed and you were fine with that because you would just arrive after Lando either with Jon or Charlotte. Photos of you arriving with Jon and Charlotte flashed up - with them you were just another member of staff but put with those other stills and it really did yell out that you and Lando were romantically involved. Finally the flash of purple from Lando’s story. The game was up. 

“Oh my-” You stuttered as the video came to an end. Fortunately your Instagram hadn’t been shown but judged by how skilled you knew the fans to be - it would only be a matter of time. “I feel sick.” You admitted, wiping your hands across your face. Lando still hadn’t said a word, staring blankly at the floor. Max was the first to come up with something logical, turning to you and Lando. 

“It will blow over.” He started, “The fans will soon lose interest and move onto the next big headline. We just need to ignore anything we see regarding the subject.” He moved his attention to you. “Maybe avoid social media for a few days. Let everyone cool down -” Sensing your means to interrupt, he held his hand up. “I know you shouldn’t have to and I know none of this is fair but unfortunately people have no boundaries and believe because it’s on social media it is their business. If they were in our situation, I’m pretty sure they would be the first to complain. Let’s just go along with it for now. It will give you time to think about what to do next.” 

Lando cleared his throat, pulling you closer into him. “I’ve failed you. All I wanted to do was protect you.” At this, Max got up and left. 

Shaking your head, you pressed your lips to his forehead. “You could never. Think about how long we kept it secret for. Besides, until we announce or admit anything - it isn’t confirmed.” You offered, trying to soothe his worries. He nodded, still not convinced. 

“Our love is like a game and it’s not a game I enjoy playing.” He croaked, lacing your fingers together. 

“I know, Lando, I know. Let’s let everything calm down and then we can think about what our next step is.” 

Weeks later and it was the night before you were due to leave for your summer holiday. You would be spending it with Lando and some of his friends and family. Due to the current pandemic, it had been so long since you had been away - even if it was a bigger group of you going; you were still looking forward to spending that quality time with Lando. 

Max had decided to take himself and Tom off to the streaming room - leaving you and Lando to sort out the remaining items you needed for your time away. 

“I have a present for you.” He said suddenly, his hands behind his back. You beamed, taking a step closer to him. He shook his head, “If you want it - “ He pointed at his lips. 

Rolling your eyes, you pecked his lips then held out your hands like a child. Lando chuckled, “Close your eyes.” Hands still outstretched and eyes closed, you waited for Lando to present you with your surprise. He grasped your left wrist and attached something to it - “No peeking.” He added. A moment or two later, he dropped his hold of your wrist and said: “You can open them now.” You could hear the smile on his lips. You opened your eyes and looked straight to your wrist - he had given you a pink watch. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked up at him, his eyes twinkled as he then pointed to the orange watch on his wrist. 

“Watches?” You asked, confusion laced your tone. 

Nodding, he said, “We all have matching watches but in different colours - they are for our holiday away.” 

You gave him a lopsided grin and wrapped your arms around his neck, “I love it. Thank you.” 

In the streaming room, Max was having to ignore the majority of the comments because they were all asking the same thing: “Who was the girl from the compilation.” He was trying his hardest to keep moving off the topic, instead showing off the watches - it had been his idea, blue for him, orange for Lando, a child’s watch for Tom and a pink watch for you. He had listed off all of the colours and said who they belonged to: “And then pink-” He paused, mentally face palming. He looked over to Tom for assistance - he hadn’t meant to say pink at all. “And pink is for someone.” He cursed his poor excuse but as if by magic - Lando walked through the door. 

Distracting the stream from his slip up. 

Croatia was a dream come true, the hot summer sun on your back and the time to just relax and recharge. Days spent with Lando sunbathing on the boat or stuck in a tense game of Uno. Not being the only female was brilliant as well - as they got to go off and not feel guilty about leaving you on your own. 

Currently, you and Lando were standing in each other's arms - the afternoon drawing into the evening as the sun began to set. You had your arms around his neck and his arms were around your waist, sighing contentedly you broke the silence: “This is nice.” He pressed his lips into your hair, a sign that he agreed with your statement. In that moment, it was just you and him - everyone seemed to disappear from around you and all worries vanished. It was the simple yet affectionate moments that had always meant the most to you. You felt as though you could relax every muscle in your body, listening to his steady heartbeat - you wished for this moment to never end, to forever be in his arms and to not worry about who sees you there. 

Ever since that compilation had been made, the thought had been on your mind a lot. Were you ready to go public with Lando? At the end of the day you were both happy and surely that was the most important thing. 

Later that night, you were sitting eating your meal when a phone was handed to you, displayed on it was a picture of you and Lando - in each other’s arms. 

Instantly you knew what this meant, looking at Lando you were met with the same expression. He did as well. 

You and Lando had decided it was time to announce your relationship, there was no point sneaking around anymore if people knew and were looking out for you. You had agreed that the best way to do it was if you joined him in a stream, that way they got to know you a bit more for who you were. 

“Is it ok to feel as nervous as I am?” You asked him, pulling up a chair beside him. He was setting up the stream, two mugs of tea placed in front of you. It seemed completely unnatural to sit facing the camera. 

“I mean, this is kind of a big deal so yes I would say, it’s completely natural for you to feel nervous.” He reached for your hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. Nodding, you took a deep breath. 

“Ok. I’m ready.” You said, your heart beating at a million miles an hour. The corners of his lips turned up, leaning in to leave you a kiss on the lips. 

“I love you and I’m so proud of you.” He admitted quietly, as though you were the only person in the world, his eyes flickered with complete adoration. 

“I love you too. Now, shall we start it?” 

Lando went to press the start stream button but paused. He turned back to face you, his eyes wide and offered an apologetic smile. 

“What did you do?” You asked, a smile toying at your lips as you had an idea of what it might have been. 

“Stream, meet my girlfriend.” 

He had already started it...

[unmechanism]

Wait, I'm listening to season 2 and what happened with Captain Hijikata?

" KHAN: You got spaghetti in those ears, Loo? Don’t they teach you curiosity in diaper-school anymore? Captain Hijikata! Of the One-Five-One, our goddamn precinct! It was the case of the damn decade and this walking pile of nitroglycerin decided to—

JUNO:

We really don’t need to get into the details, thanks.

KHAN:

We can’t trust him. Especially when it comes to taking down someone really big. Steel’s a glory-pig. Honor-hound. Whatever."

What more info do we have on this? Is that the case that made Juno leave the HCPD? Glory-pig would imply that he would've taken a win that wasn't his? Or tried to get under the spotlight at the expense of others? But that doesn't really seem like something Juno would do? (Even though we don't really know how a younger Juno would've acted in the HCPD). So maybe the bad reputation he got is based on a misunderstanding? Or him covering for someone?

An important point of this story is that it's linked to Diamond is some way.

Because then in The Stolen City we have this :

"And I’ve got a lot of excuses, sure. My mother, my brother, all that junk that happened in the HCPD with Diamond and Captain Hijikata... but if I’m being honest with myself I’ve always been this way. From minute one."

How is it linked to Diamond? What did Juno do?

I think I saw people talking about how the person Juno goes to see on Io at the end of season 3 could be Hijikata and honestly that would be awesome, I'd kill for some backstory, (but a part of me feels like maybe Hijikata died?? Idk that's just a feeling I have nothing to back it up)

Actually, there are 3 people I'm very interested in from the HCPD time : Diamond, Captain Hijikata and Puck Falco.

When Juno meets Rita he tells her :

JUNO: 

This can’t be happening. Is this a joke? You’re a prank, right? Falco set you up for this. Or Diamond, maybe. 

I'm not sure of what we know about Falco but I'm pretty sure they're important.

We know they were Juno's colleague, I think they had the same rank since they were both detectives?

JUNO: 

Sure, Rita, that sounds great. Hey, you mind bothering Detective Falco for a few hours? Got twenty pounds of paperwork and a serial slasher to deal with, so I'm, uh. Kinda busy. 

And idk why I thought Juno had been in the HCPD for a while already but no they met quite early in his career :

RITA: 

Okay, "Juno Steel." I get it! You've only been outta the Academy for a few months

So that means multiple things :

1. Juno either knew Puck Falco and Diamond from the academy, or they just met quite recently.

2. Juno was either already in a relationship with Diamond in the Academy or it happened later and both possibilities are very interesting.

ANYWAY

I'm also interested in knowing the amount of time between Juno and Rita meeting in the HCPD until them both leaving and Rita buying the new PI office :

RITA: 

It ain’t a gift. This is where I work, too. 

JUNO: 

What about the HCPD?

RITA:

Not anymore. I like doin’ good things for good people. An’...Detective Falco’s good people, but it just ain’t the same. Not after all that... y'know. I work for you, Boss. That's just how it is. 

Because that gap in the time-line could mean A LOT OF THINGS.

Anyway again,

We know Puck Falco was good since Rita liked them (I've also seen people saying THEY'RE the one Juno's gonna go meet on Io and honestly, I'd love it too, I just wanna know more PLS ESPECIALLY since they've transferred to another Planet I think? I'm pretty sure) so Juno and them were probably close, maybe friends?

But once again, the incident is mentioned "not after all that... y'know", that's definitely mentioning the Hijikata thing? But WHAT?

We know it was a case, we know Juno got his bad rep from it, we know from Khan it was about "taking down someone big".

(OK, sidetraking here but I'm thinking, it could've something to do with the Kanagawas? That may seem a bit random but I'm sure we've not heard the last of them sooo why not?)

But that's just guessing, we don't actually have any info on who that "someone big" could've been.

Anyway,

Going back to Diamond, we know from Rita that she was apparently gone before Juno left the HCPD so I'd say that case wasn't what caused the relationship to stop, maybe Juno did what he did during that case after the failed wedding??? But Juno very clearly links whatever happened with Hijikata and what happened with Diamond so who knows? But, that's all just guesswork and I have no clue if it would even make sense with the timeline

I don't even know if my rambling makes any semblance of sense but I wanted to spill all of this somewhere, you're free to correct me if I made any mistake or to add more info or your own hypothesis, I'd be very interested to have more opinions on these topics!

[caffeinatedseri]

Dead Apple Light Novel

Recently, I decided to buy LN 5, Dead Apple, purely because I’m a sucker for all of BSD’s light novels, so this post will revolve around what I took away from this novel. 

Dead Apple is Canon

Since the story jumps around in the timeline a lot, I had originally thought that Dead Apple took place outside of canon (especially with Atsushi’s flashback). 

However, a particular part of Asagiri’s afterword stuck out to me:

Now, allow me a moment to discuss some of the particulars of Dead Apple. Chronologically, the story takes place after the second season of the anime — in other words, after the war with the Guild, which puts Dead Apple somewhere between the ninth and tenth volumes of the manga. 

The novel also ended up affecting the main story in numerous ways, and I’m sure this new experience will continue to influence my future work as well.

It’s not unusual for a light novel to insert itself into the main timeline (see 55 Minutes which takes place in the 10th volume), but it’s nice to have confirmation that the same applies to Dead Apple. 

Of course, just because a work isn’t canon compliant (see BEAST), doesn’t mean that it has no potential for further analysis or it doesn’t bring any added complexity to the main plot. Regardless, this post serves as somewhat of a precursor to my other posts concerning Dead Apple since I have a tendency to talk about it a lot, and I’d like to establish a basis for a lot of my posts. 

Differences between the Movie and Light Novel

In the afterword of the light novel, Hiro Iwahata (the author of this LN) said:

“Furthermore, I worked on this book under Asagiri’s supervision, meaning there are several lines in certain scenes that differ from the movie. It might even be fun comparing the two!  Nothing would make me happier than the fans enjoying this novel alongside the movie.”

As per Iwahata’s request, I went into the light novel, looking for differences between it and the movie. However, the novel is surprisingly, almost identical to the movie (maybe not surprising considering it is a “movie novelization”).

Because the differences are so miniscule, I believe they hold an even greater significance, since Asagiri must have wanted to change these specific details for a certain reason. 

Some of the differences I talk about might be unimportant, but I did my best to catch everything that was changed from the movie.

1. The movie doesn’t mention SKK as a part of the Dragon’s Head Conflict, but the novel says, “Some fought under the alias Twin Dark.” 

This probably means that SKK became a pair either before the Dragon’s Head Conflict or during (although I’m pretty sure that the “organization” they destroyed over night was Shibusawa’s organization).

2. When Dazai says that he would’ve continued killing people in the mafia if it weren’t for Oda, Atsushi has little to no reaction in the movie; I would describe it as maybe a hesitant or concerned feeling.

In the novel, Atsushi has a more outward reaction.

““Huh...?!” Atsushi was baffled. He had no idea whether that was true. What did Dazai mean by that? (...) The melancholy Atsushi felt from Dazai had disappeared, and Dazai continued to speak in his usual lighthearted manner.”

Not only does he react verbally, but the novel also adds an inner monologue (mainly for Atsushi) that can’t be portrayed as well in movie format. 

To me, this change highlights how Atsushi sees Dazai purely as a good person; he reacts in such a startled manner because he believes that Dazai is too good of a person to be in the mafia killing people (which we know Atsushi hates). This trend reoccurs throughout the story, of Atsushi turning a blind eye to Dazai’s “bad side.”

3. This one isn’t at all the movie’s fault, but the novel gives a lot more clues as to what the “dead apple” and the dagger in the apple motif represents.

The first time it appears is when Kunikida and Tanizaki meet the Special Division’s agent, but they find out that he’s already dead.

“It [the apple] was, without a doubt, a simple fruit... save for the fact that there was a knife sticking out of it as if to condemn the taste of sin. A blade had been driven into the symbol of original sin. A dreary, ominous aura, oozed from the ripe fruit like venom. 

Throughout the novel, it seems to associate the “dead apple” motif with Fyodor pretty strongly, especially since this paragraph ties in Fyodor’s ideals nicely with the symbolism of the apple and dagger.

The apple represents sin, the very first sin — which you could interpret as sin at its purest — while the dagger represents the condemning of such sin. However, the apple can also potentially symbolize life, while the dagger stabbing into life can mean death. 

Fyodor’s ideals revolve around “removing the sin” of ability users (represented by an apple in this case) but he does so through manipulation. The dagger is associated with stealth and deception, which is fitting with what Fyodor does to “remove the sin” of ability users.

However, he’s also taking the lives of ability users in this process, hence stabbing the apple, coincidentally committing another sin in his attempt to relinquish all sin.

4. In the “Snow White” Oda and Dazai flashback, everything is identical to the movie (word for word), but there is some additional narration.

“It was an alarming sight — Dazai sounded like he was in a trance. It was as if he was ignoring all this world had to offer while in pursuit of something else.”

I’ve talked about this particular scene before here, but the gist is that Dazai was discreetly talking about himself while referring to Snow White. 

Dazai joined the mafia because he believed that the violence (or true human nature) would give him a reason to live, but we already know that this kind of thinking was flawed.  Thus, this line most likely means that Dazai was ignoring all of the “good” qualities of the world while pursuing a reason to live, which inevitably wouldn’t work. 

5. Right after the flashback, when Dazai takes the pill, the novel really sells the act of “Dazai walking towards his death and going to the evil side.” 

Personally, this scene in the movie felt more open to interpretation after you’ve seen the ending. You could say that Dazai took the antidote and said “Being on the side that saves people is more beautiful,” because his plan is to continue living to save more people. 

However, the novel throws away any possible double meaning with this paragraph:

“Dazai then reached for the pill with his bandaged hand, neatly picked it up, and slowly brought it to his lips — just like Snow White and the sweet, poisoned apple. The venomous red-and-pure-white-pill disappeared inside his mouth.”

After Dazai’s tangent on how Snow White could’ve committed suicide out of despair, the narration compares him directly to Snow White. With the added venomous pill stated outright, it only further cements the idea that Dazai’s actually committing suicide here.

I don’t particularly like this change, because it feels like this moment was set up entirely just to divert the audience’s expectations, rather than it be a standalone scene that makes sense when considering the rest of the story. (It might not necessarily be a change, possibly just a rough translation from movie to novel). 

6. When Atsushi wakes up from his nightmare, there’s some additional inner monologue:

Everything’s okay. I’m not the same person I was when I lived at the orphanage. I have friends. I have a place where I belong — the Armed Detective Agency. Things are different now.

The anime (and in turn the movie) tends to downplay the effects of Atsushi’s trauma — probably due to the limitations of anime — but regardless the novel portrays it much better with how Atsushi’s trauma affects practically every aspect of his life. 

7. I thought Fukuzawa’s ability only gave his subordinates control over their abilities, but the novel says:

“Yukichi Fukuzawa and his skill, All Men are Equal, a peculiar ability that allowed him to suppress and control his subordinates’ skills.”

Does this mean that Fukuzawa could control and suppress all of the agency’s abilities? It could be a weird translation, but it seems oddly specific.

8. This detail isn’t actually a novel exclusive, but it is an extremely small detail that I missed while watching the movie, so I figured I would add it here too.

“the phantom’s notebook had the word Compromise written on the cover. A copy of himself that didn’t follow ideals but made compromises was an abomination to Kunikida.”

Considering how abilities act as the shadow to every character in this story, this is a nice detail that shows how Kunikida’s inner desire is to compromise, because carrying such heavy ideals is undoubtedly a burden. However, because he holds onto his ideals so strongly, it becomes his biggest weakness AND his biggest strength.

9. There’s a super small detail added to this scene with Dazai, Fyodor, and Shibusawa. When Dazai suggests that Shibusawa could be saved by an angel or a demon, the following exchange occurs:

“Hmm... Maybe an angel?” Dazai picked up the skull on the table. “Or maybe a demon?” “It’s obvious what both of your true intentions are, if you ask me.” The third man mirthfully cackled and took the skull from Dazai’s hand.

In the movie, Dazai doesn’t pick up anything, so as a result Fyodor doesn’t take anything from Dazai either. 

Because Fyodor walked into the scene after Dazai suggested that an angel or demon would save Shibusawa, I strongly suspect that this was foreshadowing future events in which Fyodor does “save” Shibusawa by giving him his memories back.

The novel adds more to this foreshadowing by having Dazai pick up the skull before it’s taken by Fyodor — essentially having Fyodor take the cards out of Dazai’s hands and put them in his favor. 

It’s also worth pointing out that the skull is also the object that Fyodor uses to revive Shibusawa into a supernatural ghost of some sorts at the end of the story.

10. This may be just a difference in translations but in the movie, Shibusawa refers to Fyodor as “Demon Fyodor-kun”, whereas in the novel Fyodor is called “Fyodor the Conjurer.” (Ango uses the Conjurer title as well).

In western esotericism, a conjurer is a person who summons supernatural beings, like spirits, demons, or God.

This slightly changes the connotation of Fyodor’s title from a inhuman being of pure malicious intent to just a human who summons these otherworldly beings. This idea also aligns with Shibusawa’s revival, since he’s some sort of supernatural ghost that was “summoned” by Fyodor. 

11. Skipping past the parts where Kyouka and Akutagawa regain their abilities, and Chuuya talks to Ango in the government facility, (since they have little to no changes between the movie and the novel) there is a somewhat significant detail changed in Draconia once again with Dazai and Fyodor.

In the novel, this glowing ball of energy from the movie is actually described as an apple: 

The two lights melted into one and spun until they formed a juicy sphere. They had produced a single apple — a juicy, poisoned apple red as blood.

It birthed a skill — and an extremely powerful one at that — the ability to absorb. Every last crystal adorning Draconia’s walls was sucked into the apple with intense force. Ten — a hundred — a thousand — two thousand — every last one was greedily devoured by the apple...

The apple swelled as it absorbed the numerous crystals until the red light became hotter than the surface of hell.

Since the “dead apple” motif aligns with Fyodor’s character, we can assume that the apple is representative of sin, and sin is associated with abilities, as Fyodor believes.

This strange poisoned apple is made of abilities and has an ability (the ability to absorb), and it commits a sin (greed) in its devouring of other abilities; it’s also hotter than “hell”, which is a very specific connection that leads me to this idea:

My theory is that a normal apple represents life, while a poisoned apple (or dead apple), indicative of a stained, impure life, represents sin. Fyodor believes abilities are akin to sin (what a clever rhyme), therefore all of their lives are sinful.

12. This is arguably the most insignificant change of this entire post, but I feel obligated to put it here regardless since it was different from the movie. When the Special Division detects the singularity of Shibusawa’s dragon form in the novel, it says:

“Abnormal values for singularity are increasing! They’re twice — no, 2.5 times higher than they were six years ago.”

In the movie, the number is five times higher instead.

Why did this number change? Is it significant? I honestly have no idea (I’m surprised I even caught this), but it’s there and I had to document it anyways. 

13. The novel adds this narration for Shibusawa when he gets his memories back and he’s in the orphanage’s room with Atsushi:

“Shibusawa clearly recalled the events from six years ago. Fyodor had enticed him to go to the orphanage where he tortured a young Atsushi... until Atsushi fought back and killed him.”

There’s two things to take away from this: Fyodor had known Shibusawa for at least six years, and Fyodor had been planning the events of Dead Apple since at least six years ago. 

I find it hard to believe that Fyodor’s plan was thwarted by Dazai, because of how Fyodor demonstrated his ability to plan ahead in the main series, but I’m not sure what the long term effects of this plan could be. If Shibusawa succeeded, then it could’ve aligned with the DOA’s goals, but once again I don’t think Fyodor’s plan was actually foiled.

14. Super minor once again, but right after Shibusawa gets revived, the last sentence of chapter 5 is,

“Nobody would ever see the smile on Fyodor’s face.” 

Honestly, I think this was just added to create an ominous tone, but it’s a nice detail regardless.

15. As the red fog spreads across Yokohama, there’s a good part of exposition that connects the “dead apple” motif to Fyodor once again:

“After the red fog devoured the earth, the planet would undoubtedly look like a floating red apple from space. There would be no humans left on its surface, nor any signs they ever existed. It would be a true paradise, and with that, the Dead Apple would finally be complete. A dead planet covered in red fog — that was what Fyodor had planned and sought out.

Nothing other than death could wash away the original sin of man, so it was only fitting for the sin, which started with a fruit, to end with one as well. 

It’s pretty long, but I like the way this passage is written, more specifically the last part since it fits well with the sinful poisoned apple idea.

It also aligns with Fyodor’s ideals of creating a true paradise, free of ability users. However, if Fyodor had planned to have the Earth covered in fog, that could mean that his plan was actually stopped by Dazai and Atsushi in the end.

16. Shibusawa has a few additional lines of dialogue when he talks to Atsushi in their final fight.

“The dragon and tiger... I see now why they are called rivals.”

The dragon and tiger have their roots in Chinese Buddhism, but to go further into that topic would make this already lengthy post even longer.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, though. I’m not blaming you for what happened.”

This line is a brief moment of weakness for Shibusawa, which is interesting in contrast to his strong will to kill Atsushi. Just as Atsushi learned to accept the past and the tiger’s ferocity, Shibusawa shares the same attitude by separating the blame from himself to just simply accepting the past for what happened.

17. In the aftermath of the last fight against Shibusawa, Atsushi and Kyouka meet up with Dazai.

Kyouka asks, “Are you sure this is what you wanted?” which prompts two different responses in the movie and novel respectively.

In the movie, Atsushi says, “Just as Shibusawa was able to forget that he’d been killed before, I think Dazai can put his past behind him again. But this is fine.”

In the novel, Atsushi says:

“... I could probably seal away this memory just like how I’d forgotten I’d killed him before. But... I’m okay with this.”

I interpreted Kyouka’s question in the movie to be questioning Dazai’s loyalties, as he did betray everyone, and Atsushi responded in Dazai’s defense because he trusts him.

However, the novel does change Atsushi’s response to focus on himself rather than Dazai, which in turn changes the implications of Kyouka’s question. 

Kyouka seems to be asking Atsushi whether he was okay with killing Shibusawa, and Atsushi responds by acknowledging that he did kill Shibusawa, and that’s okay. (a very clear development from the beginning of the story when he believed it was unnecessary to kill anyone, and he didn’t want to kill anyone)

18. In the epilogue, Ango talks about the underlying motivations behind the “Dead Apple” case. This change could be attributed to translation differences (like many others in this post), but the connotation does slightly differ from movie to novel. 

In the movie, Ango says, “How is a man like Shibusawa, so intelligent that others look like alien creatures to him, to act, to be destroyed, or to be saved?”

In the novel, Ango says:

“Perhaps the two of them [Dazai and Fyodor] just wanted to get a glimpse of someone like them... Perhaps they wanted to see what he would do and how he would meet his demise... or perhaps how he would be saved.”

The movie simply poses a broad question of what would happen to Shibusawa, a person alienated from the rest of society. 

The novel changes this to focus on Dazai and Fyodor’s perspective — two irredeemable aliens from society just like Shibusawa — executing this grand scheme out of curiosity to see what would happen to someone of the likes of them, and if there’s a possibility for redemption.

19. This is the final difference on this list, and it’s quite a large change. In Fyodor’s monologue at the very end of the story, he has a completely different tone from the movie to novel.

In the movie, Fyodor says, “But in order to end this world, rife with crime and punishment, I do need that book.”

The novel says: 

Glittering high-rises and stately brick buildings stood side by side in this port city with its countless citizens who struggled against crime and punishment. “I think I’ve taken a liking to this city myself..”  Fyodor took a bite of the apple in his hand, and the juicy nectar ran down his delicate fingers. “You’d all better be on your best behavior until next time.”

The reference to the book may have been removed for consistency with the main series, as the book is a part of the DOA’s plan (or more specifically Fukuchi). 

It also seems like Fyodor has grown fond of the city, and no longer wants Yokohama to be destroyed, so it’s still possible that his plan deterred from what he had originally intended.

Beyond that, I’m not entirely sure why crime and punishment was mentioned, or why there’s such an ominous tone to his ending statement, but that’s up to personal interpretation. 

That concludes the long list of extremely specific and minor differences between the Dead Apple movie and light novel! 

Overall, I would say it’s worth checking out the light novel if you don’t have a strong grasp of the Dead Apple story, because it definitely presents the small intricacies of the plot in a more comprehensible way. 

On a side note, the manga adaptation has a lot of noticeable differences from the movie and light novel, mostly with the addition of entirely new scenes (which you can read @buraihatranslations​ — what a shameless self plug). I would highly recommend reading it as those extra scenes are very amusing, to say the least without giving any spoilers.

Honestly, this post was a lot longer than I intended, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. Thank you for reading!

[theinsightofpurgatory]

2-D x Reader The Shower Incident

Yeah.. this is the first Gorillaz fanfic I’ve ever written and it’s a even 1,500 words! Hope you enjoy!

(Edit: I've have made some changes to make it read better, also some grammatical ones. I have also made it gender neutral!)

     I slowly tune in to my loud ass alarm. Turning over, I reach my arm over to find my phone before it wakes up 2-D as well. The man needs his sleep too, I finally reach my phone. Pulling it toward me as I push my body up, I turn off the alarm and check for any messages, emails, etc. none as far as I can see.

     I put my phone in my lap, looking over at 2-D, my goodness, he looks so peaceful when he's not getting beat over the head with a shoe. I lean over to his side of our bed and kiss him on the forehead, he shifts a bit and I see him smile. I feel myself grin at the sight. I lift the blanket from my legs and turn to the side slowly to give my body enough time to adjust. I just then realize; fuck I'm still squinting. I reach over and grab my glasses while I'm standing up.

     I stretch my arms out, yawning, I did not want to get up today, but I got stuff to do. I turn back to 2-D and go over to his side of the bed. I lift the covers off of him slightly, I softly rub his arm trying to gently wake him. "Babe?", He cracks open his eyes, clearly adjusting to the sunlight lighting up the room. 2-D gives a short moan/sigh before responding.

     "Yes, Love?"

     "I have to pick-up some stuff for the house today, but I'm gonna take a shower first, when you really wake up and the water is still running, it's me, so don't worry" I whisper to him.

     "Alright, can I go back to sleep now?" he asks with a slight smile. I give a small chuckle at that.

     "Yes you can" I respond softly, leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek, I see his smile get bigger as he turns a bit more and nuzzles against the pillow. Going back to the main part of our shared room, I put out my outfit I'm going to wear out, I grab my brush, my towels and head into the bathroom. Turning on the water, taking off my clothes, I get in and start my process.

     Soon enough, since it's wash day, I go to grab my shampoo bottle, I pick it up but I notice something. "Huh, it's almost empty just like my body wash, that's weird, maybe 2-D has been using it... well better add it to the list" I think aloud.

     After I'm done in the shower, turn off the water grab my towel, wrapping around me, while getting the other one and I start crunching my hair. Stepping out of our bathroom I see 2-D still sleeping. I finish drying off and get dressed. I grab my phone, wallet, and my keys, I rub 2-D on his leg for one last sign of affection before I left for my grocery (and other essentials) shopping trip for the entire house.

     Living with 4 other people, especially if they are a band, can be very tiring...and expensive.

 (I hate doing this but) 2-D’s POV (This takes place maybe like an hour later)

     My brain is yelling at me to get up, and I have to listen so I open up my eyes, squinting to help my eyes adjust to the light, I was about to pick my nose but then I remember how Y/N would tell me not to do it because it’s bad for me, so I put my tongue back my mouth. Speaking of Y/N, where are they? I turn to look at their side of our bed, where did they go? I feel myself frown and get up off our bed.

     I see some of Y/N clothes scattered across the floor, then I heard the shower turn on. My eyes widen, my brain slowly connecting the dots. Y/N’S IN THE SHOWER!! My big brain immediately thought of something. I SHOULD SCARE THEM! I quickly grab my clown mask and put it on, tip toeing toward our washroom door. Maaaaaaaaan I’mma get them soooo good! :)

     I slowly open the door, making sure I’m as quiet as possible. Turing my head toward the shower seeing their figure move across our shower. I quietly creep up to the curtain and as fast as lightening I pulled the curtain back! “BOO-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” my happy face quickly turn into a horrified one as I see a naked Murdoc in our shower! I quickly slide back almost falling, turning to run out of the room screaming! I run and jump into Y/N and I’s bed, hiding under the covers.

               (Again I hate doing this but…) Y/N’s POV

     I turn my key into the lock and open the door. Thank goodness I got everything we need. I enter the kitchen, my hands full of groceries, I was just about to call one of the others to help me put them away, but before that I heard a scream from upstairs. I immediately drop everything make a mad dash upstairs. Somehow knowing that it came from 2-D and I’s room, I make a left down the to see the door open, a lump under our covers, with the bathroom door open as well. I quickly ran into the room to see what was going on, checking the bed first, I pull the covers off to see 2-D curled up into a ball. “Stuart what’s going on” I say a little louder than I mean to. He slowly looks up at me.

     “mur-mur-murdoc” he mumbles out. Though I can barely hear

     “What about Murdoc, Stu?” I now calmly ask.

     “He’s in our washroom…” He shakily replies. I quickly understood what had just occurred. I calmly rub his back and decide to deal with this myself. I turn to leave for the bathroom, but I feel 2-D grab my hand. “Please don’t leave” he pleads, looking up at me with sad eyes. My goodness he is just too adorable.

     “Don’t worry Stu, I’ll be right back, I just have to deal with our…situation” My eyes toward the door then going back to him giving a sympathetic look. 2-D loosens his grip on me.

     “Alright love” he whispers to me. I give him a loving pat before heading toward the bathroom. I reach the door, I take a deep breath in before peeking my head in. To see Murdoc slightly covered with the shower still on and USING MY SHAMPOO?!

     “MURDOC NICCALS, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” I yell at him. He quickly drops the bottle before turning to look at me.

     “uhm, taking a shower?” He responds very calmly acting like there was nothing wrong with the situation at hand. I take another step in the bathroom, I pinch the bridge of my nose, pushing my glasses up at the same time.

     “Uhm! I am seeing many things wrong with what I see right now” I say as I began to list them out. “1! You are in 2-D and I’s bathroom, 2! You're using my products, AND 3! You don’t seem phased by anything that just happened!” I loudly list out. Murdoc gives me a shrug.

     “Should I be reacting in a certain way?” He asks blatantly. I was a little taken aback.

     “Alright, here is what is going to happen. You are going to dry off, take your clothes, leave my bathroom, never come back in here again” I say glaring at him. “And when you are clothed, you will come back to our bedroom and apologize to Stuart, do you understand me?” I ask firmly. He gawks at me; he then mumbles something under his nasty breath. “Come again?” I say putting a hand behind my ear to hear him better.

     “Fine!” he snaps at me. I leave the bathroom satisfied, I look over at my bed to see Stu sitting up staring intently at me, his eyes widened. I walk over to him and climb up on our bed and over to him. I cup his face in my hands.

     “Babe, are you okay?” I question looking deep into his darkened eyes.

     “I’m doing better now love” He says softly at me, with a full semi-toothed smile he brings one of his hand up to cover mine. I raise an eyebrow.

     “Then why were you having a staring contest with the door?” I ask tilting my head slightly. I see his cheeks redden.

     “Well, it’s just- I’ve never seen see you that mad before.” He says very softly, his face getting closer to mine. “It was…very…attractive” he whispers, finally closing the space between us, kissing me. I hear a gagging sound behind me, I take off my shoe and throw it at the noise. I hear it collide and a slight ow, making me giggle after I hear the door close. I pull away to breathe, even though shortly after 2-D pulls me back in for another deeper kiss.

[glitxhwayventeen]

A Different Kind Of Love…

Wonwoo: Chapter 3 (Save Your Tears)

Characters: Wonwoo x female reader

Genre/Warnings: multi-member au (different scenarios), werewolf au, fantasy, angst, fluff, cheating (again, sort of), FOOD mentions, Mood Swings. Any others will be put as warnings when future chapters are thought up/written.

Author’s Note: Here it is friends! A chapter with almost complete fluff. Who would’ve thunk huh? Anyways I hope you guys like the chapter. I had quite a bit of fun writing it for some reason…

Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!

Bold= Dialogue Italics= Thoughts

Mostly domestic ☁️ & barely any 🥀

A Different Kind Of Love… Master List

Chapter 3: Save Your Tears

It had been exactly three months since you had been marked by Wonwoo and finally completely integrated yourself into your new pack. You hadn’t seen or heard from Song since that night, but you still felt VERY uneasy about the whole situation. People didn’t just get together the way you and your mate did and get a sweet happy little ending.

Wonwoo and you were doing great personally though. You now slept in the same room, ‘slept’ together, and just all around loved each other. You were starting to have a hard time remembering what life was like before you had gotten attacked by that angry mob now that you were with him. He made time stop and fast forward all at once. Everything seemed to go on forever and yet so quickly when you were with him. And you loved every single second of it. Even if you had a hard time showing him that sometimes.

You were downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast for all the boys, someone had to. They literally could not seem to take care of themselves even if they were grown ass men. So you kind of took on the part of den mother to them, you were the only responsible girl they had around after all. None of the Alphas had mates yet, in fact, no one older than Jihoon had found theirs yet. It was only the younger ones. And while their mates were great, they just very much acted like their wolf counter parts, which meant fun all day everyday without a second thought. So that left you being one of the few, other than Seungcheol and Joshua, who knew when enough shenanigans was enough. You didn’t mind, you liked having a big family again.

Many of the boys reminded you of your brothers. Especially Mingyu, who ate and played just as much and as rough as they did. It caused the both of you to become very close, even to the point where he felt like one of your biological brothers, he reminded you a lot of Mako. And of course, Wonwoo was absolutely delighted that the member he considered his best friend and his mate got along so much. He trusted Mingyu around you more than anyone else, so much so that he refused to even let you leave the house without either Gyu or himself by your side.

You had been having your nightmares again which was relatively normal for you. However, Wonwoo had started having them himself, which as a seer was very much not normal or good in meaning in anyway. He wouldn’t tell you what they were about, he always said you didn’t need to worry or be bothered with them as there was nothing to mention. But the way he clung to you, and the way he forced Mingyu to stay with you when he couldn’t, started having you think that maybe things weren’t as alright as they seemed…

You still just brushed it off, trying your best to just enjoy your little honeymoon bliss with your mate and continued to flip pancakes. Everything would work out. That’s what your voices said, so that’s what you believed. Soon enough, your mate had woken up to an empty bed and marched his way downstairs with a pout adorned on his face.

“(Y/N), why are you downstairs stirring batter instead of upstairs snoring in my arms?” He let out in an annoyed huff as he came to stand beside you, watching your actions with playfully narrowed eyes.

“Because Wonu, 1.) everyone will need breakfast soon and I hate that Seungcheol’s always left to be the one to do it and 2.) you take forever and I hate waiting for you to wake up. And HEY I do NOT snore!” You ranted, smacking his toned chest with your free hand in the process, the other firmly gripped onto your whisk as you made more mix for more pancakes.

You had gotten comfortable with him to the point of joking. Which not only made you proud, but made Wonwoo’s heart soar. He was glad he could coax you out of your shell a bit.

“Yeah yeah sure. And Soonyoung isn’t a little sexual deviant.” He chuckled and kissed the top of your rat’s nest covered head.

“Hey! I heard that!” Soonyoung shouted from his room in the higher portion of the house.

“Yeah I know.” Wonwoo smiled, dipping his finger in the batter you had just added some strawberry syrup to to add more flavor and plopping it directly into his mouth.

“Whatever that weird stuff is is good. But don’t think I’m still not upset that my mate left the bed without me this morning.” He assessed, sitting himself down on the counter next to you while you started pouring batter onto your skillet.

“Well get over it my love. It’s not the first time it’s happened and we both know with the way you sleep, it’s not gonna be the last. And my pancakes are not weird! They are delicious.” You declared, flipping a newly heated pancake over so it’s other side would begin to cook.

That’s something he had come to realize about you: you were always very prideful of being able to do household things well. And certain things like your hair for that matter. You always had high personal standards, though you only seemed to hold yourself to them as you didn’t care if anyone else lived up to them, just you. He chalked it up to your tribe’s old family centered traditions. He thought it was cute, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t tease you a bit about it.

Wonwoo smirked and bit his lip at the gratification you showed in your cooking, “They are. They’re still weird as shit though. Who puts the syrup INTO the batter?”

“I do. It makes them taste better” You insisted before you put the finished pancake with the rest of the cooked stack you had managed to create before your mate came to bother you.

“You know maybe you just don’t know how to cook.” You pointed at him with your spatula in a teasing manner.

“Maybe not” He shrugged, ducking his form down a bit to get closer to you, “But I DO know that when you’re done cooking them, you’re just gonna eat them plain like a freak.”

Just as he finished his sentence, half a dozen wolves made their way into the kitchen. You hadn’t even realized anyone other than Soonyoung was really even up yet do to you focusing all your senses and attention on your mate. That had taken you a lot of practice as, in the wilderness, you had to pay attention to everything and everyone around you.

“Mmm smells good (Y/N), what’s cooking?” Seungkwan questioned as he fought Soonyoung for a seat that was positioned closer to the food.

“Pancakes. I made loads of them” You stated, looking towards the two bickering werewolves before you and turned the stovetop off.

“And it is NOT freaky to eat them without syrup. Lots of people do it. Plus, the extra syrup’s so sugary it’s been making me feel sick lately so I would rather just eat it without to avoid it.” You spoke to Wonwoo, who had finally brought himself down from the counter and sat himself down on a chair to grab food with the other boys.

He just laughed in response to your stubbornness and pulled you to sit on his lap with a kiss to your cheek, “Whatever you say baby. I still think it’s weird to eat a plain pancake.”

It had taken you quite a while to warm up to this kind of PDA. When you first came to them, something like that would have you wiggle your way to sit alone and have to hide your burning cheeks. You’d really come a long way. Well, at least with Wonu

“Oh yeah no that’s suuuuper weird (Y/N). You may be a sociopath.” Jeonghan chuckled as he plopped another large bite of a pancake into his mouth, smiling.

“Yeah that’s weird as shit. Who the hell eats a plain pancake?” Soonyoung snickered, shoveling a whole syrup filled circle into his mouth.

“Look, what do any of you know? Most of you had never even eaten a pancake before I came around because Koreans don’t typically eat them for breakfast. So shut up!” You spit out, your feelings starting to get hurt at the constant teasing of the others.

“Who’s the weirdo eating plain pancakes?” Joshua, the American, asked from the stairs as he slowly made his was down towards the rest of the pack to eat.

“Well the Westerner thinks it’s weird so…” Chan said with a shrug and a shit eating grin.

The boys all busted out laughing, some so hard they had to hold their sides. Wonwoo started to choke a laugh back into your shoulder as you sat there and folded your arms over your chest.

“You guys suck. I try and be NICE to you and I get laughed at for my eating habits. I don’t want to have to sit here for this” You huffed, getting up from your mate’s lap and walking upstairs to your shared bedroom, closing the door a bit louder than you probably should’ve when so many people were still sleeping.

“Damn, what crawled up her ass?” Hansol, who you had stomped past on the way to your room said, finally getting himself situated in the kitchen.

Wonwoo let out a frustrated sigh before he stood up from his place, grabbing a plate of pancakes in the process. He was still trying to figure out when his teasing was too much for you. And he probably would’ve been fine had the others not decided to join in. You liked them, you did, but you weren’t as comfortable around them just yet. Them taunting you probably really upset you and he was just the dumbass who let them continue to do it.

“Me. I’m an idiot. I’ll go talk to her and see if I can get her to come back down.” He said as he begrudgingly made his way to the stairs, slightly kicking himself internally for upsetting you over something so little and stupid.

-

Once he made it to your bedroom door, he tried to turn the handle, only to realize it was locked.

“(Y/N)? Baby? Can you please open the door?” He whined out, not realizing he had upset you to the point of you wanting even HIM to leave you alone.

You always wanted him around you. Even when you first came to the pack, you still would rather be near him. Even when he was with Song, you still liked having him close by. Even when you were angry at him, you’d rather be angry at him with his arms wrapped around you than be angry at him alone somewhere. You never locked the door. His inner wolf groaned at the thought.

“No.” You bluntly spit out, wanting him as far away from you as possible and trying to suppress a stomach growl all in one go.

“I brought pancakes…” Wonwoo all but sung out, having heard your angry stomach and knowing damn well you would give into him if he had food.

After hearing a small groan from the other side of the barrier, he heard a little click of metal before the door swung open. In front of him was a very angry looking you, your cheeks were stained with tears and it caused a small whimper to emit from his chest. He had caused you to cry and it crushed him.

You had your hand out in expectancy as he had promised sustenance in exchange for entry. He dutifully handed you the plate and closed the door behind him. He watched as you scarfed down a full pancake in one go. Damn, you were more hungry than he thought.

“What do you want?” You sniffled at him once you had cleared your airway of food.

You sat the plate down on the nightstand before you stood and turned your attention back to your mate, grabbing another pancake and taking small bites in the process. You were never really this hungry or ate this much, but when you got sad lately, you just felt like eating. Probably not the best habit, but you weren’t that good with your feelings, you always just followed your instincts instead. They always kept you alive, and right now they were telling you to eat, so you ate.

“I wanted to apologize baby. I didn’t mean to upset you. It really was just a joke. I didn’t mean to make you cry. You’re not weird. Plain pancakes are fine. I should’ve just kept my big mouth shut.” He groveled, wrapping his arms around your small frame.

“Yes. Yes, you should’ve.” You agreed, finally swallowing the remains of your food and crossing your arms in annoyance, slightly leaning away from his touch to wipe your tears away.

You wanted him to touch you. God, you wanted him to touch you. But you didn’t want to give in so easily, because once you gave in, you knew he’d get all smug and then you’d want to punch his smug face. You wanted him to genuinely feel bad before you crashed your lips to his and ripped each other clothes off. It was only fair.

Wonwoo could smell the wetness already beginning to form between your legs. He suppressed a smirk threatening to appear on his face for getting you this worked up by literally doing almost nothing, but he knew being cocky wasn’t a good way to get you to stop being mad at him. So he stuck with his original plan: begging for forgiveness.

He easily lifted you up and secured your legs around his waist, holding onto your back so you wouldn’t lose your balance and fall, “I really am sorry. I won’t do it again baby. I promise.” He spoke as he leaned his forehead against yours with his best pout, tugging at your heartstrings.

You closed your eyes for a moment, trying to contain your excitement for what was about to come, but failed miserably and let a happy smile creep up on your lips. You locked your hands behind his head, giggled at him and bit your lip.

“You’re forgiven. This time. BUT you have to make it up to me.” You decided, eyes looking up for a moment in thought to tease him. He slowly started moving towards the bed that was in the center of the room before he spoke up.

“And how would you like me to make it up to you baby?” He said as he began kissing your neck softly, trailing around your mate mark with a grin plastered on his face.

“Well for starters, you can fuck me senseless until I forget what I was even mad at you for to begin with.” You confirmed, tilting your head to the side to give him a bit more access to your exposed neck.

“With pleasure my love.” And with that, he fell to the bed with you in his arms, careful not to crush you in the process before he got to work on his promise.

(Updated 8/23)

[captainimprobable]

Part 4 of That Thing I’ve Been Writing.  This one is VERY MUCH a first draft.  Like, I know I’ve been saying that a lot, but this shit needs EDITING.  I just have no self control and I wanted to share a little of what I’m working on. I hope you like the sneak peek! Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  ~~

They turn fifteen.

 Many things have changed in the few months they’ve been together. It’s easier now, somehow, in a way it wasn’t at the beginning.  

They don’t blush as much anymore, and they hold hands readily and easily.  They kiss each other’s cheeks before they leave a room.  Luz is overwhelmingly, uncontrollably happy.

However. Luz has noticed something, lately.  Something that perplexes and confuses her.

Here’s the deal: Luz really wants to kiss her girlfriend.

It takes her days of getting distracted by Amity’s lips to come to this realization, and when she does, she’s sort of embarrassed.  She knows she has no reason to be.  This is her girlfriend, and girlfriends kiss, right? That’s normal!

But she’s never actually kissed anyone before, and this is Amity, and it’s been months of dating now and how in the world is she supposed to go about this? Does she ask? Does she just lean in? Does she send her a letter that says “Will you kiss me? Check y/n boxes below”?????

She agonizes over this for days, barely paying attention to the planning for their joint birthday party. 

She still hasn’t decided what to do when, before she knows it, it’s time for the party.   Edric and Emira show up with a tub of apple blood, hiding it behind their backs until they realize that Eda has not only already supplied the party with enough to knock out a slitherbeast, but also pregamed so much herself that she is well and truly gone.

The twins give each other a sly grin, leave Eda knocked out on the couch, and run inside.  Before Luz knows what’s happening, Emira is picking her up while Edric grabs Amity and gives her a noogie.  “Happy birthday baby sisters,” Emira croons, while the girls struggle to get free.  “Yeah,” Edric says, messing up Amity’s hair.  “Thanks for being born in the same month so we don’t have to go to two parties.”

Luz laughs, a little embarrassed at being called the twins’ baby sister.  “Thanks, guys,” she says, breaking free of Emira’s hold.  She manages to rescue Amity from Edric’s arms, and the two of them sprint away before they can be grabbed again, the twins’ laughter following them all the way to the door.   

“Sorry about that,” Amity says, rolling her eyes.  “You know how they are.” 

“Uh huh,” Luz gulps, distracted by the way Amity’s hair is curling a little over her ears.  “I know how it is.”

Luckily, Willow and Gus choose that moment to walk inside, and Luz has an ample distraction.  “My friends!” She yells, draping her arms around their necks.  “Welcome!  Also!”  She lowers her voice.  “Did you know that I love you?” 

Willow laughs.   “We know that, Luz.  Wanna know a secret?” She winks.  “We love you, too.”  

“Happy birthday,”  Gus adds, hugging Luz, and then Amity.  “You’re super old now.”

“I know!” Luz says.  “I’m finally at the age that Taylor Swift always prophesied about!” 

Gus nods wisely.  “I know about Taylor Swift.  She’s a powerful warlock from your realm, is she not?”

“She is,” Luz agrees.  

“Happy birthday, Amity.”  Willow hesitates, and then opens her arms.  Amity’s face breaks into a huge smile as she accepts Willow’s hug.  “Thanks,” she says.  “I’m glad you’re here.” 

“Me too.”

Luz is trying not to get emotional, but having so much love surrounding her is making her want to cry.  Plus, seeing Willow and Amity get along so well makes her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Are you okay?” Amity whispers in her ear, and Luz jumps.  “Y-yeah, I’m totally fine,” she says, trying to keep her stuttering to a minimum.

“Are you sure? You’ve been acting a little weird for awhile now, and you kind of look like you want to cry.”

Ah, man.  Amity wasn’t supposed to notice that she’s been acting differently.  But at least this question she has an answer for.  “I’m just really happy,” she says truthfully, and Amity smiles.  “Me too,” she says.  “Happy birthday, Luz.”

As Amity walks away to talk to Willow, Luz tries not to stare after her.

She fails.

Amity looks like a goddess tonight.  She always looks good, okay, but something about tonight, under the glow of the fairy lights, surrounded by her friends and family, makes her shine undeniable.  Luz cannot comprehend how everyone isn’t staring at Amity right now.  

She wants to kiss her, right now, in front of everyone, but she feels like Amity might not appreciate that, and besides, Viney is walking in right now and for some reason Emira just spilled her drink all over the floor, and there are more important things to focus on, right?

(What could be more important than kissing Amity?)

She shakes her head.  Not now, Luz.  Not now.

Maybe tonight just isn’t the night, either.

She sighs, but then shakes herself out of it.  This is a party, and she’s going to enjoy it.

~

She doesn’t get to hang out with Amity much that night.  

Her friends all want her attention, and there’s a worrying moment where Eda starts growing some feathers on her arms, but the crisis is averted quickly.  She and King haul Eda safely into her nest, and Luz returns to the party, determined to at least hold Amity’s hand.

But Willow and Gus have started a dance off against Jerbo and Barkus, and there’s no way Luz is going to miss being a part of that.  She sneaks a peek at Amity, who is standing off to the side with her drink, looking content.  They lock eyes for a second and Luz’s breath is taken away. 

This is ridiculous. 

They’ve been dating for months.  This should not still be happening.

But, god, Amity is just so cool, resting an arm nonchalantly on the table, and Luz wants to run over there and-

“Luz, it’s your turn!!!!!” Gus screams in her ear, and the moment is gone again.  

It’s already midnight when she feels a tap on her shoulder.  “Amity!” she yells, and tackles her girlfriend into a hug.  “I haven’t seen you all night!” 

“Woah,” Amity says, trying not to fall over.  “I know, that’s why I’m here.  Could I borrow you for a second? 

Luz’s stomach flips itself over for absolutely no reason.  

“Uh, sure, yeah, what’s up?”

“I just wanna show you something.”

Amity grabs her hand and leads her up the stairs, passing door after door until they reach the one that leads to the roof.

“Why are we-”

“Shhh,” Amity says.  “Just come on!”

Amity doesn’t let go of her hand when they reach the roof.  “Close your eyes,” she instructs.

“Um, Amity,” Luz says.  “We’re like, a lot of feet off the ground.”

“Trust me,” Amity insists, and god help her but Luz does, so she complies.  Amity’s palm is warm in hers as she tugs her over a few feet until finally, she says “open them”.

“What are we-”  Luz falters.  Because there, on the roof, is an honest to god picnic.  Somehow Amity has hauled up a blanket and a basket, and it’s just so cute and cliche that Luz can’t stop the smile taking over her face.

“I figured we wouldn’t have time to talk tonight,” Amity says.  “And...well...I missed you, so-”  she gestures to the picnic.

“This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Luz says, sitting down on one side of the basket.  “I kept wanting to talk to you all night, but there was always something happening!”

“You’re popular,” Amity says simply, and Luz starts laughing before she realizes Amity is being totally serious.  

“Anyway,” Amity says.  “I made you something.”

Luz is really, really hoping it’s not a fairy pie, but instead, Amity pulls out a messy chocolate cupcake.  “Happy birthday,” she says, and Luz practically swoons.  

They share the cupcake, digging into it with messy hands and taking turns pointing out different stars.

“In my world, constellations are symbols for things,” Luz says.

“They are here, too!  For example, that’s the giraffe constellation.  It symbolizes death and destruction.  And that over there is the Titan constellation. It also symbolizes death and destruction!”

“Romantic,” Luz jokes.  

“I know, right?” Amity responds, sounding completely serious.  Luz has to stifle the urge to laugh.  She sneaks a peek at Amity and, oh, wow.  Her face is glowing in the moonlight.  She looks bright and bubbly and all the things she really is when her guard isn’t up.  Her eyes are shining and Luz could swear she’s never seen anything more beautiful in her fifteen years of life.

She needs to do this now.  There’s no better time, and even if there was, she simply can’t stop herself.  The words just fall from her mouth like leaves from a tree, but a lot more quickly and nervously.  

“Can I kiss you?” 

Amity stops mid-sentence, mouth still hanging open and finger pointing at the sky.  She blinks.  “What did you say?”

“I-”  Luz is losing her nerve really quickly, but before it’s gone completely she gathers up the rest of her courage and says “I really want to kiss you.  Can I?”

“You...you want to kiss me?”  Amity’s voice is full of wonder and her face is bright red. 

“Wait, why do you sound surprised? You’re my girlfriend, of course I want to kiss you!” Luz scrambles onto her knees and searches Amity’s face.

“It’s just...it’s been so long, and it never happened, so I kind of thought maybe you didn’t want to or you were uncomfortable or whatever, which would be totally fine, by the way-”

“Oh my gosh we’re both so stupid,” Luz smacks a hand to her face.  “I never kissed you because I thought you didn’t want to kiss me!”

“How could I not want to kiss you! Have you seen yourself????”

Amity’s hands are covering her eyes.  She’s clearly embarrassed at having admitted that.

Luz takes a deep breath and gently pries Amity’s hands away from her face.  Amity’s eyes instantly find Luz’s, and there’s a determination there that wasn’t there before.  They both feel it, this thing happening between them, different from what they’ve been feeling for the past few months.  It feels like every moment of their relationship has been leading up to this moment.  

“Can I-”  Luz starts, but is interrupted by Amity’s very enthusiastic “Yes!!!!”

Luz bites her lip, takes a deep breath, and leans in.

She closes her eyes.

The kiss feels a little like the first time she did magic, but light glyphs have nothing on this.  The butterflies in her stomach have migrated to her chest, and they’re fluttering hard enough to rival her heartbeat.  

She can’t believe this is happening.  

Their noses bump together uncomfortably, but she doesn’t care, she doesn’t care, because this is her first kiss and it’s with Amity and she’s flying flying flying.

They pull apart, but not too far.  

“Wow,” Amity whispers, and Luz nods.  “Yeah,” she says.  “Wow.”

“How have we not been doing that the whole time?”

“I don’t know,” Luz says. “But I’m more than happy to make up for lost time.” 

She leans in again.

[wolfstar-supremacy-innit]

"Tell who?"- Part 3

Remus smiled into his pillow. Why’s he so cute? He felt something rustle under his stomach. Reaching under himself, he pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment. His resolutions list. Remus flipped onto his back and squinted at the letters. Warmth was pooling in his chest. Something is missing here. He patted the bed in search for his quill and ink, then wrote:

5. Fuck this I wanna tell him I love him

The paper slipped to the floor as Remus’ arms gave out and he drifted into an instantaneous, profound sleep.

Alternatively:

The Marauders are in their 6th year at Hogwarts, it's New Year's Eve and Remus writes a New Year's resolutions list. Sirius finds it the next day. The story is written from Remus' point of view. It's wolfstar and lighthearted. Kinda inspired by this fanfic.

This is part 3 of the story. I will be posting the other parts separately here and also the full fic on ao3 (I will link everything when it's done, check this post for that in some time). Warnings: underage drinking and smoking, mentions of anxiety disorder.

Part 1 Part 2

Enjoy <3

I’m such an idiot. I’m an idiot. Why didn’t I lie?! Why didn’t I disprove it? This was it. This was the end of the world. He knew Sirius wouldn’t react terribly badly. He wouldn’t express disgust or resentment, not after Remus confided in him about how sensitive he was on the question of his own sexuality. But it would be painfully awkward. Their connection would never be the same; it couldn’t. Remus dreaded losing his best friend. But it was done. Sirius’ best friend was James anyway. Remus buried his face in his hands as tears stung his eyes. He settled into his new hideout and slept there for the night. He couldn’t bear to face Sirius.

In the morning, Remus made an effort to arrive to Charms class as late as possible, right as Flitwick was commencing his lesson. He slid into the chair at the end of their usual table, next to James. Sirius was on the other end. “Where were you, mate? You scared us,” James whispered. Peter was gazing at Remus over his shoulder.

Remus cleared his throat. “Sorry, fell asleep in my spot,” he said. In his peripheral vision, Sirius was leaning far on the table, trying to catch his attention. But Remus took it upon himself to laser focus on the lesson, his nose buried so deep into his notes, it was nearly touching the parchment.

After the class, he bolted again. He just couldn’t face him. He couldn’t. He returned to his hiding place and waited out his free period and most of lunch. He had to repeat his breathing exercises more than ever. Suddenly, Remus paused. Determination was rising in his chest. Then he forced himself to pull it together. It wasn’t like Remus to run away from his problems. If being a werewolf had taught him anything, it was that neglecting and avoiding your issues doesn’t make them vanish. Makes them worse, even. Also, Remus didn’t have a lot. He had his parents, music, books, magic, and he had his friends. There wasn’t much he prised more than his friendships with James, Sirius and Peter. Sirius knowing about his crush was thoroughly embarrassing, yes, but it wasn’t worth completely losing his friends. Plus, he was due for a shower. So Remus took a few more deep breaths, dusted himself off, and headed for the dorm. When he got there, nobody was inside. He took his sweet time in the shower, allowing the warm water to drain out more of his nervous energy. I can handle this.

When Remus got out, Sirius was there, lying on his stomach, doing homework. He looked up. Remus put on a brave face and said: “Hi.” Sirius’ worried expression was exchanged with a slightly more relaxed one. “Hi.” Remus sat on his own bed looking in Sirius’ general direction, but not quite at him, cleared his throat, and said: “Um, sorry I bolted. That was childish.”

“That’s alright,” Sirius replied in the tiniest voice. It was very unlike his usual loud, assertive self.

Remus wanted the bed to swallow him whole, but he pushed through. “We don’t have to talk about the... thing. Or acknowledge it. It’s not a big deal, really.” A lie. But it needed to be done. Sirius didn’t say anything. Remus was certain he didn't know what to say. Reaching into his bag, Remus retrieved his Charms textbook and started on his own homework. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sirius still looking at him for another minute, then he went back to work. The silence was agonising and tense, but Remus had known it would be. They would just have to persevere. After a while, Sirius asked: “Hey, could you help me with this? It’s Arithmancy. I procrastinated, and now I have to hand it in in half an hour.” Remus snorted. Their next class was Arithmancy, and only he and Sirius took it. So, Sirius was choosing to act like nothing happened. That was okay with Remus. “Sure.”

Only, as it happens, Sirius didn’t ignore it. Throughout the next week, he started acting a little peculiar. He was still loud and fooling around, but he would also hold doors for Remus, for example. If anyone knew Sirius, they knew doors were either held for him, or he would just swing them open and let them slam behind him into the next person’s face. Even James noticed it and asked him if he had brain damage. Also, a couple times at meals, Sirius would scoot his seat closer to Remus’, making their arms brush while they ate. The first time it happened, Remus blushed so profusely, he could see giant pink splotches splattered all over his neck and cheeks in his reflection in one of the large silver bowls on the table. Sirius stopped calling him ‘mate’ too. Occasionally, he’d ask for help with his homework, even though he clearly didn’t need it. It all made Remus want to shoot himself in the face with a hex. It seemed like Sirius was pitying him, and he despised it. It was somehow worse than Sirius being awkward and distant around him.

January’s full moon fell on the 25th, and Remus’ transformation didn’t go particularly smoothly. It was likely one of the worst ones out of all those he spent with his friends as animagi. He was fairly confident it was because of the whole Sirius thing. Just because he decided to deal with it didn’t mean it wasn’t taking its toll. Remus was stressed all the time. Not just because of Sirius, of course, but that was a key factor. When he woke up in the hospital wing the following morning, his friends were there. James rambled on enthusiastically about an upcoming Quidditch match. Remus didn’t really comprehend half of it, but still tried to nod at appropriate times. Peter piped in once in a while to agree with James or add something. Sirius, however, was completely silent the whole visit. About an hour later, Madam Pomfrey chased James, Sirius and Peter out, but Remus didn’t mind too much. He was knackered. He drifted off to sleep before the boys were even out the door.

Later that day, at dusk, Remus sat in his hospital bed reading a muggle novel when Sirius popped in. Or rather sneaked in. He was alone this time. “Had a free period. Thought you might want some company,” he explained. Elation started brewing in Remus’ stomach.

“Oh, brilliant, thanks.”

“What are you up to, then?” Sirius sat on the bed.

Remus lifted his book. “Reading. Not much to do here, really.”

“Sweet. Will you read to me?”

“What?”

Sirius smiled. “Will you read out loud for me?” He turned around, plopped on the bed face-up with his boots propped up on the railing at the foot of the bed. He tucked his hands behind his head, half lying on Remus’ legs.

“Oh, okay.” Heat sneaked up Remus’ neck. He read to Sirius until it was almost time for him to leave for his next class.

“Transfiguration next. Think I’m gonna gouge out my eyes if we don’t move on from teacup to gerbil.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You mastered it two lessons ago.” Remus rolled his eyes, smiling. Sirius let out a soft laugh.

“Moony...” He was now sitting on the bed next to Remus. “I feel like this is my fault.” He reached out and gently touched the bandage on Remus’ arm. Sirius was referring to Remus’ beat-up state.

“What? Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“Well, because of the... You know... I mean, you’re upset and-“ Remus’ heartbeat picked up swiftly. They hadn’t so much as mentioned the crush since that day in the dorm.

“I’m not upset. Really. I just have a lot on my mind.” He searched his brain for something more to say to make Sirius feel better. It wasn’t his fault at all. It was Remus’ for letting this bother him so much. “It’s not you.”

“You sure?” His eyes were so sad; it was painful.

“Yes, Sirius, really. It’s not you, okay?”

“Okay.” After a pause, Sirius continued: “Oh, I almost forgot. Brought you something.” He smiled, finally. After rummaging in his bag, Sirius emerged with a stack of chocolate bars and dropped them into Remus’ lap. They were Remus’ favourite. Warmth fluttered across his chest. Sirius had to have ordered these from Honeydukes. Now it was Remus’ time to smile.

“Oh, brilliant! Thanks, Sirius.”

“No problem. Right. I better clear off, then. I can’t handle another detention with Minnie for something as stupid as being late.”

“Right. See you in the dorm then.”

“See ya, Moony. Oh, loved the reading. We should definitely do that again!” Then he walked out the door. Remus’ cheeks flamed crimson. He sank deep into the covers, yanking them over his head. He’s gonna be the death of me.

***

After that visit at the hospital, another strange thing started happening. On several occasions, Remus caught Sirius staring at him, then quickly looking away when their eyes connected. In class, at meals, in the common room as the four of them sat in front of the fireplace doing homework. It made Remus very nervous and a little confused. Furthermore, with James’ upcoming match, Sirius and Remus found themselves alone more often than not. James either had practice or was in the library going over tactics for his team, and Peter loved tagging along. When Sirius and Remus were alone in the dorm, Sirius would usually suggest that Remus read to him. At first, they were in their respective beds, but then Sirius started sneaking onto Remus’ bed as he read. It made Remus’ heart thump every time, because Sirius Black in his bed, well. That was a sight to see. He would lounge on his back, one ankle over the other, hands behind his head, eyes shut, and listen. He never fell asleep. Occasionally, he would laugh or comment on an interesting segment.

One of those times, both of them were on Remus’ bed as Remus read “A Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert A. Heinlein. Sirius liked the muggle books. He was in his usual disposition, with half of his hair loosely and messily pulled back with a hair tie. Remus adored that look on Sirius. He was sitting cross-legged in level with Sirius’ hips, with the book sprawled onto his lap.

“Hey, got a cig,” Sirius asked as Remus was turning the page.

“Yep.” He used Accio to fetch his rolling equipment from his bedside table, placed the contents on the rizla and performed his spell. It rolled smoothly, the tobacco and filter tucked tightly into the paper. He’d been practising.

“Hey, that’s one thing off your resolutions list,” Sirius said, smiling as he accepted the cigarette. Their fingers touched.

“Well, technically, it’s two, isn’t it...,” Remus trailed off, clearing his throat. Christ, why did I say that?! He could already feel the blood rushing in his ears. Maybe Sirius wouldn’t get the reference... But Sirius pushed himself onto his elbows and peered at him. Remus pretended to pack up his cigarette equipment with intense concentration. Sirius sat all the way up and leaned so close, Remus could feel his breath. Nervousness sparked off goosebumps all over Remus’ skin. He swallowed thickly. Sirius smelled of mint and expensive shampoo. “Moony,” he said, and Remus finally turned to face him. Their noses were less than two centimetres apart. Remus’ heart was hammering against his ribs.

Sirius glanced at his lips, then slowly leaned in and closed the distance. Remus fluttered his eyes shut as adrenaline set his insides ablaze. The kiss was warm and gentle. “Sirius..,” Remus started, but the other boy just connected their lips again, this time kissing him more eagerly, and Remus just gave over. Sirius was letting him know this wasn’t charity; he really wanted it. He licked into Remus’ mouth delicately, grasping the back of his neck to pull him closer. Remus had never had a real tongue kiss before, but Sirius was leading him, and it all came naturally. Without warning, he felt tears burning behind his closed eyes. Remus had never, not even for a moment, let himself get caught up in the idea of Sirius liking him back. He knew rejection would shatter his soul, and he couldn’t let himself be torn apart by his own fantasies. But it wasn’t a fantasy anymore, and Remus was overwhelmed with the relief of letting go. Of finally allowing himself to crave what he'd been pushing down for months. His favourite person wanting him back. He entwined his fingers into Sirius’ hair and kissed him back intensely. They were both breathing heavily, then Sirius placed his other palm on Remus’ upper thigh. A tingling sensation shot up his lower back as he inhaled a long breath through his nose. Sirius was remarkably skilled, Remus noted.

Remus lost all sense of time. He didn’t know how long they kissed, it simultaneously felt like minutes and hours. Suddenly, they leapt apart as steps and chatter echoed on the stairs leading to the dorm. Sirius stood up and hurriedly smoothed down his hair. Remus wiped his lips with the back of his hand and frantically covered his lap with the covers. He was tight in his trousers. Christ. He wondered whether Sirius noticed as the heat blazed his cheeks. Peter and James trudged into the room, still talking.

“Alright lads,” James said, sauntered to his bed and started taking off his Quidditch robes.

Sirius cleared his throat, then said: “Uh, yeah. Brilliant.” His voice came out lower that usual.

"Bloody amazing practice today!"

“Oh, you guys Should have seen them! I could barely keep track of the Quaffle! Ravenclaw hasn’t got a chance,” Peter prattled on, but Remus couldn’t focus. His brain was whirring a thousand miles a minute. Holy shit, was the only coherent sentence his mind could congregate. He could still feel the the ghost of Sirius’ kiss on his lips.

Minutes later, Sirius returned to his usual banter and mucking about with James. If something different was going on inside his head, it didn’t show. A sudden arrow of disappointment and yearning shot through Remus’ chest. Was this just a one-off? His excitement dwindled for a moment, but when he glanced over to Sirius again, he was already looking at him. They smiled at each other. It didn’t matter anyway. Remus felt like this kiss could power his brain for all eternity. It had been like something straight out of a dream.

Part 4 will probably take me a little longer, given that I basically had the first 3 parts drafted when I posted the first one. Also 4 will probs be the last one. Hope you like it so far! :) <3

Part 1 Part 2

[a-edgar-allan-hoe]

The Red Witch

Jasper Hale x Reader Part 5

A/N: Part 5 is here my lovelies! Bon apetit! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list. 💕

Summary: Imagine being an immortal witch from the Middle Ages and being the previous love of Jasper before he was turned. You two were separated under certain circumstances and cross each other’s path once again, years later in the present era.

Warnings: Language

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4

It was the year 1862. You were sitting in the private carriage of the train that early morning, on the route to Houston. This was your first time in America and you couldn’t help the excitement in you as stared out the window at the vast lands before you. Unbeknownst to Charlotte and some others, you were a countess at the time, in courtesy of your father, Count Balthazar, who was long dead. But you tried to keep your family history as confidential as possible, considering your father was a sorcerer and your mother a witch. When you grew into a young woman, you left your family castle and went your own way, leaving behind everything that reminded you of your cruel father and donated all his wealth to charity. As for your mother, she was a beautiful sea witch. After the death of your father, she was able to gain her freedom and now lives happily in a humble cottage on the coast of Scotland, close to her beloved sea, and married to the local clocksmith who loves her more than your father ever could.

The reason you were traveling to Houston was because you were recently invited out here to preform at the local theatre for charity, to which which all the funds would go towards the families affected by the war. You were a known opera singer at the time and people fell in love with your clear and soft voice that held all the emotion and sadness behind it which was beautiful to their ears. You were also quite an exceptional pianist. It originally started out as a hobby, something you decided to test the waters with, but you didn’t know it would grow into something serious, eventually venturing you out into having a strong passion for the arts like singing, acting, and even painting. When your father was around, you were never able to pursue such things. He believed they were nonsense, a complete and utter waste of time. While these activities were useless to him, they were your whole heart and soul for you. You breathed for the arts. You guess you had your mother to thank for that, she used to sing you a lullaby every night when you were a child to calm your nerves because of the visions you would have. Thankfully, those visions ceased to happen as you got older.

The gentle rocking and sound of the train had lulled you to sleep as you currently had your head leaned against the window and your feet thrown up on the seat of the train. Your hair was tied up in a bun with a peridot green ribbon while a few loose pesky strands fell about your face. A leather bound Wuthering Heights book was tucked neatly in your hands on your lap. You were wearing a simple grey long sleeved gingham linen dress with delicate black lace trim at the sleeves and your collar. A peridot green velvet ribbon was tied around your waist, your neckline sat at the bottom of your neck and covered your collarbone, and a few black buttons ran down the front of your bodice.

Your dear friend at the time was sitting across from you with her fiancé. Her name was Charlotte Griffiths, the daughter of a governor. And though she was mortal, you absolutely adored her, for she took you in when you nearly did not have a home and cared for you as if you were her own sister. Then again, you always adored mortals. This was before you had known Melanie whom you had only met in the 60s. Charlotte’s fiancé was Lord Ernest Thompson, the owner of a estate and a businessman. He was a kind, charitable, and respectable young man, and you thought he was the perfect match for Charlotte. They both were kind and gentle souls.

“Isn’t this exciting (Y/N)?” Charlotte squealed, waking you from your nap.

“Hm?” You opened your sleepy eyes to look at a blur of what most likely was your friend. “Oh of course.” You yawned, giving yourself a minute to adjust your eyes and mind to reality. “Technically you’re the one who begged me to accept the invitation for performing here and practically dragged me along.” You smirked.

“Oh admit it. I saw your face light up when you received that invitation. Anyways, isn’t this a wonderful little adventure for us? You’ve told me how much you liked to travel.”

“Well I wouldn’t quite call a civil war a wonderful little adventure.” You snarked lightheartedly, letting out a scoff before starting to dwell upon what sort of mess you’ve just gotten into.

“My god woman.” Ernest chuckled playfully, lifting his eyes from the newspaper he was reading, his glasses sitting at the bridge of his nose as he glanced at Charlotte. “Can’t you see (Y/N) was asleep?”

“Well I....I’m merely excited my love.”

“Merely?” He raised a brow.

“Oh you’re being harsh on her Ernest.” You joked along, smiling to yourself as the lovers started to lightly quarrel.

You stared out the window again, watching the scenery blur past. You have seen many lands in your time, how they have changed over the course of years, how some have come and vanished to dust. You have seen kings rise and fall. But you haven’t been here, to America. This was all foreign to you.

The train finally came to a stop at the train station and you quickly grabbed your things, desperate to get out and stretch your legs. You hastily threw on your matching bonnet, not caring that it sat crooked on your head. You rushed towards the door and hitched up your skirt, struggling with the petticoat and making sure not to go past the ankles of your boots and expose your stockings or else Charlotte would have a heart attack. You grabbed the handle and stepped down from the train and onto the wooden platform as Charlotte and Ernest followed suit.

Right when you stepped out you could feel the hot and thick damp air surround you, and you couldn’t help but bring out your fan and fan yourself vicariously.

“My goodness it’s muggy. It’s like the devil’s bollocks out here.” You breathed out.

“(Y/N)!” Charlotte exclaimed, smacking you gently with her fan. “Mind your manners!”

“Sorry.”

“You forgot your parasol by the way.”

“Oh. Right.” You took your parasol from her hands and opened it up, putting your fan away. “Wouldn’t want to forget my complexion guardian.”

You were so used to London weather, now you had to get used to this, and your corset was not helping either.

“Would you look at that Charlotte. The sun.” You made a point to her, only making her shake her head.

Once you were all settled and had your things you all headed to the nearest bed and breakfast and checked into your rooms. You and Charlotte shared one while Ernest had his own. You had just set your belongings inside before Charlotte decided now would be a good time to go to the local tea house, despite your slight dismay as you would much rather be taking a nap. You were sitting out on the tables in front of the local tea house, your head propped up by your hand and a cup of tea in your other, while chatting with Charlotte as you watched the local people pass by.

“My goodness. This heat, it’s nearly disgusting.” Charlotte fanned herself as she wiped her forehead.

“I’m sweating in places I didn’t know I had. I might as well be stripping myself bare to the bone.” You added, fanning yourself with your hand.

“I told you to wear a crinoline.”

“What? Those ghastly looking cages for your legs? Never.”

You stared off into the distance in a sort of dazed state, thinking about your comfortable bed back home, and your collection of books you left behind. You were also starting to miss your mother, wishing you were in Scotland watching the waves with her, before noticing that Charlotte had gone awfully quiet.

“What’s gotten into you?” You asked her, seeing her stare at something behind you. “Charlotte?”

“My my, I think you have an admirer.” She giggled, her youthful face lit up with giddiness as she tried to contain her laughter.

“What on earth are you babbling about?” You turned to follow her gaze and saw a tall stranger wearing a military uniform staring in your direction. You straightened up in your chair, your face firm as you started to feel yourself get anxious. You were silently hoping he wouldn’t come over to your table to strike up a conversation.

“Oh! He’s a rather fine looking gentleman I must say. Annnd he’s an officer.” Charlotte was now leaning in to whisper noticeably in your ear. You can practically hear her next you, trying so hard to contain her giggles.

“You’ve gone daft Charlotte. He’s obviously fancying you. You’re the pretty one.” You turned back around, completely disinterested.

“I think not! You know I’m engaged!”

“And how would he know that detail? Hm? A man who sees a pretty woman without any knowledge as to who she is, is most likely to approach her, without any assumption as to whether she is engaged or not. To which he’ll find out sooner or later I must add.” You ran on before taking a sip of your tea.

“Oh come now (Y/N). You know I wouldn’t.”

“I don’t know, you seem to be a little too excited upon seeing other men. I don’t hear you speak of Ernest as such, as I might recall, a rather fine looking gentleman.”

“You know I love my dear Ernest more than anything. I’m just trying to find you a suitor.”

“I honestly wish you wouldn’t.” You sighed inaudibly. “What I’m trying to say is, that gentleman over there does not know that. So just.....oh bloody hell. I don’t know. Just be prepared to decline his advances towards you.”

“You lack faith my dear.” She gave you a pitiful look before looking behind you once more. “Oh look! He’s coming this way!”

“He’s what?! Charlotte!” You hiss as you lightly slap your hands down on the table as to not draw attention. “Don’t just invite him over.”

“Ladies.” You heard the man now standing beside you as he took off his hat and lowered his head in a polite greeting.

You had gotten so nervous in the mere matter of a minute that you couldn’t stop yourself from letting out the next word that slipped your tongue. “Fuck.”

There was a brief silence as Charlotte and the stranger stared at you in utter disbelief at what a proper lady like you had just uttered. A few others who sat at the other tables near you in earshot stared at you in displeasure before looking away.

Oh just wonderful. You wanted the world to eat you alive right there so you could escape their peers.

You locked eyes with the officer for a brief moment before turning away and fixing your gaze on something else, doing your best to seem preoccupied. You wished you brought your book with you so you could bury your face in it.

Charlotte let out an uneasy laugh befor turning to the man. “Well hello officer! I’m Charlotte Griffiths.” You caught your friend extending her gloved hand out to him, to which he kissed lightly.

“Pleasure to meet you.” You heard him say in this thick southern accent you were definitely not accustomed to.

“This young lady here is my dear friend (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

“Charlotte. Stop this instance.” You leaned closer to her only for her to hear.

You were starting to feel embarrassed more than anything.

“Ma’am.” He now turned to you, to which you gave a short reply without making any eye contact.

“Good day.”

“You know (Y/N) here has come to preform for the opera tomorrow night. You should come!”

Charlotte you did not just.

You sat there with your arms folded and glared at her. She loved getting you into these predicaments, innocently enough. If only she knew how much it bothered you.

“Really?” He turned to you now, smiling. “I thought I heard that name somewhere.”

“Oh, well she’s only one of the best sopranos in England.”

“Ehem. Charlotte that’s quite enough. Thank you.”

You almost felt ridiculed at the moment as you felt the stares of everyone around you weighing in on you. And then that sensation started to creep on you. The same one you felt when you were a child. You glanced around, seeing and hearing the blood flowing through everyone’s veins and their hearts beating in their chests, glowing like a red ruby. You squeezed your eyes shut and pinched the bridge of your nose, silently muttering to yourself and remembering the meditation your mother taught you. Earth, fire, water, air, and spirit. You glanced up from underneath your bonnet as the sensation died down and you could finally hear Charlotte calling out your name.

“(Y/N). Are you alright?” Charlotte was reaching out a hand to clasp your gloved one, gently shaking them.

“I’m fine.” You breathed out while rubbing your temple. “It’s just a migraine.”

“Do you need anything for it?” Charlotte questioned you.

“No. God no. I don’t need any of that poison.” You got up from your seat and dusted yourself off before grabbing your parasol. “I’m going to head back to the inn if you don’t mind Charlotte.”

“Do you want me to walk you back?” The officer asked you, his voice laced with concern as he took a step towards you.

You took a step back away from him in response, still avoiding his eyes. “No. I’m quite alright. I’m pretty sure I can walk back to the inn without any assistance thank you.”

“Good day.” You nodded your head at him before turning away and heading back to the inn.

The officer was the most surprised at this situation if anything. He never received this sort of reaction before. Growing up, he always appeared to have a way with words and an influence over people, they always seemed to like him. His father called it charisma. And yet here you were, this woman he had barely just met, and you didn’t have the slightest sway from him. He was a bit perplexed at this, since he was now the one that was drawn to you.

You on the other hand, you found him to be rather bold. This had happened plenty of times before. Charlotte would bring over someone to introduce to you and it always ended up with you turning them down since everyone of them had been a cocky arrogant arshehole. But the one thing you didn’t want to admit to yourself was you were scared of falling in love. The last time you did, it didn’t end well. Ever since then, you tried to keep your distance and your emotions locked up. After all those years of isolation, you eventually led yourself to believe your curse made you incapable of love.

Tag List: @smileygirl08 @peachyevergreen @Lustdere @moonlights27 @krazykatkay456 @buckysjuicyplums @oi-itsemily @ahahanofanks @iberandom @bittergomez @holyhumorliteraturelight @bells3333 @ashdab2611 @toomanybandstocare @twilight-kpop @cricketlicket @5sosfanforever2001 @justine-en @bitchy-witchy-post-mortem @shakespeareanbooty @pancake-pages @elisemurphy06 @ineffabledears @bella-stenbakken @seraphpheonix @trickylittlewitch @twilightrox @hobodolly @big-galaxy-chaos @mega-ultra-so-awesome-it-hurts @mikariell95 @decaffeinated--fangirl @lovestomanyfandoms @fairyunhappy @chaoticsimptown @leelee-ishman @hanster1998 @coricosplays @secretpickleprofessordean @itsbqueenthings @theweasleythatgotintoslytherin @corpseism

[kpopmakesmequestionmylifechoices]

Kingdom Round 3: "Plagiarism", rigged voting and fanwars.

[Disclaimer: It is possible that for fans of certain groups I'll come off as offensive. I like each of the groups, I possess albums of TBZ, SF9 & SKZ, and I watched HOURS of content/debut programs of ALL the participating groups. Nevertheless, I will ALWAYS say my honest opinion. If you want to fight me, you're ofc allowed to do so but I hope you're all mature enough to not feel offended by opinions.]

Act 1: Tbz, where do your ideas come from?

So what I've noticed is that there's a massive difference between tbz behind the scenes and other groups'. Not only in this episode. So far, tbz simply DID NOT show how they create ideas, stages, how they practice. They picked a song, fooled around, and then met up with RTK members. It was cute sure, but it had NOTHING to do with the stage. The other groups showed practice scenes, showed their ideation process, showed who taught them and how. The boyz didn't. No practice, no ideation. Only song choice. We didn't see them practicing the choreo, we didn't see how they even got the idea for this stage. Their behind the scenes footage sadly has NOTHING to do with their performance. I really wish we could see them practicing and coming up with ideas.

Another big problem I see with this, is that they literally don't explain where their ideas come from. Now for people who know Game of Thrones (GoT hereafter), it probably appears rather obvious that the previous and also this stage was inspired by GoT, right? The white walkers? Ice and fire? The throne? The freaking red wedding??? I can't be the only one who sees a connection between their stages and GoT. ATEEZ said they were inspired by Pirates of the Carribbean. SF9 said they were inspired by film noir and showed how they worked with an actor on their storyline. iKON explained how they associate inception with dreams and put together their ideas. But TBZ didn't freaking talk about any of this. Either it was never recorded, or it never was aired. In any way, it's extremely suspicious in my eyes. Moreover it's just pretty shit to not say where your idea comes from. Especially not when you even name your stage after the iconic red wedding... Now IF they were NOT inspired by GoT, then it would be some... extremely huge coincidences... especially the stage title is just a bit too much tbh. But more to that stage later.

Edit: It came to my knowledge that according to deobis, Cre.Ker will post the content after Kingdom on tbz social media. Whoever took that decision needs to be fired tbh. If the content will be released, I'll link to it and add some few words to it.

Act 2: The good, the bad, and ... All hail king Juyeon?

Let's talk about the performances now.

SF9: What I dislike is the fact that as I stated in my previous Kingdom post, they are forced to do such dramatic musical/movie stages to even be recognized as part of the show. Moreover, I found it weird and unfitting that they held guns during the group dance parts, to me it seemed a bit off. Also, at times, their energy level seemed a bit low.

What I liked is that even tho it was a MASSIVE set, the performance still was extremely easy to understand and follow. They all looked insanely good tho, SF9 simply is mature and manly. I liked the concept, it was fresh because it for once had no fantasy vibe but actual criminal mafia energy. My favourite parts were Jaeyoon's fighting scenes because they were very well choreographed. Altogether, I really enjoyed it and also found it interesting how they referred to the Boyz crown scenes on RTK.

The Boyz: In my eyes, this is already the second GoT inspired concept they did. Not a fan of this. Moreover, I'm a bit pissed that it looks as if they are selling all that as their own ideas. As I said before, I believe this is GoT inspired, the name at least definitely was - but it's never said that the inspiration comes from there, because we literally have no information about where their ideas come from and if it's even their own ideas. To me it has the bitter aftertaste of wanting to hide sth the viewers aren't supposed to see. But this is not tbz fault but the fault of whoever writes/directs/edits their footage.

With the title of the stage given, I actually thought I'd see a wedding. But what I've seen was a woman in a bird cage. And then many more women. I failed to see what this all had to do with a wedding, and I moreover failed to see the connection to "THE" red wedding. And I failed to understand the plot once again, and because they didn't explain it beforehand, I'll never understand it.

What I liked is that the performance was way less dramatic than it was ever before. It didn't seem like a stunt show anymore, it didn't seem overdramatic anymore. It was easier to focus on the performance. Sadly, I noticed that this "downgraded" (aka slow-paced and less dramatic) stage was unfortunately underwhelming in comparison with what they did before - which was sth I predicted from beginning on. At some point you can't go bigger anymore, and if you tone it down it'll automatically seem underwhelming.

Edit: It's sad that they have this pressure to outperform themselves because they've won RTK. But honestly, it was clear that the winner would have this pressure on them. I don't see why I would pity them for this, after all, each of the groups feel pressured anyways and I rather feel sorry for ALL groups together because this whole ranking/competition thing is just unnecessarily stressful. But once again, I don't understand why you all blame MNET for this. Don't forget that the companies have contracts with MNET and knew that shit would go down. If you blame any bigger instances, then please also the companies who put their idols on the show. It's not like they got forced to make their groups participate.

My biggest criticism this time however is the fact that they give the most screentime to Juyeon (and Sunwoo because of the rap parts), and the rest of the members barely appear, or basically aren't shown at all. I already felt before that there was a strong focus on Juyeon, but now it's srly showing very clearly. I really like Juyeon, but I don't find it fair. I think that doesn't do justice to the other members, which deserve screentime as well. In conclusion, tbz on kingdom is an extreme mess in my eyes, with lots of communication- and management flaws.

iKON: I belong to the group of people who heavily prefers THANXX over inception, so I was a bit sceptical about the song choice. They really made a YG version out of this tho, I was pretty impressed. The stage concept was pretty nice, iKON surely knows how to use light. Now the stage seemed very inspired by Inception (the movie) which makes a lot of sense - but wasn't communicated either. Just mentioning this because I critisized tbz earlier, so I think the same applies here to some degree. I didn't recognize the song anymore tho but I found it pretty refreshing. In my eyes they did the best so far in making another group's song their own. This could have been an iKON song for sure. As always, a fun stage.

My personal ranking will follow after the other stages.

Act 3: About cheating and faking.

The Voting looks as follows:

Views: 1. SKZ 2. iKON 3. ATEEZ 4. BTOB 5. TBZ 6. SF9

Online Voting: 1. SKZ 2. SF9 3. iKON 4. BTOB 5. ATEEZ 6. TBZ

Btw if anyone knows the overall voting, please comment or send a message, because I somehow missed it?

I said it before, and I say it again, this entire voting is rigged and I totally don't care about it anymore at this point because it's absolutely not trustable. Experts didn't know about the budget differences, who even are the experts, why did SF9 get zero on-site votes, and then ofc the fans who created 50 accounts to vote...this voting is a joke. What I can totally not understand is how ATEEZ and TBZ can rank last for online voting. Sth seems off here to me, especially the fact that SF9 ranks last in views but ranks 2nd in votes? I'm sorry to say this but I think that's the result of the ZZZ fanwar. My assumption is that there must be a big mass of people who purposely voted NOT for TBZ & ATEEZ, and my guess is - no offence - that those were stays. In accordance with the fanwar, they didn't give their 2 other votes to the other ZZZ groups but to whatever other group. Or in general the ZZZ fandoms purposely not voting for each other. That would explain extremely well why SF9 could suddenly rank 2nd. I'm tired of this voting, of fanwars and all this drama and I decided to not care about the official voting anymore.

If you got to this point, I wanna let you know that I feel very blessed that you made it through this long post hahaha. Thanks! And for the next week, I expect BIG THINGS. I'm the most excited for BTOB. Them covering back door is the most absurd thing I've imagined for a long time hahahaha. But Eunkwang with tattoos really is a good sight, isn't it ;)?

[yoonieboonie]

The Substitute Lover (2)

word count: 1.7k

genre: fluff, angst hehe

pairing: myg x reader

summary: Finally meeting the college boy you've been eyeing on for months, everything goes wrong when you realise what you're really getting yourself into.

a/n: this is part 2!!! i cant figure out how to link the first part properly but if you know how pls slide into my dms and teach me hehe you can find part 1 at my tumblr profile. thank you for the love on the first chapter!!! 🥺 i'll do my best!!! NEXT | PREVIOUS

As soon as you're out of the view, Hoseok immediately swung an arm around Yoongi's shoulder. He was delighted for his friend, afterall, it has been a while since he was in a relationship.

Yoongi took what happened to heart. Namjoon noticed, it didn't take a genius to. He warningly eyed Hoseok who pretended not to see him. The mint haired boy shrugged off the hand and faced them.

"It's your fault, Hoba." He sighed, using the nickname they had for their energetic friend. "She's a senior and isn't around the campus much but news here spread like wildfire. I don't want her to think—" he continued but Hoseok cut him off.

"Think what? Listen, Yoongi. It's over between you two, it has been for a long time. I think it's time you quit moping and start giving yourself a chance to be happy again." This made Yoongi snap his head towards him. Hoseok may be chatty but he always knew not to cross that line. Both him and Namjoon did. What happened was considered taboo and was never spoken about, no matter how long ago it was.

"What did that Y/N feed you? Aren't I your friend here?" He challenged. Hoseok was about to answer when Namjoon intervened. He patted both of the men on the shoulder to kill the tension arising.

"Let's head to rehearsals, please. I don't want to be the receiving end of Mrs. Lee's anger today."

The auditorium was crowded, all students that are part of the recital are scattered around. Since the trio are all helping the backstage crew, they immediately went to their place and settled in.

"Where have you guys been?" Mijin whispered. They all shrugged in return, she wouldn't rat them out. Knowing well that she would do anything to cover up for Yoongi. Though she acts nonchalant about it, she has been crushing on him since their freshmen years.

"Just do your job and don't fuck this up. Please." She pleaded. All the trio did was nod.

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

You are now banging your head on the library table, earning looks from the other students who are procrastinating due to the upcoming finals. If the stake wasn't this high, you wouldn't be this stressed about it. You mentally scold yourself for acting so bold that day. For all you know, Yoongi might be a secret genius and that leaves you making a damn fool out of yourself not only in front of Hoseok and Namjoon but the entire campus aswell.

News of your mess spread quickly, the girl who wore thick-glasses and ugly sweaters asking the ace of the Music department out. You try and avoid their stares and focused on your notes. Praying to the heavens that you at least score decent enough if not scoring higher than Yoongi.

At this point, you don't even bother for the date. You just want to do your best. That is until it was time for your Humanities class again. Your hands are clammy as the test paper are handed out. You prepared for the test but somehow, your heart is pounding out of your chest.

You easily navigate through the questions but one left you confused. You try to recall the answer for a good five minutes but eventually gave up. If you don't know it now, you'll probably not know it later. That is until all papers have been passed and it was time to exit the classroom that a lightbulb went off in your head.

"Plato." you whine. The answer was Plato. You rub your fingers to your temple and let out a frustrated groan.

"Y/N!" a voice you recognise to be Hoseok called out. Honestly, you don't want to face them today. You are embarrassed still, and you're sure if looks could kill, you'd be dead at how Yoongi is shooting glares in your direction.

You adjust your backpack and offered a wave.

"Do you already know where you want to go for the date?" Namjoon teased. Hoseok laughed beside him, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

"Oh," You sigh. "I don't think I'd be able to go on that date."

That made Yoongi look up at you. He should be relieved, he thought. But he was more intrigued as to why you decided against the bet.

"I forgot the answer to Test II, number 5. I left it blank instead, however when I remembered the answer, the papers were already collected." Not that Yoongi cared, but you seemed sad to not be able to go on that date.

"Think positive, Y/N. The deal was to score higher not to have a perfect score." Hoseok encouraged.

"It's okay, what matters was that I tried. I know Yoongi will ace the test. Specially when the stake was a date with me." you shrugged nonchalantly.

You moved towards him and held out a hand. He eyed it skeptically before lifting his arm to shake it.

"Wait! The results are not out yet!" Namjoon whined. If he was initially opposed to this, he no longer was. He was just as invested as Hoseok was. Pushing you to win against Yoongi.

You laughed and took a step back. "Alright then. If I do win, I want to go to Lotte World."

"You haven't been there?" Hoseok asked. You shook your head.

"I came from Daegu. This is my first time in Seoul and I haven't been able to roam around due to our classes. Besides, I don't see the point entirely but if I would go on a date, I would like it to be there."

Yoongi pretended to not pay attention. It made sense that you were not from the metro. The way you dress and your things are certainly not what a typical college student would wear to the campus. To add to that, he now does notice an accent from the way you speak.

"Namjoon!" a voice called over. It was Mijin, if you recall correctly, she was also part of the rehearsals the trio attended. Hoseok introduced the both of you the first time you had lunch with them. Taking that as a cue to leave, you gathered your things and went home.

The week flew by and before you know it, it was time for the exam results. You were dreading to attend class but not wanting to look like a sore loser, you got ready for the day.

Yoongi subconsciously kept track of the days too. Instead of practicing and attending rehearsals, he found himself too caught up with waiting for the results. He tried to convince himself that he just wants to ensure that you two never go on that date but he isn't really sure.

His heart was pounding out of his chest as he lay down his bed. He was one of the few lucky ones who doesn't have a roommate. Hoseok and Namjoon were, on the otherhand. Deciding to take the day off, he doesn't really give a fuck if he wins or loses the bet. With that, he turned and covered his head with a pillow, trying to fall back asleep.

"Pay up." Yoongi groaned as he hears Hoseok's voice inside his dorm. Namjoon chuckled and called out to Yoongi.

"Hey, I put my bet on you! Hoba told me you'd be too chicken to attend class today and I didn't believe him but seeing it for myself," he trailed off. Yoongi blindy threw his pillow at the two boys maniacally laughing to his side.

"Get up and get dressed. We're going to be late." Namjoon ordered.

Yoongi decided to not bother arguing with them. He knows he won't be able to get out of this so might as well get it done and over with.

Walking to class was annoying for Yoongi. With Hoseok waving the money Namjoon paid him with in Yoongi's face and dreading the results of the exam. He was fucking frustrated.

You came into view, trying to insert yourself into the crowd of people. Trying to get a view of the results. You failed, being lanky and small. You huff, to which Yoongi watched in amusement. You were something, he thought.

"Y/N!" Hoseok beamed and Namjoon followed. Yoongi trailed behind.

"Oh, I haven't seen the results. I'm waiting for the crowd to die down." You explained. Hoseok, excited to know the results, held onto you and helped you squeeze into the bodies of students trying to get a glimpse of their grade.

Yoongi's eyes trailed from Hoseok's hand that was holding onto both of your arms from behind. He knew that his friend was just eager to know the results in order to rub it in his face but the contact of skin made him feel as if it's something he shouldn't be seeing. It felt as if his eyes were interrupting something.

You seemed uncomfortable, he noted. Hoseok was one to be physically comfortable around people. With occasional brushes of hands or an arm around shoulders, you can always expect it from him. Yoongi knew this but he was still somehow bothered by it.

"Yoongi." He was snapped out of his daze when you called for him. He saw your tiny figure offer him a hand.

"Congratulations, Yoongi. It was a great bet." You spoke calmly. He wondered what the results were. To confirm, he didn't shake your hands but instead took a look at it for himself.

FINALS RESULT SY 20XX-20XX

1. Kim Namjoon -100/100

2. Min Yoongi and L/N F/N - 99/100

3. --------------

4. --------------

5. --------------

6. --------------

7. Jung Hoseok -89/100

8. --------------

9. --------------

10. --------------

His eyes widened. He realised you congratulated him because technically, you didn't score higher than him. You didn't win.

Hoseok and Namjoon was chatting with you, patting your back as you smiled at them in return. Assuring them that it's okay and you'll go to Lotte World another time.

"Don't worry, Y/N. Hoba and I would bring you to Lotte World soon!" Namjoon beamed.

You laughed in glee and thanked both of them.

You were about to walk away when Yoongi did something he didn't expect.

"Meet me at the campus gate, 9:00am tomorrow. Don't be late."

With that, Yoongi turned and left. Leaving you with your mouth hanging open, Hoseok and Namjoon smiling at you as they try to catch up with their friend. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEXT | PREVIOUS

[ichika27]

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun s2 ep21

Last episode for this season!

It’s strange we’re only getting 21. It feels like an awkward number to end on since many other anime that goes on for 20+ episodes have at least 24-26. Oh well, s3 has been announced so it’s all good I guess.

It's still the Apocalypse (the last day of it) and Iruma is trying to finish all of his homework which seem to be going well. He had a lot to do due to homework being doubled.

Why was homework doubled? It's the consequence of a past action...

It was due to the bet from back at the Walter Park arc! They remembered about it (I kinda forgot about it, honestly, since so many things happened since then).

Grandpa Sullivan is the one to choose the winners and decided it was all of them making them all both the winners and losers of the bet. With this, both the prize and punishments applied - they were treated to an expensive meal but they also have to deal with a ton of homework. Kalego-sensei is pissed he had to pay for everyone’s food but was very happy to tell them that they will be suffering for the rest of the apocalypse.

Iruma worked hard and got through all the homework though.

This Apocalypse Iruma had: gone on vacation with his friends, went on a sleepover at a friend's house, and went on a date... so naturally, this time around he's spending time with family!

He and Grandpa are gonna go buy school supplies. I kinda missed when me and my family did that back in the day. I always found shopping for school supplies fun.

Due to the season's earlier events, Iruma has gotten pretty popular it seems so Grandpa gives him anti-recognition glasses for a disguise. Ain’t the boy cute? I dunno why but with anime characters, glasses actually either add or subtract from how good or bad their appearance is.

Haha this reminds me, there’s this anime called “Castle Town Dandelion” and the MC is a girl who hates standing out and in one episode, her sister gave her glasses that could allegedly do the same thing Iruma’s glasses here could. It doesn’t work like that and everyone just acted as if it does to make her feel better. Akane needed this version lol.

They're headed to Magical Street to go shopping! A new area has been introduced to both us and Iruma.

This is apparently where shops, parks and also teacher's dorms are located. I’m wondering why the teacher’s dorms are here when back in the episodes where Iruma joined the student council, it seems he and the student council members were staying over at school. Why isn’t the dorm for faculty members at school, too then? Weird.

Iruma's Grandpa is pretty popular, too. People crowded around him as soon as they saw him but doesn't recognize Iruma due to the glasses. Makes me wonder why Grandpa didn't wear ones himself lol.

Grandpa Sullivan isn’t just popular as he’s well-liked, too.

First, clothes shopping! Iruma tried on a coat as they need some for the upcoming winter. Grandpa decides these were good and takes an entire rack. Damn they're rich lol. He tells Iruma to just wear a different one everyday.

They're buying accessories next and Opera suggest that Iruma buy a collar for his familiar which is Kalego-sensei lol. Iruma knew it would not end well if he actually did that and declines. Opera is disappointed by this... they really want to mess with Kalego, huh?

I think it’s funny but I also pity Kalego-sensei. Having to deal with his senpai’s antics long after graduating. The nightmare of many former students.

Next they're buying books! God this makes me miss going to book fairs.

Grandpa tells the staff at the desk what books he wanted and each one he lists off automatically flies down next to him (pretty cool). Grandpa explains that Iruma would need a lot of books to learn more spells. They talked about the spell Fractal (which Iruma used to princess carry Ameri last episode) and Grandpa tells him that with enough practice, Iruma could also use it to be able to fly. Grandpa takes this chance to show-off to Iruma by using it to take down a shoplifter. Everyone in the store is amazed but Iruma's praise is the one Grandpa cares about the most.

They continue shopping for stuff. This was funny cause the way Grandpa said the lollipop's name reminded me of how Doraemon introduces the items from his pocket. Also, does this mean that lollipop has no expiration date?

The day ends with the two having a talk (Opera went and got the carriage). Iruma says he had a lot of fun at school which made his Grandpa happy knowing Iruma has gotten used to living here. Grandpa tells him that the new semester would be even more eventful than this one and showed him a poster of what I assume would be the festivals the other fans have been mentioning.

In the middle of their talk, Iruma suddenly asks Grandpa about how to become a Demon King (likely cause he overheard some people wondering aloud why Sullivan, a powerful demon, didn't want to take the job despite being qualified for it).

Grandpa is surprised and speechless for a moment but then becomes happy and says if Iruma is asking cause he wanted to be Demon King then Grandpa will support him. Iruma explains he’s just curious.

Flashback! It seems Grandpa used to work for the former Demon King, Delkiller.

Too bad his face is covered. I’m curious to know what he looked like when he was younger.

Oooh... we finally see him - the infamous Delkiller that's been talked about for a long time. His face isn't completely properly shown for now, I guess but he’s shown to be pretty huge. He seems lazy but he also takes pride in the Demon World he's created. The flashback ends here though.

His hair color reminds me somewhat of Evil Cycle! Iruma’s hair color...

We get a bit of lore info from Grandpa about Demon Kings.

Grandpa explains about the 13 Crowns - representatives of the Demon World who help govern it - and that to become a Demon King, one must possess the trust of every single one since they'd be the one to rule the Demon World.

He also explains the role and power of the Demon King - their word is law and they are the Demon World itself. Demons will do as they commanded. The Demon World is a reflection of whoever ruled it and right now, the Demon World is a fun place because Delkiller-sama was a fun person.

Grandpa explains that with all these in mind, he doesn't know if he'd even get the role someday if he wanted it or if he ever did, if he'd be worthy of it. It’s such a big thing after all.

If he did become the Demon King though, he says he'd do this: make the Demon World "Iruma"-themed lol. Seriously though, he says he'd support Iruma if he'd become the Demon King and would like to see what kind of world Iruma would create.

These statements are very ironic considering who would end up being future Demon King haha.

While Iruma said he didn’t want to become Demon King, he did end up thinking about it. What if he did become the Demon King?

Hmm... for someone who isn’t interested, he looked like he was thinking deeply about it.

They get back home and later that night, Iruma checked the stuff Granpa bought him.

Iruma finally gets a hold of the Demon King Prophecy! We've heard about the prophecy before but Iruma probably hasn't yet until now. After listing the stuff about the future king, there’s a shot of Iruma’s hand with his ring haha. Upon reading this, Iruma thought more about it: What kind of world would it become if he were to become the Demon King?

You’re not the only one wondering Iruma. I’m sure the rest of the fandom is wondering that, too.

The new semester begins! The entire Abnormal class is told that they now have to attain Dalet (4) rank before their second year begins as it's the minimum they'd need to graduate - failure results in them losing the Royal One classroom!

--

Not gonna lie, the shopping part of the episode reminded me of the scenes at the beginning of the firsts Harry Potter movies with them shopping at Diagon Alley. It’s fun and I got to see more of the Demon World. I wonder if they’d show us other places in the Demon World in the next season.

Grandpa happily doting on Iruma made me think that maybe it’d have been better for him if he had gotten to adopt Iruma as a child. Iruma is already a teenager and so their time they could spend together wouldn’t be as long or as often since Iruma had friends and busy with school. On the other hand, Iruma gained a lot of experiences in his crappy life before getting here and it did help him become the person he is. I guess the problem here is that he’s human and he probably ages faster than everyone else. :P

Like I mentioned before, it feels weird we only got 21 episodes this time. I was hoping there’d be another arc before the end of the season. There’s already a season 3 announcement and for next year, I think, so its all good. It might feel like a long time but I thought the same back when season 1 ended and now the finale for season 2 had just aired. Time flies fast.

I just wanna point out that in the last scene at the classroom when they were being told about the rank raising they gotta do, Agares is shown with his eyes visible. I’m glad they never put that mask back to cover his face cause he looks good haha. Glad they kept this detail.

Well, thank you for reading this and the other posts, too if you did. I guess we’d have to wait for season 3 now. I’m glad this show is popular enough to gain another season so fast. :)

[jaembby]

Hidden

Chapter 1 of Hidden

Hwang Hyunjin x reader

desc:  you couldn’t stand Hyunjin. the boy would flirt with anyone and everyone but for some reason, he’d especially bother you. Upon finding him broken, you discover parts of his life that he keeps hidden under his confident facade. what will happen when the new side to the cocky boy is revealed?

warnings: mentions of divorce, hyunjin being flirty, mentions of parents fighting, themes of loneliness/neglect, a few swear words (maybe like 2 or 3), pet names, crying.

wc + genre: slight angst, fluff if you squint. 2.9k.

a/n: will be at the end! enjoy chapter 1 of my new fic Hidden!

Hidden masterlist || next

-----

“Piss off, Hwang,” you roll your eyes. Hwang Hyunjin simply sends a wink in your direction when you make eye contact.

“Why? Don’t you like it, princess?” He replies, a smirk appearing on his plump lips. You hate to admit that you blushed slightly at the pet name.

“Y/n, Hyunjin, I know it’s the end of the day but please don’t disrupt the class,” your teacher scolds you.

You mutter a “sorry ms” before turning away from the blonde boy beside you.

Hwang Hyunjin is cocky, arrogant and shameless. He flirts with everyone and anyone, boys, girls, juniors and seniors. And people usually flirt right back, hoping that the innocent smiles might become something more.

You never flirt back, nor hope for anything more from him so why does he pester you so much? Usually, Hyunjin will wink at someone and pretend nothing happened, never sparing his victim a second glance. Apparently, for reasons unknown to you, you're different. The blonde boy just has to throw a wink, pet name or pick up line your way at every chance he gets.

You can’t see why Hyunjin can’t just be like his best friend Lee Minho. Minho is quiet, easy-going and nice to talk to. You could say you’re mutual friends with Minho as he’s pretty close with your two best friends Lee Felix and Han Jisung and the two of you sometimes find yourselves in a friendly conversation.

For the rest of the class, you keep your head down to avoid another encounter with Hyunjin. The lesson drags on until finally, the long-awaited bell rings through the room to signal the end of classes for the day.

You quickly get up from your seat only to collide with a firm chest, the impact causing you to lose balance and fall over.

“Falling for me already, princess?” Hyunjin’s voice rings out from above you. You can practically hear the smirk in it.

He offers his hand to help you up but you ignore it, pushing yourself up from the ground. You quickly walk out of the door and try to find Jisung and Felix.

“Y/n!” you hear a voice call from somewhere to your right. You snap your head towards the sound and see a brown mop of hair running through the crowd of students towards you with a freckled blonde boy following not far behind.

“Sungie, Lixie! I feel like I haven’t seen you two all day!” you smile as you hug both boys.

“Yeah, I wish we all had more classes together,” Felix mumbles as he and Jisung hug you back.

“Y/n, you know how you and Lix are coming over to my place tomorrow?” he squirrel-like boy says, reminding you of the playdate (as Jisung likes to call it) that you, himself and Felix had planned for the weekend.

“Yeah, what about it?” you ask.

“Well I hope you don’t mind but I’ve asked Minho if he wanted to come over too,” a pretty shade of red tints Jisung’s cheeks when he mentions the brunette boy.

“Ooh, Jisung~” you and Felix smirk, teasing the small boy about his little crush.

“Yeah, that’s fine though ‘Sung,” you answer his question.

“Okay cool... but I should warn you, Hyunjin’s going to be there too.”

Fuck.

Jisung doesn’t meet your eyes. He knows you aren’t too fond of Hyunjin but you’ll have Felix, Minho and himself there to distract you.

You’ll put up with the irritating blonde for a few hours if it makes your friend happy. Who are you to decide who goes to Jisung’s house, anyway?

“Okay, what time did you want us there?” you ask, steering the conversation away from Hyunjin.

“Around 12, now let’s get out of here before the school gates close,” Jisung says as he drags you and Felix away from the building you’d been in all day.

You and Felix parted ways with Jisung as you walked home. You and Felix only lived a few houses apart so you always walked home together whereas Jisung lives a few blocks away.

“Want me to pick you up tomorrow, y/n?” Felix turns his head towards you as he breaks the silence.

“Yeah, that’ll be good. Thanks, Lix,” you answer, meeting his gaze.

“What’s on your mind?” he asks. Your best friend knows you way too well.

“Nothing,” you lie but Felix can tell. He decides to drop it for now.

You’re so grateful for Lee Felix. Even though sometimes it may not seem like it, you’re thankful that he can tell when something’s wrong. You and Felix share a strong bond. You’re able to read each other like an open book. He’s able to cheer you up and make you forget about whatever’s worrying you just with his dimpled smile. You sometimes think you’re like a sunflower and Felix is your sun as you turn towards him, his presence cheering you up and making your days brighter.

Soon enough, you and Felix reach your house and you say a quick “goodbye” before walking inside.

You drop your school bag onto the couch before making your way into your bedroom. A tired sigh leaves your lips as your exhausted body is welcomed by the comfort of your bed. Tomorrow, you only have to put up with Hyunjin for a few hours. It’s okay. You have Felix, Jisung and Minho with you, too. Everything’s going to be fine.

beep beep beep Your phone alarm wakes you up 11:00 am.

You slowly make your way out of bed and hop into the shower, letting the warm water run over your body as you relax into it, calming your racing mind. You stay that way, letting the water run over you as you wake up and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead.

Your thoughts decide to wander to Hyunjin. Jisung wants Minho to come over and Hyunjin’s just part of that. If Minho comes, Hyunjin comes and if it makes your friend happy, you’ll deal with it.

As you’re turning the water off, you look at the phone that’s sitting on the bathroom counter beside you.

Shit, it’s already 11:30. You only have 30 minutes to eat breakfast and get ready to go to your friend’s house. Calm down, y/n. 30 minutes is plenty of time.

Turns out, it really isn’t.

By the time you’ve decided on what to wear (because you couldn’t make up your mind), got dressed and eaten breakfast, there are only 10 minutes until Felix is due to pick you up.

You head to the bathroom to clean your teeth and brush through your hair. That takes about two minutes. You’ve now got 8 minutes to do your makeup and get everything that you’re taking (which isn’t much, just some money, your phone, charger and hairbrush) and put it into a purse.

There’s not much time to do makeup so you decide to just conceal a few blemishes, touch up your eyebrows, apply a small amount of mascara and add a touch of lip balm to your dry lips. You figure you don’t need a full face of makeup anyway. You aren’t there to impress anyone, after all. It’s just a hang out with friends.

Felix arrives right on time and the two of you head off to Jisung’s house.

When the pair of you arrive, you find Minho and Hyunjin already inside. Minho and Jisung are sitting beside each other talking (and blushing from both sides, you notice) while Hyunjin sits on the couch opposite them as he scrolls through his phone.

“We’re here!” Felix announces your arrival.

As you walk into the house, Jisung quickly hugs you and Felix before returning to his conversation with Minho, who utters a quick “hello”.

You glance towards Hyunjin and you’re surprised that he’s already looking at you. He smirks at you and winks as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. As usual, you turn away from his gaze as a slight pink hue adorns your cheeks.

You look up at Felix who seemed to witness the interaction. You swear you see a hint of sadness in his features... no that’s not it. Something similar to sadness and anger but not quite either of those. The freckled boy quickly covers up whatever emotion was on his face and smirks at you, nudging you lightly in a teasing manner.

The first hour or two was pretty fun. The five of you talked about everything and nothing, relaxed for a while and somewhere in that time, Hyunjin had wandered off to who knows where.

Speaking of Hyunjin, he’s being pretty quiet today. Not like his usual confident self at all. Maybe the confidence is all an act? Maybe he’s hiding something beneath the cockiness? Nah, he's probably just bored, you think. The thoughts are just that; thoughts. But you don’t realize just how close to the truth those thoughts are.

As you’re talking to Felix, you feel a sudden urge to pee.

“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” you say to the boy and get up, walking towards the guest bathroom.

You do your business and head back but as you’re walking towards the living room, you hear a muffled angry “fuck” coming from Jisung’s guest bedroom.

You go closer to the bedroom, wondering what’s going on and why the person inside sounds to upset.

As you get closer, you can make out the sound of... crying? Standing on the other side of the door, you debate going inside.

“Please. Please be joking,” you hear the voice cry, pain evident in the tone.

You decide to see if everything’s okay so you knock gently on the door before pushing it open slightly.

“Hyunjin?” the once flirtatious, cocky boy is sitting in front of you, now reduced to an emotional wreck.

“Who’s there?” he mumbles, refusing to turn towards the intruder.

“It’s me. A-are you okay?” you take a small step inside the room before closing the door.

“Y/n? Why would you care? Don’t you hate me?” Hyunjin mutters with his head hanging low and shoulders drooped. Do you hate him? Do you care? You might not like him some times but you couldn’t truly say you hated him.

“Hyunjin I- I can leave if you want-”

“Stay. Please.” he cuts you off, slowly lifting his head as red puffy eyes meet yours.

You’ve never seen him like this. You don’t exactly know what to do but something inside you makes you stay.

“Okay,” you say and Hyunjin moves aside on the bed, making room for you and patting the space. You usually try to stay as far away from Hyunjin as possible but a part of you wants nothing more than to comfort him and make sure he’s okay.

You take the seat beside him and sit there as he cries. Hyunjin aka the arrogant boy you actively tried to avoid now sits beside you as streams of tears flow from his usually bright eyes and down the smooth skin of his cheeks.

You don't know what makes you do it, but you gently push Hyunjin’s long hair away from his face and tie it up with one of your spare hair ties before softly rubbing circles into the boy’s back in an attempt to comfort him.

Hyunjin looks up at you, surprised by your actions. You yourself are surprised but it seems to be helping him so you continue to do what you’re doing.

“Thank you,” Hyunjin says, voice barely above a whisper. He sounds broken. Like all hope has been lost. Like his world, hopes and dreams have just been shattered. Like his heart’s been torn into two.

“I’m here if you want to talk, ‘Jin,” you’re taken aback when the nickname, although never used before by you, comes out of your mouth almost as if you said it every day.

“Thank you, y/n. It’s just my family. I’m sorry for always being annoying. At home, m-my parents are always fighting and it feels like they never notice me. It feels like they don’t love me anymore. I love both of them so much and I can’t stand to see them fight,” Hyunjin’s breathing becomes more uneven as he tries to hold back a new wave of tears.

“I-I guess being cocky and flirty is h-how I deal with it. If I can make someone’s heartbeat a bit faster, even for a second, and they flirt back with me, I guess I feel like I’m worth something. People actually notice me this way, unlike at home. I feel less... lonely. S-so I put up a confident and flirty act t-to hide my insecurities and w-what goes on beneath. I-I keep the real me hidden,” Hyunjin stutters as a fresh wave of tears hits him.

You don’t know what to say. Hyunjin’s always acted so confident and now he’s crumbling right in front of you.

“I-I’m sorry. My parents’ fighting has gotten worse and worse lately a-and now I’ve just f-found out they’re getting a d-divorce,” The blonde boy, once full of playful smirks and flirty winks now sits beside you, sickly pale with red puffy eyes and dried tears covering every inch of his cheeks.

“Hyunjin, it’s okay. Breathe, it’s okay, ‘Jin,” you attempt to calm Hyunjin down. The hand that was rubbing circles on Hyunjin’s back is now pushing stray hairs out of his face and behind his ears as you crouch in front of him and gently wipe his cheeks with tissues from the box that had been sitting on the end of the bed.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, y/n,” he says as his breaths slowly become steadier.

“It’s okay, Hyunjin. You probably needed to tell someone. Do you feel better now that you’ve talked about it?” you ask. You remember how your parents used to say things like this to you and it helped calm you down.

“Y-yeah I do feel a bit better. Thank you, y/n.” he smiles sadly at you. Your heart’s breaking for the boy in front of you. Hyunjin’s parents are getting a divorce and his confidence and flirty persona is all a cover to hide how broken he is inside.

You give Hyunjin a small smile as you meet his eyes. Hyunjin’s eyes are beautiful and you’ve never really noticed until now. They hold so many emotions, memories and thoughts within them. His eyes seem to hold a universe of stars inside them, shining delicately and brightly.

Instead of verbally answering to Hyunjin’s “thank you” you nod your head slightly, never breaking eye contact.

The broken boy in front of you gently grabs your hand as he furrows his eyebrows, asking if the action’s okay. You nod with a small smile and he intertwines your fingers together, holding your hand softly as if you would shatter at any second, but with urgency, almost as if the contact is the only thing keeping him safe from crumbling completely.

You’re the first one to break eye contact as you ask Hyunjin if he wants to get some water and wash his face.

The boy nods and the two of you slowly stand up, hands locked together.

You show Hyunjin where the bathroom is as you quickly go to Jisung’s kitchen to get a glass of water for each of you.

knock knock knock “Who’s there?” Hyunjin calls from inside the guest bathroom.

“Just me, Hyunjin,” you reply. Hyunjin opens the door and you walk in, placing the cups of water on the sink.

You can see he’s still very upset over his parents’ divorcing but he’s trying his best to hide it.

Hyunjin’s always known that something like this was bound to happen one day. He just wasn’t ready yet. He hates the fact that the two people he loves most in the world hate each other, but he can’t help that.

At this moment, the blonde boy is so thankful for you. Although you don’t know each other very well, you helped him at his lowest moment.

He thought you hated him but here you are now, wiping his tears away, helping him to wash his face, combing gently through his long hair and tying it up.

Maybe this would be the start of some kind of friendship between the two of you? At least, Hyunjin hoped it is. You’re the only other person besides Minho that he’s ever opened up to about himself.

“Y/n, please don’t tell anyone. I’m not sure what made me tell you this but I’ve never been this open with anyone besides Minho. I don’t regret it, though,” Hyunjin says as he faces you, his brown eyes finding your own.

“I would never tell anyone, Hyunjin. I promise,” you reply.

Seeing Hyunjin trusting you and opening up to you makes your heart swell a bit. You’re glad you can be here for him.

“Thank you. Really, y/n. I know you may hate me but I’m really grateful that you’re here right now.” the boy says, splashing his face with water once more and drying it with a face towel.

“I don’t hate you, Hyunjin. Not at all. And I’m here for you if you ever need someone to talk to,” you quietly say as you put the face towel on top of the pile of other dirty towels and pick up the now empty glasses.

You move to open the door but Hyunjin stops you, holding your hand once again.

“Can I?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper.

You nod in response and squeeze Hyunjin’s hand lightly.

Together, you walk into the living room.

There’s something inside you that wants nothing more than to help put the broken boy back together, so that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Help him fix the parts of himself that are hidden from the rest of the world.

-----

a/n: thank you for reading part 1 to this fic. the plot/ideas are all mine. you may like, comment, recommend to a friend, reblog and of course read my work! you may not translate, copy, claim, repost (on tumblr not other sites), base work off this etc (pretty much anything that wasn’t in the “you may” section). 

I hope you enjoyed reading this!! I love you have a good day/night <3

© w0nni3wrld 2021

[ghostsofmemories]

My Poetry Editing Process

hello folks! after watching @coffeeandcalligraphy‘s vlog where she talked about editing poetry, among a lot of other cool things, i realized editing poetry is pretty much the only thing i have a solid process for, so i thought i’d share mine! this is all work from a new poem titled what’s in a basement?, thanks so much to @keira-is-writing for sending the prompt on instagram!

and because of the way this website is formatted, including image descriptions is a bit impossible. so if you need IDs or just want to take a different look, i’m including a link to a copy of the document with all my comments on it! the post might have a little more detail since it’s easier for me to explain things here, but i did my best not to stray too far from my comments on the doc. 

alright, that’s enough rambling, let’s get on with it!

phase one: writing the poem

okay, so here’s the original poem with absolutely no edits.  all my works start out as prose poems because line breaks are too much to think about when i’m in the middle of a stream of consciousness. there are some exceptions but for the most part, it’s always prose poetry first.

phase two: line breaks

this is the part where i add line breaks, even if i intend for it to stay a prose poem or remove the breaks at the end. this helps visualize the poem in a different way and because the lines are shorter, it’s less convoluted and allows me to focus on individual words and the sound of the parts that the brain naturally reads together.

i usually make a couple changes here out of instinct, but for the sake of this, i've left wording, punctuation, and formatting completely alone

phase three: basic changes

anything that immediately strikes me as odd gets fixed here. i might also start getting an idea of what the poem is trying to be at this point, which is good, because i need to start thinking about it. i might consider some changes to the form and structure, too.

in the first stanza, i'm mostly noticing a lot of redundancy which tends to be my biggest flaw in my poetry, so that's what i have to look out for the most. that's the first thing i'll go through and change, plus i'll do some line edits.

most of what i'll change here is wording. i might get distracted by formatting or punctuation but i try not to, because i might lose an idea or miss an opportunity.

i labelled all the changes i decided to make if you’d like to see why i did certain things. if not, feel free to skip ahead!

1) i felt this part was redundant, so i ended up changing it 2) i wanted to push the skin simile that appears at the end of the poem 3) freeze-dried was more specific than dried up, and i also liked it better since this poem takes place in a basement (and those are cold sometimes? it makes sense to me okay?) 4) i switched rhythm and sound because you wouldn't sway to a sound, you'd sway to a rhythm. and you wouldn't be unable to stand a rhythm, you'd be overwhelmed by a sound 5) i deleted this word because it was unnecessary 6) i just liked this better than the original to be honest

I also have the bottom, small stanza highlighted because i think it needs to be reformatted or moved around the poem. putting all those similar lines next to each other can be good in a lot of cases, but for this poem in particular, i think it would be more impactful if they weren't all stuck together.

phase four: reformatting (pt 1)

(sorry if these screenshots are getting harder to read! i have to zoom further out because the poem is spread along a larger area). 

i moved around the lines of the last stanza to match my intention, which was to give the reader a metaphor to keep in mind before reading (1) , to tie the first and second stanza together (2), and to give the reader something to consider after (3). this isn’t even close to necessary for every poem, i just think it fits this one well!

phase five: reformatting/form (pt 2)

the final phase is another reformatting one, where i decide if i want to keep the line breaks or not. 

for the sake of this poem, i decided to do an in between. i thought my formatting decision for the smaller stanza made more sense if it was the only part with line breaks. i also allotted to remove punctuation from those parts because i felt that it read more along my intentions (which were, in a way, intended to act as titles, or something separate from the poem itself. i wanted to do as much as possible to clarify that they aren't part of the storyline of the poem itself, but more of a supplementary material).

that's the end of the editing "process", but in reality, i'll probably come back to this poem anywhere between a week and a month from now and make some wording changes. sometimes when i come back to a poem after a long time (especially a poem with a story), i end up getting ideas for another part of the poem and might end up adding another stanza. one time i actually added four to a poem i'd written months ago!

overall, i have no idea if this was helpful or not, but i hope it was! or, at the very least, that it shed some light on something that people don’t really talk about. 

a lot of people say that poetry isn’t meant to be edited and that it’s best in its most raw, unedited form, which might be true in some cases (i have several poems that didn’t need this intense of editing. a list of poems i won’t write was hardly edited at all before i posted it!), but i don’t think you should always consider a poem done the second you’ve finished writing it unless it’s something you’re genuinely proud of.

again, huge thanks to @keira-is-writing @coffeeandcalligraphy for making this possible! if you have any other topics you’d want me to cover in a long-form post like this, feel free to send me an ask!

poetry taglist (ask to be added/removed):

@coffeeandcalligraphy @oasis-of-you​ @alicewestwater​ @cherylinanika @keep-looking-here​ @chloeswords @bookphobe​ @chewingthescenery​ @citruson 

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hello friend! this is very specific but do you by any chance have any fics where sherlock likes it when someone plays with his hair or that kind of thing? jdjsjjs sorry its such a weird request

Hey Nonny!

AHHHHH okay oddly enough I never anticipated this being something people would want up until recently when I myself wanted more fics, so I don’t have a lot of fics labelled properly for it D: Here’s the best I got for you, so please forgive me; the list will grow as I re-read fics and re-tag them LOL.

I’m also adding fics I’ve tagged on my MFL list too <3

As always, lovelies, add your fics if if has any of the requested stuff, please add it below!!

HAIR PETTING / PLAYING / PULLING

See also:

Hair and Beards

John Has a Beard

Shaving

Tangential by Bitenomnom (NR, 2,047 w., 1 Ch. || Ace Sherlock, Fluff and Love, Cuddles, Friendship, Sherlock is a Kept Man, Sherlock Divorces his Work, Nightmares) – In which John stitches up Sherlock's head (but not really), Sherlock comes into John's room at night to take his laptop (but not really), Sherlock is married to his Work (but not really), and John is more than proficient at keeping Sherlock (really, definitely). Part 48 of Mathematical Proof

Untouched by KittieHill (E, 3,239 w., 1 Ch. || Kissing, Frottage, Virgin Sherlock, Body Worship, Sherlock’s Scars Mentioned, Masturbation, PWP, Rimming, Multiple Orgasms) – Sherlock leaked a lot. John had never needed lubricant. John loved watching it, had once spent an entire afternoon edging Sherlock so he could watch as the thick precome drip, drip, dripped onto Sherlock's belly.

Love and Hair Dye by WhimsicalEthnographies (E, 3,920 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., Body Worship, Self Conscious John, Voyeurism, Idiots in Love, Smutty Smut) – Self conscious John decides to cover the greys on his head, and the colour isn’t what he thought it would be. Now he’s more self-conscious than ever.

Living Musical by VeeTheRee (G, 4,149 w. 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Hobbies, Summer, Song Fic, POV Sherlock, Painting, Play Fighting, Soft Sherlock, Dancing, Love Declarations, Hair Petting, Promise of Forever) – A one-shot of John and Sherlock being domestic during summer. There is paint, fluff, and music from Imagine Dragons, namely from the album 'Speak To Me', specific song in this one-shot is 'Living Musical'. Part 1 of the Happy Fluffy Johnlock Time series

Onomatopoeia by aquabelacqua (M, 6,904 w., 1 Ch. || First Time/Kiss, Frottage, Dirty Talk, Domestics, Word Kink, POV Sherlock, Dry Humping / Sex, Chair Sex, Hair Pulling, Lazy Mornings, Hand Jobs, Friends to Lovers) – Something is the matter with John. Sherlock is determined to figure out what it is. Mark his words.

Division by MrsNoggin (E, 19,542 w., 11 Ch. || Coffee Shop AU || First Kiss/Time, Fluff, Barista Sherlock, Clingy Sherlock, POV John, John’s Limp, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Sleepy Cuddles, Sensuality, Touching, Virgin Sherlock, Insecure John) – John likes mysteries. And every morning he dips into the local independent coffee bar with his newspaper and ponders another... one Sherlock Holmes.

Just To Hold You Close by sussexbound (E, 70,841 w., 18 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, Sherlock POV, ASD Sherlock, PTSD John, Demisexual Sherlock, Bisexual John, Cuddling/Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling, Enthusiastic Consent, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Sexual Tension, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cuddle Negotiations, For a Case Until It Isn’t, Hair Petting, Sexual Negotiation, Anxiety, Trust Issues, Slow Burn, Panic Attacks, Frottage, Hand/Blow Jobs, Referenced Self Harm / Abuse / Suicidal Ideation, First Kiss/Time, Anal, Autistic Sherlock) – When a woman is murdered and the last person to see her alive is recently invalided army vet turned reluctant (and prickly) professional cuddler, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes is pulled into a world of intimacy and intrigue he never could have imagined. John is a conundrum and mystery: frank yet reserved, tender yet angry, open yet afraid. Sherlock is instantly drawn into his orbit, and begins to feel and desire things he never has before.

Kintsukuroi by sussexbound (E, 91,823 w., 20 Ch. || S4 Compliant / Post-TLD, Grief / Mourning, PTSD, Internalized Homophobia, Therapy, Past Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Anxiety, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, Cuddling, Suicidal Ideation, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Sexting, Frottage, Inexperienced Sherlock, Rimming / Anal / BJ’s, Emotional Turmoil, Finding Each Other) – “I love you.” Sherlock sees the words hit John with almost physical force. He reels back a little, jaw twitching and eyes filling. “I love you,” he repeats, a little softer, a little more gentle, as earnest as he possibly can. Because they’ve been teetering on the brink of this thing for years, and it had become painfully obvious over the last few months that they were at a tipping point. This had to happen. Now it has. Now they can see where they end up. The tears in John’s eyes spill over, and he wipes at them angrily. “Do you even know what that means?”  

Definitions by siennna (T, 101,528 w., 12 of ? Ch. || Dev. Rel., Pining, Fluff and Romance, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Fluff, Cuddles, Girl’s Night, Texting, Virgin Sherlock, Drunk Sherlock, Background Mollstrade, Hair Petting, Laying on Lap) – Sherlock’s journey in defining his flat mate and stumbling through the muddled world of emotion. {{This feels complete; the chapter count is listed as ? but I feel like it is done}}

Unkissed Series by 221b_hound (T to E, 184,100 w. across 45 works || Established Relationship, Ace Sherlock) – Sherlock returned from the dead a year ago. John returned to Baker Street six months ago. They've been in a couple since then. or at least, not NOT a couple. For two smart men, they sure can be dumb. Luckily, an art thief tries to drown Sherlock, Sherlock has a fever dream and things are about to change.

MARKED FOR LATER

Curlock by 88thParallel (G, 1,285 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Sherlock’s Hair, Fluff, Ficlet) – How Sherlock learned to control and appreciate the incredible gift he was born with, and the man who helped him sort it out.

Curls and Frizz by 221b_gone_feels (G, 2,026 w., 2 Ch. || Est. Rel., Sherlock’s Curls, Frizz, Curly Hair Problems, Fluff, Insecure Sherlock) – When it rains especially hard one day, John sees him in a new light. Or, hairstyle.

Pull by philalethia (E, 6,352 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss/Time, Hair Pulling, Hair Stroking, Kink Exploration, Scalp Massage, Pillow Humping, Demi Sherlock, Past Drug Use) – John pulls Sherlock's hair in a moment of frustration. Sherlock is surprised to find that he enjoys it.

I'll Show You the Difference by Ginger_Cat (E, 19,677 w. || Post-HLV, Infidelity, Hand/Blow Jobs, Hair-Pulling, First Kiss, Caught-In-The-Act, Almost Parentlock, Minor Character Death, Angst, Bittersweet Ending) – John attempts to prove that Sherlock's love for him is platonic. He fails, miserably.

Unwind Series by illwick (E, 697,027+ w. across 33 fics || Light BDSM / Power Dynamics, Dom!John/Sub!Sherlock, Switchlock, Hair-Pulling, Snsory Deprivation, Deepthroating, Face-Fucking, Handcuffs, Overstimulation, Forced Orgasm, Prostate Milking / Massage, Rough Sex, Biting, Food Sex, Consensual Kink, Sex on Everything, Chair Bondage, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Masturbation, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Oral/Anal, Fingering, Sex Toys, Captain John, Establish Relationship, Bratty Sherlock, Greedy Sherlock, Military Kink, Uniform Kink, Gunplay, Roleplay, Shower Sex, Oral Fixation, Praise Kink, Dry Humping, Facials, Dog Tags, Edgeplay, Multiple Orgasms, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Threesomes, Homophobia, Size Kink, Past Relationships, Past Drug Use, Double Penetration, Angst/Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Panties) –  John and Sherlock unwind after a case.